Twilight Sparkle looked around herself. Gone was the library, and now she was hurtling through a realm she had never seen in her life. The spell had to have backfired. She had failed again, and this time, there was no coming back from it. Her heart lurched in her chest; she had left her friends behind in the worst possible way. She didn’t even get to really say goodbye. All the ponies she had come to know, some more so than others, would never see her again.
Strangely, Twilight's thoughts carried over to a pony whom rivaled her for a short time, who first suggested a Unicorn having the powers of an Alicorn. Trixie. Twilight wondered why this mattered, and pondered over what Trixie's story was. Perhaps there was regret, perhaps Twilight should've offered her friendship to her. Maybe that's why she thought of Trixie - a last regret before she ceases to be. Whichever the case, she wished Trixie well, wherever she was now.
Twilight arrived somewhere, or rather, her rapid movement just ended in the blink of an eye. The young Unicorn found herself stood in the void of space, upon an invisible floor that opened out to even more of the void beneath it. Was this what the afterlife was? She looked around in wonder, taking in the sight of endless stars and trails of dust. Where was she meant to go? Where were the other souls who had departed?
Inexplicably, Princess Celestia appeared and began talking to her protégé, the prodigy whose physical form was at best lying motionless on the library floor in Ponyville. She had failed her teacher, and yet the Princess seemed pleased to see her. Twilight couldn’t have done something wrong; she may not have perished after all. She may see her friends again yet - the thought filling the little pony’s heart with joy and relief. Images of her friends flashed in Twilight’s mind, but a part of her lingered on Pinkie Pie a little longer. The pause lasted enough for a couple more neurons in her brain to fire, igniting a flash of memories of the pink pony and her dedication to bring happiness to her friends. Pinkie would be overjoyed to see her again, the resulting celebration would be gigantic – Twilight was sure.
But what Celestia was telling the young mare stole her attention. She, Celestia's own student, had surpassed the legendary Starswirl the Bearded in one thing he had never mastered: True Friendship. Now, according to her teacher, Twilight was ready. But what was it that that she was ready for? Now was the time to know, it seemed.
While her teacher expressed her joy, Twilight's thoughts tried to imagine what it was like for Celestia to watch her student grow, to see her achieve and come closer to this very moment. Was there pride in her tone? Happiness? A touch of sadness? So many emotions that any other pony would be showing right now - and Princess Celestia's calm and joyful expression stayed as strong as ever. Trying to put herself in the shoes of a Princess was something her mind couldn't comprehend; she was just a Unicorn, after all. Nopony could ever hope to really understand Celestia unless they were Celestia herself, or maybe her younger sister, Luna.
However, Twilight wasn't an ordinary Unicorn according to the Princess, as the two walked among the stars. It all made sense, but at the same time, it made Twilight dizzy. Her and her friends had been through so much together, they had done things no ordinary ponies would imagine themselves do. Trying to understand Celestia's perspective was one thing, but suddenly realising just how much the little Unicorn had done herself was even more chaotic and incredible. Facing great obstacles time and time again, solving numerous troubles; laughing, loving, and living the whole time. Life's greatest mystery for Twilight Sparkle wasn't in her teacher's mind, it was in her own; how could she have been so blind to the five very special ponies who had backed her up through thick and thin? How could she forget her number one assistant, Spike, and how much of an impact he made on her life and how it turned out? Everypony meant more to her than the world, and she took a lot of it for granted while still thanking the lucky stars on her flank. How could any of that be possible?
Perhaps it was like a turtle - or a tortoise. Perhaps it was like how Rainbow Dash knew what she liked, liked the animals that showed what she liked, but still gave the one creature who didn't stand out a chance. She may not have seen it in that big shell and slow smile of that tortoise, but somewhere in that brash and brave Pegasus was a glimmer of something. Something so small that Rainbow Dash didn't think about what it was, only acted on it like she would with anything. It was like a spark – the spark. The one that changes everything when anypony - or anything - feels it, making them see something where they wouldn't expect it, be it friendship, companionship, or just knowing something they wouldn't know otherwise.
