A Lonely Path

by JDeck306

Chapter 3: End of the Line

Many Ponies were leaving the train at this station, and Twilight listened as the wagon in which she sat grew quieter, until just a few Ponies were left. But as she waited for the train to depart, she noticed Doc waving at her from the crowd of Ponies, wearing a bright, yet sombre smile on his face.

A warm smile grew upon Twilight's face in turn as she waved at Doc, when the train started to move, and he walked alongside it for some time. But Doc knew he could not keep up, so he stopped walking, and solemnly made the same gesture towards Twilight, but also mouthed something she could not hear.

But when Twilight opened the window to wave to Doc one last time, the train slowly turned away from the platform, and she could no longer see him, so she went back inside. After she closed the window with a deep sigh, she watched as the landscape became more barren the further North the train went.

Then, she heard another announcement, which let her know that the train was approaching the tunnels through the Mountains, and they would be slowing down for the passage. In response, Twilight leaned back in her seat, and tightly embraced her bag as the shadow of the Northern Mountains grew larger.

At that moment, as the train entered the tunnel, back in Ponyville Palace, Spike received a letter, and swiftly flew into the Great Hall to let the rest of the Mane Six know. Even though they had all been enjoying their tea, when they saw Spike, they worriedly asked him if something was the matter.

Fortunately, the smile that grew upon Spike's face easily put their minds at ease, and they all let out great sighs of relief when he read out Twilight's letter. In the letter, she had written to her friends about her journey, as well as Applejack's wonderful apple treats, and her meeting with Doc.

When Spike read that everything had gone smoothly for Twilight so far, and she could hardly express how thankful she was to everyone for their support, the others all smiled brightly, as well. Before Spike had even read the entire letter, though, they all agreed to send Twilight a letter in return.

It took quite some time for everyone to add something to the letter, which swiftly became over half a dozen scrolls that they struggled to make sense of. But a moment after Spike finished writing his part, as he took a deep breath to send off the whole collection, a snip of paper appeared overhead.

Soon after the first snip had gently landed on the table, to the others' confusion, more snips grew out of nothing, until at last, a sealed scroll addressed to Twilight appeared. But Spike merely put aside the scroll that appeared, before he added a quick note to his scroll, and sent the pile away.

Back in the train, where the lights had turned on for the long journey through the tunnel, Twilight shot awake when she suddenly heard the sound of flames nearby. But she was not upset for very long, as the package that fell on her satchel told her that her friends had sent her something in return.

After she cautiously placed her bag on the adjacent seat with a teary smile, Twilight unwrapped the bundle that appeared from that familiar green flame, and found that it contained a pile of scrolls. Although she knew not when they would reach the Empire, she would take her time to read everything.

It took a long time to read just a few scrolls before Twilight found the message Spike had written.

When she passed the aura around the Crystal Empire, Twilight felt her heart grow warm, and heavy...

For a mere moment as the train rolled through the aura of the Crystal Heart, Twilight felt like she was back at home, and that none of what she had been through had happened. But her heart started to ache again a split second later, so she focused on reading Spike's letter to keep herself occupied.

To her immense relief, the message that Spike had sent her brought tears of joy to her eyes, as her Dragon friend had written a formal and sweet message of reassurance and support; for in the letter, Spike repeated what he told her that morning, that all of her friends would always be here for her.

At that moment, just as Twilight wept away her tears, the train left the tunnel, and she was caught off-guard by the sudden brightness of the Sun, which she blocked with Spike's letter. When she did, however, she noticed that there was a small note shining through from the other side of the scroll.

After her eyes had readjusted to the light, with immense effort, Twilight read that Spike wanted to let her know that a clawful of paper snips and a scroll addressed to her had just arrived. When she read this, Twilight smiled, and quietly cheered, knowing that Doc successfully sent her his letter.

As she glanced outside, and saw the Castle of the Crystal Empire in the distance, Twilight knew she was nearly there, and she was looking forward to seeing her Family again. For now, Twilight decided to continue reading until she arrived, and she put the scrolls she had already read in her satchel.

But as she tried to keep reading her friends' letters, Twilight realised that her eyes were welling up yet again, but she knew these tears were not of joy, nor caused by anything her friends said. As Twilight gently embraced her satchel, she struggled not to cry over it as the train came to a halt.

