Dawn of the Final Day

"How much longer, do you think?"

...

"Then, I suppose this is it, isn't it?"

...

"I know I've asked this before, but... is there nothing I can do?"

...

"I... I understand. It's almost morning. I should probably raise you soon."

...

"Just... just once more. One more time, and then you can rest."

It's an odd thing, knowing when you are going to die. The waiting is the worst part, and I've been waiting ever since I found out one thousand years ago. It had come as a complete shock at the time, but I really should have seen it coming. A million years is an awfully long time to live. Even the stars in the sky must meet their end sometime, though my sister is loathe to admit it. Perhaps I have become jaded because of my longevity, but my impending demise no longer bothers me as it would so many others. No, I have plenty of other things to be bothered by, one thing above all else.

I am not alone.

When I first discovered that the sun was dying, I was afraid merely for myself. What would become of me? Is this it? Is my long life finally coming to an end? I worried on my own well-being, my own future, but that only proves just how short sighted I was at the time. After the initial shock wore off, I had more time to think on the true impacts of such an event. Sometimes I wish I had stayed selfish, had only thought of myself, but I know that's impossible. I love my little ponies far too much, and that's why my mind nearly broke when I realized that they would all die with me.

"Princess, your breakfast is ready."

Is it that time already? It's funny, I had always thought that when this day finally arrived it would just drag on and on. Now that it's here, time just seems to slip away. I suppose I shouldn't waste precious daylight lying in bed. It is in rather short supply after all.

"Thank you, Dust Pan. Please tell Luna I'll be down shortly."

"Of course, Princess."

Look at her, trotting off to the dining hall without a care in the world. I wonder, did I make the right decision in keeping this whole apocalypse thing covered up? On the one hoof, I would rather not have my ponies spend their final moments in a panic. If I had it my way, they wouldn't even notice it was happening until it was already done. On the other hoof, it doesn't seem fair that they shouldn't be able to spend their final moments with their loved ones, instead of wasting away their last day at work. Maybe... maybe I'll send the castle's janitorial staff home early. Nopony deserves to meet their end while scrubbing a bathroom.

Speaking of, I should probably haul myself out of bed now.

Who put the bathroom so far away, anyway? I swear sometimes, this whole castle was designed to waste time. Is it worth my time to make myself presentable today? Every minute counts, after all. But then again, I should try to keep up an appearance of normalcy to avoid causing a panic. What's five or so minutes out of an entire day? What else could I even do in so short a time? Were it not so morbid, I would probably be laughing at the idea of brushing my teeth as one of my final acts. Who wants to have bad breath when they die, right? Ah ha ha.

Ha.

Why do my teeth even need to be brushed, anyway? Can an immortal alicorn suffer from tooth decay? It's not that I don't enjoy brushing. I do. In fact, it's one of the few things I get to do that makes me feel like a normal pony. Don't tell anyone this, but I swapped the royal diamond studded brush for one of those plastic ones they hand out at the dentist. It's so much softer on my gums. Why does form always have to come at the cost of function?

Right, that took longer than it should have. Better get to the dining hall. Luna is probably waiting impatiently for my arrival. I wonder what the cooks have prepared for my last breakfast. French toast, perhaps? I hope that's it. Nothing too fancy. Knowing Luna though, she probably had them cook up some huge feast. I love her to death, but she can be a bit excessive at times.

Ha ha.

Death.

When I first found out, I tried to ignore it. What's that? World's going to end in a thousand years? That's future Celestia's problem, let her deal with it. I guess I knew what was going to happen, but it didn't sink in just how terrible it would be. Sure, I would be there in a thousand years, and so would Luna, but all of my beloved subjects will have lived their lives and passed on long before the end. They won't have to suffer as I will. I know that's shortsighted now, but I think I may have lost it if I had dwelt on the issue right then. I needed time to adjust to the idea, and I think my mind just went on autopilot for a little bit to give me that time.

And so, for three hundred years I carried on as though nothing were wrong. Looking back, I think I may have tried a little too hard. In my efforts to remain inconspicuous, I doubled my efforts to make everyone happy. Not all of my decisions were popular, sure, but when is that ever the case in politics? I must admit, it was so much easier to just say yes to everything. You want to renovate the old theater? Sure, have some money. Tax cuts for everyone? No problem! You think Baltimare should have it's own private naval force? Well, the treasury's empty, but I'm sure I can scrape something together out of my personal spending money.

Okay, so I went a little nuts. I know everyone has to deal with it sometime, but for immortal beings, "you're going to die" is a bit of a bombshell. I mean, even I can see that some of my decisions were stupid, but can you blame me? You would probably do something similar if you were me. We all make mistakes. Mine just happen to ruin entire economies.

My willful ignorance couldn't last forever though. I had begun to wind down my excessive spending, but by the three hundredth year I was still in denial. I'm still not sure why it took so long to snap out of it, but I'll never forget the day it happened. It was a Thursday, early morning. I was eating breakfast at the time, with Luna, like always. One of the maids went into labor right there, and I, being my exceptionally helpful self, waved off the guards and carried her to the hospital.

I didn't have to stay with them. I'm still not sure why I did, but for some reason I just couldn't leave. The nurses must have been so confused, and honestly, so was I. Princess Celestia, sitting in a hospital waiting room, waiting for a pony whose name, to my regret, she didn't even know. After the initial rush wore off, I must admit, I found the situation to be a little absurd. And yet, I stayed. I stayed, and I waited, and I'm glad that I did.

