On the morning of June 21st, Princess Twilight Sparkle awoke from a terrible dream. It looked so real she thought it was happening as she saw it. She felt the intense heat of the fiery explosion, saw herself being forced off the ground. Before she woke, the last thing she heard was the agonizing screams of the ponies she knew and love. The dream had tormented her for a very long time, for almost a year. The princess never knew a peaceful night afterward. However, she managed to stop screaming herself awake once she got used to it.
Twilight looked around her room - the same as always, just as she left it. She still didn’t believe she deserved a castle, no matter what anypony said. It didn’t matter how great ponies said she was, Twilight thought of herself as humble, no better than anypony else. Over time she grew to enjoy the castle. She hadn’t realized it will become her only sanctuary.
She turned her head to the little bed that stood next to her own. The blankets and pillow were unrustled; nopony had slept in it. It belonged to Spike.
Twilight gazed unblinkingly at Spike’s empty bed in silence.
“Spike,” she whispered. “Spike?” She crawled out of her bed and advanced slowly to Spike’s bed. She tapped his invisible body a few times. “Good morning, Spike,” Twilight said pleasantly. “Can you guess what day it is?”
Twilight turned her head to look at the calendar on her wall. It was the twenty-first of June. “That’s right, summer’s here. We’ve got big day ahead of us. Are you excited?”
The bed said nothing.
“I’ll leave you here to freshen up. I’m going to have our friends come over.”
Twilight walked out of the bedroom. Before she started down the hall she turned to look back at Spike’s bed. The pleasant aura that surrounded her was gone for a brief moment. Then she turned away and started down the hall.
Walking through the grand hallway the sounds of her hooves stepping on the stone floor echoed across. After walking alone she entered the throne room. Just as her bedroom, it was just as she left it. Twilight found the throne that had her cutie-mark and sat down. Seven other thrones surrounded her own. The six main thrones were engraved with the cutie-marks that belonged to her best friends. A smaller one that was next to Twilight’s belonged to Spike.
Twilight ran her eyes across the round table, gazing at the empty thrones before her. She lowered her head while she chose the right words to say. After giving herself a moment she raised her head, bringing a pleasant smile to her lips.
“I’m so glad you’re all here,” she said to the thrones. “As you all know, today is June 21st, which means the Summer Sun Celebration is today. It’s also the fifth anniversary of our victory over Nightmare Moon, and the day we became best friends.”
She looked over to Fluttershy’s throne and giggled. “Yes Fluttershy, it does seem like yesterday. I guess time just flies by when you’re with the ponies you love.”
Twilight gave her attention to Applejack’s throne and her enthusiasm grew. “What I have planned? Well, since we’ve been friends for a long time I thought all of us could spend the day together.”
She smiled when the girls were all in agreement. Twilight was glad that Rarity agreed, even with her busy schedule. It was nice that she could take the day off. It is their fifth anniversary of their friendship, after all. Rarity wouldn’t miss that for the world. Now she focused on Rainbow Dash’s throne.
“What are we going to do first? I don’t know. I thought that maybe we could let the day surprise us.”
Twilight glanced to Pinkie’s throne, laughter escaping from her breath. “I know how much you love surprises, Pinkie.”
She brought her head down to Spike’s throne. “Of course you can come, Spike. This is day for all of my friends, even you.”
Twilight’s smiled grew as she stared at the empty thrones of her friends. It was going to be such a great day. Not wanting to wait another second for it to begin, she climbed out of her throne and beckoned for the girls, and Spike, to follow her out of the castle.
****
Twilight walked under the dark and scorched sky, the wreckage that used to be Ponyville - and Equestria itself, surrounding her. It has been a year since she had seen the sun or the moon. Even the stars disappeared. The harshly cool breeze whistled and picked up the dust from the ground. Buildings and homes laid waste, reduced to nothing but debris and rubble.
But that didn’t matter to the former princess of friendship. Today was a special day, and she was going to spend every minute of it with her best friends.
The first event on her list was to have breakfast at the restaurant she frequented. It was nice, well-kept establishment. Rarity introduced it to her a few days after Twilight arrived in Ponyville. She found a table was wide enough to fit seven underneath the rubble.
