“No more goodbyes,” said Accord, satisfied at the decision.

“No more problems?” asked Fluttershy.

“Are you kidding, I can’t think of a bigger slew of problems you’ll get than trying to figure out a way to spend infinity,” said Cosmos. “But you got it, and you’re stuck with it.”

“I much prefer having to talk to everyone to figure out problems than having to say goodbye,” said Accord.

“Are you sure? Do you have the kind of patience to deal with what’s coming?” Cosmos asked, incredulity on his muzzle.

“No one has more patience than Accord,” said Fluttershy.

Galaxia opened her eyes, “It’s about time we told Celestia and Luna about all this.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Hope, are you coming too?” asked Accord.

“I don’t think you have time to talk with anyone, Accord. You’re already getting problems. There was a small skirmish before the transition and now there is an immortal griffon trying to claw his way out of the stomach of a talonproof dragon. And the diamond dogs were in the middle of an execution of a notorious criminal but didn’t finish in time before the switch. And there’s an earth pony that is sinking rapidly into a deep ocean trench, he’ll probably be stuck there for a while. On the upside, a pegasi foal that was falling to his death won’t die now, though it will be so painful he’ll probably wish he had died.”

“Give me their names,” said Accord, quickly racing through possible candidates for who in particular was going through these problems.

“Of who?” asked Hope.

“Of the griffon, dragon, dog, pony, and foal, and any other souls that are running into immortality problems so soon.”

“Accord, that list will soon run the length of the whole planet,” said Hope. “Are you sure you want to micromanage every little problem?”

“Just give me the names.”

“Mythos, Redfeather, Scrounge, Sea Seeker, and Starlit Journey.”

A book appeared in Accord’s hooves and he tossed it to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I’ll take Mythos and Redfeather, can you get Starlit Journey and Sea Seeker and we’ll meet up at Scrounge?”

“Okay,” said Fluttershy, catching the book and teleporting away in an instant.

“Galaxia and Cosmos, we’ll join you with Celestia and Luna when we get the chance.”

They nodded and then each of them vanished.

Fluttershy teleported to the forest underneath Cloudsdale, her eyes scanning the entire sky for the falling foal. The lives she had just experienced taught her a slew of new spells that had been learned by unicorns over the years. She picked out an eyesight enhancing spell and cast it.

She spotted the falling colt as he reached the tops of the tallest trees. She teleported to him, creating an array of clouds to soften his landing as he fell through and finally hit the last cloud on the ground.

“Are you okay, Starlit Journey?” asked Fluttershy.

The foal remained on the grounded cloud, in shock. He slowly turned his head to look at Fluttershy.

“A Princess?” asked the foal.

“Oh no... I’m not a Princess,” said Fluttershy quickly.

“Then why do you have a horn?”

“Oh... this...” Fluttershy looked at the horn, her cheeks reddening. She thought about telling a quick lie to get out quickly to save Sea Seeker, but she was going to know this foal for a long time to come, it was best to be honest.

“I just use it to help ponies sometimes... like I’m helping you. That doesn’t make me a Princess.”

“Yes it does.”

Fluttershy made her horn go invisible.

“Well... I guess I’m a secret Princess, for now.” Fluttershy smiled as she teleported Starlit Journey to his home above in Cloudsdale.

“Let him out of there!” yelled Accord to Mythos the dragon.

“No... I just have an upset stomach,” said Mythos, covering his smoking mouth. “And it barely even hurts for an upset stomach. I didn’t eat a griffon.”

“Yes... yes you did Mythos,” Accord said, narrowly avoiding rolling his eyes. “But that’s okay, because there’s a whole lot more diamonds and tasty jewels for you to eat now—you don’t need meat at all anymore.”

“But... they taste so good...” said Mythos. He had all the look of a comfortable, rotund, jolly dragon.

“Taste... huh?” said Accord. “Tell me... have you ever had featherstones before?”

“Featherstone? No... never heard of it.”

“Trust me, they are delicious,” said Accord, a giant bag of golden stones appearing next to him. “Just give these a taste.”

