Twilight Sparkle and her friends had rescued Equestria so many times from so many problems. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek, etc. It had become a matter of pride for them to be able to charge in and save the day. Of making hard things to deal with look easy.
But they had never expected something like a comet.
Twilight was used to being prepared for anything and everything, and if something new came up, she'd simply prepare for that. But how did you prepare for this? Nopony had been prepared for this. Nopony had ever even thought that such a thing could happen.
When she was first called in to discuss things with the scientists, she thought surely Celestia and Luna could grab the comet in their magic and steer it away from their direction, right? However they had explained to her that while their talents allowed them control over the sun and moon, a comet was different. It was something they had no control over.
It hadn't taken long for plans to try to stop the comet had turned into plans to simply try to prepare and save as many ponies as they could. As many ponies and other races as possible would be evacuated out of the blast range, and everyone else would simply have to put up sheilds and hope for the best.
The problem was even if they survived the blast, there would be complications. The sky being clogged with dust caught in the atmosphere that could take years to dissipate, and they would block the suns rays. It would be hard to grow anything in half of the world. Of course they could build a ton of greenhouses to help, but it wasn't a sure thing. So many ponies could go hungry, could starve. It was frightening.
When she had come back from the meeting, she had called all her friends together to tell them the news. Of course they had all been shocked.
"You mean my farm, all the apple trees, they're going to die?" Applejack asked in dismay.
Twilight couldn't look her in the eye. "Probably."
"But can't we just get rid of the dust?" Rainbow Dash protested. "Surely the pegasi can-"
"No Rainbow, it'll be too high up for even pegasi to reach." Twilight interrupted.
"Surely some spell-" Starlight started.
"No!" Twilight shouted. "We've looked at this from every angle! No spell, no magic, no precautions, nothing can stop this comet!" All her friends just looked at her for a moment, stunned.
Then, Fluttershy started to cry softly. "But... my animals... they could die..."
"Ponies could die." Pinkie said with a slight whimper, her mane and tail deflating a little.
"Yes." Twilight said quietly. "They could."
Rarity reached over and gently laid a hoof over Twilight's. "What can we do to help Darling?"
"We have to tell everyone obviously, but we need to try to keep them from panicking. I know I can count on you girls for your help." Twilight said, and they all nodded.
"You can always count on us Twi." Rainbow Dash said in determination.
Most of the ponies in Ponyville ended up deciding to stay instead of evacuate. They had been born there, had lived their entire lives there, and if they were to die there, then so be it. The ponies of the Crystal Empire also decided to stay put, but nearly everyone in Canterlot decided to evacuate.
The places where ponies decided to stay or wouldn't be able to evacuate in time would simply have a strong mage use a barrier in an attempt to protect everyone.
Twilight just hoped it would be enough. The comet hitting the world was only the first part of the problem. The aftermath would be just as dangerous, and for a lot longer.
When Nightmare Night rolled around Twilight was happy to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had decided to join them. She and her friends were all in costume too, and they'd ended up deciding to just wear the same costumes they had before in previous years. That way they wouldn't be spending time making or looking for costumes when they could be spending that time with each other.
They tried to pretend that this was a Nightmare Night just like any other, but she wasn't sure that any of them succeeded.
When the time came, and Princess Celestia lowered the sun and Princess Luna raised the moon, when they could actually see how close the comet was, she raised the shield over the town and held her breath. This was it.
She was right next to the other princesses, and so she was able to hear them clearly.
"Celestia, I love you, very much."
"I know Luna, I love you too."
"So I hope that you can forgive me for what I'm about to do."
"What do you mean what you're about to do?"
Then the moon suddenly moved, and Princess Celestia screamed. "Luna no!" The comet hit the moon, and with a gasp, Twilight turned in time to see her mentor leap forward to catch her sister with her forelegs. "No! Luna! Luna!" Princess Celestia shook the limp form before she threw her head back and positively howled her sister's name. "Luuuuunnnnaaaaa!"
The whole town heard it. Twilight thought that all of Equestia heard it.
"Luna come back to me! Please! This can't be true!" Princess Celestia wailed through her tears.
Tears starting to make their way down her own cheeks, Twilight stepped over to reach out and touch Princess Luna's neck to feel for a pulse. Finding none, she then gently moved to close her eyes. "She's gone, she's gone Princess." She managed to choke out, already hearing other ponies around them starting to break down along with them. Princess Celestia collapsed into sobs. She cried and cried with no sign of stopping, till a doctor finally gave her a sedative with a syringe.
