Flicker
Celestia tossed and turned once more. Maybe she'd adjust and be able to ease herself into slumber. Then again, the chances of that happening seemed rather slim, what with the thoughts plaguing her at this hour. Oh, little sister, why did it ever have to come to that?
A thousand years, and yet still she remembered it all so clearly...
Celestia gazed at the empty bed. It was hard to imagine only a week ago the filly she loved so much would have been lying peacefully in it. Glimmering moonlight streamed in through the window. She'd have to take care of that herself from now on... Well, no time to dwell. As much as she wished it wasn't, tomorrow was another day.
When she returned to her room, she was quite surprised to see Iris- Luna's maid- attending to her furnishings while humming a jolly little tune. "Well, what brings you here, dear?"
"Oh, Princess! You startled me... I- I hope you don't mind. I just felt so unfulfilled, with your sister gone, so I decided to polish up your quarters a little."
"No, I don't mind at all. But isn't Camilla in charge of this?"
"Yes. She told me a few days ago she caught a rather nasty cold."
"Ah. Why was I not informed?"
"She... told me you were, Your Majesty." Iris looked away uncomfortably.
Celestia observed her body language. No, she wasn't lying... was she? "Very well. Thank you, Iris. You may go." She eased herself into her bed and stared into the night.
"Princess, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but..." Iris sighed. "Well, I've noticed you seem a little distracted lately. And I know- we know what you've been through. Luna is in our hearts as well. Just yesterday I found myself going to make her bed and then... Then I realized she was gone. Lost to us."
The monarch turned to her. "Loss?" She shook her head. "Tell me, dearest Iris, what do you know about loss?" Iris shrank away. "What do you know about loss?" Celestia spat.
The caretaker left hurriedly and Celestia returned to her sister's piece de resistance. (You were always fond of your Prench, weren't you, Luna?) And the raiser of the sun buried her head in her front hooves and wept.
Now she was all too eager to do the same, but she knew she couldn't let herself. It was then that she had faltered, let the stark reality of her sister's fall overtake her. The feelings she accepted- even she was equine, after all, but she was a ruler, and how could she begin to take care of her subjects if all she thought of was how much she missed Luna?
That time had passed, however. Her servants had pulled her through, somehow even wiser than her, and yet she had been so glad when the Nightmare was defeated without her interference. Now her wish had been granted- the princess of the night was back. So why was she still unsatisfied?
Because she never felt as if she had atoned. Atoned for not being there when her sister's resentment was growing, atoned for being so selfish when the darkness that had swallowed her was banished. She had tried, but that required crossing the chasm that had separated them... and this was a chasm her wings could never hope to cross. There was a way, there had to be, but the best she could do was make Luna feel welcomed.
Celestia sighed and eased herself out of her bed- she often suspected it had been designed for two. A little stroll through the halls would at least give her other things to ponder...
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Wow.
And more latin. Well
What does Iris know about loss? What do you know about loss, Tia? Loss is the domain of the mortal. You can just seal yourself away, tell yourself you feel nothing until it becomes true. Eventually, even the immortal forget, and it will be safe to emerge from your shell. Even if you cut yourself off for centuries, what have you lost? A grain of sand in the ocean of time you have available; a cost insignificant beyond the power of conventional mathematics to express. Loss is only meaningful to the limited; you may be capable of feeling for longer, but you cannot feel as deeply. Luna may be irreplaceable, but to you she is unique in that regard. In eternity, what matter is the death of a mortal? No pony is superfluous to those who can have only a finite number before they too depart.
And what do I know about loss? Nothing? Everything? Less than you? More? I doubt any could truthfully claim to know for sure.
2007098 Don't listen to this guy; he just likes being a contrary know-it-all. I can see that the pain of loss is surely far greater when it is somepony you never expected to lose as long as you lived. None but you have ever had the luxury of a millennium of wondering why they didn't act sooner, while the situation could still be salvaged.