"Second star to the right..."
There are two truths one must understand about how prophecy works:
The first is that prophecy is always true. If the prophet is not a charlatan and their magics are performed correctly, then the future they divine will always be a truthful and accurate prediction.
The second is that prophecy is rarely straight-forward. Simply because the end point is established does not mean that the path to reach it will be the most obvious one, nor even one that would make sense from the perspective of the prophet.
A pony may be predicted to kill their father, but there are a great many ways that could be true. One might presume murder, and yet it could be an accident. It could be agreeing to pull the plug on a terminally ill parent fifty years hence. It could be a death through inattention - telling their father not to bother with the doctor because it's just a case of the sniffles. It could even be non-literal, like killing their father's career or his legacy.
This is the true danger of prophecy, because simply by existing it pushes ponies into action. They know what is coming and by their very nature will attempt to change it. Often in doing so they assure that the events shall come to pass.
So when in his final year Starswirl the Bearded published a book of prophetic predictions, it set many ponies scrambling to discover what he truly meant and to try and either change that fate or exploit the knowledge of what was to come.
But - quietly - there was one prophecy that was not published. His last one, given on his deathbed and told only to his closest friends and confidants.
They were Starswirl's last words.
"Twilight Sparkle will not outlive her friends."
It was comforting, at first. Princess Twilight Sparkle - now the sole crown princess of Equestria - had long feared that future. The Princess of Friendship without her friends was unthinkable, and there were many nights she had stayed awake to wrestle with the knowledge that she was immortal and they were not. That she would not outlive them was a relief.
Until they thought about the meaning of the words.
Starswirl had not said the Bearers of the Elements would live forever. Only that Twilight would not survive beyond them.
To say that the general Equestrian government - as well as Twilight and her friends themselves - reacted poorly to the prediction of the death of their Princess is an understatement. Confusion and chaos ran rampant for weeks, much to the unending joy of Discord. (In truth he was just as worried as the rest were, but his chaotic magic and nature was incompatible with the inflexible nature of prophecy.)
It was an enterprising young member of the staff - Raven Inkwell's son, Writing Desk - who changed things by reminding everypony of a third rule of prophecy:
Prophecy can be tricked. Since the end results are set, one can retake control of destiny by ensuring it comes about in a more acceptable way. A war between two nations may be inevitable, but having it take place in a tabletop war game rather than in a living battlefield is just as valid to fulfill the prophecy. Being trapped in a cave as foretold isn't so bad if one finds a top-end restaurant called The Cave.
Thus, the mass of panicked ponies were thinking about the problem incorrectly. They did not need to prepare for the imminent demise of Princess Twilight Sparkle; they merely had to extend the lives of her friends in some form or another.
And the solution to that came from Twilight's own alternate self: a Twilight through a mirror. A scientist of untold intelligence with access to a vast array of ideas and equipment Equestria had not yet imagined.
She brought with her a theory from her world: as one gained speed, time slowed down. At normal, pony-capable speeds it was unnoticeable, but the discrepancy grew exponentially as one accelerated. Once one reached nearly the speed of light - a concept in and of itself which was far beyond Equestria's greatest minds - time was nearly nil. The traveler would see no difference, but to the outside observer every second would be ten, a hundred, a thousand times as long.
So it was born: a union of human technology and Equestrian magic. Cutting edge beyond the edge, fused together from the top minds and most radical theories of two worlds. They named it the Bearer of Harmony, and it was beautiful in both aesthetics and science.
Long and thin, the Bearer's designer insisted it was shaped like an arrow, designed to fly gracefully through space with minimal resistance as it attained speeds never before imagined by ponykind. Applejack thought it looked like a box nail the size of a sea serpent, which said designer strongly objected to but couldn't entirely deny. Still, it sparkled silver in the sunlight as it floated in orbit above Equis.
