No, no, no, no, no, no, no, they’re going to be here any second and the Library is a disaster, Twilight thought to herself as she frantically ran around the Library, not really doing anything. “Spike!” yelled Twilight. “Why aren’t you helping me clean up?”
“Twilight. . . we’ve been cleaning for the past three hours. The Library is spotless. And even if it wasn’t, I’m sure your friends wouldn’t care,” Spike yawned.
“But today, I want to tell them how much they really mean to me,” responded Twilight. “They’ve done so much for me, and it’s important that I tell them how much I care.”
“Twilight. You guys defeated the Changeling Queen and King Sombra. You reformed Discord. You. . . I’m not going to even go on,” Spike said impatiently, trying to calm down Twilight for the fifth time today.
Just as Twilight was about to start her rebuttal, there was a knock at the door. “Someone’s here!” Twilight exclaimed, excited for the events about to unfold. Twilight ran over to the door as Spike went upstairs for a nap. Twilight opened the door to find, not one pony, but five: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy.
It’s odd that they all happened to get here at the same time, thought Twilight; however, she was much too excited to think about the reasons why. It was time to tell her friends how much she loved them and how much they all meant to her. Not only did they show her how great friendship could be, but they had been able to accomplish so many feats. Together. Twilight had always thought her life would be meaningless without books; however, the past few years had shown her otherwise. She would be lost without friends.
Twilight walked toward the middle of the room, tears of joy starting to well in her eyes. “I called all of you here today to discuss a very important matter: the matter of our friendship. As you all know, you were the first friends I truly made, and I cannot express, how much that means to me. Recent events have lead me to reevaluate our friendship. Today, I realized that I couldn’t go back to just reading books. You all just mean too much to me.
“And it’s not just because we’ve been able to do so much with the Elements of Harmony: defeating Discord and the like. It’s because of how much I care for you all, and how much I will continue to care for you all, no matter what. I would do anything to protect our friendship.”
Twilight had started crying, so many emotions racing throughout her body. It had been harder to vocalize her feelings than she had originally thought. I think that went well, Twilight thought, feeling relieved. She had been so nervous about today, she was glad the hardest part was over. After some time had passed, Twilight realized that no one was saying anything. Twilight began to panic as she thought to herself, Did I say something wrong?
The silence quickly became unbearable. Every second increased the tension. Every breath felt like a thunderous roar. Every noise pounded against Twilight’s head. I did say something wrong.
Twilight looked up at her friends, and only saw worried faces. “What did I say?” Twilight asked, gripped by panic.
After a brief pause, Applejack spoke up, “Sugarcube.” Applejack took another short pause. “There’s somethin’ we wanted to talk to ya about.”
Twilight felt a sharp pain in her heart, as fear started to set in. She knew her friends had something awful to tell her, but she couldn’t fathom what it was.
“Ya see, friendship doesn’t always last forever. Sometimes,” Applejack trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
“Sometimes, things don’t always work out like they should,” Rarity finished.
“What are you trying to say?” Twilight asked, more worried than she had been in her entire life. She was unsure she could accept what her friends were trying to tell her. Her panicked state slowly dissipating, only to be replaced by sadness.
“Look, we don’t want to be your friends anymore,” Rainbow Dash blurted, just wanting this whole ordeal to be over.
“Rain-Bow!” Rarity glared at Rainbow Dash, wishing she hadn’t been so forward. Rarity quickly focused her attention back at Twilight. “You didn’t do anything wrong, dear. You were a simply magnificent friend. But we think our friendship with you has come to an unfortunate conclusion.”
Pinkie Pie who had simply been sitting there, crying, suddenly jumped up. “But you’re still totally invited to all my parties! And I’ll still totally going to get you an awesome birthday present!” Pinkie grabbed a present, seemingly out of nowhere, and handed it to Twilight.
But Twilight had stopped listening to her now ex-friends. Surely Fluttershy doesn’t want to end our friendship, Twilight thought as she looked up at Fluttershy, who was sitting in the corner, silently crying.
“We gave our Elements of Harmony to Princess Celestia. We figured she’d know what to do with ‘em,” Applejack said as she and the others started to move towards the exit.
