Afternoon outside Canterlot was wondrously peaceful. Lazy cirrus clouds relaxed to themselves high up in the loft, not bothering to obscure the sun. Landward, Twilight Sparkle casually followed a dirt path into the woods. She was finally free of signing papers and soaking up the copious doctrines of nobility. There had scarcely been time to take a breath since her coronation. She cantered down the winding rural path away from the castle, too fatigued to fly home. Soft wisps of wind sent bright leaves skittering along the road. She basked in the tranquility of the cool day. Moments like that evoked a subtle sense of complacency.
Her ears perked up. A faint melody weaved throughout the trees - a small whistle. Twilight peered curiously toward the source of the tune. It was coming from somewhere off the path. She deviated into the brush and followed the beautiful notes. To her mild surprise, a little light blue filly sat at the edge of a creek, letting her hooves dip into the water. The filly was an earth pony with a plain unkempt mane of a darker blue. She continued to whistle the haunting aria into the open air. Something imperceptible restrained Twilight from looking away. There were chores to attend to at home, but she couldn't bring herself to ignore the filly. Something about her firmly clutched her attention. There wasn't anything overly interesting about her or the tune she whistled, but she drew the princess' eye. Acting largely on impulse, Twilight then decided to approach the pony just to say hi. Then it was straight home.
“Hey there. That's an interesting song,” offered Twilight as she stopped beside the young one at the bubbling brook.
The filly peered up at her. “Oh, thank you. I didn't see you coming. My name's Ecclesia.”
“That's a pretty name. I've never heard anything like that before. I'm Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you.”
Ecclesia smiled, her eyes captivating Twilight. They were a muted gold, not quite yellow.
“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” inquired Twilight, brushing her mane to the side.
Ecclesia's smile faded a little. “Oh, I'm just enjoying my day. Watching the world go by. Watching the weather change.”
“Ah, I see. That's good. It's important to sit back and relax sometimes.”
The two were silent for several seconds. Ecclesia simply stared into the creek as if lost in thought. Perhaps the extent of their communication was only that – an awkward silence. In another world, it was the whole conversation. Twilight never heard the tune or stopped to meet the musician.
“Um, is everything okay? You're alright aren't you?” Twilight asked Ecclesia.
Ecclesia remained silent for another second or two. Without looking up, she shook her head softly. “No.”
“What's wrong?” pressed Twilight, genuinely concerned for the child. “Are your parents around? How can I help you?”
“Look, you seem really nice, Twilight. Please don't worry about me. There's nothing you can do for me.”
“Nonsense,” Twilight protested. She sat down at the water's edge. “Are you hurt in any way? Do you need to see a doctor?”
Ecclesia looked at her sadly. “Oh, how happy is the blameless vestal's lot. Please Twilight. Just enjoy today, okay? Forget you saw me and go on with your day.”
Such words were far from normal for a young pony. This worried Twilight greatly. She glanced over her shoulder as if wary of snickering onlookers. She said, “What do you mean? Look Ecclesia, I can help you if something bad is going on. If there's a bad pony watching you, or something happened and you don't know who to tell, let me know. I promise that I can help you.”
“It's neither of those things,” Ecclesia told her.
Twilight tried to work through the conversation systematically. “Okay, I suppose that's good. Why did you say I should forget about you?”
Ecclesia splashed water on her face to cool off. “That way you can really have time to enjoy the rest of today.”
“Is today a special day?” Twilight inquired
“Yes. There's a lot I'm looking forward to. In fact, today is the most special day in the entire world. The worlds forgotten by the worlds forgot.”
“Why is is special? Is today your birthday?” She started to feel a little too pushy.
“No Twilight," answered Ecclesia. "Nothing like that. You wouldn't understand if I told you. It's best if I don't talk about it. My plan was just to keep it to myself. I wasn't going to get anypony else involved. In fact, I debated for a long time whether I should bring you here today or not.”
Twilight chuckled slightly in confusion. “You knew I was going to come by this path today?”
“Yes. I can tell what's going to happen before it does."
