Twilight sat with Celestia in the Throne Room, answering proposals of the ponies in Equestria. It had been a long and stressful day for Twilight. But most of all, her day was only filled with one thing: sadness. She had talked time and time with Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Spike about missing her loved ones and how they dealt with immortality. But she knew she was going to be in eternal depression.
"Twilight, my dearest student, are you alright?" Celestia whispered into Twilight's ear, concerned about Twilight's fidgeting and wiping away a few tears from moment to moment.
"Y-yes, Princess. Just thinking about my friends." Twilight replied, her voice crackling in sadness.
"You're a princess, you have the right to take time off whenever you wish." Celestia replied kindly.
"No, I am a princess now. I must be strong for Equestria." Twilight whispered loudly.
Celestia looked down at her student for a while longer, then prepared for another announcement. "Citizens of Equestria, it is requested that you escort yourselves out of this room. I must have a chat with my student." The ponies left the room obediently, respecting the Sun Goddess's request.
Twilight glared at Celestia. "Why did you do that?" She said in a normal voice.
"I do not desire talking about this topic in front of our loyal subjects."
"Please, don't do that again. But, you do have permission to help me." Twilight said with tears forming thicker in her eyes.
"Come, we shall talk about this in my bedchamber. I need to show you something" Celestia rose and escorted Twilight out of the room and down the halls. In the 5 minutes it took to get to the hall of bedchambers, Twilight and Celestia made small talk.
"Celestia? What exactly are you going to show me?" Twilight asked, curious.
"Something from my past. Something that can relate well to you." And just then, they had arrived at Celestia's bedchamber. The double doors had a sun in the middle that also made the handles. There were beautiful, gold swirls all around the door in a formal fashion. The background of the door was a sunset orange, and had various beams of sunlight from the center to the edges. "Ah, here we are. Please, come in."
Twilight followed Celestia into the room. The walls were orange, beams of sunlight expanding around the room, gold swirls were on every piece of furniture. A large, round bed was in the center of the room, the sheets followed the usual color pattern. There was a wall that was made entirely out of glass, a door was in the middle of that wall, and led out into a double-step circular balcony with gold rails. Celestia had a nice desk and work space against one wall with a plentiful supplies of ink, parchment, and quills, all neatly arranged as if Twilight were here a few moments ago cleaning.
"Over here." Celestia said, walking over to her closet. She opened the door, revealing a small about of dresses, an extra set of her usual gold accessories, and a various amount of boxes on the top shelf. She activated her yellow-aura magic and selected a shoe box from a company Rarity would love. "In this box are memories from when I was still a mortal. I had friends too, I loved them as much as you love yours, and I went through the same thing with my sister."
Twilight was shocked. This was such an honor to be looking at the Sun Goddess's personal files with her. "B-but why? Why are you going to show this stuff to me?"
"Celestia folded a wing over Twilight and replied in a kind voice, "One who obtains mortality must learn to cope with the cons, no matter the way." She said like she was reciting an old quote she said to Luna or Cadence. "You are very welcome to look through these old photos. I have even cast a spell on them to contain them and keep them out of harm from fire, water, erosion, cracking, aging, and other elemental problems. If somepony would even light the castle on fire, these photos would be very safe."
"Ok, i'll take your lesson. Where do we begin?"
"Well, when I first found out I was an immortal, I had to think about the loss of my loved ones. Those ponies included my friends, family, and allies. Anyone who was mortal, I knew I would lose someday. It saddened me to the point where I had nightmares about them going away form me in front of my eyes. And eventually, those ponies in this photos passed away a quick and painless death of age." She held up a photo of five ponies, including her and Luna. "When that day came, me and Luna were very depressed. We would cry ourselves to sleep every night for a year. We would cry together in peace whenever we were alone. We were both depressed. We both are today. But now, I have my duties to preform. I have a nation to lead. I have no time to mourn for my friends anymore. Their graves were buried with the soil you live on today, and I can't move that land."
Celestia almost sobbed, and it pained Twilight to see her like this. "Princess, you don't have to talk about them anymore if it makes you so upset. But, how would I relieve of my depression like you have?"
