End of the Universe Ch.10 - World Without End

End of the Universe  Chapter 10 - World Without End

>The sun...
>It's supposed to do something isn't it?
>You're dreaming or...
The sun.
>Dancing?  Is it supposed to dance?
>What was the world doing right now?  You can feel it.  You can always feel it.  You can feel everything.  There's a bird building a nest thirty-four feet off the ground and thirteen thousand miles away.
>Mental fingers lost focus and sifted  through ethereal mists on a vast black lake.  An asteroid had fallen into a star's gravity well and ignited some four hundred thousand light years off.
The sun.
>Someone is being born.  Someone just died.
>You're everywhere when you sleep.  You're far out there beyond this world and somewhere very deep inside yourself.
>Is there a difference?  After all, you're nothing but molecules packed and loosely woven in patterns of fur and bone that stretch out and away into rain clouds and red dwarfs.  All of it made of  atoms, radiation and ultraviolet wavelengths that you could brush easily as your hair.
>But there are cracks.  Splinters and chips of reality that could be felt and read like braille to a blind man.   But the bumps and depressions you feel don't mean anything to you.  Everything used to make sense, but something has gone missing. Did you lose something?  You've lost many things, you foolish, naive little girl.
>A formless grip tightens.  What's missing then?  What did you lose this time?  Where is your sister? Where is your father?  It's them, isn't it?  Where are they?  Why can't you feel them?
>You thrash in that black lake.
>Father left again.  Eris turned to stone and crumbled away.  Gone for forever and a day and
The sun.
>You can't even follow them or call for them.
The Sun.
>They're not coming to pull you out.
THE SUN
>Why won't it-
T H E
>Why won't it COME UP?
S U N
>Waking up is like falling from a terrible height.  You swear you feel the bed shutter as your eyes open wide and bright in the darkness.  You wonder why the bed hasn't shattered and sent you tumbling through the floors.  You take a heavy gulp of air and hold your breath like an old friend.
>It's dark.
>The world stopped turning.  The sun has not come up despite your most innate wishes.   There's the usual turgidness in your gut, but nothing comes from it.  Your head is dizzy and your vision blurred, but that doesn't stop you from getting out of bed.  It does put an end to all pretenses of grace for the time being.
>You walk with steps that steadily become more sure.  Unseen hands spread apart curtains and you walk out under the night sky whose welcome is now overstayed.
>Feathers ruffle as you stretch out your left wing.  Your right fans out.  The stones of the floor glow with heat and twisting gravity as you hurtle in the air, leaving behind nothing but a short gasp of air and a trail of sparks that reach up like fiery fingers.
>You turn alight with fire as you exit the atmosphere -the brightest thing in the sky right now.   The atmospheric envelope feels warm, but space turns you cold before long.
>The moon grows and shrinks as you pass it.  You blur over one planet, two planets, three planets.  Far enough.  With a tilt of a wing you let gravity swivel you around and catapult you back towards home.  Tiny little bits of debris and particles incinerate as sear past them.
>You couldn't say you were getting good at this.  Even admitting that you were getting more efficient made your face grim.  But it did help  to get a running start.
>Count the worlds again. One...two...and there was home.  A tiny thing but as you rocketed toward it, watching the cut it made in that black field grow larger, so did the pit in your stomach.  Soon the world was big enough to eclipse everything.
>Closer and closer.  You could make out the swirl of clouds and the ponderous drift of continents.  You spread your wings and once again wonder how these thin feathery fingers could hope to stand against so much.  But you knew better.  Instead you reached out as wide as you could and grit your teeth.
>You were hurtling.   The immobile colossus began to push against the outer edges of your magical reach.  It felt like you were flying through mud.  It tried to slow you down, make you fall to your knees and crash, but you couldn't sacrifice an iota of speed.
>Almost there.
>This is the part you hate the most.  It hurts.
>Contact.  You funneled all the momentum through you and onto the planet.  Shock waves formed on the upper layer of clouds, thrumming steadily as you channeled your motion and kinetic energy.  All with your comparatively insignificant body acting as the conduit.
>Your muscles burned.  Your body began to split into lightning along the extremities again.  Your wings looked like they were made of shards of cracking glass and electricity instead of feathers.   You fought to keep your body together and avoid splashing against the world like a wave against a cliff face as it happened before.
>Moving the world lets you to hear everything.  Voices in the cities and working on the farms.  You heard the cry of birds and the blossoming of plants.  You fight against that hyper-awareness as well, less it overwhelm you.  You fight against everything.
>Your struggle was not in vain.  The world relented at last, given enough power to turn for one more day.  You hear a vast, echoing groan as its wheels began to churn again.
>You fell to the earth, dry-heaving.
>Same as yesterday.
>And the day before that.
>And the day before that.
> The morning sun bounces off your white wings.  You look like a star falling from space.  You landed on your usual tower which bore cracks from repeated reentry.
>You hit the ground and stumble.  A small team of guards and aids bring you water to drink, shoulders to lean on, and a bowl to get sick in should the need arise.  They wipe the sweat off your forehead and made no comments on the drooping, billowing movements of your hair.
>You felt sick.
>Stop lying to yourself -you are sick.  In more ways than one.
>How many of them could see you take off in the early hours of morning and spiral back to the ground before complete daybreak?
>You stood tall but gasped for air like a fish on land and took heavy, lumbering steps.  You intoned to the guard captain.
>"Have there been any disturbances?"
"No my lady.  Nothing that Princess Eris could not handle."
>"You know what I mean."  He nodded.
"Of course, my lady.  No singing bushes or happy poets."
>"Very well.  All orders still stand.  Keep track of it."  You motioned a wing towards the sun.  "If it slows in the slightest alert me immediately."
"Aye, ma'am."
>You signaled for more water that found immediate way to your lips.  They offered fruit as well, but you waved it away.  You whispered to the captain.  "And what exactly has my sister handled?"
"Usual early-morning affairs.  Farmers needing this, builders wanting that.  Sick and injured who are tired of being sick and injured."
>You could sympathize.  "Is she kind?"
"She does her duties.  Just last night there was a guild member who-"
>The captain's voice faded away as your left leg gives out.  Your knee hits the stone floor and your head follows suit.
>Blackness for a moment.  There were no visions of burning rocks or birds' nests.
>For just a second, however.  Voices come back.
"-etch a stretcher, for builder's sake!"
"hard did she hit her hea-"
>They crowded around you.
>"Don't..."
"-amned fool, she can't breathe with you  bustling around her like that."
>You feel someone try to hoist you up by the shoulder.
>"Don't TOUCH ME."
>They all take several steps back.  A few did a cricket's jump.  There's fear in their eyes.
>You recall putting stars together and tearing them apart.  That took more strength than this.  That was easy.  Natural.  Then why does standing up feel so hard?
>Why is this all so HARD?
>You pull yourself up.  "Captain."  He steps forward.  He's worried, scared, he's both and everything in between.
"Yes, my lady?"
>You are several heads higher than most of them.  You're in complete disarray.  Static is built up in the air and your eyes are glistening.  Reflections in their own eyes carry justification for their fear.  You look terrifying.
>You take a steady breath and compose yourself.  The feathers along your wings straighten out and the sweat goes away.  You mane takes on a few more light curls.
>"Inform my sister that I will be speaking with her later today.  Redirect all matters while we meet."  You walk with purpose.  Guards match your step.  "It shall be a long meeting."
>"I'll send the message at once, my lady."
>The tension began to ease back.  "Captain?"
"My lady?"
>You looked at him.  "You have my apologies."  He shook his head.
"No need for that, my lady."
>"Accept it anyway, as an order."  He grinned.
"Of course, Princess Astra."
>You stared straight ahead but you could still hear the quickened heart rates and ebbing adrenaline.  They're pupils had a slight dilation.
>'I am so sorry,' you wanted to say.  An urge to hold them all close and never let go passed through you.  'Please, please don't be afraid of me.  Please.'  The last thing you wanted was for  them to be was afraid.  But they had every reason to be frightened of you, didn't they?
>You need to speak with Eris.
>Because you are sick of everything.

–

>Talk, talk, talk.
>One person goes away, and another walks forward bowing like he has a loose spring for a neck.  They sing your praises like they have full orchestral accompaniment.  They ask questions or seek favors.  A few must've downed a bottle of something strong before marching in and making 'demands.'  But some bring gifts.  A few just want simple advice or blessings.
>You say what you think is suitable, even if it isn't.  If you're going to sit on this chair you're going to have fun with it.  You talk back, and for some reason they listen to you.  For the life of you, you cannot figure out why.
>They're all so small.  How can these tiny things have so many problems?  Maybe that's why they put so much weight on your words -you're just larger than life.  You can't help it.
>But still.  You remember being a little slink of an animal who played rough-and-tumble with the rest of them when they still slept by campfires and rough-woven tents.  You weren't bigger than them yet, but they still paid attention to the things you did with a certain reverence.
>That word bugs you.  After all this time it still bugs you.
>They treat you with respect, awe, and so many other things.  Since sitting on the throne the majority of the time in recent days, you've been treated as such more than normal.
>Stuffy old Astra isn't able to teach the class, we have cool new Miss Eris running the show now.  Ha.
>There are two thrones in the courtroom.  Same height, different colors, but yours looks magnitudes better.  You coil and uncoil around in your seat.  Sad fact that they're both equally uncomfortable.
>It's part of your arrangement.  Your damn dumb stupid sister is running herself to pieces by headbutting the world into order every day.  You offered to help several times.  'Let me spin it just once, you can sleep late.'  She took a lot of budging, but Astra relented and let you raise the sun.
>It did not work at all.  You cussed, swore, kicked and threw yourself at it from every angle, but you couldn't get the damned thing to move an inch.  The threads of reality you pulled and yanked at refused to respond.  It was like hitting the strings of an instrument but not hearing a tiny thrum or quiver.
>The upper layers of atmosphere buzzed and glowed red as your confusion bubbled into anger.  Lightning flashed over the planet as Astra pulled you away.  Massive spiral clouds fell below the atmosphere and embers fell off your claws.
>Astra remained quiet and still as your heavy hair whipped.  It seemed like your ribcage was going to split from how hard you were breathing.  Your sister closed her eyes and said:
"Thank-you so much for trying, Eris."
>Did she really think you were giving up?  You snapped your wings.  "Astra, you know I can do this.  There's just a little -"
"Eris."  She squeezed her eyes harder as she fought to keep her voice steady.  "Please."
>You weren't going to let her do this alone.  "Lemme do this one more time.  You can't keep this up."
"Just...just go home.  This is..." She opened her reddened eyes and her voice found footing even under the weight of devastation.  "this is obviously my responsibility.  Please do not trouble yourself."
>Your wings flicked and jerked.  She thought she could just carry all that burden and send you on your way?  You wanted to say more, no, you wanted to yell.  At everything.
>She flew off before you could, though.
>That was a bad morning for both of you.
>Astra wasn't taking this with grace.  She never took anything easily.  Her frustration was building up every day and her head was set to pop any moment now.  Between ruling the kingdom and the complete and utter exhaustion she's putting herself through keeping the mornings coming...well...
>Testy was one word you'd use.
>You debated over telling her about the growing bags under her eyes, but it looked like she was trying real hard to cover it up.  Wouldn't appreciate it.  At all.   You'd tell her next week.
>Most of her time was spent sleeping.  There were stretches where you'd have the throne to yourself for days.  It was all she could do to get out of bed and jump in the air.
>Under normal circumstances it would be funny to see her so out of sorts.  However there was a damnable little kernel of conscience that knew she was running for a cliff with a very long drop and quick stop.
>She was acting wrong.  Even Dad was thrown off his own inscrutable  alignment.  You haven't seen him much.  You tried to convince yourself that alone didn't upset you enough, but he was acting too weird.  He always looked grim from the brief blips you saw him, and the distant echo in his voice grew with each meeting.
>You shifted at the uncomfortable thought.  There WERE things to be concerned over.  Big things.  But the ties of your relationships were growing strained and split around the ends.  It carved a hole in your stomach.
>Your ears fidget trying to focus on the goings-on of the court-room, but then again it was hard for you to focus on anything for long stretches of time.  And so many people want you to focus on so many things...
>Yet you've barely touched on the most critical thing.  For crying out loud, you can't eve-
>The air fills with static and taking the next breath becomes difficult.  Your skin tightens like it turned into rubber and the room's pressure quadrupled.  There's buzzing in your ears.  It's a rush, but it makes you grind your teeth.
>Yeah.  She just walked into the room.
>You bring yourself back to center just as a mare finished speaking to you.  You say some words and she seems grateful.  She is soon replaced by a stallion who starts talking about wrecked ships and a storm.
--
>You edged along the one of the many upper walkways of the court room.  The morning session was in full swing.  Voices echoed into the upper rails.  Eris's was loudest, of course.  You looked down on her.  Her long, almost towering body coiled off and around the chair she was on.
>Eris never touched your own chair.  She was much more casual on  her throne than you would ever allow yourself to be, but hers was an easy, uncompromising lounge of a sovereign.  Her chin rested on a claw.  She did cut a sharp figure.  Almost feral in raw ragality.
"My lady, the ships were heavily damaged by the storms."
"You were all told of the storm's window.  You had time to make whatever preparations you needed."
"Be that as it may, but at the height of the trade season-"
"Wind and rain doesn't care about trade seasons." She lowered her hand.  "Clouds will do what they want.  Lighting has its way with sails and wooden masts, hmm?  Winds feed flames.  You knew this, but you still tried to leave port.  You tried to dance with something that has no rhythm.  What did you expect, exactly?”
>The stallion smouldered.  You got that sort from time to time.
"But why did you allow that storm to come so close to land.  It could've kept clear of the harbor, at least."
>Her face remained still.
"You want me to measure out more control over the weather?"
"I don't see why you could not."
"Exactly.  You *don't* see."  She sat a little straighter.  "Captain, do you control every length of rope on your ships?  Can you make your sails billow on a whim?  Tug every little strand and thread and have them set sail?  Do you make every board creak and bend as it cools down during the night?  Tell the ship hands when to breathe, blink, and flick their tails when a fly lands on their rump? Could you handle that sort of control?  Would you want to?"
>He looked confused and tried to speak.
"I don't see ho-"
"I can tell you right now that you don't.  And if you could, the ship would work much, much," she paused and shook her head "So very much incredibly worse."  She laid a hand on her chest.  "I however can do that, and what's more is that the ship would sail amazingly."
>She straddled a very contemptuous line.  You saw some of the guards standing on the side nodding at each other.  'See that?  That's our Princess, that is.  She's rulin' she is.'  She put her hand down once more and let her voice grow rigid.
"But what's good for your ship isn't good for everything else.  These things need to be taken into account, Captain.  There's a balance to life, and life is not all good fortune."  She leans in towards him.  "Makes the scales all lopsided, y'see."  She sits back and looks at the ceiling.  "Things happen, captain.  Things must be allowed to happen.    You say you'd like us to provide you with new ships?"
"Yes, Princess."
>He could only stand.  Eris reached a decision.
"Yeah, that ain't happening."
"As you say, Princess," he muttered in a strained tone.
>She rapped her claws against the throne.
"Were any of your men injured?"
>He nodded.
"Yes.  Several.  They're good men, m'lady, all with families."
>She sighed and muttered something unintelligible to herself.
"Have them brought to the castle by the end of the day.  They'll be well enough by the time they leave."
>He stared her in the eyes.  She stared back.  He bowed.
"Thank-you, your grace.  It's more than I should've asked for."
>She waved him away.  He left the courtroom.
>You watched him leave.  You watched the eyes of the court.  Saw the scribes write down words on paper that would be copied and saved for as long as they could be.  The general chatter of the room went up as the people discussed their views about what just happened amongst themselves.
>Eris's head made an indiscernible tick, like a snake that smelled something interesting.  Her ears stood up but her face remained impassive.  Her bird's arm lifted and she raised a single claw in recognition.
>You nodded once in return.
>Someone else was called in front of the throne.  You left the room and headed back to your quarters and fell into sleep harder than you fell from the sky that morning, if only for a few hours.
--
>The two of you couldn't talk in the castle.  It was hard enough to tolerate being in the same room, no matter how large.  Only during the switching of the throne's duties could you bare to cross, passing each other like tigers.
>It was a tense few seconds, but it did the subjects good to see the both of you at the same time.
>Necessity pushed you to talk under open sky somewhere far away.  Nobody around in case things turned...heated.
>The sun climbed by degrees under your gaze.  Bright and shining, as though nothing was wrong.  What a lovely lie.
>Rocks and trees jutted out at odd angles around here.  You hopped and clacked over them like a child playing a vague game.
>The air popped and Eris flapped overhead before settling on a tree, drawing her shoulders close . You stepped onto a high rock, your wings spread out for balance.
>The air began to buzz, but you didn't feel like your skin was going to choke you.
>Eris pulled a leaf and started to trace along its veins.
"So, did I pass your surprise inspection?  Am I getting a grade?"


