//------------------------------//
// Time to Say Goodbye 
// Story: The Twilight Child 
// by Detectivefish 
//------------------------------//

There was a strange sensation of weightlessness, and an odd, and all-too familiar beeping sound. Eyelids peeled back, to reveal an odd sky blue ceiling. This was a relief to the owner of the eyes, since the last thing they could remember seeing was a hoof rushing toward them, in a horrible dark green room.
Then the owner of the eyes was aware their mouth was dry.

"To your left" a voice said. Under normal circumstances it would've sounded calm, melodious even, but there was a noticeable undercurrent to it, one that young Whisper Wind recognised all too well. He blinked, as his brain rapidly informed him of who the voice belonged to.

He shot up, ignoring the slime green sights around him, and the distinctive sound of a heart monitor as he stared at the mare standing a short distance away from the bed. He tried saying something, only to find his mouth was still dry, and turned to look at the glass of water sitting on the nightstand next to him. He concentrated, and the drink was lifted toward him in a golden aura. After several seconds of drinking, he turned to look at the mare again. He winced. That might have had something to do with the numerous emotions pouring off of her. Love, naturally, foremost among them, which looked to him like staring at a bare lightbulb, it was so strong. Small wonder, considering who she was.

"Your highness" he said, haltingly. Princess Cadance just nodded.
"Whisper Wind, isn't it?" she said slowly. He nodded.

"I am afraid I don't have time, or the patience to be civil, young man. I know what you are. And I also know about your feelings toward my daughter."
He suddenly felt very small, and a tiny part of him wondered if this was the bit where Shining Armor himself entered the room and decapitated him.

"I think it's high time we had a talk" Cadance said, slowly.


~~~~~


Somewhen else.
Twilight Twinkle slowly opened her eyes, and then gave a tiny, almost cheerful looking smile. She was not yet at the sort of awake where she was capable of thinking about things, though she was aware of the warm late April sunshine wafting through the room. On the other side of the room there was the sound of gentle snoring from Trixie, and Spike, and the soft chirping of Peewee. Tiny bursts of red-orange dotted the little phoenix, as evidently his feathers were beginning to show. Twinkle sighed, and was aware that in her sleep she'd managed to get the bedclothes wrapped around her wings. Her wings, her wings, her wings. It seemed so strange even thinking that, that she had wings. Then she heard a sound. A sad sort of clanging from the clock. She lay there for a moment, and her brain began to wander.


*****


Two days ago, Canterlot.
Waking up the morning after the wedding reception had been odd, certainly. They had all found themselves waking up in the Twilight residence, with absolutely no signs that they'd engaged in hi-jinks at all. Rarity, once everypony was awake, had disappeared. Rainbow Dash, not usually known for being a morning mare, had been oddly reticent to talk about her exploits, though when Pinkie Pie mentioned the stallion she'd been seen dancing with, one Soarin' of the Wonderbolts, she'd suddenly smiled an incredibly un-Rainbow Dash sort of smile, if only for an instant. Strangely enough, Twilight Sparkle had not been there at all. Before anypony could suggest some early morning breakfast, there had been a sudden arrival of some Royal Guards, who were there to invite everypony to breakfast at the castle. After the question was repeated several times, the offer of breakfast was accepted.

Breakfast itself was, after the sheer extravagance of the day before, something of a let-down. Nopony said anything, just calmly and quietly eating breakfast, like it was a normal day. Twilight appeared halfway through the meal.
"Mornin'" Applejack said. Twilight just nodded.

"Where'd you get to last night?" Trixie had grinned. Twilight's reaction was to instantly look alarmed.
"Nowhere. I didn't go anywhere and I didn't spend the night with anypony, and even if I did nothing happened" she said, eyes darting wildly. She declined to answer any further questions, and spent the rest of the meal not looking at anypony. Once it was finished Princess Celestia thanked them for their assistance with the wedding, Twilight suddenly developing a truly dangerous grin as the diarch spoke. Afterward, the group reconvened, and discussed what to do next, eventually reaching the decision to return to Ponyville. After an hour of gathering up all their supplies, and a few minutes of Twilight saying goodbye to her parents, they made their way to the train station. As they were waiting for the train, they noticed a small parade's worth of guards carrying a large supply of luggage. There was a period of several seconds as everypony looked at each other, and as one said the exact same thing.

