I dedicate this story to one of my best friends Grace. She helped inspire this story, and I know our friendship will never fade.
She didn't want all of this fame, she didn't want all of this adoration. It was too much to handle. She couldn't control the amount of pain and suffering she was feeling. So she let it all go. Twilight Sparkle was no more.
Twilight got everything she had ever wanted and even more. She had amazing friends, amazing family, and she was a Princess.
The first few months of the wonderful princess life was overwhelmingly wonderful. She didn't even need to lift a hoof, there were ponies everywhere willing to help her. After a year of that life it started going downhill. She was tired of all the attention. She barely saw her friends, she had great reponsibilities as a Princess. She didn't sign up for this. She didn't choose this! It chose her.
It has been five years since her coronation. Her friends have all now grown apart. Rainbow Dash is the closest one to her. She had her dream come true. She is the captain of the Wonderbolts, and couldn't be happier. They see each other from time to time when Dash isn't out touring all of Equestria or Twilight is tending to winey ponies problems. Whenever they do catch up however, it was never the same. They have nothing in common anymore, she was a princess, Dash was still just a pegasus. Dash has always been loyal, she would never leave Twilight, even when it got hard sometimes.
Twilight hasen't seen Rarity in months. She too lives in Canterlot, she owns a very successful boutique and has designed many dresses for the Gala.... The Gala. That's the only real time that they get together. Rarity is married to a nice colt, and they have a daughter. Her name is Golden Saphire, Twilight only met her a few times but she is a very sweet filly.
Applejack still lives in Ponyville and still runs Sweet Apple Acres. They see each other sometimes, not nearly as much as Twilight would like.
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy also live in Ponyville. Applejack and them are still very close. Twilight only makes trips to Ponyville three, maybe four times a year. When she does, Applejack Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all get together and try to catch up. They talk about various things, but it is very difficult. Twilight can no longer connect with her friends as she used to. They are just too far apart.
She is alone.
**************
Twilight was sitting in one of the many rooms of the Canterlot castle. She didn't bother to realize which one, she didn't care. Princess Celestia walked in the room and stared at Twilight. She saw the sadness and despair in her former student's face. Celestia had realized quite some time ago just how depressed Twilight has gotten. She had hoped it would pass, but it never did.
"Twilight..." The Princess began, but Twilight did not look up. She still sat there looking at the floor.
"Please Twilight, speak to me." Still nothing. Celestia stayed staring at her, but after five minutes she gave up. She turned and headed out the door.
"Celestia....", Twilight whispered still looking down. The sun princess turned around and a tear formed in her eye. Twilight hasn't spoken in months. Twilight Sparkle finally looked up and began to cry. Princess Celestia ran over to her and hugged her. She hugged her so tight, she could feel Twilight sobbing against her.
"I'm... so... sorry" The purple alicorn looked up into the wise old eyes of Princess Celestia.
"Oh how I've missed you Twilight."
"I'm just so sad, I didn't know what to do."
"It's alright, don't worry. Your safe."
Twilight heard her words and began to relax. They stayed there hugging for another three minutes until Twilight began to calm down. The Sun Princess guided Twilight to her room and laid there with Twilight until she fell asleep. Once she was asleep, Celestia went to find Luna.
**************
"Luna, I think Twilight is coming back." Celestia looked at her sister. She began to cry again, without Twilight she would have never seen her beloved sister again. She remembered how much she had shared with Twilight, now to finally almost have her back. It was just too joyful. Luna ran to her sister and embraced her in a hug.
"I knew she would come around eventually." Luna said.
"It was just so hard to look at her like that, and now she's getting better..."
"It fills me with joy to see you happy again sister."
"Now we can all start recovering."
**************
The last thing Twilight remembered was laying in her bed, while Celestia stroking her mane until she fell asleep. Now she is a place that she hasn't seen for years. The last time she was here, she was still a unicorn. At this moment Twilight was is that mysterious space-like place where Celestia had told her she was ready to become an alicorn. She realized now, she was not ready. She probably never would have been ready.
"W-what am I doing here? This was the place that ruined my life."
"Do not ask me, you were the one that sent yourself here." A strange voice called out.
"W-who are you?" Twilight looked around trying to find the mysterious voice.
"That does not matter. Why have you come here?"
"I don't know."
"Yes you do Twilight Sparkle. Even I know why you are here."
"Then why ask?"
Twilight heard a silent chuckle. "Because I wanted you to admit what you have done."
She knew what she did. She was so depressed that she cast the spell that would take her immortality away... and killed herself. She used very dark magic, what would Celestia think? "I know what I did." She admitted
"All I want to know is why?"
"I was so depressed. I couldn't take it anymore. All of my friends have grown apart, I'm lonely."
"Oh Twilight... Your friends love you and now they will be devastated when they realize you're gone."
"Where am I?"
"You are in magical limbo. The place where all alicorns go when they die."
"Wait, alicorn can't die."
"Not naturally, no. But you did, didn't you? There are ways."
Twilight frowned. He was right. She didn't know what to feel at this point.
"What should I do now?"
"Well, my dear Twilight, that is up to you. You can go left, right or straight." Twilight suddenly realized there were paths pointing in those directions.
"Where do they lead?"
"Well, right goes to happiness, left to despair, and straight... Well that one is a mystery."
"What kind of mystery?"
"That is your decision to make."
Twilight sat for what felt like hours. She looked at every one of the directions trying to decide which one would be the best way to go. What would meet her if she decided to take the chance? Should she go right and be happy forever, what she has longed for these many years? Should she go left into dispair, and pick right back up where she left off. Or should she go straight? Should she take the chance and risk it all?
"If I go somewhere will I be able to come back?" Twilight asked the voice
"Alas, no. I'm sorry Miss. Sparkle but what you choose is your only and final decision..... May I ask you something?"
"Yes you may."
"I have been watching you for some months now, and I saw you cast that spell. However, a couple hours later Celestia went to you and you looked like you were about to start and recover. Why bring up her hopes when you knew they would be crushed?"
That thought saddened Twilight. She knew that Celestia began to feel better, and now Twilight had stolen that away from her. It made her feel terrible.
"I-I....I don't know. I knew what I was going to do but then I heard the longing in her voice I thought maybe I could comfort her a little before I left."
The voice was quiet for some time. Twilight was worried that he left and that she was once again alone.
"Are you still here?" She asked
"Yes. Yes I'm here. I was just thinking about what you told me."
Twilight was relieved when she heard his voice. "And...? Are you mad?"
"My dear Twilight I could never be mad at you."
"But you barely know me, you should judge me."
The voice chuckled again. "Twilight I do know you.. better than you know."
"Who are you?" She asked for a second time.
"All in due time, Twilight. First you must choose your path: left, right, or straight."
She had made her decision, she had known for some time now. The destination of each path was not visible. Light shown from each, one could not know where each led, if not for a guide.
She would not go left; she wanted to get better, not worse. She would not go right, into happiness, if it meant the loss of her friends, forever. The only way she could be happy again was to return to her friends, but that would mean ripping her friends from existence. Straight, then, was the only way. She did not know what lay in store for her, but she would take the chance.
"Will you come with me?"
"Of course Twilight, I will always be with you."
Twilight got up and began to walk forward into the bright light of the straight path, not looking back.
Twilight Sparkle continued to walk down the middle path. She had been walking now for five minutes. Neither the voice nor Twilight have said a word since she started walking.
"I'm curious..." the voice said.
"Curiosity killed the cat."
Another faint chuckle. "Satisfaction brought him back."
"Touche."
"No seriously, I am curious."
"Alright what are you so curious about?"
"Why straight?"
Twilight was unsure she should tell him. She still did not know who this voice was. Should she really trust him, but what does she really have to lose?
"I will tell you why if you tell me who you are." That made the voice go silent.
"We're almost there." The voice changed the subject. Well, Twilight will find out who it is eventually. She did notice, however, that there was a lessening of the amount of light. She was coming closer and closer to an ivy archway. It looked oddly out of place. She walked through it and looked at her surroundings.
It did not seem like she was outside, but there was a simple pond at the focal point in the room. She went up to it, and looked into it. At first all she saw was her reflection like she would in any other pond. Suddenly the water started moving and her reflection became blurry. She then saw what looked to be herself lying in a bed. She then realized what this pond did.
She was indeed seing herself in a bed. However, that is her room in the Canterlot castle and that is her dead lifeless body. This place is allowing her to see what is happening in Equestria, even if she is no longer there. She will now be able to see all of her friends reactions, and the pain they will have to endure.
This was worse then anything she could have encountered if she went left or right. But she just had to go straight. She had the worst luck, now she had to watch her friends suffer.
"This is not what I wanted..." Twilight murmured.
"I must admit I am quite surprised." the voice said.
"What do you mean?"
"I have been in this... place... for so long and nopony has ever come this way. You are the first, and I am intrigued to find out what was here. Although.. I am very sorry for the pain you will now have."
"Do I have to watch?"
"That is your prerogative. However, there does not seem like there is much more to do here."
Twilight didn't know what she should do. The last thing she ever wanted was to cause her friends pain, but she did. She most certainly didn't think that she would watch it all happen. All of their pain, all of their suffering. And now she could see it all, in High Definition.
Twilight slowly looked back into the pond to see what was happening.
Princess Celestia woke up in the best mood she has been in for months. One of her closest friends, Twilight Sparkle was beging to slowly creep out of her depression. The Princess got ready for her morning duties, but wanted to see Twilight. She walked towards her room with great joy. Gently she knocked on the door.
"Twilight, good morning are you up?" Nothing. "Twilight? Twilight you should get up now."
Still nothing.
She slowly opened the door and walked inside. She took one look at Twilight and began to weep. She ran to the bed, and cried so hard that she didn't think she would ever stop. That is when Luna came in, she heard the cries of the Princess.
"Celestia! Celestia what's wrong?"
She didn't answer her, she didn't have to. Luna saw for herself what happened. She saw, they both saw, what was left of their beloved friend.
They continued to cry. They didn't know what could have happened, Celestia left her last night in a better state than this.
"Why! WHY?? What did she do this for?" The Sun Princess asked the rhetorical question.
They continued to cry for what seemed like hours, but was only ten minutes. The only thing that removed them from crying was a member of the Royal Guard that had wondered where the Princesses were. He saw that they were weeping and wanted to give them privacy, however Celestia saw him and got up.
"We must inform her family and friends." She said gravely. "Steel Wing, go and get Spike. Tell him to meet me in my quarters."
The guard nodded and ran out of the room. The Sun Princess went over to Twilight's desk and began to write. She wrote to Twilight's friends and family and told them to meet her at the castle as soon as possible. She wanted to tell them face to face. She did not want to inform them of a friends passing through a letter. She wrote:
Come to the Canterlot Castle immediately, I have something of grave importance that I need to tell you.
She made copies of that same message for everypony. She then walked out of the door with the letters to go and meet Spike in her room. Celestia walked out of the room without speaking another word.
"This is terrible, I have broken her heart!" Twilight said as she looked away from the pond. She began to cry.
"I'm sorry that you have to see this Twilight, I really am."
She did not respond, she just continued to weep. If this was how the Princess reacted, how would her other friends and her family react. Shining Armor will be devastated. She did not want to look anymore, but she did want to see her friends again. But not like that, not weeping for the loss of a friend. She did however turn back and look once again into the pond.
Spike was already in Celestia's room, nervously pacing.
"Spike..."
"Oh Princess I came as soon as you called what's...." Spike trailed off, and saw the look of pain on her face.
"Spike I'm so very sorry...."
"What's there to be sorry about?"
"I don't know how to say this..."
"Don't worry princess, you can just tell me."
Seeing how Spike was so unaware of what had happened, it made her cry. She fell to her knees. Spike ran over to her, embracing her in a hug.
"Princess... What happened?"
"Oh Spike... Twilight's dead."
Spike could not believe her. He still stood there motionless, trying to process what she just told him.
"No...NO!!! She can't.... She can't be gone!!!" He yelled.
"I'm sorry Spike..."
"NO I have to see her.. let me go see her!!" He headed for the door but was stopped by the Princess' hoof.
"No Spike... you shouldn't see her like this. Remember her like she was."
Spike then broke down and cried. "Please Princess.. Let me just see her."
"If you wish, I will not stop you." She lowered her hoof and Spike ran out of the door towards Twilight's room.
He ran through door but just then a dark blue hoof stopped his advance.
"Spike I advise you not come any closer." It was Luna. Her eyes were still red from crying.
"No, please Princess... I need to see her."
"Spike I can assure you, you will regret this." Luna lowered her hoof and Spike ran to Twilight's bed. There was a sheet over her head, Spike hesitantly lifted it off. As soon as he saw her, he let go of the sheet and ran out of the room crying. Princess Celestia came in after him. She looked at her sister, both of them could barely keep themselves together.
"I told him he shouldn't, but he didn't listen." Celestia explained
"I know sister, he would not lister to me either."
"I must send these letters immediately." She gestured to the letters she still needed to send.
"Alright, I shall see to it we will have a proper service."
"Thank you Luna." Luna smiled and walked out of the room. Celestia teleported the letters to the houses of each of Twilight's friends and family. When she was done she walked back to Twilight. She sat next to the bed, slowly stroking her purple mane, silently crying.
