Chapters Celestia inhaled the cold night air as she sat on her balcony in Chanterlot Castle. She looked up at her sister's moon, then down below as the first day of preparations for Twilight's coronation came to a close and everyone started to head home so that they could resume their work from tomorrow when the actual ceremony would take place.
She quietly sipped her tea and allowed her memories to wash over her. Despite such a joyous occasion happening, Celestia and Luna were sad. They hid it well. But they knew it had to come at some point. Better late than never. She heard hoofs walking across her marble balcony. She didn't even move as her sister, Luna sat down next to her in silence.
They stayed like that for a while. Simply enjoying each other's company as they knew they had limited time left to do so.
"Do you think...There is a heaven for Alicorns?" Luna finally asked. Celestia let out a soft chuckle and placed her empty teacup down.
"We were originally unicorns. We will probably just go there...If there is a heaven of course." Celestia replied. Luna sadly looked down to the streets and houses below. Then up to her beautiful moon that shined down on the two Alicorn sisters.
"I am assuming you haven't told Twilight yet." Luna commented. Celestia nodded.
"No. I am allowing Cadence to tell her a few weeks from now. She doesn't need her special day ruined because of her loyalty to us."
"We should tell her." Luna flatly replied. Celestia sighed in irritation. "It will hurt less coming from us."
"Why are you so worried about her knowing before we leave, Luna?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow. "Please...We don't want to make a scene."
"But...You are her mentor. She had a right to know that...We are going to die tomorrow."
"My decision is final." Celestia barked. "It would be too late anyway."
Luna nodded and stood from her spot.
"I have to go patrol the dreams of our subjects one last time. Since we will be gone by this time tomorrow, I have to help as many as I can." Luna explained. She trotted out of Celestia's sight and back into the castle where it was warm.
Celestia shivered at the chill of the air and her eyes drifted to the town with a crystal castle in the distance. A lone tear drifted down Celestia's cheek as she considered her fate. The fate of her sister. And the fate of her pupil. She levitated her crown off her head and took a moment to look at the gold crown with a purple crystal in the middle.
Luna had already transferred most of her magic into her own crown. It was Celestia's turn.
Celestia poured her yellow magic into her crown. It was over in a matter of moments. Celestia sagged at a feeling over being suddenly very weak and dizzy. She shook her head and pleaded with herself to pull it together before using her hoofs to place it back on her head.
She felt that her spirit was dying. It was. Celestia used half of her limited magic supply to keep herself alive for just a little while longer. When The crown was to be turned into Twilight's she would get their magic. She would be able to control the sun and moon.
Celestia and Luna's duties would be finally finished and their destinies would fade. The years and centuries that they lived would catch up to their unicorn bodies and they would simply turn to dust. They were never meant to become Alicorns and they both knew it.
Starswirl predicted it would happen.
Celestia looked over to her room, that the maids and servants had started to pack away. Not that she would need any of it. She was going to miss living. She was going to miss them all.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light. She didn't jump up in alarm as she had become used to Discord dropping in at random moments. He appeared as the light died away and gave her a long angry expression.
"How could you not tell me, Tia?" He growled. She turned away from him and looked down to the ground in shame.
"You can't do anything to stop this. Dizzy." Celestia replied, using the nickname she gave him when they first met. "It's over for me and Luna. I couldn't tell you because you would try to stop us. You would tell Twilight to convince her to not take the throne."
"Is that really such a bad thing?" He replied. Cautiously hovering next to her. Celestia's sadness overtook her and tears started to silently fall down her face.
"Yes." Celestia said. Offering no explanation. "Please. Don't tell the others."
"Don't worry, Tia." Discord replied. For the first time, he was actually taking a situation very seriously and following her request. "I won't."
Celestia took in a sharp inhale as she tried to stop herself from sobbing in front of her friend.
"Discord..." She said quietly. "I am really scared. I don't want to die."
Discord pulled her into a hug, allowing her to have the first real cry she had in years.
(Three hours after Twilight's coronation.)
A unicorn version of Celestia stood in a field near the end of Equestria. The sun had begun to set, thanks to Twilight's new power. The mane 6 had seen them off from the train station in Canterlot. There were heartfelt goodbyes and promises to see each other again.
