...and to remember

Twilight Sparkle yawned and squinted as sunlight poured through the shutters in her room.

It was another beautiful morning. Birds chirped, a warm breeze filled the air, and Twilight Sparkle was ready to start her day. Realizing the sun was already up, she quickly checked to make sure her mane was okay. Running out of the little fillies room and going to her desk, she magically took hold of her agenda and flipped through it. Stopping on the date, the 1st of Summer, she smiled. The Summer Sun Celebration!

She was glad Ponyville wasn’t hosting it this year, because the last one they had was, to say the least, exciting. She set it down, and trotted out of her room. Calling Spike, she could hear him grumbling in the distance before hearing quick footsteps. Almost immediately, a baby dragon appeared. Twilight smiled.

“Hey Spike, guess what day it is!” said Twilight. She looked at Spike, expecting an answer.

Spike put a claw to his chin in thoughtful contemplation before shrugging. “I dunno Twilight, what’s the date?”

Twilight deadpanned and looked at the purple dragon with deep disappointment. “It’s the first day of summer, Spike.” Twilight watched as the realization hit Spike. His face lit up.

“Oh yeah! The day you actually made some friends!” Twilight gave Spike a hard glare, before...

Fwump!

“Hey, what gives?!”

Fwump!

“Okay, okay! I’m sorry…” Spike shouted, before Twilight harrumphed and walked past him. Because of Spike’s comment, Twilight had grabbed the nearest thing to her which just so happened to be the very checklist she held in her magic, and began hitting him in the head. Poor Spike…

“Alright Spike, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I want you to go through our checklist for the day.” She levitated the paper to Spike and he looked it over, now somehow holding a quill in his hand.

“Let’s see. Hm… there’s not much on here.”

“What? Just tell me what it is.”

“Alright! Looks like there’s only two. Watch over Ponyville’s Summer Sun Celebration celebrations… and to not forget about your friends.”

Twilight’s smile faltered at what Spike had said.

“W-what Spike? C-could you repeat the last item on the list?” Twilight gulped, looking at her assistant. Spike raised an eyebrow at Twilight.

“Okaaay? It says here, as I said before, that you need to attend Pinkie’s party later today.” Twilight released a sigh of relief and chuckled a bit to herself.

“Calm down Twilight, it’s probably just nerves…” she mumbled to herself. They then began walking together and almost impossibly, they were now standing at her castle doors. Twilight didn’t pay mind, nor did Spike, but there was something that Twilight felt was off.

“Spike, what did you mean by ‘don't forget’?” Twilight asked, unlocking the castle doors with her magic. The twosome began to walk.

“Hm? What do you mean, Twilight?” Spike looked at Twilight with concern.

“When you were reading the list, you said I shouldn't forget my friends. Why would I ever do that?”

“What are you talking about? I never said anything. Are you sure you got enough sleep last night?”

Twilight pondered this, putting a hoof to her muzzle. What had happened last night? All that came to mind was… that it was a long story. It hurt her head to think about it, and she looked at Spike with a small confused smile.

“Must’ve been! Heh heh…” she mumbled. Why was she saying these things? Why was she hearing different things? Just as she was about to brush it off, she saw a shadow in the corner of her eye. Quickly turning her head to see what it was, there was nothing there. She then laughed a little bit again, darting her eyes around, before closing them. She took a deep breath, stood still, exhaled, and felt a calm wash over her. Opening her eyes, she looked to Spike with some determination.

“Sorry Spike, I guess I didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“It’s alright Twilight, let’s just get this ball rolling!”

The next thing Twilight knew, she was standing in the doorway of her castle. Somehow, Pinkie had been able to set up a fully fledged party in a matter of hours. It still baffled her to this day how she was able do such a feat, to be able to just have a party ready in the blink of an eye.

Her best guess was that since her cutie mark was balloons, it would’ve been her special talent.

And why was she thinking in past tense? Twilight was an organized and very very form-fitting mare. She knew what proper tenses were to be used, so why was she thinking like that? She shook her head again and looked at her surroundings. Come to think of it, when did she get here? What had she done to make it here? Looking back, it was all a blur. All of it. Was Twilight going crazy? Was she losing track of time, did she have a… mental illness?- Her thought process was abruptly ended when Applejack came up from behind her.

