The room was cold, despite the flames burning steadily in the fireplace. Princess Celestia lay sprawled across several lavish pillows, her breathing heavy and unsteady. Her head was set on a purple silk pillow, and she stared into the crackling flames.

She groaned, moving her head to the side, and stared across the room. Her throne sat facing the elaborate doors of the room, where it served no purpose other than to collect dust. She hadn’t been in that seat for quite some time...

Slowly, she breathed outwards, and closed her eyes.

“Hello? Princess?” came a concerned voice from behind those great big doors. Celestia smiled softly at hearing this voice; this was a voice that comforted her endlessly, one that eased her aching mind.

“Come in, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Her voice was nothing more than a croak, a faded remnant of what it once was. “Please, by all means... come on in.”

The door opened with a loud creak, and the sounds of very light hoofbeats could be heard pattering towards the Princess. Opening her eyes, she gazed upon Twilight’s face.

She wasn’t crying, but she had been; puffy red eyes and tearstained cheeks betrayed this. Twilight looked as though she had aged a thousand years since they saw each other last, her mane messy and loose, her face weathered. She bit her lip as she looked down at the princess, a fake smile plastered on her face sloppily.

“Hello, Princess Celestia,” Twilight said, kneeling before her once-teacher.

Celestia chuckled, which devolved into a sickly cough not a moment afterwards. “Oh, Twilight; I think it has been long enough to say that we are equals. None of the kneeling or ‘Princess’ business any longer, please. Just Celestia.”

“But it’s your title! What’s proper to call you! Princess, I don’t think I co—” Twilight began, but she stopped herself halfway through her sentence. “Of course, Celestia.”

Celestia began to smile, but was soon interrupted by a violent shiver. “Oh... it’s very cold.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in urgency. “Oh dear, Pr—Celestia! I’ll get you whatever you need to feel warm, alright? I can get you a hot water bottle, another blanket or three, I’ll stoke the fire, and some tea. I could even find a tonic for Applejack’s sister, Apple Bloom, to make up for you. Did you know she’s an alchemist now? Studying under Zecora, herself, one of the best zebra shamans I’ve ever met; she’s quite—”

“Twilight,” Celestia interrupted, grinning. “You’re doing that thing I love so much.”

Twilight stopped rambling, and turned to Celestia. “Oh, what is it, Celestia? I’ll keep doing whatever it is, I swear!”

Celestia giggled quietly. “Being so concerned to a fault, my most faithful student. Going off on brilliant little tangents, even if they’re not exactly related.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. After a moment of repeating this, she gave her Princess a bemused smile. “Well... I’m glad you enjoy it Princess. Anything I can get you? The tea? Blankets? More tinder for the fire?”

“The tea sounds lovely, Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, her soft smile ever-present. “Pennyroyal, if you don’t mind.”

Twilight sped away, her wings flapping quickly to aid her quickness. Celestia’s smile faded slightly as she saw several frazzled feathers fall from her behind her former student. Twilight returned not five minutes later, a tea kettle sitting on a trey with two cups on saucers next to it.

“I’ve read that Pennyroyal is remarkably deadly,” Twilight said, pouring out one of the cups for Celestia. “Especially to the Equine genus. May I ask why you drink it so often?”

Celestia chuckled. “Being an alicorn has its advantages, Twilight Sparkle. Besides, at this point, I think it hardly matters...”

Twilight bit her lower lip, eyes wet. “Don’t say that, Princess... we’ll get you cured, I promise. There’s nothing time and research can’t do.”

Celestia laughed, but once again, it became a series of hacking coughs. “That’s the thing, my dear Twilight; time’s not something we’ve got. Time goes on for a long time, and then...” She blinked hard.

“It runs out.”

Twilight blinked hard as well, but tears fell from her eyes where they did not from Celestia’s. “No, Princess, don’t say that, we can get you more, I promise.”

“My hourglass is out of sand, Twilight.”

“You can flip hourglasses over.”

Celestia stared up at the younger princess, and sighed. “Twilight, there’s an end that need to happen to everything, I promise you this. Books need endings, you know this. Without one, there’s just... no sense of completeness.”

Twilight opened her mouth to rebut her princess, but Celestia raised a weary hoof to shush her. “I’m very tired, Twilight... and I’m so sorry that this has to happen now, but when it comes calling, it’s very rude to refuse the invitation.”

Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat, and her wings shuffled, more feathers drifting down from them. Celestia watched as they drifted weightlessly to the floor, tumbling through the air as they did so.

“How many feathers have you lost over me, Twilight?”

Tears flowed fresh from Twilight’s eyes. “I’m so s-sorry, Princess...”

Celestia did not correct her that time, and instead beckoned Twilight closer with a twitch of her hoof. “Come here, Twilight.”

Twilight complied, walking slowly and carefully to her Princess. Celestia straightened up, so that instead of fully laying down, she held a close to sitting posture, her soft smile once again on her lips. Carefully, she slowly lifted a hoof, and draped it over her former student, pulling her closer to the bigger alicorn’s quivering body. A large white wing unfurled, and rested around Twilight’s body.

“This isn’t easy for me either, Twilight,” she whispered. “But life’s never about taking the easy path, especially when it’s ending.”

Twilight sobbed, her whole body shaking. Celestia felt the vibrations of her student, and held her ever closer, her head resting on top of the princess below her.

“There’s a lot to be done, you know,” Celestia told her. “Once I pass on. You’ll need to tell the public, help Luna adjust to her new spot as...” Celestia trailed off, looking up, and opening her eyes. For a moment, she could not breath, and it had little to do with the condition within her. She gazed at the door, the door where she had, as a filly, been so proud to enter when her parents had let her. Her crown, atop her head, suddenly felt heavier than it ever had.

“To her new spot as the head Princess of Equestria,” she finished, looking down at Twilight, whose head was still buried right below the crook of her wing. Twilight’s sobs were smaller, and less frequent. Celestia rubbed her hoof along her once-student’s back, and closed her eyes.

“I’m gonna be the best Princess Equestria’s ever had!”

“No fair, how come Tia gets to be Princess?”

Laughter.

“You’ll both be princess, don’t you worry! Equestria’s a big place, it’s going to need two strong, brilliant leaders such as yourself to work properly!”

Celestia cringed, a tear falling from her eye, making a lonely journey down her cheek to land in Twilight’s mane. Twilight didn’t notice, or if she did, showed no sign of doing so.

“Twilight...” Celestia breathed. “Twilight, I’m also going to need you help my sister look after Equestria... it’s a big place.”

Twilight made no sound.

“Twilight,” Celestia said, inhaling deeply, and composing herself. “Twilight, please look at me.”

No response.

“Twilight,” Celestia said, much more stern now. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, look at your Princess.”

Twilight pulled her face up, and looked at Celestia. Celestia smiled.

“You did it again,” she said. “I’m not your Princess anymore.”

Twilight smiled, and hiccuped, tears still trailing down her face.

“Listen, Twilight,” Princess Celestia told her. “You’ve got to be brave. I’m not asking you not to feel anything, to pretend to be happy for me, or to be strong. Be as sad, emotional, or weak as you want. I just need you to have the courage that this country needs; I need you to pull together, you and your friends, my sister, everypony. Work together, as a team, and make this country a better place than I ever could.”

“That’s not possible, Celestia,” Twilight whispered, her voice cracking slightly. “You’ve been the best teacher and leader possible.”

Celestia smiled, and shook her head. “Oh no, Twilight... if you could see some of the things I’m responsible for... let’s just say that what I’ve done to my sister speaks enough about my character without adding the other ninety-nine percent of my follies.”

Twilight stared up at Celestia, and the two looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, before Celestia spoke again.

“Twilight, do you know how many students I’ve had?”

Twilight shook her head. “I know you’ve had many, of course; sometimes more than one at a time. I don’t think I could accurately pinpoint how many you’ve had though, of course. That’d be impossible.”

“The tangents, Twilight,” Celestia said with a chuckle-cough. “Never stop them, I beg of you.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course, Prin—Celestia.”

“But yes, the students,” Celestia went on. “I’ve had many, but none quite like you. So many of them are gone now, but many more are still alive, somewhere out there, and they have not come to me. You’re not the only one who as given a notice of my upcoming departure.”

Twilight nodded again.

“And I can say, without a doubt, that I was right in calling you my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said, her smile widening. “Because you were here until the very end.”

Twilight’s bottom lip quivered. “Oh, Celestia...” She dragged her mentor into a deep hug, no more tears coming from her eyes.

Princess Celestia laughed softly, embracing her student once more. “Oh, I’m going to miss this, Twilight. So much. I’ve loved this more than anything.”

“What exactly, Celestia?”

“Everything.”

Celestia closed her eyes, her shaky breathing slowly growing quieter and quieter.

Twilight held onto her Princess, the tears that had been refused her just moment early pouring out over her cheeks as the two held onto each other for the last time.