//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Rise and Shine // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Snow. A thin sheet of the white, fluffy substance decorated the city of Canterlot, illuminated by the first light of the morning sun. It was high winter, and Hearths Warming was only a few weeks away. Some ponies had already set about putting up their decorations for the celebration of Equestria’s founding, lending bright, jovial colors and lights to the city. Twilight looked down on it all from her place on her bedroom’s balcony. A chilly breeze kept her long, magically flowing mane from getting into her eyes. She had done well by this city, or so the inhabitants kept telling her. In the four decades or so since she had assumed the role of Equestria’s leading monarch, she had applied the entirety of herself to improving Equestria. Though the nation was a picturesque utopia when looking in from the outside, there had long been many festering issues beneath the surface. Selfish ponies in positions of power, corruption, and threads of superstition and bigotry that had poisoned the waters for a very, very long time. She had done all in her power to end such problems, and if the assurances of her aging friends were anything to go by, she had done well. She could even see it from here. Down in one of the plazas, she noticed a large group of children playing together in the snow, laughing and giggling as they hurled white balls at one another. Not just pony foals, either. She saw a changeling nymph, a griffon, and a few yaks mixed in with the group as well. Naturally, being the stern, sturdy sort they were, the yaks were winning the childish snowball fight with ease. Or, at the very least, their thick fur made it so that they weren’t losing. A visual symbol of her progress, if ever there was one… Yet, she could not bring herself to smile. Twilight heaved a heavy sigh and tore her eyes away from the joyous scene. She stepped back into her room and shut the balcony door behind her, silencing the gentle whistling of the cold winter wind. She took a deep breath and cast her tired eyes across her living space. Against the wall to her right was a large and ornate four-poster bed, complete with a purple canopy and curtains to block out the world. A blazing hearth was set into the left wall, the flames from within casting a soothing warmth and light across the room. A semicircle of cushions arranged in front of it for sitting space. In the corner beyond the hearth was an ornate round table with a tea set on top. Various other miscellaneous decorations were scattered about to lend some color and life to the room. To make it her own. She had spent many years in these chambers, feeling comfortable and safe within them all the time. Yet she could not feel that way about the room now. A hollowness had replaced the warmth in her heart, a dread that she felt powerless to shake. And she had tried. Heavens know she had tried her hardest. But it just kept following her. Twilight turned to the door that led from her chambers, her ears drooping. “Come on,” she whispered anxiously, shifting on her hooves. “Where are you?” No answer came. Twilight watched the door until her neck went stiff, and even then she didn’t turn away. The door gave her something to focus on. Something to pay attention to. A distraction from the pearl of anxiety worming its way into the back of her mind… Finally, after what felt like forever, there was a knock. Twilight almost jumped out of her skin from the sudden disruption in the silence. She subconsciously made a pass over herself with her magic to ensure she was presentable before clearing her throat. “Come in!” The door clicked open, revealing Spike on the other side. The dragon was quite tall now and had to bend down somewhat to effectively enter the room. Twilight beamed with relief upon seeing him, her eyes darting to look past him for a moment. “Spike! There you are. I take it this means she’s here?” Spike nodded. “Yup. Shall I send her in?” “Of course,” Twilight replied, quickly straightening her posture and putting on a welcoming smile. Spike dutifully stepped aside and beckoned for the visitor to enter. Twilight’s breath almost hitched in her throat when they passed through the threshold of the room. Former Princess Celestia, looking just as divine and radiant as ever, emerged with the warm, mothering smile she had always held on her muzzle. Not even the surprisingly plain tan winter coat she was wearing did anything to subtract from her pristine image. “Celestia,” Twilight greeted, relaxing at the sight of her old mentor. The older alicorn’s warm smile managed to melt the ice that had been clinging to Twilight’s heart… at least in part. Celestia smiled and closed the distance, wrapping Twilight up in a warm, loving