=BiE 87=

>Year 2561 in Equestria.
>You scribble the last of the numbers on the whiteboard. "And so class, we then see that when we combine Power with Wisdom and Courage, we get a-"
>The bell rang. What is it with you teaching kids and bells?
>You packed up your things as your students filed out.
>This university work had been good at giving you something to look forward to, even if it was just part time.
>Still, you noticed that the kids were learning almost faster than you could teach.
>Guess p0nies got smarter in two and a half thousand years.
>You step out into the university square and look out at the city at night.
>Canterlot had certainly changed from the Tolkein-esque city on the side of a mountain it used to be.
>Where once p0nies had want, you had helped them create from nothing.
>Where they had once needed space, Mous had started an expansion project.
>And where they had once had fear, the two of you had stood together to fight off everything the world threw at you.
>Canterlot was truly a city of peace and harmony.
>You headed for the main gates as you planned your evening.
>Hmm...Maybe Luna would want to go out on the town?
>She and you had been seeing each other rather regularly over the past few months.
>To you, it seemed like you practically lived together.
>Just like you did with Rainbow...
>You're so caught up in your thoughts that you don't notice the figure standing at the wall near the gates.
>"Anon..."
>You crane your neck to the side to see Mous leaning up against the wall. "Hey man, what's up?"
>He looked...sad?
>"Anon...I was sent out to find you. It's the Princesses..."
>This sounded bad..."...What is it?"
>Mous looked you wearily in the eye.
>"Anon, they're dying."

-Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSDTX_LaLvA-
>You and Mous practically ran to the castle.
>Inside you found Celestia and Luna laying in beds a few feet apart.
>Good god...
>Over the past thousand years, neither Celestia or Luna seemed to age a day.
>They were the only other beings alive who had been locked in their age like you had.
>All of that had been undone, however.
>Before you lay two very old mares.
>Their coats had been muted, leaving Celestia a far shot from her normally pure white and Luna a soft navy.
>Celestia's mane was now a collection of low reds as the fire she embodied died out.
>Luna's astral mane was almost entirely black now, only a few of the stars inside it clinging to life.
>Celestia looked up at the two of you and smiled. "Ah...I see you finally found him."
>You just look over the two monarchs. "How did this happen?"
>Mous grunts and walks between the two Princesses. "That's what I want to know..."  he spits.
>Mous looks over at Celestia. "We're both here, so spill. Why are you two dying?"

>Celestia and Luna both look over the two of you.
>"Alicorns are a genetic fluke, boys." Celestia says. "The possibility exists in all of My Little P0nies, but the odds are too low to be properly quantified."
>Luna coughs. "A pair of Alicorn foals have recently been born in the town of Dappleshore..."
>"With each Alicorn birth, there exists the chance that Fate will deem them to be the new bearers of the sun and the moon."
>Luna smiled at you. "But you have taken care of that, for them."
>Celestia finished for her sister. "What you see here is just that, Fate has deemed that these two young foals are to inherit our power and responsibility. And with our magics leaving us...our time is running out."
>This was too much to bear...
>"You knew."

>You looked to your side, Mous was positively starring daggers at Celestia.
>"You knew. You knew this whole time and didn't tell us."
>Celestia met his piercing gaze. "This secret is one of Alicorn kind's greatest ones. Not spoken aloud since the days of Discord."
>She glanced your way. "We are telling you this now only because we trust the two of you implicitly."
>"We could have done something!" Mous shouted. "We could have spent all this time trying to stop you two from dying instead of building cities and magic sky tethers and cannons!"
>Luna shook her head. "We allowed for many subversions of natural law from you two...But we could not allow that one."
>The room is quite as Mous fumes. "Tell me why I shouldn't leave your lying asses here to piss off for not telling me..."
>You know the answer to that.
>You reach out and place a hand on his shoulder. "Because they're our only friends here, dude..."
>Mous turns his furious gaze to you and meets your eyes.
>You'd never seen him so...Angry? Hurt? You can't tell.
>Eventually, Mous releases a deep sigh. "So that's it...We just stay here and watch as our last two friends die..."
>You glance at the ancient Princesses, now finally worthy of that name.
>"They'd do it for us."
>Mous silently considers your words before he grabs a silently chair and slams it on the ground next to Celestia's bed.