Twilight knew now; everyone had a magic inside them, and what could be magic could well be friendship. This truth had been there the whole time. Ever since that spark ignited in her heart and drove her forward, bringing her together with every friend she could count. She had known it, and for years she never wondered over the hows or the whys, she just acted on it. After all, why question something that brings so many ponies together? Why dwell on something that brings so many happy memories and experiences - things that cannot be learned from a library or bound within the pages of a book? In the purple mare's mind, somehow, she had learnt that magic was what made friendship so wonderful. She had learnt it from experiencing it herself, from helping Applejack with the harvest, to seeing her friends fall out and make up after. For as long her and her friends were together, they were stronger; every day had been a party like no other, every night had been more beautiful. It wasn't because the days and nights had become so - it was because her friends made it feel that way, as if by magic.
It was a self-sustaining loop. Magic brought friendship, friendship brought magic. An endless cycle that only now she truly understood - truly saw, heard, and breathed.
Like the harmony of millions of raindrops rapping on a window, on the surface, none of what Twilight was now seeing should have correlated so well. No scientific study she could conduct, no book she could read, no data she could collect could prove of the existence of magic within the bonds keeping ponies together. But as impossible as it seemed, it existed. Sometimes, as she had learned, a pony just had to choose whether or not to believe; and by every single nerve in her body, every red blood cell that coursed through her veins, did Twilight Sparkle choose to believe it to be true.
Now, in this vast expanse of space, inside this strange nebula that Princess Celestia and Twilight communed, the future seemed so much more exciting. For now, though, the present was all Twilight had. And even with her life-long mentor by her side, speaking of great things in store for her apprentice, Twilight felt different. She was on her own, now. No longer in the shadow of another pony, no, that pony looked at her as an equal, perhaps more than that.
Was she ready for this? The Princess said she was, but did the Unicorn believe her? What did this mean for her friends? Would she ever see them again, or was she forever confined to this starry void? Could she honestly face a future in this cold, no matter how wonderful Princess Celestia was cranking this final step to be?
She didn’t have a choice, and in her heart, she didn’t need to choose. Twilight would at least have her memories; but the Princess wouldn’t have had her student learn the magic of friendship if she was to never see her friends again, would she?
What if she had to spend a thousand years away? What if the Elements sealed her away for her to prepare for her return as a new mare? Twilight Sparkle fanned those fears away from her mind before they could take hold. Her teacher wouldn’t be speaking so fondly, she wouldn’t be bringing out all these countless memories and projecting them into the cosmos for the pair of them to experience together. A million sparks flickering in space. Maybe the ponies in Equestria could see them in the night sky. Maybe they were a constellation like no other. Maybe the constellation was the spark igniting friendship in an even greater being – the entire cosmos. So many possibilities, so many questions - all of which raced through the young Unicorn’s mind as she listened to her teacher, and watched her answer each one with every breath, glance, and smile.
Twilight's destiny, and what it entailed, was but a beginning. And as ribbons of magic started to soothe her in their embrace, she took solace in that fact. This wasn’t the end of anything, this was a new chapter for Twilight, and it was one she would write with her friends for the rest of their lives. She knew that was how it would be. She held onto that thought, feeling secure in that knowledge, the only knowledge she had ever truly felt safe in.
The strings to her very existence began to strain, and suddenly, they were gone with all sight, sound, and touch. For a short while, Twilight was suspended in between her past and future; yet she was not quite in the present, either. A beautiful chapter had ended, and this infinite but so finite period of turning the page, the aching bliss of waiting for the first few words to appear on the other side, was all there was.
But then, Twilight felt the bonds of her friendships reach for her. Her heart was no longer driven by air but by the friends she lived for. Thoughts of her most important friends connected together, each one forming a point in a star in the sky, and together, they painted a wondrous display of reds with purple hues in the atmosphere; an image that every pony in Ponyville, perhaps even Equestria, could see. Twilight’s body returned to her, and gravity wasted no time to oblige and bring her down to the earth.
Her hooves were planted firmly on the ground, but her entire body felt lighter than before. She looked up, instinctively stretching and flexing two beautiful wings on her back like they had always been there. Her gaze fell upon her friends, the ponies and baby dragon that she had grown to cherish and love over the years. They were her very best friends - did they all know that?
And as Twilight watched the faces of Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and of course, Spike, all light up with joy, she too smiled herself.
Of course they did. She thought.