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                      Ashes To Ashes                       
                       -by Syke Jr-                        
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                       Final Sunset                        
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Final Sunset
Princess Celestia stood on her balcony, as she had countless times before, staring at the horizon as she willed the sun to dip lower and lower in the sky.
It was a beautiful evening. The stars were already twinkling in the eastern reaches of the heavens, and in the west the rays of Celestia's sun turned the sky into a rainbow of colour, from deep yellow to a soft purple. It was time for the day to give way to Luna's night, as it had always done and always would.
A single tear rolled down Celestia's cheek.
The Princess of the Sun wiped away the stray droplet, but could not keep her eyes from being moist. As the sun finally dipped below the horizon, Celestia gave a tiny gasp and a shudder. She couldn't keep away the thought that it was... it was her last... no, she could not allow the sentence to form in her mind; not coherently.  
It never got easier, even after millennia.
The princess heard a flap of soft wings, and the phoenix Philomena appeared from above, landing on the balcony's stone railing.
“Hello, old friend,” Celestia said warmly. Yes, this was a hard night, but Philomena was always there with her, her oldest friend aside from Luna... the princess could always rely on Philomena to be there for her. Ever since the phoenix was just a chick...
Celestia felt a soft touch on her shoulder, and turned to see her sister's wing wrapping around her. Princess Luna gave her a soft, sad smile.
“Why, Luna?” Asked Celestia. She didn't expect any kind of answer. “Why does she have to...” The white alicorn could not continue, and shut her eyes as the tears threatened to overflow again.
Luna simply wrapped her wing tighter around her sister as she looked out over the balcony, staring over Canterlot at the horizon where her sister's sun had disappeared. A tear escaped her eye, and she did not try to stop it.  
Turning back to Celestia, The Night Princess smiled again.
“I know,” She said sadly. “It doesn't seem right. But we can't change it. We can't stop it. We need to accept this situation, and learn to smile at what we have had, rather than frown at what we are losing.”  
Celestia sniffed and gave a smile of her own. “You were always wiser than me,” she said.  
Luna laughed softly. “No,” she replied, “I'm just more poetic.”
The dark alicorn removed her wing and gestured toward the east. “I have something to do,” she said teasingly.  
Celestia gave a watery chuckle. “Meet me in her room. We... we don't have... a lot of time,” she choked. Luna gazed at her sister sadly.
“Don't hold back the tears, Celly. You know that they just come heavier later on.”  
“I can be strong, Luna.”
Luna turned away. “I will come as soon as the night sky is in order.”  
Celestia swallowed and walked toward the door slowly. A part of her never wanted to reach her destination.  
No, it never got easier.
Nurse Tenderhoof knew that her patient had very little time. She was too old and weak to fight off the virus, and although her mind was still clear, she would soon succumb to some mild hallucinations and then, finally, the deepest sleep.  
Tenderhoof had been the head nurse of the Royal Canterlot General Hospital for 17 years, and had seen life slip away too many times. At least this was a natural death. A quiet one. Her patient knew that her time was short, and silently waited as she injected more medication.
“Thank you.”  
“Of course, my dear.”
Nurse Tenderhoof knew how much her patient meant to the Princesses, and could not help but feel a bit watery-eyed herself. She turned to see Princess Celestia at the door.
The princess stood regally, but Tenderhoof could see the sheen in her eyes and the tightness of the throat. Knowing what her question would be, the old nurse walked quietly over and stood outside the room with Celestia.  
The Princess breathed and said, “How long... how long until...?” she closed her eyes and swallowed. “How long does she have?”
Nurse Tenderhoof glanced toward the patient. “I'd say... maybe forty minutes, or an hour. The virus is draining her strength. I'm... sorry.”  
Celestia opened her eyes and smiled. “No, thank you, Nurse. I knew this hour would come.”  
Tenderhoof dipped her head. “I've administered the last dose of medication. Should I stand by in case of anything?”  
“No, please.. please leave us.”  
The nurse had expected that. With nothing more to say, she walked away.
Celestia took a deep breath, wiped her eyes again, and walked into the palace bedroom-turned-medical-ward.  
She smiled. “Hello, my faithful student.”
Twilight Sparkle turned, focused on the princess, and smiled widely back. “Princess. I'm very happy to see you.”  
“And I you,” replied the princess. “I'm...” She stopped. “how are you feeling?”  
“Ah, you know,” said Twilight jokingly. “very old, and kind of tired.”  
Celestia levitated a cushion over, and sat next to Twilight's bed. “I always dreaded seeing you like this”, she said, a lump in her throat. “You were always... so young. You never looked old to me, until just the other day.”
Twilight laughed weakly. “Everypony is young to you, Princess. My time's come; I'm not sorry about it. You may not have noticed, but I've been old for quite a while.”  
Celestia smiled at the unicorn's bravery. “I'm glad you're not scared. Some ponies find it... much harder to accept mortality.”  
Twilight's eyes twinkled. “Are you one of them, Princess? I can see how hard you're making this on yourself. There's no need to be quite so sad about this.”
The princess felt tears rolling down her face. “Oh, Twilight. You know that isn't true. I care about you far too much to accept it so soon.”  
Twilight smiled again. “You're flattering me. I'm not that special.”  
Celestia could barely speak past the lump in her throat. “You are special, Twilight. Much more so than any other mortal I've ever known. You're incredibly smart, incredibly talented, and.. don't tell Luna I said it, but you've handled the Element of Magic better than she ever did.” Celestia tried to smile, but stopped when she heard hoofsteps behind her.
“Oh, you think so?” joked Luna. “Well, so do I. You're a remarkable unicorn, Twilight Sparkle.”  
Twilight smiled widely, and chuckled. “Now I know that you're flattering me. Hundreds of unicorns have accomplished more.”  