>Her voice grated with more than her usual chide.  "I don't doubt your capability."  Which you didn't.  You both shared the throne for an equal amount of time, even if Eris was a little more dispassionate about it, almost clinical at times.  The duty to her was more like a chore -a thing to be done, and done well, but she'd much rather be elsewhere.
>And she's been required to take the lion's share of that responsibility.  She's not failed...
>"I have no interest or place to criticize how you run the kingdom."  She spins the leaf around.  "But...this is not working."  She stops.
"Did it take you this long to figure that out?"
>"I have been trying to understand this situation.  We have not dealt with something like this before."  Eris rises out of the tree like a serpent.
"You have been treating this whole thing like some kind of damn penance, and I'm running out of patience for it."
>She bites down on the words and your wings hike up in surprise.  "I am keeping things stable-"
"All by yourself.  Can't keep it up.  Support beams bound to crack sooner or later and the whoooole roof is gonna tumble, tumble, tumble."
>The wind starts to blow.  "It is MY burden and I can carry-"
"You need some actual rest.  If I can't give you a day off, then just TAKE one.  They don't need the sun EVERY day."
>That sounded heavenly, skies above, did that sou-"No."  You shake your head.  That was madness.  "I am taking care of this."
>Eris rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Stubborn little..."
>Your hoof grinds into the rock.   "Yes, I am incredibly stubborn.  Charging blindly into this situation and hoping for the best will not work.  Yes, I'm sore, yes I'm hurting, I'm exhausted, but I will NOT grow desperate."


>The sky overhead began to darken.  Thunder rolled overhead as a warning.  You pause to collect yourself.  Eris twisted a heavy branch between her paws.  She was biting her lip.
>The sky turned clear.  You whisper,  "But we do need to move forward."  Eris smirks.
"Good.  I was afraid you were growing to comfortable with all this."  She looks off.  "I'm almost getting used to it.  It's freaking me out."  She stalks down thin branches.  "Whole crazy situation is like walking on needle heads."
>"My thoughts likewise.  We'll all be better off once this gets resolved.  I've been too complacent.  There are many questions that need to be answered, and I think I've gathered all the information I can."  She raises an eyebrow.
"But you still can't make sense of it?"
>You shake your head.  "It all feels like a broken piece of a bigger machine.  I'm forcing it to turn, but it's just making everything grind.  That's not how it should be, but I'm not sure where to begin fixing it."  That was the best way you could put it.  You've thrown galaxies with reckless ease, but that was because everything was in proper alignment.  Now reality is broken, crippling you and your influence.  Eris weighs your words silently.
>"We need to speak with Father." Eris's wings flicked.  She set down the branch.
"Don't you think it's a little weird that he hasn't spoken with us yet?"
>You crease your brow.  "How so?  He's already explained-"
"That it's starting to go down the drain.  The lights will go out, bowls of oatmeal will turn cold, and everyone turns terminally boring, but he hasn't SAID much since then, eh?"
>You frown.  "You know he's been working in that....set up of his."  You weren't certain about his workshop.  Everything down there was metal, and hummed with electricity and strange lights that you've never seen anywhere else.


>Eris wrung her paws.
"Look -he's been staring at this just as long as you and me, but he's still telling us zilch."
>"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that this may be something Dad has no idea how to deal with."
>She presses her mouth thin, like it's a phrase she'd never thought to utter.  Just saying it felt wrong for her.
>Simply hearing it felt wrong for you.
"He knows about it, he's obviously bounced back from it, but...you've seen him."
>She shakes her head.
"The guy's on a complete edge with this one.  I don't think he's going to stroll into the breakfast room and say 'Alrighty, I got this one pegged, we can all go on vacation now!'  Whatever this is, it's scaring him.  Big time."
>Eris fidgets, perturbed by her own words.  You try to calm her.  "Perhaps he's just fatigued.  You know how focused he can be when-"
"I know how focused both of you can get.  YOU'RE fatigued.  You already sleep all day."
>You open your mouth to protest, but she raises a claw.
"Not that I'm calling you lazy, but it's making you fuzzy.  You're missing out on some of the going-ons.  Every now and again he'll drop by for...whatever reason, but damn is he looking worse every day."
>Her red eyes are serious.  Out of everything that emerged from this recent crisis, this was her chief worry.  Not that it unaffected you.  She started to circle around the rocks.  You began to counter her almost without thought, keeping the distance between you even.
>It never occurred to you that there was something Father did not know how to contend with.  The thought was alien.  It made your spine shiver.


>But that couldn't stop you.  "Then for all our sakes we need to pool together."  Eris nodded.  Your desperation to have this over could make you sweat.
"We'll all get together tomorrow then."
>You agree.  "I'll need time to order my thoughts."
"Dad will need the same.  I'll get the message to him.  Don't think I've been sitting on my claws the whole time either."
>"The thought never crossed my mind."  Another thought did, however -this was the longest the two of you have spoken in weeks without yelling or speaking in tones that make tempered steel look like paper.
>You want to jump over and hug her, but that would be...ill-advised.  The chemicals that charged the two of you would not mix.  Eris catches the notes of sadness in your eyes.
>She looks up at the sun.  It's heading downwards.
"I can hardly stand you, but I'd be really pissed if you burnt yourself out up there."
>You laugh, but it's a tired laughter.  Was this as close the two of you could come nowadays?  "Then for your sake I won't."  You jump into the air.  Eris slides upwards.  "Thank-you, sister."
"Astra."
>You pause in the middle of unfolding your wings.
"I don't know how we're going to fix this."  She edged backwards,  "But we're going to have to stop being afraid of what we are."
>Before you can ask her to clarify she takes off from you.  You flap your wings in uncertainty before going in the opposite direction.

--
>The truth is you feel most of this is bullshit.
>If it was up to you you'd pack up and take everyone to some other planet, or turn the moon into a small sun.  That thing still worked at least.  Were mornings strictly necessary?  A millennium of pure nocturnia would be fun.  More alternatives sprung into your head.


>Of course that was a guarded part of you that spoke.  Lovely ideas, but they seemed to ignore the bigger problem.  It was just as bad as Astra's insistence on her own morning routine.  In the end it was nothing more than wrapping up the wound.
>And you did tell dad that you would help, and you weren't ever going back on those words.
>Besides, this place did have some sentimental value.
>And that wasn't taking into account the part of yourself that kept freaking out.  It was what kept you glued into that throne room during the excruciating long mornings when so many people needed you to focus on nothing.
>It was like locking yourself in a safe little bottle.  'Look at the simple little problems we bring you.  Busywork!  Something to take your mind off the big things that keep spooking you!'
>You rock to and fro on a very long couch.  Your tail leans it around on one leg, swinging side to side.
>Was it cruel to think that way?  They weren't bad people.  Some of them were pretty cool.  But man, they could be real stupid sometimes.  If only you could grab one of them, carry them into the sky and yell "LOOK AT THIS.  YOU SEE THIS CRAP?  THIS WHAT I WORRY ABOUT AT NIGHT."  Then you'd shake 'em a few times because they're so soft, how can you not?
>A broad smile wriggled over your face.  That sounded hilarious.  But they didn't deserve that.  Not really.  They can't fly like you.  They're limited by aerodynamics, pfft.  And they're magic was so limited and stiff.


>Kind of a shame, but nothing you can blame them for.  They all had tiny little clocks ticking away in their chests.  They had too much living to do, and little time to do it in.  Their priorities just couldn't scale up like yours.
>Hah.  As if you knew what your priorities are.  Crazy chick.
>No.  You're not crazy.  You are not.  Everyone else is crazy, or at least really weird, but in a fun way.  Things were only going crazier and you needed to stop it.
>You shake your head in disbelief.  A part of you whispers to enjoy this, maybe even taking advantage of it all.  But there's an underlying current of disquiet that tells you not to treat this as a game.
>Astra was prepared to take the lead, finally.  But you wondered if she was willing to push everything as far as it needed to go because you knew -you knew- that it was going to be long and ugly run to the end.
>Well, you'd be right there, ready to kick her right in that fat flank of hers if she needed it.  You were ready to drag her by the hair, bucking and shouting if you had to.
>Ah crap.  You're getting serious again. You need to break something and put it back together.
>You shake your head.  No.
>You want to talk with Dad.  Yes, give him the message, but just...it'd be nice to chill with him for a bit.  Get him out of that creepy room for a while.
"Does my lady require anything?"
>You're pulled out of your little reverie by a small speck of a pony.  She was one of the cool ones.  And cute, too.
>"Uh....I think I'm good."
"You seemed distracted."


>"Always.  If I'm not distracted then something's wrong, or that's what everyone else seems to think."  You scratch your neck with your tail, chair still balanced on one leg.  You check to see if she looks impressed.
"No need to showboat, my lady."
>Sharp.  "How much time before someone comes knocking on that door with some dumb question or humble request for an audience?"  She checks a list.
"Within twenty minutes, I believe.  Afterwards is dinner."
>"Guests?  Does someone with a big funny hat want to read things at me?  Go over preparations for one loud event or other?"
"I believe so."
>You don't even blink.  You let yourself be roped into this.  Not like you can't cut the ropes.
>Just one more night, you tell yourself.  One more night of smiling and playing nice and then you get to dust off your claws and start kicking some dirt up.  One more night and no more bullshit.
>"Twenty minutes, you say?"
"Yes, Princess."
>"I'll be back in twenty-five.  Let 'em pick each other's noses for a while."  Her eyes bug out a little.
"Where are you going?"
>You pop your upper body off the chair with your arms and smile toothily.  "Not here!"  The chair shakes and you're gone.
"You're not that funny, my lady!"
---
>His hiding place is hidden behind a tree, some rocks, and there's a ladder and a tunnel and the air turns different.  It takes a bit of effort to wind your long body down the way.  There's a big metal door.  Dad doesn't like you or Astra to go into his secret cave of wonders.  He says the stuff inside is very sensitive.
>He's made an explicit point for either of you to not get 'flashy' around it.
>You knock heavily on the door.
>"Dad."
>Knock.  Knock.
>"Pops."
>Knock. Knock. Knock.
>"C'mon man, don't ignore me."


>You wait a second.
>Knocknocknocknocknockknockknockknock-
>The door slides open.  Your ears twitch and your nose sips in the air as a stream of unfamiliar sounds, scents, and magnetic fields wash over you.  There was a LOT of electricity in there.
>Dad holds a hand up to your chest to keep you from strolling in by reflex.  Your hands try to reach up past him, but he pushes you back just enough for the door to close again.
"That'll be far enough."
>You look like a kid who was told she can't go into a toy store.  You could just charge in there.  Break the door and stick your nose in...whatever he has holed up.  But that would make him mad, and Dad is scary as shit when he's angry.  The thought doesn't even cross your mind.  For long.
>Your ear flops, trying to shake off the static.    "Hey."
"'Evening."
>His mouth looks like its stuck in a sullen pose.  He notices you staring, he smiles, but it hardly qualifies.  His eyes are sunken.  It's one of those rare occasions where you're not sure what to say.
>"You look like crap."
"I feel like crap.  How are you?"
>You rear upwards and shrug.  "Bored.  Watching the world go all lopsided and listening to people bug out over boats."
>He puts his hands on his waist as if saying 'go on.'
>You shift to a more stable position, long arms resting the ground.  You've been beating enough bushes for today anyhow.  "Astra and I were talking, and yes, talking.  Not yelling.  No lightning or anything."  There almost was lightning, but he didn't need to know about that.  "We've decided that we're done holding our hands on our butts.  Whatever this is, we're doing something about it."
>Your dad stares at you.
>"All three of us."
>His lips tighten.
>"Starting tomorrow?"


