3: Times Change
Chapter 3: Times Change
Routine. It was an ugly word. A word that symbolized and showcased its rigid structure, its demanding nature, and its deceptively hidden addictiveness, all in two, short syllables. Yet nonetheless, it was a word that Celestia had devoted the vast majority of her life to. Once in a while, a situation arose where the safety of the country would be at risk and she would have to step up to the occasion. But even that wasn't really necessary, it was all done and over with. Celestia no longer wielded the Elements of Harmony; new guardians had risen to stand against evil and disharmony in her stead. Gone were the glory days of fighting spirits of chaos, gone were the adventures of discovering harmony, and gone was the hard, manual labour of helping construct Canterlot Castle brick by brick. Perhaps those days, too, were routines of their own; different actions, simply set in different routines. Either way, she'd gotten used to the droll tasks that she set out to complete every day.
As the sky turned from a warm, autumn red to a pitch, dead black, Celestia's quill finally stopped its furious scribbling, plummeting down on the desk next to half a dozen empty inkwells and rolling to the side. A stack of cluttered papers covered the rest of the desk, as well as a three foot radius around its floor, as Celestia finally slumped down and lifted herself out of her chair for the first time that day.
She sluggishly walked over to her coffee table, where her maids had placed a tray of food for her to eat. The tray had been set some time ago, and the food had long since gone cold. Still, it would be a waste. She couldn't even remember if she’d eaten anything at all today. Lifting a spoon with her magic, Celestia took a sip of soup from the polished silverware. It had gone cold, and the once rich aroma of the broth had faded, but it was still quite delicious. Finishing up her dinner, Celestia threw open her windows, preparing to complete her recently discovered nightly ritual.
Celestia closed her eyes and channeled her power through her horn, producing a visible stream of magic that flowed out into the sky. The stream gradually grew wider, turning into a river of dimly glowing arcane. With each passing second, a deeper furrow lined Celestia's face, the fatigue of exhausting her supply of magic showing on her features.
There was a soft but firm knock at the door. Celestia stopped what she was doing to take notice, cutting off the flow of magic and closing the windows shut.
"Enter." It seemed that she was getting an increase in late night visitors, she thought to herself, as she called out.
A young, purple-coated mare entered the room, an undecipherable expression on her usually familiar face. "Good evening, Princess Celestia," she said, stepping in.
"I've told you, Twilight, you don't need to be so formal with me anymore," Celestia told her former student. "You're a princess now, as well."
"That may be true, but it just doesn't feel right," the smaller alicorn replied. "At least, not yet. After all, it's what I've been calling you all my life. I'm sure I'll ease up to it, though… eventually."
"Well, if you see it that way, I suppose I am in no place to say otherwise," Celestia shrugged. "So tell me, Twilight. What brings you here today?"
"I just… wanted to talk to you about something, Princess Celestia. Are you free right now?" the mare asked uncertainly.
"I will always have time for those who find it urgent enough to knock on my door at this time of evening, Twilight. Tell me, what can I help you with?" Celestia asked, her tone calm and controlled.
Twilight's nervousness only grew more intense than before, her eyes darting around and unable to meet Celestia's. "It's… um, it's about…" her voice trailed off, unable to finish her words.
"…Yes?" Celestia asked, unaware of what was to follow.
"It's about… It's about Princess Luna," Twilight managed to get out at last.
"Oh." The words had caught Celestia off guard, but she quickly regained her composure.
Twilight took a deep breath. This was where it all began. In this elaborate game of cat and mouse, she would have to chase the princess in circles, and the only way she could win was to pin down and make speechless a thousand year old politician. If she succeeded, everything would be okay. Princess Celestia would be hurt at first, but her wounds would heal over time. If she failed, on the other hand, it would be a disaster. She would have to watch as the princess fell more and more into despair, denying that she needed help. Worst case scenario, the bond between her and Twilight could be shattered, and Twilight would find herself being pushed away by the one mare whom she'd known and revered for the majority of her life. No pressure.
“I know it must have been hard for you, Princess Celestia… and I know it’s going to be even harder for you to talk about it, but I’m here to help.”
Celestia sighed. “Twilight, I’m flattered that you’re worried about me so much, but honestly, I’m fine,” she replied. "Indeed, I loved Luna very much, but I’ve had my time to mourn her, and I’ve come to terms with her passing,” she stated simply.