“Well howdy there, Princess!” Applejack laughed heartily as she greeted one of her best friends. “Enjoying the day so far?” Applejack asked. Seeing Twilight’s face however, she quickly grew serious and put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong, sugarcube?” questioned Applejack. The orange mare looked at Twilight, worry evident in her eyes. “Yer cryin’, did somepony do somethin’ to ya?”

“Wh-wha?” Twilight said at first, putting a hoof to her eyes. To her surprise, she pulled her hoof back wet. She wiped away her tears and sniffled. “Oh, it’s nothing. I don’t know why I was crying, I just saw you and…” Twilight paused.

“And what, Twilight?” Applejack asked, carefully leading Twilight to one of the currently deserted food tables.

“And I thought of how much I missed you…” Twilight finally said, words coming out of her mouth.

“Well that’s a pretty dumb reason, Twi. I can see yer not lyin’, but you just saw me and the rest of the gang a day or two ago,” Applejack reasoned with Twilight. The latter thought about this, sniffled, and shook her head.

“Yeah, sorry, I just… Don’t know what came over me.”

“Maybe you should sit down, darling. You look quite flustered,” came a voice from her left. Both Applejack and Twilight turned to see Rarity trot up to them. She then saw Twilight’s full condition and frowned. “Twilight, Is there something wrong?”

“No. I-”

“Hey guys, what’s up?” A voice from above now said, joining the three mares. Rainbow Dash looked at AJ, Twilight and Rarity with a smile. She then saw Twilight’s condition and landed on the floor. Her concern joined the two mares before her and they all faced Twilight with concern.

“Twilight? Are you okay?” was all Rainbow Dash could say. She wasn’t much into all this mushy stuff, but her friend was distraught and Twilight needed her.

Twilight just kept looking at her friends with confusion and dismay, not quite remembering why she was so unbearably sad yet so happy to see them. Tears started to sprout from her eyes again. Her body began to be racked uncontrollably with sobs and heaves.

With the worst possible timing, Pinkie popped out of nowhere. “Hiya Twilight! Having fun at my-?” Pinkie froze in mid-air as she saw Twilight’s shaking form. Gasping slightly, she pulled Fluttershy from out of nowhere and appeared on the ground next to the rest of the Mane 6. Pinkie began sobbing with Twilight, literal rivers pouring from her eyes. Fluttershy was confused to how she got there so quickly from being at the other end of the party to beside a sad friend, but quickly grew distressed at the sight of Twilight.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy whispered, before pulling Twilight into a hug. Twilight only began to cry harder and harder as the rest of her friends joined in. Twilight, now being hugged by all of her worried best friends, sobbed for a good long while.

Pretty soon, it was well past in the morning and she was only now feeling better. Her friends let go of their hug and each faced Twilight with their own sad and disdained looks.

“Why were you crying, silly?” Pinkie sniffled, rubbing the snot from her muzzle away. She looked at Twilight with tears still present.

“Yes darling, please tell us what is troubling you. Only then can we help you,” Rarity sniffled herself.

“I-If it isn’t t-too much of a bother that is,” Fluttershy added, looking at Twilight sincerely.

“Now you’re making me sad Twilight! Stop it!” Rainbow cried, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to stop.

Applejack took her hat off and looked Twilight in the eyes. “Now I may not be an expert at comfortin’, but I know for a fact that all of us here can help you if ya just tell us what’s wrong.”

“That’s just it, Applejack, everything about this is wrong! All of you, this place, all of it!” Twilight stomped her hoof and even more tears streamed down her face. “All of you died a long, long time ago. You’re nothing but a memory…” Twilight cried, before fully collapsing to the ground. Unbeknownst to her, the five mares nodded toward each other and looked at the mess of a mare in front of them.

“I just want to forget. I just wanted to forget!” Twilight wailed, crying, crying, and crying some more. She couldn’t stop for the life of her, and she couldn’t understand why this was happening now of all times.

“Twilight, darling,” Rarity began, “Just because we’re memories, it doesn’t make us any less real.”

“All these many years, Twi, mourning over our deaths. It’s just not worth it,” Applejack said, putting her hat back on. “You have to move on.”

“But I can’t, can’t you see? I’m nothing without you girls, and now you’re mocking me by only being nothing more than remnants of my friends!” Twilight cried once again, looking up at them. It broke her heart to be yelling at them, even mere memories of them, yet she couldn’t stop. “I tried everything to cope, I tried to bring you back! But nothing beats death, not even magic, so stop fooling me by making me think you’re all still here!”

