My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all characters in this work of fiction belong to Hasbro. The author makes no claims of ownership to any of the characters or locations referenced in this story.
Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, Equestria and Ponyville, paused in her reading as a stray thought struck her. It was recreational reading, so breaking from it wasn't particularly disruptive. Just a light treatise recently published on relativistic physics and the implications thereof, authored by none other than Ponyville's (unofficial) resident mad scientist Time Turner. The thought was completely unrelated to the subject she was reading about, and caused her to mark her page and look up.
Scattered about the main reading foyer of her great castle's grand library were her best friends. Rarity was nearby, perusing a few books on ancient fashion and architecture with a strangely wistful expression on her face. Rainbow Dash had found a pegasus perch near the ceiling (one of many her castle just seemed to have naturally) and was already a good quarter of the way into the latest Daring Do book. Applejack had found the small stack of books on farming techniques that Twilight had (secretly) ordered especially for her, and even Fluttershy was settled on a large cushion sized more for a full-grown princess like Celestia than a normal pony. Twilight had made sure to stock nature books for her, so that all of her friends had something to read if they wanted.
Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen, making snacks.
Twilight indulged in her thought further: she had the best friends ever, and she was deeply lucky to be able to spend so much of her time with them. That they'd all agreed to her 'book party' idea spoke volumes of their friendships. Of all of them, Applejack and Fluttershy were the least likely to want to do something like this, but they'd agreed anyway and had been pleasantly surprised when Twilight showed them several books each relevant to their interests. For Pinkie Pie, a party was a party, though it had taken a GREAT deal of effort on Twilight's part to convince Pinkie that it was a special kind of party that was best done quiet and with snacks and subtle conversation. A Library Party where everypony could read what they liked and discuss it with the others if they wanted. In short, a Twilight-designed party.
Convincing Pinkie Pie that parties could be quiet and done without confetti and artillery was tricky, but somehow she'd managed to do it. Being able to cite 'tea parties' and other social affairs that involved quiet friendship rather than boisterous partying helped, and now Pinkie was doing her utmost to keep the various friends supplied with party essentials such as cupcakes and punch while restraining herself from employing party 'essentials' such as balloons and phonograph recordings. There were still streamers, however, and a banner strung up along the ceiling of the library that said "Happy Librarying, Twilight!" Pinkie refused to be convinced that 'librarying' was not a word and Twilight eventually just gave in.
Twilight surreptitiously glanced at the schedule she had hidden beneath a few sheets of notepaper. Two minutes until her "check on Pinkie" time, scratched in shortly after the start of the party right between "refresh refreshments" and "ask Rarity about her book." A dozen other notations just like it had been inserted throughout the schedule once she'd realized that Pinkie needed a lot more supervision to avoid kitchen catastrophes. How the Cakes managed was beyond Twilight's reckoning.
Pinkie would have to wait, however, as Rarity laid her book down and sighed melodramatically, gazing up to the ceiling of the library with an oddly nostalgic look on her face. The break in the silence drew everypony's attention, making Rarity the center of attention instantly. Rarity looked down from the ceiling to her friends with a fey smile and marked a page in her book, entirely unapologetic at the distraction.
"Do forgive me for the interruption, darlings," Rarity began smoothly, "I just could not help myself. The architecture and fashion throughout the centuries always stirred something in me and I found myself wondering: What will it all be like in the future? A hundred, two hundred years from now?"
Twilight perked up and absently levitated a companion book on architecture close by for historical reference, noting with pleasure how the others also seemed to lean in slightly to join the conversation. Well, except for Rainbow Dash who very obviously retreated back into her Daring Do book. But that was fine. Discussion of intellectual topics was what Twilight had hoped would happen, with the understanding that not everyone would be interested in every topic.
"I'll admit, I'm often a bit TOO caught up in the present, studying magic, or the past, studying history," Twilight jumped in to foster conversation, "but occasionally I wonder what ponies will be teaching in future classes and what new magic they'll discover! Or how we'll be depicted in the history books. Sometimes I consider looking up a spell or two to jump into the future and see."
Rarity tittered politely, and Twilight caught Fluttershy sharing an amused look with Applejack, who bit her lip to stop a snicker. Twilight let it slide, however. Twilight was well aware that her first instinct when confronted with any task or problem was to immediately jump to magic. What Twilight didn't expect was Rarity's switch in demeanor after the titter, the unicorn leaning forward over her book with a twinkle in her eye.
