Author: Drizzle Quill
Prompt: Goodbye
“W-What do you mean, leaving for two years? Excuse my rudeness, Princess, but…two whole years? I’m afraid I just don’t understand your…your logic here!”
“Twilight, I know it’s hard to take in, but—”
“Leaving my friends for two years so soon after I’ve entered a new relationship?” The purple alicorn princess known as Twilight Sparkle glared at her mentor, violet eyes glistening with tears of hurt. “It’s not easy to take in at all!”
Celestia grimaced and looked away. “Twilight, you must understand. A diplomatic meeting is necessary for a brand new princess. Cadance had to go through the same thing when she was crowned. You’ll see them again in two years.” The white alicorn kneeled down and placed one wing over Twilight’s back; the lavender alicorn was shuddering with sobs rippling throughout her body, one after another. “You must leave for the Griffon Kingdom at eight. I’ll give you a few hours to say goodbye.”
She stood outside Sugarcube Corner with dread hanging over her, like a cloud, perhaps, knowing that all of her friends were inside. Laughing, playing, whispering, dreaming. Not knowing of what was about to befall them.
A single tear fell from Twilight Sparkle’s eye.
She pushed open the door.
All movement inside instantly froze, then resumed with a burst of pure joy when they saw who it was. “Twilight! You’re missing all the best stuff!” Rainbow crowed, ruffling the alicorn’s mane with one hoof good-naturedly.
Rarity nodded, blue eyes dancing with eagerness. “Yes, the party games are extravagant!” She shuddered with delight. “You simply must try Pinkie’s rendition of Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Pony!”
Pinkie.
There she was, spinning around, blue eyes lit up with pure delight at her recently-announced marefriend. Without any thinking about the matter whatsoever she drew Twilight in for a quick peck on the lips and giggled. “Hiya, Twily! Ready for the party?”
Twilight’s eyes widened, and she felt like she was going to throw up. “Well…not really.”
“What?” Pinkie’s eyes also got wide, and maybe even a little hurt. “Why, Twilight?”
“Well…” Another tear fell, then another, and another, and then she was crying so hard that the others were gathering around, and by the time Twilight was done speaking, they were all crying (except for Rainbow Dash, who only leaked a few tears but would never even admit to that).
Eight o’clock. Twilight Sparkle stood on the outskirts of Equestria, staring out at the lands beyond. Behind her stood her five best friends in the whole world, plus Spike, who was atop Rarity’s back and was still crying. Twilight tried not to look at them. It made the whole thing harder.
But she was forced to when Pinkie whipped her around and gave her a long, passionate kiss; the others watched in silent sympathy, knowing how hard it was for the two who had only just gotten together to be separated so soon.
Celestia’s voice echoed behind her. “It is time to go, Twilight.”
The alicorn broke apart from her marefriend, staring out at the others. “I’ll miss you all,” she whispered, eyes still brimming with tears, and then looked at Pinkie, embracing the pink earth pony one last time. “I promise I will.”
The last word they all heard her say before she vanished over the hilltops, Celestia at her side, was “Goodbye.”
First off, appreciate this one not going for the obvious deathbed route. That said, it tried to tug my heartstrings really hard, but I was more vexed than anything. I mean, yeah, three months can really feel like a long, long time, but it does come to an end before long. Not the sort of dilemma I find tear-worthy. It's probably just me, though.
I think this would've been sadder had the time been extended longer. If it was something like a year, or even more than that, I'd understand why Twilight's so emotionally distraught. As a kid in a military family, this one would've really tugged at my heartstrings if I could connect more with it. To me, three months isn't all that long. I've had to move every three years and start over with new friends, so this one had a lot of potential to me. That's not to say it wasn't sad, but that one detail lessened the blow. I like how it was written, especially the part at the party, but it still seemed a bit melodramatic. Either way, good job.
A little...melodramatic for three months.
I personally think that Twilight would have approached the whole thing more maturely and at least put on a brave face for her friends. Pinkie probably would have looked a little more on the bright side. I think you're trying a little too hard to make it sad...now if Twilight was being put in charge of a kingdom indefinitely, that might make a little more sense.
shit, i know im late, and this was fucked up. celestia would never do this and twilight would have done something more.
So sad but so well written