The Truth of Forever
Fade
The hill right outside of Ponyville was a beautiful place on a normal day.
Overlooking a large pond, the view was spectacular at sunset. When the orange tones of the sun sinking just below the horizon coloured the sky, the same view was reflected in the pond below.
On this particular day, however, the hill right outside of Ponyville was a horrible place.
It was horrible because of the way Spike looked, with his eyes downcast and his claws dragging. It was horrible, because her faithful student had been brought here on a wheelchair.
It was horrible, because today was the last day.
When Celestia arrived, Twilight and Spike were already there, waiting for her. She landed softly on the top of the hill beside Twilight and Spike, looking at Twilight solemnly.
“Oh, hey, Princess,” Spike spoke without his usual cheery tone. After Twilight had been diagnosed, he had been hit the hardest. The grey bags under his eyes and his lackluster tone betrayed how long he had been awake.
Twilight looked like a parody of her usual self, her face pale, and her body so thin that some of her bones showed unnaturally through her skin. Her purple eyes, once sparkling with youth, were now were dulled with age. Her horn had a crack running through the middle, with several smaller cracks splitting off from it, tainting the surface with the blackened lines. Her wings were splayed to her sides, the feathers ruffled and out of place.
“Hi, Princess.” Twilight opened her eyes drowsily. Her voice rasped like sandpaper, so weak Celestia could barely hear it. “I would stand, but—” Twilight coughed, a terrible wheezing sound coming from her throat.
“Twilight, please don’t try to talk.” Spike’s voice was tinged with concern. “You don’t want to exacerbate your condition.”
“Spike, this is going to”— she paused. Celestia saw conflicted expression forming on her face— “This is going to be my last chance. Tomorrow, I will be—”
“—Don’t say that, Twilight! I—I’m sure that the surgery tomorrow will work! Don’t—don’t talk like that!” Spike interrupted, his lackluster voice momentarily filled with emotion. “Don’t talk like you’re going to… die… tomorrow!”
“I’m... sorry for saying this, Spike,” Twilight hesitated. The saddened look on her face told Celestia far more effectively than anything else how pained she was. “I can feel it already, the magic draining from my body. No ordinary surgery can help with that.” She stopped again. “I am going to… die. Tomorrow.”
“But surely, with the Princess of Equestria—”
Celestia shook her head sadly. Seeing Spike’s hopeful look die away struck at her heart. The look on his face seemed to mock her with helplessness.
Please, Celestia! Save her! Please!
Celestia winced as the millennia-old memory surfaced, bringing with it all the pain and heartbreak it had caused centuries ago. The slip was only for a moment, and her expression returned to normal a second after as she pushed the memory down to the depths of her mind.
“I’m sorry, Spike. As much as I want to, I can’t do anything to help her in this state. Magic Rot has been an incurable disease for a long time.”
She heard a sigh from beside her, turning to see Spike standing with his head bowed. “I guess it’s really the last day, eh? I always thought we’d have more time, Twilight. I mean, I haven’t even fully grown yet.”
“Yeah, I thought I’d be able to see you flying around in the sky. No such luck, I guess.” Twilight sniffled slightly, and Spike put his arm around her neck supportively. “You’ll have to look out for yourself from now. No getting attacked by dragons again, okay?”
“Aw, c’mon, Twi, that was years ago! Besides, I’ll be able to fend them off myself,” Spike had a look of mock indignation on his face, before his features softened.“Don’t worry about it, Twi. I’ll be fine, I promise.”
Silence fell once again, the trees nearby swaying slightly as a small breeze blew through the area. The normally loud and bothersome nocturnal wildlife was quiet tonight, as if the solemnity of the occasion had silenced their chatter. The sun slowly sank to just above the horizon, and the sky turned a light shade of purple, the faint outlines of stars glimmering slowly into view.
“Spike?” Twilight said softly, slowly, breaking the veil of silence. “Can I speak to Celestia alone, please? Just for a while, I promise.”
Spike nodded. “I’ll just wait over there, then.” He moved off to wait a distance away.
Celestia turned to face Twilight, taking her eyes off the slowly darkening sky.
For moment, the unicorn was silent, her head still turned toward the scenery. “Luna’s doing a good job with the sun, isn’t she?” Twilight turned slowly to look at Celestia.
“Yes, she is,” Celestia said, her tone becoming slightly longing. “I still recall when she came back from the moon. She couldn’t lift a feather, let alone the moon. Now look at her,” She tilted her head slightly, a tone of pride filling her voice. “Look at you now.”
Twilight smiled, blushing slightly. “It seems so long ago now, doesn’t it?”
“Yes…” Celestia sighed softly.
“Please don’t be sad, Celestia. You know I’ve had a good life, Besides, I’ve lived longer than any of my friends, even Applejack. It’s about time.”
“I know, Twilight. It’s just… are you sure you’re okay with this? You seem oddly calm today. I remember what you were like when you got the news.”
“I’ve accepted the fact since then. I’m looking forward to seeing my friends again. Only, I’m worried about Spike.” Twilight turned her head to look at said dragon, who was watching them silently. “You’ll take care of him, won’t you?”
Celestia smiled a little. “Spike is almost fully grown now, my dear student. I’m sure he can take care of himself.”