Twilight just sat there, motionless, unable to move. She wanted to stop them. She wanted to change their minds. But she didn’t know what she could do. And before she knew it, they were gone. Just like that, her friends had disappeared from her life. As she heard the door close, she felt another spike of pain pierce her heart.
Spike’s voice piped up, breaking Twilight from her stupor. “Is she going to be okay?”
Twilight, slightly confused by this statement, responded, “What? Is who going to be okay, Spike?”
“I said, ‘are you going to be okay?’” repeated Spike, worried about Twilight.
“Oh. I’m not sure” is all Twilight could say, her mind still racing over the events that had just transpired. But just as darker thoughts started to enter her mind, she was enlightened: a book. “Spike, I’ve got it! A book! I’m sure there must be a book that can explain what just happened. All I need to do is find it and read it, and then I can get my friends back!”
“Twilight, I don’t think,” Spike tried to interject, but it was too late. Twilight was already running around the library, tossing all the books on the floor. All of the books Spike had spent the morning sorting.
Twilight poured through every book she could find that mentioned friendship or social practices. Nothing quite mentioned the ordeal she had just been through. That’s okay, thought Twilight. I could always ask Princess Celestia what happened. But then she might think I’ve lost all my friends. Now that I think about it, how can I continue my studies in friendship? Does this mean I’ve failed? Am I no longer Princess Celestia’s student? I suppose it doesn’t matter; Princess Celestia wouldn’t let a failure like me enter Canterlot, anyway.
Hm, well, maybe I haven’t lost my friends. Maybe this is some sort of prank. That’s it. This is probably just a really elaborate prank. We’re all such good friends that they know they can pull something like this and I wouldn’t get upset. Yeah, that must be it. They wouldn’t just stop being my friends, that’s ridiculous.
Fluttershy! I have to see Fluttershy in the morning about Owlicious. I’m sure she’ll tell me about this silly prank, and how sorry she is, and how all of us are still the closest of friends.
Twilight stayed up the entire night, reading. She had decided that it was better to stay up reading, rather than get any sleep.
Morning came and Twilight headed out with Owlicious to Fluttershy’s cottage. Owlicious had been feeling a little under the weather and Fluttershy had offered to take care of him. However, Twilight had little concern for Owlicious. She was more concerned with Fluttershy revealing the prank. Twilight thought it would be easy to get Fluttershy to confess that this was all a ruse, and that they were still very much Twilight’s friends. Twilight arrived at the cottage and knocked on the door.
No answer.
Twilight remained calm, where would she be? Twilight knocked again, maybe a little harder this time.
Still no answer.
Twilight, who was sleep deprived, lost all of her patience and kicked the door as hard as she could in a fit of frustration and rage. Nothing, the door hardly budged. Either Fluttershy has the best lock in Equestria or I’m much weaker than I thought, thought Twilight as she started to make her way home. Twilight started towards the Library, but heard the door behind her swing open. Twilight turned around and in the doorway stood Angel, Fluttershy’s pet.
Angel motioned for Twilight and Owlicious to enter, and then quickly ran away, reappearing with a very frightened Fluttershy.
“I’m sorry, Twilight," Fluttershy explained. "I heard knocking, and I got scared, so I hid in my room. I wasn’t expecting anyone today. I had forgotten that you were coming by with Owlicious."
“That’s okay. I’m just glad that you offered to take care of him. You’re so much better with animals than I am,” Twilight said, trying to hide her knowledge about the prank.
“Uhm, about that,” Fluttershy spoke softly, avoiding Twilight’s eyes. “I charge five bits a day.”
“You’ve never charged me before,” Twilight said, confused about this fee.
“Well, that’s when we were,” Fluttershy trailed off. “Friends,” Fluttershy whispered, making herself as small as possible.
“Oh, I understand. . .” Twilight started to say.
“—Is it unavoidable?” Fluttershy interrupted.
“Is what unavoidable?” Twilight asked, taken aback by Fluttershy’s rude interruption.
“The payment. It’s unavoidable. I can’t afford to take care of all these animals if I don’t get bits for food and medicine,” Fluttershy tried to explain, expecting an unreasonable reaction from Twilight.
“Right. I completely understand. Keep Owlicious for however long as he needs. I’ll be able to give you the bits when he’s better,” Twilight said, amazed that Fluttershy had not broken down and told her everything about the prank. “Well I need to get back to the Library,” laughed Twilight nervously. “Take good care of Owlicious for me.”