“What does a pony know about good gems?” Mythos stuck his claws out and took some of the stones, tossing them into his mouth like popcorn, his eyes widening the moment his tongue touched the stones. He closed his mouth and chomped in delight as the flavors of turquoise, agate, and griffon coalesced into a single gem. “These taste even better than griffon! It’s got the mild taste of turquoise with a kick of agate, but it still has that griffon flavor. Tell me, where can I get more like it?”

“You’ll find them all over the place now, I just introduced several new stones that may be of interest to you. Tell your friends! And no more casually eating meat, Mythos! I’ll even give you this whole bag if you’ll just let me let Redfeather out of your stomach. He’s been in there for a good five minutes now.”

Mythos looked down at his stomach sheepishly, “Alright... but is it going to hurt?”

Accord cast an intangibility spell on his hoof and reached inside the dragon’s stomach, pulling a very frazzled griffon out.

The wide eyed griffon stood silently, various disgusting smells emanating from him and some cooling magma getting stuck into his feathers.

“Let’s just clean you up a bit, shall we?” said Accord, casting a cleaning spell on Redfeather, removing all the igneous rock that had been forming and leaving him with his usual red-brown plumage.

“I... I... just fell into a pit of lava in a dragon’s stomach. How am I still alive?”

“Surprise! Immortality!” said Accord, smiling. “Bet ‘ya didn’t expect that huh?”

Redfeather stood there staring at the pony, his head tilted to the side, tilting enough that he noticed that there was something behind him. As soon as Mythos came into view, the griffon leapt into action and started clawing and tearing at the dragon as hard as he could, not a single jab making so much as a dent.

“Woah, hold on there, Mythos here is just as immortal as you are Redfeather. Because you are both immortal now you are going to be running into each other every so often during the duration of infinity. It would be wise to make amends.”

They both looked at Accord, the griffon incredulous, the dragon aloof.

“Mythos, you can go first, please apologize to Redfeather,” said Accord.

The dragon looked sheepishly at the ground, “Sorry I ate you. You were very delicious.”

The griffon frowned, “Apology not accepted.”

“Now... now... we can work through this,” said Accord.

“What is an old pony doing here anyway? How did you get here?”

“The name’s Accord, and I thought I would introduce myself, I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other very well over the next...” he paused, “... infinity or so.”

The griffon’s frown deepened.

“But what better way of getting to know somebody than by being able to make amends, I’ve had my share of mistakes, you have yours, Mythos has his... but well... forgiveness... that’s what makes eternity happen safely. What do you say, will you forgive Mythos?”

“You weren’t that delicious,” added Mythos.

“That makes me feel so much better,” said Redfeather sarcastically.

“Okay... I’ve read this story before... I know just how this will all play out,” said Accord, producing a blue book from out of nowhere.

“Once upon a time there was a mild mannered dragon named...” Accord skipped over the long acronym of month yarn time hotel original sand, “Mythos. He was very hungry and succumbed to a bad habit of eating griffons. One day he ate one and it didn’t die. Knowing that nothing would ever die ever again, Mythos decided to never ever eat another sapient being again and he said sorry to everyone he could. The End.”

Accord shut the book before they could see that the rest of the pages were an absolute mess of random words.

“Never eat griffons again?” asked Mythos.

“Anything sapient,” Accord reminded. “But that’s okay, because anything you want to eat, there’s a substitute: featherstones, metamorph gems, manticore topaz, equine quartz, whatever you might be hungry for.”

“Well... alright,” said Mythos, staring at the ground. “No more creatures, just rocks.”

“What do you think Redfeather, can you forgive him?”

The griffon’s frown deepened, an amazing feat considering his sharp beak wasn’t supposed to move. He failed to respond for several moments until he finally said, “Maybe later.”

Accord frowned, “It’ll be easier for you if you forgive him now instead of later.”

“You’re a crazy old pony!” said the griffon as he attempted to fly off.

“Not so fast!” said Accord, pulling out another book. “At least let me give you your book, you practically wrote it.”

“I didn’t write anything!”

“Please, I know you much better than I have any right to, could you please just read the book you wrote. I think having access to these memories can help you.”