But Cadence, Celestia, and Luna all knew they were empty promises. At least on the sisters' behalf. She used what magic she had left to keep her alicorn appearance until she got off the train and entered the field in the middle of nowhere. A smaller unicorn mare, Luna trotted up next to her and looked over to her sister's cutiemark.
"Your cutiemark is fading, sister." She commented. Celestia looked over to her cutiemark and saw that it was indeed fading. She looked over to Luna's and saw that her sister's cutiemark was in the same state.
"It shouldn't be long now." Celestia replied. They both settled down on the soft grass and flowers and watched the sun disappear over the horizon. Celestia gasped as petals left her body. Her body was turning into petals.
"I hope heaven is nice." Luna said as she watched her hoof slowly disappear and turn into petals, flying away in the soft breeze. She looked back at Celestia with fearful eyes. "I really hope it exists."
"Me too, Luna. Me too."
They closed their eyes one final time. Allowing the wind to take them away to a better place.
---The End---
Author's Note
A revised version will be coming soon. It will include more of Celestia and Luna's history, it is going to explain how Cadence found out about their condition and Twilight's reaction afterwards.
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Chapter One: History (First Chapter of the rewrite)
Celestia. A unicorn with a pink mane and tail. Sparkling clean white fur that made her shine despite the darkness that surrounded her and her younger sister Luna. Who was also a unicorn. Celestia stumbled away from an older unicorn, then looked to the five other powerful unicorns surrounding them. One of the older ponies was a pillar, just like her mentor. Starswirl.
"No. No, no, no. There must be another way." Celestia insisted. Almost to the point of yelling at Starswirl. She briefly looked up at the moon that was supposed to be replaced by the sun at that moment. Starswirl and five other of the most powerful unicorns in the land had failed to lower it. They tried. They tried their best.
Now Starswirl wanted to give part of each of their magic to the young students. Something about it being their destiny. Celestia, if she was honest with herself, didn't give a damn about destiny. She didn't believe in destiny. Partly because she was an adult and had no cutiemark, just like her sister. Who was staying unnaturally quiet beside her.
"Celestia." Starswirl barked back. "We have no time to argue. If the moon stays up any longer it could cause unrepairable damage to the solar and lunar cycle. This is your destiny. You must do this."
"You and the others were able to raise and lower the sun for years without us? Why can't you do it now?" She demanded.
"It no longer answers to us. It will not react to us. You and your sister are the only other ponies that even have a chance of moving them other than us. That is why we must give you part of our magic." Starswirl argued. Celestia shook her head. She opened her mouth to speak when Luna jumped forward.
"I want to be the one to raise the moon!" She proudly announced. Celestia glared at her younger sister.
"LUNA!" She barked. Causing her sister to recoil away from her. "We don't know what effect outside magic will have on our bodies!"
"But if we don't even try, Equestria will be...Well...In a simple term, doomed."
Celestia rolled her eyes. Her sister was always a little overdramatic but even Celestia couldn't deny her sister had a point. The crops could die from the sudden change of the light and dark. The planet would freeze from lack of warm sunlight if the night continued.
"Alright. Alright, fine. For the sake of Equestria...We will do this."
The six ponies surrounded the sisters. Each lit up their horns, liting up the marble platform around them. They fired their magic at them. Celestia and Luna cried out in pain as they disappeared in a ball of pure magic. Raising up towards the heavens.
The ball exploded high in the sky. Sending a shockwave across Equestria. The six ponies grunted as they were thrown back but quickly scrambled up and looked up at the two ponies in the sky. They watched as Celestia's mane and tail changed to become longer and have three other bright colors as it waved from her new magic with two large wings holding her in the sky. She grunted from the strain as her magic poured into her horn.
They saw Luna's mane change to a waving eternal night as a mane and tail, she also had a new pair of wings and magic burst from her horn. The sky began to change as the sun was brought up and the moon was put to sleep under the horizon.
The two sisters, previously unicorns, turned into goddesses.
A sun appeared on as Celestia's cutiemark. A moon with a dark spot symbolizing the night appeared as Luna's cutiemark once they landed. They examined their new bodies with horror and looked over to their teacher for an explanation.
