Eternal Love, Life, and Death

by Fiction Quill

Painful Decision

It was another beautiful day in Equestria, at least for most creature's, even Lance tends to love mornings at times, but today was not one of them. Celestia's sun beamed brightly into the window of Lance's room shining in his face. One of the times he hates mornings.

"Ugh. Stupid sun." Lance check the clock to see it was 7:15 in the morning. Too early even for him. It would be better if he had his marefriend with him, but Twilight didn't want to rush things by spending every night with him. The furthest they had gone is kissing and cuddling, and Lance was content with that. Lance did have a problem of getting a little clingy; however, one of his downfalls for his past relationships. Lance doesn't think Twilight would leave at the first sign of being clingy, but he doesn't want to take any chances.

Lance got up and took a quick shower before getting dressed and heading down to the dining hall. When he arrived, he Noticed something seemed to be bothering Twilight. Lance sighed as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, much to her surprised but she smiled when she saw it was Lance.

"Good morning Lance. How was your sleep?" Lance shrugged.

"Eh, Can't complain too much. What about you?" Twilight sighed.

"About the same." Lance looked at her concerned as he held her close.

"Is something wrong? You don't seem like yourself." Twilight flinched before adorning an awkward smile.

"N-No! Nothing is wrong! Everything is fine!" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"You do remember that I watched a show about all of you for five years, so I know you very well especially when you are
lying." Twilight froze for a moment but then sighed heavily.

"You're right. I'm sorry; I have a lot on my mind." Lance nodded as he rubbed her hoof comfortingly.

"You wanna talk about it?" Twilight shakes her head.

"No I will be fine, I promise." Lance sighs but nods in understanding.

"Alright. Just know that you can talk to me about anything. Remember I am more than just your boyfriend. I am your friend too." Lance lets go of Twilight as he makes his way out of the castle. Twilight sighs as Spike walks in the dining hall.

"You know, Twilight, you really shouldn't hide this from him," Spike says as he hands a letter to Twilight. Twilight nods.

"I know Spike; I am just so afraid of what he will do when he finds out." Spike groans in annoyance.

"While I understand Twilight, he does have a right to know." Twilight shakes her head.

"I can't risk it, Spike." Spike sighs in defeat as he walks away.

"Whatever. I will leave it up to you to tell him." Twilight begins to cry as she read the letter once again.

Dear Twilight.
I am happy to inform you that we have found a way to return Lance home.
However, it is a one-way trip. Should he choose to go home, he will never be able to return.
I know you, and your friends will miss him dearly but time is of the essence.
We must do this by the end of the week, or he will miss his only opportunity to go home.
Please inform him quickly so he may give us a quick response.

Your beloved Teacher.
Princess Celestia.

"I-I don't want him to go..." Twilight sobbed as she contemplated what she should do.

---

Lance began to walk through Ponyville, hoping to make friends with the rest of the residents of the small town. Lance started to hear several hooves trotting behind him and judging by the fact that they aren't very loud he could probably guess who it is. Lance turned around to see who was walking up to him and sure enough, he was right, It was the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"There he is! See! I told ya we would find him leavin' Twilight's Castle!" Sweetie Belle looked up at Lance.

"Dang he sure is tall!. You were right that he would be here Applebloom." Scootaloo nodded.

"He looks strange though. Rainbow Dash said he was something called a Human." Applebloom looks Lance up and down.

"I wonder if he has a Cutie Mark.. Hey mister! Do you have a Cutie Mark?" Lance Chuckled as he shook his head.

"No, I don't. You see-" But before Lance could finish, the CMC began to squeal in delight.

"Ah can't believe it! We finally found someone new we can help get their Cutie Mark!" Lance tried to interject.

"Um, girls?" But he was unheard.

"I know! This is so exciting!" Scootaloo nodded excitedly.

"This is going to be AWESOME!" Lance pinched the bridge of his nose seeing where this was going to go.

"Wait. Can Humans even get Cutie Marks?"Applebloom looked at Sweetie Belle scratching her head.

"Ah don't know. He is the first and only human in Equestria, but we won't know until we try!" Scootaloo nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! let's give it a shot!" The CMC nodded in unison as they jumped up and high-hoofed each other.

"Yeah!" They all said in unison.

