> Not Dead Yet > by Evil Twilight > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter I: Awaken from the Eternal Sleep > --------------------------------------------------------------------------          White, there was only white. She didn’t know where she was, and she was confused beyond belief.         “Is this, the afterlife?” the lavender unicorn spoke as she got up and looked around her. Confused and daisies as to what to do next, she just started walking.           After walking for only seconds, there was a bright light that started to shine behind her.         Quickly turning around, she looked right into the light. To her understanding, it was getting closer and closer to her. As if, it was alive.         She stopped in her tracks and let the slight get closer to her, it wasn’t getting brighter, just closer it seemed. After waiting for several minutes, the light spoke.         “Twilight Sparkle,” it said.         Twilight bowed. “Hello, um, light?” Twilight was slightly confused.         The voice within the light giggled. “Call me Erishel. I am the goddess of the afterlife, which is where you are right now.”         Twilight got up and rolled her eyes. “Never would have guess, after seeing myself being stabbed by the Princess of the Night.” There was a lot of frustration in Twilight’s voice.         “There is a reason behind why you are here Twilight,” the light got closer, almost in front of Twilight’s face.         Twilight backed away. “Really? Can you tell me?”         “I’m afraid not, you’ll have to find out yourself,” the light got slightly farther from Twilight’s face.         “What? Why not?” Twilight was confused beyond belief.         “Ponies or any species can’t have eternal peace until they find out why they die. You are here right now with the grudge against your brother and the Princess of the Night. In order to enter the Afterlife, and live eternal peace, you must find out your death, and understand it.”         It was a lot for Twilight to comprehend, but she understood. “But, how? Will I just go back to Ponyville as a spirit or something?” Twilight giggled at her own joke.         “Yes,” Erishel replied.         Twilight looked at her like she was crazy. “What? Are you serious? Will ponies be able to see me? Talk to me? Interact with me?”         “Yes to your first question, no to the rest. You’ll be invisible completely. However you will have the power to enter anypony’s mind and read their thoughts and see from their eyes, and hear what they hear, but that’s about it. You won’t be able to actually take control of their body, but you’ll be like a spectator from their point of view.”         Twilight thought about this for a second. “I do have a lot more question, but I don’t really want to waste any more time.”         “Good idea,” Erishel replied.         “However I do have one more question,” Twilight raised a hoof.         “Go ahead,” Erishel was getting slightly impatient.         “Will this be easy?”         “Good question, that’s going to be on you. You read many mystery books during your days, I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out.”         Twilight nodded. “I understand my task and I am ready.”         “Very good. Good luck Twilight, you will succeed, I believe in you.” There was a blinding light that crowded Twilight, and within a blink of an eye, she blacked out.         Twilight woke up laying on the ground. She didn’t feel any pain, any nausea, nothing. She hasn’t felt this good since the day her and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon.         “My Friends,” Twilight thought as she looked around. There weren’t that many ponies out from where she was. “I think I’m in the park.” Twilight looked down at herself and found something rather radical. Her body was almost completely see through. All the colours she originally possessed were gone. It’s like somepony took away all her physical features and replaced them with a cloud.         She saw a pond and quickly ran over to it to see what her face looked like. Being distracted by looking at herself, Twilight didn’t notice that she was about to run into a park bench, but she passed right through it.         She looked back at the bench in amusement. “I’ve read in many ghost stories that spirits can pass right through objects, but I didn’t know it was true. As Rainbow Dash would say: that’s totally awesome!” Twilight walked over to the pond and looked down in it. As she thought, her figure wasn’t there. “Great,” she thought. “Now I’ll never know what I look like. Eh whatever, have to continue on my mission.” Running away from the pond, Twilight’s first place she thought about going was her treehouse. Thankfully it wasn’t too far from where she was so she quickly ran to it. She noticed she was a lot faster now in spirit form so it made the trap all the more faster.         Once she got there, she stood in front of two guards that were standing right outside her house. “Hmm,” Twilight thought. “They must be guarding the crime scene.” Just as she thought that, Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked up to the two guards.         “Ah c’mon y’all!” Applejack exclaimed. “We haven’ seen Twiligh’ in days! When will ya let us in and see her?”         “When we get orders from the Princess thank you very much,” the guard was getting irritated. “We don’t know her current state in there and we have no intention in finding out until the Princess arrives, now go away!”         Rainbow Dash was getting annoyed. “At least let us ask her if she’s okay! Come on already!”     “Possess Rainbow Dash,” Twilight thought. Just then, Twilight was all the sudden seeing out of Rainbow Dash’s eyes.    “Whoa, I’m inside Rainbow Dash’s body!” Twilight thought. “Let’s see what she’s thinking.”    “Man this guard is so stupid! Nothing gets in between my friends and me,” Rainbow Dash thought.     “Of course she’d think something like that,” Twilight thought. “Unpossessed Rainbow Dash.”         At the blink of an eye, Twilight was outside of Rainbow Dash’s body. Rainbow Dash was about to charge at the two guards before she was quickly stopped by Applejack.         “Ah wanna get in there as much as you do too Rainbow. How’ver it’s clearly that they don’ want us in. I’m sure she’ll come out within a couple of days,” Applejack said.         Rainbow Dash touched down next to Applejack. “Oh come on Applejack! You wanna see Twilight as bad as I do!”         “That’s mightily true,” Applejack said. “But I’m sure she’ll come out within maybe a couple of hours. Let’s just give it some time.”         Rainbow Dash was irritated but she understood what her friend was saying. “Oh alright! We’ll be back!”         “We can guarantee if you’ll see her once you come back,” the guard said.         “Let’s see what these guards are thinking,” Twilight thought. “Possess the guard in front of me.” In the blink of an eye, Twilight was inside the mind of the guard that was in front of her.         “That’s the third time her friends wanted to see her, first it was that pink pony and some white pony with a blue mane. Then it was some yellow pegasus, now it was some idiot and her cowmare friend,” the guard thought. “When will they just tell everypony that she’s dead already?” Twilight unpossessed his body at that instant. Her mood became sorrowful at the thought that she died by the hands of a Princess. Even after freeing her from being Nightmare Moon she still killed her. And her own brother was there to witness and did nothing about it!         Twilight walked through the guards and through the closed door into her treehouse.         The guard outside however felt a shiver down his spine. “Ah! Man did you feel that?”         The other guard looked at him like it was an idiot. “Felt what?”         “It felt like something just brushed past me! That was weird, probably nothing,” the guard went back to being serious.         “I might have some fun with that,” Twilight said as she heard them both from outside. She looked around her house and saw it was an utter mess. Out of temptation she tried to use her magic to lift a book, to her surprised, it worked, but only for a short time.         “Wait, what?” Twilight said out loud, not worrying about if the guards heard her or not. “How is this possible?!”         Twilight heard Erishel once again. “Ah I forgot to tell you Twilight!” Twilight looked around confused on where the voice came from.         “When a unicorn dies, her magic dies with her, so you still possess some of your magic. You can move any outside object for a short time. Sorry, forgot to tell you!” her voice faded almost instantly.                  Twilight smiled at this new-founded information. Now she had a way of communicating with physical ponies.         Anyways after glancing around her room for a little bit she noticed something on the floor. It was a white sheet with something bulging from underneath it.         Curious as to what it was, Twilight used her ‘ghost’ magic to lift up the sheet slightly. To her surprise, it was her dead body.         A tear ran down her eye as she knelt down next to it. Her eyes were closed and just looked all around lifeless. It pained Twilight to see her own dead body again. Sadly she doesn’t think that a soul can just climb back into its body like all of her ghost stories says they can.         Twilight repositioned the sheet back over her body and got back up. Inspecting the sheet one last time, she walked upstairs to her room, just to see it one more time.         When she got up there, Twilight was relieved that nothing had been tampered with. Her room was just like she remembered it, before dying. The only thing Twilight wanted to do was to go out and see all her friends again, but she knew that wasn’t possible. To her understanding, there was no such thing as a ‘bring back from the dead’. Such a thing is simply impossible, not even Celestia could be able to pull it off.         Twilight found a piece of paper on her work desk right next to her bed. There was even a quill next to it as well.         “Should I? No I shouldn’t, nopony would read it anyway,” Twilight thought as she walked away from the quill and paper.         Walking back downstairs she had no reason to continue being in her home. So, it was time for her to resume her mission in finding out her death. Walking through her door back outside, the two guards were still there, but not many ponies seemed to be around today.         “What should I do first?” Twilight said out loud. “Nopony can hear me anyway so what’s the point in not talking out loud at this point?” After thinking about what she should do, she wanted to check on her friends before heading over to Canterlot to try to find out why Princess Luna killed her, and Shining Armor let it happen.         “First I’m going to go see Fluttershy,” Twilight ultimately decided. Thankfully being that she was a spirit it didn’t take that long to run to Fluttershy’s cottage, being that she could run at super speed and pass through anything.         Once Twilight got there, the first thing she did was peek into her window. Fluttershy was sitting with angel and a couple of her other animal friends talking to her.         “I’m sure Twilight’s okay everybody, no need to worry!” Fluttershy said petting one of her squirrels.         “I wish,” Twilight said out loud.         “What? Who said that?” Fluttershy said looking around. “Twilight? Was that you?”         Twilight got down from Fluttershy’s window. “She can hear me? I thought Erishel said nopony can hear me!” “Ah I see you found a rarity Twilight,” Twilight hear Erishel again.         “What do you mean?” Twilight thought .         “Some ponies have the ability to see and hear certain spirits. It’s a useless skill but being that you and Fluttershy are connected via element of harmony, her skill and that are enough for her to interact with you Twilight!”         Twilight looked back inside, Fluttershy was still looking around. “Wow, that’s Erishel!” “No problem Twilight, good luck on your mission!”         Twilight gathered her courage and walked through Fluttershy’s walls to see her fully. “Hey Fluttershy,” Twilight called out.         Fluttershy quickly turned around to see Twilight standing in front of her. “Twilight! What? What happen to you?”         “I’m dead Fluttershy. You’re currently talking to my soul, and no you’re not dreaming. Princess Luna and Shining Armor killed me and I can’t go to afterlife until I find out why,” Twilight was worried that Fluttershy might not believe her.         Fluttershy looked at Twilight’s living soul like she just died and came back to life. “You’re-you’re see through! And, y-you died? Luna killed you? And whose Shining Armor?”         Twilight rolled her eyes. “Shining Armor is my brother, he’s captain of the royal guard. And yes Luna is the one who delivered the killing blow to me, Shining Armor just sat there and watched.”         Tears started to flow from Fluttershy’s eyes. “I’m sorry Twilight!” Fluttershy tried giving Twilight a hug but passed right through her body. Some of her animals looked at her like she was stupid being that they can’t see Twilight.         “You can’t physically interact with me Fluttershy, I’m a ghost. Also you’re my only way of interacting with any living pony. Please don’t go around telling ponies that Luna and Shining Armor killed me, there’s clearly a reason behind it and I want to find out,” Twilight looked determined.         Fluttershy wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’ll be more than glad to help Twilight!”         “Perfect,” Twilight said. “I think the first thing we should do is head to Canterlot. I would opt for you to tell our other friends about my fate, but I doubt they would believe you no offence.”         Fluttershy nodded. “I doubt they would to,” Fluttershy thought to herself for a moment. “Do you think maybe Princess Luna and Shining Armor had to kill you? Like, they were forced to?”         