Twilight managed to hear Fluttershy say “I will, Twilight” before leaving her cottage and heading back for the Library.
Twilight started walking back to her home in a hypnotic trance. She knew there was something wrong, but she couldn’t quite figure out what. Had her friends really just, abandoned her? As she was pondering her friendships, her stomach started rumbling. Twilight had been too busy studying all night to eat breakfast. She looked up and realized she was right next to Sugarcube Corner. Of course. Because I really wanted to see Pinkie Pie today. I’m sure she’s loving this prank, Twilight thought as she begrudgingly entered the shop.
The inside of Sugarube Corner was deserted. Cobwebs hung from the tables and chairs. Most of the lights were broken or cracked. And the floorboards looked as if they would give way any second. It felt as if the store had been abandoned for years.
“Is anyone here?” Twilight asked aloud, nervously walking towards the front counter. “I just wanted to get something to eat. Something small. Like a cupcake.”
There was no reply.
Twilight was starting to get really nervous now. Why isn’t anyone here? I’m sure the store’s open. Twilight reached the front counter and saw a freshly baked apple pie, just sitting there.
“Hello?” Twilight asked aloud. “Is this pie for sale?”
Twilight’s stomach growled again at the sight of the pie. Next to the pie laid a single plate, fork, knife, and napkin. I give up, thought Twilight as she threw some bits on the counter. Twilight cut herself a slice of pie and placed it on the plate. Just as she was about to take a bite, Twilight heard crying coming from the kitchen. Twilight set her slice of pie down and moved towards the kitchen.
“Are you okay?” whimpered Twilight, her voice cracking. “I can,” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she forced herself to look into the kitchen.
“Hey Twilight!” Pinkie yelled jumping in front of Twilight, causing her to fall over in terror.
“Pinkie! What? Crying?” is all Twilight managed to say, slowly getting up from floor.
“What? I wasn’t crying, silly. I was making cupcakes!” Pinkie exclaimed as she brought out a large tray of delicious and magnificent looking cupcakes.
“You wouldn’t mind if I bought one of those cupcakes, would you?” Twilight calmly stated, forgetting all about the pie.
“Sure Twilight. I made these with,” Pinkie Pie began to say.
“—I don’t care. I just want one. How much?” Twilight quickly asked.
“Well, you look like you’re starving. So I’ll charge you nothing!” Pinkie Pie giggled, as she handed Twilight a cupcake.
“So this is all a prank!” Twilight declared.
Pinkie Pie gave Twilight a quizzical look, but before she could respond, the bell rang, indicating that someone had come into the store.
“One sec, Twilight,” Pinkie said, as she went to greet the new customers.
Lo and behold, standing in front of the counter was the Wonderbolts.
“What are the Wonderbolts doing here?” Pinkie asked, getting excited.
“Well, we were flying over Ponyville," explained Spitfire. She then took a long sigh. "And Soarin’ wanted a pie." After giving Soarin' an annoyed glare, she continued, "We also brought some fans.”
Twilight and Pinkie both looked out the door to see maybe fifty or sixty ponies lined up.
“Oh my gosh. The Cakes are out, and I’m supposed to watch over the store. And I do not have enough cupcakes to feed all these hungry ponies,” Pinkie mumbled, pushing Twilight out of the store. “We can talk later, okay Twilight?”
“But Pinkie,” Twilight tried to get in, but it was too late. Pinkie was already deep in the store taking orders. Well at least I got a cupcake before all these ponies showed up, Twilight thought, ready to eat. Just as she was about to take a bite, a pink hoof came out of nowhere and swiped the cupcake.
“Sorry Twilight. Too many orders to fill,” Pinkie said, rushing back into the store.
“Fine,” Twilight sighed. I don’t even like cupcakes, thought Twilight, her stomach still making loud noises. Then it struck her. Applejack! Applejack has plenty of food, and she’ll tell me exactly what’s going on. There’s no way she would lie to me. Content with her new plan, Twilight started to make her way to Sweet Apple Acres.
