Celestia's Pride And Regret

Chapters

Chapter 1. Celestia's Regret
Chapter 2. Spike's Tale
Chapter 3. Spike's Tale Pt. 2
Chapter 4. Pinkie Pie's Dejection
Chapter 5. Applejack's Self Reproach
Chapter 6. Rarity's Fall
Chapter 7. Mending Of A Broken Mind
Chapter 8. Mane 5
Chapter 9. Reuinion Shrouded in Sadness
Chapter 10. Closure Long Overdue

Chapter 1. Celestia's Regret

Author's Note

This is my first attempt at writing any sort of story, and I hope y'all like it. If you see a problem please point it out as any help I can get to improve my writing is much appreciated.

Many thanks to my editor Zerxies.

Chapter 1. Celestia's Regret

She wandered around the halls of the royal palace, not caring where she ended up. The only thing she could bring herself to think about was that fateful day she lost one whom she considered a daughter. Lost because of Celestia’s own pride, she had believed that she could cheat the universe and make it possible for that one very special unicorn to live alongside her forever. The universe, apparently, had other plans in mind. Now, instead of having Twilight live alongside her forever, her life was cut short by those whom she loved with all of her heart. How those sweet ponies that were once Twilight’s friends were coping with their loss and guilt, Celestia had no idea.

Celestia thought that when she sent Starswirl’s unfinished spell to change one's destiny that, perhaps, Twilight might accomplish the impossible and become immortal herself. Instead, the elements that they had used many times to save Equestria had turned on her and made her into a pile of ashes. Celestia felt a tear slide down her face and onto her cheek, as she thought back to those poor ponies heart-broken faces.

Celestia could not help but feel responsible, for if she had not sent that book, then twilight would have never gained ascension. Perhaps, she would still be here today. No matter what anypony else told her, these were the thoughts that she kept slipping back to. She then thought about Twilight’s parents, and her oh-so-angry mother. The last time that they had spoken to each other was at the funeral of their daughter…

• • • • Funeral • • • •

A great many ponies gathered around, for Twilight was loved by many. The ubiquitous love for Twilight was not just because she was Celestia’s star pupil, but because of the love and compassion that she showed everypony else (and that whole business of her saving the world with her friends a few times.) So everypony was gathered in the palace gardens to say goodbye to one of the nicest ponies that had ever lived. In the center of the crowd, next to the urn that held their daughters ashes, sat Twilight Velvet and Night Light. Twilight Velvet was refusing to look at the urn as if to deny the fact that her daughter had died. She also refused to allow anyone to get near the urn, including Celestia. When she had first tried to approach, she walked up and tried to say she was sorry. As soon as the words started to come out of her mouth, Twilight Velvet blew up on her.

“Don’t you dare say you are sorry you monster! It is your fault our only daughter is dead!” Twilight Velvet said with hatred in her voice.

Celestia started to speak. “Do you think this is how I wanted this to end? All I wanted was to help Twilight; never would I have intentionally hurt your daughter,”

“You could have stopped this! I have already talked to Twilight’s friends and they told me of the unfinished spell that you sent our daughter. They told me of her working to fix her mistake, then trying to finish the spell. It is your fault, Princess.” Twilight’s mother said, with great emphasis on the word “princess.”

Celestia felt tears well up in her eyes, as she turned around and ran through the crowd back to the castle. The only thing she had seen as she glanced back at the crowd was Twilight Velvet’s contemptuous eyes fixed on her.

• • • • Present • • • •

She never was able to gain the forgiveness of Twilight’s parents. Actually, now that she thought about it, she was unsure of how Night Light felt at all. Twilight’s mother just sort of drowned him out every time he had opened his mouth. Maybe she should go and try and speak to him when he was alone. Seeing as how she had nothing better to do, she decided she might as well head on over to Twilight’s parents house. She was not worried at all, as she knew that Twilight Velvet worked all throughout the day and as such would not be home yet.

She chose to ignore the guards, as she set out from the palace and went on down to the busy streets of Canterlot. While she trotted through, a great many of the ponies looked at her with surprise, for the princess had not been seen outside the palace in weeks. It was for this very reason that Celestia chose to walk rather than fly. She decided that she needed to let her ponies know that she was doing just fine and that there was nothing to worry about.

As she closed the distance to the street that Twilight’s parents lived on, apprehension built up inside of her, until she almost decided to turn her back and retreat to the palace. As she went on many of her little ponies were giving her some rather odd looks. Celestia attributed this to her isolation from the world, and that perhaps they were surprised to see her. As these thoughts ran through her mind she noticed that she had arrived at the Sparkle residence.

Celestia stopped for a moment and tried to pull herself together, before confronting Night Light. Fate must have had other plans for Celestia, for not moments after arriving on the doorstep, the door opened and Night Light looked outwards at the princess.

“It is about time you showed up princess,” He said as he opened up the door the rest of the way.

“I had been expecting you for quite awhile now. That incident with my wife at the funeral was rather unfortunate, and it left me without an opportunity to speak with you about my thoughts on our daughter's death.”

“May I come in?” the princess asked softly.

“But of course. It is not my place to keep royalty standing outside. Whether I resented you or not, that would be downright rude. Anyways, please do make yourself at home; I think that we might be talking for awhile.” Night Light said politely.

“Thank you Night light.” the princess responded as she crossed the threshold, going into the house. She noticed, much to her surprise, that a picture of Twilight was nowhere to be found. As she sat there staring at the walls, she heard Night Light behind her start to speak and so she turned around.

“My wife did not take well to the news of our daughter's death. After we returned from the funeral, she tore down every picture of Twilight and turned the house upside down looking for anything that mentioned our daughter. She locked every single one of these things in a chest under our bed.”

“I am so sorry, I had never meant to hurt your daughter. I only did what I thought was the best for her and what I thought would further her in life. I only wanted to make her happy, but now she is gone forever,” Celestia’s voice slowly rose in volume.” The worst part is that the reason she had the spellbook in the first place was my fault, and it was all for a stupidly selfish reason. I wanted Twilight to be able to stand by my side forever; I did not wish to lose her just as I have lost everyone else. That book was Starswirls’s unfinished recipe for changing one's destiny. I had hoped that this would entail changing one of the constants in everypony's life, birth, and death. I had figured that since there are only two things certain in life, that changing her destiny would make her immortal by changing the fact that she would die. Instead, I served to hasten her death, and now I have come to understand that one must not try and cheat death. The largest problem is if I take a look at myself, my sister, and my niece, I see ponies who will never age- who will never grow old and die. We are proof that eluding death is possible, but we can't share this with other ponies,” Celestia finished all but shouting at Night Light.

Night Light then proceeded to say the one thing she had come here to hear, “I forgive you. I believe that what you did was meant for the best, and that does not even matter. What matters is the fact that you made her life enjoyable. You pushed her into going on adventures and making friends. I had never seen her more happy than when she was under your tutelage. In the end she died happy with her friends.”

“But your wife?”

My wife was driven to madness by pain and despair. Once she heard that Twilight obtained that cursed book from you, she stopped listening to Twilight’s friends. She proceeded to put all of the blame on you. When she left, I decided to wait and catch a later train, so that I could talk to Twilight’s friends some more about her last day. What they said made me respect you more than ever,” he said as a tear fell from his eye.

