Royal Tears
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Royal Tears

“Royal Tears”

by the 'TheRussianbrony' fraternity

~~1~~

Celestia walked down the darkening, vacant corridors of Canterlot Castle. She was glad her sister had decided to raise the night today; it would take a lot of pressure off of her. She was also very pleased with how well her sister was readjusting to her recovered life. She loved her sister dearly, and only wished her the best after that offsetting millennia. Celestia looked outside through a tall glass window pane for a split second to see yet another star being lifted into the sky. She enjoyed the disappearance of loneliness from her tedious lifestyle. With her sister here, Celestia could actually relate to another alicorn, who had not gone completely insane, or committed suicide.

She walked over to her sister's bedchamber and politely knocked on the door. The guards were still bowing, and she waved them off with a smirk. Those silly colts really didn't need to bow down to her, she thought to herself. Her thoughts were cut short when her sister opened her doors, and greeted her sister with the look of solid determination. Celestia could feel her sister's excitement. Celestia stepped into the room, it was as if she stepped onto a plane of existence only available in her imagination. The soft carpet shimmered a cool shade of pale gray, and this effect matched the midnight blue walls perfectly; Luna's bed was positioned near the middle of the wall, and was made of dark olive wood, which fell in harmony with her starscape bedding. Celestia also noticed the other furnishings in the room were made of dark olive wood. The room was awe-inspiring.

“Is there something you wanted to tell me sister?” Luna asked Celestia.

“Yes,” replied Celestia moving her attention to her sibling, “I came to see how you were doing on the night.”

Clearly animated to continue her sister returned, “Why don't you see for yourself?”

Celestia walked over to Luna's balcony, through the arch and onto the deck. She was still enjoying this new pattern that her sister set up in her room; it was unique. Celestia then looked out off of the balcony. The sheer epic height of the castle room had already made the sight one to behold, but combined with the steadily glowing lights of towns below the ridge, the view was truly a marvel. Celestia scanned her beautiful land, and only then dared to look heavenward. She quickly became giddy at the overwhelming charm of the night sky she brought up for the past thousand years. Luna seemed to be even happier than before. Celestia found herself watching the aura around Luna's horn strain as she moved stars into their places. Although she seemed to be having difficulty readjusting to her nightly activities, she didn't show it.

Celestia softly questioned, “Lulay, are you certain that you can handle the rest of the night all by yourself?” To this question, Luna turned her head slowly and smiled a smile of confidence. That was all the convincing Celestia needed; her sister's soft blue mane twirled as Luna turned to face her function once again. Celestia knew what she needed to say, but was still not able to force it out of her muzzle. She simply tread to Lunas' bed and sat on the smooth silk, she felt a nice coolness on her fur. Luna was enveloped in her work, but still noticed her sister's presence.

“So, I'm guessing you want to get something else off of your rump,” Luna playfully predicted.

“Yes, you are right again my sister. I do have something to say, but I fear I lack the feeling to express that what needs to be said.” Celestia answered.

Luna looked back to her sister again, the look of understanding upon her, “That is ok sister, you may rest here until you feel comfortable.” Celestia smiled. The only thing she loved more than Equestria, was the moments her sister acted almost older than herself.

“My dear sister, when I banished you... I felt regret for the first time in my life. Every time I looked upon the moon from that day, I sang you a lullaby, and cried. I know that what I felt was absolutely nothing compared to the betrayal, and loneliness you felt. What I would like to do is to beg you for forgiveness, and want you to understand that I only did what I did, because I believed you could not be changed back to your normal self.” Celestia pleaded. Luna's' expression was that of genuine astonishment, she clearly didn't expect such integrity from the most powerful alicorn in Equestria.
Luna slowly broke the silence, “I had forgiven you the day I returned to being my regular self. I never knew that you sung me songs, and to be completely honest I sang you songs as well.”

Celestia shed a large, salty, tear as she imagined her sister, completely alone on the moon. Her pang of guilt did not go unnoticed, and Luna quickly trotted to her sister, and rubbed her mane under Celestias well groomed neck. Celestia chortled from the ticklish feeling she hadn't felt for over one thousand years.

Celestia was now content with her strong emotions, “I think I can now sleep well tonight dear sister. Goodnight Lullay.”
Luna smiled when Celestia called her that. “Goodnight Tia”. With that Celestia stood up, and slowly walked back to the doors to the castle. They looked much heavier than they actually were. She used her magic, which she now had more of, to open the doors with ease. She then calmly strode out and walked back to her own bedchamber. She opened her doors, and told the guards that they were dismissed for the rest of tonight, as she was feeling generous.

She was still deep in thought, so she spent a few seconds judging her own décor. She looked at her delicate royal red carpet lined with gold leaf, and tried to decide whether it was too obtrusive, or was simply perfect with her redwood wardrobe, and bedposts. She decided it was too hard to tell in the blue darkness. Still deep in thought, she took a small hop onto her white bed sheets and began to slowly relax. She removed her golden tiara, necklace, and hoof covers; the feeling of air to her hooves was very welcome. She scooted her godly body to her pillow, grabbed the corners of her blanket and pulled inward. Her blanket covered her frame and she felt very warm, and comfortable, but most of all, she was happy.

~~2~~

Celestia carefully opened her eyes as she felt an inescapable dread creep into her soul, she recognized the feeling. To confirm her suspicions she looked up, down, and all around; there was a lot of mist, and the area felt as though it was illuminated by a light that only the brain could conceive. Yes, she said to herself, she was once again, fixed in a dream. The only thing Celestia was worried about was her lucid state. The only other times she would be lucid in a dream would be times of great sorrow, discord, or fear. Now she was conscious in a dream once more, and she couldn't pinpoint exactly why. She reviewed former dreams in her past; when Nightmare Moon possessed her sister, Celestia dreamed that her sister was pleading for attention from her. At first Lunas cries were tame, almost like a soft whimper, but these whimpers grew to begs, then shouts, then Luna let out a blood curling scream, and what followed disturbed Celestia to this day: silence. In the dream, Luna stopped crying, got up, and walked into the empty mist.

Celestia's thoughts then drifted to what she had dreamed when she decided to cast Discord in stone. She remembered it very clearly. She awoke to find herself in the same foggy dreamspace, but with a stone statue at the very center, it was a dark gray, and about the size of a baby elephant. She recollected examining the statue, and not being able to put a face on the model, it always avoided her gaze by either distorting itself, or by twisting a complete 180 degrees. Finally in her frustration, Celestia decided to dismember the sculpture to discover its face. With a quick burst of magic she destroyed the idol, and looked upon the gray rubble; it was ill of movement. She approached the heap, and began sorting through it, to locate the identity of the statue, her hoof felt around for a few seconds before feeling what felt like an ear. She applied her horn, and levitated the shard, in shock she dropped the head and fell back as she quickly became diaphoretic! Her blood ran cold, the head she had witnessed was none other than her own. The statue was destroyed, and the message relayed, it was that dream which caused her to decide to seal Discord in stone.

The first lucid dream she experienced was the day before she and her sister decided to free the Crystal Empire from the greedy hooves of King Sombra. She remembered waking up in a dazed confusion, almost immediately afraid. She had never experienced a dream in such a way, she was perspicuous, yet she had not fallen asleep on a smoggy plane of existence. Slowly she began to realize that this is what her father had taught her to repress when she was just a filly. From her memory she recalled that he had said that lucid dreams were a way of ones brain to discover insecurities within itself, an action that needed to be avoided like the plague in the position of princess. Regardless, Celestia returned to trying to reminisce about banishing Sombra. After she had a small nervous breakdown, she ceased her sobs and decided to have a look around. She noticed nothing out of the ordinary, until she heard a thin, sharp, whisper, lasting for a few seconds, and radiating out of seemingly empty space she did not know what to think of it. A few minutes went by, and Celestia continued hearing the rhythmic whispers, suddenly she realized that the misty plane was beginning to darken, and the air became thin, causing her breathing to increase. The darkness that was creeping up on her location was not one of the night, but one of shadow, like the feeling of walking into a claustrophobic mineshaft. She felt very cold, she could hardly feel the tips of her wings. Abruptly, she became annoyed and decided to fill this space with warmth, kindness, and light. Just as she was about to lift her glowing apex, she felt a spasm throughout her body, that crippled her, and she had fallen into syncope [syn-kop-y]. For the rest of that night, Celestia could only recall the constant feeling of sinking.

These past experiences gave her no reassurance, as they had all ended in misery for somepony. She wanted to just close her eyes, and enjoy the comfort of her sisters forgiveness, but her dreams could not be avoided. This was now just a waiting game, waiting for something horrible to happen. About 5 minutes into the dream she began growing increasingly bored, she tapped her hoof, and tried to remember rare spells that Starswirl the Bearded had taught her in the previous age. That thought made her realize that her matchless protégé was going to visit the castle in the afternoon for a quick review on stellar levitation theory, also determined and tested by Starswirl. She chuckled to herself, the first day she met him he was seemingly austere, but after spending a mere 3 hours with him, he made her feel very happy and welcome at sorcery school. She missed him, he was the only pony who truly understood both the pro's and con's of being immortal.

