A cascade of light burst over the mountain ranges of Equestria, the sun’s first beams bursting into a million colours.
It’s light caressed the land like a painter’s palette, long shadows forming behind anything daring enough to rise above the ground. Hills were splattered with gold, their slopes of grass melting into the warm light. Trees were shone with liquid fire, their leaves curling to catch the rays of life-giving light.
Where the sky was dark sapphire blue, stars still shone. Twinkling to the eye of an observer, they continued to glimmer, even though their realm was being chased away by the wave of soft purples and blues. The moon still sparkled with a divine glow as it continued to reflect the wonders of the sun.
On a raised outcropping of a large weathered mountain sat a regal figure, her mane and tail billowing in an unseen wind. Her horn glowed a soft brilliant gold, it’s glow lightly illuminating the space around her. The regalia she wore had lost its luster to time, once having been shiny enough to actually sparkle in the very sunlight she was bringing about.
Celestia sat on a ridge above a crumbling citadel, a gentle smile donning her muzzle. The city itself remained in the shadows, the sun having yet to break through the many forests and rolling hills and mountains in its path. She herself was slowing down the process altogether, for she wanted to relish these moments of twilight. With the sun barely peeking above the horizon, she figured pushing it down a little and letting it stay a while longer wouldn’t hurt too much.
Though the task of raising the sun was one that required energy and concentration, she had been doing it long enough to call it second nature. It came as easy to her as breathing the air she so lived in and walking on the ground created by those older than time itself. With a soft hum, Celestia allowed some of her magic to spark over to a teapot, a simple spell to heat it up. Knowing she had plenty of time to wait, she turned her attention to the city before her and the many lands beyond.
Celestia had graced this view countless times in her long, long life. She had been there when there was nothing but grass and trees and beautiful mountain flowers. She was present for the first group of ponies to ever settle down on the ridge, quickly erecting the first houses for occupation. She was there when they dedicated the land and named it after the mountain it so resided on: Canterlot, Canterhorn. She had watched it grow into the shining capital of Equestria, and subsequently turn into a shell of it’s former glory. Now everypony was gone. In all the lands round about. Nopony.
Nopony but Celestia.
It had been ages since Celestia had last seen a pony. She couldn’t remember how many moons, or how many birthdays. She had lost track of time, for keeping time wasn’t necessary. At least, not anymore.
That, however, did not mean she didn’t know when her time was to come to an end. She coud feel it in her bones. She could see it in the dulling grey hairs of her once shimmering mane and tail. Her eyes twinkled with years beyond anypony could ever imagine and… she knew that deep within her heart, it was almost time. Even the china of which she used would only be useful for a few more brews, it’s glossy sheen laced with webbing cracks and any designs having long faded away.
As the teapot began to whistle, Celestia cast her eyes at it and watched as her magic left it’s confines. She set two teacups onto two small plates and set stirring spoons beside them. Finally, she placed a tiny platter of sugarcubes between the set up, and poured tea into both cups, adding a cube or two for good measure. Bringing hers to her lips, she blew softly on the steaming tea and sipped as she looked over her beautiful land. The soft rustling of leaves swaying was melodic, and Celestia smiled at the sound.
“Hello, old friend,” Celestia murmured as she lowered her tea, still watching the wind blow gently across nature’s paradisiacal land.
“I would have never been able to sneak up on you, would I?” a hushed voice whispered, voice as soft as the wind.
“As much as I would’ve been able to delay the inevitable,” Celestia agreed. Her ears flicked at the sound of clinking porcelain and Celestia took another sip.
“It’s been a long time coming, Celestia,” the figure hushed. “The last time I was here, it was over a thousand moons ago. To accompany your-”
“It’s honey jasmine with a hint of mint,” Celestia explained suddenly, her gaze never straying from the scenery. “What do you think?”
A soft sip could be heard just across from her on the smooth plateau. “Perhaps a little more sugar,” the mare commented quietly.
“There’s plenty of sugar, my friend.” Celestia motioned to the cubes on the plate. “After all, we’re in no need to rush.”
The small plink of water and the swish of a spoon let Celestia rest easier. The rays of light breaking the dawn and livening the sky was truly a wonder to behold, and Celestia watched it all with a renewed sense of wonder, watching as the warm blazing light began its journey across the city of Canterlot. Even now, after so many years… Celestia wondered for the millionth time how she still managed, watching over such an old city as it dissolved into the dust it was built from.
