• Published 5th Oct 2012
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Doorway side stories - Java Joe



Side stories to Doorway to Another Place and Eris' Game.

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The Princess and the Human

The celebration had gone on through the night. Twilight Sparkle had become an alicorn and a princess in her own right. She smiled warmly at her husband and their infant daughter who was fast asleep on his back as they made their way to their quarters in Canterlot castle.

"So does this mean I need to call you your highness?" Rick teased.

"Only when I'm angry with you. And when we fight, I automatically win, " Twilight said a little imperiously.

"So in other words, nothing has changed?" he said with a huge grin.

"It's a good thing you're still cute or else I'd send you to the dungeons for a crack like that, " Twilight said as they walked into their chambers. And it was quite a chamber to behold.

"Holy crap, " Rick said on walking into what was possibly the biggest bedroom he had ever seen in his life. "Like what the hell babe? This is bigger than our house!" They marvelled as they walked through the rooms and checked everything out. Eventually Twyla was put to bed and they got ready for bed themselves.

It had been a long day and both ponies were too tired to take advantage of the room so instead they just lay there, quietly holding each other until Rick wondered aloud. "So is it true what they say about the wings on an alicorn?"

"Sorry what's that?" Twilight answered a little sleepily.

"It doesn't matter babe, we'll find out tomorrow. G'night princess, " he said as he kissed her goodnight.

"Goodnight Prince of my heart."

"Wow, that sounded corny. Never call me that again, " he said dryly.

Twilight yawned, gave a sleepy chuckle, murmured an agreement and soon both ponies were asleep.

In the days that followed, Twilight found her duties as a princess took up a large portion of her time. This was in part her own doing. Twilight never did anything without reading up on it first which meant she expected herself to hold court, meet dignitaries passing through Canterlot, make public appearances and generally be "royal" at all times. It was during one of these moments when she was looking for an opening to attend that Princess Celestia reigned her in for a talk.

"Twilight, there's no reason for you to be doing all these things."

"But Princess... I mean Celestia, I read in a book that this is what princesses do. I'm just following the rules."

Celestia laughed, then literally took the younger alicorn under her wing before continuing. "Oh Twilight Sparkle, none of those things are necessary. Your life hasn't changed completely. Although now I do expect to see more of you and we will see more of each other but not as teacher and student but as friends and equals. You were given this gift because of your skill with magic and you now have the ability, neigh the right to view the private Canterlot archives. And here we are." Celestia had stopped before a blank stone wall.

"I don't see anything."

"Of course not Twilight Sparkle. The archives are hidden because contained therein are some of the most powerful spells ever created as well as the most advanced books and scrolls written on the subject of magic. We can't let just anypony read these." With a word, Celestia's horn glowed brightly and where before there was a blank stone wall there was now a very ornate door. She opened the door and Twilight couldn't help but gasp. Her whole life she had thought the library at Canterlot was the largest in the world. During her time on Earth she had seen some of the largest libraries in the world and they dwarfed the one in Canterlot but this one made those look like newsstands. She literally could not see the far wall, and neither could she see the walls to either side. All she saw was books and scrolls lining the shelves for as far as the eye could see.

Twilight took a trembling step into the cavernous archives and shivered with anticipation. She felt like a filly again and had to resist the urge to just run around the library, cheering at the top of her lungs.

"Celestia, this is going to take a lifetime to read even just a fraction of these books, " Twilight said with awe in her voice.

"Well, in that case it's a good thing you have as much time as you want to spend in here. A pony's lifetime is short and finite, but an alicorn's has no limit."

"Right. I've got all the time in the world to do this, " Twilight said with a smile. Celestia turned around and left her former student in the private archives so she could get started with what she did best. It was of course during this time that she sat alone amongst all the knowledge that the truth of Celestia's words finally seeped through the joy and the cold reality hit her with almost physical force.

"All the time in the world. I'm immortal now and I'll live forever..." She sat there, her mouth hanging open for a moment before whispering, "sweet Celestia, what have I done?" With those words Twilight ran out of the archives as if the demons of Tartarus were on her hooves.

It took several minutes but she was able to track down her old foal sitter Cadance.

"Cadance! I really need to speak with you, " she said urgently and Cadance, having never seen her friend so worked up immediately gave her her full attention. "I just realised now that because I'm an alicorn that I'm going to live forever unless something happens to me."

