> A Choice
>  by Nineveh Orion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Choice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're awfully quiet, Twilight," Discord mumbled as he floated alongside the princess on the way to the throne room. "I'd think you'd be excited about this chance. Most ponies would be."

Twilight sighed. "I am just. Thinking." She shot the Chaos spirit a heated glare as she blushed at the recent memory. "And you could have warned me what you zapped me into!"

He just smiled widely. "Oh, and where's the fun in that? It's more exciting this way. This is hardly the maddest they've ever been at me either. Shoving my head someplace unpleasant is hardly the worst thing either of them can do."

Twilight paused, unable to help herself. "How much worse can they do?"

Discord shuddered. "No, Princess Twilight. You do not want to know. Just know that what he does to the ponies who threaten his forest is still not the worst Kohaku can do. Pray that you never see it. Or, gods forbid, are on the receiving end of it."

Twilight gulped at the dead-serious tone Discord was using. He had never sounded so serious in all the time she had known him. 

He sighed. "And if you must know. Kohaku is his name. But most ponies knew him as Forestsong, so that is the name he usually uses. I suggest you work your way up to using his first name on a regular basis if you must interact with him. Not even Pearl could for a long time. No matter how hard Kohaku tried to get her to."

Twilight's ears sunk, as she remembered this and the question it brought to her mind. "How long...?"

Discord sighed. "I've known the whole time who your student is. She never really liked me, but I always loved her fiery spirit and personality. That hasn't changed at least in her reincarnation cycle."

Twilight's jaw dropped. She had heard of this but had never believed it before now. "But why did Pearl react as she did then? If they were as close as I feel they were, why did she not react more? Looking back now, I feel he was trying to jog Pearl's memories with how they talked to each other."

Discord shrugged. "You are asking the wrong spirit that question, princess. Besides it not being fair? Maybe it's because so much has changed since then. But Pearl has the same reaction every time they meet again. Kohaku denies it all he wants. But I know it kills him a little more inside every time."

Twilight's ears fell. That was not fair. She still was not sure how she was going to tell her student this. Or if she should tell her at all. This was something all of her years as the Princess of Friendship had never prepared her for.

Discord pointed at the gemstone held in one of Twilight's wings. "Now. What are you going to do about that? You're on a strict schedule here, Twiggles. And I know how much you love schedules."

Twilight shook her head as they finally came to the throne room. "I don't know. At one time, I would have done so without hesitation, and damn what anypony said about it. But now." She sighed as she pushed the doors open. "I just don't know."

Discord rolled his eyes as he slithered over to Fluttershy. The rest of her friends, as well as Celestia and Luna, stood at the base of her throne. Celestia was visibly confused and yet excited at the same time to see Sunset once more.

The elder alicorn gave her former students a pointed look. "Twilight. Do you mind explaining what is going on here? Sunset and your friends have told us, but I want to hear it from you that this is not a dream, and that this is real."

"Indeed. Though I feel no Dream Magic, I could be wrong," Luna added with an annoyed huff.

Twilight nodded. Time to get this over with it seemed. "This is real, Celestia. It is a Miracle. Thanks to Discord, Forestsong, and his mate, they are all here. All of them. If not permanently." She looked at her friends forlornly. "You have until sunset before you fade away, and only your Elements remain."

Luna looked at the necklaces. This had been bugging her. "How are the Elements here? Were they not returned?"

Twilight nodded as her head fell. "The Treehouse has been destroyed. Another army passed through the Everfree. They knew about the secret way out of Canterlot. They were going to slaughter the ponies coming out. And Pearl? I refuse to think of what they might have done to her."

Celestia's eyes widened as she looked down at Sunset. "Then the Centurions out front?"

Sunset smirked. "What's left of that army. Thought we could make better use of them than simple killing machines." She shot Twilight a knowing look. "And really, Twilight. I thought you knew better. The true Elements can never be destroyed. They live on in all of us."

Twilight huffed. There was the snark she did not miss, as she pulled out the gemstone. "But there is one way to make this permanent. You all can have the same immortality that I do. Age will never again threaten any of you. But this does not make you invincible, or prone to death by other means."

The girls all shared a look. "How would that work, darling?" Rarity asked.

Twilight smiled slightly. "I only have to shatter this on the floor, and it will do the rest. I trust Forestsong knows far more about this than I ever will."

Rainbow nodded. "So get on with it already! I'd rather not die again if it's all the same to you. What's taking so long?"

Twilight's eyes twitched. "Because Rainbow. It is not that simple. I am not the same mare you girls remember. The world has changed since you last lived. I have changed with it. For better and for worse. Equestria has changed."

Applejack gave her a flat look. "Tell me one thing, Twi. Does my family..."

