Fallen Unicorns

by Flyer

Chapter One: Life Altering Desicions

CHAPTER ONE:
LIFE ALTERING DECISIONS

“1040 to Ponyville! Last call for all passengers departing for Ponyville!” a gruff conductor pony shouted as he paced back and forth on the long, wooden platform holding a round, chained stopwatch in his hoof.

Just as the conductor pony passed the last passenger car, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all crossed through the doorway and boarded the train. In front of the ticket window, Twilight stood and wished her parents a farewell. Twilight’s mom reached out to hug her.

“I know I’ve said this a million times before, sweetums, but we’re so proud of you, your father and I!”

“Thanks mom.” ,” Twilight quickly replied.

As her mom released her from the hug, Twilight’s head swiveled towards her father’s direction.

“Any idea of what you are going to tell Princess Celestia yet?” said her father, knowing of the opportunity that was offered to his young daughter by the ruler of all of Equestria.

Twilight shook her head.

“I’m not sure what I want to do yet, Dad,” Twilight responded. “I told her that I would take the upcoming weekend to decide which direction I want to go in.”

“Fair enough, sweet pea,” her father replied. “Just know that whatever you decide to do, that you have our full and utmost support.”

Twilight hugged her father goodbye. The father and daughter unicorns both tightly squeezed each other.

“Final call for the 1040; the train leaves in sixty seconds!” the conductor called out.

The shrill shout out interrupted the sweet family moment between both Twilight and her father. Twilight trotted toward the last passenger car. She crossed the threshold of the train car door just as the conductor shut the opening. Twilight looked out the window and waved one final farewell wave. Her parents, from the platform, returned the favor. The train pulled free of the station, and after a few moments, the train had been reduced to a tiny speck on the railroaded horizon. Twilight’s parents both sighed and after wiping a tear from the cheek of Twilight’s mother, they left the Canterlot train station and departed home for the night.

The train puffed and chugged its way through the Equestrian mountains and cliffs. It snaked along the pre-laid tracks leaving only the quickly, withering clouds of exhaust behind.

The door to the last train car swung open widely, catching the attentions of the only inhabitants of the passenger car; Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and the rest of Twilight’s friends. The six ponies and the one dragon watched as a steward pony entered the car with a tray of assorted delicious looking desserts. He stopped in front of the second row of seats where Rarity and Fluttershy were both sitting.

“Would you like any amenities from this cart?” The steward pony asked the unicorn and pegasus.

Rarity shook her head.

“No thanks, darling! But thank you so very much for asking. Would you like anything, Fluttershy dear?”

Fluttershy pondered the question for a brief moment.

“No, thanks,” Fluttershy meekly muttered.

The steward pony nudged the cart to the seat row behind Fluttershy and Rarity. Rainbow Dash and Spike, who were huddled together and sprawled out across the length of the bench, snoring away, occupied the row. The steward pony turned his head to row on the other side of the aisle. Applejack looked at the tray in a thoughtful manner, debating whether or not to have a dessert from the tray. A growling sound emitted from Applejack’s stomach and she laughed, but not too loudly.

“Well why not. Whatcha got on that grub tray of yours?” Applejack said semi-excitedly.

“A lot of delicious treats my friend,” the steward pony said with a cheery smile on his face.

Using his mouth, the steward pony lifted the very large, metal lid from the plate. However, both Applejack and the steward pony were greeted with a sight that they never expected.

On the silver tray, Pinkie Pie was lying on top of multiple cupcake wrappers. Her belly was comically bigger from all of the food that she had just instantly devoured. She was just finishing up chewing what was left of the last piece of dessert. Applejack’s mouth was wide open in shock, while the steward pony was instantly confused as he had no way of knowing that Pinkie Pie was “just being Pinkie Pie,” as the residents of Ponyville would say when Pinkie Pie would do something cartoonish or crazy like this.

“Y... Yo.... Yo... You... better be able to pay for all that, miss,” the steward pony stammered, still shocked at what he had just unbelievably witnessed.

“Pay? Oh of course, silly!” Pinkie Pie energetically replied.