"W-What have you done to us?!" Luna demanded as she slowly approached her teacher with rage. "We...We are not ourselves anymore..."
"I-It seems...All this power...Has turned you into Alicorns..." Starswirl said slowly as he circles the sisters and examined their new forms. "This was an unexpected result of your destinies."
Celestia growled in irritation at the mere mention of their stupid destinies. She was getting really tired of having to hear ponies say that over and over again.
"This must be reversible. Take back the magic!" Celestia barked. Starswirl stood straighter and shook his head in disagreement.
"You don't have much of a choice. You are goddesses now. You will help lead Equestria into a new age of freedom with your power." Starswirl announced. He gestured to the rest of the unicorns to leave them. They did, with a lot of hesitation as they believed they were witnessing a dream.
"We don't want this! We didn't agree to this!" Luna snapped.
"You will feel better about this once you have time to process what has happened. Go. I will send a message to each of the leaders of the tribs to discuss this new development." Starswirl ordered. The sisters marched towards the castle that was being created for the three leaders of the pony nation to rule.
"Sister." Luna finally spoke as they passed the areas still being constructed and entered the grand throne room where there was a higher platform at the end of the hall where three thrones stood tall. Representing each tribe. "What are we going to do now?"
Celestia stood tall as the sun shined through the stained glass window at the end of the throne room, above the middle throne.
"We...We are going to find a way to stop this. We are going to find a way to return to normal. Once this is over...We quit being Starswirl's students and return to the farm, Luna...Do you agree?"
Luna nodded with hope shining in her eyes like a star.
"Yes, sister. I would like that very much. I miss being a normal pony already."
---End of Chapter One---
It had been two days since Celestia and Luna turned into Alicorns. Princess Platinum was the leader closest to the castle when word got out that Starswirl's students had turned into Alicorns. She arrived first and had dragged Luna away from Starswirl to try and explain to Luna, for the hundredth time, why she needed to have more class.
Celestia wasn't so lucky.
She was stuck in Starswirl's underground laboratory that could only be accessed by a secret button in the library of the castle. She had wires and clips stuck on her horn, wings, and front hooves. All the readings her body was giving those devices were sent to one giant machine in front of her that had strange information coming out of it once in a while as Starswirl watched her and scribbled down more notes.
She slumped as her body hurt from the few miles gallop Starswirl made her do to test her endurance. Why did he need her to do this anyway? She had so many better things to do than sit there and be a lab experiment. She looked around for something noticeable to focus on. The walls were covered with notes and theories, there was potion equipment scattered about mixed with other machines she had yet to identify.
She gritted her teeth as Starswirl ran around collecting notes and notes, muttering nonsense to himself as he rechecked, then double-checked, maybe even a triple check of all the information he gathered. She had sensed it was time for sunset. Her new internal clock was annoying as if she was late on lowering or raising the sun, her body would ache all over. But for once, it might actually help her.
"Teacher." She called out. Starswirl looked over to his student with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, Celestia?"
"It is time for me to lower the sun."
He sighed and placed his notes down in an unorganized pile on the table nearest to him. He used his magic to remove the wires and clips from her body.
"I suppose it is time to end the study for today. Thank you, Celestia, for your patience."
She nodded, then silently left the laboratory.
(One Week later.)
Celestia was in the Library at around midnight. Frantically going through all her notes with about one hundred books surrounding her. She was pretty sure she hadn't slept in three days. But that didn't matter. She needed to find the answer. She needed to find it now.
"Celestia?"
The three leaders arrived at the castle today and decided to announce that they were given control of Equestria to the sisters because, in their own words, the three leaders couldn't be trusted.
It was a load of hay and everypony knew it.
"Celestia!"
Celestia was making the active decision to ignore her mentor, which she was aware was bad but screw that. She had a right. Equestria was supposed to be a free nation. She had rights. She had the right to ignore her mentor if she damn wanted to.
"Celestia! Look at me right now!"
There it was. The disappointed look added with the Fatherly "You screw up bad," tone. She didn't need to look up to know he was furious with her. Luna probably ratted her out so that she could have ice cream. Typical.
Celestia slowly looked up at her mentor, who was staring daggers at her.
