In the glittering palace of Canterlot, where sat both the sun and moon princesses that ruled over the lands of Equestria, there resided a grand hall decorated with beautiful stained glass windows. Massive in height, each of the windows towered over any and every pony that deigned to stop before them and take the time to appreciate such crafted art.
One such pony that so deigned to do so was the lavender alicorn that sat stoically upon the red, velvet carpet that trailed across the hall's floor. Of course, no alicorn was ever just 'one such pony' as any that bore the wings, horn, and strength of the three pony tribes were of clearly royal stature.
Currently though, the lavender alicorn's monarchal status did not presently occupy her mind, as instead her attention was focused on the specific stained glass window that was before her. Like most of these windows that dotted the Canterlot palace, it was crafted to represent a significant event in Equestrian history; a story worth remembering and to be retold. The difference with this particular window though, was that, to her, it wasn't just an artistic bookmark in the history of Equestria and ponykind.
To her, it was also a memory.
Two earth ponies, two pegasi, two unicorns; six friends. All of them standing together against a dark coated alicorn with a mane like the night sky. This was what the window showed to all who looked upon it, but to those ponies who were knowledgeable of the history behind it, they know that the art depicted on this window represented the return of Nightmare Moon, the purifying of Princess Luna, and, most importantly to the lavender pony, the day that she became friends with the five ponies that she would cherish the most over the ages.
A fond smile. How so long ago that day was...
Her eyes focused onto her pictured form—her pictured wingless form—that stood at the forefront of the group of friends.
...And how so much has changed since then.
As the lavender pony quietly stared up at the stained glass window of past memories, letting the silence of the hall surround her, she barely noticed the presence of another alicorn entering the hall. Larger in stature and of whiter coat, this alicorn trotted over to and sat next to the smaller lavender one.
Princess Celestia, diarch of Equestria and goddess of the sun, gazed down at the pony whom she had once called her personal student. Once a unicorn of average height and size, the alicorn that Princess Celestia now looked upon was now taller, more regal, and had an ethereal mane that contrasted with Celestia's own. As Princess Celestia continued to gaze at the smaller alicorn, no eye contact was made between the two ponies, as the lavender pony didn't acknowledge the other's presence in any way, instead keeping her own eyes locked onto the colorful window before her; lost in the past.
Breathing out a strained sigh, Princess Celestia switched her gaze to match the smaller pony's, letting her eyes rest on the same window as she bored straight ahead, "...I know that this is difficult for you," she spoke, her voice as soothing and as comforting as it had always been throughout the centuries, "but you have to accept that it was inevitable."
No response, except for that of a single ear flicking over toward Celestia's direction.
"I'm aware that you don't see me in the most positive light as of now," continued the diarch, "in fact, I'm sure that you see the gift that I have given you more of a curse than a blessing."
Lavender wings twitched in what were clear signs of barely suppressed irritation.
"But it's been years since your friends have passed away," Celestia turned her head to gaze at the pony she was trying to console, "you know that they wouldn't want you to be miserable like this."
The smaller alicorn said nothing, instead keeping her body still while also firming her mouth into a frown so as to silently express her dissatisfaction at the words that Princess Celestia were uttering to her.
Seeing such a response, Celestia could only close her eyes and silently shake her head at the pony's inward withdrawal, "Twilight," she whispered, speaking the lavender alicorn's name as she opened her eyes and let them bore into the pony's form, "you must understand that what's important here is that you remember them," Celestia let a small smile grow on her face, "and that they will live on forever in your memories."
The grand hall was silent at the utterance of those words, as Princess Celestia quietly waited for the lavender princess to say something.
And then Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and the Element of Magic, closed her eyes, slowly raised her hoof before her, and proceeded to plant her face into its sole, groaning as she did so.
"Wow," she uttered in sarcastic amazement.
Celestia raised an inquisitive eyebrow at that response.
"I mean just... wow," uttered Twilight, her face still planted in her hoof before opening her eyes and slightly angling her head so as to better look at the diarch of Equestria, "even if you're only teasing me, that has got to be one of the most cliché things you could have ever said."
In a perfect display of a theatrical performance, Princess Celestia reared her head back in surprise as if she was dramatically slapped in the face, "Twilight!" she said aghast, sounding more offended than anything else, "I would never tease you about the passing of your friends."
