...And what do you see?
The moon was standing high above the skies in the magical land of Equestria. The winds blew their calm breezes through the uncountable leaves and branches of the trees of every forest. The sounds they created were both calm and harmonious while the big white orb in the skies continued to move slowly over. The stars shone as wonderful as ever as their light gave hope to many insecure ones. All while the mare of the night did her work with a loving smile on her face.
Life was good in the land, especially in the rustic town of Ponyville. A quiet, little town that edged to one of the lands most mysterious woods, the Everfree Forest. The ponies that lived within the borders of the quiet town were all as diverse as they possible could become. There were athletes, farmers, workers and so on. One only had to name it, and there would have been a pony in Ponyville who could be doing it. Not even the massive cities were used that amount of diversity.
Diverse, and yet the same. That would be the perfect description of the little town. A town that –under the light of moon– seemed to have been even more beautiful than it already was. None of its inhabitants ever complained about their lives. There were minor setbacks without a doubt for every pony, but never big enough to make a full complaint about.
Though time never stood still for any being. A fact that was certainly a truth for one gray coated, purple maned unicorn. A unicorn that had worked as hard as she could all her life. She even continued it far after her original retirement. The very name of either her or her boutique had grown into hearts of both commoners and high class ponies alike.
For she had managed to stay the humble tailor she always was though the years. Even though her name gained her fame. Both of the names of Carousel Boutique and Rarity stood equal to a craftmareship that was unmatched in all of the years that she had been working. But at the age of seventy-six was everything good enough for her. For the most part of her life had she worked her socks off. Which meant that it didn't came as a true surprise that she closed her boutique after nearly sixty years of working. The only setback was, there was nopony to follow her up in her crafts.
---
The aged unicorn found herself in a chair within the living room of the boutique. Her eyes fell shut and her breathing softened itself. The evening happened to be young, yet the mare needed her sleep more with every passing day. A quick little nap before she would go to bed had become a standard.
Life had been amazingly kind against her over its cause. Rarity had become a well-known tailor through all of the land, married the stallion of her dreams and could call herself a prideful grandmother. She had gained a son from her love, who on his turn got a twin, a colt and filly.
While the thought of the young foal that crawled over her back while she tried to get some sleep one day, made a tear leave her eyes. It made its gentle way down her cheek before it begun on the journey to the ground. Through the memory was she unable to keep herself asleep. Her dulled, sapphire blue eyes glanced at the fireplace of the living room. The fires were going on in a gentle manner as her old eyes watched them through her near ancient glasses.
There was a deep but peaceful sigh that left through her nostrils. A smile formed itself on her face. Rarity allowed her elder body to just fall even deeper within the chair and let her mind travel down memory lane. Going off by her memories from that what she had achieved.
---
While her mind brought her back to her current position in time and life, there was a feeling of accomplishment went through her body. Yet she rose herself out of the chair with a soft moan. Some of her elder bones snapped themselves into place. Rarity chuckled a little bit at the sounds. Of course had she gotten used to them over the course of time. Her rippled legs guided her out of the living room and into the main hallway of the building. The hall that provided access to the living room, the main shop area and the stairs which led to the upper level of the boutique.
Rarity turned to her left. She stood before the stairs on which she had been going up and down ever since her teenage years. Never did it became a bore or a chore to walk on them. Even at her age, she climbed them up as if it was nothing. With her legs she still managed to ascent on it and her eyes moved themselves over the many pictures and drawings that hung on the wall.
Pictures of her and her five friends in their dresses for their very first Grand Galloping Gala could be seen. So young they were, yet so much joy they had. Those were times that were literally priceless for her and she didn't wanted to give up the memories for anything. Every year that they went to the event, they had a picture taken of them as a group. Rarity had hung all of the pictures alongside the staircase.
She continued to ascend more on the steps and could see the group becoming older. But she didn't care about the age at all. All she cared about where the times they had together and the laughs shed.
With the passage of a bit of time had she reached the second floor of the building. The mare turned her head over to the door of the master bedroom. The bedroom where her beloved husband and herself would have spent many nights together in harmony. It was a shame when Emerald Masquerade left his life behind earlier. But he went in peace and that was all Rarity truly cared for.
The elderly mare wandered down the hallway but her attention was caught by one room in particular. A room that housed the beds for her son’s foals. The mare leaned a bit against the door opening and gave her old eyes the time to take the room to herself. They caught the many wooden toys as well as the drawings they made when they stayed over for the weekends. Even though they were foals, they still loved to be with their grandmother. Their sweet and beloved granny who always returned that same amount of love.
It was another thing that brought a gentle tear to her eyes. Rarity closed them for a minute while her breathing turned into a sniffle for a mere second. With her nose tried to pick up the scents of the room and process them within her mind as she continued to just lean against the opening.