Twilight shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”
“And why would that be?” Celestia questioned.
“Because you’re not fine,” Twilight replied. “You haven’t come to terms with it. All you do now is stay locked up in your study, doing nothing but work, work, work. Laws, by-laws, economy, international relations… in fact, the only time I ever see or hear from you outside is at a diplomatic meeting, doing even more work. I’ve even heard from the castle’s chambermaids that you haven’t even been eating your meals properly. You’re as thin as a stick, princess. All because you use this work of yours to… to distract yourself with!”
There was a moment of silence between the two before Celestia opened her mouth in reply. “A leader of a nation has just passed away, Twilight. The twin crowns of Equestria have been reduced to one, and this time, for good. There are matters to attend to, and loose ends to wrap up. Ponies are asking questions. There are conspiracies rising about how someone managed to murder her. Equestria’s standing has lowered severely in the international field, and other nations are seeing us as potential targets because of these recent events. This isn’t the first time this has happened before, you know. The rise of Nightmare Moon caused the same problems a thousand years ago. My workload has simply increased due to these recent events, nothing more.”
Twilight remained unfazed. "We have government jobs for a reason. There are others to help you, Princess Celestia."
"And I don't doubt it," said the princess, equally undeterred. "But somepony has to oversee each and every one of those others, to make sure that they are doing their jobs properly. We cannot afford to make any mistakes, Twilight, now more than ever."
Twilight was left stunned at Celestia's reply. They were stuck at a stalemate, neither side in possession of any definitive evidence. Right now, all they could do was keep pushing the points they’d already made, Twilight’s word against the Princess’. There was no point to it, and it would eventually become a conversation without conclusion. And Princess Celestia seemed to realize it, too.
“I think that’s quite enough, now,” Princess Celestia said, turning away. “We both have the rest of our duties to attend to today, and I think we both understand that we shouldn’t dawdle with a discussion that isn’t going anywhere.”
No, No no no nonononono. This isn’t how it was supposed to happen, Twilight thought. She could almost see time itself slow down as Celestia walked away from her, drifting farther and farther apart.
Coming into this argument, Twilight had been determined to save Celestia from herself. Her determination never faltered, but she'd still gotten nowhere. All of her words and reasons had bounced away harmlessly against the Princess' ironclad defense. Twilight had seen her do this before, putting on a face of stone and refusing to let anything past it. There has to be a way, she thought to herself. I can't let it end like this.
Then, an idea blossomed in Twilight's mind. An idea that she quickly reprimanded herself for even having the gall to think about. It was a stupid idea, one that had less than an abysmal chance of working, and if things went south, the relationship between Twilight and her old mentor would be soured forever.
… It was the only thing she had left.
"…You know, I'm actually kind of glad that she's gone."
Celestia said nothing, but turned her head ever so slightly to reveal her cold, stone expression to Twilight once more.
"All she was was a waste of space and resources. I mean, What did Luna even do, anyways? Honestly, I never understood."
What was she thinking? She knew this was crazy.
"Ruler of the night? Princess of the moon? Those sound like nothing but superficial titles to me."
This was a straightforward, not even well planned out goad. It was nothing but simple provocation of poking at her mentor, in whatever way she could. It would never work.
"She paints the night sky with stars? Who ever cared about that? I mean, sure, ponies took a glance every once in awhile, but to be honest, nothing would really change if none of that was there. I know I wouldn't lose any sleep over it."
Princess Celestia was an ancient, experienced ruler of an entire country. She'd see through Twilight's shallow words in an instant.
"It's not like she ever did anything important in her life. I mean, she raised the moon for a while, but even without her, Equestria's been perfectly fine for a thousand years! And on the other hand, we had to give her a room in the castle, adorn it with everything that she ever wanted, and suck up to her whenever she came to visit anywhere. A little bit too much for somepony who didn't do anything to make herself important, don't you think?"
…and yet, it was starting to work.
"Twilight, this is both rude and disrespectful to an unthinkable degree. You will cease talk of this at once," Princess Celestia spoke coldly.
"Why should I?" Twilight pressed. "It's not like she's someone that deserves my respect. Even her own sister didn't care about her. Don't you think that says something about her?"
"I cared for Luna in all the ways that I could." Celestia's voice rose ever so slightly.
"Is that why you didn't even bat an eye after she died?" Twilight winced internally, knowing very well how much this was hurting her old mentor. However, she showed no sign of it to Celestia, determined to do the only thing she could to break down the walls she'd built up around hers.
