Glancing at the clock, you lit your horn and opened the door to the library, just as a pale yellow filly was about to knock. She lowered her hoof and entered the building, two more fillies following after her, but she slipped between your forelegs and looked down at the pile of books. “Any o’ these gonna help us?” You gave a small chuckle, then ruffled her mane a little.

“No, Applebloom. These are just returns, and I’m putting them back for Twilight whilst she’s out with Spike.” The filly gave you a nod, but remained underneath you as you slid one tome into an empty slot, then checked where the next one went. As per usual, for the past two months, Applebloom followed you along as you slotted each book along, either offering to help locate them or carrying the books on her back. “You do know you’re about three hours too early for Twilight time?” Your mare had decided that this one would be in the evening, and they could have a sleepover afterwards as well. You neglected to mention you had your own ‘Twilight time’ most mornings and evenings.

“Yeah, but…”

“I told you, Applebloom! But no, you wouldn’t listen.” Frowning at the orange pegasus filly, who dropped her glare, you put the last book back and moved to one of the couches, Applebloom hopping up next to you and pressing against your side. Knowing, as always, it would be pointless trying to move her, you just nodded at Scootaloo, as it was her turn to choose a book. Unsurprisingly, the one dumped into your lap had a pegasus on the cover, wearing a pith hat and a dark green shirt, making you grin at the filly. “What? It’s a good book.”

“Alright, settle in girls.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hopped up onto the opposite couch and grinned at Applebloom, but she didn’t notice as her gaze was fixated upon you; there seemed to have been a steady increase in how much attention she paid to you, despite Bolt’s continuous effort to gain her affection, which was mildly frustrating now he neglected Skyla. Shaking your head, you cracked open the book and started in. “Okay, Daring Do and Ponydora's Box.”

“‘In the lands before Equestria, in the vast ocean now known as Eternity’s Crossing, once stood a proud island. Here it is said that the first alicorns gifted a box to the first mortal mare, with instructions never to open it. However, her curiosity, another gift of the alicorns, made her do so, releasing all the bad things into the world.’” You glanced at your audience, surprised to see all three were enraptured, but then again, this was only just released, so it was new to them and to you as well.

“‘This mare, by the name of Ponydora, managed to close the box in time to keep one thing inside; hope, for all of pony kind. Ponydora became deeply saddened by what she had done, fearing she would have to face the first alicorns’ wrath, but they did not punish her, as they knew this would happen. So, your assignment for this week; the moral aspects of the alicorns, were they right or wrong to give Ponydora the box even though they knew she’d open it? Due in on Monday!’ was the last thing Professor Yearling’s students heard as they moved quickly out of the auditorium, the mare massaging her temples.” You shifted around a little, Applebloom giving a giggle when you moved a hoof and brushed her ribs, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle giving each other a knowing smile when the farm filly shifted so that your foreleg was wrapped around her, and she was pressed even closer to your side.

“Come on, tell the story!” You raised an eyebrow at Scootaloo, who just grinned sheepishly at you and settled back down.

“Professor Yearling was looking forward to her weekend, a time to cool off from teaching history students, but it wasn’t to be, as the door to the classroom opened up, admitting a single stallion. ‘Ah, Miss Do, you are here afterall!’

‘Don’t call me that in school,’ she hissed at him, looking past him to ensure he wasn’t heard, then waved him into her office where they sat at her desk. ‘So, what do you want? I’ve got a lot of work to do.’

‘Well, Miss Do, it seems to link with your previous class. The Box has been found, but that is not the issue.’’

‘What is?’

‘It was found by a cult of griffons, who plan to use it to take over the world, believing there is still evil lurking inside.’ And so, Daring Do, Miss Yearling to her students, took a sabbatical from teaching. It didn’t take her long to get ready, and was soon on her way from Canterlot to the eastern seaboard, where she hoped to intercept the griffons and ensure Ponydora's box remained closed.” You continued reading to the fillies, losing yourself in the story as your voice filled the main floor of the library, the trio hanging on your every word.

A sudden hoot made you look up, Owlowiscious now sitting on the back of the couch opposite and staring down. You followed his gaze and blinked in surprise at the sight that greeted you; laying next to each other and breathing softly, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were asleep, and a glance down revealed Applebloom to also be slumbering away.

Carefully moving her to her friends with magic, you marked the page and set the book down on the side, then glanced around the library. If you didn’t get cleaning soon, Twilight wouldn’t be too happy when she got back from Canterlot this time.

...and you’d rather not be forced to wear the maid outfit that Cadance got for her, again.

