Equestria has existed for a very long time, and the next order of business set in motion by Celestia and Luna is going to reshape Twilight's world. Quite literally.
For more than a thousand years, Equestria has blossomed into its beautiful, peaceful state... but when Princess Celestia tells Twilight the order she must carry out with the help of the other alicorn princesses, she is heartbroken. What she is about to do will shatter all that she thinks she is.
Note: this story takes place after season four and before season five. There will be no mention of Flurry Heart. She does not exist.
A strange time followed the defeat of Lord Tirek. For a while, Twilight and her friends had assumed Celestia and Luna would be thankful for a long time as a result of their accomplishment. However, this didn't seem to be the case. After only a day of celebration, ponies didn't see Celestia behaving how she normally would. She acted rather awkwardly, and it was clear her smile was very much painted on in an attempt to keep spirit high. Her subjects knew better; something was wrong. She didn't often hide things, but it was often very important when she did.
Within a couple weeks, the white alicorn ceased face-to-face communication altogether. The inhabitants all over Equestria became frightened. Was there another power stronger than Tirek coming for them? Was Tirek not truly imprisoned? Was Celestia herself... depressed? They would all gulp at the thought of the latter or shiver when it was mentioned in conversation. The only one to answer her palace door was head of the royal guard, Shining Armor, whose message was always the same: "Celestia and Luna would like for you to return to your homes and live your lives happily without worry. My apologies for not knowing what you wish to know." Following the short speech, he would once again close the door. It would appear that Luna had no intentions of coming out either.
Both the sun and the moon still rose when they should have, of course. They continued to do as they always did until roughly a month and a half later when the sun was at its peak and when the moon was far out of sight. Some ponies panicked; others didn't worry their heads; most kept following the order they'd been given the best they could (despite their internal fear that something was obviously wrong). It was on this beautiful, clear day that two small scrolls could be seen moving along high in the sky faster than most pegasi could fly. One went north; the other went west. It was hard to even tell that they were scrolls with the speed at which they were traveling, but they did have a certain glow to them.
* * *
"Um... Twilight?" Spike called over his shoulder down the entry hall of his and Twilight's castle. He scratched his head in confusion as he stood looking down at the front of the castle door. The dragon proceeded to quickly shrug and pick it up prior to closing the door again. He was going to go out to see if Rarity would be available, but that would have to wait now.
"What is it, Spike?" Twilight called back over, trotting calmly to Spike's position. She then tilted her head in the very same confusion Spike had just felt (and was quite honestly still feeling). "Is that a letter from..?"
"It DOES have her seal on it," he replied, tapping a claw to the gold "C" placed on the red ribbon keeping it rolled up.
"But why wouldn't she just send it the usual way?"
"Beats me. Maybe it's less important than the others, and she'd be able to take her time?"
Twilight pondered the reasoning for a moment or two and nodded. "Yes, maybe." Regardless of the reason, Twilight grabbed it from Spike with her magic and carefully opened the scroll. She cleared her throat. "'Dearest Twilight Sparkle, I humbly request that you come to Canterlot Castle at your earliest convenience. No doubt you have questions, so I will answer them briefly in this letter. If you are curious as to where my sister and I have been for all this time, we have been inside our castle with no one but each other, and we both hope that you have been spending time with your own family.'" The purple alicorn paused.
She spent all the time she could with them, but it was often the case that her parents were working and that her brother was occupied with attending to the needs of the princesses. Because of this, Twilight settled for spending time with her friends and their families when her own parents couldn't dedicate those couple of free hours they rarely got. She came back to reality and continued to read the letter. "'If you wish to know why the sun has not been moving, it is because I am reserving my magic.'"
"Why would she-"
"I don't know. I can't think of any reason she has to," Twilight interrupted, knowing Spike's question. She gave him a quick glance in the period she took her eyes off the scroll. "'When you come, Twilight, be sure to bring Spike - and ONLY Spike - with you. He is important; you'll soon find out why. Sincerely, Princess Celestia,'" Twilight finished, lowering the scroll closer to the ground in more confusion than before.
"Well that was a weird letter. What's with the weird repeating of me at the end?" Spike asked.
