One day in Ponyville, a group of Royal Guards came rushing through the town. They were headed to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle, and they were carrying something.
Twilight had noticed the group of guards as they were approaching. She rushed to the door and let them in.
While they were catching their breath, Twilight took notice of what, or rather, who they were carrying.
Twilight gasped as she noticed that Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Discord were sprawled over several guards’ backs. They were all unconscious and each one of them were severely injured.
Twilight ran to the door and shouted out for somepony to call for doctors.
When she returned to the group of guards, she began to question them.
One guard finally managed to explain that Discord had sensed an evil power. Next, the guard told her about how the princesses and Discord proceeded to head out to defeat the evil, but they were met by a great monster made of shadow.
The guard explained how the two princesses and Discord tried to defeat it, but it quickly overpowered them.
Then the guard explain how he and some of the others took the princesses and Discord away while most of the other guards stayed behind to distract the monster.
Twilight listened to the guard’s explanations and, when medical help came, she headed out to gather her friends to try and defeat the monster.
When they arrived at the location that the guard had told them about, they were shocked to see the monster with their own eyes. They tried to fight it, but it easily overpowered them.
Twilight couldn’t stand to see her friends like this. Rainbow’s wing was too injured for her to fly. Applejack’s leg was most likely broken. The cut on Rarity’s horn would prevent her from using magic for at least a week, and Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were both covered in cuts and bruises.
‘That monster is relentless.’ She thought to herself. ‘This fight isn’t going anywhere. It is just too powerful.’
Twilight peered over to the giant cloud of black smoky darkness that was the monster. Its bloodthirsty eyes were scanning the landscape, trying to find the ponies that stood up to it. They were pretty far away from the monster, but Twilight knew that it was only a matter of time before it would find them.
‘If we can’t stop it here, that monster will get to Ponyville. It will destroy everything. Everyone will be…’ Twilight cringed at the thought of what the monster would do to everypony.
She turned her attention back to her friends. They were each heavily winded, and they looked like they were all ready to pass out. Their injuries were severe, yet the monster barely ever flinched when they attacked it. Its body was just a cloud of smoky shadow. It seemed impossible to defeat it.
Twilight went over the fight in her head. She thought back to how the monster moved, she thought about how it attacked, and she went over how she and her friends attacked it. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just passed through it when they tried to hit it, and the rocks that Rarity threw with her magic did the same.
Twilight thought about her own magic attacks. Each spell didn’t seem to have much effect. The monster just reformed in the places that she hit. She thought hard for anything that could be of help. She knew the monster had to have a weakness.
As her memories flowed through her head, she finally found a clue. “Its head!”
“Its… head? What about it, Twi?” Applejack asked through her heavy breathing.
“The monster never acted like it was hurt by any of our attacks, accept when we attacked its head! That must be its weakness!” Twilight proclaimed.
“But it still didn’t do much. Whatever we threw at it, even at its head, just didn’t seem to hurt it.” Rainbow grunted while trying not to strain her hurt ribs.
“And the only thing that did hurt it was your spells, Twilight.” Rarity said.
Twilight remembered that her destruction spells were indeed the only attacks that had done damage. But then she thought about how little damage even her more advanced spells had done.
Twilight was starting to lose hope. She racked her brain for a solution, but nothing came up. The darkness was overwhelming her.
Twilight thought for a few moments longer, but when she failed to find an answer, she gave up. She could find neither the hope, nor the strength to keep standing. Her legs trembled before they gave out and Twilight fell to the rocky ground.
Twilight let her mind go blank, and she listened to the silence that engulfed her. The cold, jagged rocks dug into her body, but she didn’t care. Everything was lost to her at that moment. All she could feel was defeat, until something touched her.
Twilight took a moment to try and recognize what was touching her shoulder. She lifted her head and found that Fluttershy had walked over to her and placed her hoof on her shoulder. She was smiling down at her friend comfortingly.
