Act 1: Forever
Act 1: Forever
Twilight stared at her friends long and hard. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t keep her eyes off the wrinkles on each of their faces. Were they growing. . .old?
“Uh, Twilight?” Applejack said. “You feelin’ okay?”
“Yes, Darling,” Rarity agreed. “You’ve been staring at us like that for the past minute! Is there something wrong?”
Twilight shook her head.
“Oh, uh, no. It’s nothing, girls.”
“Come on, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. “You can tell us.”
Twilight hesitated. Maybe, she was only imagining things. Maybe, her friends weren’t growing as old as she had thought after all. Then, she noticed the few strands of gray in each of their hair. No, her friends were growing old all right. There was no doubt about it now.
“Well, do you girls feel any. . .different today?”
Her friends thought for a moment.
“Gee. . .I don’t feel any different,” Pinkie said, turning her head to look at herself. “All I feel is that I’m. . .uh, what am I feeling?”
Her stomach let out a loud growl.
“Hungry!” she chuckled. “Yeah, that’s it!”
“But what do ya mean by ‘feeling any different’, Twilight?” Applejack asked.
Twilight shifted her weight.
“I mean, don’t you girls feel. . .well, old?”
All of her friends looked back at her funny.
“What do you mean old?” Rarity said, sounding slightly offended.
“Haven’t you all looked in the mirror lately?” Twilight asked, trying not to sound offensive. “I mean, you girls do have a few wrinkles. . .and some gray in your manes, that’s all.”
Her friends immediately examined each other’s faces and hair. Pinkie, who was examining Rainbow Dash’s hair, giggled.
“Hey, whaddaya know! Twilight’s right! There is a bit of gray in your mane, Rainbow!”
Rainbow Dash growled.
“What do you mean! I don’t have gray in my mane, Pinkie!”
Pinkie grinned.
“Ah, it’s okay, Rainbow Dash. Admit it. You’re getting a little gray in the mane.”
Rainbow Dash huffed.
“Well, what about you? I doubt that’s whipped cream in your mane, either!”
She pointed to Pinkie’s mane. Pinkie reached with her tongue and licked the spot where Rainbow Dash was pointing. She then smacked her chops and looked up.
“Hmm. . .nope! That’s not whipped cream.”
Her mouth curved into a big grin.
“Well,” she declared happily, “if we’re gonna grow old, we might as well grow old together, right?”
Twilight giggled. She was right. As long as they all had each other, not even old age could wear them down.
Meanwhile, Applejack had found a few wrinkles underneath Rarity’s eyes and cheeks.
“I. . .have. . .wrinkles!?” Rarity exclaimed with a loud gasp.
She burst into sobs and dramatically tossed her hooves in the air, exclaiming how this was “the worst possible thing” to ever happen to her. Applejack rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Rarity,” she said sternly over Rarity’s sobbing, “it ain’t no use cryin’ over somethin’ that can’t be fixed. Besides, what’s a few wrinkles gonna change who ya are anyway? You’re still Rarity, right?”
“With wrinkles!” Rarity cried out.
Applejack placed a hoof to her face and let out a frustrated groan. Rarity stopped and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Oh well,” she sniffed with a smile. “I do have a cream that gets rid of wrinkles anyway. . .”
Applejack let out another groan.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake!”
“Um,” Fluttershy’s voice asked from behind her, “how do I look, Applejack?”
Applejack turned and examined her.
“Well. . .you do have a few wrinkles. . .and I see some gray in your mane, too. . .”
Pinkie suddenly hopped.
“Ooh! Twilight! We haven’t looked at her yet!”
They all looked at Twilight closely and drew back, their faces registering looks of shock.
“What?” Twilight asked, worry creeping into her voice. “What’s wrong?”
“You. . .you don’t have any wrinkles whatsoever!” Rarity exclaimed. “And I don’t see any gray in your mane. . .”
“Maybe it’s so small we just can’t see it,” Rainbow Dash suggested.
