Sweet Celestial Sleep
Chapter 1: Sweet Celestial Sleep
Twilight Sparkle softly blew at the candle, the flame flickering before dying out, a tiny trail of smoke rising from the wick, filling the air with the smell of burning. She watches the smoke through her glasses, following it as it floats through the still air in her study, until it disappears, leaving nothing but the darkness behind. Bringing forth a small orb of light on the tip of her horn, she leaves the study, walking as quietly as possible into the halls of her castle. Trying not to make the sounds of her hooves echo, she makes her way down to her bedroom at the end of the hall. On her way, she passes the throne room, and stops to take a peek inside. Her throne and her friend's thrones all sat in the dark room, in the same positions since the day she defeated Tirek, and got her own castle. All 7 thrones seemed lonely in the dark room, and she sighed, lifting herself off the ground with her wings, slowly fluttering over to the middle of the circle that the thrones sat in. After looking around for a bit, she noticed a warm tear trickling down her cheek. Wiping it off with a quiet laugh and a sniffle, she spoke to the empty room, her voice cracking with nostalgic sadness, "You're all still here, guys. We're never truly apart..."
After staying for a bit in the throne room, dusting off the few cobwebs and fluffing the cushions on the seats, Princess Twilight finally resumed her journey to her bedroom. On the way, to fill her empty head with something other than the sound of her hooves, and the various guards' hooves, on the hard stone floor, she made a mental note of her friend's whereabouts at the moment:
Spike had gotten over his childish crush on Rarity and went on another quest to find his family and himself as well. Twilight and her friends didn't follow this time, as he was a teenager dragon then, and much stronger and smarter than before. After 5 long months, he returned, looking happier and stronger than when he had left, hooking tails with a beautiful girl dragon. He and the girl gladly announced that they were expecting a child, and were moving to the land of the dragons, to raise their child with its own kind. They promised to write and visit as much as possible, and after packing what few things Spike had at the castle, and staying for hardly 2 days, were off. Twilight had last heard from him last month, receiving a letter and pictures of a bubbly, adorable miniature version of Spike, along with gems beautifully carved into the shapes of the long gone Elements of Harmony, which Spike wanted distributed among the other ponies as gifts. Rarity had finally gotten her life long wish and moved her business to Canterlot. She now has over 30 boutiques open around Equestria, and still makes beautiful outfits for everypony alike, and now trains other designers to help her. Rainbow Dash is now the Captain of the Wonderbolts and moved back to her home in Cloudsdale to help her sick father, who Twilight heard had passed away 3 months ago. Fluttershy got an invitation to move to Manehattan to help at a new animal shelter that focused on helping creatures in the Everfree Forest, and, after a long period of trying to decide to go or not, packed up her cottage, said goodbye to her friends and woodland creatures, and took Angel to Manehattan. The Cakes' decided to expand their business to other cities, and Pinkie Pie moved to Trottingham to run a branch of their shop. She sends Princess Twilight a letter every month with a bag of cookies. With Fluttershy and the others gone, Applejack couldn't protect her farm from an extremely big swarm of vampire bats, and lost all but two of her fields, and was forced to move to Appleloosa. She and the Apple Family trade apples to Ponyville in exchange for other materials. The last Twilight heard, Granny Smith had died, and Applejack had gotten married to Braeburn's friend, and now had a filly of her own. Now, with all her friends gone, Twilight focused on furthering her studies of magic, and going on trips to Saddle Arabia and other lands to spread her findings about the magic of friendship.
Twilight knew her friends were all busy with their lives, and had other things to do, but she couldn't help but miss them, and, with an enormous amount of guilt, feel a tad bit of bitter towards them, for not making a harder effort to visit and see each other.
Twilight had long reached her bedroom, and after placing her crown on her desk and brushing her mane, climbed into bed with a book and a cup of tea that one of the maids had brought her. Just as her eyes began to feel heavy, and she placed the book and empty cup on her desk, her horn sparked, and a purple cloud of smoke appeared before her. A letter popped up, and she used her magic to grab it before it fell. With Spike gone, she and Celestia had began to use a different method to send their letters, which were becoming just as sparse as the letters from her friends. The moon was high in the sky, and Twilight knew that something had to be up if Celestia was sending her a letter this late. Holding her breath with worry, she broke the seal on the paper and read aloud the words that were hastily scribbled on the paper. "My Dearest Twilight Sparkle, I apologize that I am writing you so late, but I can sense that you are still awake. Please, will you come to see me? If it is not too much trouble, could you teleport instead of taking the train or flying? I need you here as soon as possible. With Love, Celestia."