embrace. “Twilight Sparkle. Oh, it is good to see you again,” she said, offering Twilight an affectionate nuzzle. Twilight returned the gesture with a content hum, a little more of the ice retreating. “You too, Celestia. Thank you for coming on such short notice.” Celestia drew back from the embrace with a tender nod. “You are very welcome, though I must admit, I am somewhat perplexed. It has been many years since you have called upon me for advice in your duties, especially with such a sense of urgency. Has something come up?” Twilight flinched, and just like that, the ice over her heart reformed, encasing her joy in a prison of cold. She shuddered at the idea before glancing back at Spike with a barely noticeable nod. He took the silent cue without a word, shutting the door and leaving the two alicorns in privacy. Once Spike’s footfalls faded away, Twilight slumped in place, allowing the weight on her shoulders to become visible. “...Yes. Something’s come up… I’m sorry I didn’t specify what in the letter, but it’s… personal. And sensitive. I didn’t want to risk anypony finding out about it too early,” she admitted. Twilight nodded at the hearth and went to take her seat by the flames.  Celestia’s smile became concerned. She followed after Twilight and took the seat beside her. “Twilight? What has happened?” Twilight took a deep breath and ran a hoof over her face, trying to keep the trembling in her core from reaching her face. She was mostly successful, the only hint of the turmoil she felt inside that she showed being a slight stutter when she began to speak. “C-Celestia… Two weeks ago, my… my… M-my mother p-passed away…” Celestia’s eyes slowly widened, her jaw falling open in realization. A moment passed before she closed her jaw and draped a wing over Twilight’s back. “Oh, Twilight… I am so sorry for your loss,” she said in a low, soothing whisper. Twilight leaned into the embrace, but the trembling in her voice did not go away. If anything, it was growing worse. “She passed away in her sleep. She’d been fighting it for a while, but all of the strain she put on her body when she was younger and seeking all those thrills finally caught up to her… Dad’s still going strong, though. But… That’s not why I called you here.” Celestia blinked, confusion written on her face. “It’s not? Then… forgive me, but, what is?” Twilight sighed and closed her eyes, trying to think of how best to express the fear she now felt. A few seconds passed before her horn lit up. Across the room, the end table by her bedside glowed, one of the drawers opening to allow a small, hoof-held mirror to drift out. It came to a rest in front of the two alicorns, allowing Twilight to see their reflections in both. “...Look at us, Celestia,” she said solemnly. “Really look. My mom just died of old age, my dad’s probably only got another decade in him, and my friends have been showing their age for a while, now… But us?” She turned to face Celestia. She saw the slowly dawning comprehension in her violet eyes, and she took that as her cue to press on, finding the strength to cut to the chase and speak plain. “We’re alicorns. You’re over a thousand years old, but you still look as young as ever, even with how tall you are. And… A-and I know that it’s g-going to be the same for m-me…” “I see,” Celestia whispered. She gave Twilight a reassuring squeeze with her wing. “You fear watching your friends die around you, don’t you…?” Twilight nodded. “I do. I know it’s going to happen, and I know it would be selfish of me to try and change that. I made peace with the fact I’m going to live for a very, very long time a long time ago. I thought I’d made peace with the fact that they won’t. But then, when I got word about mom, I… It… it h-hit me just h-how wrong I was. I’m not r-ready for that… But I n-need to be…” Twilight blinked, realizing now that tears were starting to show in her eyes. She sniffled and wiped a hoof over her face to dispel them, struggling to reign in her emotions. She had to be strong right now. “I understand, Twilight. Truly, I do,” Celestia whispered, giving her another, far more intimate nuzzle. “I felt the same way when my loved ones began to pass around me. As did Luna.” Twilight took in a deep, shuddering breath. She leaned back and met Celestia’s gaze. “T-that’s why I called you here,” she whispered, her voice weak and pleading. “I want to know… I want your advice. How do I cope with it? H-how can I manage the grief? How do I make it hurt less?”  