"YEAH!!!" Lance and the CMC looked to see Bulk Biceps doing a cheer of his own and causing the CMC to raise an eyebrow while Lance couldn't help but laugh. The CMC just shrugged and began to talk to one another again.

"So What should we try first?" Lance sighed.

"Hey, girls?" But once again they didn't hear him as they two of them looked at Scootaloo.

"Well, we might want to try on something small first. We don't want to break the only Human in Equestria." Lance decided to try again but a little louder this time.

"Girls?" But they still didn't quite hear him over their excitement. Applebloom nodded to Sweetie Belle's response.

"Ah Agree, but we do need to give him something challenging. So how about we try mountain climbing first?" The other crusaders nodded in unison and all they high-hoofed each other once again.

"Yeah!" Lance was tired of this and decided to get their attention

"GIRLS!" They all stopped and looked at Lance shocked and confused. Lance sighed in relief once he finally got their attention.

"Yes, Mister Human?" Lance just rolled his eyes and laughed softly.

"First of all, my name is Lance. Secondly, I don't have a Cutie Mark because humans can't get them." The CMC gasped in unison.

"You can't?! Then how do you find out your special talent and purpose in life?" Applebloom nodded.

"What if humans CAN'T have Special talents?" Sweetie Belle grabbed the side of her head as she began to freak out.

"Of all of the things that could happen, This is The. Worst. Possible. Thing!" The other two crusaders looked at Sweetie Belle strangely.

"You have been around your sister too much Sweetie Belle." Sweetie Belle smiled sheepishly as she blushed. Lance chuckled to himself.

"Well the best way I can put it to you girls is to think of this situation like Gabby's." The three fillies looked at each other confused.

"You mean you can be good at more than one thing?" Lance nodded.

"Exactly that's how humans are. Sometimes we can be good at many things or sometimes a few things. Very rarely a person can be good at everything or very rarely they can be good at nothing. Many factors can determine which is true for people." Applebloom looked confusingly at Lance.

"Then how do you find your callin' in life?" Lance smiled.

"Many humans have different ways of finding out what they want to do with their lives, but as for me, I listened to this." Lance too his index finger and pointed it to where Appleblooms heart is. The fillies smiled and nodded in understanding as they asked him more questions, in which Lance as more than happy to answer.

---

Back at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight still sat there questioning what she should do. Starlight sat with her as Twilight continued to cry.

"What am I supposed to do Starlight? I know I should tell him and give him the letter but what if he DOES decide to go back?" Starlight frowned.

"Then we let him go. It is ultimately his decision, and you shouldn't deny him this choice, however, remember on the train he did say he was going to stay here remember?" Twilight nodded, and she blew her nose.

"Yes but what if he only chose that because he believed there was no way of going back? He might change his mind once he finds out that there is a way." Starlight sighed.

"He might and he might not. We won't know for sure unless you tell him the truth. I know this is painful for you Twilight, Especially after you two got together, but think of his feelings for a moment. Yes, Lance has friends here, but his family is back in his dimension. Are you going to deny him that?" Twilight looked at Starlight shocked for a moment before she burst into more tears.

"B-But I-" Twilight couldn't continue knowing Starlight was right.

"As Spike said it's up to you, just consider Lance's feelings and what might be best for him before you decide anything." Twilight nodded as Starlight got up and walked towards her room.

Twilight sat there for hours thinking on what both Starlight and Spike had said to her. She didn't want to lose him, the one guy who genuinely liked her and shared her interests, but she knew she couldn't be selfish about this. She had to tell him. She had to give Lance the letter. As Twilight made her choice, she heard the doors to the Castle open. She knew it was him. Spike hadn't left the Castle all day and Starlight had already come back from her day with Trixie, and she had already asked that no pony in town disturb her today, not even her friends. She heard his footsteps approaching the dining hall. Before he came in, she dried her tears and cleaned her face off. She had to this, for him.

Lance had finally come in from spending the day with the crusaders, and he was pretty exhausted. Lance figured he would get a quick bite from the kitchen and go to bed early, but little did he know that Twilight was waiting for him in the dining hall once he had made it into the dining to see Twilight still sitting in the same chair. Has Twilight been there all day? Lance thought. This only made him even more concerned.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Twilight turned to look at Lance with a severe look on her face.

"Lance we need to talk" Lance knew what those words meant, and it was never a good thing.

"Twi. If I had done something to upset you-" Twilight held up her hoof and shook her head as she tried to fight back the tears.

