The Curse of a Gift

by Deathpony45

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Princess Luna, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 5567

What happens when all you have to live for is taken away from you and you have no way to end it all?

Overthrown. Celestia has been sentenced to a life's imprisonment in the Everfree Prison with only Twilight to keep her company but for how long? Celesia will truly discover the curse of immortality

Published 2013-05-22 20:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-22 20:00:02 UTC

The Curse of a Gift

The Curse of a Gift

By:Deathpony45

Edited by: Tencentpartycannon

The vivid, bright colors in Celestia's royal room would be blinding to most ponies when they first saw the princess of the sun after all, so she had no idea why it bothered her in the first place.

Regardless of this, she was waiting for a certain somepony to come in. She had known this day was coming for quite some time so when her guards called her and gave her the news, she was not overly surprised.

"Don't resist too much; I don't want to lose too many of you." she had told them. She knew they would ignore her, and they had, but she had to try. Her guards had been slaughtered, the blood and sinew strewn in a disgustingly decorative fashion across the room. One of the guards had been blown in half, and of another all that remained was his horn. Several others had betrayed her and supported the revolution. Other than those, though, everypony in her Royal Guard was dead.

But here she sat, waiting for the inevitable; eventually, her doors would burst open and that one pony would enter. She sighed contentedly, her mane no longer flowing in an invisible wind, but hanging limply at her side. She shifted on her throne and waited until the doors opened and a guard entered.

"Princess Celestia!" He exclaimed. The princess sighed with relief that one of her guards was still alive and on her side. She knew the guard; his name was Sundrop and he was one of her most trusted guards. But something was off, and his tone of voice didn't sound worried as it normally did; it sounds purposeful and direct.

"We have arrived." He said monotonously as if he was reading it from a piece of parchment.

"We?" the sun goddess thought. Had Sundrop betrayed her in support of the revolution? (end italics)

At that exact moment the doors swung open and several ponies marched into the royal room. Among them were the Elements of Harmony and her sister Luna. Luna stepped forward and glared at her sister.

"Celestia, it's time. You've ruled for far too long with no thought for others and with intent only to stay on the throne as long as possible. We are here to take you away." Celestia smiled at her sister; she really thought she had that type of authority, didn't she?

Luna braced herself, expecting her sister's resistance; however, it never came. Her sister simply stepped down from the throne and walked over to them.

"I surrender, take me away." Celestia knew her sister would be the "kid sister" and probably just send her away for a few years, as Luna would never be so cruel to her beloved sister as to let the full punishment commence. She stared down at Luna smiling. Luna glared at her defiantly; she knew the thoughts running through her sister's mind and she would not succumb. She only glanced back at the Elements on occasion for support. They nodded and Luna knew what she had to do.

"You are forever banished!" Luna exclaimed in as royal a Canterlot voice as she could muster. Celestia stared at her sister, completely and utterly shocked. Surely Luna wasn't actually doing this not to her!

"Take her to the Everfree Prison." Luna instructed. The guards simply nodded and turned to grab a still reeling Celestia and carry her away. The two royal sisters eyes met once again, and all Luna could see in her sister's eyes was pain. Pain and betrayal that came from her only family.

The tall mare was violently thrown into the dark, damp cell. What used to be water streams were now coated in moss and showing its age; it hadn't been used for well over a thousand years. The mare struggled to get up, her usually pristine white coat splotched with red. Tufts of her fur were missing and part of her horn was chipped. A fresh stream of blood ran down her flank, obscuring her usually vibrant orange sun cutie mark. Celestia's wings were awkwardly bent, making their movement difficult and painful. She winced as her broken hoof got caught in a crack in the cell's grey marble floors. She slowly pulled it out, causing herself extreme amounts of pain in the process. Her crown was missing and her usually flowing hair lay limp towards the side. A streak of crusted blood ran down her nose as she glanced up at her ex-guard. She knew he was only doing what was best for him but she still felt the familiar sense of betrayal; she couldn't believe that this stallion, who had worked under her all this time, would do such a thing to his princess. Well, ex-princess.

"I'm sorry, Celestia." he said, no longer feeling the need to use formalities. "I'm just doing my job here." Even Sundrop had to admit he had felt a bit guilty throughout this ordeal, and it had certainly taken a toll on how he looked; he was very shaky, and looked as if he hadn't showered since Celestia's overthrowing.