When I saw that little unicorn foal sleeping next to his mother, I felt like a fog in my head had been swept away. I've seen millions of children born during my lifetime, and I still don't know why, but seeing this one child made me realize just how shortsighted I had been.

I had convinced myself that none of the ponies I loved would suffer at the end, that they would all be long gone. Maybe it was necessary to retain my sanity, but it couldn't last forever. No, this child, right here, he would grow up, fall in love, have children of his own, and once he had lived his life to the fullest, he would die happy. His children would do the same, and their children after that. For hundreds of years, they would continue the cycle, and they would all lead happy lives.

All except for one.

In seven hundred years, a child would be born, and that child would burn alongside me at the end of the world.

On that night, after three hundred years of denial and bottled emotions, for a single child not yet born, I wept.

I suppose it's my own fault for getting my hopes up. Should I have expected anything less? Probably not, but is it too much to ask for a a simple glass of orange juice, just once?

"Is there something wrong with breakfast, Tia? Did the chefs forget something?"

"No, Luna, they did not. This is... everything is just fine."

Of course, she's too busy stuffing her face to respond. No, nothing was forgotten, and that is exactly the problem. This table was built to seat at least twenty ponies, and yet there is barely enough room on its surface to hold breakfast for just the two of us. Every fruit and vegetable imaginable is arranged in every combination I can think of, and probably a few others after that. Pancakes, muffins, scones, biscuits, waffles, donuts, and a variety of the most elaborate toast assortment I've ever seen is stacked as far as the eye can see. How do you even make fancy toast? Why would you? Actually, wait. I think they did forget something.

"Luna, is the French Toast on your end?"

"The what?"

Oh, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?

"Nothing, Lu. I think I'll just have one of these uh, banana crepes."

I wonder if I should say something. We probably won't see each other for, well... ever again, actually. Would it be considered rude to die without saying goodbye? Normally, I wouldn't think so, but this is kind of a strange situation, isn't it? It's not exactly the type of thing one usually brings up at breakfast. You normally wouldn't bring it up at lunch or dinner either. Well, some ponies might. I've actually known quite a few like that. It's kind of hard not to when you've lived as long as I have. I remember one colt in particular, a previous student of mine, can't remember the name, but he spent most of his time talking about death like most ponies discuss a day at work. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when I found out he had been studying necromancy behind my back. Oh, and there was this other one...

"Tia."

"Hmm?"

"I asked if you could pass the raspberry waffles."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

She's looking at me funny. Why is she looking at me funny? Did I pass her the wrong waffles? I'm sure I grabbed the raspberry ones.

"Something wrong, Luna?"

"Not with me, no. Something's clearly bothering you, though."

"What? How so?"

"I'm allergic to raspberries. The fact that you didn't question me at all when I asked for them tells me that your thoughts lie elsewhere."

Oh wow, she's right. I am out of it. Clever girl...

"It's nothing. I'm just a little preoccupied today. I've got a lot to do."

That should be explanation enough. I'm always pretty busy. It's not too much of a stretch to think I'd be a little distracted by my work. Actually, that gives me the perfect excuse to leave breakfast a little early. Luna's too perceptive for her own good. The longer I stay here, the greater the chance that she-

"Today's the day, isn't it?"

Oh, come on! Can't anything go right today?

"What day, exactly, are you referring to?"

"You know what day. The final day. You weren't going to tell me, were you?"

And here comes the guilt trip. Is it so wrong to not warn somepony that they're going to die? Okay, when I word it like that, it actually does sound really bad. That's really not how I meant it.

"I'm sorry, Luna. And yes, it is. I thought it would be best to keep it a secret. If anyone found out, it would cause a panic, and I think we both know that won't help anything. I just want our subjects to live their lives like they always have. They deserve that much, at least."

"Mmhmm."

Well, she doesn't seem mad. It's hard to tell with her, though. You know, after close to a million years of trying to analyze her ticks, I still haven't quite caught them all? At one point, I was so sure that when one of the primary feathers on her left wing rustled, it meant that she was getting angry. Turned out, it just meant that her wing itched. That does make her angry though, so technically I was right. Sort of.

"So, what do you have planned for today?"

Okay, wasn't quite expecting that to be her response. It's a shame, with just a couple hundred thousand more years, I could have probably had her completely figured out.

"Nothing special, really. Finish up breakfast, attend court, go over some paperwork, the usual."

Alright, that look, that one right there, has got to be irritation. Or confusion. Befuddled? Oh, I've got it. Shock.

"Paperwork? Tia, you can't be serious! These are your final moments! You should be doing all the things you always wanted to do, all the things you could never do before! You should at least spend your time doing something more fun than legislation."

"Luna, we have lived for a million years now. There is nothing left for me to do, I've done it all."

"That's a lie and you know it. There are plenty of things you've never allowed yourself to do because of your position. You've made yourself a prisoner, and even now you refuse to let yourself free."

Well, she's not wrong, I suppose. Still...

"Look, I can't just run off with no warning. You know anything I do out of the ordinary will arouse suspicion, and I want everyone's last day to be as painless as possible. If that means doing paperwork, then so be it."

"You would spend your final moments in misery so that your subjects can die in ignorance?"

Well, when you put it like that...

"...Yes."

Odd, she almost looks sad. Does she really want me to run off and party that much?

"Then... you are a bigger fool than I gave you credit for."

"..."

"I'm going to make the most of my final hours in this life. Come find me when you've come to your senses."

Aaaaand she's gone.

Huh.

That was odd.