When Princess Celestia's unconscious form and Princess Luna's body was taken away, Twilight finally slowly turned to look at her friends. She wondered if her expression was as haunted as theirs was. They all had tear tracks on their faces, and Pinkie's mane and tail had gone completely flat.
It was Rarity who finally spoke the obvious.
"Nothing is ever going to be the same again."
Princess Celestia was never quite the same after her sister died. I can't blame her for that. I know I'd be the same way if I ever lost my brother.
So many ponies wanted to go to Princess Luna's wake that the place was packed and it would be held for several days. The line seemed to go on for miles. She had been laid in a casket, her body preserved by a stasis spell. But while everyone was allowed at the wake, her funeral was reserved for only a chosen few.
As her casket with a clear cover was placed in a special place in the gardens, Luna looked like she was merely sleeping. Rarity had been the one to make the beautiful dress she wore, that covered up the now cracked moon on her cutie mark that nopony could bear to look at.
Princess Celestia had seemed to run out of tears during the first few days. Now her eyes were dry but bloodshot with dark circles under them, as if she hadn't been sleeping well. Her expression was blank, but the look in her eyes was desperate. I was very worried about her. Everypony was. Many kept giving her anxious glances as the ponies at the funeral talked about Princess Luna. About memories and how much they would miss her.
I fully expected Princess Celestia to go up at some point, but she never moved, and she never said a word.
It wasn't until after the funeral that the prophecy came to light. It would go on to become a part of the moon princess legacy.
It took time, but Princess Celestia seemed to start to bounce back. She created the mare in the moon again, she created the eclipse, she made sure Princess Luna went down in history, and doing these things seemed to bring her some sort of closure. At least she looked better.
She started traveling, saying that she needed time to think and process things. I was supportive of this. Perhaps a vacation would be just what the princess needed. She was gone for nine months, though she would write me regularly to tell me of the places she'd gone and the things she'd seen.
Everypony was surprised when, not long after Princess Celestia came back, she started dating Bluenote, a stallion with a blue coat and a darker blue mane and tail with a purple streak in them who had a talent for playing the saxophone. She claimed his music calmed her.
Still, I gave them my blessing. It looked like Princess Celestia was moving on with her life, slowly getting over the grief. It was a good thing.
When she got pregnant everyone was happy for her, but it was after the baby was born and turned out to be an alicorn colt, that Princess Celestia seemed to be truly happy as well.
I knew she still missed Princess Luna of course, everypony did, but life went on.
When Eclipse got his cutie mark, he had the biggest cute-ceañera anypony had ever seen! Princess Celestia seemed so very proud of him. Everypony came, including Cadence, my brother, and Flurry Heart. By then they also had a second child as well, a unicorn they had named Brave Knight.
When Flurry Heart gave Eclipse a kiss on the cheek to congradulate him, his cheeks burned bright red, making her giggle. Cadence smiled knowingly at the two, looking at her husband and winking. Shining Armor chuckled as Eclipse made a face and wiped off his cheek before hurrying away. "Girls! Yuck!" He said, making everypony laugh.
As the years passed, Eclipse's opinion on girls definitely changed. Nopony was surprised when he and Flurry Heart started dating. It wasn't long before they were looking pretty cozy together.
Then out of the blue, Princess Celestia went missing. Nopony had seen her leave the castle, and nopony knew where she'd gone. Eclipse had been the last one to see her, and he said that she hadn't been acting as if there was anything unusual going on.
I think everypony must have searched all over Equestria. I know I did, as well as organizing many of the searches myself. For days, and for weeks, and for months we looked for her... then finally an entire year went by, and we were forced to admit defeat.
During Eclipse's coronation to turn him from prince to king, normally something to celebrate, nopony was in the mood to throw a party. He quickly slipped away once it was over, and Flurry hurried after him to offer him her comfort.
It's been three days since the coronation, and Flurry Heart was finally able to convince him to come out of his room.
Cadence has called for a meeting, but I have no idea what it's about. She'll be here soon. I just hope it's good news for a change.
Twilight put down her diary and quill, going to the balcony and looking out over Canterlot, her expression melancholy as she thought about her mentor. She was middle aged now, and royalty herself, so she didn't really need Celestia anymore, but she'd always been a constant in her life. She was like a second mother to her, a pony she knew she'd always love. One that she'd never thought that she would ever have to lose. She sniffled a little as she felt a single tear fall down her right cheek.
"Oh Princess... where are you?"