//------------------------------//
// Farewells 
// Story: The Princess that Equestria Never Had 
// by rillegas08 
//------------------------------//

The ponies and princesses walked down the halls back toward the library, soon arriving with the rest of the guards that had remained there.

"Did you discover what that light was, Princess Luna?"

"Yes. That light was the magic that defeated Queen Chrysalis so we could reclaim Canterlot."

The guards cheered, then Flash interrupted the cheering. "What do we do about the locks?"

"When Nightmare Moon was about to return," said Princess Celestia, "I placed these locks on these doors. There are several books in this library that can be very dangerous if somepony evil were to get their hooves on them. I do not know, however, if anypony has tried to tamper with them."

"I have been looking through my memories as Nightmare Moon about these doors. The memories are blurry, but as far as I can tell she tried once and never again."

"Nightmare Moon could turn into a mist and teleport," said Twilight. "Couldn't she have traveled through the cracks or teleported inside?"

"I had not anticipated the mist, but there was a spell to protect against teleportation."

"So how are we gonna figure out if somepony else tried to open the locks?" asked Rarity.

Twilight remembered something she'd learned earlier that day. "Discord can detect magic," she said. "Perhaps his ability includes figuring out who may have used magic to interact with objects?"

Princess Celestia looked surprised. "How did you know about Discord's ability?"

"He told me on my way from your old castle after I'd retrieved the five Elements."

"Did I hear my name?" Discord appeared near them. Most of the ponies were surprised to see a draconeqqus suddenly appear next to them, but the three princess were not. Princess Celestia told him about the locks and asked if he could detect if Chrysalis had tried to open the locks from months or years earlier.

"Well, I've never had reason to find out if I could. Couldn't hurt to try." He concentrated on the locks, his bird claw on his goatee. "I see no evidence that Chrysalis would have even attempted to open the doors," he said as he turned back toward the princesses. "It seems that she didn't believe that anything in the library would be useful in her conquest of Equestria."

Princess Celestia thanked him, and turned her attention on the locks. The locks popped open and fell to the ground as the chains dissipated. Two guards opened the doors, and the ponies and Discord entered the massive library.

The five ponies' mouths opened widely, having never seen a library so large. Pinkie Pie's jaw literally hit the floor, but used her hoof to close it again. Rarity wasn't as focused on the books (although she could see several had beautifully crafted bindings) as she was on the carpets and tapestries (although they were dusty, having spent so long uncleaned). Rainbow Dash flew up to the upper shelves and looked from title to title. "So how're we supposed to find the book we need? There must be thousands!"

"The book we need is not one of the books on the shelves," replied Princess Celestia.

"Wait, if it's not here, then why did we come here?"

"I didn't say it wasn't here. Little sister, if you would like to join me." Princesses Celestia and Luna raised their horns, and several books were pulled from the shelves. One by one, a page was removed from each book and laid on a table near the group. As each page was removed, the book was replaced. Twilight wanted to help, but felt all she could do was return the books to their places; she didn't know which books had the necessary pages, nor did she know what order the pages needed to be in. Fortunately, Princesses Celestia and Luna placed each page in its proper place among the others.

When all the pages were amassed on the table in a neat pile, Discord decided to be helpful and put a binding on it. Celestia thanked him and opened it, leafing through the pages until she found the spell necessary for sending someone to a different universe.

"Are you ready to go back home, Twilight?" she asked.

"Yes," she replied, and turned to her friends to say good bye, but Pinkie Pie wasn't smiling. She looked sad, and suddenly Twilight remembered what Pinkie had suggested after the two alicorn sisters were reunited, and turned back to Celestia. "Wait, I forgot! We still need to have a party to celebrate your reunion with your sister. I promised her we'd have it before I left."

Pinkie grinned a wide grin. "Not just the reunion, Twilight. There's so much to celebrate! Defeating Chrysalis! Celestia and Luna being able to rule together once again! Ooh, and a going-away party for you, Twilight! I won't let you leave without a party!"

Twilight looked at her cutie mark, the purple star with two white spikes emanating from them; at least three hours left before she started disappearing herself.

"Do you think you'll have enough time to celebrate before returning to your world, Twilight?"

"I should be able to, but I can't put it off for too much longer."

"Yeah!" cried Pinkie Pie. "Let's go to the courtyard!"

"She doesn't already have the decorations put up, does she?" asked Discord as the guards and the rest of the ponies left the library.

"Not likely," responded Twilight, "but I don't doubt that she'll have plenty of decorations up in no time. She is the best party pony in this part of Equestria, after all. We shouldn't just leave the book here, though."

"How very true, Twilight," said Princess Celestia. "What is written in this book is very powerful magic and would most definitely doom Equestria if it were to fall into the hooves of those who wish to do evil."

Twilight put the book in her satchel, and the three Princesses made their way outside to the courtyard, where, sure enough, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were just putting the finishing touches on the decorations. The sun was low in the sky; Celestia lowered the sun the rest of the way as her younger sister raised the moon. Off to one side was a DJ booth, where Vinyl Scratch, the DJ Pon-3, was sorting through her discs. Pinkie Pie rolled out a big cannon and fired it, confetti going everywhere.

"Hey, everypony! Let's start this party! Let's celebrate the return of Princess Luna, the freedom of Canterlot, and last but certainly not least, give Twilight Sparkle a huge going-away party before she leaves us for her own world!"

