Hope Cuts Deep
Twilight Sparkle hated hope.
For something that had gotten her so far, through so many tough situations, led her to so much victory, kept her friends coming back again and again… it sure hurt.
Because when one has hope, one clings to that hope like it’s the last thing in the world that they have. And, perhaps, in some cases, it is. But when that hope gets dashed… when that belief that things will be okay finally withers away, dispersed into the wind… when you are left with nothing but your pain and suffering that hope once kept at bay… you wish you had never hoped in the first place.
It was something so essential, yet so horrible.
Twilight Sparkle could never have gotten as far as she had without hope.
But now, because of it, she was going nowhere.
Every day was the same: nothing but her, and her thoughts, and her books… though the stories that she remembered reading as a foal, that had once filled the void that her friends had, did little to numb the pain. She searched through the best and the oldest and the newest spellbooks in the land, searching for something - anything - to fix this… but came up empty hooved.
Which led to desperate measures.
The last remnants of her friends, and what they had once stood for, were shattered into dozens of pieces in a locked box that she looked at every day, wondering if it would help renew her old energy. But it never did.
All she had was the knowledge that the world was crumbling around her… that magic had been lost… and that her friends were forever gone.
And there was no way to get them back.
At least… not that she knew.
It was a day like any other when all that hope came rushing back… and when it would prove to be more painful than all of the trials she’d endured over the years put together.
The cave was one she’d found in the very farthest reaches of Equestria - where it was guaranteed that none of the evil could follow her there. She had her books, she had what little she could find of her friends, and she had just one reminder of what she’d lost: a small picture hanging on the wall over her bookshelf, which was always empty, with the books spread out all over. The picture showed six ponies together, grinning like this was the only place in the world that they wanted to be.
She would give anything to go back to those days.
Like every day for the past year (or had it been several years? She had lost count. Centuries could have passed, and she would never have known), Twilight began by reading a book. One book in particular. A deep purple volume, one that the years had not been kind to, with a picture of a six pointed star surrounded by five other gems in a horseshoe formation.
She thought she was prepared.
She was always wrong.
Even the sight of the hoofwriting - the lessons recorded long before the journal existed, painstakingly copied into the purple book so that everything her friends had ever learned was in there - was enough to make her eyes fill with tears. She tried to be careful to not let the tears spill onto the precious book’s pages, but on many of the pages, there were blurs where the drops of water had fallen, making some of the words hard to read.
Twilight Sparkle didn’t care. She had already memorized all of the lessons long ago, and now the journal was merely a reminder of what she and her friends had accomplished together.
Some days she got further than others before she inevitably closed the book, curled up into a ball, and sobbed. She had never yet made it to the end. The pain and the grief was too much to bear… but every time she put the book away, the small spark of hope inside her heart grew stronger.
There had to be a way… there had to be.
A way to bring them back, to make everything the way that it was before. She couldn’t do this on her own, she couldn’t fix the world she had sworn to protect, but if she could find a way to bring them back…
Then everything would be fine.
They had defeated worse before.
On this particular day, Twilight wiped her eyes after reading the journal and shakily stood up, folding back her wings and blowing her bangs out of her eyes. She carefully stepped around the books scattered on the floor, lacking the energy - or the care - to clean them up, until she arrived at the only exit in the entire cave: a large opening in the side of the mountain with a long walkway of stone sloping steeply upwards, concealing the opening from view. She climbed to the top, letting the breeze push her long mane out of her face and blow through her wings, pushing away all of her cares and worries along with it.
Without all the grief flooding her mind, she had a spare minute or two to think about the wrongness in the world.
Perhaps it was just an old instinct from when she was the Princess of Friendship, but ever since magic had disappeared, there was a feeling of wrong in the air, like something was out of place, and it was driving Twilight crazy not knowing what it was. But today, it felt… stronger, but also weaker. She didn’t know.
It had been a long time since she’d felt something like this. The last time was when she was standing with her friends, a beam of light hurtling straight towards them-
She jolted out of the memory, tears beginning to fill her eyes. Don’t think about it, she mentally commanded herself. Don’t go back. You’ll never return if you do. It’s up to you to fix this. You are Equestria’s guardian - you can’t just give up! You can’t fail them!
And yet, she knew that she had already failed them. She had let this happen. This was all her fault.
And there were only five other ponies that she knew of who could fix it.
But they were gone.
Twilight took a deep, shuddering breath and forced the thoughts from her mind. Focus on getting through the day.
She just had to hold onto hope that magic could return - that her plan could work. Then everything would be fine again. Equestria would be just like it was in the old days, and she wouldn’t be alone anymore.
Twilight didn’t know how long she stood there, looking out over the barren landscape, thinking about Equestria, until the sun was setting and the feeling of wrongness had reached its peak. It was so strong that Twilight eventually turned around and dashed inside her cave again, standing in front of her messy bookshelf, staring at the picture above it. Six ponies. Best friends. It had been so long ago… yet it felt like it was yesterday… she missed those days… where had they gone? She should have enjoyed them more when she had them.
She would give anything to be in those days again.
