//------------------------------//
// Bonus Chapter: Celestia's POV; The Funeral 
// Story: Foxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting Dreamscape 
// by Dragonborne Fox 
//------------------------------//

Celestia couldn't stop crying, no matter how hard she tried. Discord had brought the mute drone before the crowd of ponies, and he was carrying Foxfire in his mismatched arms. The alicorn's eyes were closed, and still-fresh tears lingered on her cheeks. Her fur was much messier than it usually was, and she was skin-and-bones. Her legs lost all of their black fur, revealing sickly grey skin beneath.

In the crook of her foreleg she held a piece of paper. The white alicorn pried it away with her magic, being careful not to rouse the nervous wreck from her slumber.

She unfolded it and began to read.


To my mentor's sister,

My time grows nearer; I cannot bear to make this letter longer than need be. Read this aloud to your guards to see that my last wishes are carried out.

It pains me to bear the burden only royalty should bear. I was once a commoner, and I wish to revert to that natural state.

Take away my wings, horn, tail, and cutie marks. I feel they are no longer needed for me in death. Store them in a place that isn't my grave. Take away my ability to speak as well, for my actions would not support any words I'd have for the afterlife waiting on me...

I wish to be cremated in the Everfree Forest with the biggest funeral pyre you can muster. Make it bright enough that the ponies on Cloudsdale can see it. Then spread my ashes all over the world--while they're still burning--so I can replicate the stars with my dying breath...

If you find any of my distant cousins that roam outside the pits of Tartarus, tell them it was needed to be done...

It hurts......


Celestia looked up at Discord, her eyes reddening.

"She's passed." Discord murmured before cradling Foxfire in his arms and keeping her close to his chest. She was colder than ice, and her body was stiff. "This poor mare's passed, and I cannot stress enough how I hope she finds peace in spite of her wrongs!"

The other ponies present looked at the draconequus, who broke down into a sob fit for the mare's mother. They looked at each other, unable to stop themselves from crying.

"I don't know what she did wrong....I don't even know her....why am I crying?!" Shrieked a mare as she galloped towards Discord and the limp body he held.

The royal guards present in the room shed tears. One even removed his helmet and let his tears fall onto its shiny surface.

The drone wrote something on a piece of paper with his hoof and he handed it to the weeping princess.


I want to die with her. She doesn't have to be alone anymore....


.....

The raging fire burned long into the night. The drone and Foxfire were nothing more than ashes. The embers were taken by the pegasus ponies and spread far and wide.

All ground-dwellers looked up at the ashes and they began seeing small, white dots in the sky. It didn't look like much, at first. But it then became something much greater...

The ashes formed the shape of the Mare in the Moon. And then Orion's constellation.

At dawn, the embers died down into nothing more than black specks flitting about in the air.

"Was she trying to make up for her sins with that display?" Celestia asked, still unable to keep herself from weeping.

"I'm not sure. I don't know what goes on in that head of hers, but at least she's no longer suffering..." Discord answered, shaking his head sadly.

.....

In the distance, a group of cloaked ponies began cursing their luck. They trotted away from the pony villages and into the shadows, never to be seen again.