The flames crackled, and fireplce emmited a light glow. Its brick fixtures gave the brown wall some character and made the room appear cozy and small. A large square window was put right above the couch, it was more there for design then anything, but it gave them a wonderful view of the wildlife outside, even if it was dark.
Celestia looked out the window and sighed. “You did an excellent job, Twilight,” she said with a smile.
Twilight rested on her cane, and let out a sigh of her own. Her body was now bony and delicate, worn down by the passing of time. But her eyes were still as bright and curious as a filly’s.
“Yes, but I'm not sure how much longer I can do this,” she admitted. “My friends and I… We’re getting older, Princess Celestia. I don’t know how much longer we can go on. We’re not the young mares we used to be.”
Celestia looked down, saddened by her words, and gave Twilight a light nuzzle. “Yes, I know. I'm just not sure what I will do without you.” She felt tears begin to swell up in her eyes. “Nevermind me, but Equestria...”
“You’ll find a way,” Twilight replied. “A new student, new bearers of Harmony. And you’ll have Luna as well.”
Celestia pulled her in for a hug, trying to hold back her emotions. She felt like crying but she had to stay strong, for Twilight, if not for herself as well. She knew that if Twilight were to break down and cry, she wouldn’t be far behind either, and that couldn’t happen. She had to stay strong. For both of them.
Twilight's bottom lip began to tremble. “I-I’m just so scared. Will it hurt? Is death...scary?”
Celestia pulled away from Twilight, and looked down upon her. It was a question she had heard often over the course of her eternal life. A question more difficult to answer than many were willing to believe. “Twilight, death is not what you should be afraid of…” ***Celestia paced the grand hall with a frown upon her face. She wasn’t too far away from the vault that held the Elements of Harmony, and other relics important to Equestria’s history. In a different time, she would have stopped in to admire some of the many trinkets, awards, and glass windows that were displayed to honor Equestria’s greatest heroes.
In another time though, she wouldn’t have been waiting for him to arrive.
Celestia paused and took another deep breath to calm herself, just like how she had taught Cadance all those years ago. She had to focus. Focus on what really mattered at the moment, something that even Twilight wouldn’t have been able to understand last night, or probably ever.
“Where is he?” she snapped, stomping a hoof and trotting over to the window. “He’s always late when it matters most!”
She took three deep breaths. “It's okay, Celestia. No need to be angry. This is just like him to be late. Even though you're a little irritable right now, keep yourself under control. If he sees you’re frustrated, he’ll take advantage of it!”
shhrrrrip
“What on Luna’s huge moon was that?” She turned towards the source of the noise. The blue wallpaper had been torn off the walls, leaving the white drywall exposed, and a smirking draconequus shaking some paper off his hoof.
“Oh! What a fancy it is seeing you here,” Discord said, brushing off small pieces of blue wallpaper from his coat. “Do you come here often?”
“I invited you here,” she deadpanned. “But if I had known you were going to ruin my walls, I would have reconsidered.”
Discord was quiet for a moment. “It is horrible looking wallpaper.”
“Discord!” Celestia paused and took a deep calming breath before continuing. “Now is not the time, and I must speak with you. This is urgent and we don’t have much time.”
Discord merely rolled his eyes. “Urgent enough you’d ask for me? Well, Celestia, I feel so lucky to once again be a servant to your crown.”
“This is serious, Discord,” Celestia hissed.
He snapped his left talons and a cup of tea appeared before him, which he grasped with his right paw, his pinkie raised arrogantly. “Hmm, seriousness. Sounds rather boring. Why not do something fun instead?”
“Discord.”
“Or maybe get some exercise in? You could use a bit,“ Discord said, eyeing Celestia's flank with a cringe.
“DISCORD!” She screamed, losing the calm composure she tried to maintain.
“What? I was only pointing out what everypony was too afraid to tell you.”
“No, Discord... That's not it. I called you here because she came to me in a dream…”
Discord looked at her with a little hesitation and confusion. “‘She’ is a pronoun...not a name.”
“Cynthia...”
The tea cup slipped from Discord’s grasp and shattered on the floor. He looked at her, jaw hanging slightly, eyes wide open. For the first time in as long as Celestia could remember, the God of Chaos was stunned.
“She told me that one of the Gods, Keaton, has turned. And is now looking to rewrite the universe as we know it.” Celestia paused and chewed her lip for a moment, letting the words sink in for Discord. She tried to figure out how to phrase the next bit of news, but even she was unsure. “She told me that this was our final test, to see if we were worthy of our titles.”
Discord looked at her blankly. ”What do you mean our?”
“The Children of Woe!” she replied.
“Have you hit your head by any chance?” balked Discord. “You really think you’d actually be able to get Sombra and Chrysalis to help you? That’s crazy, even by my standards.”
Celestia frowned. How could he be so sure? If he could be reformed, then maybe the others could be reformed as well! But even so, the chances of them actually helping her were slim even if the fate of the universe depended on it.
“Besides, don’t you think it’s time we put an end to…this?” he asked, gesturing around himself. “It’s been a long time, perhaps a reset would be nice…”
“Is it?” she wondered. Maybe he's right, maybe it's time for a much needed break... I mean surely the gods would understand, right? Celestia felt her wings tighten up to the point of discomfort, and held on to the slightest bit of hope that the Gods would understand. But she knew they wouldn't. She shook her head. “No. We can’t let others pay for our own selfish desires. We have a responsibility, a duty, to the powers we hold.”
“Look,” Discord responded with a sigh. He snapped his fingers and appeared on a floating bean bag chair. “I know you’re the ‘Princess’, and all that. But don’t you think it's time you rest? Because those wrinkles under your eyes tell me you desperately need it! Ever consider some moisturizer?”
“No!” Celestia brought her hoof down hard enough to crack the stone floor. “Why are you so willing to accept defeat? The Discord I know wouldn’t be the one to give up so easily, not when Fluttershy—”
“Fluttershy’s dead,” said Discord.
Celestia blinked a few times, unsure of what she had heard. She opened her mouth to question that statement. Surely, the passing of another Element would have reached her ears by now. But the look, or rather the lack of emotion on Discord’s face said it all. It was as if it was chiseled out of stone. There was no joy, no merriment, just emptiness. An emptiness that Celestia was all too familiar with.
“Discord, I’m… I’m sorry.”
“Twilight didn't tell you?”
“No.”
“She’s probably just in denial. I imagined that's why she was here earlier.” The way he said it made Celestia shiver. Discord was a wealth of emotions, but to be completely dead inside? She had never seen it happen.
“No… I was congratulating her on her win against Dargon,”
“Look I-I’d rather not talk about Fluttershy…“ Discord paused and cleared his throat, the corner of his mouth curved upward in a bit of a smirk; a sign that he shoved his emotions back down. “If you’re sooo desperate for my advice, then I suppose I could help you. After all, Twilight can’t be the only one getting her hooves dirty. The princess needs to do something!”
Celestia gave him a gentle smile. “Thank you, Discord.”
He flashed her a toothy grin. “Whatever you say, your highness.”