She wrapped her wings around herself. Everything’s going wrong. My friends are gone. I’ll never get them back. Magic is gone, and it’ll never come back-
Then, suddenly, there was a huge blast across the sky, and Twilight’s cave, usually dark and bland, was filled with more light and color than she had ever seen since her reign. She gasped as she was filled with a feeling long absent, and her horn lit up a dazzling magenta color, and she turned and ran to the mouth of the cave and all the way up until she could see what was going on-
The sky was full of lights. Rainbow auroras sparkled in the night sky, the stars twinkling faintly in their splendor, and everything was as bright as day.
Magic was back.
Which meant that it might be able to work now.
It had to work. She wouldn’t be able to imagine what might happen if it failed.
She turned around and ran back into the cave, her hooves slipping, sending books scattering into every corner of the cave, but she didn’t care. Because there were things more important than books. If anything, she secretly resented her studies for getting in the way of her having friends. Perhaps, if she had spent less time with her nose in a book, she could have had more time with her friends.
But deep down inside, she added that to another long list of things that were her fault - things that she now had to fix.
Sitting in the corner was a blue chest decorated with gems, covered in a thin layer of dust and tears. Inside were the shattered remains of what she once thought were the most important things in the world. She used her magic to grab it and turned around, using her wings to propel herself forward, faster, faster, faster…
She didn’t know how long magic would remain. It might disappear in a few minutes. She had to act now.
Her horn glowed brighter as she stood there, the chest open in front of her, the shards of the gemstones levitating out of the chest, encased in a magenta light. She recited the spell in her mind, over and over again, like she had for the past few decades.
Bit by bit, the different pieces of the gems gravitated towards each other, until they formed six different shapes: a star, a diamond, a butterfly, a lightning bolt, an apple, a balloon. Once they slid into place, the now-complete gems glowed brighter and brighter. Twilight’s magic strained, trying to keep the gems together, trying to cast the spell. She was a bit rusty on magic due to its sudden absence for at least a century.
The Elements of Harmony were surrounded by a rainbow sheen, and, as Twilight grit her teeth, sweat pouring down her face, reciting the words of the spell in her mind, over and over, forcing herself to believe in this, the glowing forms of five ponies and a baby dragon began to appear in front of her, tracing the outlines in glowing rainbow light.
Twilight pictured the photograph that hung on the wall in her cave in her mind, remembering her friends, remembering what they had done together, remembering everything…
The memories poured in, painful yet wonderful, and the magic strengthened. The shapeless forms of ponies began to gain color, depth, life…
Twilight gasped as she laid eyes on her friends for the first time in… why, it felt like a lifetime. Perhaps several lifetimes.
But the when she could finally see their faces… when she was so close… her friends looked at her, their eyes full of sadness, and shook their heads.
The Elements of Harmony burst, and the entire cave was filled with light.
When Twilight opened her eyes, her friends were not there. Everything in the cave had been pushed against the walls, and the Elements… the Elements were burst into dust, in a pile in front of her, and she knew that no magic could put them back together.
No magic could bring them back.
Twilight’s eyes filled with tears, and her hope shattered into tiny shards that cut into her heart. She was filled with an inexplicable rage, and she lashed out at the pile of dust, scattering it to the wind, until it was gone - her last chance of finding her friends was gone.
More sadness poured in, manifesting itself in more rage, and Twilight whirled around, shooting a blast of magic at the picture on the wall, the last reminder she had of her friends, and it burst, the glass and the frame shattering as the picture drifted slowly to the floor, the edges slightly singed in the blast.
She seemed to finally realize what she had done. “No…” she gasped, stepping forward, gently picking the picture up. “No…”
Tears poured down her cheeks, and she curled up around the picture, crying until nothing else remained except for pain, guilt, and anger.
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You are not a failure Twilight
Same here. You're not a failure, Twilight
Oh Twilight don't give up hope I know it seems really bad right now but you just have to hang in there that there will be a light coming
Emotion really takes a toll on her and I'm sure she never meant to do that
Oh my gosh what a way to start off the story and also welcome back anyway so it looks like Twilight is still alive but she felt like she wish she was gone and the only thing she has is the memory of her friends but I guess a thousand years can really take effect on you she had no magic for a long time ever since it disappeared but during the new generation sunny and her friends bring back the magic and Twilight with no hesitation she used the magic to see if she can try to bring her friends back but unfortunately it backfired and the elements of harmonies are gone she was angry crying and screaming her heart out and she felt like she failed everybody but I'm sure this is not the case and I hope maybe there's a way to help her I guess we'll find out next time
I can't wait to see what comes next.
Twilight you are not usless nor a failure, you just need to hang on a little more
This was during the first movie when Sunny and her friends brought the crystals back together.
.....
You have my attention....
🙁🙁😐🙂🙂🙂🙂
You just got to have hope Twilight
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im sorry Twilight. But there's nothing you can do but move on.
You have to move on.
And meet the new generation of heroes
😢+🙂
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https://youtu.be/3iw6IjKDmcM
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Whoa.
11348883
me?
👆