"I've… I've had my period of mourning for her." Celestia's voice grew hesitant, yet flustered. Cracks were finally starting to form in her armor, and Twilight would pounce on them like a predator, chipping away at them until they broke.
"Oh, and what, it's over already?" Twilight scoffed. "I guess Luna really was pathetic, wasn't she? Nopony cared to pay any attention to her when she was alive, and even when she killed herself in a last act of desperation, the sympathy garnered from those closest to her didn't even last them one week. It's no wonder she was never loved by those around her. Luna died the way she lived her pathetic life, alone and unloved."
"That is quite enough! The fact that she's not here anymore does not give you the right to speak about her that way! Luna was a wonderful mare, who helped Equestria in every way that she could."
"She was nobody—"
"—She was my sister, Twilight! My sister whom I loved and cared for, and the one who meant more than the entire world to me!" Celestia finally exploded.
In the stunning silence that followed, Twilight's expression softened. "…See, you do still care."
Celestia's anger melted into anguished, desolate distress, tears forming in the pits of her eyes. "It was all my fault, Twilight. Luna broke once before because no one paid attention to her; because nobody cared about her. I… I knew that. I could — should. have saved her. If only I'd loved her more. If only I'd shown her that, she wouldn't… she wouldn't be…" her words trailed off into incoherent sobs.
"I killed her, Twilight. What do I do? What can I do? Tell me, Twilight, what am I supposed to do!?" Celestia shrieked, despondent tears flowing down her cheeks.
The question, as well as its desperate delivery, caught Twilight by surprise. She'd gotten Celestia to talk, but what now? What could she say to her in return? When Twilight failed to respond, Celestia slumped down, refusing to make eye contact and staring dejectedly at the ground.
After what seemed like forever, Twilight finally opened her lips to speak.
"You know, Princess Celestia, I don't think I've ever told you this, but when you first sent me to Ponyville, you know, back at the thousandth summer sun celebration, I hated it," Twilight began.
The words drew no response from Celestia, but she continued anyways. "It was awful. I was being sent from my life of comfort in royal, high-class society Canterlot, to this… dingy, rustic little no-name town that I'd never even heard of before. Instead of the extensive Canterlot Archives, I'd been moved next to a small, public town library with hardly any reading material. To be honest, I thought I was being punished, and throughout the whole flight, I was thinking of what I could've possibly done to deserve it," she chuckled. "…And then, it led to one of the best days of my life," she said, as a wide smile bloomed on her lips. "Through that experience, which seemed so horrible at the time, my life took a turn for the better, and I met my wonderful new friends, who all mean so much to me now."
"For a while, I was very happy, living with my friends, hanging out together, sharing laughs, tears, heartfelt moments… and that too, looked like it would last forever," the mare reminisced. "But just a month ago, everything changed again. I became a princess, and I moved back to Canterlot, leaving my friends behind. We were still close friends, but now I wouldn't get to see them as often as I wanted to. And because of that, I was able to help so many other ponies here in Canterlot, so much more than if I'd decided to stay in Ponyville for myself."
Celestia still showed no sign of movement, but there was now a thoughtful spark in her once dull eyes. Twilight decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and continued.
"But what if I'd never decided to accept those changes?" she asked. "What if, instead of moving on with my life, I'd clung onto the past, what I knew was comfortable, and refused to change? I would have never met my friends, I would have never become a princess, and I would have been so much worse off than I am now."
"A wise pony once said, 'only a fool fears change, and only an even bigger fool tries to deny it'." Twilight felt a pulse of joy as Celestia's ears perked up from the familiar phrase. "My point is, nothing we do can change the past. Believe me, I've tried," she chuckled. "The only thing we can change… is the future. There are infinite possibilities of what the future could be. We can choose, quite literally, anything that's possible, and even some things that we don't think are possible, and what we choose determines the outcome of tomorrow. Don't you find that amazing? Think about it."
Twilight let out a deep sigh. "But, unfortunately for you, Princess Celestia, your options are a little more limited than others' are."
Celestia finally turned her head to Twilight in confusion, but was suddenly met with a big, warm hug.
"I love you, Princess Celestia. To me, you're a mentor, a friend, and a second mother. You've always been there for me. I've learned so much from you, and I've always felt so at ease when we were together," she said. Celestia could feel Twilight's hot tears falling onto her back. She was trembling, but she soon stopped when she returned the embrace. "I'm sure countless others feel similarly about you, princess. And… and as long as we're here, as long as you have a tomorrow, we're going to make damn sure that it's a happy one," Twilight concluded.
Twilight sniffled, speaking through teary eyes. "I'm not going to tell you that Luna's passing wasn't your fault. That's an issue that you can only sort out on your own. I'm not saying that it's bad to grieve, either. In fact, grieving is a normal and necessary way to deal with trauma. But you have to stop at one point, or else you'll never move on. You'll never change, and you'll never be happy. And I will not ever. Allow you to stay unhappy."
By now, Twilight was choking her words out between blubbers, and Celestia gently stroked her mane to calm her down. That's why it almost caught Celestia by surprise when her own eyes grew hot, and wetness splashed down on her cheeks as well. For the next few moments, the night was silent spare the sobbing of two grown mares comforting each other in stillness. They cried and they cried, until their tears ran dry.
Twilight and Celestia finally caught their breath, and slowly pulled away from the warmth of each other. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Celestia opened her mouth to speak.
"Twilight?" She called softly.
Her former student lifted her head to face her. "Yes?" she whispered.
"…Thank you."
A lone mare sat in her sister's study, gazing out through open windows into the night. If she was going to end things once and for all, this would be where she'd do it.
Celestia raised her horn, feeling the steady flow of magic that she'd constantly kept flowing into the Twin Sisters above. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. And then, she cut off the stream of power, halting it abruptly and refusing to feed it further.
Now, without enough magic to sustain them, the pair of stars lost their bright glow that pierced through the night. One of them blinked out completely, the other dimming drastically. The remaining sister would pay no heed to her companion's death, however, continuing to dance its solo performance in the skies.
As if the death of the lone star was the signal she'd been waiting for, Celestia broke her gaze from it. She trotted to the edge of the room, opened the door, and stepped through. "Goodbye," she whispered, to no one in particular.
Before she shut the door and trotted to her chambers to fall asleep in her bed, Celestia would spare one last, wanting glance back at the empty bed in the empty room.
But not for long.
The End
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Very Good!!!!
And the dagger has dug itself deep in my heart. I know not whether my eyes shed blood or tears, only that I'm left without words to speak. The story? Short, concise, but very impacting. Well done, and I now take my leave for the time being.
...Maybe we'll see a sequel? Who knows...
Side note: This is the only song that comes to my mind at the end:
Truly a wonderful story, hit me right in the feels, and it had a wonderful message as well for life to move forward rather than keep it chained to the past.
So yeah good job
This was beautiful. I can totally relate to Celestia right now, except the self-blame, since I lost my brother and I felt so helpless. Twilight's words are more than true and are to be followed after a time of grief. This story in itself was a huge, touching lesson that is oh so common. Beautiful and awesome job.
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That's all that I can say.
This nearly put me in tears.
Not a half bad ending, man.
Nicely done with the verbal attack on Celestia... But, I think you might have been able to draw it out further.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Luna's death?
Not big surprise
Goodbye, New Lunar Empire!
wahh! LUNA!
3370159
I...
Highly, highly, doubt that is the reason.
~Skeeter The Lirker
wonderfl story I love how you portrayed discord remnded me so much of Q
Bravo.
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That is all.
It's so sadddddddddddddddddddd
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There are 2 reason why I'm NOT going to read this.
1: While I am sure that is is a wonderful short story (anything under 40,000 words to me is short), especially going by the comments left for it, I have been reading far too many sad and dark stories lately (not necessarily the two mixed together) and it's starting to make me depressed.
2: Luna is best pony in my eyes (no need to get on a fight about it here -_-), and anything concerning her demise I can't bring myself to read or else I'll end up being unable the sleep.
So yes. Not really sure WHY I bothered to post this comment here instead of just ignoring the story (may be just one of those long nights for me), but there you have it. *shrug*
3371369 Perfectly understandable reasons for not wanting to read it... although why you commented remains a mystery to the both of us. Carry on.
It was good
...The feels...
First, they groped my heart.
Then they tore it out of my chest.
Then I got a 502 Gateway Error, spoiling the mood.
But then the feels were back to groping my heart.
What arguably made this hit home for me was that we, the fans, actually tend to take the Princesses for granted. (Or that's just me.