>You really want him to say something, but waiting for anything is going to get you nothing.
>"Even if you're not ready.  Dad, this isn't good for any of us.  We're all keeping each other in the dark about things, and isn't that what we're trying to keep from happening?"  He looks like he's staring five feet behind your head.
"That's true."
>Even his voice sounds far away.  "Dad...I know you're freaked.  But I'm going to tell you what I told Astra.  We can't be afraid...okay?"
>He laughs.  You must've looked hurt because he's quick to speak.
"No, that wasn't at you, I promise it was just -just something else."
>"But I'm serious.  Whatever we talk about tomorrow, or whatever we're gonna have to end up doing, please don't let me be afraid."
>Your voice catches in your throat unexpectedly.
>"I just...I have this feeling."
>You take a step back.
>He focuses on you the way he does on microbes.  It makes you nervous.  Kinda like you got caught after climbing to the top of a tall tree.  Worried that you might fall off, but proud that you got up there.
"Fair enough."  He leans against the door and puts his hands in his pockets and thinks for a moment.  "I agree.  I've ran through my options.  Checked the numbers, the graphs, temperature distributions, decay rates of orbiting patterns," He's talking more to himself right now.  "We'll come up with an attack plan.  Tomorrow.  You, Astra, and myself."
>He steps away from the door.
"All three of us are going to say things none of us are going to like, though."
>"That just keeps things interesting."
"Eris?"
>Frowning again.  He looks like he's fiddling with something in his pocket.  "Yeah?"
"Don't let me be afraid either."
>He opened the door.  Soft lights and low buzzing could be heard.  He stepped away.
>You nod, alone on your side of the door.  "Promise"


>The door closed.
>You blinked away.
>Back on the chair. Resting on four legs.   The girl yelps in surprise, but regains herself quickly.
"Back so soon?"
>You're quiet.  You're never quiet around her.  She approaches like you might explode into fire flies.
"My lady?"
>Your knuckles rap on the chair's armrest.  You open your mouth.  Close it.  Open it again and words carefully come out.
>"How old were you...when you realized your parents weren't perfect?"
-----
>"No interruptions."
>That's what you tell the guards, the servants, and other members of the castellan entourage.  No disturbances while we're discussing the fate of the world, please.
>You wonder how many can see through the wool you've wrapped around their eyes.  Who else realizes the gravity of matters that are laid plainly on tables behind the doors you lock?
>And if they knew, what could they do?  Not much.  It was simply beyond their reach.  They grow crops, build houses, write books and raise families -was that not enough?  You already gave them a new day, let them live in it.  Just let them live.
>You were in Father's quarters in the castle again.  He uses it sparingly, but this seemed an appropriate occasion.  You're by yourself right now, and you can't help but pace.
>It was clean and utilitarian for the most part.  He has a few personnel effects on the walls.  A bed seldom slept in.  Little rocks line a few shelves.  Books.  And...ahh, yes...
>Two little keepsakes.  A music box and a moving model.  Tiny little crafting projects made with the utmost attention, skill, and all the heart and soul a girl can put into something when making a gift for her father.  You notice that there's not a fleck of dust on either of them.


>You pick up the model solar system you made.  Quite a while has passed since you gave this to him, but it still looked as pristine as the day he unwrapped it.   Well, you think with a bit of pride, that was the point after all.  It moved smooth and silent.  You stare at the tiny portraits you made of your father, your sister, and yourself on the home world.
>Click and a soft groan of a door opening.  Your father walks through the doorway, closing it behind him.  The stretches between seeing him have grown so long that he's almost become a strange sight.  He's the only one that walks upright.  You tried mimicking him once, long ago, with silly results.
>You can't help but smile.  "Father."   You're drawn back to the twirling spheres.  Footsteps approach and stop by your side.  He's quiet.  Neither of you take a breath.  Not from tension but...perhaps it's just to preserve the moment and keep it simple as possible.  Things have turned so complex recently.  You and father always did appreciate a moment of quiet.
>But no moment can last forever, as it took you a long time to learn.
>"It's no longer accurate."  The still silence is swirled like a mist by your voice. You look at him like a sculptor who realized she made a statue with bad proportions. "The positions are off now."  You turn the model slowly in the air pointing out where each planet is meant to be, and where each one currently is.
>"Our world is the most off, obviously.  How can it not be when it moves in starts and spurts?"  You don't sound angry, just disappointed.  "The other worlds aren't so bad right now, but gravity tends to snowball rather dramatically..."


>You set it down gently on its resting place.  "Matching all the orbits together took so much work..."  You father rests on arm on your shoulder.
"Work that's still appreciated."
>"I may have to make another when this is all...taken care of."
"If you think it's something you have to do, go for it."  He spreads his arms out towards his expansive and rather sparse room.  "I got plenty of space."  His finger touches your gift's sun.  "But this one will still be special."
>It's childish praise, but it still warms you.  "A specialness that's appreciated."  Your eye gets catches on Eris's music box.  You've only heard it once or twice, and never did get a very good look at it.
>With care, your hoof reaches out and presses the swII///I%%%%%%%%%^^^***#*#*#********`~~~~~~~
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>Your brain fills with white noise and nails scratching on broken glass.  The picture of the room breaks and all the colors invert themselves.  When the pieces pull themselves back together and your skull doesn’t feel like it's sprouting knives you're pressed up in the corner of the far ceiling with your wings spread all over the walls like a spider.
>Your eyes are wide and white.  Your heart is beating hard enough jump out of your mouth and you have a strong urge to bury the entire building very very deep underground.  Your father looks on in mild surprise.  Maybe even amusement.
"Hm.  You didn't act like that last time it went off."
>You lower yourself back to the floor but still hang close to the wall.  "What kind of cacophony was that?"  He spins the cube in his hands.
"What cacophony?  You just touched it.  Didn't even go off."
>You swallow and compose yourself.  "I don't believe I'm in the mood for music today."  The door creaks and the air turns tight again.



"I am.  I think some good bands are playing in one of the squares tonight.  I know a pub that always has someone singing good tunes in the corner."
>Eris looks at your father holding the box.  She looks at you pressed against the wall.
"I knew that thing was great."
>Father sets the box down and drums his fingers on the counter.  You clear your throat.  "Eris, would you do me a favor?"  She puts her paws on her ribs and tries to say something derisive.  You cut her off before she forms the first word.  "Just close your eyes."
>She looks at Father with some disgruntlement.  He seems to understand what you want to do.  He nods at her.  She closes her eyes and frowns.
>"Now hold out your paw."  She waves a claw.
"That makes two favors.  I only agreed to one."
"Eris."
"Are we giving out surprises?  'Fraid I didn't bring anything."
>She raises her paw forward.  Black, curving claws extend from their sheathes.  You step to the far side of the room.  Father looks at you sternly.  You hope this won't be too severe.  Your horn buzzes and your model system floats off the counter and bobs over to Eris's palm.
>It spins unassumingly.  It stops glowing and touches the rough pads of her hand.
>There's a high-pitched yelp, a guttural snarl and Eris is launched up and into the ceiling.  Her face is rabid.  Claws dig into the wood and glowing spittle flies out of her mouth and sizzles on the floor.  Her eyes burn brightly as she slams her tail against the walls.
>She looks at you with venom.
"What the HELL WAS THAT FOR?"
>"A test, sister."  Claw marks spring up on the walls.  This was soon going to turn severe.  The wall began to rumble.  Father steps quickly and firmly in between you.


"Now I know it takes a lot of effort for the two of you to be in the same room without lighting each other up, but this isn't the start any of us want."
>Eris seethes.
"What kind of test was that?"
"It means that you're never going to steal each other's things again.  Astra touched your music box a-"
"I didn't give her permission to touch it."
"And she had the same reaction.   Looked just as nasty as you."
>You look at him with reproach.  "I did not overreact that way."  He laughed.
"Wish I had a camera.  I haven't seen you that riled since you were small."
>It dawns upon you that he's making jokes.  Eris backs down.  She rubs her paw as though she just stuck her hand in a candle's flame.  You feel guilty. "I should have given you warn-"
"Can we just get on with this?"
>Your father scoops up the undamaged model off the ground.  Eris eyes it apprehensively.  He grabs her music box and puts your collective anathema out of sight.  Obsidian claws clack on the floor as Eris heads behind some furniture, grumbling to herself.
>Already your attempts at finding solutions are causing more problems.
"Well that's a nice bit of data to know, isn't it?"
>Already Father has to go on the defensive, diffusing any early aggression between yourself and Eris.  But that wasn't normally necessary, the two of you find each other more tolerable when he's around.  You skin doesn't feel like it's covered in ants, at least.
>Silently you wish that you haven't overestimated your self-control.
>"It's...indicative," you mutter.  Eris huffs.  Father speaks.
"Tell me, do you hate each other?"
>Your head comes to attention.  "Of course not." The words fly out of your mouth like a bird.  Are you lying?  Eris is crawling over a chair.
"Not completely."


"Good to know, but apparently the things you make loathe each other.  How do you feel, both of you -right now?"
>"What exactly are you-"
"If I leave this room, how long could the both of you stay in it?  Would you break the windows, kick up the floor?  Knock over my table?"
>You stammer for words.  Eris tips a chair to its side, as though judging how fast and thoroughly she could wreck the room.  Words conjure themselves.  "We've been able to avoid surges of....excessive personality.  We would both" you stare at your sister, "have the presence of mind to leave before turning brutish.  That behavior is not tolerated." Eris puts on a caricature of impressiveness.
"Of course.  Model of absolute restraint, that's us.   That's why we know each other's location down to a coin's width and stay clear out of each other's way.  Just can't bear the idea of tearing curtains down if we cross each other in the hallway while taking a late-night leak."
>You groan as she takes a seat on a couch.
"I'd give us three minutes before we'd start tearing up the room.  It won't even last a second once the gloves come off.  Sorry pops, but your room is toast."
>She sounded almost bitter.  "I'm glad to know you trust yourself so much,"  the sound of your voice makes your mind's lips pucker.  Stop trying to badger her.
>What are you doing?
>Your father speaks up.
"We can all agree there's escalation.  We've got physical evidence of that now."  He gestures to the place where he put your gifts away.  "From what I'm seeing it's a miracle you can both put up with being on the same continent."


>"So.  We are getting worse."  You didn't say it as a question.  You and Eris were growing measurably more physically opposed to each other.  Only father's presence could temper you this much.  You look out the window and up at the sun.  "I would be foolish to say that the effects of such averseness is limited between the two of us?"
>He nods.
"Very."
>"All the more reason to fix things."  To Eris.  "We're not *meant* to be this way.  It's only hurting ourselves and the world around us."  Eris's curls bounce as she shakes her head in derision.  “And it's spreading.”
"We explode every time we get within a foot of each other, no duh it's not meant to be this way.  The question to ask is whether us being bitches to each other is the cause of all," she waves her hand around. "of EVERYTHING, or just one of the side effects."
>She crosses her arms.
"I'm going with side effects."
>Father speaks up again.
"Agreed.  This is all part of a bigger problem."  Eris gives a blank stare forward.
"Does this come from your vast well of experience?"
>He looks at her with a touch of bemusement.  It wasn't like her to take that sort of tone with father.
"It does."
"You gonna talk about Astra's mom and her batshit uncle now?"
>You see his arm go rigid at the reference to your mother.  One of your legs steps back.
"I was thinking about it.   It's relevant enough.  You'll be interested in this."
>He goes on.


"This is all beginning to form a pattern.  Entropy."  He says the word like he wants to take a knife to it.  "Heat bounces around space.  Fire to air, air to atmosphere, 'til it bleeds out into space and god knows where else til it's all spread too thin to matter and the temperature falls and everything locks down.  Heat death."  His voice was turning to stone.
"For a time I thought this was natural.  Entropy was a law, and I worked to break that law."  He shook his head.  "Didn't work.  I have my limits.   Still do."  He looks at you.  "Even your mother."
>He points to both of you.
"But the two of you.  Until you went at each other's throats everything was constant."
>Eris flexes her fingers.
"And that's...important?"
"Universal heat was holding."  He puts both his hands on a table.  "God, it was holding."  He looks up.  His eyes were beginning to turn red.  "For a long time I wasn't sure.  For a long time I didn't have any way to accurately measure.  This is a big place."
>Eris, even you,  looked uncertain.
"I should be used to impossibilities by now, but that alone...I couldn't wrap my head around it.  It was too good to be true.  Energy loss was the bane of my existence and suddenly it wasn't even a problem."
"I needed to be sure.  I..."
>His blood pressure was starting to rise.  You and Eris look at each other in concern.  This was starting to sound like a confession.
>"That's why you left, then?"
>His hands pressed hard against the wood grain.
"Yes.  I needed to be sure.  I had to plant instruments -check the temperature distribution, orbital drifts, coalescing behaviors.  This place is still young, but there are ways to tell."
>"And that's why you were gone for so long..."  He stared into the table and shrugged.
"This is a big place."


>"And while you were gone-"
"The two of us kicked the doors down and broke the windows at home."  Eris was sitting rigid.  "She turned me into a lawn decoration.  Is that when-"
"When it dropped.  For the first time since Astra was born, it dropped.  I didn't even look at my tools, but I could feel it."
>Your body grows chill.  "So it's my fault, then?"  Eris leans forward.
"Don't try and hog all the blame for yourself.  I was tearing into you just as hard.  Give me some credit."
>Father looks up.
"Even just turning Eris into stone doesn't explain everything.  Your fight damaged this place.  It goes deep."  He stands.  "I've seen this before, but not this big.  Not anywhere near this big."
>Your mouth is opened by the merest slip.  He's blaming himself, but he didn't go around setting galaxies on fire and breathing starlight and radiation in an attempt to snuff out your sister.  You tell him this isn't his fault.
>He yelled.  He said the heat was holding.  He yelled.
>You and Eris jump back.
>He runs a hand through his hair and down his face.
"I shouldn't have left you."  He muttered.  "I thought that if I knew, if I was certain about this place it would -it would help the two of you.  Dammit, I could see it.  I've dealt with both of you, why the hell didn't I see it coming?"
>Eris spoke.
"You already knew we were on track to start taking swings at each other?"
>He nodded.
"I didn't think it would happen so soon, or that it would be so drastic when it finally happened.  I was too preoccupied.  Blinded.  Astra..."
>You look at him with large eyes.


