The Essence of Friendship
Applejack lay under her favorite tree in the orchard, looking up at the blue, cloudless sky, feeling the warmth on her face. She could hear, just barely, the sounds of her grandchildren and great-nieces and nephews hard at work, harvesting apples. Her own daughter would be in the kitchen, baking pies to fill an order. Big Mac's sons were raising a new barn along with their cousins.
A tired sigh escaped the ancient mare. More than anything, she longed to be out there in the field, bucking apples and running in the grass. She looked at her old, cracked hooves and the bleached peach-white hair of her fetlocks, once a vibrant orange. Her mane and tail, what was left of them, were snow white.
Her eyes, old as the rest of her, were still vibrant green, and her mind was as sharp as ever—she'd luckily never succumbed to the same ravages of old age that had wrecked Granny Smith's memory or left Big Macintosh completely senile unto his last breath.
Distantly, she heard Apple Bloom yelling about keeping a closer eye on the tools, or some fool thing...it was hard to tell from this distance. Her hearing wasn't what it used to be.
"Hello, Applejack," a soft, pleasant voice said as a shadow fell over her. She looked up.
Princess Twilight Sparkle had changed a great deal in the last hundred years. She now stood as tall as Princess Celestia; she wore similar gold regalia, with an amethyst in the shape of her six-pointed cutie mark upon her chest, and the small five-pointed tiara she'd worn since her early days seated atop her head. Her horn was now almost as long as her mentor's. While her bangs were still as short and straight as ever, the rest of her mane, as well as her voluminous tail, billowed away from her body on a magical breeze she herself perpetually generated. The magenta streak which she'd always had in her mane had been joined by four new streaks of color over the years: light sky blue, bubblegum pink, pale butter yellow, and an eye-pleasing white. These streaks rippled in the starry violet of Twilight's ethereal mane, each shining brightly.
The great alicorn smiled down at Applejack, her expressive purple eyes moist. "How are you feeling?" Twilight asked.
Applejack sighed. "You durn well know th' answer t' that, Twi. You wouldn't be here if'n ya didn't."
"I'm sorry," Twilight said, sitting primly beside her.
"Nah, it's okay," Applejack said. "Heck, walkin' up t' one'a yer oldest friends an' sayin' hey, heard you're dyin'...ain't no way t' start no conversation."
"True," Twilight said. She swallowed heavily. "But...other than...that, how are you?"
Applejack shrugged. "Ah ache some," she said. "Can't hold down much more'n applesauce an' milk these days. Ah'm a hunnert'n thirty, Twi. This ol' body's done wore out."
"I know," Twilight said sadly. She laid a hoof on Applejack's back and stroked it.
Applejack looked up at Twilight. "Will it hurt?" she asked.
"No," Twilight assured her in a soothing tone. "It won't hurt. I promise." She looked out into the orchards. "Is...is there anypony you need to..."
"No goodbyes," Applejack said. "Ah can't...Ah don't want..." She sighed. "Ah jes'..."
"I understand," Twilight said. She toyed with a few loose strands of Applejack's mane. "Whenever you're ready..."
"Can Ah...can Ah jes' have one last bite of apple?" Applejack asked.
"Of course," Twilight said with a smile. Her horn glowed, and a big, juicy red delicious apple detached itself from the tree above them, floating down into Applejack's old, tired hooves. Applejack took a bite of the apple, grimacing at the pain in her old gums, but humming in delight as the juices dripped down her muzzle.
Twilight waited patiently as Applejack finished the apple. Once Applejack had eaten her fill, she discarded the remainder. "Okay," she said. "Ah...Ah'm ready now."
Twilight smiled and stood up. "Alright." She walked around and face Applejack. Applejack looked up at her, jaw working as she fought her own nerves.
Twilight's eyes began to glow a soft white as her horn shimmered magenta. Applejack felt a pull...one she had felt only once before, over a century ago. Only this time, it felt different. Before, it had felt like part of her was being violently ripped away. This...
This felt like she was being drawn into a warm, welcoming light.
She heard voices, calling out to her...some of which she hadn't heard in decades...
Applejack's cutie mark disappeared from her flank. The vibrant green of her eyes dimmed to a pale, faded whitish hue. Her eyelids drooped.
Applejack's entire body sagged as her ancient heart beat one final time.
Twilight's horn dimmed, and her eyes faded. Her mane glowed, and a new streak joined the other four: a vibrant harvest orange, shining like morning dew on green leaves.
Twilight looked down at the dead body of her friend, smiled, and spread her wings, coasting to the barnyard.