Twilight was still sobbing as she continued to stare into the pond. She did not know why she was tormenting herself. She finally looked away, there was still time before her friends would be in Canterlot.
"Twilight..." The voice said.
"This is terrible... I should never have had done this. I have ruined everypony's lives."
"Yes, that was not wise of you." The voice began, "However, what's done is done. There is no going back."
"Are you absolutely sure there is no way of getting back?"
"I am 98% sure there is no way of getting back." That caught Twilight's attention.
"Wait? There is a way back!!??"
"I am not sure. I am sorry I do not know."
"If there's a will, there's a way!"
"Very optimistic for a princess that just committed magic suicide..."
"Sorry, that was out of line. I apologize." The voice quickly saved himself/herself. Twilight couldn't really tell, it sounded like a mare, but with a hint of stallion.
"That's alright I forgive you." Twilight looked back into the pond but she could no longer see anything, just her reflection. "Wait, what happened?"
"Hmm.... It seems the pond only shows you what is going on when something important is occurring. Interesting."
"So now what are we going to do?" Twilight asked.
"I do not know I have never been here before."
Twilight sighed, she was really bored. She wish she could just read a book or something. Almost if called, wait she did call, a book suddenly appeared right in front of her. She did a double take, where in the whole wide world of Equestria could this book have come from?
She looked at the cover, there was no title. She turned to the title page, or what should have been the title page. There was no title at all on this mysterious book.
"Of course, " Twilight mumbled sarcastically, "a book with no title. How surprising."
She flipped to the first page, with words, and read the chapter title.
The Beginning of Equestria
"Oh, that's just great, I get a book that I've already read about a hundred times!"
The voice chuckled. "I think that if you read more into it, you will find that it is much different than any book you have ever read."
That was odd, how could this voice know what this book contained? Regardless, Twilight began to read.
At first there was nothing, then there was a light. A light to lead the way through the darkness. A light to shine through the darkest night and to lead ponies to salvation.
Before there was Celestia and Luna there was another. Before Discord came, there was another. She created the light, she created the darkness. She was the one who created it all.
Her name was Lunesta...
Twilight paused. "Oh Celestia, that is probably the most ironic thing I have ever read. A pony with a terrible mash-up of Luna and Celestia!"
"Keep reading.." The voice said. Twilight quickly thought of the look that that voice would be giving her right now... a death stare.
...she was not from this world. She was from a place that is no longer known to the ponies of today. She was lonely however, and longed for company.
She created many animals and plants, she created night and day, she even created the oceans and the land. She was still sad though, she wanted friends, companions. That is when she created the pony.
She took her three distinctive traits and crated the different types of ponies. Her strength for the earth pony, her wings for the pegasus, and her magic for the unicorn. She wondered however if ponies would think of her different, so she created one other like her. She created a companion, another alicorn. His name was Shining Equestor, he helped her raise and lower the sun and the moon.
She created the cutie mark. It was to signify the special talents that different ponies had. Hers was a sun and a moon in orbit, Shining's was a half moon and half sun.
When the ponies were first introduced to this land, they fought with each other. The three species of ponies fought and fought. However, in the time of need they were able to come together, survive, and learn to coexist.
In this time, Lunesta and Shining Equestor were looked to as gods. They were dubbed Queen and King of this land. The other ponies looked up to them and came to them with problems. The Queen and King were very helpful, and after a while displayed the characteristics of true rulers: charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism, and leadership.
Over the years, the land expanded, and more creatures and plants came into existence. Lunesta and Shining began to stay in one area and that soon became the capitol of the land.
As the milleniums went by, they watched friends leave this world. They became sadder and sadder, they longed for some happiness.
Then little Celestia came into the world. She was a white pegasus with a pink mane. Her parents were overjoyed, however they then realized that she, unlike them, would not live forever. They vowed to love her for all of her life.
Some years later, another little filly came: Luna. She was a little dark blue unicorn with a light blue mane. Her and Celestia got along very well. Both of the parents were so happy that, however short, they had a family. They were so proud when their little fillies got their cutie marks. Celestia's a sun and Luna's a moon.
When Celestia was almost full grown, a being known as Discord came to their land. He brought with him chaos and destruction. The battle was fierce, Discord was strong. Celestia could do nothing to help them, and Luna was still so young. All they could do was watch their parents suffer.
The battle was close to over, Lunesta and Shining were weakening. They too saw themselves close to being destroyed; once they were gone Discord would rule and destroy their children... Celestia and Luna. In a last valiant effort, Lunesta and Shining mustered all of the strength and power they had left and created elements... honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty... and magic. The Elements of Harmony. These elements would be the last way they could help Celestia and Luna.
In a blast of light, the only two known alicorn were gone. The only things that remained were two necklaces, the elements. All six elements were stored in each of the two necklaces. The two sisters wielded the elements and defeated Discord, sealing him in stone.
After the battle, the elements lit up, lifting the two sisters high in the air. With a blast of light, that could be seen across the land, they were lowered and landed on the ground. They stood before the ponies of the land. All the ponies, pegasai, earth, and unicorn, bowed at their presence. They, Celestia and Luna, had become alicorn. They would now have to take their parents places as rulers of this land.
Celestia and Luna's parents saved their lives.
They did not have time to weep, they had a nation to run. However, a proper memorial was placed at the nations capitol in memory of the two brave alicorn who gave their lives for this land. Over time, the memorial was built over, it became the cornerstone of the Canterlot Castle.
Not long after they look rule, Celestia and Luna named the land Equestria, after their parents. They also named the capitol and small towns and cities around it. Soon later, they raised the sun and moon just like their parents had done.
Many centuries later, Luna became enraged that nopony was appreciating her beautiful nights. She was overcome by evil forces and became Nightmare Moon.
The battle between the sisters was brutal. Celestia did not want to harm her sister, which left her no choice. She used the Elements of Harmony against her sister and banished her to the moon for a thousand years.
In the process of banishing Luna, the elements broke. They were no longer two necklaces, there was now six stones. Celestia, riddled with guilt and sorrow, hid the stones in a building in the Everfree forest, hoping she would never have to use them again.
The Princess bagan trying to fill the void of her lost sister by taking on personal students. It was not enough however, she was still sad. She looked up at the moon every night and talked to her sister.
It was not until the thousand years was almost up that the Princess took on another student, a purple unicorn named-
"W-What! It just stopped! There are still pages!" Twilight stared at the blank pages. A purple unicorn... that was her.
"Yes, I can asume you know what happens from there." The voice explained.
"Yes, but I would still like to read..... I never knew all of that. The Princesses had a mother... had a father. They gave their lives up for them... They must be so sad."
"Don't fret Twilight, they accepted that many years ago."
"It is still sad though. I feel so bad. They lost their parents, their friends, and now me..." Twilight began to cry.
She closed the book and went back to the pond. Rainbow Dash was there, of course. Element of Loyalty, she would be there first.
She was still watching and crying as Rainbow Dash caught site of Spike and the Princess. Their eyes puffy and red from crying....
"Rainbow Dash, if you don't mind I'd rather tell you all at the same time. You are welcome to stay in the throne room until everyone arrives."
"Y-yeah...sure... okay I'll...see you later then..?"
"Follow me." One of the servants said to Dash. She followed her as they made their way to the throne room. It was quiet, except for the crying baby dragon in the corner of the room.
"Spike? Spike is that you?"
"O-oh h-hey Dash, *sniffle* what's up?"
"Whoa are you alright Spike? You look terrible." Spike got up and crossed the room to Rainbow Dash. He looked up at her, the look on his face was so sad that Rainbow felt the need to hug him. She still had no idea what could be wrong, but if Spike was crying it couldn't have been good.
"Spike, what happened?"
"I think the Princess wants everypony here before she says anything."
"Spike, it could be hours before anypony else gets here. Do you want me to just wach you cry for the rest of the time? Shouldn't I at least know?"
"But... Rainbow... you don't want to know."
"Spike tell me."
"But the princess told me not to..."
"I Pinkie promise I won't tell her you told me."
"....Alright. Pinkie Promise me though."
Dash grinned. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
"Okay... Dash... Twilight-"
"DID I HEAR A PINKIE PROMISE!!??" Dash and Spike scanned the room for the voice. They knew exactly who it was, but they couldn't see her. Suddenly a pink pony appeared right behind them and tapped on their shoulders. They both jumped a little.
"Pinkie! How did you get here so fast?"
"Well duh.... You made a Pinkie Promise!"
"Wait... that doesn't even make sense." Spike said
"She's Pinkie, she doesn't have to make sense." Rainbow explained with a grin from Pinkie.
"So whats this huge secret you are hiding?" Pinkie asked.
Spike sighed, "Did you get a letter from the Princess today Pinkie?"
"Yes-sir-e!"
"Okay she didn't want me to tell you but I think you have the right to know."
"GASP! you are going behind the Princess' back!!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"SSSHHH!!!" Dash scolded her. Pinkie apologized and zippered her mouth up, locked it, and threw away the key.
"Okay... Twilight's--"
"It's alright everypony, Rarity's here now!" Rarity exclaimed as she entered the room.
"UUGGG I might as well wait till everypony gets here!" Dash exclaimed as she rolled her eyes.
Rarity walked over to the group and gave them all big hugs.
"Oh how I've missed you all!"
"We missed you to Rarity!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Yeah I missed you t-"
"SPIKEY WIKEY!!!!" She engulfed Spike in the biggest hug she could. "How has my favorite baby dragon been doing!?"
"Um I'm...." She put him down and got a good look at him.
"Spike are you alright? Have you been crying?"
"Yes, and he was just about to tell me why before you came in." Dash explained.
"I think the Princess wants to tell you..."
"AW Come on! Please Spike."
"Really it's better if you hear it from her..."
"Alright Spike, we'll honor your choice. Right Dash?" Rarity questioned. Dash just rolled her eyes.
"Thank you."
It was only about ten more minutes before the Princess cam back in, followed by Fluttershy.
"FLUTTERSHY!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Fluttershy flinched from the volume of Pinkie's voice but went to hug her friends.
"Princess what's going on?" Dash asked.
"Rainbow Dash, if you will, I would like to wait till everypony is here. Just... try and stay happy." Dash looked at the Princess questioningly but did not say anything. "I must go back now, the rest of your friends should be arriving soon."
They all watched as the Princess walked back out the door.
"She seemed upset." Rarity inquired.
"Yeah... she probably feels terrible." Spike said.
They tried to pass the time by talking. Dash had many stories about the Wonderbolts, and Rarity had some stories about the type of people who shop in her boutique. Pinkie talked about the Cakes and Fluttershy talked about her animals. This seemed to help pass the time.
Spike was still very quiet, he would give the occasional smile but not much more. Rarity saw how Spike was acting and went to sit next to him, and embraced him in a hug. He hugged back and began to silently cry.
Spike was crying against Rarity when Applejack walked in.
"HOWDY EVERYPONY!"
All of them, excluding Spike and Rarity went up to greet her. Applejack was in a good mood until she caught a glance of Spike and Rarity. She went over to them.
"Oh hello Applejack.How have you been?" Rarity asked
"F-fine. What's wrong Spike?"
"O-oh.. n-nothing. I-im f-f-fine."
"Are you sure-" She was cut off by the sound of the doors opening. In walked Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Shining Armor and Twilight's parents.
Princess Celestia looked at Spike. She felt the same way, she just wanted to break down and cry.
"Thank you everypony for being here." Celestia began. "I'm very sorry we have to meet like this."
She paused. She didn't know how to say it. How could she tell all these ponies that their beloved friend, sister, daughter...was dead? She looked at her sister, hoping she would say it. No. No it was her job, she had to tell them. Celestia sat down, she knew she would not be able to stand while saying this. The ponies followed and sat down. She looked down as she began.
"It.. breaks my heart to say this... I'm so very sorry........... Twilight's dead" She looked up at the stunned faces of Twilight's friends and family.
"NO.... NO THATS NOT POSSIBLE!!!" Dash exclaimed
"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but she is." Luna explained.
They all started to cry. All of Twilight's friends came together and hugged. Twilight's family did the same. Celestia and Luna embraced each other. After some time, Twilight's mother spoke up.
"C-can.. can we say goodbye?" she asked.
"If you wish." Celestia got up and made her way to Twilight's room, all of the other ponies followed. Celestia stopped in front of the door, she did not wish to see her again. Luna and Spike stood beside her while the others went in.
They all surrounded the bed and just starred at it, nopony could move. Finally, Pinkie lifted the covers and looked at what was left of Twilight.
"C'mon Twi wake up." There was no response so she shook her. "Twilight wake up... please" Everyone started to cry again.
"Pinkie..." Applejack siad, "She's not going to wake up.."
She looked at the unmoving body and bagan to cry. He hair deflated and Applejack went to give her a big hug.
"Twilight, ah know we've had some good time. I wish we spent more time together, that's mah only regret. Ah'll miss you." Applejack said. She looked at Twilight one more time until she left the room, with her head hanging.
"Twilight. I wish you were still here. I'll miss you." Dash explained as she followed Applejack out.