Worry began to fill Twilight, and she jumped out of bed, disregarding her crown, and rushed to the middle of the room, where she pushed the magic through her horn, focusing on the castle in Canterlot in her mind, and teleported. She felt a slight tingle, a rush of a cool breeze, and was soon in the entrance hall of the castle, the moon shining through the open curtains, which were ruffling slightly in the cool breeze. She broke into a ran, nearly crashing into a guard that was coming around the corner. "Oh, Princess Twilight, I am sorry." He said in a deep voice, stepping back to bow. "Princess Celestia sensed you were here and sent me to get you. Please follow me, and please keep as quiet as possible." He then turned, not giving her any time to spill out a line of questions, and started making his way down the hall. Twilight quietly followed, shaking, her body cold with worry. What could be going on? She wondered, biting her lip. She began to slow her pace as they neared the throne room, but the guard in front of her kept his steady pace, and she had to trot to keep up. Finally, they reached Princess Celestia's bedroom, and the guard suddenly stopped, spinning around. "Here we are." He took the empty spot on the other side of the door, and he and the other guard that was standing there used their magic and opened the door slowly. Twilight looked at them, then slowly walked into the room, the door shutting behind her.
She knew right off that something was wrong. The air in the room was cold, and still, and the only light was coming from the two orbs of light floating at the foot of Celestia's bed. The window was shut ,and the curtains closed. Celestia's favorite flower, a pink orchid, was packed in vases that sat all around the room. The room was quiet and Twilight's hooves echoed through the room as she made her way to the bedside, where a very tired Celestia lay, her eyes closed, her breathing slow and ragged. Twilight gasped, laying a shaking hoof on Celestia's shoulder, which was cold.
"Princess Celestia?" She managed to choke out.
Celestia's eyes slowly opened, and focused on Twilight's face. A single tear ran down her cheek, which Twilight gently wiped away, and a tired, small smile spread across her lips. "My dearest Twilight," she breathed out weakly.
Twilight gently stroked her mentor's cheek, a tear rolling down hers. "Celestia.. What's wrong?"
Celestia closed her eyes, sighing heavily. "I apologize for bringing you here so late, Twilight, but the magic wore off a lot quicker than I thought it would. I fear I don't have much time left." The light of one the orbs flickered, making the room a bit brighter for a few seconds, and Twilight got a good look at Celestia's face, which looked old and worn.
"What magic? What do you mean?" Twilight pleaded, more tears rolling down her face.
Celestia opened her eyes, looking up at Twilight with a watery gaze. "I should have told you this before, but I kept putting it off. I was just so swept up in wonder, watching you grow, watching your powers blossom. I admit that I was so swept up in the glory of your life, that I forgot the harsh reality of mine."
She raised her hoof wearily as Twilight began to speak, and continued. "As you know, my sister and I have lived for a very long time. Luna, after returning from her banishment, grew into a beautiful woman, and it seemed that her biological clock then stopped, as mine has for quiet some time. You see, since no one else was here to maintain the balance of the land, and rule over Equestria, our magic stopped us from growing any older, so that we may stay alive, young and healthy to fulfill our duties as princesses. But, now that Equestria has a new princess that can take on these duties, our magic has burned out, and all the years of aging that we have ignored have come to claim our lives. Do not worry, though. I told Zecora of our fate long ago, and she preformed a spell on us that kept the pain from this rapid aging at bay. I feel no pain. I'm just tired. So very tired." She sighed, her eyes closing again, her breathing getting fainter. "My sister has already left us, and has joined our parents in the afterlife, and they are there, waiting for me."
She weakly raised a hoof, stroking Twilight Sparkle's tear streaked cheek. "My dear Twilight, you have grown so much, and you are now so very powerful. I have a great deal of faith that you will be an excellent ruler of Equestria. If you so chose to take a husband, and wish for him to help you with your duties, a book in the Canterlot library tells of a spell to give him enough magic to do so. But, be wary in choosing a husband, if you wish to. But, I needn't worry about you. I know you'll do just fine. Over on my desk is a journal. I have worked on that journal for years. It will tell you of how to become the ruler of Equestria. Some of parent's advice to my sister and I is in there as well. It will help you on your new quest, my dear. Please, do not be afraid, and do not shed too many tears for me. I have lived my life, and am very pleased with it."
She put her hoof under Twilight's chin, lifting it, looking into her eyes. "Twilight, you can do this. I know you can." She weakly sat up, kissing Twilight between the eyes, then lay back down with a small sigh. "I love you Twilight. Thank you for being the daughter I had always wanted." she mumbled, her eyes closing. She let out a long, deep sigh, and went still.
Twilight, who had barely been processing this, opened her eyes, staring down at Celestia's body. Guilt, sadness, anger, pain, every emotion possible flooded her, and she bowed her head. Laying her hoofs on Celestia's body, she buried her face in the soft blanket that covered her, sobbing into the fabric. After for what seemed like forever, she raised her head, leaning down to kiss Princess Celestia's still warm cheek. "Goodnight, Princess. Sleep well."