The ship was kitted out with every possible advancement and enhancement either world could conceive of, and the five passengers would want for nothing. From their perspective, the Bearer would simply fly out into the universe, taking a luxuriant trip to the next-nearest star Kentavros. A year-long trip there and back - from their perspective. From that of Equestria? It would be almost a thousand. By that time, the Princess hoped, the task of finding a better way to extend their lives would be found.
They boarded for the good of Equestria. Tearful goodbyes were made, but each of the five mares knew they weren't young to begin with. There was a certain acceptance of life and death that came with age - even at their young fifty, they had each seen loved ones pass from their lives.
The Princess gave a speech. The crowds cheered. The five waved and smiled.
And then the Bearer left Equis for what most would see as ten lifetimes.
One of the most advanced luxuries on board was the communications relay: it utilized magic none of them understood to send voice and video messages back and forth between the ship and Equestria. Despite the speeds they were traveling at, the messages arrived without delay - though they were still subject to the time dilation.
By mutual agreement, the five didn't use it for the first week. It was only after that - and after roughly fifty years had passed back home - that the first message was sent. They had made their goodbyes before leaving and those had been hard enough. Better to let the break stay clean.
When the time came they all gathered around the camera, but Applejack had won the coin toss to speak first. "Bearer of Harmony to Equestria. Y'all receiving?" She tapped the send button - and they all waited tensely.
For an agonizing moment, there was nothing. Then an image of Twilight's head jumped onto the screen - a little haggard, but her smile was wider than any of them had seen in years. "Girls! Oh, I'm so glad to see you!"
Predictably, Pinkie Pie ignored the agreed order. "Hi Twilight! I really want to give you a hug right now but I know we can't because you're just an image on a screen and you're really really far away but I still want to!"
On the other end, Twilight smiled. "Hi Pinkie. And I would love a hug right now but you're right. Could you hug Fluttershy for me instead?"
She did, bowling the surprised pegasus over into a heap. Applejack took control back. "Everything goin' alright down there, sugarcube?"
"It's going well enough," Twilight admitted. "Everypony was sad that you left, but life did go on. Thankfully, it's all remained relatively quiet without you. There's been small hiccups here and there, but Equestria is largely able to function as it always has. Even if it seems dull."
"That's mighty good to hear." Applejack smiled warmly - only to be nudged aside by Rainbow Dash.
The lithe pegasus, of course, had her own priorities. "So this thing's real time, right? Like, could you send us news and stuff from back home? I wanna see how the Wonderbolts have done since I left 'em - that dummy Spin Drift better not have ruined my team!"
An oh-so-familiar beaming smile leapt to Twilight's face. "It's sort of real time, Rainbow, but not entirely. You see, the transmissions cross the distance between the Bearer and Equestria almost instantaneously thanks to a variant on a teleportation spell–"
"Booooring," Dash droned with a roll of her eyes. "Skip the egghead stuff, Twi, that's not answering my question."
But Twilight continued on regardless. "--That's able to move the signals themselves without needing to cross the vast amounts of space in between. So in that way it's real time. But by the same token–"
Rainbow Dash let out a long grunt of suffering. "Come on Twilight! None of us care about that!"
"She can't hear you, darling," Rarity observed. "While we're getting her messages as she sends them, there's still a rather large difference in time between in here and out there." She paused, motioning towards Twilight's still nattering face. "From her perspective, she sent that entire message hours ago. You didn't interrupt her, because she didn't receive your declaration of boredom until long after she finished." Another pause. "At least, hopefully after she finished. Dear Twilight can go rather long when she's discussing technical issues."
"--So for every second that passes in there, almost seventeen minutes passes here on Equestria," Twilight rambled. "Calling it 'real time' is a bit of a misnomer because of that. And if you want to know more about how it works, I included an entire book on the theory as well as the diagrams for the system in your library!"
