The fire burned bright, with almost as many colors as Celestia's mane. The embers flickered at the hearth and iridescent flames licked the charred logs. A lavender alicorn sighed contently. She shifted in her pile of warm blankets. They, and the fire's heat, kept the cold at bay.
She could see outside her window a storm beginning with chilling flurries, the wind's whistling a low hum to her ears.
Twilight, with a a glow of fuchsia, snuggled into her nest and turned the page of the thick book in front of her. It was titled: Harry Trotter, and was a personal favorite of hers. Hermioneigh actually reminded Twilight of herself. Smiling, she took a gentle sip from her china mug, relishing the sweet warmth of the hot cocoa.
There certainly isn’t any better way to spend a late evening, when the world is at war in a winter glory, the mare mused to herself, her inner poet arousing. Friendship was just as important, but sometimes the princess just had to get away from it all, and have some alone time.
Her eyes wandered to the bright flames, dancing like tiny ponies in the hearth. She was filled again with that foalish awe, as she always had been when watching the fire. So... pretty. As she watched, her eyelids began to feel heavy, and the wind faded to a dull roar.
Yawning, Twilight closed the book with a soft thud. What were the other girls doing? she thought, running a hoof through her bedraggled mane. Maybe they were sitting by the fire too, listening to stories, reading books, laughing, and spending time with their family.
Spike was away at Rarity's, 'on a mission for fashion', so to speak. Or, really, on a shopping trip. The beautiful white unicorn had begrudgingly allowed the smitten drake to stay at her place after their spree, and give Twilight some peace and quiet.
Perhaps it was too peaceful. Maybe... maybe she could just take a nap. After all, she had no duties left to attend to. The warmth of the fire against her chest was perfect, the crackling a lulling tune, and her spot of light in the darkness; a sanctuary.
Twilight allowed herself to push the book away, and curled up beneath her blankets to let the flames warm her face. The storm brewed, but she ignored it, her ears flopping over her eyes in relaxation. The mare tucked her forelegs beneath her, and buried her muzzle in the carpet.
What a wonderful night.
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Knock knock
Twilight jerked awake, her heart pounding in sleep-induced panic. Her blankets tumbled off her body into a heap on the carpet. She opened her eyes to a chilling cold and darkness, the fire long since died out. Gone was the golden, blissful feeling of peace, replaced by unease.
How she hated the dark. Every since she was a young filly, though she would never admit it to her friends, Twilight had feared the dark and the unknown. What good would it do not knowing everything? As a learner, the mare had somehow still clung onto it through the years.
"Come on now, Twilight, you're being ridiculous," she chastised herself, shaking her head. The princess stood up, unsteadily. Shadows stretched along the walls, the long empty hallways dark and foreboding. She shivered in fear and numbness, despite herself, and rubbed her legs. It was getting way too late to not be asleep in bed, under the warm covers.
Twilight, stepped along the cold tiles of the floor, mumbling to herself. The woozy mare stumbled to her darkened crystal staircase, when the sound came again.
Knock knock.
Twilight flinched, scrambling back around to the door. Oh, she had almost forgotten the thing that had awakened her in the first place! The mare crept to the door, her pulse pounding in her ears. Stop it, she thought furiously, reaching the door. Whoever was there surely had a good reason, right? She unlatched the door with fumblingly hooves, and creaked it open an inch.
The princess was greeted with the chilling cold of the storm, and pink fur on her outdoor steps. Twilight gasped, and threw open the door, welcoming in a whoosh of wind, and an attack of hail and snow. What the—?
Pinkie Pie stood on her stairs, a red nosed, shivering, solemn and straight-haired mare. Straight mane? That could only mean one thing.... Twilight, with a cry of worry, grasped the older mare around the withers and pulled her inside with the haste only a friend could manage. She slammed the door shut, and huddled the pony into an awkward hug.
"Pinkie? What are you doing here?" Twilight stepped toward the fireplace, tucking Pinkie's mane behind her hair to see her cyan eyes. Pinkie seemed to struggle against her shivering fits, as her curtain of dark pink hair fell back over her muzzle. Twilight noticed with a flicker of alarm, that small threads of grey were woven into her mane.
Without waiting for an answer, the princess ignited her horn. "Oh, you must be freezing, Pinkie! Now, please, just hold still for me for a second. This'll only take a moment." The warm glow encased the pink pony, and wavered in its light. When Twilight released her spell, Pinkie Pie had returned to her normal color, and a smile attempted to cross her face.
"Thank you," she whispered, so melancholy that it startled Twilight.
"I don't know what you up and did to learn that, but that feels so much better," Pinkie sighed, her shivers having stopped completely, and her nose no longer red. She reached out a hoof, and held it to Twilight's chest.
"No problem, Pinks," Twilight answered slowly, but worry still creased her brow. This was so...strange. The alicorn rubbed her hoof along the ground, nervously glancing up at Pinkie's desolate expression.
Then Twilight cleared her throat."But, why are you here so late, during a blizzard, of all things?" Twilight asked, tilting her head towards outside. Poor girl.
