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."
The End.