Interlude: Celestia’s thoughts
“And just so you know, it is really great to have you two back again.” Celestia told her sister and her friend as she departed their room, closing the door behind her. She didn’t actually expect the two to go to sleep after she left, not after overhearing their conversation back in Ponyville. Twilight needed answers and Luna needed to give them. Princess Celestia walked slowly back to the main hall, there was still work to be done, but she walked absorbed in her thoughts. When she heard Twilight asking why she couldn’t have someone to love as she and the guards packed the carriage, she knew that Luna would have to explain everything to her. She had deliberately pretended not to have heard it, Luna would tell Twilight in her own way, she didn’t need her sister there to help, or more likely, confuse things further.
Back before Luna’s imprisonment, Luna used to be much like Celestia. She would sit regally in her throne and perform her duties both professionally and elegantly. Over the years though, she seemed to have lost a lot of her maturity, acting more like a young adult than a semi-immortal princess. Celestia didn’t mind though, she could always tell she wasn’t the sort of pony to love working by the way her sister acted when she wasn’t around others, when it was just the two of them. Luna would always talk of fanciful things, of enjoying herself and having fun instead of working all night. As much as Celestia would have liked to have somepony that would share her workload with the same conviction as her, she knew that this was Luna’s nature, and nothing could change that, nor would she want to.
Celestia thought back several years prior, a blink of an eye to someone as old as her, yet those years were some of her favourites. Ever since she had seen the glow of magic burst through the windows at her testing centre, she knew that the unicorn responsible would be her protégée. She had spent the majority of Twilight’s life teaching her as best as she could, but she knew that a pony of Twilight’s power would always want more to learn, something that Celestia couldn’t give her. She held no regrets about giving her student over to her sister to continue her studies, there was truth in her words when she told the purple mare that she had graduated of sorts. If she had continued under Celestia tuition, she would never be sated, and Celestia had run out of things to teach her.
She had tried to trick herself that she could continue to teach Twilight by sending her to learn about friendship, but she was grasping at straws at what else Twilight could try and learn. After Twilight rescued Luna from her own mind though, she knew that there was nothing more to do, she would have to let Twilight go. She always tried to do what was best for Twilight, even going as far as to send her own sister away to Ponyville so Twilight could continue to live in proximity to her friends. That day broke her heart, but she knew it had to be done, like so many things in her life.
She cast her mind back to over a millennium ago. She remembered the dashing white stallion that stood so proud in court one day. She remembered how he kept glancing over to her, not with the fear/admiration that other ponies displayed when gazing upon her, he looked at her with something approaching longing. And she stared right back. But she couldn’t. She had promised herself all those years ago, when she and her sister had just started ruling, that she would do all in her power to protect her kingdom for as long as she could. This meant she had to keep her immortality, even if it meant distancing herself from everypony in a way that could never be redeemed.
She had perfected this art over her many years, learning how to keep herself at exactly the right distance from her emotions; having them far away enough so that they wouldn’t cloud her judgement, yet keep them near enough that she didn’t completely lose them, so that they could be called up again when needs be. Like when Twilight and Luna first admitted their companionship to Celestia at their meeting. At the time she felt nothing but happiness, she had had to abandon her student and her sister in favour of her work but if they now had each other, well it would be good for the both of them.
After Celestia had left to return to her duties however, she thought of the ramifications that both she and her sister were aware of. She thought of her sister and her best friend dying, leaving her alone with her kingdom. For the briefest of moments she had resented Twilight as she thought of her sister being taken away from her like this, but like almost all of her negative thoughts, she subdued it, willing it to never surface again. As much as she loved her sister, she loved Twilight too, in a sort of maternal way, she could never hate her, no matter what she did.
Celestia suddenly halted having almost crashed straight into one of the cooks that was carrying a tray of biscuits in the opposite direction. As soon as the cook realised who had almost walked into him, he bent into a practised bow, head lowered to the floor.
“Apologies princess, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” The cook said apologetically. Celestia gestured for him to rise.
“No, the fault is all mine, I mistakenly decided to walk along without focusing where I was going.” Celestia told the cook who rose and shook his head determinedly.
“No ma’am, I don’t think you could ever make a mistake.” The cook told her before giving another quick bow and side-stepping the princess.
‘I make them more than one might think.’ Celestia thought bitterly as she continued on her way to the hall.
Celestia thought back to Luna’s words back in their room, ‘Oh, and we just wanted to know whether it would be okay if Twilight worked with me in Night Court?’ It wasn’t the fact that Luna wanted Twilight to work with her at Night Court, that was actually pretty unsurprising in itself. It was the fact that Luna actually wanted to do Night Court. Celestia had thought that Luna would want to enjoy the mortal lifetime she held without the burden of helping rule a kingdom. She appeared to be mistaken though, and thinking back further, she realised why Luna wanted to help. She remembered how guilty Luna had felt over making Celestia do her work whilst she was living happily in Ponyville. But Celestia didn’t mind, she hadn’t even considered not accepting to do her work. However, as she thought about it now, it really matched Luna’s personality, she was always the sort of pony that hated burdening other ponies or going back on promises, she was a mare of her word. Celestia smiled at the thought, but it was tinged with sadness. She wanted Luna to enjoy her time but she knew that Luna would insist of working alongside her, and there was nought she could do.