Twilight shifted awkwardly and felt her wings twitch nervously as she looked around the group. She even had Rainbow Dash's attention now. In a way, the discussion was inevitable despite Twilight's hopes of having it later or — better yet — never. This was not the time nor place that she'd wanted to talk about it, however, and she'd had no time to prepare.
"Ah, aheh, that…" Twilight began slowly, eyes shifting from pony to pony as she began to consider escape routes. She'd accidentally placed her friends between herself and the door, an artifact of the layout of the library and the position of her favorite reading spot. Teleportation was the only option then.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" Fluttershy's soft voice rang loudly in the expectant silence, startling Twilight out of her thoughts. Twilight took a deep breath, steeled herself and then let it all out.
"I'm not," she began quickly, then stalled for a moment before continuing, noting the shocked looks on her friends faces.
"What do you mean, you're not? You're an alicorn aren't you?" Rainbow Dash asked sharply, hooves waving about dramatically.
"Alicorns aren't naturally immortal or ageless or anything like that," Twilight explained, shaking her head.
"They're NOT?!" came the incredulous reply from the entire room, making Fluttershy cringe immediately afterwards and Twilight wince and lay back her ears at the noise.
"What about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" Rarity asked curiously. "Princess Cadence?"
"Celestia and Luna are special cases. Neither Cadence nor I are like that. I did ask about it once I became an alicorn, of course. Celestia was VERY willing to tell me everything she knew, actually," Twilight paused but the looks on her friends’ faces very clearly stated she wasn't going to get out of this with half-answers. She closed her eyes, ordered her thoughts and took a deep breath.
"We CAN be, but it’s not an alicorn thing. Alicorn nature, both magically and physically, lets them more easily reach that point but ultimately it’s a matter of raw magical power. Starswirl the Bearded lived almost double a normal unicorn lifespan. I was already projected to live longer than any other non-royal pony in history. To become truly ageless, though, one would need a connection to a fundamental magical force to supplement one’s natural magic.
"Celestia and Luna forged that connection as a matter of course since they were born alicorns and therefore had an alicorn’s natural potential. It helped them move the sun and moon on their own when they found their talents for it. An 'ascendant' alicorn — like Cadence or myself — actually needs to learn to embrace the primal forces we touched when ascending, and then choose to maintain that connection.
"So yes, it is possible for me to fulfil the conditions necessary to be like Celestia and Luna. As I said, Celestia herself was very open and detailed about how to do it. Honestly, though, I just can't see myself being able to go on after you girls have… passed. So I'll just let myself fade away once the last of you has gone on."
Twilight fully expected another display of disappointment, or perhaps her friends trying to convince her to live on beyond them. When she'd considered this sort of conversation she'd even imagined resignation, perhaps with some pragmatic understanding from Applejack or quiet support from Fluttershy.
What she didn't expect was for her answer to cause Applejack to relax, and bring about a confused look on Rainbow Dash. Rarity and Fluttershy both looked as though they'd bitten into something mildly distasteful. Twilight looking from friend to friend, growing nervous when none displayed any of the emotions she was expecting.
"Wait, so, you COULD live forever if you wanted to?" Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes narrowing intensely as she finished mulling over Twilight's statement. Twilight glanced up to the ceiling and took a calming breath.
"Yes, in theory. If I wanted to. But I'm not planning on it," she replied patiently.
"Because you don't want to outlive us?" Fluttershy asked, relaxing suddenly and looking curious once again.
"Right. You girls mean the world to me, and I can't imagine living as long as Celestia or Luna without you," Twilight smiled at Fluttershy warmly, glad that she seemed to understand her feelings on the matter.
"Oh! Well, if that's all, darling," Rarity said with unexpected cheerfulness, "I suppose it won't be a problem at all! I'll be around for quite a while, with maybe a small ten or twelve year gap every hundred years or so."
The smug look on Rarity's muzzle at the confusion and disbelief on her friends' muzzles quickly turned Twilight's own befuddlement into a low chuckle.
"Hah. Good one, Rarity," she said with a half-hearted laugh.
"Oh, I'm quite serious, darling. 'Serial Immortality' I believe it's called? While my body is that of a youthful and vibrant mare in her prime, I daresay my soul is as old as our beloved Princesses," Rarity explained smoothly, smiling very much like her cat upon catching a mouse. She continued grinning into the resultant silence, waiting for one of her friends to respond.