Removing her face from her hoof, Princess Twilight Sparkle slowly turned her head toward the goddess of the sun and gave her the most deadpan stare she could muster, "My friends aren't dead."
Bringing a hoof up to stifle a gasp, Princess Celestia looked at Twilight with shocked eyes, "Do you... do you mean..." Celestia looked away tearfully, "It can't be..."
"What are you talk—gah!" Twilight's question was interrupted by Celestia suddenly wrapping her wing around the smaller alicorn and pulling her in for a comforting hug.
"I knew it, I wish it wasn't so, but I was right," bemoaned Celestia dramatically, "even after all of these years you're still in denial."
The sun diarch's fur bristled at the warm breath of a defeated sigh, "...Yeah, you're right," deadpanned Twilight, her tone of voice completely covered in sarcasm, "I'm in denial. Woe is me and all that."
"That's good, Twilight! Recognizing that you have a problem is the first step to recovery!"
"Ugh," groaned the Princess of Friendship irritably. Being one of the few ponies to have spent time with the sun goddess for over multiple lifetimes, Twilight Sparkle was quite used to the Princess's random bouts of playful teasing and out-of-characterness that she used to break up the monotony of royal life, but this particular instance was quickly becoming too annoying for her, "I retract my previous statement," said Twilight, lightly pushing away to escape Celestia's hug and pointing an accusing hoof at the sun goddess, "that was the most cliché thing you could have ever said."
The corners of her lips creasing into a small frown, Princess Celestia spoke, "Y'know, Twilight, I'm not one for relaying what's spoken in private conversations, but you're convincing me that Discord was right," she harrumphedly looked away from Twilight, "you can be a real stick-in-the-mud sometimes."
Twilight rolled her eyes at the remark, "Well, excuse me, Princess, if I don't find the subject of my friends' deaths hilarious."
A playful smile crossed Celestia's features as she turned back to Twilight with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Now Twilight, we both know that that's not what has you so upset," her horn brightening from energy, she levitated a large book wrapped up in her own magical aura and presented the cover to Twilight.
The Official Guidebook of Equestrian History
by Princess Twilight Sparkle
"What has you so annoyed is the fact that it's according to you that your friends are now 'officially' dead," continued Celestia with an infuriating smile.
Cheeks blushing furiously, Twilight used her own arcane powers to quickly grab the offending book from Celestia's magical grasp. Tucking the book under her wing, Twilight turned her head away from her old mentor, as if trying to hide her reddened face behind her sparkling mane, "It's just a simple mistake!" she defended loudly, "I got my notes mixed up, that's all! I've already informed my publisher to issue a call-back!"
"Oh, is that so?" commented Princess Celestia with a casual raise of an eyebrow, "Well then, since the book isn't official anymore, you should probably inform your friends that they are no longer deceased."
Eyes widening, Twilight looked back up at Celestia with trepidation written all over her face, "You didn't tell them, did you? You promised me that you wouldn't tell them."
"Do not worry my little pony," assured Celestia, "I have told them nothing of this matter, just as I promised you."
Twilight Sparkle breathed out a sigh of relief.
"I only told my sister, Luna," she continued, her words freezing Twilight still, before nonchalantly shrugging with her wings, "what she did with that information after I told her, I know not."
Suddenly, with a loud KER-CHUNK! the large, double-doors of the hallway were slammed open and in ran a white, glittering-coated unicorn about the same height as Twilight. Quickly galloping across the carpet, she hurriedly wrapped Twilight into an embracing hug before the Princess of Friendship could react.
"Oh, poor, poor Twilight!" the unicorn bemoaned loudly while tightly holding on to Twilight, "I can only imagine the pain that you must have gone through! To watch us grow old before your eyes! To see us whither away while you yourself stayed young and beautiful forever, knowing full well that it was only an eventuality before the cruel ravages of time itself took your cherished friends away!" keeping a hoof over the back of Twilight's shoulders, the white unicorn put her other hoof over her own forehead for dramatic effect as she continued to lament about Twilight's supposed torments, "Oh, the loneliness that must have eaten you up from the inside in the years that came after the last of us closed our eyes and opened them no more! How it must have hurt to see ponies become like mayflies to you!"
Sighing, Twilight looked over with bored, half-lidded eyes to stare at the familiar unicorn holding her, "Nice to see you too, Rarity," she said with an utmost casualness.