"Rarity."
"Yes?" they all turned to see Rarity sitting on a bench behind them, reading a newspaper, a small magazine next to her. Rainbow Dash turned to look at the luggage, then opened her mouth.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash, those are guards carrying all my luggage."
Applejack shook her head. "How'd ya manage that?"

Rarity just stared at Applejack for a moment. "I asked them, Applejack."
A few minutes later two Lyra and Bon-Bon appeared on the platform. Bon-Bon looked the same as usual, whereas her marefriend looked like she'd been dragged through a bush, and there were notable bags under her eyes. Bon-Bon glanced over toward the staring group of ponies and gave them a cursory nod. Then she saw their glances at Lyra, who was just staring straight ahead, not blinking.

"Lyra isn't a morning pony" she sighed, before trying to flatten some wild strands of the mare's hair, "And we had a train to catch. Never a good mix."
She examined her work, and then smiled, looking almost like a parent as she did.

"Probably my fault a little, considering how much we celebrated last night" she said, grinning as she did, before coughing. She then tried to get the sleep-deprived musician over toward a bench. Strangely enough, despite Lyra apparently having problems walking in a straight line, she had no problem sitting down on the bench, at which point she closed her eyes and fell asleep instantly. Bon-Bon just shook her head and sat next to the mare.

After some waiting, the train eventually arrived, and before boarding Rarity made sure to thank the guards. Once onboard, everypony sat in silence once more, until Pinkie Pie saw the magazine Rarity had brought with her.
"Hey, Rarity, what's in the magazine?"

The mare looked at Pinkie, and then her horn glowed, the magazine lifting up so Pinkie Pie could see what it said.
"'Royal Wedding Issue'?"

A few seconds later everypony was looking at Rarity. "What?" she asked defensively.
"You wanted to see what Photo Finish said about your designs, didn't ya?" Applejack said. For a few seconds Rarity looked around before sighing.

"Yes, I admit it. I wanted to see what it said about them. Satisfied?"
"What did it say?" Twilight asked. Rarity gave an irritated sigh.

"No comment."
"You didn't get a mention, did you?" Rainbow Dash grinned. Rarity looked at the speedster for a moment and then muttered something under her breath, before taking refuge behind the newspaper once more.

It was then that Trixie noticed Twinkle had been staring ahead into space herself. After a few seconds she waved a hoof in front of the mare's face. Twinkle jolted and turned to look at her.
"What is it?"

"You were staring into the middle distance. You looked bothered by something."
Twinkle shifted her weight. "I was just thinking about stuff."

"Stuff?" Trixie asked.
"Yeah. Just... thinking about Twilight. My universe's Twilight."

There was a few seconds pause as everypony stared at her.
"Yes?" Trixie asked.

Twinkle glanced over toward Twilight and gave a small smile. "I was thinking about what's going to happen when I get back, because..." she sighed, "The last time we talked we didn't exactly part on the best terms. And I am, fortunately not the same pony as I was back then, but..."
She frowned, before sighing. Trixie just smirked.

"That beats me. All I've got in my head is one of the songs from last night."
"Which one?"

Trixie gave this some thought. "Right now? One of the ones the DJ started playing toward the end of the party, when Pinkie made that conga line."
Twinkle paused, as she became aware of a strange tune her mind had apparently blocked out making its return. From the looks on everypony else's faces, they were beginning to remember it as well, save Twilight, who was smiling an odd, faraway smile.

"Why did she have that song anyway?" Fluttershy asked, her face turning a deep red.
"Because it's funny" Pinkie Pie said, "And it's the sort of song you sing toward the end of a reception when you're trying to get the last guests to leave."

There was a momentary shaking of heads from Rarity and Applejack, before the farmpony noted Twilight's own distracted look.
"Twilight? You okay?"

The mare jumped at this.
"Sorry, Applejack, is something wrong?"