With that Pinkie reached into her mane and began pulling out an extremely random assortment of items. Some of the items that Pinkie pulled out of her mane included a bouncy ball, a toy xylophone, a quesadilla on a plate, a jar of dirt, a pair of Groucho glasses, a tube of toothpaste, her pet alligator Gummy, and even a kitchen sink. Finally, she pulled out a bag of bits and handed the bag over to the steward. The only thing the steward did was slowly hold out his hoof to accept the small, burlap bag of Equestrian golden currency.

“That should cover it, right?” Pinkie Pie asked. An adorable squeak complemented the immediate smile that followed this statement.

“I... I guess,.” the steward pony responded, still completely flabbergasted at the performance of Pinkie Pie that he had just witnessed.

With that, Pinkie got off the tray cart with Gummy attached to the top of her mane.

“I’m so happy you’re back, Gummy! I thought you might have been in my adorable mane,” Pinkie Pie said as she walked towards the front of the car.

The steward pony looked over at Applejack, who at this point was giggling to herself. She took note of the steward’s confusion.

“Don’t worry about this, sugar cube,” Applejack said trying to console him. “This is normal.”

“Normal?! For who?” the steward said, even more confused.

“Well, normal for Pinkie Pie, I guess,” Applejack added.

After a brief moment of trying to make sense at what he had just witnessed, the steward finally gave up the futile attempt and sighed.

“Well then.” The steward pony said with a weak smile on his face.

The steward pony headed toward the door leaning toward the caboose. He paused next to the last row of seats so he could open up the exit door. The door opened after a brief fiddling of the knob. He grabbed the cart and stepped out into the passageway leading to the caboose.

In the last row of seats in the car, Twilight Sparkle sat all by herself and looked out the window at the passing countryside. With the popping in her pony ears, she knew that they were in the process of descending the mountain. After the descent into the beautiful valley, it would only be about an hour or so before the train moored in Ponyville.

Twilight looked up at the big and bright full moon high in the starry midnight blue sky and admired Princess Luna’s life’s work. She was fascinated with how the pale moonlight reflected off of the luscious green valley some hundreds of feet below in the hilly valley. The beauty of the scenery around her served as a break from the event that had happened earlier in the night after the graduation ceremony. Even though it had just happened no more than maybe two and a half hours prior, Twilight still rewound and played over her memory of the event just about a million times now. She shut her eyes and replayed the memory.

~~~

“Career opportunity? What are you getting at, Princess?” Twilight Sparkle curiously asked the Equestrian ruler.

“You have an impressive gift of magic, Twilight, as well as possessing the most proficiency out of anypony on the study of practical knowledge and magical spells,” Celestia kindly said to her now former student. “Princess Luna and I were talking, and we both came to the same conclusion that you should be sharing your magical gift and knowledge with other unicorns.”

Twilight took a deep breath, unsure of where Celestia was going with this request.

“In this upcoming fall,” Princess Luna said, “we are opening a second, additional School for Gifted Unicorns in Fillydelphia…”

“And we agreed that you, Twilight Sparkle, would be the most qualified unicorn to head this new prestigious institution,” Princess Celestia said.

Twilight found herself unable to say anything at all. The offer presented to her left her speechless.

“What do you say, Twilight, are you interested?” the Princess of the Sun inquired.

Twilight nervously began to look around. She peered behind the regal alicorns standing in front of her to see her friends in the background speaking to Twilight’s parents. She looked at them for quite a few moments.

“Twilight, did you hear me?” Celestia asked, re-grabbing Twilight’s attention. She shifted her gaze back at the two majestic princess sisters. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’m not sure,” she finally said hoping that the princesses wouldn’t be offended by her display of indecision. “I honestly don’t know yet if that’s something I would want to do.”

The two princesses did not appear to be offended by this at all. Celestia lifted her sympathetic hoof and placed it gently upon Twilight’s shoulder.

“We understand, Twilight. This is a big decision you need to make. Take some time to contemplate your options and desires. Just know that we will need a decision soon. The fall season will be here before you know it,” Celestia said.

Twilight looked up at her former instructor.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding, and the offer. I will let you know as soon as I reach my decision.” Twilight responded.

~~~

Twilight opened her eyes and looked at the town on the horizon, growing bigger in size with each passing moment. She realized that the train would be pulling into Ponyville Station in no time at all. Twilight yawned and smiled at the thought of being closer to snuggling up in her bed. It had been a long day for the purple unicorn and company, and she relished in knowing that it was finally almost over.