"Oh, Twilight-darling!" Rarity rejoiced loudly, "I'm so glad that you remembered the name of little-old-me. I was so worried that the countless centuries had thieved your memory of us from you."
Scrunching her eyebrows and bearing an expression of confusion, Twilight soon chortled out a few chuckles, "What? You think that I'd forget about you guys?" she snorted derisively, "Please, like I'd ever let that happen. If that was ever at risk, then I'd just write everything about you guys on a piece of paper or a slab of stone, so I'd always remember. And that's only if I can't permanently etch you guys into my memory through magic."
"Well shucks, at least you're bein' thorough, Sugarcube," commented a southern twanged accent. Glancing up to the taller earth pony that now stood over the two hugging mares, Twilight found Applejack looking down at them with a grin barely hidden under the shadow of her hat. "which is good, 'cause apparently we've been dead for centuries or some such nonsense."
"Right, sorry, I can expla—" Twilight stopped in mid-sentence, the words on the tip of her tongue dying off as she felt the strangest sensation of teeth lightly gnawing at the back of her head.
"Pinkie... what are you doing?" asked Twilight seriously, her voice an even tone.
Removing her jaw from her friend's skull, the pink pony with the cotton candy mane that was Pinkie Pie looked down at Twilight with an excited grin, her hooves on Twilight's shoulders, "I read your book, Twilight!" she answered happily, "It said that I was dead, which really surprised me because I thought I was alive. I mean, I ate, slept, and partied like all living ponies do," Pinkie shrugged her shoulders, "but your book was 'official' and I've learned that it's best not to argue with 'official' things, especially if they're books, 'cause they tend to be right," Pinkie missed the sigh of contempt coming from the lavender pony under her, instead raising a hoof to her chin in a display of ponderous thinking, "but then I thought: 'Hey! If I'm supposed to be dead, then why am I walking around? Dead things don't walk around!' And that's when I realized," letting go of Twilight, Pinkie placed both of her hooves against the sides of her head and shouted, "I'M A ZOMBIE!"
"Impeccable logic, darling," commented Rarity dryly, who was still dramatically leaning against Twilight's body.
"I know, right!?" agreed Pinkie, before looking back down at Twilight, "And since I'm a zombie, that means I should be eating brains. And I went for your brain first, Twilight, because I know that your brain is obviously the most biggest and juiciest out of all us!"
Blinking once at Pinkie's words, Twilight could only let out a confused, "Uh, ...thank you?"
"You're welcome, Twilight," said Pinkie Pie before letting a devious grin form on her face as she looked down at her friend, "now, please excuse me as I return back to feasting upon my," Pinkie giggled, "brain-food! OM NOM NOM NOM!" The party pony then proceeded to playfully pretend that she was biting into Twilight's skull, with her muzzle hidden behind Twilight's ethereal mane as she made fake eating sounds.
It was this sight, with Rarity dramatically leaning against Twilight, and Pinkie pretending to bite into her skull, that a stream of rainbow colors flew into the grand hall before stopping above the group of ponies to reveal a cyan pegasus.
"Hey, Twilight! What's this I hear about—" the rainbow-maned mare ceased her line of dialogue, freezing still while her jaw hanged slack as she beheld the sight before her.
Twilight, dutifully ignoring the biting sounds that Pinkie was making behind her, simply stared up at the cyan pegasus with a deadpan expression, "Hey, Dash."
Silently frozen for a few more seconds before willfully dismissing however much restraint she was capable of, Rainbow Dash snorted once before breaking, "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" she laughed uproariously as she pointed a hoof at the sight. The large wings that she had which allowed her to stay aloft in the air were quickly tucked into her sides as she laughed, causing her to fall from the air and land on Applejack, who barely flinched as the cyan pegasus bounced off of her back and crash-landed onto the floor.
Twilight Sparkle frowned as she glared down at Rainbow Dash, who was rolling around on the carpet and laughing, before casting her eyes across the rest of her friends, "All of you guys are just so supportive, you know that?"
And the rest of her friends laughed, filling up the hall with mirthful sounds. The Princess of Friendship sat there stoically, surrounded by her laughing friends, before not too long she slowly allowed their enjoyment to slip into herself and transform her frown into another smile. Soon enough, giggles escaped her smile and another stream of laughter was quickly added to the chorus.