As Twilight walked, she was very observant. She looked closely at her surroundings, trying to find anything out of place. The plants all look normal. The weather seems normal. I don’t see anything troublesome in the sky. Twilight tried to think of everything that could potentially be wrong. I feel fine, besides being ravenous. The animals look. . . and then it dawned on her. There was no one around. Not a single pony was out for a walk, or playing, or. . . anything. Now that Twilight was thinking about it, she didn’t see anybody while walking to Fluttershy’s this morning. Nor did she see anybody around Sugarcube corner, excluding Pinkie, the Wonderbolts, and their fans.
Twilight considered the possible reasons for this, Did Zecora? Or is it a pony holiday? Or is everybody sick? Or? But Twilight was tired of thinking. There were simply to many possibilities and not enough information.
Suddenly Twilight realized the gravity of the situation. She became terrified
“Applejack! Applejack!” Twilight screamed, running toward Sweet Apple Acres, praying for a response.
“Something wrong, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, appearing in front of Twilight.
“Applejack! No one’s here. And is this a prank? And does everybody know about the prank? What the hay is going on?” Twilight demanded. “And, uh, do you have something I can eat?” Twilight threw in at the end, slowly calming down.
Applejack silently went over to a barrel of apples, grabbed one, and returned to Twilight. She sat Twilight down and handed her the apple. Then she calmly asked, “What’s wrong, Twi?”
Twilight didn’t know where to begin. She sat there, eating her apple, sorting her thoughts. Once she had finished eating, she looked up at Applejack, who had been patiently waiting. She asked, “Are you really not my friend anymore?” trying to hold back the tears she could feel welling up in her eyes.
“Look Twi, ya have to remember: we were all friends before ya came to Ponyville. We’ve had a lot of great adventures with ya. But you’ve caused a lot of stress for us here Ponyville folk. We’d all much rather not be involved anymore. You understand, right Twilight?” Applejack always had such sincerity in her voice. But Twilight just sat there, staring at Applejack. No book could have prepared her for this. Applejack continued, “We all still care about ya. It’s just. We all hope ya can find new friends to go on yer adventures with.”
“New friends?” Twilight managed to mumble, desperately trying to hold back tears.
“Now I know this is hard. But why don’t ya head over to Rarity’s. She said she’d make somethin’ pretty for ya,” Applejack said with a friendly smile.
“Okay” was all Twilight could mutter, tears inevitably rolling down her face.
“I’d do anything to save her,” Applejack remarked. “I’d give all the money I’ve got, or even sell the whole gosh darn farm. Heck I’d give my left leg if that’d help.”
“What? What!” Twilight screamed at Applejack. But Applejack took no notice and walked away.
Twilight snapped. She couldn't handle the confusing statements anymore. Any logic left in her mind melted away. The only thing she could do was go to Rarity’s shop and hope this nightmare was coming to an end.
I sure do hope my gift is a new friend. I could really use one of those, thought Twilight as she headed to Carousel Boutique. How nice of my ex-friends. They know me so well. They always know exactly what to get me. I bet my new friend loves reading books, and writing letters, and making lists, and even studying!
Twilight quickly arrived at Carousel Boutique She entered and called out, “Hello new friend! I can’t wait to meet you!”
Twilight heard Rarity’s voice come from upstairs. “Is that you, Twilight? I’ll be down in a second!” Rarity swiftly descended the stairs, excited to show Twilight her magnificent creation. “Now Twilight, I know this dirty friendship business has been taxing. And while our friendship has concluded, I hope that we can still be the best of acquaintances!” Twilight just absent-mindedly stared at Rarity. “Well, I don’t want to make you wait any longer. Here it is.”
Rarity brought out a hideous, black dress. The fabric had been cut very poorly. None of the sleeves seemed to be the same size. And overall is was simple and boring. “Well, don’t just stand there, try it on!” Rarity said with glee. Rarity pushed Twilight into the changing room and threw the dress in with her. Twilight managed to get the dress on without too much trouble and came out. The dress made Twilight look overweight, unattractive, and ghastly. It was, quite possibly, the ugliest dress in all of Equestria.
“Come here and look at yourself in the mirror,” Rarity said, pride gleaming in her eyes. “What do you think of it?”
Twilight looked at herself in the mirror. “This is the best new friend I could have hoped for. Thank you Rarity.”
“I knew you would love it! Isn’t it just fabulous!” Rarity exclaimed. “I had some absolutely great ideas for some black dresses. But I never thought I would be given a reason to make them.”