“Fine,” said the griffon as he jumped into the air and raced off, puncturing the hard cover and several of the pages inside with his talons.

Accord watched him fly away beyond the horizon before turning back toward the dragon.

“Now... you don’t know how to read. Quite a shame, really, reading is wonderful. But if you open a page and slide your claws down the right side of the book, it will be read aloud to you.”

“The book reads itself so I don’t have to?” said Mythos.

“You still have to listen if you want to experience the book, Mythos.”

“But books are boring.”

“Is your life boring, Mythos?” asked Accord.

The dragon scratched his head. “No.”

“Then your book won’t be either.”

* * *

Fluttershy breathed in the fresh salty smell of the ocean as she landed on the boat that Sea Seeker had been on minutes before. The boat was full of supplies and research equipment and she shouldn’t have been surprised that she knew what each and every one of those objects did. She knew Sea Seeker and his two older brothers, and his ex-girlfriend, and every marine biology class he had ever skipped and well... everything.

Except where he was at that very moment.

She looked around, the anchor of the boat wasn’t tethered, and Sea Seeker was rather bad at tying knots.

Fearing the worst, Fluttershy dropped the book she was carrying into the boat and dove down under the water, racing toward the black deep.

It quickly became pitch dark and Fluttershy cast some strong spotlight spells, illuminating the deserted ocean, only a few stray fish zoomed past as she went deeper.

“Where is he!?” Fluttershy spoke through the water, the sounds bubbling out.

“Veer north a bit while still heading down, he hit a current.”

“Hope?” asked Fluttershy, taking the advice immediately and heading north. “What are you doing here?”

“We closely monitor new Queens.”

She cringed and tried not to think too hard about that. “How are you seeing him?”

“There’s a spell you should cast that can connect you to souls that have one of our memory covers, it should make things easier for you.”

Fluttershy spotted a pony quickly being dragged down to the depths, his hoof caught on the rope, the look of calm on his face and his closed eyes made her think he was dead.

She swam down to him and cut the chain on the anchor with her magic.

His sinking slowed down and he opened his terrified eyes.

Fluttershy reached out and embraced him and quickly teleported back to the boat on the surface.

The second he hit the boat, Sea Seeker coughed and heaved for several moments. A forced gasp filled him with no more life than he had already.

She patted him on the back, helping to get more water out of his lungs, his body expelling the liquid easily.

“There... there, it’s okay,” said Fluttershy.

“How am I still alive!?” he gasped out, his seafoam green mane a complicated mess. “Everything got all yellow and warm and peaceful—I thought I died.”

“Nope, dying is not good for anypony, so we got rid of it.”

Sea Seeker coughed out some more water, “Y-you... what? Umm... th- thanks for saving my life.”

“You’re welcome,” said Fluttershy smiling.

He stared at her, according to his memories, she looked old enough to be his grandmother.

“Well... I must be going...” she said. “My husband gave you your book though, I think you’ll like it.”

“What do you mean, my book?”

“Just open it and read, he meant it for you. Oh, and Sea Seeker, she does miss you as much as you miss her.”

Celestia had never been so enthralled by a book before. It was a little vain to think about how her favorite book would be the story of her own life. It gave a fresh perspective on all of the decisions she had made, why she had made them, and how it had gotten her to this point.

But more importantly, it was a distraction from possible impending annihilation. What was the penalty for the betrayal that she and her sister had committed? Would it be forced reincarnation back into Equestria? Or perhaps reincarnation into some other planet? Either way, once they were gone, Twilight would have to take over. She had dominion over the time between night and day, and now she would control everything.

They were so engrossed in their books that neither noticed a brief amber glow permeate the throne room.

She turned another page. She had long since read the stories of her previous life. As Clover the Clever she had discovered a spell to more regularly rotate the sun from its previously sporadic movements. Looking back she could see that Galaxia must have played a hoof in helping her learn that spell. She had been left alone in this life for the most part, but that previous one had touches of Galaxia and Cosmos’s hooves all over it. It was like they had been trying to prepare her for this life. An odd prospect, as nothing carries over from reincarnation, does it?

