Borrowed Time

by Mr Onyx

Borrowed Time

For one mare, the day starts off with the same routine that she has kept for as long as she can remember. She is up before the sun for a quick bit of breakfast in the main dining hall; two pieces of toast with a layer of honey topped with toasted sunflower seeds and a side of juice; a mixture of apple and orange squeezed a few minutes before it is placed in front of her by one of the many servants in her employ. Her younger sister enters, eyes heavy with need of sleep having stayed up the entire night as is her duty, and requests her usual cup of soothing tea from one of the nearest servants. The two sisters sit and chat as they do every day at this time to go over any events of significance that might have transpired during the night and what plans the elder sister has for the day. In a short time the elder sister’s breakfast is finished as is the younger sister’s tea and the dishes are quickly bussed away by the serving staff. With a loving hug the sisters take their leave of each other, the younger to her bed chambers, her nightly duties at an end, and the elder to the highest balcony of her castle home to raise the sun and begin the day for the entire world that still sleeps.

Her first task of the new day complete, Celestia makes her way down several flights of stairs to her office where she seats herself on the small pile of soft pillows behind her desk. She begins to sort through the papers that neatly lay before her when she comes across a note she had left for herself the day before, a reminder of a meeting she has arranged for late that afternoon. Her ears begin to droop and her face takes on a solemn expression as her mind begins to fill with thoughts of the meeting. A middle aged unicorn stallion enters through the open doors of Celestia’s office; his horn aglow as he brings with him a small collection of envelops and parchment scrolls, the days mail. He greets the Princess with a bow and waits for her to address him. The princess shakes her head to try to chase away the cacophony of thoughts and emotions that have filled her mind; for now she must focus on her other tasks of the day. She greets the patient stallion with a nod of her head and kind words of good morning and asks him what has arrived for her. He neatly places the correspondences on her desk and answers that a letter from the ruler of the Griffon Empire has arrived along with the monthly status reports detailing the various goings on within her own domain, nothing unusual. Thoughts of the note and the task she must handle at her afternoon appointment begin to creep back into her mind and once more her face becomes solemn. The stallion stands in place and patiently awaits his dismissal. As he waits he takes notice of Celestia’s unfocused eyes and grave expression and wonders just what has the normally attentive princess so distracted. Before he can speculate any further, she shakes her head again and her attention returns to her office. With another nod of her head and some more kind words she dismisses the stallion; he bows once more and slowly backs out of her office turning away only after he has passed through the office doors.

The morning progresses, and in short order Celestia has read the letter from the Griffon ruler, prepared a response, and begun to read through the reports brought to her taking notes as she goes. However, as time goes on, it becomes difficult to focus; thoughts of her arrangement for the late afternoon continuously intrude her mind and she often checks the ticking grandfather clock that sits in a corner behind her. Celestia shifts uncomfortably on the soft pillows beneath her as the late morning sun peeks in through the east facing window; she turns her head to face it and, with a brief glowing of her horn, draws the curtains casting the room in shadow. Shortly afterwards, the clock sounds at the arrival of the middle of the day and, unable to tolerate sitting any longer, Celestia stands and proceeds to exit her office. The stallion from earlier in the morning approaches and, with yet another bow, greets the princess. She immediately dismisses him stating that she has no desire for an afternoon meal. The stallion bows again and turns to leave wondering, once more, just what might be on her mind. For the next couple of hours Celestia wanders about the sunlit hallways of her castle nodding half-heartedly to any of her staff and guards she should come across as they greet her with a bow. Eventually she finds herself wandering out through the main entrance of the castle and into the bright sunlight that shines upon the castle grounds. She begins to follow the cobblestone path that leads around the side and towards the back garden of the castle greeting the bowing grounds keeper with a half-hearted nod. As she walks the clopping of her own hooves joins the noise of thoughts that fill her head and apprehension is clearly visible on her face.