"I'll miss you Twilight, but you're in a better place now." Fluttershy said.
"Goodbye Twilight. I'll take good care of Spike. Don't worry darling." Rarity said.
"Bye Twilight. I hope they have good parties where you are." Pinkie suggested as she walked out the door.
That left only Twilight's family. Cadence said her goodbyes and left Shining to be with his sister... one last time.
"Goodbye sis. I'll always be your B.B.B.F.F." he said with a smile. He kissed his sister and walked out the door.
Twilight's parents looked at their daughter. They embraced each other and cried.
"Why... Why did she do this?" Her mother wondered.
"I don't know. I wish she hadn't, I miss her so much."
"Goodbye Twilight. I will always love you." Her mother said and kissed her head.
They both walked out of the room and gathered by every pony else.
"Princess.. do you know why?"
"I'm sorry I have no idea why she would do such a thing. She was fine last night."
"U-um if you don't mind me asking... how?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly.
"Remember when King Sombra ruled over the Crystal Empire? He used very dark magic, this magic was banned from Equestria. She made herself mortal again and killed herself with a spell Sombra himself made up."
"What do we do now?" Shining Armor asked.
"Luna has already started planning... you are all welcome to stay in the castle for as long as you want. You can come talk to me whenever, if you would like."
"Thank you Princess."
The pond once again quivered and showed Twilight her reflection. Twilight laid down and cried for hours.
"Twilight...." The voice said.
She didn't answer it, she just kept crying.
"Twilight... I know this is hard but you must learn to live with the decision you have made."
"I-I know."
She laid there and thought things over as she waited for the pond to once again show her friends.
"Twilight..... Twilight you have been staring into that pond for over and hour now. There's nothing there."
It was true, for the past hour Twilight had been staring into the pond and seeing nothing but her reflection. She had been waiting and waiting to see her friends and family, but they never came.
"This isn't healthy Twilight, you need to start weighing your options."
"MY OPTIONS!!!!" She yelled out. "I have no options, I'm gone and I am never getting back! I'll never see my friends again!"
"Sorry, poor choice of words."
"You think?" Twilight said through her teeth.
"Well, actually... you do have options." The voice said.
"What?"
"I said you do have options."
"Don't lie to me." Twilight said bitterly.
"I'm not lying. Honest."
"Alright. I'm listening."
"Remember in the book that you read about the creation of the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight gave a slight nod so the voice continued. "Well, the King and Queen put their spirits into the elements, but not their whole being."
"So what does that have to do with anything?" Twilight interrupted. "Oops... sorry I didn't mean to interrupt."
"I'm getting to it... So if their spirit went into making the elements, where did their bodies go?"
"....Here!"
"Precisely. Now I believe that if you are able to find the King and Queen, you might be able to get back."
Twilight was dumbfounded. She has a chance, however slim it might be, of getting back to her friends and family.
"Wait.. what is the point in finding them. If there was a way back they would have found that out long ago, and they wouldn't be stuck here."
She heard a faint chuckle. "Twilight you are the element of magic. You have a very strong connection to the king and queen. They are the Elements of Harmony."
"That still doesn't explain anything."
"The Elements of Harmony are strong enough to get you out of this place, but do you have the elements at your disposal?"
"No, my friends are not here, and they are the Elements of Harmony."
"No they are not the Elements of Harmony." Twilight was about to object, but the voice continued before she had the chance. "They are the bearers of the elements, not the elements themselves. They signify the elements. The true sorce of the elements are King Equestor and Queen Lunesta. The true Elements of Harmony will have the power to get you out of this place."
Twilight nodded. "I understand now. I must find them, but were can I go you said there was no going back?"
"You're right I did say that. But I did not say that there was no going forward."
"That's true." Twilight for the first time in months began to giggle.
"There's the Twilight I know. Glad to see I could make you smile one more time!"
Twilight laughed some more but finally got up and began to walk forward.
"So this means I can't see my friends again." She said as she looked back at the pond.
"Twilight If you succeed in finding the King and Queen, you will be able to see them again in for real."
"Your right. I have to do this, for my friends..... for me." She said as she continued to walk not looking back at the pond.
Twilight had been walking for a while, but could see no end. There was nothing to be seen anywhere. It was all just a bright space.
"Am I ever going to find them?" Twilight asked.
"You will, don't worry. Soon enough you will see."
They were silent for another few minutes before Twilight spoke up, "I never got the chance to thank you."
"What for?"
"For everything. You helped me get through this, made it bearable."
"Well thank you Twilight Sparkle, that means a lot."
"Your welcome...... So If you have been here for quite some time, you must have seen the Queen and King before."
"Yes, I have seen them."
"What do they look like? Are they nice? Do they make good company? How tall are they? What do they-"
"Whoa slow down their kid don't hurt yourself."
"Sorry I'm just so curious. I never even knew they existed before I came here. Oh!! If I ever get back I will find a book about them and learn all about the King and Queen!"
"That's just like you. You would come back from the dead and the first thing you would do would be to read a book."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "No the first thing I would do is apologize to my family and friends.... and to the Princess."
"You really care for her don't you?"
"Yes, I love her like a mother, I grew up with her. She's like a second mother to me."
"She thinks of you as a daughter you know."
"H-how do you know?"
"I can see her from here. I can see everything alicorn are doing. This is where alicorn go when they die, It's only fitting I can see what they are doing."
"That's kind of creepy."
"I suppose it could be." They both shared a good laugh. Twilight hadn't felt that good in month.
"But seriously, the way she looks at you and treats you. It's like how a mother treats a child. She deeply cares for you, I do not know If you could see but when you were depressed, It hurt her. It hurt her almost as much as it hurt you."
"I'm so sorry I put her through so much pain."
"Cheer up, when you find Queen Lunesta and King Equestor, you will be able to see Princess Celestia once again."
"That's what is getting me through this." Twilight sighed. "You still never told me who you are you know."
"And I still won't, well not for now... But you can call be Equest."
"Oh! Like the letter E, and were on a quest! Thats clever."
"Sure.... I mean yeah I'm clever."
"Okay Equest, so what are the King and Queen like?"
"There nice."
"That's It, there just nice?"
"Yeah, I mean I haven't really spent that much time with them."
"Oh.... Well what do they look like?"
"Queen Lunesta is white with a deep purple and blue mane and the King is dark blue with a pink and gold mane."
"Wow. They sound magnificent."
They voice did not respond.
"I wish I could still see what was going on in Canterlot."
"I can do that." Equest said. Suddenly a screen appeared before Twilight, in it she saw her friends sitting next to each other reminiscing on the good times they had.
"Remember the first day she came to Ponyville. She didn't even want to make friends." Applejack said.
"Yeah and then I showed her that I could clear the sky in ten seconds flat." Rainbow exclaimed. "Oh, and that one time Rarity though a rock was a gem!"
"I THOUGH WE SAID WE WOULD NEVER SPEAK OF THAT!" Rarity yelled.
"Shesh sorry I said anything."
"I'm sorry everypony, I didn't mean to yell. I just miss her."
"We all miss her sugarcube, but Ah don't think she would want us sad. She would want us to be happy about all of the great memories we had with her."
Twilight watched as the screen disappeared. A tear forming in her eye.
"Thank you for that Equest."
"You're very welcome Twilight."
They continued to walk for another couple of minutes. Twilight thought that she did want her friends to remember the happy times they had. She didn't want them to be sad about her being gone.
"Equest?"
"Yes."
"I take it that you are a pony, correct."
"Correct."
"So you must be a unicorn."
"Why do you think that?"
"Well.... You just made a magical screen apear before me. Your not a pegasus and your not an earth pony. Process of elimination, you are a unicorn."
Equest began to laugh. "I think you must be mistaken Twilight. Think about that more and get back to me."
Twilight though about that. There were three races of ponies, and then It hit her. How could she be so stupid? Of course there was another type of pony: an alicorn. An ALICORN! Now that she thought about it, this was a place for alicorn.
All of the pieces started to fall into place for Twilight. This voice, Equest, was an alicorn!! Equest had demonstrated the traits of Harmony.
First he stayed loyal to her, when she went down the straight path, Equest followed. When she was was crying, Equest comforted her and showed her kindness. Equest gave her a book when she needed something to do, he showed her generosity. Twilight asked if there was a way back, Equest told her the truth and was honest. Equest made her laugh, something she hasn't done in months. And finally, Equest showed her friends even after they left the magic pond.... magic.
Equest. Equ-... Equestor.... est... Lunesta!! Queen Lunesta and King Equestor! Equest is the King and Queen.
"Equest... why didn't you tell me?"
"You had to find out for yourself Twilight. I could not tell you."
A bright light suddenly appeared above Twilight and began to descend. Twilight had to look away, the light was to bright. When the light subsided, Twilight saw before her the King and Queen of Equestria.
"So if you can send me back, why didn't ever send yourselves back." The two elder alicorn looked at each other, surprised at the question.
"If we were to go back to The Land... er I mean Equestria.... The Elements of Harmony would cease to exist." The Queen explained.
"We are the elements, if we were to go back they would no longer be able to stay in their current form." The King added.
"But if you do go back, you could replace the elements." Twilight suggested.
"I'm not sure if I follow.."
"The necklaces and the crown are what the elements took the form of when my friends and I found them. If you were to come back, there would be no need for them. You could protect Equestria, see Celestia and Luna again."
"You have a valid point Miss Sparkle" King Equestor said.
"We shall keep that in mind. But for now we need to talk." Twilight lowered her head, she knew this was coming.
"Your friends loved you, your family loved you, my...daughter loved you. Why did you do it?"
"I told you why when I came here."
"No you didn't." Twilight sighed, she might as well tell her.
Sorry I can't come by, me and the Wonderbolts are going on a tour of Equestria. I really wish I could come but I just don't have the time. I'll catch up with you later.
Your friend and Wonderbolt,
Rainbow Dash
Twilight sighed and picked up another letter.
Twilight,
I was so happy to receive a letter from you. Alas, I am not able to come and see you. I am very busy, a huge order came in yesterday. I hope to see you soon.
Your friend,
Rarity
The rest of the letters were similar, Sorry Twilight I can't. I'm too busy right now. She felt as though nopony even care about her anymore. She hasn't seen high or tail of any of her friends in months. She had always felt that, about a month after her coronation, her friends saw her differently. They saw each other less and less.
"Twilight." a familiar voice came from behind her. Twilight turned around to see Princess Luna. The Princess of the Night came in and made her way to Twilight.
"Hello Princess Luna."
"Twilight I told you, call me Luna."
"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot."
"Are you alright Twilight? My sister is worried about you."
Twilight sighed. "I'm fine."
Luna didn't believe her. "Twilight I know how you feel. I too once felt the way you do now."
"Really?!" she gasped.
"Yes, I even once considered killing myself."
"B-but Luna that's terrible!"
"Yes, yes I know. It was a terrible time however. When I was taken over by Nightmare Moon I could not control what she was doing to me. She wanted to hurt my sister."
Twilight just kept staring and listening to Luna.
"When Celestia banished me to the moon, I was relieved that Nightmare Moon could no longer try and harm my sister. I had many years to think about what I had done: one thousand years to be exact. During those thousand years, I though about killing myself. I thought that if I could off myself, Nightmare Moon would cease to exist. I remembered a spell that King Sombra came up with, but in the end when it came down to it, I realized it was not worth it. I had confidence that my sister would find a way to save me."
"King Sombra created spells?" Twilight asked confused.
"Yes, yes he did. It was very dark magic, Celestia had it banned from Equestria."
"And how could you kill yourself? You are an alicorn."
"It was a spell that can turn an immortal alicorn mortal and then kill them. It is a horrid thing, I still can't believe I almost considered using it."
"It's alright Luna, I forgive you."
"Thank you Twilight, I've never even told Celestia about it."
"Really, wow... Why did he create a spell like that anyway?"
"One could say that it is our fault. My sister and I created many alicorn by accident. When we first wielded the Elements of Harmony we were not aware of how much power they contained. We would be talking to ponies and next thing you know, we create another alicorn. We finally realized that we had to do something, we sealed the Elements away in the castle. There were so many alicorn running around that we decided they could run the other towns and cities in Equestria. One pony in particular, Sombra, was sent to rule the Crystal Empire."
"He began to feel as though somepony was going to overthrow him. That was when he created the spell. It took away an alicorn's immortality and then when the alicorn went to sleep, the other half of the spell would kick in and kill the pony. He used it on many alicorn, it was many months before my sister and I realized what was happening. We once again used the Elements of Harmony, however you know that those didn't work. Only the spirit of the crystal ponies could stop Sombra, so we used the elements to create the crystal heart. The ponies were the real ones who stopped Sombra."
"Wow, I never knew that."
"Yes, most ponies do not know that. All of the alicorn were almost wiped out, only my sister, Princess Cadence, and I survived. There is a book all about that in the Canterlot Library if you want to read about it. There is probably more that I just cannot remember at the moment."
"Thank you Luna I might look at it sometime."
"Your welcome Twilight. I hope you feel better." Luna gave her a quick hug before she left.
