//------------------------------// // As Time Goes On (Original Version) // Story: As Time Goes On // by Tayman //------------------------------// (Note-this is the first version of the story. I am currently in the middle of a huge addition that takes place before the original. In other words, don't read this unless you want to be spoiled). "Ughhhh.  Thank goodness that meeting is over!  I almost fell asleep in there!"  Spike groaned as he trudged down the steps of Town Hall.  "Honestly, how can ponies talk about housing developments for three hours?" he remarked as he turned onto the stone path that led back to the library, occasionally bumping into the other ponies that packed the street. Meanwhile, Twilight was walking beside Spike, who was a full head taller than her. "Come on, Spike, it's important that Ponyville expands the right way to avoid problems in the future.  The growth of a city is a very delicate thing." The dragon scoffed, making a gagging motion.  "Yeah, but do they need to talk about that stuff for three hours?" "Hey, don't blame me!" Twilight snickered, "You're the one that volunteered to be on the committee with me." The two continued to make their way back towards home, ignoring the shouts of the vendors that they passed every ten feet or so.  Drab, brick, rectangular buildings five stories high lined the street, serving as apartment complexes, commercial centers, and office buildings.  This path was the first major road Ponyville added during the population boom, and a rush to expand sapped all innovation and individuality from the buildings for the sake of efficiency.  Twilight sighed as she stared at the dull surroundings. I remember when this used to be such a peaceful, colorful walk home.  I recognized almost every face I saw.  Now, I'm lucky if I catch a glimpse of a familiar pony.   There was no break in the structures lining the street as they approached the towering oak tree library fifteen minutes later.  There used to be more space surrounding Twilight's home, but the need for housing quickly filled in the gaps.  As such, the tree stuck out like a blank flank, towering over the rooftops.  The road had cleared up somewhat, although there were still a fair amount of ponies walking about.   Suddenly, Spike stopped right outside the library entrance.  "Oh, I almost forgot!  I said I would help out with the Ponyville Elementary School play.  I'll see you later, okay, Twilight?" "Sure.  Have fun, Spike," she said, as he turned to leave. Too bad all my friends are probably too busy to do anything.  I haven't heard from them in days.  Her head drooped as she shuffled towards the door with heavy legs. Still, at least I'm done with everything for today.  I can go inside, lie in my bed, read a book, maybe take a nap... She opened the door and stepped inside.  A loud yelp escaped her as a bucket of a thick, gooey substance tumbled down, oozing down her head and forelegs, a little bit dripping onto her tongue before she had a chance to close her mouth, causing a rich, sweet sensation to tingle over her taste buds   Wait--is this--cake batter?   "SURPRISE!"   Twilight jumped and wiped the batter out of her eyes and stared around the room.  Her face lit up as she saw her friends standing back by the bookshelves, wide smiles on their faces as they laughed at the gooey mess of a unicorn.  Multicolored streamers billowed down from every surface, and a towering cake and piles of cupcakes were stacked up on a table in the corner.  A large purple banner was draped across the room, with "HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY, TWILIGHT!" emblazoned across it in bright sapphire lettering. "What?  What is this?  20th anniversary for what?" she exclaimed, brow furled up as batter dripped down her face.  She couldn't help but grin at her friends, though. "Silly Twilight!  Don't you remember?" Pinkie Pie said while bouncing up and down, before she dashed over to grab a cupcake, scarfing it down her throat.  "It's been twenty years since you first came to Ponyville and became our best friend!" "What?  Twenty years?"  Twilight said with a gape as the thought struck her like a brick.  "I was so worn out from that meeting, I'd completely forgotten about it.  I can't believe it.  It's all gone by so fast," she breathed. "Yeah, we didn't know either!" Applejack said, bounding over to throw her forelegs around Twilight in a warm embrace.  "Good thing Rarity here pays so much attention to these sorts of things!  Otherwise, we might not be havin' this here party for you!" "Oh, please.  I may have remembered, but it was Pinkie who set everything up!"  Rarity beamed, admiring the decorations.   "Do you like it?"  Fluttershy smiled with big eyes. Twilight grinned as she activated her horn to make the batter drip off her coat and gather into a spherical blob, which she flung out the door.  "I love it!  It's been a long time since we hung out together like this.  How were you all able to clear your schedules?" "Come on, Twilight, does that matter?"  Rainbow said, zipping down from the air and tackle-hugging her to the ground.  "We're your friends!  Even if we're a little busier than we used to be, we'll always find time to spend together!" A little busier than we used to be... "Wow...thanks, all of you,"  Twilight sniffled as she lay on the ground.  "I'm touched, really.  The last twenty years have been the best days a pony could ever ask for.  The memories we've shared together... I can't even keep track of all of them.  You've all made me the happiest pony in the world,"  she said, fighting back tears. A loud awwwwwwww escaped every pony except Rainbow, who just rolled her eyes as she hovered in the air.  "Lighten up, Twilight!  You're acting as if we're saying goodbye or something!  We're all still together!  And we'll all have tons more awesome times together!  So don't get all mushy on us!" Twilight smiled as she got to her feet, rubbing her eyes.  "You're right.  No need to get reminiscent just yet." "Come on, enough chitchat!  Let's party!"  Pinkie cheered, slamming the record needle down.  A jaunty rock tune began to blast out of the speaker--the same tune that was played at Twilight’s birthday party in Canterlot.  While her friends began to dance, throwing their bodies around like ragdolls, Twilight simply stood there for a moment, staring at the record, her smile fading to a blank gaze as the song flooded her mind. “Twilight, whatcha standing around for?  Come on, dance!” Pinkie shouted, yanking Twilight off her hooves, thrusting her into the action.  A smile returned to her face, the memory fading as she thrashed about with her friends. After a couple minutes of mindless dancing, Rainbow Dash flew over to the dessert table, a smirk on her face.  “Hey Twilight, you hungry?” “Oooh, yes, those desserts look-” she yelped as Dash grabbed a cupcake and flung it at her face, cake and frosting smearing all over her cheeks and muzzle.  “Rainbow Dash...” Twilight growled, before she grinned, levitating five cupcakes and smashing them against Rainbow’s flank ,rubbing them all around her coat like shampoo. The pegasus shouted in protest as she tumbled off the table.  “Hey, no fair!  No magic!”   “Teehee!  Rainbow looks like she just took a frosting bath!”  Pinkie Pie giggled. Rarity scoffed, backing up into a corner away from the fight.  “Oh, will you two grow up?” “Never!” Rainbow grabbed a slice of cake and flung it at Rarity, who barely had time to use her horn to stop the dessert from hitting her face. “Oh, lighten up Rarity.  Your mane’s been beautiful for the past twenty years, it won’t get ruined in one night!” Applejack said, hurling a dollop of frosting at Rarity, who flinched as it struck her square in the forehead. “Food fight!”  Pinkie squealed, hopping on top of the table.  For the next hour, cake flew everywhere as every pony hurled it at each other; even Rarity and Fluttershy tossed a few cupcakes.  Their laughs rang out, echoing throughout the room, along with the splat’s and splotch’s of the cake as it made impact..  Eventually, they all collapsed on the floor, panting heavily, still giggling..  The sunlight was beginning to fade, and Twilight hung up a couple firefly lamps.  She sat there, smiling at her friends.   They all look exactly the same as they did twenty years ago.  If I took a picture of us and sent it to Celestia, she’d wouldn’t be able to tell if it came from now or my first night in Ponyville. Applejack jumped up.  “Come on, y’all!  There’s still some dancing we can do!”   A murmur of agreement followed.  They all stood up and danced until the sun disappeared over the horizon.  Twilight’s movements seemed more delicate and deliberate than before, though.  As the party winded down, a stray thought crept into her head: Why can’t this last forever? --------- "Wow!  Now that's what I call a party!" Pinkie exclaimed, her face full of cake and frosting.  Indeed, the room was a disaster.  Confetti and streamers laid strewn about the room like autumn leaves.  Punch had been spilled all over the tablecloth, and there was cake smeared all over the floor from the food fight.  Countless books would have been ruined if Twilight hadn’t cast a protective force field around the perimeter.  "Um...sorry for kinda destroying your library, Twilight!" Twilight wiped the cake off her face and gave Pinkie a reassuring smile.  "Don't worry about it.  With a little magic, it'll be cleaned up in no time.  What's important is that we all had fun," she said with a wide beam, her eyes lighting up.  "Honestly, I can't remember the last time we all had such a good time together.  Why don't we have another party next week?" Rarity frowned.  "Darling, I wish I could, but I have been so swamped with orders recently, not to mention the big fashion show I have to prepare for!" "Yeah, and I have loads of events around Ponyville that I need to plan!" Pinkie Pie said.  "Too bad hardly any of them are parties!" Twilight's beaming face slowly faded as the other ponies remarked about their full schedules.  Applejack had to fertilize and till the soil of a new plot of land that she had obtained for the farm.  Rainbow Dash was on full time weather patrol for the next two and a half weeks.  Fluttershy was booked solid with vet appointments. "Oh...well, okay then."  She managed to smile, although her eyes drooped slightly.   "Twilight, don't worry.  We'll hang out together soon," Fluttershy cooed, giving Twilight an equine neck hug.  "We're still friends, remember?  Nothing will ever change that." "Yeah.  Of course," Twilight said, her eyes perking up somewhat.  "I'll see you all later!"  They all left, and she closed the door behind them. That was such a fun party.  It's been, what, a few weeks since we last had that much fun?  Yet, the past three hours just flew by. Just like the last twenty years. Twilight sighed, her smile fading once again.   She dimmed all the lights, leaving only the dull glow of the moon to illuminate the library.  She ignored the mess in the library for now and slumped over to her desk, lit a candle, and levitated a quill. ---------------------- Dear Princess Celestia, It's been years since I last wrote a friendship letter to you.  I thought I had learned everything there was to friendship over the past twenty years I've been here.  