As if a great testament to the power and love the Equestrian ruler, the bright sun shines down on the grounds, gently warming Princess Celestia’s coat, as a gentle breeze blows through her mane. The air smells of freshly cut grass and flower blossoms. The singing and chirping of birds can be heard from within the leaves of the nearby trees and bushes along with the chattering of squirrels as they frolic about in the grass and among the tree limbs. A few clouds dot the sky above casting cool shadows upon the green grass. Peace, harmony, and happiness surround Celestia, but she can only let out a sigh and stare off into the open sky as she walks along the cobblestone path towards the center of the garden. She pauses near a large oak tree which sits by the edge of the cobblestone circle that occupies the heart of the garden. The fullness of her mind makes her feel heavy and tired as she leans against the tree for support, feeling its rough bark against her soft coat and skin. On most days, when she feels the full weight of her position, she will walk out into this garden and enjoy the simple pleasure of basking in the warmth of the day, but today was not most days.

For today, a task lay before Celestia and it weighs heavy on her mind. A task she knew she would have to face for the second time and she knew it had to be soon now that her most dear student has begun to realize her destiny; she hopes that it will be easier the second time. She sighs again, shifts her weight uneasily against the tree, and hangs her head to look down at the green grass of the castle grounds. She is lost in her thoughts when she notices the clopping of hooves on the cobblestone walk approach her from behind; she realizes her guest has arrived.

“Good afternoon Princess Celestia,” comes a voice from behind her, one she recognizes without a moment of thought.

“Good afternoon, I was just thinking of you…” Celestia responds as she raises her head and turns around to face the voices owner, “Princess Twilight.”

Twilight approaches Celestia at a slow pace, taking in her surroundings and enjoying the chance to meet with her former mentor, outside, on such a perfect day.

“And simply calling me by my name shall do just fine.” Celestia says with a smile “Or would you prefer I continue to refer to you by your title as well?”

With a small laugh and a large smile Twilight responds to Celestia’s jest “Oh I know, but you were my teacher and mentor for so long; to me you will always be Princess Celestia, and I your always faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight extends her wings to their fullest and arches her back a bit allowing a small relaxed groan to escape her lips as she stretches in the warm sun. “It is a beautiful day today,” she comments.

After a moment’s hesitation Celestia responds “Yes, it certainly is.”

“Princess, is everything alright? You sound rather sad?” inquires the young mare.

“Yes, everything is fine; I just have a lot on my mind. Royal duties and all,” Celestia answers making the last part sound a little too cheerful.

“Princess, I know I do not yet have your years of wisdom, but if there is anything I can do to help.”

Celestia sighs and responds “There is nothing you can do Twilight; there is something that I have to explain to you,” she pauses for a moment and then continues, “and I think it best if we take care of it now,” and with that she extends her wings and takes flight.

Twilight dutifully follows her former mentor, unsure of what to expect. Celestia’s horn begins to glow and a bubble of light begins to envelop her and Twilight who follows close behind. Higher and higher the pair climb into the sky past the top of Canterlot castle, past the clouds that cast shadows on the ground below, higher than any pegasus normally flies as Celestia’s horn glows brighter and brighter. There is a sudden flash from Celestia’s horn that blinds Twilight for a brief moment. As her vision clears she begins to take in her surroundings. She feels weightless and everything is quiet, ever so quiet. It is as dark as night during a new moon; the only light comes from the countless stars that surround her. She looks below and sees the entirety of the world; a giant rotating orb of blue oceans, brown earth, high mountains with white peaks, and white swirling clouds sitting somewhere in between her and the ground below. It’s quite beautiful Twilight thinks to herself.

Twilight looks up and turns her head in every direction, searching for Celestia. When she finds her floating peacefully nearby she speaks, “Princess are we where I think we are?”

“In the heavens high above Equestria and the rest of the world, yes Twilight,” Celestia answers.

“Wow, I’ve never dreamed this was possible.” Twilight says in awe.

“Tell me Twilight, what do you notice about where we are?” Celestia asks.

“What do you mean Princess?” Twilight says, her face portraying her confusion.

“Look around, what is missing?”

Twilight looks in every direction trying to take in every aspect of her new surroundings.

“I’m sorry Princess but I don’t know. Nothing seems out of place to me.”

“Are you sure Twilight? Tell me, what was the last thing you said to me before we left? Do you recall?”