The next day Twilight went to the Library to look up the topic. She found only one book on it, but it was at least something. The alicorn took the book back to her room and began to read it. The book mostly had the same things that Luna said. It was a quick read.
**** a few weeks later****
Twilight still hasn't seen her friends in weeks, some for months. She kept sending out letters but she would always get the same response. 'Sorry, busy.' She has grown even sadder and more depressed. She did the same thing everyday: got up, had breakfast, do some reading, have lunch, do various royal duties, read some more, have dinner, go to bed.
She would occasionally send letters to her friends. Eventually she just stopped, there was no point.
"Twilight." Celestia said.
"Yes Princess?"
"Twilight, I'm seriously worried about you."
"You don't need to be, don't worry I'm fine." She said with the best fake smile she could manage.
"Please Twilight, just be safe..."
"Always am." Celestia sighed and gave Twilight a smile. She back out the door, worrying about her friend.
*****The morning of her death*****
Twilight could not take it any longer. Nopony bothered to see her anymore, she was all alone. She just wanted to escape the horrible life she was living. She remembered what Princess Luna told her, she remembered the spell. She knew it was eventually going to come to this. Twilight went back to her room, and got the book from under her bed. She scanned the pages for the spell until she found it.
That was when she did it. She casted the spell. This would be her last day of life, she greeted it gladly. Although this was the end, she felt almost glad that her pain and suffering were almost over.
She did not once think of the consequences of her decision.
"And that's basically everything. I know it was stupid and I regret everything." Twilight finished.
"I understand Twilight, it was irresponsible, but I understand." Queen Lunesta said.
"Thank you." They continued to walk until they reached a door.
"Where are we?" Twilight asked.
They did not answer her, they merely showed her. The three alicorn walked up to the rustic wooden door, King Equestor slowly opened it.
Before her, Twilight saw what looked like Canterlot. The land looked similar, but there were no buildings that looked the same. There was no castle, just small houses. The land looked so peaceful, so calm. All of the ponies in this place were alicorn, and they were all staring at the King and Queen. There were about two dozen alicorn that resided here, all of them now bowing.
"W-what is this place?" Twilight asked.
"This is The Land." The Queen said.
"The Land as like the Land in the story?" The purple alicorn asked
"Well not exactly. It is a recreation of it." The King verified.
"Wow. This place is amazing!"
"Thank you." Both the King and Queen said in unison.
"After we saw what happened to all these alicorn and Sombra, we had to do something." The Queen said.
"That was a very kind thing you did." Twilight said.
"Thank you. Now... lets get you back." Queen Lunesta turned to Twilight and gave her a warm smile.
Hello, Miss Sparkle, It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Magic Star." A yellow alicorn with a green mane said. "It's nice to meet you too."
Twilight meet almost all of the alicorns in this place. Each one of them cheerful, considering where they were. She was just about done meeting the last alicorn when Twilight overheard one of them say her name,
“.... Yes, such a sad thing that happened. I feel so bad for the poor family."
"Yes, I know they must be devastated."
"She seems like such a nice one too. It's too bad she has to go back."
"True, but maybe she doesn't. She would be a great asset to this community."
"Good point, however, she still has family and friends. She should go back."
"Well, we should just see what happens, it is her choice."
Twilight couldn't see the faces of the alicorn, but she had heard enough. The King, Queen, and Twilight, finished greeting the other alicorns and made there way to what must have been the King and Queen's home. It was no different than the other buildings in this place; it was only a bit more reclusive. King Equestor opened the door and both Lunesta and Twilight entered.
It was a simple house, but it was beautiful. The walls were a nice cream color and the hardwood floor had not a scratch on it. Some of the furniture reminded Twilight of the Canterlot Castle. She looked around amazed.
"T-This place is beautiful." She said.
"Thank you. It's just a simple little thing we put together." The Queen said. Twilight was still spinning around, trying to see everything. She finally began to feel dizzy and stopped.
"It's a lot to take in, I know." King Equestor said. Twilight nodded.
"Well, I'm going to get us some tea. Make yourself comfortable." The Queen said. She walked to one of the doors and stepped inside. The King followed, leaving Twilight alone... giving her time to think.
Twilight though of what those alicorn said, maybe she should stay here. It's a really nice place after all, and the King and Queen seem nice enough. She could build a house, settle in, and make new friends.... friends. She missed her friends. They were probably still crying, she had hurt them badly.
I really should go back, she thought, they must be in terrible shape now. I don't think I could ever make it up to them.
The King and Queen came back in, pulling Twilight from her thoughts. Queen Lunesta placed the teacups and teapot on the table. Twilight levitated a cup to herself and took a sip. It had a beautiful aroma of lavender, and tasted even better.
"This tea is wonderful!" Twilight complimented.
"Thank you. It's my own blend." Equestor said.
Lunesta started to giggle, "Yes, all of these years, and I still don't know what is in this tea."
There was an awkward five-minute silence to follow, and then the white alicorn spoke up.
"So what do you think of this place so far?"
"It's wonderful, everything is amazing." She hesitated looking at her tea, "This tea is amazing!"
The King and Queen both laughed, Twilight just gave an awkward laugh.
"So do you want to stay?" Equestor suddenly said.
That took Twilight off guard, he just asked that so suddenly and out of the blue.
"Oh come now Shining, she wants to go back to her family and friends, she doesn't want to stay here."
"You don't know that, maybe she would like to stay." The two alicorn turned to stare at Twilight who looked conflicted.
"Do...do you want to stay?" The Queen asked, raising an eyebrow.
Twilight couldn't answer; she just kept staring into her tea.
"Twilight, you know that you are welcome to stay, but don't you want to go back?"
"I.... I don't know." The purple alicorn said, defeated.
The Queen walked over to Twilight and put one of her wings around the younger alicorn. Twilight was trying to hold back tears.
"It's alright Twilight, you do not have to decide now." The Queen comforted.
"I miss everyone, but I don't know if I want to go back. It's so nice here."
"Twilight, we should not be the reason you stay here." This time it was the King that spoke.
"He's right, you have friends and family that miss you dearly."
"I know, I know. It's just... I don't know. If that makes sense."
The Queen could help a small laugh from coming out, "I understand." Twilight looked up at her and smiled. Lunesta smiled back. "Would it help your decision if you saw your friends again?"
Twilight's face lightened up. "Yes! Oh please, just one more time?"
"Of course Twilight, don't worry."
Light came from Lunesta's horn and another screen appeared in front of the alicorns.
________________________________________
"How are the preparations coming sister?" Celestia asked.
"Fine, everything is going according to plan." Luna said.
"I'm glad, I want her to have a proper ceremony."
"As do I.... How are you?"
"I'm.... managing, not well I might add. I cancelled all of my appointments for tomorrow."
"It's alright sister. Who knows, she could be with mother and father right now." Luna asked trying to lift her sister's spirits.
It had worked, Celestia cracked a slight smile. "You know that's not possible Luna."
"Have hope Celly, they could be talking right now."
"If Twilight is with them, I hope she is happy."
Luna hugged her sister, "I'm sure she's fine. Don't worry, mother and father would take care of her."
***
"Spike, are you alright?" Rarity asked the baby dragon.
"No, but thanks for asking." Spike said during one of his breaks from crying.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not alright either." The baby dragon looked up at her, snuggling a little bit closer. Rarity gave Spike a pat on his head.
"Don't worry, none of us are." Fluttershy said. Rarity and Spike turned to look at the others. They have all been staying in the Canterlot Castle for the past couple of days.
"Ah just can't believe she's gone." Applejack said, and then stared at Pinkie Pie who was staring out the window. She has sat in that spot ever since she had gotten in the room. "And ah'm scared for Pinkie." she whispered.
"I think we all are, darling." Rarity said as Spike looked at Pinkie. He started to get up before Rarity stopped him.
"No, Spike, let her be." Spike didn't listen. He walked past all of them and made his way to Pinkie.
When Spike go to Pinkie he didn't say anything, he just stood there looking out the window. Neither Pinkie nor Spike looked at each other. Spike slowly put his arm around Pinkie giving her a gentle hug, showing her everything was going to be okay, they would all get through this.
Pinkie leaned her head on Spike and began to cry. That was when all of her friends went to comfort her. They hugged and cried until the screen began to fade away.
________________________________________
"Are you alright Twilight?" The Queen asked, seeing that Twilight was crying.
"Y-yes, I'm fine. It's just.... what I did to Pinkie, she looks terrible."
"It's fine Twilight, that little dragon of yours seems to have helped her."
"I know... It's just, I feel responsible for their pain."
"Well you kind of are..." The King said, but then was silenced by a punch from the Queen.
Twilight began to cry; she knew it was her fault.
"Shhhh, Twilight, it's alright, calm down." The Queen comforted her, giving a wicked scowl to the King who flinched.
"Okay, *sniffle* I think I know what I'm going to do."
"Alright, Twilight lets get you back." The Queen said.
The three alicorn left the house and walked back out into what was the town square. The other alicorn would nod and give a smile to Twilight as she passed by. They did not stop in the town square, however, they kept walking until they reached the outskirts of The Land.
"Are you sure about your decision?" The King asked.
"Yes, I'm sure." Twilight said, and Equestor nodded.
"What about both of you?" Twilight asked, "Are you coming too?"
The Queen gave her a warm smile, "I'm sorry Twilight we can't just leave all of these ponies here. They need a leader... Or in this case, two leaders." She smiled at the King.
"B-but can't they come too?" The purple alicorn pleaded.
"Twilight, if that was the case they would have all been sent back years ago. You are the only one, your bond with the elements is so strong that they can help you escape from here." Lunesta explained.
Twilight frowned. Couldn't they just pick a new leader to rule? That wouldn't be so hard would it? No, it wouldn't, but it would be very selfish of Twilight if she came to this place and took the King and Queen back to her world, leaving all of the other alicorn here.
She sighed, "I guess you're right. I still wish you could come, see Celestia and Luna again."
"Twilight, if there was some way we could all go back, I would take it. It breaks my heart that I will never see my daughters again, but I feel that we are doing what is right." The Queen said.
"I respect your decision." Twilight said.
The elder alicorns both smiled, "Thank you." The King said.
"Are you ready Twilight?" The white alicorn asked.
She hesitated, but nodded her head, "I'm ready."
"Alright, lets get this started." The dark blue alicorn said.
"Now since you are the element of magic, this makes it much easier. Our magic will combine with the magic inside of you, and send you back home." The Queen explained.
"Why is it easier for me?"
"Let us say that you were the element of loyalty, there is magic in every element, but it is not as strong as the element of magic. It will be easier for us to connect to the element within you."
"Oh, I see." Twilight said.
"Now stand over there," the Queen pointed to a spot about ten feet away from them, "and don't move."
Twilight went to stand in that spot and turned around to look at the King and Queen.
"Thank you both, so much. I will never forget you." Twilight said.
"We will never forget you too, Twilight. We will miss you, tell Celestia and Luna we miss them. Tell them we love them... tell them we're sorry." Lunesta said, Equestor nodding.
"I will." Twilight said with a smile.
Lunesta and Equestor tilted their heads down, their horns pointing at Twilight. Light began radiating from both their horns; they elder alicorns closed their eyes. A bolt of light shot out and wrapped around Twilight, lifting her up. Just as when she was with Celestia years ago, a purple light came from Twilight. It swirled around her, making her body start to disappear.
A sudden thought clicked in her head.
"Oh! I forgot to ask you both a question!" Twilight shouted before she disappeared, "Why don't either of you speak like Luna did with the thou's and the royal we's and all of that?"
The Queen was concentrating very hard, but was able to give a slight chuckle and answer her question, "Those words were never used back when we ruled, and it was actually Luna who was the one to start all of that nonsense."
All three alicorn began to laugh until Twilight was swept away by the light from the true Elements of Harmony.
****In Equestria, before all of that******
"Celestia, are you ready to go?" Luna asked.
The Sun Princess was on her balcony. She was not wearing her usual choice of outfit (or lack there of), but had a black dress on. Luna was a little taken back by her sister's choice in attire, the Night Princess was wearing simply what she always did. The younger alicorn went to stand by her sister, and wrapped a reassuring wing around her.
"She wasn't ready." Celestia said flatly, Luna looked at her with a confused expression.
"I don't think I understand, sister."
"I should have never turned Twilight into an alicorn." Celestia said, Luna looked shocked.
"Why ever not?"
"She was the best student I have ever had," Celestia began, "It was selfish of me to turn her. I didn't want to ever lose her, she was like the daughter I never had. Now, exactly what I didn't want to happen has happened."
Luna couldn't answer, she had no idea Celestia felt that way. She didn't think her sister thought of Twilight as a daughter. Something else maybe..... But not a daughter.
Luna shook her head, getting the image out of her heard.
"I-I never knew you felt that way. This must be very hard for you, I'm sorry."
Celestia put her head on Luna's shoulder, and cried softly. It was another couple of minutes before Luna spoke up.
"We have to go now, Celly. We don't want to be late to the funeral."
Celestia nodded, they both turned around and headed out the door.
"Are you almost ready Rarity, Ah don't wanna be late." Applejack complained. All of them, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, had on similar black dresses. Spike had on a nice black suit on, everything designed by Rarity.
