Past Conditional: More Speedfics and Drabbles by Present Perfect

by PresentPerfect

And in the End, Should Someone Die?

And in the End, Should Someone Die?
by Present Perfect

Ambergris, majordomo of Canterlot Castle, knew something was wrong when the sun started to descend a little past two in the afternoon.

The Duke and Duchess of Maretonia had just concluded a short court appearance, congratulating Princess Twilight on the eighty-ninth anniversary of her ascension to Equestria's throne. Ambergris had been going over his notes on the next supplicant when the impromptu sunset caught his attention through the throne room's stained glass windows. Being a dragon, he had never understood to an extent beyond the conceptual what ponies meant when they said something made their blood ran cold.

When the next thing he became aware of was a guard saying, "Princess? Princess!" he thought that maybe, he did understand.

"What is it?" he cried, head snapping up.

Princess Twilight, tall and resplendent in her royal accoutrements, sat on the sole throne in the room. Though normally she towered at least a head over most other creatures, her head was at that moment slumped, as though she had fallen asleep with no preamble. Ambergris could swear color was draining from the purple stripes in her hair as he watched.

"She..." The guard, a unicorn, swallowed, his magic pressed up against the Princess's neck. "She's dead."

Those last two words had come out in a shocked whisper, yet somehow they had filled the entire room. As they reverberated off the ceiling and the other guards and attendants froze, a confused and terrified murmuration arose from just outside the doors. The guards stationed by the doors began to close them unbidden, and only stopped when Ambergris shot out a claw to point at them.

"Stop!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "Leave those doors open!" Whatever was happening, the ponies who had come here deserved to witness it first-hoof.

The door guards shook themselves, opening the doors back up, bewilderment written plain across their faces. Ambergris leapt into the air and flew the short distance to the throne, not trusting his legs to move him. The guard who had first called the alarm, Corner Pocket, stared at the Princess, completely frozen. Muscling him out of the way, Ambergris placed his claw against the Princess's throat.

"Princess Twilight?" he croaked, but it was needless. The guard's words were true. The Princess sat motionless, her body already cooling as the color drained from her hair.

Once, when he had been a reckless whelp, Ambergris had been convinced by a group of friends to eat lava that was cooling. It had formed a solid ball in his stomach, which sat there for days, making him feel sluggish and tamping down his ability to breathe fire. It had taken eating lava hot enough to burn his tongue to undo the damage the prank had caused.

As he turned from the throne, that familiar weight settled once again in his belly. Below and before him, dozens of ponies watched with eyes that were already tear-stained, begging him to speak, to say anything that would put the lie to the guard's words.

Drawing himself up, he spoke in a loud, resounding voice. "My fellow Eq--"

The words broke off in his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to stoke his own fire against the lead weight in his stomach, that he might burn brightly for those who depended on him. When he spoke again, it was in a soft tone not much higher than a whisper.

"My fellow Equestrians, this is a sad day indeed. Princess Twilight Sparkle, Mistress of the Sun and Moon, Keeper of Magic, Head of the Friendship Council, beloved ruler of Equestria... is dead."

A pained moan rose from below. "What do we do?" came a plaintive cry. The sounds of sobbing and stricken wails floated up to the dais.

Ambergris stood there for a long time, just watching the other creatures around him weep and mourn their lost regent. Hot tears slid down the soft scales of his cheeks, and it was all he could do to simply stand. In time, a fire ignited in the pit of his stomach, and he spoke, knowing the room's acoustics would carry his words for him.

"Needless to say, court will be cancelled for the foreseeable future." He swallowed. "Soy Latte, start compiling an official report for the papers. Someone get a doctor in here so we can determine a cause. Get Luster Dawn. Milquetoast, get on the direct line to the Crystal Empire, let them know. And someone e--" His throat closed, and he had to take a moment to squeeze his eyes shut and let the tears fall. "Someone else contact Silver Shoals. Tell them 'Morpheus Protocol' is initiated."

He had no idea what that particular phrase meant, exactly. It had been inherited along with the job title, and he had neither questioned its purpose nor assumed it would ever be necessary. She was an alicorn! She raised the moon and sun! Did that not make her immortal?

There was a sudden clamor at the throne room doors, and the guards were startled out of their sorrow by an earth pony runner shouting, "Grave news, Your Highness!"

Ambergris recognized him as an up and coming courtesan named Frescoe.

"I bring word from Ponyville that Councillor Applejack has... What's going on here?"

Ambergris stepped in front of the Princess, spreading his wings. "Councillor Applejack has what?"

Frescoe swallowed. "She... she has passed away, sir. Surrounded by family in Ponyville. The Council of Friendship is no more."