“Celestia, Luna,” said Galaxia.

Celestia dropped the book in shock, closing her eyes, awaiting the inevitable. Her punishment would come swift.

“It’s so great to see you again!” yelled out Cosmos, reaching out with his long forelegs and taking in both Celestia and Luna in a warm, starry embrace.

“I have some news for you,” said Galaxia.

Celestia was unable to hug Cosmos back, the fear gripping her.

“Everypony lives,” said Cosmos, his warm voice near hers.

The room was silent for a few moments.

“Is this true?” asked Celestia, looking up to Cosmos, still feeling squeezed tight against his chest like she was a filly again.

“It is,” said Galaxia. “I had wanted a world to directly interact with beyond the initial creation and setting up steps, and Accord also desired it, so we’ll be helping you a lot under this new format. Immortality will be tough, there are new challenges here—“

She was cut off in mid sentence by Celestia escaping from Cosmos and embracing her, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Galaxia returned the hug. “You can thank Fluttershy, Accord, and Pinkie Pie, they’re the ones that wanted this the most.”

“But you let them choose.”

“Of course, choice is always important.”

“This could go wrong in a million different ways, but that shouldn’t stop us from having fun in the process,” smiled Cosmos, holding Luna in his lap on the throne as if she were still a filly.

“Does this mean we will see you more often?” asked Luna.

Cosmos put a hoof to his face, thinking, “Perhaps a bit more often. I still have a universe to run though.”

“As do I,” said Galaxia. “But we can stop by a little more often and make sure the world isn’t ending. That sort of thing.”

Fluttershy finished her teleportation spell, the chaos where she had emerged in full swing.

Dozens of diamond dogs were chasing after a particularly haggard looking dog that was cackling with mirth around the tall pillar in the center of the room.

She had just experienced all the lives here, the scene quickly refreshed in her mind. Scrounge had been stranded at the top of that tall pillar, death by starvation, thirst, or more likely from the jump that the prisoner was likely to make. It was not a nice place to be, but Scrounge was one of the few souls on the planet that probably deserved it.

He must have jumped recently, and not died.

“Sorry to bother everyone...” started Fluttershy, her entrance unnoticed in the cacophony of rushing diamond dogs.

One of them pounced on Scrounge’s legs as he cackled.

“Fine, be that way,” said Fluttershy, her mane made a snapping sound and all at once the entire room went silent and still. The diamond dogs were frozen in mid stride, only their eyes allowed to move.

“Sorry about all this, but it looks a little chaotic in here, give me a moment.”

The diamond dogs could only watch as comfortable luxurious couches appeared out of nowhere and each of them was seated. A large armchair appeared underneath Scrounge, his face still stuck in a mirthless grin.

“Okay, just relax everyone.” She stopped the freezing spell.

Accord decided to pop in at that moment.

“Sorry I’m late, what’d I miss?”

“Some running around due to the consequences of a non-threatening tower to a now immortal prisoner.”

Several of the dogs squirmed, wondering whether or not to jump out of their chairs.

“Yeah... it looks like that,” said Accord eyeing the groups of dogs on comfy seats. “Ah, Scrounge, there you are!”

The haggard dog’s eyes shot to Accord.

“It’s so nice to see you, how have you been?”

The dog stared at him, puzzled. “Have we met?” he asked in a gruff voice.

“No, so I’ll introduce myself! My name’s Accord, this is Fluttershy, and you should probably stop being... well...” Accord paused, picking out the exact right words and phrases that would adequately work in this situation, going through a two hundred and fifty thousand word language and selecting the least offensive one. “Evil.”

Scrounge cackled, his ruthless mirth marred by the fact he was sunk into an armchair far too comfortable to leave, even if there wasn’t a spell keeping him there.

“Stop being evil?” asked Fluttershy. “Was that really the best you could come up with?”

Accord’s cheeks reddened, “I’m new at this.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes before facing Scrounge and smiling, “Hello Mr. Scrounge, sir. You seem to have the bad habit of engaging in nefarious acts, we’re here to help you kick that habit.”