"I'm coming." Rarity said as she emerged from her room, in her own original design. It was a little more fashionable than the others dresses, but was as simple as a dress worn by Rarity could be. There was more beading, a longer train, and a bit puffier on the shoulders.
They were all, however, wearing their Elements of Harmony necklaces. Rarity was worried that they would ruin the design of her outfits, but the Princess insisted upon it. Rarity had to tweak her dress a little, but nothing major. The Princess even insisted that Twilight was buried with her element. Luna tried to protest, but Celestia overpowered her argument.
"Wow, Rarity, you look amazing!" Spike complimented her.
"Thank you Spike. Are we all ready to go?" Her good mood fading a bit as she realized where they were going.
"Yeah, we're ready." Dash said with a slight frown, looking down.
"Alright then, let's go." Rarity said. They all left the room, Spike right by Rarity's side.
The ceremony went off without a hitch, Luna had planned it perfectly. The song choices, the flowers, the ceremony itself, were all well done. She even got purple flowers to put around the casket.
There was not one pony, or baby dragon, that did not cry during the ceremony. Rainbow Dash tried very hard not to cry, but when she saw Scootaloo crying and hugging her, she couldn't help it. Rarity and Spike were inseparable; they hugged and cried through the whole thing. Pinkie didn't look at the casket even though it was closed. Fluttershy was with Sweetie Belle and Applejack was with her sister, comforting her. Shining Armor, Cadence, and Twilight's parents all sat with each other. Celestia and Luna were next to each other in the front row.
After the ceremony was over, they all went to the burial site. It was a simple cemetery on the castle grounds. The grave was already dug; the casket was placed next to it. There was an abundance of flowers everywhere; there were hardly places to stand.
"Would anypony like to say something?" Father Cruet said.
"I would." Celestia said. She stepped up near the casket, "Twilight, You had always been like a daughter to me, I still do consider you my child. I realize now that I was mistaken. I should have never made you an alicorn, you were not ready. That is not an insult; you were the brightest and most talented unicorn I have encountered in centuries. It was just that... I was selfish. I never wanted to lose you, but in doing so.... I have lost you. You will never be forgotten."
Everypony started crying after the beautiful speech Celestia had just given. Nopony could top that eulogy, nopony dared to try. Even if somepony wanted to speak, they would have been cut off.
All five Elements of Harmony necklaces began to light up. Everypony turned to look at the Element bearers; they looked just as shocked as everypony else around them. A sudden blast of light came from each necklace, the same colors as the jewels. The colorful blasts of light shot out towards the casket, engulfing it in color.
The casket was lifted of its bearings, and floated up high in the air. The power of the elements broke the casket, revealing the body of Twilight Sparkle. The colorful rays of light surrounded Twilight, making it impossible to see her.
Eventually the light subsided, and Twilight was lowered to the ground.
Twilight stood there, looking at her friends and family. All of them had looks of shock on their faces; this could not have been Twilight... Twilight was an alicorn.
The pony standing in front of them was not an alicorn... She was a unicorn. The blast from the Elements of Harmony must have stripped her of wings, and returned her to a unicorn.
They hesitantly walked towards Luna. The Night Princess's horn bagan to glow, thankfully, a bright color. The light engulfed the two ponies.
When the light went away, it revealed two new alicorn.
"Good... Hello Princess Rainbow Dash and Princess Pinkie Pie. You are now royalty, lets go." Luna began to walk away, but Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"Wait what are we Princesses of?"
Luna thought for a second, "Pinkie, you're the new Sun Princess, and Rainbow Dash.... you're just a Princess. Now lets go, we have two coronations to plan."
By this time both of Twilight's parents were passed out, and Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were crying like foals under a tree. The remainder of the mane six was just in shock.
"Alright, sounds good to me!" Pinkie said, and started hopping next to Luna. Rainbow Dash just followed them towards the castle.
"What just happened." Fluttershy said.
"Ah don't know."
"Well, I'm insulted. Why didn't she pick me to become a Princess?" Rarity complained.
"Seriously, that's what you're worried about?" Applejack asked.
"Well.... Yes."
Applejack rolled her eyes, and put her hat back on.
"Well... Let's go to another coronation I guess."
"I guess that's all we can do." Rarity said, "I hope I can at least make their dresses."
"Of course you will." Fluttershy said.
"APPLEJACK! FLUTTERSHY! RARITY!" Luna called out, as she came into sight.
They were all suddenly hit by light. When that light was gone, they were all alicorn.
"Ahhh! This is The. Best. Possible. Thing." Rarity said.
"What the hay is going on?" Applejack said.
"I figured I might need some more Princesses, you never know what could happen." Luna explained.
"Um.. What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked.
"You look pretty and spend the taxpayers bits." Luna explained, "Now lets go."
They all made their way to the castle, leaving behind the unconscious Sparkle family, and crying Crystal Empire rulers.
They were all staring at her like she had six heads. Well she did just come back from the dead, so they were entitled to act like this. But they have been staring at her for seven minutes; it was getting a bit ridiculous.
".... Are we alright! You...oh!!..... You can't be Twilight! GET OUT OF HERE IMPOSTOR!!!!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"W-wait! It really is me!.... Please believe me.." Twilight pleaded.
"NO, you're not! Go away!" Rainbow Dash yelled, and started running towards Twilight. Twilight didn't have time to defend herself..... So Dash punched her out cold. The purple unicorn was now unconscious on the ground, everyone staring at Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack yelled, "What did ya do now?"
"AJ, that can't possibly be her. You saw her yourself, Twilight's dead."
Princess Celestia, who had been silent through the whole thing, finally spoke up.
"Rainbow Dash. I understand how you are feeling, but you had no right to do that."
"I'm sorry." Dash lowered her head, ashamed.
"So what do we do now, Princess. C-could it.... Could it really be her?" Rarity asked.
"I'm not sure. We won't be able to tell until she wakes up." She said eyeing Rainbow Dash.
"We should take her back to the castle." Luna said as she walked over to Twilight, and put the now unconscious unicorn onto her back. They all headed back to the castle, leaving the cemetery a mess.
Twilight woke up with a massive headache, and to find that her hospital room was completely empty. Where were her friends, or her family? She just came back from the dead for Celestia's sake! Wouldn't her friends want to be with her?
Then she remembered what happened at the cemetery.
None of her friends believed that it was really her. Twilight felt abandoned, but she could understand why her friends felt that way. But Rainbow Dash punching her; what was that all about? Wouldn't they at least want to find out if it was really her before they went to violence?
Twilight's thoughts were interrupted when her hospital door began to open. In walked none other than the Sun Princess herself. Tears began to fill Twilight's eyes, but Celestia's stayed dry.
"I'm so sorry."
Celestia did not respond, she just looked at Twilight.
"Please believe me. I'm really am Twilight, I can pr-"
"How could you?" Celestia interrupted.
"W-what?"
"How could you do that to us. Do you realize what you put us all through?"
"I do, bu-"
"You can't possibly know." Celestia said harshly as she looked down, "That was out of line, Twilight, I never imagined that you would do such a thing. I'm.... I'm very disappointed in you."
"You believe me?"
"Of course I do. As soon as you appeared, I casted a spell making sure it was truly you. The only reason I did not tell the others was because.... I didn't want to admit that you were back"
"But.... Why?"
"I don't know, I just couldn't believe it."
"I'm sorry."
"It will be some time before you earn my trust again. You do realize that, don't you?"
"Yes, I deserve it. All of it, even this." Twilight nodded as she gestured to her now wingless back.
"Was there a reason?" Celestia asked.
"Not a very good one."
"I will speak with you later. Your family will be here shortly." Celestia turned for the door.
"Wait!" Twilight said
"Yes?"
"I-I.... I meet them." Twilight said, and Celestia's eyes widened.
"Luna was right...Who is 'them'?" The Princess asked, as if she already didn't know.
"Your parents, King Equestor and Queen Lunesta."
"I see... We will talk later." Celestia said as she walked, a little quickly, out of the room, with a few tears in her eyes.
It was not long after that when Twilight's family came in. Her mother looked at Twilight, tears filling in her eyes, and ran up to her. She hugged her tightly.
"Oh, Twilight, I missed you!!"
"Y-you believe me?" Twilight asked.
"The Princess told us." Her father said, his voice wavering slightly. He walked over to his daughter, and gave her a hug. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were still by the entrance.
"I-I'm.... so... sorry." Twilight said between sobs.
"Twilight, your father and I will always love you. Never forget that."
"I won't.... Can you ever forgive me?"
"Of course we can." Her father said, "I can't speak for your brother though." He said a bit quieter.
Twilight looked up at her brother. His faced looked like a mix between sad and annoyed, mostly sad. As soon as their eyes met, Shining Armor looked down.
"No, Twilight, you need your rest." Her mother protested as Twilight tried to get out of bed. She ignored her mother and stood up. She forgot about all the wires that were hooked up to her, so she was startled when she was pulled back. Twilight proceeded to rip off all of the wires, which made the monitors go wild. She didn't care; she needed to see her brother.
Twilight walked up to Shining who was still looking down. She starred at him until he was forced to look up. He wouldn't say anything; he couldn't even smile at her. He just starred at Twilight.
"I-I'm sorry." Twilight said.
"You think just saying 'sorry' is going to make everything better? You killed yourself. You left us. You had no right to do that; do you realize the pain you put us all through? Mom cried for days... and Cadence.... do you realized what you did to her?"
"Shining stop." Cadence said. Twilight couldn't respond, she just cried.
"No, she needs to know what she did to you." Shining said as he turned to face Cadence.
"No she doesn't."
"Yes she does. Do you know what you did?" Shining asked as he turned back to Twilight. "Cadence was pregnant."
Twilight stopped crying and turned to face Cadence.
"After you left." Shining spat the word, "Cadence was under so much stress, she was crying all of the time... she missed you. All of that unnecessary stress... made her lose her foal."
Twilight didn't know what to say. She took her own life... and the life of another, the life of a defenseless foal. There were no words that could have expressed how she felt.
Twilight just fell down and cried harder than she had ever cried before.
She could have had a little niece or nephew, a little foal to play with, to watch when his or her parents were busy. Somepony to talk to, to help, to care for. She had ruined her families lives... she was a monster.
"I'm a monster." Twilight said
Cadence went next to her and hugged her.
"You're not a monster Twilight. Don't be mad at yourself, it wasn't your fault." Cadence said.
"Of course it was!" Twilight argued.
"Twilight, I won't allow you to feel responsible for this."
"But it is my fault."
"No. If it was meant to be... Well then it was meant to be, and that is that."
"How can you say that?" Twilight asked.
"Twilight, he or she is never coming back. I have realized that now, and I can accept it. And so should you."
"I don't know if I can."
"Yes you can, Twilight, I've known you for a long time now. I don't know what your motivation was, but I forgive you."
"Thank you." Twilight said, giving Cadence a hug.
"Your brother is another story."
Shining Armor had to leave the room at some point in the conversation. He couldn't look at his sister right now; it was too difficult for him.
"Somehow or someday, I will make it up to him." Twilight declared.
"I'm going to go talk to him." Cadence said. She gave Twilight one more hug before she walked out the door.
Twilight's parents went over to her and hugged her. She gladly returned the hugs.
"Don't worry, he'll come around." Twilight's father said.
"We'll see you later, Twilight, I think your friends want to see you now." Her mother said. Both her mother and father kissed Twilight's forehead before they left the room.
Twilight stayed sitting on the floor of the hospital room, her eyes filling with tears. A few tears began to trickle down her face as Spike walked in the room.
"TWILIGHT!" Spike yelled, and ran over to Twilight. He gave her a big hug, and began to cry.
"Oh, Spike."
"Twilight, I missed you so much."
"I missed you too, Spike."
"Why did you do that to me?"
"I'm sorry, Spike, I regret everything I did."
"Just promise me you'll never go away again."
"Spike, I promise that I will never leave you ever again."
They both smiled at each other, and Twilight hugged Spike closer to her. They stayed hugging until Rarity came into the room.
Rarity was the only pony that came in. She gave Twilight a small smile and a nod.
"I'm sorry, he couldn't wait to see you." Rarity said.
"It's alright, Rarity."
There was an awkward couple of minutes of silence; Rarity and Twilight were just starring at each other. Spike decided he should speak up.
"I've been staying with Rarity, Twilight."
"Really? Thank you, Rarity."
"It was no trouble at all."
That little conversation didn't help, it remained quiet for some time.
"Spike, do you mind letting me talk to Twilight for a while?"
Spike looked disappointed, but complied. He got up, gave Twilight one last hug, and walked back out the door.
"I though you would have wanted me to take care of him." Rarity said.
"Yes, I would have. I cannot thank you enough."
"He was very upset after you..." Rarity struggled to finish. Twilight looked down, not wanting to talk about that topic.
"I'm so sorry."
"Twilight, you have been a very dear friend of mine, but... I don't think 'sorry' is going to help at this point."
"Rarity, I don't know what to say. What can I say? I wish there was something I could do."
"Well... I truly don't know what to say to you, Twilight. You put us through something that we cannot easily forgive you from."