She found Apple Bloom berating three burly young stallions who had apparently smashed several freshly cut boards with their recklessness. Apple Bloom had grown into a stout, strong mare, and while she was far from a spring chicken, she still had vitality to spare.
"Apple Bloom," Twilight called softly. Though her voice was not loud, it commanded immediate attention from all the ponies around her; they all stopped what they were doing and turned to kneel.
"As you were, my little ponies," Twilight said. She smiled gently at Apple Bloom. "How are you, Apple Bloom?"
"Too old t' be foolin' with these horseapple-brained young'uns," Apple Bloom muttered. She looked at Twilight...then did a double-take. Her ears wilted. "She's...?"
"Yes," Twilight said softly. "She...thought it best if she avoided any goodbyes. Thought it might...make it easier."
Apple Bloom sighed. "Where's...?"
"Underneath Bloomberg Junior," Twilight said.
"Of course," Apple Bloom nodded. She looked at Twilight again. "And...you really...?"
"Yes," Twilight said, running a hoof through the orange streak in her mane. She smiled. "Finally, we're all together forever..."
Eighty Years Earlier...
Princess Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack stood around an array of blankets which had been haphazardly spread out on the ground. Rain poured down; overhead, several pegasi were attempting to combat the out-of-control thunderstorm.
A doctor, two nurses, and three medic ponies worked furiously over Rainbow Dash, who lay mangled on the sodden blankets. Her broken, twisted wings were almost completely devoid of feathers, blood flowed freely from gashes in her side, her left front hoof was split in half, and blood seeped from her muzzle. Her rose-hued eyes were bleary as she looked up at her circle of friends.
Fluttershy and Rarity were sobbing. Pinkie Pie's mane lay flat and straight, rain dripping from its length. Applejack tried to be stoic, but her ears lay flat.
The doctor looked up at Twilight. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. There's...there's nothing we can do. If we'd gotten here even a few minutes sooner, there might be a chance, but..."
"I can teleport us all to the hospital," Twilight said. "There could still be—"
"I'm sorry," the doctor said. "Even if you did, we...we wouldn't even have time to prep for surgery at this point. And...there's little chance she'd even survive the operation." His ears wilted. "It's just too late, Your Highness."
Fluttershy broke down in loud, keening sobs. As the rain thinned to a trickle, tears streamed down the faces of Twilight's friends.
"No," Twilight whispered hoarsely. "It...it can't be...Rainbow Dash...you can't just...you can't just die..."
Rainbow Dash looked up at Twilight. "H...hey..." she said, struggling to speak. "I had a good run..." She coughed and spat out a glob of blood. "Besides...nopony lives forever..." She laughed weakly. "Well...almost nopony."
Twilight's ears drooped. In that moment, the reality of her alicorn existence struck home.
She was immortal. Her friends weren't.
Rainbow Dash was dying right in front of her.
One day, Pinkie Pie would die. And Fluttershy. And Rarity. And Applejack.
Her friends...they were all going to die. And it would just be her and Spike, together for...however long alicorns and dragons lived.
Without the very ponies that made her the Princess she was.
"No," Twilight said, eyes narrowing. She stamped a powerful hoof. "You're not going to die, Rainbow Dash. None of you are going to die. Not now, not ever."
Rainbow Dash coughed again. "Don't...think you can...do anything about that, Twi..."
"Watch me," Twilight said. Her eyes began to glow, and her horn lit up, casting a magenta glow that pierced the gloom of the clouds above.
"Twilight? What...?" Rarity asked, taking a fearful step back.
"What's going on?" Pinkie asked.
"Whut're you...?" Applejack wondered, eyes wide.
Fluttershy hid behind Applejack, trembling.
Rainbow Dash's cutie mark disappeared from her flank. The vibrant rose hue of her eyes faded to a dull pinkish-gray. She coughed one last time and fell still.
With one last, bright flare, Twilight's horn dimmed, and her eyes returned to normal. A bright shimmer of magic lit up her mane, and a streak of sky blue spread from the roots to the tip, sparkling and glowing as it darkened the natural violet.
When it was done, Twilight took off into the sky, trailing a rainbow behind her, and blew away the lingering clouds, scattering weatherponies in her wake. As the sky cleared and the sun shone down on the body of Rainbow Dash, the circle of medic ponies, and her shocked, stunned friends, Twilight Sparkle landed again, folding her wings at her sides.
"Twilight?" Pinkie asked in an unusually timid voice. "What...what did you just do?"
Twilight let out a deep, shaky breath. "I...I saved Rainbow Dash."
"Saved her?" Rarity shrieked. "You killed her!"