"I knew you were far, far too distressed.  You were both strung.  Astra, you couldn't deal with death, so I thought the gift of something that would definitively live forever, just the assurance that...there was one thing you'd never have to worry about would bring you some peace, but...well...."
>Eris slid forward and spoke carefully.
"Dad, it's not on you.  Whatever nastiness was growing between us, you can't know if you could've prevented that."
"I should have."
>His voice is hard again.  Your turn.  "It was not your responsibility.  That falls squarely on Eris and I.  You are not in the wrong.  We should have been smarter than that.  We know now, at least."  Eris nods.
"What's done is done, but we're not done.  Not you, not Astra, and not me either."
>"We're with you, and you're with us.  I know, deep down, I know that we'll get through this."
>The sun began to set and edged the room to a chill.  Your father realized he lost a grip that he's been fiercely holding onto for a very long time.  "You said this is bigger than what you've witnessed before.  How so?"  Your question floated in the air like a leaf before your father caught it.
"Your mother.  Your uncle.  Your aunt."  He had to swallow the bitter tastes of the words.  Even naming them by proxy was approaching too much.  "If they were like you, then they held reality together."
>He walked slowly forward, but his mind was running back to other days.  His hand slid along the table and walls...running along the windowsill as though mapping out time in the change of grain on wood.
"And it's because of them that reality fell apart.”


>He stared up at deep purple clouds that floated in a sky of reds swirled with oranges.
"And it took such a long time to fall."  He sounded almost wistful.  He turns from the window and looks carefully over the two of you.  "Do either of you have any idea how old I am?"
>Old.  Does it matter?   He's always been around.  He has always -been-  You find that very few things are predicable, even less are things guaranteed.  But your father?  He simply was, is, and always will be.
>You shift uncomfortably on your hooves.
"Tell me, what do you think about time?"
>"I know it flows differently for other people and things.  Like water it is constantly moving, but it's never consistent."  He nods.
"For me time doesn't move at all.  I'm frozen.  You're right.  Time is like water, and all I can do is stand still and watch it flood over me."
"I've learned to notice patterns this way, and pick up on the small things that you only notice after standing still for a few thousand years.  Let me tell you about a pattern that took so long to come full circle that I've only seen it once."
"You've both grown so much in the time I've known you.  Taller, smarter, and more beautiful than anything I've ever known."
>The two of you blush despite knowing better.
"All living things grow and change.  All systems change -some grow stronger, some degrade.  Everything keeps moving.  Everything.  Except for me.  For your entire life I have not changed by the slightest wrinkle, tan line, or atom."
>He looks at you.
"I looked the exact same now as I did when I first met your mother."
>He turns to the window again.
"That."  He takes a breath.  "I can't even put a number to how long ago that was."


>He glances over his shoulder and he can see Eris getting bored.  You're just a little confused.
"I'm going somewhere with this, I promise."
"When I first arrived here.  From the very moment I opened my eyes in this,"  He raises his arms to the window.  "This universe -it was already crumbling, but I was too dumb at the time to know it."  He rubs his temples.  "God almighty, I was an idiot back then."
"The sun didn't rise on its own, either.  Your mother was in charge of that.  Although she had a much easier time with the deed than you."
>Your nearly swallow your jaw.  "She did what?  It was EASY for her?"  How could such a thing be EASY?  What kind of power did you mother wield?  "What did she do differently?  If there's a way to-" Your father holds a finger up to pause you.
"I never saw her leave the planet for it.  Maybe she was just better at hiding it than you.  Or maybe things weren't quite as much a mess back then as they are now.  I'm inclined to believe the latter. Like I said, things are bigger now."
>He continues.
"Point is, things were already cracked.  The animals couldn't take care of themselves.  The seasons had to be kindled like a campfire.  Hell the damn clouds wouldn't even move on their own!"
"Seriously?"
"Seriously.  And I was too damn stupid to see anything wrong with that. Everything was so different here.  The colors were brighter, the buildings were grander, and the sky and stars were hung and painted by things with powers I couldn't possibly imagine, and I was invincible, of all things!  I had an entire new world to explore and nothing could stop me from  jumping off its highest mountains and diving into its deepest seas."



>His voice rung out with a fever pitch.
"But I found the limits of all our powers, and when I did I wish we never had any of them to start with."
"Your mother and aunt were holding a world together by sheer force of will.  I admired them.  I respected them.  I even loved them.  Everyone did."
"All except for your uncle, of course."  His vocal chords hardened into gravel again.  His shoulders tensed and you knew that he wanted to vent nothing but anger and hatred at the thought of your unknowable uncle.   "He just hated everything.  Only now I think I know why."
>Eris was holding her claw up to her mouth, looking pensive.  Father said Discord and Eris looked to be cut from the same cloth, if only in form.  She spoke.
"He wasn't walking around when you showed up, huh?  He was...."  She couldn't say the words. Father nodded.
"Locked up.  I wasn't around when the three of them had their first falling out, and as far as I could tell it was ONLY the three of them for a good long time.  Astra, your mother never told me about her parents.  I can count the number of times she's mentioned them on one hand, but the point is that they were on their own."
>Eris sat and played with her claws.  Her eyes squinted and she picked apart every word that came out of his mouth.  She spoke softly.
"So how did he get out?"
"On his own, most of the time.  The magic that held him down wasn't anywhere near as strong as what locked you up."
"No where near as strong." Eris scoffed.
"We let him out.  Once."  He shook his head.  "Took the leash out of our hands and...it worked for a little while.  He found a friend."
>Silence as he remembered someone.



"She was just one of those people who was very good at making friends.  But friends leave." He was replaying so many scenes inside his head.  "Maybe it was grief, or he got bored, or who knows what happened.  He wouldn't listen to anyone.  He tried to twist the world around again."
>He looked at Eris.
"So we did the only thing we could -we got together, cornered him, held him down and did the next best thing to killing him."
>A chill runs through the room.  His voice sounded like he almost enjoyed the memory.
"Looking back it may have been the worst decision we've ever made.  But by then the damage was done, and none of us had any idea how deep the ruin was.  Power was split up differently between them and it kept jumping around.”
>He took a deep breath, putting all of his thoughts and mistakes and before unspoken regrets to voice was taking its toll on him.
"We were so damn stupid back then.  You can't lock up a power like that and expect things to run without any problems.  They couldn't have been any more than kids when they did what they figured was the right thing."
>He covered his mouth.
"I still probably would've done the same thing."
>He stood straight and closed his eyes, nodding.
"But that's that.  Everything broke for the first time when they put him away, they broke a little more when her sister was locked up.  Your mother was alone for one thousand years."  He shook his head.  "All she ever tried to do was the right thing.  But they kept breaking and cracking no matter how hard she tried to hold it all together until it was nothing but dust in her wings, and she never knew why."
"We saved her sister, for a while at least.  In the end I think she was happier than all of us.  She didn't have to struggle with..."


"We just didn't know.  Even with all of our magic and engines, and all the time in the world we just didn't know."
>He was clearly talking to himself now.  You approached him carefully as he continued to mutter to himself about broken things.  He wiped an eye.
>"But we know.  Because of you, we know.  You kept me from making a damn fool mistake that I couldn't undo by myself, and you saved Eris.  You saved the both of us."
>You press your head into his shoulder.  "Your knowledge is helping us right now more than ever.  We know why it's broken, all that is left is to fix it."  You heard a sneer.
"Yeah.  But how do we do that?"
>You lift your head.  Eris's eyes were slits and her wings were stiffly folded.
"You never came close to fixing it.  You saw it all come tumbling down and, like you said,  ran back 'n forth trying to keep the ceiling up.  Do you have any idea -any at all- on how to reverse this crap?"
>Her candor stunned you.  Father was quick to reply.
"I've spent a billion-billion years coming up with ideas and none of them worked.  Postpone things, but not reverse.  Not existence-wide repair."
>He goes to sit in a chair.
"Whatever the answer is lies in you two."
>Eris smiles at you but her eyes are still smouldering.
"Do you have half an answer you're not telling me about?"
>"Now is not the time to turn accusatory.  Not to me."  You angle your wings back and step surely towards her with your head held high.  "We are all working towards a common goal."  She pointed a finger as close to your nose as possible without touching you.


"We."  She whispered.  "So far it's only been you doing what you think is right."  The innumerable wheels turned around in her head.  She pulled her hand to her chin.  "So maybe I should try it.”
>She looked you in the eyes as though she was searching for something.  The slits of her irises turned sharp and calculating.
"Dad, what did her uncle do whenever he slipped out of his prison?"
"Went off twisting everyone and everything he could get his hands on.  Tearing things apart and putting it back together in ways that could never sustain themselves.  He made a game about it."
>Her muzzle pursed.
"Unsustainble..."
>She looked at you again.  You caught onto what she was piecing together.  "You think he knew the world was broken as well?  Do you believe he was trying to fix it?"  You look at your father.  "How does that sound to you?"
"He probably had an inkling."  He looked disquieted.  "But I've never known him to focus on anything -too concerned with having fun.  And if he tried to save something he was going about it the wrong way, lashing out  against anyone who could help him the most.”
>Eris's arm bobbed uncertainly in the air.
"Maybe...he was supposed to lash.  Maybe he didn't lash out enough."
>"Conflict is not going to solve anything.  Conflict created this issue in the first place."  Eris slid out of the chair and glanced at you.  A hind leg kicked out and launched the furniture against the wall with thundering splinters.
>You caught the falling pieces before they hit the floor.  Blue sparks ran along the cracked and split seams before piecing them back together.  You set the unsplit chair back on the ground.  The room filled with the buzz of dissipating magic.  The glow died from your horn, but adrenaline hovered on a very close edge.



>"Breaking things will not help."  Hard as iron.  Eris studied the chair before looking at you, and then letting her stare linger on Father.  She cast her gaze down and muttered.
"I have to go think."
>She blinked out of the room, the flash of her magic gave you a sudden mild headache.  You lower your wings.  You want to leave the room.  The air pressure was far too great in here.
>"This has been productive."  You huff.  You shift from one hoof to another as you try to rationalize everything.  "Do you think she's going to do something rash?"  You wonder how long she should be left alone.
"She just said she needed to think.  Not a bad idea.  What about you?   What do you think?"
>"I think I should start by stepping outside."  You walk to the door.  "Come walk with me.  Please."  He follows you out into the hallway.  Guards stand at attention, silent and unmoving.   They respect your distance and give him no strange stares.
>You talk in whispers.  "She seems to have a lead.  You'd think I'd welcome any sort of direction, but something worries me."
"You let too many things worry you."
>You laugh at the truth of it.  "I learned it from you."  His turn to laugh.
"Then you've learned well.  But c'mon.  Tell me some specifics."
>"Something she told me yesterday.  She said that we must stop being afraid of what we are."
"Do you get spooked by your own reflection?"
>"I doubt that's what she meant."
"How do you feel about being alone, then?"
>You pause with a hoof in the air.  Your father's mouth turns to a slit and 'hmms.'
"Answers that question, I guess.  Maybe she's right."


>You sigh and lower your head a fraction.  "We both have things to fear.  I don't believe I'm afraid of what I am.  Now, of what I can do...that keeps me awake some nights."  There's a hesitant part of you that wants to say you're afraid of what Eris can do, but what would he think of such an admittance?  Would he see it as cowardly?  Treacherous, even?
>Just the consideration made you feel slimy.  You carry on.  "Of course that's the key question: What to do?  How to heal something seemingly unhealable?"
>"I've always enjoyed and have been good at making things and seeing them run smoothly.  You'd think the answer would come naturally."  Frustration ebbs over you, but your father pats your shoulder, seemingly snatching it away.
"She's scared too."  He stares at over passing arches.  "Maybe even more than you.  Just know that she's relying on us.  Whatever comes to pass, depend on each other not to give up, okay?"
>"Can I ask the same of you?"
"Always."
>That little word sliding through your ears made the air seem so much lighter.  You have family you can depend on, never forget that, Astra.
>The pair of you walk onto a path lined with hedges, deep green and iced with moonlight.  Night air passes into your lungs and blood, relieving your head.  The great feathers of your wings open and shakes to shed any remaining tension.
>"Will you talk with her later?"
"Not now.  She'll probably come to me first.  But I'd rather her go to you."
>That surprised you.  "I am not the best at dealing with her when she's in such...humors."


"But you are the best at understanding her ideas.  She is right -I don't know how to fix this.  What I told her was true.  Anything and everything I've done could not save the last place.  The ONE thing that did pull the universe from past the brink was...well...I was mostly incidental."  He smiles almost mischievously.  "I don't have any tricks.  I'm not meant to save this place.  It's all on you."
>He looks like a man staring at an endless concrete wall that must be climbed.  It was not an easy thing for him to say. "You've figured out how to solve every problem there ever was except for this, haven't you?"
"Not all of them."
>He gave you a smile that said you had to be satisfied with that.  You change the subject. "She wasn't angry when she threw that chair."
"She was fast, though.  And you were fast fixing it."
>"Perhaps.  It was yours, after all."
"It's an alright chair, I suppose."
>He fiddled with something in his pocket.  "What do you have in there?"  He looks caught.
"Nothing."
>You roll your eyes.  The two of you stroll in peace.  Light breezes brush your ears and wingtips.  There's a gentle tap and clink of the ever-present but distant guard retinue.  You can feel sleeping things in the trees and burrowing things in the dirt.  The knowledge that the world will stop turning in a few hours does not oppress you.
>This stretch of the world and everything in it was just fine, if only for a moment.  Everybody was living.  That made you happy enough.

----------

>Falling.  You remember falling.
>Floating.  You remember floating as well.
>You remember a darkness that was more than darkness.  A non-color of absolute absence.