About a half an hour later, the train came to rest at Ponyville Train Station. Groggily, the inhabitants of the train cars exited the train and stepped onto the deserted platform. As some ponies gathered their luggage, the group of Twilight and her friends gathered in front of the ticket window.

“Goodnight, ya’ll,” Applejack yawned as she began her trek back to Sweet Apple Acres on the other side of Ponyville.

“Goodnight everypony,” Fluttershy quietly said as she headed off with Applejack towards the outskirts of the community.

“I’ll catch up with you all tomorrow,” said Rainbow Dash as she took off to her cloud home above the town, leaving only a streak of rainbow behind.

Rarity decided to walk back with Pinkie Pie to their respective homes nestled in the heart of Ponyville. They both bade Twilight goodnight as she began to walk with Spike back to her home and current place of work in Golden Oaks Library. Twilight and Spike moved their way through the dark and deserted town. As she began to see the library off in the distance, she noticed her youthful assistant was not moving very well.

“Want a ride?” Twilight offered.

“Please,” Spike said nodding.

It took two attempts for Spike to successfully climb atop Twilight’s back. But once he did, he exhaled a sigh of relief and slouched forward. His left cheek was resting on the nape of Twilight’s Sparkle’s neck. Spike let out a yawn and sighed. He noticed that Twilight was looking mightily down. It seemed very unusual for a pony that just graduated top in her class from an extremely respected and highly ranked institute.

“Twi, are you alright?” Spike tiredly asked.

“Yes, I’m fine Spike, what gives you the idea that I’m not?” Twilight retorted.

“It’s just, it seems that you became sad after you had that talk with the princesses after the ceremony.” Spike iterated. “I mean, what did they say to you?”

Twilight debated on whether or not to tell him about the offer of being a headmistress. He was going to be told regardless. However, she wasn’t sure if she would tell him now.

“I’ll tell you in the morning, Spike,” Twilight said.

“Promise?” asked Spike.

“Yes Spike,” Twilight replied.

“Pinkie promise?” Spike asked again.

“Pinkie promise,” Twilight reassured Spike. This mention of the ever-famous Pinkie promise left her with a slight smile on her face.

With that, Twilight noticed that her faithful sidekick had fallen asleep and was loudly snoring away. Twilight felt the vibrating sensation on the back of her neck and began to trot home a little bit faster.

A few minutes past when Twilight unlocked the door to the library. She opened the door, flooding the pitch-black interior of the library with the pale white moonlight. A magenta aura surrounded Twilight’s horn, as well a match on the other side of the library. She magically lit up the lantern and shut and locked the front door. Twilight sighed in relief; she was exhausted from all of the day’s events, and she could feel her hooves throbbing in discomfort.

She carried Spike upstairs and neatly tucked him into his little wicker bed. Twilight Sparkle then tossed his favorite blue blanket over him and tucked it tightly around him. She took a small pride in the fact that she got a sound asleep Spike tucked away into bed without waking him, or even stirring him. She rubbed her eyes as she heard a small rustling at her bedroom window. After deducing the correct window, she walked over to investigate the cause of the disturbance. The lavender pony opened the window, and into the window flew her pet and number two assistant Owlyicious.

“Who!” Owlyicious hooted in greeting.

“Hey Owlyicious, how are you tonight?” Twilight tiredly asked.

“Who!” was the only response Owlyicious could give.

Twilight giggled and petted the soft feathers on his back with her hoof. She stretched out and yawned. She smiled as she looked at her bed. The purple unicorn drew the covers and blankets atop her bed and snuggled under them. She exhaled all of her problems out of her as she did final preparations for her slumber. The only problem that could not be exhaled was the conundrum involving the job offer. Should she take the job? Twilight knew that taking the job meant she would have to leave her friends behind. But at the same time, she wanted to take the job. She longed to share her immense knowledge of magic with the masses of unicorns that would come to the school.