"No," Twilight said, turning to face her friends. The new blue streak in her mane swished as she turned. "Her body has died, yes, but...everything she was...will live on forever. Inside me."
"Inside...you?" Rarity asked, taking a step back.
"Do you remember when Tirek stole our magic?" Twilight asked.
"Of course," Rarity said, shuddering.
"I..." Twilight took a deep breath. "I...just thought of a way to adapt that horrible power...and use it in a different way."
"You stole Rainbow Dash's magic?" Fluttershy asked sharply.
Twilight shook her head. "I absorbed her essence," she said. "Rainbow Dash's magic, her talent, all her memories and experiences...everything Rainbow Dash was...even her very soul. All of that...it's inside me now. Part of me."
The others gasped. "Uhh...that's..." Applejack looked at Twilight fearfully. "That's...uhh..."
"That's horrific," Rarity whispered.
"She was dying!" Twilight said. "I...I was about to lose one of my precious friends!" She looked around at the others, ears falling. "I...I saw her dying...and I knew she was about to die...and I realized...all of you are going...going to die...one day...and I'll still be here...without you...and..." Tears spilled from her eyes. "I can't lose you. I can't lose any of you! Don't you see? Not when...not when there's a way..." She sniffled. "And so...I did...the only thing I could think of..."
It was days before any of them spoke to Twilight again, and years before they truly, fully understood why she'd done what she did.
Twenty years later, Pinkie Pie fell victim to a plague that spread through western Equestria. Many ponies died before a cure was found. As Pinkie's friends gathered around her deathbed, Twilight looked into the bloodshot blue eyes of her usually cheerful, ebullient friend. "Pinkie Pie," she said. "You don't have to die. Not here...not now. You can be with me and Rainbow Dash forever."
Pinkie looked up at Twilight, eyes wide. "I..." She swallowed. "I'm...kinda scared of dying," she admitted. "It...it isn't very fun."
"You don't have to," Twilight said with a gentle smile. "Let me save you. Please...please let me save you..."
"Is...is Dashie happy in there with you?"
Tears spilled from Twilight's eyes, and she nodded. "She's happy. She wants you to stay with us too."
"Okay," Pinkie said weakly.
The others watched as Twilight absorbed Pinkie into herself, and a streak of bubblegum pink appeared in her mane.
"This...this jes' ain't natural, Twilight," Applejack said as they left the empty, lifeless body of Pinkie Pie behind.
"This is the way it has to be, Applejack," Twilight said. "I won't let it be any other way."
Over the years, Twilight grew more distant from her living friends. And yet, when each neared death, she knew, and she was there.
Fluttershy was next. She had given birth to one foal more than her body could handle. Twilight approached her, and she cowered in her deathbed.
"If for no other reason, do it for your family," Twilight said. "Do it so they know...so they know you didn't just...go away."
Years later, Rarity passed of old age. Twilight was there. Sweetie Belle, in tears, pleaded with her sister to accept Twilight's offer. Rarity agreed, and became one with her oldest and dearest friends.
At Rarity's funeral, Applejack was solemn. "Twilight?"
"Yes, Applejack?"
"Ah jes' want you t' know..." Applejack swallowed thickly. "When mah time comes...an' Ah know it's comin' soon..." She bowed her head and sighed. "Ah won't argue. Ah'll...Ah'll wait for you. Do your thing...Ah'll be ready."
"Thank you," Twilight said, tears streaming down her face as she embraced the elderly earth pony. "Thank you so much."
* * * * *
An alicorn with a rainbow mane stood on the balcony of a crystal castle overlooking the bustling town of Ponyville. It had changed so much over the decades...
She looked up at the sky, at the shining sun overhead, and felt the warm wind on her face.
The Fuji apples were just about ready to be harvested. Dozens of baby squirrels were going to be born soon. There were two birthday parties today and a baby shower tomorrow. The Manehattan fashion expo was coming up in two weeks. A thundershower was scheduled for early tomorrow morning.
There was also Applejack's funeral, but she wasn't going. Because Applejack wasn't dead.
Applejack was immortal. And so were the others.
Twilight and all her friends would be together forever...
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I swear I've read this story before...
this story... I love it.
5372782 There are more than likely a few similar ones floating around, including one very sweet little story I found while I was waiting for this to pass moderation.
I strangely though about this guy while reading this on how Twilight was doing that.
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100506142507/dragonball/images/thumb/0/0d/CellPerfectNVVsGoku.png/280px-CellPerfectNVVsGoku.png
so exactly how are they in their. Can they affect the outside world or what?
Genius! Now that Twilight has her friends in her forever, she can use the full power of the Elements of Harmony/Rainbow Power whenever she wants, with no risk of compatibility problems like Celestia ran into.
