Drift
By Pen Stroke
Preread, Edited, and Reviewed By
Obselescense, Kirk Heller
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Twilight paused in front of Sugarcube Corner, a place that seemed so similar but had undergone such change over the years. It was still a corner shop, bringing the smells of sweet baked goods to any pony that passed through the neighboring intersection. It had, however, grown taller. The once gingerbread-themed roof had been moved up to make room for a second floor. The singular cupcake topper had become a trio stacked one atop another to resemble a tiered wedding cake.
But perhaps the oddest thing Twilight found was how much shorter the door seemed. Had she really grown so much?
“Princess Twilight, would you like us to accompany you inside?”
“No, thank you. Just keep watch at the door please,” she said to the guards who had accompanied her to Ponyville. She already felt this was going to be awkward enough. She didn’t need to be apologizing for the fact that she had soldiers intruding on what was a long overdue get-together. Turning her eyes back to the door, Twilight began to walk up slowly.
How long had it been since they had all been together? It was hard to remember anymore. She wanted to say it was the opening of Fluttershy’s Animal Sanctuary. Even after all the time that had passed, it was mind boggling to think of how much money Fluttershy had won in Las Pegasus. It was still the standing record for the largest slot machine payout in the world, and Twilight still believed Discord had something to do with it.
Of course, trying to prove that was like trying to understand Discord himself: utterly impossible.
Yet, as Twilight reached the door to Sugarcube Corner, she realized that Fluttershy’s animal hospital had already celebrated the first anniversary of its founding. Certainly it hadn’t been over a year. No, it hadn’t been. She could remember now. The last time had to be when Applejack had her third foal. Everypony had been there for that, hadn’t they?
No, now that Twilight thought back, Rarity hadn’t been able to make it. She had been overseas when it happened, a fashion show in the Griffon Kingdom. Rarity had visited Applejack, to give her more baby clothes than any child would ever need, but that was a few weeks later.
Had it really been over a year? She didn’t want to believe it was true, but her memory was failing to provide evidence to the contrary.
Though, perhaps that didn’t matter. They were visiting each other today. That’s what was important. Smiling, Twilight called on her magic, opened the door, and ducked her head to step inside. It still shocked her sometimes to look back at her records and see how much she had grown after becoming a princess. It was like going through a second puberty without the acne or mood swings but all the dramatic growth. She was even a bit taller than Luna now.
“Punctual as a Zap Apple as always, Twilight. It’s... Cortland, grab your sister!”
“I got her, mom!”
Twilight chuckled to herself. A storm of chaos, better known as children, had overtaken Sugarcube Corner’s interior. Applejack’s eldest son, Cortland, was scooping his middle sister, Jubilee, away from the buffet where she had been tugging on the table cloth. Pinkie Pie’s own girls were running about, playing a game that only they and Pinkie Pie knew the rules to. Finally, the newest addition, Applejack’s filly Sundance, was in her highchair. Twilight couldn't help herself and estimated that fifty percent of Sundance’s body was sticky from the gooey remains of a slice of apple pie she had been given.
And while Twilight was always happy to see all the young ponies, her attention was focused on the farm mare who was standing before her. She pulled Applejack into a hug. It felt good, but... maybe not as good as it should have. No, that was impossible. It was probably just the size difference that made it feel awkward. She had probably gained another inch or something.
“It’s so good to see you,” Twilight said.
Applejack pulled away from Twilight, nodding her head. “It’s good to see you too, Sugarcube. It feels like it’s been too long.”
“Yeah, like when I’m sitting, waiting for a cake to bake, and I don’t have another cake to mix. That always feels like it takes too long. That and boiling water. By the way, why do ponies say a watched pot never boils? I watched one once with Sprinkle, and it did boil. But it took what felt like a super long time!”
Twilight turned her head back, seeing Pinkie Pie laying across her back. For once, she wasn’t surprised. She had seen Pinkie Pie creeping out of the corner of her eye. “How’s the bakery doing, Pinkie?”
“It’s doing great!” Pinkie Pie answered. Twilight watched her slide back to the floor, landing gently. Twilight would almost say gingerly, but that couldn’t be right. Pinkie Pie never did anything gingerly unless she was placing the last candle on a birthday cake. It just must have been her imagination again. “Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake are really doing Cupcake and Carrot well. Oh, and before you ask, those two are having a blast. I never knew they could be so much fun until they retired.”
“And of course Pinkie Pie’s here in case those two get in over their head. Always the babysitter, right, Pinkie?”