Twilight shrugged. “I suppose it’s possible, but I doubt it. Anyways, are you ready to head to Canterlot?”         “Yes I am!” Fluttershy more determined than anything. Her animals still looked at her like she was an idiot. “By the way what happened to Spike? We haven’t seen him about as long as you.”         Twilight bit her lip. “He, also died. But I haven’t found him in spirit from yet. Maybe his soul was finally at perfect peace.”         Fluttershy frowned but still looked determined. “Are you ready to find out the truth?”         “Yes I am!” Twilight said turning around walking right through Fluttershy’s door.         Fluttershy looked at her door weirdly before shaking it off and opening it and following closely behind Twilight. Neither them knew what they might find out when they find out why they killed Twilight, but they both knew it must have had been a good reason. > Chapter II: Worried Friends > --------------------------------------------------------------------------         Fluttershy was following closely behind Twilight’s spirit. She was trying to understand why she of all ponies is the only one that can see and hear Twilight. Eventually they got to the same park that Twilight had appeared in when she first returned to Ponyville.         Fluttershy didn’t even know what Twilight could do in her spirit from, could she take control of ponies?         “Hey Twilight?” Fluttershy stopped in her tracks.         Twilight turned around. “Yes Fluttershy?”         “Can you possess ponies? Sense you know, you are a ghost,” Fluttershy smiled weirdly.         Twilight smiled back. “Yes I can but I can’t take complete control of them. I can hear what they’re hearing, I can see what they’re seeing, and I can read their minds. But that’s about it honestly. I just hope I don’t have to stay in this form for a long time.”         Fluttershy frowned. “Why? You’re with us now! You’re back in Ponyville!”         Twilight walked up to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, look at me, I’m dead. I won’t be able to return to my body and live with you all ever again. Nopony can see me or hear me other than you! Pretty much the reason why I’m here is to find out why I died and live happily ever after, do you not want that?”         Tears started to form in Fluttershy’s eyes. “Are you sure? I can translate for you? Twilight we don’t want you to go, that’s why I’m saying.” Fluttershy broke down into complete sobs.         Twilight knelt down to get to eye level with the crying pegasus. “I understand Fluttershy. I don’t want to go either, I really don’t! However this is fate, and fate cannot be changed.”         As Twilight was saying that a passing earth pony saw Fluttershy’s sobs and walked over to help her.         “Hey Miss are you okay?” the light brown stallion asked.         “Doctor Whooves!” Twilight thought as she looked at him.         Fluttershy got up and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Yeah, I’m sorry. My friend recently died and it’s been really tough.”         “I’m so sorry, I hope your friend finds everlasting peace in the afterlife,” Doctor Whooves said with an elegant smile.         “I’m getting there,” Twilight thought to herself.         “Thank you kind sir,” Fluttershy ask before turning around preparing to walk away.         “Oh and by the way!” Doctor Whooves called out to Fluttershy.         Fluttershy turned around with a confused face. “Is there something you need?”         “Have you seen Twilight Sparkle? I tried going to her house but some guards wouldn’t let me in. Do you know where she is?”         Fluttershy didn’t know what to say. Twilight Sparkle was right next to her, only she was dead. Fluttershy took a deep breath before beginning to talk.         “I, truly don’t know. I’m sorry mister. I haven’t seen her in the last couple of d-days,” Fluttershy sounded like she wanted to curl up and cry.         Doctor Whooves thought to himself for a moment, then he smiled. “I’m sure she’s fine miss, to my understanding you’re one of her close friends. Don’t worry about her, I’m sure she’s just fine!”         “I wish,” Twilight said out loud.         Fluttershy glanced at Twilight before returning to Whooves. “I’m sure you’re right, Mr. um?”         “Whooves, Doctor Whooves. I’m not really a doctor thought, everypony just likes calling me that,” Whooves laughed to himself. “Anyways, take care!” he said as he walked right past her.         Fluttershy turned around shyly. “Goodbye.” With a sigh of relief, Fluttershy turned towards Twilight, only to have her jaw drop when she saw her.         “What? Is there something wrong Fluttershy?” Twilight turned towards her confused.         “L-look at the left side of y-you,” Fluttershy pointed to Twilight’s left.         Twilight looked down at her side and was just as surprised as Fluttershy. There was a long gash that ran down the centre of her torso on the left side of her body. It was only spread about four to five inches, but it was also glowing.         “I think this is the spot where Luna stabbed me,” Twilight said getting a closer look at the giant cut.         Fluttershy walked over to Twilight to inspect the giant cut a little better. “Wow, that’s one massive cut,” Fluttershy thought to herself for a second. “Hey Twilight, this may sound weird but is it possible that you might be able to climb back into your body and your spirit will merge with your body and you’ll come back to life.”         Twilight sighed and turned towards Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I really hate to say it, but I’m gone. Once I find out my death is the last time you’ll hear my voice. You can’t bring anypony back to life, it’s not possible. I wish there was something I could do to come back but, it’s not possible! I’m sorry Fluttershy.” Twilight couldn’t cry, spirits can’t cry.         Tears once again formed in Fluttershy’s eyes, but she quickly wiped them. “Why are you so accepting of this? I’d expect you to be all crazy mad and stuff. Why are you so accepting of this awful fate?”         Twilight glanced at the ground with an unsure expression. “What’s happened has happened. Believe me Fluttershy I’m at a huge outrage at both Luna and Shining Armor for killing me! There must have been some good reason to kill the Element of Magic,” Twilight gave an annoyed sigh. “The point is, I can’t go back and changed what happen, I would like to but I can’t sadly.”         Fluttershy nodded. “I can see your point of view on that,” Fluttershy gave a warm smile.         “Ey Fluttershy who ya talkin’ too?” Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked up to Fluttershy from behind and nearly scared the crap out of her.         “Woops! Sorry about that Flutters, didn’t mean to scare you,” Rainbow Dash giggled a little.         “My friends,” Twilight thought to herself.         “Anyways Fluttershy who were you talking to?” Rainbow Dash went from a happy to a weirded-out look.         “Just some of the animals that are roaming around here, you know!” Fluttershy gave a nervous laugh as she rubbed her arm and looked around.         Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other and shrugged. “Well, we were just walkin’ aroun’ and saw ya so we’d figured we’d say hey,” Applejack tilted her hat as they turned around to walk away.         “Wait guys!” Fluttershy said raising a hoof to stop them.         “Yeah Flutters?” Rainbow Dash said for both of them as they turned around.         “Do you guys think, Twilight is dead?” Fluttershy had a very sad look on her face.         Neither of them knew what to respond with. “We’re, really worried about her to say to least. But to answer your question of course not! There must be some reason there are guards guarding her house after all. Maybe she’s getting some special treatment from the Princess!”         Applejack looked at her and nodded in agreement. “Yea’! I agree with that one-hundred percent! I’m sure she’ll come on out within a couple of days! Why, do you think so?”         Fluttershy looked at Twilight who closed her eyes and gave a slight nod. “Honestly yes I do,” Fluttershy said turning back towards them.         Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at her in awe. “Fluttershy!” Applejack said quite loud. “How could you say such a thing about your friend?”         Rainbow Dash stepped in. “I mean, I can see how she could think that. If this was some sort of Princess meeting wouldn’t everypony be aware of them being here in Ponyville?”         Applejack thought about it for a second. “Yea’ I guess you’re right. But man I hope she’s okay, I would cry all week if I found out she died.”         “I w-wouldn’t be crying, but I c-certainly would be the saddest pegasus in Equestria!” Rainbow Dash blushed slightly.                       “Do they actually mean that?” Twilight thought to herself.         “I probably wouldn’t leave my cottage for a couple of days if I found out that happened,” Fluttershy said.         “I don’t think anypony woul’ leave their house if they found out that happened Fluttershy, she’s alrea’y brought so much good to Ponyville in the short time she’s been here!” Applejack smiled grew wider by the second.         Twilight’s emotions began to mix and turn from hearing all of this. “Are they actually being serious?”         “But thankfully we won’t have to worry about all of that because she’s not dead!” Rainbow Dash said cheerfully. “Well Flutters we’re going to head back to Applejack’s place, talk to ya later!” both of them walked past Fluttershy.         “Bye girls!” Fluttershy waved back at them.         They waited for Applejack and Rainbow Dash to go out of sight before resuming their conversation. Twilight stepped up to Fluttershy with a mixed emotional face. “Did they actually mean what they said back there Fluttershy?”         Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “See Twilight? This is why I didn’t want you to leave, you inspire us all. You’re like a Princess but you’re not. Ponies look up to you in more ways than one.”         If Twilight could cry like a newborn foal right there and then she would have. “I-I don’t know what to say about this. This is such a huge shock to me. I knew my friends cared about me, but this much in the short time I’ve been in Ponyville?”         Fluttershy nodded. “You inspire us Twilight, you inspire us to be at our best, and be at our finest. You made me not as shy as I used to be. I’m still a wimp but that’s beside the point.”         Twilight smiled. “Thank you Fluttershy, it means a lot to me. Say, why don’t we go see Rarity and Pinkie Pie? I kind of want to see how they’re doing.”         “Will do Twilight!” Fluttershy said stepping in front of Twilight, leading the way this time.         They both finally exited the park they were in and reached the inner walls of Ponyville. Their search was cut short when Fluttershy saw both Rarity and Pinkie Pie walk into Sugarcube Corner.         Following closely behind Fluttershy, Twilight was nervous on what Pinkie Pie and Rarity would say about her. Sure it was probably going to be similar to what Applejack and Rarity said, but it still worried her.         Fluttershy walked through the doors while Twilight just walked through the walls and positioned herself to where she could view all three of them.         Rarity looked over at Fluttershy and smiled. “Oh hello Fluttershy nice to see you today! I was just picking up a cake from Pinkie Pie to give to a good friend of mine.”         “What’s up Fluttershy? How are you doing today?” Pinkie said, jumping up and down.         “Hello girls, hey, have any of you guys seen Twilight recently? I haven’t seen her in a couple of days,” Fluttershy had a worried look on her face.         Both of them looked at each other with unsure looks then looked back at Fluttershy. “Well, um, to be honest, there could be a number of reasons why we have not seen Twilight Sparkle in a couple of days Fluttershy darling,” Rarity replied.         “Yeah Fluttershy, do you think she’s dead?” Pinkie Pie had a worried look on her face.         Fluttershy took a deep breath in before talking again. “Honestly yes I d-do. She hasn’t come out in a couple of days, and they’re guards guarding the entrance of her treehouse.”         Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked at Fluttershy liked she just killed somepony. “Well darling while I can understand your reasoning, I say let’s not just jump to the conclusion. For all we know she could be out of town and have something of value in her treehouse.”         Pinkie Pie looked at Rarity. “But why wouldn’t she tell us first?”         “Maybe it’s top secret or something? I don’t know, I don’t want to think about for the fact that she might be dead. I wouldn’t open my shop for a couple of days if that happened. Just sit there and cry,” Rarity tied pushing the thought of Twilight being dead out of her mind.         “Me too,” Pinkie Pie said softly. “I wouldn’t even open up shop honestly, I don’t care what Mister or Misses Cake would say.”         Twilight was at a loss for words. Her friends truly cared about it, loved her. Now she really wanted to go back to being a pony, but she couldn’t, it was impossible.         “I agree, I really hope Twilight’s okay,” Fluttershy said looking down. “Well I’m going to head out, I’ll see you all later!” Fluttershy said as she walked towards the door.         “Bye Fluttershy!” Both Rarity and Pinkie Pie said and unison.         Fluttershy walked out and Twilight soon followed walking through the door. Twilight had mixed emotions about all of this, she didn’t know what to feel. All she wanted to do right there was curl up in a ball and cry for many hours.         “As I said before Twilight, we love you and care about you. Now I’m not trying to convince you to try and become a Pony again, but when you do leave, take that information to the grave with you,” Fluttershy smiled as a tear ran down her cheek.         