She was certainly glad that they were back at Canterlot though, even if it was a guilty pleasure, she knew that she was taking them away from their friends and she felt massively remorseful about it. However, she had nopony else to enjoy herself with in the rare times that she could enjoy herself. Everypony she knew (and she knew a lot) couldn’t separate themselves of the thought of Princess Celestia being just that, a princess. Everyone was so formal, ponies just couldn’t relax in her presence. She knew this was just another burden of having to run a kingdom, but still her loneliness frustrated her to no end.
As Celestia neared the large oak double doors leading the main hall, the two guards on either side opened them for her, announcing her presence to the accumulated ponies in the hall. Celestia mentally sighed and walked herself to the throne, alone in the crowd.
Poor Celestia, once Luna's gone the only other immortal will be Discord.
Edit: Unless of course Twillight becomes immortal but I believe that idea was already shot down.
Wow.. just wow.. really amazing, makes me feel sad inside, happy at the same time for Luna and Twi but just.. all that sadness for Celestia.
Poor Celestia
I feel kinda sorry for Celestia, but I still want to know what will happen if Luna dies. Will Celestia be able to continue to raise the sun and moon for the rest of eternity, how will she deal with her only friend and her sisters death and what happens with Twilight's friends. So many questions I need closure. But I'm really enjoying this story cannot wait for the next chapter, good work with the quick updates.
1379352nope theirs still the elemental magic. i wonder what happens when they complete the circle, or disk?
1379352 really, elemental magic much? i wait to see how this plays out really. not arguing either way, i guess its a suspense to see what happens! also discord is not an alicorn. twilight dousnt have to become one to live forever. just some deity or something. also luna shares the life her lover has, if twilight lives forever, so will she again! i think it perfectly set up to either let them die happy or ascend happily together and is 50/50 at this point. unless i missed a journal entry saying otherwise~teehee! not to spoil anything, i have no clue what the author will do at this point, XD
Luna doesn't necessarily have to die early. All we know is that she and Twilight will die at the same time. After their magics were linked, who knows what will happen? You'd think something like linking magics together would throw an unknown variable into it. I shall remain patient, hopeful, and eager to see what happens next.
1380000 1379942 Sorry for this, but I really don't want people beig disillusioned about this. I'm not sure if I've actually explained this anywhere but each magic type is separate from each other. Twilight and Luna's unicorn magics are connected since that is what Twilight linked her frequency to. Also Immortality is done by the alicorn magic that Luna possesses, therefore their linked magic and the elemental magic can't do anything for immortality. Sorry if I dashed your hopes or anything but I don't like my readers getting the wrong ideas.
1380505
it does dash things and leave it with an underlay of bittersweetness that will happen unless some other variable occurs. I also congratulate you as you are only the second fic that truely makes me feel for celestia (not that there hasn't been others but they fall kinda flat)
1380505
There is only solution to this kind of dilemma! The kind that arises when you don't like the canon, or the fanfic, the Alternate Ending!
Who cares about disillusionment when you can alter the course of fictional history with a little bit of writing!
* Seriously, only half-joking there.
Also, unicorn magic vs alicorn magic? Sorry, what exactly is the point of the distinction? Oh, and I think dlazerous might have been proposing that the linking could alter both their lifespans, say shrinking the one drastically but increasing the other to some extent. (not necessarily forever but say increase 80 years to two centuries -- or whatever is convenient for the story).
We will curse you forever for depressing us if they both before Twilight's at least a hundred years old!
1380754
Which one would that be?
1380940 At the very end, if I remember, I will write you all an alternate ending for twilight and Luna both being immortal. Also the reason for the distinction between the two magics is because it is part of the main headcanon of everpony possessing some form of magic wether it be Pegasus magic, earth pony magic, unicorn magic, alicorn magic or elemental magic.
ya new chapter I kinda fell bad Celestia but I bet she will be happier now that there back
1380974 The only problem with that is that in the show the 'Alicorn magic' and the 'Unicorn magic' are explicitly made the same thing during the Hearth's Warming play, Unicorns just usually aren't strong enough to raise the sun/moon by themselves, they need a group. Therefore the reason that Luna/Celestia are so powerful is the fact that they also have the Pegasus and Earth Pony magics, with the addition of the elemental magic in the story, you could even make a point that the reason they are immortal is that they subconsciously or unconsciously also have elemental magic that they don't know how to access.
Here is one other thing I thought of -- Will Nightmare Moon be pissed off? I mean Nightmare Moon has been fighting for control of an immortal alicorn body. Now that body is mortal. NM would see this as about the worst thing that could possibly happen -- I mean what good is fighting for a body that will die from her point of view?