It was the greatest party ever experienced in this version of Equestria. Twilight was sure this party, consisting of three different celebrations, could rival a party planned by both Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich in her own world in spectacle, loudness, and how much the ponies enjoyed it. Throughout the next two hours, several ponies encountered Twilight, thanking her for her help after she gave a quick explanation what had happened. Zecora even showed up; most of the ponies were afraid of her. Twilight remembered what it was like for Zecora before everypony became friendly toward her despite her differences, so she greeted the zebra warmly, and many other ponies did the same.

"When my eyes beheld the morning light,
I knew your task was set aright.
Yet here you are, with disappearing mark.
The potion I gave you; did it not work?"

"Actually, Zecora, I haven't needed to use it yet. In fact, I was planning on bringing it back to my world just in case it's ever needed. There is a version of you in my world who could make the potion if the need arises, but there are some fillies I know who are very eager to earn their cutie marks. I assume the effects of the potion are temporary. In my world you brewed it to give a rooster back its voice, and that makes me think it's temporary until circumstances are fixed naturally."

"The potion lasts a few days,
But fillies' minds are easily swayed."

"I know what you mean, Zecora."

Soon it came time for Twilight to leave. Not wanting to leave without saying good bye to her friends, the other Princesses, and the ponies she hadn't met but were grateful to her nonetheless. She approached Vinyl, and asked her to stop the music so she could say farewell to everypony. She nodded and stopped the music, handing her a microphone.

"Attention, everypony," she started, feedback in the speakers, but Vinyl compensated quickly and motioned for Twilight to move the mic a little farther away from her body. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I wasn't supposed to exist in this world." She told them about the spell that sent her to this world, and how her wings and most of her cutie mark had disappeared. She spoke of meeting her friends, retrieving the Elements of Harmony, and defeating Nightmare Moon. She spoke of the ruse that got them into Canterlot, and her and Applejack's qualms about not finding a more honest way. "But now, regrettably, after being in this world for less than a full day-night cycle -- relatively speaking, of course -- I have to leave. I'll admit, it was both fun and worrysome to relive some of the events that happened to me a long time ago, even changing a few that I was never able to experience in my world. It makes me sad knowing that you all will never see me again after all I and my friends have done for you." The other five ponies got up onto the stage with her, and Twilight turned to them. "And even the six of us don't have the same connection in this world as it does in my world. It took a very long time to get where I am with my friends there, but the five of you have only known me for a few hours.

"Discord wanted me to remind him later of the reward I promised him before he agreed to help. I'll admit, he helped us a lot more than we helped him. What is it you wanted, Discord?"

Discord walked up to Twilight. "It's something very shiny and very powerful, but the link among it and the other Elements interests me. I'd like that crown."

"You'd like the Element of Magic? I was actually planning on giving it to you for a while, as long as you don't use it to cause irrevocable chaos. I know that's your tendency, but the Discord in my world values his friendship with us, especially Fluttershy, over his love of debilitating chaos. You're the same Discord as the Discord I knew a long time ago, so I don't doubt you can become a good friend of the other five ponies here. I will give you the Element of Magic, as long as you remember that these friends are much more fulfilling than the very powerful magic you have. In my world, after you broke free from your thousand-year imprisonment, my friends and I had to turn you back to stone, but Princess Celestia later wanted us to revive you and reform you so that you could use your powers for good instead of evil."

"I've never really considered them to be evil, just fun."

"When things get too chaotic, they're only fun for you. Nopony else likes so much chaos, and view it as evil. I believe in you, Discord, although you may still need some supervision for a while."

Princess Celestia approached Twilight. "Princess Twilight, are you sure this is the proper path?"

"You and Discord are the only two I know who can handle the Element of Magic. You wielded all six against Nightmare Moon, and Discord has very powerful magic, and I can't give it to you, Princess Celestia. I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't keep my promise, even if he and I aren't technically friends yet. Farewell, everypony."

Twilight gave the microphone back to Vinyl, and asked the two other princesses and Discord to come with her. The four of them went back inside the castle. Twilight lifted the crown off her head and put it on Discord's as the two sisters watched to make sure he didn't do anything they wouldn't like. Twilight lifted the book out of her saddle pack and set it on a nearby ledge, asking the two sisters where to find the spell necessary to send her back to her own world. They flipped through the pages, pausing at certain parts. Eventually, they turned away from the book.

"Equestria is indebted to you, Princess Twilight," said Princess Luna. "It will be sad to see you go after how much you've changed this world in such short a time."

Twilight bowed. "There is still somepony that needs to be stopped: King Sombra. In my world, he was kept away from the Crystal Empire by Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, but since neither of them have been heard of since their unsuccessful wedding, there was nopony to stop Sombra long enough to retrieve the Crystal Heart and defeat him forever. You'll need shadow magic to find the hidden passage that will lead to it. I haven't encountered any other threats to Equestria in my world."

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna focused their magic on Twilight when she was ready to leave, beginning the spell. Twilight closed her eyes, reminiscing on the times in her world and in this one. Here eyes started to water behind her closed eyelids, sadly knowing she would be unable to help this world any longer, but joyfully returning back to a world where she wasn't disappearing.

When she opened her eyes, she was back in her bed in the Gold Oak library. It was dark outside, as it had been when she left the other world. She called out quietly to Spike, but there was no response. She got out of bed and looked at her cutie mark, but her wings were in the way. Forget the cutie mark; the wings were the first to disappear, and she finally had them back. She fluttered around the library for a few minutes, giggling and grinning before returning to her bed and falling asleep quickly.

It had been a very long day.