Celestia strode swiftly down the hallway, slowing down the moment she opened the door.

She spotted her friend on the hospital bed, walking toward her and placing a hoof on hers.

The old mare blinked slowly, Celestia’s wavy mane reflecting in her tired eyes.

“I came as soon as I could,” said Celestia.

“The… nurses say…” Her voice strained to speak above a whisper, the words coming out as shallow as her breathing. “I… only have a few hours left.”

“I know,” said Celestia.

The mare stared at her with doleful eyes. “I’m… sorry about this.”

“About what?”

“Dying.”

Celestia fought to hold back a rising lump in her throat. “No, you have been a great assistant, a great friend to me these many years. I’m not selfish enough to keep you as a friend forever.”

“Why not?”

“Everypony has to face this hurdle someday.”

“But… you don’t.”

“I’m— well… I’m different.”

“Can you make anypony else… different like you?”

“No… I was born this way. I don’t know how to make this trial pass more than any other pony. There’s no spell, no potion, no elixir of life that can stop this from happening.”

She stared at Celestia before her eyes drooped to a close.

Celestia held her breath, scared that her friend's time was over, but the mare’s breathing continued.

She would stay there with her friend these last few hours. Luna had been there to help her depose Discord and fight Sombra. But the mare that had helped Celestia face her worst trial, the loss of her sister, laid in front of her.

After about two and a half hours, the mare’s eyes fluttered open.

Celestia’s ears perked up, her melancholy thoughts shoved aside as she watched her friend.

“Phoenix…” said the mare.

“What?” asked Celestia.

“Phoenixes… are different… like you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When they die… they are reborn… they live forever… like you.”

Celestia smiled weakly. “Yes… I suppose that is true.”

“You know... the spell to turn ponies into animals.... don’t you?”

Celestia gave her a confused look, but nodded slowly.

“Turn me… into a phoenix. I’ll… die… and then… once I’m reborn… change me back into a mare.”

Celestia stayed silent for a moment. “I don’t think you can cheat death that way.”

“I’ll still die… but as a phoenix. I can be your assistant forever…”

“I… no… I can’t do that.”

“Why… not?”

“I don’t know if it will work,” said Celestia, mournfully. “What if you turn back into a filly, with no memory of what has happened?”

The mare on the bed smiled weakly. “Then I would have the great joy of learning to become your assistant again for another lifetime.”

Celestia stared at her, tears starting to well up.

“A mare that lives forever… needs somepony that can help them for that forever.”

The mare on the bed drifted off into unconsciousness. Celestia listened as her heartbeat slowed down. It would stop at any moment.

Celestia thought hard of the shape and form of the bird, channeling that idea through her horn and into the mare.

The earth pony’s body shrunk in odd ways as her entire coat disappeared. When the spell was done, a sickly, featherless phoenix sat on the bed.

Celestia watched her for a moment before the entire bird caught fire. She gingerly enveloped the flame in her magic, preventing the blankets from also catching fire.

Ash fell onto the bed, heaps of gray dust piling up until the flame disappeared.

She watched in fascination as the ash started to swirl and be picked up by an unseen wind, a small tornado appeared in front of her as a bright red phoenix burst forth, showering the room with a brilliant light.

The phoenix unfurled her wings before landing on the bed.

Celestia wasted no time and enveloped the phoenix in her magic, bringing the image of her friend back into her mind, casting the reverse spell.

Nothing happened.

The phoenix perched there, awaiting the spell to take effect, as Celestia kept casting and recasting the spell.

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said after dozens of attempts. “I can’t turn you back into a mare.”

The phoenix stared at the ground mournfully before turning her head up and chirping enthusiastically.

“You are… alright with this?”

The phoenix began to sing, the warm melody evaporating Celestia’s tears and filling her with a hope for a future that she had not felt in decades.

“Thank you, Philomena.”