Twilight walked up to her and smile. “Even after I go to afterlife I will never forget any of you. You guys changed my life for the better, even if I haven’t been here that long. You girls showed me what it’s like to have friends, if only I could have discovered it sooner however.”         Fluttershy wiped the tears from her face once more. “Well c’mon Twilight! We have a mission to complete! We have to find out why you died!”         “Yeah! Let’s go!” both of them sprinted towards the train station.         While Fluttershy had to wait in line to buy a ticket and get in line to get on the train, Twilight could just walk right through the walls and wait for her on the other side. It seemed like Fluttershy sat alone on the train but really she had Twilight next to her the entire time.         “Thanks for helping me Fluttershy,” Twilight turned towards her as they finally reached Canterlot.         “Anything for a friend,” Fluttershy said softly. > Chapter III: Sorrowful Parents > --------------------------------------------------------------------------         Both Fluttershy and Twilight got off the train and looked around. They didn’t see anything out of the ordinary so they decided to start looking around.         Fluttershy didn’t feel obligated to talk to Twilight while they were walking around being that it would look weird if somepony was talking to a ghost. However she did acknowledge her existence and that was enough for Twilight.         Twilight could easily possess her and they could communicate through thoughts but Twilight actually wanted to see Canterlot again being that she hasn’t seen it since she moved out and this would probably be the last time she would ever see it. It was sad knowing that Twilight would never see any of this ever again but what’s been done has been done.         After walking around for several minutes, Twilight spotted her brother walking along the sidewalk, ignoring everypony he passed.         Twilight saw this and possessed Fluttershy so they could talk.         “Fluttershy, look to her right, it’s my brother!” Twilight said into Fluttershy’s mind.         Fluttershy looked over to her right to see Shining Armor with his head hanging walking along the sidewalk very slowly.         “Is your brother the white stallion with the dark blue mane?” Fluttershy asked.         “Yeah that’s him,” Twilight said.         Fluttershy thought silently to herself for a second. “Twilight, I got an idea. You go follow your brother, and I’m going to go to that pet store we passed a couple blocks back there.”         “Why don’t you want to help me Fluttershy?”         “I think you need to handle this family thing on your own Twilight,” Fluttershy smiled.         Twilight took Fluttershy’s words into careful consideration. “Are you sure you don’t want to help me with this?”         “If I tried to get involved it probably wouldn’t end well,” Fluttershy thought. “Besides you’re a ghost Twilight.”         “I guess you’re right,” Twilight said. “Alright, I’ll go do this part on my own and I’ll let you know how it goes.”         Fluttershy nodded. “Good luck Twilight. And I won’t leave the pet store by the way, take as much time as you need.”         Twilight unpossessed Fluttershy. “Thank you Fluttershy, I’ll let you know how it goes.”         Fluttershy nodded and started to walk away from Twilight. Twilight however still had her brother in view so he started to follow closely behind him.         “Alright time to see what he’s thinking,” Twilight said as she possessed her brother.         “What am I going to do?” Shining Armor thought. “What am I going to tell my parents? That the Princess of the Night and I had to kill my sister because she turned into a wolf?”         “Wait, what?” Twilight thought. She wanted to unpossess Shining Armor right there but she wanted to see what else he would say.         “’Oh hey parents I just wanted to let you know that every night Twilight would turn into a wolf and start killing innocent ponies. Oh and did I mention it was because of the dark energy that was contained within Nightmare Moon? Yeah I know it sounds skeptical but it’s true!’ Yeah like that’ll work,” Shining Armor thought to himself.         Twilight unpossessed Shining Armor right there and then. “Is, this true?”         “I’m afraid so Twilight,” a familiar voice called out to Twilight.         “Erishel, I would turn into a wolf at night, and kill innocent ponies?” Twilight wanted to curl up and cry right there and then.         “Yes Twilight but it was beyond your fault, you couldn’t control it. Now that you’ve found out your death, you can now come to afterlife.”         “Not yet,” Twilight said back.         “Oh? Is there something else you want to do?”         “I want to see what my brother tells my parents,” Twilight said.         “I understand. I’ll make you a deal Twilight. If you can gather all your friends and you brother, and even the Princesses if possible to one place, I’ll let you talk to them before you leave.”         Twilight smiled. “Thank you Erishel.”         “My pleasure Twilight,” Erishel said before her voice faded away.         Twilight took a deep breath in and continued to follow her brother all the way to their house. It wasn’t too far from where they originally were so it wasn’t too long of a walk. Not like Twilight would be affected by it or anything.         Shining Armor got to the door of his parent’s house. Before stepping inside, he thought about what he was going to say.         “What am I going to do?” Shining Armor thought to himself. “Should I get Princess Luna here to help me? No, I doubt it would help me in this situation.”         “If only I could tell him I’m here,” Twilight thought to herself. She really wanted to give her brother some sort of sign, a clue that she existed. Of course she had her ‘ghost’ magic, but that wouldn’t really do her much good.         After gathering his courage, he walked into his parent’s house, and Twilight followed closely behind him         Twilight’s parents were sitting in the living room. Twilight Velvet was reading the newspaper while Night Light was reading a book. Once they saw Shining Armor walk in, they put their stuff down and ran up and hugged him.         “Shining Armor! What brings you back so soon? Is there something urgent? Celestia told us we wouldn’t be seeing you as much and Twilight even less! In fact, how is Twi-” Velvet was cut off my Shining Armor.         “Mom, please, just, sit down. Both of you please,” Shining Armor didn’t even look either of them in the eye throughout that ordeal.         “Shiny what’s wrong?” Night Light said as he followed his wife over to the couch and both of them sat down on it.         Shining Armor sat down on in the chair across from them. He didn’t bother getting comfortable being that he probably wasn’t going to be sitting for very long.         “Shining Armor tell us, what’s wrong? Is something wrong with Twilight?” Velvet demanded out of her son.         “I’m getting to that mom, just calm down,” Shining said demandingly to his mom.         