“I wouldn't agree,” said Celestia. “And no other unicorns have been such friends to me.”  
“Or I,” agreed the Night Princess.  
“Stop it, you two,” laughed the old unicorn. “Even if you really mean it, you're embarrassing me!”
Princess Luna laughed. Philomena flew into the room, and perched on the bedpost next to Princess Celestia.  
“Hello, Philomena,” said Twilight happily. She reached up a hoof weakly to stroke the phoenix's wing. Philomena blinked a greeting.  
“You know,” said Twilight absently, “I always hoped I'd be the first of my friends to die. I know it's selfish, but I didn't want to go through the pain of loss. I understand why you're sad, princesses, but I was able to move on, five times over. Being immortal, isn't it easier for you?”  
“No,” said Luna. “It just makes it all the more difficult to let go of the happy times, when they seem so short.”  
Philomena cawed softly.
Princess Celestia was silent. This was harder than she imagined. Twilight Sparkle was more than a friend. She was a true, loyal, selfless friend. Celestia smiled as a thought came to her.  
“You've learned more about the magic of friendship than I ever thought you would, Twilight. You've even taught me quite a few things.”  
Twilight turned her gaze from the phoenix to the white alicorn. “I'm glad, Princess.”  
“Please, Twilight. I've told you before, if anyone has earned the right to call me simply 'Celestia', it's you.”  
The old unicorn laughed again. “Fine, 'Celestia'. I'm honoured to have become so important to you.” She paused, and frowned for the first time. “Do you know how.. how long we have? To talk?”
Tears were falling freely down Celestia's face. She couldn't begin to speak. It was all too much.  
Luna answered for her past her own tears. “I think we may have half an hour, Twilight Sparkle. Are... are you afraid?”  
“No. I'm just sad that I'm leaving you both. I've had a very long life; and you're the only close friends I have left. Please, let's just... talk. About normal things.”
Celestia composed herself. “I like the idea of that, my dear Twilight.”  
Twilight grinned. “Then let's, my dear Celestia.”
The trio talked. Not about anything important, or about anything sad. They remembered the times they had, and talked about the future, ignoring the fact that Twilight would never see it. They laughed, and chatted, and the knot in the chest of each of them loosened with each word.  
There was sadness, but it wasn't for what they were losing. It was for what they had gained.
After an immeasurable while, Twilight was finding it harder to concentrate on the conversation. It seemed to her that Luna's stars were dancing in the windows, and the flames of the candles were growing and shrinking with a life of their own.  
As Luna laughed at one of Celestia's anecdotes from when Twilight was a filly, The dark alicorn noticed Twilight's eyes were wandering and her face had grown paler. Ice seemed to embrace Luna's heart. There was... very little time left.
“Twilight Sparkle.”  
Celestia paused in her laughter and glanced at Luna. The dark alicorn had Twilight's attention.  
“You must know that time is short. Is...” Luna swallowed heavily, and let more tears escape. “Is there anything that you wish to talk about? Anything you wish to say in your...?” Even Luna was finding it impossible to talk.
Twilight felt slightly giddy. “So this is what it is to die? A nice chat with some old friends before bed?” She laughed. “This isn't so bad! If only I didn't feel so.. weak.”  
Princess Celestia felt as if she would suffocate. The world seemed unreal, apart from the old unicorn mare beside her. The dying mare.
“I never...” Celestia choked on her tears and felt like a tiny filly. “I never.. thought... thought it would be so... so hard....”  
“Oh, Celestia,” said Twilight. “I know... I know....”
And now Twilight Sparkle was also crying openly. “I know how hard it is to lose a friend. I lost five of my closest friends, six if you count that I haven't seen Spike in over ten years. He's going to be so sad when you get word of this to him...  
“But I'm not sad, or scared, that I'm dying. I'm only sad for who I'm leaving behind. You both know that you're my best friends in this world, and I'm happy to be one of the few who have ever been able to say that to the Princesses.”
Princess Luna smiled sadly through her tears. “I'm glad that I was able to get to know you so well, Twilight. You're a true friend. Selfless, and kind....” She let out a sob. “You freed me from being Nightmare Moon, all those years ago. I am still grateful. More than you can know.”  
“As.. as am I,” said Celestia.
Philomena suddenly leapt from her perch and circled the room, cawing. To Twilight, it seemed that the phoenix was singing, singing a beautiful melody, while Luna's stars followed her flight and the candles jumped into the air and danced to the music. A single grey feather fell from Philomena and landed on the bed.
“This is pretty weird,” giggled Twilight. Luna and Celestia exchanged sorrowful glances. The dark alicorn wrapped her wing around her sister and looked to the old unicorn.  
“Twilight, we... we love you. You're the truest pony we could.... ever, ever hope to know,” said Princess Celestia.  
“You really think so?” Twilight asked, grinning strangely. “You look really funny in pink, Celestia!” And she giggled again.
Celestia managed to laugh, though all the blood in her body became ice as she saw the old unicorn's eyes begin to dim. Luna was sobbing beside her, unable to speak. Celestia stared at Twilight's face and stood up, nuzzling her neck one final time.
“I... goodbye, my faithful student.”  
A calm, peaceful grin broke across Twilight Sparkle's face. “Goodbye, Princess.”  
And the old unicorn, Element of Magic, personal protégé to Princess Celestia, saviour of Equestria, closed her eyes and laid back.  
She exhaled, and was silent.
Philomena came to a rest on the bedpost, and Princess Celestia finally broke down into very un-regal sobs. She did not stop for quite some time.
Author's Note
The more I read this the more I hate how it's written. Hopefully you disagree. Also, I fixed the paragraphs very quickly so that there are spaces between most of them.   
If you like this story, please give it a like! Right now it has more faves than it does likes :P