"I don't know, Spike. I guess we'll 'find out,'" Twilight answered as her magic wrapped the scroll back up and set it to the side while her hoof reached past Spike and opened the castle door. "Now seems like an okay time. We should go."
Spike groaned. "Fine... better to get it over with I guess...."
Twilight oriented herself in the direction of the train station and waited for her dragon to start following.
* * *
The pair of regal sisters sat in silence atop the side of Celestia's bed. Their hooves were tightly entwined together as they each let out slow, deep breaths. They could feel their hearts pounding beneath their strong chests. Luna turned her head to face her big sister. "Are you sure that they're up to the task, sister? Perhaps Cadence is, but... Twilight has just been an alicorn for so little time that I fear she can't bear the responsibility."
"...We will see," was all Celestia could answer with.
Just then, there was a knock on the bedroom door. "Who is it?" Luna called out to the noise. A stallion's voice was her quick response.
"It's me, Shining Armor. My sister is here; she said you sent a letter?"
Luna gave Celestia one more unsure look, and Celestia gave a small nod to her. "Let her in," the elder sister said just loud enough to hear through the wood of the door. Streams of light from the outside hall were let into the small area of the room that was not fully illuminated by the sun.
Twilight walked forward as her brother gave her and Spike the kind hoof gesture to proceed. It was great seeing her again, but the head of the royal guard knew he didn't have the time to chat; his sister seemed to be in a hurry. Then again, he supposed that she didn't really take much time to slow down in general. Shining gently closed the door after Twilight had entered.
"Thank you for joining us," the two sisters said together, one's voice slightly off rhythm to the other's.
Twilight didn't kneel; she had grown used to informally greeting them, but she did bow her head out of respect for a number of seconds and also took the time to politely smile. When she rose her head back up, she realized the Canterlot princesses were focused more on the wall across from them than Twilight or her assistant. They looked... sad, for lack of a better term: not depressed and not quite disappointed... something in between. As a result, Twilight's smile faded. "Did you ask for me to come here as a result of more trouble in Equestria, Celestia?"
The tall pony tightened her grip on Luna's hoof and began to answer without looking at her student. "...You've read many books; I have no doubt. Have there been any that describe an event known as The End of Days?"
Twilight's throat tightened, and she failed to suppress an instinctive gulp of fear.
For what felt like an eternity, nopony said a word. It could've been a minute; it could've been an hour. Twilight waited until her body wasn't choking itself before answering Celestia's question. "Y- yes, I know about it...." she stuttered nervously until her composure was regained, "All ponies fall into a deep 'slumber' until they awake again: reborn. The only ones that have an idea of how it happens are you and your sister. Does that... does that mean that you both are the ones that do it?"
Celestia finally looked away from the wall to look at Twilight. "In a way... but my sister and I are not the only ones," she informed and then strongly nodded in Twilight's direction, which caused the smaller alicorn to look frightened. Spike wasn't doing so good himself; he was clinging tightly to one of Twilight's hind legs with all the terror trapped in his little head. "You see..." Celestia continued, "what the event stands for is to clear Equestria of all evil and allow the land to be reestablished one day. Do you know why we have called you here only now?" Twilight shook her head. "It's because Tirek only recently regained his powers, and that is the very thing we were waiting for. He's the very manifestation of evil. What his return prophesied was something horrible: the End of Days committed by all remaining evils in Equestria. If this happens, all good in the land will vanish without leaving a trace, and there will be no chance of redemption. So what we have tasked ourselves with is ending it ourselves in a more... favorable way. The spell will cast away all life, and whoever inhabits this land next will be tasked with the choice of stripping us of our genetics and giving us a second chance or..." Celestia stopped for a moment to again look away. Her eyes wandered to the floor this time. "...Or leave us cast off," she said, looking back up, "Whichever they decide, a chance of living is better than none."
For the first time in a very, VERY long while, Twilight looked genuinely frightened... as if she'd been told the scariest ghost story magnified by a thousand of the same magnitude. A bit of color drained from her face, and she became light-headed. Luna glanced over and feared Twilight would faint on the spot, so she continued off of what Celestia said. "We understand fully if this is above you, Twilight... and we won't force you to do this. If you aren't capable of carrying out this task, we will find somepony who may be better suited."