Celestia understood. she felt he deserved forgiveness after everything she had put them all through. Sundrop slowly sauntered out of the prison and closed the door with a resounding thud. With that, the princess of the sun was trapped in an eternal darkness.

Pr...princess," said a fragile voice resonating against the stone cellar walls. "Is that you?" Celestia's heart broke hearing the familiar voice.

"Yes Twilight, I'm here." Celesia said as she pushed her nose through the window between cells. She could barely see her former student huddled up in the darkest edge of the cell. Her usually well kept purple mane was disheveled and the purple and pink stripes bled together. Like Celestia, Twilight was missing a chunk of her horn and was clearly malnourished. Celestia was thankful she couldn't see the pitiful state Twilight's wings were most likely in as the shadows obscured her back and only parts of her former protégé were visible. Although Twilight had been in the prison for quite some time, she was covered in scars from the brutal beatings she had received from the Royal Guard. Her cell was in a similar state as Celestia's, but was much more dirty and worn-down.

"Twilight, I'm...I'm so sorry," Celestia said trying to choke back her tears. Twilight got up and slowly walked over to Celestia's nose nuzzled against it. The princess sighed as she saw the mangled state of Twilight's back. Entire strips of flesh were missing and covered in scabs and the nubs of her shoulder blades poked through her fur."It's okay Princess. I forgive you."

Twilight's capture had tortured Celestia. A year or so into the revolution the rebels had taken the new Alicorn when she was on a routine inspection. Thankfully, none of the other elements had been present at the time. Celestia doubted they would have been able to take Twilight to a place like this in good conscience; after all, they had only gone against Celestia because they blamed her for getting the Element of Magic captured. But it was Celestia who had made Twilight keep a presence among the subjects an enforce her insane laws. Celestia may never know why she had gone mad with power but she had to pay the price for it.

"It's all my fault," Celestia stated solemnly.

"No Princess, it's not! I should've been more careful."

At this, Celestia burst into tears."But I could've been there for you, Twilight! I could've done something!"

Twilight smiled weakly; after all the years as Celestia's student, here she was comforting her mentor.

"Shh, it's okay..." Twilight said, happy to be with her mentor again.

Celestia slowly recovered from her fit and regained her composure.

"At least we're here together, Twilight. I don't think I could survive without company. I've no idea how you've dealt with it for so long."

Twilight sighed. "Not very well; every night I cry myself to sleep. No one ever visits me so I'm just left alone with my pain. I can't tell you how many times I've wished it would all just end."

"Unfortunately, Twilight," Celestia started. "it can't end for alicorns. I'm afraid we are going to be here for a long time. But I will keep you safe."

Twilight slumped down, and sobbed even harder than she had been. Celestia looked at her former student in pure pity and empathy, and suddenly she realized something.

"Your...your wings, Twilight, they...they're gone." Twilight nodded through her tears and looked up at Celestia.

"They tore them off last week to try and get information out of me."

"And you didn't tell them? Twilight..." Celestia didn't know what to say. "...that's very admirable. I nev..."

"No," Twilight cut her mentor off. "I cracked. I told them your plans and that's how they got into the castle. I just couldn't stand the pain, Princess, it was just too much to bear." Twilight waited for whatever verbal onslaught she would receive, but it never did come.

"It's ok, Twilight. there's no way anypony could've been able to deal with that pain and not crack; you did nothing wrong."

"Don't you get what this means though, Princess?" Twilight asked. Celestia understood exactly the implication of Twilight no longer having her wings. It meant she was no longer and Alicorn and... that she was vulnerable to whatever the Guards decided to do to her.

"Yes Twilight, I do know what it implies." Celestia whispered. "But I know you'll be here with me for a long time still."

It had been 3 years since Celestia had been apprehended and the New Lunar Republic had taken effect. There was a small television installed in the corner of Celestia's cell, but it's only purpose was to show her certain news and happenings. Equestria was running better under Luna's rule than it was under Celestia's; no other major villains from the past had returned. Over the past month the government had been showing Celestia a trial of some sorts, and Celestia had no idea why she was being shown this. But apparently the pony being tried had been found guilty of treason and convicted to death. According to the news anchor, the trial had been going on for several years and nopony knew who was being tried; however, the accused would be executed on TV and in public for anypony who wanted to see the next week. Celestia walked back over to her dark corner. Twilight was asleep, but would soon be awoken for lunchtime.