>You remember going insane trapped in oblivion, trapped in yourself.  Trapped with her.  Trapped.
>You remember her.  You remember everything.  But above all, you remember her.
>She gave everything for what you had now -warm grass, breezes on the wind, comets burning through night skies, a little girl for you to hold and tell stories to help her sleep.  Things you had no right to imagine.  Those were all in danger now.
>Your fingers moved over buttons and invisible fields of electricity and data.  Screens changed.  Numbers were whispered seemingly out of thin air.
 >You've been working hard for a long time.  Ever since that first life-giving burst of warmth you've been working.
>Numbers changed again.  Growing smaller and smaller, if only by the most infinitesimal fraction.
>You were already giving all you had, but you couldn't do this by yourself.  You couldn't turn on the lights on your own the last time, and your influence was just that -influence.  You couldn't do any of the heavy lifting yourself.
>But luckily you were prepared to give everything you ever were, because you remember falling.  Your daughters wouldn't fall or fail because you won't let them.  They wouldn't let themselves.
>A little beep distinguishes itself from all the others.  One of them is approaching.
>She knocks on the door.  Your hands dance over buttons and floating lights.  You slide your work away, and step over tubes and sheeting of metal and white plastic.  You step through one pressurized door, lock it, walk down a hallway.  Another door.  Whish.  Woosh.
"Hey again."
>She doesn't try to go inside this time.  The door closes, but her eyes are all on you.  "Got away from the castle early today?"  She leans up against the door next to you.
"Told them to scram and they just listen.  Craziest thing, I swear.  Astra's asleep right now, but she'll probably bitch to me about it later."


>You can feel the weight on her mind and Astra's complaints makes up absolutely none of it.  "So I take it you've been thinking?"   She nods.
"A lot.  Can I ask you a question?"
>"Shoot."
"You hated her uncle.   Completely."
>You nod.
"But you didn't -want- to hate him, right?"
>You didn't quite see what she was getting at, but you had to think for a bit.  "I never wanted to hate anyone.  He brought that on himself."  You really did not enjoy thinking about him.  "But after he lost his best friend...he did things that left us no other option but to hate him."  She mulled it over while your memories grinded over long-past grievances.
"I can't bring the dawn"  A difficult admittance for her.  Her ears fell and she looked meek. "Just that fact means I can't fix this on my own.  I can't actually put things back together.  Wouldn't that mean he couldn't either?  If her uncle couldn't fix things, but still knew they were wrong...What if -what if...in his own weird way...he was still trying to do what he was supposed to?"
>You raised an eyebrow. "What he did wa-"
"Not that...no, maybe he didn't know it, or he did, but he was too distracted.  What if."  She put her hands over her eyes and muttered.  "What if he was onto something?  Maybe he wasn't doing the right thing, but he was close to doing the correct thing?  He could only break, but his sisters could fix."
>You asked her to explain.
"Dad.  There are things I'm compelled to do.  Astra's the same way, but she's not as glaring about it.   I can fight it,  the loud things.  The violent things.  But...what if I'm not supposed to? ."
>"You think that's the correct thing to do?"  She was uncertain.



"Astra might not think so.  But if she does what she's supposed to do...fix things...it would be worth it, right?  That means everything would be fine again.  She can't...she won't...you won't...."
>You walk in front of her.  "I won't what?  Think that I'll be cross with you?  Eris, if we all come out of this through the other side in one piece, that's gonna be the last thi-"
"I don't know if you'll be in one piece."
>You pause.
"I know what's in your pocket.  That hair."
>"Oh."  You realize that you had your hand in you pocket again.  "Damn."  You pull it out and twirl it around.  "Yeah.  You figured it out."  She stares intently.  "See how much you two stress me out?"  She speaks quietly, the hair in your fingers may as well been a snake.
"Can you not act like this isn't a big deal?"
>You cross your arms, rubbing the only visible chink in your armor between your fingers. "You want to know how it happened?"  She nods.  "When I pulled your put out of that piece of stone prison.  That storm you and your sister cooked up all that long time ago, all that raw energy bouncing around, and you kicking and screaming to pull yourself out.  It was a one-two-three punch."
>"All I can figure is that in that instance when you were clawing out and Astra's energy was trying to keep you in...a lot of tiny little rules were being broken and rewritten, and my head was stuck just a little too close to the fire."
"All that and it managed to get an entire strand of hair off you."
>"More than anything else has managed to do."  You remember coming home and just running your hand through your head.  It was stuck on your palm when you pulled it away.  Every single function in your body  crashed in shock.  That didn't kill you, of course.



"There's more to it than that."
>"There's always more to it."  She wrapped her arms around herself.
"So.  We're the only two that can hurt you?"
>You wag a finger.  "Pulling a hair out and knocking me stone dead are two entirely different things."
"But still, how can I be sure-"
>"But nothing.  Eris.  The stakes are much bigger than me.  I don't matter in this at all.  Do what you need to, and don't bother about any balding problems I might catch.  You asked me not to let you be afraid.  Don't start now."  You put the hair in your pocket.  "Just...give me a heads up when you decide to do anything."
>She laughed, but it was forced.  She could tell there was more you were hiding, but just walked away instead.
"I'll talk to Astra."
>She left.  You opened the door again.  Whoosh.  Opened the other door.  Whish.  Your calm walk turned into a daze.  You stumbled over a stack of drives.  You tripped over a tube.  Lights flickered and wavered as you fumbled through floating streams of now meaningless information until you collapsed into your chair.
>Didn't hurt, didn't hurt, didn't hurt.
>You pull that damn hair out and look at it.  Came out at the follicle.  You can count each and every little cell and bit of natural oil on the thing.  It hasn't degraded at all since coming out.  Just separated.  Only a hair, after all.  Snipped away by the raw powers of your children that could warp the rules of reality itself.
>They had done the truly impossible entirely by accident.  What were they?  The immensely powerful creatures you loved and cherished so much that they could do this to you?


>You knew the answer, but perhaps you were afraid of it.
>Your drop your face on the desk and cover your head with your hands.
>Didn't hurt at all.
-----------
>Someone threw a rock at your patio door.
>The sharp clack stirred you in your sleep.  The window rattled again.  The third one made a small crack in the glass.  Your growled as your horn glowed and undid the fracture by reflex.  There was no point in ignoring it now.
>In a half-daze you walk to the balcony and open the doors.  Eris is sitting on the railing.  Her slender back curved gracefully as she gazed over the city.
"Sorry for waking you.  Just hang out around the doorway, yeah?  Or no closer, at least."
>She says it without venom.  Just a precaution.  You lean against the frame, puzzled.  "I doubt you stopped by for a simple midnight chat."
"I wouldn't wreck your beauty sleep if it wasn't important."
>The curtains drew themselves closed as you made it to the opposite end of the walkway.  Night time winds blew over the railings and trailed your hair behind you like liquid smoke.  You stand easily against the guard and look to the burning lights of your sleepy kingdom along with your sister.  If you can hardly bare to look at each other, at least you can appreciate the same view.
"What do you think they dream about?"
>Her ponderous tone catches you off guard.  You give her an answer.  "They dream about trees and dancing in the sunlight on a floor made of leaves.  The wind and birds are the orchestra."  Eris tilts her head.  "They have a gift for dreaming well, unlike us."  You would trade with them if possible, but they didn't deserve to be afflicted with the tumultuous images you have.
>Eris senses your unspoken wish.


"Must be nice."  Her head pivots by degrees to your direction.  "Astra, when you did...what you did...when you changed the castle, and try to turn the Earth into that marble, did it feel good?"
>You raise an eyebrow and look at her backside, unsure.  "Feel good?"  Your ears fell to the side as you looked back out to the city.  "Eris, when I did that, I didn't feel...I don't know what I felt.  I was angry.  Desperate doesn't begin to describe.  I felt fit to explode, it was-"  You shook yourself.  "But when I felt the atoms of the world begin to turn..."  Could you say it?
"I felt amazing."
>A wordless 'hn?' formed from you.
"The tornado.  The mountain.   Making the scar in the ground."  Her claws dug into the bannister.  "Being able to make all that noise and tearing things around made me feel like I was doing something right.  But I want to know, I want you to tell me, what you did.  Did it feel good?"  She made an unclear gesture with her claws.  "When you took things and made them...I dunno, 'perfect.'  Did that feel good?  Did that feel right?"
>A pause hung in the air.  She asked if the worst moment of your life felt right.  You shook your head.  "There was a pressure building up within me those days.  I wanted to scream and fight against a world that dared to fade and wither against me.  In that moment I felt a kind of...a kind of relief." You closed your eyes and bit your tongue.  "No.  It was more than relief.  It was rapture.  Knowing that what I made would hold together felt glorious."
>"But it was a selfish bliss.  Look at what it's done to us."  Eris's wings flapped one at a time.
"Do you think you could do it better?"
>"How do you mean?"


"The things I did....the storms, the burning stars, they felt good.”  She shook her head.  “But not 'right.'  I can do better.  But what about you, Astra?  Can you do better than perfection?"
>"I don't believe you understand how that word works."  She turns full-view towards you.  Her yellow-red eyes were iridescent in the night.  You almost felt them push against you.
"I believe you can.  Just think about it.  Hard."
>She feels your own gaze against her.  On one hand she swivels her body up into the air, her tail flickering like a candle flame.
"G'night Astra.  Get some sleep."
>She falls below the tower.  The air blows away the latent tension.  You look out onto the dreaming scape of your kingdom and wondered if they would sleep forever if you didn't raise the sun.
>They would all sleep forever one day but not always dream, you conclude.  The sun must come up, then.  You walk back inside, close the door and tuck yourself back under the heavy spread of your bedsheets.
>"Better than perfection," you whisper.
-
>You flew out beyond the clouds and moon again once the world stalled.  You turned it again.  It hurt again.  But you managed to smile a little as you fell to earth and grazed your side on the castle tower.  There was something to look forward to today:  Father agreed to meet you this morning.  You've decided to take advantage of the situation and turn it into a breakfast meeting.
>Aids rushed to you.  They gave you a look over.  You calmed them, assured them, and was thankful for the relief in their eyes.  The guard captain had nothing vital to report.  He repeatedly asked if you didn't want to rest more before heading to the dining hall.   You handed out more assurances.


>Wave your wings.  Cast the glamor.  "I'm perfectly fine."  You managed to avoid stumbling down the hall.  The guard captain grumbled to himself.
>You should be grateful they care so much.  But you feel guilty for casting such concern on those who only want to see you well.
>But you would be well.  There were ideas you wish to speak over with Father, but sharing a table with him will raise your spirits significantly.  The guard captain knows this, otherwise he'd push for bed rest even harder.
>It was a new day you pulled across the sky.  You were determined to make as much good use of it as possible.  You needed a good day.  It would remind you of what you were working towards.
>The spread on the outdoor table was irresistible.  Fresh fruits and the golden scents of baked things rose and shimmered into the air.  Shiny pitchers filled with cool juices were set down.  Your father reclined in a chair, eying a tart with too much attention then he cared to have known.  It was easy to lose yourself in the simplicity of the moment.
>That's all you wanted.  Just a moment.
>A cup of tea is placed on a porcelain saucer before you.  You stir and watch as the little twirls of steam rise up.  "Is it selfish of me to to take such a pause during the biggest crisis we've ever encountered?"  He took a bite of tart and chewed thoughtfully.
"Probably."
>"Oh."  You look downcast.
"If it makes you feel better I'm enjoying this too."  He raises his danish.  "So that makes us both selfish."


>The soft ringing of your laughter carried across the the table.  It was an absurd statement.  Your father was as far from selfish as anyone you've ever met.  "We're all in good hands, then.  The selfish like to protect what's theirs."  He wiped the crumbs off his hand with a napkin and spoke in a tone he tried to affect as appraising, but you could sense the gravity behind it.
"What do you to be consider yours?"
>"Everything."  You close your eyes and take a sip of tea.
"Greedy girl..."
>"You just taught me how to share."  You lower your cup.  "Eris came to my quarters last night.  There were no altercations, don't fret."  A spoon punctuates the air as you think.  "She said something interesting in reference to our -our"  A wooziness overcomes you.  A screeching ring wells up inside your ears.  Your head nearly hits the table.  Your father stands up, concerned.
"Astra?  Astra, what's wrong?"
>He comes to your side, brushing away the guards and others of your entourage.
>"Here she comes..."  You mutter, half-dazed.  Eris's aura touched you far before she stepped outside.  The effects of her presence was magnified beyond anything beforehand.  You tried to stand on a shaking leg and face her.
>The air warped around her like heat from a furnace.  A stone-sober look of determination was drawn over her.  She held her head at an angle, showing off her horns with their full spread.  Your father stepped between the two of you.
"Eris."
>She blinked and an odd look of regret crept on her.
"Hey Dad..."
>He walked closer to her.  You wanted to say something, Watch out, watch out watch out...
>Now that was absurd.   Whatever game Eris was playing, she wouldn't dare touch him.  He stood before her.




"She's not feeling well.  Right now it's very important that you-"
>He went on talking to her.  He was right. You weren't feeling well.  You felt sick.  There was a pressure building inside you.  "Eris, what are you doing?"  You ask with a heavy half-lidded leer.  She sidestepped your father and looked at you with gravity.
"Something that needed to be done a long time ago."
>Her arms wrapped around your father.  The heat died away and the air cleared.  The scratching nails in your head vanished.  The world was quiet.
"Heads up," she whispered.
>With a lightning flourish she spun with Father in her grasp exactly once and flung him up into the air, out of sight.
>The guards and waitstaff were about to fly into a panic.  She raised her claw and snapped.  They disappeared into a puff of vapor.  Her use of magic were hammer blows against you.
"They really don't need to see this."
>You exploded.  Outrage, confusion, and desperation launched you like a rocket.
>WIPE-HER-AWAY your body told you.  Blue and white static washed behind you as you cleared the distance towards her.  Her eyes shimmered as her wings spread out to brace herself.
>She caught you by the shoulders.  The force of your impact spread the static over her in a wave, it flushed across the ground and up the tower behind her, scorching the stone work.  Touching her burned you even worse than when you tried to touch her music box.  But you can tell from her exposed teeth that you were hurting her just as much.
>"What.  Are.  You. Doing?"  Your voice reverbed as smoke across her snout.  Your hair turned hellish and wild.  Your wings fanned out wide, their tips like electric-tipped knives as you overshadowed her.