“What could they possibly have said that would have given you such a high opinion about me?” Celestia asked shocked to hear these words coming from the mouth of one whose daughter she all but murdered.

“It is not my place to say, maybe you should go and visit them sometime to get their opinions on the matter. One last thing- you had a serious logical flaw when thinking about that spell. Say that the spell only affected your death. Why could it not have moved your death closer to you, rather than further out? By your logic, it can kill just as easily as it can help. I am not trying to be harsh with you princess, but next time please think things through a little more carefully,” Night light responded.

“Thank you for being willing to speak to me of this matter,” Celestia said as she stood up to make her way out the door.

“One last thing” he said. “Don't worry about my wife, she will come around in time.”

Celestia decided once she was out the door that She would rather not make the trip back to the palace on hoof. Instead, she cast a teleportation spell to take her directly to her room. As she sat there staring down at her kingdom, though one of the many windows that lined the walls of her room, that maybe it was time for one last set of friendship reports.

Chapter 2. Spike's Tale

Nopony ever seemed to remember Spike. He thought this odd, as he was all but the son of the now deceased Twilight Sparkle, and was now left alone to think back on his life. When Spike thought of a mother, only two faces popped into his head. There was, of course, Twilight, but then there was also Princess Celestia. Princess Celestia, that was a name that brought many emotions to Spike’s mind. There was love for one of the only parental figures he has, then there was a bitter anger for what she had done to Twilight. For it was ultimately the princess's fault, in his eyes, she was the reason Twilight was dead.

Now, there were plenty of ponies that were willing to argue this fact. They'd say that Twilight would rather of had the death she did have, rather than dying in any other way. To Twilight, the most important things were pleasing her teacher and the pursuit of knowledge. In the end, she died trying to complete an unknown spell that her teacher entrusted her with. So twilight died doing as she loved, not only that, but she was surrounded by those that were most important to her when she passed. Spike honestly could not have thought of a better death for her, though that was his only solace in this matter.

The citizens of Ponyville had been nice enough to let him continue on living in and running the library. Spike appreciated their thoughtfulness, but they had failed to take into account what kind of memories that he now had to live with everyday. The worst were Twilight’s friends, for they each felt guilty and believed that it was their fault, considering that they were the ones wielding the elements when they went off. Because of this, they felt that Spike would blame them and took to avoiding him as much as possible. Since they would not go near him, he had never gotten the chance to explain that he did not believe that any of them had done anything to deserve the blame. As far as Spike was concerned, this was all the fault of the princess.

Again, his thoughts came back to the princess. Maybe it had to do with the fact that ever since the death of Twilight, she had not said a word to him? She is one of the only ponies in this world whom Spike might call family, and she refused to send even a simple letter. This was the core of his resentment towards Celestia. She never came by to apologize, and seemed to have totally forgotten about the poor dragon. On the other hand, Spike now had a lot of time to himself, with no one telling him what to do; he had no chores and no responsibilities. The problem that came with that was he really had nothing to do, as he had spent the whole of his life following twilight around and helping her out.

Again, Twilight came to mind. It always came back to her. Why was it that even after the last few months she was the only thing he could think of? Maybe he needed a new hobby, something to keep him out of trouble and to help him to get his mind off of Twilight. His new hobby would have to be something that could evoke no memories of her whatsoever, so that he might be able to actually enjoy whatever he might be doing at the time.

Spike just felt so confused nowadays. Before, he always had Twilight to run to for advice, as she would help him with anything he struggled with, and was always willing to listen to his problems. Now Spike had no one to run to. He was all alone with his thoughts, slowly becoming more and more depressed.

Spike slowly rose from his chair and trudged over to the front door. He had decided that since he was not doing anything other than leading his thoughts around in circles that maybe he should go and work on finding that hobby now.

Spike stepped outside and flipped the open/closed sign on the library to say closed. As Spike walked away from the library, he noticed that many ponies were giving him odd looks. Spike attributed this to him not showing his face outside the library since he came back from Twilight’s funeral. A frown came across his face, as he thought back to that day.

• • • • Funeral • • • •

Everypony was gathered at the palace gardens to say their farewells to one of the most loved ponies in Equestria. At the center of the crowd, standing next to the urn holding Twilight’s ashes, were her parents: Night Light, and Twilight Velvet. Spike noticed the princess start to approach the two, and was somewhat curious as to what would happen. Earlier, Twilight Velvet ordered every single one of her daughter’s friends, including Spike, away from the urn. This had hurt Spike more than anypony could know. Most ponies seemed to underestimate Spike’s love for Twilight. Most ponies did not understand that Twilight had been there for him since the day that he had hatched. They did not understand that Twilight was one of only two ponies in all of Equestria that Spike could call family.

Spike sadly observed as a pony that Twilight loved so much was sent away in tears. He could almost understand Twilight Velvet’s frustration towards the princess, considering what had happened, but what about her behavior towards Twilight’s friends? They had done nothing whatsoever to warrant such hostilities. Spike idly wondered if these hostilities had something to do with the trip that Twilight’s parents had taken to Ponyville to understand what had happened to their daughter.

• • • • Present • • • •

Spike knocked into something that felt rather large and solid, causing him to snap out of his reverie. After standing there dazed for a second, Spike saw Big Macintosh towering over him, just sitting there quietly.

Spike decided that he may as well try and speak to him, “Hey there Big Mac,”

His response was met with silence as Big Mac studied spike with pity-filled eyes. Seeing that expression on Mac made Spike angrier than he could ever remember.

“What are you staring at?” Spike exploded, “Go and take your stupid pity elsewhere, I don't need any of it here! I just want to be left alone.”

Spike could see Lyra, Colgate, and several other citizens of ponyville passively observing this confrontation. Most of them had only pity in their eyes when they looked at Spike.

As Spike looked at Mac then the rest of the ponies around, Big Mac started to speak. “I think you should visit Aj. She still blames herself for what happened to Twilight, and I would like to have someone set it straight with her. It would probably be best to come from you, seeing as how you were the one closest to Twilight. All you gotta do is tell her you don't blame her. I am hoping hearing that will alleviate some of her guilt and she might rest a bit easier. Then you might want to consider visiting the rest of the girls and talk to them to see how they feel.”

Spike sat there, somewhat dumbfounded. He had expected all sorts of sympathy from everyone around, instead he was tasked with something. This served to cheer Spike, as he got sick of everypony’s sympathy a long time ago. Spike realized that he was just standing there, with that angry expression still plastered to his face. He cleared his face rather quickly and looked up at Big Mac, who was still waiting for a response.

Spike cleared his throat then said, “I will do it.”

Big Mac nodded his head, then trotted off in the opposite direction. Everypony else who had gathered around, now seeing that the confrontation was over, went about their business. Spike started to retrace his steps back to the library, deciding that he had better think on how he was going to approach Applejack.

As Spike made his way back to the Library, he noticed a familiar pressure in his stomach. It was a feeling that he never expected to feel again since the death of Twilight. He picked up his pace as the pressure continued to build up inside him. He was now all but running and holding it all in his stomach was actually becoming rather painful. Finally, Spike arrived at the library and dashed through its door. After standing there for a few seconds, Spike let out all of the pressure that had built. Out it came, as billowing green smoke with a letter that fell on the floor.