Twilight turned to look to the new voice, the one she still had the pleasure of hearing fairly regularly. Rarity came up, dressed in her best as always. It was the latest fashion, something focused around triangles and sharp edges. Twilight didn’t understand it, but then again, fashion had never been her forte.
“Right!” Pinkie Pie chirped happily. “But don’t let those two hear you say that. They might get cranky and I’ll have to put them down for a nap.”
The four mares laughed together as they moved away from the door, taking a seat at a large table that had been set up for the event. It was the very same table that Celestia had sat at when she came to visit Ponyville with Philomena. Twilight almost felt awkward sitting in the same seat Celestia had used, but none of the other seats were big enough for her anymore.
“So, where are Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, focusing her question to Rarity since Applejack and Pinkie Pie were rounding up their children and getting them seated at the nearby kids' table.
“A little letter with spaghetti legs and, if I may say, a rude attitude came just before you arrived. As you would guess, it was from Discord. Fluttershy is running just a little late. Her animal sanctuary’s getting a few new arrivals and you know her, she always wants to be there to greet them. Discord, however, will be dropping her off before he heads out of town. He wrote in the letter that he didn’t want to ruin our little get-together.”
“Let me guess, he didn’t want to ruin the day for Fluttershy,” Twilight commented.
“No, it was... Pinkie Pie, how did Discord word it?”
Pinkie Pie finished getting her girls seated at the kids table, each a variation on the color pink except for one gray little mare who reminded just about everypony of Pinkie’s sister, Maud Pie. “He said he didn’t want to incur the wrath of the Great and Powerful Princess Prissy Pants and her Pristine Purple Guard.”
The children giggled. Twilight just rolled her eyes and looked back to Rarity. “And what about Rainbow Dash?”
“Hey, I’m never the last to a good party.”
“Speak of the storm,” Applejack said as Rainbow Dash zipped in through the window. Twilight wouldn’t have been surprised in the least to hear that Rainbow had been waiting outside for just the right moment to make her entrance. The children cheered. Some leapt up from the seats they had only just been placed in and rushed to Rainbow Dash, energetically welcoming their mothers’ “cool” friend.
“Hey, now all of you get back to yer table,” Applejack scolded as she got up from her own seat. She shooed the children back before bumping hooves with Rainbow. “You didn’t seem as fast as last time ya came barreling in like that? Your wing still bothering ya?”
Rainbow waved off Applejack’s concern. “Nah, I’m just taking it easy. I don’t like it, but it’s the doctor’s and Spitfire’s orders.”
“Did something happen to your wing, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked.
“I’m surprised you didn’t hear, darling,” Rarity said. “She had a bad landing at the end of a show in Manehattan. Banged up her wing. She’s been grounded for a month now. I honestly thought I’d see her on the train when I was coming down from Canterlot.”
“Like a wing can keep me down for long,” Rainbow Dash said. “Besides, it let me get some reading in with my colts. We were a few books behind on Daring Do, but now we’re all caught up.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t hear about that, Rainbow, but I’m glad your wing is doing better.” Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Why hadn’t she heard about that? Had she missed a letter? Or was a letter not even sent? Sure, it didn’t sound like Rainbow Dash was in any real pain or trouble. Twilight would almost say Rainbow enjoyed the downtime, which was hard to believe. Sure, the Rainbow Dash she knew liked naps and lounging, but not being allowed to fly should have driven her crazy.
“So I take it the boys are with their father today?” Rarity asked, using her magic to pick something from the buffet table and set it on her plate.
“Yeah, they aren’t quite up for flying all the way from Cloudsdale to Ponyville,” Rainbow answered, taking to her wings. Seeing Rarity get food had inspired the others. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow were filling their plates while Twilight, like Rarity, used her magic to grab something from a distance. No sense trying to squeeze out from behind the table. “What about you, Rarity? Is Gem with her dad today?”
“Oh, yes, they’re seeing the Canterlot Zoo together. Gem has to do a little project for school on one of the animals. It’s a shame. It has been so long since we’ve had a big play date.” Rarity’s eyes wandered to the kids table, where the children were laughing and snacking on sugary treats. “That reminds me, Applejack, how is Fluttershy doing with that stallion I introduced her to last time I was here? I don’t want to press her about it, but I do hope it’s going well.”
“Sorry to tell ya, but it went about as well as the last one.”
