In Another Life

by Phoenix Frost

For there is no Hope in This One

It was a dark night, late too. That didn't help Twilight. It just made her feel more alone. She was reminded that there was no one around her now. She sat there, in the Hall of Honored Dead in Canterlot, gazing upon the graves of all her friends lined up in front of her. Her loneliness kept her there for hours. Eventually, she heard hoof-steps behind her, and Princess Celestia sat down beside her. "I know it's tough," she said.

The younger alicorn was crying silently and gave out only a sniffle before stuttering, "I-It never o-occurred to me that being i-immortal would mean watching them all die before me."

"I will not lie when I say I know what you are feeling, Twilight."

"No you don't," she sobbed. "Who have you lost? You have been around since the beginning of Equestria, *sniff*, and I-I don't see anypony becoming friends with you for you to miss."

"Listen to yourself, Twilight. You know I miss them too."

"Oh like I should believe that? You didn't know them like I did! I spent time with them everyday and we saw you on rare occasions with little contact anyway! You can't possibly feel my pain right now!" Twilight was growing angry, her eyes watering while glaring at the elder mare, who sat there with her head down and sighed. Twilight directed her attention to the graves again.

There was silence for a few seconds. "His name was Arcano."

Twilight glanced back over, "Huh?"

"He was the only colt I ever loved," a tear rolled down Celestia's cheek, and her voice was quivering. "He was always there for me. We first met on the playground at magic school, when Equestria was still young and vibrant. On a night like tonight, I can't see that image as clearly anymore. I was still a filly, a few thousand years before the Nightmare Moon incident. It was before I was an alicorn and before I ever attempted to move the sun, and all the ponies could play outside as long as they wished since the day never ended. And my favorite foal to play with was my beloved Arcano, a tough, red-coated foal with a dark blue mane." She began to calm down.

"We played tag, hopscotch, and sometimes just ran around in the open fields. As we grew up our relationship became more meaningful. We made arrangements, and we began showing off our magic skills to test who was better. He was ahead of me, most of the time. Until the day I got my cutie mark."

"When you moved the sun for the first time right?" Twilight asked excitedly, had been knowing the simple question.

"Yes that's right," Celestia said with a smile. "But I got more than my cutie mark that day too. You see, when I moved the sun, I bonded myself with it. And when the sun's power merged with me, I grew wings and my magic was greater than anypony else's in Equestria.

"Arcano was so jealous of my ability to move the sun, and frankly so was Luna. They wanted to try for themselves but the sun had accepted me as it's guide, and I would be the one to control where it goes. But we were still friends. Then one day, I decided to lower the sun behind the horizon to see what would happen. The sky went dark, and I saw many beautiful sparks in the sky. But what caught my eye was the large white orb that emerged from where the sun had descended, the moon. Everyone in Equestria was in panic, so I quickly brought the sun back into the sky. Later that day I showed Luna, after I informed everyone of what I did.

"She was amazed, stupefied, and then I told her that she would be the one to control it." Celestia looked happily to the moon, "And she was the happiest little filly have ever seen to this very day."

Twilight had seen how she digressed, "What exactly does this have to do with Arcano?"

The elder's expression turned gloomy again, "You know more than you think, Twilight. When I became an alicorn, I became immortal. My body grew to this powerful size and stopped. But even before I looked like this, I experienced the saddest time of my life. He met me one day in the Canterlot Castle main hall, where I now lived. I still looked young, but as for my lover..." Celestia did not speak for a moment.

"Well?" her student asked. "How did he look?"

The princess was crying her eyes out now, and she breathed heavily, "It wasn't good. His time was near. I-I still remember weak, thin body. A disease clearly had left him on his knees. He looked upon me and said, 'Celestia. My sweet, sweet Celestia. You look as beautiful as ever. I could stare at you for an eternity.'

"I think we both knew that wasn't true though. I tried to comfort him, saying that I could cure him, but actually, it was I who needed comfort. The stallion was so calm, so accepting of his fate, and he continued, 'No, no. No need for that. Nature will cure me in a few minutes, and I thought I would come visit you while I wait.'

"I tried more reasoning, 'No, please! I can help you!' But he went on, 'It's OK, honey. No need to work so hard for me. Listen, I just want you to know that I love you, Dear. Never forget that.'

"I know you do. I've known since we were little. I can't see you go right now." Celestia could not hold back any tears now.

"Don't be like that, sweetie. Remember how I always knew more about spells, how I knew so much more about my life?" Arcano smiled to her. "Take it from me; nothing good in life lasts forever. When you lose that good thing, you have to move on. You can't just cry over the past. Look back and see that you were lucky enough to experience it, and do something else with your life. You only have one."

"Those words have stayed with me for thousands of years," Celestia sobbed silently.

"I know what you mean, Celestia," Twilight sighed. "What he meant, but I can't seem to bring myself out of this. What do I have to look back at? Everything I have done in my life was with them. And they're all dead now!"

"Nonsense!" she assured her. "There are plenty of good things you grew up with. You grew up here, the richest city in Equestria! Studying endlessly, living in your own little world. Does that not mean anything to you anymore?"