"That's… unlikely…" Twilight began dubiously after a moment, but was quickly cut off by Rainbow Dash.
"What the hay is that? Eating cereal makes you immortal?" came the scratchy demand.
"Serial as in sequential, or 'in order,' my dear Rainbow," Rarity replied, redirecting her gaze to Rainbow Dash, leaving Twilight to sit back a bit to try to order her thoughts. "As in, I live normally, am quite mortal physically and can even die. Of old age, if I can help it. But after I die, I don't 'move on' like one might expect. Instead, a little more than a year later — based on time of year, I'll let you guess why — I'm reborn as an adorable little unicorn foal. I'm quite unaware of all of this, however, until I find my cutie mark. Or regain it, I suppose, as it's always the same.
"At that point, my old memories of my past lives return quite rapidly. My personality and motivation is always the same, hence why I'm always driven to fashion, but as my memories return I am able to very quickly reestablish myself. I am rather young to be the proprietor of such a successful business, am I not?"
The question was met with more silence. Rainbow Dash just looked more confused, Fluttershy was staring at Rarity as though she'd grown a second head, and Applejack was looking thoughtful but scratching her head beneath her hat. Twilight bit her lip and looked at Rarity hard, trying to find tells that Rarity was pulling an elaborate prank or otherwise making things up.
"Really, Rarity? Serial immortality?" Twilight finally broke the silence, furrowing her brow. "I have to admit, that's somewhat implausible, even given the unusual lives the six of us live."
"Hmm, I suppose it does seem like a bit of a stretch, darling. But why would I lie about something like this? To trick you into living longer?" Rarity fluffed one of the curls of her mane with a hoof. "But if you require more proof, I'll happily answer any questions about fashion or even architecture for the past thousand years. The old memories fade over time, just like any other memories, but fashion certainly stands out to me."
"That's not really a good test. I know you've been through most of my books on historical fashion trends," Twilight shook her head, then sighed. "It just seems so unlikely."
"Well, it IS unlikely, darling. I was rather confused by it myself the first few times around. The next few I figured I was cursed and had offended some deity in some way. Princess Celestia, perhaps, or the devilish Nightmare Moon. Then I began to feel that I was blessed at being able to try again and again… I didn't always live to a ripe old age, after all," Rarity sighed ruefully and shook her head.
"Worse, it seems to be random to whom I am born. Sometimes wealthy, sometimes lowborn, but always this beautiful mane and coat, and always the diamonds for my Mark. I love my parents each time, of course… I spend at least a decade with them as an ordinary foal after all. I love my siblings, who are always precious to me. But I couldn't even begin to guess who my next parents will be," Rarity shook her head once more, then smiled up at Twilight.
"Ah, but NOW I know somepony who will be there once I've reclaimed my memories! And a PRINCESS of all! When I said before that it was my dream to design dresses for royalty, it was because I'd once made a dress for Princess Platinum, and just KNEW that was what I wanted to do forever. Surely you didn't think the accuracy of the Hearth's Warming costumes and my portrayal of Platinum herself drew compliments from the Princesses due purely to research, did you?"
Twilight bit back her immediate desire to begin quizzing Rarity on Princess Platinum and the unicorn court, curiosity at the possibility warring with incredulity at the claims. The awkward and befuddled silences of before were now replaced by an expectant one, as if the room were waiting for Twilight's revised verdict on immortality.
"Um…"
Everypony turned in surprise at Fluttershy, who'd only barely spoken up but managed to be loud enough to draw attention. She let out a soft 'eep' and immediately shrank in on herself, hid almost entirely behind her mane. Twilight dryly and uncharitably wondered if that was why Fluttershy was rumored to wear mane and tail extensions, then immediately chided herself for the crude thought and made herself focus again.
"Well…" Fluttershy slowly unfolded, as if recalling that she was in the company of just friends, "You see. I'm actually immortal too."
The flat, disbelieving looks she got were so predictable even she didn't flinch.
"It's true," Fluttershy asserted through the stares, straightening herself out. "I'm a vampire, actually, and they live a very long time, if not forever."
"Seriously?" "A vampire!?" "What."
"Fluttershy, you don't need to do this to support Rarity. I'm willing to believe her," Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. Somehow her hoof had landed on her face, and she dragged it downwards slowly.
