A Mother's Goodbye
Goodbye My Child
Twilight Sparkle lay on her deathbed, something that should have happened a long, long time ago if not for the far greater lifespan of 5000 years she had received from becoming an Alicorn. But she did not regret living so long. Because she’d had somepony very special to her by her side.
“Mommy?” a soft voice asked.
Twilight had not been called that in millennia by her daughter. She looked over at her, saw the black alicorn with the dragon like eyes. When she looked at Nyx, Twilight could still see the small filly she had found trapped in a thorn bush so many lifetimes ago. The filly that had been created from a ritual using Twilight’s own blood. This in a way that made them biologically related. Nyx had been created to bring back Nightmare Moon, the first enemy of Equestria Twilight had ever faced with her very best friends in her youth. Those five ponies who were now little more than treasured memories to both her and Nyx as well as legends to the rest of Equestria.
Nyx had usually just called her mother by her first name. But after a few years she began calling Twilight “Mom” practically all the time. But never “Mommy” in the way a small child would. The first time she’d called Twilight "Mommy" was when she was desperate and being taken away by somepony. That somepony was Princess Celestia, Twilight’s late mentor and the previous ruler of Equestria who passed away nearly two millennia ago when even her own alicorn life prolonging magic could no longer sustain her.
“Nyx, sweetie. It's okay,” Twilight said, reaching out. “Death comes for all of us sooner or later. It sure took a long time to get close to me.”
Nyx Sparkle, the no longer new Princess of the Night who had taken over the duties of Princess Luna, took her mother's hoof with teary eyes. “I’m going to miss you. Just like I miss everypony else!” Nyx sobbed.
“It won’t be for long, Nyx. I’m not that much older than you,” Twilight reminded her.
The turquoise eyes looked into the violet ones for a moment.
“When you go, please tell all the others I still think about them!” Nyx requested as tears flooded her cheeks. “Not a day goes by I don’t think about all our old friends!”
Twilight nodded. Both of them had made many friends throughout their long alicorn lifetimes. But the first ones were always closest in their minds. The ones who’d first taught them friendship. For Twilight there had been five other ponies, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Nyx had started with three best friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.
“We’ll soon be reunited with all of them. At last,” Twilight said. “Goodbye is not forever. I’m just glad that I had you by my side all this time. I’m proud to have been the Princess of Friendship, but I’m also proud to have been a mother to a wonderful alicorn like you. I don’t care that you didn’t grow inside my womb. You are the best daughter a mother could ever ask for. If I didn’t have you in my life, I probably would have tried to find some way to get rid of this magic keeping me here.”
“I’ve wanted that too. It’s just not fair to have to watch so many friends leave!” Nyx said. “Now that you’re going… I don’t know if I can-“
“Shh… shh…” Twilight shushed. “Nyx, I want you to promise me that you will stay strong. It’s only for a little longer. Our friends have lived on in our hearts for all this time, and I will live on in yours just as you would live in mine. But I probably couldn’t stand the thought of burying you. No parent should outlive their child. It was hard enough to bury Spike after he fell in battle. I could never have endured it if I’d lost you too.”
Nyx sobbed. “Okay… I’ll hold on until my time comes as well. I love you, Mommy. Please, tell everypony I said I love them, and I think of them each day. I treasure them always in my heart.”
“I will, Nyx,” Twilight said. “I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without you. I’m sure it would have been good, but if I didn’t have you, I would never have been able to endure all these years. Outliving all my friends was tough, but at least I had a wonderful daughter to rule by my side and share my life with.”
Nyx gently pulled her mother into a hug. Memories flowed into Twilight of times long past. When she arrived in Ponyville at the beginning of her journey, met her five best friends. The party Pinkie threw in the Golden Oaks Library (which Twilight had disliked), Nightmare Moon interrupting the Summer Sun Celebration. Twilight unlocking the element of magic once she finally let the spark of friendship into her heart and unleashing the Rainbow blast which turned Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna.
She thought of the good times she’d had with her friends in Ponyville, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Rarity making them dresses for the gala, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash switching her ink with invisible ink as a prank, working hard on the farm with Applejack. They had good times as well as scary ones, such as when they’d faced the villains of Equestria such as Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow. Her friends who were there for her when she was in danger. They came and saved Nyx and her when they were at the Storm King’s mercy. Twilight remembered the day they all had to go their separate ways. When she and Nyx left Ponyville to assume their places as the new rulers of Equestria once Celestia and Luna retired. Twilight was embraced by all her friends, while Nyx was embraced by the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Twilight also thought of Spike, who had been her number one assistant and like a son to her. Along with Nyx, he’d stayed by her for longer than any of her pony friends. But his time came prematurely when he’d faced an evil dragon in battle.
But lastly, her memories turned to Nyx. Her daughter who had been born from her blood and the magic of Spell Nexus, the unicorn who’d tried to bring back Nightmare Moon. She’d found Nyx as a filly in a thorn bush, grown to care for her like her own daughter, and gone through great measures to get her back when Nexus turned her into the full Nightmare Moon. They’d had a very dramatic Hearth’s Warming Eve where Twilight’s brother Shining Armor was convinced Nyx was up to no good and still evil. A certain reporter didn’t help as he tried to make a story on Nyx and expose her as Nightmare Moon. That cold night when Nyx was cold and snuggled into Twilight for warmth.
Twilight took a last look at her daughter. The beautiful black coat and purple mane, as well as the silver tiara with a sapphire encrusted in the center. A matching necklace was around Nyx's neck as well, and she had silver shoes. On her flank was the cutie mark of a blue shield with a crescent moon on it, a sign that it was her destiny to protect ponies. She had done that well over the past four thousand years, both in the physical world as well as the dream world.
Twilight’s eyes then closed. A white light appeared in her vision as her life finally ended. Then from the light emerged a crowd of thousands upon thousands of ponies and other creatures.
“Twilight!” A familiar voice rang through the ether.
Twilight was tackled to the ground by a pink pony she knew all too well.
“Pinkie Pie! Oh, I missed you so much!” Twilight said with a sniffle as she wrapped her hooves around the first of the friends she’d met in Ponyville long ago.
“We missed you too, Darling.”
Twilight looked and saw her other four best friends gathering around her. Tears filled the eyes of Twilight’s spiritual form which she noticed was the same size as her friends.
“You look just like ya did when we first met,” Applejack said.
“Hey Twilight!” Spike said.
“I’m so glad to be with all of you again!” Twilight said. “Nyx says hi!”
Ahead of her, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo suddenly appeared wearing smiles. “She was a wonderful friend. We’ll be glad to have her here when she comes.”
...
Nyx walked among the gardens of Canterlot, watching the night sky which was now her rightful domain. She knew her mother was looking down on her with all their friends. Soon she would be with them, but for now she would have to be content with having them watch her from above. Each of those stars were now like one of her friends. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of a shooting star and smiled weakly. It was her mother, she was sure of it.
“One day soon, I will be with all of you too. You will always be in my heart until then. I know you are with me wherever I go.”