Twilight sat in the floor in the middle of both his parents and his brother. She knew none of them could see her, so she got to see this entire thing unfold.         “I want to reveal myself, however I must wait until the right time,” Twilight thought to herself as she sat there waiting for Shining Armor to spill the beans.         “Mom, Dad, I love you both more than anything in this world. You know what right?” Shining started off staring at the ground.         “Yes,” both of them said in unison.         “Well,” Shining Armor choked back.         “Well what Shining?” his mother was getting anxious.         “Say it dang you!” Twilight said out loud. “They deserve to know!”         Shining Armor couldn’t hold it back anymore. “Your daughter, my sister, Twilight Sparkle, is dead,” he finally shouted out and admitted.         Both of them looked at each other with pure horror on their faces. “Wha-what?” Twilight Velvet started off.         “Yeah that’s right, now tell them the reason big brother!” Twilight shouted at him. Regardless if neither of them could hear Twilight, it still made her feel better inside.         “Yes, I know you probably don’t believe me,” Shining Armor started off, “and I really don’t know if I believe it too.”         Night Light stood up. “Son, did you kill our daughter?” Shining Armor could tell there was fire in his father’s eyes.         “No, however I helped,” Shining Armor finally got out. “Now before you start hitting me, let me tell the full story.”         Night Light sat back down. “Go ahead son.”         “This is going to take a while,” Twilight said out loud.         Shining Armor then went on about the dark power within Twilight, her turning into a wolf and slaughtering many guards. And finally he and Luna finally putting her down, for good.                  “S-so that was Twilight that was really the wolf? We heard that there was a wolf lingering around Ponyville but it was really our daughter Twilight?” Velvet couldn’t stop crying.         Shining Armor nodded. “I’m afraid so. Nopony knew it was her, and still don’t as of right now. Currently her body is inside her home which is being guarded by two sentries. We were waiting to tell all the important ponies before revealing to the public that she’s dead. Important ponies being you two, and her six friends.”         “Oh they’ll know soon enough,” Twilight said out loud.         “We’ve heard about all those murders down there, and we found out that Celestia was sending the royal guard we got scared for you Shining Armor,” Night Light said, he also being in tears.         “I understand but the point of all this is, Twilight’s dead,” tears started to form in Shining Armor’s eyes as well.                 “Not quite big brother,” Twilight said as she got up. “I think I’ve heard enough, I have an idea.”         “I really wish I could save her,” Shining Armor said planting his face in his hooves.         Twilight stopped right before she could walk through the door and looked back at him. “I’m not mad Shining Armor, you did what you had to do,” Twilight smiled and turned back around and walked out.         Once she walked out, Twilight looked around to see if she could find where Fluttershy was hanging out. Twilight still knew Canterlot pretty good so she knew where the Pet Store was, which only a couple blocks was down from here.         Twilight saw Fluttershy walking out, she didn’t have anything in her hooves so she must have been just looking around in the store or something.         Fluttershy quickly spotted Twilight and walked over to her. “Hey Twilight,” Fluttershy said softly. “Did you get all the information you were looking for?”         Twilight smiled. “Yes I did Fluttershy and I have an idea. We’re going to call a meeting at the old castle where we defeated Nightmare Moon. It may seem odd, but I need you to gather all of our friends. Also I need you to write a letter to my parents and the Princesses to meet there as well.”         Fluttershy was confused by all of this but Twilight clearly had a plan so she didn’t question it. “Could I just go to your parents’ house down there and tell them to come with me?”         “That works too!” Twilight said with an enthusiastic voice. “Also since my brother will most likely be there he can also get in contact with the Princesses as well!”         Fluttershy nodded. “I’ll get right on it!”         “See you at the castle Fluttershy!” Twilight said walking away.         “See you there Twilight!” Fluttershy said walking away.         Twilight waited for Fluttershy to go completely out of view before laying down and closing her eyes.         “Erishel, may I take ten minutes or so to speak with all my friends and family before I depart to afterlife?”         “Of course you can Twilight. Since you are connected to the Princesses and your friends through the elements of harmony, I should be able to channel enough magic for you to become visible to them, as for the Princesses too. And for your family, I’ll be difficult for me to channel enough magic to make you become visible to them but since they’re bloodline to you I most likely will be able to,” Erishel said.         “Thank you, this means the world to me,” Twilight thought as she smiled.         “Everypony deserves to say some last words to family before they depart forever,” Erishel said. “Now get to the castle.”         Twilight got up. “Will do,” she said out loud and bolted off. > Chapter IV: Final Goodbyes > --------------------------------------------------------------------------            Twilight was walking around in a circle in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. She didn’t know what her final words to her friends, family, and mentors were going to be.         “This is going to be a lot harder than I had originally thought,” Twilight thought to herself. “Everypony is going to be all emotional and such, but I guess that’s what you have to deal with after you die.” Twilight stopped in her tracks. “I died,” Twilight thought. She had never really stopped and thought about for the fact that she was dead and never returning to Ponyville. Her mission and seeing all her friends had kept her from it. “And there’s no way of me going back as a physical pony, goodness gracious.” Just then the door swung open and Fluttershy and the other ponies that Twilight had instruct her to get were coming in the door.         “Ah’m tellin’ ya Fluttershy you had better not brought us here for not’in’!” Applejack said annoyed as she followed Fluttershy in. “Twilight better be here!”         “Yeah, Twilight, better be here,” Shining Armor said holding his mother closely.         “Trust me you all, you’ll get to see her,” Fluttershy said smiling.         Luna wanted to say something against this, but Twilight’s friends were here and they didn’t know she was dead so she kept her mouth shut.         “Now I want everypony to sit in a circle around me,” Fluttershy said standing next to Twilight.         