Author's Note
This is an AU story, so some things differ from the original show, so I'd like people to keep that in mind as they read. But the most notable change so far is that Luster became Twilight's student at a later time than she did in the show, along with some other changes to her character.
Also, this story deals heavily with topics that are potentially triggering to those with mental health issues, so reader discretion is advised.
With that said, this is going to be my longest project on this site, so I hope you all enjoy!
*5/23/21 edits have been made to the chapter to fix some pacing issues
Prologue: It Pours
The first drops of water were beginning to fall. They sky has been a dark and somber shade of grey for hours, but it hadn't been raining, until now. And the residents of Ponyville were just as somber as the weather. The streets that were normally bustling with life were quiet and still, as if no one had ever lived in that town at all.
It was a sad day indeed. The fifth elemental bearer was being laid to rest in the gardens outside of Canterlot Castle, which meant that Princess Twilight, the sole monarch of Equestria, was the only one left.
Except, Twilight didn't feel like much of a princess today. After watching Rainbow's casket slowly be lowered into the ground, she left the burial service and made a beeline for her bedroom. Moving fast enough to not give anyone time to ask questions but slow enough to not alarm anyone who noticed her. Everyone who happened to spot her avoided eye contact and didn't say a word. Everyone, except for her.
"P-princess Twilight?" The voice resonated through the royal chambers. The speaker knew that she wasn't supposed to pry in the private sectors in the castle, but she also had learned that you should never let a friend suffer in silence.
"Luster..." Twilight stood up and looked over at her door. Her student was noticeably concerned, and Twilight knew she shouldn't be surprised to see her there. Luster had always been a worrier, it was just who she was.
"Princess... I, uh, I wanted to ask if... you were okay. Because I know how hard it is to l-l-lose someone really close to you." Luster tried to get through the last sentence without choking up. The sadness she felt over not only the death of someone she looked up to, but also her mentor being in such a distraught state reminded her too much of...
"I'm okay, Luster, really I am," Twilight said, not meeting the pink unicorn's gaze. "I'd just prefer to be alone right now, if you don't mind."
Luster knew deep down that something wasn't right, but she wasn't exactly in a position to disobey her Princess, so she relented. She wordlessly closed the door and made her way down the chamber stairway, through the Great Hall, and into the private garden, a place she had grown familiar with due to all the years she had spent as Princess Twilight's personal student. It was rare for her to be out here alone, though. She sat in the covered section as she watched the rain pour down. She watched as drops touched each and every one of the flowers without missing a single petal. Sure, the rain made things inconvenient sometimes, like when you're trying to have a picnic and the sandwiches get soaked due to a lack of foresight, but without the rain, all the flowers would slowly wither away and die. After all, the slight inconvenience of having to throw away a lunch is worth the sight of a thousand beautiful blooms after the storm passes.
Luster sighed as she picked up a nearby botany textbook and began to read.
Twilight stared out her bedroom window, the day's events still brewing in her mind. She slowly walked away towards her bed when she noticed something on the covers. Taking a closer look, she quickly realized what exactly it was.
"Rainbow's element necklace..."
She picked it up with her magic and gazed at the empty spot where the gem representing Loyalty was once placed. Tears started welling up in her eyes as her thoughts began to turn on her.
"Why did this happen?"
"Why wasn't I there when she died?!"
"I could have helped. I-I could have done something!"
"Why didn't the doctors do more to save her?!"
"This is all my fault!!"
She sobbed for what seemed like hours, not responding to any of the knocks at the door, she could only think about Rainbow Dash. All of the laughs they had shared, the things they taught each other, the memories they made, up until the last one.
***
"Help?! What do you mean I need 'extra help'?"
"Rainbow, please. We both know your health isn't as good as it used to be and I'm worried that something may happen to you and you're going to be able to get help in time."
"So what? You want me to move to Shady Shoals like Celestia and Luna?"
"It doesn't have to be a retirement home, you can move in with a relative or even live in the castle with me. I have plenty of-"
"And how come you're worrying about me all of a sudden? You weren't even this worried when I broke both my back legs in that flying accident all those years ago?"
"Rainbow, you were younger then, and you had Scootaloo around to help. But I can't ask her to move in with you permanently. She has a family to worry about now."
"I can take care of myself!"