"Just now? I'm surprised. I had thought you would have known this earlier, " Cadance said with hint of levity.

"Yes yes, I knew it but I didn't actually know it until just now. How did you two deal with it?"

"What do you mean Twilight? Who is we and what are we dealing with?"

"You and my brother. You got married and one day he's going to die and you're still going to be the same. How did the two of you deal with that?"

"Oh that, " Cadance nodded sagely but had a hint of sadness in her voice. "I... think it's best if you speak with your brother about this." Cadance paused for a moment before saying, "I have something to do right now, I'll talk to you after you've spoken to him." She walked away, her head held high but Twilight couldn't help but notice the pain in her former foalsitter's eyes.

It took some time more before she was able to track down Shining Armor but being the Captain of the Guard meant he was able to take some liberties and took some time off to speak to his slightly distraught little sister.

"What's up Twily?" he asked her once they were in his office.

Finally she could hold it in no longer and the tears she had been holding back burst forth. Her brother comforted her as she cried and once she had let it out of her system and he had offered her a drink did he ask her again what the problem was.

"I just realised today that because I'm now an alicorn that I'm going to live forever and one day I'm going to lose everypony that means anything to me." She looked her BBBFF in the eye and asked, "how do you and Cadance deal with this knowing that one day you're going to be old and she's going to look like she does now?"

Shining Armor nodded, seeing where her line of questioning was leading and answered as best he could. "Did I ever tell you the story how Cadance and I first started dating?"

Twilight shook her head so her brother started telling his tale.

"It was a couple years ago, when I was just a plain guard at the castle. I was still green as hell and had a lot to learn about not only being an effective guard but about life as well. One day, I see the most beautiful mare I had ever set my eyes on. She was everything I was looking for and she was a unicorn too so that was a big plus in my book. She was wearing a cloak so I didn't see her wings. I heard from the other guys that she was Princess Celestia's niece and her name was 'Princess Mi Amore Cadenza' and that had to be the prettiest name I had ever heard. There was something familiar about her but I just couldn't place it and I spent some time trying to find out the connection I felt for her. Then one day, I literally bump into her, we excused ourselves, we exchanged names and she said to call her 'Cadance' which jogged my memory back to when she was foalsitting you and immediately I had my moment." He paused while he took a drink from his cup and continued his story.

"We talked for a bit, but I had to get back to my duties and she promised that we'd see each other again. It didn't take long before we started dating for real and I just fell head over hooves for such a pretty mare with such a big heart. I felt like I was the luckiest stallion in all of Canterlot to be the one with Cadance. At no point did I consider her being an alicorn was anything bad, if anything it gave me some major cred with the colts in my squad. Then came the day that I had been planning for weeks. We'd spend Hearts and Hooves day together and I'd propose at the end of dinner as we walked through the gardens. Everything was great until the point where she said no."

"What do you mean she said 'no'? You two have been married for almost two years now, " Twilight interrupted.

"Just let me finish and all will be made clear. So she told me no and I was devastated. The mare I loved more than I could have thought possible and I knew she loved me was turning me down. She ran away crying, I followed and eventually I had her at least give me a reason why. Maybe it was because I was a commoner, and she was a princess but I needed her to tell me. Her reason was because she was immortal and one day I'd die and she wouldn't." Shining Armor took another swallow from his cup before continuing.

"She wanted to spare me seeing her stay the same while I grew older and I almost agreed with her. Maybe it was because I was young and stupid and didn't know how the world works but I told her that it didn't matter to me. I loved her more than I could have imagined and I needed to spend the rest of my life with her. If one day I died, then at least I would have died knowing that I had married the mare of my dreams and we had many happy years together. It took some convincing but she agreed and we set a date. We've had a few years to come to term with this and we accept it. I know it's going to be hard on Cadance when I'm gone but I want her to carry on without me when the time comes." He looked at his sister and said, "I'm guessing that you've just realised what being an alicorn really means and you're worried about losing your husband and daughter?"

Twilight nodded, not trusting her voice to stay steady.

"Have you talked to him about this?"

Twilight just shook her head sadly.

"Then maybe you need to do so. He deserves to know."

Twilight sighed deeply and gave her brother a hug before leaving his office and making her way back to the chambers she shared with Rick. She found him engaged in one of his favourite pastimes, namely watching Twyla play. Twyla, on seeing her mother, shouted out "mommy!" and galloped over happily.

