The Light fades and the Shadow falls
Canterlot lay under a shroud.
It was nothing that could be seen, for the sun shone bright as it ever did, and the sky was as clear as it ever was, and the day was of the sort to have ponies singing, but anypony with a lick of sense could tell that there was something oppressing the city of marble and gold. The populace walked with their heads bowed, the opulent colours of the nobility replaced with melancholy suits of solemn black. No bells rang, no music played, even casual chatter was met with sharp looks and angry whispers of 'Hush!' and 'For shame!'
All clocks had been stopped, juicy bones kept the dogs from barking, traffic ponies wore black cotton gloves.
In Princess Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns, all lessons had been suspended, and the students sat in their rooms in such total silence one might have supposed them under a spell. Inkwell, the oldest master of the school, wandered back and forth across the quad, his face buried in a hankerchief, sobbing quietly and muttering, "Oh, woe, that I have lived to see this day. Verily, I have lived too long, and now must live in darkness now the light is gone."
In the palace itself, dark curtains had been hung over all the windows, the regal red carpet had been rolled up and stowed away, the guards wore dark plumes in their helmets. They stood at their posts in silent sorrow, and cursed that their gleaming armour was not proof against the wounds dealt to their hearts, nor that the lives they were willing to give in service to the throne could not be given to preserve the life of her who made the throne worth dying for. The servants sobbed quietly in corners, or went about their work with dazed looks, as if some great blow had fallen from above to drive their senses from them.
And in Celestia's bedchamber, the only room in the palace that had not been taken over by the colour black, Twilight Sparkle and her friends gathered around the bed, with Princess Luna standing nearby, to witness Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun and Mother of the country, take her last breath upon this mortal plane.
The Princess lay upon her back, lying on the covers rather than buried beneath them, her royal regalia cast off, her mane forming a kind of halo around her head. Her skin was greyer, faded, the colour in her eyes was much diminished, and yet by some strange magic she seemed as fair as ever, still.
Fair, but weak, without a doubt. There was not long left. Twilight looked down upon her, her teacher who had once seemed so strong, so inviolable, so permanent, now rendered frail and vulnerable by the ravages of time whom not even an alicorn could escape forever. It was wrong, it was an outrage on some fundamental level, the world should not be like this.
Twilight sobbed.
Celestia turned her face towards her, a smile spreading slowly across her face. "Twilight. Why so sad?"
"Why?" Twilight nearly choked upon the question. "Why shouldn't I be sad, princess? You're leaving us, you're leaving me."
Celestia's smile remained fixed in place. Weak though she was, Twilight could still see the wisdom in those kind eyes. "Twilight. You should know as well as I that this is not an end, but a beginning. Do not mourn for me."
"But I-"
"Twilight," Celestia's voice was so quiet, so soft, yet still she managed to command Twilight's attention with a single word. From her tone, it was almost as though they were back in the classroom. "What is the first law of energy?"
Twilight frowned. "Energy is never created from out of nothing, nor is it...ever lost."
Celestia nodded. "All is one, and one is all. So I now become one with this world and all that lives within. I will be magic, I will be air, I will be sunlight. Twilight, all of you, do not grieve for me, nor miss me. For whenever you feel the wind brushing against your cheek it will be my breath and my kiss. Whenever you feel warmed by the light of the sun it will be I that is embracing you. Whenever you feel the rain upon your brow it will be my tears falling upon you. And whenever you cast a spell, my dear, clever Twilight, I will be with you. Twilight, all of you, I beg, do not mourn me dead. Think only that I have gone, but will return to you unseen and watch over you always as I have done. I love you all, so much."
"Come closer, all of you," Celestia whispered, and all the watching ponies shuffled closer, until they were pressed up against the royal bed.
"Twilight, upon your head do I bestow the crown and rule of Equestria," Celestia murmured. "My little ponies will be yours to care for when I am gone."
Twilight gasped. She had never, not even after her ascension, imagined anything like this. "Princess Celestia I...I can't...I'm not-
"You are the cleverest, bravest, best mare that I have known in many a year," Celestia replied. "Cleverer than even you know, braver than even you believe, trust me when I say will do very well...with the support of your friends." She turned her attention to Twilight's friends. "Bold Rainbow Dash, gentle Fluttershy, Applejack ever-faithful, joyful Pinkie Pie, noble Rarity, I consider myself privileged to have known all of you. To know that my Twilight was blessed with such good company has been a constant comfort to me. For many years I have given light to Equestria, but you all have brought light into my life, and for that I thank you, from the bottom of my heart."
A tear ran down Rarity's cheek. Fluttershy sniffled. Pinkie blew her nose loudly. Even Rainbow seemed to be struggling to maintain her composure.
"Twilight will need you now, more than ever before. Can I count on you to stand by her side, as you always have, to support her and to guide her through these fresh challenges that lie ahead?"a
The five friends looked at one another.
"I reckon you can rely on us, Princess," Applejack said firmly. "I can't claim to know what's going to happen in future, I can't even guess what destiny will have in store for us, but I do know one thing: we'll give it our all, and we won't let you down. You can count on us."