1382875
You bring up quite the point there... I sense a plot twist
On the other hand i call for MOAR i say.... MOAR
Thanks for the little interlude here, I know that some people had been getting most curious about how exactly Celestia was able to handle the fact that her sister was going to die in however many years (Don't think I've really seen anything established as far as lifespan, only what writers have thought up. I've seen them use anywhere from roughly 100 to 200+ depending on their opinions). Also, you show us just how hard it kind of is for her in other aspects as well, having to put on the facade of the regal princess for the sake of Equestria truly does keep one from pursuing other things of interest.
And glad to hear that you will possibly give us an alternate ending once you have decided to see this story to wherever it leads. I still disagree with your choice, but I do respect it. Good luck on getting out what you want for the next chapter, may your muse never shut up. And oh. I'm going to enjoy reading the user comments about "what you should do so that you can justify making Twilight immortal too!" Again, thanks for sharing this story with us.
1382344 And there unto comes the bane of all fanfic writers (save for AU), the dreaded canon change! Let me explain. I own a small leather book where I write down any story ideas that come to me and then develop them if I feel like it. The idea for Oldnew Luna and its key ideas were already written down by I think November 2011. This happens to be after Luna Eclipsed yet before Hearths warming eve. And by the time that episode came out I had completely forgotten about the story and it wasn't until I had written about half of Oldnew Luna that I remembered it. I didn't wantto say anything because I was lazy and I didn't want to seem an idiot, bt there you have it, I'm an idiot.
This chapter answers alot! I still don't see Celestia character fully made out. she has learned to control her emotion, yet she had allowed herself to become lonely over three years of Luna being gone. Either that bit does not add up or Celestia is not as good at keeping her emotion far away fro herself as she thinks she is. If i had to guess i would say the plot line was not fully thought out and it is a simple error to make. then again I'm not the author, so I can't be sure. the way i see it, there are those two options. of course they are just my speculations.
A. Celestia actually can't keep her emotions at bay as she thinks she can
B. She can, but for some reason didn't keep her emotions at bay when her sister moved out.
I might just be over analyzing this, but that's how you can tell i really like this fic. Because i care that much to look into it.
I hope I am not being rude. It's not that big a deal and a minor discrepancy. not that much above simple grammar mistakes. it just sorta happens. right? i mean its fanfiction, errors are allowed. (Don't be angry )
1380505
I will still hope that we get immortal twilight, because the fact that Luna will eventually have to die and celestia will have to be alone makes me sad, don't you think.
1384597
Hmm. Have you read End of Ponies?
I always thought that girls were weird for being able to feel contradictory feelings... I'm like that right now
1384625 I promised before that if I remember, at the end of the story, once the last chapter has been posted I will write and alternate ending for anyone who liked that option more. Oh, and no, while it would probably be less sad for Twilight and Luna to stay immortal, for Twilight I reckon it would be extremely sad to watch your friends and family grow old and die around you whilst you stay young.
1384597 I might go back and make this clearer but I think I stated somewhere in that chapter that she still has emotions, she just distances herself from them, so she could be lonely or sad but she wouldn't show it unless she wanted to.
1384660 no.....if it is sad then i probably will not
1385914 i get it, she only keeps them away when needed, so like if its only a little loneliness, she can handle it, so she does. or just hides them from others and not herself. again i was just over looking into it all.
1385239 Contradicting feelings are a good thing, it means you're considering both sides.
I do not like how this will end
static2.fjcdn.com/comments/quot+bf+for+best+friend+quot+why+would+you+do+_704731d00ebe21b40be33150870bda1b.jpg
1386990 Do you mean not liking it in terms of 'I hate the plot for this fic!' or do you mean something like 'Oh snap, bad things gonna go down here.'
1387148
1386035
Well that is too bad.
Because it has steampunk.
And guess who the main character is. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Scootaloo_lolface.png
Its also one of my favorite fics of all time, so just in case you want to.. here
oh and by the way its 500k words and not finished yet.
1388846 not my taste in literature. if you know any good romance i will take those more openly as suggestions, but please PM me. i don't want to fill up this comment section when its not about oldnew luna
1385914
I guess that's fine, as long as you build the story around both endings, so both will flow with alternate or not.
And personally, while it would really suck to live forever and see friends die around you, I would find it very cool to see things you could never imagine, and living forever isn't nearly as bad when you have the person you love the most right beside you forever as well.
1380505
You should let us get wrong ideas and let them flourish before using a new chapter to bash them all to pieces with a sudden revelation. It's much better that way.
1380505
Logic Fail: Luna's immortality coming from her Alicorn Magic and being separate from their linked Unicorn Magic precludes the linking providing Twilight with immortality, as stated. However that fact has no bearing what soever on the viability of attaining immortality through ancient, lost, Elemental Magic. Given that you as the author are creating this particular type of magic to suit your purposes it will do what, and only what, you wish. Therefore given your expressed intention of not having Luna's immortality restored through such methods the aforementioned Elemental Magic can not grant said immortality, separate though that is from the nature of Luna's Alicorn Immortality.
so just a quick question. how did celestial hear twilights question if as stated in the previous chapter she asked it over the mental link?