"Also know that you will not disappoint us if you should choose not to-"
"I'll do it," Twilight quickly interrupted.
Celestia was immediately taken aback by the subtle reply. "Are you sure, Twilight? It's the biggest responsibility princesses are able to carry out. Can you be positive that you will be capable of sacrificing what you have in order to ensure a better tomorrow?"
"...Yes, Celestia. I understand what will come of this, and I will help in whatever way you need me to. Spike? Will you help me?"
"Of course, Twilight," the dragon replied in a meek voice.
"Thank you."
Luna and her older sister gave the pair small nods. "Excellent," Celestia responded, "Now we only need to wait for-" There was another knock at the bedroom door. "Yes?"
"It's Shining Armor again, princess. Cadence is here; she says she also received a letter?"
"Allow her entry, please," Luna politely requested. The door swung open slowly, and Shining Armor's wife entered the immaculate space.
"Will that be all, princesses?" Shining bowed his head slightly.
Celestia shook her head. "No. It would actually be best if you joined us for this."
He tilted his head as he entered. "Hm?"
* * *
"O- oh... I see," Shining Armor said, allowing his head to hang low in the process.
"But, Celestia," Cadence started, "there must be another way; we can't just KILL everypony!"
"I deeply apologize, I really do, but the only outcome of not doing this is as I said: destruction."
"And you said my sister-in-law has already agreed to it?"
Celestia nodded. "And Spike too."
"...Well if they're going to go through with it, I am too," the pink alicorn replied, entwining her hoof around Twilight's, "We've got to stick together."
"And if they're doing it," Shining added, grabbing Cadence's other hoof, "I won't be walking away so easily."
Spike joined in by grabbing Twilight's free front leg. The dragon hadn't lived for long, but he owed it to Twilight to help her in all the endeavors she found herself. This was the way things were going to be. He was going to help her however he could.
Princess Celestia and her sister gave the rest of the group a soft, serene smile. The eldest was the first to speak. "Very well. If you are all positive you can stand up to the task, please follow us to the throne room. Otherwise, let your doubts be spoken now."
The room was silent. Celestia and Luna carefully led the four from the bedroom to the long hall marking the throne room. The steps of both dragon and pony alike echoed throughout the castle; it seemed abandoned. Arriving at the middle of the ginormous chamber, the monarchs slowed their steps, stopped, and turned to face those who had followed: a dragon, a sister, a wife, and a husband. The question now was; "Are you all ready?"
The sisters received strong, if somewhat reluctant, nods. They nodded back. Celestia stepped forward, and Luna moved a few feet to her right. It was time. The other four joined in creating a circle.
Luna now gave the directions. "We ask that you, Spike, and you, Shining Armor, wait for our signal to let your magic flow into ours. Twilight? Cadence? We'd like for you two to simply focus on creating the most concentrated blast of magic you can. It will react with the magic of my sister and I in a way that will give the intended effect of putting Equestria to rest. ...Let us begin." Luna's horn, quickly followed by Celestia's, began its illumination. Twilight and Cadence followed in suit.
The light of their magic made the circle brighten up in a yellow-light blue-magenta glow. Soon after, they were shooting the alicorn magic out of their horns. It collected in a small, white sphere that slowly expanded as the spell continued on: a miniature star, if you will. The brightness was hard to see through, but Twilight could just barely make out Celestia giving a reassuring look straight into the soul that could penetrate even the darkest heart. The wings of the alicorns spread out as a result of the strain. "Shining Armor! Spike! NOW!" Celestia cried out.
Without hesitation, the captain of the royal guard shot the same spell into the magic collection. Spike, however, was hesitant as he walked up to it. He'd have to get his act together soon; alicorns may be strong, but they can't release magic forever. His palms began to sweat as he stopped in front of the sphere and took a deep breath. One stream of fire, and it would be over. A tear slid down the cheek of everyone in the room. Soft whispers were spoken.
"I'm sorry, Rarity."