“There’s been more than one?” Twilight asked, feeling a bit disconnected. Fluttershy was dating? Since when had that happened? Fluttershy had always seemed so devoted to her animals that she'd never taken too big of an interest in stallions. It had always been a shame, in Twilight’s mind, that such a caring mare didn’t have a child of her own yet.
“It all started on Hearts and Hooves day this past spring,” Rarity said after swallowing a nibble of her food. “Applejack and Pinkie Pie had a double date with their husbands and ran into Fluttershy. The poor dear was in town all by herself, just picking up more food for animals. She didn’t have a single stallion ask her out. So, we decided to try to introduce her to some male friends of ours.”
“Unfortunately, none of them tend to last very long,” Applejack said between bites of an apple fritter.
“Why’s that?” Twilight asked.
“Discord,” Rarity answered matter of factly. “Somewhere along the line he always pops in to see Fluttershy, and unfortunately, no stallion seems keen on the idea of dating a mare who is personal friends with an all-powerful spirit of chaos.”
“I still think you girls are ignoring the most obvious answer,” Pinkie Pie said, crumbs from a cookie flying from her lips.
Rarity shook her head. “I am sorry, Pinkie, but no matter how many times you say it, I just can’t believe that Discord and Fluttershy are an item. Even if they were, why would they keep it a secret from us? Why wouldn't Discord just take Fluttershy out for a date right in the middle of town? It would certainly cause a lot of chaos. I imagine every newspaper in the country would be running the story.”
“But that’s where his plan is the most brilliant.” Pinkie Pie waved a hoof in the air for emphasis. “Rumors are one of the best kinds of chaos. No pony is sure what to believe. It keeps everypony off kilter. It makes friends have arguments about what’s real and what’s made up.”
“Oh, I hardly believe that,” Rarity said before taking a sip from her drink.
“Really? Because it sure looks like you and Pinkie Pie are having an argument right now,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.
Rarity choked a little on her drink but didn’t spill a drop. She lowered her cup, dabbed her chin with a napkin, and then politely answered. “I would say we were having a friendly discussion about that matter, not an argument. In any case, Fluttershy will be here any minute and I don't think we should be caught gossiping about her.”
Twilight and the others agreed, their conversation moving onto the topic of school and children. Fluttershy arrived partway through the conversation, and the little party continued for hours. They talked, catching up on everything and anything. They laughed at new and old stories. They congratulated one another on recent accomplishments. All the while Twilight smiled, though on the inside one fact nibbled at the back of her mind.
There was so much she should have known.
Celestia announced herself with only a few gentle knocks before opening the door a crack. “Twilight, do you have a minute?”
Twilight turned away from her writing desk, which was currently cluttered with haphazard stacks of papers and a few books. It was a familiar sight for one of Twilight’s research binges, and the titles of the books were often a clue to the concern. The books before Twilight, however, had no titles, but Celestia recognized them all the same. They were from the castle’s private records. One was a compendium of Twilight’s friendship reports. The few other books in the pile were the extended diary that Twilight and her friends kept, a collection that was continuing to grow as the mares continued to live their lives.
“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked, one of her wings instinctively blocking the view of her desk and some of the books.
“I suppose that’s what I’m here to find out,” Celestia answered as she stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. “How was your visit with your friends today?”
“Oh, it was wonderful. I caught up with everypony and we talked all afternoon. It was so nice to see them all again. It had been way too long,” Twilight answered.
“So there weren’t any problems. You didn’t get in an argument with any of them, did you?”
“No, of course not. What would make you ask that?”
“Well, ponies normally don’t order their division of the royal guard to observe their friends,” Celestia answered.
Twilight forced a smile, opening her mouth once to answer only to close it a second later. Her smile then fell away as she lowered her wings, giving up hiding the books and papers on her desk. “Spike told you, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t be mad at him about it. Luna and I would have found out sooner or later.” Celestia motioned to a small table in the corner of Twilight’s room, a place where she’d occasionally eat her meals or midnight snacks. Celestia took a seat on one of the cushions adjoining the table and waited for Twilight to join her before continuing. “So, do you want to tell me what happened?”
“I had a great time," Twilight answered. "I caught up with my friends about so much, and I told them about the stuff I’ve been doing recently. It’s just...”
“Yes?”
“It felt like we had too much to catch up on,” Twilight said, her brow furrowed and lips turned down in a mixture of concern and frustration. “It felt like I had missed out on so much. A good friend should know when one of her friends broke her wing. She should also know that one of her friends has started dating. She should also know that one of her friends is expanding her veterinary hospital to include a zoo for animals that can’t return to the wild.
