thefarshore | Heaven's BBS

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Heaven's BBS | Text

From: Inti
Date: June 28

Greetings to everypony. My name is Princess Celestia, and here I have assumed the role of the god Inti.

This is not too far away from my role in Equestria, and yet this world's sun seems to require no intervention -- magical, divine, or otherwise -- to keep it moving neatly through the sky. I am also told that the moon keeps its own schedule irrespective of the night. All things considered, I have to conclude that things work very differently here.

Nonetheless, I am particularly interested in meeting other gods whose domain includes the sun. I would like to invite you all to my temple, so we can greet each other and learn more about our gods and our purposes of here. (Of course, anypony else is welcome to come as well. I have so much to learn here!)

Lastly, please allow me to conclude with a compliment to these amazing communication devices -- but perhaps we could find a way to make them more accessible? I am fortunate to have my magic, but if an earth pony or pegasus were to come here, they might have a terrible time with working these things.

~Princess Celestia

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[Celestia is used to this sort of flattery, even as she considers how she has been quite enjoying the lack of bowing and over-the-top pronouncements in her presence since coming here.]

But you don't eat them, do you? In Equestria, flowers are exchanged the way one might also exchange... oh, a box of chocolate? As a friendly gift and a snack.

That we do not.

[ Hibiki has been known to pose with a rose in her mouth. But she doubts that's what Celestia meant.

This does provide an excellent segue to the Princess's purpose in coming here, however. Hibiki fetches the teacup she'd had waiting for herself in this room (there is always tea) and heads back over to join her guest. ]

Your heart must be aclamor with such queries.

Man, yes. Having never met humans before, I have very much to learn, especially since I am now to live among you. [Not that everypony here is human, of course, but the majority are, and the Near Shore seems to consist entirely of them.] I have picked up on some of the basics, of course.

Is there any way I can be of assistance?

[ Demonstrations. Explanations. You name it. She's got it.

Ah, but a caveat seems fair, so as not to give the wrong impression. ] Granted, I'm a fairly advanced specimen of humanity, but I'm especially intimate with both their specialties and their foibles.

Well, to start with...

[She has many questions, and no real sense of what humans consider proper. On the other hand, if one of her questions isn't entirely proper, well, Hibiki seems like she could stand to be shocked or scandalized just a little.]

Is clothing a rule for humans? I don't believe I've seen a single one who doesn't wear it.

[ ....well

they're

beginning with the absolute basics then.

Recovering from a sudden, frozen blink, Hibiki laughs. ] There truly are no humans in your homeland.

[ She's picturing the Palps. Except with ponies. All living in harmony and idealism beneath their virtuous Princess.

PonyPara, that's what she's picturing. ]

[She's not too far off, thanks to two thousand years of effort on Celestia's part to make Equestria that way.]

That's correct. There really are no humans in Equestria, or anywhere else in the world that I have ever seen, and I have seen most things in the world. On the other hand, we have many other species that live with us, whereas humans seem not to from what I have observed in the Near Shore here.

That...varies.

[ Sudden flashback to goats in her drawing room, goats in her dressing room, a screaming bird in the halls of her quarters--

but it was all for her friend, so Hibiki can't mind any of that much more than a single shadow passing over her face merits. So. Back to the question. ]

Clothing is both polite and an expression of personality. You, for example...

[ Hibiki gestures with a hand and a shimmering aquamarine dress appears floating, shimmering, in midair. ] Would deserve nothing less than to be clad thusly.

I've been unclear, I'm afraid -- we ponies are quite familiar with clothing, as fashion statements. Style and fashion are critical in Canterlot especially, but in all of Equestria.

But it is optional, as I myself demonstrate at the moment. [Her shoes and accouterments of royalty don't count as clothing. And frankly Celestia is sick of dressing up.] But it does not appear to be that way for humans, which is what I was wondering.

I see. [ Hibiki dismisses the illusory dress, though a few rose petals drift down. Those are real. They...happen, sometimes. Occupational hazard of perfection. ] You have a rich and varied culture.