"You looked like somepony told ya to read fifteen books over the weekend or something."
Twilight just blinked.

"It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that colt you were dancin' with last night, would it?"
"Twilight was dancing with somepony?" Rainbow Dash asked, with what she thought was a sly grin on her face, "For real?"

"You know," Rarity said, "You never explained to us what happened... afterward?"
Twilight stared at everypony. "Nothing happened" she said, "We just went for a walk, then we went back to his house and by that point we were so tired we both just fell asleep on his sofa."

"Really?" Rarity asked. Twilight gave her a deadpan stare.
"Yes" she insisted, before pausing. "It was really uncomfortable, but he only had the one bed and neither of us wanted to be rude and make the other sleep on the couch."

There was a pause before Rarity, feeling let down in the gossip department, facehoofed, before looking over toward Rainbow Dash. "So, how did everything go with that stallion you were dancing with last night, Rainbow?"
Rainbow Dash suddenly bristled. "Fine."

There were nervous glances exchanged. "I'm sure I saw you talking with another Wonderbolt at some point."
Rainbow Dash's expression went sour and she stared at Rarity. "Not gonna talk about it."

"Did something happen?" Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash looked out toward the window.
"Nothing happened. Nothing at all."

There were several seconds of silence, and then, just as Fluttershy moved over toward Rainbow Dash, there was a noise from the end of the carriage. The doors slammed open and three small blurs rushed over toward everypony.
"Hi!" Scootaloo said, leaning right into Rainbow Dash's face. The mare stared at Scootaloo for a second before her expression softened.

"Hey, kiddo" she said, "What's up?"
It was at that point that Scootaloo launched into a long discussion of everything she did. Meanwhile, Twinkle just sat back in her seat.

'One more week of this, and then I go home' she thought to herself, before she decided to add 'Or else I'll never leave.'


*****


Upon their return to Ponyville, everypony went about getting on with their usual schedules, though everyone noted Rainbow Dash seemed to be working much harder than normal, even during her own nap time. Rarity had rushed to her boutique, partially to make sure Opal was doing well, partially because she had several dozen ideas jockeying for position in her mind, and because she wanted to make sure she didn't miss a customer. Fluttershy had quickly headed back toward her animal friends, who had managed to keep her house suspiciously clean during the time she was gone, while Pinkie Pie returned to Sugarcube Corner and gotten back to work with the air of somepony coming back from their lunch-break. There had been a momentary panic for Applejack when she found Big McIntosh not working, instead just staring at Ponyville and sighing wistfully occasionally, but aside from, that, the day proceeded well enough, with no dramatic revelations or events. However, the next morning, Twinkle and Spike witnessed Twilight doing almost exactly the same thing, only she was staring in the direction of Canterlot. Spike gave Twinkle the most disapproving stare he could manage, to which the mare raised an eyebrow. Spike responded in kind, to which Twinkle raised her other eyebrow, Spike returned the favour.

"Why are you two making faces at each other?" Twilight asked, as she moved a physics textbook back to the shelf.
"No reason" Spike quickly said. Twilight's expression showed how much she believed him. She sighed as she managed to wedge the book between two of its fellows.

"It's weird" she said, "I just can't seem to focus on anything right now."
She glanced toward Spike and Twinkle. "I can't figure out why, either, and it's just..." she gave a frustrated groan.

"Why don't you take a break, then?" Spike suggested, "See if that helps clear your head."
Twilight gave this some thought, before shaking her head. "I can't. Especially not after I've taken so much time off."
Twinkle and Spike looked at one another again, then back to Twilight, who was scanning the shelves again, her expression shifting every few seconds. Eventually she slumped in defeat and sighed.

"Maybe I should take a break."


*****


Said break eventually evolved into Twilight deciding to take a walk around the town, on the advice of Spike. While doing so, Twinkle noticed several foals rushing about wearing familiar looking dark hats and capes. She turned to Twilight, who had a bemused expression on her face.

"Guess Mare Do Well was pretty popular" Twilight said. Twinkle nodded, and suddenly found herself wondering what had happened to that Mare Do Well outfit she'd been wearing, the one that had gotten burnt by Spike during his greed-fuelled rampage. It hadn't even occurred to her what had happened to it.

