Sleepless Nights and Speechless Angels
"The friendships of the world are oft
Confederacies in vice, or leagues of pleasure;
Ours as severest virtue for its basis,
And such a friendship ends not but with life."
-Joseph Addison
Twilight sighed wearily.
It was the day she'd marked on her calendar for what felt like time immemorial now; the day that she met the five ponies who would become her best friends and surrogate family away from family.
It was the anniversary of her meeting Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy for the first time.
She felt a smile tug at her lips as she recalled her first memories of five of the most important ponies in her life. They were the first of many memories that they would make together, after all. Finding out that they each bore an Element of Harmony? That was suddenly not so important.
She recalled believing that everypony in the quaint little town of Ponyville was crazy when she first arrived. It took mere hours for her to realize that crazy was not so bad. Only days afterward did she realize that she must have been crazy too, because the town was ultimately quite agreeable to her.
She was soon writing letters to her Princess detailing the various quirks of her new friends, as well as her love of the town. She even jokingly teased her number one assistant in her letters about his infatuation with the white unicorn.
Her teasing was all in good fun, of course. Twilight loved Spike as if he'd been her child. That didn't immunize him from teasing, however.
She felt a sigh escape her wistfully while she walked. Times where she could look back fondly on her memories could be scarce when they wanted to be. The duties of a Princess always came first, after all. Though the Princesses of the land were always granted a considerable amount of leisure time, it was due in part to the stress of their jobs. Twilight swore she had grey hairs when she was just a student, but they were no more after her acension. Alicorns do not gray with time.
Speaking of, time was something they always had. Alicorns did not need to eat or drink, though they liked to, because they still enjoyed taste and feeling nourished. They did not even need to breathe. Luna was more than able to survive her banishment because of simple physiology.
They did share one necessity with everypony else, however: They needed to socialize. A pony that did not socialize became lonely, after all, and loneliness is a slow acting but fatal poison. Luna had been alone far too long when she was on the moon, and would have gone completely insane had it not been for a rocky outcrop she carved a face into that she named Bilson.
Even so, when she finally returned, she needed extensive therapy to become mentally healthy once more. She needed therapy and friends, and she was fortunate to find both.
Twilight gave her head a shake. She loved Luna and Celestia. They were best friends, and there was rarely a day that passed that did not see them writing to each other.
She smiled once more as the gate shut behind her, and she looked to her five closest friends and her number one assistant.
"Hi, everypony. I missed you."
She chuckled a little in spite of herself. Her greeting always felt lackluster.
"Sorry. You know me. I never really was into public speaking, and talking to a group of friends is no different for me."
She grinned at each of her friends. "You'd think that after all this time, I'd learn by now, right?"
A breeze blew a white feather out of a nearby tree, and it danced in the wind for a while.
"I have to say, I'm so glad to see you all again. It feels like forever since our last get together. Can you believe that?"
She laughed a single tear away.
"Of course you can, right? Time doesn't stop for anypony. You all included."
She gave a good look at Rainbow Dash. The white feather had landed before her. "I'll tell you all about how time works someday, Dash. But no flying away!"
She swore she heard Rainbow's good natured laugh.
"I know you. A day without flying is a day without living, right? I never knew why you were so addicted to flight until I spread my wings for the first time."
She looked to Rarity. As if following her gaze, the feather landed before her as well. "And I don't mean glamorous wings of impeccable style that shatter and nearly send you to the ground below."
She could feel Rarity smile warmly at her. It was a memory none of them would live down.
"By the way, Rarity, I thought you may want to know that Cadance pulled some strings. A Botique is set to open in the Crystal Empire next year. Congratulations, too. The Rarity Belle Collection truly was a stroke of genius."
Heh, why thank you darling! Twilight let out a dry sob, and looked to Fluttershy. There lay the feather again.
"I'm happy to see that you're not staring up at that bird, Fluttershy. I love the animals too, but we're your friends too, darn it!"
She could see Fluttershy's gentle smile while she shrunk back behind her mane slightly. Twilight leaned forward just a bit.
"Between you and me? Luna's still at war with those birds."
Gasp.
