It happened on a bright afternoon. 

Alone in her bedroom, Princess Celestia leaned up against her window, soaked in the sun, gave Equestria a gentle smile, and died. Nopony found her until after nightfall, but then, they had no reason to suspect that anything was wrong. 

The sun had set just fine without her.



Princess Luna spent most of the next week in her room, and whenever she did leave, she went on hoof. Her wings didn't feel strong enough to carry her anymore. And every morning she would make her way to the balcony, where she would hang limply over the railing and stare at the rising sun until her eyes burned.

[hr]

Word spread through Equestria quickly. Everypony got the same story, since there wasn't much to obscure. Princess Celestia had simply slipped away. It hadn't been anypony's fault. 'Heart complications' was the official cause.

And the sun was still moving. 

This last fact started out as a footnote, then found its way into the story, and eventually became the headline. It couldn't be Luna's doing, it was agreed. It was too different. The sun didn't rise at one hour and fall at another, as Celestia had done it; it simply traveled along its own path, like somepony set free.



On the day of the funeral, Equestria came to Canterlot. A sea of black clothing mingled and shifted, failing to hide the various colors of Equestrian fur, feathers, carapaces, and scales. Some of the mourners squinted up at the sky, trying to see if the sun really [i]was[/i] still drifting up there. But they couldn't stare for long.

Some of them brought umbrellas, expecting the pegasi to be starting a light drizzle for the occasion; but in fact, Princess Luna had asked for the clearest sky possible.

Only a curtain separated her from the muttering crowd below, but she had her back to it. She watched the sunlight, the suspended flecks of dust. It was better than watching Twilight pace around the room.

"I'm reading newspaper articles," Twilight fretted, "saying that every time you raise the moon you're just putting on an act. They think it was just your way of establishing rule. And there is this… [i]spinning globe[/i] theory making the rounds that's frankly dangerous. Princess Luna, they want an explanation."

"I have one for them."

"But you said you don't [i]know[/i] what's happening. You aren't going to lie, are you?"

Luna looked up at her without raising her sunken head. "There was a time long ago when Equestria lost a princess. And my sister lied about it."

Twilight faltered. "Not…withstanding…"

"You cannot apply the word 'notwithstanding' to my banishment."

"But that was different."

"Was it?"

Twilight looked around the empty room for an imaginary ally. "Luna, you were coming [i]back[/i]."

"No, I wasn't. There was only one pony who knew me that would ever see me again. And now she's gone."

Twilight scratched at the floor. "I'm sorry."

Luna nearly pulled off a smile. She had heard that phrase so many times over the past week, and it was refreshing to hear it from somepony who was actually apologizing.

There was a knock from across the room. An aide poked her head through the door, making no eye contact.

"The fires have been started, Your Highness."

Twilight looked at her. "Fires?"

[hr]

Throughout the crowd, piles of wood and paper burned from inside enormous cauldrons, pouring gray smoke into the sky. Guards kept the mourners at a safe distance, as if the heat wasn't a good enough deterrent on its own. 

The crowd hushed when she appeared. She wore a fierce black dress, standing out against the white castle behind her. She was close to them, only two stories above. Creatures turned their heads towards her—some cried, while others merely stared. And for every creature gripped with sadness was another gripped with a desire for answers.

Luna tipped her head back, as if they weren't even there. She shook her head and produced the first real smile she'd managed in days.

She said, "That must have been [i]some[/i] spell."

Only a few of them heard it. Those who barely picked up on it asked their neighbors, and the words spread through the crowd. Luna waited.

The creatures looked up to the sky. Veils fell off their faces. Hooves and claws and talons were held behind their necks for extra support. They stared upwards toward the sun, moving imperceptibly without anypony's help. The smoke protected their eyes.