“It looks so different to how I remember.” The regal alicorn steps up beside me. Her four-toned mane blows in the gentle breezes of my memories, rather than the scorching winds that blow now. “These walls have not fared well since I have been gone.”

It was true. Many of the walls had crumbled and deteriorated, especially those places no longer sustained by the dwindling magic or technology.

“Would you indulge me, Sweetie Belle?” she asks in her usual motherly tone. “I would very much like to visit the castle gardens one last time.” The castle gardens where I used to join her, Luna and Twilight for tea.

The memories bring a smile to my lips. “Of course, Celestia.”

Click-clack. The sound of my steel hoofsteps falling on the weathered stone echoes through the halls, the only sound aside from the wind.

“Do you remember the time you and Luna–” Celestia turns towards the collapsed doorway that once led to Luna’s castle wing. I can’t help but feel sorrow every time I see another part of the castle fallen.

I have to laugh; of course I remember. If I had not, Celestia would not have been able to ask me. “You squealed like a little filly when Luna jumped out from behind the tapestry.”

“A Princess does not squeal, much less like a filly.” Celestia tries to put on an air of haughtiness, but I can see the small curve of a smile on her lips. “Turning your eyes red…” The alicorn suppresses a shudder. “And that horrible voice.”

I adjust my vocal synthesizers, repeating the lines spoken [integer too large] years ago. “This is your fault. It didn't have to be like this. I'm not kidding, now!”

“That was a horrible prank!” Celestia pouts at me. “I was going to save you some. Really. I just… got a little carried away.”

“All the cake is gone! You don't even care, do you?”

Celestia jumpa at the memory, craning her neck, looking for her cake-wielding sister about to accost her.

“Your guards never did let you live that down, did they?” I remember the memory with a nostalgic smile. Four guards had come running when they’d heard their princess screaming, only to find the three of us pelting each other with cake.

We step back out into the hot daylight. The once lush garden—teeming with life—now a barren patch of parched earth brought a saddened look to Celestia’s face. As in life, she hid her sorrow well. But I knew it was there, because it was my sorrow too. I’ve watched these gardens over the unknowable eons of my lifetime— the beautifully tended garden, lush with the colors of so many different species of flora. Teeming with the sounds and life of the various fauna. Even in her last days, before she moved on, Celestia had lovingly tended to the garden.

When she had passed, it grew wild. But even that faded. At one time, nourished by the natural weather patterns that had formed in the wake of the extinct pegasi, it had been almost as wild as the Everfree Forest. That too had passed. As the waters of Canterlot mountain had dried, so too had the garden-forest. The animals moved on as the trees withered and died. Unknowable eons ago, even the last vestiges of the life that was once Celestia’s beautiful garden had fallen and disappeared under the angry gaze of the sun.

“I do not think he is angry.” Celestia looks up to the swollen body above us. “He is just old and tired. I think he too is ready to move on.”

“You are probably right.” The warming light that had nourished me for more years than I could know was changing. He—as Celestia had often referred to him—was not likely long for this world either.

My hooves lead me to a spot where we would share tea. It was also the place I had said my final goodbye to the real Celestia. Closing my optic sensors, I remember how this garden once was. As I sat on the hot sand, I forced myself to ignore the coarse sand on my barrel as I sink slightly into the dry ground. When I open my optic sensors again, the lush garden I remember lies before me. I allow myself a little lie, a small indulgence.

“Shall we have tea, my little pony?” Celestia sits on the grass across from me. Materializing a pot out of thin air, she pours four cups of tea. She stares wistfully to the empty places beside us.

“I do wish the others were able to join us, like old times.”

Luna and Twilight made no sound as they sit upon the grass next to us. Celestia looks at me and nods her appreciation. My appreciation.

Neither Luna nor Twilight speak, in unison they each levitate their cup of tea to their lips and start drinking. Paying as little attention as I can to the two silent marionettes, I lift my own cup to my mouth and take a draught of the liquid.

I do not recall the taste of tea.

As the psuedo-liquid touches my tongue, a bittersweet taste washes over my senses. It tastes of memories barely held, of eons ago, sitting in this quiet garden, just the four of us. Warm memories of our times together, mixed with the sorrow of their departure.

I become aware that all eyes are on me.

“Sweetie Belle,” Celestia whispers gently as she puts her own cup down. “Do not do this to yourself. These…” She waves her hoof at the two silent mares. “They are not necessary; do not torture yourself for this old mare’s sake.”

“A false Memory asking me to not torture myself over my memories.” I let out a bitter laugh. The illusion shatters, and I am returned to harsh reality. The greenery gone, the marionettes gone; only Celestia and her beatific smile remain.

Celestia stands, that calm, motherly look still on her face. “Come, Sweetie Belle, there is more you must do. You have indulged me long enough.”

I feel her eyes on my back as I return to the castle. When I turn to say goodbye, she’s already gone.