There was a very long pause on both ends before Twilight's image blushed. "Sorry about that, Rainbow Dash. Think about this like sending letters - you get the letter immediately, but I've already written everything I was going to say." There was a blip and a pause. "Yes, what Rarity said. Also, the Wonderbolts are doing fine. I can try relaying some radio broadcasts, but I'm afraid the interface on my end isn't portable enough for me to take it to one of their shows."
Rarity's ears perked as an idea hit her. "Oh! Could we get some music as well? There's some aboard here, but I would be fascinated as to how the artform has evolved over time."
"I can do that. I think we can also manage some static images, so you can see more physical art like paintings or sculptures." Twilight smiled slyly.
Gleefully, Rarity clapped her hooves.
They talked for another hour - or from Twilight's perspective, a month and a half. Mostly about nothing as well: it was the pleasant chatter of friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time, going over old memories with topics meandering from rumors about somepony's love life to the weather to the most recent book they had read.
In the end, Twilight ended the communication with a broad smile and an expression far more relaxed than she had started with.
They spoke again the next day and the next, each time the same. But on the third day Twilight began in a dour mood and with weary eyes.
"I just wanted to let you know," she began, "That the last pony you would have remembered passed away last week. Apple Bloom lived to a hundred and three."
The five had a moment (or seventeen minutes Equestrian time) of silence. They all knew those they left behind would be gone long before their return, but being told about it still hurt. Applejack spent the next few minutes in the background, quietly crying as Rainbow Dash held her close.
"...I'm sorry." Twilight's ears drooped. "I know you girls wanted a clean break from home, but that felt like something I had to tell you."
Rarity's voice was quiet - she understood the implication of Apple Bloom being 'the last'. "It's alright, darling. We knew what we were getting into when we boarded this ship. Having it be placed front and center certainly does hurt, but we shall persevere."
Twilight, of course, tried to look on the brighter side. "For what it's worth, I misspoke. There's still ponies you remember around and they'll be here when you return. I'll still be here," she noted with a quiet smile. "Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Flurry Heart will all be, too."
"And Discord," Fluttershy added, her words half hopeful and half questioning.
But they weren't immediately confirmed. Twilight's visible hesitation spoke encyclopedias. "And Discord," she eventually agreed.
Fluttershy's entire body drooped. "Twilight? Did… did something happen to Discord?"
The distant alicorn startled, tensing up. "No! No, Fluttershy, I'm sorry, that came out wrong. Discord's fine - last I knew. I just… I haven't seen him in a long time. I know he's still there because someone's still taking care of your cottage and the animals, but he…" She frowned quietly. "He doesn't want to be seen. He hides himself every time anypony comes by. I think he misses you just that much."
To that, Fluttershy had nothing to say. But she smiled fondly even as she wiped a stray tear from her eye.
Pinkie Pie finally piped up, face a smiling mask. "Anything else neat going on, Twilight? Oh! Oh! What about other ships? Has anypony else joined us in spaaaaaaaaace?" She waved her forelegs in the air, suggestively pantomiming the vastness of space.
It was a clumsy attempt to change the subject. And an appreciated one. Moreso as Applejack and Rainbow Dash inched over to rejoin the group.
"Not many," Twilight admitted. "I think the best way to put it is that all of the effort to build the Bearer burned Equestria out on space. Plus I think it took away some of the mystery. Only a hooffull of ponies with cutie marks related to rocketry seem to care anymore."
"Could we help?" Rarity interrupted before Pinkie could ask another question. "Out here, we can see so many wondrous and beautiful things - even if we are going past them at tremendous speeds. Would some sort of travelog to tell ponies at home about this prompt interest?"
Twilight considered that before nodding. "It can't hurt. I would be happy to pass that along if you girls decided to try."
Rarity - now given a creative project - was already jotting down ideas and sketching out an outfit for her presentations. So without her in the way, it was somepony else's turn. Unfortunately, both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie spoke at once, turning perfectly normal questions into a garbled mess of words.
"Girls, girls!" Twilight waved a wing at them. "One at a time!"