Fluttershy continued to smile and began to say, “Don’t lose hope. Things are bad now but, I know that we can do this. Your always so strong, Twilight. We all know that we can always count on you when we need you, and we will always be there for you when you need us. We’re all the best of friends, after all.”
“Yeah. Who else is gonna save the world when it needs to be saved?” Rainbow stated, enthusiastically.
“And if anypony can figure out how to figure it out, it’s you Twilight.” Pinkie added.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement while Twilight picked herself up. She looked around at all of her friends encouraging faces, and she couldn’t help but smile. They were such wonderful ponies, and friends.
Twilight felt renewed hope, and began to think once more about how they could overcome their adversary and save everyone. Keeping in mind the monster’s weakness, Twilight began to go over her options once again.
She started remembering back to all of the spells that she had ever learned. She quickly, yet carefully, considered each one in her head. She brushed off each spell that wouldn’t be effective enough. The spell that they needed had to be strong enough to destroy the monster with one shot, or else it might wise up to their attempts to beat it.
As Twilight skimmed through her mental library of possible spells, the list grew shorter and shorter. Finally, she came to the same conclusion she had just moments before. Nothing she knew was powerful enough.
Twilight despaired at her situation, but this time, she refused to give up, though she still had no clue about what could work. But suddenly, a new thought came to her. Twilight remembered back to when she was a filly. Not long after Celestia had taken Twilight in as her personal protégé, she had shown her a certain spell.
~
“This spell was made long ago, Twilight Sparkle. It is a very special, and very powerful spell that utilizes the light in one’s heart, and projects it as a potent beam of energy.” Celestia said as she unlocked a small vault and revealed a tome.
The young Twilight had been amazed at the idea of such a spell. She felt giddy as she studied the cover of the tome that was propped up in the small vault. She was excited, but when she turned her attention back to Celestia, Twilight notice that the princess seemed rather somber.
Celestia paused for a while before continuing, “This spell is unique because, if the caster doesn’t have enough magical energy reserves, or a strong enough resolve, then this spell won’t work. It would simply fail to cast, and nothing would happen. Very few have ever managed to cast the spell…” Celestia trailed off, sounding quite depressed.
Twilight pondered this for a bit before asking, “What’s wrong, Princess Celestia?”
Celestia remained silent as she thought back to the unicorn that she had witnessed successfully cast the spell. She finally glanced down to the little unicorn who was watching her with questioning eyes.
At first, Celestia wanted to say ‘nothing’ and leave the subject of the spell alone, but she felt that it was her duty as Twilight’s teacher to tell her the truth.
Celestia took a deep breath and steadied herself for what she was about to say.
“This spell is very powerful, however, it can only be used once in a unicorn’s life.” Celestia paused again.
Twilight was confused by what Celestia had said and was just about to ask her about it, But Celestia continued before Twilight could speak.
“When casting this spell, the caster channels all of the light in their heart into the spell. It is not a destructive power because the light in a pony’s heart means ‘all of the good and pureness.’ But against darkness and evil, the light is cleansing. Against evil, this spell is all powerful.” Celestia turned her gaze away from Twilight and toward a window that overlooked the city of Canterlot. “It is not possible for this spell to be used for evil, but it is dangerous none the less. For you see, Twilight Sparkle, in order for a unicorn to use this spell, they must sacrifice their own life.”
~
Twilight remembered that day clearly. She then remembered back to just a few weeks after her coronation. Celestia had called for her to meet Luna and herself in Canterlot. When Twilight got there, Celestia and Luna were both waiting for her in the same room that had the vault.
At first, Twilight didn’t think twice about it, but the grim expressions on the two princesses faces stirred some suspicions in her mind.
Twilight joined her fellow princesses near the vault, and her suspicions were proven correct.
Celestia nodded her head to Twilight and began to speak. “Thank you for coming here Twilight. I wish that it were for a more joyous occasion, but, sadly, it is not.”
Twilight remained silent in order to let Celestia and Luna explain the situation.
