In the center of the village was a shrine dedicated to two twin spirits, Wynn and Shara. One sister spoke only truths and the other only lies, respectively. Those able to converse with them could know anything in the universe—if they knew who they were speaking to. Lethia, an air elemental known as the Spirit Whisperer in the village, often entered the shrine to talk with the spirits. People asked her questions to bring to them; it was one of her weekly routines.
Lethia opened the shrine door and was met with a blast of cool air. The inside was frigid. Rusting fans spun at max capacity on every wall and corner. The woman raised her arms, directing the flowing air.
"Spirits of the shrine, I summon you."
Wind rushed in a circle around the center of the room. The space itself did not change, but Lethia could feel a presence emerge where the current swirled.
"Welcome back, Lethiaaaa." There was a raspy sound, nearly indistinguishable from the white noise of the fans. Whispering without a voice, it was impossible to tell which of the sisters was speaking. Lethia smiled.
"Hello. How have you been since our last meeting?"
"Couuuldn't have beeen better," she said.
"Ah... was that sarcasm?" Lethia asked politely.
"Noooo," the spirit replied.
"Well, let's make this quick."
There was no point in asking who the spirit was. Instead, Lethia took the approach of simply asking what needed to be asked, then interpreting the answer as truthful or not. She removed a piece of paper from the small brown satchel at her side and read it aloud.
"This one comes from Cassandra who lives on Grove Hollow. She asks, 'Is my ex-husband living happily with that b—' oh my, um, 'with Laura?'"
The flow of wind within the room shifted as the spirit seemed to conjure the information.
"Oooohh, with Lauraa, you say? Ohh, welll, ah, he's... yes, he's living, um, he's veryyy happy in his new relaaationship."
Somehow, the air tried to avoid making eye contact with Lethia. She took out a pen and scribbled the answer onto the note before slipping it back into the satchel and producing the next one.
"From Lenn, he would like to know which horse to bet on for tomorrow's race. It's one happening out of town, over in Archton," she added for context. Again, the atmosphere of the room felt altered, then returned to its usual state. Lethia shivered from the cold as the voiceless voice spoke once more.
"It seems Staardust has, uhm, eatenn a bad cluump of hayy she won't feel until morniiing, and Gooldennnnn Feather is definitelyyy hiding a twisted fetlock. And I thiink— I mean, I knooow that Canterbolt'ssss rider hass been sneaking him steroiiid cream sincee last Impuuutreus."
Lethia raised an eyebrow as she was transcribing. The sister continued, "I dooon't know why I said 'think' there, haahaaaa. How siilly of me to haave said that. Of couuurse I know these things, I'm telliiiing the truuuth."
The woman nodded. "Yes, yes, thank you Wynn. This is Wynn, right?" she asked rhetorically.
"Of couuuurse, I am the one named Wynn," the spirit answered anyway, "the truthfulll one, unlike my vile liarrrr of a sissster."
"And you didn't just make all that up?"
The air hesitated, turning a light shade of red.
"N-noooo..."
"Alright, alright. Last one, from someone who wishes to remain anonymous. They ask, 'do you really know anything in the universe? For example, can you tell us how the universe was created?'"
"Of- of courrse I dooo! I'm offennnded that you would eeeven ask! For yourr offense, I refuse toooo answer your latter queeestionn!"
Lethia shrugged her shoulders. "You know the deal, you gotta answer it, Wynn." Her last word came out in a teasing manner. If Lethia could see it, she would have noted the atmosphere crossed its arms and pouted.
"Kaaayyyyyy, finee. Thee univerrrse, yess? The creation, creationn of the universe..." Maybe-Wynn sounded like she was sifting through files of knowledge in her head, scanning tabs to find the correct one. Alternatively, Maybe-Shara sounded like she was trying to come up with a convincing enough story.
"It alll started," the spirit began slowly, "with twoo twin siblingsss—"
"Oh, very creative."
"Shut up! They're differennnnnt siblings okaay?. You see, they, they uh, cast off bits of themselvess, riight, and threww them down a well."
"Ew."
"I aaaaam not done! Within the well, their bits fessstered and grew untilll an entiire univerrrrrse was created, the one in which weee reside." The air settled, satisfied with her answer.
The elemental finished recording the ghastly response and smirked. "You know, I don't think Shara could've come up with something as silly as that," she teased.
"Well, that's becauuse she didn't, as I am obviously not herrr. Now, if youu are quite done hereeee...?"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, you want me to leave. It was nice speaking to you."
The voice didn't respond. The fans roared. Lethia's skin suddenly remembered to feel cold as the presence faded from the shrine. She quickly retreated into the hot Ambros air, the satchel bouncing at her side.