They came closer and examined Twilight’s hair, parting every strand. Finally, they gave up.
“Well, I’ll be,” Applejack exclaimed. “Looks like Twilight can’t age a'tall! I reckon it’s ‘cause she’s an alicorn and all. Makes sense.”
“Now, w-wait a minute!” Twilight stammered. “How can I not age? Just because Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have lived a thousand years doesn’t necessarily mean that all alicorns live forever. . .right?”
“Well, why don’t ya ask ‘em yerself?” Applejack said.
“Applejack's right, Darling,” Rarity added with a nod. “After all, they’d probably be more knowledgeable about this sort of thing than any of us.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. Maybe they knew the answer.
“All right, I’ll ask them.”
***
Celestia lowered her head, her complexion solemn.
“Unfortunately, it's the same for all alicorns. Once a pony becomes an alicorn, they are also gifted with long life. In other words, they cannot age.”
Twilight’s face registered a look of despair.
“B-but — but my friends. . .! What’s gonna happen to them? They’re aging like normal ponies, but I’m not! That means, I’ll — I’ll outlive my friends!”
Celestia’s head still hung.
“It is worse, I’m afraid,” she said in a low tone. “You will not only outlive your friends. . .you will also outlive almost every other pony in all of Equestria.”
Twilight’s eyes widened in horror.
“You mean. . .I will — ?”
Celestia looked up at her, her lavender eyes filled with empathy but also with sincerity.
“Twilight, the moment that you became an alicorn like us, you were given a special gift: the gift of immortality. Any creature would do anything to receive this a gift such as this.”
Twilight hung her head.
“Yes, but. . .without my friends. . .”
Celestia walked over to her.
“I know. I myself have made many friends in the past and had seen them live their lives and overcome their struggles, only to see them pass away from this life. However, I’m afraid that there is no way for you to stop being an alicorn. When I saw what I had lost long ago, I tried to find a way to somehow give back my immortality. For a thousand years I searched for a way, but I found none. I’m truly sorry, Twilight.”
Tears formed in Twilight’s sparkly eyes. She felt her heart sink in her chest.
I have to live on without them!? No. . .! This — this can’t be true! It just can’t!
Then, she straightened with her head held high with determination.
“Princess Celestia, my friends mean more to me than anything. I’ll find a way!”
Celestia smiled sadly back at her.
“I truly hope so, Twilight.”
***
Twilight flipped through the pages of the book with her magic, her eyes scouring every sentence.
“Did you find anything, Spike?” she called.
From across the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the library, the purple dragon hopped from a ladder leaning against one of the bookshelves.
“Nothing yet!” he called back.
Twilight looked up from her book. Did Spike’s voice sound deeper somehow?
She sighed and returned to her book. Even Spike was showing signs of aging. Apart from his deeper voice, he was growing bigger to the point that he could stand eye-to-eye with Princess Celestia. Although, he was aging much slower than her other friends. After all, he was a dragon.
She finally closed the book.
“There’s gotta be something here that can help us!” she exclaimed.
She flew up and carefully examined the books on the shelves above her. Finally, she retrieved a book with a golden binding and an image of a symbol that she didn’t recognize: a hexagon with two triangles—one right side up and the other upside down—overlapping each other with a line drawn from the tip of the right side up triangle to a circle in the center.
“Here!” she announced, placing the ornate book on the table. “Maybe this will help!”
She opened the book and found a starry blue bookmark inside. She turned to the spot — a brief description about something called the Baetyl Stone.
“According to this, Spike,” Twilight said as she read through the passage, “the Baetyl Stone is said to grant any wish to anypony.”
She looked up, her eyes beaming.
“What if I could wish that I could age along with my friends? That way we’ll never be apart! There’s still a chance!”
Twilight turned to her dragon assistant and immediately her countenance fell.
“Oh, Spike. . .I’m so sorry. I almost forgot about you.”
Spike smiled back.