The two looked at each other, eyes locking as they prepared to do vigorous battle for the right to speak. And then Pinkie smiled widely and motioned for Dash to go first.
"Thanks, Pinks, you're a doll." Rainbow stepped to the forefront. "Hey Twilight, so something I noticed last time we talked. You never really said anything about what's happening in Equestria. Sure, you'll answer if we ask but it's always just that things are fine and quiet. You never actually talk about what is happening, just that nothing's gone wrong. That seems weird. Kinda reminds me of the old days when Spike would ask you if you've had something to eat and you'd say yes but never say what unless he directly asked because you knew he'd yell at you for having three crackers and a mint all day. So what gives?"
Pinkie, determined not to be left out, bounced next to Dash. "Oooo! That's a good question! I was just gonna ask about what day it was back home!"
It had to have been a good question, because Twilight actually flinched at it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to–" She stopped herself for a moment, taking a deep breath to recompose herself. "I can't tell you about everything that goes on here, Rainbow. There's just too much because of the time difference. Even if I limited it to big things, they happen faster than I could talk from your perspective." Twilight paused - and held up a hoof to ward off Rainbow's obvious objection. "But you're right, there's a lot of things I haven't mentioned to all of you."
All five gathered closer - Applejack's eyes still teary red.
Twilight struggled with the words. "Since all of you left, things have been… different. It's difficult to give you solid examples of it, but without you it's as if Equestria lost a part of itself. I told you about the Wonderbolts before, but there's a few parts I left out. Like that nopony has managed a rainboom since you left."
A familiar look of confusion washed across Rainbow Dash's face. "Wait, what? Oh come on, I personally taught like four ponies how to do it! You gotta be kidding me, they already forgot? Ugh, fine, get those idiots on here so I can have a class for them."
"No, they didn't forget." Twilight shook her drooping head. "They just don't bother any more. The techniques you taught your students are still around but nopony puts in the effort. And their shows are still good, I didn't lie about that. But they're…" She bit her lip, hesitating. "They're boring. They have a routine, they perform it, and then they're done. There's nothing technically wrong, it's just that they don't have the same enthusiasm as they did in your era."
The five considered that for a moment before Pinkie Pie nudged to the front. "Twilight? That's happening in other places too, isn't it."
Her nod confirmed it. "It's like that everywhere. At first I thought it was just my imagination - or that not having you girls in my life made it dimmer. But over the last year or two, I've come to realize it isn't me. Or more accurately, it isn't my life that's dimmer."
She turned her head slightly, looking out a window the others couldn't see. "Ponies don't push the envelope anymore. Nopony's out there exploring new lands. New books or movies are just remakes or repeats of things that came out years ago. Music, art, fashion, food - it's all just… flat."
"Colorless," Pinkie suggested with a frown of her own.
"...yes," Twilight responded.
Aboard the ship, the five exchanged concerned glances as Twilight continued with a little more confidence. "Yes, that's a good word for it. It's as if all of Equestria's lost something in the last few decades - like all the colors of the world are muted." She looked to Rarity. "That's why nopony seems to care about space anymore. I'm hoping that if it comes from all of you, it could restart ponies' enthusiasm about that and maybe other things."
Individually, each of the five was spectacular in their area of expertise. Prodigies, in many ways. But it was together that they were at their strongest: a team with decades of experience, working as one. Filling in for one another's weaknesses and boosting each other's strengths. Communicating complex ideas with nothing more than a look.
And in this case, realizing as one just what was going on.
Rarity took the lead - the one of them with the greatest social skills to broach the subject gently. "Darling, if you don't mind me asking, I'm a teensy bit curious about something on a related topic."
"Oh?" The shift visibly jumped Twilight's train of thought off the tracks. "Well, go ahead Rarity."
"Thank you." The unicorn took a deep breath. "You mentioned that the books and movies are all remakes or repeats. I'm presuming that the music and such are the same. They all wouldn't happen to be all drawing from the same rough time frame, would they?"