"I know. I should have never put you girls through this. Especially not Cadence."
"Yes, I heard about that, and I heard it. Spike and I could hear Shining from down the hall."
"I'm the worst pony in history."
Rarity finally began to walk towards Twilight. She sat next to Twilight, and put a hoof around the now crying unicorn.
"Twilight, what you did was not one of your shining moments, but you are hardly the worst pony in history. Take King Sombra for example..."
Twilight stared up at Rarity. Rarity's eyes widened at the sudden realization.
"Sorry, bad example."
"See... I'm the worst pony ever."
"No you are not, you just mad a bad decision."
Twilight sighed, "I'm guessing no other pony is outside."
"No, I'm sorry. They are all still mad. Pinkie is very close to coming around, she might even come by later today."
Twilight perked up slightly.
"Thank you for coming Rarity."
"Don't worry, Twilight, it was nothing."
"It was not nothing."
A doctor suddenly appeared before Twilight and Rarity, Twilight didn't even notice he entered.
"I'm glad to say that you are free to go Miss. Sparkle. You are one-hundred percent healthy."
"Thank you." Twilight said, and began to get up.
"I think I need to talk to out friends... If they still are my friends."
"Oh, Twilight, of course their still your friends. Don't worry, they will eventually forgive you."
Rarity was generous enough to let Twilight stay at her home, in Ponyville, until she could get her own place to stay. The Library hadn't been open since about a month after her coronation, nopony wanted to be responsible. She couldn't stay in the Canterlot castle; the Princesses and her were still not on speaking terms. She couldn't stay with her brother (that was never really an option), and she didn't want to stay with her parents again. She would eventually go back to the library; Spike went back and started to clean things up after Twilight came back.
After Twilight's return, Rarity decided it was time for a small vacation. She went back to Ponyville and decided to stay there until Twilight could get back on her hooves.
Spike was spending so much time cleaning the library, which left time for Twilight and Rarity spend time together. Pinkie Pie made some appearances near the boutique, but all of her other 'friends' stayed away.
Twilight was sitting on one of Rarity's couches while she watched Rarity work on a dress. She was swirling fabrics of all different styles and colors around her, and Twilight wondered how she could possible picture them on the dress when they were going that fast.
Twilight went from watching Rarity to thinking about the conversation she had with the Princess the other day.
After Twilight was discharged from the hospital, she settled her living arrangements. Before she left to go back to Ponyville, she had to speak to the Princess again.
Twilight walked up to the Sun Princess's quarters, the doors were closed. She slowly knocked on the door, and could hear the faint 'come in' from the other side.
Twilight hesitantly opened the door, and stepped inside. Princess Celestia was on the balcony, looking out into Canterlot. Twilight didn't know if she should walk over to her, or stay where she was.
Her question was answered when Celestia turned and made her way towards Twilight. Princess Celestia was about five feet away from Twilight when she stopped walking and looked Twilight in the eye.
It was a look of disappointment.
"Luna and I talked about your situation for some time.."
Twilight looked down, tears ready to flow.
"...and we have decided that you should just go back to Ponyville. You are no longer a Princess of Equestria."
There was a long silence after that. Twilight tried to hold herself together, but it was very difficult. A few tears escaped and dropped to the floor.
Twilight finally was able to answer, "Is that all?"
"You think we should punish you more?"
"Probably, but I meant is that all you wanted to tell me?"
"...Yes."
"Alright. Thank you Your Highness, I will leave now." Twilight said as she bowed before the Princess.
Before Celestia could object to Twilight's unusual behavior, Twilight was already out the door.
That conversation was almost as painful for Celestia as it was for Twilight. The whole train ride back to Ponyville was silent. She eventually told Rarity everything that happened, but that didn't make her feel any better.
Rarity was busy working on an order that she couldn't put on hold, but was able to catch a glance at Twilight. She looked bored, and lonely. Rarity decided to stop working and went over to Twilight.
"You can't just waist your life in here, Twilight"
Twilight didn't answer; she just glanced at Rarity then back down at the floor.
"That's it. We're going out, come on let's go." Rarity tried to lift Twilight up.
"Stop it, Rarity, I don't want to go anywhere."
"I don't care, I'm going out and you are coming."
Twilight decided that there was no use in arguing.
"Fine." Twilight said. Rarity looked ecstatic, she clapped her hooves together and squealed like a little filly.
The two unicorns made their way out the door and over to Sugarcube Corner.
"Oh no, Rarity, I can't go in there." Twilight objected.
"Come now, Twilight, Pinkie Pie is your friend."
"She used to be." Twilight said, but Rarity just rolled her eyes.
They entered the, surprisingly, empty Sugarcube Corner. Twilight was growing more and more nervous as she heard the bell on the door ring when they entered.
"Coming!" A familiar voice said.
A few seconds later, a pink pony emerged from the kitchen.
"Oh, hi Rarity!" Pinkie said, and Rarity pointed her head towards Twilight.
"Oh.. um.. hi to you too Twilight."
"Hi, Pinkie."
Rarity and Twilight made their way to the display counter. Rarity picked out two cupcakes, and levitated some bits to Pinkie.
"Don't worry about it, Rarity, those are on the house." Pinkie said.
Rarity ignored her and guided Twilight to a table by the window. They both sat down, and began to eat their cupcakes. Pinkie got her own cupcake and went to sit with them.
Before she ate her cupcake, however, she surprised Twilight with a huge bear hug.
"Oh, Twilight, I missed you!"
Twilight returned the hug, "I missed you too Pinkie."
The rest of her friends were not as forgiving. Rainbow Dash hasn't even spoken a single word to Twilight since she punched her. Applejack talked to her, but she looked uncomfortable. Fluttershy didn't talk that much, but whenever she did, she would be so quiet and could not be heard.
At least Twilight had two friends back.
Spike eventually cleaned out the library, and Twilight was able to move back in. In some ways, it was nice to have her old life back again. It felt natural even after all this time.
Twilight tried to make contact with her brother, but he was ignoring her. She must have sent about one hundred letters, but did not get one single reply.
So she decided to do something about it.
She scheduled a trip to the Crystal Empire, and was determined to get her brother back.
Twilight arrived at the Crystal Empire right on time. She made her way to the castle with no plan in mind. She might just end up begging on her hooves and knees. Whatever it took to get her brother back, she would do it.
She is still one of the Elements of Harmony, so the guards didn't stop her from entering the castle. She made her way through the castle, and stumbled upon Cadence.
"Oh, Twilight, it's so nice to see you! What brings you here?"
"I need to talk to Shining."
"Oh, I see. He's in there." She pointed to a room whose doors were closed. "Good luck." She added.
"Thanks."
Twilight went to the door, and opened it. Shining was sitting and reading some papers. He looked up to see who it was, and gave Twilight an icy look.
"What are you doing here?"
"Shining, I'm so sorry. Is there anything that I can possibly do to earn your forgiveness?"
"No." Twilight winced.
"Please, Shining, I really miss you."
Shining's head snapped up.
"You miss me? You should have thought about that before you killed yourself."
Twilight's eyes were beginning to water. Cadence wanted to let them sort it out themselves, but she heard screaming and came to check on them.
"Shining, calm down." Cadence said.
"Calm down!" Shining got up and made his way to Twilight and Cadence. "Do I need to remind you what she did to us?"
"No you don't, I've already told you how I feel. You need to get over this and forgive your sister."
"FORGIVE HER? I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HER!" Shining said, then looked at his sister.
All of his anger was boiling inside of him until he broke. He drew his foreleg back and then let it snap forward, hitting Twilight square in the face.
Twilight fell to the floor unconscious, blood beginning to run down her face and onto the floor. Cadence stood their shocked, and Shining still looked mad.
"Shining Armor!" Cadence yelled, "What have you done?!"
That snapped Shining out of his trance. He looked at Twilight, then Cadence, and lastly at his hoof. How could he punch his own sister?
"I-I-"
He began to walk toward Twilight, seeing if he could help her. Cadence quickly stepped in front of him, blocking his path and view.
"Haven't you done enough? Stay away from her." Cadence spat out. She went over to Twilight, and levitated the bloody purple unicorn onto her back.
"And stay away from me." Cadence said before she ran out the door.
Shining was left alone. He just punched his sister, and his wife didn't want to even see his face. How could he do that to Twilight? He had no right to do what he did, being mad was just not a good enough of an excuse.
What if he killed her?
"No, no. I don't hit her that hard..." Shining thought out loud.
But what if he did? He already had to go through losing his sister once; he did not want to relive that experience again. Especially if this time, it was his fault. But what if-
No.
No. Twilight is alive... that blood... he just gave her a bloody nose. Yeah that's all.
But now he was alone. No sister, and no wife. He deserved it, he deserved to be alone. How could he ever make it up to her? Could he make it up to her? Could she ever forgive him for such a thing?
He felt so alone.
He didn't like to be alone, even if it had only been mere minutes.
"And stay away from me."
Those words echoed inside Shining's head.
Even though it had been only minutes, Shining felt more alone than he had ever felt in his life.
This must have been what Twilight felt like. Shining thought. How could it be fair for someone to feel so alone? If he just went to visit her a couple of times, maybe none of this would have happened.
He had to find them. He had to apologize.
Shining Armor ran out the door and made his way to the palace hospital.
Before he could even step hoof into the room, Cadence was there to stop him.
"Shining, go away."
"Please, Cadence, I can never tell you how sorry I am. There will never be a way to make it up to either of you, but I will try my hardest. Please.. let me just see her."
"You're right, Shining, Twilight and I may never be able to forgive you."
"I know... Is she alright?"
Cadence grew even angrier now, "You punched her in the face, she was bleeding."
"I-I know, I saw the blood on the floor."
Cadence sat on the floor and began to rub her head. "Shining, what am I going to do with you?"
Shining Armor wanted to comfort his wife, but he stood where he was. She was still mad at him.
Cadence sighed, "You broke her nose, and she has a small fracture on her jaw. The doctor wants to keep her unconscious for a while, let her heal a little before she wakes up. She will need to be on a breathing machine, and her face will be bandaged up so that means she won't be able to talk for a while."
Then the realization hit Shining so hard that he broke down and cried. Cadence went over to Shining and wrapped a hoof over him.
"Shining, go in and see her."
He gave his wife a hug and walked into the hospital room. Twilight was lying on the bed, her whole muzzle was wrapped up, and there were tubes going in from different directions. Shining went over to her, and put one of her hooves in his own. Tears began to stream down his face, and Cadence came back into the room.
"I have to do some things, you can stay in here as long as you want." Cadence said before she gave her husband another hug and once again walked out the door.
"Twilight, I don't know if you can hear me, but I am so sorry for what I did to you. I should have never gone that far. Even if I seemed mad on the outside, I really did miss you. Whatever you were going through that made you want to do that, I promise, I will never let that happen again."
"Did you see that Shining?" A mare's voice asked, "Maybe we should do something."
"You said it yourself before, we can't leave them."
"But look at her, she needs our help. She's having a hard time adjusting."
"Dear, we cannot just go there and come back."
The mare's head snapped up. She grabbed the stalion by the shoulders and shook him.
"What did you just say?"
"I said we cannot just-"
"No no, that was rhetorical. I have an idea... and we may be able to do just that ."
"What do you mean?"
"Equestor, how would you like to see our girls again?"
The Sun Princess lowered the note from her face and went to find her sister. Celestia made her way to Luna's quarters, but before she could knock, Luna opened the door and steeped out.
"Oh, hello sister." Luna said.
"Hello Luna. Princess Cadence just sent me a note, and I think I should speak to you about it."
"What happened?"
"It seems that Twilight went to the Crystal Empire to try and apologize to her brother. He would not listen, and punched her."
Luna gasped, and her eyes began to widen. "Is she alright?"
"Not really, she has a broken nose and a slight fractured jaw."
"That's awful, should we go and see her?"
"I think that would be wise." A voice said.
Luna and Celestia turned to see where the strange voice was coming from. They looked up to see yet another bright light start to lower to the ground.
"It's always a bright light." Luna complained under her breath.
Once that light subsided, King Equestor and Queen Lunesta stood before Luna and Celestia.
"Celestia! Luna! I'm so glad we could see you again." Lunesta said as she ran up to her daughters and hugged them. Equestor also walked up to them, pulling them into a hug.
"Mother? Father? H-how did you..?" Celestia asked in shock.
"Twilight gave us the idea first, and then when she returned and we saw that she was a unicorn it gave me an idea. We are naturally alicorn, so if we were to come back here through the elements, we would remain alicorn."
Luna's little filly side came out; she hugged her parents and cried. "Oh I missed you both so much!"
"We missed you girls too." Equestor said.
They all began to cry, and stayed hugging for some time. Finally Lunesta broke away.
"We need to talk about something."
"About what?" Celestia asked.
"Twilight."
"I see."
"The entire time she was with us, she was upset about what she did, and she hated herself... And now, watching her struggle to regain friendship and trust, we just had to come back and help her."
"That was very kind of you." Luna said.
"Yes, I think it is time to forgive her." Celestia said.
"Ha! And we were about to show you what happened while she was with us. Glad we don't need to do that now!" Equestor said.
