Centuries after most of her friends have all passed away, Twilight decides to make one last trip into the past. No interacting, no greeting deceased friends, no reunion with her beloved marefriend. Just one quick glance at a life long lost.

However, for better or worse, she'll end up getting much, much more than that.

This story has a prequel entitled The Last Train Home.
Cover art by Swan Song

Everyone always tells Twilight that the ones who love us never truly leave us.

But that's a lie. It's always been a lie.

Things that live must also die. It's simply the cycle of life, and that cycle doesn't care about love or the pain it causes.

Until one day, that cycle is broken by a forgotten figure from her past: a little tortoise who's not so little anymore.

This story is, first and foremost, a gift for the incomparable Mushroom, who clearly must be some sort of undiscovered species of fungus dog since we definitely don't deserve her. I have it on good authority that this story gave her Many Feelings, and I hope it gives them to you, too. :)

This also won first place in the of the Quills and Sofas Speedwriting '2021 Gift Fic Exchange' contest portion, which is neat.

Cover art commissioned from the lovely Shaslan!

Equestria died long ago, but Princess Twilight wouldn't give up. She made her own star, and built a small planet alongside it.

For a time, these new worlds knew harmony, and learned to prosper in a dance of friendship and magic. But even these worlds would eventually die, and the ones that replaced them.

Finally, the universe itself began to die, as all remaining matter evaporated into radiation or was sucked into infinitely dense singularities.

That didn't stop Princess Twilight Sparkle.

She is an Explorer. She traverses the universe, seeking out those places that have been suggested to Her. With luck, She’ll find something phenomenal. For even across the vast emptiness of space, one may yet find a friend...

Inspired by the titular song by Train.

Other stories inspired by music:
Ordinary World
Bed of Roses
Bulletproof Heart
Escape
How to Save a Life
Forgive Me, Friend
Time for Tea

My thanks to Rayvinne for volunteering to preread this!

The time is now for the Princess and everyone else knows it around her. But how will she cope with the fact she is immortal?

Song that inspired Reign

Rated Teen because that's when we teach kids about reproductive biology. Comments have spoilers, and that's partially my bad. Sorry.

Leading Equestria for a thousand years alone required sacrifices. There are only so many hours in a day, even for the one who governs how many hours there are in a day. A choice to do one thing is a choice not to do a countless number of alternatives. A mortal pony would have to compromise. An ageless alicorn? She could simply wait.

With retirement came the chance to finally chase all those deferred dreams. And if one should prove more difficult than expected, well, there were ponies who could help with that. Plenty of mares had... difficulties with these things, and doctors helped them every day!

Why should she be any different?

I had no idea what to use for cover art. Sorry about that.

Following the events of The Last Problem many years later...

Her last friend leaves her...

Twilight Sparkle mourns...

Then she learns that King Sombra still lives with her friends in the stars...

In a world where light and darkness can not exist without each other and the living become one with either the stars or the blackness in the sky upon their passing, one must wonder what happens when Twilight Sparkle's friends pass away from the world and meet King Sombra. As the two begin to question their destinies, they begin to wonder what would happen if their roles were reversed...

The cover art, as you can tell, was done by the wondrous Enigmadoodles/MayhemMoth. MayhemMoth also gave me advice on what to edit for the premiere chapter, so extra kudos to her, check out her work!

Twilight, apathetic after so many years since her friends' passings, prepares a spell so she can see them again.

Twilight Sparkle can't seem to remember what was most dear to her.

Inspired by a friend, who in turn was inspired by a fan song called Old Phantoms.
Thanks to AFanaticRabbit for the help with editing.
Yes, this is a story about Twilight outliving her friends, sorry if you're tired of those.

Now with a reading by ObabScribbler! Go check it out!

What was the most important Friendship Lesson I ever learned? Well, it happened one night many, many years ago...

During a check-in visit to Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight finds a much too old Applejack overworking herself. The farm is lonely, the orchard is diminished, and Twilight is worried. A talk about the past reveals Applejack’s current struggles with the farm, her family, and herself.

Originally written for the Quills and Sofas Unremarkable contest. A few minor edits were made here and there, but it’s almost entirely unchanged. Thanks to Posh, Decaf, MushroomPone, RedParade, and NoponyPones for pre-reading and giving feedback during the contest ^^