//------------------------------// // Life Goes On // Story: Disease in the Darkness // by Kaii-Leiko //------------------------------// Despite Twilight's fast approaching demise, life had to go on. For her, her friends and even her family. So it did. Several weeks had passed since she'd broken the news to Shining Armour and a surprising amount of things had happened since then. Cadence had to stay in the Crystal Empire to rule; Shining Armour, on the other hand managed to get away. He was staying with Twilight and intended to do so until the end. Twilight was glad for the company. When Fluttershy couldn't be around, her brother was. Fluttershy and Twilight had grown much closer over the last few weeks. They spent as much time together as they could and it still wasn't enough for them. They knew that if there wasn't an invisible timer that was counting down their time together they would be satisfied with how often they saw each other; so they did their best. Fluttershy was often busy taking care of her animal friends. She kept her promise and every Sunday was reserved for Twilight and herself and nothing could stop them from having their day together. It was what kept Twilight going when there was a week where she hadn't seen much of Fluttershy. Twilight stayed at Fluttershy's cottage every now and then but it was rare. The first time she'd stayed there was the same day she'd broken the news to Shining Armour and Princess Cadance. They'd discovered it wasn't the ideal set-up. Fluttershy's animals would demand a lot of attention when she was around; especially Angel. They would constantly be interrupted so they stuck to the library unless it had been a really long time. Spike had moved back into the library as well. Spike had known from the beginning that Twilight was going to pass away soon. It turned out that he'd overheard Princess Celestia. He'd kept it to himself and acted as though everything were fine. He was in denial, and refused to believe what he'd overheard to the point that when Twilight told him herself he'd told her she was wrong. It had been difficult and many tears were shed, but Twilight was getting used to it. Twilight felt awful when she realized she had to tell Spike though; as she'd forgotten about him. She thought after Shining Armour and Cadance had been dealt with it was over. She'd been proven wrong twice since then, Spike being the first and her parents being second. It had been a long time since Twilight had even spoken to her parents. They'd sent her to live with Princess Celestia and had hardly spoken to her since. Twilight didn't even want to tell them but her brother convinced his sister otherwise. He'd made several good points. Once she was gone there would be no more opportunities to fix the relationship with her parents. Nothing she could do to make amends. It had been a good decision to fix things with her parents. She'd gone to Canterlot to see them (Fluttershy and Shining Armour had accompanied her) to break the news. It had, again, been difficult but Twilight pulled through it. Personal matters and space prevented them from staying in Ponyville with Twilight as well, but they wrote to their daughter all the time. They knew she would be safe with Shining Armour and were thrilled that Twilight had found a nice pony to love her, even if she was a mare. Twilight's mom had always wanted grandfoals so it was, of course, a little disappointing but as Twilight was going to pass soon anyway it wouldn't have mattered if she'd met a colt anyway. The rest of Twilight's friends weren't forgotten. Each tried to help her in their own way. Rarity always invited Twilight to join her and Fluttershy at the spa. Rarity that believed being pampered would maybe get Twilight's mind off of her situation, and it worked, to an extent. Applejack liked to act as though nothing were wrong. She knew what was going to happen but treating Twilight any differently than she always had wouldn't save her. Rainbow Dash was having a more difficult time than Applejack and Rarity with coping. She was angry that Twilight had 'given up' so easily. Dash had thought that Twilight of all ponies would at least try to find a cure, do something. In truth part of her held it against Twilight, but she would stick with her friend to the end regardless. Dash had to understand she had no control over Twilight's decisions. Pinkie Pie simply hadn't been the same. At first she'd been okay but as time went on things had only gotten harder on the party-loving mare. Out of Everypony Pinkie was possibly the one who was the most attached to her friends so the idea of losing one forever was heart-breaking. Still, as a true friend she also did her best to help Twilight. All was not well though. Darklight's