“That didn’t quite make sense," Twilight said with a smile, "but I’m sure you knew that. I had a great time chatting with you, Rarity. I really did. But I need to find Rainbow Dash, so she can tell me how much she hates me. Bye!”
Twilight left Rarity’s shop and as if on cue, Rainbow Dash came plummeting into her.
“Hey, Rainbow! Practicing for the Wonderbolts?” asked Twilight, unperturbed by the event.
“Twilight.” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “I wanted to apologize. I know I might have been a little,” Rainbow Dash hesitated, searching for the right word. “Harsh.”
“Yesterday was hard on us all,” Rainbow Dash explained, avoiding Twilight’s eyes. “We had some great times though. But you understand why we can’t be friends anymore, right?”
Twilight’s mind snapped back into reality. The true gravity of her predicament crept into her mind: she no longer had any friends. Suddenly, all the feelings she had been repressing surfaced: all the tears, all the sadness, all the hatred.
“No! I don’t understand!” Twilight shrieked, tears pouring from her eyes. “I don’t understand what I did wrong, or what I could have done differently. I realize how important friendship is, and you take that away from me? You were all my best friends and I loved you all. Is leaving me really that easy? Am I really that worthless?”
Rainbow Dash took an aggressive stance. “No! She can’t die yet! There has to be something we can do! There has to be a way of saving her!” Rainbow Dash reached out to grab Twilight.
Twilight moved out of Rainbow Dash’s reach, “Save me?” Twilight peered at Rainbow Dash for a moment before darting away.
Twilight started running, tears still streaming down her face. Twilight was certain of very little, but she knew exactly where she was going: the cliff. It’s funny. I’ve always been told to be careful not to fall off the cliff. What irony.
She ran towards the edge, as fast as she could, and without stuttering. . .
She leapt off. . .
As she fell, there was only one thought she could take comfort in. One thing she knew for certain. No one will save me.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all gathered in a bland white room. The day’s events still very fresh in all their minds.
Twilight had asked them all to meet her at the Library. She claimed she had something special to tell them. But when they got there, they found Spike crying over Twilight’s limp body. Spike explained that Twilight had been working on a very complex spell and after a bright flash of purple light, Spike discovered Twilight on the floor, unconscious. Her friends rushed her to the hospital, but there was little hope. Twilight was in a coma-like state, slowly deteriorating. The doctors tried everything, but nothing seemed to have any effect. Twilight was dying.
They had been all been waiting in the Twilight's room, hoping she would miraculously get better. No one had said anything for quite some time. Eventually Rarity broke the silence. “I had some absolutely great ideas for some black dresses. But I never thought I would be given a reason to make them.”
Suddenly, Twilight’s heart rate shot up and she started convulsing.
The doctors had explained that while Twilight’s condition was peculiar, death was inevitable. Her body would make a final effort to stay alive, probably in the form of seizures and possibly an increased heart rate.
Rainbow Dash, who had been taking all of this very well, flew out of the room, to return moments later with a doctor. “Do something!” she insisted.
The doctor, undisturbed, tried to calm Rainbow Dash down, “There isn’t anything we can do. We’ve made her as comfortable as possible and she isn’t feeling any pain. . .”
“—No! She can’t die yet! There has to be something we can do! There has to be a way of saving her!” Rainbow Dash yelled, pleading with the doctor, tears streaming down her face.
Twilight became still.
Her heart stopped beating.
She was dead.
. . .
Everyone stood there in disbelief.
Applejack took off her hat and bowed in respect.
Rainbow Dash stood over Twilight’s body, tears flowing from her eyes.
Pinkie Pie, who had been sobbing in the corner, continued to cry.
Rarity kept her distance, not really wanting to acknowledge Twilight’s death.
Fluttershy spoke up. “Did she know she was dying?”
“It’s hard to tell, but probably not,” the doctor explained. “Coma patients usually experience a kind of, dream world. While Twilight’s condition was much more complex, she probably had a similar experience. She would have been able to hear you all, even while comatose. Considering the nature of your friendship, she probably had one last great adventure with you, her friends. After saving Equestria, chances are she went to bed and just never woke up.”
Rainbow Dash managed to speak through her shameless crying, “She knew we loved her?”
The doctor answered with confidence. “She knew you would have done anything to save her.”