It was a couple of hours later, the three fillies asleep on the couch as you continued to quietly clean the library, when you heard the screaming, looking out of the window to see a strange creature calmly walking amongst the ponies, and you briefly wondered why they were running from it. The answer came a moment later when it grabbed a mint green unicorn by the name of Lyra around the neck and lifted her up, opening its mouth, and you thought it was going to eat her. That’s not what happened; a strange orange glow flowed from her body into his open maw, and then he dropped her weakened form to the floor.

The townsponies, now frozen with fear, had the same done to them, this strange creature sweeping the magic from within them in one go. There was nothing you could do against power like that, and you turned around to face the trio; a quick teleportation and shadow spell ensured they would not be found. A fist came through the window behind you and the creature opened its mouth once more, but you had already taken action, teleporting into the open behind it and running to the edge of the town. It wasn’t enough though, as it jumped in front of you in a single leap.

“And where do you think you are going, little pony?”

“I’d be careful with that one if I were you, Tirek. He has a very powerful marefriend.” Your eyes went wide in fear as you looked up at the behemoth stood in front of you, the name registering deep within your memories of history books, one you wished was actually a myth. Alas, it was not to be, as his hand gripped you around the body and lifted you to his face. “He has a different kind of magic, you might want to be careful not to take it all.”

“Really, Discord? And why is that?” You turned to Discord with pleading eyes, but he just turned away, knowing full well what would happen if you lost all of you magic; he just didn’t want to watch. And then the screaming started, not from another pony, but from you, as your body was bathed in great pain, like something was tearing out your fur and ripping your skin from your body.

“Polter, no!” You managed to turn your head, where you saw five weary looking mares trapped in a cage, all looking back at you with horror. The pull intensified, a high pitched buzzing placing itself in your head as your ghostwalking abilities began to activate, Tirek giving a chuckle as he felt what was about to happen. Then, like a fatigued dam breaking, you were ripped from your body and fell to the floor, your limp physical form following a moment later.

You got up and tried to get back into it, but did not have the strength, meaning one thing; you were well and truly dead. It was then that you noticed Discord floating in front of the massive centaur, now that you remembered what he was, and even he had his chaos magic drained from him, Tirek turning and walking away. You saw a few purple flashes and then a large purple contrail in the sky, which turned for the massive creature and skidded to a landing just in front of him, close enough to hear them talk.

“You're going to give me what I want!”

He opened his mouth to absorb her magic, but she just teleported away, and you looked around in the hopes that she was safe. A sudden bright orange light caused you to turn just as it impacted the library, followed by a massive explosion, in which you caught the shadow of your mare. She fell to the ground and slid along, releasing Owlowiscious from her grip, then standing up and teleporting away.

There was a purple flash in the sky followed by an even brighter multi coloured beam, aimed right at the centaur, but he countered with a shield spell and grinned at Twilight after he dropped it. “Now I understand what your fellow princesses have done!” What followed next was little more than spectacular, beams of powerful magic contrasting with the strangely orange sky as Tirek and Twilight went all out against each other, until they launched intersecting vollies, creating a large explosion that threw your limp body against the side of a house.

Seeing as you no longer had a need for it, you paid it little heed, instead walking towards the rubble that now littered the ground. You saw a red arm sticking out from a pile of rocks and breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as Tirek emerged from the pile, Twilight appearing unscathed as well. “It appears we are at an impasse. How about a trade, Princess Twilight? Their release for all the Alicorn magic in Equestria.”

Twilight gave a shocked gasp, looking past Tirek at her friends, all of whom were shouting in protest, except for Discord, who sat facing away in shame. Good, you deserve it, you goatbucker. “What's it going to be?” The voices of her friends continued, causing Tirek to turn around and glare at them all. “Enough! I want an answer, and I want it now!” There was a stunned silence as Twilight looked at the ground, eyes flickering back and forth, before she met Tirek’s gaze

“I will give you my magic, in exchange for my friends.”

“As you wish.” The six bubbles containing the mares and Spike popped and they hit the ground, Fluttershy looking around and then blinking as she turned her gaze skywards.

“All of my friends.”

“After the way he has betrayed you, you still call him a 'friend'?”

“Release him!”

“If that's what you want.” Discord’s bubble was dropped to the floor, where he thanked Twilight and apologised to Fluttershy, whilst Tirek turned back to the alicorn. “Your turn.” Even though not what you went through, you knew losing that amount of magic would be painful, and cringed as you heard Twilight’s screams. They lasted ten seconds, Twilight falling limply to the floor, Tirek roaring as his body glowed gold and grew even larger.

