Nopony knows what happens when an alicorn dies of natural causes—never before has it happened within anypony's memory, if they had lived in been alive at anytime for the last two thousand years, since Princess Celestia and Princess Luna mantled the thrones of Equestria, nor are there any records of it ever happening before that. They had been around as long as anypony could remember, and it was assumed that they would continue to be around for the foreseeable future. For all they knew, alicorns couldn't die!

This all changed one fateful morning, during a standard heath checkup on Princess Celestia. Frightened doctors found a tumor rapidly swelling around her horn, it's tendrils pressing dangerously on her brain. Unable to remove the growth without endangering the alicorn's life, they called in human doctors from Earth to see if human medicine could help. It doesn't, but it does come with some options: She can have a human hospice volunteer tend to her emotional wellbeing while her time counts down. She accepts.

Co-written by NiceMouse and Wisemon.