No, Twilight Sparkle thought, as she looked at the aged and faded photos before her. She was not crying. No. That would be silly for her to do. It was liquid pride, as her brother had once called it. A totally different thing.

Yep. That was her story, and she was sticking to it if anyone came upon her now. But this portion of the palace was known only to a very select few. Just how Twilight liked it.

The photos before her now meant more it seemed because of how much everything had changed since that time. How much Twilight herself had changed since the day she had taken over from Celestia and Luna. But even more so.

How Equestria and the world around her had changed.

Though, Equestria had not been a term used by anyone but her and Flurry Heart for over ten millennia. And Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, whenever they popped up. It didn't seem right to use the name now.

Even the planet itself had received a new name. Though that was a relatively recent change. Or recent to Twilight at least. It not been called Equus for a long time now.

"There you are. You know how much I hate having to look for you," came a new voice in the chamber. One that Twilight knew quite well as the voice of her Faithful Student brought her back to the present as she looked over at the door.

Orchid Aura was giving her an exasperated look. One honed over years of being the personal student to one of the two most powerful ponies on Harmonia.

Empress Flurry Heart would argue who was more powerful between her and her favorite aunt, but she and Empress Twilight didn't really put much behind it. They'd been at the game for millennia now.

Twilight smiled as Orchid walked over to stand beside her. Orchid may have grumbled as a wing was draped over her, but she pulled close into the embrace anyway.

"And that's why I do it. I've got to keep you on your hooves. Besides, you've got it a lot easier than I did at your age," Twilight replied in a playful tone.

Orchid rolled her eyes. "Oh sure. Being the personal student to co-ruler of over half of the known galaxy is so much easier than saving the world."

Twilight pouted for a moment before both mares broke into giggles. It always helped to ease Twilight's mind when she was like this when she could drop the mask. The mask of, as Orchid said, co-ruler of a star-spanning empire. Only Flurry Heart and Orchid ever saw her like this.

After a moment though, Twilight turned serious. "All that aside, is there a problem. Or were you just wondering where I ran off to?"

Orchid shook her head. "No, there's not a problem. Not yet anyway. But I'd been wondering where you always run off to this time every year, and why we keep coming back to Harmonia when you have so much else going on."

Twilight sighed. She had meant to show Orchid this room in time, but this was not how she planned it to go. But she would make the most of it. "Let me guess. Flurry Heart pointed you over here didn't she?"

Orchid grinned as she looked around the room. For as out of the way, as it was, it was considerably cleaner than she thought it would be. "Yep. So what is this place anyway? Where are we? I've never seen it, and I thought I'd been everywhere in this city."

Twilight smiled as she too looked around. "You wouldn't have found it on any map. No current one anyway. This is in the Old City of Canterlot. This was, at one time, my bedroom in the Canterlot Archives."

Orchid scrunched her nose. "Canterlot? That hasn't been a thing in, what? Ten millennia? Nothing of it was supposed to still exist. At least on the surface. Ponies always said some parts of it still existed in the lower reaches of the mountain."

Twilight's smile dropped. "When the Old City was abandoned for New Harmonia, I insisted they keep this. As a reminder of where we came from. It's been here ever since."

Orchid finally looked down at what her teacher had been looking at when she had come in. Just a bunch of really ancient photos of ponies and other creatures that looked familiar for some reason. One unicorn, in particular, stood out for her. "Is that Luster Dawn?"

Twilight's smile returned. "The one and only. My first student when I first came to Equestria's throne properly. She was also the one that finally convinced to abandon the old practice of only taking a unicorn as a student. I've always been grateful to her for that, and so much more."

Orchid looked at the bright pink unicorn in awe. She had always heard about her from Twilight and even Flurry Heart. But few records had ever shown what she looked like. She wondered why that was as she looked at the other photographs. "And the rest of these?" She asked.

Twilight's smile grew if it was possible as looked at them again. "Memories. Friends and family long ago passed into the Summer Glens."

"And this one?" Orchid asked as she pointed at one in particular. One that made Twilight tear up slightly as remembered that day.

"One of the most important days of my life. Even more so than some that came afterward," she said.

Orchid scratched her head. "Do you remember them?"

Twilight scoffed and shot her student a hurt look. "Of course I remember them. I remember them like they happened yesterday. Some ponies back then thought I should become an emotional wreck when my friends died. Or that I should have died with them and hoofed over my responsibilities to someone else."

She remembered one pony in particular who had got it stuck in their head that immortality was nothing but a curse and that she was suffering because she would always be alive while others would grow old and die around.

Twilight found the whole idea laughably insane, to be honest. Of course, she would always miss her friends and family. That was a given. But she had never let it define her and what she did. If she mourned every death on Harmonia or the galaxy for that matter, she would never get anything done. And she liked getting things done!

She watched as Orchid sat down with an expectant look on her face, and she sighed. Her student always did love a good story, and who was she to say no to that? They were a lot alike in that regard.

Twilight slid a hoof over the first, and oldest photograph. "It all started here really..."

Author's Note

To be clear, that is the Orchid Aura from Long Live the Empress. Aside from the setting change, and Twilight not being a literal goddess here, she is still the same character.

I always found it dumb that Twilight would still take a unicorn as a personal student. So I had it be Luster Dawn that finally convinced Twiggles to break that cycle.

So now, Twilight has had ever kind of creature as her Faithful Student over the millennia. Even the occasional Xenos. For the races of the old Equus are not the only races in the galaxy.