That’s when your hearing and other senses began to fade, the others now around Twilight, including Discord, talking about some chest, and then sprinting away. You were too weak to follow, so just moved over to your body and sat down, waiting for the moment where you would leave the land of the living and reunite with your father and grandfather once more. It seemed to be taking a while, and whilst getting bored you noticed a bright orb lifting from a far canyon, which was attacked by an orange beam of magic that could only come from Tirek.

A few moments later the response came, and he was bathed in a beam the same colours as the orb, eliciting a pained yell from him. You couldn’t see what happened from where you were, but a multicolour aurora burst into the sky and spread across the land, the ponies whose magic was drained coming back around as their magic returned to them. The orb returned to the canyon, from which a rainbow sprouted and something moved along it to the other side. The ponies around you began shaking, and a building started to move out of the ground, forming into a large castle. “Well, you don’t see that everyday.”

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, then chuckled as you realised air would no longer be a problem, turning to look at the two unicorns to your side. “Father, grandpa.” The elder stallion lay a hoof on your shoulder, giving you a small nod.

“Come, Polter, it is time.” You looked around the town one last time, then stood up and began walking with your family, giving a chuckle as your grandfather continued. “Just remember, you got to fondle an alicorn’s wings. Not many, either in life or the other world, can say they’ve done that.”

“POLTER!!!” The three of you stopped walking and turned back towards your body as a lavender blur skidded to a stop next to it, Twilight taking it in her forelegs as she began to sob, the townsponies realising what the issue was very quickly. Your first instinct was to go back and comfort her, but a hoof to each shoulder told you that you couldn’t, not any more.

“Leave her to mourn, Polter. Come.” Turning away, you continued walking from the town until you arrived at a beach, one that you had seen before. “Well, son, this is it for you. I’m sorry it was so soon, but you’ve made me proud.” Even though the words would have warmed you if you had a physical body, you could still hear the grief stricken cries of Twilight Sparkle, once target of your misdeeds, but always a target of your affection.

You did your best to tune them out as you moved into your new home, and the building that your forebears’ spirits inhabited. “You’ll be feeling tired for awhile as you get used to it, so you should let your spirit rest. Trust me on this.” You did feel rather sleepy, so moved past your grandfather and settled onto the spectral couch, muffled voices around you as you drifted off to slumber.

Princess Twilight Sparkle, element of magic, princess of friendship, and another notch under her belt as Equestria’s saviour… was miserable. Her friends and family all tried to help, but none could get through to her as she sat in the lowest level of her new castle. It had been an act of desperation, but it had succeeded somewhat. Now she spent her days listlessly staring at her creation, only eating small meals, and even then not much of it before she returned to her visuals.

Medical professionals had tried to persuade her that nothing could be done, that it was pure luck she had even got the heart started once more, but she would not believe he was gone. Even when Celestia came to talk with her, Twilight was aggressively defiant, telling her mentor and fellow princess that the body she was keeping alive wouldn’t be leaving her care until the day she died.

Even Cadance had failed in persuading her otherwise, and slowly only two beings came to visit her, one being her faithful assistant Spike. The other was more because his guilt forced him, and he didn’t even try to stop her when Twilight attacked him; if he were a mere mortal, he would be very lucky to still be alive. So now Discord was helping in his own way, protecting this room from entry to all but those Twilight wished to see. The draconequus set a paw down gently on her shoulder, and she found a strange comfort in his presence. They had become close friends as of the past two weeks, and he had tried to dissuade her from her planned course of action, but even he couldn’t outright control free will. “Are you sure you still want to go through with this?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I just hope I’m not too late.” What Twilight didn’t know was that outside the shield waited a whole host of ponies, primarily the alicorn’s friends and family, ready to move in once Discord let them through. Back in the room, he carefully helped Twilight mark out the symbols with which she needed to make this work, and she carefully checked them over. “Okay, that’s perfect. Now one last thing.”

“Twilight, please be careful. I’d hate to lose such a good friend.” Seeing the mare waving the him down, he crouched to her level and she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, sending him into a confused silence as he left the room. Ensuring she would be ready this time, Twilight took a knife in her magic and cut into her leg, letting her blood drip into the centre of the magic circle. She quickly dressed the wound and lay down on the floor, watching as a swirling blue portal appeared. Then she felt herself drawn towards it.

Author's Note

Well... shit.

There you go, story's over.

...what are you all still doing here? You.. you want more?