Celestia smiled. "I always could, couldn't I?" She looked to Luna now, to her younger sister, who stood stern and cold over the bed. "Luna...I hope that you do not hate me too much for my decision."
For a moment Luna was silent, and Twilight feared she would rail against Celestia upon her deathbed. But then her expression softened. "Hate you? No, sister, never that. I understand your reasons well enough. I proved a thousand years ago and more that I was not to be trusted with power, and harmony has purged the envy from my soul. Whatever place Twilight Sparkle finds for me in her new Equestria, I shall abide, be it in Canterlot or in the southern wastes."
"Princess Luna!" Twilight cried. "Don't say that, I would never treat you that way. If I really am...if I'm to do this, I'll have to learn so much."
"Yes," Celestia whispered, nodding her head. "Please, Luna, promise that you will remain here to advise Twilight on all the she must learn. Teach her governance, teach her command, teach her dreamwalking, if you will, but she will have need of your council, at least at first."
Luna frowned. "My heart yearns to take flight with you, my sister. It would be more fitting if the both of us, emblems of an elder age that now departs with you, took together our eternal leave from mortal sight. But, since it seems that I must tarry here awhile, I give my word: Twilight, so long as you have need of me, you shall find me at your side."
"Thank you," Twilight murmured.
There was a knock upon the door. "Princess Celestia," the captain announced. "Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armour are here. And there is a deputation who would like to see you...before..."
"Send them in," Celestia said, her voice hoarse.
The door opened, and the bed chamber was flooded with ponies. Cadance and Shining Armour led the way, but they were swiftly followed by a great multitude: guards with dishevelled manes, their helmets off out of respect, Canterlot nobles who had torn their suits and frocks in grief, councillors and magnates, ponies who had spent their lives in service to the throne. They all poured in, eyes wide, faces streaked with tears, to look upon their princess one more time, and to say good by.
Celestia smiled softly. "Fillies and gentlecolts, I apologise for being such a long time about my departure rest assured I shall not hold up the business of government much longer."
"Don't talk like that princess!" Twilight snapped. "Don't say things like that!"
"Princess Celestia," Cadance murmured.
"Please don't go!" somepony shouted from the back of the crowd.
Celestia chuckled. "I regret that not even I am given freedom to choose the hour of my passing. All that I can do is accept it with the best grace that I can. I thank you all for coming, for I have one last announcement to make before I begin the next great adventure: I would like to present to you all the new ruler of Equestria, my heir and successor: Princess Twilight Sparkle." Celestia's horn glowed faintly as she levitated the rich crown of Equestria onto Twilight's head. "All hail the princess, long may she reign."
For a moment there was nought but stunned silence. Everyone was too wide-eyed in their grief to realise what had been said.
"Please, everypony," Celestia said. "Twilight is the daughter that I never had, the most gifted unicorn I have ever known. Will you not, for love of me, pledge fealty to her now, and serve her with the same obedience with which I have been blessed?"
Slowly, like a great wave, the assembled ponies knelt. First Shining Armour, then Cadance, then the Captain of the Guard, then the guards and then the nobles, then everypony save only Princess Luna bowed before Twilight.
"All hail the Princess Twilight," the murmured. "Long may you reign."
Get up, Twilight thought. Don't do this. Not now. This isn't the time. Princess Celestia is...leaving us, why does this have to happen now.
"Thank you," Celestia murmured. "And now I may pass content, knowing that I have left Equestria in the most capable of hooves. Good fortune, Twilight, you will do very well. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy: bless you all, and may all your life's endeavours be favoured with success. The rest of you, I bid farewell, it has been my privilege and honour to serve you all these years as your princess. Luna...I will wait for you, you need not hurry."
Luna nodded. "Fare thee well, sweet sister mine; the stars will honour you each night from this day hence, until the very ending of the world."
"That..." Celestia said, her voice sounding sleepy. "Sounds...truly...wonderful." She closed her eyes, those wise, insightful eyes, and her chest rose and fell for a moment, before Princess Celestia breathed her last.
"Say it isn't so," one of the guards cried as he began to sob openly.
"Princess Celestia," Twilight moaned.
At that moment, the body began to glow with light. Twilight gasped, first with horror and then with awe as she saw what was happening: Celestia's body was turning to light, to magic, to the fabric of the universe itself. As she watched, as they all watched, Princess Celestia dissolved into stardust, sparkling in the air for a few moments, and then fading away.
"What in tarnation?" Applejack asked.
Twilight smiled. "A last act of magic from Princess Celestia."
"But, there's nothing left of her now?" Rainbow asked.
"So long as we remember her in our hearts," Luna said. "Everything of my sister that matters will always remain."
Twilight looked down and whispered to herself, so low that even Luna could not hear it, "Goodbye."
Twilights thoughts were full of sorrow, but also grim determination. 'I swear to you Princess, I will protect Equestria and all the ponies in it. No matter the cost.'