“But I didn’t know any of that,” Twilight continued. “A good friend is supposed to know all that, to keep in touch with her friends, but I got so far behind. Even with all the friendship reports I’ve done and I’ve made such a basic mistake. That’s why I sent my guards out. They’ll watch my friends and be able to tell me if anything happens.”
“No pony can say your heart isn’t in the right place, Twilight. But, I think there is one more friendship lesson you need to learn, one that I can help teach you,” Celestia said, getting up from her seat and heading for the door. “Please, follow me.”
“Where are we going? To the library?” Twilight asked, standing up to follow Celestia.
“Oh no, we're going to your parents' house.”
Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, tilting her head to one side. She just stared at Celestia, watching as her mentor and fellow princess left the room and turned down the hall. She then rushed forward, almost skidding on her hooves as she galloped to catch up with Celestia. “Wait, what?”
“I am terribly sorry to come unannounced,” Celestia said, she and Twilight sitting in the living room of Twilight’s parent’s house. Twilight Velvet and Night Light, however, didn’t appear offended at all. They wore big smiles, Velvet setting down a plate of quickly assembled treats before taking a seat next to her husband.
“It’s no trouble at all, Your Highness. It’s nice to get an unexpected visit from you and Twilight,” Night Light reassured.
“All the letters are nice but we don’t get to see our little girl often enough,” Velvet said, her words making Twilight blush a bit in embarrassment.
“Well, she is very busy being a princess,” Celestia said with a small chuckle as she helped herself to a single cookie from the plate. “Still, though it may seem odd, I was wondering if we might take a look at something.”
“What did you want to look at, Your Highness?” Velvet asked.
“Do either one of you have your university yearbook?”
Velvet and Night Light glanced at one another, as if to silently ask one another where their yearbooks might be. There was a few moments of head scratching and going back and forth about when the books were last seen. The parental pair then left, the sounds of rummaging filling the house for a few minutes before they returned wearing triumphant smiles.
“Here they are,” Night Light said, setting the pair of books on the table. “These are our respective university yearbooks. Mine is the one from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and your mother’s is the one from Manehatten University.”
“Thank you,” Celestia said, levitating the book off the top of the pile. She cracked it open, skimming through the pages.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Your Highness, but just why did you want to see them?” Velvet asked. “It’s been so long since Night Light and I have been students. I don’t see how anything from back then could be of help today.”
“You would be surprised,” Celestia said before she nodded once. “Ah, here we go. If I’m not mistaken, Night Light, this is a picture of you with the other members from my school’s Astronomy Department.”
Night Light took the book from Celestia, looking fondly at the picture. “Yeah, that’s us. Can you believe I used to wear my mane like that?” He turned the book, letting Velvet see the picture first before showing it to Twilight. The picture of a much younger Night Light showed him with a longer mane, one that reached down to his knees.
“You look... really good, dad,” Twilight managed to choke out between a few giggles.
“Like I said, that was what was popular back then.”
“Yes, it was,” Celestia said, chuckling a bit to herself. “Now, if you don’t mind me asking, are there any friends of yours in that picture?”
“There are,” Night Light answered. He formed a small arrow with his magic, using it to point out faces from the photograph. “This was my roommate Comet Tail. He and I lived together for three years before graduating together. This is Focal Point. He and I had a lot of classes together and ended up hanging out on the weekends. He could do the best impressions. He even performed at few of the open mic nights at the campus coffee club. And Twilight, you’ll remember Meteor Shower. After graduation he and I both got hired at the Canterlot Observatory. You and his little filly used to go to be in the same class before you got accepted at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”
“From the sounds of it, those stallions were really good friends,” Celestia commented.
Night Light turned the book back around, looking at the picture again. “They were.”
“Tell me, do you know where they are now?”
Night Light glanced up at Celestia, caught a little off guard by the question before looking back down at the book. “Well... hmmmmm. I know Meteor Shower moved to Trottingham. He got selected to be the director of a new observatory there. I think he’s still doing that, or would he have retired by now. Comet Tail, if I remember right, was going to go take a half-year vacation before starting work. He wanted to see the world. I welcomed him back after his trip but never heard where he ended up getting work. And Focal Point... I honestly don’t know what happened to him.”
“You didn’t keep in touch with them?” Twilight asked, a bit disbelieving.
“Well... I guess not. I got a promotion about the same time Meteor Shower got hired in Trottingham. That was also about the time I started dating your mother. I guess I just... never really noticed before.”