“Oh, heh he—” Twilight fell into a coughing fit again, her laugh interrupted. Yet just as Celestia reached up to help, Twilight stopped, looking up at her, smiling. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I just forget Spike is all grown up now and then. He’ll always be my baby dragon, just as I’ll always be your faithful student.”
Always.
“Yes, I know what you mean.”
The pair was silent once again, as they watched the sun sink below the horizon. The orange and purple tones of twilight disappeared, replaced by the black sky of the night.
“Oh, I just thought of something,” Twilight said, turning back to Celestia.
“Hmm?”
“You know how they say that you die twice? Once when you stop breathing, and once when somepony says your name for the last time?”
“Yes. Wise words, from a wise pony.”
“Right. Well, I just realised that I’ll live forever, because of you. You’re going to live forever, and you’ll remember me, so my name will keep being said, forever—you will remember me, right?” Twilight looked up at Celestia.
“I’ll remember you,” Celestia said, smiling sadly.
“Always?” Twilight turned her head back towards the sunset, looking off into the distance.
“Always.” Celestia said, her heart breaking. A stab of pain lanced through chest.
“That’s good…” Twilight trailed off. Celestia heard a faint snoring from beside her, and turned to see Twilight asleep on the wheelchair.
“Did Twilight fall asleep? I told her she was too tired to make the journey!” She heard Spike’s voice coming from beside her. “Ugh… Sorry, Princess, I guess she just overestimated herself… again…”
“It’s no problem, Spike.”
Spike took the handles of the wheelchair in his claws, pushing Twilight towards the path going down the hill.
“Hold on, Spike,” Celestia said, looking back at him, “Before you take her back to the hospital, would you like to keep me company here for a while? There are some things I wish to talk about.” Patting the ground at her side, she motioned for Spike to sit.
Spike nodded, sitting down. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
She was silent for a moment, gazing out at the fading rays of twilight.
“So,” she said, finally, “How are you coping?”
“Not that great, I guess,” Spike sighed, glancing over his shoulder at Twilight. “I’ve been trying not to think about... it for the past few days, for Twilight’s sake. She wouldn’t want to see me all sad and moping.
“But she was a great pony, though. Even though I grew up with her, I’m still amazed by what she can do sometimes, y’know? Every time I saw her, she always had some sort of new achievement up her sleeve.” Spike looked for a moment like he was looking far off into the distance, before he shook his head. “Sorry, Princess, I know I’m rambling on. I just can’t let myself think about it. If I do...” A few tears rolled down his cheeks, completing the unfinished sentence.
“It’s okay, Spike. I know it’s hard to talk about it right now,” Celestia said, “When the first friend I had passed on, I was devastated for a long time.”
“Your first friend, huh? Sounds kinda familiar,” Spike said, looking at Twilight again. “How do you do it, Princess? How do you live for so long and still be... happy? Does the pain ever fade away?”
Celestia hesitated for a split second. “...no, it doesn’t.” Yes, it does.
The ancient memory threatened to surface again, before she pushed it back down into the depths of her mind.
Spike sniffled. “Sorry, I just— I think about me getting my wings without her, and I just”—a tear dripped from his cheek— “A dragon getting his wings is like a pony getting their cutie mark, you know. And when I think of me getting my cutie mark without her…”
Celestia sat in silence, watching as the night completely obscured the twilight sky. The sun had finally descended below the horizon, and the moon shined brightly up above.
Spike stood up beside her, quietly heading behind Twilight’s chair. “It’s getting late. I should get Twilight back to the hospital soon.”
Celestia nodded, a faraway look in her eyes. Spike wheeled Twilight away, the sound of his footsteps slowly fading away into the night.
Alone, she was left to her thoughts. Her eyes stared far off into the distance, and her mind was elsewhere, in a small cave a thousand million lifetimes ago.
The pink pony lay in the cave, bleeding profusely from a gash in her side. The bow she always wore on her white and purple mane was stained red, left unrecognisable by the blood.
“Please! Save her, please!”
Celestia turned, but she could not see who had spoken. Her surroundings were blurry and out of focus, the only thing she could see being the unicorn who lay on the ground in front of her.
The unicorn’s flank bore the image of nine purple stars, but when Celestia focused on her face, it became indistinct.
“Please!”
An immense sadness flowed through her. As she watched, the pony who had once been her first friend took slow, ever-weakening breaths, her breathing becoming ragged and shallow. Then, with an air of finality, her chest fell, for the last time ever. Beside her, the pony who had shouted descended into tears, her wailing cries reaching up to the heavens.
Celestia shook her head, breaking out of her daydream.
The first friend she ever had…
What was her name?
Celestia looked down at the hospital where she knew Twilight was staying in. The lights were switched on, and though she couldn’t see her, she knew Twilight was inside somewhere, being pushed to her bed. It astounded her that, in just ninety-five years, the pony who she cared for like a daughter was going to die. Spike would perhaps live longer, maybe over a millennium, but in the end...
“I’ll remember you forever,” she lied, again, a bitter tone creeping into her voice.
The tears left wet tracks on Celestia’s cheeks as they rolled and fell toward the ground.
How long would it take this time?