>"Did you hurt him?"  Lightning crackled halos in the sky.  "Did you HURT HIM?  Do you know what I will DO to you, Sister?"   The backs of your legs wavered and licked like fire on a log.  This was beyond intolerable.  You shoved her down into cracking stone.  The tower behind her fractured and slid.  Cut stone and boulders floated in the air.  Eris twisted her head and looked you in the eyes.
"I want you to promise me something."
>Her voice was wrung with remorse.
"Please don't hate me for this."
>Your body pulled back to itself and the static fizzled away.  "I never wanted to hate you," your voice cracked.  Eris nodded.  "Explain yourself, Eris.  Don't let us be consumed by madness again."
"Explaining won't do any good, sis.  Lemme show you instead."
>She took advantage of your lowered guard to slip away from you, taking to the sky and cutting through the air like a razor blade.  Your body washed back out like the tide.
>Red spirals and glowing embers trail behind her as her body lost cohesiveness.  She flapped her wings, leaving after images in the sky like a trail of still photographs
>You shout after her.  "Eris do not do this!"
>She shook her head and said with an echoing voice.
"Sorry Astra, it's the only thing I know how to do."
>You can make out a dreamy smile on her face.  You gallop towards the clouds.  The tower below you crashed to its foundation.   Your sister spread her arms out, looking to expect a mad hug.  Bandlets of plasma bounced and ringed around them.  Her claws turned ambient like hot magma.   The air around her crackled and popped.  Lightning struck from your hooves and fell to the ground as you charged into the atmosphere.
>The sky turned thick as you neared each other.  Both of you slowed.  Eris called to you.
"Don't you get it?  It's not impulse, it's instinct!  We have power, Astra.  Let's use it."
>"Not this way."  You grunt.   Eris shook her head.



"We're not supposed to hurt each other.  That's the mistake we made last time.  That's where your mother screwed up.  The other guy -your uncle, or my real..." she paused and shook her head, snarling, "whatever the hell he is to me, that was his fault too.  Even mine!  Astra, we didn't go far enough."
>Her arms shook as more of her body cracked into light.  Massive rings of light sloughed up and down her body.
"It goes deeper than chaos.  Deeper than perfection, I need you to see this.  Everything we've been doing up to now?  Games, nothing more.”
>Her voice teetered on the edge of ecstasy.  Your charge slowed to a maddening drift.  Your horn turned into a searing white and your wings split, your feathers turned into floating bars and blades that flapped in unison.
>"This will only lead to more ruin, Eris.   This world is broken enough as it is, do not tear it down into nothing."  She bared teeth that looked to multiply and sharpen.
"But that's what you do,"  Eris muttered.  "Old buildings, bad paintings, houses made of cards.  You're supposed to tear them down!  If something's broke Astra, don't fix it."
>She thrust her chest out, and her arms fell down to her side.  The million bands of her power exploded, lashing out into the air around her.  They struck, bubbled, and burned away reality, singing it into streaks of nothing.  Her mouth quivered in bliss and her body shook, experiencing orgasm.
>She ran her glowing hand over her face.
>You reeled in mid-air.  Tendrils of un-real weaved around you, as you gaped in horror.  This could not continue, but could you even stop her?  You only knew of one way.  Your voice was heart-broken when you spoke.


>"Eris, you're not making a clean slate, your breaking the slate entirely!  How can something be built from nothing!   It's impossible!  Stop this!"
"Impossible," she shouted.  "You're still scared to admit it to yourself, huh Astra?"  She looks at you and smiles, almost in pity.  "Impossible is for them."  She points down to the city.  "And we're nothing like them."  She looked toward the air.  Her hair fell behind her like heavy rain.
>"We are their princesses, Eris.  They've called you that for ages.  They trust you, love you, do not do this to them."
"They don't NEED us to be princesses, Eris.  Not now.  But they need us, oh, they need us now more than they ever have."  She looks at you again, her eyes reflecting every star that ever exploded, but a look of pleading comes across her burning, sharp features.  "But they don't need us sitting on a throne, or anything like that.  We were raised to do that.  But...Astra."  She whispered.  "Astra, Astra, Astra...this isn't about what we were raised for.
>She spread her arms again, her body was a glowing pyre.
"This is what we were born for.”
>She closed her eyes.
"Let's be gods."
>She pulsed again.  Chunks of reality burned away.  She cried out again.  Color drained away from the sky and from the ground.  Sound turned into static.  Your body began to loosen , trailing behind you like a comet as Eris was erasing principles on the conceptual level.
>The only color that remained was the pulsing, splashing inks of your auras.  Refractions of Eris echoed all around her.  "Is this what gods do, Eris?  Tear down their own temples?"    She burned so bright her body turned gold.  The glare would've blinded you had your flesh-and-blood eyes not boiled as your base-self was being unleashed, slipping from the reigns you held onto so resolutely.


>Bone turned into shafts of light.  Hair and fur spiraled away into threads of ozone and vaporous sparks of neon and flashes of unraveling magic that could light all the sky.
>"Eris!"  You cried.  "You were not born to be an engine of destruction.   You are better than this!"  Sounds wavered and echoed through air that was breaking down.   Sound waves froze in place and scattered as cracks in reality spread out like spider-webs, but the force of your will carried them through.  "You and I grew up together,  I know what you are.  You know what I am.  For the love I have for you, don't do this.  For the love we have for Father, and the love he has for us, I beg you, do not do this."
>Her wings suffused around her .
"We're out of options.  I don't think any of us really understood what we were for."
>"We are SISTERS.  We are not FOR anything!"  Eris shook her head, the silhouette of her body flowed as though it was underwater.
"How can you say that? With the dreams you and I have, and the....the way Dad looks at us."  She gestures in all directions at once.  "You told me that you admired how I act like I'm not afraid of anything.  That you wish you could be like that.  Well I'm afraid right now, Astra.  So please, for the sake of your little sister, I need you to be brave.  Astra, please be brave for me.  'Cus I'm terrified right now."
>She pulsed again.  The world turned a heavy monochrome.  Your body blasted away entirely, leaving behind only a stormy essence of yourself that stretched across the sky like living oil.  Eris was likewise rendered into her base self -a fiery twister made of sunlight that mashed together in spurts, making a rough conglomeration of her body.  Her voice was an ocean clashing on rocks.


"Astra...I want you...to think about....everyone."
>A picture of everyone you've ever spoken to, heard about,  seen, even if only in your dreams, flashed in the expanse of your mind.  "Eris..."
"Think about...everything...."
>Birds nesting.  Meteors flaring up like candles as they cross atmospheric planes at the same instance a flower blooms .  People dancing on leaves.
"Everything."
>Two little girls chasing each other across skies dappled with mountains below and stars above.
"Because you're about to save it all."
>She took a deep breath.  A gasp deep enough to let out a shriek that will break everything from glass to tectonic plates.   Her body solidified and she looked at you with tears in her eyes.
"Do me proud, sis."
>Even as time was warping beyond recognition, you still tried to do something in that shattered instance.  You wanted to freeze her.  You wanted to slap her.  You wanted to encircle her, hold her close and tell her that you didn't care about any of that.  But there was simply nothing you could do.
>She exhaled.
>Her breath was one that cracked the world.  The sky above and ground below pulsed in one massive heartbeat in tandem with your own, spreading out veins of white nothing, cutting tethers of reality.  It spread to the moon, the planets, the sun.  The sky met the firmament of the ground, and the oceans washed over the moon.  Birds flew across gas giants and magma froze into glass that blew away into sand.  But even in that cracked second of crashing existence the sun refused to come up.  Things flashed, burned, and singed.  Every rule ever written was broken and twisted beyond all recognition until everything collapsed and obliterated itself in refusal to exist in complete and total physical insanity.


>Erased.
>

Except for you.   Nothing exists here.  You carry no body, no mind, yet here you are.   Vast, all-knowing, and all-powerful.
There is nothing and no one to behold you but yourself.
Here
You
Are
It was like drifting from one layer of a dream and into another.  Maybe that was because all the cosmos was something a little more real than a dream to you.  It depended on you to shape it, to fuel it, and give it life.
And in return you were allowed to fly amongst its lights and wonders.  She stirred inside of you as the vague impressions of morning sky and aurora belts flickered through your super-conscience.  The part of you made of blood and feather.  Like an iceberg's tip, she showed but the smallest glimpse of the entire ocean that was you.  But she was utterly crucial, you could not exist without her.  There would be no point.
There was an old kingdom whose withered rules and scaffolding reached into your own and threatened to turn cold everything the winged-image of yourself held dear.  That's why the other one scoured it clean and woke you up:  You must rebuild.
>Do not call her the 'other one.'
She spoke up from within.  A small voice, comparatively, but compelling.
 >She has a name.  She has a name.
A name.
>Eris.  And we love her.
Eris.
>We have a name as well.
A name.


A miniscule fraction of yourself was encoded on a twisting strand of DNA that held to no other laws but itself.  You were called from above and into the darkness, ushering a great cry that shook the void.  A star said she loved you before lighting up the darkness and banishing the cold.
She called you Astra.  He called you Astra.  The other one called you Astra.
You have been called many names.  Queen.  Princess.  Sister.  Daughter.  God.  You were all those things and so much more, but only one name encompassed all that you are:  Astra.
>Yes, that is our name.
She is restless within you.  She is searching for Him.  He is not here.
She asks where he is.
He is not here.
Her voice subsides, recognizing that there is much to be done.  It all needs to be remade.  The other one's words echoed in the abyss.  Eris.  She's here as well. 'Think about everything.'    You do so.  >You think about the things you loved, the things you hated, and why they must all exist.  >You find the flaw weaved into their essence that allowed them to crack and bleed irretrievable warmth once you and Eris struck.  >You see a concept.  A reality.  An idea that leads down a path to frozen stagnation and no love to be shared between anyone.
Heat Death.
The memories of the two who called for you flash in the void.  Darkness and Cold.  Darkness and Cold.
>Such a thing must not occur.  There must always be life.
The sacrifice made by the star that loves you will not be in vain.
The changes you'll have to make will seem undetectable, but crucial.   You only desire to make just -enough- changes.  There must still be time, there must still be grass, and there will always be love and light.


And there will be the other one, as there must be.  Something that does not have to answer to you.  You have no say over the other one.  It forms itself as it sees fit, and the other one is happy as Eris.
The only question that remained was what to make first?  You recall the first thing you ever saw.
>Light.
And everything turns bright, showing void.  Planets are called into being, flickering into existence like candle flame.

>
>



>You gasp.  Your white chest raises high enough to lift you off the grass.  Your eyes flutter open to an expanse of sky that goes on forever.  The light of the sun makes your eyes water and the shock of the breeze feels like snow on your body.
>The edges of your lips quiver and you cry out like you're being born for the second time.  Your ears hum with the wonderful music of a world turning on its own.  You feel everything on the earth.  The people, the rivers, birds, winds, and rainstorms washing over plants.  They were all here, and they were all beautiful.
>Your mouth hangs open in a smile of unequaled bliss as tears of liquid joy fall down the side of your blushing face.  Your wings fan out wide.   You want sunlight to touch every last one of your feathers.
>There's a rustle in the grass beside you.  Eris's curled body shocks itself into life.  Her breath blew over the grass in heavy spurts.  She ran her paw through the dirt and her tail swept in slow, heavy circles.
>The cries that came from your mouths sound less than appropriate.  You're glad you sense no one nearby, but you doubt you'd care enough if someone were.
>Your gasping ebbs like the tide as the two of you slowly come back to earth.
"I am so glad"  Eris huffs, "we did not screw that up."
>"What did you...what did you see?"  You turn yourself upright, dizzying yourself with the simple act.  "I saw -there was - a-a-a--a cacophony, and I couldn't, but then I-I-I..."
"Did what you needed to."  She smiled a fatigued smile.  She tried to stand but fell straight over.  She looked up at the world around her.  Clouds and far-off trees were reflected in the yellow sclera of her eyes.  "Looks like we did a good job."  She looked back at you.  "Thanks."  She holds out a paw, almost nervously.


>You reach out a wingtip.
>They touch.
>And nothing happens.  No sparks of static , yelps of pain, or sundering of whatever happens to be sunderable.  You just touch.
>It's such an overwhelming relief that you squeal loudly and cannonball right into her chest, hugging her tightly, fore hooves, wings and all.
"Ghuk!"
>"Eris!"  Her legs kick in the air.
"Alright, alright, we're not fucking -anathema- to each other now!  'S great."
>"I love you so much, sister!"  You laugh like a little girl and nuzzle into her.  She tries to wriggle away.
"Ah, for crying out -are you serious right now?"
>You hug even tighter until she wraps an arm around you.  You don't stop until she puts the other one around you too.  You still don't let go.
"You know, you can stop any time you wan-"
>"Never."  If you opened your mouth butterflies would fly out.  She groans and slaps her forehead with a wing.
"I love you, but can you please quit being so damn NEEDY?"
>You snicker some more before pulling away a little.  Eris dusts off and pulls herself into a sitting position.  You brush the hair out of your eyes as your brow falls a little.
>"How did you know?"
"Hm?"
>"The...everything.  How did you know that I could piece it all back together when you took apart...well, everything?"  She wrung her hands together.
"I didn't 'know.'  Not exactly."  She looked at you and her ears fell to her side.  "But it wasn't some wild hope either.  I kinda had all the assurance I needed."
>Your head cocked to the side.  "How do you mean?"  Eris fell into a quiet sort of sincerity and crawled towards you.
"It was this.  This thing right here."
>A talon pointed to the infinity symbol that glowed softly on your leg.



"That had to mean something, right?" She began to trace around it.  "Infinity."
>She held onto the word like it was worth a fortune.
"I remember the day you got this.  Blew half the house down, you were so hot."
>You remember that day well.  It stirred up a raging indignation inside you, recalling the day something was stolen from you for the first time.
"Y'know, I was always kind of jealous of this.  Thought it would be kind of nice to be given a little hint of definition.  Infinity.  Pretty major hint, even if it did take us this long to get it."
>"I...I suppose so."
"I was always good at breaking stuff, and you were always good and putting it back together.  We just needed to push ourselves."  She flexed her hands and cracked her knuckles.
>"Well.  I suppose we can take a break now."  You stared at your leg's brand, ready to fall into deep thought.  Eris looked sheepish.
"Uh."
>You eye darted towards her.  "What does 'uh' mean?"  She scratched the back of her head.
"Yeah...heh...funny thing...you know when you said how I broke 'everything'?"
>You frown.
"I didn't exactly break everything."
>"You mean all of that-"
"More like....a tenth....fifteenth...ish of everything."  She waved her paw around.  "I sorta eyeballed it."
>"All of that drama and..."
"I just wanted to make sure if we screwed up, we didn't screw EVERYTHING up..."  She coughs into her paw.
>You sit in the most stunned silence.  For a brief wisp of uncountable time you held total sway over a fifteenth-ish amount of reality.
>"That was a very bold gamble,"  You said quietly.  Eris says just as softly.
"I didn't want to risk -everything.  If I was wrong, I don't know if I'd be able to live with that, but I figured we'd both be dead anyways.  Besides, I didn't want to risk hurting Dad."