A tray filled with meager and ill sustaining food was slid into Celestia's cell by an unseen hoof. She glanced at her usual food, sauntered over to it and ate slowly. A drop of water from the leaking ceiling fell on her hair, which had lost most of its luster and had dimmed down to only two streaks of pink and green. Her fur had also turned a slight shade of pink, showing her terrible state of health. She knew Twilight was being fed better from the simple fact that she was still alive; only Celestia's alicorn immortality kept her alive through her captivity.

Celestia was very thankful for Twilight's "company"; the two had talked and laughed and had found ways to enjoy their sentence in the terrible drab prison. Twilight was the only thing keeping Celestia sane at this point.

"Hey Princess," Twilight spoke up.

"Twilight, how many times do I have to remind you that you can call me Celestia." The honorific disgusted Celestia at this point, and considering the current governmental situation, she wanted nothing to do with the position.

"Sorry, pr...Celestia. I'm just really glad that even though we've gone through this terrible time we got to go through it together."

Twilight had told Celestia this many times. Perhaps the unicorn mare was losing her own mind at the loss of her friends and loved ones.

"I am too, Twilight." Celesia said warmly. There was a trace of sadness in her eyes though as she realized, again, how much she had put her beloved student through, and how much more she would go through in the coming years.

A week passed and the two mares talked little in revert silence of the upcoming execution. There had been rumors of a guard of Celestia's who had tried to upset the new Lunar Republic days after its in statement. Why it had taken years to convict Celestia had no idea. She heard a clink in the adjacent cell but today was the day of the execution and Celestia did not want to speak with Twilight but sit in reverent silence.

Celestia's TV flickered on and a picture of Luna standing next to a guillotine filled the screen. The princess of the night stood there with a serious expression on her face, But something was off. Celestia saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. Celestia wrote it off as this being Luna's Iraq execution so of course she wouldn't feel to well about it but clearly it was something she had to do. Luna cleared her throat,

"Ahem, today we are gathered for the execution of an old traitor to the republic. Three years ago this pony heavily conflicted the revolution and directly supported the tyranical rule of the former Princess Celestia." Luna began to tear up; she hated speaking of her sister like this, but this was not the worst part of today. She had to steel her nerves so that she could go through with the execution. She choked back her tears but continued unsteadily,

"There have been rumors of an overthrowing of the Republic, which as a result has decided to execute an old prisoner of war against my own personal wishes. So with great reluctance, I present you with the very core of the old tyranny: Twilight Sparkle." Luna glanced away unable to keep her composure and cried for a short amount of time. Celestia's mouth went dry, and she instinctively rushed to her bars and began to pound on them.

"NO, NO NO NO NO NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO HER YOU CAN'T! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS TAKE ME INSTEAD PLEASE TAKE ME INSTEAD!" Celestia couldn't hold back as her tears started flowing. "PLEASE!"

A stallion she didn't notice had taken Luna's place by the guillotine. His brown body was heavily muscle and there was a long scar running across his bottom right hoof.

"Due to past personal affiliations with this subject, Princess Luna has been taken off and I will carry out the execution." A Pegasus mare walked up beside him raised her hoof and hit him across the face. The earth pony staggered back several paces before turning to confront his assaulter. Celestia couldn't help but smile at the justice, despite the circumstances; Rainbow Dash had always been outspoken.

Rainbow hit him again. "That's from Fluttershy!" She then walked off to comfort the poor yellow pegasus standing with the other elements. Fluttershy was crying but the other elements were trying to keep straight faces. Clearly frustrated, the stallion continued.

"I will take over the execution of the traitor Twilight Sparkle, and if I hear anything from anypony I will charge you with the highest extent of the law." He said glaring at Dash who stared back at him with pure contempt.

"Twilight Sparkle, you have been sentenced to death for your actions against the Republic during the revolution." Celestia then realized why the conviction had taken so long. After all Twilight had done for Equestria in the past, the government was reluctant to kill her.

Twilight simply nodded. She turned and stared straight into the camera and said her last words. "I'm sorry Princess," Twilight's head was forced under the blade. Celestia wanted to look away so badly but she couldn't; she would never forgive herself if she didn't have the courage that her student had showed. She would deal with this pain as Twilight had dealt with her own. As the execution pony let go of the rope and the blade descended, and Celestia watched as the only link she still had to sanity, to the world, and to the desire to live fell off of the shoulders of Twilight Sparkle. The crowd stood silent.