Lunesta rolled her eyes, and shoved Equestor.
The elder alicorn gave their daughters another hug.
"We will meet you in the Crystal Empire, but we have to make one last stop." Lunesta said.
"You're leaving so soon?" Luna asked, worried.
"Did I say that? Luna calm down, we will see you shortly." The King said.
"But you just got back, we have so much to catch up on!" Luna cried
"Don't fret, Luna, we will have plenty of time to talk... Speaking of which, your mother and I will be grounding you for your little temper tantrum about one-thousand years ago." Equestor said sarcastically.
Luna blushed and turned away. Equestor grabbed her and messes up her hair with his hoof. They both shared some laughs, but Equestor had to pull away.
"Actually, Luna, I think we might need you. Up for it?" Equestor asked.
"Absolutely."
"Okay, now let's get going." Equestor said
"Alright, Celestia, We will see you shortly." Lunesta said.
"Alright, see you soon." Celestia said.
They all gave each other one last hug before they went their separate ways.
Rainbow Dash was sitting on one of the trees that Applejack had already bucked. She was just sitting there watching her... not working... like she said she would.
"Rainbow Dash, come on and help me." Applejack said before she bucked another tree.
"I will in a minute."
"You know, Rainbow, you said ya would help and you're not helping." Applejack said as she put a bucket of apples into the cart and began to stroll away.
Rainbow Dash easily caught up with her.
"Okay, I'll help now."
Applejack stopped, and turned to look at Rainbow.
"Really? Ya wanna help now?"
"Yep." Dash said nodding.
"Alright, go and clean out the pig pen." Applejack said before she trotted away, leaving a very dazed Rainbow Dash behind.
Applejack made her way to the barn and Rainbow Dash eventually caught up.
"Are you serious."
"I'm as serious as a- Oh, howdy y'all." Applejack said as she tipped her hat at the three newcomers.
Three ponies stood before them, a pegasus mare, an earth pony stallion, and a unicorn filly. The pegasus was white with a blue mane, the stallion was dark blue with a gold mane, and the filly was also dark blue with a light blue mane.
"Hello." The pegasus said.
"What can Ah help y'all with?"
"We were wondering how Twilight Sparkle was doing."
Rainbow Dash and Applejack both felt and looked a little awkward.
"Um.. fine Ah guess."
"You don't know?" The earth pony asked.
"We thought you were both friends of hers." The mare asked.
"Well... I guess we are..." Rainbow said.
"Oh I'm sorry we bothered you then. We didn't realize you weren't as close as you once were."
"Hey! We are as close now as we ever have been!" Rainbow defended herself.
"Then why are you ignoring her?"
Rainbow Dash and Applejack's eyes widened and their jaws went to the ground. How did these random ponies know about their personal lives?
The three ponies looked at each other and nodded. All three of them were consumed with light, and were revealed to be Luna, the King, and the Queen.
Applejack and Dash bowed in Luna's presence.
"Princess Luna." Applejack said, "It's an honor."
"Rise Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I have two ponies that you should meet." Luna said as she gestured to her parents.
"Hello Rainbow Dash and Applejack. My name is Queen Lunesta."
"My name is King Equestor. But Equestor's fine."
"King and Queen?" Rainbow asked.
"Yes, these are mine and Celestia's parents."
Dash's and Applejack's mouths opened again.
"P-parents?" Applejack asked, "If you don't mind me asking, where have y'all been this whole time?"
Luna coughed, "We can discuss all this later, but we need to talk to you and your friends as soon as possible."
"So what will happen to the elements now that you are back?" Rarity asked.
"Hmm, well I guess they will cease to exist." Lunesta said.
"Fluttershy," The yellow pegasus jumped when she heard her name, "do you still have your necklace?" Rarity asked.
"Um.. I can go check." Fluttershy got up and made her way to her bedroom. She returned with her necklace, and showed it to the Queen.
The necklace was still intact, but the butterfly shaped jewel was dull and grey.
"Hmm. i guess the spirit of the element was taken from the necklace. I assume when we go back, the necklaces will regain their power once more." Lunesta said as she hoofed the necklace back to Fluttershy.
"Wow, all this time and you could have come back whenever you wanted?" Rainbow Dash changed the subject.
"Well the though never occurred to us until Twilight came back." Lunesta said.
All of them, Luna, her parents, and the rest of the element bearers, were all at Fluttershy's cottage. The King and Queen finished telling the ponies about the Land and the creation of the Elements of Harmony. The mention of Twilight, however, put most of the ponies into an uncomfortable state.
"That's the real reason we are here." Equestor said.
"You just want to tell us that we're terrible friends and we should forgive her." Rainbow said.
Equestor pondered that for a moment, "Yup."
"What?"
"Well you were being terribly mean to her, and ignored her to the extreme. You should forgive her, do you even know what she went through while she was with us?" Equestor asked.
"Well, no but-"
"Would you like to?"
That made all of the ponies silent. Did they want to see the pain that Twilight endured?
"A-Ah don't know."
"Personally, I think that you should." Lunesta said.
"Maybe you will realize something, and finally forgive Twilight." Luna said.
Lunesta lowered her horn, and used her magic to summon a screen.
Twilight's friends saw everything that happened to her. The pain she suffered, and the numerous tears she shed. They saw how Twilight could see their reactions, and how she felt genuinely sorry for hurting them. While they watched this, all of their feelings and emotions towards Twilight began to change. They realized how wrong they were for ignoring her. By them ignoring Twilight, she could just fall back into a depression and kill herself again.
"Ah think I've seen enough."
"Yeah me too." Pinkie said with tears in her eyes.
Lunesta made the screen vanish, and lifted her head to see the ponies faces.
Nearly all of them were crying. Rainbow Dash didn't cry, but she had tears in her eyes.
"We really did that to her?"
"It was not all of your faults, but now you all can fix it." Luna said.
"Twilight is in the hospital at the Crystal Empire. She has a broken nose, and fractured jaw. I think we should all go an see her." Lunesta said.
"Well," Rainbow said wiping the tears from her eyes, "what are we waiting here for? Let's go."
Shining Armor never left Twilight's bedside. He stayed there all night, never letting go of her hoof. During the night, Cadence came in to check on him. She found him asleep, but instead of waking him and making him go to bed, she just put a blanket over him. Shining didn't want to leave his sister.
Twilight was still under, and Shining was still asleep when Cadence came back in the room. She gave her husband a kiss on the head and put a hoof through Twilight's mane.
Cadence stood there with tears in her eyes. Tears for Twilight, and tears for the now mending relationship between Shining and Twilight.
Princess Celestia quickly ran inside the room not long after.
"Cadence, I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner. There were... complications."
"That's alright, the doctor said Twilight will still be out for a couple more days."
"Out? Can't they just heal her with magic? What is the meaning of this!? I must speak to them immediately." Celestia turned to leave but a gentle hoof on her shoulder made her stop.
"Auntie, they can't just heal her. Even though the magical medical field has made great advances, her bones are still too fragile, and they might set improperly. The doctors don't want to take the chance."
"This does not sit well with me, but I guess the doctors know best." Celestia said, then glances at the still sleeping Shining Armor. "What is he doing here?"
Cadence sighed, "He came back here and looked genuinely apologetic. He wasn’t thinking straight... he slept here all night."
"He will still have to be punished. Hitting somepony with her high standings cannot go unnoticed."
"I understand, just... don't go too hard on him.... Please"
Celestia nodded, and Cadence decided it was time to wake Shining up. She gently nudged her husband.
"Shining, honey, its time to wake up."
Shining Armor slowly opened his eyes, and mumbled something. Shining spotted Princess Celestia and immediately stood upright, giving a polite salute.
"Good morning, Your Highness."
"At ease, Shining." Shining relaxed. "You have some explaining to do."
"Alright, Shining, I understand where you were coming from. But that still doesn't make up for what you did."
Celestia had just finished listening to Shining's explanation. He had made a stupid mistake, and he knew it.
"I know, Princess, and I accept any punishment you seem fit."
"Very well I-"
Celestia was interrupted when Princess Luna came into the room, followed by their parents, and lastly Twilight's friends. The five ponies, and Spike, ran up to Twilight's bed. Spike gave Twilight a gentle hug, making sure not to hurt her.
"Oh, Twilight!" Spike cried. "When will she wake up?"
"In a few more days. Don't worry, Spike, she'll be fine." Cadence said.
While the rest of Twilight's friends were questioning Cadence, Shining kept staring at the King and Queen with a confused expression.
The Queen didn't notice his glare, but Equestor did.
"Boo." Equestor yelled at Shining, who jumped back, and fell to the ground.
King Equestor began to laugh, but Lunesta did not appreciate what he did. She promptly smacked him in the back of the head with her hoof.
"Ouch."
"I'm sorry, Shining Armor, he can be a bit immature at times." Lunesta apologized.
"Shining, Cadence, these are our parents. King Equestor and Queen Lunesta." Celestia said.
Shining Armor gave another polite salute to the King and Queen.
"Relax, Shining, I don't bite." Equestor teased.
Lunesta hit him again, "Honestly, I can't take you anywhere."
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" Cadence asked, "And where have you been all this time?"
"That is a long story, and will be saved for another time. " Luna began, "However, we have some things we need to do."
"Yes, and I am so sorry to ask you all this, but could you all kindly leave the room?" Lunesta said.
"B-but we just got here." Spike said.
"I'm sorry, Spike, it will only be for a couple minutes. I promise." Lunesta said.
"Do you Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"What is a Pinkie Promise?" Equestor asked.
"Well-"
"Never mind!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she put a hoof in Pinkie's mouth and dragged her out the door.
The rest of the ponies, and dragon, left the hospital room. Celestia, Luna, and their parents were the only ponies left in the room.
"Are you sure you can do this, Luna?" Celestia asked.
"Well, I've gone into ponies dreams before, but I have never brought anypony with me. So the answer is maybe."
Celestia facehoofed.
Luna's horn lit up, and soon the light engulfed all four ponies. Their minds were then all transported into the dreams of Twilight Sparkle.
The four alicorn opened their eyes to a strange world in front of them. Everything seemed to be a bit plainer, and have a duller color.
They were in a field, and heard voices coming towards them. They could soon see three pony looking creatures running down the hill. They resembled ponies, but they looked different. They had smaller ears, bigger muzzles, and smaller eyes.
"Hi!" One of the creatures yelled as they approached the four alicorn, "I'm Minty, what's your name?"
"What are you creatures?" Luna asked.
The three creatures laughed, "We're ponies, silly."
"You aren't ponies, we are ponies." Luna said, gesturing to the alicorn.
"Wow, I've never seen ponies like you before."
"Neither have I."
"Well, hello ponies, my names Pinkie Pie an-"
Celestia and Luna's eyes dilated.
Another Pinkie Pie.
Before the 'ponies' could say anything else, the four alicorn found themselves in a dark cave. Across from them was Twilight Sparkle.
"Twilight, thank you." Luna said.
"You're welcome."
"What are those things?" Celestia asked.
"They claim to be ponies, but I don't know. I've had the same dream for days now. I come here, and they act all girly and giggle all the time. Some of them even have the same names as my friends. This is a nightmare." Twilight said.
"I'm sorry, Twilight." Luna said.
"The worst part is... there is a pony who looks like Rainbow Dash, but she acts just like Rarity. It scares me."
Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all shivered.
"Alright, we can talk about this later, we have some more pressing issues to talk about." Celestia said.
Twilight raised and eyebrow.
"Twilight, we realized we have been very judgmental. I had no reason to treat you the way I have. I am sorry." Celestia said.
Twilight did a double take, "Wait, how are you here?"
"Well, Luna can go-"
"No, I already knew that."
"What?! That was supposed to be a secret!" Celestia said.
"I meant, how are they here." Twilight asked, pointing a hoof at the King and Queen.
"Long story." Equestor said.
"Twilight, the real reason we're here is because... Luna and I have though a long time about this situation, and decided that you can become an alicorn and Princess of Equestria again and resume your duties if you wish."
Twilight's mouth opened.
"What? Why such a sudden change of character?"
"I told you, we though about it, and we decided you shouldn't have been treated as harshly as we did."
"Thank you, but I don't know if I can make a decision this quickly." Twilight said.
"Don't fret, Twilight, you don't have to make this decision right away." Lunesta said.
"Alright, I'll think about it. But in the mean time, can you tell me how you got here?"
"So if we ever decide to come back, we will remain alicorn. Now that we realized this, we can visit often." Lunesta said
Twilight couldn't believe they could just go back and forth between worlds now. That would mean a lot to the Princesses, they could be a family again.
Family
"I've made my decision." Twilight said.
All four alicorn turned their heads to look at Twilight.
"I don't want to be an alicorn again. I don't want to out live my friends. They are the best ponies in all of Equestria, and I can't even bear the thought of living longer than they are."
Celestia smiled, "I respect your de-"
"Hold on, I'm not done." Twilight turned to Lunesta and Equestor, "Instead of me becoming an alicorn again, is there anyway you can bring back Cadence's foal?"
Lunesta smiled, "Ah, little Dream Charmer. She is a cute little filly."
"You named her!? It was a filly!"