"Oh! Um... did I miss something?" asked a gentle voice.
With a laugh-worn smile still on her face, Twilight turned her head around to find a pegasus standing behind her with a floral pink mane and a couple of small songbirds fluttering around her.
"No, Fluttershy," answered Twilight happily, "you haven't missed anything. Well..." Twilight directed an accusing eye at the ponies surrounding her, "except for some teasing that is."
"Um, okay, so if you're not too busy then, could I maybe ask you why your history book says we're dead?" between her hooves, Fluttershy held up her own copy of 'The Official Guidebook of Equestrian History' to Twilight, who proceeded to glare holes into its cover.
"Yeah!" shouted Rainbow Dash, who had quickly recovered from her bout of laughing and flew to Fluttershy's side to stare Twilight in the face, "What's up with that by the way? Is this some sort of prank or something? Because honestly?" shaking her head sadly, she gave Twilight a disappointed look "It's a bit lackluster really. I mean I could have thought of several better pranks with this setup. Not to mention that this is quite a lot of work for such a small payoff."
Appearing next to the rainbow mare in a brown cloak, Pinkie Pie nodded sagely, "She is right, Twilight," she said mysteriously, her bright blue eyes holding many unknown secrets, "you have much to learn in the ways of the Prank. If you want me to, I can teach you these ways."
Twilight rolled her eyes, "No thanks, Pinkie. Maybe some other time, okay?"
"Okie-dokie!" said Pinkie Pie, easily throwing off the cloak to reveal her cheery self.
Smiling fondly at her friend's rambunctious nature before taking a couple of steps backwards so as to look at all of her friends fully, Twilight brought a hoof up to rub against the back of her neck awkwardly, "Anyways, no, this whole 'you guys being dead' thing isn't some sort of prank. I'm pretty sure that I just got a few pages mixed up in the transcript and somehow the editor missed the mistake."
As one, all five of her friends tilted their heads to the side with a look of confusion. "Now hold up there, Twiligh'," spoke up Applejack, "how in Tartarus does mixin' up a few pages get y'all some dead friends? I mean, why do yeh even have pages that say we're dead in the first place?"
Twilight now had a small blush tinging the corners of her cheeks, "It's because, well..." she looked just the tiniest bit flustered, "as I was writing the history book I was also writing an... um... alternate-history novel."
In the small crowd of befuddled faces, it was Rarity's face that only showed slight surprise, "Really?" she commented before tilting her head upward in thought, "Well, that definitely explains why the book suddenly changed to a dramatic narrative when our deaths came up."
"Wait, hold on a second," said Applejack as she gave Twilight a confused look, "alternate-whatsit-now?"
"An alternate-history novel. It's a genre of literature focusing on what would happen if events in history ended differently," answered Princess Celestia, speaking up from behind Twilight. When Twilight was busy being bombarded by the arrival of her friends, Celestia had taken the opportunity to somehow procure a cup of tea to drink.
"Hey, yeah! I think I read a few adventure books like that," commented Rainbow Dash, before scrunching her face in thought, "in fact, aren't there all these books about what would happen if Sombra had won the Second Great Equestrian War?"
"Mmm, yes, that time period is quite popular with novelists," confirmed Celestia as she calmly sipped from her teacup.
"So... wait," spoke up Fluttershy, trotting closer to Twilight and giving her a curious stare, "why are you writing a story about us dying while you live on?" Fluttershy was quick to catch the worry that appeared on Twilight's face and was just as quick to alleviate those concerns, "Oh! But I'm not accusing you of writing some wish-fulfillment story. I know that you would never want us dead, everypony here knows that. I'm just curious why you chose that specifically."
Breathing out a small sigh of relief, Twilight gave her kind friend an appreciative look, "Thank you, Fluttershy. And as for the reason why, well... I just wanted my story to have a believable excuse for me turning evil."
Sharing the same confused face the rest of her friends were now wearing, Fluttershy expressed this confusion in as polite a fashion as she could.
"Um... what?"
"It's just something of a little tradition for us princesses," spoke up Celestia, who, upon seeing the attention that she was now receiving, continued, "a long time ago, many of my subjects were wary about writing anything that portrayed me in a negative light, either because they respected me or because they feared me. Since I've been around for quite awhile this attitude has caused quite a lot of early history to go ...undocumented."
