100 years after the fall of Tirek.
The train had come to a stop at the Ponyville train station. Everypony made their way out of their colorful train cars and onto the station platform. Everypony except Princess Twilight Sparkle. Twilight stayed seated a bit longer. She wasn’t quite ready to be back home yet. She just stared out the window of the train car with a cheerless expression. Trips home hadn’t been easy for Twilight these past few decades. Whenever she had royal duties outside of Ponyville, she’d stay longer than she normally would, always reluctant to return back. But she was home again now.
The conductor noticed a purple pony still in her seat and made his way down the aisle to tell her it was time to leave, but then he noticed the horn and wings. Twilight took notice of the conductor. The conductor glanced back, eyes widened. He bowed respectfully. He then lifted his head and gave a gentle grin. Twilight returned a smile. But as she slowly crept off her seat, her smile gradually faded. The conductor stepped back to allow her to walk past him and towards the exit. She was glad the conductor didn't see her sad expression.
She stood on the platform and stared back towards the direction the train had returned from. Twilight had chosen to take the train rather than a royal chariot to and from Ponyville. She didn’t feel like being reminded of her royalty today. She had also chosen not to fly today. Flying would require her to use her wings, her alicorn wings. Those wings were just a constant reminder of all that she had lost.
She left the train station and began walking back to her castle. She passed by the spot of her old library. What was once a barren, ash-covered plot of land was now home to a small garden serving as a monument. A few fillies who were playing near the garden heard hoof steps and took notice of Twilight walking past. They waved at her. She smiled and waved back. But once the fillies turned back to their games, Twilight faced her head towards the ground, frowned and continued walking.
There were other monuments strewn about Ponyville. Some buildings previously inhabited by the other five brave bearers of the Elements of Harmony served as memorials. Some other buildings were still very much functional.
Old Sugarcube Corner now holds daily parties hosted by the granddaughter of the late Pound Cake. Pound had been inspired by that one energetic pink pony who babysat him when he was a foal to carry on her legacy of parties via the Cake family. Carousel Boutique had been converted into a museum of fashion. It bores an attractive gem-decorated sign in front publicizing that it was once home to the greatest fashion designer in all of Equestria. The original barn at Sweet Apple Acres had fallen apart due to old age. However, a new, much larger barn was raised in its place, proudly assembled by 7th generation Apple family members. Just outside the Everfree Forest still stands a cozy little cottage that serves as a small veterinarian facility. It was the cottage owner’s last wishes to make sure her home would always be used as a place to care for animals. And finally, in the center of Cloudsdale now stands an enormous plaque in the shape of a cloud with rainbow-colored lightning coming out of it. The plaque honors the greatest and youngest commander in Wonderbolts history.
Twilight had tears forming in her eyes by the time she made it back to her blue and purple castle. She head up the stairs and made it into her reading room, but she didn’t make it to the couch. She abruptly plopped her bottom down in the middle of the room, tears now streaming from her eyes.
A concerned giant green eye peeked through a small circle window near the top of the room. It was Spike. The purple and green dragon had grown big, not from age, but from accumulating gems, gold and other random trinkets over the decades. Though he would sit on his pile of treasures daily with pride, Spike controlled his greedy and selfish behavior and made himself promise never to take more than he needed. He learned from his last experience to be more careful about that sort of thing. Spike’s snout had become so long that he had to turn his head sideways against the flat side wall of the castle to get his eye to match up with the circle window. He had grown big and strong, but he was still Twilight’s caring and loyal assistant. Spike glanced down at Twilight and noticed her tears. The tears were now flowing down her cheeks, some even falling to the ground.
Spike moved his sight away from the window for a moment and started digging through his pile of treasure and junk gently with his claws. He quickly plucked out Twilight’s old quill from the trove. Spike returned his giant eye to the tiny circle window and then carefully maneuvered his claw through the lower large rectangle window of the reading room. He offered Twilight the quill.
Twilight took glance at the quill. A mix of emotions immediately rushed through her. She quietly raised her hoof to her chest and sat there a moment, eyes closed, deep in thought. Spike’s giant eyelid could be seen through the window lowering a bit. He could sense Twilight’s pain and indecision. Finally, Twilight opened her eyes and quickly took hold of the quill with her magic. She then levitated a piece of blank parchment over from a nearby shelf. She took the quill to the parchment and began writing a letter to Princess Celestia. Twilight didn’t write much. It was a very short letter, straight to the point.
She rolled up the parchment and levitated it to Spike’s patiently waiting claw. Twilight let out a quiet sigh and closed her eyes once more. Spike took the scroll, carefully pinching it between two of his claw nails. He pointed his head towards the direction of Canterlot castle, held the scroll in front of his giant mouth and let out a small green flame.
Author's Note
After watching Remembrance on YouTube for the fifth time or so, I started to really wonder about a few things: How many years into the future did this take place? What had the Mane 6 been up to for all those years? And finally, as some of the video’s commenters brought up, what happened to Spike?
Other Notes:
The castle “reading room” I envisioned was the one at the beginning of Amending Fences, season 5 episode 12. It’s a small room with a purple couch and a small bookshelf adorned with photos of Twilight’s friends.
What Twilight wrote in her short letter to Princess Celestia is up to your interpretation.
And last but certainly not least, thank you Argodaemon for Remembrance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZDhMKk4tfg