harassment had not ceased in the least. It had grown exponentially. She hadn't been lying when she had said that as Twilight grew weaker she grew stronger. It was easier for Darklight to manifest herself. Sometimes, time wouldn't even freeze any more for Twilight. Even in the physical world, although she couldn't touch Twilight, Twilight could almost feel her. It was scary. She hadn't tried to get Twilight to kill herself again; or it was more she lacked the power to. Twilight's will to live out her days with her friends and family was too strong. Such an approach was meaningless so she'd given up. That didn't mean the hard times were over. The intense pain in Twilight's horn was growing more frequent. Several nights a week her horn would explode in pain. It used to be only for a few minutes but now the mind-searing agony went on for at least an hour each time. Those were special situations where Shining Armour or Spike would go to get Fluttershy right away. The yellow pegasus would gladly drop anything she was doing to go help Twilight. She was the only one who could help when Twilight got like that. As for Twilight herself she could tell her time was becoming short. Extremely short. It was almost time, as unfortunate as it was. It seemed even shorter to her. She thought it would pass by slowly but instead every day made her wish she had more time. There was nothing she could do. Twilight did her best to keep it together, but it wasn't easy. Her mind was going through a steady descent into insanity. Darklight was a testament to that. When she'd asked Princess Celestia about it the Princess had assured her she would pass before it got bad enough that Twilight wouldn't be able to handle herself. It was a relief, but not a comfort. Physically she was growing worse as well. Twilight caught herself growing exhausted frequently. Her muscles ached often and she'd even coughed up blood every now and then. It was a bitter-sweet thing that soon she wouldn't be able to feel the pain any more. The Sun was now drifting lazily up into the sky. The morning was only beginning in Ponyville, but it promised to be a beautiful day. Twilight stretched and she heard her back crack satisfyingly as she did. A smile formed on her lips as she realized it was Monday morning. She knew what that meant. When she opened her eyes sure enough there was Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus gave Twilight the sweetest smile as she watched her marefriend open her eyes. "Morning, love." Fluttershy whispered. "Morning." Twilight returned. The two then leaned in to share a quick kiss. This was their routine; Every Monday morning at least. Neither left the bed until both were awake. The two lovers crawled out of bed and lazily headed downstairs; not even worried about their bedmane. Shining Armour had caught them doing far worse things so seeing them with an unkempt mane was the least of their worries. Fluttershy was impressed with herself. At how comfortable she'd become around Twilight and Shining Armour. They truly were here family. "Good morning, you two." Shining Armour's cheery voice called out. A cup of coffee floated over to each of them and they gratefully took it. He already knew what each of them took and every morning he had it ready for them. Or at least for Twilight. He wasn't always sure when Fluttershy showed up. "Do you two have any plans for today?" "No." Twilight said with a yawn. She went to take the first sip of her coffee when it was knocked from her hoof. The cup crashed to the floor and the hot liquid quickly spread. A twisted, grinning face winked at Twilight before disappearing. Twilight glared. She didn't retaliate verbally though. If knocking Coffee out of her hoofs was all Darklight felt like doing that day then maybe it would be an excellent day. Any time Darklight wasn't assaulting Twilight with horrible visions or words it was a good day. "Oh my, are you okay." Fluttershy asked. She knew it had been Darklight but didn't say anything. Of course she'd seen how things had been getting worse. "Clumsy as always, Twily." Shining Armour's horn glowed and the liquid quickly vanished. The cup appeared on the table, now intact. He noticed Twilight staring longingly at his horn. "Shoot, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't..." "No, no. It's okay Shining Armour. It's not your fault I can't do magic." Twilight sighed. Her brother only nodded in response. "Maybe we could go out for lunch today, Twilight." Fluttershy suggested to get the subject away from magic. "Sure, that'd be gr-" A smile had started to form on Twilight's lips but it stopped midway. Her vision blurred and she could feel herself falling. She never felt herself hit the ground though, or heard her two concerned