Cloudsrim
written by AngryCartoonGuy
Prologue: The Funeral
The princess of the day sniffled. She wasn't one to cry, but it was obviously a good time to do so. A tear formed on her cheek, sliding quickly. She wiped it and gulped.
The job of the princess was not a fun one.
----
Minister Paul Sermon entered the room. His sleek and small figure set an example for most stallions, however ogling at a pony's features was off the agenda for today. He walked slowly to the podium, where he stood on his hind legs to reach the top of. He began levitating a sheet of paper on the podium marked "Royal Funeral Service." He squinted at the top of the page.
"We are gathered here today," he read slowly, "to celebrate the life of Princess Luna, ruler of the Moon, bringer of the Night. She was a very humble mare." He glanced at Princess Celestia, who was wiping a tear from her eye. "She never asked for too much, and she was kind to her followers. For the one thousand, twenty-four years that she ruled over the Night, everypony could always trust her to perform her work without question.
"And even when jealousy transformed her kindness into hatred, she was still there, hidden inside of a shell. Once she had returned from her banishment on the Moon"- Sermon noticed that Celestia had winced at this remark. -"she was the kind Alicorn from years long past. Up until the very end, she stayed fair and hard-working." He set the sheet of paper back on the podium.
"So, friends and family of Princess Luna," he added, "let's not remember her as a pony who once lived. Instead, we should remember her as one who has lived a full life of dignity and grace, of kind and humble ways. Let us remember Princess Luna as the one who has respected everypony more than she has respected herself!" He found that he had been caught up by the speech, as he had begun speaking louder. He quieted himself down.
There was one last item on the list that needed to be completed. Sermon levitated the sheet so it flipped over. He told the guests at the funeral, "Let us say a prayer for Princess Luna." He motioned for the guests to get out of their seat. One by one, they obliged. They knew what was done in these funerals. They had to repeat Sermon's prayer after him. His prayer went like this:
Dear God,
Today, we have lost a figure of grace and humbleness.
We need you to take care of Luna in Heaven.
We need you to welcome her with open arms.
Please make sure that she doesn't lose her way.
They recited the Lord's Prayer together in a slow rhythm. Sermon looked up from his podium at the crowd and said quietly, "Amen." The guests repeated the word and sat back down. He gave a slight smile to lighten the mood, but it did not seem to be working. He gave up trying this after almost a minute.
He coughed in a hankie and eyed the guests. He explained, "If you would like to make amends with Princess Luna, you may." Twilight Sparkle, a purple Alicorn who was a former apprentice of Princess Celestia, stood up from her chair and began slowly walking down the row to Princess Luna's coffin.
Once she made it, she told the ruler of the Night's corpse, "Princess Luna, throughout my time as a student of Princess Celestia's in Canterlot, I had never seen you. I'd known who you were, but it was what others had told me that I was forced to believe." Tears began forming in her eyes. "They were horrible lies. But once you came back from your banishment to the Moon, I got to know you better and learned that those rumors were not true. You were never a cruel mare, and you proved this by staying by my side to the end. Thank you for what you have done." She ran back to her seat, sobbing loudly.
The rest of the guests began crying in response. The speech had moved them in many ways.
----
No other ponies went up to the coffin and spoke kind words. Twilight must have done very well. Sermon wrapped up the service and left. He was followed by the guests.
Rainbow Dash, a heroic and loyal pony who was also one of Twilight's best friends, asked Twilight, "How did you come up with that speech? Very cool." She realized what that had sounded like and added, "I mean that it was well-written."
Twilight turned her head to the prismatic-maned pegasus and replied, "Thanks, Rainbow Dash. I just took advice from some books I read. That's all." She emitted a long yawn. "It's been a long, sad day. I think I'll just take a rest once I get back"- She yawned again. -"to the castle." The red and puffy eyes she had confirmed this idea.
Fluttershy, a shy, yellow pegasus who was Rainbow Dash's best friend nodded. "I agree," she piped up. "We should all get some sleep." She stared at her forehooves and sighed. "And you're right about this being sad, too. She shouldn't have died." She twisted her head towards Twilight. "What happened to her, by the way?"
Twilight coughed. "I don't know, actually," she admitted. "Princess Celestia never told me about it. I'll ask her tomorrow morning." She gave a small smile to show that it was the truth and quieted down.
The carriage that Twilight and her friends were in came to a stop. They had arrived at Twilight's castle. One of the two stallions driving the carriage neighed.
"Here's my stop," Twilight said quietly. "Come on, Spike," she added to her purple-and-green messenger who had tagged along with her for loyalty reasons. He was a baby dragon but was treated like an adult. Once Twilight had climbed out of the carriage, he followed her lead.
He waved to the others and shouted, "Goodnight!" It sounded awfully cheery for someone who had lost a friend, but Spike was like that. Dragons were known to be moody at times, and as such, they acted incorrectly at times. He noticed that Twilight was already nearing the front doors and ran towards her.
----
A light blue pegasus slept on her tiny cloud peacefully. Her dreams were exciting, as she dreamed of winning many races, and she began muttering something in her sleep. Then, her dream changed.
When she would recall the previous night's dreams that morning, she wouldn't remember this new dream. She mumbled in her dream a phrase that could only be understood days later when the sorrows of a lost princess cleared up finally. There were three words in a strange language that the pegasus didn't know. The words were:
"Fus Ro Dah!"
Author's Note
[youtube=clcHxg9l5Bk]
And so it begins.