The question was prompting enough to get the gears turning in Twilight's head. Distant as she was, it only took moments (on her end) to understand. "They're all going back to between sixty and a hundred years ago." A second of thought passed. She gasped. "They're going back to the time period when we were together!"
"As we feared." Rarity hugged her nearest companion - Fluttershy. The caretaker's wing wrapped around the unicorn in return. "Twilight, we think that when we left we may have taken, well. Something came with us. Something vital."
More connections snapped into place for Twilight. "You think that– the Elements," she gasped.
"But I thought we passed those along." Applejack's voice was quiet, bolstered just enough by the presence of her friends. "To the students and them."
Twilight nodded. "We did. But that doesn't mean we passed all of it. You remember our final confrontation with Sombra and what Discord said? The real magic is the six of us working together. The Elements of Harmony are part of us, even without the Tree or the gems."
"And we left." Pinkie was muted too - the five of them came together in a group hug for support. "We left Equestria and took them with us."
Twilight set her jaw. "We don't know anything for sure, Pinkie. It's just a theory and I'm going to find out more." Her determination slipped for a moment, replaced by concern for her distant friends. "Please, girls. This isn't your fault. If it's anypony's, it's mine for creating this silly plan instead of facing reality. So it's my responsibility to make it right. And I will. I promise."
They didn't hear from Twilight for four more days. When she returned, it was with a deep, tired frown.
"I wish I had better news." That she started with that soured the mood immediately and crushed the joy of everypony seeing their distant friend again. "But your theory was mostly right."
"Mostly?" Fluttershy beat the others to the question.
And there, Twilight cringed. "Mostly, because I'm still here. I didn't leave with you and that means Equestria's imbalanced. Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, and Loyalty left. Magic didn't and now all of Equestria is suffering for it." Her horn lit, replacing her face with the projection of a chart. Just what it was showing was difficult to discern - it was a Twilight chart, after all - but thankfully the distant alicorn was quick to explain it. "This is a measurement of the magic projected by the Tree of Harmony over the duration of Princess Celestia's reign and then mine. Here at the far left you can see the time of the Pillars, and next to it is the crash about a generation after they disappeared." Her horn pointed to the peak and then a drop-off to nearly the bottom of the chart. "After that, the Tree's power grew back up over time with this gradual, slow increase across a thousand years."
Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash was the one quick on the uptake. "That's because the Pillars just vanished, right? When they went to Limbo?"
A proud smile could be heard in Twilight's voice that it was Rainbow who figured it out. "Exactly! They were yanked out of Equestria suddenly instead of ending their connection cleanly. Without them, the Tree needed a lot of time to recover. And you can see the effects historically - after the disruption of Nightmare Moon's banishment, Equestria had several centuries of, well, boring."
Pinkie Pie gasped in horror.
"It wasn't until the last hundred years or so that ponies and the Tree's magic reached where they started - which is why most of the innovations of modern society happened within a generation or two of when we were born." Twilight interrupted her chart to levitate over a thick book. "I wrote about it, actually! My double and I co-published this not long after you girls left, discussing the reasons for technological deviation between Equestria and the human world. It's largely focused on–"
Rainbow Dash fell backwards. "Uuuuuuuuuuugh."
"--the comparison between Equestria's Solar Peace and humanity's Dark Ages, as well as how each world recovered from and grew–"
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh."
"--out of it. Recovery-era development tended to–"
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu–"
Dash's extended groan was cut off by Applejack putting a hoof over the pegasus' mouth. "Ah will end you."
The hoof was promptly shoved away. "I just wish she had a mute button for times like this," was Dash's grumpy retort.