---
Only then did Rarity got it on her hooves. A feeling of events that would happen within the near future began to race through her body. She was stolen out of her little moment by her own mind. She left the opening for as it was. Rarity turned herself towards the master bedroom and she opened the door with the faint amount of magic she could still call up.
The door swung open before her and she entered the curving bedroom. With her magic did she close the door again. Though instead of letting her body lay down within the bed, Rarity walked up to her desk and took place behind it.
With her eyes she gazed at the desk and took a set of papers before her. The mare charged up her horn once again. She allowed it to coat within the faint blue aura once more. A quill got lifted out of the ink jar and on each of the papers she had, Rarity began to write things down. Things she did as a last honor to everypony she knew. But mostly her beloved friends and family.
The mare was the only unicorn left in the group of close friends. It was a thing that made her a true rarity. But unicorns had the shortest lifespan of any other kind of pony. Where an earth pony was able to be around the one hundred years of age and a pegasus around the ninety. A unicorn that was over the age of eighty was a true rare sight to behold. It almost seemed as if Rarity could feel that she wouldn't wake up the following morning. It could be explained as a feeling of her very guts.
---
For many hours did Rarity sat down behind her desk. There where she wrote countless letters and placed them all in envelopes. Each of the envelopes got closed and a name was set on them. The eyes of Rarity gazed over the stack of letters and her lips curled up in a warm smile. Her horn discharged itself and she let the room fade away in the darkness once again.
With the greatest of care would she have left the chair. One she had been taken place on for six long hours. Her ears twitched as they caught the clock chiming one in the night. The mare placed her glasses on the desk and rubbed her eyes a bit. After that, she proceeded on her way to her bed.
Once she reached the ever so soft mattress of the poster bed, the mare snuggled up against the pillow and the very blankets. After that, she had a look on the nightstand next to her. Even in the darkness of the night was she able to pick out the photo of her and her family. A photo that was taken on her seventieth birthday. A day she remembered like it was the day before. She smiled over to the picture and gave a nod to it as if she spoke a silent ‘thank you’.
Rarity turned herself around so that her face was looking at the ceiling of the room and her forelegs were laid gently over the sheet as her hooves gently touched one another. The old mare closed her eyes and almost in seconds she fell into a deep sleep. A sleep that would be lasting forever.
---
“Lady Rarity, would you wake up please?” a sweet and kind voice echoed within her head. The mare her eyelids shook a little bit. She didn't wanted to wake up from her sleep at all. But a light as if the sun itself rose up and peeked through her curtains. The light that fell right on her face could be seen as clear as day. It was the light that was more than enough for the unicorn to open her eyes.
Under the sounds of an uncomfortable moan had she opened her eyes. The mare took a glimpse of the world that was around her. Though the thing that her eyes caught was not the room she fell asleep in. For they caught a never ending space of pure and strange, whiteness. Not even her coat could match up with the coloring of the place she was in. “W-Who is there?” spoke Rarity in a much younger sounding tone. When the vocal changes were heard with her own ears, she brought a hoof to her mouth as she entered a light shock.
Her eyes moved down to the hoof itself as she saw the skin going perfectly around it. It only rose even more curiosity to the mare her questioning but she didn't dare to leave the comforts of her bed. “Ah, you are awake at last, milady,” the sweet voice spoke. It wouldn’t be much later before a figure appeared out of a sphere of blue magic.
As the being entered, it was to be revealed as an alicorn. A mare with a dark blue coat and light blue eyes. On the face of the mysterious being stood a warm and inviting smile as it walked up to the bed. “Don’t be scared, you know who we are, right?” the figure spoke in a calm tone. A tone aimed towards the genuine confused mare.
Yet Rarity indeed knew just who the being was. She removed her hoof from her mouth in order to speak her words. “I do know you, princess Luna. But, may I ask you a question?” she asked while looking towards the being.
“That is correct, we are indeed Luna. And asking thou always may do,” spoke the royal princess. What struck Rarity was that she stood there, in a relaxed manner to the side of the bed.
“Is this truly, the great beyond?” Rarity then asked.
In response shook Luna her head gently in a negative manner. “No, the great beyond lays even further away from here. We are merely here to grant you a safe passage to it. Would you be so kind to come with us?” she replied to the question.
Rarity released a thoughtful moan at the words. Though deep in her heart did she knew it was her time to leave the realm of the living. And to join her beloved husband once again was a treat she had wanted ever since he passed away. The unicorn gave a nod as she pushed the blankets off of her body and she left the bed as a whole. “Lead me the way, please,” she spoke before her eyes got fixed on Luna. Who smiled at the made decision.
“Would you please follow us then,” the princess spoke up. Luna turned herself into the direction they had to go in. Rarity didn’t question it and pulled off a little sprint in order to catch up with the princess. When the mare did finally met up, Luna's eyes fell upon Rarity. “You seemed rather, eager, to go miss Rarity. We wonder ourselves, why that is possible for a pony like yourself?” Luna spoke up after she had seen the mare’s will to just go.
