Half-Hour Horses

by HoofAndQuill

Goodbye [Sad, Slice of Life]

(The Prompt: All good things must come to an end.)

Princess Twilight Sparkle sighed as she took each dress and saddle in her closet down from the hangers, folding them carefully. There was a lot more to pack than she expected, and every time she looked around, the library just seemed emptier. She wasn't one, really, for endless sentimental musing, but it was natural to feel saddened by big changes in her life. She was quite certain she'd read that... somewhere.

Her dress for her first Grand Galloping Gala caught her eye, and she smiled wistfully as she folded it and set it away. Rarity. Rarity had been the first to go, though none of them could blame her. Running a fashion boutique in Ponyville was never quite ideal. When the opportunity arose to move to Canterlot and open a business there, well... it would have been a lie to say that Rarity wasn't excited by the prospect.

It had taken her a while to admit it, though. All six of them had been through so many trials and adventures together since Twilight had moved to Ponyville, and all of them were loathe to break up their friendship. Rarity lied to all of them, for days, fending off her potential investors in Canterlot with excuses that quickly wore thin. When the rest of her friends had realized what was really happening, they confronted her directly.

Twilight smiled a little, remembering that night. It hadn't been easy. There had been crying, and light arguing, but really what hurt the most was admitting that what they had, the special friendship that had saved Equestria and brought one of them to become royalty, wasn't something that would stay forever unchanged.

Rarity replied the next day to her investors, and inside of a month, Carousel Boutique was vacant. Recently, it had been renovated into a small concert hall by Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, though Sweetie had elected to name the hall "Rarity's" regardless.

Rarity wrote to her friends, and to her sister. Regularly, at first, but now rarely more than once or twice a month. The letters often became boring, full of little happenings in both parties' lives that didn't affect the other.

Twilight Sparkle closed the suitcase full of dresses, and strapped it shut.

--

Downstairs, she started packing away more of her personal belongings, the grand majority of which were books. Twilight had managed to find several large boxes to ship her collection in, and researched a number of spells to keep the humidity and other conditions inside those boxes just right.

Twilight found a certain kind of distracting pleasure in packing her books alphabetically, which kept her mind just occupied enough to avoid thinking about anything, until she got to the 'D' section. Daring Do, of course. One book in the series was missing, still on loan to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had told her that she'd return the book once she came back, so that she always had an excuse to come back if she needed to.

Rainbow Dash had been the second of the group to leave. She had been formally accepted into the Wonderbolts, and seemed to be on the fast track for Captain. But joining the Wonderbolts didn't mean that she just took a week for Academy and then came back. Once she was a full member, she would need to move to Cloudsdale, live in the Wonderbolts' compound there, and tour and train with them continually.

She had quite nearly turned them down again. But after fighting about it, in a very literal and bruise-inducing sense, with Applejack... well, Rainbow had decided that her friends all really did mean it when they told her to follow her dreams. Applejack was the first to admit that it tore her up inside to lose Rainbow after all this time, but she was willing to come to blows just to convince the stubborn mare that her dreams were every bit as important as anypony else's.

Rainbow Dash accepted, and in a few days, she was gone. She'd done her best to avoid a big goodbye, but Pinkie Pie had managed to catch her somehow, just as she was flying away from Ponyville. There were tears, there were hugs, and promises of visits and letters and things like that. But being a Wonderbolt took a lot of time and dedication, and Rainbow Dash had never been much of a writer.

Twilight sighed as she placed the books into the box, and sealed it shut with a spell.

--

Twilight stacked the full boxes in the corner, and set to packing away the few remaining mementos and miscellanea that filled any pony's home after a few years. The photographs were hard to look at just now, and she did her best to pack them by category without actually looking at each to properly categorize them.

Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were all still in Ponyville. None of them had any real cause to leave, and Twilight was starting to expect that the earth swallowing Sweet Apple Acres was about the only way Applejack could be dislodged. A flash over the frame of a picture caught Twilight's eye, and she smiled at the image of Pinkie Pie and Big Macintosh at their wedding.

It had taken time for Pinkie to slow down enough to get to know Big Mac, and it had taken even longer for Big Mac to manage to get a word in edgewise with Pinkie. But over time, they'd gotten closer and closer, and finally Pinkie had proposed, much to the more traditional Big Mac's chagrin. But he hardly had any intention of declining, and they'd had a wedding only a month later. A grand event, with Rarity and Rainbow Dash both making the trip back home to attend.