Twilight smiled. "Still makes the best apples in all of Equestria. Sweet Apple Acres is thriving." She looked at Fluttershy. "And Fluttershy. Your sanctuary has never been better."

That got a wide smile out of the Pegasus at least.

"Ooh! What about the rest of us?!" Pinkie bounced happily, getting right in Twilight's face as she did so.

Twilight shook her head sadly. "I am sorry, Pinkie. Sugarcube Corner shut down centuries ago. No one else wanted to take over once Pound and Pumpkin passed away. The building no longer exists."

Pinkie's mane deflated with a sad wheeze.

She looked at Rainbow and Rarity and did manage to smile. "I am happy to say that your boutiques are still the best in all of Equestria, and now even have shops in Mount Aris and Seaquestria. Even the Dragon Lands and Yakyakistan if you can believe it. Yona had much to do with the latter."

The unicorn was rather proud of that, as she primmed, earning an eye roll from the Pegasus next to her. "And what about me? Are the Wonderbolts still around?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight nodded, but it was more subdued. "In name only, I am afraid. The Academy was one of the first places attacked. They are still finding bodies. You are a legend, Rainbow. Still the best captain the Wonderbolts have ever had. But I do not know if there are any Wonderbolts left now."

Rainbow's ears fell. She had tried to forget the war they had come back to. "Well. Good thing you've got me then! I can whip up a new team in no time. Pinkie Promise!"

Twilight's eyes twitched. And there was the familiar headache she got when dealing with Rainbow Dash. "It is not that simple, Rainbow. I do not think you get what this means."

Sunset could see in Twilight's eyes she was holding something back. "Twilight. I don't need my Geode to know you're not telling us something. What do you want?"

Twilight sniffed. "What do I want? I want you girls back. I want my best friends back. Do you know how hard it is not to smash this thing this instant and be done with it?!" She shook the gemstone. "But I can't do it. Not like that. We know what Rainbow wants. But I refuse to do anything until I hear from all of you."

The girls shared a worried look. They could all feel how much this was killing Twilight inside. Even Rainbow Dash could see it, and it tore her up inside. She really did not want to be dead again. But she did not want to be the only one of their friends to get this. Some Element of Loyalty she would be if she did.

It was Applejack who finally broke the silence. "Gotta admit. Afterlife ain't as bad as I thought it'd be. But I do miss the farm, and I'd be lying if I said I ain't interested in seeing what's become of it."

Rarity nodded. "Indeed, darling. And to think of how much has changed in fashion since our time? I'm so excited to see it!"

Pinkie rubbed her chin. "Well. I helped save Sugarcube Corner once. I can save it again! Sign me up. captain!"

Fluttershy nodded. "And I would not mind seeing Forestsong again. Knowing what I do now, I bet there are so many things he could show me. If he does not mind that is."

Rainbow nodded, wrapping a wing around her first friend. "You already know what I want, egghead. So get on with it. We don't have all day."

Sunset, though, gave the princess a pointed look. "And the Human World? Tell me it's-"

Twilight nodded happily. "Still there. I have not visited in some time. But Sci me has not said anything. So I assume all is well."

Sunset nodded, pushing down her jealousy that the human Twilight Sparkle had been an alicorn and she had not. "Then smash that thing, princess. You are not getting rid of us this time. Now you are really stuck with us."

Twilight let her tears fall now, but they were happy tears. "Thank you," she whispered as she took the gemstone, and smashed it as hard as she could on the floor before her friends. She, Celestia, and Luna stood back and waited to see what happened.

As the gemstone shattered, the Elements around the girl's necks began to flash, seemingly absorbing something from the pieces on the floor. As the trio watched, the girls began to look better and better. After a moment, the process ended, and now they looked as fresh and renewed as the day Twilight first met them. 

Pinkie looked at herself. "Huh. I thought I'd feel differently after all of that. But I don't feel like it. I feel more alive though. Right girls?"

The others nodded. "So now what?" Sunset asked as Celestia hugged her tightly.

Twilight giggled as Sunset groaned. "I will need to find all of you rooms here in the castle. And then I need to decide how I am going to explain all of this to Equestria and beyond." She groaned as she rubbed her forehead. "Pearl was right. Now I need some aspirin and sleep. Several days worth in fact."

"Who is Pearl?" Fluttershy asked as Twilight led them from the room.

Twilight smiled. "She is my student. I'm sure you girls will love her."

Celestia and Luna watched them go with wistful smiles. "Now there is a sight I thought I would never see again," Luna sighed.

Celestia nodded. "Indeed. But it is a welcome one. And though it was hardly smooth sailing. I feel all of this was worth coming out of retirement for in the end."