Celestia looked down to Twilight, right into her eyes. "Twilight, me and Luna have been this way for well over a thousand years. I am so sorry, but there is no cure for immortality's depression. You have been forced to have this burden like me. And I am sorry about it, there was nothing I could do about it."
Twilight looked up in confusion. "Celestia, are you saying that you didn't choose me as princess?"
"Yes, yes I am. I think it is time for you to know that when you get chosen as princess, you are chosen by the universe and time itself. The universe is connected to us, we control everything in the universe. And some of the ailicorns might say that it is a punishment, others a prize. But for most, it is the worst thing that has ever happened to them." Celesita was shedding a few tears now."
Twilight looked down in shame, knowing that she had brought up her mentor's pain. "Princess, i'm sorry. It seems unfair for me to have more memories of my friends and you, none."
"No, Twilight, you must cherish your memories however you can. Keep as much of those memories alive for as long as possible. If we need to have a memorial, we will. If we need to reserve a burial ground for your friends, we will." She said with a sad, cracked voice.
"Princess, thank you, you do not know how much this means to me..." Twilight hugged her mentor.
Celestia returned the hug. "You are welcome Twilight." The two held the embrace for a few more minutes, crying onto each other's shoulder. Once the tears had dried up out of both of them, they held their posture, and returned to the throne room.
"Thank you, Twilight. Thank you for letting me mourn with you." She looked down to Twilight with a wing over her shoulder.
"No, thank you, Celesita. I don't think I could have gone through this without you." Twilight looked up into Celesita's eyes with a sadness in both. They had returned to the Throne Room.
Ch2 - Memorial of Applejack
Princess Twilight and Spike stood outside of Sweet Apple Acres to mourn as Princess Celestia had requested. Celestia saw the sadness of Twilight and Spike over time, and basically ordered the two to go and visit the graves, even though it would mean Celestia working overtime for one or two days. Spike had grown into a teen by now, but still had his old personality. He wore a black cloak and a swordpack on his back, in case of danger. He was about 7 feet tall by now and could breath a large amount of magical fire, and real fire. The fire could reach temperatures of up to 300 degrees fahrenheit. He was also a master swordsman with any sword you gave him.
The barn was still standing, everything untouched by a stranger's hoof. The graves of Applejack, Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh rested neatly alongside the barn. Apple Bloom was still young enough to live, and still lived in the home. Each grave had the pony's cutie mark, name, date of death and birth, relation to Twilight, and their prized token. There were ropes on the pathway leading to the barn but they held any new pony in that area. So, the place was like an exhibit in a museum that you could not touch, but look.
Of course, there were guards posted at every grave of the 5 friends of Twilight and they let Twilight and Spike in without question, knowing they were the closest of those 5. Twilight and Spike slowly walked past the graves, looking at each chisel mark in the stone, studying every letter and picture. She looked at Granny Smith's grave and said a few words. "She was always so nice to everyone, so kind and caring, almost like Fluttershy. She knew best how to harvest the apples and knew best how to host a family reunion. She was so accepting to let her go on such dangerous quests without knowing if she would return. All of them were." She studied the date of death on the stone, it read Born on June 23rd, 1962. Died on August 24th, 2015 of age. She lived for a long time. Twilight moved to Big Macintosh's grave.
"Oh, Big Macintosh, always so quiet and wise. One of the strongest in the family. He cared for his sister dearly and was always worried when she went away with us. He was a good friend, although I didn't know him that well, I wish I did..." The dates read Born October 12th, 1984. Died on May 30th, 2025 of age. He also lived long. And so she moved onto Applejack's grave.
"Applejack, I wish you didn't have to die with all the others. You were so honest and respectful of other ponies and it was so good of you. You saved us many times in the past, more than we can count. You stuck with me in every time of doubt, you've helped me with a lot of my problems and I never really repaid you for that. I wish you didn't have to die..." She read the dates, it read Born November 21st, 1986. Died on July 27th, 2028 of age. She and Spike spent a few hours by the grave, crying onto each other's shoulder, telling memories and stories of their past with her.
When they were done, they thanked the guards for letting her stay for so long, and went to go visit Pinkie Pie's grave near SugarCube Corner.