"It's true, actually," Rainbow Dash chimed in unexpectedly, drawing attention for the first time since the conversation started. "She was turned shortly before I was able to follow her here to Ponyville. I literally murdered the bastard that did it, but it didn't help."
Twilight couldn't help it, she gaped at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash in disbelief. The conversation had gone from weird to downright bizarre very quickly. Fortunately, Applejack was on hoof to give voice to her own thoughts.
"That is the biggest load of roadapples I ever heard, an' that's comin' after Rarity's little 'squencey immortal' bit," Applejack drawled. "A vampire Fluttershy? Wouldn' ya burst inta flames in the sun? Or sparkle, or somethin'? I mean, there was the fruit bat incident an' all but we fixed that."
Fluttershy quickly held up a hoof and pressed it to Rainbow Dash's chest to keep the pegasus from charging over and starting something physical with Applejack. She shook her head, looking pleadingly at Rainbow, who scowled but sat back and crossed her forelegs petulantly.
"First, I don't really have any problem with the sun. That's just in stories. The sparkling rumor is even MORE silly. I didn't talk about it much because I was afraid… of what you girls would say. But I know you're my friends," Fluttershy explained quietly, looking up for support. Rarity and Twilight immediately nodded, even if Twilight couldn't quite reconcile the claims just yet. Encouraged, Fluttershy continued, "The fruit bat ‘incident,’ as you called it, was because Twilight's magic COULD affect me, since I was a vampire too. Of a different sort, but it still worked. The mirror reversed the effect, I guess, and made me crave apples instead of ponies."
Fluttershy immediately clamped her hooves over her muzzle, accompanied by the exclamations of surprise and the sound of hooves scrabbling against the floor as Rarity and Applejack scrambled backwards from her. The brief commotion drowned out her initial attempts at clarifying.
"WAIT!" she cried out, making everypony pause.
"Please! I'm not dangerous and not going to hurt anypony! I only need a little, every few weeks, and Rainbow Dash has ALWAYS, ummm, donated," she added quickly, holding up her hooves. Rainbow Dash had moved close at some point and now was hugging the yellow pegasus supportively. Twilight sucked in a breath and pressed her hoof to her chest, then exhaled and pushed the hoof outwards, forcing herself to expel the chaos in her mind and order her thoughts.
"So…" Twilight began after a moment of composure, "You're a vampire. Rarity will be reborn after she dies and will get her old memories back along with her cutie mark. I know how to exploit my alicorn magic to make myself ageless and nigh-unkillable. I guess I didn't expect… well, that I'd actually have reasons to live past my normal life expectancy."
"So, ya'll believe her?" Applejack asked incredulously, then snorted and rolled her eyes. "All right, Ah guess Ah can't see Fluttershy makin' this kinda stuff up, unless Rainbow Dash put 'er up to it."
"Hey, give Flutters some credit, AJ!" Rainbow Dash, flaring out her wings. Then she craned her neck up and to the side a bit. "You can see the bite marks!"
Despite herself, Twilight leaned in and immediately was thankful for the sharper vision her pegasus magic had granted her upon ascension. Sure enough, even with both Applejack and Rarity getting in the way trying to look for themselves, Twilight was able to spot two small clusters of pinpoint marks amidst the thin fur of her throat right along Rainbow's carotid artery. The clusters were spaced out just about the width of a mare's mouth…
"Whoa, nelly! Them ain't no ordinary bite marks," Applejack finally agreed, sitting back once more. Rarity was now eyeing Fluttershy with a new degree of fascination, and Fluttershy herself had shrunk behind Rainbow Dash in an attempt to hide from the renewed scrutiny.
"Well, shucks," Applejack finally said, shaking her head slowly. "Ah guess since we're sharin' secrets, Ah should let ya'll in on mine, too."
"Really, AJ? Usually you try to one-up me, not Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash cracked back at her, giving Twilight time to smack herself in the forehead with her hoof AND rub her temples in an effort to dispel the resultant headache. Things had just gotten completely out of hoof. She needed to take control of the situation again.
"Ah ain't tryin' ta one-up nopony!" Applejack quipped back in defense before Twilight could say anything, forcing her to cut in.
"Girls! Please!" Twilight stood up and put herself between the two, who were also standing now, leaning towards each other aggressively. Putting a hoof on each of their chests, she pushed them back from each other. "This isn't a contest of who is more immortal!"
Applejack snorted a bit, then rolled her eyes and flopped back onto her pillow.