“Of course,” Twilight answers feeling prideful, “I said ‘It’s a beautiful day…’” she says trailing off for a moment as an expression of realization slowly takes hold of her face.

“THE SUN!!” Twilight exclaims turning to face Celestia, her mind running wild with questions, “Where is the sun, and the moon too? Princess Celestia, where are they? Why can’t I see them? What… ”

“They do not exist my dear Twilight,” says Celestia coldly cutting Twilight off. “They have not for a long, long time; thousands of years in fact.”

“What? How is that possible? Your raise the sun every day; I’ve seen you do it with my own eyes. How can you tell…?” Twilight goes silent as Celestia raises a hoof.

Celestia gives a heavy sigh and stares at the planet below; her task was not getting any easier. “The world once had a sun and a moon as well. Luna and I have seen them both with our own eyes. Except, when I saw the sun it was much larger than what you have seen and it was red; it bathed the world in red light and when night came even the moon had a red glow. It was quite a sight.”

“Red light?” Twilight echoes Celestia with an inquisitive tone.

Celestia turns her head to stare off into the depths of space as old memories play out in her mind. “Then one day it was gone, and nopony knew why or how. In the days prior it had grown larger, brighter, redder, and then the world shook; it was as if something in space had grabbed hold of the planet and flailed it around casting off the moon.”

“Look there Twilight, do you know what that is?” Celestia says gesturing with her hoof. Twilight follows her gesture and for a moment she stares off into space trying to discern what it was that Celestia wants her to see. Without warning she gasps and her head snaps back to Celestia who confirms with a nod that what she sees is exactly what she believes it to be.

“We looked up into the sky and saw only the stars at first; according to the clocks more than a day had gone by and in that time the sun had not reappeared and all we could see were the stars. Then we noticed it; a large dark spot where the sun had once been. It followed the sun’s path during what should have been the day, but it gave off no light; it was just a black, empty, nothingness unlike anything seen before. It was hard to discern against the darkness of space at first, but we saw it by the second day and we knew the sun would not return.” Celestia gives a pause as she carefully contemplates her next words.

“It was already growing cold; frost had begun to appear in areas that had once been the warmest climates. It had only been four days but we were sure it would not be long before everything was ice.” She shuts her eyes tightly as waves of long suppressed memories wash over her.

“So what did you do Princess?” Twilight asks almost absent mindedly, her eyes never leaving the site that lay before her.
Celestia’s voice trembles as she continues her story “When the sun vanished Luna and I were already well known throughout the world as the rulers of Equestria as was our power. We gathered the most brilliant magical minds of the time, from all the various nations of the world. We came up with a spell, and utilizing the Elements of Harmony, we created a false sun to warm the world and provide light to its creatures, and a false moon to light the night and control the tides.”

Twilight listens intently to Celestia’s story, but she remains unable to remove her eyes from the black nothingness before her. She can easily recall every one of the dozens of books she has ever read detailing the countless theories about the nature of these dark phenomena. It has an almost beautifully hypnotic effect; from such a distance it looks almost peaceful, but it’s not. It is an empty nothingness of infinite mass that exhibits forces so great that anything caught in its pull is hopelessly doomed to be drawn in and trapped for all eternity in its center. It is an all-consuming thing; light, time, and magic are all devoured by the hungry void as it drifts through the universe a stark contrast to the many shinning and beautiful stars. If you were to stare at it for too long it might consume you as well; reaching into your head and drawing out your mind, your very soul, into its ever open maw. It is the embodiment of all things hopeless, all things consumed, all things to end. She can only stare and be thankful that her home seems to reside in perpetual orbit around it; forever bound by its forces, forever sitting on the brink of being dragged in by its ever present hunger. Celestia gently brushes up against Twilight snapping her out of her trance before she continues with her tale.

“I took control over the false sun, and for centuries used it to bring light and warmth to the creatures of our world so that they might live and thrive.”

Celestia maneuvers herself so that she begins to drift back towards the ground which lies so many miles below and her horn begins to glow once more. Twilight follows at her side still listening intently to her tale trying to not to allow her eyes to wander back to the hungry void.