Celestia sat in her cell, not uttering a word and denying the government-mandated meals. She had been like this for two weeks. No amount of coaxing could convince the former monarch to move from her spot. Her fur had transitioned into a shade of complete pink, her ribs poking through her skin. Her eyes, the same that once shone with celestial radiance had now dimmed to a dull glimmer. The deepest recesses of Celestia's mind and memories were slowly but surely becoming the prisoner's sanctum.

"Why hello there, Twilight! Are you ready for your first lesson?"

The small purple filly nodded eagerly at her new mentor, excited just to be in the presence of the Princess Celestia. "Now I believe you are a reasonably powerful unicorn, so let's start out with a more intermediate spell. How about teleportation?"

The little protege's eyes widened; the princess already thought so highly of her to try a spell like teleporting on the first lesson! A small squeal escaped Twilights lips as she nodded enthusiastically. Celestia smiled at her students excitement, glad to have somepony to keep her company for awhile. She knew it would be awhile before the return of Nightmare Moon, but she would be ready. Celestia began to explain,

"What you have to do is concentrate on a single point in space, picture it in your mind but make it nearby; we don't want you to over exhaust yourself on the first try, do we?" Twilight nodded vigorously an focused on a spot right next to Celestia. "Now imagine you are walking to that specific spot and draw on your magic to take you there." It sounded easy as most spells did when explained, but it was much more complicated than it sounded. Regardless, Celestia had faith in her student. A small purple glow surrounded Twilights horn and there was a small pop.

Standing next to her in a daze, Twilight looked to her side to discover the success of her first lesson. A look of complete shock crossed Celestia's face. Just how powerful was this unicorn? Nopony had ever succeeded in doing a teleportation spell in one try, not even herself or Luna!

"I...did it!" Exclaimed a surprised filly. She began hopping around Celestia "Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! Did you see that Princess I did it on my first try my first try yes yes yes!" Celestia grinned at Twilights excitement over her feat.

"Yes you did, Twilight! Now you go and get some rest; that went much quicker than I thought." Twilight stopped bouncing as she felt the wave of fatigue that always followed a large magic outburst. "Okay, Princess, I'll see you again tomorrow?" The fillies voice had a faint twinge of hope in it.

"Of course Twilight, we can meet whenever you desire."

When she awoke she was in her bed

It was all just a dream!she thought to herself. She lazily climbed out of bed and looked around. Something felt familiar, almost as if she had been here before... like this time had already passed.

A guard burst through her door.

"P...p...princess... she's back!" With this, the guard pony fell in fatigue. Celestia rushed to his side.

"Who's back?" Celestia inquired.

"Your sister... Nightmare Moon has returned!" He slumped to the ground unconscious. A look of pure worry crossed Celestia's face.

No... this couldn't be happening. Surely her sister couldn't be back. Celestia ran around her room getting ready for anything; she started casting protective spells and throwing up barriers left and right. Finally, when she felt like she had protected all of Canterlot she slumped down into her chair. She breathed out a sigh of relief just as she felt a slight breeze. The breeze was accompanied by an almost unpredictably quiet sound. Slowly the volume of the sound elevated into a cackling fit of maniac laughter, a laughter Celestia hadn't heard in over a millennium. She turned to face a pair of cat-like black eyes and sharp teeth surrounded by a hellish grin.

"Hello, sister." Nightmare Moon spat at Celestia.

"H...how?" Celestia stammered.

"I always told you that I would return, sister. Surely you hadn't forgotten."

"But how... I had the city completely protected!" Nightmare Moon's grin widened, revealing more of her knife like teeth. "Unlike you, I remembered the old passageways underneath Canterlot, Celestia." A look of pure horror crossed Celestia's face as Nightmare Moon fired a spell at her, knocking her unconscious...

The next thing she knew she was awake next to Twilight Sparkle and five other ponies. Nightmare Moon was sprawled out on the floor, and it took Celestia all of two seconds to guess what had happened. These ponies were Twilight's friends: the Elements of Harmony. They had defeated Nightmare Moon. Pride swelled up in Celestia's chest at her students accomplishments as she stepped up to her sister to relieve her curse.