>You and Mous had each taken a sister to see off.
>Luna looked even more peaceful here, resting silently in her bed.
>It was just like the others...
>"So, what were your parents like?"
>Why did you ask that?
>Idiot...
>Luna chuckles as she tilts her head to you. "Tia and I...we were born in St. Petershoof long, long ago...Our mother was a Unicorn and our father, a Pegasus."
>Wow..."That's pretty lucky, two Alicorns years apart from each other."
>Luna looks at you with a coy smile. "I have a secret to tell you, Anon."
>"Hehe, oh?"
>She nods. "I may be older then you think I am."
>"Such a breach of trust. I don't know if I can ever trust a mare again, Princess Luna."
>Knowing Mous has given you lots of practice for your sarcastic voice.
>Luna nods. "Yes, roughly four thousand years ago, Tia and I were in the same place as those two foals just being born."
>She gets a far off look in her eye. "Being thrust into a world of power and infinite responsibility before either of us were ready..."
>"You handled it well."
>She sighs. "Save for my..."breakdown"."
>Better change the subject away from such grimness..."So, how come you look so much younger then Celestia?"
>Luna chuckles. "A thousand years in stasis on the moon will do wonders for your complexion, Anon."
>The two of you share a laugh. 

>"So...all those times you sounded sad when I told you I'd wait for you to get better..."
>Luna lets out a deep sigh and nods. "I...didn't want to break your hope. You seemed to hold onto it so dearly, the idea that we could one day be together."
>She looks down at the edge of her bed. "So much like Pippen...Even to his dying breath, he held onto the hope that a miracle would happen and that he would be with me for longer..."
>You stroke Luna's mane as you let her remember her husband in peace for a bit.
>"If it wasn't for...all this. Where did you see us going?"
>Luna nuzzled into your chest. "I saw you and I, brainstorming magical theory throughout the day, working out the problems over dinner, and discussing applications for it in bed until the sun began to rise. Each of our days an adventure into the magical world with one another as our only guide."
>Your mind races at the possibilities of what your life could have been.
>You kiss the top of her head. "I would have liked that."
>Luna sighs. "Ah, but time makes monkeys out of us all."
>"Even if we were together, this would still have happened. We still would have been torn apart because of a one in a trillion chance."
>That wouldn't do. "Luna, that's no way to spend your last hours."
>You pull her off your chest and look into her faded eyes. "Let's concentrate on the happy thoughts, yeah?"
>Luna chuckles. "Uhg, and now I'm imagining you telling me that every day when I worried about this day." She says as she rests a head on your shoulder.
>You laugh. "Got that right."

-Mous PoV-
>You sat silently in the chair next to Celestia.
>She was breathing fairly steady, her eyes closed and her mouth turned up in a grin.
>She probably wasn't even dying, the cunt.
>"You're a bitch, you know that?"
>She chuckles. "And you are an ass. That was probably why we got along so well."
>You scoff.
>"I hated every second of it."
>"Likewise."
>"The only joy I got was when I would scare off your boytoys."
>Celestia shifts on the bed and opens her eyes. "The only fun I ever had was when I would sneak into your house and hover my flank over your face as you slept."
>Hmph.
>"I wondered why my house smelled like fish sometimes."
>The two of you sit in silence for a while. Her grinning at you as you glowered at her.
>"So I guess this means I win the bet on who dies first, right?"
>"I suppose it does." Celestia says.
>"I am gonna piss all over your fuckin' bathroom."
>"Be sure to get the walls evenly." She chuckles.