[ As well as providing confirmation that some worlds bear no resemblance to others. Hibiki would remember an "Equestria" and a "Canterlot", even populated by humans.

Why couldn't PriPara managers have culture, like anywhere blessed enough to be ruled by this individual? Hibiki's fortunate to have ultimately ended up with Ando. All others are completely unnecessary. ] Did anything else about ours confuse you?

[Oh, dear Hibiki. Culture is so very, very overrated. Some days Celestia would give anything to put her crown aside and go live in Ponyville like a normal pony off the street.]

Well, I have already covered the fact that the weather and the seasons and the sun all handle themselves here, though I am still learning how humans have grown to deal with all of that randomness. And am I correct in understanding that there are no different types of humans?

Not...species, no.

[ Or breeds, the way horses work, and presumably ponies may as well. ]

Upbringing tends to create distinctions. And, of course, differences in talent.

[ Money, too, but Hibiki takes money for granted to the point it doesn't even occur to her to mention it. She has unlimited funds and other people don't, but that's not why she's exceptional. She's exceptional because she's Shikyoin Hibiki, and she would be exceptional no matter where she came from.

Fortunately, however, she's from somewhere with class. ] I suppose those who employ sentence enders can still be considered "human"....

But not physical differences. I should explain that ponies generally come as earth ponies, unicorns, or pegasi, each of whom has a different strength and gift. But humans are not custodians of the world, the way ponies are...

[Celestia still struggles to comprehend this one notion. (Celestia also keeps calling to mind the mental image of the Great and Powerful Trixie for some reason.)]

[ The Great and Powerful Hibiki has a certain ring to it, though it all seems rather unnecessarily self-explanatory. Redundant, even.

Hibiki is not entirely certain what a "custodian of the world" is supposed to be, but she does know it reminds her of her trip to not-Preece, so. ]

Fortunately, we are all hardly human anymore.

[ Though she supposes the same limitations and lack of physical distinction applies. People still look the same as gods. Act the same, too, presumably. ]

[And now we're onto something else Celestia is still working to understand -- a point which she'd raised with other humans before, but still is not certain she has truly understood from all sides.]

Is that true? I know we are gods now, but I do not really feel all that different from before. But on the other hand, I am an alicorn and thus somewhat unusual for ponykind. Has becoming a god made you feel different?

[ Hibiki shrugs. ] Who can say. Upon achieving perfection, one does not continue polishing a piece.

I don't ever expect to know. [Centuries have passed, and yet Celestia knows keenly how very imperfect she is. Her flaws loom all the larger for her virtues, in fact.]

[Of course, directly telling Hibiki that perfection is impossible and she's far from it would be phenomenally rude, but perhaps she'll hear wisdom in Celestia's own self-acknowledgment. (Celestia doesn't expect it, mind.)]

It is something I would like to understand. I have seen ponies elevated to the status of alicorn, and know something of what it means to them.

Let us hope godhood proves equally enlightening to all.

[ Those of us who hope, anyway. Hibiki is more a doubter. It comes with years of bitterness, okay. ]

[Celestia makes a thoughtful noise, curling one hoof beneath her chin as she considers.] Now that I think of it... my new power here has only tangential relation to my own special talent. They're separated by two orders of ramification, to the point that I can't be certain they are even deliberately related. Is that the case for you as well?

You're dissatisfied with your new power?

[ Hibiki sounds slightly critical, but not of Celestia. Does anywhere in the universe operate on a functional system? They got things right for her, of course, save the effusive-shinki thing, but some of the other people they're passing off as gods....

And now they aren't treating a Princess right. ]

Oh! Oh no, not at all! [Quite the opposite, Celestia finds her new power absolutely intriguing!] What I mean to say is only that it has a very distant relation to my own special talent. I do not know how it is for humans, but unicorns, and alicorns of course by extension, have a particular knack for spells that reflect on or enable their special talent.

Of course, I don't even know what powers other gods have gotten.

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