Spike sat there, staring bewildered at the letter. After all this time, she was going to try and talk now? Spike almost decided that it would be better to just scorch the letter and be done with Celestia. As he was about to belch out a few flames to incinerate the letter, Spike considered that, perhaps, she was going to apologize to him, so he slowly reached down to pick up the letter. He then proceeded to open it and read the contents. As he read it, a smile came across his face.

“It looks like I’m paying the girls a visit whether I want to or not now,” Spike chuckled.

Chapter 3. Spike's Tale Pt. 2

A rather large smile lit up Spike’s face, as he re-read the princess’s letter for what must have been the dozenth time. Finally, after all this time, he got a message from the princess, and it wasn't her just ordering Spike around. She was actually apologizing to him and the rest of Twilight’s friends. Spike, unable to wipe the grin from his face, read through it once more.

My most faithful subjects,

Before all else, I wish to apologize for my behavior these past few months. I have not been myself, ever since the passing of Twilight. In my grief, I have abstained any contact with you, all for fear of your resentment. This was a grave mistake on my part, as I now realize that I have left you all to stew in whatever animosity you may have against me. I have decided that it is long past time for me to pay a visit to Ponyville and see all of you. I trust that you all have dealt with Twilight’s passing in a far better manner than I have. Also, I wish to discuss Twilight’s parents, and confirm that they have not said anything that might of harmed all of you.

Spike, I am sincerely sorry for what I have done to you. Instead of consoling you, after the pony that you followed all of your life died, I held my silence, keeping to myself in the castle. I have made a grievous mistake in doing this, and would do anything in my power to try and make amends. We will discuss this further upon my arrival in Ponyville this day next week.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia

Spike’s smile left his face, as his thoughts turned towards Twilight’s friends. He was left to wonder how in Tartarus was he going to get them all together, when they avoid him entirely. He decided that this was an issue he would have to think about in the morning; it was getting late, and he needed some rest and time to think of what he was going to do.

• • • • The Next Morning • • • •

After Spike pulled himself out of bed, he got to work on a plan to get all of Twilight’s friends here. It was a plan that came to him while he was sleeping. He had a dream of being held captive, as Twilight sat there staring at him. Staring at him as if asking why? Why did I have to die? Though the dream haunted him, it gave him an idea that was sure to bring everyone over.

First, Spike had to go and dig out some rope, which he remembered that Twilight kept in the basement. Spike questioned her one time on why she kept her rope down there, but she never would give him a clear answer. To this day it remained a mystery to him. Spike walked on over to the door to the basement and pulled it on open. Spike had never visited the basement before and he found himself wondering about what all might be down there. Deciding that sitting up next to the door thinking about it was going to get him nowhere, he descended into the dark abyss that was Twilight’s basement. Spike felt along the wall until his claw came across the light switch. After flipping the lights on, Spike was met with one of the most amazing sights he had ever seen.

Books, books everywhere. Books, not stacked in neat rows or columns, these books made up a small town. Spike was astounded, and now understood why Twilight never wanted him down here. She was probably worried about him messing stuff up. These books formed an imperfect replica of Ponyville. Spike now also understood why she kept so much rope down here: when books couldn't hold each other up, she used rope of various thicknesses to hold them together. Spike, now intrigued by the sight that lay before him, sauntered up to the replica of the library. He bent over to look inside, and saw a single book laying on the floor. The book was labeled Twilight’s Diary.

Spike left the book where it was, deciding that it was more important to try and get all of Twilight’s friends together for the princess. He walked towards the far wall where it looked like Twilight had a workbench of sorts. Coiled on the wall above it was rope, many variations of rope. Spike grabbed the thickest rope he could, and carried it back upstairs with him.

Spike, upon arriving at the top of the stairs, dropped the rope and went to grab a quill and parchment. Spike had to stop and ponder on what he was going to put in this letter. It had to be something convincing and compelling enough to draw all of Twilight’s friends in.

To whom it may concern,

I have here, beside me, a rather distraught young dragon. He seems to be under the impression that no one is willing to come and help him. According to him, all of his friends now avoid him. This matters not to me, as long as I get paid. In exchange for the freedom of this dragon, I demand a sum of one hundred bits. You have until this time tomorrow to pay up, if he ever to be seen again.

Respectfully, Anonymous

Spike, with his younger mind, thought this a brilliant plan and proceeded to tie himself to a chair. After checking to make sure he was bound securely, he looked at the letter and engulfed it with green flames, sending it to the one he thought he would get the largest and loudest reaction from. He had to make sure that whoever he sent the letter to would get everypony else together to save him from himself.

“Hopefully it won’t be a long wait.’ Spike chuckled to himself.

Chapter 4. Pinkie Pie's Dejection

• • • • Sugarcube Corner • • • •

Pinkie sat there watching the cupcakes bake, with a fervor only she could have. As she watched the cupcakes rise in their pan, she was thinking about the life of a cupcake and how similar it was to that of a pony's. In general, the life of a cupcake was a rather short one. Somepony mixed together the ingredients, put it all into a pan, and threw it into the oven. After they are done cooking, they get all dressed up and get ready to be eaten. The life of a pony was not much more complicated in her eyes. A pony was made when, well Pinkie was not sure how foals were made. She had never given it much thought before, and did not really think it mattered. Anyways, once the foal was made, it went into a momma’s tummy where it sat like a cupcake in an oven, waiting for its time to come out. After that, the little foal went through their life, learning and growing, kinda like a cupcake that is getting decorated. Once the little pony is all grown up and gets old, the pony goes into a sleep that they will never wake up from. The only pony Pinkie knew who went into that kind of sleep had been Twilight.

Twilight. That was a name that stirred many very painful memories for Pinkie. Twilight had been one of Pinkie’s very bestest friends, and when she was gone it left her feeling as if a little piece of who she was went missing. She still threw everypony a lot of parties, but they felt empty to Pinkie. Those parties just didn’t feel right. They didn’t feel right because parties were supposed to make everypony smile and be happy, but the parties didn’t make Pinkie happy anymore. Everytime she threw a party, it reminded her of the first party she threw Twilight when she first arrived in Ponyville.

“Ding”

Oh, she forgot that she had been making cupcakes, and should have known better than to start thinking about Twilight. Such thoughts always made her feel down and get lost in her own thoughts. Baking cupcakes did not even seem that fun to her anymore. It felt like a useless talent now. Her useless talent couldn’t save Twilight when she had needed her the most. Pinkie idly noticed that her mane had started to go limp, but by this point she ignored it.

“My useless talent couldn’t save my friend when she needed me most!” Pinkie screamed at nopony in particular. “Why did she have to die?” Pinkie sobbed, quieting down.

The Cakes heard the screaming and the crying from the main counter of the store. Mrs. Cake came back to try and console Pinkie in her grief.

“Pinkie dear, are you alright?” Asked Mrs. Cake, with sympathetic eyes.

“No, why did she have to die?” Pinkie sniffled, while wiping away a tear with a forehoof.

“Nopony knows why some ponies die, and some live. You just have to learn to accept it and try and move on in your life.” Mrs. Cake said soothingly. “Why don’t you go on to your room upstairs until you feel comfortable with coming back down to the main room.”