Eventually Twilight declared her walk over, and the two ponies and one dragon started returning to the library. Then Twilight saw the cloud. On top of it was a miserable-looking Rainbow Dash, and hovering next to it was Fluttershy.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy looked momentarily startled, before looking down toward Twilight.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash is... feeling unwell" she muttered.
"No, I'm not" Rainbow Dash grunted, "Unless you're talking about my mood, 'cuz I feel crappy."

"What's the matter?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy gently descended toward her and shrugged.
"I don't know. She won't tell me what has happened, and I'm really worried. I've never seen anything like this in Rainbow Dash before." she paused, and gave this some thought, "Except for all those times I have seen her act like this before."

There was an irritated sigh, and Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground. "You wanna know what's bothering me? Really?"
Twilight nodded. "If there is something bothering you, Rainbow Dash, we would like to help if we can."

Rainbow Dash sighed, "Then wait here for a few seconds." she then leapt up into the sky and soared away. A few minutes later she returned with a battered envelope in her mouth, and spat it out onto the ground like it was poison. Twilight lifted it, and opened it up, revealing a letter, which she then scanned for a few moments, before smiling.
"Rainbow Dash, why are you so upset about this? I thought you wanted to be in the Wonderbolts?"

Rainbow Dash bristled. "Yeah. I do. I wanna be in the Wonderbolts, not some stupid training academy!"
She then muttered something else under her breath. Then she found herself being hugged by Fluttershy.

"That's wonderful, Rainbow Dash. You're one step closer to your dream."
"That's not what's bothering you, is it?" Twinkle asked. Rainbow Dash stared at the royal blue mare for a few seconds, before sighing.

"Not really, no. It's just what Spitfire said to me last night."
There were blank looks from everypony. Rainbow Dash's expression soured.

"I ran into her at the party last night. We started talking and... I might have asked why I'd not been made a Wonderbolt, even though it was kinda bucking obvious I wanna be a Wonderbolt."
"And?" Spike asked. Rainbow Dash snorted.

"She gave me this whole lecture about how I'm 'not a team player', and 'reckless'. I mean, she did say I've got skills," a grin flashed across Rainbow Dash's face, "But she said I didn't have the right 'attitude' to be a Wonderbolt. And then she gave me that freaking envelope and flew away."

Twinkle scanned the letter, before looking up at Rainbow Dash. "Well, to be fair, it's not like Spitfire has had any prolonged contact with you. She might not know you're good enough for them yet. And I think I should point out she can't just sign you into the Wonderbolts there and then, even if she is the team captain. I'd say this is a chance to prove yourself."
Rainbow Dash frowned, "Yeah, I guess."

"That's not what's bothering you at all, is it?" Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash shuffled slightly, looking toward Fluttershy, who was just smiling innocently. Her expression shifted.
"Well... no. I don't want you guys to think I'm brushing you off to go there."

"Brushin-..." Twilight sighed, "Rainbow Dash, none of us would think you're abandoning us to achieve your dreams."
"Nuh-uh!" said the voice of Pinkie Pie, "Nopony would be that silly."

Rainbow Dash gave a small smile, "Seriously? You guys want me to do it?"
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie smiled, "Because you're so brilliant you'll probably be a Wonderbolt in about five minutes! And then we can throw a special 'Achieved-Your-Dream' party for you! Hey," she said, leaning into Twilight's face, "We need to throw her a party for being invited to the Wonderbolts Academy!"

At this, Pinkie Pie rushed off into the distance, listing all the supplies she would need.
"She has a point" Twinkle observed, "You probably will make full Wonderbolt status pretty quickly."

"Wouldn't you know if I did?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twinkle stared at her.
"If I did, I wouldn't tell you. Can't go spoiling your future for you, after all."

In the sudden quiet, Twinkle looked at Rainbow Dash, "But you are annoyed about what Spitfire said, right?"
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Oh yeah. I am. I thought she was cooler than that. Not that Spitfire isn't cool" she added, "But she's gone down in coolness now. But only a bit."