So now, Pinkie Pie was an Apple beyond any doubt, and even had a foal on the way. Applejack had been more than pleased to take her friend and new sister-in-law into her home, and the boost to the family's baking income wasn't a bad thing either. But with moving out of the center of town, and with her tendency to throw herself into anything she took on, Pinkie Pie almost disappeared from Ponyville's party circuit for a while. She learned how to farm the orchard, learned how to bake apple pies the Apple family way, and learned that there most certainly was more to her than planning parties and being silly.

Fluttershy, for her part, was still the same as always. She lived in her small cottage, almost a hermitage really, with her dozens of animal friends. She visited Ponyville regularly to shop, and to speak with Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. However she was always prone to isolation, and with Dash and Rarity gone, she tended to stay home more and more.

Twilight sighed and set the picture into the box, on top of the framed photo of her and her friends from the day after she'd moved to Ponyville.

--

The cart pulled away, hauled by two sturdy royal guards who were looking a little displeased at their new job. Twilight Sparkle watched it leave, packed up with all her belongings. Spike was already in Canterlot, staying at Rarity's while Twilight finished up her packing.

Applejack's voice cut in to her musing. "So you're finally goin'."

Twilight Sparkle forced a smile, though she was pretty sure it looked a little weak. "Yeah. Princess Celestia wants me to start taking a more active role, and, well..."

Applejack's smile looked a bit unsteady too, and she stepped forward to pull Twilight into a tight hug. "I know. Don't you fret, nopony's gonna blame you for takin' off. Pinkie'd be here too, but she's gettin' bigger and doesn't need to be hoppin' all over town, now that she's in a family way."

Twilight pressed herself against Applejack, squeezing her friend almost as tightly as she was being squeezed. "I'll write. I know that Rarity and Dash's letters tapered off, but... but I'll try."

"I know you will, Sugarcube. An' you're always welcome t' stay at Sweet Apple Acres if you need to visit. Ain't really fit for royalty, but you know we'll put out our best for you."

Applejack made a move to pull back from the hug, but Twilight threw both forelegs around her almost desperately. Applejack smiled, and patted Twilight's back with a hoof. "Come on now. I know y' liked havin' us all around every day, but things change, Sugar. Don't you worry. You might not see us as much, but y' know we'll always be friends."

"I know." Twilight spoke quietly, and held on to her friend for another long moment before pulling away with a sigh. "Applejack, I... I wish things were different."

Applejack smiled at her, not even bothering to pull her hat down to cover her glistening eyes. "I know it. Don't you forget to write."

Twilight smiled, and hugged Applejack quickly again. "I'm not saying goodbye. I'll come back to visit, I promise."

She let go of her friend, and took a step back. Twilight looked up at the library, now empty of her personal items, waiting for its next owner. She sighed, and flapped her wings, flying up into the air. Applejack waved to her, and Twilight waved back, just before turning toward Canterlot.

Author's Note:

Thirty Minute Ponies, the blog these prompts came from, ended today.

So there's no more daily prompts, and this series is stopping at 80 chapters. It's been fun writing (almost) daily for the past couple months, though I did miss a couple, but rarely have I ever managed to write so much so quickly. TMP gave me a little event to look forward to each day, and I'm going to miss it.

Thanks for running it, mods, and I hope things go well for all of you in the future.

Comments

[HoofAndQuill]

3989927
I have a lot of fun writing Pinkie, especially that chapter. She's pretty much my favorite pone. Glad you liked it!

[HoofAndQuill]

Wow a slew of Esle Ynopemos comments!

4056995
A New Day is probably my favorite story of the ones I wrote for TMP.

4053677
Omniship only really makes sense being introduced by Pinkie, in my head. Plus, you know, it's cute.

4057261
Regarding Celestia and Twilight, yeah, they seem close and by all appearances Twilight at least had a lot of experience interacting with Celestia. "In all the years she's been my mentor, she's never once doubted me!". Pity they see one another so rarely in the show proper.

[HoofAndQuill]

4068941
Yeah, "Crystal' was a lot of fun to write. I like fleshing out villains a bit more, and both of them are loosely defined enough to come up with all kinds of neat stories with some work.

[HoofAndQuill]

4087767
Ith tho thilly

[Titanium Dragon]

I wrote a review of Nope. It can be found here.

[Solitair]

Thanks for putting these all up.

[HoofAndQuill]

6189932
Thank you for reading them! It's been fun seeing your comments as you go through the list and everything. I'm glad you enjoyed the read!