"No, you have done nothing wrong. It is I who have wronged you." Lance looked at her confused. She sighed as she levitated the letter over to him.

"What's this?" Twilight chocked back her tears trying to keep a brave face.

"A letter from Princess Celestia. It may be addressed to me, but it is for you." Lance was curious as he opened the letter and began to read it. Twilight knew he has finished reading as he dropped the note from his hands and adorned a shocked look upon his face.

"They found a way to get me home." Twilight knew it was over the moment he read it, and she did her best to put on the bravest face she could muster.

"Yes! Now you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. You can return to your friends and family! Don't worry about Roman we can take care of him, but if you don't go back soon, you will lose your only chance of returning home." Lance looked at Twilight questioningly.

"But what about you, our friends? What about us?" Twilight almost broke from that, but she knew she had to be strong.

" We will all miss you dearly when you leave, but we will be alright. We will take a picture with you to commemorate our meeting, and as for you and me, we haven't been together for long Lance. I can't and won't ask you to choose me over your own home. I want you to be happy Lance, and we both know you want to go back to your home. Please go back to your life in your dimension.." Lance began to tear up.

"Y-You want me to leave?" Twilight gasped and shook her head as she started to cry tears of her own.

"No! Of course not! I want you to stay here more than anything! You aren't just my colt-friend Lance you are one of my best friends. But if you became miserable because you lost your only chance to go back, then I wouldn't be to forgive myself. Maybe it would have been better if we had never met..." With that, the dam broke for both Twilight and Lance. Lance was so conflicted he didn't know what to do. He wanted to stay here with Twilight so severely, but he can't deny that he wanted to return home. Lance left the dining hall, no longer have the appetite to eat he decided to go for a walk around Ponyville once again.

Twilight continued to cry relentlessly as both Spike and Starlight approached her. Spike decided to speak up first.

"You did the right thing Twilight. We know this is hard for you, but now Lance has the choice to go back or stay, but I don't think you need to-"

"He is going back." Both Starlight and Lance looked at her as she spoke.

"How do you know for sure Twilight?" Twilight shook her head in defeat.

"I could tell by the look on his face. I can tell he wants to stay, but he is going to go back home." Twilight began to cry harder as Starlight attempted to comfort her.

"Twilight, Listen to me. It's going to be al-

"Please leave me alone! "After Twilight's sudden outburst she teleported away. Starlight charged up her horn to follow her, but Spike put a claw on her shoulder and shook his head.

"It's best just to leave her be, for now, let her calm down, and then we will try to talk to her." Starlight nodded as she sighed and canceled her magic.

Deep within the Everfree Forest sat Twilight in tears while she looked at the same spot where Lance had landed when he
first arrived in Equestria. She remembered it like it was yesterday.

FLASHBACK

Twilight and her friends were currently treading through the Everfree Forest with determined, yet worried looks on their faces. Fluttershy is the most frightened.

"T-Twilight are you sure we shouldn't wait until morning for this? The Everfree Forest is even more dangerous and frightening at night." Twilight just shook her head.

I am sorry Fluttershy, but it can't. Discord sensed a disturbance, and it wouldn't be wise if we just ignored it. We need to find out what has happened." Applejack nodded.

"Ah Agree. It could be something bad, and we can't just leave it be." Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Well, whatever it is. We will kick its flank and send it packing!" Rarity scoffed.

"Rainbow Dash? Must you always be so uncouth?" Pinkie Pie smiled and giggled.

"Besides it might not be something bad, but super fun! Like a new friend!" Twilight stopped in front of a bush as she looked back towards the others.

"Well, we are about to find out. We are here." Twilight and her friends looked through the bush and saw what appeared to be, a human laying down on the ground injured, she remembered learning about them when she went through the mirror, but this one looked different. Twilight gasped and immediately rushed over to the human.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?! You have a serious injury! Quick girls help me move him to the castle!" She could have sworn she saw that he was conscious when she was picking him up with her magic, but if he was, he wasn't now. Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight confused.

"Are you crazy?! Do you know what this thing is? Because we sure don't! "Twilight nodded

"Yes, and I will explain everything later, but if we don't take care of his injuries soon he will die!" Their eyes widened as they nodded and ran over to lift him off of the ground. Applejack groaned as she struggled to hold him.

"This guy is heavier than he looks!" Twilight nodded beginning to panic.

