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// 3 Twilight: Wishing it Never Happened 
// Story: Life after the Show 
// by FSkindness 
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Dear Diary,

To anypony reading this I am so sorry for what I am about to do. I'm not sure if this diary will even exist for others to read but it's what I need to do. I'm just so afraid and I haven't been able to think since this year started. My thoughts are so jumbled up together right now, I guess I should just start from the top.

Today is April 28th and it's the last year Friendship is Magic will still be around. Not only is it the last year but it's also the last month. May is coming at me like a train and if feel like I'm tied to the railroad. I'm anxious, afraid, and helpless.

I'm sure I'm not the only pony who feels like this regarding the show's end. Other ponies have tried telling me that it's no big deal but I think it's a big deal dammit!

This show has given me everything. It gave me a important values on life, taught me how to care more about others, a blooming career, and most importantly it gave me the best friends anypony can ask for. If this show never happened then I wouldn't be the same Twilight Sparkle today.

So with everything it gave me, why am I so heartbroken over its end? Well, everything it gave me is probably going to get taken back with its conclusion. I'll still have my career and I'll still have these lessons it taught me but what about my friends? They are what mattered to me. They are what gave me life. They are the reason I could get out of bed no matter how bad a day I was going to have.

With everypony leaving me... I can't help but feel like... Like it was all fake. Like it meant nothing to them at all. That's the part that hurt me the most and it's why I've decided to leave Hasbro. I'm not going to be part of that dumb show with any of those stupid mares that don't want anything to do with me. They'll just have to find a new princess of friendship.

I knew a storm would be coming as soon as I made the announcement which is why I packed everything up before leaving to the studio. I told the executive producer and the director I was leaving for good and ran out before they could summon their horde of lawyers. I left Canterlot for good that day.

Where was I going? Certainly not any bustling city like Manehattan or Fillydelphia. No, I was heading for one of the few desolate places that was still relatively safe, Appleloosa.

Way back in 2011 when we all met Braeburn we were already seeing the escalation in the popularity of the show. I knew it wouldn't take much time for it to reach the top as the number one watched show in Equestria which is why I brought my entire tuition with me on our way to Appleloosa. The idea was to buy a safe house in the event shit ever hit the fan. I wasn't very well known as an actress back then which is how I've been able to hide it from the writers of the show and the paparazzi.

It was a numbskull idea at the time but it seems like I made the right choice. Friendship is magic only became more popular, I earned back my tuition money in only a few months of acting, and I have a safe haven to go that was totally off the books.

I wore an ominous hooded robe and sunglasses as I carried my bags to the train. I purchased a one way ticket to Appleloosa and that was that. I had enough cash to retire on and nopony would ever bother me again. Well, at least I thought that's how it would go.

I never felt so sad before in my entire life than on that train ride. Everything that made me happy, everything that put a smile on my face, I just told it all to go to hell and was leaving it all for forever. I needed to stay strong. It was going to leave me. My only option was to leave it first. That way I could feel some form of power over it.

There was no victory in what I was doing though. There was only a massive amount of bitterness that would sometimes replace my sadness. By the time the train reached Appleloosa, the entire world around me was numb.

The desert wind was as dry as the dead bushes that littered its sandy plains. The world was dead. All except for the ponies of the town and the train station. I wanted nothing to do with them.

I walked a straight line through the town without paying any attention to the small town folk that wanted to probe me for information about myself. Nopony could understand the bitterness, anger, and saddness I was feeling so why bother explaining it to them?

I got to the edge of the town and to an old dirt road. I followed it out of the town, walked for about a mile or two, and behind a few hills until I reached the house.

The white paint of the home had chipped off decades ago and its windows were dirty and scarred from generations of wind eroding at its glass. The house was small and worn but it had held up surprisingly strong throughout the years. There were no breaks in anything and it was closed up tight to not allow bugs or other vermin inside. It's obvious attraction however was that it was away from the noise of society. I thought it was well worth the money spent on it.

I got inside and put all of my things away. The home was barely furnished with ancient items. I would certainly need to put a lot of work into it if I was to call it my new home. This would be where I will spend the rest of my life.

I looked out the old window and out to the hills of the desert. The day was slipping away into night and would soon be April 29th. Just another day closer to the end. Am I sad? I can't even tell anymore...

I spent hours sitting there by the window, with a heart that stung and a mind that couldn't function. My head slumped down and I almost fell asleep when an unexpected visitor arrived. Knocking at the door jolted me awake.