Equestria is safe forever!
5372819 I'll leave that to the reader to speculate on.
5372858 aaawwww
Omg... i almost cried... this is so beautiful and sad XD you are so talented at writing with feels! lol
5372864 Well, the point of this isn't "how does the spell work", it's...well...does it?
5372893 Not asking how the spell works but how the mare exist in her. Does she throw parties, occasionaly tend wether or fashion shows?
So, wait...does that mean the other five now live as tulpas inside Twilight's mindscape?
5372900
5372917 Like I said, it's a thought exercise for the reader. Kind of like how you're supposed to wonder whether or not the entire plot of Total Recall was all just a dream.
5372924
That would work...
Except the bit where Applejack hears 'familiar voices from long ago' as she's absorbed makes it quite blatant that - if nothing else - an echo of everything they were is inside her and capable of interacting.
I'm having a hard time typing this because of the tears in my eyes.
Wonderful job, and it's nice to see her friends go willingly.
"Let the rainbow remind you, that together we will alwaaayyysss shiiiiiiiinneeee."
That was so sad....but also beautiful...I don't know whether I'm upset or glad I read it.... it almost takes away the pain I still feel of my brother's passing on.
You know, this has great potential for more writing. I mean, think about it- if the rest of the Mane Six are still alive, how does that work? Do they see through Twilight's eyes and hear through her ears? Can they speak to her in her head? Can Twilight temporarily cede control of her body to them? How does this affect Twilight's psych?
Also, what about Celestia and Luna? Did they ever attempt something like this?
So many questions, and so much potential!
Still, this was an excellent oneshot, I must say. Great work, as always.
My heart...
Wow. This is... Wow. There's a lot to unpack here, many levels of relative right and wrong. The reactions of Twilight's friends nicely reflect my own. Knee-jerk disgust mellowing over time into acceptance, if not approval. At least, that's my forecast. I'm still mostly in the first stage.
A disquieting piece. Thank you for it, Moth. Anything that makes me feel this much is very good indeed.
A simple idea, yet still well done.
I'm not a big fan of these immortality sob stories, but this was certainly something, certainly raising questions about the ethics behind finding ways of omitting death. Can't say I agree with them. After all...
-Gandalf
See, this right here is the primary reason Twilight should NEVER have become an alicorn!
She's as mentally unstable and incapable of coping with death as the people who write these things!
5373923 I know this was meant in jest, but seeing as I've lost a mother, a grandfather, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother during my lfietime, and have only two living blood relatives left...actually kind of offended.
5373933 And you think I haven't lost friends and family?
I'm simply over thewhole angst thing. It's pointless and counterproductive, so I shut those brain regions off.
Hope Twilight doesn't go nuts with five other voices in her head.
What was that old saying? Hell is an eternity trapped with your friends.
I have a heart of jello, but nerves of steel. I do feel the emotions, but I just can't react.
Oh, and this song really goes with this story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oozQ4yV__Vw
...And this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47dtFZ8CFo8
Hold us secure behind the gates
Of saving flesh and bone
Lest we should dream what Dream awaits
The soul escaped alone
This idea actually seems rather much like a good one to me, the idea of using magic like this to allow all of them to live forever (kind of reminds me of ADAM-recycling in Bioshock 2).
Very nicely done. This would certainly be a way to escape death, provided everyone who was "merged together" was okay with it.
As far as I'm concerned, the premise of the story is sad, but this is probably the happiest ending it could have had. Well played.
PS: I'm actually for the idea of living forever. I study computer science and mind uploading in college and I plan on essentially doing this although I plan on taking the mind, turning it into computer code, and then putting that code into a robot which could be maintained, unlike flesh which can't be maintained, so stories like this where immortality actually can be seen as a saving grace of sorts sit well with me.
Six friends journeyed in a dark forest.
Six friends played in life together.
Cried together.
Fought together.
Then they died one by one.
However...
One.
One was blessed or cursed with eternal life.
And when she was forced to come to the realization that she would outlive her friends...
She sought a way to cheat death.
Six friends journeyed through life together.
Five died and one lived.
But that one lived for the six of them.
At the cost of herself.
But now, the six are one and the one are six.
Live, play, die, love, and frolic in life forevermore till the end of eternity and time.
The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/6/63/Remastered_Main_Six_Photograph_Opening.png/revision/latest?cb=20120202172151
5373947
I don't mean to be harsh, but, depending on what you mean by "angst", I feel that sort of response might be simply deferring pain for later. Not necessarily a good thing. You have to come to grips with some things or live life halfway in unreality.
5374337
All things are forgotten eventually.