The dog started scratching himself by rubbing his back against the chair, his paws glued to the sides.

“So we’d like to give you someplace nice to stay as you begin the process of reformation.”

“Excuse you,” yelled one of the dogs in the back, “but that’s Scrounge, he’s a monster and he’s going down.”

“Yes, hopefully down in history as one of the greatest changes in personality and demeanor in all of Equestria, this is Fluttershy we’re talking about here. She’s good at this sort of thing.”

“I will never stop!” said Scrounge.

“Well, we’ll see you all later, we’ll take Scrounge off your paws for now,” said Fluttershy.

“Keep the sofas as a gift,” smiled Accord, as he teleported away with Scrounge and Fluttershy.

“Y’know Scrounge, I’m not very good at doling out punishments.”

The dog stiffened, suddenly scared of the gray alicorn.

“So I’m going to let you have everything you’ve ever wanted.”

All around them a vast world appeared. Homes dotted the landscape and holes appeared with labyrinthine tunnels, everywhere filled with jewels and anything else Scrounge could ever want. “This is your own paradise prison for you to peruse, explore and commit all of the depraved acts you have ever wanted to commit.”

The dog’s eyes grew wide, licking his lips in menace.

“There is a catch, however. The only way to leave this place would be to go to that hexagonal tower in the distance and select your favorite book. There’s about ten thousand in there, it could take a while to pick a favorite.”

The dog cackled, “Why would I ever want to leave?”

“You’ll find yourself very lonely here, Scrounge. Souls aren’t meant to be alone. You will soon realize that this paradise is but another prison without the comfort of another soul to talk to. But the library is full of permutations on how your life can be after you leave this place. Stories of friendship and adventure that can be yours, ways you can say you are sorry to those you have wronged, and other advice to help you out of the dark abyss you have sunk yourself to.”

“I won’t read a word,” smiled the dog, his razor sharp canine teeth menacing.

Accord reached down and hugged him, “Infinity is a long time, Scrounge. It would be a shame if you spent it alone in here.”

The dog squirmed, trying to get out of Accord’s hooves.

He let him go, watching as the dog bounded away.

“We’ll visit you once a week!” yelled Accord as the dog flung himself down a deep hole.

“Do you think it’ll work? I mean, this is Sombra we’re dealing with,” asked Fluttershy.

“I hope so. But it could be years before he realizes that what he’s doing will provide no lasting happiness.”

Accord and Fluttershy walked into the hospital room. The herd of ponies inside were whispering excitedly, almost ignoring the pink pony now in a stable condition.

Spike was in the middle of writing a letter to Princess Celestia as dictated by Twilight. The quill skirting and sliding across the page with penmanship only obtained through a lifetime of careful practice, the calligraphy a true work of art in the claws of a master.

“Oh, hello Fluttershy,” said Twilight, breaking her dictation, Spike’s claws continuing their penmanship parade.

“There’s a few things we should discuss,” said Fluttershy, edging her way through the crowd and trying to gather together Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

“I’ll say,” said Rainbow Dash flapping close and landing next them. “What was with that yellow light earlier?”

“It was probably Celestia casting some kind of spell,” said Twilight. “She’ll write us back soon with the details.”

“Actually,” said Accord, “It would be best if we met with Celestia and Luna directly, a lot has happened and I would like you all there for it.”

“There for what?” asked Rarity, her dyed mane staying quaffed, a militia of hair spray keeping it in line.

“We’re going to take a short trip to Canterlot, if that’s alright with everypony,” said Fluttershy.

“Now hold on there, ‘Shy,” Applejack said, “I don’t think a little stray spell runnin’ through here is any cause to head all the way to Canterlot. My old bones just ain’t up for those kinda trips like they’re used to.”

Spike’s quill had finished flourishing, his claws starting to wrap the scroll up. He took in a deep breath, and at that moment, Fluttershy’s invisible horn became visible and cast a spell.

Accord felt like his body had been squeezed and pressed flat before being burned, the new sensation left him blind before he was suddenly in a room with familiar carpeting.