"They keep leaving their droppings all over her balcony, so she washes it off, and when she goes out a few hours later, they redecorated it."
Twilight laughed through another sob.
"She says the only reason she hasn't banished the birds to the moon is you, Fluttershy. She knows that won't fly with you."
She looked to the nest where the feather had blown from.
"Then again, it wouldn't fly with them either. There's no atmosphere on the moon, you know that?"
So says the egghead!
She grinned at Rainbow.
"I mean it! No flying on the moon! Can you imagine that? On the other hoof, there's plenty of hopping, which means lots of fun to be had. Also, who would say no to a moon party?"
She looked at Pinkie, who, in typical Pink Menace fashion, looked about ready to hunt down her Party Cannon at the mere mention of a celebration. The feather danced by and landed on her Pink Menacey head.
"Settle down, Pinkie. There's no air on the moon. No way it would be a fun party."
The smile left her lips. "It wouldn't be fun at all. Just not the same if it's alicorns only. Feels like a really stupid club. All we could really do is jump around. Maybe read some comics."
She smiled warmly at the dragon who would always be her little baby. The feather had led her gaze this time, instead of the other way around.
"That reminds me, Spike. The re-re-re-re-re-release of Power Ponies issue number 1 is coming out soon. I'll be sure to get it just for you."
Forget the moon, Spike was surely on cloud nine! Twilight had to laugh through her tears. She recalled a cartoon the drake once drew that he called life on cloud eight, which was just a middle class family discussing how the floor above them really seemed to live it up. He always was a creative sort that way.
Twilight wiped a few stray tears away. These darned allergies.
"We wouldn't even be able to have any cider on the moon, you know!"
She looked at Applejack, and gave a nod. As if in response, the feather landed before her as well. "That reminds me, AJ. I forgot to say thank you. The cider this year was just as good as I remember. It's been too long since I indulged in it, hasn't it?"
The smile left her face again. "I imagine it's been far too long for you all as well."
A brief yet chilling thought ran through Twilight's head. She did love Celestia, yes, but she also held some degree of resentment toward her. Had it not been for the Princess of the Sun, Twilight herself would not be an immortal alicorn. She sometimes wished she was not a Princess herself. She may not have had to outlive her BBBFF, her mother, her father, and...
She eyed each of the monuments for the longest while. The stone was very well kept, for it marked the resting place of five of the Elements of Harmony, and one hero of the Crystal Empire. Spike would love to know that he had another monument in the Empire itself. It sat just before the Crystal Heart.
Twilight felt a sob escape her again.
"I'm sorry. I miss you all dearly. Today's a tough day."
She wiped a small bit of moss away from their head stones, and traced her hoof along the inscribings:
Interred herein lies Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. Always loved, and dearly missed.
Interred herein lies Rarity Belle, the Element of Generosity. She and her quirks will never be forgotten.
Here lies the party itself, Pinkamena Diane "Pinkie" Pie, the Element of Laughter. May the party continue in paradise.
Here lies Applejack, the hard working country mare and patron saint of Cider, as well as the Element of Honesty. May no lie make it past her eternal vigilance.
Here lies kindness incarnate, Fluttershy. The animals always loved her, and she them. The Element of Kindness shields us all.
This marks the resting place of Spike Sparkle, a student, assistant, friend, son, and hero. He will always be loved.
Twilight only then realized the dam had broken, and her sobs came out full force. She recalled the day of each of them passing. As they aged, she did not. As they died, she did not. She ensured her friends were all buried with some of their favorite respective things: Rarity was buried with her first design, Rainbow Dash was buried with her Wonderbolt goggles, Pinkie Pie was buried with her Party Cannon, Applejack was buried with a cask of her legendary cider, and Fluttershy was buried with a lock of fur or a feather from each of her animal friends.
Spike? Spike was buried with his favorite comic book. That way he could read it whenever he wanted.
"I love you," said Twilight. "Never ever ever forget that. I love you all, and I will never forget you."
She wiped the tears from her eyes again, though they quickly returned.
"I will never forget you."
I will never forget you.
The white feather blew out of the cemetery, course unknown.
EDN
Author's Note
Everyone nice and depressed now? Good.