“But we are here Twilight,” Fluttershy whispered, yet her voice carried the impact of a moving train. “We’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”

“However cliché it may be, Twilight, we are here- in here.” Pinkie Pie motioned to where their heart would be. “I would never have wanted you to feel sad about my passing either. I want you to have fun, enjoy the rest of your life, don’t be sad!”

“But how?” Twilight grumbled bitterly. “You’re all gone, Starlight’s not too far off… I just wanted to forget the pain. Forget the sorrow. Forget it all, with a spell!"

“But if you forgot us, who would become the stupid egghead that can carry on our legacy?” Rainbow finally spoke, looking at Twilight with disappointment. “Just because you’re missing us, doesn’t mean you can’t make new friends. You are the ‘Princess of Friendship’.”

“But I don’t want new friends!” Twilight shouted, rising in anger and sadness. “I want you girls! I want to have parties with Pinkie, tea parties with Fluttershy, flight lessons from Rainbow Dash, an apple pie from Applejack and a spa day with Rarity! You don’t know how much I miss those things, nor do you know how much I miss all of you!” Twilight looked away from them and began to cry silently. She didn’t want to look at those false copies of her friends from so many years back. Even though it hurt her to turn her back on her friends. Even if they were memories. She couldn’t bear it. She just couldn’t. “There’s only three other ponies alive that I still know and will continue to know… But they’re not the same as all of you.”

“Yet at the end of everything, Twilight, one must expect the company of immortals,” a more regal voice sounded from behind her. Twilight widened her eyes and turned around to see the Princess of the Night, Princess Luna herself.

“Luna,” Twilight grudgingly said with an edge, “You must’ve set this up. You must’ve conjured up these, these copies of my friends to convince me to stop. But you can’t! You mustn’t! You have to let me forget, you have to let me be rid of all this sorrow…” Twilight began to cry again. She narrowed her eyes in anger at Luna, who stood her ground and remained neutral at Twilight’s lashing.

“That’s just it, Twilight. We’re not fake, we’re real. The Princess here has got some real good magic up her sleeves because we are literally here, talking with you,” Applejack explained to Twilight. Princess Luna remained ever neutral, but she nodded in agreement with Applejack.

“Ya egghead, when will you ever learn? We’ll always be here for you,” Rainbow said with a smile. “Besides, who would want to forget my awesomeness?” Everypony, even Luna groaned.

“Now Rainbow…-” Applejack began to reprimand, but Rainbow already knew what was up.

“Yeah yeah,” Rainbow muttered, earning a small giggle from Twilight. She smiled again at that.

“I stand by what I said,” Pinkie then barked, standing on two hooves and putting a hoof across her heart. “We all Pinkie Promise to stay by your side, too! Always. Isn’t that right girls?” Everypony except Luna and Twilight nodded and did the motions, all ending with a hoof on their eye.

“You shouldn’t be trying to forget us Twilight,” Rarity said, looking at Twilight’s still evident shock from this new revelation. “We are here now, and we don’t want you to forget. If you were to forget, we might even cease to exist.”

Fluttershy came close to Twilight and looked at her with matching sorrow. “There were so many good times, Twilight,” Fluttershy whispered, smiling as she began to reminisce. “If you were to forget us, it would break our hearts. You became Princess of Friendship for a reason, and that was because you were friends with us.”

Twilight now looked at all of her friends with utmost respect and tears of bitter joy and sadness. “I-I’m so sorry girls. I’m so sorry… But it still doesn’t change the fact that you’re all well and truly gone.”

“You still don't get it Twi. Just because you can't see us, just cause we're not here anymore, doesn't mean we can't always be with you. I'm the Element of Honesty even after death Twilight, so you know I'm not lying,” Applejack said. They then all nodded to Princess Luna, who smiled at them and then faced Twilight.

“This may be the last time you get to talk with your truest friends, Twilight,” Luna said. Although it was quiet, it still somehow boomed around them and echoed in the dreamscape. “Say what you must, for I cannot hold this magic for much longer.” Nodding, Twilight looked at her five mare friends, and they all grinned, gathering into one big, final hug.

“I’m so sorry… and if it’s my last chance to say it… I love you girls.”