"Have you gone mad?"
Well, she did have a sudden and unexpected change to her body recently so it wasn't too much to assume she might have gone a little loopy. But mad? Insane? No.
"No. I am fine."
"You are trying to kill yourself and Luna with this theory."
"Is that how Luna described it?" Celestia snapped back bitterly as she went back to slipping through her notes.
"Luna hasn't said anything. Stygian told me."
"Of course he did." Celestia muttered with hatred. "Always trying too hard to impress you. What a sellout."
"Celestia." Starswirl barked. "That isn-"
"I am not in class right now. So please leave me alone." She interrupted.
"No. You don't understand what you are doing. I know you are trying to separate your new magic from your old magic to send back to us but if you do, either the years that you will spend as an alicorn will catch up to you and you will fade to dust from age. Or you will die from the sprain your body will take from the removal. No unicorn can remove magic by themselves. I think the same is with an Alicorn. My experiments haven't failed me yet."
"They haven't," Celestia admitted. "But that doesn't mean they won't in the future. Pride has always been one of your worst and best qualities."
"Why aren't you accepting your role?" Starswirl demanded. Taking a few steps closer to her as the light illuminating the room from her lamp next to her flickered.
"I don't want to be an Alicorn. I don't want to rule over Equestria. I barely know anything about politics! I want to go back to the farm." Celestia argued. "It was weird enough that we were 'powerful' unicorns made by two farming Earth ponies. Now we are an extinct species of god ponies, expected to rule. SO, excuse me for not wanting to be this way!"
"I understand how you fee-"
"No. You don't." Celestia snapped back with tears in her eyes as she slowly rose from the floor and faced her mentor. "You don't know what this is like at ALL!"
She stormed past her teacher, then used her magic to open the door as Starswirl turned to her once again.
"Please. Don't do it." Starswirl pleaded. "Don't go through with the experiment."
Celestia paused and turned her head slightly to respond but decided against it and left the library quickly.
"She is going to get them both killed." Starswirl mumbled as he was left with his thoughts alone in the Library.
---End of Chapter Two---
(Three Months Later)
Luna wasn't the one someone would usually come to, to plead for help. She was the troublemaker out of the two, Celestia was the trustworthy one. When Starswirl came to her and "requested" she tell her all of her sister's activities to "prevent them from getting killed," Luna was surprised.
She was still surprised as they stood in one of the many empty rooms in the tallest tower in the castle. Celestia was drawing runes in a circle on the middle of the floor as she occasionally looked up at the books she was reading, then back to drawing the complicated design.
Luna didn't like being an Alicorn, despite the fact they were basically royalty and rich now. This is what most ponies value the most these days, including family. But the plan Celestia laid out for them had her worried. Very worried.
"Tia. This is a bad idea." Luna pressed. But, Celestia ignored her. That was nothing new. Celestia activated her horn and the runes lifted up from the ground. She and Luna moved to the middle of the circle as the yellow symbols swarmed around them. Luna still couldn't bring down the feeling that something terrible was going to happen. "Stop! Let's think about this..."
"No." Celestia said with a big smile on her face as the rune swirled faster and faster around them. Luna noticed the dark circles around her eyes. She hadn't slept. Which means her thinking was impaired. "This will work. It has to work."
"This is mad! This is experimental magic. We haven't even-" Luna started to choke on her words as it felt like the oxygen had been sucked out of the room, she choked and gagged. Tears sprang from her eyes as she looked over to Celestia who was in the same state.
Luna attempted to shut down the magic but it was quickly soaked up in the magical bubble surrounding them. Luna's body started to burn, both of the sisters cried out in pain as they were lifted up. The magic slowly...Violently ripped out of their bodies.
Suddenly, Luna saw her vision blur. She groaned as she hit the ground hard at the sound of an explosion. She opened her eyes slowly to see the gray hooves of her teacher. She slowly looked up at Starswirl who had his horn ignited, creating a shield around him, allowing the magic that was stolen from their bodies to reenter peacefully.
He was furious. But not at her. She looked to her right to see her sister unconscious next to her.
"What happened?" He asked, with clear restrained anger.