"You recovered from your funk quickly" Spike noted. Rainbow Dash just grinned.
"Yeah, duh. I'm Rainbow Dash. I do everything quickly. And besides, it's not for a couple of months anyway."

There was a few seconds as Twilight's expression shifted rapidly, before she shook her head, as Rainbow Dash smiled the most unbelievable grin.


*****


Of course, even with Rainbow Dash's mood elevated, there was still the matter of Pinkie's party. While there, Twinkle found herself feeling detached from the party, watching as Pinkie made sure everypony enjoyed themselves, while seeing everypony cheer for Rainbow Dash, save for Cloud Kicker, who had an expression of practiced apathy. While sitting there, watching the party, Twinkle felt a small pang of something in herself, and instantly understood what it was.

She sighed, and then tried smiling and leapt into the party. The days had been passing by too quickly, but she could feel it, deep in her soul. Certainty. But not before she had one last party.


*****


Now
Twinkle frowned. She could hear the clock still ringing out downstairs, and the town bell was chiming as well. The noise briefly woke up Peewee, who gave off several annoyed little chirps as well.

When the noise stopped, Twinkle sighed, and slowly unravelled herself from the tangle of bed sheets. Her eyelids tried to close themselves once more, but she ignored them and continued getting up.
It was time to go, after all.

Slowly she made her way to the small bathroom, combed her hair and brushed her teeth. She made her way downstairs, and paused momentarily, deciding to skip breakfast, just in case. She glanced over toward the nondescript saddlebags sitting by the door, filled with varied accoutrements picked up over the last few months. She sat there, and decided to take in one last look.

She remembered first barging her way in and talking with Spike, the disturbing sound of Trixie sitting on that chair filled with whoopee cushions, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's tree sap gambit, watching Trixie and Twilight Sparkle solving their feud, her tearful embrace with Twilight, of showing Trixie the full extent of the mare's capacity for magics, of encountering her other-dimensional counterpart, celebrating Spike's birthday, helping him search for information about dragons, even though there had been little success. She sighed, and then felt a mild pang of regret as she noted how much the library felt like home, even more so than the one back in her own time, or indeed in that large house in Canterlot. She sighed again, and looked at the bags. With a small glow of her horn, the bags floated toward her, and were quickly adjusted so as not to disrupt her wings. This was it, she told herself, it was really it.

With a sniff, she moved toward the door, and opened it. As she stepped outside, she noticed a purple coloured unicorn approaching the door with a hopeful look on her face, which vanished when she saw Twinkle, who just looked at her, and smiled genially.
"Guess I shouldn't bother then" the unicorn mumbled, before turning around and heading back toward the train station.


*****


Twinkle walked through Ponyville, taking in the ever-present scent of apples, and the day's sage-y scent from the Everfree Forest, as she found herself remembering being the first Mare Do Well, fighting the rampaging Spike, the Prank War with Rainbow Dash, finding and returning Smarty Pants to Twilight, meeting the young Dinky Doo, watching Trixie's first attempt at a comeback show, helping to stop a love-sick Big McIntosh and Cheerilee, the baguette fight she and Pinkie had in Sugarcube Corner, the bombastic introduction she'd received from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the time she'd seen Ponyville from the air in Rainbow Dash's body. She was vaguely aware of a small tear moving down her cheek, and her pace quickened. Her path took her to a small hill outside Ponyville, overlooking the town. She sat down and tried to think. After a few seconds she was aware of a noise getting louder, and louder. It sounded like somepony yelling. She closed her eyes as she practically felt the earth shaking from the approaching hoofsteps. She gently removed her saddlebags as she felt several somethings collide with her, one which was scaly.

"Did you really think" the winded-sounding voice of Twilight Sparkle announced, "That after all this time, after everything we've done... you could just sneak off without us noticing? Without saying goodbye?"
Twinkle paused for a moment before nodding. "Pretty much, yeah."

"That was silly" Pinkie Pie said, "Silly, silly, silly and really stupid."
"I can see that now" Twinkle said, as she tried to turn to face everypony. She was finding it difficult to breath as she saw the small crowd of confused looking ponies staring at her.