“Mrs. Cake, one last thing. Please don’t die.”

The request shook the poor Mrs. Cake to her bones. Pinkie never used the word die, death, or nay word like that before. She did not know whether she should be worried about Pinkie, or if this meant that Pinkie was slowly getting over it.

As she climbed the stairs to her room, Pinkie thought of her friends. They had not talked very much, ever since Twilight’s death. Death, that was an interesting word, certainly a word that Pinkie had never thought of using before. It had an air of finality that Pinkie did not like. She had always been able to do as she pleased, and change her mind on a whim. She did not like anything that was set in stone. It went against her nature. Anyways, they had not talked much since Twilight’s passing because, well, they each thought they were to blame for it. At least that is what Pinkie thought her friends believed. She took this guess, because that was exactly how she had been feeling.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she stopped a second to glance out of the window on the landing. She saw the strangest sight. It looked like Spike had crashed into Big Mac. As Pinkie watched, she saw them talk for a bit, then saw Spike start shouting at Big Mac. She turned her head from the scene. A couple of thoughts ran through her mind, when she looked away. The first thought that had flickered across her mind was how much she hated fighting. She never could understand why everypony couldn’t just get along. The other thoughts that went through her mind were those of Spike.

She had not talked to Spike, since the day of Twilight’s funeral. She was afraid that Spike would hate her, after what she had done to poor Twilight. Once or twice, she had thought about trying to go to Spike to try and see if she could cheer him up. She had even gone as far as hiding in one of the flowerpots in the library, getting ready to jump out at him, but had heard him start crying out for Twilight. Hearing this, she decided that she should probably stay hidden until he was away, so she could leave unnoticed. She had not tried to go near him since that incident.

She walked the last part of the trip to her room wondering what Big Mac and Spike had been fighting about. She approached the door to her room and nudged it open. The sight that lay before her matched her mood perfectly. The decorations had all been torn down, and her various partying devices were covered in dust. Even her beloved party cannon was filled with cobwebs. She took in the scene that was before her, letting out a sigh as she climbed in bed. She was going to take the rest of the day off, she decided. So she sat there in her bed for a bit, pondering her life, before laying her head on down, and waited for the realm of sleep to take her.

• • • • Sometime late at night • • • •

Pinkie was torn from her nightmare-ridden sleep by a bright green flash. She silently thanked whatever it was for freeing her from her nightmares of Twilight. Though, what she saw was something that she had never expected to see again. Before her was a letter. It wasn't that she never expected to see a letter, it was the manner that the letter had arrived that took her by surprise. Spike had sent it. What could have been so urgent that Spike needed to send her a letter now? Did it have to do with his fight with big mac earlier? Deciding that she was going to get nowhere with questions, she began to open up the letter.

As her eyes roamed over the expanse of words on the parchment, a beam lit up her face. She could not remember the last time she had felt so happy.

Chapter 5. Applejack's Self Reproach

The apples fell into the barrel surrounding the trees with a parade of tiny thuds. Applejack looked around her and saw that all of the trees in the orchard had been cleared of the delectable fruit that Sweet Apple Acres was renowned for. It was about time too, she thought, noticing that the sun had gone down and it was rapidly getting darker in the orchard. She sighed as she realized that she still had to haul all of those apples back to the barn. She proceeded to hoist the barrels of apples up into the wagon that she took with her whenever she came out to buck apples. After that task had been completed, Applejack put on the harness attached to the cart, and took off in the general direction of the barn.

As she followed the path that would lead her back, she was trying to think about what she was gonna do tomorrow. This was the last orchard that had needed bucking, and she had just finished. All she had been doing lately was work. She rose at the crack of dawn and worked until the sun went down, after which she ate a quick meal and went off to bed. Shortly after these thoughts had entered her mind, she saw the familiar sights of home. There was the new barn that they had built when Pinkie went crazy, cloning herself more than a few times. Those were good times. Back when her and the rest of the girls still talked and hung out together. Ever since what happened to Twilight, things had not been the same. For a while, they still got together and talked, but had slowly drifted apart. The first one to go was poor Rainbow.

Rainbow was the one that had taken Twilight’s death the hardest, out of the group. Being the element of loyalty and watching, as that very same element joined with the rest to kill her friend had torn her up inside. As far as AppleJack could tell, Rainbow blamed herself as much as she blamed herself. This was the one downside of wanting time on her own to be able to think. Every night her thoughts inevitably turned to Twilight.

Applejack was still not sure what she thought of her role in Twilight’s death. Was she responsible for the death of her friend? The reason she struggled with this was that, though she had been wearing one of the elements at the time, she hadn't felt the familiar glow inside of her when it went off like she had when banishing discord. In fact, she hadn’t felt anything when the elements went off. She had been wondering lately if it wasn’t in fact the elements that had killed Twilight, but instead it might have been the spell that Twilight fixed causing an unknown reaction to the elements... If that was indeed the case, then it would be Celestia’s fault that her friend had died. Gah! What did she know? She was just a dumb workhorse who couldn't even save her friend’s life when she had needed her the most.

The thoughts all melted away, when she reached the entrance to the barn. Thinking time was over. Now it was time to work. She began unloading the wagons, and stacking the barrels of apples over in the corner with the rest of them. This was why she loved working so much. It did not give her the time to think, which meant she would not be dwelling on her friend’s passing.

After she finished her task, she got ready to go on inside the house. Standing outside the door, she wiped herself down, as to not muck of the rest of the house.

Big Mac watched his younger sister, as she went about cleaning up, before going up to her room. He couldn't help but feel worried about her. Ever since the passing of Twilight, she had been working nonstop, never stopping to think about herself. Big Mac was worried that one day she was going to over-exert herself, and get herself hurt. He was thinking that maybe he should go out and find a way to cheer her up, or at least get her away from work. A new hobby perhaps, something else to keep her mind off of Twilight.

Big Mac just shrugged to himself, decided to follow suit, and get going upstairs. He was never very good at talking to others. His size tended to intimidate most folk, so he never got much of a chance to socialize outside of the family. He arrived at the door to his room, when he heard Applejack sobbing in the room next to his. He just shook his head and went into his room.

• • • • The Next Morning • • • •

Applejack woke to the sound of birds chirping outside of her window. She shook her head a few times to clear the sleep from her eyes, before she went about getting up. She was still not sure what she was going to do today, but he sure as hay did not want to be left to her thoughts. She decided that she could work out what she was doing over a nice large breakfast. As she went about going downstairs, she thought about what all needs to be done around the farm. Gutters check, orchards clear check, gah, what needed done? As she racked her brain, she could not think of anything that still had to be done.

“I guess I could always go to town and try and sell some apples.” she said to herself out loud.

First breakfast. She settled with eating a few apple tarts and some applesauce. As she worked on finishing up her meal, she was making a mental list of what she needed to do to get ready. First, she was gonna have to get the wagon all hooked up and ready to go. Then she was gonna have to load some of the apples up, so she could take them to the market with her. Then it hit her. Why haven't the family tried selling applesauce before? She hurried up eating her meal, then she went about collecting applesauce from the family stores. After she had it all gathered, she went and loaded the applesauce up on the wagon beside the apples. After everything was all set, she threw on the harness and set out for town.

As she was trotting down the road to town, it hit her. Where was her brother? Normally Big Mac would have gotten up around the same time as her and shared breakfast with her. She wondered if perhaps he went to town to do a bit of shopping, since there was no work to be done today. It didn't really matter right now; all she had to worry about when she got to town was selling apples.

After walking a little while more, she finally got into town and started to make her way into the market area. On her way, she saw a rather peculiar sight, she had found Big Mac. What was odd, though, was that he appeared to be arguing about something with Spike. She wanted to go and check it out, but did not want to have to talk to Spike. She was worried that he hated her for her being part of what happened to Twilight. This thought made her turn around and continue on to the market. She had apples to sell.

• • • • Later That Evening • • • •

Applejack arrived back at the farm, exhausted. The applesauce sold like crazy; she ran out within two hours of the opening of her stall. She was going to have to relay that information to Big Mac and Granny Smith. The Apple Family could make a fortune off the stuff, if they were to produce it in larger amounts. Anyways, she had better get to putting the wagon and what was left of her stores away. After she had done all of this, she started the trek to the front of the house, where she saw her brother waiting for her.

“What were you up to today?” Applejack asked with barely veiled curiosity.

“Just enjoying the nice day off we have,” Big Mac replied, nonchalantly.

“I don’t know what ya mean by a 'day off,' I have been working in town all day today. By the way, we gotta start making more applesauce. It sold like crazy down at the market,”

“Actually, that is what I was hear to talk to you about AJ. I have talked with Granny 'bout this and we both agree it is for your own good. You need to take a break, and will not lift a hoof when it comes time to make more applesauce, or go into town."

“Why in the hay should I not be allowed to work?” Applejack heatedly replied.

“We are both worried bout you, sis. Ever since what happened to Twilight, you have been working nonstop, and we are worried that you are gonna get yourself hurt.” he said, with worry evident in his voice.

“Don’t you dare bring her into this! You don't know what is is like to lose somepony you are close to. You have no right to talk like that.” Applejack hollered at her brother.

She was startled when Big Mac erupted and started yelling at her. She had never seen him angry in all her life, as he had kept such a tight reign on his emotions.

“I don't know what is is like to lose somepony I care about?” He exploded. “You were too young to remember Ma and Pa dying. Granny Smith kept ya here while I went with them to the hospital. I watched our parents die, AJ. Don’t you ever say I do not know what it is like to lose somepony I care about,” With that he stormed off into the house.

Applejack was left standing on the porch, wondering what she was supposed to do. Never had she felt more miserable in her life.

Chapter 6. Rarity's Fall

Rarity was caught by surprise when she heard the bell above the door to her shop jingle. Who could possibly be here? she asked herself, Why, I haven't had a decent customer in months, and here comes this unknown just strolling on in. She should be beaming with pride, she told herself, so why did she feel so dirty? Maybe it had something to do with the lack of customers? She had been forced to get a secondary job working over at the spa. Even with the added income, it was still difficult for her to make ends meet, let alone help out those that needed assistance. Why, she herself had to go eat at one of those soup kitchens that those in need had to go to. She took this as a sign of how far she has fallen in society. Before, she was one of the ponies that donated the food that went to those in need. Those in need, now there was an interesting thought to her. Before, she never went without the necessities, but now she was eating at soup kitchens to try and save a bit here and there.

The sound of somepony clearing her throat knocked her out of her reverie. Her jaw dropped, when she saw that the pony that had walked into her shop was none other than Filthy Rich.

“What may I help you with?” Rarity asked, remembering her manners.

“I have decided to stop by today, as I had heard that you have been in a spot of trouble for a little while now.” He stopped to clear his throat once more before he continued on, “When I saw that your establishment had not bounced back as I had guessed it would, I figured that I might be able to offer you a little financial support to help you get on your hooves again.”

Flattered, Rarity responded, “While the offer of support is a very generous one, I am afraid that I must respectfully decline.”

“Why on earth would you decline my charity?” He asked, flabbergasted.

“You have no idea what I have gone through to end up where I am, do you? She asked respectfully.

“Why no, I am quite afraid I haven't a clue as to what you have gone through, Ms. Rarity,” Filthy Rich admitted, “but I am still unsure as to why you would decline my charity.”

“After a rather tragic event, which ended with the loss of a very dear friend of mine, I was heartbroken. It got to the point that no matter what I was doing, my mind was on those days when my close coterie of friends and I were inseparable and did everything together. I prefered to think about those days than thinking of a life with-”

Filthy Rich Interjected, “We are speaking of the late Twilight Sparkle, I presume.”

“Yes.” Rarity snapped back clearly displeased with the interruption, “Now anyways, as I was saying. I prefered to think of those days, rather than imagine a world without Twilight. It got to the point where no matter who I was with or talking to, I would go off talking about what grand adventures we used to go off on. This behavior slowly drove my customers away, as they had come to buy an outfit. They did not come to my shop to hear about how good life used to be. Before long, I had no customers and was forced into looking for another job” Rarity finished, rather out of breath.

Filthy Rich sat there quiet for a few moments, before a rather sad look overcame his face. “I am sorry for your loss Ms. Rarity. May I take my leave?” he asked a little too formally.

“I am so terribly sorry, did I say something to offend you?” Rarity asked worriedly.

“No, nothing of the sort,” he responded quietly, “it’s just that you remind me of what I was like after the passing of my wife.” he ended sofly.

Rarity stood there a few moments before asking, “What was she like, your wife?

Filthy Rich paused on his way out the door, “She was overly dramatic and thought the world revolved around her. She was also the most generous and loving pony I had ever met.” He sighed wistfully, “She was a lot like you.” With that statement he walked out the door, on his way to his next destination.

The conversation left Rarity feeling oddly empty inside. Was she that self centered? Did she overdramatize things? She most certainly did not think so. Though, perhaps her opinion of herself was skewed and biased. She needed someone else to talk to about this, she decided. If she sat here trying to figure this out on her own, she was going to get nowhere. Going through her mind, she counted off the ponies she trusted to give an honest opinion to her. Pinkie Pie would say anything as long as it made her smile, and Flutters would be too afraid of hurting her feelings to give an honest answer. That left two of her friends, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. She briefly contemplated talking to Rainbow, then scrapped that idea rather quickly. Rainbow had not been acting quite herself since Twilight’s death. It was like she lost all of the pride and “can-do attitude” that made her Rainbow Dash. This left one pony that she trusted to giver her an honest answer. It just so happened that Applejack was also probably the best one for the job, seeing as she was the element of honesty. She set out from her shop.

To get to Sweet Apple Acres, she first had to cross through town. She did not particularly want to talk to anypony at this point, as she got tired of dealing with everypony's sympathy, and decided to skirt the edges of town. It was getting dark as she walked along, so most everypony was already off the street, which left Rarity some time to think about how she was to approach her friend. Ever since Twilight’s funeral, things had not been so easy for the once inseparable group of friends. Pinkie Pie, though still trying to act like the super happy party pony, was much more miserable and sad than she let on. Rarity had seen her once or twice behind the counter at Sugarcube Corner, and it seemed like the spark that made Pinkie, Pinkie had left her eyes. Nopony really knew what happened to Fluttershy, one day she decided that Fluttershy would probably need help getting through this more than she did so she decided to try and visit her cottage. To her surprise when she got to the cottage it was empty.

