Half-Hour Horses

by HoofAndQuill

The Final Spell of Princess Twilight Sparkle [General]

(The Prompt: The Fall of Twilight Sparkle)

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood on the weathered, ancient balcony on the southern face of Canterlot Castle. Her horn made a pale glow in the middle of the night, and she smiled a little as she felt the magic flow through it. Not many ponies remembered why this balcony had been built. It wasn't just for coronation ceremonies and royal weddings.

Canterlot had been built by unicorns, centuries before Celestia had come to power. In those days, unicorns had to raise and lower the sun and moon themselves, and Canterlot was at the center of several powerful, magical ley lines. Twilight would need every ounce of magic she could get for what she was about to do.

The most powerful source of magic she knew was her friendships. They were the driving force behind this decision, and if anything could make this work, it would be her friends.

One of them had started her down this road, after all. Years ago, during a brief visit to Canterlot, Rarity had uttered a single sentence that had changed Princess Twilight's entire view on her duties as royalty. It wasn't anything important to Rarity, not really, but perhaps it had been just the right thing to say at just the right time. They had been trotting along the boulevard, and Rarity had taken just a moment to gently dab her forehead with a small handkerchief, and spoken quite simply.

"Hold on just a moment, darling. Not every pony has quite your flair for keeping young."

Rarity had not been, and still was not, old. She was absolutely in the prime of her life, as were the rest of Princess Twilight Sparkle's friends. But hearing that, just at that time, had a profound effect on Twilight. She noticed then that she hadn't been sweating or out of breath at all. In fact she still appeared to be a mare of twenty or so, despite the extra decade past her coronation.

Twilight smiled bitterly, coming out of her reminiscing and focusing her power in her horn. Becoming an alicorn had granted her such amazing control over her magic and the magic of Equestria. The spell she was casting was far beyond anything even Princess Celestia would dare attempt.

Princess Celestia. Twilight Sparkle knew that the princess would not want her doing this. It wasn't that Celestia wanted to control her, not at all. She only wanted what was best for Twilight, and in any other situation she would likely have been correct. But sometimes, as hard as it was for Twilight to admit it, Princess Celestia was wrong.

After all, despite all her noble court ponies, her sister, and her student-turned-princess, Princess Celestia was completely alone.

Twilight cast her mind to her friends again, feeling the ley lines feed power through her horn. The idea of loneliness brought forth her two earth pony friends. Neither of them had that sense of isolation, and Twilight couldn't imagine them ever feeling that way. Applejack was married now, actually, with two growing foals. The stallion she'd fallen for was not technically anypony of note, Caramel, just one of the many farmer stallions in Ponyville.

But with her loving family, and a third foal on the way, Applejack was never alone. Pinkie Pie wasn't either, though she had no children. She had her surrogate family with the Cakes, and she was as much mother to Pound and Pumpkin Cake as Cup Cake could claim to be. She paid rent for the upstairs loft she stayed in, but anypony could see she was part of their family, and that the rent was only a formality at best. She was a friend, a child, and a sister to the Cakes, and she always would be.

There was a quiet jealousy that Twilight Sparkle was always slightly ashamed of. She had never truly been that close to her own family, not in the way that Applejack and Pinkie were. She loved them, of course, but she saw her parents only once or twice a year at best, and Shining Armor was now prince of the Crystal Empire, a very, very long train ride away. She had her friends, and they were as close as family, but... there was always some distance, since everything had changed.

Twilight's horn sparked and a magical bolt struck the stone of the balcony. Twilight frowned and focused. The amount of magic required for this was possibly even past her control.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy... Twilight smiled even through the difficult casting. The two mares had been together now for seven years or so. They hadn't bothered having the spells cast to allow for children, yet, but it was likely to happen sometime. It was Fluttershy, actually, who had most recently caused this thought to surface again.

She had been crying, and Rainbow Dash had been away on Wonderbolts work. Twilight was there for Fluttershy, just to be as much of a comfort as she could. 'Harry', a dear friend of Fluttershy's was dying. Bears simply did not live as long as ponies. Twilight had found that she did not know what to say, she had no words for this. Death had never been on her mind, in the sense of being something other than a danger of her adventures.

Fluttershy had been crying, but in the most calm and resigned way that Twilight Sparkle could imagine. She had even managed to tell that Twilight wanted to comfort her but didn't have the words. Fluttershy shook her head, and told Twilight that "it happens to everyone, sooner or later."

It was strange, hearing the normally soft and innocent-seeming Fluttershy speaking so fatalistically, but in retrospect it made perfect sense. Fluttershy cared deeply for her animal friends, but most of them only lived a short few years. She had likely seen dozens born and dozens pass, just in the time Twilight had known her.

Yet, despite the small laugh lines on Fluttershy's face, and the slightly slower flight of Rainbow Dash at the air shows, Princess Twilight Sparkle looked to be a mare of twenty.

Twilight Sparkle smiled just a little, her horn's sparking calming as she managed to rein in the power. Certainly, Princess Celestia could feel this casting happening, even while she was away in the Crystal Empire. Twilight knew the exact extent of Celestia's power, and knew that she wouldn't make it back in time to stop this. Princess Twilight also had Luna's expressed, if sad, consent.

The flow of magic finally reached the critical point, and Princess Twilight Sparkle formed it into the spell she needed. This had never been done before, there had never been call for it. But with every new line Twilight had seen on her friend's faces, with every hesitation of some new pony's greeting, with every inch of separation between her and everypony she loved, she realized more and more that it must be done.

The power coursed through her body like an electric shock, purple arcs of magic striking out from her and into the glowing ley lines crossing the balcony.

Princess Celestia would be devastated. Twilight couldn't blame her, she knew what she was doing. This was selfish, perhaps a little, but she... there was no other way. She wouldn't be an exception to the rules that Fluttershy knew, she would no longer see that tiny hint of jealousy in Rarity's eyes, and she would no longer be forced to maintain that distance from her fellow ponies.

The spell reached a crescendo, and Twilight grit her teeth, bearing the surge as best she could. There was a bright flash, and even the ancient stone of Canterlot Castle shook from the release of the power. Twilight Sparkle collapsed to the stone floor, and lay there for a moment, breathing heavily and sweating from exertion.

She opened her eyes slowly, and forced herself to stand. Her legs felt weak, sore, and she felt... light. She looked down to the floor, and choked back a gasp at the pile of purple feathers, fluttering gently in the wind at this altitude. Looking to her sides confirmed it. She wouldn't have to bear the burden of immortal loneliness that Princess Celestia and Luna bore, and she could be just... friends, with everypony, again. She could find a husband, or possibly a wife, and maybe even have children.

Princess Twilight Sparkle had fallen, and now only the unicorn Twilight Sparkle remained.

Comments

[HoofAndQuill]

3598747
Thanks, and I'm glad you seem to enjoy what I write for TMP. It's been fun having something new to work on daily like this.

3599607
It's a fun comic, but I'm not sure I recognize the reference you think you see. (Unless you mean the prompt itself, which I don't write.) Thanks for the comment though.

[PresentPerfect]

Oh. That was not what I was expecting her to do, not until right before it happened. :O Well done!