Epitaph
Silence:
1. The condition or quality of being or keeping still and silent.
2. The absence of sound; stillness.
3. A period of time without speech or noise.
A few days ago she made a decision - it was about time after all.
There was no one else there to question her plans, in fact, questions and plans were no longer necessary. It was stated and settled - no further explanations were given.
Celestia laid on the floor of a brightly lit room, the cold marble surface sent shivers down her spine - not the bad kind of shivers, but those pleasurable ones you feel when listening to a good song, or kissing your crush for the first time.
As the soft breeze caressed her head, memories flooded her mind as she remembered all the times when her beautiful mane flowed through the air like a multicolored dandelion. Those were beautiful days, and even though her hair was now thin and whitish, the reminiscences remained intact. Good reasons to smile never fade away.
Maybe... She thought.
Maybe I should have smiled a little bit more - stroked my mane a few more times, only to feel my hooves through it.
The princess found herself caressing her head again. Now that she started to think about it, there were many things she should have done - small things.
The little cafe by the harbor, the flower shop down the street, those stupid girly magazines she always wanted to read, but never found time to do so, even that silly postcards collection-
There were so many little things...
Celestia sighed. Those days were gone, the harbor was abandoned a few years ago, and the coffee shop moved to another city.
When Mrs. Lily died of age, her children sold the store to another florist. Unfortunately, the flowers were not the same, and the roses weren't that beautiful anymore.
The sun was overhead and through the crystalline roof bathed the entire place in an almost inebriating light, laying on her back on the floor she spread her wings for a last time - not to fly, but to feel the warm heat filling the spaces between her feathers.
She couldn't remember for how long she stayed like that, but again, time doesn't really matter anymore. A numbness took over her wingtips and thereafter, her whole wingspan. Celestia silently rejoiced for having enjoyed that last few precious minutes of warmness.
Over millennia she raised the sun and appreciated its glory, but now at the very end, she realized that her notion of 'appreciation' was far away from reality. As her body got colder and colder, the solar princess would give everything only to bask of another minute of light.
Such an ironic little universe...
For the first time, she felt the cold loneliness of a stone prison, a prison within her own body. Celestia thought of her sister, as well many others whose life she once sealed with this spell.
Unlike her, they had a way back - they found a way back. Several years passed, and now they were gone as well, and whatever happened to their lives, was nothing but a dusty memory buried deep inside a broken mind.
What about Twilight? All the elements - how she loved those little ponies, she missed them, she missed Canterlot, all the egoistic nobles, all the fake brides and enchanted mirrors.
She was alone, and the silence was louder than a scream. Celestia wanted to go back, to smile again, to love again, to live again, but how?
She never allowed herself to jump like a filly, sing as if there was no tomorrow, kiss under the mistletoe, live as every mortal soul would.
After all, deep inside her heart, she knew that immortality was nothing but an illusion. They all knew, they all have found the truth.
Nothing lasts forever, there's a time when all happiness fade away, and life becomes nothing but a bittersweet routine, what's the purpose of living, when there's nothing else to live for?
Now there was nowhere to go back, no little cafes at the harbor, no magazines or postcards. She was silent for so long, she was already numb since the beginning, choking with words that never reached her tongue, feelings forever locked inside her chest.
An ozone scent filled the air, It was a sign that everything would soon fade away, exactly as she stated and settled. There was no point of return, and no door to go ahead. Time was ending, and for those who lived forever, the end was a unimaginable concept.
A thousand times one can die in a single life - you collapse, reconstruct, set the world on fire and tear it apart, until all the layers of illusion are burned away, and all that remains is the hardest truth; who, and what we really are.
Silence when misused is poisonous, it erodes our soul and mind, suffocate our dreams and passions - no one should forget the sound of his own voice.
A dazzling light turned the room in a white void while a unexpected force pulled her down, Celestia tried to scream - only to wake up sobbing and panting on her bed.
Her body was drenched in a cold sweat, but other than that, she was alive. It was night, and the moon shone magnificently out there.
Inspecting herself one more time - her mane still flowed, her hooves were still strong. She realized that the awful experience had been nothing else than a dream. Rubbing her temples, she sighed - gazing back through the window, a sudden desire to fly away took her body - just fly, without a destination, give up of everything and start again.
Equestria would survive - She would survive.
"No..."
"N-no, I can't waste my time with this - I have plenty of duties to do tomorrow..." She muttered unconsciously
"My silly dreams can wait for another night" Celestia said to herself.
Putting her thoughts aside, she fell asleep while waiting for tomorrow. But one day, tomorrow will never come.