Twilight snorted, "You're telling me," she commented in exasperation, "conducting research for the first chapters of my history book had been incredibly exhausting."
"Indeed," said Celestia, "anyways, in an effort to alleviate such attitudes, I had written a novel in which I became an evil tyrant who ruled Equestria with an iron grip and destroyed any dissenters through ruthless force before finally being defeated by my own hubris," Celestia took a casual sip of her tea, "It was basically my way of saying to the ponies of that time that they didn't live under a ruthless dictator or an all-knowing benevolent leader and that they should stop acting like they are. It worked to some extent, as it became incredibly popular and I ended up writing a whole series. When Luna returned and saw the relative impact it had, she decided to give it a go. She wrote a novel where Nightmare Moon ruled and I was banished, which became a Best-Seller. And Cadence wrote a story where she was corrupted by Sombra and led the Crystal Empire across a planet-wide crusade," Celestia gave Twilight a teasing smile, "which included a whole lot of racy scenes with your brother, Twilight."
"Yes, I'm aware," she groaned out, her hoof covering her face in embarrassment "I must have skipped over thirty pages worth of those scenes when I read her book," removing her hoof from her face, Twilight looked back at her friends, "anyways, Cadence actually convinced me to take a shot at my own 'evil princess' story and, well... I made the mistake of writing one while I was also working on that history book."
Curious gazes were exchanged between her friends, before Rainbow Dash stepped forward and eyed Twilight with a small grin, "And for this 'evil princess' story of yours, you think that the only believable way for you to turn evil is for all of us to die while you're forced to live on forever?"
"What other way is there?" asked Twilight, before taking the time to look into the eyes of each one of her friends, "So long as you guys were around, you would never let me turn evil."
None of them beamed with pride when they heard that, nor did any of them look bashful at the praise. Instead, each of Twilight's friends only wore a small smile on their faces that spoke volumes of how much they understood that Twilight was speaking like it was nothing but an infallible fact.
Seeing the smiles, Twilight showed off one of her own when an idea hit her, "You know, I still have the story's transcript lying around somewhere. If you want, I can let you read it," she offered.
"Ooh! Ooh! I'd love to read your story, Twilight!" popped up Pinkie Pie as she hopped in-place in front of Twilight, "I'm sure that it'll be a hilarious read!"
Rearing back in sudden surprise, before cocking her head to an angle at her hopping friend's outburst, Twilight gave Pinkie a confused stare, "Hilarious?"
Stopping her hopping, Pinkie looked at Twilight with a knowing expression and an excited grin, "Well, yeah! I mean, come on! A story where the Princess of Friendship, who became a princess through the help of her friends, can't be with her super, best friends forever and ever anymore?!" dropping the excited grin, Pinkie Pie gave Twilight one of her rare serious looks, "That's just silly."
Princess Twilight Sparkle blinked once in surprise at her pink friend's answer, before the corners of her mouth curved upward into a fond smile and her horn glowed with magic.
Pinkie Pie was only mildly surprised to find herself wrapped in a magical aura, before levitating into the air and being brought against Twilight's form. She was soon joined by Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy; all of whom were wrapped in the same magical aura like Pinkie's that disappeared when they came into contact with Twilight's wings.
With her friends wrapped up in her wings, Twilight hugged the ponies that she cherished the most in her life as close to her body as she possibly could.
"You're right," whispered Twilight, "that is silly."
Living Forever...
It's Better With Friends
Author's Note
Just a little something-something to counter against all of those depressing stories about an immortal Twilight grieving over her friends who have passed on.
Also, this is part of my Tutelary Spirit universe, which is why I kept the description of the mane six low, since only Loyalty and Honesty have had their big reveals so far. That said, I did give a few small hints as to what the rest of them look like now.
Edit: something that's been tickling me awhile for now is how the biggest criticism that I hear the most against this story is how its summary supposedly ruined the 'bait and switch' aspect of Twilight's friends being alive.
I find that funny.
I find it funny that people think that Twilight's friends being merely alive is what I wanted to surprise them with.
The story's 'bait and switch' wasn't her friends being alive...
It was their immortality.
After all, this story did serve as my best advertisement for my Tutelary Spirit universe.