Shining Armor sat down with his mom next to him. Velvet leaned in towards his ear. “I thought you said our daughter was dead Shining Armor!”         Fluttershy overheard Velvet. “You’ll see in a second Miss Twilight Velvet.”         “You ready Twilight?” Erishel told Twilight.         “Ready!” Twilight said out loud.         “Everypony, meet Twilight Sparkle!” Fluttershy said pointing next to her.         There was a bright light that was almost blinding. Everypony looked away then the light, afraid that it might blind them. The light dissipated after several seconds and in its place revealed Twilight Sparkle, still spirit like.         “Hello everypony, sorry I had to meet you all in this state,” Twilight said smiling.         “TWILIGHT!” everypony shouted as the sprung up from their seats, however sat back down when they saw here.         Twilight looked over to her parents. “What Shining Armor said was true, mom, and dad. I am indeed, dead.”         Her five friends gasp after hearing this. Twilight then turned towards them. “I’m so sorry you all. I wish I didn’t have to say goodbye in this state. There was nothing I could do about this. I’m so, so sorry,” even though ghost couldn’t cry. Twilight still felt tears coming out, even though they weren’t there.         Everypony including the Princesses were crying. “Twilight,” Applejack got up and said. “Wha-what happen to ya?”         Pinkie Pie was next. “Yeah T-Twilight what happened?”         Princess Luna stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Please allow me to explain.”         Twilight turned towards Luna. “No, no Luna, this is my funeral, I would like to.”         Luna nodded and sat down. “If you wish Twilight Sparkle.”         Twilight took a deep breath. “Do you all remember the time, when we defeated Nightmare Moon? And then she returned back to Princess Luna?”         “Darling how could we forget?” Rarity said, still crying.         “Well apparently the dark magic that took over Luna infected my magic and caused me to turn into some sort of wolf whenever nighttime yet. This dark power only activates during the night so that’s why Nightmare Moon wanted eternal night, the dark power can linger in her forever. So when Shining Armor and Princess Luna faced that side of me for the first time, they had no other choice but to kill me,” Twilight said looking down and closing her eyes.         All of her friends’ mouths hanged in shock. “Why were we never aware of this at all?!” Rainbow Dash got up and said.         “Are you aware of all the deaths that happened throughout Ponyville?” Twilight said.         “Yeah, why?” Rainbow Dash replied confused.         “That was me, I did all of those,” Twilight looked ashamed.         Rainbow Dash’s mouth hanged even more as she sat back down. Nopony in the room could comprehend what was going on. Their best friend was standing in front of them, as a ghost, about to leave them forever.         “Fluttershy over here was my connection to all of you. Her skill at speaking to animals also branches out even further, to ghost! However it was also our connection with the Elements of Harmony that really interlocked the connection between us,” Twilight said smiling at Fluttershy, who was crying and smiling.         Twilight walked over to her parents and brother, who were cuddling and crying together. “Mom, Dad, B.B.B.F.F., I’m sorry it had to be this way,” Twilight said frowning.         Velvet and Night Light stood up. “Twilight,” Velvet started off. “You were the best daughter anypony could ask for. You were obedient, smart, kind, we couldn’t have asked for any other daughter.”         “We were so proud of you when we found out you got accepted into Celestia’s school,” Night Light went next. “Shining Armor and I always talked about how amazing you were when you left us on the first day of school. We talked about how you were the best daughter/sister ever. Also when Shining Armor told us about you, we didn’t believe him and wouldn’t have in a million years from now. We’re sorry we couldn’t do anything to help you.”         Twilight smiled. “There was nothing you could do dad,” Twilight walked over to her brother. “Big brother, best friend forever, thank you for supporting me all the way until the end of my short life. I couldn’t have asked for a better brother. We never fought, had a disagreement, nothing of that sorts. I love you so much Shining Armor.”         Shining Armor stood up wiping the tears from his eyes. “I love you Twilight Sparkle, my one and only and favourite sister. Please find peace up there in the afterlife and I hope we get to see each other again one day. I’ll be sure to tell Cadance that you said goodbye okay Twily?” Shining Armor said smiling.         Twilight smiled. “Thank you big brother,” Twilight moved on to the Princesses, starting with Celestia. “Princess Celestia, my mentor, teacher, close friend. I wish I never had left your side. I felt like if I hadn’t then this whole mess wouldn’t have happened. But that doesn’t matter now, I’m going to miss you so much.”         Celestia smiled at Twilight through crying eyes. “Twilight I’m going to miss you too. And yes you are correct if I hadn’t sent you to Ponyville this wouldn’t have happened, so this is all my fault!”         Twilight looked up at Celestia. “It isn’t you fault, none of us knew this was going to happen!”         Celestia looked at her and smiled. “You’re right. And may I say a couple of things to you Twilight?”         Twilight smiled at her. “Go ahead Celestia.”         “You were supposed to become a Princess, and Alicorn, just like me and Luna. I gave you the instruction to go to Ponyville and make friends. You were then going to learn about friendship and how wonderful it was. I was going to then instruct you to finish a spell that Starswirl the Bearded couldn’t get right, no matter how much he tried. Once you did that, I would have given you the powers of a Princess and you have become Equestria’s newest Princess,” Celestia said looking down.         Twilight was dumbfounded, but not mad. “Maybe you can find somepony else to take my place instead,” Twilight said smiling. The last thing that Twilight wanted to do was get mad before she had to leave forever. So she set aside all negative emotions for the time being.         Celestia shook her head. “No Twilight, nopony can replace you. You’re too smart, magical, and all around amazing.”         Twilight smiled. “Thank you Princess Celestia, I love you.”         “I love you too Twilight,” Celestia bowed her head.         Twilight moved on to Princess Luna. “Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night, I’m sorry it had to be like this. I haven’t known you for long, but you seemed like an amazing pony to get to know. I wish we could have gotten to know each other better.”         