"Darn tootin' it ain't! 'Sides, Ah'd lose that contest. Ya'll're more immortal than Ah am," Applejack waved a hoof dismissively. "Ah ain't gonna live ferever at least."
"Then what's your secret, Applejack?" Rarity asked sweetly from her pillow, the only pony who hadn't gotten up during the exchange so far.
"It's a bit hard ta explain, so Ah'm gonna start at the beginning," Applejack rolled to her belly and propped herself up comfortably. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash also returned to Fluttershy's pillow, and that encouraged Twilight to settle down back at her own cushion. Shortly, Applejack had everypony's attention, waiting for the story to begin.
"Like a lot of stories involvin' the Apple family an' Ponyville, it started with Granny Smith an' her kin. Not even she knows when it first happened, though it might have somthin' to do with the zap apples. Was a point before Ponyville was founded proper-like that Granny's pa got mauled by a timber wolf. Real bad. Nopony thought he'd make it. 'Cept he did. Came back despite the wounds, healed right up and in a week or so was right as rain.
"Back then, folks were real superstitious. Moreso than they are now. Farm ponies in particular still revered Princess Celestia for bringing the sun every day so we could grow things. Worshiped her on Sundays even. So the family kept my great grandpappy's injury and recovery a secret. Swore the doctor to silence and all that, mostly with bribes of apple cider and zap apple jam. Granny and them of course thought it was a miracle and praised Celestia fer it every day fer years.
"But it was when mah Ma was born that they figured it out. Turns out, for some reason we don't understand, when an Apple is born on Sweet Apple Acres, or puts down roots there like mah Pa did, a tree sprouts for 'em. As long as that tree lives, so does the Apple it sprouted for. Granny's tree is still going strong, for example, and she's goin' on two hundred by now. Helps that we're all around to help keep our trees healthy, too."
"Wow. I knew Granny Smith was old, but two HUNDRED?" Rainbow Dash goggled at Applejack. "That's crazy! All because of this magic tree?"
"Wait," Twilight interjected, "So you're like… a dryad?"
"Not exactly, Twi," Applejack replied, "It's more like… our soul's in the tree, not our body. If the tree dies… well, a bad fire took down a lot of trees a little after Apple Bloom was born, y'see. That's why mah parents ain't with us no more. But as long as mah tree is hale and healthy, ain't much ya could do ta me that Ah can't come back from."
"So more like a soul jar then. Today is getting stranger and stranger," Twilight muttered as she sat back, Rarity leaning in once again.
"Goodness! That seems like a good way to boost confidence! Keep your tree safe and you can be as daredevil as you like! Rainbow Dash could use one of those," she quipped wryly, making Rainbow Dash stick her tongue out. "ALL of you have a tree?"
"Granny, mahself and Big Mac. Apple Bloom… well. The tree grows wherever it pleases, ya see, an' while we can transplant 'em like we did with Braeburn's tree Bloomberg, we ain't found her's yet. I gotta admit, part of me is scared she don't have one, which is why Ah've been so protective of her," Applejack answered, frowning and fidgeting with her hat a bit. "Ah love mah little sis too much an' it'd just kill me if she got hurt an' didn't have a tree, or somethin' happened to her tree 'cuz we're too dense ta figure out where it is."
Fluttershy moved over to Applejack as her voice quavered emotionally, her own worries and doubts choking her up. Applejack leaned into the hug for a few moments before she managed to compose herself. Twilight stared at the bookshelf behind Applejack, trying to recall if she'd ever read anything like this happening before.
"But yeah, that's that. Like as all, Ah'll live as long as Granny. Which I s'ppose means I'll get ta see the next Rarity when she shows up!" Applejack forced a smile and gave Rarity a wink, who beamed back at her.
"I shall certainly remember YOU, Applejack! I'll design a special dress to make you when I find my cutie mark again," Rarity replied brightly.
Twilight sighed and couldn't help but laugh to herself. If her friends were all being honest, her previous worries were for naught. If it was all an elaborate prank, well… she'd deal with that later. Twilight idly wondered what Celestia would make of all of this. The conversation was certainly far less gloomy than she'd originally expected.