At first, she had panicked and hurriedly searched around to see if anyone knew where Fluttershy had gone. After getting the same answers from the other denizens of ponyville, she had soon given up hope. Apparently somepony else had noticed her missing a week prior, and nopony had been successful in locating her. She turned her mind back to the pony at hoof, and tried to think of what had changed about Applejack.

As far as Rarity could gather, Applejack had turned into a workaholic, working from sunup to sundown every day that she could. This had left her with little time to stop and visit her friends and, as such, it had been quite awhile since Rarity had last seen her friend.

Hearing voices from up ahead caused Rarity to stop and take stock of her surroundings. As she looked around, she saw that she had arrived at her destination. The voices that she heard were, in fact, none other than the voices of her friends Applejack and Big Mac. Rarity stopped for a second, as she had heard Big Mac yelling at Applejack. Hearing him shout took Rarity by surprise, as she had hardly ever heard him speak before, let alone yell. As she turned this over a few more times in her mind, she heard the door the house slam, and assumed that Big Mac must have went on inside angry at Applejack. Figuring that now was her chance she walked on forwards to the front porch, and to the lonely figure on the porch.

Chapter 7. Mending Of A Broken Mind

Rainbow shook the sleep from her bleary eyes, as she got up out of bed. Why she bothered to pull herself out of bed each morning was a question that still plagued her all this time later. She just couldn't see the point in getting up. She was a failure, a failure of the worst kind, she had betrayed one of her best friends. The worst part was that she was not even sure what she did. One time she had been called the element of loyalty. What she was now, she had no idea.

Ever since the passing of her friend Twilight, she had not been as sure of herself as she used to be. She was Rainbow Dash: the fastest pony known to Equestria. One time she would have taken on anyone, and never had backed down from any challenge. Now, she was a sniveling wreck who couldn't even bring herself to get out of bed in the mornings. What had happened to her?

She had long since given up any notion of flying with the Wonderbolts. She stopped training shortly after Twilight's funeral. Why should she try anymore? She had made it clear that she is a failure. “The Wonderbolts don’t accept failures, do they?” She asked herself, after managing to drag herself out of bed. She wandered over to the the door to her room, stopped for a second, and pulled it open. The sight before her was a sorry one. She had not bothered to do any cleaning for weeks now. She just couldn't bring herself to clean up. The one thing she still did was clear the sky for Ponyville. It was the only job she took seriously anymore, or even bothered doing. Going on about getting ready for the days work, she picked her away across the living room to her kitchen, and proceeded to open up the massive fridge that dominated the room. She never was any good at cooking, and would generally just go into town and buy some salads a few days in advance storing them in her fridge. Though today when she looked in, she realized that she had neglected to go into town yesterday after running out.

She sighed, realizing that she was going to have to leave a little earlier than planned. Not really having anything she needed to grab for work today, other than her satchel of bits that she needed to buy some food, she spread her wings and lazily took off through the front door. Looking down upon Ponyville only served to contrast her melancholy. Down below her, everypony went on with their cheerful daily lives, acting as if nothing terrible had ever happened. Well, she remembered and she regretted that fateful day. Lately she had also noticed that she didn't see Pinkie bouncing around, and that Rarity's boutique had fallen into a slight state of disrepair. She briefly wondered what her friends have been up to, before taking off.

Flying, now there was a feeling that everypony should be able to enjoy. The feeling of the air rushing through her mane and over her velvety coat made her feel like she was on top of the world. It made her want to go faster, or at least it used to. Nowadays, though she liked flying, it didn’t give her the same rush it used to. She never got that urge to go faster or to push herself harder anymore. Flying became just a method of transportation. She turned in the direction of town square, why town square she had no idea. It just seemed the logical place for her to start, as from there she could spiral out, clearing away the rest of the sky.

At one time she would have sped to Ponyville as fast as she could, then clear away the sky real quick so that she could sleep through the rest of the day. Such was not the case nowadays. She landed on a cloud just above town square, to get herself prepared for a day of work.

As she stretched, she wondered to herself, “How could I have fallen so far?”

She pondered this for a few moments, before hearing a small voice in her head. It was a voice she had heard before. In fact, she had heard it each day since the passing of Twilight.

“How could you have fallen so far, you ask? Well, how could you kill your friend?” It demanded. “How could you, the element of loyalty, take part in murdering one of your best friends? Is that what loyalty is, the murdering of your closest friends?”

In response came a smaller, more timid voice, “I didn't kill her, the elements did.”

“You’re pathetic, can't even own up to your own mistake can you? Have to throw the blame anywhere but you?”

Shaking her head to try and clear her mind of such thoughts Rainbow took off. She was gonna clear the clouds later, when she wasn't plagued with such thoughts. Maybe she should go and find somepony to talk to about the voices in her head.

Rainbow mulled this though over in her head, on one hoof she could go and talk to somepony and get these nasty thoughts out of her head. Doing this though she would have to open herself up to somepony, which wasn’t something she liked to do. On the other hoof, she could keep her silence and try and work things out herself and try to get the voices to go away.
Deciding that the voices would drive her crazy she opted to go an visit one of her friends.

“It'll have to be somepony that I have known for a long time and that I could trust with my life” She thought to herself.

• • • • At Zecora's Hut • • • •

“At some point you are going to have to go away. For I can not keep you here each day” Zecora said with sympathy painted on her face.

“I know, but I just don't know if I could bear to go back.” Fluttershy said in her usual timid voice.

Zecora, getting frustrated due to having this conversation almost everyday as well as the fact that Fluttershy had been living with her since the passing of her friend, retorted, “Don't know if you can go back, is it just courage that you lack?”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, confusion evident in her voice, she continued, “The rhyming doesn't help you know, I mean it's nice and all, but it can make it kinda hard to understand you sometimes.” Fluttershy said getting quieter as she spoke.

“Doesn't help? Why, you insolent whelp, I rhyme because it was how I was taught to speak, it's sure better than your squeak.” Zecora retorted angrily.

Tears misted Fluttershy's eyes as she ran out of the hut. She just didn't know what had gotten into Zecora lately. It seemed the longer she stayed the worst Zecora's mood got. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t cheer up the irritable zebra.

• • • •

Zecora watched as Fluttershy ran out of the hut in tears. She never wanted to hurt the poor filly, but she was starting to get on her nerves. At first, when Fluttershy came to her hut, she had been happy to agree to Fluttershy staying with her for a while, while she recovered from the loss of her friend. As time wore on, she had become frustrated with Fluttershy's incessant crying. As much as she loved poor Fluttershy, she needed to get going back to her old life at some point.

• • • •

As Fluttershy ran from the hut in tears, she wondered why Zecora would say such horrible things about her. Her squeak wasn’t that bad, was it? Though she was rather biased she supposed, so maybe she should get another opinion. The opinion would have to come from somepony she trusted to give her an honest answer. While the obvious answer would seem to be Applejack, sometimes she was too nice and skirted the edges of truth. No, there was only one pony she could go to who would give her a straight up answer, so she set out from Zecora's hut.