*Crack*! Celestia jumped up in fear, she twirled her colorful mane back to the source of the noise. A towering gray alicorn looked back with empty white eyes. She had a silvery thick mane, that lay dormant on her margin. The alicorn had a dead look in her ghost white eyes, as if she had dealt with pain and sorrow for many millennium. However, the most shocking of all was not she herself, but her horn, the alicorns horn was visibly shattered, leaving a broken pattern to about the middle of its original length. Celestia was also trying to determine whether the alicorn was semi-transparent, or whether the mist was playing tricks on her.

After a short moment of silence the gray alicorn spoke.

“Celestia, do not fear me, but I do return to inform you of dire news. You may not be happy with the news you hear, but you need to wake up soon, or you will lose her.”

“What are you speaking of? Who are you? Why am I seeing you? Who is in danger?!” Celestia interrogated.

“Tia, it is me, the Princess of the Under Realm, Abyss. I have come to you, in order to warn you of ones passing. Her chances are slight, and with every moment you spend asleep, her chances of revival are lingering. I am speaking of your close one, you will already be forced to witness pain that you have never before experienced. Nevertheless, these wounds can be undone with the proper sacrifice.” Chanted Abyss, and with those last words spoken, she vanished noiselessly into the clouds.

Celestia had no clue what Abyss was referreing to, but the dream still startled her. She started looking for a way out, she trotted around and tried to look through the thick fog, to no avail. She tried to will herself to wake, but she felt as though she was stuck in a limbo nowhere to go until her physical body started up once again. At this point she became increasingly worried, was this dream accurate, was somepony in danger? Who was the gray alicorn who called herself Abyss? So, many questions, but not enough time! Her worries evolved into full on paranoia and she began to whimper like a confused filly, who had just lost her parents in a crowded city street. She lay down onto the mist, which was surprisingly comforting to the feel. She placed her muzzle into her folded hooves and began to cry in a steady stream. The feeling of being completely overwhelmed with responsibility that she couldn't accomplish.

~~3~~

The white princess awoke with a gasp, covered in cold sweat, felt her heart beating at an uncontrollable rate, her face was covered in tears, streaming down in long salty lines. She needed to take a walk, Tia thought to herself. She was glad the fear was only manifested in the dream, and that no real danger was present, but she was still very shaken up by the loneliness she had to experience again in the alternate plane of reality. Although, the loneliness that she felt in her dream was no stranger to her, she still felt very vulnerable when the emotion manifested itself. Before getting out of her bed, she took a few seconds to catch her breath, as she was hyperventilating.

Once out of bed she decided to not put on her hoofguards, and tiara, before heading to her door. She walked to her door, and opened it. The now pitch black, majestic hallways were almost comforting to Celestia who always saw them congested with high class ponies, guards, and delegates from faraway lands. She sparked her horn, and illuminated the corridor, and started trotting to her sisters room. When nearing the room Celestia almost had to reconsider bothering her sister at such a ghastly time, but she quickly flushed out the thought, when she remembered her awful dream. Her magic possessed the doorhandles and the entrance was cleared. Celestia looked into the placid room and enjoyed the view as the breeze from the open balcony was blowing the curtains inside. She continued scanning her Environment, but could not see her dear sister. She took a hoof step inside, and then another, she proceeded until her eyes met with the strangest sight. She was looking on the other side of the bed, the side that you couldn't see from the entrance to the room. A body was sprawled in a weakened pose, and was void of movement, it was Luna. Her hair had lost its ethereal magnificence, and was now just laying deflated under her form. The usual color of it had turned back to the dark cyan that it had been when she was disspelled from her regal position. Celestia stood in horror, she then tried to assure herself that her sister was just very sick, and needed help.

“Luna? Si..sister?”, her voice quivered, “Luna, please talk to me. This isn't funny. LUNA!” with that Celestia began to shake violently, and her legs gave out from under her as she crashed to the ground, and exploded in sobs. Every second seemed to make her realization worse. Her sister was dead, and she knew it. After 10 minutes the sobs slowly faded. Celestia crawled across the soft rug, to her sister. This took her a few minutes because she needed to take a break every so often to cover the floor with tears. When she finally got to the body Celestia placed a naked hoof on her sisters side, and was met with cool skin, completely lacking any warmth. Luna had only recently died, and was very flaccid, and limp. Celestia lifted her heavy head to look at the scene before her, she made a pitiful face comparable with a filly who had just failed an exam. Her head dropped once again, and she put both of her hooves around Luna's body, and she dragged her sisters body close to hers in a tender embrace. With the faint hope that her heat would wake Luna back up. Instead, Celestia put her muzzle into her siblings mane and inhaled. The smell was intoxicating with the scent of Luna, and Celestia covered it in tears. Just when Celestia was about to subside she looked at her sisters horn, it was different. Now that her eyes adjusted to the light she could make out the faint charring on her sisters horn apex.

Celestia recalled a lesson with Starswirl the Bearded. She remembered asking him when she was going to be allowed to raise the sun.

“Hey Starswirl, I have a question for you,” the teenage Celestia said.

“What would that be, silly filly?”, Starswirl the Bearded inquired.

“When can I lift the sun? Because I REALLY want to lift the sun.” She asked.

“Now look here young one, you cannot even try to do that until I have proof that your magic is indeed ready for such a burden. In addition I need to be confident that you will not over exert yourself when that does happen.” Starswirl the Bearded replied with worry.

“Why? Is it dangerous?” Celestia asked once again, a hint of a sparkle in her eyes.

“Dangerous is not even close to describing the act!” Starswirl husked “But do not take that to offence my favorite student, I just don't want to live to see the day of your passing.” Starswirl told her in a grandfatherly tone. Celestia snapped back to reality.

She erupted with a new wave of sorrow, as she came to the understanding what had sealed her sisters fate. The worst part of her sisters death was that Celestia felt doubly responsible for it. It was she that sent Luna to the moon, to ponder aimlessly for 1000 years, and it was also her that allowed her sister to enthusiastically raise the moon and stars so early in her return. The sobs continued, but this time they were tears of guilt. Her sister had died from magical overexertion, and she, the great Celestia was the cause. Celestia tightened her embrace trying to apologize to the dormant alicorn with her hooves, and her tears. All of the memories, and emotions forcing themselves out of Celestias mind, and even for the powerful alicorn, it was too much. Celestia descended into darkness.

~~4~~

Celestia awoke, still embracing her dead sister, who was now rigid with the onset of rigormortis. Calming down, Celestia now knew what she had to do, and nopony would stop her. She lifted herself out from under Lunas form and stood for once on her 4 feet. She used her magic to simultaneously raise her sister, and heft the heavy blankets off of the bed. She placed her sister in a comfortable form and covered her with the cloth. Celestia then realized another detail; it was dangerously close to dawn, and the night needed to be put away, and daylight unveiled. Jogging on to the balcony, she began doing her sisters work, riding all of the stars of their beautiful shine, and eventually hiding the moon behind the layers of space. Then Tia proceeded to do her most noble task. Her horn strained and Celestia located the sun. Her powerful magic pulled the striking sun up, up, and above the horizon, from where it would take on its own schedule. She then loped to the exit, and took just one more second to shed a tear for her sister, quietly laying in her bed, almost asleep. The scene jolted her with another arrow of pain, as the alicorn was taken by such a memorable sight, she bit her lip, turned around, and walked away, shutting the doors behind her.

Darkcolt, and Shadowshield, Lunas guards, had returned in the middle of the night and were lazily moping around the princesses door when the doors suddenly opened and Princess Celestia stepped out. They were puzzled as to why, and Darkcolt turned to the scene inside the room. He saw Luna laying in the bed, her hair inanimate, he was strangely uncomfortable in such a presence. Shadowshield was about to ask Princess Celestia as to why she was in her sisters room at night, but without any warning, the unsuspecting colt was shot with a tele-other spell and disappeared from sight. Darkcolt was now very afraid, he started sprint down the hallway to the nearest corner, but he was no match for the speed of the princess who efficiently teleported him as well.

Shadowshield was laying in the corner of the dank dark cell when Darkcolt appeared, materializing from the surrounding air. He seemed very shaken, and Shadowshield whimpered, obviously in terror.

Celestia couldn't believe what she had done! She sent Lunas guards, the guards that she hoof picked to protect Luna, to the dungeons beneath Canterlot. All she could hope for is that this affair would last only a short while. Them being out of the way meant that she could speed up the process. Now jogging faster, she made it through the hallways without any setbacks, she opened the door to her room, much to the surprise of her guards, and retrieved her hoofguards, and tiara. Now she was ready to do what she needed to do. She softly trotted through the looming hallways, heading to the master guard, who reports any conditions to the other guards. Standing at the door to his office, she opened the double doors, and strode in pasting the look of neutrality on her face. She walked inside, and examined the office, the walls were made of clean white marble, in the same style as the hallways, including the golden trim, the floor was also following the same style of the hallways, covered in a royal red carpet, also with golden trim. In the center of the room stood a heavy oak desk, and atop it was an assortment of different trinkets, a candlestick, and scattered patrol papers everywhere. Behind the desk sat a very strong, white, and stocky stallion with a bright blond mane. He sat reading a large logbook, making sure all guards had signed in. He looked up from his book to see the princess.