"I can't say I expected any of this," Twilight voiced aloud, rolling her eyes but smiling at her friends. Her gaze drifted over to Rainbow Dash, "I guess that just leaves…"
"CUPCAKES!" Confetti, pink and a tray piled impossibly high with cupcakes appeared in front of Twilight, making her cry out and topple backwards, flailing. Fortunately her cushion was there to break her fall, but it left her sprawled out on her back watching in horror as Pinkie Pie bounced to the table the friends were arranged around and bounced the tray up into the air with a buck of her hips. Before Twilight could even push magic into her horn, however, Pinkie's tail swept across the table, the books vanishing from sight and leaving plenty of room for the tray, which landed perfectly in the center of the table with nary a cupcake out of place. Pinkie then bounced over beside Twilight and shook her poofy tail vigorously, causing all of the missing books to tumble out, landing in neat stacks.
"Aw, yeah! I was wondering where these were!" Rainbow Dash cheered, diving to snatch up several in her hooves. Now busy stuffing her mouth, Rainbow Dash became distinctly uncommunicative.
"How's the Library Party going, Twilight? Sorry it took so long to make the cupcakes but I had to make sure there were enough for everypony! Oooh, I found a whole bunch of recipes in that cookbook you found that I want to try! Also my ears were getting all woobly-wobbly which led to my Pinkie Sense for people sharing secrets so I had to finish up real quick and pop up to get in on the secrets-sharing action!"
"Ah, Pinkie Pie! Umm, yes, I suppose we were having a bit of a discussion about…" Twilight trailed off, suddenly uncertain if any of her friends wanted Pinkie Pie to know what had been discussed. She cleared her throat, and finished quickly, "Talking about my lifespan, actually, since I'm an alicorn and royal ponies can live a lot longer than other ponies."
"That's not a secret, silly! Everypony knows alicorns can live forever!" Pinkie bounced back and, without looking, swiped three cupcakes from the bottom of the giant stack without disturbing the rest of the pile. She juggled all three in her front hooves before stuffing two into her mouth while at the same time tossing the third directly into Twilight's as she opened her mouth to speak. Twilight, despite years of knowing Pinkie Pie, still almost choked on the cupcake, and while she was chewing Rarity stepped in.
"Twilight was just informing us that she wasn't planning on living forever," Rarity gestured in a small circle with a forehoof, tossing her mane back over her head. "And so we were just sharing that she has no reason to worry, since I'll be reborn after I die, and can be her friend again!"
Pinkie Pie took that moment to heave an unnecessarily long and loud gasp, gaping at Rarity wide-eyed. Twilight swallowed hard on the remains of her cupcake in an attempt to clear her mouth for speaking, but was too slow.
"YOU are going to live forever TOO!? This is the greatest secret party EVER!" Pinkie cheered, wrapping Rarity up in a huge hug while the others in the room shared a confused look, mouthing the phrase 'too?' at each other.
"You, Twilight and I get to be besties FOREVER! This is so much better than I'd ever hoped!" Pinkie bounced in a tight circle around Rarity for a moment, eyes closed tightly and an ear-to-ear grin stretched across her face.
"Wait, you're immortal too, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash paused in consuming cupcakes to say what Twilight had been utterly unable to voice herself.
"Yupperooni! I'd been keeping it a secret because reasons but when Twilight went pretty princess pony I knew it was getting to be time to let my secret out! I didn't want everypony to get all sad and mopey thinking I'd lose all my best friends because I'm immortal. It's not like I won't make NEW friends, but you girls are my first super best friends forever and I'd MISS YOU but not now! Or, well, I'll have SOME of you at least!" Pinkie stopped bouncing and hooked a foreleg each around Rarity and Twilight, pulling them into a firm hug.
"Well, don't that just beat all," Applejack shook her head and nudged her hat back with the tip of a hoof. "Ah ain't gonna live ferever, not sure Ah'd want ta, but Ah'm sure I'll be around for at least two Rarities so that's close."
"I'm a unit of measurement for time now?" Rarity huffed, arching a skeptical eyebrow at Applejack.
"TWO Rarities?!" Pinkie Pie swung around and squinted as if searching for the second Rarity, then suddenly turned back to Applejack. "Wait, you're immortal too?"
"Nope. Jus' gonna be long-lived, providin' nothin' happens ta my tree," she replied warmly.
"And, um, turns out I'm a vampire," Fluttershy volunteered cautiously.
"A VAMPIRE!?" Pinkie gasped, jaw dropping in shock and sending Fluttershy diving behind Rainbow Dash again. She stared just long enough for Fluttershy to peek out and Twilight open her mouth to respond, then she broke into a huge grin again.