"I understand, but we need to get him to the castle and fast!" Pinkie looked at Twilight confused.

"Then why not just teleport us?" Twilight stopped for a moment and began to turn red and smile sheepishly.

"Right, sorry." Twilight charged up her horn as she teleported them all to a spare bedroom in the castle.

Twilight quickly did what she could with Fluttershy's help to remove the lead pipe and patch up the wound on his leg, after that was said and done she decided to scan his body for further injuries and found he had some broken ribs and she did what she could to fix those as well. After they were finished treating him, they left the human to rest and 2 hours later they had heard a crash from his room and had decided to check on him. The human they would soon come to know as Lance.

FLASHBACK OVER

Twilight cried profusely, wishing that Lance had never ended up in Equestria.

---

Lance continued his walk through Ponyville, sighing along the way. Lance wanted to stay, and he had decided to in the first place because of Twilight, yes, but he also figured he wouldn't be able to go back to his dimension. Now he has the chance, his ONLY chance to be more precise. If he decided to stay he would never see his friends or family again, but if he went back he would never see Twilight or the others yet, except behind a tv screen, but it's not the same as being with them in person. Twilight and her friends had become an essential part of Lance's life, and he theirs, so could he break all of their hearts, especially Twilight's by going back? Lance sat down on a bench as he chokes back some tears.

"What am I supposed to do? What is the right call?"

"Looks like I am not the only one out for a walk, so you must be Lance? Lance looked in the direction of the voice and saw a pony with a light ember coat with a fiery red and yellow mane and tail, and her cutie mark resembled a red and bright yellow sun. Lance instantly recognized the pony.

"Your Sunset Shimmer? What are you doing here? I figured you would be living in the world through the mirror." Sunset giggled.

"Twilight said you knew a lot about Equestria, so it wouldn't be too far fetched if you knew about my life beyond the mirror as well, although not everything. Canterlot High let out for summer so I decided I would come and visit Princess Celestia and my family for a while." Lance adorned a frown as he looks up tot he sky.

"Must be nice, to be able to travel between worlds like that anytime you want." Sunset looked at him concerned.

"I can tell something is bothering you, do you want to talk about it?" Lance scoffed a little.

"Even if I did you wouldn't understand. You weren't stuck with the choice I am stuck with. By the time you wanted to go back to Equestria you had the choice without the consequences." Sunset sighed as she walked up and sat beside him.

"So I take it Princess Celestia found a way to get you home, but if you go back to your home you won't be able to return here?" Lance nodded sadly.

"it's a one-way trip, and I only have a week, before I lose my only opportunity to leave." Sunset nodded.

"But you aren't sure if you want to leave, because of your relationship with Twilight?" Lance looked at Sunset shock, but then chuckle as he shook his head.

"So I take it Twilight wrote to you about me? Sunset giggled as she nodded.

"Yeah, even before you two got together, and it was hard to focus on my finals from her constant bragging about you. I have to say though I was a bit surprised. She was so hung up on Flash that I figured those two were together." Lance shook his head.

"She was, but only because he was the first guy to show interest in her, however, they didn't share much in common." Sunset nodded.

"Anyways, back to your dilemma. Your right, I never had to make a decision exactly like this before, but there is a reason why I never chose to come back here, besides what I did during my tutelage under Princess Celestia." Lance looked at Sunset confused.

"Why is that?" Sunset smiled.

"While, yes I had that choice I decided not to move back because I made myself a good life there. I know our situations are different, but if they weren't, I still wouldn't change my decision." Lance looked at her a bit shocked.

"What about your family and Princess Celestia and Twilight?" Sunset giggled.

"Yes I would miss them, but I have something very precious to me in that world that I just can't leave behind." Sunset smiled as she looked to a group of ponies who were laughing as they say around a table telling jokes and eating a meal. Lance looked in their direction as well confused for a moment but then smiled.

"Your friends." Sunset nodded happily.

"Exactly! What made you decide to stay here? Besides the whole *might not be able to go back* thing." Lance looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You already know the answer to that." Sunset rolled her eyes before nodding.

"Yes I do, but do YOU? I mean, do you fully understand the reason why you wanted to stay here?" Lance began to ponder for a moment, but then it hit him. The answer was so simple, yet he didn't see it until he had remembered that night he had his date with Twilight. When he danced with her, he knew what he wanted, and he mentally slapped himself for losing sight of that.

