What Had Once Been
It sat neatly in her hooves, its pale green petals whistling faintly in the wind. A tiny little thing, a frail reminder of the past. Memories of bygone days and brash young dreams. Of what had once been.
The sapling was young, come recently from the boughs of Twilight’s Sparkle’s home.
Well, when it hadn’t been burned to a crisp, at least.
Its leaves, juvenile as they were, had begun to wilt, their green color fading away with every second that passed. The brown dirt, lively and lush, was sifting through Twilight’s hooves, a memory of time as it fell through that proverbial glass.
What did it all represent? What did it all mean?
Had it all been as weak and young as the pallid little sapling, sat dying in her hooves? Or was it the offspring of time, of hope and memories?
Memories, those prismatic jewels, rushed through Twilight Sparkle’s mind, colors and tints blurring in and out. The sapling was where it had all started, though it bore the memories of its parent. The firm, dark wood of her comforting oak, the library she called her own, in day and night. Twilight had begun life here, in truth. At least, that was what she had thought – did her youth in Canterlot really matter, when she remembered naught but Ponyville? Friendship had begun here, where her hooves now stood.
Twilight remembered her time in the familial oak, bygone years of joy and delight. Stargazing with Spike, her first of friends, perhaps. Those o’er-nights spent with friends, so charmingly named 'sleepovers.'
She thought of days spent at the table, the flavor of Pinkie Pie’s treats spreading through her mouth. Or those countless hours spent flying through the books upon the walls, as Rainbow Dash floated above, a countenance of boredom etched across that dear face.
Twilight giggled under her breath, remembering the pain that Owlowiscious had initially caused Spike, and the adoration that Fluttershy had poured upon the pets.
Those very same friends, dearest of them all, now stood some paces behind her, caught up in their own conversations as Twilight knelt on the cold, early spring grass.
Much had changed since those earliest of days. Seemingly gone were those innocent adventures of yore, taken by the map, and those grim of sores. Of course, some days were spent in harmless gallantry, yet Twilight felt that with every passing day came more villains, more troubles, and more harm to the precious places that she called home.
Her wings were another change, drastic and dramatic. Some days, in secret, Twilight longed for the times she was just another pony, another unicorn, set upon the streets of Ponyville like any other citizen. Yet, now she was a princess, some sort of pony meant to be higher, in a sense, than the rest.
It hurt her heart, in all truth and honesty. She was a pony, just like any other, with thoughts, and feelings, and memories.
Now, she couldn’t introduce herself to anypony without at least one bowing down to her.
Sometimes, she latched onto those old days, when things were simple – not a dramatic mess of troubles and world-ending possibilities. Yet, her friends…
Twilight was glad her friends, those five the closest of all, would always see her in the same light. Studious Twilight, overbearing Twilight, 'egghead' Twilight, as Dash would call her…
They were, and always had been, the light for her. The path that showed Twilight where to go, and how to get there. She loved them above all, and Twilight knew that, in the end, they would go forwards together. Whatever memories they had made in the past, however innocuous, would always be in her mind.
And whatever future they were in for, well…
There were simply new memories to create in that future. New loves, new feelings, new hopes, and new beginnings.
That was what the sapling represented, wasn’t it? As Twilight looked behind her, landing her gaze upon those five mares that had been her world for the past few years, she understood the meaning behind the sapling she now held in her hooves. The gift that her old home, the Golden Oaks Library, had given her.
The sapling was their memories, of fun times and happy days. It was their innocence, their nostalgia – those warm feelings that Twilight would always feel, reminiscing on the days when the world was small and comfortable.
Yet, it was also a new beginning – the earliest of dawns, when the future was before them, its arms wide and beckoning. New memories would be made, cast in the molds of time and emotion, and set beside the old, warm ones.
Hoofsteps behind her finally brought Twilight out of her thoughts, and raising her head she saw her five friends, smiles and grins stretched across their mouths as they looked down upon her.
Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Her closest of friends, and those that would walk with her to the end of time. Twilight knew they had no idea was she was thinking about, but she would have it no other way – yet, she knew questions were brought upon the tips of their tongues.
“Twilight,” Applejack greeted, the twang upon her voice as warm as the cider her family made. “What’re you up to, sugarcube? You look a mite strange, sittin’ in that there dirt like so.”
Rarity shuffled her hooves, an expression of slight concern marring her smile. “Agreed – it’s not like a lady to sit in the dirt.”
“Oh, nothing,” Twilight Sparkle tittered, rolling her eyes. “I just found this sapling here – thought it looked interesting.”
Above them all, Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Tch. What’s so interesting about a sapling, anyway? Come on, let’s hurry up - I’ve got a new trick I wanna show you girls.”
Twilight giggled, always amused by Dash’s antics. “Oh, it’s not just any sapling,” she said, smiling wide. Almost immediately, a pink-furred pony plopped down beside her, both eyes focused upon the sapling in Twilight’s hooves.
“Oh! Oh!” Pinkie Pie cried out, the excitement in her shrill shouts as comical as ever – if, of course, a bit annoying, at times. “What is it? What is it?”
The mares all gathered close to Twilight, all curious to know what she was on about. Great interest was abound within their eyes, anticipation at what secrets the sapling might have held.
“Well,” Twilight began, holding up the weak sapling. “This little thing is pretty close to me – it came from my house, you know, and I’d like to plant it.”
Applejack leaned back in slight shock, raising a brow. “No, really? From the Golden Oaks Library?” Twilight nodded. “Well landsakes, we should plant it then! For old times!”
Fluttershy, the quietest of them all, nodded in agreement, placing her hooves under Twilight’s. “Then we’ll plant it together.”
The girls all nodded, holding their hooves together. As one, they lowered the sapling into the ground, planting the young tree where its parent once sat.
“To old memories and new, and to the past and the future,” Twilight thought to herself. Her heart felt warm, and her mind felt at ease.
To what had once been, and to what will soon be.