“Twilight Sparkle, now that you are a princess, you must take on a new responsibility.” Luna stated.
“It is the duty of a princess to guide and to lead her subjects. It is also the duty of a princess to protect her subjects from harm.” Celestia continued. As she did, she opened the vault with her magic and levitated the book out in front of herself. “Each of the three princesses of Equestria have taken this tome, and we have each learned the spell contained within. Now that you are a princess, you must learn it as well. Do you accept this duty, Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight stared at the tome for a few moments as she remembered what Celestia had told her about it when she was younger. She remained silent for a few seconds longer before answering, “I do.”
Celestia nodded, her expression, unchanging. Though she accepted Twilight’s vow, Celestia hesitated to give the tome to Twilight. She stood, unmoving, for a few moments longer, but she finally gave the tome to the young alicorn.
“Very well. Study it well, and remember it. I pray that you never have to use it.” Celestia said, somberly.
Twilight remembered it all very clearly. She remembered how she had first felt about the spell. She remembered that she was somewhat scared to accept that great responsibility. But most importantly, she remembered every detail that the tome told of the spell.
Twilight’s heart started to beat faster in her chest at the thought of what that spell would cost her. She was frightened to have to sacrifice her life. She desperately searched her mind again for another possible solution. But as she thought, a loud grumbling roar, like the sound of deep, rolling thunder snapped her out of her head.
The monster seemed to be getting angry, and was now more violently searching for the hidden ponies. It began to aggressively shatter boulders and disintegrate the dead trees that it had left in its wake.
Fluttershy gasped in fright and fell to the ground with her hooves over her head. Twilight and the rest of the ponies peeked their heads over their rocky shield and watched the destruction from afar.
Twilight ducked behind the rocks once again and she began to consider her options more carefully. She didn’t take long however, as she only had one option, use the Final Spell.
As Twilight pondered, the other ponies ducked their heads back down as well. One by one they hid themselves again until Applejack came down. But she forgot about her injured leg and put too much weight on it. She yelped in pain and fell on her back. The noise wasn’t loud enough for the monster to hear, but it was very audible to those who were close enough.
Her friends quickly rushed to Applejack’s side and attempted to do whatever they could to help their ailing friend. Applejack bit her lip while the residual pain faded and as soon as it became bearable again, she started reassuring her friends.
While Applejack was letting her friends know that she was fine, Twilight took a step back and looked over all of her friends. Each one was in terrible condition. With their wounds, they could hardly run, let alone fight.
Twilight was becoming more and more convinced that the Final Spell was her only choice. It was the world’s only chance. Twilight now faced her greatest challenge, and she was determined to do what she had to do.
Twilight came up with a plan to destroy the shadow monster once and for all. She would face the monster and she would sacrifice herself in order to defeat it. Now, she would have to convince her friends to stay hidden while she performed the spell.
“Girls…” Twilight said so that she could get their attention. The group all turned their attention towards her.
“Girls, I have a plan to defeat the monster.” Twilight paused to make sure that her friends were all paying attention. Each one watched her, with hope quickly growing in their eyes.
“A little while back, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna called me to Canterlot. While I was there, I learned a new spell. I think this spell is what I need to defeat the monster.” Twilight said. The entire time, she was looking down at the ground and she spoke as if the words were heavy and painful.
“Really? Why didn’t you say so earlier? Ah, whatever. If it’ll defeat that monster, then let’s go do it already!” Rainbow Dash said confidently.
The other ponies began to join in with Rainbow’s enthusiasm.
“I agree. Let’s go teach that brute what happens when it trifles with us!” Rarity said with a confident "Humph!”
“Yee-Haw! Let’s go wrangle us a monster!” Applejack shouted, quietly while minding not to stand back on her injured leg.
“Alright! That big, mean, old monster has done enough monstering!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her usual bubbly attitude.
The group was getting pumped up and ready for the fight. All except for Twilight, who hadn’t lifted her head or moved an inch. She was finding it very difficult to explain the rest to her friends.