“It, is quite hard to explain, actually. A part of me said that it was time for me to go. To go and leave the life as it is known to me behind and join those who passed away. That, is the best reason I am able to give you,” replied Rarity she after her mind came up with the answer.
“A reason we see very well, fair lady. A reason we see well,” said Luna before they both continued to walk.
“Though, if I may ask, if this isn't the great beyond, then what is this place exactly?” Rarity asked in curiosity after a small moment of silence. Her eyes fixed themselves upon Luna once again who released a sigh on her turn.
“This is the realm, where we are given the duty to guide the souls of those who passed away to the great beyond. The road we are walking right now, on this very moment is something that can be compared to a, stairway to heaven,” explained Luna as down to earth as she possible could. “Here, all the souls look like how they really are. You for example, never left the refined lady everypony knew and loved you as. That is why you look like you did in your prime. A time that Equestria will never forget.” Rarity nodded to the explanations given to her and accepted them for how they were. It was the only thing she could unless she wanted to defy a goddess.
---
“We are here,” spoke Luna suddenly after a near hour of silence. But neither of them were sad about the events. Luna did her duty and Rarity had made peace with her life. The mares found themselves before a portal that appeared to be leading to a world where the sun always shone. “Beyond this portal lays the great beyond. The final step of the journey, is your to take miss Rarity. If you have any last requests, say them now, please.”
The mare looked over to the portal as something came their way from inside of it. A figure that looked like a stallion calmly walked up to them with a pacing she recognized out of thousands. Though it was only when the figure was right before it, that Rarity was able to identify it. Her eyes shot open as she gained some tears below them. “Oh Emerald,” she spoke as her tears started to stream down her face. “Is, is that...”
“That is him, miss Rarity. The stallion you loved with all of your heart. He has been waiting for you ever since he came,” answered Luna.
“T-Thank you, princess,” the unicorn spoke before she wiped away her tears. “And as for, the request. Would you make sure that everypony gets their letters I wrote for them? I, I left them on my desk with their names written down on it.”
Luna nodded to the request of the unicorn and she gave her a smile. “We shall deliver them in person to those they belong to. Now go, lady Rarity, I think there is somepony waiting for you.”
Rarity smiled weakly in return before she turned her head over to the portal. Then she turned herself back to Luna and gave the princess one last hug. A hug that took the alicorn by surprise. But also one that was returned by her both calm and tight as well. "Good luck," said Luna just before the unicorn broke it again.
"Again, thank you for everything." Only after that was she unable to hold herself any longer. Rarity just walked up to the portal while tears of happiness streamed down her face. Emerald placed one of his forehooves against the portal and he smiled ever so warmly in return to his beloved wife. A tear of his own made its way down his cheek.
The unicorn set her own hoof against the portal, against that of him. It was not even a second, but for the two of them it seemed like minutes. Their hooves touched each other once more and they both could feel the warmth the hoof irradiated. Rarity was unable to hold herself and she wanted to kiss him on the lips. Her lips got set on the portal and soon enough she could feel his warm lips touching hers. In that moment, that small moment in time, she was the happiest unicorn that ever lived.
Luna simply stared at the two lovers when Rarity was pulled more and more into the portal. Until she was all the way through and thus had entered a realm where not even the princesses were allowed. The Great Beyond. “May you rest in peace, fair lady Rarity,” the princess spoke. She allowed herself to leave the road through the sphere she came from. There was no further business for her to do there. Not yet at least, not that night anymore.
---
The other end of the bargain was upheld as well. Everypony got their destined letter and they all spoke the same words. What was written within the letters was a deep and personal thanks to the addressed pony. For he or she had helped her through all of her life.
All of the elder friends had to wipe away a tear at the letters they got but it was the elder dragon, Spike, who had the greatest of difficulties. He couldn't believe that his gem was gone to the Great Beyond and thus left their world forever. Even though being ten times bigger, still sought comfort by his adoptive mother, princess Twilight Sparkle. Who on her own was having a difficult time with it.
The letter addressed to her, went as the following:
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
By the time you are receiving this letter, I am afraid I am no longer among you in the realm of the living. But even though I may have passed away and buried under the ground. There is one lesson I never want you to forget. For I remember our talks together like it was yesterday. The talks about your studious nature and my philosophical look on the world. Two opposites that clashed, but went together in harmony.
My dearest friend Twilight, I want to thank you for every time you stood ready for me. Even at times I didn’t thought I required your help. Words on this letter, are simply not enough to express my gratitude to you. Even though I disliked the idea of you becoming a princess at first, you still are who you are.
“As long as one soul is remembered by a living being, the soul is never truly gone.” Remember that Twily, remember that.
Goodbye,
Rarity