“Nah, it’s okay, Twilight. I’m thinking that I’ll just keep aging the way I am anyway.”
Twilight stared at him.
“But Spike. . .you’ll be all alone!”
“Well, somebody’s gotta stay and keep an eye on things here.”
Twilight’s eyes glistened with tears as she gave him a hug.
“Oh Spike, you’re the best friend anypony could ever have!”
Spike chuckled.
“H-hey, don’t thank me yet! We still don’t know if this stone even exists!”
Twilight turned again to the book.
“Oh, but we do, Spike! It says it’s deep in an old temple in the Crystal Mountains.”
“How come every important thing that we need always happens to be in or near the Crystal Empire?” Spike muttered under his breath. Then, he pointed.
“Oh, wait! What’s that?”
Written on the corner of the page was a line of swirly text, elegantly written in quill.
“‘This could help Celestia!’” Twilight read. “Who could’ve written — ?”
He eyes suddenly widened.
“Spike! This was written by Starswirl the Bearded!”
Spike’s jaw dropped.
“Wh-what!?”
“I recognize the hoofwriting! See the swirly design? See the little stars inside the text? That’s his! It’s gotta be his!”
“What did he mean by ‘this could help Celestia’?”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin.
“I don’t know. . .but Princess Celestia did tell me that she had searched for a way to stop being an alicorn.”
“Could it be that Starswirl the Bearded was looking for this stone to help Celestia stop be an alicorn?” Spike suggested.
Twilight nodded.
“It sure looks like it, Spike.”
After a moment’s pause, she added, “But it is a possibility that Starswirl the Bearded couldn’t find the Baetyl Stone and that it’s just some fairy tale after all. But still. . .if it’s a chance for me to be with my friends. . .”
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash burst through the doors and lay on the ground panting. Twilight rushed over to her.
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight exclaimed, “what’s wrong?”
Rainbow Dash’s face was pale with panic and dismay.
“Twilight. . .come quick! It’s — it’s Fluttershy!”
***
Twilight flew through the opened door of Fluttershy’s cottage with Rainbow Dash and Spike following close behind. Fluttershy was lying on the couch, with Rarity and Applejack gathered around her. Rarity and Angel Bunny were placing a warm, damp cloth across Fluttershy’s sweaty forehead.
“What’s wrong with Fluttershy?” Twilight asked as she reached Rarity’s side.
Fluttershy’s mane was now almost completely gray and many wrinkles and dark circles had appeared under her half-closed eyes and her pale cheeks.
“She woke up feeling unusually exhausted and looking like this,” Rarity explained. “Her pet bunny, Angel, came by my place and showed me what had happened.”
She motioned toward Angel, who was sitting beside her head, watching over her with deep concern on his face.
“The doctor said she has a mighty high fever too,” Applejack added. “Even she doesn’t know what to make of this, either.”
Twilight moved closer to Fluttershy and sat beside her.
“Hey, Fluttershy,” she said, trying to smile.
Fluttershy rolled her head to face her breathing out a deep sigh as she did so.
“Hey, Twilight,” she replied weakly. “I’m so glad you could come see me.”
“Of course I would come!” Twilight exclaimed. “We’re friends after all!”
Then, Fluttershy’s face grew pale.
“Oh! I was going to make some tea for all of you when you would come over, but I — !”
Twilight put a gentle hoof on Fluttershy.
“It’s okay, Fluttershy. I understand.”
At that moment, she heard a soft clanking behind her and shifted to the side. Rainbow Dash was balancing with her hoof a tray of seven tea cups filled with warm tea.
“We made some tea for you while you were resting,” she said with a bright smile. “Here you go!”
Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Spike and Fluttershy took each of the tea cups and Rainbow Dash took the last cup and placed the empty tray on the table nearby. Fluttershy’s tea was on the colder side because of her fever.
“Oh, thank you, girls!” Fluttershy said after taking a sip of the tea. “You all have been so kind to me!”
Rainbow Dash gave a wink.