"I'm sorry, Cadence."
"I'm sorry too, Shining."
"We're sorry, Equestria."
"I'm sorry... friends."
The flame erupting from Spike's mouth began to crystallize the magic, and it began to rumble. When his magic breath ceased, he jumped into the waiting hooves of Twilight. Both the royal sisters and the married couple did the same.
Ringing. There was a boom, a bright flash, and then there was ringing. It wasn't deafening; it was more like the ringing one may experience in the middle of the day. There came a cough from somewhere. Twilight realized it was from herself. Had it really been so long that she'd been revived? Her eyelids fluttered open.
No. There on the floor lay her sister-in-law, her brother, her assistant, and the royal sisters. She heard a loud crack coming from beneath her. The floor gave little warning of its next action, and Twilight wasn't able to get out of its way in time. It crumbled, and the entire group fell to the lower floor a long twenty feet down. Thick dust filled their lungs instantly on impact with the hard, cobblestone floor. At that moment, there was a LOT of coughing as everypony got to his or her hooves (or feet, in Spike's case). Twilight turned her head up to see something she would soon wish she hadn't.
A painted mural on the black, brick wall, as opposed to a stained glass window like upstairs, depicted four alicorns and a fully grown dragon performing a ritual that looked very familiar. Perhaps the alicorns and the dragon didn't look like the ones in the group, but that didn't change the sense of uneasiness they'd all received. Well... more specifically, Shining Armor and Cadence felt uneasy. Twilight and her dragon assistant found that their temperatures had heightened. Their blood pumped quickly through their veins; steam (and smoke) streamed from their nostrils; their teeth clenched. "Celestia, I want an explanation." Twilight's voice rose above the normal level, and her wings spread out in a sense of authority as she marched to the white alicorn still lying on the floor and trying to get up.
"My greatest of *cough* all apologies goes to all of you," she answered, clambering up awkwardly and having a bit of trouble maintaining a standing position. Her sister had the same problem. Twilight noticed that Celestia's voice was raspy now - quite unlike how it was before the blast. "I had thought that perhaps including another of your bloodline may cancel the side effects of the spell. It would appear, as we are all alive now, that it only helped to further its punishment to another."
After hearing this, Shining Armor was more concerned than before. He wasn't quite... angry, but he wished to know what was going on. "What side effects? What happened to me?"
Luna took a deep breath to speak but ended up coughing instead. She took another breath. Her voice, too, was hoarse when she spoke. "We hadn't wished to have to tell you this. My sister and I only wanted our deaths to be together. Unfortunately, this didn't happen the way we wanted it to." A coughing fit from her began, and Celestia had to step in.
"The spell that we have just cast does wipe out life in Equestria, but it is at the cost of a great curse overtaking the spell's castors."
The dungeon-like enclosure spoke with long air drafts waving through what could only be the other part of what were assumed to be the catacombs of Canterlot Castle. Finally, somepony spoke. No... more like some dragon. "What's the c- curse?" Spike shivered, although it couldn't be determined whether it was the coldness of the catacombs causing this or fear.
"Immor- *cough* tality...." Luna finished her coughing fit.
"What my sister means is invulnerability."
Spike, Shining Armor, Cadence, and Twilight looked all around their own bodies, expecting some kind of change. They could find none.
"To be clear, you will still endure pain. That will not *cough* change..! What will change is that you will grow to the size of me and beyond, and you cannot-"
"Die?" Twilight asked with pleading eyes. This wasn't what she wanted; this was the complete OPPOSITE of what she wanted!
"Correct," Celestia nodded weakly, "you cannot *cough* die. As for my sister and I, the second time performing the ritual gives us a new curse; we can neither die nor live without feeling pain. Immortals in eternal sickness... we'll ask for death that never comes. There's only one way."
The two royal sisters lost their footing and fell. Celestia's coughing started up. It was Luna's turn to speak. "Please... *cough* we ask you to PLEASE take our powers, Twilight and Cadence. They will deem you two fit to rule Equestria, and they are all that keep us alive now. Take them... and let us rest. Please."