Celestia and Twilight stepped out of the house an hour later. They had sat and talked a while longer, Twilight hearing stories from her parents’ days as university students and their early careers. They were good stories, some making all four of them laugh loudly. But certain thoughts hung over Twilight the entire time. Thoughts that returned to the forefront of her mind as she and Celestia boarded the royal chariot.
“So, Twilight,” Celestia began, breaking the silence that had fallen between them as the chariot took off for the castle. “What did you think of your parents’ stories?”
“They were nice,” Twilight answered. “But... I still can’t believe my father lost touch with his friends like that. Is that... is that what’s happening to me and my friends?”
“In a way, it is,” Celestia answered.
“But why? We haven’t fought with one another. We didn’t have an argument. Nothing's happened to our friendship, so why does it feel like it’s slipping away?”
“There is a season for everything, Twilight. It is perhaps one of the bitterest truths in this world,” Celestia said, her voice the calm tone of a teacher speaking to a student. “A flower planted in spring often dies in winter. Even if it leaves its seeds behind, the original plant can never be regained. Things never stay the same. This world, and the ponies in it, are constantly changing.
“Twilight, your friends have changed since you first met them. Four of them have become wives and mothers. Three achieved their wildest dreams while the other two continued the proud legacies they were only just starting when you first arrived in Ponyville. You have changed as well, perhaps in the most drastic way. Not every little pony unlocks the great mysteries of friendship and becomes a princess.”
Celestia turned her head, looking out at her sister’s pristine night sky. “From your own reports you have learned how friendships come to be. That special bond grows between ponies who share similar experiences. You share something in common. It can be something as simple as living in the same town. It can also be something as grand as being those chosen to wield the Elements of Harmony.
“Your father once shared something in common with those three ponies he pointed out to us. They were all students of the astronomy department of my school. That was how they met and came to know one another. It was in sharing the challenges of university that they forged their bond of friendship. But, when that commonality goes away, so too do the bonds of friendship begin to weaken.”
“But it isn’t impossible to stay friends, right?” Twilight said.
“No, it’s not,” Celestia answered reassuringly. “But it takes more effort to maintain. You and your friends are doing what you can. The get-together you had today is proof of that. But remember, once upon a time you six usually saw one another every other day. Now it’s a challenge to get all of you together a few times a year.
“The natural drift that can occur between friends is unfortunately something very few ponies in this world are able to avoid, Twilight.”
“So is that the friendship lesson you wanted me to learn? That I’ll lose my friends because we grow too different? I mean... I’ve always been afraid that... that one day, because I’m a princess, that I’d have to say goodbye... but I didn’t think it would be while they were still alive.”
Celestia extended a wing, draping it over Twilight’s back to try and comfort her. “I believe that you and your friends will be able to resist the drift until the nature of their mortality reaches its unavoidable end, Twilight. And while it’s important for you to know about the natural fading of friendships, it isn’t the lesson I feel you need to learn.”
“Then what is it?” Twilight asked.
“Never stop making friends,” Celestia said, a motherly smile on her lips. “You will always have memories of the friends you’ve made. Your father still fondly remembers those ponies he shared his years at university with. But he also kept making new friends. He made friends with the ponies at his workplace. He met your mother, and eventually came to marry her as a lover and as a best friend. He met and became friends with the parents of the fillies and colts you went to school with.
“If you do that, I think you’ll find it’s the best way to honor the friends you had in the past.” Celestia took her wing away from Twilight, her eyes wandering back to Luna’s stars. “You’ll find that, no matter how many friends you leave in the past, you can look forward to the future and the new friends that could be waiting just around the bend.”
Celestia’s words were like a balm to Twilight's concerns. They carried with them the weight of truth, the knowledge not gained from a book but through personal experience. And, slowly, Twilight felt her fears and concerns being eased. They still lingered, like the dull pain from an old injury, but now they seemed much more tolerable. “Thank you, Celestia.”
“Any time, Twilight,” Celestia said as the chariot landed at the castle’s front entrance. “Now, I think it’s time we both went to bed. Though, before you do, you should probably—”
“Call back the guards I sent to basically spy on my friends?” Twilight said, chuckling nervously as she realized how creepy her orders had been.
“Yes,” Celestia answered with a nod, “and perhaps you’d like to tell me how your friends are doing over a late night snack. I think there’s still a bit of cake left over from that dinner party last week.”
“I think I’d like that a lot.”