"Cel-Celestia had a spell. An experimental spell to make us go back to the way we were." She mumbled before coughing several times. "I-I am sorry."
"This isn't your felt, Luna. Although I wish you tried to stop her...You're not in trouble. But I can't say the same for your sister. Why? Why didn't you two at least test it out first?" He asked with concern.
"We were to be crowned tomorrow," Luna said. "We were running out of time."
"Were?"
"Well, in our condition," Luna gestured towards her sister still lying motionless on the floor, other than the rising and falling of her chest. "I don't think we can do it anymore."
"That is true. But..."
"But you are thinking of a way to make us be crowned tomorrow either way." Luna snapped with hostility. "There must be somepony else that can do this!"
"There is no pony else! Your cutiemark proves that. If you two try to reverse the effects. It will kill you both. Your parents couldn't live with that. Equestria needs you both."
Warm tears ran down her cheeks as medical ponies entered the room and rushed off to examine the sisters. She looked up to see Starswirl silently begging her to not resist anymore. She sobbed as the unicorns levitated her sister out of the room.
Luna was tired. She was tired of constantly fighting her teacher the last few months. If they continued the way they were, they were going to end up dead. It would kill their parents. She nodded, quickly looking over to the exit of the room.
"We will relent for now." Luna said. "But, we will not give up researching how to change this...We don't deserve this."
Luna pushed herself off the floor, then stumbled out of the room with medical ponies watching her every movement.
(One week before Twilight's coronation)
Cadence tapped against the double doors in Canterlot Castle that had the famous sun Princess's cutiemark.
"Come in."
Cadence slowly pushed open the door and looked across the dark room. Her eyes followed to the open door to the balcony. She looked through the doors to see her auntie Celestia sitting in silence outside with tea. She occasionally sipped it, then turned her head slightly as Cadence stepped onto the balcony.
"Hello, Cadence."
"Hello, Auntie..." Cadence hesitantly said as she moved to stand beside Celestia to gaze up at the Moon. "Sorry, I am a little late. Flurryheart wasn't settling down as easy as I hoped. What...Um...What did you want to see me about?"
"I have a secret to tell you."
Cadence looked over to Celestia to judge her reaction. She knew that expression. Celestia was being dead serious. Cadence shifted on her hooves uncomfortably when Celestia took another sip of her tea.
"A-Alright."
"You know that Alicorns live for eternity, correct?" Celestia asked. Cadence stayed silent for a moment as she considered the question.
"Yes. Of course, I do." Cadence slowly replied. "It's well documented through complex experiments from Starswirl and other scientists. You of all ponies know most about this. You and Luna were the ones to prove it. What's going on?"
"They were lies." Celestia spat out with more hostility than Cadence had ever heard. Cadence clinched and took a step back. She let out a dry chuckle. "You wouldn't believe how long it took to change the history books. Not everything you read is fact."
"You are starting to worry me, Auntie. Just tell me what is happening."
"Alicorns were created through a power transfer when six of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria lost the ability to raise and lower the sun. Luna and I didn't ask to be turned into Alicorns. We certainly weren't happy about it." Celestia explained. "So, Starswirl experimented on me. He stayed away from Luna on Princess Platinum's orders. She always had a soft spot for her. Starswirl's experiments lead him to believe that if the magic that was given to us was taken out of our bodies, the years and centuries we have lived when we should be dead, will catch up to us. A few months after the transformation, I found a way through experimental magic to take it from our body, to release it back to the ponies it belonged to. It went as well as I should have expected. Luna and I almost died so we decided to finally give in and just accept our fate."
"Why are you telling me this?" Cadence asked as many emotions bubbled up to the surface. She inhaled as she struggled to control her anger at not being told that information.
"Twilight is about to be crowned the sole ruler of Equestria. She needs our magic to raise and lower the sun and moon. Luna and I will transfer our magic into our crowns before the ceremony, then combine them to add with Twilight's magic when she is crowned."
"And?" Cadence asked, trying to hide her annoyance.
"When we transfer our magic. We will have enough to survive for maybe twenty-four hours before we pass on."
Cadence looked over to her Aunt in alarm.
"You are going to die? NO!" Cadence snapped, she started to pace as anxiety and doubt clouded her mind. "How do I know you are telling the truth?"