NOW Shining was mad. Maybe he wasn't before because he was unsure what the side effects entailed, but he was infuriated now that he understood. "Do you two think that you can be forgiven so easily after what you did..? Why should we help you after you NEVER told us what could have happened if you were wrong? I never asked for this curse! I wanted to live a full, happy life and die by the side of my wife, even if she wasn't going to join me! And now you up us both to being UNKILLABLE?! Do you know what you've done?! My parents... all the ponies of the Crystal Empire... and all of my squad friends... gone! How could you do this?"
All the sisters could do was look down at the ground in shame and cough some more. There was no response to give.
"You are NOT earning MY forgiveness," Shining finished, turning his back and beginning to march angrily to the nearest wall.
Twilight seemed to feel concerned about her brother's outburst, but Spike followed in his verbal hoofsteps. "Don't you two understand what you've done to ME? Shining may have the love of his life forever and ever, but mine is GONE, and I'll never be able to talk to her again! I won't be able to tell Rarity how much I love her! You don't DESERVE forgiveness." With that, he marched to the same wall and crossed his arms as he stood by Twilight's brother. He was crying now.
The coughing increased in volume and strength as each one resonated off the brick walls and spiraled upwards into the empty throne room above them. Twilight Sparkle considered what Shining had said about his parents and about what Spike had said about his love for Rarity. Perhaps now, Twilight would NEVER be able to really experience love for as long as Spike had, and she knew not whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but she knew that the opportunity to know was gone. That was enough to make her give the royal sisters a sad look of disappointment before turning away and slowly approaching the stallion and the dragon by the wall. She spread out her wings. "Need a lift, Spike?"
Whatever Spike said was drowned out by a rough scream. "PLEASE!!" Luna shouted, "WE BEG YOU! LET US REST!" She fell back into her coughing fit along with her sister. The three at the wall turned to look at them.
Cadence, the only one who wasn't at the wall or on the floor coughing, knelt down in front of Luna and looked back at her husband. "I agree with you that they shouldn't be forgiven so quickly, but nopony deserves to live like this. If we could put the rest of Equestria to rest, whether they were good or evil, we should do the same for these two." Cadence's horn began to glow, and she looked at Luna... right into her eyes. "Power of love."
"Power of darkness," Luna whispered.
"I accept your power."
Luna's cutie mark was the first thing to fade. After that, her entire structure seemed to dissolve bit by bit. The magic worked slowly, and the fading princess of the night was able to say at least one more thing. "You are not only absorbing me, but you are absorbing my essence. In some time, I will be reborn from you as somepony not at all related to my sister's reincarnation. We both trust you will make the best of things and rule Equestria even better than we did."
"I understand."
"Thank you, Cadence. Take good care of me."
"I will, Princess Luna. I promise." The sparkle of Luna's eyes was the last thing to be seen before she completely vanished. On Cadence's flank, Luna's moon appeared as a transparent shape on top of the Crystal Heart. Cadence turned to Twilight and gave a small nod in Celestia's direction.
The purple alicorn pondered on how sadistic leaving somepony like this would be. Would she really be any better than somepony like Sombra if she took off now? She took a step towards the sick, coughing princess. No, I'd be worse, she decided. Twilight bent her head down.
"Power of magic."
Celestia's coughing stopped as she stared up into the deep, purple eyes she was so used to seeing now... just never quite in this way. "No, my faithful student... you're so much more. You're the power of friendship. I only hold the power of light...."
Twilight gave a smile and cupped Celestia's chin with her hoof. "I accept your power, Princess Celestia." Her horn lit up, and she gently touched it to Celestia's forehead. Memories rushed through both of their minds of all the teaching Celestia had done and all the listening Twilight had done. Now the roles would be reversed come Celestia's rebirth. They embraced each other while the spell took effect. "I love you," they said in soft, quiet unison. A new mark slowly appeared along with Twilight's first cutie mark. A small sun in the same design as Celestia, only much smaller, made itself known on Twilight's flank as seemingly just another star. A very special star. Celestia faded into Twilight's body, and Twilight could feel the spark inside her as Celestia became hers... to be reborn someday as an entirely new pony.