guests rush over to her. Her vision faded to black as she passed out. ** Twilight wasn't even surprised any more and Darklight didn't bother to hide herself. There was no longer any point. The two stared at each other. It was like a stand-off. There was always a reason for these visits but Twilight couldn't understand the reason for visiting at that time. "You're almost out of time." Darklight spurted out matter-of-factly. Twilight snorted. She knew this. "I know. I still got some time though." "You're so stupid, you never even realized it did you?" Darklight shook her head back and forth. It was as though she'd expected more from Twilight; as though in some twisted way she viewed the real Twilight as a rival. "What do you mean...?" It was at this point Twilight was getting worried. "When I say you're almost out of time I mean you're super close." Darklight paused. She wanted to see how Twilight would react. Twilight didn't see the difference between the previous statement and that one. "Oh, Twilight. We've had a good run, you and I but unfortunately for the both of us our time together will be over next week." "I'm not falling for any more of your tricks!" Twilight still had a scar on her neck from the last time her twisted counterpart had deceived her. Darklight could only force another chuckle. "Oh, sweet Celestia! Now of all times you decide to go into denial? You can feel it, can't you? Your body's been growing weak. It's shutting down, Twilight." Twilight swallowed hard. This couldn't be happening. She'd planned her remaining time out. How could everything fall apart like that. Why did her time shorten? Had she done something wrong? "The only thing you did wrong is communicate with me. You've kept yourself open to me. You talk to me, respond. You don't even try to shut me out. Do you have any idea how easy that makes it for me to drain you?" Darklight grinned. "Well, I guess you know now." The world was spinning for Twilight. Being told she was going to die was already awful enough. Being told she's going to die sooner was hardly a fair fight. It was as though she never had a chance to begin with. Anything she wanted to say was stuck in her throat. There was nothing she could say. Once again she'd brought this on herself, no matter how unfair it might be. "That's all. You can wake up now. No tormenting today, I think I did quite well with the news I broke." Twilight felt as though she were being pulled backwards. Darklight grew smaller and smaller until she vanished. Before Twilight woke up she heard Darklight speak one last time. "I'll be seeing you soon, 'love'." She mocked Flutershy's tone. Another trick just to hurt Twilight. Unfortunately it worked. ** Twilight sat up with a start. She quickly took a look around the room. She was in her bed. Shining Armour and Fluttershy must have brought her there. She could hear them talking downstairs. Initially Twilight was a little hurt that they'd left her alone but she understood that with as many 'episodes' as she was having lately she couldn't expect ponies to waste their own lives watching her lose hers. She crawled out of bed and made her way downstairs. While she walked downstairs she heard the sound of laughing. Twilight frowned. She wondered what could be so funny. It was then that Fluttershy head her marefriend and turned around. Upon seeing Twilight well Fluttershy's face simply lit up and Twilight could only smile back. With such a smile how couldn't she? "Are you feeling better?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah" When Twilight reached them she looked down at what they were looking at. "What are you guys doing?" "Oh, I was just showing Fluttershy pictures of the wedding." Shining replied. The book floated towards Twilight and began flipping through the pages to show her the pictures. This managed to bring a smile to Twilight's lips. It was momentary though. More bad news to break. "This one's my favourite." Shining Armour said freezing on a picture of himself and his bride standing at the altar. Twilight couldn't help but notice neither of them had ever seemed happier. It was looking at that picture that made Twilight realize what she wanted to do with her last week or so. It was so clear in her mind. It would have to be quick, nothing too fancy. Her close friends, family, maybe even Princess Celestia if she could make it so. She wanted this more than anything. It would be the last thing she would do with her life, yet also probably the best. While all these thoughts whirled around in her mind the unicorn never even realized she had zoned out. "Twilight?" Fluttershy asked for the third or fourth time. Twilight turned to her marefriend. "I want to get married." Both Fluttershy and Shining Armour gasped.