• • • • Somewhere Around Ponyville • • • •

Rainbow sped away more determined than she had felt in a long time, she finally found a way to get the voices out of her head and go figure, it just so happened to be by doing one things she never thought of her had done before. A queasy feeling settled at the bottom of her stomach, as she got closer to the Everfree.

“How can I do this without sounding like a foal?” Rainbow asked herself.

“What if that is what it takes?” Replied the smaller timid voice in her mind.

“Come on you can't do that, you're Rainbow Dash: the fastest most awesome pony in all of Equestria. You can't do that. You can't just cry like a foal.” Responded the angrier of the two voices in her head.

“Why not?” Asked the smaller voice, sounding curious.

“Because it would make us look weak. We can't afford to be weak to get into the Wonderbolts.” The angry voice replied.

“Wonderbolts, ha yeah right.” Rainbow said aloud without thinking.

“Dash, was that you?”

“Fluttershy?”

“Oh Dashie it is you.” Fluttershy said happily. She continued, “I was just about to go looking for you.” She stopped for a second before asking, “Wait how did you know where I was?”

“Fluttershy, I have known you most of my life, and you are probably the one I trust and love most out of my friends,” She paused for a second to take a breath, “that also means I know you the best, so I had figured you disappeared because you wanted time alone to get over, well you know.” She ended while looking everywhere but at Fluttershy.

“Oh Dashie, you miss her too.” Fluttershy responded sympathetically.

Rainbow just sat there idly picking at the ground with her hooves, not saying anything.

So why were you trying to find me, did you want to talk about something? Fluttershy asked, curiosity obvious in her voice.

Rainbow started, “Well I wanted to talk about, well you know...”

Fluttershy's face saddened as she responded quietly, “You wanted to talk about her, didn't you?”

Rainbow just nodded her head looking miserable.

“Well?” Fluttershy asked.

“Was it our fault?” Rainbow asked.

“What do you mean ‘was it our fault,’ do you mean to say that you think we killed her?

“Yes.” Rainbow said almost too quietly to hear.

How can you think that Dashie? It was Celestia that sent her the spell. So if anything it is her fault, but please don't blame her.” Fluttershy took a small breath before continuing, “After seeing her reaction to Twilight's mom yelling at her, I don't think she could handle knowing that we think it is her fault. Anyways say it was the spell that caused the elements to kill her. Do you honestly think Celestia would have sent Twilight that book if she knew that it could hurt her?”

“No.” Rainbow responded, before talking again, “But what if it wasn't the spell, what if it was just us and the elements that killed her?”

“Dashie do you honestly believe that after using them so many times that the elements would just suddenly decide to kill her? This only happened after she completed that spell.”

“So you don't think it was our fault.” Rainbow asked excitedly.

“No, I believe that it was the spell that killed Twilight, but again please don't be mad at the princess. I am sure she is going through the same thing we are and that should be punishment enough, don't you think?” Fluttershy asked urgently, for she was afraid her friend would so something rash. “Please forgive her and move on.”

“I will try.” Rainbow responded, not sounding too sure of herself, “Anyways I gotta go. I was supposed to clear the skies above Ponyville today, talk to ya later Fluttershy.

Dash then took off at breakneck speeds to go and clear the sky. She felt much happier now, she felt like the old Rainbow again. And best of all she couldn't hear the voices in her head anymore. Today was a great day to clear the Skies around Ponyville.

• • • •

Fluttershy realized that she forgot to ask Dash about her squeak, but when she searched the sky her friend was already long gone. It didn't really matter anyways, helping Dash made her feel happier. Maybe it was time to return to her cottage.

• • • •

Zecora smiled to herself, after seeing the two ponies talking to one another. She was especially pleased to see Fluttershy smiling when she walked away from where her and Dash were talking.

Zecora chuckled aloud to herself, “Sometimes the only way to combat grief, is to know when it is time to turn a new leaf.”

Chapter 8. Mane 5

Pinkie's face lit up as she read the letter again. She really needed to get everypony over to the library. First she had to find everypony and tell them about Spike's predicament. Now if she were Applejack, where would she be?

She laughed as she said out loud, “Well duh you silly Pinkie, she'd be at Sweet Apple Acres! Duh.”

And so Pinkie bounced off towards Sweet Apple Acres.

• • • • Sweet Apple Acres • • • •

“Rares is that you?” Applejack asked, peering through the gloom.

“Who else would walk all the way out here in the dark, darling?” Rarity replied.

“Applejack, I have a question that I need you to answer as honestly as you can.

“Oookay, what is the question”, Applejack asked hesitantly.

"Filthy Rich told me I was overly dramatic and self centred. Do you think he's right, Applejack? I've always known I was dramatic, but I’m not overly dramatic, am I?"

“Well, ummm, well yeah. Yeah you are.” Applejack Continued, “But you are also the most generous pony that I have had the good fortune to call my friend. To me this outweighs your dramatizations.” She added on looking rather sheepish.

Rarity took a minute or two to absorb what she had just heard before asking, “Do you promise that is the truth?”

Applejack responded with the barest hints of a smile on her face, “Yes, I Pinki-”

• • • • Somewhere in Ponyville • • • •

Pinkie stopped, she heard something just at the edge of her hearing. It almost sounded like somepony somewhere was making a Pinkie Promise. Wait, a Pinkie Promise was being made which was like the most important thing ever! Spike could wait a minute while she went and checked it out.

• • • • Back At Sweet Apple Acres • • • •

“-e Promise”

“I FOUND you!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Was that Pinkie?” Rarity asked perplexed.

“It sure as hay sounded like her, but I don't see her.” Applejack replied just as confused.

“Can I get some help down here?” Pinkie asked, her voice coming from below.

Rarity and Applejack both turned their heads down in tandem and saw Pinkie's face in between the planks of the porch.

“How in the hay did ya get down there? Applejack asked baffled.

“I dunno” Pinkie replied just as confused as Applejack, “I just heard someone making a Pinkie Promise and thought I should go check it out.”

“That still don't explain how ya got under my porch Gah, anyways if you can turn around and crawl out that way, there is an opening we use to get underneath there.”

“Okie dokie lokie” Pinkie replied Cheerily.

A minute later Pinkie came up to join them on the porch.

“It's a good thing you made that promise by the way. Spike wants us to throw him a party!” Pinkie exclaimed happily.

“Spike wants us to throw a party for him?” Applejack asked skeptically.

“Yup!” Pinkie replied before going on, “Isn’t it great?

“I guess, but throwing parties is kind of your thing darling, whatever do you need us to do?” Rarity asked.

“Just go to Fluttershy’s cottage, she will be waiting for you there. Pinkie said.

“What about Dash?" Applejack asked, wanting to know how her friend was doing.

“She is going to meet us at Fluttershy's cottage.” Pinkie said.

Rarity in turn said, “Pinkie, you are aware that nopony knows where Fluttershy has been, right?”

“Dash told me that she talked to Fluttershy today, anyways what are we waiting for let's go!” Pinkie said excitedly.

“Wait, you talked with Dash?” Rarity asked sounding rather surprised.

“Yup, and she told me to meet them at Fluttershy’s cottage,” Pinkie said with a smile.