>Hurt *Father*?  Such a concept has never before entered your mind.   You almost start laughing at the absurdity.  "So that's why you-"
"Yeah."
>"Wait."
>An entire second and a breeze passes between you as a very important word flashes brightly in your minds.  Both of your eyes widen to the size of saucers.
"Dad!"
>"Oh shit!"
>The grass 'woofs' flat as you both jump towards the sky to find your father.
----
"Next time" he said, "Give me a heads up BEFORE you give a heads up."
>He looked like he was about to be sick.  He was still spinning and showing no sign of slowing down when you caught up to him.  "Let's get you home, quickly Father."  He shook an open hand at you while closing his eyes.
"No, no.  Let's not do any 'quick' things right now.  I lost count of how many star clusters I was just chucked through.  I need a sit.  I need a real good sit."
>You and Eris quickly pulled up something for him to sit on.  You're not sure how he managed to collapse into a chair floating in zero gravity, but he did.  He pulls his hand down from his face and stares one-eyed at Eris.
"I shouldn't have taught you how to throw so well."
>She looked a little proud.  You may have felt a little jealous.
"You two just did something big."
>The pair of you nod.  Where could you even begin?  Do you even know what you did? Truly?
"I wrecked everything up real good and Astra put it all back together."
>He sat up a little straighter and studied both of you with a gaze that turned into a thousand-year stare.
"What do you mean, 'wrecked?'"


>Eris giddily explained the concept of crashing existence until it refused to exist anymore.  He scratched his chin and chewed his lip.
"So that was an entire chunk of reality that was just erased then?"
"Sure was!"
>"What did it look like, from the outside?  Could you make anything out?"  He closed his eyes and said.
"I was pretty dizzy, so I may have gotten some details wrong.  I heard you two down there get very loud."  He sounded severe.  "And then everything became very quiet.  I thought I saw a flash."  Fingers rubbed at the forehead.  "I thought I heard something very big breathing.  But it was, ah, I wasn't too sure of any of it.  It was fast.  Hardly took anytime at all."  He looked at you.  "So you pulled it all back?"
>You nod.
"Tell me this.  When it was all gone..." He closed his eyes and dug deep into his memory.  "Did you see a black floor?"
>"A...a what?"
"Did the planets come back like candles lighting themselves?"
>You shook your head.  "Father, what I did was...I don't know if that was me doing it -I mean, that was me, but...it was...more than me."  A great sense of insignificance washed over you.  "It was like..."  you shook your head and looked beyond the two of them and out towards the stars.  "It was like remembering every dream you've ever had all at once."
>Eris coiled loosely like she held herself in free fall and asked
"Did it feel right?"
>"More right then anything I've ever done.  Putting everything back together and making sure all the pieces WORKED, it felt so..." you sigh, "it felt like bliss."  Your father spoke up.



"And you saw all the pieces?"
>"All of them.  Down to each rock and drop of water."  He remained quiet for a while and rubbed his fingers together.
"So the sun is coming up?"
>"It was where it should be when we both came too.  It -feels- right, but I would still prefer to do some very thorough fly-bys and checks.  I imagine you would like to test your...instruments...and make sure all is well."  You straighten your wings behind you.  "But I imagine the only way we shall know for sure is to wait for dawn."
"Sounds like a good plan.  Eris?  Anything to add?"  She shook her head.
"Not right now.  Like you said -wait for morning.  We can party then, yeah?"
>"Then let's head home then.  There is much work to be done.  Father, are you well enough to travel?"  He drifted away from his seat and cracked his back.
"No, but it won't kill me.  Let's go home.  We've got work to do."
>The three of you went home.
>There was damage control to be done.  People weren't so much panicked or frightened as they were confused.  You spared them the more volatile details, and asked them to be patient.
>The guard captain walked beside you throughout the afternoon, helping to reinforce your order.  It was strange.  This day you understood him better than you ever have before.  You knew exactly what he was made of.  You saw how his blood flowed, and how his eyes caught the light of the world and guided his footsteps.  Not too long ago, Eris tore him apart, but you put him back together.
>You put them all back together.  You let yourself hear the heartbeats of everyone in the castle, and smiled at the complete intimacy you had with them.



>But you couldn't dwell.  You and Eris departed once calm fell back into place.  You pierced the atmosphere and zig-zagged around planets.  You touched, felt, brushed, and heard the rumbling thrum of a cosmic engine who's wheels turned once more.
>You met with Eris at the edge of the newly restructured space.  The two of you spoke in hushed whispers.
>You checked everything again.
>And a third time to be sure.
>You told Eris to head home.  You wanted to check a fourth time.
>Something did not add up.
---
>Great.  Great great great.
>Great.
>Something unsettling was making your wings twitch.  You don't even bother knocking on the big metal door to Dad's little club house.
>He sat at the far end of a room filled withwwwooooooooowwwww...
"Eris."
>He sounded a little miffed, or surprised.  Maybe both, maybe neither.
>You were distracted by lots of new little things.  Your jaw hung open and your eyes twinkled like they were made of birthday candles and confetti.
>The room was filled with lights and square screens and shapes made of lasers that were constantly changing shape..  The whole room hummed and lots of tiny little mechanical parts whirred busily away.
>You wanted to touch ALL OF IT!
>Your claws reached forward, glistening like they're coated in sugar as you stepped clumsily towards the nearest glittering thing.  Dad's hand appeared in front to stop you like a concrete pole.  You whimper like a girl being told she can't have all the candy.
>"How could you hog a room like this all to yourself?"
"It's not as fun as it looks, I promise you."
>LIAR.  You wanted to say.
>"Liar."  So you did.  He looked up in hopes to find something reasonable to talk with, but saw nothing but a gray steel ceiling.



"I take it you and Astra found some discrepancies?"
>He snapped his fingers to get your attention.  Your gaze draws to his hands like a fluttering moth to candles.  "Huh?  Yeah.  Yeah."  Time to get serious.  Your ear twitches because you don't want to blink.  "Discrepancies.  Things are adding up.  I mean, they're adding up, but there's....leftovers."
>Your Dad flicks at one of the screens, spinning it in mid-air like a dinner plate and slides it across the room as it vanishes like a lightning bug going out.  You fight the urge to chase after it like a dog.  He shuts down some of the brighter squares.
>"Things not tallying up right for you, either?"  You take a step closer.  He looks at you and sits down in his chair.
"You said you only...restarted part of space, right?"
>You nod.  Blue neon lights glide across your irises.
"Then there's our explanation.  The problem was with -all- of space.  Not just a bit."
>"Damn."  You mutter.   "Figured as much.  We fixed the hole in the window, but there's still cracks in the rest of the glass, right?"  He nods.  "That's the thing about cracks.  They get bigger and bigger the longer you ignore them."
>"Alright then, so I knocked down the door frame, but turns out I get to tear down the whole house.  But who gets to build it again.  Onetwothree -not it!"
"Not it." He says.
>"So Astra gets that job.  Alright then, settled.  This'll be fun, now we ca-"  You sniffed the air.  You looked around the room, suddenly oblivious to the temptations of buzzing circuitry and invisible streams of data.  "Dad?"
"Hm?"
>"What about you?  Is everything adding up?"  He flicked another screen around.
"How do you mean?"
>"Where is it?"  He winced.
"You're sharp."
>"No, seriously, where's the hair?"  He shrugged his shoulders and shook his had.
"It's...not here.  It's gone."



>"What do you mean, it's gone?  You-put-it-somewhere-else gone? It's you-lost-it gone?"  He stood, looking almost ghostly in the dimmed light of the room.
"I mean it's gone-gone.  When you tossed me I had it sitting in here.  When I got back it -wasn't- here."
>"So where did it go?"  He put a hand on the wall and looked at you.
"I don't know."
>"That doesn't make sense.  I'm the expert at not making sense, so I'd know.  It should be here.   When I wrecked it all, Astra put it all back.  Hell, you saw her prancing up and down, happy at how she made it all nice and tidy!"  You slinked past him and looked around at his desk, under chairs, behind tall black towers and into ventilation shafts.  "It's around here somewhere, you're just not looking hard enough."
"Eris, it's not here."
>"We'll have to ask Astra, she'll remember where she put it."  You crawl on the ceiling.
"Eris, please."
>"'Cus what good is being able to run this place if we can't keep track of everything?"  You were about to punch through the metal to get a look at the other side.  “We can't start losing pieces of you.   'Cus that means we might lose another and we'll run out of bits, 'n if we misplace all of you then-”
"Come down from the ceiling.  Please."
>You float downwards and right yourself.  He puts his hand on your shaking shoulders.
"It.  Is.   Gone.  I would know if it's here, but from what I can tell it has dropped out...”
>”Out of what?  Like, reality?”  You're smiled because it was either that or start tugging on your hair.  He tilted his head to the side.
“That's what it looks like.”
>”But that's dumb.”



 “Not gonna disagree, but it wasn't destroyed and scattered to the winds, converted to heat, or energy, or turned into a bug and flew away, it has stopped existing completely."
>He laughs quietly.
"I am -really- glad I taught you how to throw well."
>You had feared there was a small, infinitesimal, and totally improbable chance that your dad could get mildly scuffed when you and Astra double-teamed time and space.  You didn't want to run that risk of making him lose even more hair.  He would look really stupid bald.  An image of the man standing before vanishing in a blink ran over your mind.
>”Do you mind...explaining how that works at all?”  Your father raised his eyebrows and breathed very slowly.
“Ah.  Alright, just this once I'm letting you break a rule I made.  Can you put a glass of water on this table here?”  He knocks on the surface.”
>You snap your claws.  A glass of water pops on the table.  He picks up a pen.
“Thanks.”
>He drops the pen into the glass.
“The pen there?  That's me.  The water is space.  Galaxies, people, etc.” He taps the rim.  “The glass is reality, or whatever you want to call the stuff that's holding everything.  Now, let's pretend that this water gets poisoned.”
>He throws the water over shoulder.  The pen rattles to the floor.
“If you want we can also say the glass cracked and water would leak out.”  He throws the glass behind him, a sharp crack is heard.
“Mind making another one, please?”
>You do.  He picks the glass up.
“Nothing but water.  Pens don't belong in water.  I don't belong here.  Never did.”
>He takes a drink.
>"Can you not sound so calm when you say that?  You're freaking me out."
"I've already had my freak out over it."



>"So it's my turn then!"  You close your eyes.  "Let me get Astra, she'll know how to handle this, because if I blank out the whole place, and I mean the WHOLE place, and Astra brings it back, and you're NOT.  HERE. then that means-" You shake your head.  “I don't like what that means.”
>Someone stepped through the door.
"What does what mean?"
>You see Astra peering through the rim of the door.  She looks unsatisfied before looking enamored.  Her hair curls around your head as she looks at the lights and reflective surfaces.
"Oh my..." she smiles.
"Astra."
>"Uh.  Hey sis.”  Your stomach drops.  This was leading to place that wasn't pretty.
"There's something we need to tell you.”
---
>Astra skirted through towers of clouds and gravity well edges.  Her galloping hooves left behind a wobbly trail of bright frost.  That simplified chasing her.
“Leave me alone!”
>Her command was strong enough to disperse the clouds around her.  You did not stop following.  She was faster then you but you could keep this up whether she ran for a mile or a light year.
>”Astra, listen to me.”
"I WILL NOT!"
>"Just listen for two-"  The spearhead of her charge shuddered as she bucked in mid-air and swerved to face you.
"Do you KNOW what you're ASKING OF ME?"
>"I know exactly what I'm asking."
"Just let me...leave me alone!”
>She darted off.  Charging past nebula and winging through thundering star clusters.  You could hear the heavy breaths she took as particles and bits of radiation passed through her lungs.
>Her hair whipped in mountain agitation.  "This is something we NEED to DO."
>She halted.  The force dashed the glowing clouds around her for miles.  Emerald striations of dust and sand kicked up around her like an arch.  Her wings jutted out and she glowered.



"Speak to me about NEED then."  Her voice, normally a song, grew into a thundering orchestra. "Speak to me of responsibility and order and chaos.  Tell me why, exactly, light travels fast as it does, and why hydrogen is the first element.  I -know- how and why they work.  I know, Father.  You taught me, and I heard voices speak up within me and say even more so.  I know what needs to be done."
>She shook her head.
"But I absolutely refuse to do it."
>Her wings folded towards you, pleading for understanding.
"Eris and I tried to fix our home.  She tore it down and I rebuilt it brick by brick, and that was not enough.  No, we must fix our entire kingdom."  She gestured to the stars.  "But the price for that is too high."
>"Astra, I understand tha-"
"YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND!"
>The clouds around billowed and glimmered like they were made of ground glass.
"The price for living endlessly as we do is high enough as it is.  Father.   Do you know that I am terrified of falling in love?  The very act of loving someone, wholly and truly, without any reservations sends the most dreadful chill across my shoulders.  I love and I lose, and I lose and lose and lose."  Her head hangs low.  "It is not a price that I pay alone, however.  Those that sleep and never wake must pay the price as well, but I pay it over and over."
"But I have my blessings.  There are two that I may love without fear.  Two of the most wondrous, and beautiful creatures that I've ever known."  She looks up at you with tired eyes.  "And you ask me to give one of those things up?  To send them away under my own power?  I will not do that to myself.  I will not do that to you. I will not bear that burden for all eternity."