When Twilight had put her unread letters in her satchel, and left the train, she found that she was one of a hoofful of passengers who were departing, as the platform was nearly empty. But as soon as she saw three familiar Ponies waiting for someone, her pace quickened, and her smile grew brighter.

It took but a moment for Shining, Cadance, and Flurry to notice Twilight trotting towards them, and they quietly exhaled in relief, before they ran towards her in turn. But when Shining realised that Twilight was carrying a satchel, he swiftly slowed down, and pointed at it without uttering a word.

As she opened her wings for a warm embrace, Twilight solemnly nodded to Shining, whose facade broke in an instant as tears started to stream down their faces. As the Siblings wept in silence, Cadance and Flurry briefly glanced at each other, before they sweetly suggested to head back to the Castle.

After they let go of one another, Shining and Twilight both nodded to the two Princesses with small and sombre smiles on their faces, and the four slowly walked to the Castle. When they made it there some time later, Cadance kindly told Twilight to have a seat while she and Flurry made some drinks.

Before she followed her Mother, though, Flurry skipped back into the Great Hall to bring her Father and Aunt a box of tissues, for which the two solemnly thanked her. In return, Flurry warmly smiled, and flew back to the kitchen, while Shining and Twilight silently waited, unsure as to what to say.

Just as Cadance and Flurry returned with tea and cake, Shining sincerely asked Twilight:

"So, the final stretch... You really don't want an extra hoof? I swear I'd be happy to join you..."

With a bittersweet smile on her face, Twilight solemnly nodded to Shining, and said that it was not his duty to carry a burden as heavy as this, as he had far too much to look after already. The only thing he could do, she added, as her eyes welled up with tears, was to be there when she came back.

To Twilight's frustration, her tears only flowed ever faster as she looked at her Niece and Sister, and promised them and Shining that she would be all right. But while she would not be away for very long, if they could all welcome her back to the Castle afterwards, she would greatly appreciate it.

While both Cadance and Shining merely smiled in response, Flurry quietly asked her if she knew what she could do for her to make her feel better, to which she struggled to give an answer. Eventually, after she thought for a while, Twilight let out a deep sigh, and told her that a hug would be nice.

Before Twilight could even open her arms for an embrace, though, Flurry already dove towards her to hug her Aunt, which made her aching heart hurt a little less, to her relief. When she told Twilight that she would be all right, however, her Niece's sweet gesture made her heart hurt all over again.

In turn, as a small smile grew upon her tear-stained face, Twilight gently embraced Flurry, and she thanked her for her optimism, even if she could never thank her enough. But she did not tell Flurry that Shining and she would both need a very long time to move on from what they were going through.

After the Princesses let go of each other, and Flurry had sat back down, everyone took some time to enjoy both their cake and tea, which ended up making Shining and Twilight weep again. In nigh utter disbelief, the Siblings asked Cadance and Flurry how they were able to make them taste so familiar.

All that Cadance said was that she could not have so successfully cared for her as a Foal without a little help from a certain cookbook, in which she found many notes about all their preferences. But luckily, she remembered to copy every recipe just in case, which she then taught to Flurry as well.

If they wanted her to, she sweetly added, she could share all the notes she took with them, so they could try to make the same recipes, just in case they no longer had the cookbook. She hoped that it would at least help them be reminded of better times, before the tragedy they had both experienced.

Neither Shining nor Twilight uttered a word as they gently embraced Cadance and Flurry, before they briefly thanked them in a quiet whisper. But as soon as Twilight let go of the two, she got up from the couch, her legs feeling like lead, and told the trio that she would be back before the Sun set.

With warm smiles on their faces, and a promise that they would be there for her, the three followed Twilight to the doors, where they waved her goodbye as she flew to the Mountains. Fortunately, when she passed through the Aura, her ascent went smoothly, as the weather was calm, and the area quiet.

The closer she got to the top, the more her heart started to ache, but also, the greater the burden lifted off her chest, devastated, yet relieved, over having to close this chapter of her life. When she reached a plateau overlooking both the Mountains and the Empire, she sat down with a deep sigh.

Here, Twilight took two urns from her satchel, and as she placed these next to her, she whispered:

"Well... Mom, Dad, I made it... WE made it... and the view is even more beautiful than you said..."