Twilight nuzzled her daughter happily and gave Rick a big hug when he came over to see her. "Hey Princess, didn't expect you back so soon, " he said with a smile. When she didn't answer he took one look at her eyes and immediately knew that something was wrong. It was about time to put Twyla down for a nap anyway so they took her into her room and placed her in her crib before retiring to the main room to speak.

"So what's up babe? You look like the world is going to end or something." These words brought fresh tears to her eyes and she buried her head in Rick's chest while he held her and made soothing sounds.

When she had cried herself out, he looked at her with great concern and asked, "what's wrong? Twi, talk to me."

"I need to know one thing before I say anything. If you were given something that was literally your heart's desire but to truly accept it you'd have to give up the most important thing to you would you accept it?" Twilight asked.

"That's a bit of a weird question don't you think?" Rick asked. But when Twilight didn't respond he simply shrugged and said, "I don't know really. I guess it depends on what it is I'd be getting and what I'd be giving up." He took a deep breath and stared off into space for a moment, lost in thought before speaking again. "Without really knowing that I'd get in return I'd probably say no."

"Why?" Twilight asked.

"It's because right now the most important things in my life are you and Twyla. If I had to give either of you up in order to get this I'd tell them to get the hell out. Nobody and nopony is taking you away from me without a fight and that goes double for our little girl." Rick looked back at Twilight expectantly, waiting for her to say what she wanted to say. When she didn't answer he asked, "so, what's going on?"

Twilight smiled and said, "it's okay, I think I have my answer." She leaned over and kissed her husband as if for the first time. He matched her kiss with added passion which caused her wings to flutter.

"Wow, that was nice, " Twilight said when they pulled apart. Her wings were feeling oddly stiff and she realised this had to be what was commonly known as a "wingboner". With a wicked smile she turned to Rick and said with a leer, "wanna find out more about an alicorn's wings?"

"Yes Princess. Whatever you say Princess, " Rick answered huskily. They retired to their bed and discovered that an alicorn's wings are in fact a very erogenous zone.

A while later, the two ponies lay there, happily content in each other's hooves when Rick needed to ask. "You feeling better now babe?"

Twilight smiled and kissed her husband in response before saying, "much better."

The next day, Twilight felt she needed to speak to Princess Celestia to see if anything could be done about her current situation.

"Celestia, it's like this. I love my husband and my child and while I'm grateful for this gift, the idea of spending the rest of eternity without them is more than I can bear. I want to give up being an alicorn."

"I'm sorry to hear that but I'm afraid that's not possible Twilight Sparkle. Once this gift has been given, it's impossible to go back to what you once were."

"Are you sure there's no way to do this?" Twilight asked with a heavy heart.

"If there is, I don't know it."

"Thank you Celestia, " and Twilight walked out of the throne room to the private archives with new determination if she couldn't find the spell to reverse this, she'd have to craft it.

In the weeks that followed Twilight spent every waking moment in the magic archives researching, crafting and above all testing the spell that would turn her back into a powerful, albeit mortal unicorn. It was also during this time that they decided to return to Ponyville. The Royal chambers they had at the castle were nice, but they weren't home and they felt it was time to go back. But in order for them to do so, some changes would need to be made which meant that Rick and Twyla had to head back first to get certain things set up.

"So explain to me again what I need to do?" Rick asked looking at the package before him.

"Rick, I've told you before that we're going to recreate a portal but now since I'm an alicorn it's going to be a lot easier. Just put the package by the wall next to the portal back to Earth and say the magical incantation, " Twilight responded.

"Yeah but isn't there anything more mystical that needs to be done? I mean if all I have to say is, 'knock knock' it just feels kinda cheap you know?"

"Don't complain. I could have made it more complicated for you which would have been easier on me but you have no innate magic and once you're there we'll have no way of communicating except through Spike. Just remember to give me maybe an hour or so. Go have a coffee and make sure there's enough left for me when I get back."

"Yes dear, " Rick replied with a grin. Twilight just sighed and shook her head. As much as she loved him, he could be infuriating at times. "I love you, " he said and kissed her gently. As much as she wanted to stay angry with him it was almost impossible to do.

"I love you too, now hurry up and don't keep me waiting too long." Turning to their daughter who was busy stacking blocks before knocking them down and giggling she called out, "Twyla! It's time to go back to the library with Daddy."

Twyla trotted over and stood by her father. "Mommy no come?" she asked seriously.