She found a chair and placed it at the end of the table. Twilight smiled, her mind projecting images of her friends talking and laughing, as well as eating breakfast under the bright blue sky. Twilight had her eyes on the ruined remains of Davenport’s mattress store.
“Fluttershy, look,” she whispered. “It’s that stallion you said you like. Why don’t you go talk to him?”
Twilight could see Fluttershy concealing her face behind her pink mane.
“What do you mean you want to wait until later? I thought you always wanted to talk to him.”
She shook her head, chuckling under her breath when Fluttershy declined to make the first move on her crush.
“No, we shouldn’t do that, Rarity,” she said to the seat next to her. “We can’t force her to talk to him. She’ll know when she’s ready.”
After breakfast was over Twilight decided to take a stroll down the park. It was always a good idea to go to the park in a day like this, it was only natural. During her walk, Twilight encountered more destroyed buildings. Many of them were shops she used to frequent. She found herself passing a pile of rubble that used to be Time Turner’s watchmaking shop, so she stopped to wave hello.
Looking ahead she noticed she was about to cross an intersection. A stop sign was lying on the ground, so she imagined a crossing guard directing traffic. She remembered to look both ways before crossing the street.
Finally, Twilight arrived at the park. What used to have been a wide open space of green and life was now a desolate wasteland, almost like a desert. Many of the trees withered and died. Looking around she saw rusted pieces of the playground scattered on the ground, even a no “NO LITTERING” sign was among the ruins. None of that mattered to Twilight.
She pictured foals with their mothers on the playground. Twilight wish she could join them, but she only laughed at the thought. How would a full-grown mare look riding on the swings?
Twilight gazed at a tree that had fallen from its roots. She saw an image of Spike trying to climb it in her mind. It increasingly became his favorite past time. Ahead of her, she saw birds coming toward Fluttershy. Near the play area Rarity and Applejack held a conversation, probably about their work. It always put a smile on her face to see those two spend quality time together. She didn’t know where Pinkie was, but she’ll probably show up in due time.
She raised her head toward the dark sky. “What was that, Rainbow Dash? You want to race? I don’t know… you’re much faster flyer than I am. Okay, if you really want to.”
Twilight flapped her wings and ascended to the sky for a race. She hovered in place for a few seconds before she launched herself straight forward. She kept at it for a few minutes until she slowed down.
“Looks like you beat me again,” she said.
Twilight brought her head down and noticed what was used to be the swimming hole they always liked to go. The water had dried up, leaving a huge spot of earth in its wake. So that was where Pinkie was.
****
Twilight still had a full day ahead of her when she left the park, so she decided to make a visit at Fluttershy’s home. In a perfect weather like this, she thought it was a good idea to help plant her garden. It was great that all the girls can help pitch in.
On their way to the cottage, Twilight found herself beside a familiar building. Well, it wasn’t the same building as it was before, but she recognized it as the Ponyville Elementary schoolhouse. She laughed to herself, knowing that all the fillies and colts - especially the Cutie Mark Crusaders, must be happy the school year has ended for the summer. How did that rhyme go again? No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks. Twilight waved to the building, smiling as she pictured Miss Cheerilee waving back.
“Hi Miss Cheerilee, enjoying your three month vacation?” she said. The ravaged schoolhouse did not respond, but Twilight laughed anyway.
It was a long walk from the park to the cottage, but it never bothered her. It was just nice that she can enjoy the nice weather with her friends. Twilight scanned the remains of what was left of Fluttershy’s home. Her home was nearly unrecognizable. Even the animals had vanished. Not to worry. Once she her garden is created it will look good as new, probably better than before. Twilight entered Fluttershy’s home through the open door and searched for some garden tools. From there she went to work, digging holes in the dirt and soil in every corner, planting seeds of a variety of flowers she kept.
After pouring water onto the buried seeds, she wiped her brow, satisfied with the work that was accomplished.
“You’re going to have the best garden in town, Fluttershy. I just know it.” She raised her head, gazing at the black sky, then her smile vanished. Twilight lightly shook her head. “Don’t worry Fluttershy, they’ll grow. Trust me.”
She gazed at the dark sky for the last time before she continued with her day. There were so many things she wanted to do today. Twilight led herself out of Fluttershy’s home and into the streets of the ruins of Ponyville, her only goal is to make the most out of the day before it ends.