“Hey, what are friends for!”
Fluttershy turned to Angel and gasped.
“Oh, no! I still have to take care of the animals! I didn’t get the chance to feed them this morning — !”
Applejack put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder to stop her.
“Already took care of that, Sugarcube.”
Fluttershy’s eyes teared.
“Oh, girls. . .what would I ever do without you!”
They all gathered around the couch and gave each other a big group hug.
“Hey,” Spike asked as he looked around, “where’s Pinkie Pie?”
The others likewise looked around and realized that Pinkie Pie wasn’t among them.
“That’s odd,” Rarity said. “Isn’t Pinkie Pie usually the first one to arrive when one of us needs help?”
Yes, it was indeed odd. This wasn’t like Pinkie Pie to not be present when one of her friends needed help.
“Okay, I’m gonna see what’s up with Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash announced, hovering in the air.
Spike raised his hand and rose from his seat.
“Wait, Rainbow Dash! I’ll go with you!”
With that, the two of them speedily exited the cottage to Sugarcube Corner. While they were gone, Twilight, Rarity and Applejack remained to care for Fluttershy and to do any chores that she needed to do that day. Applejack tended to the animals, Rarity helped Angel provide constant changes of cool damp cloths to put on Fluttershy’s forehead, and Twilight remained by her side, drinking tea with her as they talked. Finally, Rainbow Dash and Spike returned with a limping Pinkie Pie. Like Fluttershy, her mane had also turned completely gray and more wrinkles and dark circles had appeared underneath her eyes and cheeks.
“Pinkie Pie, Darling!” Rarity exclaimed upon seeing her. “What on earth happened to you? You look positively dreadful!”
Pinkie grinned but winced as she approached them, taking every step as carefully and rigidly as if she were walking on tacks.
“Sorry, girls. I got up this morning feeling like I could make a whole bunch of cakes when my legs started hurting really bad every time I walked. When I heard about what happened with Fluttershy, I couldn’t even get to the door. Ha! You should’ve seen it! I was practically swimming for the door!”
Pinkie chuckled until she cried out in pain as she moved one of her front hooves.
“We went to the doctor,” Rainbow Dash said, “and she said that Pinkie Pie’s got something called. . .Ar-nitis? Arth-mytis?”
“Arthritis,” Spike interjected.
“Yeah, that’s what I said!”
Fluttershy struggled to sit up.
“Pinkie Pie!” she exclaimed. “My goodness, your hair. . .your face! What happened to you?”
“Same thing that happened to you, Fluttershy,” Pinkie cheerfully replied. “Looks like we’re both gonna be oldies together sooner than we think! Wouldn’t it be fun — sitting around sipping tea and keeping our dentures in while talking in old mare voices, saying, ‘You remember the time we used the Whats-Its to defeat What’s-Her-Face way back when?’ It’ll be like. . .like. . .!”
Fluttershy smiled.
“A party?”
Pinkie spit out colorful confetti into the air and exclaimed, “Yeah! A party!”
The others looked weirdly at her. Pinkie returned the looks.
“What? You didn’t expect me to use my hooves to do that, did ya? That wouldn’t be a very good idea, what with my ‘arth-something’ acting up and all.”
“Arthritis,” Spike muttered with a sigh.
Pinkie grinned.
“Right. What he said.”
“But I don’t understand,” Rarity said. “Why are they aging so rapidly? Surely this isn’t normal!”
“It definitely isn’t!” Twilight replied.
Then, she turned to Spike.
“Spike, take a letter.”
Spike retrieved paper and a quill from his pack.
“Ready!”
Twilight paced about as Spike wrote down what she dictated.
“Dear Princess Celestia, something of the utmost importance has come to my attention. Apparently, some of my friends have been experiencing a sudden spurt of aging, including gray manes, arthritis, fever and wrinkles and dark circles under the eyes. I ask you to come to Fluttershy’s cottage as once to see for yourself. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle.”