Twilight knelt down to look her daughter in the eye. "Mommy's coming soon. But first you and Daddy need to go there and then I'll be there really soon after okay?"

"Okay!" Twyla said before giving her mother a big hug then took her place at her father's side. Twilight focused her magic and picturing the library in her mind teleported the two of them back to Ponyville. She sighed once she was alone, missing them already but she had work to do and needed to get started.

Meanwhile, at the Golden Oaks library, Rick and Twyla appeared close to the portal which they quickly took back to Earth. This also meant a bit of a transition and minor step back between Twyla's pony and human forms. In her pony form she was already making simple sentences, walking and developing normally for an Equestrian. On Earth she was still an infant, barely a year old, which meant she could toddle along but was nowhere near the accomplished traveller that she was back in Equestria. Her language skills were vastly reduced and sometimes she appeared frustrated trying to do something in her human form that she could do easily in her pony form. As such, she didn't much like the transition but at the same time she liked finger painting so there was a trade-off.

Rick brought her to the kitchen and had made himself a cup of coffee. That guarana tea they had in Canterlot was sufficiently caffeinated but it lacked the character that a good cup of coffee had. Once brewed he took the time to check over the mail for the past few days, answer the messages on the phone and generally do those household things that needed to be done but hadn't. When it was time, he took Twyla back with him to Equestria and set up the package like Twilight had requested.

Clearing his throat he said the magic words and waited for whatever was going to take place. It took a few moments but soon he could make out a whispering sound and next to the plain white door that linked Earth to Equestria a shadow appeared on the wall. It started out as looking nothing more than a smudge of grey on the otherwise clean wood. This grew in size and deepened in colour until it was a just void of blackness that seemed to suck the very light into it. Twyla, shivered in fear and pressed herself against her father as the whispering seemed to get louder and louder and the darkness emanating from the door dimmed the very light in the room they were standing in.

Then with a very anti-climactic pop, there stood a rather ornate door. A moment later the door opened and a rather tired looking Twilight walked out. She smiled on seeing her family there and Twyla squealed happily on seeing her mother.

"How you feeling?" Rick asked her.

"Tired. That used up a lot of magic, I didn't realise how draining it would be, " she replied.

"Well Dr. Rick knows just the cure for that. A nice cup of coffee, a hot bubble bath and a massage. Sound good?"

"That sounds wonderful, " Twilight said with a smile before giving Rick a kiss and following them through the portal back to Earth.

One cup of coffee later and she felt the world coming back into focus. As she lounged in the bubble bath with a glass of chilled blush wine she felt incredibly relaxed. Then halfway through the very gentle massage she finally succumbed and fell asleep.

Twilight woke up an hour later, still nude but thoughtfully covered with a blanket so she wouldn't catch cold. She could smell Rick cooking dinner downstairs but couldn't quite place what he was cooking. Getting dressed, she made her way downstairs to see him busy at work and Twyla in her high chair industriously stuffing cereal in her mouth one at a time. She stood there with a smile on her face, just taking in the scene as if truly seeing it and appreciating it for the first time. She walked over to Twyla who giggled when she gave her a big kiss and then over to her husband to see what he was making.

"Hey Princess, sleep well?" Rick said stealing a quick kiss before turning back to the stove.

"Very much thank you. And I thought I asked you to stop calling me that."

"Maybe you did but I wasn't paying attention. Dinner will be ready soon so if you want to get ready I'm almost ready to plate.

"What are you making? It looks familiar but I can't place it."

"I realise that some ingredients are different here than in Equestria so I had to improvise. Remember you mentioned the other night when we had dinner in the quarters how much you liked what they made? Well I spoke to the chef the next day and he was so happy you liked it he gave me the recipe. I've been fiddling with it in my head trying to get around certain things and I think I might have done so."

"So in other words it's another kitchen experiment and I'm once again your test subject?"

"To put it into so many words... yes. But I still stand on my track record with only two disasters so far."

"Three disasters you mean. You never count that vegetarian meatloaf."

"I added too much wine and that emphasised the salt content. When I cut it back the next time you admitted it was good so I count that as a save. But I'm confident this one is going to work."

Rick got busy plating the food and brought it to the table. One bite told them that while he hadn't succeeded in copying the recipe, he had in fact made it better. It wasn't often that Twilight went back for seconds but tonight she felt more than happy to do so. And the best part about it was that at no point did Rick say, "told you so."

