Imminence: A Bittersweet Tale of a Mare's Last Days.

The List

It was quite late in the morning before Twilight's senses returned to her. She tried to will them away and go back to slumber as best she could, but a sudden feeling of a figure looming above her kept her efforts from being successful. Her eyelids parted open to flood her vision with the image of a cyan figure blocking the rays of Celestia's sun. It was still too bright a sight for her, and after a minute of adjusting she was able to see fully her pegasus friend's head above her, coming closer and closer.

Then their lips met.

It wasn't something Twilight was particularly against, sure, but the suddenness of their kiss caught her off guard, and she threw the pegasus away from her quickly. Rainbow Dash landed gracefully though, and smiled proudly at the unicorn laying in the bed.

"What was that about?" Twilight asked, her breath quick from the sudden surprise.

"I'm helping you with your list silly, that's number ten," the cyan pegasus started, pausing to put a quill in her mouth and scratch something off of the list Twilight had been working on the night before," find someone gullible enough to kiss me on the lips."

Twilight's only response was to blush as Rainbow Dash came closer, placing the paper on the bedside table.

"B-but, why, why help me?" Twilight asked, her eyes still wide with shock.

Rainbow Dash sat upon the bed next to Twilight and looked at her solemnly. "Because I know you can't do all of these on your own egghead."

Twilight pointed her head down in response. She knew that much was true, she had made a list that may have been too much for her to handle. The list in itself consisted of 100 items which she'd never done in her life, and she had six months now to do as many of those things as possible. Which was quite a feat, so she guessed a little help with something so small on that list was acceptable.

"So which one do you wanna do next?" Rainbow Dash asked, waking Twilight from a trance she'd fallen into.

"What do you mean?" Twilight responded, shooting the pegasus a quizzical look that caused Rainbow Dash to chuckle.

"You don't honestly think I'm letting you do this alone do you, some of these things just sound too fun to pass up." Rainbow Dash said with a lofty air. Inside though the pit in her stomach grew wider and wider. She knew all too well the death sentence Twilight had been given. She'd seen it before in her father, just before his death. Albeit, her father had a lot less bravery in him than the purple unicorn before her; all the same, knowing you're doomed changes you. She didn't want Twilight to change, and if she did, she wanted to make sure it was for the better.

Twilight could see through Rainbow Dash's lie though, but she didn't call her on it. The idea that her friend wanted to protect her made her happy. As long as she knew that her cyan friend was helping her, maybe she wouldn't feel so alone. Just the same, it seemed so selfish to do all the things on the list alone, she needed a friend to help her out.

"Ok then, let me see the list." Twilight stated after a while. Rainbow Dash smiled wide and pushed the list towards the unicorn with her hoof. Twilight then magicked the list to levitate in front of her, in her mind she prioritized the items and thought hard about what she wanted to do first.

"Uhhh, Twilight." Rainbow Dash stated as she watched the Unicorn concentrate,"need any help?" Twilight looked over the list at Rainbow Dash, who looked back into her eyes solemnly. Twilight smiled, she was being selfish again.

"Of course, sorry." Twilight responded, laying the list down between the two of them and nodding. Rainbow smiled back and they set to work, planning the next months carefully.

***

By late in the afternoon, Twilight had been dismissed from the hospital and allowed to return home to the Ponyville Library. She and Rainbow Dash had been exchanging ideas about the list all day with the excitement of young foals just getting their cutie mark. Celestia's sun had just set by the time she'd gotten through the door of her library. Her assistant Spike was asleep, which was to be expected of a baby dragon, and her pet owl Owlowlicious remained quiet at her return, almost as if he instinctively knew what had happened to her.

Twilight made her way to bed to lie down, staring at the stars with such admiration. She thought of her friends, and what they must be going through. She thought of her teacher, the princess herself, did she know just as Owlowlicious knew? Most of all she thought of Rainbow Dash, and how being with the pegasus seemed to drive away any thought of her imminent demise. She found herself looking forward to the times they were going to have together in the coming months and felt at peace.

Twilight didn't care that she was doomed, she had someone she could lean on, someone that could make her strong. Twilight closed her eyes peacefully and sighed. She couldn't be any happier.

***

Rainbow Dash couldn't sleep at all, haunted by a singular image constantly berating her dreams every time she closed her eyes. The image of two graves-her father's and her friend's-side by side upon a backdrop of night. She thought of her father, and all the things he'd said and done before he died. She recalled her mother, who somehow fought through it all for him. However, most of her thoughts centered around Twilight, and how doomed she was. Rainbow Dash promised herself to make Twilight's last days of life the happiest she could ever have. Then she curled up into a ball and cried well into the night.