Twilight decided that she would think about this dilemma more in the morning. All she wanted now was to drift off into a blissful sleep. Twilight finally shut her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

~~~

Twilight Sparkle reawakened the following morning when a warm, morning sunbeam came to rest upon her face. Her eyes batted open a few times. After her mind began functioning fluidly, she threw the covers off of her and looked down on the floor to the wicker basket that was Spike’s bed. It was empty, which meant that Spike would be downstairs preparing breakfast for the two of them. Twilight yawned and stretched her limbs out as far as can be. She relaxed after hearing the familiar cracking joint sounds and then rolled her neck a few times.

She stood off of the bed and set herself down on the floor. Slowly, Twilight made her way down the wooden staircase leading to the ground floor and main library room. As she felt her hooves step onto terra firma, Spike entered the same room from the kitchen, carrying a full breakfast tray. He placed the tray on the table in the center of the room and looked over at Twilight, who was approaching the appetizing looking breakfast that Spike had prepared.

“What did you make for us this morning Spike?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing special, just a bowl of hay and oats with a fresh apple and a glass of milk,” Spike replied. “Did you want something else?”

“No thanks, this is quite alright with me,” Twilight said.

With that, both Spike and Twilight Sparkle pulled up a chair and began to dig in to the simple breakfast tray laid out before them. Twilight took a small bite of her bright and juicy red delicious apple, while Spike shoveled a big spoonful of hay and oats into his mouth. He ate the giant spoonful in a single bite, leaving Twilight still wondering; How does he do that? Spike wiped a small amount of hay residue from the side of his mouth and looked over at Twilight.

“So, what did Celestia and Luna ask you last night after the ceremony?” Spike quietly asked.
This question reminded Twilight of the dilemma that had been running through her mind all of last night. She decided the previous night that it would be appropriate to inform Spike of the situation. He might even be able to provide some insight and maybe even a solution to her problem. She took a deep breath.

“In the fall, the Princesses are opening up another magic academy in Fillydelphia,” Twilight summarized. “They want me to be the headmistress of the new institution.”

An ear-to-ear smile instantaneously developed on Spike’s face.

“That’s amazing, Twilight! Congratulations!” Spike exclaimed.

“Thanks, but that’s not the problem,” Twilight retorted.

“Then what is?” Spike asked, perplexed.

“Taking the job would mean leaving Ponyville behind, our friends behind. I don’t know if I want to do that. I’m not sure what they’ll think! Especially Pinkie Pie. I mean, remember when she went crazy when Rainbow Dash left for a week of Wonderbolt Academy? This is a big decision I need to make, Spike, and I just don’t know what I want.”

Spike took a sip from his glass of milk.

“I see your point, Twi. That is a good point to think about,” Spike said.

“What do you think Spike?” Twilight asked.

“What do I think?” Spike replied.

“Yes,” Twilight quickly responded. “What do you think I should do?”

The duo of librarians stared at each other for a moment before Spike opened his mouth.

“Honestly, I would take it,” Spike said straightly.

“You would?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “Why would you do that?”

“Well,” Spike began, “this is an opportunity of a life time. I mean, what kind of unicorn can say that they were hoofpicked to run a school for some of the best magical unicorns in all of Equestria. I agree with the Princesses that you are the best pony to run things over there.”

“You really think so?” Twilight asked.

Spike nodded his head.

“What about our friends? What do you think they’ll say or think?” Twilight brought up.

“I think that they’ll say the same thing I just did. And don’t worry about Pinkie Pie. She’ll understand, and I have no doubt that she, as well as the rest of our friends, will be as proud of you as I am,” Spike confidently said.
Twilight thought long and hard, about a minute or so, about what Spike had just said. He knew deep down that she was right, and that her friends would be proud.

“You know, you’re right. I still want to ask what they think before I let Princess Celestia what I plan to do,” Twilight said.

“Of course, I agree that’s the right thing to do,” Spike responded.

They looked down at their breakfast plates to see that they had finished eating. Spike gathered all of the dirty dishes and piled them onto the tray. Twilight wiped her mouth and began to prepare for reshelving the returned books that she did not do the previous day. She magically lifted the stack of books out of the returns bin and carried them over to the sorting table they had just used to eat breakfast on. Twilight heard the door open and turned around to see who was there.
Fluttershy came strolling in, and Twilight smiled at seeing her yellow pegasus friend.

