Chapter 1
Book of Memories
(A My Little Pony Fanfic)
Note: My Little pony: Friendship is Magic is copyrighted by Hasbro. All characters, places, and events are for fanfiction purposes only.
Princess Luna was spending a quiet afternoon in the castle. She liked these times when she wasn’t in meetings or going to some event with her older sister. She was reading a book entitled Recent History of Equestria, to catch up on all those years she spent on the moon. Her horn would glow slightly as she magically turned to the next page, delving deep into the new information it held.
The silence was broken by the sounds of massive doors being opened. Luna turned to see who entered, taking care to remember where she left off in the book. In walked Princess Celestia with a smile on her face. “Hello Luna, I hope I wasn’t bothering you from your reading.”
“That’s ok, Celestia,” the dusky alicorn said, “I was at a good place to stop in the book. So much has happened when I was gone I wanted to catch up on some of the history.”
When Luna said this she saw her sister’s expression change to one that was more serious looking. “Actually, sis, I came here because I wanted to show you something. Would you like to see it? It will only take a few minutes.”
“Sure sis,” Princess Luna said as she got up from the table she was seated at and joined her sister.
The two princesses traveled through the marble corridors of the castle. Princess Celestia remained silent as if something was on her mind. Luna remained silent as well, wondering what her sister was about to show her. The two of them were very close and shared everything with each other. Whatever Princess Celestia wanted to show to Luna was probably something very personal. It could have also been something that she had worked on when Luna was banished on the moon, as indicated by the serious look on her older sister's face. Princess Celestia then stopped in front of a door that appeared quite ordinary to any pony. Opening the door revealed a modest sized room with a fireplace that contained a few bookshelves that lined the walls. The only other noteworthy pieces of furniture included a desk, an overstuffed looking chair, and a podium that contained an open book.
Luna gazed around the room, taking stock of everything there. She had never been in this room, nor did Princess Celestia ever mention it to her. It did not looke very special, but there had to be a reason why her sister went at great lengths to have her see it. “There is a reason why I brought you here sis,” Princess Celestia said as she noticed the look of confusion on her sister’s face, “is not to show you this room, interesting though it may be. I wanted to show you this.”
The white alicorn then walked to a bookshelf and pulled out a particular book that looked to be very old using her telekinesis. She then gently set the book down on the desk and opened it up for Luna to read. There were names of ponies with some information about what they looked like and notes she had written about them. Some pages had pictures of the ponies while others they were left blank. What intrigued Princess Luna the most was there was always a set of dates contained after the name of every pony. “Sis, what is this?”
“This is a Book of Memories, sis. When you were ban…” Celestia quickly stopped thinking of a better way to explain without upsetting her sister. “When you left, I was unhappy that you were gone. I also realized that I didn’t have any pony to pass my wisdom along. Many of the ponies see me only as their royal highness, yet I wanted to establish a closer bond with some of my subjects. That was when I started finding ponies with exceptional talents to mentor, helping them to become their best. Yet there was something that I knew that was always deep in the back of my mind as I mentored these ponies.”
“What was that sis?” Princess Luna asked looking up from the book at her sister. “Well, you and I know that since we are alicorns we live quite a long time. I realized when mentoring ponies that while there many blessings with living as long as we do, there is also a great burden.”
“You see, Luna, each student I met I formed a bond with them. Not a bond between us Luna, but a bond of leaning and even at times even friendship. Yet I knew that with every lesson I taught, every laugh I made, every cry I shared, ultimately these ponies I mentored would one day die.”
“Many of my students died of old age. Some, however, died before their time, which was the greatest tragedy. Every time one of my students died, they took a piece of my soul with them, and every time I would weep bitterly. I knew that with all my power, I cannot stop death, nor should I stop it. Death is a part of life, and I dare not meddle with life. Yet there are times when I wish the pain of loss would leave me in peace.”
The words that Princess Celestia seemed to reach deep into Luna’s very heart as tears began to flow down her eyes. She began to cry not only for the ponies that died, but for her sister who had to keep on living knowing that all who she knew would eventually succumb to death while she had to keep on living. “Oh, sis,” Luna cried, “If this upsets you, why are you telling me this? Please stop. I can’t bear to see you sad.” She couldn’t bear to see her sister like this. True, Luna knew the grief of loneliness when she was banished to the moon for a thousand years. Yet in those thousand years, her sister had to deal with not only the loss of her sister, but she also had to deal with the death of every student she had ever known. When she did not have a student, she would most likely be grieving about the last one. When she did have a new student, thoughts about the student’s eventual demise would haunt her, no matter how happy of a time she was having with the other pony. It was a no win situation, just haunting reminders of how fleeting life was.
“Oh Luna, please don’t cry for me,” Princess Celestia said as she wiped the tears from her sister’s eyes. “This agony of loss we must all bear. It is what makes us who we are. Yet the reason why I want to tell you this is simple. We should cherish the ones who have entered into our lives. That is why I created these books of memories, not to mourn their loss but to remember those who have touched my life. I have learned so much with being with my students as I’m sure they have learned with me. By remembering those who have touched their lives, they are never forgotten. Their wisdom, laughter, strength, and even tragedies live through us. I do hope, sis, that one day you will be a mentor to some pony, as the benefits of knowing them outweigh the loss of losing them. Will you remember all that I have taught you today?”
“Oh yes, big sister,” Luna said as she hugged the white alicorn, “I will remember to cherish those who have touched my life, and one day I hope to have a pony to mentor.”
“I’m glad to hear that you understand. Now that you know that I have this room and these books of memories, you may feel free to look at them so long as you still continue to look towards the future and living a purposeful life. It is what all of these ponies would have wanted.”
“I understand,” Luna said, “Thank you for sharing them with me.”
“You are welcome sis,” Celestia said with a smile, “Now it’s about lunchtime. Why don’t you run along to the dining room? I will join you momentarily.”
“Ok, sis, I’ll see you soon.”
Luna then trotted out of the room, taking with her the knowledge that her sister had given. Princess Celestia stood by watching her sister go before turning around and using her telekinesis closed the first book of memories and placed it back on the shelf. Before she left, Celestia paused as she looked over at the open book on the podium which was much newer looking. “One day,” Celestia said, as if towards the book, “I will have to say goodbye to you my dear student. When that time comes, that will be the one of the hardest days in this alicorn’s life.” She looked at the open page containing a picture of Twilight Sparkle as well as many notes she had written about this pony. With a heavy sigh she turned and left the room closing the door behind her. As she walked towards the dining room and her sister, she thought of the irony in that the room with the books of memories was a place where life and death meet, sharing their lives.