After finishing the last letter, Spike rolled up the paper into a scroll and blew green fire on it, causing it to evaporate into smoke that swirled and disappeared out the cottage window.
“There!” he announced. “The Princesses should get it any minute now!”
After a few seconds, there was a knock on the door. Spike and the other six looked towards the door and then at each other.
“Man, that was quick!” Rainbow Dash commented, her eyebrow raised.
Spike went to the door, opened it and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped inside.
“Did you say that your friends are aging more rapidly than usual, Twilight?” Celestia asked.
Twilight nodded.
“Yes, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie in particular.”
“May we examine them more closely?” Luna added.
Twilight stepped aside, allowing the two princesses to examine Fluttershy. After examining Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, they again turned to Twilight.
“It is as we've feared,” Celestia explained. “It appears that your friends have been cursed somehow. Twilight, have you and your friends used the Elements of Harmony recently?”
Twilight thought for a moment.
“Now that you mention it, yes. We had to use them to help Discord stop King Sombra enact his plan for revenge.”
“We have reason to believe that using the Elements of Harmony is what’s causing this rapid aging to occur,” Luna said.
Twilight’s eyes widened in horror.
“Wh-what?”
“We are so sorry, Twilight,” Celestia added as she lowered her head. “We wish that there was something we can do to stop this from happening to your friends. However, I’m afraid that this is irreversible nor is there any cure to stop this rapid aging from progressing. . .or from spreading.”
She turned to Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash as she spoke, her eyes registering hurtful regret.
“I am truly sorry.”
Rainbow Dash’s lips curved into a snarl.
“Oh yeah? Well, y-you could’ve told us about this sooner before we used those Elements like a billion times!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack chided. “That’s quite enough! It’s not the Princesses’ fault. They just didn’t know.”
“Besides,” Fluttershy added with a cough, “we had to use them to stop those meanies anyway. We had no other choice!”
Rainbow Dash hung her head and sighed.
“Yeah. . .your right. Sorry, Your Highnesses.”
Celestia nodded with a sad smile.
“It’s all right, Rainbow Dash. You have the right to be angry. We — no, I did not have the insight to prevent this from happening or to warn you all of the danger.”
She hung her head.
“It is I who is sorry for causing your time together to be shortened in such a manner.”
Luna put a hoof on her sister’s shoulder.
“None of us could have foreseen the danger. In the end, it was only a matter of time.”
“So, what do we do now?” Spike asked, looking at each of the ponies for an answer.
The ponies in the room only looked away sadly.
“Come on, guys! We can’t give up now! There’s gotta be a way!”
Twilight looked up, her eyes filled with renewed determination.
“Spike’s right, girls!” she declared. “We can’t give up!”
“But Twilight,” Rarity pointed out, “didn't you hear what the Princess said? There is nothing we can do to stop this.”
Twilight shook her head as she smiled.
“Not quite. We’ve still got this!”
She used her magic to produce an opened book, its pages showing the Baetyl Stone.
“The Baetyl Stone?” Luna asked.
“But Starswirl left in search for it a thousand years ago and has since never returned,” Celestia said. “There is a chance that this stone is no more than a myth.”
“But it’s the only chance we’ve got,” Twilight exclaimed, “and I’m willing to take it!”
Rainbow Dash groaned.
“What’s the point? I mean, what’s the difference between aging faster or slower? We’re all gonna die anyway whether we do anything or not!”
She turned and pointed to Twilight.
“Besides, why are you so worried, Twilight? You’re not aging anytime soon!”
Before Applejack and Rarity could chastise her for her comment, Twilight stared directly into her eyes and spoke first.
“Well, think of it this way, Rainbow Dash. If you had to choose between friends and forever, what would you decide?”
There was a period of silence. Then, Rainbow Dash burst into tears.
“I’m so sorry, Twilight!” she sobbed as she swooped down and hugged Twilight tightly. “I don’t want our friendship to end like this!”
At this, the other four friends joined the hug and cried with her.