Accord brushed himself off, staring up at the royal sisters and smiling, “Salutations Celestia.”

Disoriented, the rest of the ponies looked around at the throne room.

“What in the hay just happened?” said Applejack

Accord turned to Fluttershy, “Did you transfigure us into paper and have Spike send us through dragon fire?”

“It seemed like a fast way to do it,” said Fluttershy.

“Nice spellwork,” said Accord, impressed.

“Wait... we were paper?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I know you’ve been getting better at magic,” said Twilight to Fluttershy, “But I’ve never seen that spell used that way.”

“Why do you have a horn, Fluttershy?” asked Rarity.

“Nevermind about me!” said Fluttershy as her horn disappeared. “A much more important spell was cast today!”

“And we love it!” said Celestia, bubbly with excitement that could rival Pinkie’s, an odd site to her usual austere attitude.

“We are most pleased,” said Luna, a smile across her muzzle.

Twilight gave Accord a confused look.

Accord cleared his throat, “Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow,” he began. “You and every creature on this planet are now as immortal as Celestia is.”

The ponies stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Darling, could you repeat that?” asked Rarity.

“Everypony is now immortal, no one on this planet will ever die again,” said Fluttershy.

“Wait, wait just a minute here,” said Rainbow Dash zooming to Accord and hovering in front of him, folding her forelegs and staring at him. “I’m immortal? I’m gonna be stuck as an old mare for forever?”

“I worked those kinks out already, you and everyone else older than their ideal selves will be growing younger over the course of the next year or so,” said Accord.

“You made everypony immortal?” asked Rarity. “Absolutely everypony?”

“It was the best method for maximizing happiness,” said Accord. “Keeping Twilight and her friends seemed wrong because that left out their families. And allowing friends of friends to die seems like an awful idea. So the best configuration would be a blanket immortality across the entire planet.”

“Who asked for this, Accord?” asked Twilight, distrust crossing her face.

“I did,” said Accord.

“And everypony else, Celestia, Luna, Fluttershy—you wanted this too?” asked Twilight.

Celestia nodded enthusiastically as Luna spoke up, “It took some convincing, but we like the plan.”

“And what plan is that?” asked Twilight.

“We have a limited use trial run of ten million years—the lifespans for Celestia and Luna—to try out immortality for a time,” said Accord. “And if it goes well we have the possibility to continue after that.”

“And what would be after that?” asked Twilight.

“Twilight, I don’t know. I don't even know what is going to happen tomorrow with the unlimited time we have. But we have been given a great gift to continue as long as we want. Ideally, things can continue as they are, with ourselves progressing as we see fit.”

“Will I be able to do a Sonic Rainboom again?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Of course, give yourself a few months to reverse your aging, you should be at your top flying ability soon enough,” said Accord.

“What about overpopulation?” asked Twilight. “With nopony dying, the planet will be overrun.”

“We could always make another one if we need to expand,” said Fluttershy.

“I’ve checked, our whole galaxy is empty,” Accord smiled, bringing out an easel and showing various empty, desolate, but otherwise hospitable planets across the galaxy. The calculations scribbled at the bottom estimated their future population after ten million years to be one hundred fifty trillion souls across the four hundred billion stars in their galaxy. “There’s plenty of room for anything we could ever need.”

“I guess you have thought this through,” said Twilight, squinting at all the numbers at the bottom. Her ponderings interrupted by a loud wham above her as some light blue feathers fell.

“Ow!” grunted Rainbow Dash. “How come crashing still hurts?”

“You’re as immortal as I am Rainbow,” said Celestia. “I still feel pain when I do something like fly straight into a brick wall.”

“Why haven’t you gotten rid of pain yet, Accord?” asked Rainbow Dash, massaging a bump on her head.

“I want life to stay the same as much as possible for now, I still need to pay a visit with everyone on the planet and see how they are adjusting before I do something like getting rid of ‘pain’ altogether.”

“Visiting ponies?” asked Rainbow, laughing. “What are you gonna do, grant wishes?”

“If need be...” said Accord, eyes squinting.