“Hey, Fluttershy! What brings you here?” Twilight warmly said.

“Oh, um hi, Twilight. I need a book,” Fluttershy said in response.

“What kind of book?” she inquisitively asked Fluttershy.

“I need a book about the duck billed platypus,.” Fluttershy responded. “I found one swimming in the creek by my house, and I was wondering how to take care of one.”

Twilight went looking in the appropriate section for the book. She climbed the ladder to see if the book in question was on the top shelf.

“The duck billed platypus? I thought that was just an old mare’s tale,” Twilight stated.

“I thought so too, but I have one with me now,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight continued to cycle through the books on the top tier shelves.

“Ah hah!” Twilight exclaimed.

She used her magic to pull the appropriate book from the shelf and levitated it down to Fluttershy, who grabbed the hardcover book with her hooves.

“Thanks, Twilight!” Fluttershy said smiling. “Would you like to come see this platypus?”

Twilight shrugged.

“Why not?” she reasoned, “It’s not every day you get to see an odd creature.”

She shifted her sights towards the kitchen door. The sound of water running was heard by both ponies in the main room of the library.

“Spike!” Twilight called, hoping she could be heard over the water, “I’m heading out for a bit, if you need me, I’ll be at Fluttershy’s!”

After a moment of unresponsiveness from the kitchen, Twilight and Fluttershy simply heard: “Okay!” being called by Spike from the kitchen.

Twilight and Fluttershy walked down the main street of Ponyville, where multiple ponies stopped to congratulate Twilight on graduating from the Unicorn Academy. Finally, they passed by the famed Sugarcube Corner, where Fluttershy stopped walking. When Twilight noticed, she followed suit and turned around to face Fluttershy.

“Hey Twilight, do mind stopping here with me for a moment?” the pegasus asked. “I want to pick up the carrot cake for Angel bunny’s birthday tomorrow.”

“Not a problem, I could go for some tea scones for myself for later,” Twilight explained.

Fluttershy entered the confectionary restaurant first. The place was uncharacteristically dark and deserted. Twilight soon followed in. As soon as she past the threshold of the main door, the lights flickered on and her closest friends, and practically every other pony in Ponyville jumped out yelling, “SURPRISE!” Twilight jumped back and yelped from the genuine shock she had just received. A giant, multilayered cake was pushed in front of her by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. And out of the top layer of the cake popped Pinkie Pie, who picked Twilight up with her hooves high in the air.

“WELCOME TO YOUR DAY-AFTER-YOUR-GRADUATION PARTY!” Pinkie screamed, “DO YOU LOVE IT?”

“Th... Th... Thanks Pinkie,” Twilight stumbled, still shocked from the surprise and afraid of being dropped to the hard floor below.

“OH GOOD I GLAD YOU LIKED IT! 'CAUSE WE WERE GONNA DO THIS LAST NIGHT! But we got home too late, and everyone was asleep, but it was no problem because I was able to get extra balloons and cake and ice cream and–”

“PINKIE!” Twilight yelled, cutting off Pinkie’s rapid-fire monologue.

“Yes Twilight?” Pinkie asked.

“Thanks for the party, now could you put me down?” Twilight pleaded.

“Oh certainly!” Pinkie exclaimed.

She set Twilight down and Spike entered the premises.

“So, were you shocked Twilight?” Spike asked with a ‘haha gotcha’ grin on his face.

“You were in on this?” Twilight asked her baby dragon assistant.

“The whole time!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed before Spike could.

Twilight smiled and shed a small tear.

“Gosh, I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much!” Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash used her wings to lift her off of the ground and separate from the crowd.

“Alright! Enough with the sappiness! LET’S PARTY!” Rainbow cried.

With that, party music began to be blasted from the record player. Everypony in the room carried on with dancing and eating and all sorts of other fun stuff.

Hours passed by, and the sun had been lowered for the night by Princess Celestia. When Luna had the moon raised to replace the sun, the party had finally died down. Ponies were leaving one by one, leaving only the Cakes, Spike, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Now the graduation party had transitioned into a cleanup party. Bags of trash were hauled around the shop, with all of the decorations, empty cups, plates, and used utensils were all tossed in.

Rainbow Dash bumped into Twilight as she pulled around a broom.

“Sorry, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said apologetically.

“No problem, Rainbow,” Twilight said.
After a moment of silence, Twilight knew that this was the perfect opportunity to get her friends opinions on her possible new career pull.

“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight called out.

“Yeah, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash turned to respond.

“When we’re done cleaning up, I want to talk to all of you,” Twilight said.

“That’s fine. Let’s finish cleaning up,” said Rainbow Dash.