* * * The new sun princess, Twilight Sparkle, laid silently on her own bed in her own castle. She was curled up with her head barely even being on the pillow. The day had been the hardest of her life. Not only did she have to help bury her friends, but her parents were even harder to say goodbye to.
Of course she was deeply upset, but she was more stunned that not one of her friends or her parents survived. At the very least, Rainbow Dash should've survived; that Element of Loyalty MUST have given her the edge she needed, right? Sadly, no. Not a single inhabitant besides the original six survived, and two of them were now resting in the wombs of the only other remaining females.
Twilight heard somepony walking over to the bed. She didn't care who it was; she wanted the company. A plop down on the bed followed by a pink hoof wrapping affectionately around her side let her know that it was Cadence.
"Are you doing okay, Twilight?"
"I just can't believe that everypony's gone. You, me, Shining, and Spike are all that's left. What are we going to do?"
"We seem to have two choices. Either we can raise Equestria from the ground up and start anew, or we can free ourselves of our magic somehow and..." Cadence trailed off. Twilight knew what she meant.
"How's Spike?"
"Not good... he won't get away from her; I think he actually thinks that she's really just asleep and that she'll wake up relatively soon. Every time I tell him otherwise, I feel like I'm telling a foal that they're crush moved away... but I know it's more than that to him. He really loved her, didn't he?"
"He did, and he'd give his life to see her again; I'm sure."
"I was just saying that it was an option. I didn't say it was a GOOD option."
"I'd only do it if Spike is.... I'm all he has. If he stays, I stay. If he goes, what is there for me here? Do we just continue on like the evil will never come back? Why go on in the first place then?"
"If that's really how you feel, Twilight, I understand. I won't hold you against that choice with the way things are now. I'm still so unsure about this myself. And now..." Cadence used her free hoof to pat her stomach, "for the princesses to be reincarnations inside us right now? They trusted us, before they disappeared, to rule Equestria better than they did. If nothing else, I'm staying because of that." The new princess of the night slowly rolled off of Twilight and got off the bed. She and Twilight looked up.
Shining Armor appeared at the door, and Spike followed alongside him. The small dragon's head was pointed sadly to the ground as he sniffed up what tears were left in his eyes. Twilight followed Cadence off the bed and toward Spike. His owner dropped to her knees in front of him and took him quickly into a strong hug. She couldn't begin to imagine what he was going through, and she knew that.
"Tw- Twilight... I wanna be with her so bad," he sniffed, hugging her back just as tight. His soft claws rubbed into Twilight's back with all the force he could muster.
"I know, Spike. I know."
Spike began to cry again.
"Shh... it's okay, Spike. We're going to find a way to be with her... somehow."
Shining turned to his wife and raised an eyebrow. "Is she... okay?"
"She wants to leave, honey," Cadence replied. "We should... give them some time alone."
Shining Armor took the opportunity while he had it to hug his sister. If he wouldn't see her again after today, then at least he would have that. He and Cadence left the room - and Cadence shut the door as they did so.
There the pair sat, neither of them saying anything, in Twilight's bedroom. A perfect silence filled the moment. Neither Spike nor Twilight wanted to ever let go. They both wanted death just as bad as the royal sisters had not four hours ago.
* * * "...Power of magic," Twilight finally whispered.
"Twilight..?"
"I'll get to you somehow."
"...Power of... guidance."
The light of Twilight's horn illuminated Spike's face. "I... I accept your p-"
The door of the bedroom flung forward and hit the wall beside it as Shining Armor burst in. The light left Twilight's horn. "Twily! Do you know how you don't want to stay because the evil will come back someday? Well... what if we stay here, but we move Equestria to be rid of the evil in the rest of the land?"
Twilight tilted her head. "What do you mean? How would we do that?"
"It's a hypothetical my squad-mates and I threw together one day. If Equestria could be contained in a field of magic and be launched into the sky, where would it end up? Like I said, it was just a hypothetical question, but now that we have all the time in the world to find out... why don't we try it?"
"That sounds almost impossible, but... could we really do that?" Twilight asked.
