Twilight Sparkle rested her head on the train window, staring out at the passing trees and land. She was fortunate enough to get the last ticket for the Equestria Express. It was late in the evening, the sun was starting to set as Twilight's eyes began to flit close. She had spent the whole day asking ponies their theories about life after death, and she was about to find out if any of them were close, or completely off-base.

'If Celestia doesn't know, then I guess I never will.'

The train ride to Canterlot was between an hour to two hours long, depending on the crew working it. Twilight silently scolded herself when she bought the ticket, seeing as though she has wings. But after careful consideration, she realized she was way too tired to even think about flying.

'I'd probably crash somewhere, with my luck.'

The alicorn princess chuckled to herself, continuing her window watching. Equestria really was beautiful, every place she saw as she passed was flourishing. Everypony she saw, whether it be the mares and stallions coming home from work, to the fillies and colts that were following their sunset curfews, was special. At one point she sometimes wondered how everypony could be so different, but she soon knew that's what made everypony so happy and unique. Differences rarely caused problems in Equestria. Faust, even when Discord made his weekly visits, nopony questioned him about who he was... or what he was. The sun had gone down in the time Twilight was lost in thought, just staring out at the passing landscapes.

"Ticket, ma'am?" a stallion's voice came from beside her, making her jump.

"Huh?! O-oh, yes. Here you go," Twilight handed the Earth pony her ticket, he stamped it and continued to the very few passengers left in the car.

'Jeez, I wasn't expecting a scare like that.'

Twilight went back to her thoughts, eventually drifting to sleep. She began to drool down the glass her face had uncomfortably made as a pillow. It was nice to get some rest, seeing as though she didn't sleep too well the night before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight awoke to a train whistle blowing, and the conductor shaking her.

"Ma'am, please. You're at your destination," he politely said, waking the princess.

With a groan, Twilight stretched her wings and body, groggily walking out to Canterlot's train station. She hailed a taxi carriage, directing him to Canterlot Castle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Here we are, ma'am, that'll be twenty bits," the unicorn stallion stated.

Twilight paid the unicorn, getting a burst of energy when she saw the castle. "Thank you!"

And with that, Twilight ran up the steps to the castle doors, passed the Royal Guards, and straight to Celestia's throne room. She looked around, saw no sign of either princess, and ran to the library. She saw books, shelves, a trolley, a desk, but no princesses. She looked at the giant clock in the center of the room.

1:21.

The princesses were asleep at this hour, of course. And Twilight should be too. With a yawn, she decided to walk to her old room in the castle and sleep.

'I've waited this long, what's a night longer?'

And with that, Twilight drifted to slumber in the plush bed she remembered all too well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A maternal voice woke Twilight Sparkle the next morning, at first faint and barely audible.

"Nnrgh.." was all the purple alicorn could mutter in response. Then the voice got clearer.

"Twilight..?"

The Princess of Friendship immediately leapt out of bed, clinging to her former teacher. "Princess Celestia!!"

Celestia smiled, returning the hug with gusto. "It's nice to see you, too, Twilight." Her tone never seemed to change around her former student, it was always calming and gentle. It made Twilight feel right at home. "Is there any reason you came to see me?"

Twilight's eyes sparkled at the question, happy to jump right into explaining everything she had been through the past two days.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Princess Celestia had a look of utter bewilderment on her face from the story Twilight told her. "All this travel and research.. to find out what happens after death?" Her tone seemed uneasy, almost cautious. After a generous period of silence, Celestia spoke, "Twilight, please go to my throne room. Luna and I will explain something to you there."

Twilight Sparkle nodded, trotting down the large hallway to the throne room, sitting down on the floor and patiently waiting for her mentor and her sister to follow suit.

'Maybe it's something totally bizarre, maybe we go to a whole new dimension! Maybe what Doctor Whooves said is the correct theory, maybe Octavia was right! Maybe my theory of the stallion in the sky was true.. no, once again getting off track and completely ridiculous.'

She looked at the clock.

4:13.

That explains why Celestia is awake, she needs to raise the sun in less than an hour.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the side doors to the princesses' thrones, and the two sisters walking to them. They sat in unison, looking down to Twilight.

"Twilight Sparkle, it's nice to see you again," Luna smiled at the purple alicorn.

Twilight bowed to them both, before sitting back down, silently.

Celestia took a deep breath, sighing. "Nopony has ever really asked the questions you ask, Twilight. Not even Sunset Shimmer. At least, as far as I know. So, you would like to know where ponies go when they pass on?"

Twilight nodded, levitating her pencil and notepad back out. "Yes, Princess."

The princesses exchanged looks, before Celestia spoke, "Are you familiar with the name 'Nebula'?"

Twilight shook her head slowly.

"Well, Nebula is our mother. Queen Nebula. The one alicorn that kept everything in check before we came along. She ruled a very long time ago. Longer than you can even imagine. This was before the Windigos happened, before Luna and I controlled the Sun and Moon. Well, our mother raised both the Sun and Moon, she ruled the land before Equestria and kept the stars aligned. She controlled this whole world, all day and all night."

Twilight's mouth was agape, her pencil writing every word Celestia said rapidly, she still stayed silent.

"Well, when our mother... passed on, Equestria fell into chaos and anarchy. When the unicorns learned how to control the Sun and Moon, things got back to normal, but the races hated each other with passion, because our mother couldn't help them see how much they mattered to each other. Queen Nebula's passing caused the occurrence of Windigos, which caused the Equestria you know today. Now, follow me, Twilight," Celestia stood, walking to the balcony with her sister and former student. "Do you see that star alignment?"

Twilight nodded, looking at a group of stars in the shape of a pony.

"That is the constellation of our mother. Ever since she came to be, and every day and night since, she watches over Equestria, and every time a pony passes on, she brings them into the sky to forever be remembered, to watch their families, to guard them in a way. She keeps the stars aligned.. and brings ponies, good and bad, up to live with her in her new kingdom. Where they can have peace, and watch their loved ones live. That is where we ponies go, Twilight. We go up to be stars, something beautiful to see in the night sky, something that will be eternal and always show that we are never alone. We're constantly protected by our loved ones, and to be reminded that they will never leave us truly. They'll always love us. No matter if we can't speak with them, or hear them, we'll always have them to look after us," Celestia finished her speech, her voice choking up as tears fell down her face.

Twilight looked at Luna, who was also crying as she stared at the sky, then back up to the stars.

'Ponies never truly are left behind when their loved ones die..'

"Princess?"

"Yes?"

"Would you mind if I shared this with the Apple Family? I'm sure they'd be happy to hear it," Twilight looked at her former teacher.

"Of course I wouldn't mind, Twilight. Share it with anyone who needs closure, or is just curious," Princess Celestia smiled warmly at her former student, hugging her.

Twilight hugged her in return, silently happy she followed her curiosity.

Author's Note

There! My take on what happens when ponies die. It seems nice and safe, to always be protected. So why not, ya know? Like, favorite, comment, dislike, do what you wish! I'm pleased with this.

My theory is that Nebula died after birthing her daughters. There, closed that loop.

Much love,

Pandora