“Time is a fickle thing,” Celestia finally said. “It gives and it takes. And whatever we do with it, we can never regain the time to see or have events passed unfold once more.”
The figure remained in silent contemplation. “A lesson, I’m sure, that you’ve learned over the years.”
Celestia nodded. “And countless times, might I add. You were always there to comfort me in the end… but you still cannot fathom the turmoil I have felt each time you appear to one close to me.”
The figure giggled lightly, almost sounding nothing more than the very grass they were surrounded by. “No, I suppose I can’t… but each of them always had plenty of things to say about you.”
“Good things, I hope?” Celestia jested, and the two shared a simple laugh. With the smile on her muzzle still present, her eyes took on a wistful sheen and she took a nice long and comforting sip of tea. “It is nice to finally see and commune with another intelligent being,” Celestia said. “For too long, I feel, I have been left to my own devices. It was about time somepony knocked more sense into me.”
The figure’s muzzle could be seen curling upwards within the shadows of her hood. “Yet I fear I am unfortunately the wrong pony for that job.”
“Everypony has their weaknesses,” Celestia smiled. “Some more than others.”
“Why do I feel that you fall into the former category?” the cloaked mare joked, and they once more shared a laugh. After that, a silence fell between the two again, and they continued to watch the beautiful golden light of the sun continue to bring brightness to the day and lighten up the mountain of Canterhorn.
“It…” Celestia began, “It truly has been a while since you’ve last come, hasn’t it?”
“Over a thousand moons,” the mare murmured once more. “For your-”
“For my sister, yes,” Celestia whispered. “Long, long ago. I can still remember the day.”
“If you said otherwise, I might’ve thought less of you.”
Celestia breathed. She could feel her gaze centered on her, and Celestia found her mind wandering to the memory. “It was a winter night,” Celestia reminisced, “Ironically enough, on the very night for which the stars shone the longest. Mere days before… before Hearth’s Warming Eve. She had gone out to manage the night sky at the dawn of my sun…”
“And you saw me standing there, conversing with her just as we are right now,” the mare finished. “She had told me that if you never found out, she had hidden a present within your chambers that comprised of-”
“A mosaic of all the Elements of Harmony and my sister and I watching benevolently over rolling hills, the setting sun, and the waxing moon.”
“Precisely,” the mare nodded.
Thinking back even further, Celestia could feel her eyes moisten with memories. “And many more moons before that when you… you took Twilight and her friends away as well.”
“Twilight was and still is amazed by the prospect of me being a living breathing manifestation of a force of the universe,” the mare chuckled. “It gets overbearing at times.”
Celestia had to blink away the tears as she thought of all the good times she had had with the Elements. With Luna. The countless galas. The many adventures. The diplomatic missions. The villains and the reformed. Nightmare Moon. The Elements of Harmony themselves. The stories Celestia shared with Luna after her many years of banishment.
“Y-yes,” Celestia muttered, choking back a sob. “It’s been so very long…”
“And you have endured these many years well, Celestia,” the mare said. “Your title came crashing down with your nation. You’ve taken to controlling both the sun and the moon. You’ve brought it upon yourself to maintain whole cities and villages in the hopes that one day, everypony would return to live happy, harmonious lives.”
“And yet, I’m still alone, as I am seemingly destined to remain,” Celestia whispered, tears now streaking her fur. Celestia finally, shakily, let her magic come to a stop, shakily putting her teacup down. It rattled before coming to a standstill. Celestia, couldn’t help it. With her vision misty, she turned her head to finally look at the figure sitting beside her.
“It’s been s-so long, Mistress,” Celestia weeped. “You are the first pony I have spoken to in m-millennia, a-and it’s taken so much to keep myself from jumping the loony bin and…”
Celestia blinked, before a shaky, raspy giggle escaped her lips. Celestia couldn’t help but put a hoof to her muzzle. “S-see? I’ve even let my speech slip into d-disrepair.”
“That much is to be expected,” Mistress Death smiled softly. “It has pained me all these years to watch you languish on your own, dear friend, I hope you know that.”