Celestia slowly looked up to Cadence with tears in her eyes, she held back a sob before looking back down at the shining city below.
"Have I ever lied to you before?" Celestia asked with her voice starting to crack from emotions. "This is serious, Cadence. At least one of the last three Alicorns needs to know what is going to happen to us. What will happen to you."
"We need to tell Twilight. She need-"
"No. I am telling you because if Twilight tries to find us after she is crowned, somepony needs to tell her because we won't be able to. We can't tell her now because she wouldn't want to take our place."
"Why don't you just keep ruling Equestria then?"
"The magic is slowly starting to leave our bodies. It is a sign, that we need to step down. Our fate has played out. Our destiny has played out. Luna and I want to see our parents again. The one thing we have never experienced is death."
"This is mad." Cadence snarled. "You can't seriously expect me to believe-"
"I am too tired to argue about this, Cadence. It's true. You, Twilight, and any pony else can't stop it. Ask Starswirl. He can confirm everything I have said."
"W-What exactly do you expect me to do with this information?"
"I want you to tell Twilight the truth when you feel it is right, but three days after the coronation."
"Alright. I will." Cadence said. She didn't feel they should keep that information from Twilight. But...She understood why. She shook her head with a long sigh. "Is there anything else you want to discuss?"
"No. You may go. Thank you, Cadence."
She nodded, then silently headed back inside.
---End of Chapter Three---
(Night before Twilight's coronation)
Celestia felt sick. She gracefully placed down her teacup as the chilly air flowed through her mane in the evening. The dark sky with a bright moon overhead didn't comfort her. She felt sick. She felt a deep sadness.
Twilight Sparkle's coronation was tomorrow. She silently watched as the ponies working on decorating the courtyard outside her room. They started to head home for the night. She heard hooves walking across her marble balcony. She didn't even move as her sister, Luna sat down next to her in silence.
They stayed like that for a while. Simply enjoying each other's company as they knew they had limited time left to do so.
"Do you think...There is a heaven for Alicorns?" Luna finally asked. Celestia let out a soft chuckle.
"We were originally unicorns. We will probably just go there...If there is a heaven of course." Celestia replied. Luna sadly looked down to the streets and houses below. Then up to her beautiful moon that shined down on the two Alicorn sisters.
"I am assuming you haven't told Twilight yet." Luna commented. Celestia nodded.
"No. I am allowing Cadence to tell her a few days from now. She doesn't need her special day ruined because of her loyalty to us."
"We should tell her." Luna flatly replied. Celestia sighed in irritation. "It will hurt less coming from us."
"Why are you so worried about her knowing before we leave, Luna?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow. "Please...We don't want to make a scene."
"But...You are her mentor. She had a right to know that...We are going to die tomorrow."
"My decision is final." Celestia barked. "It would be too late anyway."
Luna nodded and stood from her spot.
"I have to go patrol the dreams of our subjects one last time. Since we will be gone by this time tomorrow, I have to help as many as I can." Luna explained. She trotted out of Celestia's sight and back into the castle where it was warm.
Celestia shivered at the chill of the air and her eyes drifted to the town with a crystal castle in the distance. A lone tear drifted down Celestia's cheek as she considered her fate. The fate of her sister. And the fate of her pupil. She levitated her crown off her head and took a moment to look at the gold crown with a purple crystal in the middle.
Luna had already transferred most of her magic into her own crown. It was Celestia's turn.
Celestia poured her yellow magic into her crown. It was over in a matter of moments. Celestia sagged at a feeling over being suddenly very weak and dizzy. She shook her head and pleaded with herself to pull it together before using her hoofs to place it back on her head.
She felt that her spirit was dying. It was. Celestia used half of her limited magic supply to keep herself alive for just a little while longer. When The crown was to be turned into Twilight's she would get their magic. She would be able to control the sun and moon.
Celestia and Luna's duties would be finally finished and their destinies would fade. The years and centuries that they lived would catch up to their unicorn bodies and they would simply turn to dust. They were never meant to become Alicorns and they both knew it.
Starswirl predicted it would happen.