With that they took off in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage, eager for them all to be reunited once more.

• • • • Fluttershy's Cottage • • • •

Fluttershy stood next to Dash Waiting for the rest of her friends to come join them.

“So Spike wants us to throw him a party?” Fluttershy asked.

“Apparently, I am not too sure on the specifics.” She continued, “We should probably wait on Pinkie for the rest of the details.” Dash responded sounding uncertain.

“I think I see them!” Fluttershy said with glee.

Sure enough there was Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie on the path leading up to the cottage.

When they got there Rarity asked, “Okay so may I see this note now?”

“Sure thing.” Pinkie responded as she handed the note to Rarity.

As Rarity read the note over she started to shake. Tears formed in her eyes as she asked, “Pinkie I thought you said this note told us to throw Spike a party?

“It does.” Pinkie replied, sounding more confused now.

“Pinkie, this is a ransom letter. Somepony might do something terrible to Spike if we don't pay them.” Rarity said voice shaking.

“But nopony hurts anypony anymore. Plus look at the way he talked, Spike wrote that letter, it wasn’t anypony else. If Spike could send me that letter then he could have burned whoever caught him, right?” Pinkie asked now unsure.

Pinkie's mane seemed to deflate some as she realized that this letter was not Spike asking for a party.

“Why that punk thinks he can hurt our friend do they? Well I am going to show them!” With that Rainbow took off in the direction of the library.

“We should probably follow her and make sure she doesn't get herself hurt.” Applejack said with a sigh.

With that the quartet of friends took off towards the library.

• • • • Sometime Later At The Library • • • •

When the group reached the library, they found Rainbow waiting for them.

“I was afraid to go in on my own.” She admitted sheepishly.

Applejack walked up to the door, “Well we are all here now and as ready as I reckon we will ever be.” With that she opened the door.

Chapter 9. Reuinion Shrouded in Sadness

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 10. Closure Long Overdue

“P-Princess?” Rarity stuttered out in shock.

Celestia let out a weak grin before saying, “I’m so sorry. I should have been there to help… Instead, I shut myself inside the castle, not offering any of my sympathy.” She sighed before continuing, “ I was just lectured by my younger sister of all ponies.” She turned her head towards spike and whispered, “I’m so sorry. I should have never left you alone after what happened to her.”

Spike looked up towards Celestia, slowly approached her, and said “All I wanted was for someone to talk to me, to tell me that it was going to be all right, but no one ever came.” He then reached his stubby arms towards Celestia and gave her a hug, letting out a sob as he started to weep.

Rainbow tilted her head upwards towards the princess before saying “So, what did you want to talk to all of us about anyways?”

Applejack let out a sad smile before replying “You never do change, do you? Can’t ya see that they are a mite busy?”

“But all this mushy stuff hurts my eyes.” Rainbow groaned.

Celestia let out a chuckle, looking away from spike and back towards the others. “I came to apologize to everyone. Thanks to my sister I realize now how selfish I was being in ignoring you all, especially poor spike here who lost the only family he ever had.” She gently nudged Spike causing him to look up at her before continuing, “I came to try and make amends with everypony.”

“Make amends for what exactly?” Rarity asked.

Celestia looked over at Rarity before responding in confusion. “What do you mean? I left all of you to deal with losing Twilight on your own. I never once tried to help any of you through all of this.”

Pinkie sighed, “Silly Princess, you have a big ol’ heart too ya know. It’s not just us that would have been upset with what happened. It wouldn’t have been fair if we didn’t let you have your space.”

“They're right. Other than maybe Spike here you didn’t wrong any of us.” Applejack replied.

“But I could have tried to help. I should have tried to help. I am your princess after all, and I was the one who gave Twilight that spell knowing that it might be dangerous.” Celestia responded softly.

“Just what was that spell supposed to do exactly? We never did get a chance to see what it did.” Rarity asked.

Celestia looked away before whispering, “I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I was trying to make it so that Twilight could live forever alongside me, so that she wouldn’t grow old and pass away. I wanted her to be able to stay the way she was forever.” Celestia shed a tear as she continued, “That spell was supposed to turn her into an alicorn like me and my sister. She would have had all the time in the world to learn the things she wanted. The world didn’t share my sentiments and did not take kindly to my attempt to bend the rules. Instead of giving her eternal life, it ended it.”

"Did she know what the spell was supposed to do?" Rarity asked.

"I don’t think she had any idea. I only told her that it was Starswirl’s unfinished masterpiece." Replied Celestia.

“I don’t know, she was smart enough that she might have figured it out.” Rainbow said before continuing, “Like she was a total egghead, there was no way she didn't figure it out.”

“Wouldn't she have known that it was dangerous then?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

I’m not sure sugarcube.” Applejack responded before saying “She would have said something if she had known, or at least left something behind.”

"In all this time we never found anything of the sort." Rarity responded rather dejectedly.

“Can we please not talk about this? I don’t want my bestest of best friends to be sad anymore.” A very deflated Pinkie asked, tears rolling down her face.

“Pinkie’s right, we probably oughta drop it. There ain't no point in getting ourselves all worked up over nothing.” Applejack responded quickly, as though trying to stop the conversation for Pinkie’s sake.

Amidst all this, Spike whispered, “I found her diary.”

The rest of the group turned and looked at him, eyes wide.

“Twili-” Rarity started before getting interrupted by Celestia.

“Diary?” Celestia quickly asked, tears welling up once again. “Did this diary have a crayon drawing of Twilight and a castle on the cover?”

“Yes.” Spike replied despondently.

Celestia's tears ran anew as she said, “That’s the diary I gave to her when she first came to live in the castle.” She stopped to take a breath and calm herself before continuing. “Where is it?”

“Down in the basement.” Spike softly responded, casting his gaze downward.

With that Spike led the group over to the basement door before opening it up and starting down. When the group reached the bottom of the stair, what they saw amazed them.

Eyes wide, Applejack asked, “Twilight built all'a this?”

Spike somberly nodded his head before saying, “Yeah, I didn't know about it until yesterday either. I guess it’s why she never let me come down here.”

“This is pretty awesome, even if it’s for eggheads.” Rainbow said, fighting to keep tears from pouring out.

“So darling, where is this book that you spoke of?” Rarity asked, voice wavering.

“It’s over here. Like I said, I thought that it was more important to try and bring you guys all together than to read it right then and there.” Spike responded quietly, before continuing in a strained voice. “Also, I don’t think I really wanted to read it…” he trailed off.

“It’s okay, I don’t think I could’ve bore to have read it on my own.” Fluttershy said quietly.

As the group approached the book replica of the library, they slowly formed a semicircle around it with Spike and Celestia in the middle. For a bit, everyone stood there looking down at the lone book lying on the ground. Slowly, Spike approached the book, and carefully reached down and lifted it up. Taking a second to gaze at the lettering on the cover, he opened the front cover and started to read.

Author's Note

This chapter is nine months overdue... Y'all have my taskmaster, and Editor in Chief Zerxies to thank for this getting completed. I apologize if things don't flow so smoothly from the last chapter to this one. Seeing as how it's been nine months my manner of writing has changed slightly. Also I hope I kept things consisted over all this time.

All that's left, is to crack open that diary and figure out what's what.