Faust only knows how long Celestia had been in her prison. Well as princess of the sun she knew how long she had been there. 238 years 6 months and 28 days. Some would call it hell, but it wasn't that bad to Celestia; at least, what was left of her didn't seem to mind. During this time she had not moved or eaten; she simply lay in the corner reliving her old memories, good, bad and bittersweet. After about 100 years she had begun to replay the scene of Twilight's death over and over again. She had tried to break out of her cell several times but each time she attempted to do so, she fainted before she could escape and had to go through more terrible memories. Her sanity was long since gone. When she was awake she would constantly mutter to herself. She would assure herself that everything was okay. She would tell herself that none of it had ever happened. Her constant mutterings disturbed her guards; they were worried she would snap and attack them. She didn't know why she hadn't attacked any of her guards in over 50 years. She had long since given up on getting out. So she simply resorted to reliving her memories and mumbling a in the corner.

The memories she lived in varied. Some were of past times fighting against the evil powers like Discord or Sombra with Luna, some were memories of her interactions with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Some were even of of her childhood, fond memories of she and her sister playing in the gardens of their old home. But at least once everyday she lived through Twilight's death. The memory was distorted and some facts had been lost as well as others that had been embellished. Sometimes it played in a black-and-white, almost emotionless fashion, and sometimes the event unfolded in a comically colorful way. Sometimes it was in the true third person, sometimes it was Celestia herself being beheaded, and sometimes it was even her dropping the guillotine blade.

One thing united all flashbacks, though; in her memories, Twilight always screamed in agony, betrayal, and sometimes sadness of how she resented Celestia. It was all her fault, after all.

Her eyes darted around the room looking for anything to help assuage her pain, anything to help her forget the horrifying event, when she noticed something out of place.

A cupcake sat in the middle of her cell.

It was reminiscent of Pinkie Pie's cupcakes, but that couldn't be the case; Pinkie Pie had been dead for years. Regardless, Celestia hobbled over to the cupcake and began to eat it. It was several minutes before Celestia realized that she was eating a large chunk of rock. Several of her guards were staring at her strangely. She emitted a low primal growl as she had not spoken in over a century. She wouldn't even know what to say; all the synapses going off in her brain were strictly memories; lingual skills and voluntary movement were optional at this point.

She had been alive for so long and endured so much it was a wonder it had taken her this long to snap. Thousands of years she had endured terror after terror, somehow retaining her sanity. How had she done it? How?

I always had somepony with me.

What if Luna hadn't been there for her?

Discord strode out of the castle facing the lone Alicorn.

"Oh Celestia, how delightful to see you here."

"Discord," Celestia snarled, "your reign of terror has come to an end. We will stop you!"

"We?" Discord mused. "Celestia, you are all alone." She glanced around and noticed that Luna wasn't there by her side.

Discord cackled at Celestia's face of confusion. "Oh come on Celestia, surely you hadn't forgotten about what happened to your sister."

Luna had died. She wasn't there for her sister any more because she was dead. Discord had done it he had ripped her apart limb by limb as Luna cried out for her sister. Celestia couldn't do anything as he watched her sister suffer agonizing pain at the hands of that creature. The draconequus laughed in delight as he ripped apart one of the only things that could possibly stand in his way. He held up one of Luna's ravaged legs. "Oh you are simply marvelous, Luna. I bet your just dying to see what happens next!"

Tears streamed down Luna's face as the monster continued his puns whilst ripping her apart. She screamed in complete agony.

"Oh Luna," Discord muttered, "keep your head." and with that Celestia watched as the light faded out of Luna's eyes and her severed head was tossed to the floor. Celestia let out a silent scream as she cried and cried. Luna's bloodied head lay there, her face the picture of terror and her once brilliant eyes dull.

"You can not stop me, Celestia," Discord roared. "I'm invincible now that your little sister is gone." He tossed Luna's head over the balcony and as it fell it morphed slowly, hair shortening in length the color becoming brighter and two stripes began to stand out in their own individual colors.

"Why would you let this happen to us?" Twilight's disembodied head spoke. Celestia fell on her haunches as she realized that it was Luna's voice, not Twilight's that came out of the lavender head, "how could you let them do this to us?" The face twisted into a look of pure hatred and the eyes became glowing embers. Slowly a body rose up from underneath the head and Sombra towered over the prone body of Celestia. He grinned at her devilishly.

"Oh Celestia," his deep voice rang out with the same intimidating presence he had convinced the Crystal Ponies to live under his rule with. "You look terrible,"

His deformed horn was soon surrounded by a green light and fired at Celestia, opening all of her old wounds. Blood flowed freely from the pristine body of the white princess. She screamed in agony at the pain. Suddenly her eyes shot open and she was in her bed. Twilight was there looking at her mentor,undamaged. Her wings were perfectly intact. She gazed lovingly down at her.

"Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry all this had to happen to you." The purple Alicorn wrapped her wing around Celestia healing her wounds and trying to comfort her.

"Twilight, it was awful," Celestia sobbed. "They killed you, cut your head off and I was trapped in a prison and I lost it. I completely lost it. Oh, I'm so glad that its over!" Twilight's smile took on a malicious edge as she grinned at Celestia,

"Oh, that was no dream," the lavender mares eyes flashed green and suddenly all of the skin tore from the alicorn, revealing a holey black body with stringy green hair falling past a crooked and deformed horn. Celestia gasped in shock.

"I assure you, that was all very real." Chrysalis cackled and stabbed her horn through Celestia's chest. Celestia's eyes widened as pure agony filled her body and everything went dark.

Luna walked into the prison once every decade or so. She would come to see her sister, to try and comfort her, but Celestia was always unresponsive and often marked Luna off as an illusion. But still Luna felt morally obligated to see her sister. She hated what had been done to her, but saw it as necessary. She wept as always, seeing the grim prison she had abandoned her sister to. She walked down the familiar hallway and to the only occupied cell. Her sister lay in the corner, eyes glazed over as per usual. Her once beautiful white coat had become a dull and depressing shade of pink, and her mane no longer flowed or held its celestial beauty. Celestia wasn't moving at all; she wasn't even breathing, yet her heart continued beating. Luna had feared this day for ages; Celestia's insanity had finally completely overtaken her. Celestia would never move again and would forever walk in and eternal twilight, a somewhat fitting existence for the Alicorn princess. Luna kneeled down to the emotionally dead alicorn and wept. she would never hear her sisters laughter again. Future generations of ponies would only see her as a corrupt and evil ruler who had nearly torn Equestria to pieces in her greed. They would not know the kind soft pony her sister had been before the pressures of ruling became too much for her. Luna walked over past a lone guard and touched her horn to Celestia's. this was the last thing she could do, and it was all she could do to help her sister still feel somewhat alive in her realm of memories. Her horn glowed and a small smile crept across Celestia's face. Luna turned, still teary eyed, and began to walk away.

"One minute, Princess Luna." The guard said. Luna had kept the title of princess although as more of an honorific title to honor her sister and a certain unicorn whom she held dear to her heart. She had passed long ago, but her love for Luna as well as fashion had kept her alive in the memories of all ponies. She had always wanted Luna to represent something beautiful an lovely and so Luna had kept the title just for her.

"Yes Night Break?" Luna asked.

"What did you do? Why is she suddenly so happy? What happened to her?"

"What happened to her?" Luna mused quietly. "Do you know why ponies live?" Night Break shook his head.

"It may sound morbid but all ponies live to die. Yes, during our lives we live for those we love. But after they pass on all we want is death. Celestia lost all that she loved, but she cannot die. Like me, she is eternal. Do you know what it was like for her to have no purpose? She had nopony to love, and nobody to reciprocate her feelings.

"She had no purpose; she had nothing to live for and yet no way to die. Most ponies believe immortality to be a gift and in some ways it is. But there lies the truth, there lies the curse of that gift. Once you aren't loved you have no purpose, yet you cannot die so one simply fades. She will always be like that, lying there dead to the world. For once a pony has nothing to live for and no way to die. they are no longer a pony but simply a being that takes up space. Nothing defines them or makes them anything. They simply exist." Luna turned and began to walk away.

"But Princess," Night Break interrupted. Luna turned to face her guard.

"Yes?"

"You never told me what you did. how you made her smile?"

"I have of her a memory. A single memory that was a beautiful and meaningful moment in both of our lives."

"What was it?"

"My fifth birthday, the day she gave me the most beautiful gift there was to recieve... the day she made her sunset so that she always would be alive in the memories of ponies. In that sunset, there is hope.

Hope and a purpose."

Author's Note

Whew! Glad I got this one done. So anyways a huge thank you goes out to TheGreatEater he was a big help and inspiration for me i dont think i could have gotten this done without him, I've got a few references to his fic in there I highly recommend checking him out he's just great. Another big thanks to my editor Tencentpartycannon for staying up with me on exams weekend to get this up before summer anyways hope you all enjoyed it and to Eater and Tencent you guys are great couldn't of done it without you. Also so he doesn't kill me the fantastic artwork was done by MyPinkCats she's great and you should check her out on tumblr and stuff