"If we can end Equestria's life, we can take it somewhere else. And who knows, maybe another Rarity is out there somewhere!"
Spike's dragon ears perked up. Did he hear that right? "If there might be another Rarity out there, we have to do it!"
Shining Armor smiled; he knew it was a good idea. "I thought you might say that. Come on, you two. Cadence is already working on it."
* * * Outside the castle, the air was clear and fresh. A new era was dawning and soon. For a long time, the group couldn't agree on where to end the line. They finally decided on encasing everything from the Crystal Empire down to Appleloosa and from Los Pegasus all the way over to Manehattan. Every major pony city would be brought with them. Streaks of magenta and light blue magic shot up into the sky, and they joined at a single point in the sky, where the magic slowly spread over Equestria at the requested areas until it sunk into the ground and formed an orb-shaped structure. The rest was fairly simple; the three ponies used their power to forcefully yank Equestria from the land, and - after a particularly draining spell, shot it upwards and into the upper atmosphere. As the stars twinkled brighter than Twilight had ever seen, she wondered if she had made the right choice.
"We'll make it work," Shining Armor stated loud and clear. "We have the sun; we have the moon; we have our lives." After that, he grabbed the three and brought himself and them together into a group hug."
"Yes," Twilight decided, "I made the right choice. I'll see you again someday, friends."
The sun set on Equestria, and the moon rose. A new day was to come, but for now? For now they could rest in each other's arms and hooves until that time came.
Twilight Sparkle felt a wet, sadness-caused tear slide down her cheek. It was very rare for her to still get emotional over what had happened so long ago, but it still happened on occasion. This occasion in particular was special.
* * * After voyaging in space for several months, two beautiful foals were born; a dark blue earth colt and a bright white pegasus filly entered what was the smooth-drifting spacecraft known as Equestria. They were raised right as they should have been. The foals were treated with care, compassion, and - above all - love. It was as if they truly were parts of the mothers' families. In fact, they would go as far to say so. Definitely so.
What Luna had said about them being unrelated held true. The foals grew up to be good friends, but they didn't seem to know what their old connection was. Their names, naturally, were as they were before. What was slightly confusing at first quickly became daily routine. "Good night, Luna!" would always be answered with a quick "Good night, mama!" and "Oh, did you hurt yourself?" was always followed by a sniff and "Yes, mommy. It hurts."
As the two of them grew older, they developed special talents like any other pony. As Celestia found that she held a good ability to determine the lifetime of stars and their distance (and thus got a cutie mark depicting a blue super giant), Luna found his talent lay in finding the properties of a planet with only a glance (and thus obtained a mark on his flank showing Equestria landing on a planet full of life).
Though Cadence and Shining Armor were proud with their first born, they felt one was not enough. After all, Luna didn't exactly belong to Shining Armor, so the couple decided to raise another of their own. Another several months, and a pink unicorn filly with bright blue eyes was born. "Joy Bringer," she was named soon after birth. Her talent was similar in effect to Cadence's. The only difference was that Joy Bringer's power let her spread just that: joy. It reminded Twilight of a certain other pink pony she once knew.
After Joy Bringer was born, everything was in place for Equestria's recreation. All four kinds of ponies existed, so it was just a matter of time before Equestria was repopulated. What happened next was up to the ones that knew the truth.
* * * Twilight hung the picture back on the pillar's front so that it could be viewed when walking past. She'd immortalized that picture in crystal several years ago when yet another new planet was discovered and traveled to. It held the aforementioned crystals that seemed indestructible... and yet hollow. A strange planet it certainly was. A touch on her shoulder caused her to twitch slightly.
"Twilight?" Cadence asked, "Are you ready?"
The purple princess wiped the tear from her face. "Yeah," she replied, turning her head in Cadence's direction. Twilight's horn nearly cut into Cadence's skin. Being in space for an entire five hundred years brought with it several changes in structural design. Horns changed to have less mass, and that mass was added more to the torso to build muscle. This muscle also helped further develop the wings of the two alicorns. Of course with being legendary immortals among the occupants of Equestria brought an increase in size among the four who performed that spell so long ago (although none of them were at Luna's size just yet, and Spike still held stable in proportion to the other three). "I'm ready," Twilight nodded.
