Fluttershy didn’t speak, but she stood up and hugged Twilight close, wrapping her forelegs around her friend’s shoulders. “Okay,” she whispered into Twilight’s ear, then shifted her grip and threw the purple alicorn to the ground, mounting her back with her rear hooves pressed against Twilight’s spine, and her forelegs in place around her neck. “I wish… that Discord… wasn’t such a BIG DUMB MEANIE!” she shouted, then let go of Twilight and broke down in tears. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Twilight, but I can’t do it.”

“That’s okay, Fluttershy, don’t cry!” said Pinkie Pie, who hadn’t gone off far, and now ran over to hug the sobbing pegasus.

“Indeed. None of us could do it either,” Rarity said, returning as well, with a dirt-covered Applejack and Rainbow Dash close behind.

Discord rolled his eyes. “Great. The peanut gallery is back for round two.”

“We’re not playing your game anymore, Discord,” Rainbow Dash snapped.

“I know you’re awful torn up about not getting your wish, sugarcube,” said Applejack, lifting Twilight’s chin and meeting her tear-stroked face with a smile. “But whatever happens because of that, we’ll face it together.”

“No,” Twilight sobbed. “We won’t.” She shakily got to feet, and looked around at all of her friends. “I wished for a world of harmony,” she said. “If my wish is revoked, the chance of any of you even being born is… infinitesimal.” She took a deep breath. “It’s not too late. Forget the wishes – if one of you kills me, everything we wished for so far will stay true. You can have your farm, your boutique, your rainbows –“ Rainbow Dash winced. “—and… and harmony! I’ll be gone, but at least you can have each other!”

Rarity’s horn lit up, and her pale blue glow surrounded one of the discarded scissor blades… but it didn’t even leave the ground before she let out her breath and released it. “Then I suppose this is goodbye, after all. I just wish we had more time.”

Twilight chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that’s a meta-wish.”

“Phrased like that, it certainly is,” Discord remarked, then froze, his eagle claw halfway to his mouth with a clawful of popcorn, as all the ponies turned to look at him.

“So we can phrase it differently,” Twilight stated.

“Do you really want to draw this out?” Discord asked. “Far be it from me to cut short this touching display, but this hasn’t really been the most festive of gatherings.”

“I wish the world was tidally locked to the sun,” Twilight said, meeting Discord’s gaze. “To the true sun, which is small enough and faint enough that anypony who saw it would mistake it for a fixed star, just above the horizon. What we think of as the sun is really an artificial replacement controlled by the immortal ruler of the land, and when it goes beneath the horizon, it isn’t a true sunset at all.” Twilight’s ears perked up, and she grinned. “And it’s all true – the evening star is an anomaly, that nopony in the astronomical community was ever able to explain. The wish was granted!”

Discord scowled, and flowed through the air to loom over Twilight Sparkle. “And you really think this will work? That the spell will stay fixed on the ‘true sun’, and a technicality will let this fake world live on in some state of Eternal Twilight?” The last two words were punctuated by him poking her in the face.

“It doesn’t have to stay suspended forever,” Pinkie Pie said. “Just for the rest of her life!”

“If it works at all,” Applejack said, nervously watching the sunset as it became ever more imminent.

Twilight sighed. “It’s a long shot, I admit,” she said. “I’m probably just letting Discord win. But it’s a chance to live, and to be with my friends, so I’ll take it.”

The ponies gathered together for a group hug, then collapsed into a pile to anxiously watch the sunset which might be their last.

“I changed my mind,” Twilight said at the last second. “Somebody kill me, quick!” But it was too late.

Author's Note

For Rowyn, who was annoyed that the story didn't go all the way towards restoring canon.