After finally cleaning up, the full moon hung high in the starry sky, and the mane six, along with Spike, gathered around the biggest table in the dining room of Sugarcube Corner. Mrs. Cake came out of the kitchen in the back.

“Would anypony like coffee or tea?” she inquired to the group.

“Tea would be fine Mrs. Cake,” Rarity replied.

“Okay dearies, I’ll be back soon,” Mrs. Cake said, departing back into the kitchen.

Twilight Sparkle looked at her friends sitting in the circle, eagerly anticipating the words that would fall out of Twilight’s mouth. Twilight knew what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t find the right words to say it. Finally, Rarity raised her hoof in the air just as Mrs. Cake came out carrying a tray with a teapot and seven teacups. Tea was poured and Mrs. Cake began to trot towards the staircase leading to the living portion above the shop.

“Pinkie Pie, will you lock you lock up the shop when your meeting is done? I’d like to go to bed, I’m quite exhausted,” Mrs. Cake asked.

“Sure, I will!” Pinkie Pie responded.

“Okay, thank you dearie! Goodnight, everypony!” Mrs. Cake announced as she climbed the staircase to the second story and finally departed out of sight.

Applejack looked over at Twilight Sparkle.

“What did you want to want to tell us sugarcube?” asked Applejack.

Twilight took a deep breath and let the same story that she told Spike earlier in the morning fall out. Each one of her friends listened intently, as she poured out her trepidations about each possible eventuality that could come with the choice she could make. When she finished, there was a silence amongst Twilight’s genuinely surprised friends. This silence was finally broken when Fluttershy leaned in towards the center of the table.

“Well, what do you want to do, Twilight?” Fluttershy softly asked.

“Yeah, it our opinions aren’t as important as your opinion Twilight,” Rainbow Dash added.

The rest of the ponies at the table nodded in agreement then looked at Twilight, waiting for her to answer. She shut her eyes, somewhat afraid of the responses she could receive.

“I don’t want to leave you ponies, but... but...” Twilight began to stutter.

“But…” Rarity said, trying to nudge Twilight along.

“I think I want to take the job,” Twilight said, “This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I would like to take it.”

“Then take the job Twilight.” Fluttershy said, breaking the silence.

Rarity nodded in agreement. “I agree darling, you should take it.”

“Magic is your thing, and that’s awesome, Twilight! Follow your desires and be as awesome as I am!” Rainbow Dash contributed.

“Sugarcube,” Applejack began to say, “We love all love ya, and we want nothing more than to be happy. We’ll support whatever you want to do.”

“But don’t you understand?” Twilight rationed. “This means I’ll have to leave Ponyville.”

“We’re all friends, Twilight you silly filly!” Pinkie Pie piped up. “We’ll all be friends forever! Whether we’re all in the same room, or all over Equestria. Even at the bottom of the ocean, or in space, or hanging off the edge of a cliff with an avalanche heading right towards us!”

Twilight giggled at the latest sign of her pink friend’s randomness.

“Spike!” Twilight called.

“Yes!” Spike responded.

“Take a letter.” Twilight responded back.
Spike whipped out the scroll of parchment and a quill, ready to transcribe what Twilight was going to say.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” Twilight dictated, “I first off wish to thank you and Princess Luna once again for the opportunity that you presented me. I have decided that after much consideration and some reassurance from my loved ones, that I shall take the position of headmistress of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns in Fillydelphia. Faithfully yours, Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike dotted the final period on the letter and wrapped it up in a roll. He took a deep breath, and with his magical green fire breath, he sent the letter away to Princess Celestia.

“Now we wait,” said Twilight.

However, almost instantly, Spike loudly belched up the lettered response from Celestia.

Everypony in the room gathered around the letter on the floor, and watched with much anticipation as Spike unraveled the scroll. Spike glanced over the written words for a moment before clearing his throat.

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful former student,” Spike read aloud, “It delights me to know that you accept this position, and it delights me even more that your friends are all supportive and understanding about the upcoming changes in your life as well as theirs. With that being said, we have a lot of ground to cover if we want the school to open on time this fall. I am asking that you report in Fillydelphia in one week’s time to begin orientation and planning for the school semester in the fall. As always, Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

Spike rerolled the letter, and Twilight looked back at all her friends.

“Well, let’s enjoy the final week we have together, guys,” Twilight said with a smile on her face.

Everypony nodded in agreement.