"I know you can, but would you please just-"
"No, Twilight. Why don't you get your own life in order before you worry about mine?"
"And what is that supposed to mean?!"
"You know exactly what I mean by that!"
"Rainbow, I swear to Celestia I hope you're not going there..."
"Oh, you bet I'm going there. Have you seen the tabloids lately? They're all saying the same thing! Ever since Shining died you hardly ever leave your private space in the castle for anything except for mandatory public events, and even then you've been missing quite a few of those lately, haven't you? Is this really what you're doing now? Going around trying to fix other ponies lives so that you don't have to fix your own?"
"Rainbow... I-I-"
"You know what? I don't care about your status, leave my house! You can banish me to the sun if you want to, but you're no longer welcome in my home!"
"Fine! I'm sorry for ever trying to help you!"
"You should be! Go cry some more if you want to, but don't come crying to me!"
***
It hurt. It hurt so much. But Twilight couldn't muster up the strength to weep anymore. She thought about going down to the cemetery now that the commotion had settled down, but she knew that wouldn't really solve much. She picked up the necklace and put it away in the box with all the others.
Even though the physical elements had been connected to the tree for quite some time now and they didn't really mean much anymore, Twilight couldn't help but feel emotional. They were what brought them together, what kept them together. A tangible token of their friendship. But that was all they were. A token. She stepped into her bed and let her thoughts freely flow once more.
"I just wanted to help..." Twilight said as she looked up at the ceiling. Nothing could have saved her. No one knew what had happened to her. Her death was at best an accident, at worst a consequence of her tactlessness as well as Rainbow's stubbornness. "That's what I'm supposed to do, help ponies with things. It's what I'm good at. I'm the Princess of Friendship, after all. But... now that all my friends are d-dead...
What am I good for?"
Chapter 1: Changing Society
Twilight arose from her slumber and sat up in the ridiculously oversized royal bed. She rubbed her eyes and stared out at her window. It was still dark, but not for much longer.
"Ugh, even after sixty-seven years, this part never gets any easier." She stumbled out of bed and looked outside. Canterlot always looked so peaceful at this time. No noisy commutes, no bustling streets, no late night parties, just calm. It almost made her feel bad for ruining it by raising the sun every day. But she decided that if she had to suffer through another day, they could do the same. "5 years tomorrow, huh? I've been at this on my own for quite a while now, haven't I?"
"So why am I still so bad at this?"
She rose the sun and briefly considered closing the curtains and going back to bed, but her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Princess Twilight, may I come in?"
"Yes, Night Writer, you may," Twilight replied. The dark grey mare walked into the room with a long scroll in hoof. "I assume you came to discuss today's schedule," Twilight remarked apathetically.
"That is indeed the reason I came here. I wouldn't just interrupt your morning without a reason after all," the mare chuckled to herself for a moment. "Would you like me to go over the day's events?"
"I suppose so."
"Right, so this morning you're having breakfast with Pumpkin Spice to discuss new infrastructure plans for the east side of Canterlot, then you're to sign paperwork as well as go over any important mail you have received in the last twenty-four hours. You have three openings and two trials to attend. Then you have your lesson time with Luster Dawn, and finally, the bi-monthly dinner between you all and of the leaders across Equestria to establish good will as well as bring up any national issues that need to be addressed. Oh my, you seem to have a lot on your plate, even for someone as busy as you. If you'd like, I could try to reschedule a thing or two to lessen the chance of overlap."
"No thank you, I'm sure I can manage," "How the hell am I going to get that all done?! I wouldn't want to inconvenience her or the ponies who require my presence by asking to reschedule. Guess I'll just have to hope for the best and drink a few extra cups of coffee today."
"Well, that's why you're a Princess, after all. Anyway, I'll leave you to get ready. Your chariot will be ready in fourty-five minutes." Night closed the door as Twilight turned to in the mirror. Same as always. Blank stare, bags under her eyes, yet other than that, no signs of aging were present. She knew she shouldn't have expected anything different. Even at eighty-eight years old, she appeared the way she did all those years ago when she got her wings, save for being ever so slightly taller.
"Curse you, Celestia."
"Oh, Princess Twilight, it's always a pleasure to get to meet with you."
"Likewise, Pumpkin Spice." Twilight fidgeted a little in her chair before taking a sip of tea.