"Woo! Finally somepony to try out my Sanguine Surprise cupcakes on!" Pinkie cheered, making both Fluttershy and Twilight widen their eyes in horror.
"Pinkie!" Twilight grabbed Pinkie Pie and spun her around. "PLEASE don't get carried away with this! Rainbow Dash has, apparently, been enough. You don't need to make — urk — blood cupcakes or anything."
"Eww! Of course not, Twilight! I wouldn't use BLOOD. Yuck. They'd just TASTE like blood!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth, gagging at Twilight while squinting one eye. Twilight rolled her eyes, and sighed.
"That's better only because I'm reasonably confident you mean that. Anyway, since we're all sharing: WHY are you immortal?" Twilight asked patiently, not missing Fluttershy's silent sigh of relief.
"Because I'm a spirit of chaos!" Pinkie replied easily, bouncing on her coiled tail like a spring in front of Twilight. "Like Discord, but basically a BABY spirit of chaos, like you're a baby alicorn! I decided to be born and live like a pony and everything because Harmony asked nicely and I didn't want to be a big meanie like Discord was."
The group stared at Pinkie Pie silently for a long moment. Slowly, Twilight nodded as if in response to a conversation only she could hear.
"Well, that explains everything. This party has officially gone beyond sensibility. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to wake up and find it was all a dream," Twilight shrugged helplessly. Now that Pinkie Pie was involved, her mental defenses had kicked in and let her just blithely accept the absurdity. After a moment she added, "And I actually mean that. It DOES explain just about everything, really."
"She just called you a baby, Twilight," Rainbow Dash snickered from the other side of the table, earning her a gentle but scolding shove on the shoulder from Fluttershy.
"Baby alicorn, Dashie!" Pinkie shot back brightly. "They age so much slower that Twilight won't be an adult in alicorn years for another hundred years at least!"
"Guess Ah'd better hide the hard cider again!" Applejack joked, winking at Rainbow Dash and nudging her with an elbow, who broke out laughing and holding her sides again.
"That's not how it works! I'm still an adult pony! Ugh!" Twilight cut in, using a hoof to push Pinkie out of the way and onto a cushion recently retrieved by her magic. Then Twilight floated a few cupcakes off the top of the still-towering stack and turned her attention to Rainbow Dash.
"Fine. Well, this is all well for the rest of us. So we're all immortal or at least long-lived. What about you, Dash?" Twilight finally asked, wanting to address the matter lest it be forgotten in the pile of sugar and Pinkie.
"Me? Oh, well, I don't know, actually," Rainbow Dash replied simply and went back to stuffing herself with cupcakes.
"You don't know? What do you mean, 'you don't know?'" Twilight couldn't help asking.
"Just what I said: I don't know. I don't know if I'm immortal and going to live forever, or if it's just that I can't die," Rainbow Dash replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Somethin' about that statement don't sound right ta me," Applejack spoke up, rubbing her chin as she squinted her eyes suspiciously at Rainbow Dash.
"Wait a minute, Dash," Twilight cut in, also with narrowed eyes. "Let's focus on that last part, where you said 'just that you can't die.'"
Rainbow Dash sat up finally, with icing still on her nose, grinning now that she had everyone's attention. Her earlier nonchalance was nowhere to be seen, and Twilight began to think her aloof attitude earlier was an attempt to 'be cool.' Rainbow's wings fanned out and she motioned with her hooves as she spoke.
"Exactly that: I can't die. Literally," she said, then backpedaled a bit. "Or, I suppose I CAN die, because I have three or four times in the past few years, but I can just refuse to die and POOF! I'm alive again!"
"That's even less likely than everything else so far," Twilight began, holding up her hooves placatingly. "Look, Dash, you don't need to try to 'fit in' or anything. Applejack already said she's long-lived, not immortal like… like some of us. It's okay to be… well, mortal."
"I'm not 'trying' anything, Twi! I have literally died and then decided I didn't want to be dead! I can even describe where I go! It's like this huge blue sky with little puffy clouds everywhere, and each cloud on it has a little scene from my life, all my best and worst memories and everything! I think it's literally that thing people talk about when they say your life flashes before your eyes!" Rainbow Dash waved her hooves around, pulling them together to indicate clouds and flailing them around to suggest the distribution of them.
"That… sounds kind of nice, except maybe the worst memories part…" Fluttershy offered with a timid smile.