“Everything’s gonna be all right, girls,” Twilight assured, embracing her friends as close as she could. “I’ll find a way to fix this. I promise.”
“What if we don’t see you again!?” Pinkie cried out through her tears. “What if something happens to any of us before you come back!?”
Applejack’s eyes gleamed.
“Hold it, everypony! I’ve got an idea!”
The others turned to listen to her plan.
“What if there was a way all of us could be together when she comes back?”
“What do you mean, Applejack?” Rarity asked.
“I mean, what if there was a way we could stop time while Twilight was away?”
Celestia stepped forward.
“Disrupting time is an extremely risky option,” she warned. “I could not advise it.”
Twilight clapped her hooves.
“Wait. . .ah-ha! I’ve got it! Something that ages slowly through time. . .?”
The others stared at her, waiting for the answer.
“Stone! Stone doesn’t corrode and lasts for a very long time!”
Spike’s eyebrow rose.
“Just what are you implying, Twilight?”
Twilight raised her hoof triumphantly in the air.
“I can turn you all into statues until I find a cure! Then, when I do, I’ll change you back and use the Baetyl Stone to make it so that we’ll all age normally together!”
The others thought for a long moment.
“This plan of yours hinges much in your success in finding this Baetyl Stone,” Luna said. “I do have to remind you all that this stone has never yet been found by anypony, even by the great Starswirl the Bearded. Twilight, if the outcome of this quest should be that this stone is indeed a myth, do you have a second plan in case this should happen?”
Twilight’s heart sank. Everything hinged in her finding the Baetyl Stone. It was their only hope — she had no other plan.
“I. . .I don’t have one. I have to find this stone or — !”
She hung her head.
“But if I don’t. . . what then?”
“Either way,” Applejack’s voice said calmly, “it’ll be all right.”
Twilight looked up. All right? How could not seeing her friends again be all right? Then, she saw Applejack’s eyes. They were filled with a peace and a hope that she had been searching for ever since she first discovered that her friends were aging without her.
“Whether you find that stone or not makes no difference,” Applejack continued. “We’ll be waiting for ya when you get back.”
Twilight sniffed.
“But — but what if I fail? What if it’s true and this stone’s just a myth and — !?”
“Then, every time ya look at us, you’ll know we’ll always be with ya, even in spirit.”
Twilight’s eyes stung with tears.
“Girls. . .thank you!”
***
With Celestia and Luna’s help, Twilight created a glass orb filled with swirly white magic. The plan was that when the orb shattered, the magic inside would combust and change every living thing in its vicinity into a smooth, marble-like stone incapable of any corrosion or aging.
“Make sure that this orb is placed in a closed space,” Celestia instructed. “Be especially sure that only your friends are the only living things in this space. The last thing we want is another creature to be turned into stone by accident.”
After the orb was finished, Twilight closed all of the doors and windows in Fluttershy’s cottage and had the animals there relocate to a safer distance outside. Then, she had her friends, except for Spike, gather together in front of the fireplace as if they were preparing for a group photo. Since Spike never actually used the Elements of Harmony and had agreed to stay behind to watch over Equestria’s future, they saw no need for him to join the group.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie carefully carried Fluttershy to the designated spot and then softly lowered her to the floor. Fluttershy was still very weak but willing.
Rainbow Dash stood in the center, planning to unfurl her wings when the time was right. “Gotta look awesome for ya after all!” she reasoned with a wink.
Applejack agreed to shatter the orb when they were ready to proceed.
After they had taken their positions, Twilight went outside, shut the door and watched from the window. Her friends looked back at her one last time, their smiling faces bidding her one last goodbye. Twilight placed a hoof on the windowpane.
“I’ll find a way,” she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I promise.”
With one final nod to Twilight, Applejack bucked the orb, shattering it upon impact. The inside of the cottage instantly flash in blinding white light. When the light faded, each of her friends were turned into marble-like statues, eternally frozen in space and time.