"The weather really is something today, isn't it, Princess?" Pumpkin Spice remarked as she arranged her papers on the table.
Twilight stared out the tall glass window. Pumpkin was right, the weather really was beautiful today. The chill of a fast approaching autumn made the air feel breezy and cool. "Yes, I suppose it is."
"Let's get down to business. I've been analyzing the results of polls that have been sent out to the citizens of Canterlot, and the general consensus is that this city looks outdated compared to the rest of Equestria."
"Outdated? What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm sure that you're aware, but Equestria has been having sort of a technological revolution over the last few decades. We've been making many major breakthroughs, and accomplishing things that were once thought to be impossible without magic. Society is changing, and Canterlot seems to be the center of these changes, so our infrastructure should reflect this."
Twilight was taken aback. She knew that Equestrian society had been changing a lot these last few years, but she hadn't realized that the changes were drastic enough to be considered a revolution. "I see. So what do the citizens want, exactly?"
"They want tall buildings, they want bigger roads for their auto-carriages, they want less... unnecessary augmentation."
"So why don't we just do that? We have enough money to afford major changes, and it seems to be in favor of the public, I see no reason why we shouldn't fulfill all of their requests."
Pumpkin Spice was slightly taken aback. "Princess Twilight, with all due respect I don't think you realize how big these changes really are. We're talking about a massive overhaul of the eastern side of this nation's capital, not just a small public project. Are you really sure that you want to go through with this?"
"If it's what my subjects want, I would be happy to 'modernize' Canterlot. I suppose this city is looking outdated compared to other places, and we must keep up with the times, after all."
"I see. Then we shall begin preparations at once. Would it be okay to meet up same time next week to discuss this in more detail?"
Twilight thought for a moment. "That shouldn't be a problem, I'll be sure to work it into my schedule."
Pumpkin Spice stood up from her chair and bowed before Twilight. "Thank you for your time, Your Highness, I will make sure that this project will be completed to your satisfaction in a timely manner. I look forward to seeing you again next week."
In that moment, Twilight had all the familar feelings of emptiness return to her. It was just a breakfast between colleagues, bowing seemed so unnecessary with these circumstances. It made her feel distant. Like she was above other ponies for some arbitrary reason. "Thank you as well, Pumpkin. I know that you and the construction ponies will do an excellent job."
Twilight watched as Pumpkin left and one of the servants picked up their dishes before carrying them back to the kitchen. She looked out the massive windows, once more admiring the beauty of autumn. 'Perhaps I'll ask Luster if she would be okay with doing her lesson outside today.'
"That'll be twenty-two bits, ma'am."
"Twenty-two? For one book?!"
"Well, for one it's hardcover, and it's in pretty high demand among the scholars recently. Dunno why, though. I flipped through it myself and I found it to be a particularly boring read. Not sure why a mare like yourself would want to waste that many bits on it."
"I need it for my lesson with the Princess, sir. I'm her personal student!"
"The princess, you say..."
"Yeah! I've been her student for seven years now, it's a lot of fun! I get to learn all sorts of stuff about history and botany and geometry and-"
"Wow... You must be one smart cookie to get to learn straight from Princess Twilight.”
Luster chuckled nervously. "Yes sir! I've been learning tons of magic from her," she said as she pretended to look at the clock on the wall behind the bookseller. "Ah, look at the time! I should probably be on my way." She put the coins on the counter and hurriedly made her way to the door.
"Give my regards to Princess Twilight!" The bookseller shouted after her.
"Yeah, sure."
Luster put the book in her saddlebag and exited the shop. She was used to ponies' interests being piqued whenever she mentioned that she got to study under the tutelage of Princess Twilight. She had to admit, being a student of the Princess certainly had its perks, she'd gotten to learn straight from one of the greatest mages ever, and had gotten a taste of true 'Canterlot high life', something not many ponies got to do these days. But wasn't really about that, it never was. It was about being able to please Princess Twilight, something Luster felt she owed her, considering all the Princess had done for her...
She lost her train of thought as she heard the bell tower ring.
'Oh, I guess I really am late,' she thought as she broke out of her daydreams and began quickly trotting to the castle. The Princess didn't appreciate tardiness, after all.
Author's Note
After far too long it's finally done! Feel free to share thoughts in the comments. 
