Book 3: Equestria Abides
Chapter 37
Twilight eyed the monument in front of her, glad that her persistence with the craftsmen had paid off, getting it done just in time for the fiftieth annual Princess Day, even if she had been forced to be sterner than she liked with them. Still, there it was, marble gleaming in the sun of the courtyard... and even if Celestia looked suspiciously like Sunny Daze, and Luna looked suspiciously like Twilight, it was still the thought that counted, right? She could hardly blame the sculptors; they had never seen the two princesses after all. What was important was that they would be remembered.
Seeing even this crude image of days gone by moved her into a wistful mood, remembering fondly her times with the princesses... both of them, even if she longed for Celestia rather more. She had even taken up the habit of writing friendship reports again, still addressing them to her mentor even though she had no way to send them anymore. Maybe she could still read them, wherever she was?
Still, even if she continued to write friendship reports, she found herself with less and less friendship to report about... the curse of being immortal, of course, coupled with the curse of being royal. One couldn't make friends with ponies who only groveled and refused to call one anything other than 'your highness'. She made a distasteful face at the very thought of that title. The elderly Cheerilee was still with her, along with Sunny and Apollo of course. Even most of Apollo's crew, except for Quartermaster, of course... when they were in town anyway. With Apollo now busy being a prince, Albatross was leading the crew, once again brazenly heading off to exploration and adventure... they didn't come back often, nor stay long when they did... leaving Twilight even more lonely.
The gardens didn't help much either... a chirping bird passing by reminded her of a certain yellow pegasus... the fruit tree it landed in reminding her of Applejack. She couldn't look at the clouds in the sky without thoughts of a brash prismatic pegasus, and when a couple of the rapidly-forming noble class walked by on a nearby path, she couldn't help but notice that their fancy dresses reminded her of a certain unicorn, or that their laughter reminded her of a particularly bubbly pink earth pony... not to even get her started on the idea of family. Apollo was all she had now, since despite their best efforts, it seemed that alicorns couldn't reproduce... and she had never even learned what happened to her parents or her brother... but in all likelihood, they shared the same fate as most of the other residents of Canterlot... something she didn't really want to think about, not even in her current dark and wistful mood.
Why did they still linger in her thoughts? Why couldn't she move on? With a growl of frustration she teleported away from the garden and the memories it contained, reappearing in her private suite... Of course it didn't help though. She would find reminders of what was lost anywhere... and especially here. Her eyes were drawn, almost against their will, to a photo frame next to her bed – inside it was the only picture of her five friends that anypony had been able to find, all of them gathered up into a group hug for the photo.
She flopped down on the bed dejectedly. She was glad there was a Princess Day, glad that the regular ponies all over would be remembering the loss of Celestia and Luna... but in a way, it was the worst day of the year for her: the day of the year when her memories tended to pain her the worst. She rolled over in the bed, less comfortable now, but staring at the old photo, already starting to yellow around the edges. Idly, she wondered if she should commission some artwork based off it... something that would last longer...
Without warning, Apollo walked through the door into the room. Prince Apollo, Twilight thought with a roll of her eyes.
For his own part, she just heard a heavy sigh from him... Even though he made no move to say so, she could tell that he was disappointed to find her brooding yet again. “You know, you really should go out and join in the festivities,” he said, trying to sound casual... but Twilight knew it was followed by the unspoken “(instead of lying here and turning sour.)”
The gears of her mind slowly clicked back to life... “Festivities?” She floppily rolled over, facing him. “What kind of festivities?”
He just smiled. “Go and see for yourself... It'll be good for you.”
She rolled her eyes, but got up out of the bed just the same, walking to the door. They gave each other a quick peck on the cheek as they passed... something that had become customary for them ever since their first major fight... over bedsheet colors of all things. Of course, it hadn't really been about the color of anything... but that was all behind them now, and their marriage was stronger for having been through it.
* * *
Twilight strolled along the road between the fortress and Las Pegasus, now a real road, well paved and lined with buildings on each side, rather than the disused path it had once been. She couldn't help but notice many of the bright decorations lining the streets... she couldn't fault the local ponies for that, even if the alicorns depicted in decorations often resembled Sunny, Twilight, or Apollo... after all, they were the only ones this new generation of ponies really knew... so of course their ideas of the old princesses would be based on the current ones. Again, it was the thought that counted, right?
...And not just the decorations; ponies were out in droves to celebrate the day... why, she hadn't seen the streets this packed in a long time... yet nopony blocked her path; they all just stayed off to the edges, watching her pass by. The royal treatment, she assumed with a sigh... sometimes she really missed being treated just like a normal pony. She thought about just flying or teleporting to the city, so she wouldn't have to deal with it... but this street was as much a part of the city as any now, and the heart of the city would probably behave the same way, so she might as well observe what she could of the Princess Day celebrations here while she was on her way.
She had already given up on participating in any celebrations. She knew full well that the ponies around her would go to such lengths giving her what they thought she wanted that they would prevent her from getting what she really wanted... to live like a normal pony again.
Something was tugging on the edges of her awareness though... something strange. The crowded edges of the street were becoming even more so... to the point where the street was nearly fully lined with ponies now... all of them looking at her... and celebrating? They were exuberant... but she thought it looked more like cheering... and where had they all come from? There was no way this many ponies lived along this road...
Walking further on, the streets became fully lined, now several lines of ponies deep, adult ponies letting foals climb on their backs to get a good view... and suddenly Twilight realized what this reminded her of... why hadn't she realized it earlier? By simply deciding to walk to town, she had started her own one-pony parade! Word of it must have spread on the wings of pegasi, and ponies had come out from all over to watch a princess simply walk into town...