Twilight sniffled and rubbed the tears from her eyes, "He he, I guess you're right. I was lucky enough to be your student too. Maybe I should just go back and explore the castle." Her voice was calm, but her eyes were still, as if she had something else on her mind.

Celestia smiled down at her, "Good you go do that. If you need me, I will be in the throne room." And so she left without another word.

Twilight sat for a few more minutes, then eventually got on her hooves and walked to the castle. She made her way to the tallest tower and on her way picked up a rope, sheet of paper, and a quill with some ink. When she had everything she climbed the top, and stood in a room with a balcony, and a dresser that had a mirror resting on top of it. The alicorn took the paper to the dresser, and wrote down her message.

Dear Princess Celestia,

You were right. I do need to look back at life in a positive way. However, all of the best times in my life were with my friends. Coming to Ponyville, defeating so many foes like Nightmare Moon, Discord, the changelings, an even Tirek. For every challenged I have faced, everypony was there by my side. When I had to save the Tree of Harmony, they were there. When King Sombra tried to reclaim the Crystal Empire, they were there. When Sunset Shimmer stole my Element of Harmony, even in another dimension, all my friends were there. I knew they would be with me until the end of the line.

Well, their lines have ended, but mine goes on. And it's not their fault I mean, it was their time. But I'm sure that there is nothing that they would want more than to me with me right now. I wish I could still be here with them. But I can't. Just not here. I need to go somewhere else to see them. Princess Celestia, I want you to know that I am forever grateful for everything that you have done for me. How you made me your very own student, and taught me so many things I could have only dreamed of. I'm sorry I have to let it all go, but what's life without a little sacrifice, right? Goodbye, Celestia, I will miss you.

Sincerely,

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

She put the quill down, and began to cry silently, when she was done, she lifted the rope with her magic, and tied it around her wings, making sure she couldn't fly. Then she faced the mirror on the dresser. She took a deep breath, and her horn began emitting dark magic. She shot at the mirror, and it reflected back at her horn, coating it in dark crystals, much like the ones King Sombra used on Shining Armor. Twilight was unable too use her magic anymore.

She approached the balcony, and looked over the golden railing. She put her front hooves atop it and closed her eyes. With a cringe, Twilight used all her force to propel herself over the railing, and into a free fall hundreds of feet above the ground. Her fate was sealed.

As she fell, she thought about her life once more. She thought about her the last time she had seen each of her friends, All of their dying words.

"It's my time, Sugarcube. I lived a real good life, and it was even better knowing that I met you, honest."

Twilight felt the wind forcing on her face.

"Oh, Darling, I will miss you. I'm afraid I'm not feeling inspired today, but I hope I can inspire you to take pride in your life. Never let go."

She was getting closer.

"For once, Twilight, I'm not afraid. I lived in the shadows as a filly and a little into adulthood, but now, I know what's coming. I can't change that. Goodbye, my friend."

Halfway there.

"It's OK, Twi, you can only fly for so long, even if you're me. My life went by almost as fast as I did too. I'm glad you came, today. I knew you were loyal, kid."

Twilight was speeding to the ground like a bullet.

"Sorry ,Twilight, I don't have it in me for one last party. But you get to go on and laugh through your life and have so much fun. The world is your party, Twilight. Put everything you got into it. It won't last forever.

This was it, her last few seconds.

"Twilight, I know I never amounted to much in life, but since we left Canterlot, I saw you grow into a fantastic pony. Everything you set out for became reality because you worked hard to make it that way. I know it doesn't sound like much coming from one of your closest friends, but this dragon has known you longer than anypony else. You're gonna go far in life, Twilight. I guarantee that."

She was just a couple of feet from the ground now, and for the last fraction of a second of her life, she felt nothing but regret.

The End

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed my first fan fic. It's nothing special but I hope to get some positive feedback from everyone who reads this. More stories in the future.

Comments

[Bootsy Slickmane]

Figured it was about time I checked this out. Pretty good, overall, I felt. Twi was pretty presumptuous, thinking that Celestia had never experience loss like her. But, she always did basically worship Celestia as more than a pony, so she may not really view her as such. During that last little stretch, there was one thought that lingered in my mind. As far as I know, it's true.

Everyone who has ever survived says they changed their mind on the way down. Everyone.

[ShadowKirby]

This was actually really good!
Other then a few missing or incorrect words, it was written very well!
And for me, it's the writing quality and not the spelling and grammar that makes a story good (unless the spelling/grammar is reeeeally bad).
I liked it! ^_^

[ShadowKirby]

P.S. I had to stop reading for a short bit when she was remembering her friend's last words because I was gonna cry, you really did good capturing the emotions.

[Phoenix Frost]

5715130 Well this was my first story, and I've improved much since. I feel like this should be a conclusion chapter, rather than a one-shot. I keep it the way it is, though, because it sort of where I began. When I'm writing my highest quality stuff I can look back at this and be like "Whoa. That was me at one point."

And as twisted as it sounds out of context, I am happy to see you cry.

[ShadowKirby]

5717681
I guess that does sound kinda twisted XD
but I totally get it; I prefer emotion driven stories over other kinds, sow hen writing them you gotta TRY to make the reader get the feels.
I'll check out some of your newer stuff, then~