“Good morning your highness”, he automatically greeted, “Is there anything I may aid you with?”

“Indeed there is Phalanx, I would like to excuse 2 guards from duty today, and want to warn the troops that Princess Luna is not to be bothered today, or tonight. For she is feeling under the weather.” Celestia stated.

Phalanx continued scrawling notes in his logbook when he asked, “Who are the two guards to be excused from duty, my liege?”

Celestia faltered, but said, “Darkcolt, and Shadowshield, yes those were their names.” Phalanx was slightly suspicious of this, because he knew that both of the guards were Lunas personal guards, but he waved the thought off. He knew Celestia always had the best intensions. He wrote 'Excused from duty' next to both of the colts names, and shut the logbook.

He then continued to ask the princess, “Princess, are you ok? You seem very perplexed, is there any other way I could help you?”

“No, I'm fine, I can handle the rest on my own, but thank you.” Celestia hastily spoke back.

With that, Celestia carefully spun around, and sped off out of the official office. Phalanx was left to wonder what had forced the princess to be so neurotic today, then he returned to his work. The princess was starting to get nervous, why was everyone noticing her timidness today, she needed to check on her sister to make sure nopony had realized her fate. She tried her best not to sprint down the hallways to her precious sisters room.

Gertrude, a tan pony with a dark forest green mane, was Princess Lunas personal maid and every day, her task would be to wake the princess at midday so that she could return to her royal duties, and study magic; she then would bring her breakfast, tidy up her room, and bring the princess dinner at night. These tasks were all fairly easy, most days, as the princess was very vigilant with her messes and made sure that Gertrude had little to do for her. However, there were exceptional days, when Luna was either depressed, or deep in though and would create a mess of books, and all other things around her while she worked on whatever it is she needed to do. Today Gertrude wanted to get all of her responsibilities over with soon, so that she could enjoy a nice day at the beach. She trotted quickly to Lunas door, and was shocked that there were no guards protecting the princess. She shook off any suspicions and opened the door, the princess was very silently sleeping, or was she? She seemed awfully quiet, not to mention her mane which had changed in color, and sentience. Gertrude now slowed her pace, as she approached the princess with caution. No breathing was imminating from her chest. Gertrude was now very worried, if the princess was dead, and the guards were nowhere to be seen, she could get stuck with the blame, and whatever the princess died from would get off scott free! As she was going to remove the blanket she heard the doors behind her crash open, and Princess Celestia rush in.

She bashed open the doors to Lunas room and was mortified at the vista before her. A small pony was dangerously close to pulling off the deceased Lunas blanket, and before Celestia could say anything, the frightened pony curled up in a defensive ball, and started hecticly crying out of fear. What had she become, Celestia wondered, why was she now so fearful, and unlike the Celestia everypony knew? She carefully walked to the crying equine, and curled up next to her, beginning to stroked her mane gently, and assuringly, hoping for a positive response.

Gertrude looked up and chuckled, “I'm sorry princess, its just that I was about to wake Miss Luna who looks very ill, I thought she was dead, and in the moment I was reflecting on what would happen to me if I discovered her body. So, I was very startled when you came in.”

Celestia forced back a new stream of sorrow, and calmly told her subject, “Calm down my loyal subject, I mean no harm. I want to apologize by giving you the day off, so you can exit the castle and do what you please.”

“But what of Miss Luna? Who wi-” Gertrude was starting to object.

Celestia interrupted her and said, “It is ok my child, I will make sure she is well taken care of.”

With that the tan pony trotted out of the room, clearly comforted by the kindhearted Celestia. Moments after the door had been sealed again, Celestia fell on top of her sisters body, and began bawling from severe depression. She knew how she could fix this, but it was still a horrifying sight to behold.

The princess grabbed a clean scroll, and fresh quill from Lunas' beautiful drawers, and began writing.

Dear Eremus,

I am sending you this message seeking your help and wisdom. Although you have hermitized yourself to the mountains, you are still able to help me with a recipe. A recipe that I once told you to destroy. Knowing your character you have not destroyed it, but sealed it away from the world in your great spire. I will not hold your disobedience against you, but I need the scroll to undo the damage that has been done.

That brings me to my next point, last night my sister was lifting up the night, when her magic recoiled and she was struck down. *Teardrop on the page* I have kept this information from all ponies, until I can take the appropriate measures to return my sister to her former self. That is why I need the scroll depicting the ritual background to necromancy. Although I already know the spell, I would like that too, in order to be sure of my actions.
- Your kind ruler, Princess Celestia

Celestia now looking at the letter, tried to imagine Eremuses response to it, whether it would be one of panic, bigotry, rebellion, or unfathomable depression. For she knew that the Ice Prince, in spite of his anti-social behavior, absolute isolation in the mountains, did indeed have a beautiful heart when he was younger. Unfortunately, after 6 millenia of existence, he began growing absolutely insane, and locked himself in a giant spire in the mountains, the closest community being an outpost of the Yak empire over 30 kilohoofs south! Apart from being psychotic, he was indeed a very powerful alicorn who possessed many spells in the spires library. All Celestia could hope for now, is that he gives her what she needs without causing a ruckus.

~~5~~

The clouds around his great spire were thick today, and he enjoyed this. Eremus breathed in the thick, freezing air and felt it warm up inside of him. Today he would explore spells that would let him see into the future. He dragged his pale blue frame to the 5th level of the library where he knew he could find the book that he needed for the inter-dimensional time alteration spells. These he had synthesized by following the spell bending techniques that he  learned from an extremely gifted unicorn at one point. He missed his mentor, and felt even worse as he had lost his name over the years. 'I should make a memory location spell next!' Eremus thought to himself. He could see how a spell such as that would help any immortal with the immense burden of their eternal existence. He questioned the purpose to his life every morning before he brushed his icy mane, and went down to the icy pool next to his spire. This pool would never freeze because of how contaminated it was with salt. He remembered when this pool, and these mountains, were a popular beach vacation spot for young ponies in love. Now it was a freezing mountainous wasteland, and any remnants of any life lived 30 kilohoofs south in the municipality of Yak't'un. All it was filled with were brusque yaks, who were xenophobic beyond a point of reason. Only last week they had once again attempted to collapse his great domain, using their heavy hooves.

“Fools! Thinking they are greater than I!”, Eremus exclaimed to the empty library. He laughed hysterically, almost missing the fact that a scroll had appeared before him. It was thick, and smelled of Celestia. The familiar scent was easily recognizable because they grew up together, from little foals to royalty, and she to the majestic princess who took his rule after he had isolated himself to the fèche. He absentmindedly reminisced as he watched the scroll with interest.

“What could you possibly want with a loon such as I Tia?”, he whispered to the scroll. This staring contest lasted for a few minutes, before Eremus blinked. Laughing at himself he picked up the scroll with his white aura and unrolled it. As he began looking at Celestia's familiar writing, he could tell that she was sad even before he actually registered what she had written. The dead giveaway was the teardrop on the parchment, but he also saw a waver in her writing, the same waver that she had shown when she went to the mastermind unicorn's burial ceremony. He began scanning the text with more intent. Quickly reading, he understood every word of the white alicorn's request, but he couldn't bring himself to believe what was written on the paper. How could Luna be dead before him? He fell on his haunches in anger.

“DAMN YOU ABYSS! WHAT MOULD DO YOU FOLLOW? Why kill the young alicorns, and leave the older to suffer their loss, while contemplating their own? Have you no heart, just end me! 6,000 years is more than enough for any creature to breathe!”, He screamed. Eremus' sadness was overwhelming, but still he shed no tears. He insanely chuckled at the part in the letter where Tia mentioned his misconduct of her policies on the necromancy ban; she could still read him like a book, even after all of these years. 6th floor, 6th shelf, 6th row, and 13th book from the left, “The Advanced Book on Heuristic Necromancy”, he remembered the book clearly, it was one of his absolute favorites of all time, literally. The book had been alive longer than he himself. It had a more pertinent purpose to more ancient ponies, due to their lack of talented beings, who relied on eternal life, provided their colleagues could follow a recipe. He returned to the letter, he knew saving Luna would cost another alicorns life, it was so written on page 139, and in his own handwriting. Eremus had witnessed his mother give her life away to Abyss in return for his father's upbringing. The double edged sword of deceit cut his family apart. His mother died in the ritual, and his father fled to go on a space odyssey, in search of his precious wife, in hope she was lost in another dimension, leaving his son to fend on his own. He had added 35 pages to the book, most of them describing how to work with 'dead water', and 'life water'. Although life water brought the chosen entity back to life, it could only work on something that had less pure magical power than itself; it simply couldn't give what Luna would need, without support that is. Instead, for this psychotic ritual to work, both he and Tia would need to deal directly with Abyss, death reincarnate. The name was like a broken shard of glass to his ears. After he regained his composure, he came to his decision on the matter of the letter and the events surrounding it. He wrote his reply on a brittle piece of parchment which hadn't been touched in over 200 years, with a quill black as night, enchanted with a special ink that never ran out or dried up.