The older mare flinched, an twisted grimace on her muzzle, and her ears falling flat. "You see, I could see you through the window, and I'm super duper sorry for waking you, but I just—the door was locked." Her sentence hung, unfinished. Pinkie shifted her gaze to the floor.
The princess narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion. "It's fine, really. But you didn't answer my question, exactly."
Twilight's eyes widened when Pinkie looked like she was holding back tears. "Oh no, it's okay, Pinkie. Just... just take your time, okay?" she quickly sat back besides the fire, and lit her horn to allow some light. Pinkie's features seemed hollow in the shadows, but she did not sit down.
Sighing, the older mare pushed back her mane so that Twilight got a glimpse of a couple wrinkles, just below her eyes. How long had those been there?
"Twi," she began, her high-pitched tone much lower than usual. "I have brought you a gift."
Twilight stared at her friend with a look of bewildered upon her face, and titled an ear up. "A gift?" she asked, softer than she had intended. It wasn't her birthday, or even a holiday.
Pinkie Pie nodded ever so slightly, and her cheeks tinted with a darker shade. "I've been meaning to give you it for a while, but I had this feeling that tonight would be the night. I guess it has to do with my Pinkie Sense, 'cause it just gave me shudders and woozy sensations until I came here."
The older mare pulled Twilight up to her hooves, so that she was face to face with the princess. Twilight swallowed hard. Was she always a foot taller than Pinkie?
Pinkie Pie gave a sad smile. "I-I, I can't give it to you right this very moment, though," she said quietly, her eyes watery in the weak light. Her ears fell back against her dark curtain of hair.
Twilight felt her stomach clench up at the pony's expression. No, please don't cry, Pinkie. You-you mean the world to me. The princess gasped, as if the unspoken words had passed her lips, and grasped the mare's hooves. As sappy as that sounded in her head, it was true. Pinkie had been the first pony to welcome her to Ponyville, and her antics had made Twilight smile.
Pinkie had made her laugh in the worst of times, and stuck by her side as her best friend, even through princess-hood.
If it was important to Pinkie, than it was important to her, too.
"Why?" she whispered, brushing her navy bangs out of her eyes.
Pinkie inhaled sharply, and looked down at the smooth floor. "Twilight," she began. "How old am I?"
The lavender alicorn furrowed her brow, and opened her mouth. Where had that come from?
"You're sixty-seven, of course," she replied, without a moment's hesitation.
Pinkie's lips pressed into a straight line.
"Fluttershy?"
"Sixty-eight."
"Dashie?"
"Sixty-six."
"Rarity?"
"Sixty-nine."
Applejack?"
"Sixty-five."
"You?"
Twilight hesitated for just a heartbeat. "… twenty—sixty-five." Not twenty-five, sixty-fix, she reminded herself.
Pinkie Pie sighed heavily. Her hair fell further over her eyes, reminding Twilight of Marble. "Do you have little foals?"
Twilight stepped back, wincing. "No, I don't. I-I just haven't met the right pony, that's all, Pinkie." An embarrassed blush blossomed on her cheeks.
"Twilight, I have foals, Gem and Pearl, as you know. So do all the other girls, of course. But, Twilight... where are your foals?"
The princess bit her lip, and stomped her hoof lightly on the floor in a feeling she couldn't describe. Pinkie held up a hoof.
"No, please Twilight, I'm not trying to make you upset! Just listen, it's really important. Please." Pinkie pleaded, placing a hoof a Twilight's shoulder. The alicorn remained silent, her mouth clamped shut.
"Where are your grey hairs? Your weakening strength, as your pass through the fragile parts of life? Where are you wrinkles, your kids, your dreams? Twilight, where are you?" Pinkie Pie rubbed her cyan eyes.
"You're leaving us behind."
Twilight cried out with a whimper, and ducked her head. Oh, I knew it! Pinkie would never be like this unless...
The alicorn looked up, shaking. "What are you talking about, Pinkie? Maybe-maybe we can just chat, and you can get back to smiling? Would that be okay?" Twilight's smile was painful.
Pinkie Pie sniffed. "You know what I'm talking about, and I'm sorry. But I had to come, had to see you tonight, Twilight," she said, her ears pressing down. "I had to say goodbye."
The princess bent down on her knee, and but down on her lip to stop the tears from flowing. Bile rose up in her throat.
"You may think that you're getting older, as the years pass. But to everyone around you, you're staying the same, Twilight. You aren't growing older with your best friends, your family.
"I don't know if you noticed, but the girls see it. Fluttershy has to sneak up to Rainbow Dash's cloud house just to lay there are cry with her oldest friend. Applejack and Rarity won't stop working every day, just to keep their minds off the hardest thing. You."
Pinkie Pie reached behind her mane and pulled out a small box that she clasped in her hooves.
"I don't know exactly what Princess Celestia was thinking. Maybe she didn't want to lose her top, most beloved student. Maybe she knew it would be the best in the end. But Twilight, I know you're strong. You're amazing, you're stronger than I'll ever be. You will be a great ruler when the time comes."
