Celestia tries to continue her story, but breaks down weeping. Sill, Posie, and Corky are at a loss as to what to do next, until, suddenly, Princess Luna enters the room.
Luna walks to Celestia's bedside, and the servants back away. Luna takes Celestia in her arms and tries to comfort her, but Celestia just cries even harder.
"Tell me what I can do," Luna says gently.
"I want to die," Celestia repeats. "I want this all to be over. I don't want to hurt anymore..."
Luna, shaken, tries to calm her, but doesn't accomplish much. She leaves Celestia, crying, on the bed, then asks the servants what's going on. The three of them give Luna the highlights--everything Celestia regrets is catching up to her, all at once--and Luna nods her thanks. She tries to figure out what to do, but, at an absolute loss, excuses herself.
Luna walks the halls, thinking. She has no idea what to do or say, but she can't do nothing. As she walks, she, almost reflexively, asks herself the question: what should she do, for the good of Equestria? As soon as she does, she bites her lip, hard--Screw Equestria, she thinks. What's for the good of Celestia?
At that moment, she notices something out on the balcony, and, mystified, stops. Slowly, she pushes open the doors and steps outside.
There, pushing through the stone of the balcony, is a large, crystal flowerbud. Luna seems to recognize it, but can't immediately place it. As she stares, something triggers deep in her memory, and she gasps--this flower appears to be an extension of the Tree of Harmony, somehow, growing here in Canterlot Palace...
And, as she watches, the bud slowly folds open. Luna stares, then swallows hard, several times.
Celestia is still crying, and the servants are now standing around awkwardly. They debate among themselves what to do--perhaps asking if they even should, or even can, leave--when the doors open again. All four of them--the servants and Celestia--look up. And all of them stare.
Luna stands in the doorway, tall and beautiful, with a strange sort of gravity about her that none of them have seen before. On her head rests a crown, woven of intricate silver, and set with six colored stones. All of them recognize what she's wearing--the Elements of Harmony, given to her by the Tree for this great, final task.
Luna excuses the servants, who file from the room without speaking. Luna walks to Celestia, who begins to blubber helplessly again, but Luna shushes her. Celestia tries to protest--she can't actually go, Luna needs her, otherwise she'll end up in the same predicament, eventually--but Luna tells her that she'll be fine. With Cadance and her children there for her, Luna will be okay. Plus, she adds with a wry grin, she's got this whole Princess thing down pat--and all because she's had the best teacher anyone could ask for.
Celestia tries to protest again, but Luna cuts her off. Celestia has always worried about everyone else, she says, and has never really taken time for herself. "And now," she says kindly, "it's time for us to worry about you."
Celestia nods, then bows her head. Luna takes a deep breath and steels herself for what is about to happen. She summons all the beautiful memories about Celestia that she can, and the stones in her crown begin to glow bright...
Celestia reaches out and takes her by the hooves. "Don't forget me," she pleads.
Luna smiles. "I never could."
The room is filled with a sudden, blinding flash of light...