My dearest Tia,
All of these years, and the first bit of news I get from you is informing me of how somepony dear to my heart hath died. Because I admire both of you, I shall indeed come to Canterlot with the scroll and book. You shall automatically object to my presence, but I assureth you that I will only be seen by those who need to be consoled. As far as the ritual, it shall take place in Everfree Castle, so we shall be subjected to some public time. However, the ritual is done at night, so we may touch off unscathed. I have gained back some sanity during my time in sequestration, and have added new ideas and concepts to the 'black book' as you last referred to it. Be that as it is, I believe I must begin my journey, and I must say I need to fix my chariot! I shall arrive in ½ a day's time my glorious monarch.
- Your friend, and King of the Frost,
Eremus

Eremus rolled the scroll, aware of its fragile state, and cast it off with a burst of his white
aura. He then strode of to the first floor of his spire to gather what he needed for his journey.

~~6~~

Celestia was trotting to her sisters room, she had received the response, and wanted to clean her sister up before the 'ritual', what Eremus meant by this, she did not know, but she smirked under her breath when she remembered that Eremus was locked away for such a long time that he had not known about the destruction of Everfree City, or the exile of Luna for that matter. In a way she did miss him though, he was the only alicorn capable of calming her down after Starswirl died, he understood her dejection. Celestia had reached her sisters room and she opened the door with a quick movement from her horn. The doors swung open, and Celestia was hit again with regret; she bit through her harsh emotions and moved to Princess Lunas side. Her body was still, cold, and lost its rigidity, as she was once again flaccid. Princess Celestia opened Lunas bathroom, and ignited the lights.

The princess of the night, had a very regal bathroom. The room was cylindrical, and had a toilet, washbasin, a closet filled with linen, a hamper, and most prominent was in the center of the bathroom, it was a grand bath colored in pale gray, with silver support feet, it was capable of fitting over 5 alicorns! She might as well have conjured up a pool. The walls were a cool, dark, blue on green together in an inconsistent pattern of bubbles, and stars. The floor a beautiful array of black tiles, that seemed to shine with the light that they reflected from the magic light orbs tactfully placed around the walls and ceiling. Celestia lifted her apex again, and pulled the water tap on the tub, warm water surging out. As this was happening she also grabbed her sister off of the bed, gently pulled her out of her cocoon of sheets and levitated her body to the washroom.

“Hello sister, I believe I may be able to bring you back, so I think I should wash you so you don't feel as grimy.” Celestia spoke as she removed her onyx and magic glass tiara, necklace, and hoof covers, very carfully stashing them on the white countertop of the basin. Her sister was covered in Celestias dried tears, sweat, and it's own oils. Tia opened the linen closet and removed some of the royal shampoo, and bath water soap. The water was almost close to the brim now, so Celestia stopped the stream. The water let off a calm blanket of steam in the rather chilly atmosphere. Celestia then began applying a generous amount of the honey like bath soap. It glided down into the water, and dissolved upon contact, turning the water electric blue in tone, and filling it with soapy bubbles. The older princess groaned at the smell of the soapy water, it was exactly the smell her dead sister had possessed, it filled her with a sad pleasure to finally know why her sister was always so pleasant to be around. With that Luna was once again lifted, and flown directly over the steamy washtub. She was gingerly lowered, and with all of the care in the world her rear hooves made contact with the water. The capillary action moved the water several inches up Lunas leg, as Celestia continued submerging her sister in the blue water.

“Do you like the water dear sister? Is it warm enough for you? Ok, lets have this dirty little filly clean up!” Celestia said in worry, and excitement. She was not expecting an answer. Within seconds Lunas rump dissapeared in the effervescent water, her whole torso followed afterwards, and finally, when her chin touched the sapphire liquid, the aura carrying her ceased to move her down, but instead concentrated on positioning her limp body so that it would stand on its own. After several minutes, and patience from the goddess of the sun, Luna was positioned so that she could be left to sit on her own. Tia grabbed a sponge out of the linen closet and dipped it into the indigo fluid.

“And now we can have some fun! Just like we used to, and you weren't dead.” Celestia choked out the last part of her sentence. She soaked the sponge for a few seconds before taking it and begging to rub her sisters blue coat, making foam appear on her pelt. Celestia continued lathering her sister, slowly beginning to enjoy the experience, for she had not done this with her sister in over a thousand and a half years! She also felt as though she was making her faults up to the princess by babying her, and treating her like a very sick filly.

With Lunas coat washed, the other sister levitated a bubble of water out of the tub, and carefully collided it with Lunas mane, the dry hair greedily ate up the hydration. The hair seemed to gain back a very small amount of their color. Celestia took the royal shampoo, and removed a little bit of the waxy substance from inside the can. She floated the chunk into her sisters hair, and it immediately spread throughout her scalp like pony mites. In front of Celestias eyes, her sisters hair was bleached a ghostly white, and then began to oscillate, as it started to gain back its dark blue complexion.

Celestia, satisfied with her work, pulled the release valve in the tub, she simultaneously removed a thick blue towel from the textile closet. She then waited until the water had completely drained from the tub before she began rubbing her sisters wet corpse dry. She fluffed her sister with delight, almost imagining the snickering that would have ensued if ….

Tia moved her sister back into her room, and sat her down in the corner while she changed her bedsheets with a fresh new layer. She levitated them both in the air, and moved her sister into the bed, and clothed her with the blue blanket. She had also moved her jewelry to the bedside table, and cleaned the tub as needed. Before she left she needed to do one more thing, to sooth her nerves.

“Alright little sis, before I need to go would you like to hear a lullaby? Just so you can easily rest.” Celestia stared up into the canopy, imagining her sisters excited response. A tear escaped her already dry and puffy eyes, as she began the song.

Fate has been cruel and order unkind
How can I have sent you away?
The blame was my own; the punishment, yours
The harmony's silent today
But into the stillness I'll bring you a song
And I will your company keep
Till your tired eyes and my lullabies
Have carried you softly to sleep
Once did a pony who shone like the sun
Look out on her kingdom and sigh
She smiled and said, "Surely, there is no pony
So lovely and so well beloved as I
"  So great was her reign and so brilliant her glory
That long was the shadow she cast
Which fell dark upon the young sister she loved
And grew only darker as days and nights passed
Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine
And rest now in moonlight's embrace
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space
Carry the peace and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind
Luna, you're loved so much more than you know
Forgive me for being so blind
Soon did that pony take notice that others
Did not give her sister her due
And neither had she loved her as she deserved
She watched as her sister's unhappiness grew
But such is the way of the limelight, it sweetly
Takes hold of the mind of its host
And that foolish pony did nothing to stop
The destruction of one who had needed her most
Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine
And rest now in moonlight's embrace
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space
Carry the peace and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind
Luna, you're loved so much more than you know
May troubles be far from your mind
And forgive me for being so blind
The years now before us
Fearful and unknown
I never imagined
I'd face them on my own
May these thousand winters
Swiftly pass, I pray I love you; I miss you
All these miles away
May all your dreams be sweet tonight
Safe upon your bed of moonlight
And know not of sadness, pain, or care
And when I dream, I'll fly away and meet you there
Sleep...

(Song lyrics are from the song 'Lullaby for a Princess' by ponyphonic, you are a god for that song!)

Celestia kissed Lunas forehead, and turned around, pacing herself to the doors. The darkness returned to the room, when the door closed leaving only Lunas reanimated hair to move, swaying in the invisible breeze.

~~7~~

Twilight Sparkle walked into the very familiar library of Celestia's chambers, and stared in indulgence at the columns and rows of heavy books, leading all around the room, and surrounded by the dark brown wood of the book cases. In the corner of the room there was an array of platters displaying ancient artifacts forgotten by history, some of them Celestia had taught her about, and some that she had no idea about, but eagerly wanted to ask. In the middle of the right wall (looking from the door) was a great limestone brick fireplace, with a beautiful mantle; a slow flame twinkling inside. Twilight grabbed the book Celestia and her were currently working on and layed down on the magical fur carpet stationed right in front of the fireplace, she flipped through the pages trying to learn Starswirl the Beardeds advanced predictions on the shape of the magic particle, and how it takes a certain technique to move objects such as ponies, all having to do with the frequency of the aura immenating from every unicorn, and alicorn. She really enjoyed this book, mostly because it was actually a challenge for her to read, and she had to spend time away from the book for the theories, and hypotheses to fully sink in. Twilight continued to read, not sure if Celestia was running late, or if she had forgotten altogether.