"Yes, we found her before we found you. We brought her to The Land, and cared for her. Mysteriously, she came as a little filly, not as a foal. It baffled me."
"I wonder why." Celestia thought out loud.
"Twilight, I will try my hardest to get her back to Cadence. I promise you." Lunesta said.
"Don't worry, Twilight, we'll get you out of here as soon as possible." Celestia said.
"I guess I'll see you all when I wake up then?"
"Actually Equestor and I have to leave and pick up little Dream Charmer. Don't worry though, we will visit again."
"You're leaving so soon?" Twilight asked.
"I'm afraid so." Lunesta said. Twilight's face fell slightly, and Lunesta went to give her a hug.
"Twilight, I am so glad I was able to meet you and grow closer to you. I am happy I am able to call you my friend."
"Me too." Twilight said as Lunesta let go of her.
Equestor walked up to Twilight, and patted her on the head, "You're alright kid, you know that? I'll see you soon... and learn to lighten up sometimes." He said with a smile
"We will see you soon, Twilight." Luna said as her horn began to glow.
And with another flash of light, the four alicorn were gone, leaving Twilight in her nightmare. Her pupils dilated as she heard the faint sounds of giggling that began to get closer and closer...
The four alicorn regained control of their bodies, and stood up. The bandaged Twilight was still unconscious in the hospital bed.
"Well, I think it is time for us to leave." Lunesta said.
The alicorn family came together for one last hug.
"Promise you'll visit again soon." Luna pleased.
Equestor grabbed her in a headlock and rustled her mane. "Maybe you need to lighten up too."
"Will you be able to retrieve the little filly?" Celestia asked.
"Most likely, yes. I am just wondering how much energy it will take to get her back."
"What do you mean?"
"We were able to get Twilight back because she had strong ties to the Elements of Harmony. Dream Charmer is another story. How will we get her back?"
"Oh. What are you going to do then?"
"I think I might have an idea." Equestor said, "Since Celestia once wielded the elements, if we can somehow get a passage from our world through her to Cadence, that might just work."
They all stared at him with their mouths open. The room stayed silent for some time until Equestor walked out of the room.
He went out into the hall and made his way to the waiting area. Cadence and Shining Armor were sitting next to each other while the rest of Twilight's friends were scattered about the area. They all got up when Equestor came into view.
"Did everything go alright? Is she okay?" Cadence asked.
"Everything is fine, but could you and Shining Armor follow me?"
They got up and followed Equestor to Twilight's room. When they got there, Celestia, Luna and Lunesta's mouths were still open wide. They soon snapped out of it, and gained their composure.
"Well, we entered Twilight's dreams and had a little chat with her." Equestor said, "She was given the opportunity to become a princess once again, but refused. She instead insisted that Lunesta and I do a favor for her."
He looked Cadence in the eye and spoke softly, "She asked us to give you your foal back."
This took both Cadence and Shining aback. Shining couldn't believe his sister would do something like that for him after everything he had done to her. Cadence began to cry, and leaned into Shining for support.
"Oh thank you!" Cadence said.
"Do not thank me. Twilight should be the one you thank, but she seems to be unavailable at the moment."
Lunesta went over to the crying couple and explained to them Equestor's plan. Shining seemed a bit worried, but Cadence was just excited that she would get her foal back.
"I guess this is goodbye." Lunesta said.
"I guess it is." Celestia said, while giving her parents another hug.
"Promise you will visit soon?" Luna said.
"Yes, Luna, we promise... Better yet, I Pinkie Promise, whatever that is. Can somepony tell me what that is?" Equestor asked.
"Did somepony say Pinkie Promise?!?!" A voice cried from the hall.
Celestia and Luna's eyes widened, "Hurry. Go. Now."
Lunesta's horn lit up immediately, followed by Equestor's. One spark later, and they were gone. Pinkie Pie rushed in the room almost instantaneously after they left.
"Who made a Pinkie Promise?"
"Nopony." Celestia said, with a nervous smile on her face
Pinkie's eyes narrowed as she slowly began to levitate and float out the door, which closed behind her.
"What?" Luna said.
"Pinkie, what Ah tell ya 'bout goin into other pony's business?"
They could all hear Applejack's voice from the hall.
"Not to."
"Exactly."
Luna decided it was a good time to let the rest of the ponies back into the room. She walked to the door and opened it, only to have three ponies fall flat on their faces.
Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity all looked at Luna with sheepish grins.
Luna raised an eyebrow to this.
"Hey, Princess Luna, we weren't spying or anything." Rainbow Dash said, which got a facehoof from Rarity.
"Good job, Rainbow Dash." Rarity said.
"Ah just told Pinkie how you shouldn't spy, then y'all just do it anyway?"
"You have no proof!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Ah sure do have proof!"
"Girls.." Fluttershy whispered
"No you don't!"
"Um girls..."
"Yes Ah do!"
"GIRLS!!" Fluttershy yelled completely out of character, "Maybe we shouldn't be arguing."
"Fluttershy is right." Luna said, "I have to go speak to the doctor, but Celestia will tell you everything that happened."
The doctor and Luna walked in shortly after Celestia finished telling them what happened. They all turned to stare at the doctor who had a syringe in a magical grip.
"When she wakes up, she will be extremely groggy and will probably be in an immense amount of pain. Don't make sudden movements, and somepony please dim the lights. Her eyes will be extremely sensitive."
One of the nurses dimmed the lights and closed the curtains. The doctor injected the syringe into one of Twilight's IV tubes.
"And one more thing. Don't be too loud." The doctor said, and every single pony, and dragon, in the room turned his or her heads to Pinkie. She just gave a huge smile in return.
They all turned their heads back to Twilight when they heard a groan. Her eyes began to slowly open and Twilight took in her surroundings.
"Miss Sparkle," the doctor said, "you are in the hospital. You suffered a broken nose and a fractured jaw. You are alright, and making a great recovery. You won't be able to speak for some time, but you can use magic. Here is a notepad and quill to write down whatever you need." The doctor hoofed her the quill and notepad, wished her a speedy recovery, and headed back out the door.
"Twilight, how are you feeling?" Celestia asked.
The notepad and quill were levitated and Twilight began to scribble away. When she was done, she turned it around.
"Like crap."
Her sarcasm seemed to lighten the mood.
"Twilight." Shining said. She turned her head to look at her brother.
"King Equestor told me what you did for Cadence... for me. I can't thank you enough. I had no right to treat you the way I did. I'm so sorry. Your the best little sister somepony could have. I love you LSBFF." Shining began to cry, and so did Twilight.
"Don't worry BBBFF, I forgive you."
"If it means anything, sugarcube, we would all like to apologize too. We were not being fair to you. If you could find it in your heart to forg-" Applejack was interrupted by the notepad in her face.
"Shut up. Of course I forgive you. All of you. How could I not? You all had a right to be mad."
"But we were so terrible to you." Dash said.
"Yes, but that is in the past. I forgive all of you, and I hope you all can forgive me."
"Why of course we can, darling." Rarity said.
"Oh!" Celestia said.
"What is it, sister?"
"I think they found the foal. Are you ready Cadence?"
Cadence nodded, and went to stand next to Celestia. There was a small light illuminating from her horn. She gently bowed her head and lightly touched the tip of her horn to Cadence's stomach. The light eventually subsided and Celestia picked up her head.
"Did it work?" Luna asked.
Cadence sat down, and Shining rushed to her side. She put a hoof to her stomach and smiled. Cadence grabbed one of Shining's hooves and placed it on her stomach. He felt a small little kick.
Shining and Cadence cried tears of joy. Soon everypony, and dragon, were crying.
The notepad nudged Celestia who turned to look at it.
"You didn't tell her it was a filly?"
Celestia shook her head.
"What happens later? I mean your mother said she was a little filly. Will she still have the memories of The Land? Will she know her name?"
"I don't know Twilight. We'll just have to wait and see."
Twilight woke up the next morning feeling better than ever. She felt refreshed, like she could take on the world!
Shining and Cadence spent the night in Twilight's room. Cadence was on the couch, while Shining got the floor. Twilight smiled at the scene.
Smiled? Wasn't her jaw broken?
She tried to move her jaw, which probably was a bad idea, but it didn't hurt. Twilight raised a hoof to her face. She began to lightly poke at her jaw, but felt no pain.
What was going on?
She ripped the bandages off, and began to play with her muzzle, trying to induce some sort of pain. It felt completely normal.
Twilight began to freak out, and ran to the bathroom. She looked into the mirror and saw her reflection. It was perfectly normal, there were no cuts, no bruises, nothing seemed wrong.
Except for the feathers behind her head.
Twilight turned her head and was shocked to see what was now attached to her back.
A huge pair of lavender wings.
Twilight screamed, and Cadence and Shining rushed to see what was wrong. They both stared at her in shock.
"Twilight? What happened?" Cadence asked.
"I don't know! I woke up and my jaw didn't hurt then I ran in here and see these things on my back!" Twilight yelled.
"How is that even possible?" Shining asked.
"I have no idea, but maybe we should see the princesses about this." Cadence said.
Applejack woke up early that morning. She got out of bed and went to the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face, and looked into the mirror.
"What in tarnation?" She said as she poked the thing that was now protruding from her forehead.
She turned her head to see more appendages sticking out from her sides.
Before Applejack could think about these things longer, she heard Rarity scream from the room next to her.
Applejack ran out of her bathroom and made her way to Rarity's room. She didn't bother to knock; she just bucked the door down and ran inside.
"Rarity!! Are ya alright?"
Standing in the middle of the room was Rarity. Horn, wings, and all.
"No! Just LOOK at me! What happened?"
"Ah don't know, but Ah think the same thing happened to me." Applejack said, and Rarity turned her head to look at Applejack.
"Oh my!"
"Girls, it's early. Why are you screaming? This is so not cool." Rainbow Dash said from the doorframe.
Dash gave a huge yawn before blinking a few times, and got a good look at her friends. Her eyes widened, and she slowly raised a hoof to her forehead.
She touched the horn on her own head, and screamed.
"Rainbow Dash! Shhh!!!" Applejack yelled.
"What happened!?"
"We don't know, but if my assumption is correct, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie should also have become alicorn." Rarity said.
"Maybe we should go and check, then go and see the princess. Maybe she knows what's goin on." Applejack suggested.
They all nodded in agreement before running out the door.
When Princess Celestia woke up this morning, she expected a nice day, maybe enjoy a piece of cake.
What she didn't expect was for seven alicorn and a very confused Shining Armor to come bursting through her door.
"PRINCESS!!! WE HAVE AN ISSUE!!" Twilight yelled.
Celestia was in shock at the scene before her. Overnight, six different ponies had transformed into alicorn.
"Twilight? You're alright?!" Rarity asked.
"You all turned into alicorn too!?"
"Yeah! Isn't it super duper funtastic?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Princess, what is going on?"
After the initial shock wore off, Celestia was able to speak.
"You all are ready."
"I beg yer pardon?"
Celestia sighed, "When my sister and I first wielded the elements, we were transformed into alicorn. Now that you all have discovered the true meaning of friendship, you yourselves have become alicorn."
"What is the true meaning of friendship?" Twilight asked.
Celestia chuckled, "Forgiveness."
"Forgiveness? That was it?"
"No, you had to all discover the true meaning of forgiveness. Twilight, what you did was something very few ponies could forgive. All six of you learned how truly hard it was to forgive a friend, but in the end you let true forgiveness into your hearts. That is why you have become alicorn, and now you will never have to fear losing each other ever again."
The six new alicorn all came together for a hug.
"Now we'll never be apart. I love you girls."
"We love you too."
*****Epilogue: Charming Your Dreams*****
"What are you going to name her?" Shining asked.
"I've had a name in mind." Cadence said wearily, "Can you bring Twilight in here?"
Shining was confused at the suggestion, but left his wife and new foal to go and get Twilight.
There in the waiting room were eight princesses, a King and Queen, and the family of Twilight and Shining. All of them had looks of worry on.
"Is she alright?" Twilight asked.
"She's fine, don't worry. She and the foal are perfectly healthy. Cadence asked for you."
Twilight followed her brother into Cadence's room. When they entered, the room was all cleaned up. Cadence was lying in the hospital bed with a little foal. The little filly was wrapped up in blankets and being caressed in her mother's forelegs. Cadence smiled when Twilight and Shining entered the room.
"Twilight... thank you."
"For what?"
"For her... for little Twilight Star."
Twilight stood there shocked. Cadence had named her foal after Twilight.
"T-Twilight Star?"
"Yes, I named her after you. She would never have been here if it wasn't for you."
"I-I don't know what to say."
Cadence giggled.
"It's an honor, really, but I can't let you name her that."
"What do you mean?"
"She already had a name." Twilight sighed, "When you had a miscarriage, she went to The Land. Queen Lunesta told me that she was a filly during her time there. She had a name... it was Dream Charmer."
Cadence could not believe what Twilight had just said.
"Dream Charmer..." Cadence looked down at her little alicorn filly.
A few tears escaped from all three ponies eyes.
"That name is perfect. Ever since I lost her, she had always been in my dreams. I dreamed of a life with her. She charmed my dreams.... my little Dream Charmer."
