Second Imperial Palace, Petropolis, Many Years Ago
Slowly she made her way across the finely polished wooden floor, the bones in her legs creaking, the long bones in her wings popping as worn tendons snapped across them from old age. Even with her spells, what few she could still do it hurt to move. But while she could move she could study, while she could study she could learn, while she could learn she could try, try to fix what had gone so wrong
She could hear a few of the palace staff, the butlers, maids, the chamberlains somewhere in the grand building. She'd gotten used to the help (all one of him) while living in her own palace, that seemed like a lifetime ago but some things didn't change no matter where you went
The door glowed a faded lilac, pushed both with magic and then her own hoof, she could feel the weight of the heavy oak, is felt a lot heavier these days
She made her way across the library, noticing the dust particles hanging in the air, illuminated by the light from the moon shining above, a moon that rose and fell on its own. Carefully she sat down at her favourite desk, the chair modified just for her, she let herself relish the soft embrace of the silken cushions for a moment, then it was right to work
Hours later she looked up from the most recent tome that had occupied her to jot down some notes, the moon was higher in the sky, the stars peaking through the slate grey clouds. She took off her glasses and let them hang on the chain round her neck, rubbing her eyes while letting out a sigh, even with them it was getting harder to read, to focus, was she really getting this old? Were her last reserves of alicorn power going? She couldn't trick herself any more, she was running out of time
The others didn't have the power needed, it was just her, she was it, the final chance to stop the end of the world, and she was tired, so very tired
Suddenly Twilight Sparkle felt a warm weight drop onto her shoulders and could smell the scent of hot chocolate, she looked to her right. There was a young human, a boy really, holding a tray with a coffee pot and mug on it, his light brown hair and warm grey eyes lit up in the light from her reading lamp
“Cocoa?” the old mare nodded, clutching the wool blanket a little tighter, watching the boy as he poured, adding a dash of apple cinnamon and a tiny marshmallow to her cup, just the way she liked it
“Thank you Pedro” a smile began to light up her face, warm but sad “what would I do without my number one assistant?”
Second Imperial Palace, Petropolis, Second Brazilian Empire, present day
Dom Pedro V, Emperor of Brazil gazed outside the ornate windows of his palace, the clouds were clearing without the aid of pegasi and the sun, risen without the aid of a Princess was shining brightly. It was shaping up to a be a fine day, the latest in several, maybe one of the last fine days or days at all for that matter in the history of Earth
Outside in the gardens the newest addition was being set into place, facing across from Michelangelo's David (sent decades ago during the final exodus from poor, doomed Europe) was a larger statue, carved from black volcanic tuff the Moai stared implacably out at the statue garden and across the hills where the city resided. In the distance though he couldn't see it Pedro knew where it was, the Conversion Bureau, one of several dotted across the Empire
He wasn't sure how first contact was made, the Americans had done it and they'd never shared the details, not even their last president had told him in their final conversation. It had been a couple of centuries on this side of the barrier, in that time how long had passed on the other side? A century? Half a century? A couple of decades? No-one was sure because no-one ever came back to tell them, his top researchers could only guess
On this side the barrier had expanded from where it first appeared, slowly spreading across the world, stretching out like a viscous blob of magic, leaping out along certain avenues, creeping like a glacier along others. Slowly countries were consumed, others cut off, by the time he was born Brazil was surrounded on all sides by the barrier, only five other nations were left, kept in touch by magic-aided radio courtesy of the unicorns who'd settled there. Then slowly, one by one they fell silent, now they were alone, Brazil the last bastion of humanity in the face of the barrier slowly creeping across planet Earth. Or was it planet Equestria now?