Celestia was in a rush, she knew if she wasn't punctual, she would be put under suspicion, especially with a student as picky as Twilight Sparkle. She reared into her room, unlocked the door to the library, and entered in clearly panting from the sudden physical activity. Although Celestia could teleport, she was exhausted after brooding the whole night, and not sleeping, not to mension that she also needed to send away the starscape, and was still deep in thought. Her protege lay near the fireplace continuing where they had left off earlier, Celestia was truly proud of her student's accomplishments; she had learned almost at the same pace as a alicorn. She walked over to the mat near the fireplace and lay down next to her student, parallel to her lavender body. Suddenly she looked at the page of the book selected, it was a picture of Luna lifting the moon. She almost broke down right then and there, but regained her neutral composure, as she began dictating her student, and giving her some simple advice at moving celestial bodies.

“So when the night is raised does Luna need to raise the stars, and the moon, or just the moon?”, Her student asked suddenly.

She replied feeling uncomfortable, “Yes my faithful student, the night is brought up by Luna entirely, this is why she is having such a difficult time readjusting.”

Twilight snarfed, “Well last night was certainly a night that could have gone better! I barely saw all of the constellations until 3 in the morning!”

Celestia was explosive inside. She felt her psych start to give way, as she let the pure rage surge through her svelte body. She was really mad at Twilights comment. She didn't know what to do, so, she leaped up and grabbed the book the two were reading and she used some of her magic to launch the tone at her full force, knocking her square in the head. She regretted this almost instantly. Twilight had not meant her comment to be offensive, and had no idea what had happened in the last 24 hours.

“WHH... Why? Prin... Princess what did I do? Please tell me what I did to deserve this??” Twilight was devastated.

Celestia changed her rage into an apologetic tone, “My faithful student, I am so sorry for treating you this way, it has just been a very stressful week, and Luna and I have been working too hard for too little. I really hope you can forgive me for this.”

“Princess, I had no idea, I'm sorry for insisting a meeting on this week! All you have to tell me in the future is that you are too busy to take care of me, and I will leave you be.” Twilight immediately responded.

“I'm glad you understand Twi, and I hope that you didn't get that hurt from the book I threw.” Celestia still barely made a noise

Twilight shook her head no, a grin on her face, now that she had determined her mentors depressed emotions. She turned around and left the library, letting her mentor lay on the carpet and sulk in her duties, and momentary loss of cool.

Celestia was scared, she was still barely sane after her sisters death, but now she was starting to get violent with people she loved, and she didn't know what to do. Eremus would know what to do, he could find ways for comforting her anywhere. The fire beside her grew larger as she brushed away the book she threw, like a really bad memory. She felt a twinge of guilt shoot through her heart as sharp as a sharp icicle, how could she have put her favorite little pony's life in danger like that? She would never forgive her self for losing control.

She lay down her godly body, laying in a supine position, and tried to concentrate on the time it was taking Eremus to travel to Canterlot. He would be in for a shock, the angry generation corrupted his opinions over 4,0-- years ago; partially why he left the rule, and he wasn't used to the friendship vibe of the city after four thousand years locked away in a great spire. With that warm though, Celestia's enervated body melted into the mat, and she had fallen asleep, she fell asleep with a troubled look on her face due to her thoughts on her sister, Eremus, and Twilight Sparkle.

~~8~~

Eremus landed his cool blue chariot on the white bricks of one of the many streets in Canterlot with a deep stomp. The impact caught the attention of many surrounding ponies, who stared open mouthed unable to encompass the celestial being who exited the chariot leaving a diaphanous layer of frost on the already light street. The ice let off a wispy glimmer of pure cold, as Eremus advanced on the quiet ponies enjoying a meal in their favorite restaurant.

“Who of you mortals shall lead me to the castle of the princess?”, asked Eremus quizzically. The ponies looked on at him with horror, but he did not have to look at them to smell their dread. None of them remembered who he was, and they didn't know what to do around an unidentified alicorn, whether to bow down in respect, or bear arms in defense. Instead they just stood immobile in confused shock. He only waited a few seconds before he decided he would waste more time trying to convince them that he was a friendly alicorn than just searching for the castle himself. He began to trot uphill, trying desperately to remember the maze of streets he once knew. The only thing that guided him were indeterminate street signs which were a rarity throughout the city.

Finally, he came upon what looked like a main street, but wherever he went, all activity stopped, and everypony shrunk back in futile dismay; he could care less. He continued uphill, following the main road, and eventually came upon a high fence made of gilded steel, enchanted by his own spell. He knew he couldn't risk startling the guards, so instead he disenchanted a section of the fence, and made a temporary portal between the street, and the grounds on the other side, walking through it. Proud of his own personal spell, he persisted on, bustling to a secluded part of the castle where he left a 'back door' that would allow him to access the throne room without being detected, provided no pony discovered it during the time he was gone. Four large gray stones met his gaze, as he concentrated his aura on the mechanism on the other side of the bricks, he felt a handle and pulled hard. Within seconds the cranking of mechanics was audible, and the gray rocks moved apart and welcomed their long lost friend with a dark passageway, overcrowded with spiderwebs, and other lesser known tissues of creatures who dwelt in castles that were as unbelievably as old as Canterlot Castle. Before he walked through the tunnel, he took one look back and examined the obvious trail of icy footsteps he left on the green gardens of the castle grounds. Eremus smirked to himself as he entered the cold hallway. He lit up his white horn, and illuminated the space as the door closed behind him. The place certainly had lost it's former glory. As he hurried through the tunnel he seperated the spider webs blocking his path. Right, right, left, left, up, right, up, right, up, right, up, and finally he had come to the door that he was looking for. This was a door that lead into the lost and forgotten maintenance closet which ran perpendicular to the throne room. He opened the door, and moved the assorted maintenance implements out of his way, while making his way to the final door to the throne room. He again unlatched the opening and walked up the large, gray, stairs to the hall of the sun goddess. Quickly he recognized that Celestia may not even be here, but may have instead wandered off somewhere else in the castle. Eremus moved his pale topaz body around the perimeter of the sanctum, using the pillars as cover. He still snickered though, as he left evident footprints in the red carpet. Fortunately, he was a 6,000 year old being who definitely knew how to sneak around his own castle. Within seconds the door to the private royal quarters were open and he tried to remember where he had stayed all those years, assuming Celestia had switched her residency to his room.

He found it rather quickly, but he did not expect it to still bear his 'icy mountain' cutie mark. Although he already knew that he would not be met with Celestia's room, he continued opening the door for the sake of nostalgia. He was met with the familiar cold wind that had always imminated from his chamber. Eremus looked at his space with longing, he had missed the pearly carpet, teal walls, and sea green bedsheets of his berth. He walked inside, amazed that the room had been well taken care of, even though he had been gone for many years. Even the portrait of him and his parents was still carefully up-kept and hanging opposite his bed. He looked away, instantly a shard of glass piercing his thoughts. This was not his goal, and he needed to help his closest companion, or at least the only pony he thought was significant enough to lead a kingdom that had become as large as it did.

He closed his doors, and continued down the hall, no longer caring about what others thought of his presence here. He had only one task, and he needed to help his angel, or she would most certainly fall into a loop of demented psychosis. He was now charging down, trying to locate the door with a sun on its face. Eremus turned a corner and saw it. What gave it away, was the two scared guards looking on him is fright. He just sent a tele-other spell into their unsuspecting figures, and sent them into the dungeons below the castle. He would figure out that problem later. Now, he crashed open the doors, and walked into Celestias bedchamber; it felt strangely inviting, the shades of pink, and white felt were a nice change from his current domain, where he would be lucky to see a shade of blue (besides himself). He knew she was in here though, the scent of her mane was fresh, and it lead him to a side room, which he could only guess was a library, for he could also smell books, a familiar odor after a life in an grand library.

When Eremus inaudibly entered the study. He froze, Celestia was laying on an enchanted rug illuminated by the soft glow of the flames she blocked from his view. She was clearly in distress as he observed the lines of tears carving trails down her face. He really missed her, she was physically attractive, sylphlike, and her mane was absolutely satisfactory to his taste in color spectrums. He also remembered how she was the only pony who would make him smile with sincerity; he didn't remember the last time he smiled for somepony other than himself. He was tempted to just join the sleeping alicorn, and relax by the fire, but he knew she would want him to wake her.

“Celestia, awaken” Eremus boomed. She stirred in her slumber, and mumbled something unaware of his presence. Eremus extended his forehoof, and touched her shoulder. He saw her skin shudder, and recoil at the intensely cold ambience of his hoof; he bit his lip, the soft, well groomed coat felt smooth to the touch. He repeated himself, using more impetus.

The solar princess opened her beautiful amethyst eyes, and looked first at the fire, then to the other side at the majestic creature who woke her. She leapt up in surprise, she had not seen this alicorn in many years. She looked at him, examined his light cyan coat, short flowing mane, and striking wulfenite eyes. They stood like this for a few minutes, Eremus leaving off a strong mist of subliming water particles in the air, and Celestia filling with longing, the longer he was in the room. She wasn't the only one it seemed, as the ice patches beneath Eremuses hooves began to lose their white tint, and leave moist patches on the red rug. They continued to stare into each others eyes. Suddenly, Celestia broke the ice and rushed over to Eremus, tightly embracing him. He welcomed her with his outstretched hooves.

“It's been too long Remus.” Celestia let a tear of joy escape her parched tear ducts. Eremus smiled, and pulled her in close.