“Oh, I kn-know,” Celestia said, composing herself. “At times, I had thought you to be nothing more than a being that had cursed m-me with endless silence and the spirit of a lone wanderer… Alas, I always found that I talked to myself and… it seemed company enough…”
Death continued to listen intently, hearing Celestia’s words with a caring gaze. “...And I am sorry, Celestia. I am so very sorry for not having come sooner. It is not me, but higher powers even I cannot explain that are at work. I come when time is short and lives are spent. You… you still had so much time left… I couldn’t do anything to that.”
“Even when I... “ Celestia began to speak in a voice barely audible. “E-even when I truly considered other methods of going out? Of escaping my lonely misery?”
The question hung in the air, and Celestia saw that Death would not answer. At least, not yet. Celestia turned to look at the blue sky once again, and lit her horn once more, helping the sun in its ascent. Light began to cascade over the buildings of Canterlot as the magentas and pinks in the sky began to merge into the gold of the sun and the blue of the sky. The moon was dulling in it’s brilliance as the sun overtook the sky, and the stars blinked out one by one.
“...Yes…” Death finally replied. “I… hated myself watching you in those states… but as I said, I only come when I am needed. It is… the burden I must carry. Had to carry.”
She turned to look at the Sun Goddess, whose attention remained on the landscape before her. She could see fresh new tears beginning to form.“You are my last ward, Celestia. You are the final beacon connecting me to this plane of existence. I’m sure there are other reapers out there assigned to the ponies and otherwise who have left your land… but for this, you are my final assignment.”
“Th-the first shall be the last,” Celestia cried softly. “And the l-last shall be the f-first.”
Death put a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “You can finally join the others in the realms beyond, Celestia. This is what you have always wanted, is it not?”
“Y-yes, Mistress,” Celestia weeped, “And y-yet, that is what pulls me back.”
Death furrowed her brows, her cloak billowing in confusion. “How so?”
“It’s been too long, Death,” Celestia said, regaining her stability once more. “And I f-fear that they will have all forgotten me…”
Mistress Death paused as she watched Celestia close her eyes painfully, before she hugged Celestia tightly. “My dear,” Death comforted, “Ever since they joined the multitudes of other souls in the realms beyond, they have done nothing but prepare for your glorious arrival. Do not be disillusioned in thinking otherwise… for I cannot tell you how many times Pinkie Pie has bugged me in asking for details of the time of your return. It seriously bothers me and will bother me yet how she is even capable of the things she does in the next plane of existence.”
The mention of Pinkie Pie’s antics finally got a good hearty laugh out of the former princess, and Death let go of her embrace. “Yes, I suppose Pinkie will remain that way for the rest of her continued existence,” Celestia giggled. “Dear me, after all these years, you still know how to lighten up the day despite your namesake, hm?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe, sister,” Death smiled. A comfortable silence finally rested between the two friends, and they watched the encroaching light begin to stretch across the city, casting it’s extra glow on any surrounding surface.
As they watched a few birds chirp by, Death turned to Celestia with a soft gaze and finality. “It is time, Celestia,” she announced. “Are you ready?”
Celestia blinked as she turned her gaze to Mistress Death, a melancholic smile stretching across her lips. “I just have one question…”
“Of course.”
Celestia bit her lip, looking out one last time at the swaying forests, the billowing clouds and the vestiges of civilization. “Will it hurt?”
Death smiled. “Only if you want it to.”
Celestia’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Then I think I’ll pass.”
"And what of your duties with the sun and moon?"
Celestia glanced up at the sky, feeling for the celestial body she controlled. She smiled. "I think it's safe to say one final guided rising for old times sake won't harm anypony."
The golden light of the sun finally shattered the darkness that surrounded all of Canterhorn and Canterlot. As the light finally stretched onto a small plateau overlooking the crumbling city, one could see two cups of tea, a plate of sugarcubes, and a still piping-hot teapot.
With both cups carrying dregs of the tea of which was partaken of, no other sign of anypony having been there was present. Soon, the set of china became just another remnant of an age long gone by, and the traces of a sparkling conversation.
But, the wind carries many words, and if one listens close enough they can still hear the glad tidings of great joy of a group of souls as they received one of their own, a few final words echoing with happiness and contentment…
“Hello, old friend…”