I WILL See You Again
Twilight looked up from her photo album as she heard the door open. She was only slightly surprised to see Princess Luna standing in the doorway. She went back to her desktop and absentmindedly waved to her fellow princess.
“Hello, Luna. Please, come in, make yourself at home.”
Luna did so, choosing to take a seat on a cushion near to Twilight’s desk, “greetings, Twilight, and thank you.” After a short silence, Luna addressed Twilight once more, “Twilight, I have come to see how you are doing. I know this time of year has always been hard on you.”
Twilight took a deep breath as she lowered her head, then she looked up at Luna, “yes, that’s true, it has always been hard. It has been even harder these recent years, now that Spike has moved out of the library.”
“I understand, fully.”
“Yes, yes I suppose you do understand. Probably better than anypony else.” Twilight stood and approached Luna and wrapped her forelegs around the night princess. At one time, this would have been almost comical with their size difference, but a pony does a lot of growing in five hundred years. The two were close to the same height now.
“You could always speak with Princess Cadence.”
“I have, and I do. After Shining Armor, we were able to console each other for a while, but that only goes so far.”
“How long has it been?”
A deep, ragged breath came from the younger alicorn, “two hundred fifty eight years, eleven months, twenty-five days and seven hours.” Luna looked at her with mild shock. “What? A moment like that kind of sticks in the mind,” Twilight smirked a little.
“Yes, I suppose it does.” Luna lowered her head a little, “he did pass without pain at the very least.”
“Yes, it was the least I could do for him after all he did for us. One hundred and twenty years he protected us and loved us.” Her voice was starting to catch in her throat.
“A rather respectable lifetime for a pony.” Ponies lived to an average of about one hundred and thirty five to one hundred and fifty years, depending on their lifestyle. Rick’s life would have been shorter if it weren’t for Twilight’s healing magic, the life of a protector was a rough one, though by the time they reached eighty years, the guard had become fully capable of defending Equestria against any threat, thanks to training from Shining Armor, Rick Rhinestone and of course, Twilight.
“Yes, I suppose that’s true. His death was hard on all of us, but more so on Fluttershy, I think. She never cried, though. He had always been adamant that she never be made to cry, so I think she just wanted to respect his wishes. But she just shut down, gave up on life after that.” Tears started to form in Twilight’s eyes, “she didn’t even make the year.”
Luna squeezed Twilight again. “I remember, at the least the other Element bearers lived long lives. The magic within the Elements saw to that.”
“Mhmm, Rarity’s name had become synonymous with fashion and her shops still appear in cities all over Equestria. Rainbow was the most famous Wonderbolt ever. Pinkie’s grandfoals still manage to keep Ponyville happy and friendly. And, thanks to Applejack’s planning, Sweet Apple Acres became the biggest name in produce ever known. Rick would have been proud.”
“He is proud,” Luna looked Twilight in the eye, “you know this to be true.”
“Hmm, yes, thanks to you helping us meet in my dreams. I only wish we could be together longer.”
“You know, my sister believes you blame her for this and are secretly angry with her for making you immortal and keeping you from joining him and the others in Elysium.”
“I know she does, but please tell her it’s not so.” Twilight returned to her desk and looked back at her photos from earlier. She cast a restoration spell on it for the twentieth time. “Besides, I’m working on something right now that should help with all this loneliness.”
Luna grew very concerned, very quickly, “Twilight, my friend, you are not planning anything… drastic, are you?”
“What? Oh, no, no. I do not have any desire to end my time here. I still have friends, I see my family as often as I can, plus, Spike still comes in to assist me with my work.”
“Then, what are you working on?”
“I could show you, but I will need your help, if you could?”
Luna nodded, “as long as you truly have no desire to cause yourself harm, then I will.”
Twilight smiled, “thank you, Luna, you are a true friend.”
They both went down into Twilight’s lab in the basement of the Golden Oaks Library. She had moved back into the old treehouse after Rick’s passing, saying that the home they shared just had too many painful memories. It had expanded over the years, as trees do, which allowed space for all the books she had acquired in the centuries.
There was a stone archway against one wall that seemed to not lead anywhere except a blank wall. Luna looked at it with some confusion. At first glance, there was nothing untoward about it. Upon closer inspection, Luna could see runes etched into to stones with magic.
“What do you plan to do with this, Twilight, and what do you need me to do?”
“I simply need you to feed me some of your magic, mine alone isn’t enough.” Twilight looked up at the archway, “as to what it’s for, it is a gateway. It will lead to my happiness.” She looked down at the floor before turning to Luna, “I only wish I could find a way to make it stable. This may be the only time I can make it work, but at least it will give me a few days, rather than just a couple hours like my dreams.”
“Are you certain it will work?”
“Only one way to find out.”
Luna bowed her head as a sign of agreement. She then raised her head high as her horn glowed intensely. A blue lightning bolt erupted from the tip of her horn and connected with Twilight’s. Twilight seemed to be in pain for a time. Suddenly, Twilight’s eyes shone with a white light, the intensity of which hadn’t been seen since she last used the Elements with her friends against Discorde. Twilight’s magic shot out and struck the center of the archway and slowly started to boil before it filled the archway completely.
Luna and Twilight watched the glowing, boiling portal. Luna turned to Twilight and saw her panting from the strain before a smile spread across her face.
“Did it work?”
“Yes, Luna, I think it did.”
Twilight walked up to it. She reached out with a hoof and it passed through. “I think it did. Now I’m going to find out for sure.”
Before Luna could even protest, Twilight leapt through the portal and was gone. She tried to look around, but was blinded by the bright light that filled the area. She could feel grass under her and a breeze on her cheek. Her ears picked up the sound of birds singing and she could smell… apples?
“Twi, Twilight, is that you?”
“Applejack?” Twilight blinked away the last bit of blindness and opened her eyes. Before her was somepony she thought she would never see again. In fact, there were several ponies that she had longed to see for several hundred years. She galloped as fast as the tears in her eyes would allow and tackled AJ, Rarity and Fluttershy in a hug. While the four of them rolled around giggling, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash jumped on top of them.
She looked around from the center of the pile and saw all her friends that she had lost. There was Evening Star, Shining Armor, Big Macintosh and more than she could count. While she was happy to see them all, they weren’t the pony she wanted to see the most.
“Hello, Twilight.”
She jumped up so quickly, that her friends were flung several feet. There he was, though not a pony, rather, he was a human. His face still had the scars, though they weren’t as pronounced as they were when he was alive. He had always said he was proud of his scars since he earned them protecting those he loved.
“Rick, sweet Celestia, it’s been so long.” She galloped up to him and leapt into his arms. He hugged her tight and kissed her gently. Her tears were soaking his shirt.
After some time had passed, he let her down to the ground. Four other humans approached them. They were all smiling at the pair. Twilight recognized two of them, she had seen their faces many times in a picture. Rick looked over his shoulder at them before turning back to Twilight.
“C’mon, there’s someone I want you to meet.”
Author's Note
I had to write this simply to get it off my mind. I couldn't focus on anything else 'til it was done.