Who the hay was there? Who knew where to find me? Why were they here? These were thoughts that made me more afraid than ever. Was it it a lawyer threatening to take this one and only safe place I had left if I didn't play my part on the show? Or worse, was it one of my friends who were mad at me now?

I almost couldn't move but I knew I had to. I got up and hesitantly cracked the door open, "H-Hello?" I looked out. There was nopony there. I opened the door all the way and looked around. Still, nopony was there. I thought perhaps a couple of rocks or something blew into the door.

I closed the door and turned back to go to the window. I almost sat back down where I was when a certain draconequus's face appeared behind the window only inches away. He exclaimed, "Miss Twilight Sparkle!"

I jumped away and ran right into the wall. Shivers shot through my body like war cannons. Not that dough-head!!! I ran to one corner room of the house.

Discord was waiting in there for me. He looked down at the old sofa, "You certainly have a unique taste for um... Authentic decor." As he said this a spider jumped out from the couch and onto his eyeball. At the same time a trail of dust was flying up into his nostril from the room. He looked at me with a casual smile as his eyes watered.

I shook my head three times then ran back from him, into the kitchen. He was there at the stove and wearing an apron. With a hand on his hips he looked around the cupboards, "Good heavens, Twilight, how do you plan on living here without any food? I've seen shelters pack more than this."

I grew hot with anger and shouted at him, "Discord!!! What are you doing here???"

"What? I can't come drop in on a good friend?" He scoffed with his arms crossed, "I see how it is then."

"Discord... Why are you here?" I said in a softer tone.

He looked down at me, "Well I heard somepony thought they were getting too good for us and decided that it would be best to leave forever!"

His words nearly made me tear up instantly. I coughed a bit then shouted, "I DONT WANT YOU HERE!!! Just leave me alone!"

I turned away from him and sat down. He teleported in front of me with his paws crossed. He said, "Twilight Twilight, you can't run away from your problems, especially not like this. Tell me, what are you doing this for?"

I gave him a mean look. He didn't seem to care. I told him, "First tell me how you knew where I was going."

"I was there when you made your big fuss at the studio and simply boarded the same train as you. You are smart but not quite so stealthy, Twilight." He poked my nose.

I swatted his paw away, "Okay fine. Only because I know you can respect secrets am I even considering telling you. Do you promise not to tell anyone else where I am?"

Discord used a literal zipper to zip his lips shut. I squinted at him, "Okay then... I left because this show became part of my life. A huge part. Since the cast is casually leaving it as if it was nothing I'm wondering if they were really my friends or if they just put up an act for the show. I don't want to be anywhere around them anymore."

Discord unzipped his lips then scratched his head. He thought about it then replied, "So you are afraid that a special part of your life is not being taken seriously by others."

By this point I wasn't mad at him anymore. Instead the feelings of saddness were welling back up. I looked down at the ground, "It's not even that. It's like my whole life is getting taken away from me. Finishing this show... Finishing this show would be like watching myself die. If that makes any sort of sense."

He scratched his chin some more, as did the spider that was still on his eye. Discord flicked off the bug then said, "It's a shame this happened to you. It sounds like in the end it took a lot more than it gave. Here you are in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere, alone."

Grumbling, "What is your point, Discord?"

He announced, "I am the master of chaos and, as you know, have the ability to bend reality to my whim. I can grant you freedom, Twilight, away from this if your ultimate fate now is to live such a sad life."

This idea ignited like wildfire in my mind. I jumped up with tears into his arms, "Yes Discord, please! Just take it all away! I don't want to remember any of it! I wish I could have lived without the show ever happening!"

Discord looked down at me and accepted my hug indifferently. He said, "You can't possibly be serious about any of this."

I got angry with him. My body was already crumbling with the thoughts of my friends abandoning me all over again. I cried and cried. I shouted at him, "I am serious! Just do it already, you dumb dragon thing!"

Discord shrugged, "Well alright then. You will never be the princess of friendship again."

I stood up and stared at him. My thoughts started coming back to me in clarity. Wait- What was I giving up?

"Discord, I-" before I finished speaking, Discord snapped his fingers. With a flash of white I was gone.

Discord noticed a book laying on the counter which he picked up. After realizing it was a diary he said, "I guess I'll just have to write in for her what happened today."

-Written by Discord.
-Possibly amended later by Twilight.