She ignored all the protocols and ceremonies adopted for such an occasion, and simply flew into the throne room through one of the open windows. Pippi smiled: many years ago, Pinkie Pie would have been embarrassed to just rush into the ruler of the Crystal Empire, even despite the years of their friendship and the fact that they were a family, but now this did not bother her. As well as the guards, who have long been accustomed to the daughter-in-law of her princess and how unexpectedly she can descend. They looked at each other and left the room, so as not to interfere with the meeting of friends.
- Pippi!
- Pinkie Pie! Good to see you!
After a brief greeting that has not changed since Pinkie Pie was a foal and Pippi was her nanny, they touched their horns.
- Something happened? Asked the eldest of the princesses. "You look tired." Is that why you came?
Pippi sent a mustache of magic to check Pinkie Pie, but she softly walked away from the touch of her magic.
"I'm fine," she said. - How are you? After all, exactly a year has passed since Captain ...
Pinkie Pie was silent, and Cadance only came close to a step and touched her cheek. Just think, she really forgot that a year ago her husband died. Time in the Crystal Empire passed unnoticed, and the ruler always had things that required her undivided attention.
"I should ask you the same thing," Pippi said, "because he was your brother at first, and only then became my husband."
"I ... I don't know," Pinkie Pie answered, pulling away. She spread her wings and asked: - Do you want to fly?
"Only if it is a walk, not a race," Pippi smiled.
Before following Pinkie Pie through the same window, she looked out of the hall and informed the guards that she would not be there for a couple of hours. Pippi did not plan visits today, but preferred to play it safe.
They spoke with Pinkie Pie only when they reached one of the upper galleries of the palace.
- So what's up? Pippi asked, folding her wings, as soon as her hooves touched the lacquered floor.
Pinkie Pie, in turn, continued to soar, as if she herself had not noticed it. "Too much time with Rainbow Dash," Cadance thought with a smile, "it's immediately obvious which of us uses wings more often."
"Nothing of the kind ..." Pinkie Pie began, but then she noticed the mocking look of the second princess and sighed. - The thing is Rarity. She is very bad.
Now she also folded her wings and walked next to Pippi.
- Can I help you? She asked. "Don't be offended, but healing has never been your forte."
"Age cannot be cured," Pinkie Pie replied.
They both walked to the end of the gallery in silence. Pippi, like the Moon and Celestia, however, knew that this day would come. The day that Pinkie Pie's friends leave her forever. Alicorn's lifespan is many times longer than that of ordinary ponies. Thousands of thousands of years unless they lose their magic or are killed. Even with all the magic, even with the Elements of Harmony, the impossible cannot be accomplished. Pegasus, unicorns and earth ponies will sooner or later grow old. And sooner or later they will die.
Of course, the princesses always tried to help those who are dear to them, to ensure that they stay with them longer. Captain, who left only a year ago and until the very last day remained awake and strong, is an example.
Pinkie Pie's friends also grew much slower than other ponies: Applejack looked younger than Apple Bloom, although it was her older sister. As for Fluttershy, she seemed at all as young as she had the day Pippi first saw her, but it was not at all about the Elements of Harmony, or not only about them. When the ruler of the Crystal Empire during her recent visit was about to say something about Pinkie Pie on this subject, the lamp leg in the window of a nearby store turned into a tiny Discord. He winked at Pippi and raised a finger to his lips, and then the lamp again returned to its original form.
So while the princess did not intervene in this and expected results. She suspected that sooner or later Fluttershy would have to choose between the Elements of Harmony and Chaos herself, but this is one of those problems that should be solved as they arise. Now they have another reason for excitement.
"You already had to lose loved ones," Pippi recalled.
They reached the stairs leading to the tower and stopped on the first steps.
"How do you manage to be so calm?" Asked Pinkie Pie. "How does your heart not break apart?" How can you love someone, knowing that sooner or later he will leave you alone ?! How can you live with this pain every day?
"This is the essence of my magic," Pippi replied, and felt that her kitimark seemed to be warming up slightly, "love is part of me, if I stop loving, I'll not just lose my strength, I will stop being myself."
She spread her wings and looked up to where the sunlight reflected off the edges of the crystal ceiling.
"Love fills my past and my present," Pippi continued, "it will be in my future, and I don't feel pain because I know it."
"I wish I had," Pinkie Pie sighed.
Pippi bowed her head, touching her horn again.
"You will learn," she said, "even if your magic is a little different, but friendship is love too." It may seem impossible now, but sooner or later you will again find those who will be symbols of Harmony. And it will be just as beautiful as the first time.
- You promise? Asked Pinkie Pie.
She looked exactly now, as she had once, when she was a small filly and drove a sharp stone into her hoof, and Pippi helped to get it out and said that soon everything would pass.
"I promise," she said.
They began to climb the stairs, and when they were tired of walking, they spread their wings and overcame the last couple of flights through the air.
- Let me treat you to tea? Pippi asked, letting Pinkie Pie go first at the door of her room.
"Can I refuse you?"
A little later, already at tea with cupcakes, they continued the conversation. Pippi noticed that her friend was noticeably cheerful, and although she still looked a little tired, the sparkle returned to her eyes.
"Princess Luna has been visiting me very often lately," Pinkie Pie said, pouring tea into cups with magic, "and it feels like waiting for me to explode."
"The problem of the nature of magic," Pippi sighed. "What do you know about the causes of past disagreements between Princess Celestia and the Moon?"
Pinkie Pie thought for a moment, formulating the answer, and Cadance, partly unexpectedly for herself, realized that the youngest of the Princesses of Equestria had addressed her problems with her, and not at all with her mentor. The anniversary of Captain's death was just an excuse, and Pinkie Pie unconsciously knew that Pippi would understand her better than Celestia.
- Same as all, perhaps. It was excruciating for the Princess of the Moon that they love night less than a day, "Pinkie Pie finally answered. "Although I don't think this is the real reason."
"Hardly half the reason," Pippi confirmed. - The moon has lost the one who was dear to her. To a mare that she really understood the night like no one else understood ... Celestia once told me that her sister allowed the darkness to prevail over her precisely because of grief.
For several minutes, Pinkie Pie silently drank tea, concentrating on the telekinesis with which she moved the cup, and Pippi did not stop her from reflecting on what was said.
"Do they think I'm going to break?" Asked Pinkie Pie. "What betray what my friends and I have been doing all these years, just because of ... sadness?"
With some surprise and even approval, Pippi noted that her friend said "they," meaning both the Moon and Celestia, although she spoke only of the attention first. It seems that her decision to turn not to a mentor, but to her daughter-in-law, was not at all subconscious, but quite deliberate. "Still, she grew up, but I didn't notice," Pippi thought, and aloud she tactfully replied:
"Their magic is of a different nature." The sun and moon do not care if they illuminate desert lands or cities filled with ponies. The sympathy of the princesses is only their feelings, and their magic is just a force that they can direct anywhere.
"I would never harm anyone in Equestria," Pinkie Pie said quietly, "no matter how painful I am."
"I know," Pippi replied simply. - After all, friendship is also love.
Pinkie Pie did not answer, but only added tea to both of them.