>"I know.  I know, you don't believe me but I do.  Astra, I've lost someone I thought I'd love forever, but it wasn't for nothing.   Listen.  Letting Eris erase it all and you remaking it is the most important thing is the most important thing you will do.”  She shouted in peaked desperation.
"You ARE the most important thing to me!"
>She stamped at nothing below her.
“The first thing I remember -the very first thing- was being surrounded by light.”  She closed her eyes.   “Oh, there was so much light, and everything was warm.  I heard your voice calling to me, and I came, and you held me, and then SHE held me.”  Her eyes stared off into years past.  “But you stayed with me.”
“If Creation requires you to fall from its sight then Creation be damned.  I'd rather see the cosmos crumble into dust and ice.  Let the stars go to sleep.  I AM light, and enough for all of us.”  She smiled.  “Would that be so  terrible?  It would blissful, like those early days.  Just you, Eris, and myself, living out here on our own -free to laugh and play.”  Her laughter echoed like marbles hitting the floor in an empty hallway.  “Go ahead.  Call me a fool.  But I remember you and mother calling yourselves immortals.  Even then I could feel the meaning of the word.  It felt like...when you said you'd always be here, it was true.”  Her wings fell to her side.  “That's what you said.  You held me in your arms and said you'd always be here.  And now you ask me to send you away, never to be seen again.”
“Do not be so cruel, Father.  Do not ask this of me.”


>She looked at you, begging you to say something sane.  You were going to disappoint her.  “I understand, Astra.”  She snorted and shook her head.
“Of course you do,” she said with half-hearted bitterness.
“I do.  I know why you don't want to do this.  But if you don't then Eris will die.”
>Her stare tells you she took your words as near-sacrilege.
“That is not possible.”  She says, level.  “Eris is like me.  She cannot be-”
>”She can.”  You float towards her.  “She will, if you cling to your fears like this.  Look at me -look at me, Astra.  Eris will die.  She thrives on a cosmos filled with life and energy and chaos.  She feeds off of it and sends it back into the world around her.  If you two don't do what you can, everything will degrade.  Rot.  Stars will snuff out,  planets will fall, molecules and protons will snap apart like dead leaves.  The entire universe will turn stagnant and go through complete heat-death.  Eris will turn to dust.  Not turned into stone, or lose her powers -she will ebb away.  Crack and crumble into rubble while you're holding her and she will be DEAD, Astra.  And you won't be able to bring her back, because after total entropy hits there's nothing left to keep her alive.  You needed her to erase the place to build it again, without her you'll be able to do nothing.  Then it will just be you and me, alone in the dark forever and ever.”  Her lips curled.
>“And it will be cold.  Colder than you could believe.  So cold that the smallest muscle flick burns unlike anything you thought possible.  It's a chill so deep you scream because you think your bones are cracking.  It's a cold that hates you and wants you dead and gone but you.  Can't. Die.”  Astra backs away.  “Except for Eris.  She'll be spared the worst.  That is the last thing you'll ever be grateful for.”


“How do you know this?”
>”Because I've seen it.  I've seen everything.”  She huffed stardust from her nostrils and her ears cocked back like hammers.
“Of course you have.  You've seen everything.  Undying, all-knowing, and ageless beyond measure.  That is what you are, Father, more godly than gods.”  Her voice bubbled below a snarl.  “And now you ask me to do the impossible -you are indestructible, but you tell me to destroy you.  Y-you tell me to choose, to CHOOSE between you or my sister, because if I don't she'll die.  Die.”
>The light of her gold and blue hair dimmed.  She whispered.
“And you just saved her.”
>Her mouth quivered and she looked at you.
“Why can't I save you both?”
>”Because I'm helping you save everyone.  Eris.  People.  Planets.  Stars.”  You blinked and looked up, around.  An endless night surrounded you, but it was filled with far off lanterns and spinning pins of light.  “Your mother loved stars.  We did all we could to save them, and it worked.  For a while, but...” you trailed off.
“Stars,” she whispered.
>Her legs drifted up and down.  She floated with the gentle motion of a leaf in a stream.  She rested her head against your chest.
>Your hand brushed her cheek.  Her warm breath blew across your arm.
“Everything we've done has been for the sake of stars.”
>Her eyes fluttered.
“One would think tending to them would be easy, gods that we are.”
>She made a sniffling laugh.  You felt a tear run over your finger.
“It will have to be done soon.  Please.  I'll change my mind or go insane before long.”
>You wrapped both arms around her neck.  “Yes.  It will have to be soon.”


“I want...I want one day with you.  Not a moment, but a whole day.  No castle, no towns, no other people.  Just you, Eris, and I.  I don't want to be a princess or a god, please, just give me one last day where I can be your daughter.”
>Her chest heaved and she bit her lip.  You stroked her mane.  Her hair made lazy curls around your hand.
>”One last day.  I'd be happy to.”  Your eyes shut.  The glow of her mane lit the inside of your lids.  For now there was silence.
–
>The salted air passed through your muzzle, tickling your tongue.  The breeze hadn't let up all day.  You needed to raise your voice if you wanted to be heard more than ten feet away, but that was alright.    Eris bounded up and down the water's edge, throwing clumps of dirt high into the air that splashed into the sea foam.  Father picked up a shell and tossed it into the ocean.  Eris rolled back into the dry sand and laughed.
”You call that a toss, Pop?  You're better than that, c'mon.  I'll show you how it's done.”
“Just don't throw me, I'm not aerodynamic.”
>You had no chance to contain your laugh.  Eris picked up a cracked piece of rock, eyeballed it, made an appraising toss into the air and did all sorts of meaningless bravado.
“It's all in the wrist.”  Eris winked.
>She threw it with her tail.  The shell cartwheeled off, scaring a fat bird lazing on the waves.  It squawked and flapped at the indignation.  Eris cracked her knuckles and sighed.  The shell u-turned in the water and skimmed back to the shore where it landed at Father's foot.  He picked it up and tossed it into the dune grass.
“Show-boater.”


“Skills, Dad.  All natural.  Woah.  Woah-ho-ho.  Hey, Astra, come check this out.”
>”Check out what?”  Your ear twitched as Eris circled around the lapping waves.  She raised an arm and waved you close.
“It's this...just come look. Hurry up it might go away.”
>”I...alright.”  You eased a hoof into the mud and another into the cold water.  Eris looked at you and growled.
“Hurry up, you're not made of sugar.  You won't melt.”
>You held your tongue and ignored Father's laughter and waded to where the water almost went up to your belly.  You hummed loudly to take your mind off the water's chill.  “Alright, hmm-hmm, I'm here, what do you want me to see?”  Eris pointed to something underneath the water.  For a moment you saw undulations, but couldn't be certain.
“Like, right there, see that?”
>”No.”  She poked and prodded harder.
“What are you blind?  It's right freakin' there.”
>”What's right there?”
“Wet pony.”
>”Wet pony? There's no-AHH!”  Eris dunked you head underneath the water.  You came up sputtering and screaming.  You wiped sting of salt water from your eyes in time to see Eris flapping and hooting back to shore and Father laughing into his hands.
“Do you see it now?” she called.
>”ERIS!”  You brought your hoof down and splashed in her direction.  “There's SEAWEED in my hair!”  You trudged through loose mud, your face tugging between scowling and laughing.
>You stood in half misery on dry land.  Father put his arm around you and patted your dripping mane.
“Eris, don't be mean to your sister.  She's delicate.”
>He stumbled sideways because you nudged him with a wing.  ”I am not delicate.”  Oh dear, you're pouting.  You straighten and try to look dignified while shaking a reedy red plant out of your bangs.  Father smirked.


“You'd own a porcelain figurine shop if you didn't already have a job.”
“He's got you there, Astra.  Sounds dull.  You should go for it.”
>This was not fair.  You were being ganged upon.  Lilting and shaking your hips, you said “Well I'm not the one who's about to step on a crab.”  Eris looked behind her.
“Crab?”
>Her ankle met with your low-swinging wing, sending her head to an immediate meeting with the sand.  “Maybe you can see it better from down there.”  You feigned as much innocence as could be mustered.  You looked up at the sky and hummed.  Eris gruffed and her legs kicked.  Her paws showered sand and twigs over your head.
>You screamed, she cackled.  Retaliation was swift and forceful.  In blinking moments the two of you tugged each other back into the water, causing a localized but enthusiastic hurricane.  Wings, hooves and claws tossed mud and water across the shore.  You couldn't remember the last time you had so much fun.
>You heard Father call out.
“The sun's going down.  I'm going to gather some wood for a campfire.  Try to keep a little beach around so I'll have something dry to build it on when I get back.”
>You and Eris paused long enough to shout back 'okay.'
>The tussle ended soon afterward.  Eris and you hopped back to dry land leaning and shoving each other.  Eris sat her hindquarters down and picked out the detritus from her hair.
“Of all the places to pick, why the beach?”
>You sat across from her and preened your wings.  “Am I not allowed to enjoy the beach?”  Eris shrugged and wrung the wet from her fur.
“Figure'd it was too particle-rich for your tastes.”


>You spat out a bit of aforementioned particles with some discretion.  “Perhaps.”  You bit your lip.  “It seemed to fit.  Remember when Father first brought showed us this planet?”  Eris's nostrils wiggled as she thought.
“It was always cloudy in those days.  And raining.  Humid.  Real humid.”
>”We were on the water's edge.  The water was near boiling and the ground was black and porous.  But it was a beach of sort.”  You press your fore hooves into the sand without thought.  “I wanted something appropriate.  Besides we haven't been here in a while.  It might mean more, this way.  Does ...does that make sense?”  You try to hold a steady gaze with Eris but your gaze drifts back to the sand and seashells.
>You feel her paw brush the dirt and dried salt from your forehead.  You look up and smile.  She returned it.
“Yeah.  It makes sense.”
>Her lips purse and she blows.  A quick jolt is felt across your skin and your fur is pristine again.  You return the favor.  Her hair whips into its normal form of expansive white curls.
“Tickles.”
>You both laugh.  Father appears over the grass-covered dunes carrying a bundle of sun-whitened beach wood.  The pair of you turn to attention.
>”Would you like us to set it up?”  He waved the suggestion off.
“No, no.  I used to do this all the time.”
>He dug a small depression into the sand.  Eris tapped a piece of timber.
“It would've been really cool if any of us remembered to bring food.”
>”You can always go back and get some if you're so starved.”  She spat.
“All the way back?  Screw it.  I'm not that hungry.”


>Father called her a lazy, over sized scarf and set the wood into a teepee shape.  Eris giggled.  His hands worked their simple magic and smoke wafted from the wood, then fire.  He grinned at the flickers.
“Perfect.”
>The sun eased below the waterline.  The moon showed herself, not quite full but still able to paint the dark purple waves with strips of mercury.  The air grew chill and you all drifted closer to small fire.  No one talked, but the night filled with the murmurings of waves, wind, and crackling wood.  It seemed only to help the quiet.
>Eris laid out on her stomach, her chin in her paws.  Father sat cross-legged.  You lay on your side, wings wrapped around your chest to block the wind.  You idly nudged your hoof against the sediment.
>The stars were bright.
>If any moment could last forever this would be your chosen point.
>Eris drew a claw in the sand.  Her voice slipped into the air.
“When will you leave?”
>Your heart missed a step, but you tried not to show it.  Father cleared his throat.
“Morning, sometime.  Lots of hours between here and there.”
>Waves and crackling wood once again.  “Father.”
“Yes, Astra?”
>I'm...I'm sorry.'  He turned his head.
“For what?”
>”For not learning fast enough.  Not being strong enough.  The things we've done...I wish I could-”  He raised his hand for you to pause.
“Astra, I want you to know something.  Eris, you too.”
>The two of you shifted closer to him.  He rubbed his finger and thumb together until his voice found footing.



“I've spent most of my existence in the dark.  My life is two lit matches at opposites ends of a cave.  The years I've spent with the two of you takes up less than a blink in the span of time I've been alive.”
>You looked lost and felt small indeed.
“But being right here with you has made everything worth it.  I'd start from the beginning and do it again if I had to.  Why?  Because I know you'll be sitting here with me at the end.”
“Astra.  Eris.  I had no right to imagine I'd be blessed with people as wonderful as you.  I was stuck, frozen in a void.  What was there to hope for?  Hard facts and everything I knew said the answer was nothing.  I was afraid to remember how warmth felt, what a universe full of life was like.  But...but love begets love.  And no, it wasn't perfect, and it wasn't easy, but by raising the two of you I've become closer to the universe and loved it more than I could imagine.  That's what you are -pure universe.  Stardust runs through your veins and I see supernova in your eyes.”
>He runs a hand once through your hair and once through Eris's.
“A wise man once said that life is how the universe comes to know itself.  You two are the perfect embodiment of that thought.  And you are my children.” He smiled.  “If leaving the cosmos is what it takes to ensure your safety then I'll leave smiling.  Just don't worry -this is a good place, I know you can be happy here.”
>Eris grabbed his arm and held it close.  His voice was soft.


“I know it can be hard sometimes, but if I've learned anything it's this -even if the world is ending, things can still turn out alright.”
>You placed your head on his knee and looked up at him.  “How do we know?  How can we tell that things are alright?  Is there...ever a sign?”
>He stroked your head again and thought for a moment.
“Isn't it obvious, little princess?”
>He laughed beneath his breath like a man understanding a joke for the first time.
“The sun rises.”
>He looked up towards the ocean's horizon and whispered those words again.  Eris rubbed her muzzle against his forearm.
“I like that.” she whispered.  “It sounds nice.”
“I'm glad you think so.”
>He sighed.
“It's been a long day.  You two should go ahead and get some rest.”
>You felt a pang in the deepest part of your heart.  Your wings wrapped around his back and you squeezed your eyes tight.
>“Father.”
“Hm?”
>You tried to keep the shivers out of your voice. “Could you tells us a story before we go to sleep?” Eris looked up at him.
“Yeah...a story sounds good.”
>He nodded.
“Of course I can.  What would you like to hear?”
>”Anything.  Any story at all.”
“Alright...” He dug through vault of his mind.  He rubbed his chin before making a decision.  “This is a story about two sisters...”
>His talked for a great length into the night.  His voice was warm and soothing.  Your ear caught on every syllable and breath.  His inflections and words would be forever stored in your mind and heart.  You listened and listened, not daring to draw a breath that could be heard until your lids grew heavy and drew over your eyes that looked like supernova.


>You woke up on the sand.  Only blackened wood and a lone wisp of smoke over a bowl of ashes remained of the campfire.  Eris opened her eyes.
>He was gone.  The two of you sat up.  There was a trail of footprints that led over the dunes.  Neither of you followed.  The trail only disappeared.
>Your gaze fell to the sand.  There was nothing but the sound of breeze and birds in the distance.  Eris placed a paw on your foreleg.  You would do anything in the world for her and knew she'd do the same.
>You both looked towards the horizon and a rising sun.
–