Twilight merrily continued on for several more minutes before abruptly stopping with an embarrassed blush. "Um, sorry. I just got Rainbow Dash's frustration and I hope she's stopped by now on your end. Anyway, the point is…" She summoned up the chart again. "Last time this happened, the Elements were removed all at once, and Equestria slowly but steadily recovered over a millennium." She moved her horn, pointing to the next peak. "Here's roughly where we defeated Nightmare Moon and were chosen as Bearers." Twilight traced the line along the high plateau - and to another drop-off. "And you can see when the five of you left." But this time when this one reached the bottom, the pattern was different. Instead of a slow and steady rise back up, it showed a series of jagged, shark-toothed waves along the bottom of the chart. "Instead of the magic slowly recovering from the loss of the Bearers, it's stuttering because only five Elements are missing instead of all six."
They were all silent for a moment as the implications of that sank in. Fluttershy was the one who spoke their thoughts. "So as long as you're in Equestria, the magic can't recover?"
"It looks that way." Twilight drooped. "And I suspect it's sapping my own strength, too. The Element within me keeps trying to shore up what's missing. I thought I was just worn down from trying to run Equestria," she chuckled. "But with what we know now, it's more likely that my connection to Magic is trying to start the recovery process on its own by pulling from me. Worse, I'm worried it's not just failing to start but it might be actively doing damage with each attempt."
Rarity mulled over the idea for a moment before commenting, "Like stretching an elastic out over and over, weakening it each time."
Twilight nodded. "And eventually, it'll snap."
Silence washed over them all. Each had their own mental image of what that would look like - none particularly pleasant. The five looked between each other, each not sure which one should ask it. In the end, it was Fluttershy who worked up the courage. "So, um. What are you going to do, Twilight?"
"I… don't know," came the sullen admission. "I can't bring you back - even if I could turn the ship around, it would take so long I don't think you could get here in time to change anything. If my presence is damaging the fabric of Equestria with these false starts, waiting another sixty or seventy years before taking action could make the damage irreparable. The only thing that makes sense is that I need to leave Equestria, too, and as soon as possible. But I can't do that without a lot of preparation. Equestria can't survive without a Princess yet." She took a long, deep breath. "I'm sorry girls, I need to cut this short. I've got a lot to think about and… and it seems like there's a lot of work to do."
A dour pall settled over Twilight's next few calls. For her part, she seemed constantly distracted - and when asked about it, would only say that the work to prepare everything was taking up much of her time. She listened more than she spoke, taking her friends' comfort with a nod and a smile they all knew was far too thin. The only bright side was that she was willing to talk now of Equestria and what was going on in the wider world… even though it was just as depressing.
That same faded quality permeated Equestria now. It was as if everypony was just going through the motions in a bland, colorless world. They had even stopped copying Equestria's glory days and were simply shuffling along. Twilight talked about how the malaise had sunk down even to the most basic parts of life.
How staple crops like apples had turned mealy, like chewing wood pulp. Even semi-complex recipes were fading from general knowledge as the populace had taken to eating whatever was on hoof - grasses had once more become a staple, as they were as easy to get by leaning over.
Art had done worse than stagnate: it had largely disappeared. Equestria's museums and galleries were full of relics of past ages, reminding their few viewers of days long vanished. Shops kept their goods to the basics, things diminished to the point where 'fancy dress' at the recent Gala had translated to wearing a hat.
Magic of all sorts was fading, running a slower version of Cozy Glow's horrible plot. Unicorns could barely lift quills. It was rare to see a pegasus in the sky, leaving the weather to revert to wild nature. Old relics maintained their strength - at least for now - but they struggled in a world that seemed to treat them as anathema. When one broke or ran out of charge, it was gone forever.
Even the natural world was running itself down. Trees dropped their leaves on their own, as if giving up each autumn rather than fighting to stay vital and green. Many of the animals had disappeared - they had to be out there somewhere, but dozens of species hadn't been seen by anypony in years. Even the Everfree was quiet save for a single corner - and that Twilight attributed to Discord's still unseen presence keeping Fluttershy's beloved sanctuary alive and thriving.
