To my beloved friends, whom I cannot bear think without for a day,
This will be somewhat long and “boring,” as you would say, Rainbow Dash. I just want you to know that in case you are busy. Even though you are my closest friends, I will not force you to read through this.
I will be giving single letters to each of you after this, commemorating our long lasting friendship. These scrolls, however, will be my last as I have fallen ill. It started a couple of weeks ago with a simple cough. Having a portion of the library full of medical knowledge, I searched around for what might have been the cause. I began to also have a fever and a headache shortly after. I brushed it off as a simple cold or something of the sort.
The next few days it progressively worsened. My body would flare, my mind would pound, and even my hooves became shaky. I thought over it more and tried to read through the rest of the books. I still had the stubborn mind to think that it was some sort of influenza. I could never have been more wrong. Perhaps the illness bogged my mind down.
At the beginning of this week, Spike found me collapsed and in a shuddering pile of sickness. I was carried to the hospital after being deemed unresponsive. I remained in that white room under Nurse Redheart’s care and watchful eye. As of a few days ago, I have gotten better; though I had to be pumped with many different kinds of medicinal concoctions.
Two days ago, I was told that I could get up and walk around the hospital. My steps have become much more solid and supportive. It was quite fun being able to walk and look at everything. I spent a good few hours asking the doctors and nurses about everything, including what ailed me.
I did not enjoy their answer.
The doctor, Caduceus, said that I was infected with a very serious virus of which there is no real cure yet. Unicorn magic and normal medicine can only mask the symptoms and make the infected feel better. The virus mimics that of more common influenzas. Sadly, there has been no determined name or categorizing of this deadly contagion since there has been only four other recorded cases.
As I write this, the medications I have received are starting to wear off. My sides are beginning to ache and my head is throbbing a little, so I hope all of you don’t mind if my writing worsens.
Twilight coughed into her foreleg and the small magic aura encasing the quill broke, letting it drop down onto the scroll. She picked it back up with another dose of magic once her coughing fit reduced into harsh breaths. The feather’s tip dipped itself into a small black cup of ink then promptly returned to the paper.
Forgive me if any odd marks or stains come to the pages; it is getting quite hard to hold this quill properly while coughing.
I will be visiting each of you soon, so do not worry about my health. Even with this illness dragging me down to exhaustion, I will prevail. Knowing how you two, Rainbow and Applejack, are, you would have probably stopped reading this by now and come trying to help me. If you two indeed have left, then I must ask that you remaining three stop and pull them back. I do not want any of you to visit me as I will be visiting you.
Now that you are all back, I will continue. I have made letters to each of you. You may decide whether or not to share them among yourselves. Just know that they may be a bit... touching, since they’re about our times together. Do not cry, though. I do not want to carry the burden of having brought tears to my friends’ eyes. We have all been through sad and troubling times, but I cannot bear the thought of making your wonderful faces soaked with those salty drops.
I have also taken the time to construct a picture book. It is completely filled with images of us together, living our days happily. You may wonder how I even got the pictures as we never had any kind of camera with us, but those are not actually needed. With a strong magical spell, I have actually been able to delve into my memories and imprint them just as they were. But because of this, I will not be in most of the photos. The ones that do have me are from an actual camera.
Even when I am not visible in these static memories, I hope that you will forever remember me as your close friend. I cannot tell you how much I love all of you, and no image or spell can show it. But, I hope my words will tell. I wrote a poem for you. It’s on another page.
Twilight used the little magic that she had to switch the letter out for a blank paper. Once it was situated nicely under her view, the quill dipped itself in the inkwell and returned to the page.
Through the time
In which we rhyme
There is no set day
Where we fret our life away
Do not cry while the age go by
For I will still be in mind
You may see a hole
Where used to be my soul
There will be no last
Thought about my past
Do not cry while the age go by
For I will still be in mind
Remaining in the other side
I will stem back the tide
Of tears and sadness and other wails
Of when we used to trot in trails
Do not cry while the age go by
For I will still be in mind
Our hearts cannot hold so much
Troubles and our missing touch
Live your days as we would
When our life’s not covered by a hood
Do not cry while the day go by
For you will still be in mind
During all of our time and trial
We all look up to that mystic dial
The clock that ever times our ways
Counts each and all passing days
Through our travails we may part
But we will always come back to heart
Through this rhyme I hope you know
Of all the love and all the woe
My heart is filled to the brim
All of it impacts my every whim
While my thoughts are hard and my skin is cold
Just remember what you’ve all been told
My love is forever with infinite to spare
So cry do you never dare
The poem’s parchment lit up in purplish light and slipped out to the right to dry. The paper with the letter was returned back to its spot. Squinting her eyes slightly, Twilight eyed the last word. The blackened tip of the quill floated down an inch and far to the left, in line with the previous sentences.
I hope you all liked the po-
A fit of coughing returned to the studious unicorn, causing the quill to scrape to the side then drop. She covered her mouth again and screwed her eyes shut. Her mind hammered in throbbing pain while her diaphragm felt as if it were tearing itself apart. The combined torment overwhelmed her senses in an attempt to fell the sickly mare. With a ragged breath and another harsh cough, she doubled over then dropped to her side. Her body tried curling up in false hope of finding comfort in the cold floor.