)
Fanon depicts them both as immortal, nothing can touch them, and they can never die. The term 'goddess' generally comes up a lot.
Both are just elements we expect to... well, be there. In some form or fashion, at any rate.
To see one of them die... Not as a result of some epic battle, nor the result of some horrific spell, but simply because it was time...
...It kind of put things in perspective.
3371695 WHAT 502 Gateway error... Impossible... the only error i have ever gotten is 401: I'm a teapot (note this is an actual error, look it up)
3371725
(Not sure if serious...)
Not entirely sure what causes them, but I think 502 Gateway Errors are generally caused by a glitch or something in the site server, if not the request itself.
Refreshing did nothing to the error, but backing up a page and opening the following one in a new tab fixed it.
If I recall right, FIMFiction used to have a ton of problems with these, to the extent that the folks in charge actually changed the site's main banner so it read "502FICTION".
My mama died within the past six months......
WHY must I torment myself with fics like this!?
Beautiful. The verbal attack on Celestia was in fact, a bit cheap (You said that yourself in Twilight's thoughts). I mean in terms of execution. You write so wonderfully and thoughtful (the chapter with Discord proved that) that it felt a bit weak compared to the rest of the story.
At first I was afraid this is gonna go full self-pity but you did great! I love the morals you have depicted here. Something that way too many people forget far too often. It's such a short fic, but it doesn't feel rushed despite it being a delicate topic.
Have a like, fave and a new subscriber!
Edit: I am not sure, but is this story allowed to be rated "everyone"? It's about the recent death of someone, so shouldn't it be "teen"? Not that just someone died, happens in a lot of disney movies as well, but this whole story revolves around Luna's death so I'm just asking.
Even Twi knows.
Great story, really touching short.
3371593 Why is this thumbs down?
Amazing, with so much emotion
'Nough said
3372744
I suspect that there's a hater among us.
3371750 I am completely serious about the 401 error but not about never getting a 502 gateway error
3369819 This probably won't be getting a sequel; I've already started out from only having the first chapter to adding the subsequent character development dialogue sets and changing the ending slightly, and I actually think it would take away something unique from this three-part short story if I were to add more to it. I like how the ending stands right now, between some form of open endedness and closure. Nonetheless, there are always more stories to write up there in my head! (Now if only I could actually get them out of there and onto paper more often.)
3372052 I think the rating "Everyone" is reasonable to a very flexible degree. Of course, everyone is entitled to their childhood innocence and ignorance, and I would never do anything to intentionally jeopardize that. So, anything that I write that has extensive trauma, gore, and/or sexual content (which probably isn't happening anytime soon) will be tagged with either teen or mature. However, the general main theme of this story was loss, and how to deal with it. Although death is a more extreme form of loss that children shouldn't have to experience, most if not all children have dealt with loss in their lives, and a lot of them are way more mature than we give them credit for. While I may be pushing it a little, I think that it's never too early to learn to or think of dealing with problems that life throws at you.
Thank you both for your input, I'm glad I was able to do justice to what I first envisioned.
3373886
At least you can get them out... I have dozens that never get written.
3373600
Likewise, I've gotten 502 errors plenty of times. But never have I seen "Error 401: I'm a teapot".
This was not bad. Some good emotion, yet it wasn't overwhelming.
I did find errors though: your story's tags. You need to remove the "Tragedy" tag and the Nightmare Moon character tag. The "Tragedy" tag is intended for stories that have a "downer" ending, and this is not a downer ending; it's kinda bittersweet. Just use the "Sad" tag only. You also have Nightmare Moon listed as a character, but she doesn't actually make an appearance-- she's only mentioned a few times.
3376163 I still consider this to be a tragedy. Even though the characters have accepted Luna's passing and are starting to come to terms with it, it still leaves off with a bittersweet ending, which still constitutes as tragedy. I guess that would depend on who you ask, though.
I agree with you about the NMM tag, though. I'll just go ahead and take that off.
This was beautiful.
"Why create, when it will only be destroyed? Why cling to life, knowing that you have to die?"
-Kefka
Yes, this was interesting. I still love your scene with Discord.
*sniff sniff*
This was amazing, emotional, sweet, sad, insightful, annoying, creative, destructive and most of all; memorable. Thank you,
Sincerely,
Soulyman
Hhnnnnnnnnffff.
The tears. Oh god the tears.
