Rising Sun

"Home. My home. My home is beautiful. My home was beautiful...Twilight sparkle...Are you listening?"

Princess Celestia sat with her student. A small kettle lay on the table and two tea cups sat next to it, the contents in the cup closest to twilight was still full, letting waves of hot air travel up from it. The little lavender unicorn had no idea why the princess had summoned her here. It was all to familiar, the stained glass hallway, with murals depicting discords' rise, fall, rebirth, and ultimate defeat at the hands of Twilight and her friends. The Windows brought back a mix of sadness and happiness to Twilight Sparkle. She and her friends had overcome the spell of discord, returning themselves to normal and utilized the power of the elements of harmony and sent the dragonquese packing. But before that, they had argued and fought among themselves, fully under his spell and that hurt her to a degree, it was her misconception about the maze that would cost her friends their sanity for...a day? Week? The mad world of the lord of chaos was more confusing than anything twilight had ever experienced...and that included pinkypie.

"Of Course Princess.  I was just thinking about discord."

The princess nodded and smiled,using her magic to pour herself another glass of tea

"I'm sorry twilight sparkle...It was my fault that happened."

"Nooo pincess! that's to much! If blame had to be placed i would say-"

"Twilight Sparkle! Nopony is to blame but myself! The same can be said for nightmare moon, and the changeling's attack on the wedding."

Twilight was surprised, how could she she blame herself for those virtually unrelated events? The princess had always been there to do her best to help Twilight's friends. Perhaps she had arrived later than expected, but it all turned out ok.

"Twilight sparkle...I want you to understand, and see the whole picture. Luna knows this story already, and so should you. You need to know this story to see, that everypony, even me. Is fallible."

"Princess..."

"Twilight...The wedding...I learned there my power is waning. I've suspected it for sometime. And...I think, that you will be the one to recieve what is left."

"What?!"

"Magic does not simply disappear Twilight Sparkle. It... Moves in a way. From pony to pony. An alicorn like myself or my sister, out magic builds on itself for eons, then slowly ebbs away, going to somepony who must be taught to manage it..."

"So...That means..."

The princess nodded, a mix of quiet pride and a sense of the reality of growing old in her expression

"The day we met, I saw a spark in you the likes of which I've never seen before outside of my former home."

"I... Why do you keep talking like equestria wasn't your first home?"

"Because it wasn't. Equestria is something I discovered after a long, long journey... Truth be told, it was you ponies who had founded Equestria. When I arrived I brought a sense of majesty I suppose, the ponies believed me some kind of divinity. I could make grass and food grow on a whim, bring rain when it otherwise wouldn't fall... They even beleived I could raise the sun."

"Wait... So... you can't raise the sun? How can that be? I saw you raise the sun! On multiple occaisions!"

"Well I can... I just.... Haven't. Not sense before the first rein of Discord."

"So... I... I don't understand why you're telling me all this?"

Celestia took a long drag of her tea, smiled, then looked solemly at the fire in the hearth.

"Twilight... I'm dieing..."

"WHAT?!"

"It'll happen soon. If Luna calculated correctly I'll be dead by sunrise... And no, the irony has not escaped me."

"W-w-w-w"

"Oh please don't stutter Twilight, everypony must go sometime. It's just a little longer for alicorns."

"There has to be some way to-"

Celestia gave her student a long, commanding glare

"Twilight Sparkle! If I, the so proclaimed Sun goddess, your princess, and your personal magic tutor, with a millenia more expierance says she is dieing-She means it will happen, period."

"But-But I can't lose you!"

Twilight leaked tears from her eyes, the salty droplets following their curve till they hit a magically levitated tissue, bethed in golden light.

"Twilight... I'm sorry. I will miss you. You, my sister, my niece, your friends."

"What about-"

"No one will miss BlueBlood."

They both found a soft chuckle to give dispite themselves.

"I get the feeling... You came here to tell me more than this..."

Celestia nodded, taking a sip from an empty glass.

"What is it?"

"A story."

"What... What kind of story..."

"A story worth telling. And if you listen... You may learn something very important about friendship."

"You're going to teach me a lesson on friendship?"

"Twilight. I gave you the assignment I did not to simply allow you to stay with your friends, but to explore the side of friendship I never truly got to see until now."

"What do you mean?"

"You and your friends are friends by choice, perhaps destined to be friends, but still. You all chose to enter that forrest together, you all chose to help one another... I wasn't so fortunate."

"How do you mean?"

The princess gave a weak chuckle, recalling her "friends"

"Twilight... With friends like mine. You'de never need enemys."