Bowing his head, Ambergris loosed a sigh and stepped away from the throne. "I am afraid the news is even more dire."

Frescoe let out a shocked gasp. His eyes filled with tears as he looked from Ambergris to the others in the room. "The... the Princess? But the Council is gone! Who will rule Equestria?"

For a long time, no one had any answers beyond weeping openly for what had been lost. No one, that is, until a mellifluous voice materialized from a side entrance.

"I believe that sad duty must fall yet again to us."

The guards, to their credit, were immediately alert and ready to face any intruders despite their own sorrows, none of which they held back. Entering the throne room were a pink-haired white pegasus and a shorter, blue-on-blue unicorn, both mares. Though unassuming, each of them exuded a strange power, an inner peace that kept the guards and Ambergris himself from the attack.

"Who are you?" he asked, at a loss for grander words. "How did you get here?"

Both mares tossed their heads, and their outlines shimmered in a way that forced all within the throne room to shield their eyes, lest they grow nauseous. When they looked back, the pair had become tall alicorns, one blue, one white, both with ethereal manes of a sort to match that of Princess Twilight, save that theirs flowed in unseen winds while hers was still.

"Have we been so soon forgotten?" asked the blue one, a hint of affront in her voice.

"You..." Numbness overtook Ambergris, and it was all he could do to remain upright. "You are Celestia and Luna, are you not?"

"We are," said Celestia, smiling sadly at him. "The Morpheus Protocol was meant to be fast-acting. I'm afraid your messenger will find Silver Shoals absent their intended target."

Her eyes glanced past him, and her face crumpled, reflecting a sadness whose profundity engulfed that of the others in the room. "May I see her?" she murmured.

He stepped aside, unwilling to stop her. She moved to Princess Twilight's side, whispered something to her, and sat next to the throne, one hoof against the Princess's unmoving chest.

"Leave them space," said Luna, drawing Ambergris off the dais. "I assume you have questions."

"I... Yes!" He turned to her, an indescribable mix of emotions roiling in his chest like dragonfire. "How did this happen? How could she just... die?"

Luna frowned softly, and her eyes roamed over him for a few moments.

"It was said," she began in a soft, slow tone, "that Twilight Sparkle would not outlive her friends. That neither would she nor could she live without them. When we installed her on the throne, my sister and I had hoped those words would be conjecture, and not prophecy. But... here we are."

Ambergris nodded. "We received word before you arrived that Councillor Applejack had passed away also."

A long sigh escaped Luna's lips, and as her form deflated ever so slightly, Ambergris became aware of just what it meant to be immortal. If the stories about these two alicorns were true, then their lives had been a never-ending series of memorials.

"Then it was prophecy indeed," said Luna with a note of finality. "Our optimism was misplaced. Not that Twilight Sparkle's rule brought anything but a time of peace and prosperity for Equestria. It was no mistake to appoint her, and the world has lost something truly wonderful this day. But it was inevitable, as in all things. You might say she died of a broken heart."

Ambergris watched her for a long moment, saying nothing. It was Luna who spoke next.

"The transfer of power will be an upheaval, but I have lived through Equestria forgetting me once. On this day, let us think not of the future, but of those we have lost."

She placed an arm around his shoulders, and they watched Celestia weep.

Author's Note:

Well, that was considerably harder to write than I thought it would be. But there you go, reconciliation of the series finale and Word of McCarthy, now stop complaining. Points if you get the title reference.

Comments

[kits]

9909900
Then explain Pinkie Pie.

[B_Munro]

In this kind of interpretation, I always imagined Twilight dying battling some unspeakable monster or something of the sort before her friends die of old age.

And you'll make no friends referencing that movie.

[PresentPerfect]

9909902
She's the outlier, you can't use her to prove or disprove anything.

9909965
What? It's a great movie! D:

[FanOfMostEverything]

Needless to say, I prefer my approach to that particular prophecy. Still, this is certainly a valid interpretation.

Also, I'm still trying to get over someone naming a dragon after whale barf.

[PresentPerfect]

9910675
The name stuck. XD What approach was yours?

[FanOfMostEverything]

9911333

The name stuck.

"What's this smelly crap stuck to this egg?"
"Whale ate it."
"A whale ate it?"
"Yup. Then I ate the whale."
"Great, I completely forgot the name for the whelp."
"Pony wanted to by the whale goo."
"You're kidding."
"Says it's a great base for perfumes."
"You're kidding."

(Also, Momento Morient. tl;dr death doesn't get involved.)

[PresentPerfect]

9911535
Ahhh. I will be reading that eventually! :B