5373525
It'd be humorous if they influenced her in subtle ways, like suddenly leaving right in the middle of things to go for a long flight to somewhere... or randomly scheduling parties at irregular interval. You know, that sort of stuff. The kinds of things where you wonder what on earth you were thinking afterwards. Make her a bit unstable, so to speak.
Part of me wants Twilight to die/kill herself/not live or something. Anything else that's less than properly moving on doesn't seem like a useful ending to a story.
5372804 Well I can see why. Twilight's plan was after all.... perfect.
Short, and very familiar, but still a great, emotion inducing story. Two thumbs way up
It's kind of ambiguous whether she's actually saving them or just absorbing their power under the context of saving them, since the reader gets no confirmation either way except Twilight's word who may or may not be going insane.
it may have been just a quickie, but its well writen and on par with some of ur more well known works, plus, this is a popular question to ask. "Twi is immortal, but her friends arnt...whats she going to do?"
5373923
She's probably more mentally stable than Luna, what with the whole eternal night thing over jealousy. If we take the comics into account, then she's also probably right on par with Celestia's whole, "endangering two worlds against the wishes of her old friend because she couldn't stand a 1000 years without her sister". Then there's Discord's whole shtick which is pretty much instability personified. Then dragons in general who live a long time and seem to be massively unstable creatures that can be possessed by greed.
Out of all the current canon long lived characters, emotional instability seems to be pretty common, Twilight fits right in with the emotional outbursts of the other immortal (or quasi-immortal depending on how you interpret it) characters. Besides, an emotionally stable immortal is a boring immortal, nobody wants to watch a character live a 1000 years without at least some personality quirks.
This was REALLY dark. Like, It hit the flashback and it got really really dark. I thought in the end she would re-incarnate them or something...
I didn't find this story dark at all. Sad, yes, but it was also beautiful.
Twilight is the Princess of Friendship, and what kind of Princess of Friendship would she be without her friends?
5374329
One in all, all in one. That is the key.
So did Twilight's friends become ONE with her, or did she just devour them?
5374293
But that wouldn't be you. It would be your CLONE that lives for a MUCH LONGER time than you. Sure, it'll have all your memories and thoughts, but it won't BE you. It'll be your offspring that's immortal (not really, machines and data wear down eventually too, you're just giving your clone a long life to experience and learn more of the world with your memories and thoughts as a starting point).
5374685
celestia's what now?
5374990
Seems pretty clear to me - all explained shortly after she does her thing on RD.
The story could probably be a little more demonstrative about how this actually pans out between Twilight's ears to clear some of the uncertainty about what actually happens.
5375004
In the official comics from IDW, there was a series where celestia uses a magic mirror to go to an alternate Equestria with Starswirl the bearded. It had everyone's moralities sort of reversed, so King Sombra was the ruler and a good guy while Celestia and Luna were the villains, when Luna became Nightmare Moon the alternate dimension Luna never did but Starswirl warned against her going to the alternate dimension anymore as it would potentially damage both worlds. Celestia ignores the warning because she couldn't stand being alone without at least some version of Luna to visit, and she was kind of enamoured with the good king Sombra.
The whole thing ends with the pathway being destroyed and celestia being sort of melancholy that she basically caused the whole situation out of youthful foolishness, there was a lot of other stuff, but the whole dilemma boils down to being caused because Celestia wouldn't listen to Starswirl and continued visiting the other world, she eventually wised up, but the damage was done, and eventually caught up to her by the time the events of the comic happen, which gets the mane 6 involved and ends in a fairly bittersweet fashion.
So yeah, Twilight has got a ways to go before she catches up to the magnitude of the mistakes that Celestia and Luna have committed, Lesson Zero is small potatoes compared to Luna pulling a nightmare moon and Celestia almost merging two worlds together because she wanted to hang out with an alternate universe Luna and Sombra.
At what point does Twilight become manic because she has five other personalities raging inside of her?
Interesting one. You could have gone further into the implications of that personality fusion, though.
Maybe an idea for a potential second chapter.
This was a great read and.. i don't know. This made me really happy for some reason, knowing Twilight wouldn't only have Celestia and Luna as she outlived everyone she knows.
Thanks for leaving alot of it to our imagination!
5374871
This is me purely (and crappily
) guessing here, but it could be interpreted as Dark since it isn't exactly specified as to what Twilights state of mind is. She could be insane during this story, for all we know.
Very nice story, though I wish Applejack's and Apple Bloom's accents were toned down. If you only replaced "I" with "Ah" and some cut off words, it would be better. Seriously, it was a bit hard to read and took me out of the fic, but still great story!