"Ah'm not sure Ah buy the afterlife bein' a bunch a clouds with skits from mah life on 'em," Applejack interjected. "Though with how wild th' rest of our stories are, I don' think it's a bad one overall."
For Twilight, however, the story resonated all too well.
"The important question is HOW do you do it, Dash?" Twilight asked firmly, gazing at the pegasus intently. Rainbow Dash held her gaze unflinchingly.
"Loyalty. Before Ponyville it was Fluttershy and Gilda. Now, I can feel my connection to you girls too, all of you, when I'm there. Or, well, it's particularly strong there. I focus on that, refuse to leave you, and I'm pulled back to my body where I heal up enough to keep living. Glad for that, too. It'd suck to go back to a completely broken body after all," Rainbow Dash replied.
"Too loyal to die, eh?" Applejack laughed lightly. "Or jus' too stubborn?"
"I'm serious!" Dash turned on Applejack, and Fluttershy reflexively cringed away. "Remember that time I broke my wing? When Twi got me hooked on Daring Do? Yeah, I died then, but was able to revive before you guys really noticed. Also bit it once in flight camp but fortunately nopony was around to see THAT one."
"Oh, geeze, Dashie! You DID die! I KNEW your neck looked all kinds of wrong after that crash but when we got to you it was all better and you were breathing and everything!" Pinkie Pie blurted, hooves on her cheeks, eyes wide with sudden horror at how she'd acted back then.
"I remember that. I'm… wow. I'd thought it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. Okay, because I feel compelled to corroborate her story… the idea of a place with your memories is… well, it's actually true. Celestia calls it 'The Path of Reflection' and it's a place where you reconcile your life to help you move on," Twilight said after a moment of listening to the exchange. "It's different for everypony. I've been there too."
This brought all of the attention in the room back on her, including Rainbow Dash whose voice cracked in a mix of horror and hopeful surprise, "Really?"
Twilight nodded and looked around a bit, shuffling her hooves. Finally she took a deep breath and nodded once to herself.
"Yes. I've been there, when I ascended. I can go to and from at will as part of my alicorn nature. Celestia showed me how. I was… INTENDING to go with each of you, when your time came, and walk you to whatever comes next as a way of saying 'goodbye.' So I guess I believe Rainbow Dash, though just refusing to die seems dubious; there HAS to be more to it. On a lighter note, I guess I won't be needing THOSE plans for anypony except maybe Applejack at this point," Twilight shrugged a bit, smiling sheepishly.
"Aw, shucks, sugarcube. I ain't plannin' on takin' that walk fer a long, long while, but Ah'll be honored ta have ya there when I do," Applejack gave Twilight a big grin and Twilight felt herself relaxing again.
"Dear me, this is FAR more than I expected! I was only counting on Twilight being around but if we'll ALL be alive for the foreseeable future… friends forever, indeed!" Rarity chimed in as the conversation died down again.
"Well, I guess that's true, isn't it?" Twilight mused, looking about the room at all of her friends. Things had gotten pretty strange pretty quickly, but it was turning out to be a good kind of strange.
"Pinkie, I think we're going to need more punch," Twilight smiled at the pinkie pony bouncing happily on her tail beside her.
"You got it, Twi-no-might!" Pinkie Pie saluted sharply, back-flipped and slid underneath her pillow and was gone.
"Good idea, Twilight! All that talk about dying and not dying has made me thirsty!" Rainbow Dash quipped brightly, snagging several cupcakes and stuffing them into her mouth.
"Ugh, careful, dear," Rarity chided, tsking a bit. "Just because you can come back doesn't mean we want to see you die any more than necessary."
Twilight shook her head as the others devolved into random agreement and laughter, settling back and picking up her book again. Her simple book party had gotten very surreal, but a big part of her was pleasantly surprised and even relieved that the dreaded subject of the eventual death of her friends had become almost a complete non-issue. Everypony was happy and chattering away now, though, so Twilight pushed down a growing desire to investigate her friends' claims and instead forced herself to be content with what had been achieved so far.
After all, it seemed like now they'd have plenty of time to test the boundaries of their enduring friendship.
Author's Note
This is just a random idea I had that ended up actually turning into something complete. It's basically a motley mix of headcanon combined with "what if everyone had a different way to be immortal?"
Also, Pinkie Pie is just hard to write right. Had trouble thinking up something decent for Rainbow Dash too, so that part feels weak. Overall, I'm happy though. Hopefully it entertains!