By now, Twilight considered dismissing her remarks as simple filly imagination. She shifted her view to the tiny minnows wriggling under the dark surface of the stream. ”That's called precognition," she said after a while. "Do you have any other powers?"
Ecclesia nodded. “I do. A great many. I know you don't believe me right now, but you will soon. It's all part of the plan. You should be honored that I picked you. You're the only pony in the world who I'm going to tell about today.”
“Don't you want me to forget about you and go away?”
“Not really,” said Ecclesia. “I was just making sure my plan would work. I had to verify your willingness to assist me.”
“Well, you certainly have my attention,” admitted Twilight. “You're a very interesting filly.”
Ecclesia smiled again. “Thank you. I'm thankful for your cooperation. Would you like to hear about today, now?”
Twilight figured Spike could feed himself if he got hungry enough. The library also wasn't that messy. “Sure,” she said.
“Okay,” said Ecclesia. She scooted back from the water and laid on her back, gazing into the azure infinity. “You're not going to like what you hear.”
“That's okay. I'm here to listen.”
“I'm dying,” Ecclesia revealed delicately. “I don't have much time left. Less than an hour, in fact. I wanted to spend my last moments here in peace, with you. Even though I don't look like it, I'm very sick. I... chose to die here with you.”
Twilight's words failed her. She possessed no response to such a random and utterly ominous declaration. Her heartbeat accelerated and she shifted uncomfortably.
“I know what you're thinking,” Ecclesia went on. “I understand. I won't make sense to you. I never have and I never will. You'll never understand what happens here today. Maybe in another world, you will. Not here though. You listen to my words, but you don't believe.”
“Ecclesia, I -”
“Ssh. It's okay.” She looked at Twilight with her faded golden eyes. “I know. I know.”
It became apparent that the birds in the trees had ceased to warble. The wind stopped teasing the leaves along, and even the creek seemed to lie still. Twilight looked around in bafflement. “Where are the birds?” she asked slowly.
“They're being quiet for us,” Ecclesia claimed. “They want us to celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing.”
“The whole woods are silent...” Twilight said, more to herself.
“Today isn't just my final day,” continued the filly. “When I stop breathing, so does this earth.”
An alarming fear arose deep inside Twilight. “W-what?”
“Yes. I have decided to let the world rest. Today marks the end of your time, and I chose you to be my confidant. You should be honored, really.”
Twilight jumped to her hooves and backed away from the filly. “Okay. Look Ecclesia, I know you're imaginative and all, but you can't go around saying things like that. You might need to see a doctor who can help you through whatever this is. Talk to your parents and tell them what you're telling me. They'll know what's best for you.”
The silence of the light forest persisted. The two ponies stared at each other for several seconds.
Ecclesia sighed. “I love you, Twilight Sparkle. I've watched over you ever since you were just a baby in your mother's womb. I watched you graduate from Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I watched you grow and learn and flourish. When it was your time, you earned your wings and became a princess yourself. You're a very special pony to me.”
Twilight locked up with paralyzing disorientation. Her breath was shaky. The child before her was horrifying. She began to suspect that she might be staring into the face of something she never thought existed. “You...”
Ecclesia smiled with only a hint of sadness. “Now you're starting to get it. Yes, let the feeling come. You're precious to me. I care about you and everypony in the world more deeply than you can understand. Come sit down. I'll take you to my favorite place. I really don't want to get too emotional about this whole end of the world thing, though. It's not a time for sadness. In fact, it's not really a time for anything. Bittersweet. That's the word for how I feel. I think. Maybe. I'd rather not get too emotional.”
Twilight slowly walked back over to the stream.“What are you?”
Ecclesia shrugged. “I don't know. Some kind of dominant force, I guess. What am I to you, Twilight? Am I a dream? I can be if you want me to be. I'll give you the choice to wish this all away. You can wake up at home with Spike and let the circle be unbroken.”
Twilight sat down woozily and rubbed her forehead. The pony before her filled her with unrivaled shame and fear. Her head pulsed with a buzzing drum as she attempted to understand what was happening.