“We love you too Twilight,” Flutttershy said. Everypony hugged a little tighter and nodded in agreement.

“Don’t forget us, Twi,” Applejack smiled, letting go and tipping her hat.

“Stay awesome,” Rainbow pointed a hoof at Twilight and grinned after letting go as well.

“Please try and have some good fashion sense,” Rarity said, and Twilight rolled her eyes smiling as she too, let go. Finally, Fluttershy let go, leaving Pinkie the last one to be hugging Twilight.

“I don’t want you getting sad about us anymore, you hear?” Pinkie cried, jumping off of Twilight and then pushing her muzzle against Twilight’s. Twilight quickly nodded, smiling at Pinkie’s antics. Pinkie smiled, and then raised an eyebrow. She grabbed Twilight’s face and pressed it against hears. “Pinkie Promise?” Pinkie shouted straight into Twilight’s faces. Twilight fell back and quickly did the motions.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Twilight recited, and Pinkie smiled once again.

The five mares then lined up, and stood beside Luna. Twilight couldn't help but smile at her friends, happy she could know that they would never leave her. Those five mares... What would she be right now if she hadn't ever been friends with them? She shook her head and her eyes glistened as she waved her hoof at them. They all smiled reassuringly at Twilight.

"Please stay..." Twilight whispered, yet it pierced everypony to the core.

"You know we can't, Twi," Applejack said.

"And, from a certain point of view, we are still here," Rarity comforted.

"And remember your PINKIE PROMISE!" Pinkie yelled. Twilight nodded quickly and smiled. Even after death, she didn't want to know what would happen if she broke a Pinkie Promise.

"Live a good life, Twilight. Don't worry about us," Fluttershy said softly. Her smile spoke a million words yet said nothing at all.

"And remember who you are! You're not a crying mess, you're Princess Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship! How awesome is that?!" Rainbow's voice scratched but the message was understood all the same.

"Thank you, girls. I... I don't know who I would be without you," Twilight bit her lip and suppressed the urge to tear up. "I'll miss you girls."

"Yet we'll always be here when you need us," Rarity assured. As quickly as it had all started, it began to end.

“It is time, my little ponies,” Princess Luna announced. Suddenly, a blinding white light appeared behind Luna. It shone its light bright, bathing the ground in its unnatural white. The five mares prepared to go, all standing side by side as they were watched by Luna and Twilight. They then glanced back at Twilight, who began crying once more, and they all walked into it…

…
…
…

Twilight awoke crying at the tombstones of five of the greatest mares in Equestrian history. She sobbed a bit, her breath catching in her throat as she cried, almost like hiccuping. She then felt a presence nearby, and turned her head to see Princess Luna standing there, watching her. They stood, watching each other carefully while Twilight looked at her with hesitancy and displeasure.

“How did you know I would be here?” Twilight asked, motioning to the secluded tombs of her best friends.

“Since Pinkie Pie died, I figured it was only a matter of time until something in you finally broke,” Princess Luna said nonchalantly.

“But how did you get them to come back? How was I able to communicate with them?”

“It is a very old magick that I came across, only accessible to those who possess dream magic. I being one of the few that did possess such magic and the skill to learn it, took it upon myself to learn this long forbidden spell. In most cases, it can only summon the spirit of a deceased once, but I feel your friends are exceptions. The reason being, it is very taxing on the spirit’s magical essence and your own magical reserves. I assume they have now helped you understand a little more of… everything?”

The two stayed silent after this. Twilight eventually stopped crying. After mulling it over, she finally responded,

“Th-thank you Princess, for letting me talk to my friends one last time.”

Princess Luna finally cracked a smile, and Luna flew away to attend to the rest of Equestria. Now alone, Twilight looked at the 5 tombs and got misty-eyed before taking a deep breath, shuddering, and releasing. She now couldn’t believe she ever thought forgetting was a plausible option. I know I already promised, but I will do so again, she thought, before smiling and looking up at the beautiful night sky.

I promise never to forget…

And to always remember.

~END~

Author's Note:

Eek!

Please use constructive criticism to tell me how bad I did!

Hnngggh...

I pulled an overnighter just for this...

And that's a lot considering I went on a 4 day camp where I hiked 50k, which took up 95% of the time I would need to write a better fic than this...

Oh well.

All the best,

Doctor Disco