Perhaps worst of all was the news from outside Equestria. The lack of energy wasn't merely confined to the lands of ponies. Dragons had disappeared alongside the many animals - their last great migration had passed by thirty years before and never returned. The Crystal Empire was silent, the now dull-coated crystal ponies having abandoned it as the Heart's warmth slowly faded away. The kirin, the changelings, the yaks, the hippogriffs - all had faded and vanished. Only the griffons remained in contact with Equestria, stubbornly holding their own. Perhaps it was that they were used to an uncaring world.
As for the other princesses, Twilight answered questions about them reluctantly and only briefly. Cadance had remained in the Crystal Empire while her people had fled, stubbornly holding to the last to keep the Heart powered. Perhaps she was still there, but Twilight didn't have the time nor courage to find out. Flurry Heart had been the one who led the crystal ponies south before she too had left: journeying out with the now house-sized Spike to find what had happened to the dragons. They, too, had not returned. As for Celestia and Luna, Twilight said little. They had undertaken a task of great importance outside of Equestria's borders, but Twilight wouldn't reveal just what - merely that it was something related to crystals and that they were taking critical steps to buy time. It was obvious from Twilight's face that she missed them dearly - and that she was now entirely alone.
The death blow came after two weeks - one day over a month into the year's journey for the Bearer and just shy of eighty eight years in Equestria. Twilight's image was as exhausted as ever, but more concerning were the tears.
"I finished it," she said. "I took the amulet that Celestia and Luna crafted for me and built it into a larger mechanism. Now the Sun and Moon can move without me being here and the world can continue without an alicorn."
The five waited for the other horseshoe to drop.
"It was tangible, legitimate progress and for the first time in decades I felt hope." Twilight paused, wiping her snotty nose. (Rarity suppressed her urge to scold Twilight for using her fetlock instead of a tissue.) "So I… I burst into song. I started singing and it felt so good, girls. I could feel the magic bubbling up inside me and the song flowing out of my heart." A hesitation - a painful one. "But when I reached the chorus, I looked around and nopony else was singing. They just…" She swallowed roughly. "They just stared at me like I was crazy. They didn't hear the music." Twilight lurched forward, burying her face in her hooves. "They didn't hear anything."
Five friends could only watch from a trillion miles away as Twilight Sparkle broke.
She didn't call back the next day - or any after that.
Pinkie Pie tried her best to help, setting a timer of exactly eight hours, forty-five minutes and thirty-six seconds so that she could transmit a happy birthday message to Twilight each year - but no response ever came. She was never even certain there was anypony on the other end to hear her.
The pallor of Equestria settled over the Bearer like a fog. It would be another eleven months before they returned home, though they weren't sure it could be called home anymore. If Twilight's predictions were correct, nearly all of what they knew would be changed or gone. It would take centuries or more for basic aspects of Equestria to return - the damage done might even be permanent. Or fatal to the world.
The Bearer of Harmony continued on through the blackness of space, carrying with it the five last relics of Equestria's golden age on their own banishment of a thousand years.
Author's Note
Ten minutes before publishing this, I had a panic attack that I had mixed up which side the time dilation was on when dealing with near light-speed travel. Cue half an hour of frantically reading articles and praying I remembered my rules of special relativity correctly. I'm still not 100% certain I did.
Also just to avoid confusion: the title and base concept of this ties back to 2013 and the debate about alicorn Twilight and if she was immortal. When Meghan McCarthy herself responded to the topic, she only would say: "Twilight will not outlive her friends."
"...and straight on 'til morning."
"Come on, Hitch, keep up!" Zipp did a loop in the air, giving time for her ground-bound companions to catch up. She was, granted, ahead of all of them, but Hitch always had the best reactions to being teased.
He didn't disappoint - Hitch shot Zipp a look of irate contempt as he galloped alongside Sunny and Izzy.
Playfully, Pipp floated past her sister's face, giving her a little feather-tap on the nose. "We'll get there when we get there, Zipp! Don't be rude."