>Celestia stares off into space for a moment. "Mous, I have something to tell you. Come here."
>"Is this the part where you tell me you love me?" You whine.
>"Would you just come here, you jackass?"
>You grumble and rise from your seat.
>"Closer."
>You lean over the bed.
>"Closer."
>You bend a bit more.
>What the hell...
>"Closer..." She whispers.
>You're practically on top of her face now, what could she wan-
>"TOUNGE IN MY EAR!" You shout as you pull away.
>Celestia is laughing up a storm as you stomp around the room and try to get the cock flavored spit out of your ear.
>Stupid bitch...
>That was...
>"That was actually pretty good."
>You sit back down in your chair as Celestia calms herself. "Glad you enjoyed it." She said.
>"I'll let you have that one."
>Celestia's wrinkled face lit up. "Such a sweet parting gift!"
>You throw your hands up. "I know, I'm a giver."

-Anon PoV-
-Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUOoPuiyZM-
>You and Mous had spent the next several hours in the room with the Princesses.
>There was laughter, there was tears, there was spitting in mouths.
>All that you could have hoped for from the four of you.
>Eventually, Celestia spoke up. "It's time..." She said quietly.
>You and Mous stepped away from the beds near the front of the room.
>Celestia and Luna looked at the both of you from their beds.
>"You two deserve a formal goodbye..." Celestia said with Luna nodding in agreement.
>"We have lived for four thousand years, we have met many beings and made friends with a good portion of them."
>Mous chuckles silently.
>"But none have been truer friends then the two of you." Luna said with a smile.
>"You have helped us defend our city, our planet, and our very way of life." Celestia beamed.
>"And you have both helped to hold it together in the years in between."
>You were starting to blush...
>"The future is yours now, Anon and Mous." Celestia stated.
>Luna looked the two of you over with tired eyes. "And it could not be in better hands."

>Celestia and Luna both laid their heads on their pillows and faced each other.
>"Wherever fate takes your soul. Know that I love you with all my heart, Luna." Celestia said.
>Luna nodded. "And I you, Celestia."
>With that, the sisters eyes slowly closed their eyes...
>Celestia's mane stopped it's constant blowing motion for the first time since you had come to Equestria. The colors bleeding out into the air and fading.
>The last of Luna's stars faded to the smallest pinpricks of light before they too were gone, the star field that was her mane simply loosing cohesion and dissipating.
>The two of you stood in the room together as some of your oldest friends left you.
>You look down at your watch. "Time of death: 5:16 AM..."
>Mous lowers his head.
>"Join us brothers and sisters."
>"Join us in the echoes of time where we stand vigilant."
>"And as you perish, know that your sacrifices will not be forgotten." 
>"And that one day we shall join you."
>You nod as he finishes. "Amen."

-Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RY5TUySm3c-
>You and Mous now stood on the roof of the castle.
>The both of you were facing to the East, eyes fixed on the horizon.
>You were both worried about the Tether.
>With the Princesses gone, the magic keeping a grip on the sun and moon might have gone with them.
>You needed to be ready to handle the city if that were the case.
>"It's just us now..." You say.
>"Us and the city..."
>A though crosses your mind.
>"We've seen how many sunrises?"
>Mous just shrugs. "Tens of thousands, at least."
>You turn back to the East. "This might be the first time we miss one..."
>"A great morning..."
>The two of you stare at the horizon for what seems like an eternity.
>The sky was lightening as the sun slowly crept up, but that final push was all that needed to miss...
>You hold your breath as the sun looks about ready to burst beyond the edge of the earth.
>As quickly as it had when the Tether had first gone online, Canterlot was bathed in the orange glow of Celestia's gift to the world.
>"And so it begins...A new era for Equestria." Mous said.
>"One without the Princesses..."
>You try to think of something you can do to help but come up...empty....
>"What do we do now?" You ask.
>Mous turns and walks back to the door leading inside the castle. "We hold the kingdom together."
>Yeah...alright...