After Twyla had been given her bath and put to sleep, the two adults relaxed in the den savouring the quiet and alone time they had together. It wasn't long before Twilight started to idly trace patterns on the back of Rick's hand.

"That some magical arcane symbol you drawing on my hand?"

"Yes. I'm casting a spell on you, " she said playfully.

"Should I be worried?"

"No, it's a good spell."

"Can I ask what it is?"

She turned to face him, threw her arms around his neck and came in close for a kiss. He responded in kind and the only sound to be heard for a few moments was the soft, slightly wet sound of kissing and heavy breathing.

"I think I like this spell, " Rick said once they had parted.

"Oh it's not over yet, " Twilight said tugging at his shirt. It wasn't long before they had divested themselves of their clothes and proceeded to make sweet love on the aptly named loveseat. Once done, they stayed embracing until Twilight started to feel a little chilly and they decided to go to bed. Picking up their clothes they made their way upstairs, Rick of course making sure that Twilight went first so he could watch her butt as she walked.

With all the nighttime preparations taken place, they snuggled under the sheets before Twilight asked him a question that had been on her mind since the whole realisation that she'd be immortal. "Rick?"

"Yeah babe, what up?"

"If you had the option to live forever, would you?"

Without missing a beat or having to think of the answer Rick just snorted a bit before answering, "maybe but only if I had the option to die."

"How would that work?"

He sighed a bit and said, "think about it, you're immortal and have all the time in the world to do... well... whatever. So you do all those things that you've always wanted to do but never had the time. Then you learn all the stuff you wanted to learn like how to play an instrument, or how to paint or fly a plane. But what do you after? Once you've seen it all and read it all, and learned it all, what happens next? And even if that took 10,000 years you still have eternity to look forward to. And then what do you do? Exist? Go crazy? Wind up counting the seconds until the eventual heat death of the universe? No. Life needs an eventual ending because that's the only thing that really gives it purpose."

Twilight was silent for a moment before saying, "I never thought of it like that. You're so smart." Tilting her head up she gave her husband a kiss before they settled in for the night.

The next few days they fell into a bit of a routine. Twilight would wake early to get a head start on her research, Rick would take Twyla to Equestria in the morning to play with her friends then take her back to Earth in the afternoon to deal with whatever human things that needed to be done. Twilight would of course come back tired from her day spent in the archives and spend a relaxing evening with her family before doing the same thing the next day. So when she showed up one evening, tired but with a happy smile on her face, Rick thought nothing of it. As far as he was concerned this was just another day in a long line of days.

The next morning was a little strange as Twilight slept in for the first time since becoming an alicorn. When Rick woke up he found her lying there with her eyes open, just looking at him.

Rick smiled sleepily before reaching out and pulling her closer. "So what's the occasion? You're usually gone by now."

Twilight hugged him tight and just pressed herself into him. She felt his hands slide down her body but a cry from Twyla's baby monitor stopped anything happening before it really started. Rick started to get up but Twilight simply said, "let me take care of this". She placed a kiss on his nose and padded off to check up on their daughter.

It was an odd sight to see all three of them at the breakfast table and a still stranger sight when Twilight insisted on being the one to make breakfast. "Babe, you're going to spoil me with all this. You wake up with me, make me breakfast, take care of Twyla. Have I stepped into a 50's sitcom when I wasn't aware of it?"

"Do you hear a laugh track?" Twilight asked while putting a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of him before putting her own plate down.

"No but that was always done for the audience, I always figured the actors never actually heard the laughter even if they paused conveniently allowing it to vanish before giving their lines."

Once everything was done, they all headed out to Equestria. It was upon crossing the portal that Rick turned to Twilight to wish her a good day in Canterlot when he noticed the doorway to the archives was missing and that Twilight was just a unicorn once again.

"Babe! What happened to those sexy wings of yours?"

"I gave up being an alicorn. There were things that were just too important that I needed to take care of but I couldn't do them as 'Princess Twilight'."

"What made you change your mind?"

Twilight just smiled at her family, knowing that this was what truly mattered to her before saying enigmatically, "the price was just too high".

Author's Note:

This was not a chapter I originally had planned to write but as time went by I kept coming back to the final episode and wondering how the two of them would react to the whole immortal / mortal thing. Since it's already been established in this story continuity that Twilight is not an alicorn in later chapters, the idea of making her one and then finding a way to give it up to stay in continuity opened certain possibilities.