Celestia looked over to her room, that the maids and servants had started to pack away. Not that she would need any of it. She was going to miss living. She was going to miss them all. She choked back a sob when a flash of light appeared.
A second later, a pair of yellow and red eyes stared back at her.
"Discord?" She said with a shaky breath with some surprise.
"How could you not tell me, Tia?" He growled. She turned away from him and looked down to the ground in shame.
"How exactly would you have reacted if I told you earlier? You would tell Twilight, then she would refuse to take the throne. We need her to do this. The magic is slowly leaving our bodies. I have already transferred my magic into the crown. I am sorry I lied to you. Truly I am. But...I have good intentions."
"It doesn't matter what your intentions were." Discord snapped. "You shouldn't have lied."
"I don't need a lesson on being truthful from the Lord of Chaos himself. I know what I am doing. I have survived this long for a reason." She said as tears started to drift down her cheeks. "I-I don't want to die. I don't have a death wish but we have been on this planet longer than we should have. It's time for us to go. So for the love of my mother...Don't you dare tell Twilight Sparkle."
"Don't worry, Tia." Discord replied. For the first time, he was actually taking a situation very seriously and following her request. "I won't."
"Thank you. Thank you very much." Celestia said with a weak smile. Discord gave her one back, then pulled her into a hug as she began sobbing harder and harder.
"Discord..." She said quietly. "I am really scared. I don't want to die."
(Three hours after Twilight's coronation.)
A unicorn version of Celestia stood in a field near the end of Equestria. The sun had begun to set, thanks to Twilight's new power. The mane 6 had seen them off from the train station in Canterlot. There were heartfelt goodbyes and promises to see each other again.
But Cadence, Celestia, and Luna all knew they were empty promises. At least on the sisters' behalf. She used what magic she had left to keep her alicorn appearance until she got off the train and entered the field in the middle of nowhere. A smaller unicorn mare, Luna trotted up next to her and looked over to her sister's cutiemark.
"Your cutiemark is fading, sister." She commented. Celestia looked over to her cutiemark and saw that it was indeed fading. She looked over to Luna's and saw that her sister's cutiemark was in the same state.
"It shouldn't be long now." Celestia replied. They both settled down on the soft grass and flowers and watched the sun disappear over the horizon. Celestia gasped as petals left her body. Her body was turning into petals.
"I hope heaven is nice." Luna said as she watched her hoof slowly disappear and turn into petals, flying away in the soft breeze. She looked back at Celestia with fearful eyes. "I really hope it exists."
"Me too, Luna. Me too."
They closed their eyes one final time. Allowing the wind to take them away to a better place.
---End of Chapter Four---
Chapter Five: Letters to No Pony
(Few weeks after Twilight's coronation)
"Spike? SPIKE!" The voice of the new ruler of Equestria rang out. It had only been a few weeks since Twilight took control of Equestria. Princess Cadence, her sister-in-law, had decided to stay a few weeks to help Twilight settle in with her new role.
The strange part about it is that every time she tried to send a letter to Celestia and Luna, Cadence ordered her not to. At first, she had excuses like "They still need to settle in before you bombard them with questions." or "Give them a chance to enjoy their new freedom, Twilight."
It seemed as the weeks went on, Cadence had fewer and fewer excuses until she simply started ordering her to not send them without an excuse to back her up. The Crystal Empire wasn't as big as Equestria so in a Princess way, she outranked Cadence. In a family relationship, Cadence outranked her. Twilight just couldn't figure out which mattered the most.
She shook her head and made herself focus. The present is what matters at the moment.
"SPIKE!?"
No one had seen Cadence all day, Spike was somewhere in the castle so with Cadence out of the way, she was able to send a letter guilt-free. She heard the tried grumblings of Spike moving across the corridor. She turned a hallway and saw him glaring at her with annoyance as he rubbed the sleep out of one of his eyes, then switched.
"Twilight? Could you keep it down? I have been to Ponyville and back like three times this week. I need to sleep." He complained. Twilight smiled and made a quill and scroll appear before levitating it into his claws. He groaned, knowing that he had to start another letter that wasn't going to be sent anywhere. What was the point of it even?
"Spike. Make a Letter, please. Addressed to the Princesses."