"I..." she started, "I'm not going to make a speech. Probably because I won't ever stop" she added. She was aware her eyes were beginning to get blurry. This wasn't helped by the three fillies who had jostled their way to the front of the crowd and were now looking at her.

"I..." she said again. She wanted to say she had to leave, that it wasn't right for her to stay, that the ponies of her time and her universe could probably have done without her, but she couldn't. Instead she only managed to barely squeak out five words.
"I don't want to go."

Twilight took a step forward, and laid a hoof on her shoulder. Twinkle noticed her eyes were beginning to fill with tears. Twinkle looked back, and then in an instant wrapped herself around Twinkle.
"Mom."

She felt a hoof moving along her back, as Twilight returned the hug. As she opened her eyes again, she saw Trixie and Applejack had both removed their hats.
"Say goodbye, Twinkie" Twilight said, "Because you know if you don't..."

"I'd regret it forever, I know" Twinkle whispered, "But I hate goodbyes."
"Then don't call it goodbye," Fluttershy spoke up, "Call it... 'see you later'."

Several eyes turned to look at her.
"What?" the pegasus asked.

"I never expected you, of all ponies, would make a time-travel joke" Twinkle smiled, before looking at the assembled crowd of ponies.
"Although, I didn't really expect such a large crowd to show up, either."

"Well why shouldn't we say goodbye to a friend?" the Mayor said, "Even if we barely knew you, these ponies gathered here all consider you a friend."
"Yeah!" Snowflake bellowed.

"And why shouldn't we show up to wish you well, wherever you go?" the mare added once the echoing stopped.
Twinkle looked down at her hooves, and smiled.
"Thank you, then. I guess... well, I guess I suppose I could say one little thing to all of you."

She looked back up at the crowd, and took a deep breath, trying to get her breathing under control and failing. "I can only say I like half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
There was a stunned silence, save for Pinkie cheering.

"That's nice of you to say" Ponyville's premier party planner beamed.
"Yes" the Mayor coughed, looking uncertain as to whether she'd been insulted or complimented or some strange combination of the two, "Indeed."

Twinkle nodded. "Anyway, I should really get going or I'll never leave."
"Do you have to go?" Sweetie Belle asked. Twinkle nodded again.

"I do. I'm sorry."
She paused, and then leaned in toward the young mare.

"By the way, Sweetie Belle, bit of friendly advice. Please, no matter what happens, try to get along with Rarity. You've only got one sister, after all."
Sweetie Belle blinked in confusion before nodding.
"Yes'm."

"Good girl."
She sighed, before looking to the crowd of ponies.

"You all might want to take a step back. I don't know what would happen if you happen to be near when this spell goes off, but I doubt it would be very enjoyable."
As one, the entire gathering of ponies took three steps back, save Twilight, who instead walked over toward Twinkle, still trying to smile.

"You know," Twilight said, "I kinda envy you right now. The world you're going to."
Twinkle just gave a small, warm smile back. "I envy you. The things you're going to see, and discover, and do. Taking your first steps on an incredible journey."

She sighed once more, and her horn glowed. "Oh, and Twilight?"
"Yes?" she asked.

"Don't ever stop being brilliant, you... clever girl."
Twinkle's horn began to glow, and Twilight felt herself being grabbed by Rarity and dragged toward the crowd. A wind began to pick up, and light and colours swirled around Twilight Twinkle for several minutes, increasing by the second.
Then, as the light became too bright to see, there was a blast, and a flash.

The light and the wind died down, and everypony looked to see an absence of any royal blue alicorns.
After a few minutes, the small crowd dispersed, most of them returning to their beds, save ten ponies and one dragon. 

After twenty minutes, they were still there.

After forty minutes, Applejack and Rarity left with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

After an hour and a half, Trixie and Rainbow Dash left.

After two hours and forty seven minutes, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike left.

After four hours, Twilight Sparkle was still there. Still sitting, still waiting.

Eventually she stood up, and after one last look, walked back into Ponyville.
"Goodbye" she said.