"I wanted to be with Twilight, more than anything. I can't believe I lost sight of that!" Sunset smiled.

"So now that you know your reason, what are you going to do?" Lance smiled as he took off running towards the castle.

"To correct my mistake!" Sunset smiled as she watched him run off.

---

Twilight sighed as she decided it was time to head back, after all, she didn't want her friends to worry, she hopes that Lance would give her a chance to say goodbye before he leaves. Twilight teleported to the castle dining hall to see Starlight waiting for her. Starlight saw Twilight and ran up to hug her.

"I am so glad you are back! I was worried about you!" Twilight smiled a little as she hugged her former student back.

"Thanks, Starlight. I am sorry I worried you." When the broke, the hug Starlight looked to her friend in concern.

"Are you doing okay?" Twilight sighed as she shook her head.

"No, but I will be fine in time. Can you please get our friends so they can all say goodbye to Lance before he leaves." Starlight nods in understanding as she teleports away. Twilight sighed as she walks to the throne room, only to see Spike and Lance standing there. Twilight chocked back her tears as she made her way over to them. Spike is the first to notice.

"Hey, Twilight you might want to stick around Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will be here soon." Twilight bit her lip as she started to tear up, but she was able to keep her emotions in check.

"G-Great! Now we need to wait on the girls." No sooner had she said that Starlight appeared with the others and they each had sad and even depressed looks on their faces. Rarity was the first to say something.

"Do you have to go? We will all miss you when you are gone." Applejack nodded.

"You may not have been here very long, but we all consider you a friend." Rainbow Dash was next.

"We never got to hang out much, but we still think you are an awesome friend." Fluttershy tears up a little.

"I was hoping to introduce you to all of my animal friends, but we understand if you want to go back home." Pinkie wanted to cry, but she stayed strong as she knew this was hurting Twilight the most.

"I never got to throw you a party either. Promise you will watch the show every day, so you will never forget us." Twilight was close to breaking down, but she knew she had to be strong. Lance scratched the back of his head.

"Well-" Before he could tell them the truth, both Celestia and Luna had appeared in the throne room.

"Thou hast called upon us Lance?" Lance nodded as Celestia looked around seeing Twilight and her friend's faces well up with tears as she sighed.

"I take it you have received the letter from Twilight?" Lance nodded.

"Yes, princess." Celestia nodded. She noticed Twilight even more distraught than the others.

"We don't have much time. We only have six days left, so when do you wish to leave?" Twilight and her friend's sobbed quietly as they held each other. Lance smiled as he shook his head.

"Princess I have decided to stay." Everyone looked at Lance in shock Especially the Princesses.

"Lance, you do realize this is your only window of opportunity? If you don't take it, then you will never be able to return to your world ever again." Lance nodded.

"I know, and I will miss all of my family and friends there, but I realized how happy I am here, even if I don't get accepted by every-pony in Equestria. I have a much more important reason why I want to stay here." Lance smiled as he looked lovingly at Twilight causing her cry once more, but this time they were tears of joy. Twilight immediately let go of her friends as she ran up to Lance and jump in his arms as she cried in his chest. Lance pulled his face to hers as he kissed her deeply and passionately causing Twilight to blush profusely, but returning the kiss with just as much passion. Everyone else looked on in shock, except for Starlight, Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie. Celestia smiled as she nodded.

"I understand Lance. I am glad you have chosen to stay. I know you will have a happy life here. Let's go, Luna." Luna nodded after shaking off the shock she just had and teleported away with her sister. Both Twilight and Lance were still holding the kiss as Rainbow Dash looked at the others.

"They have to come up for air sometime, don't they?" After a few more minutes both Twilight and Lance finally broke the kiss and smile to one another as Twilight still had tears in her eyes.

"Please tell me this isn't a dream. You are staying?" Lance smiled as he kissed Twilight's forehead.

"I promise you that this is very real, and yes I am staying permanently." Twilight's smile only grew at that as she clung to his chest and sobbed happily as Lance smiled and held her close.

No longer able to contain their excitement as they ran up and tackled Lance into a hug as they all laughed. This caused Lance to laugh as he started hugging them all back. Lance knew where he belonged, and now a more difficult task laid ahead of him. Finding and stopping Roman, but he has no idea where he is or if he is even alive. Lance knew all he could do is wait.