“Close your eyes and we'll go to one of my favorite places,” Ecclesia commanded.
Twilight complied out of mostly intimidation. The echoing call of a bird of prey resonated somewhere high above. When she opened her eyes, she and Ecclesia sat on a sweeping craggy plateau. The gorgeous highland stretched on for miles with wide canyons digging burrows through the flat grassland. Checkerboard clouds rode in front of a low evening sun, throwing a beautiful patchwork of shade and light onto the plateau.
“Where is this?” Twilight asked as a refreshing gust prickled her coat.
“It's just a wilderness. I often come here just to relax. It's not part of any country. It's not even from your world. This place belongs to others.”
“It's amazing!" exclaimed Twilight. "There's so much natural beauty! Why would you want to get rid of a place like this? Or any place for that matter?”
“I'm sick, Twilight. I carry the evening in my chest.” Ecclesia said. “It just happened.”
Suddenly, a fiery conviction swelled up in Twilight's heart. “No! You can't use that as an excuse! You can't just kill us all! Why would you do that? Do you not see how irresponsible that is? You can't just reveal yourself and then leave us all!”
Ecclesia sighed in exasperation. “You have it mixed up. I've never taken a life. I'm not killing you. It's you that's killed me. Not the other way around. I never left you. I was the one who was abandoned. It's okay, though. Everything will be better soon. There's so much I want to show you when this is all over...”
Twilight felt hot tears streaking her cheeks. “I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe this is real...”
As if nothing had happened at all, they were back beside the small stream in the forest by Canterlot.
“It's real if you want it to be. You alone have been given the choice,” said Ecclesia.
“Why? Why me?” whispered Twilight.
“Because you're special. Your were pure as you began, and you've somehow managed to hang on to that. That's why I chose you,” Ecclesia pointed out. She suddenly coughed violently. She wiped her mouth and noticed a tiny droplet of blood on her hoof.
“If you created this world, then how can you die?” pleaded Twilight. “You don't have to die!”
Ecclesia wiped the blood on the ground and shrugged helplessly. “I'm sorry.”
“I'm sorry...”
Ecclesia crawled over to Twilight and lay her head in her lap. "Listen. There's so much I'm looking forward to. Like the trillions of star nurseries all waiting for me to create them. They'll bring beautiful new life to an empty cosmos. It fills me with joy just thinking about the possibilities.”
Twilight thought of something. “Does that mean we weren't good enough? Are we not good enough for you?”
“No. I wasn't good enough for you. It's time for me to move on. Besides, you won't just disappear. Not the way you're thinking of, anyway. I fear there's not much time to explain anymore. My dusk is already falling.”
A jagged patch of earth near the two ponies trembled and sunk down, falling into an inky void of nothingness. Twilight softly stroked Ecclesia's mane. “I don't want to die...” she murmured to herself repeatedly. “I don't want to die.”
Another section of ground gave out and tumbled down. Not long after, the trees began to fall one by one. They crackled and snapped as their roots lost hold.
“This just isn't fair,” Twilight whimpered. “My whole life has been for nothing. Now I don't even get to ask you all the questions nopony else could ever hope to answer. I have so many questions...”
Ecclesia coughed again, her frail body shuddering and wracked with chills. More and more of the earth unraveled and submerged.
“I don't want to die. I'll never see my friends again... I'll never get married and grow old and find the answers to all of my questions...”
“You're wrong,” the dying filly sputtered. “Have faith in me. Can't you see? That's all I wanted this whole time. It's all in your mind, Twilight. Don't listen to your fears. Right now in this moment, it's only me and you and nothing else matters. It's all up to you.”
Twilight cried softly into her companion's mane. “Please don't die, Ecclesia. It doesn't have to be too late. Please. I know that I -”
She was interrupted as the grass she sat on began to tremble. The last piece of ground disappeared into the darkness and the world slowed, winding down to an end like a great music box playing its final note. The pony known as Twilight closed her eyes and let herself fall into the end of the cycle - the change of an eternal season.