Princess Luna looked up at the almost see through mare and smiled. “Twilight Sparkle, I would start saying this is all my fault but it really isn’t. This is not your fault, nor mine, nor really anypony’s! Sure if you were never sent to Ponyville you’d probably still be alive but who knows? It may have happened to one of your other friends instead. Either way, I’m also sorry it had to be like this. I feel like if we’d gotten to know each other better we would probably become the best of friends. I’m sorry Twilight,” Luna bowed her head and started crying.         “This isn’t your fault Luna,” Twilight said smiling. “As you said, nopony knew this was going to happen. I don’t want you to feel bad about this at all. This isn’t your fault at all!”         Luna looked up at her and smiled. “Thank you Twilight Sparkle.”         “It’s my pleasure Luna,” Twilight said moving on to her friends as Fluttershy joined them. “Applejack, in the little time I’ve gotten to know you you’ve been funny, kind hearted, and honest. I’m going to miss you a lot.”         Applejack stood up and took off her hat. “Twilight Sparkle, thanks for bein’ such a great friend! And tryin’ all mah deserts that one time,” Applejack said giggling.         Twilight moved on to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash. You saved my life once as well and probably the most loyal and athletic pony I’ve met, besides Applejack of course. Thanks for being by my side and defending me until the bitter end.”         Rainbow Dash stood up crying. “Twilight Sparkle, you’re just crazy! You’re full of surprises and what not but that’s what I love about you. You’ll be missed by all of us greatly, you egg head!”         Twilight giggled and moved on to Rarity. “Rarity, nopony will match your beauty and undying creativity. While you did make me try on a ton of different outfits when I first met you back in Ponyville, you still fixed my hair. Thank you for your kind generosity as well.”         Rarity stood up crying. “Thank you Twilight for helping me with the décor and tolerating my love for fashion! I’ll make sure to right all about in my diary back at home!”         Twilight bowed and walked over to Pinkie Pie, who was crying and her hair was straighten. “Pinkie Pie, you are absolutely the funniest pony I’ve ever met. I thought you were annoying when I first came to Ponyville but I soon realized after we defeated Nightmare Moon that you are the best representation of the Element of Laughter. I’m going to miss your hilarious, unexplainable actions.”         Pinkie stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Twilight, I’m glad I threw that party just for you when you first came to Ponyville. If I knew this was your fate I would have made it a million times bigger! I’m so sorry it wasn’t as big as I could have made it.”         Twilight shook her head. “No need to apologize Pinkie, it was just fine. I really needed a party like that, especially because I haven’t had a party like that in a very long time. Thanks for being so kind to me when I first walked into Ponyville.”         Pinkie Pie tried to hug Twilight but fell right there here and onto the ground. “Oops, sorry,” she got up and laughed.         “That’s fine Pinkie,” Twilight said moving onto Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I’m probably going to miss you the most. You have helped me get in contact with everypony and have been my connection to the outside world. You have been the most helpful, and I thank you. You were really shy when I first came to Ponyville and is kind as a bunny. Thanks for your support and helping me out until the bitter end.”         Fluttershy was crying so hard that you could fill Celestia’s back pool ten times over. “I-I’m so, so sorry you h-had to leave u-us like this. We l-love you and w-we’ll never forget you!” Fluttershy reached out to hug Twilight but fell on the floor as a result.         Twilight giggled and stepped back. “Thank you all for your support throughout my short life. I love you all.”         Nopony replied to Twilight’s statement, they were all balling as they knew they weren’t going to see her again.         “I’m ready,” Twilight said looking down at the grown.         “I’m so sorry Twilight,” Erishel said.         “It’s not your f-fault,” Twilight said looking up giving a tired smile. A bright spot light surrounded Twilight. “Goodbye everypony, hope I’ll see you all again one day.”         “Bye Twilight!” everypony in the room called out as Twilight was lifted into the air. With a flight of blinding light, she disappeared and the light went completely away.         “We’ll miss you,” Fluttershy said through sobs. > Epilogue > --------------------------------------------------------------------------         Twilight opened her eyes and found a familiar white surrounding like she first did when she first woke up in this vestibule of Afterlife. She scrambled to her hooves and looked around to find even the slightest clue on what to do next.         “Congratulations Twilight,” a familiar voice to Twilight called out.         Twilight quickly turned around and saw not the flowing light she saw when she first got here, but an alicorn. She seemed to be slightly taller than Celestia, same colour coat but a little bit dirtier, and blood-coloured mane and tale. Her cutie mark was an ink cup and quill which Twilight found unusual.         “Are you, Erishel?” Twilight said unable to look away from her radiant gaze. “Wait, I know who you are!”         “That’s right, I’m the goddess of all goddesses, Lauren Faust. Erishel is sort of a cover up then I reveal myself when Ponies are deemed worthy of afterlife. I also of course change my voice. But anyways, you are now worthy Twilight, welcome!”         Twilight ran up and hugged Lauren despite it being rather difficult being she was twice as tall as Twilight.         “Welcome Twilight,” a different but still familiar voice called out to Twilight.         Lauren smiled and stepped aside, revealing a pony that Twilight hasn’t seen since she went off to Celestia’s academy.         “Grandmama?” Twilight said jaw dropped. She ran over and hug her grandma as she looked rather young since the last time Twilight saw her. Twilight got almost all of her body colour from her mother, except her mane and tail. Her mane and tail were white and light pink just like Twilight’s mother.         “It’s so good to see you again,” Twilight’s grandma said hugging back. For the first time since meeting her friends, Twilight cried happy tears.         Lauren wiped a tear away from her eye. “How sweet, well come on you two, we’re going to Afterlife!”         “You’re going to love it Twilight!” her grandmother said walking beside her.         “I’m sure I will Grandmama,” Twilight said smiling.         Twilight reflected on her life up to this point, all the decisions she made, thought about her friends before her Ponyville friends, the little she had. Probably not even aware that she’s dead right now. However that didn’t matter, they’re probably living happy lives right now. Twilight then reflected on her newer friends that she wish she got to know better. She knew she wasn’t going to see them anytime soon, however one day she will.         One Day… The End