“Then I wish it didn’t hurt when I crash,” asked Rainbow, her eyes closed in confidence.

Everypony stared at Rainbow and then back to Accord, “I can think of a lot of reasons why you shouldn’t wish that. But you’re allowed to make decisions I think are unwise.”

His horn glowed and Rainbow was enveloped in a gray aura, “Just tell me when you want it back, Rainbow. Just say my name and I’ll be there.”

“As if! This is perfect!” said Rainbow as she zoomed around the throne room as fast as she could.

“So... we have ten million years?” asked Rarity. “What are we supposed to do with ten million years?”

“Anything you want,” said Accord. “Though you are limited by your imagination and how hard you work to achieve something.”

Twilight’s lips quivered, but didn’t say anything.

“Well... yes... it does look like we have a lot of decisions to make. Ten million years is quite a while, but for now,” Celestia paused, “Do you know what this calls for!?”

The room stayed silent, the answer to that sentence couldn’t be said by anypony in that room.

“A party!” yelled Cosmos, suddenly appearing in the throne room, exuberantly throwing confetti that looked like stars. “Where’s Pinkie Pie when you need her? She’s just the mare for the job.”

Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack stared in shock at the midnight stallion, soft stars dotting his entire body, his ecstatic grin impossible not to stare at.

“Was that really the first impression you intended to give, Cosmos?” asked Galaxia, her regal form descending from above, her large nebulous wings landing her gracefully in front of them, all the beauty and awe of a swirling galaxy in equine form.

“I thought it was as good as anything I could come up with,” whispered Cosmos to Galaxia before turning back and facing the small group. “Hello everypony! Congratulations on the whole immortality thing!”

Twilight’s jaw slacked before she let her awe turn into a low bow.

“Right... now I remember all the reasons why it’s best to stay hidden,” said Cosmos, eyeing the members of the elements of harmony now bowing.

“Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, allow me to introduce my parents, Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos,” said Celestia.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” said Galaxia.

“Bang up job on saving Luna, reforming Discord, and your whole lives in general,” said Cosmos to the dumbfounded group. “Unfortunately we’ll never revel in your well spent lives, as it looks like we’ll never have a funeral to celebrate them.”

“I don’t like funerals,” said Accord.

“How about deathday parties? Where we celebrate your life up until that point and share our appreciation that it wasn’t the day you actually died?” said Cosmos.

“Okay, we really need Pinkie for this,” said Fluttershy. “Obviously none of us has any idea how to throw a good party.”

“Hey, don’t dismiss my abilities, I taught Pinkie everything she knows,” said Cosmos, surprised to see that Fluttershy had disappeared, only the stained glass behind her.

“What kind of party are we talking about?” asked Galaxia.

“I was thinking of inviting the entire world,” said Accord, placing a hoof to his muzzle in contemplation.

“Sounds like a logistics nightmare,” said Luna, who was interrupted as a shower of balloons and streamers erupted behind her.

“EVERYPONY’S HERE!!!” shouted Pinkie Pie, smiling brightly, her pale frizzy mane already looking pinker, the color back in her.

“Darling, you were on a deathbed ten minutes ago, what are you doing here?” asked Rarity.

“I umm... just cured her,” said Fluttershy, embarrassed and putting a hoof on her horn and pushing it back into her head.

“What about everypony else in that room? You can’t just teleport somepony on their deathbed somewhere. It’s rude,” said Rarity.

“It’s okay!” said Pinkie Pie. “Fluttershy just came up to me and was all ‘wanna not be sick anymore?’ and I was all ‘DUH!’ and so she was like ‘okay,’ and now I’m like, ‘YEAH!’ And now I’m thinking, ‘We should have a party to celebrate!’”

“My thoughts exactly!” said Cosmos, reaching over and picking Pinkie up and putting her on his shoulders.

“Wheee!” yelled Pinkie Pie. “I don’t know who this is, but I like him!”

“The name’s Cosmos, and we have a party to plan!”

“Excellent,” said Accord, nodding in appreciation. “Fluttershy and I will go personally invite everyone.”

“Everyone?” asked Twilight.