She lowered the box onto the small table besides the couch. Twilight's heart pounded.
"I'm sorry about this. About everything. Everything's changing, Princess. Remember when you were a young purple unicorn, here to make friends? You did. You made one of the best friends in the world, and one certain pink mare couldn't be happier.
"I love you, Twilight, as a close friend. I want to see you laugh with joy, and smile whenever you think of me. Do not mourn, move on and stay standing."
Pinkie Pie moved closer, and embraced Twilight in the most bittersweet hug in the world. "Please, do it for me."
She placed the little gift into Twilight's arms, and hugged her tighter. "You will be powerful, you will be amazing, as always. But until that day comes, I will be there for you. To help you be the best, to make you smile that bright smile of yours."
Twilight squeaked, salty tears mixing in to her friend's fur.
"But, for now, I had to give you something before that time comes. A thing to remember me by."
Twilight's hoof squished the box a little tighter. "P-Pinkie,"she stuttered, shivering.
"I won't be there in the future to celebrate all those birthdays you'll have. But every year I want you to open this present again, and know that Pinkie Pie is yelling 'happy birthday' and firing a party cannon from up above at you."
Pinkie Pie finally released her hug. "Twilight," she said. "You will be strong. I will be strong. We all will. But, right now, I wanted to say goodbye when I have the chance." The party pony dug her face into the alicorn's chest.
"You are the bestest friend I have ever had, and it has been a joy seeing you happy. Stay that way, for me please."
The older mare stepped back, and touched the door handle. She pulled open the door, her hair waving in the wind, and turned to look over her shoulder at Twilight.
"Goodbye, Twilight." The door swung shut with a thud, and Twilight's magic spluttered out. Her mind was whirling from the abrupt visit.
The princess sunk to the floor in a heap, and sucked in a breath. Shadows closed around, and the darkness welcomed her back in. "Pinkie," she whispered, unfurling her wings. How long had she been like that, secretly keeping it in? Whenever Twilight had gone by, her smile had seemed real enough, but was it all a mask?
Twilight stood up shakily, and crawled across the floor to the table beside the couch. On it rested the small, plain box. She lit up her horn for a dull glow. With trembling hooves, Twilight picked the box up, and broke the seal quickly. A goodbye gift. Laying about a bed of thin velvet, her eyes fell on the present; a rock.
The rock was cut meticulously into the shape of a heart, and woven through the hole at the top was a piece of string. Twilight brought a hoof up to her mouth to stifle her cries, and took out the rock. It was a necklace, that was clear.
To a stranger, or merely an acquaintance, Pinkie's necklace would have seemed childish, an ugly craft. But in Twilight's eyes, it was beautiful. She noticed the little specks of pink that danced in the light, how thin and carefully cut the rock was in a perfect heart.
She pressed it against her cheek, already wet with tears. "Pinkie...I miss you already," she murmured.
With a spark of curiosity, Twilight flipped over the stone. She was greeted with a tiny hatch in the back. She flipped it open on it's hinge, and a small piece of paper tumbled out to the floor. With a pounding heart, Twilight opened it and found delicate words, written in a black ink.
Twilight, I'm sorry. But I need you to be happy. I love you like the sister I never had, and will miss you too. I don't have much time left, but I will be overjoyed to have spent them with you. You are amazing, and kind, and will do many great things later on. I am proud of you, Twilight. Stay strong. Smile. Make the Magic of Friendship carry on. And if theres one thing you remember about me, it's that I want you to laugh, not cry.
Twilight nearly dropped the stone, she was shaking so bad. "Okay, Pinkie, I will." She gently placed the paper back in it's hatch.
She stumbled over to the mirror that leaned against her wall. Her legs wouldn't support her from the deep pit that used to be her stomach, so she pulled herself up.
The alicorn faced her reflection, choking on sobs. She saw a young, smiling purple unicorn, who just happened to wings upon her back. Then she blinked.
A tall alicorn with a heavy expression, eyes ringed red, regal wings splayed by her side. A princess. An immortal god.
Twilight brought her hoof up and smashed it against the glass, crying out in bottled up rage, at everything.
Why did this have to happen to her? She had known it all along, from the very first day, forty years prior, but had pushed it away. Celestia had done it, why couldn't she? Twilight had focused on the present, her wonderful friends!
But it was all coming back. Twilight glanced up at the mirror again, and moaned. She levitated the necklace around her neck, and tied it tight. It was perfect.
The Princess traced her hoof along the little cracks of the mirror, staring back at a million jagged faces. Yet, Pinkie wasn't gone, and the other girls weren't either.
"You mean the world to me, Pinkie," she whispered, clasping the necklace tightly. She rubbed away her tears, and stared back at the mirror.
I want you to laugh, not cry
The mare in the mirror cracked a smile. The mare in the mirror's mouth opened to giggles, and then laughter. The mare in the mirror grinned, and stood tall.
And inside, Twilight wept.