“We never told anypony what happened; never told them that the sun had died and just how close we all came to our end as well. We wanted everypony to feel safe and happy and, in time, what had happened was forgotten.” Celestia says as she and Twilight continue their decent through the atmosphere.

Twilight’s ever expressive face becomes blank, portraying no emotion, unsure of how she should feel and in complete awe of everything that has transpired thus far.

“There was no need for them to know; after all the false sun and moon would last forever, or so we thought.” With a bright flash Twilight and Celestia return to the skies above Canterlot and begin a slow decent back towards the castle.

“Or so you thought?” questions Twilight, her wings gently flapping to keep the same slow pace as Celestia as an expression of apprehension and dread claims control of her face.

“Yes, for at the time, we believed that magic was infinite, but it’s not.”

Celestia and Twilight touch down in the garden from which they departed earlier.

“But how can that be?” Twilight asks, anxiously folding her wings and waiting for an answer.

“Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, plants, animals, all living things produce magic and the world is filled with it. But every time a pegasus takes flight, or a unicorn casts a spell, every time I raise sun or Luna raises the moon, every time a young foal earns his or her cutie mark some of that magic is used up and it is gone forever. The world uses more magic than is produced on a daily basis.” Celestia pauses for a moment to allow Twilight to regain her composure.

A feeling of angst and despair has begun to manifests itself deep within Twilight and she has begun to shake and quiver. Once Twilight has steadied herself Celestia begins a slow walk towards the very center of the castle’s back garden with Twilight following behind her full attention on Celestia.

Celestia continues, “I have peered into the future and I have seen the day when the illusion my sister and I have created will flicker and fade because there is no more magic to sustain it.”

“When will that be? How long do we have? Can we ration the use of magic and strike a balance? I’m sure some of the other nations won’t want to but once you explain to them I’m sure they…”

“There is nothing we can do Twilight; the world cannot survive without using magic as it does,” Celestia interrupts. “And as for when, I cannot say for sure; future sight is not an exact magic, but I do know this; it will not be until long after we are gone.”

“We are gone? What do you mean Princess?”

“My sister and I are not eternal; neither are you and Cadence.”

“S-so you mean…”

“Yes Twilight, we too shall someday die. That is your and Cadence’s true destiny. To take the place of Luna and myself as rulers of Equestria and guardians of day and night once Luna and I have aged.”

“Princess, I…I don’t think…” Twilight says, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.

“One day you too will have grown old and weak, and so you must name a successor to take your place, and so the cycle will go. Two shall guard the sun and moon until time takes their strength and then two more shall take their place; until the day comes when the magic is gone, the sky fades, and everything ends.” Celestia hangs her head as she finishes her story, her eyes tightly shut as she tries to hold back tears. Her task has been completed and it was indeed no easier the second time than it was the first.

Twilight stands on the cobblestone circle in the garden her legs feeling weak and trembling, mouth slightly a jar, eyes firmly shut, tears running down her face, aghast at what she has just heard. Feelings of hopelessness and despair wash over her as she tries to comprehend the entirety of the situation. To know that her world is doomed and that she can only offer a few thousand more years of ignorant bliss before its eventual and slow death. It is as if all the troubles she has faced, all the moments of happiness she has ever experienced, all the trials she has overcome, and all the moments of joy she has given unto others in her short life have been completely in vain. She tries with all her might not to sob but fails.
“I am sorry to have to put such a burden on you my dear Twilight Sparkle. To place such weight on your mind, but I can think of none better than you to accept such responsibility.” Celestia utters as a few tears roll down her cheek, her attempts to hold them back completely hopeless.

As her whole world comes crashing down around her Twilight's legs finally give out, no longer able to support the weight within her mind, and she sobs uncontrollably. As if a great testament to the power and love the Equestrian ruler, the bright sun shines down on the castle grounds, gently warming Twilight’s coat, as a gentle breeze blows through her mane. The air smells of freshly cut grass and flower blossoms. The singing and chirping of birds can be heard from within the leaves of the nearby trees and bushes along with the chattering of squirrels as they frolic about in the grass and among the tree limbs. A few clouds dot the sky above casting cool shadows upon the green grass. Peace, harmony, and happiness surround Twilight, but she can only cry into the grass and wish she was never made a princess.