Colorful Sky
Twilight lay in her hospital bed, a permanent look of disgust on her face. Nothing ever satisfied her and everyone gave up on trying to convince her otherwise. Her withered age and helplessness didn’t help the situation either. Over the past fifty years, her enthusiasm, her drive, had left her body in large amounts, leaving nothing but an empty, purple shell of her past self.
Each of her friends had withered away, depleting her life force even more. She no longer could be happy without the rest of the Elements. How could anyone be happy without laughter, kindness, generosity, honesty, or loyalty? She could no longer laugh for she was cynical to everything, there was no kindness left to deal to anypony for she felt it was a waste of time, she no longer could be generous by being low on cash and never caring to give to anypony else, she would often lie to keep others away and she was her own pony, loyal to no one. Not even the princess herself.
Without her friends with her, she had dropped off the face of the earth. She stopped writing to the princess and cancelled the mail coming in, including letters from the princess. Spike had grown and had left years before, so postal services were the only way of communication. Despite the princess’s pleas, Twilight refused to comply, defending herself by saying her only purpose in life was now gone. Not even her own daughter, now fully grown with a filly of her own, was pleasing to Twilight, who shut herself into the library to recede into the confines of her own mind. Being left with only memories.
A tear started to swell up in Twilights eye before she quickly blinked it away, refusing to even crack for a second. She knew full well that no pony even cared for her, dismissing her as being isolating and ill willed, and if she showed weakness no one would show any pity. This thought hurt her but she didn’t care. If no pony cared for her, why should she care about them?
“Ms. Sparkle! There’s someone here to see you!” Pinkies daughter Cotton had become a nurse and her unlimited supply of energy, much like her mother’s, annoyed Twilight and made her grimace whenever she came to check on her.
“Hi mom,” said Morning Mist. Her daughter, much like herself, was a purple pony but with a pure white mane. She walked into the room with her daughter Honey Dew. There was no change in Twilights expression but more of her anger came to her, making the atmosphere seem hot.
“What brings you here?” Twilight had not cared for her daughter as of late because she kept asking Twilight for hook-ups with the princess. The fact that Mist would even try to use her social status was appalling.
“I just came to ask you for a fav-“
“You come to me while I am on my death bed, not seeing me for five years, to ask me for a favor!? Get out of my sight!” Twilight had grown accustomed to her daughter’s tendencies by the fact that she was just like her father. The divorce was quick and painless and the more she dwelled on it, the more it seemed like a summer fling rather than a relationship.
Instead of the natural reaction of tears at a mother saying such things to her daughter, came a more frowned upon approach. Morning Mist scowled at her mother and called her an old hag. This only brought a blank stare towards Mist, which frustrated her for the lack of reaction her mother had for her. She tried to say something but was cut off when Twilight sat up in defiance. Though she was old and weak, she looked powerful and almost majestic. This frightened Mist and she hastily grabbed Honey Dew and left.
Twilight sat back in her bed with a sigh.
“How did I raise such a terrible child?” Twilight had asked herself this question many times. Mist was a failure at school and moved from place to place, applying for job after job. It was amazing that the Foal Protective Agencies had not gotten involved. She looked at her daughter in complete distaste, as she was once again alone with her thoughts.
Tears once again started in her eyes but she did nothing to stop them, letting them flow down her wrinkly, weathered cheeks and feeling them settle on the pillow behind her. She felt that she had failed at life. Her daughter was a disappointment much like her marriage and she had no great feats to her name. The tears were just little worries she made to take her mind off of the world around her.
“It’s been a while hasn’t it?”
Twilight looked up in surprise. She had not heard anypony come in and Cotton had not warned her of a visitor. There. Standing in the doorway, was Princess Celestia.
Just as quickly as Twilight looked surprised, she had returned to her original state.
“Why are you here?” Twilight wasn’t in the mood for the whole lecturing thing and wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
“I let you down and I know I disappointed you, so why come to me at all?”
“Because I believe you have one more lesson to learn about friendship.”
“How!? All of my friends are dead! My friendship is gone and there is nothing else to live for. There is no more friendship and there is no more time!”
“Listen to me my student. You are wrong and I would have thought a person who studied the subject almost her whole life would know that.” Twilight was angered as she took the princess’s last statement as an insult.
“I did study friendship. You know what it led to? A life of misery! Friendship is hard to make and easy to lose! One would be better off not making friends at all!”
“While it is true that friendship can be a complicated thing, it is also magical. Do you remember when Rainbow Dash did a Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Fliers competition?
Twilight could recall the memory as if it happened yesterday. She could remember the cheers they all shared and the giggles they let out at watching timid Fluttershy, cheer like an ecstatic Pinkie Pie.
“I do,” said Twilight brightening up only just enough for it to pass underneath the princess’s inspection.
“You all cheered for your friend and if I am not mistaken, you celebrated well into the next few nights, am I right?”
Twilight could recall the huge party Pinkie hosted. All of Ponyville was invited and almost everypony came. The party lasted three days and ended with some very embarrassing photos that they all agreed to never speak of again.
“So? Now it’s all just a memory.”
“But it is a good memory. You cannot lie to me Twilight. I know it brings joy when you think of it.
This was a fact that Twilight could not deny. It was one of many memories that brought warmth to her cold reality.
“It is true and yet I feel it happened in a different life. My friends are now gone and the memories are but dreams now.” More tears fell as Twilight spoke, clarifying to the princess where her beliefs stay.
“But they happened Twilight and in reality, they never left you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just take a look outside and you will see.”
Twilight did as she was told and look out the window next to her bed. Her eyes adjusted to the light and the scene looked like a painting. She believed it was the most beautiful thing she ever saw.
The yellow sun was lowering itself in the cyan sky, letting the orange and pink tinges color the outside as the rays of sunlight reflected off of the white snow. Tears started to fall as her heart rate began to rise.
Beep…beep…beep…beep
“They were with me the whole time.”
Beep..beep..beep..beep
“How could I have been so blind?”
Beepbeepbeepbeep
“I’m so sorry. But I’m coming now.”
Beeeeeeeeeeeeep
Twilight lay motionless in her bed, a single tear streaked down her cheek and a smile spread across her face. Her face had not smiled in fifty years and now it stayed, eternally locked onto her lips. Celestia sighed with a feeling of mixed sadness and relief. She pulled the blanket over her student’s face and began to weep onto the white bed sheet, creating a puddle of tears in the middle of the lump. After crying for her deceased student she looked towards the window, just as a purple hue joined the colorful sky.