Fluttershy eventually noticed that Twilight wasn’t joining in their enthusiastic huddle. Instead, she seemed to be more depressed than before. She just stood there with her head down.
“Twilight? What’s wrong?” Fluttershy’s question returned everyone’s attention back to Twilight.
Twilight could feel her friends’ stares. She needed to explain the situation to them, but the words were heavy and her heart was aching. She wanted to hide the truth from them, but she knew that a lie was not what she wanted her last words to them to be.
Twilight thought hard and chose her next words. “You ponies have to stay here. It’s too dangerous for you… so please stay hidden until it’s done, and be safe.”
Twilight paused to allow her friends to take in what she just said. The silence didn’t last long, however, and the protests of the friends began.
“What do you mean by that? You think were just gonna sit here and watch? No way!” Rainbow protested, angrily.
“Rainbows right. There’s no way were just gonna sit back and let you face that monster alone, ya hear?” Applejack explained.
“Whatever we do, whatever danger we face, we face it down together. That’s just what friends do, darling.” Rarity added.
“Mm-hm.” The other four hummed in agreement.
Twilight hardly flinched at their reaction. She knew that they would protest and want to join her, but she knew that they couldn’t. The Final Spell may not have been a destructive spell, but Twilight thought that the defeat of the monster might be a violent one.
“You don’t understand. This spell is too powerful. It can only be cast once in the caster’s life. It’s called the Final Spell for a reason. And I just know that that monster isn’t going to go down without causing a lot of destruction. You have to-”
Twilight was interrupted again by the protests of her friends.
“There’s nothin to it, Twilight. We stick together, and that’s that.” Applejack argued in her defense and the defense of her friends.
“Come on already. Let’s go beat that monster!” Rainbow commanded.
The other ponies began to head out from their hiding spot, but suddenly, Twilight shouted, “NO!”
Twilight’s nerves were getting to her and she couldn’t help but to feel upset with her friends’ stubbornness. The outburst caused the other ponies to freeze in their tracks.
“Don’t you understand?! The Final Spell?! Once in a pony’s life?! When I cast this spell, I’ll die!” Twilight was nearly screaming now. She was staring at her friends with a stern look, and they were staring back now with shocked expression’s.
Twilight took a deep breath and calmly explained further. “During the casting of this spell, the light in one’s heart is projected outward in order to cleanse great evil. But that’s not enough. The greatest power anything could have, is life. The Final Spell consumes the pony’s life and uses its power to finish the spell. Only someone who is ready and willing to sacrifice themselves for those that they love can ultimately use the spell.”
Twilight stopped for a breath before finishing with, “I am ready to give my life for Equestria and for everyone that I hold dear. But you ponies have to hide until it’s safe. I don’t want you to be hurt any more. So please…”
Everypony was silent. They were surprised to hear what Twilight was really planning to do.
The silence was finally broken by Rainbow Dash’s outburst. “You can’t be serious! There’s no way! No way, Twilight! You’re not going through with something like that!”
Twilight was just about to argue, but she was interrupted by Pinkie Pie.
“Twilight, that’s not funny. You just can’t do something like that! We won’t let you!”
“Twilight! There ain’t no way you can go through with that. There just ain’t no way!” Applejack shouted, sternly.
“But-” Twilight tried again.
“No ‘buts.’ And no more crazy talk. We’ll find another way.” Applejack continued.
The other ponies nodded their heads and gathered around Twilight. They each softened the expressions on their faces in order to reassure and comfort her.
“Even if there is no other way, we still wouldn’t let you do it alone, Twilight. Friends stick together until the end.” Fluttershy said while hugging Twilight. “But we have to find another way to beat that monster.”
The other ponies all joined the group hug. It was then that Twilight stopped worrying. She hugged her friends back and let her heart and mind stop racing.
Just then however, the monster peered over the rocks that had previously blocked its view of the six ponies. It growled again and began to slowly move in on its prey.
The ponies broke away from their hug and readied themselves for a fight. Each one stood around Twilight, giving the monster faces that showed it that they were ready for it.
“Alright, y’all. Let’s show this monster that we don’t go down without a fight!” Applejack commanded.
The monster growled in a way that made it seem like it was entertained by Applejack’s spirit.
The others all stamped their hooves down and each stood tall and strong.
The monster watched for a few moments before its shadowy body began to creep closer to them.
Each pony stood their ground and watched the monster with determination and strength. They each stared straight into its eyes, until several lights flashed around them and pops sounded out.
Suddenly, the ponies were standing in a new location. Each one, after recovering from the initial confusion, began to quickly take in their surroundings. They were standing on a rocky plateau, in the same mountainous area they had been in since they had begun their fight with the monster.
“What the- Did Twilight…” Applejack said before she trailed off and started looking around at who all was with her. Then she noticed that one pony was missing, Twilight.
The others took notice of Twilight’s absence as well and quickly realized what was happening. Each one desperately called out Twilight’s name. They all noticed the large figure of the monster in the distance and each one saw the flash of purple light that came from the edge of a cliff near it. They all began running as fast as they could in their current states towards Twilight and the monster.
After Twilight had teleported her friends to safety, she teleported herself to the edge of a nearby cliff that would have overlooked the entire valley. However, the monster moved itself up in front of Twilight and blocked her view.
It loomed over her, its shadowy figure enveloped her field of sight. Its dark, red eyes watched her, like a beast watches it freshly caught prey. It hovered in front of the small alicorn and waited, eagerly, for the coming struggle.
Twilight stood tall and stared into the monster’s eyes for a moment. She watched its cold gaze eye her down like she were a meal. But she felt no fear.
After a few more seconds, Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. At first the light was its usual purple and magenta color, but it quickly change to a bright white light. Next, three rings of runes glowing brightly grew out from Twilight’s horn and began to circle around it. Then, a small beam of white light shot out from the tip of her horn. It made contact with the monster’s head, and it began to shriek.
Twilight opened her eyes, and they were both glowing with the same bright white light that was beaming out of her horn. The first ring of light grew larger and moved down Twilight’s body until it circled around her chest. The second ring grew even larger, but it stayed in its original place around Twilight’s horn. The final ring shrank until it was barely the width of the base of Twilight’s horn, and it moved along the beam of light until it was the same length away from the second ring as the second was away from the first.
The beam of light grew larger as it moved through the third ring. It began to form a sphere where it made contact with the shadow monster, who was screeching and squirming, desperately trying to shield itself and escape. But the sphere of light held it in place as it continued to grow. Eventually, the monster’s shadowy body began to be consumed, and the darkness and light started swirling around each other in the sphere.
Twilight watch the process without moving and inch. The darkness, which was previously surrounding her, was now being drawn into the sphere of light, like smoke being sucked into a vacuum. Soon all that was left outside of the sphere was the monster’s dark head, which was shrieking and struggling to get away.
Twilight watched this until her body began to glow with the same bright light. She spread her wings out wide and took flight. She slowly moved along the path of the light from her horn, inching ever closer to her final destination.
Over the shrieks of the monster, Twilight thought she heard a noise. She ignored it at first and continued on her course, until she heard the noise again. This time, Twilight turned her head slightly, and glanced over in the direction where she thought the noise was coming from. In the distance, she could see the small shapes and colors of her five friends moving across the rocks in her direction.
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were running ahead as quickly as they could. Following them was Rainbow Dash who was followed by Rarity. Applejack was struggling behind, but she was pushing herself to run as fast as she could. Each pony was pushing through their own pain to try and get to Twilight before it was too late. They were shouting Twilight’s name as loudly as they could manage.
Each one would glance up to where they had seen Twilight teleport to. And each one grew more desperate as they watched the process of the Final Spell take place.
