[i]There is wisdom that is madness, if you just skip the woe.[/i]

      ~Equestrian proverb.





“[i]It’s all your fault![/i]” the widow cried, and her voice was like broken glass. “[i]You took him from me![/i]”

Her screams echoed; the rain poured harder. The mare’s mane was wet, ugly, it stuck against her face and made her look older—but she did not care. 

There was hate in her eyes when she pointed. “You,” she said, now a whisper. “You [i]monster.[/i]”

Thunder roared.

Celestia looked around, frowned. "Um. Luna." She stomped on her sister's hoof. "Luna! She's talking to you!"

“What? Oh!" Luna blinked. "Oh, my apologies. I was dozing off.” She offered the widow a warm smile. “What were we talking about?”

“[i]You killed my husband![/i]”

“Ah.” Luna nodded. “Yes. I suppose that was bound to be the topic.”

The scene had happened before; it would happen again. The cemetery, right behind Canterlot Palace. Rain. A crying widow. 

And the Princesses, always there, to bid adieu and show respect.

“I do not understand why you refused to have an umbrella,” Luna said, as she looked into the widow’s eyes. “I understand the dramatic overtones of the rain, but it's cold. Do you want mine?”

The widow cried again. “You monster!”

“...Is that a no?”

“I hate you!”

Luna rolled her eyes. “This again,” she said. “I am sorry for your loss. I really am.” She meant it. “But there is no reason to yell.”

“You took him from me!”

“I know. And I’m sorry. But it wasn’t my fault.” Here, Celestia signaled to her, but Luna was tired and wanted to go inside already. “And there is no reason to be this emotional. He’ll come back eventually.”

Thunder roared.

The widow’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“Luna.” Celestia elbowed her sister. “Luna, no. The guard is dead.”

“So?” Luna frowned. “Like that’s going to stop him.”

“The dead don’t come back.”

“He will never come back!” said the widow.

“Oh, please. I’ve seen this a thousand times already. And I’ll see it a thousand times again.” Luna looked at the widow, and there was love in that look, but also coldness. “You cry now,” she said. “And you miss him, and you hate me. But in time, he will come back. And you will forget. And the pain will go away, if you just wait enough.”

“No!”

“Yes.” Luna didn’t smile. “Take my word. In no time, you will be laughing. And you won’t remember this conversation. But I will.” And she closed her eyes. “Such is the burden of an immortal. Such is the weight we carry.”

By her side, Celestia frowned at her.

Thunder roared in the distance.

The widow kept crying.


[hr]


The widow was laughing.

Running around the city, chased by her lover—Luna could see them from the castle, as she shared a table with her sister. And this time, she [i]did[/i] smile, as she looked at her sister. 

She talked. “I told you.”

Celestia looked at her. “What?”

“She’d forget. And he’d come back. They just needed to wait, to stay. The pain went away.”

Celestia didn’t understand, at first. But then she looked through the window, and that sparked her memory. “Oh. Oh, Luna. No.”

“Yes.” Luna pointed. “Look at them. They’re happy. They’re laughing. The dead always come back to life. But they never remember.”

And Celestia sighed. “Luna, they don’t.”

“What?”

“Those are their descendants.”

“What?”

A sip of tea. “Luna,” Celestia said. “That happened thousands of years ago. He never came back, she just [i]died[/i]. Those are the descendants.”

Luna looked. “…What?”

“Goodness. You always do this.” Celestia pointed. “That is another pony, probably related to her. Not the same one at all.” 

“But they look alike.” 

“Yes, that’s how families work.”

Confusion. “So he never came back, then?”

“No. No, they never—you keep forgetting this. How do you keep forgetting this.”

“Oh.” Luna frowned. “Well. It [i]is[/i] confusing. They look exactly alike.”

“Luna this is not a hard concept to grasp.”

“Then...” Luna looked. “What happened?”

“Time passed, and she died alone and miserable.”

“…So. The pain did go away.”

Pause. Frown. “Well, yes. Because she died. But—”

“So I was right.”

“No.”

“She is laughing. But I remember.”

“Luna, that is completely wrong, you can’t—”

“Such is the burden of an immortal.”

“Luna. Luna, no.”  

“[i]Such is the weight we carry.[/i]”

“[i]Luna, for the love of—[/i]”





[i]There is madness that is wisdom, if you don’t pay any attention.[/i]
      
      ~Another Equestrian proverb.