Ponyville is a bustling, small scale city now.  I work in city hall and help plan out the expansion of the city.  It's kept me fairly busy, but not quite as busy as my friends.  Rarity is not only a famous dress maker, but she's also involved in the fashion community, judging and hosting shows and such.  Rainbow Dash heads the Ponyville weather patrol.  Pinkie Pie has expanded her gift of party planning to planning in general and is always called upon when an event needs to be organized.  Applejack's farm has grown in order to keep up with the population growth, yet she refuses to hire any workers to help out.  As such, she's almost constantly working.  Fluttershy is a full time veterinarian and always has appointments. Today, they all managed to get time off and throw me a party to celebrate twenty years of friendship.  It was the first significant amount of time I had spent with them in weeks, and it looks like it'll be a few more weeks before we can do anything all together again.  It was the happiest I'd been in months.  During those hours, it felt like nothing had changed, that we could still spend every moment of our lives together like we used to. It's funny.  Despite all the time that has passed, we all have our same personalities from when we first met, for the most part.  Rainbow and Applejack started a food fight, and Rarity only reluctantly joined.  Pinkie Pie was constantly bouncing around and giggling.  Fluttershy just went along with whatever was going on at the time, while Rainbow Dash kept encouraging her to loosen up and have a good time.  We've all grown up in the sense that we're pursuing greater things in life, yet inside, we're still the same. What happened to the time?    I remember how carefree everything was when I first arrived.  Ponyville was a pleasant, small town.  I saw my friends every single day.  It felt as if nothing would ever separate us.  Nothing has separated us completely yet, I suppose, but I hardly see them.  I can't pinpoint the moment when life began getting in the way.  It crept up on us like high tide.   Applejack started putting more and more hours in on the farm.  Like I said, the city gave her more land in order to feed the growing population.   Rainbow Dash became more involved with weather patrol and organization.  Weather planning isn't nearly as simple for a  small, bustling city as it is for a tiny town. Pinkie wondered what it would be like to plan out occasions besides parties, and eventually discovered that she had a knack for planning any event.  She's the most popular event organizer in all of Ponyville. Rarity's dresses became more and more popular, and she gradually started taking in more orders.  She's almost constantly holed up in the botique.  Her inspiration room looks like it got hit by a meteorite made of fabric.  I don't know how she manages to keep all her creations organized. Fluttershy decided she wanted to help more animals besides her own and opened up a veterinary clinic downtown.  She already had a reputation for being an animal person, and business took off right away. I was asked to attend town hall meetings for my organization skills and intellect in general when it became clear that Ponyville needed to expand. It all just snowballed from there. Still, we've always reassured each other that we're still friends and that nothing will come between us. However, It makes me wonder: how long can this last?  At what point will we drift apart forever?  What will separate us first?  The events of life, or the inevitability of death?  Will necessity summon us outside of Ponyville someday?  Could Rarity ever move to a bigger city to expand her fashion career?  What if Rainbow Dash gets promoted to weather patrol for all of Equestria?  I hate the uncertainty.  We say we'll always be together, but no matter how strong the bonds of friendship are, we still have our own dreams and goals that we must pursue.  I pray that they never tear us apart. The past twenty years have flashed by.  Time will only accelerate faster and faster the older we get, hurtling us towards an unclear future. One of the greatest gifts of friendship is sharing time with each other.  That's the very first lesson I learned.  However, now I'm learning that as time passes, the moments we share together will become fewer and fewer through no fault of our own.  We can't just hang out whenever we want anymore  No matter how powerful friendship is, the progression of time is more powerful.  No matter how happy the experiences we share are, no matter how long we want those moments to last, those moments will still blink by.  My first Winter Wrap Up, our performance on Hearth's Warming Eve, the trip to Appleoosa when it was still a small settlement--all distant memories.  They may as well had lasted lasted seconds. I have to savor everything.  I have no idea how long we'll all be together.  Hopefully another fifty, sixty years, but there's no guarantee that will be the case.  When will life or death drag us apart?  How will we cope without one another?  Will I be able to make new friends?  I've met numerous acquaintances over the years, but no other pony I can call a true friend.  That wouldn't feel right, somehow. I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself, though.  Rainbow said not to think too much about it, since we're still together.  She's right.  There's no need to mope just yet.  I have no idea what the future will bring, but I can appreciate the time we spend in the present, no matter how brief those moments may be. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle