Twilight Sparkle sat silently by her bed in the crystalline Friendship Castle, a golden light shined over the thickset-book of age spells hovering in front of the purple alicorn. She knew it may be a hopeless endeavor to try and keep her friends alive but she was determined to do whatever it took, even if -most of- her friends denied it. She was about to finish the seventeenth chapter when a small purple scaled dragon pulled the book from her magical grasp.
"You really need to stop reading this Twilight," Spike said solemnly, "your friends need you before they pass on."
Twilight looked up at him with tearful eyes. "How can you expect me to let our friends just die? I thought you were willing to do anything for them."
Spike sighed, "I am, but trying to change the natural order of things isn't the way." Spike sat down beside her and placed his clawed hand on her hoof. "Your friend's lives are about to end, don't you think it's time to say goodbye?"
"No! I can still fix this, I have to fix this." Twilight levitated the book back to her and attempted to open it, but Spike had already stood up and held the covers tightly together.
"Twilight please, atleast read the book over at the hospital, their expecting you there in their time of need."
"I just don't want to leave them Spike; how can I continue without them, how can Equestria survive without all the Elements?"
"It's going to be ok; you'll still have the other princesses, but you can't keep your friends alive forever either: its not fair to them."
Twilight sighed solemnly and stood up. "Ok, I'll go see them."
"That's the spirit!" Spike said encouragingly, "I'm sure they'll be happy to see you."
"Yea, happy..." Twilight trotted downstairs with Spike, and the book, in tow.
Twilight looked around the castles main hall; many ponies ventured in here to look at the stain-glass recordings of their exploits, but now there was dust everywhere and-even though the sun was just setting and light still filled the hall-the entire place felt gloomy. She levitated her saddlebags, and Spike onto her back and Spike placed the book inside her left saddlebag as she walked out the door.
Twilight took off with her wings as soon as she made it outside and made her way to the hospital, looking over Ponyville as she flew past. Not much of old Ponyville was even left anymore, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had already found their talents and found respectable partners just like the rest of the school children. All her older friends had either died of old age already or are in the hospital with her best friends, and the elders had already been mourned over, Granny Smith especially. The new generation of course doesn't really know of all the memories around them, and will probably make new ones to cover them up, such is the cruel way of life.
Twilight had always tried to not think about just how bad her immortality would turn out when she first became a alicorn, and she can't help but hate herself for not trying to prepare for this sooner. She had thought about how her other friends at Canterlot High were doing, or how Princess Cadence might deal with Shining Armor's death; but this only made her sadder so she dismissed the thought entirely. Time claims everything in the end, she just wish she could go with her friends into the afterlife sooner. And that was the terrible and shamefully unnoticed side of immortality, the side that says 'Your friends will die and your going to have to live through it for eternity.'
The hospital compound came into view as Twilight grew nearer, she slowed her pace and landed gently in front of the main building. She walked into the lobby and gave a curt nod to the nurse at the desk, they both knew why she was there and she wouldn't think the nurse would interrupt her as she walked upstairs. She opened the door to her friend's reserved room quietly, making sure to not wake them should they be asleep. Naturally however, not all of them were asleep and it just so happened that they were Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight's here!" Rainbow and Pinkie shouted with volume almost equivalent to a megaphone, which had effectively silenced them both with a coughing fit and had caused Twilight to giggle slightly.
As expected, the rest of the gang woke up with Applejack first to speak up, "Hiya sugercube, glad you could make it in our final hours he he."
"Yes were quite glad you could make it Twilight, I was worried you wouldn't be able to get out of that little shell of yours," said Rarity a little bluntly.
"I'm so happy you could make it Twilight, I wasn't worried one bit that you might leave us-especially after Spike said he would go and get you," said Fluttershy in her usual light tone.
Twilight smiled as she walked to the center of the room and pulled out her book, "Thanks guys, I just thought that if I could find a way to reverse your age we might be able to be together again."
"Oh gosh Twilight you're still at that?" Applejack said bashfully, "You know it's nothing to worry yourself over don't ya?"
"Agreed, you should just let us go and stop worrying yourself so much," Rarity said.
"But I don't want to just let you go! I don't know how I'll survive without my friends beside me," said Twilight.
At this point Pinkie and Rainbow had cleared their throats, "Twilight! Oh my gosh where have you been? What have you been doing?-" said Pinkie "-Did you learn how to fix these awesome wings of mine? Did you get any cool trinkets?" Dash finished.
"I was just in the library reading, no I did not get any trinkets, and no... I didn't find out how to reverse your age." Twilight said with humor right up to the sad truth which caused her to sit down solemnly.
"Come on ya'll let's let Twilight explain what shes learned," Applejack said.
~X~
Twilight had explained that she had been in the castle library for most of her time, studying Star Swirl the Bearded's book on age spells to try and find some way to reverse their age and that she hadn't yet found one. She told them how Ponyville was fairing and the events that lead her to coming back to the hospital. In turn they had explained life in the hospital and, sadly, how their bodies were failing them. The six also discussed important topics involving Equestria's future and how they'll fair without the Elements. Fluttershy also brought up the topic of Discord and how he would react to not having her anymore, to which everypony scowled at the sheer notion that he would stir commotion after they died. They laughed and joked about their adventures and about all the things they've done, everypony was especially fond of the adventures that the cutie map had led them on.
Eventually the sun had set and everypony had fallen asleep after saying good night, Twilight however had been reading non-stop for the next few hours, even making it to chapter twenty before sleep finally claimed her and she collapsed atop her book...
~X~
Twilight woke up with her face in the middle of pages on how to slow down the aging of plants, shouting and the sound of hooves rushing about was filling her ears. She groaned as she lifted her head up to see doctors and nurses rush around her friends, shouting about a lack of pulse and no signs of movement.
And she froze, wide-eyed as she took in what it all meant.
Her friends were gone and she had failed to save them, she even fell asleep! They all died alone in their beds and she could do nothing to help, to comfort her best friends. The one test she couldn't pass and it was the most important one, she couldn't even speak or cry, completely frozen in the sheer realism of it. One of the nurses soon took notice of her sitting fully awake and pulled her up. Twilight couldn't see Spike anywhere as she was escorted out of the room so she assumed he had left when the doctors came in, they had just began to wheel her friends outside when she realized just what had happened in all its terrible dread.
She screamed at them to let her friends stay as tears began rolling down her eyes; she pushed back the hospital staff with a shield spell and ran to the cots, weeping over the cluster of lost life.
That spell felt alot more draining than it should have been...
Twilightt looked over at where the hospital staff were, she saw that her spell had pushed them a little too hard, and the staff were now knocked out beside the walls of the room. She didn't see any blood luckily but she couldn't help but cry even more at the pain she was feeling inside of her, she had just hurt those innocent ponies and her friends were dead. Her entire world was collapsing around her... and then, she remembered something. Like a beacon, she knew she had to go to it for guidance. She prepared to teleport her and her friends to her only remaining light in the world, her sanctuary, and disappeared with them in a brilliant flash of light.