This was beautiful, touching, feels-provoking... I just. *sob* hnnnnf
Thank you for this.
3387213 i got the book the elements of harmony from a book store. it was the official guide for the series. Lauren Faust said that the original name for nmm was discord, but because kids wouldn't know why, they changed it. In the return of harmony part one, they had time to explain what it meant.
Also, in the first episode, the elements of harmony were referred to the elements of friendship and Zecora appeared, but both were cut out for time.
you are now 20% smarter
Wow, this was so so so so soooo sad! I think I cried all through chapters 1 and 3. 2 was definitely my favorite, Discords dialog was just a treat to read. The whole theme regarding change was so true and one we all must come to terms with. Amazing job!
3373886 What would the sequel be called anyway? Luna's still dead? Pushing daisies? Night of the Still Dead? Zombie Luna Rapes Equestria? Ooo! Cyberzombie Princess Luna versus Queen Chrysalis in Battle of the Bands!
As for me...meh. Never got gripped by the story and drawn in. All those poignant moments just sort of bounced off. As it is, I found a few things that were actually kind of annoying. For one, Luna's death. It stinks of the dread plot convenience virus, an illness so lethal it directly targets characters to advance the plot. Why is Luna dying? We never really get a good answer. I mean Luna waxes on philosophical for so long any actual answer was swallowed up. Why's she dead? Because there wouldn't be a story otherwise. There's the answer. I mean "she's fulfilled her purpose" is not an adequate reason.
One of the other things that was kind of annoying was how Luna was given credit for other characters actions, like Celestia's freeing Discord. Nope it wasn't her doing it because she's a legitimately nice pony, no it was at the will of her sister who's the real nice pony. Celestia just thought he was a monster not worth giving a second chance to...Oh wait she give her sister, the would be world-murderer, another chance. Then we actually get a few lines about how wise Luna was and that Celestia asked her about everything despite us never being shown this.
Over all, just didn't cut it for me which is perfectly fine. I'm not an immensely emotional person so fics targeted at people's feels lose a lot of impact.
3605249 As far as titles for sequels that I've already said I'm not going to write go, "Luna's still dead" is a pretty funny one. However, while I apologize for sounding boastful and arrogant, I don't really agree with the some of the other things you've said.
The reason for Luna's death is in fact, arbitrary. You finding that the complete fulfillment of her purpose to be an inadequate reason for her death could lie in the fact that you are focusing on plot in a story that focuses instead on character development. I could have created a 100 thousand word epic in which Celestia and Discord have a child, the child grows up, and war breaks off in a distant land where said child is sent off to battle and slain. I didn't need Luna; that could also have evoked the same scenarios I wrote. However, I chose a more convenient plot device to suit my purposes. You speak of plot convenience as a bad thing, but used correctly, I believe it can be a balanced mix of brevity and impact.
I let Luna take the credit for Discord's freedom, once again, for character development. Consider what would have happened if I let Celestia take credit. We wouldn't really get much out of that other than the fact that Celestia was being either nice or naive. But the other way around, it strengthens the bond that I was already trying to develop between Discord and Luna, while revealing that Celestia had more flaws than some would expect; another point for character development.
In the show, Celestia banished Nightmare Moon without another thought; she only welcomed Luna back after Nightmare Moon was defeated and Luna showed signs of remorse at her actions.
I don't really see anything wrong with this, except conflicting headcanon between us, perhaps. We aren't shown much about Luna in the first place. That's what gives us the freedom to envision her fitting a diverse range of personalities and characteristics. The fact that I never mentioned it either until one line in the second chapter isn't an issue to me, either. It's just introducing a new aspect of Luna, to try and make her slightly more fleshed out of a character, even in death.
Meh
3685673 Lauren said in a q&a how originally NMM would be named Discord, but since it was a show for little kids, they wouldn't understand that, so they renamed her to something more fitting. they then named Discord Discord and had the time to explain what discord was at the very start so they would understand better.
It isn't easy, and it's usually painful, but we all must move on. As cliche with a side of cheese as this sounds, the memories we have of those we lost along the way, are what truly keep them alive.
Found a really fitting song left in the story of another loss of Luna fanfic. Seems pretty damn fitting here too. Until our paths cross again.
6173642 i have to say that i understand where Celestia is coming from with what she does, she was still in the DENIAL phase, and as for the lack of mourning I belive that this song answers why,the song