The coughs and aches began to subside a minute later, leaving the shaking mare. Twilight cautiously sat herself up and looked down to the letter. A few dark specks had managed to stain the scroll’s surface. Her breaths felt shallow, and an attempt to take a deeper breath only brought a new wave of misery upon her chest. Straining herself, the lavender mare concentrated on the paper and quill.
I apologize, but a coughing fit caused my quill to cross that. I hope you liked my poem and take the words to heart. Now, I must end here because I have quite a long trek ahead. I do not mind its length as it ends with what had always brightened up my life.
I love you all, and I will be seeing you soon,
Twilight Sparkle
The quill ended with a flick and gently lied down next to the letter. It was rolled up with the poem and five separate scrolls then wrapped in a rosy strip. A small, newly budded rose was placed on top, its stem locked in place by the binding bow. Twilight lovingly eyed it over, taking in the alluring reddish color of the petals, then carefully placed it inside a saddlebag by her side.
Next, a large, almost dictionary-sized book floated in front of the unicorn. A smile grew on her face as it was tucked in the bag next to the scrolls. She blinked to force back a warm tear, then read the book’s cover one last time. Our Times. Twilight closed the clasp on the bag, got up to her hooves, and floated the saddle onto her back before taking one last look around the room. Many interesting and strange looking flowers decorated the walls and desk, each having intricately designed vases. In a row by the windowsill sat five different sets. Ranging from left to right, the colors were all set in order; blue, orange, yellow, pink, and finally, white. Each vase held a single purple rose within the group of other flowers.
Turning from her memories, Twilight took a deep breath, and wincing from the pain, set out through the wooden door that was straight ahead.
Celestia’s orb of light had fallen down the sky. It bathed the world in an orange glow and turned clouds into an odd mix of blue and purple while others stayed orange. Long shadows stretched from the trees and rocks - and even the blades of grass. A gentle breeze lazily made its way through the branches and along the ground, rippling the grass like shimmering waves. Hooves gently and slowly crunched against fallen twigs as they made their way over the open field. Twilight finally reached her destination, even though the sun was now much lower in the sky than it had been when she left. That sun that was once soft and almost white was now dull and darkened. Stepping up a shallow hill revealed to her the things she had seeked all day. She grinned and trotted past a wooden sign, paying no attention to what it said. There, in the middle of the grassy field, sat her beloved and closest friends. They smiled at her approach and tried straightening themselves out. Each one wore a beaming smile.
Twilight slowed until she came to a stop in front of them. She exchanged glances with each of her friends then opened the saddlebag that pressed into her side. With a hoof brought up to her mouth, indicating silence to the pink partier, the thick book and the scroll floated out.
“My friends, would you be so kind as to stay silenced for me? I do not wish for you to speak for a few moments as I show you these.” Her friends obliged; the partier somewhat begrudgingly. Twilight smiled as she knew that the pony hated playing the “quiet game.”
The wrapped scrolls floated between her and the group. The rose gently slipped out of it and was placed by her hooves as Twilight separated each paper. “I have written seven pages for all of you. Five are personal letters addressed to you individually. They reminisce our times together and are about our lessons that we have all learned between each other. These other two are for all of you to read together. I hope you like them, since I spent quite some time on each.”
The letters floated over to the correct recipient and drifted into their hold. “And this,” Twilight said with the book hovering in front of her purple eyes, “is a picture book. I managed to find the photos that were taken of us together. Now, I know that you’re wondering how it’s so big if there were hardly any pictures actually taken. My letter to all of you talks about that, so you only need to read it.” She smiled - then suddenly coughed. Holding a hoof to her mouth, she felt the presence of her friends close in.
“No, no, please, I’m fine.” They reluctantly shrank back at her words but were still tense, ready to move to her aid. Once the coughs settled back down into breaths, she stood back up, looking over her friends’ worried faces. She swallowed and continued with her words. “It is such a short title for so many memories, but I think it fits.” The book was gently set down in the middle of the five mares.
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said as she turned to the cyan pegasus. “You have always been a caring friend under that roughened shell, and you have shown what it truly means to be loyal.”
She then turned to the next in line. “Applejack, you have been one of the strongest and kindest friends in existence, and you never let anypony down once you have given your word.”
“Fluttershy.” Twilight held back a rising tear and her aching heart. “I have never met a more gentle mare. You have a wonderful connection with all kinds of creatures that nopony else ever could.”
“Pinkie Pie,” the lavender unicorn said through quivering lips. “You were the one who kept us all together. We have argued time, and time again, but you always manage to bring us back together with that constant smile of yours.”
Twilight bit her lip and held back more tears, much to the last friend’s worry. “Rarity, you were all about generosity. You would give up your entire career just to help one of us when we needed it.
“My friends...” Twilight searched her friends’ faces then dropped her head down. Tears fell from her eyes to shatter on the marble beneath her. The carvings around her did nothing to alleviate her sorrow. Stone eyes watched her as she wept, chiseled names and cutie marks bringing up more memories than could ever be fit into a photo album.
“I didn’t want to lose any of you...”
A/N: Massive, massive credit to my reviewer and editor, MadMan! He helped make this so much, practically spending his afternoon by reading and editing this story with me. I know I have promised other stories, but they haven't been progressing very much at all. I will try to get them out sometime, though!
I hope you enjoyed this story.