~~9~~

Eremus broke the silence with his heavy voice, “I missed you Tia.” Celestia smiled behind his back, and replied, “I missed you too Remus.” They broke the embrace, only out of necessity, and because the ominous thoughts of Lunas condition began pulling at their minds once more.

Celestia spoke softly, “Remus, have you brought the things we will need?”

Eremus replied, “Indeed, I have everything I need to raise Luna. All that is left to do is to journey to the Everfree City, where there is a secret necromancers dungeon, hidden in the park.”

“Eremus, do you know where my sisters balcony is?” Celestia questioned.

“I am not oriented with the altered castle, regrettably.” Eremus responded.

“Would you kindly fly your chariot to the Eastern most balcony on the North side of the castle? That is where I would be waiting for you with my sister.” Celestia guided.

“Yes, I will be there shortly, what do I say to any agog guards?” Eremus whispered into her ear, letting a cool breeze flow on her flushed face.

“You have my permission to send them to the moon, but only if they don't comply with your demands.” Celestia breathed back, a twigs thickness away from Eremuses other ear, letting a warm breeze flow on his frozen visage. Eremus returned the mare back to Equestria, by quickly turning around and trotting out of the room with purpose, leaving the door open behind him. Celestia watched in yearning as Eremus ran down the hall, and then turned the corner. After trying to come up with a reason for her own missing guards, she began towards Lunas domain.

When she got to the room, she once again prodded open the doors, and entered the atmosphere of the now melancholy room. She stared at her sister, afraid of disturbing her peaceful slumber, and then it hit her once more, her sister was dead, and the chances of this ritual of working was varied. She knew the 'black' book worked well for normal ponies, but there were several cases in which a very powerful unicorn would not be stirred by the complicated incantations and ceremonial glyphs. So, she was unsure if this would work on her powerful sister. Instead of immediately lifting her sister and bringing her to the balcony, she crawled into her sisters bed, and lay down next to her in a supine position, looking up at the navy canopy.

“So, sister, here we are. And I have never been so nervous in my many years of life. I just wanted you to be happy. What a foal I was to forget my lesson with Starswirl! Can you imagine!? My own sister, destroyed by the very thing the solar princess needs to be aware of the most!” Celestia spoke in a neutral voice.

Suddenly her voice was lowered, and she spoke with difficulty, “Lulay *pause* I'm so sorry for all of this *pause* all I ever wanted was for you to be happy, I wanted to make it up to you for the harsh punishment that befell you. And now... now I killed you. NO! I neglected you into dying, it is much worse than if I were to strike you down myself.”

Eremus ran through the streets of Canterlot leaving a trail of frosty footprints, and more shocked ponies. He continued running through the tight alleyways and large streets. He finally located his abandoned carriage, no pony dared to touch it, there were just a few curious glances to the icy blue metal that it was made of. Eremus assumed that the likes of this carriage had never been seen in Canterlot in a good couple millennia. He hopped in, feeling better as the cold radiated into him. Celestia's warm presence, and the physical activity had warmed him up to an uncomfortable level. Eremus pulled up on the reigns, and the carriage lifted with white magical force. It was carried up many hooves into the air, and began advancing to the Northern side of the castle. The carriage moved quickly and blew a stream of mild air through his mane, he was at the told balcony within a few minutes, he would have guessed that Luna would have a room overlooking the rising moon. He heavily landed his coach on the gray marble, and immediately catching the attention of the solar princess inside. She was reclined out in Lunas bed, maternally hugging her sisters dead body. Throughout his many years Eremus had rarely seen something as harrowing.

He approached the distressed mare, and quietly whispered, as not to 'wake' her sister, “Tia? Tia, are you ready to go? I think we can just move Luna to the cargo platform, with the other adjuncts for the ritual.”

Celestia just nodded in agreement, as she levitated her sister, and walked over to the balcony taking care not to accidentally bump her into anything. Eremus just stood back and watched as Celestia carefully moved, and secured her sister to the cargo platform.

“Alright are we ready to go then?”, Eremus asked Celestia, “We have all of the ingredients, we have your sister, and we have a …....” His voice trailed off.

“Yes Remus, we are ready to go. I just want to do one more thing, before we leave.” Celestia asserted, coming her out of her grievous state for a few seconds. With that, she leaned in close, and gave Eremus a kiss on the mouth. The stallion felt his face flushing with fresh blood. Celestia was crying again. Eremus could imagine how hard this was for her, her sister had died, and she was probably losing it, adding somepony like him to the equation only complicated matters. He enjoyed the taste of her mouth regardless. He was pleased he could offer any comfort, to the fitful mare. Eremus broke the kiss, after it had lasted for a couple of minutes, and began to levitate the vehicle with his white magic. The aura wrapped around the conveyance and they were off to the 'Everfree City'.

As Eremus was guiding the path to the city, Celestia used his stock neck as a way of keeping herself up from collapsing. She had been awake for nearly three days grieving, and doing unimaginable tasks, lifting celestial bodies. Eremus did not know why, but the points at which Tia was making contact with his skin, seemed to lose their cold layer and form a blanket of warmth, which he decided was a rare luxury he hadn't felt in a very long time.

~~10~~

Eremus, blanketed by Celestias' warm coat, started to think into the past, trying to remember what his life was like back before he hermitized himself to the solitary spire. He tried to remember what he had felt for other ponies, fore he now felt as though he was a child in these ancient, social, emotions. The wind continued to rush across his face, he looked down on the snoozing mare to his right. She looked faintly cold, due to her overall complexion; he lifted one of his grand wings and covered her with it, blocking out the rigid zephyr. Again he felt an alien warmth overcome his body. Then, he began to recollect that which he had forgotten.

“Eremus!”, teenage Celestia called out, “Hurry up lazy! Or we will most certainly be late. You know that the Grand Galloping Gala is always sooooo boring, without you!” Eremus lifted himself off of his icy bed, and clothed himself with his royal attire, pulling on his assortment of jeweled bracelets, necklaces, and hoofguards. He never really liked the Grand Galloping Gala, but always attended because of the tradition, and how much fun he and Celestia had always ended up having. He was ready, as was she. Without further adieu, the two walked down the gilded halls, giggling and joking around. However, they quickly regained their humorless composure as they walked up to the grand staircase, its white marble appearance always wowed the simple eye, but to the two alicorns this was no distinctive place, merely another slice of life they dealt with every day.

So began the long process of greeting every, uptight wight in the kingdom. Eremus despised this, and called many times for all ponies to be invited; he had always said that if the common ponies were let in, the gala would be much more entertaining and pleasurable. But still, the elders refused, and insisted that the gala be full with ponies that have no joy in their hearts, nothing but empty pride in what was theirs before they were born. Celestia noticed his sudden change in mood, and looked at him concerned.

“Eremus? Are you alright, I can swear that I just felt the temperature drop a couple degrees.” she asked.

Eremus obliged, “Don't mind me, I'm just disappointed in the ponies who's pride snuffs out their potential.” She looked at him in understanding, clearly reminiscing on the same matter. This raised his mood, he loved it when his complex emotions were understood.

Suddenly, in a flash of dark blue, young princess Luna ran to their side, clearly winded. Both of the older alicorns embraced Luna, and pulled her in between them, so that she too could help greet the ungrateful ponies.

After an exasperating time welcoming equines, the three walked out of the castle and to the only humane place they could relax without hearing the endless complaining inside the dance hall. The entered the garden, and walked to crudely build stand, housing an old, forest green, earth pony snoozing on his chair, his red cap pulled over his eyes. As the alicorns approached, he awoke from his slumber, and smiled.

“Why hello 'der Princesses, an' Prince! Wouldya like the usual cloud dust tea, or d'you wanna try something a little more exotic? I just got a new box of mercury brew, with a hint of pumpkin! Its a real treat!”, the aged pony exclaimed in delight.

Eremus stepped forward and requested, “The two ladies will have the cloud dust tea, as for me, I will try some of this 'mercury brew' you speak of, it sounds divine.” Eremus finished speaking and began to bring his bits out, when he was stopped by the smiling salespony.

“Naw that won't be necessary Prince, take these on the house.” The earth pony said with kindness. Eremus chuckled at this, and while cringing from laughter placed the 6 bits into the old ponies payment box.

Eremus then calmed down and placed his hoof on the other pony, “I am humbled by your generosity, but I insist you receive what you deserve.” he then smiled at the tea trader, who had a simple smile. The dark emerald pony then winked his eye, and reached into the stand to get the brewing materials, and crafted the exceptional batches of tea taking care to include sugar, and a few drops of golden honey. The scent of the tea was delightful, and made the royal crew lust for a good mug of tea. When the old pony was done and the tea was tasted by the royalty, they gave him their regards and began walking into a different part of the garden; the area that overlooked the whole city. Then, they calmly situated themselves on the long grass, enjoying their liquid perfection.

“So Eremus? What did you think of that modest tea trader? Did he inspire you to form a different opinion on the ponies of Equestria?” Celestia asked out of curiosity. Eremus felt for an answer looking deep into her intoxicating eyes. Then said.

“I have but one regret, and that is that the deserving ponies who do not get the attention that they deserve. Many famous ponies do not deserve to be such. However, what is worse is that the ones who do merit the values of life, are most often unheard of.” He finished with a down look in his eyes, he was genuinely disappointed that good equines were so harshly put down. Celestia lifted his head with both of her hooves, momentarily placing her tea down, and looked into the depths of his tangerine eyes.

Then said in reverie, “I understand you, Remus, and I understand your anxiety, but us alicorns must love all ponies for it is our immortal task.” Eremus was to lost in her hypnotic gaze to understand what she had meant, but the soothing words still inspired him. He had felt the first feeling of love. From that point until he exiled himself he had loved her, for thousands of years, closed emotions, emotions that had never reached an audible level; his frosty soul simply caging in his sensitive side. To him she was perfect, she was physically alluring, wise beyond his understanding, yet kind and compassionate to all she encountered. She was the definition of a perfect being in his mind.

Eremus shook himself away from his daydream, and tried to organize the thoughts in his mind. Was he any different? Was he feeling 'love' for Tia, yet again, or was it just his previous anima breaking back into his mind. He couldn't decide what it was, all he was certain of was, what he needed to do.

~~11~~

Although the chariot was hit with violent winds, it did not bother Princess Celestias' exhausted body, and mind. She began dreaming again, and against the advice of her father, she let the dreams in, too weak to fend them off.

She was looking at the casket of her highly regarded teacher, and friend, filled with pain, and disbelief. Was this truly what it is meant to be an immortal, to enjoy experiences with wonderful ponies, and in the end just have them torn away from you like sweets from a baby colt. Starswirls beard was enchanted to move with an ethereal sentience, giving him the look of a god. Which in a way was true, no other pony in the recorded history of Equestria, had made so many important discoveries about magic, spells, beasts, and even nature. He was world known, and his funeral was as large as he. Everypony had a chance to look upon the legend before he was forever placed into a vault. Celestia had requested some more time to 'talk' to her compeer; as this was a request by Princess Celestia, she was gladly given the extra time.

“You meant so much to me....”, she sadly whispered into the silver coffin. The coffin was beautifully crafted in the forges of the yak empire, and was jeweled with rare, pink quartz, and amethysts, as well as having gorgeous arrays of deep blue sapphire. His expression, was moulded into a perpetual smile, just like the one he had often portrayed. This small detail pleased Celestia more than intended. She sat there for another couple of minutes and reflected on all of the lessons he had taught her, and the true gravity of his loss was. She began to cry, slowly, but gathering speed. She did not want this to be the last time they saw each other. As she was bent over the closed side of the colossal casket leaving a stream of wet on the surface, a soft hoof touched her shoulder, it was cool, and calmed her down. It was a touch that was filled with concern and compassion.

The touch was followed by a soft, composed, voice, “Tia, there is nothing we can do but mourn for this great loss, I admired him as you did.” After that, Eremus stood there holding Celestia in his arms, letting her wash her face in his silky coat, leaving moist patches on his pelt. She couldn't bear to witness Starswirl in the coffin again, and took shelter in the crisp cool of the other alicorns skin. She was glad there was at least one other alicorn who cared about her close friend as much as she did; all the other alicorns had left earlier, leaving Celestia to mourn without comfort. Even Princess Luna had left earlier, because she had business to attend to, she mentioned something about a coltfriend in the North. All of them had no idea what this world had lost! They were ignorant to the loss of the biggest mind in Equestria! He deserved to be remembered. She continued sobbing into Eremus, feeling happier and happier that he did stay. Another few, eternal, minutes passed, and Eremus began leading Celestia away, to the exit. She decided not to resist, and let him shift her to the doors. She had stopped crying and was now just breathing through Eremuses flowing mane. It smelled like a sharp peppermint, and cooled down her sinuses, which were enflamed from her crying.

He continued to carry her to her room, where he carefully placed her on the bed, and stepped off. He looked at her again, his gaze powerful, yet gentle, but most of all, he was very worried for her, and she could tell this by how he watched her, staring into her emotional core through her bright purple eyes. She loved him, she could tell because of how calm, and collective she had always felt around him. The easiest way to describe how she felt, would be the word 'opulent'. She knew he would take good care of her if she needed it, and now was a prime example. He had loyally stayed with her throughout her mourning, then helped her get to a better environment, and now, now he would sleep on the floor next to her bed, to make sure she wouldn't be alone tonight. She had never known that somepony could care so much for another, to abandon his royal privileges. With this quality thought in mind, she drifted into blissful sleep in her canopy bed, comforted by Remuses breathing in the same room as her.

~~12~~

As the carriage pulled closer to the supposed area where the Everfree City was suppose to stand, all Eremus could make out were mangled ruins of cold grey rock. Eremus chuckled to himself, had the city finally fallen after so many years of prosperity? He was used to this though, and realized that indeed nothing was infinite, even the so claimed eternal alicorns. This is why he was formulating those thoughts. The thoughts that he knew would make the decision to be made, a lot easier on both of the troubled alicorns.

Celestia woke with a start as the carriage made impact with the somber floor of the city street. The place felt too familiar, this was the very place Nightmare Moon was cast off to the moon, and then after a more recent feud, completely liquidated, revealing her true sister once more. Now, yet again this was the place were Luna would hopefully be saved. She released her grip on Remus, who still stood steely eyed, clearly deep in thought. She didn't bother, but simply asked him, “Remus, where do we go from here? And what are we going to take with us?”

“We are going to set up the chalk lines right here”, Eremus declared, pointing his hoof to a spot just beyond the remains of a park bench, “And we will take the bag in the cargo bay. And of course dear Luna.”

Celestia floated the dead body in the air, and began to advance on the park bench, eager to get the extra weight off of her. While in this process she noticed Eremus grab the saddlebag with his teeth, and follow her. She was devastated, had she lost her mind?! Why did she show him such strong affection? Was she so tired she lost her power to rationalize thought? Or maybe, she knew that this ritual would require more than the ingredients that he was carrying in his bag. She had a premonition that this was not any regular ceremony, but a sacrifice. She had already made up her mind although, it needed to be done. She loved her sister, and she owed her happiness that she was absent of on the moon. What worried her was how Eremus was reacting to this, did he know? When did he plan on informing her? Many questions haunted Celestias head, yet she lingered.

“So? How is the sacrament practiced?”, Celestia finally asked him.

“I have a supposition that you have already guessed that this ritual will require more than just the normal ingredients and spell.”, Eremus plainly said, “It will require a life, and a powerful one at that.”

“Yes, I am ready to do this. I am ready to die for my sister,” she said adamantly, and she certainly was sure that this was the only way she could save her sisters life. At least under the guide of Eremus, Luna would finally get the perfect teacher she needed, Celestia thought to herself. She regretted that she would never be able to witness life any longer, but did not pout. She glanced at the book, it was written in Eremuses handwriting! She was shocked, but she did not waver, as she gathered the vial of 'life water', an open jar of 'dead water', adding them to a point of the 8 sided star that Eremus had drawn with a piece of white chalk. He continued the process by writing the glyphs that were commonly used by necromancers, on each point of the stars, and the very middle.

Eremus spoke, “Alright Tia, the area is primed, hence we can begin. First, place the body supine, in the center of the star.” He continued as he lifted Luna, and put her in the middle of the chalk lines.

“Continue by slowly building up the magic spell, just like you would a very powerful levitation spell, and cast on the ring.” He articulated, sending his magical aura into the rings, he was no stranger with this spell. Eremus cast it with ease, and watched as a dark singularity emerged several feet above the land, the creature that stepped out, was not a stranger to either of the alicorns, but they disliked her for several reasons. The customary transparent body, had a slivery mane, and the very characteristic broken horn. Eremus lost his parents to Abyss, because of her deception. Celestia had met her in a dream, while stuck in a nonexistent plane of dream space, which warned of her sisters imminent death.

“Why hello again my friends, its been a while. Why have you summoned me?” Abyss hissed.

Celestia retorted, “Stop your fooling, you know why we have summoned you! You were the one who spoke with me in my dreams, and warned me that this had happened.” Both other alicorns looked slightly confounded when Celestia had raised her voice.

“Very well then, I assume you know a sacrifice will be needed?”, Abyss queried glancing at Eremus, and remembering his mothers valiant act of selflessness.

“Yes, and I want to get this over with! Now do it!”, Celestia began to get anxious.

Out of nowhere, Eremus wrapped his forelimbs around her limber body, said, “Forgive me.” into Celestias' soft ear and gave her a passionate, loving kiss which was cut off short by Eremuses magic hitting her with much force. With a rapid, and bright flash, Celestia was teleported back to Canterlot, into her bedchamber. She was bolted with a pang of fear, did Remus just teleport her back to her room, why?!

It finally hit her harder than a brick wall, and as soon as she realized what he had done! She began to charge to her own carriage tears freely flowing from her tired eyes. The mare couldn't believe her mind, it was a devastating blow to her system. She could feel her heart racing at dubious speeds filling her tissues with hot blood. She ran outside to the carriages of Canterlot, and chose her own personal, magically operational chariot. Jumping inside she promptly used her faltering magic to grasp the vehicle, and send it flying into the Everfree Forest at blistering speeds that whipped her beautiful mane back with a rugged force. She needed to get back to Eremus before he did anything temerarious. Finally, the beginning of the forest came into her perception, and she increased her speed once more. This time she also lowered her altitude to try and use g-forces to her advantage. The strategy worked too well, and Celestia was flying at an unrealistic speed now, the bottom of her carriage occasionally grazing the top canopy of the forest, everything becoming a blur of dark green, and midnight blue. Out of nowhere a longer than ordinary bough from a larger than average tree caught one of the speeding chariots' wooden wheels, sending it into the dark depths of the minacious timberland.

The ritual was ready, and Eremus wanted to trade a few words with Abyss before he gave his life to the hapless heap of flesh, that was Luna. He began, “Abyss, you are a deceitful entity who has no right to caper with the sentiments of others! I trust, I trust that you will pay deeply for your corruption! After my parents passed, I discovered your surreptitious background, I unearthed that you are an alicorn whom hath breathed for an inextinguishable amount of years! The last time your genesis was even conceived was by a very high profile unicorn, and he claimed you were beyond the millionth year in your eternal life. YOU! You are one reason I want the sacrifice to be me today.” Eremus confidently ended his pontificate, calmly looking at Abyss for any reaction.

She looked up from her crestfallen state, and told him, “It is not an easy life, Eremus, I when I was birthed I was placed in the greatest order for my task. It was my responsibility to remove life from the quickly overpopulating land. Ever since that day, I could not let any equine go through killing homogeneous beings, as was my post. Hence, I stay diligently doing my duty to this day. I take no pleasure in my job, but it is my position nonetheless.” Abyss looked very deep in thought.

Finally, Eremus broke the silence by waving his hoof to her, signifying that he was ready for the ultimate sacrifice. Abyss began to converse once more, “Remus, what you did for Tia today will not be forgotten, until the day that I transform into the stars that we have all come from, for I am inspired by your love for her, and will make your pain, effortless.”

With that, Abyss engulfed her horn with a terrifying blood red aura that latched onto Eremuses sides, and entered his body.

“EREMUS NOOOOOO!!!”, Celestia ran out of the woods covered in multifariousness of leaves, branches, spores, and many other paraphernalia of the forest. She watched in utmost trepidation as her would be lover was send up into the air, then with a jolt of red electricity, he made impact on the soft chaparral beneath, the thud forced hot droplets to once more form in her eyes, and begin to slide down following the temporarily stained tracks already set into her face. She felt her body fill with convulsions, and she lost control of her haunches, falling to the ground. In her grief, confusion, and heartbreak, Celestia let out crazed laughter which lasted for a few seconds, quickly being replaced by Celestia's fast, burdensome, breathing. She lay there, again having lost somepony she loved profoundly, and wept.

Celestias' whimpers were broken by the now soothing voice of Abyss, “Tia. My dear, do not cry for him. He has given his life so that you may keep yours, his thoughts before were always filled with self destruction, he was ready to go. Although you loved him dearly, he loved you to the point where he would do everything just to make life easier for you.” Abyss was now stroking Celestias' multicolored mane. Abyss felt herself disappearing, “Tia, my physical form is leaving me now, and I will not be able to communicate with you somatically. I need you to take your dear sister back to her bedchamber so that the living mare of the night, can get some mightily deserved rest.” and with the last word, Abyss was disintegrated into dust, which was blown away by the breeze.

Celestia got up from her curled up position and looked at the scene, what a mess she thought to herself. She looked at Eremuses lifeless corpse, and sighed. Lowering her body to the lying body, she planted a kiss to his lips, feeling them one last time. Following a small period of time, she was forced to break the kiss, because of a gasp of breath, which had come out of Luna! Celestia was splintered in her emotions. But, now was the time she needed to be strong, as Eremus had been when making up his mind on how to approach the situation she had landed into. With this thought in mind, she loaded both bodies into the cargo platform on Eremuses carriage, and mounted it herself. With the last remaining strength she had within her torn soul, she lifted the weighted carriage, and began the long trek home. There was no hurry now, what had been done, had been done, and there was nothing that could be done to change any of what had been done.

The first place Celestia stopped was Lunas room. She softly landed the chariot on the balcony, and exited the vehicle, grabbing her sister with her amethyst colored magic. She undid the covers in her bed, and slid Luna into position. The peaceful mare calmed Celestia only slightly. As she turned to return to the sled, Celestia whispered, “Goodnight, Lullay, Princess of the Night.”

She was once again flying, but her destination was now the Royal Canterlot Gardens. Once the carriage entered the grounds, she continued following the path that lead through the garden. After, cocooning Eremus in her aura, she began to trot in the direction of the sculpture representing 'victory'. An empty space occupied the area to the left of the statue. She positioned Eremuses carcass into a sitting position, in which he seemed to be looking to the stars for answers. With a flash of magenta, he was covered in a thick layer of cold, dead, and gray stone. With another flash of magic Celstia labeled the effigy, 'Endearment' and returning home to her bedchamber, allowed herself a protracted, undisturbed, sleep.

~~Epilogue~~

It was a strange week for Luna, having to wake up from the brink of death, it definitely gave her a new insight to the qualities of life, and gave her a new appreciation for Eremus, who she had long considered insane beyond repair. Luckily her sister loved Remus enough to consult him, she thought to herself guiltily. She again was hit with a pang of culpability as she realized that another pony had given up an eternal life, just so that she would live. She still couldn't tell if the sacrifice was more for her, or for her sister however; as the two alicorns did share a strange bond. And although unbeknownst to her, she believed the two were in love to a certain extent. She wouldn't question this though, right now she simply needed to comfort her wreck of a sister. Celestia was now too weak to lift the sun, but luckily the 'Arcane Council' of Canterlot had enough hornpower to pull off such a task for a couple of weeks. It was also fortunate that the Crystal Princess, Cadence, had gotten word of their misfortune, and rushed over as soon as she could to see how she could help the mourning Celestia.

Seven days following the events of Eremuses sacrifice Celestia had come to a conclusion on what she was to do to provide herself with the much requested closure she needed.

“You WHAT?!”, gasped Cadence, “But Tia, dear, this is madness! The kingdom needs you here! What if you decide you like it there and stay for a few decades, centuries!”

Celestia retorted, “Cadence darling, I need to do this... I will not recover until I do. I promise I will return in a week, I just need to know how he felt for those lost years. Please give me this endeavor.” her voice sounded wounded, as if something was trying to expel itself from her pharynx.

“But... Tia. You can't just abandon all who admire you as their queen. The ponies, they all look to you for answers, this would make it seem to them that you are aban...” Cadence was cut off by Celestia.

“Nay, I do not abandon the land for which I care for so much. I merely want to visit, and pay my respect to the alicorn who saved my life, and Lunas.”

Suddenly, Luna entered the room and spoke, “Tia, sister, do go, take on this journey, I think you need it, otherwise you will never convalesce. We will care for the land, for a mere week, so you must return by then.” Luna ended the sentence in a sharper tone, enunciating the then.

Celestia leapt out of the castle, landed in a chariot and took off, to Eremuses Spire.

Upon arrival, Celestia was awed by the size of the spire. It stretched indefinitely to the stars, and was almost intimidating. The night was falling quick, and Celestia winced at the memory of Luna's fallen body, and trotted into the building. She was greeted by a large spiral staircase moving up, the sides of the structure covered in icewood bookcases filled with perpetual knowledge. When she remembered the black, necromancy book that Eremus had contributed to, she wondered how many other books had his handwriting in them. After all, 4,000 years is a pretty extensive time, he must have mused himself somehow.

She started climbing the stairs hoping that her heart would help her determine what it was that she was looking for. After a long trek up, Tia decided that she would stop at the 27th floor in commemoration of the day of the month that Eremus had made his ultimate sacrifice. She walked into the study, still sad inside, and lay down on the plush cyan carpet below her. She stayed in this pose until she noticed a note on the rough icewood table, which was fresher than the other papyrus, and paper materials spread about. Still in a fetal position on the soft carpet, she applied her magic to the newer paper, and pulled it to her. Again the scent of Eremus covered the paper, and it was ambrosia to her nostrils who ate up the fragrance with appetite. She calmed her excitement, and read.

My love Celestia,

Know I that the time you read this note, I will be long dead. My life sacrificed in return for your sister's. I did what I did because of how important you are to me, and my... love for you. I have, loved you for a very long time, ever since you told me the purpose of immortality in alicorns that Grand Galloping Gala, those many years ago. Since that day, you were my motivation, and although I did not realize this yet, it was the memories I had of you that kept me drawing breath. I am forever in your dept for thawing my frozen soul.
- Forever your beloved
Eremus, Lord of the Frost

Celestia looked down at the note, and felt complete. She had wanted to hear these words for a very long time, yet she never had thought the feelings were mutual. She felt a warm tingling in her stomach, and she calmly drifted into sleep.