The morning sun shone brightly through the windows of the Royal Palace, allowing a lone beam of light to tear Twilight Sparkle from her dreams. The lavender alicorn turned her head in a futile attempt to resist consciousness, but the luxury of sleep simply would not come to her. Sighing in defeat, she opened her eyes, only to snap them shut as the sunlight pierced her sight. She repeated this process a few times, opening her eyes a little longer each time, until she was finally adjusted to the newfound brightness. She spent a moment observing her surroundings. She was in her room, no doubt about that. Her crown, saddle bags, and other valuables were resting safely on her nightstand. Once she was sure everything was in place, she decided it was time to start the day. With a flicker of magic she made her bed, put on her crown, and made her way to her study. Once inside, she glanced at her calendar to make sure she was fully prepared for the day ahead. She almost did a double take upon seeing the date. Then, a somber smile slowly crept upon her face, betraying her true feelings.
Today was Twilight’s birthday. While most ponies of Equestria would think it’s a time to celebrate their beloved ruler’s continuing life, this day was actually very hard for Twilight. All this day did was remind Twilight of her curse. When she became an alicorn, she achieved every dream she had ever made for herself; she became the ruler of Equestria, she completely mastered her role as the Element of Magic. Everything she ever wanted, she got. Sadly, there is a horrible, horrible drawback to having such power. Alicorns are immortal. No matter how old Twilight gets, no matter what injuries are inflicted upon her, death will never come for her. She’s been alive for so long that she doesn’t even know how old she is anymore. It’s been millions of years since she’s seen her friends, even her family, and every birthday just served to remind her that she will be forced to linger on, never being reunited with her loved ones again.
Twilight sighed and turned away. She had duties to perform after all; the state of Equestria would suffer if its ruler was too busy moping over the past. Still, she just couldn’t seem to shake the painful tug at her heart as these thoughts were flowing through her head. She gathered her things and started walking towards the royal office. Just as she reached the exit of her study, her hoof got caught on something and she tripped. It didn’t hurt, nothing hurt her anymore, but it certainly snapped her back into reality. She quickly turned to identify the culprit, only to find something she hadn’t seen in eons. What she had tripped over was a box. A box created by Twilight and her best friends. Inside of this box contained many various items from their lifetime of adventures. Sadly, Twilight has outlived the box’s other creators by many, many years, making this box the only thing she has to remember them by. Twilight sat down and began looking through the box. After all of these years, she couldn’t believe she still remembered everything: Applejack’s lasso, Rarity’s favorite mirror, pieces of Pinkie Pie’s flying machine, even Rainbow Dash’s sunglasses. It was all here. Wave after wave of wonderful nostalgia filled Twilight’s head as she perused the contents of this box. For the first time in a long time, she was starting to feel happy. However, that slice of happiness was washed away as she realized that the memories these items contain are just those; memories. Left behind her in the past, leaving her with nothing to look forward to.
As Twilight came to the final item in the box, she found herself unable to identify it just by looking at it. Well, that wouldn’t do. She brought it out and began carefully examining it. It didn’t take her long to realize that it was a small chunk of petrified wood, but what really perplexed her was the fact that there was a symbol carved on it that looked insanely familiar to her. After wracking her brain for memories, she smiled as she realized what it was; part of the door from her home when she lived in Ponyville with her friends. Happy that she solved that mystery, she went to put it back inside the box. However, as she turned the piece of wood over, she discovered more writing. She sat down on her haunches and began to read. Her jaw dropped when she recognized the handwriting.
“Twilight, it’s your friends. There isn’t much room on here, so let’s just get to the chase: we need you to be strong for us. We know we’re going to have to leave you someday, and believe us, we’re not looking forward to abandoning you like that. But we need you to know that we’ll still always be with you, watching over you. You may feel all alone, you may not have the strength to trudge along, but you’re not alone, and you do have the strength. I know you won’t be able to see us once we pass, but we’ll still be there. We promise.”
Under the message were five signatures: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Tears began to splatter onto the chunk as Twilight sobbed in happiness. She sat motionless for awhile, re-reading the message a few more times, before she finally put the piece of wood back inside the box. She stowed the box safely away under her bed and began to leave her study. She wished herself a happy birthday and trotted out of her study wearing a newly acquired smile. For the first time in countless years, Twilight was actually happy. No longer was she depressed, no longer was she afraid. Those days were now a thing of the past. Today was a brand new day, and Twilight had only one goal: live it to the fullest for her friends.