The curtain behind them rose as Cadence cast the spell to do so. They both turned and looked to see Shining Armor and Spike opening the doors of the castle. Over the years, Twilight and the rest had watched while ponies from all over Equestria showed past talents of those before them: the talents of those buried in the cemetery over in the outskirts of Ponyville. The steps of both dragon and pony alike echoed throughout the castle.
Somehow, in a way Twilight nor anypony else could understand, Spike had learned to love again in the same way he loved Rarity. He still held the white unicorn close to his heart, but it was certain in his mind that love was beautiful, and just because his first was gone... that didn't mean he should stop having feelings for others. He eventually fell for a mare about his age (he was about twenty at the time), and from them sprouted a half-breed that held the skin of a pony, the tail and feet of a dragon, and were born with either a dragon's ability to breathe fire or a pony's strength, flight, or magic. Greed seemed to have no effect on them. At this time, the population was still made up of a majority of true-blooded ponies, but the half-breeds certainly did a good job in upholding their quarter of Equestria's populace. In fact, it wasn't very rare for a half-breed and a pony to have their own relationship either; the two were very peaceful with each other.
As the last Equestrian ran in - a bright-smiling, blue filly with crossed eyes - Shining and Spike closed the doors. They then proceeded to stand by Twilight and Cadence, who were in front of their thrones inside Canterlot Castle. They mainly used this castle for social gatherings like the Grand Galloping Gala (which was just as bad as it always was) and the Summer Sun Celebration every few years when they didn't hold it in another city. Today was different though.
The four "immortals" stood in a line. From left to right from the massive crowd's perspective, there was Prince Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Prince Spike. Twilight came forward and cleared her throat, as if in preparation for a long speech - for this would certainly be one. "Thank you all so much for coming! Now, as many of you know, our land was not always shooting through space. What many of you don't know is what came before that we haven't told anypony for the fifty long years Equestria has been away from its land.
"Now, it will be surprising to some of you," Twilight continued, "but we were not always like this: immortal. Before, we were all just like you. Well..." She turned to Spike before looking back at the crowd. "most of us, anyway. There are points to be made, so if you'll all kindly take a seat-" Twilight stopped mid-sentence as she noticed something that caught her eye.
Right there, in the third row, were five fillies whispering quietly amongst themselves. One was giggling; another was whipping her hair backwards for anypony to see the beautiful style. There was one that showed off her muscles, one that tried to show them off more by flexing a wing out, and there was one sitting quietly and softly smiling at her friends. The latter looked rather reserved. They, along with the rest of the crowd, adjusted to a sitting position.
"Actually..." Twilight said, bringing herself back to reality, "perhaps a live demonstration would be best. Could I have any volunteers?"
As expected, Twilight saw the hoof of a particular cyan pegasus shoot up.
"You there!" the princess of friendship and the sun called down, "Come on up, and be sure to bring your friends."
"Come on, guys!" the filly yelled to the four of her pals.
Though one of them needed to hold the hoof of another, they all made their way to the front of the room.
"Now," Twilight began, "it all started when I was a grown unicorn living here in Canterlot.... For the longest time, I didn't even know what friendship was or what it meant, but then I met some ponies in Ponyville that showed it to me through my first ever adventure." She began to walk by each of the fillies, a soft smile showing on her face.
"Applejack, who taught me the importance of honesty."
"Fluttershy, who showed me the benefits of kindness."
"Pinkie Pie, who revealed how much fun life can be with laughter." Twilight giggled seeing that poofy mane for the first time in half a century.
"Rarity, who brought her generosity into the world."
"And Rainbow Dash, who proved at every turn that helping a friend in need was always her top priority."
Most of the fillies looked at each other and the princess with shocked expressions. Pinkie was the only one to actually smile, but it was a wide one... as if she knew what the others didn't... or at the very least understood.
"There's a lot to tell, so make sure you listen and remember what my story was, understand?" The fillies nodded, and Twilight smiled. "This is the truth of how we became the rulers of Equestria... and how my friends helped me get there."