Celestia closed her eyes, a thoughtful frown marring her features. She hummed quietly as she considered the question, but all the while she continued to give Twilight reassuring squeezes with her wing. Twilight waited, her ears facing forward and her heart beating intensely. Eventually, Celestia opened her eyes, an apology shining deep within them. “I’m sorry, Twilight, truly I am. But it never becomes less painful when somepony you love passes on from the world… It simply becomes easier to bear the weight of that loss.” Twilight swallowed heavily. It felt as if an anvil had just been dropped on her hopes for this entire visit. In all the years Twilight had known Celestia, she had only ever seen her show genuine grief or sadness a small hooffull of times. At all other times, she was a beacon of calm and stability, of serenity even when all the world was plunged into the depths of chaos. She looked down, her eyes glazing over. “I… I see,” she choked out. Celestia gave her another squeeze. “That being said, it is imperative that you learn how to manage your grief effectively. While it never gets less painful, the pain might not last as long if you can look after yourself in a healthy manner.” “I know,” Twilight admitted, a tiny smile appearing on her face. “Spike brought me a small stack of books on the subject a few days ago. I just… haven’t gotten around to reading them yet… I wanted to talk to you about it, first.” Celestia couldn’t help but smile slightly at that. “I am glad to hear you place such faith in me. Unfortunately, on this matter, any advice I can give you will be vague at best. Everypony is different, Twilight, and so everypony must carry the pain in their own way. For now, though, what I would encourage you to do is to weep as much as you need for your mother, and when you are ready, ensure the time you do have with those who remain is spent well, so that when it is their turn to pass on, you can smile at the memories you forged, instead of grieving over missed opportunities.” Twilight smiled softly at that. She took a few more deep breaths, finally managing to take her anxieties and quell them for the moment. A calm silence fell over the room, then, punctuated by the crackling and spitting of the fireplace. The light of the sun outside grew slowly brighter as it climbed higher into the sky, and Twilight allowed her mind to wander with the warmth. Celestia was right. She would have to make up for any time she had missed with her friends. She’d have to spend more time with her father, too. Night Light had plenty of life left in him at this point, despite his age, but that didn’t give Twilight the excuse to dawdle on the matter. She was an alicorn. He was not. She had ceased aging years ago, but she could only imagine that every morning, he discovered a new wrinkle where there had not been one the previous night. Twilight’s thoughts then drifted to her mother. A sad smile crept across her lips as she remembered that mare’s endless energy. How she would throw herself face-first at most problems. How she had no qualms whatsoever with relentlessly teasing her entire family to the point of intense blushing. How she had lived her life with a fiery passion that rivaled the sun itself. Twilight blinked. The sun itself… her eyes slowly turned back to Celestia, who was now gazing intently into the fireplace with a distant look in her eyes. A few moments passed as a realization came to Twilight’s mind, one she couldn’t help but vocalize. “You know, Celestia… I don’t think I know anything about your parents,” she said quietly. Celestia closed her eyes with a whimsical smile. “You would not be alone on that front… for I know very little of my parents myself.” Twilight blinked, surprised. “You don’t?” Celestia shook her head. “I don’t. And neither does Luna. My earliest memory is of my birth mother giving me away to an earth pony couple, far away from the movements of civilization. I was just barely three years old at the time, and Luna was little more than an infant...” “Oh my gosh,” Twilight breathed, leaning back. “I’m sorry. I had no idea…” “She had her reasons,” Celestia said a moment later. “Though I confess that they remain… vague, at best, to me, even all these years later.” Twilight frowned at Celestia. There was a story behind those words, she could feel it. And it had been so very long since Celestia had told her one, and she dearly wanted comfort and company right now… Celestia glanced down at Twilight, a knowing look in her eyes. “Would you like me to tell you what happened, Twilight?” she asked, predicting the question before it could be asked. Twilight smiled and slowly lowered herself to her belly. “If you are willing to tell me, I would love to.” Celestia hummed and settled down beside Twilight, allowing their shared warmth to chase away the cold of winter. “Well, then, Twilight Sparkle… once upon a time, before Equestria was founded, there lived two farmers from the earth pony tribe who lived alone together in the woods. Their names were Honeydrop and Sprout. They were happy together. Then, one day, somepony came to their door bearing two foals...”