Running as fast as they could, they all shouted frantically at Twilight, praying with each call that their voices would reach her and she would stop casting her spell. But as they continued running, they could only watch as the sphere of light grew. Next, another light began to shine. It was just a bright, shining light at first, but then two lights shaped like big wings sprouted out from the source, and it began to move away from the ground and toward the massive sphere.
The way it moved made everypony watching recognize that the new light must have been Twilight Sparkle flying at the sphere. The cries of the ponies became louder as their hearts grew weaker and even more desperate. They fought away the despair in their hearts as they struggled to get to their dearest friend on time.
Twilight watched her friends for a few moments and she could hear her friends’ voices calling out to her. As she moved closer and closer to the end, she let her heart’s emotions flow. She began to speak, and as she did, her voice was projected out to her friends.
“My friends, we have shared so many wonderful times together. We shared fun times and sad times. We laughed and cried together, and we taught and learned together. Sometimes, we would fight with each other, but our friendship would always stay true.” Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat, but she continued smiling as she spoke.
“Throughout all of the adventures and all of the hardships we faced, I always knew that we would be there for each other. I knew that we would always be the best of friends, and we would always make each other happy.” Twilight paused as she remembered all of the times she and her friends had spent together.
“Until I met you, I always thought that I would be happy to be alone. But when I met you and when I came to accept that you were my friends, I began to realize that I was wrong.” Tears began to fall from Twilight’s eyes as she continued.
“I could never have asked for better friends, and I could never be happier than I am to have had such a wonderful life. You ponies are the best thing to have ever happened to me, and I will always be grateful for the time that we had together. I love you all so much. I- I will never forget you.”
As Twilight finished, her body gently moved into the sphere. Once she was at the center, the darkness disappeared into the center, and the monster was consumed entirely. The sphere’s light began to shine even brighter as it began to shrink. It quickly shrank down into Twilight’s chest.
Twilight closed her eyes and smiled one last time before her voice echoed out in a whisper,
“Goodbye.”
Just then, the light became so bright that it was impossible to look at and the sphere exploded out and consumed the area in light.
After the explosion, the group of friends quickly looked back to the place where Twilight was, but there was no longer anything there. They stood there for a moment in a daze.
Disbelief overtook them, and they galloped as fast as they could to the cliff. Once they got there, they all froze in place. Tears began to form in their eyes and they each began to break down in anguish.
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy both fell into a sobbing mess on the ground. Rarity raised her hoof to her mouth and began to cry as well. Rainbow Dash bit her lower lip and fought back her tears, but it was a battle that she just didn’t have the strength, or resolve, to win and she too began to cry. Applejack just stood there, staring in disbelief at what was left in the place of her dear friend.
A single violet was occupying the place where Twilight Sparkle had been standing just minutes before. Just at the edge of the cliff, the lone flower had sprouted.
Applejack stared at the flower for a few moments before she began her outburst. At first, quietly, but her voice began to grow louder as she shouted out.
“No… No! It can’t be true! It just can’t be true!”
Applejack looked around, desperately searching for her friend while shouting, “Twilight! Twilight, where are you?!”
Applejack’s pain was loud and clear in her voice. “Twilight… please…”
She stood in front of the flower, watching it as tears grew and swelled in her eyes. The others were too heartbroken to try and comfort her. They could only watch their friend through their own tears as she struggled with her feelings of loss.
Applejack stared at the little flower until her tears began to flow freely from her eyes. She then looked up into the sky.
The five ponies all sat and lie and stood at the cliff where they had last seen their beloved friend. The pain of the realization that their friend was gone broke their hearts. The only sounds to be heard was the sound of the gentle breeze, and the sobs of the group of friends.
Applejack held back her own sobs as she stared into the sky. Just then, she saw something drifting gently down towards her. She reacted out her hoof and caught the purple feather. As she stared at it, she began to remember all of the precious times that she had spent with Twilight. The flow of memories brought to her by the feather finally pushed her to the brink, and she let herself weep.
Through the painful sobs, Applejack managed to say, “Goodbye Twilight Sparkle…”
“Goodbye…”