"What is the point of doing this again, Twi?" He asked with irritation, getting a glare of annoyance from Twilight. "Cadence is just going to order you not to do it...Again."
"Well, Cadence isn't here right now, is she? Come on! We have to do this quickly." Twilight insisted. Spike nodded as Twilight told him the things she wanted to be written on the letter. After a few short minutes, the letter was complete. Twilight wrote her signature.
Spike drew back and blew fire on it just as Cadence was bolted into their sight. Her mane was messy and she flew along the corridor towards them as fast as she could with pure panic on her face.
"No! NO! NO! Spike, don-"
It was too late. The green dragon fire that had the letter was carried into the sky and disappeared out of their views. Twilight turned to her sister-in-law with smug confidence bordering on the point of arrogance for accomplishing the task. Cadence collapsed in front of the pair. Inhaling a few deep breathes before looking up at Twilight with anger.
"What have you done!?" Cadence snapped. Everyone knew it was a rhetorical question. It was obvious what they did and Twilight didn't regret it one bit. She stood proud. Ready to defend her actions.
"I sent a letter to Princess Celestia and Luna. I don't know why you didn't want me to contact them, Cadence. They are probably worried sick that they haven't heard from me since the coronation. I really should have done it sooner." Twilight said. Waving her hoof in a circle dramatically.
Cadence's body sagged and her wings hit the floor. She looked back at Twilight with sadness as the letter came back to Spike. Much to the pair's surprise. The unopened letter fell to the floor and Spike opened it to double-check. He nodded in confirmation at Twilight. It was the same letter they sent.
Twilight was fuming.
There were a few possibilities as to why the letter would return but she didn't try to count them and analyze them to death. She knew by Cadence's actions that she knew something about the situation. She stomped over to her sister-in-law, whose mood had gotten increasingly worse. To the point, it looked like she was about to cry.
"What the hay is going on here?! Why would they send the letter back? What do you know, Cadence?" She demanded. Cadence shook her head sadly and looked out the window to the afternoon sun beaming down on Equestria. She sighed and turned back to Twilight. Seeing no reason to hid the truth any longer.
"They are gone, Twilight. They died."
Twilight stammered a response but it only came back as a jumble of words that no pony could understand. She stumbled away from her sister-in-law and looked over to Spike to tell her she was having a bad dream. Spike's jaw seemed on the verge to hit the floor and he was just staring at Cadence in shock, he wasn't going to be any help, any time soon.
"B-But they are Alicorns! Th-They can't just...die! Even if they would, why wouldn't they tell me?" Twilight said, mostly echoing her thoughts out loud to anyone who would hear. "If...If they didn't tell me, why would they even tell you!?"
"Somepony needed to know the truth. I was the only one available. They couldn't tell Flurryheart for obvious reasons, they couldn't tell you because you would refuse to take the throne. Don't be angry at them, Twilight."
"Why the hay not? They lied to me! They lied right to my face, Cadence!" Twilight yelled, using her hoof to slam the letter to the carpeted floor. "They lied to everypony."
Cadence bit her lip, taking a few steps back.
"Yes. You have every right to be angry at them. But I looked into their history after Celestia told me the truth. They were unicorns that were turned into Alicorns against their will. They didn't get a choice in what they wanted to do with their lives. In reality, they should have been dead centuries ago. But they didn't. They stayed because it was their duty." Cadence explained. "It was time for them to go. You know it. I know it."
Twilight started to pace in a circle.
"I...What am I supposed to do without them?" Twilight asked with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Celestia taught you everything she knew. You may not realize it now but you have all the skills you need. I am sure auntie has told you that many times."
Twilight silently nodded before she slumped to the ground. She used her wing to cover her mouth from a sob.
"I miss them. I miss them so much." She whispered. Then started shaking her head, then looked back up at Cadence. "Do you think...They are in heaven?"
"In...Heaven?"
"Yeah..."
Cadence gave her a small smile.
"Yes. I think they are in heaven. I think they are also happy." Cadence said to reassure her. "But they are gone from this world. We should honor their memory by ruling Equestria as they did. With Harmony, friendship, and peace. Think you can do that?"
"Yes." Twilight said before choking back a sob. "Yes. I will for them."
---The End---