~~~

The next week came and went at a rather quick pace. Twilight spent most of the week packing her belongings and making arrangements for the library’s care after her departure.

Finally, the fateful morning arrived, and Twilight Sparkle stood staring at her empty bedroom. Her and Spike’s possessions were already in place at their new posh apartment in Fillydelphia. As Twilight took one last surreal look in the adoptive home that she came to know and love, Spike entered carrying a watch.

“Twilight, we better get going if we want to catch the train,” he said.

Twilight sighed.

“You okay?” Spike asked, noticing that Twilight was looking rather down.

“I’ll be fine, it’s just all happening so fast Spike. I’m nervous is all,” Twilight confided.

Spike hugged her back leg.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. Aren’t we always?” Spike said trying to cheer her up.

Twilight thought about it for a minute, and then she smiled.

“You’re right, remember the hydra incident?” Twilight chuckled.

“I sure do, and the time when Princess Celestia wanted us, or more so Fluttershy, to reform Discord?” Spike brought up.

They both laughed as Spike threw Twilight’s saddlebag on top of her. Then she let Spike climb up on her back, she turned around and walked down the staircase.

“We had a lot of fun adventures together, Spike, and let’s hope that there will be more together.” Twilight told Spike as she walked through the library exit one last time.

It was only a few-minute walk to the train station. When the purple duo reached the back lot of the station, Twilight found Rarity and Pinkie Pie waiting there for her. She smiled as she saw them.

“Hey guys! What are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“Darling, did you really think that we would let our best friend leave without saying goodbye?” Rarity answered.

“Twilight silly! We all wanted to wish you well,” Pinkie Pie added.

“All? Who’s all?” Twilight inquired.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie didn’t answer. Instead they led her to the platform around the other side of the building. The sight that greeted Twilight upon her arrival caused her to stop in awe.

Standing on the platform were not only Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, but also every other pony in Ponyville. Strung from the rafters was a large banner, which was inscribed with: “GOODBYE & GOODLUCK TWILIGHT SPARKLE.”
A tear fell from Twilight’s eye, and she wiped it away. Her heart melted at this display of affection from the residents.

“Did you all come just for me?” Was all Twilight could ask.
Everypony nodded. The mayor of Ponyville stepped forward from the crowd.

“You’ve done so much for us, Miss Sparkle, we all figured, at the very least, that this is what we could do for you,” The mayor informed Twilight.

“Thank you, everypony,” Twilight responded rather quietly, still unable to process the act of kindness.

She took a gaze at her friends. They all had faces rife with sadness and disappointment. Rainbow Dash wore her trademark sunglasses, even though there was not a cloud in the sky. It suddenly became obvious to Twilight that the sunglasses were for Rainbow Dash to mask her tears.

A horn sounded off in the distance, and everypony swiveled their heads to the left. The horn belonged to the approaching train, its smoke trail could be seen off in the valley.

Twilight and her friends gathered around for one final group hug.

“Don’t worry everypony, I’ll come visit as often as I can,” Twilight said with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Everypony squeezed Twilight back, knowing that this might the last time for a long time that they would all get to see each other.

The train now pulled up to the platform, coming to a loud halt. The departing passengers stepped off the train and pushed their way through the goodbye party that had arranged itself on the platform.
Twilight, as well as her friends, knew that it was time to go. She looked up at her crowd of well wishers, who parted a path to the first passenger car behind the locomotive itself. She walked through the path with Spike who boarded the car first.

As Twilight stepped onto the stairs leading to the inside of the car, she paused and turned around, taking one final look at all of the Ponyville residents and forced herself into a smile.

“Don’t worry my friends, I promise that we will all meet again.” Twilight announced.

And then, she departed onto the train as it began to puff and chug its way to the eastern port of Equestria.

The residents watched in silence as the train picked up more and more momentum, eventually disappearing into the horizon.

Twilight Sparkle was now gone.

The townsponies began to leave the station, however, Twilight’s five friends remained on the platform. They watched the eastern horizon in a somber silence, hoping that they would get to see their lavender unicorn friend again one day.