"Yeah!" Izzy's words were interspersed with gasping breaths as she struggled to not fall behind. Long, gangly legs gave little advantage against earth pony stamina, but she was bolstered by unrestrained cheer and boundless energy. "But we really wanna get there! You don't get falling stars landing in your backyard every day! The sooner we get there the sooner we can see how neat it is!"
They chattered happily as they raced across the green fields outside Maritime Bay. For once, they were charging towards a plume of smoke that they didn't cause - but they still raced. It was like a magnet: the fascinating unknown, pulling them to it with a siren's song of mystery. A star falling from the sky and landing so close by? Somepony needed to investigate.
And it had to be them. It had to be the ponies who had reopened the world and pulled the rest of Equestria out of their sheltered lives. The ones who had restored friendship and magic. Who else could it have been?
So they raced, full of curiosity, joy, and laughter.
Until they finally crested the hill and could see where the star had come down.
They had been expecting an impact crater - it was a star after all, and any fall from so high was bound to have a lot of force. But yet it hadn't. The grass around was wind-blown and scorched but the land itself was intact. And the star wasn't what they had expected, either. It was no glowing mote of light but instead an oblong silver blob around the size of a trolley car. Steam rose as it cooled in the early autumn air.
At the top of the hill, the ponies froze and stared.
"Whoa." Zipp - so taken aback she actually landed - stared at the strange object. "What is that?"
Hitch took a single careful step forward. The object didn't react. "It doesn't seem dangerous. But we should still be careful. It–"
"Oh. My. Hoofness! Pipsqueaks, are you seeing this?!" He was interrupted by Pipp swinging her phone around to get all of them in a shot with the object. "We're finally where the star fell out of the sky earlier, and it's am~azing! It's so sleek! So bright!" She spun around in the air, fluffy wings flapping. Then suddenly, she was up in Sunny's face. "Oh! We have to get closer! Come on!" And she swooped down the hill in a glide.
"Pipp, wait!" Zipp was airborne a moment later, taking off after her sister.
Hitch groaned and rolled his eyes before taking off down the hill as well.
At the top, Izzy was just about to leap into action when she paused and looked back. "...Sunny?"
Sunny was biting her lip, staring intently at the object.
"Sunny?" The second time was more insistent.
"What? Oh!" The earth pony startled. "Sorry, Izzy. It's just that there's something really familiar about that thing. I can't quite place it but it's like I've seen it before."
The unicorn looked back and forth between her friend and the object several times before shrugging. "Okay! But you should probably look at it closer. Maybe then you'll recognize it!"
She bounced happily down the slope. Sunny held for a few moments more, considering the object and her memories before joining the others.
As they approached the fallen star, smaller details resolved themselves: visible seams along the silvered surface; angles and joints that were obviously of artificial make; flat surfaces that might have been windows were they not completely dark; and most importantly, a small set of steps that had lowered out of the side.
Seeing those steps triggered something, bringing the ponies to a near halt. Hitch's calls for caution finally caught up and they went from a curious rush to a careful creep. Steps usually meant door which usually meant occupants.
"Girls," Hitch ventured, "I'm not sure that's a star. Stars don't usually have ponies in them."
Before any of them could disagree, there was a loud hiss and one of the seams split. The prediction of a door came true as the 'star' opened up. And Hitch's words were true as well, as five ponies emerged. Quite old, but still recognizable as ponies.
Very recognizable. Sunny gasped - and her golden wings and horn spontaneously manifested.
Five looked at five.
One hesitantly stepped forward from each.
The orange mare looked over the orange mare.
And the farmer kneeled before the alicorn.
"Princess," Applejack spoke with a breathless smile. "We've come home."
Author's Note
Two days ago, I finished this up and looked it over. "This story's kinda junk," I said. "It's not bad but it isn't good either. I might trash it."
And then I asked the question to Discord and the four folks listed as pre-readers all turned and went "What? You're crazy, this is great."
So, uh. Here's hoping they're right and I'm wrong.