Hanging her head low in exasperation, Twilight continued on, barely noticing the cheering shouts and Princess Day flags at her sides... Sometimes being royalty could be such a bother.
* * *
Twilight approached the city's central park with lined streets next to her and a huge throng of cheering ponies following her. Finally catching sight of Sunny Daze in the park ahead, she picked up her pace. It would be comforting to talk to somepony not inclined to cheer for her.
Sunny met her halfway into the park with a hug. “You sure do know how to make an entrance, Princess Twilight!” Twilight cringed a little at hearing the formal title from the mouth of her longtime friend, but she had agreed that it was best they didn't use their nicknames for each other in public... They had appearances to keep up these days, after all.
“So how's the celebration going?” Twilight asked her, ready to get down to business.
Sunny brightened even more. “Well, most ponies have finished with their gift-giving... they like to do that in the morning, usually.” Gift-giving? Twilight wondered... a little tasteless as part of a remembrance for fallen heroes, that was a new development for her, but she supposed she could get used to it... “And now they're all gathering in the central park for the speech before they all break off for feasting and dancing and all that.”
Wow... Princess Day had really changed since the last time she had paid much attention to it... Inside, she was grateful to Sunny, having kept up with the customs while Twilight was customarily wallowing in depression on this day every year.
“And I'm really glad you came this time!” Sunny continued, “This is the fiftieth, so it's special... and now we have two princesses here for the speech, so it's extra special!” She looked thoughtful, then like she had an idea. “Ooh, are you going to give a speech too? 'Cause that would be so awesome!”
“No, no... I don't have anything prepared,” Twilight declined. She hadn't expected to be invited to, well, participate quite so easily.
“Oh... okay then.” Sunny seemed to shrug it off. “Anyway, the park's almost full, so I better get my speech started, huh? ... Come on! You can at least stand up there with me!”
Twilight followed Sunny up to a podium set in the middle of Las Pegasus's spacious central park, which by design or fortuitous accident was shaped rather bowl-like, giving everypony an excellent view of the stage at the center.
Sunny quickly proceeded to a lectern placed front and center on the podium, raising a hoof to quiet the cheering and applause from the audience. Twilight was glad to see that the technological level of her little ponies hadn't fallen too much due to the disaster, or at least it had recovered nicely already. Sunny was using a little microphone to boost her voice out to the crowd, not using the alicorn ability for royal Canterlot voice, as Twilight feared she would have to.
“Hello my little ponies!” Sunny cried out into the microphone, to a response of thunderous applause, drowning out even the powerful speakers. She held on, waiting for it to die down before moving to her next line. “Welcome to the fiftieth princess day celebrations!”
As the applause roared up again, Twilight quickly lost interest in the speech. It was obvious that it was going to take forever at this rate, having to wait for the applause at the end of every line... She looked out over the crowd, noticing their signs and flags... she read them absently... a picture of a purple alicorn, with 'Twilight Sparkle' under it, another one next to it, a more masculine light blue one with a grey mane... she couldn't read that one, but she could guess who it was for... She rolled her eyes... those ponies were celebrating the entirely wrong princesses... her eyes fell on another banner, this one honoring... Sunny Daze?
Perking up a little, she examined the crowd more closely... their flags and decorations didn't just resemble the current royalty... they were the current royalty! In all the crowd, she only spotted a hoof-full of ponies celebrating Celestia, and only a sad one with anything about Luna. How could it be? How could they?
Twilight walked up to the lectern, full of righteous indignation. “Princess Sunny Daze?” She asked, interrupting the speech... probably very rudely so. “I think I have something to say after all.”
Noticing Twilight's infuriated demeanor, Sunny gave up the podium with only an odd look in her direction, not wanting to start a fight between royalty right here in front of so many onlookers. “Oh... um... of course,” she said softly.
Twilight waited for the applause to die down. It had started in fitful confusion as Sunny Daze had stepped away mid-speech, but had quickly grown once the ponies saw Twilight Sparkle taking center stage. As soon as it was quiet again, Twilight began. “This is wrong!” she shouted in the microphone, not waiting for the applause – which was a good thing, since precious little came in return. “This is NOT about me, NOT about Princess Sunny Daze and NOT about Price Apollo Dawn!” She shouted again, quickly following it up. “Princess Day is about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! They gave their lives for their ponies, and they died for their ponies! This day is the fifty-first anniversary of the very day they died, trying to save us all, and I will NOT see this day sullied! This day is nopony except Celestia and Luna!” Silence filled the park, save for one or two scattered hoofbeats of applause.
Down below her, in one of the front rows, a cute little red filly with light blue hair spoke up, easily audible in the stunned silence. Her honest question was simple, yet it completely devastated Twilight: “Who?”
Twilight slumped, her face hitting the lectern and leaning all her weight against it, half expecting it to break under her and collapse as her hopes just had. She felt utterly drained, and totally defeated. What could one pony, even a princess and an alicorn, do against the force of ignorance? She looked up at the audience glumly, seeing the same question on many of their faces... and she just gave up. Her friends were gone, her family was gone, her princesses were gone... and now even their memory was gone.
“Twilight...” Sunny approached her, about to put a comforting hoof over her shoulder.
She shrugged off the yellow hoof, not wanting to be comforted. With an anguished little cry and a violet flash, she disappeared from the stage, leaving behind a concerned and worried yellow alicorn and a whole crowd of ponies now inexplicably drained of their enthusiasm.
* * *