Twilight rolled to her side, gasping for breath and clutching at her ribs in agony. She ached but her laughter had finally, finally subsided. She hadn't laughed that hard in ages, and it was surely an indication she'd been up far, far, far too late. Again.
3:41 am. It had been the clock, curiously enough, that sent her into a spasmodic laughing fit, and spawned an irritated echo of her name down the hall from Spike. The clock itself had no part to play in her temporary insanity, however, but the very concept of time in and of itself. Ironically enough, she had realized she'd been studying late into the evening, and wondered: "what time was it?"
What time was?
What time was.
What was time? To her? What did it matter what time it was? Her wings flickered forward for a split second of an instant, and in that moment, she realized time had no meaning. Not to her. That's when the madness had seized her, and she found she couldn't stop laughing. She howled with laughter, rolling off her stool and onto the floor, twitching and kicking as if she were being tickled by a million feathers.
What was time? It was nothing. It was something that no longer existed for her! Am? Pm? Daylight savings time? That last one drew another fit of giggles from her already aching belly and she squirmed and kicked on the floor. Immortal. She was immortal. Oh, she'd known she was before, but now was when it suddenly took hold. It grasped her by the soul and held tightly, refusing to let go. She was never going to die. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, pondering this strange and new path her mind had suddenly steered too.
She had all the time in the world. She could solve every puzzle, read every book, tackle and pin down every scrap of knowledge that existed and study it for eons and eons and eons. Slowly, she thought about the massive library; the thousands upon thousands of tomes, the endless scores of knowledge, and the billions of words, adventures, characters, and stories she would encounter. And she would encounter them all. She had the time to memorize every single book in the library and the time to write new ones! Millions of books. No! Billions of books! So much knowledge, so much time! She quivered at the thought of it.
For a moment, her friends popped into her head. Her court. Her best friends. What of them? Where would she be without her circle of friendship to see her through the rough and difficult times? They weren't alicorns! They still lived within the boundaries of time. ... For now.
A tiny slice of laughter attempted to seize her, but she fought it off, thinking back to the library again. She had been on the second floor, overlooking the grand foyer and found a quiet little nook to bury her nose in for a few hours. Hours. That wicked laughter seized her again, and she couldn't help but grin widely. No, her friends weren't alicorns, but they would be. Somehow she was sure of it, and even if she wasn't she could change that.
She had the time after all. If there wasn't a book out there to help them make their numbers flourish, she could write one!! She and her friends would dedicate themselves to promoting the powers of love and tolerance and friendship to everyone! Forever! It was a comforting thought; Gathering every scrap of knowledge that ever existed with her friends by her side. Eventually, she'd end up with pet projects, she mused. Real brain busters. Space travel, energy problems, sustainable resources for everyone she encountered, world peace. Why hay dog buns came in packages of eight and hay dogs came in packages of ten...
Eventually, her friends would become alicorns. Every last one of them, she was sure. Princesses in their own right...hmmm. She grinned at the thought. Princess of Honesty...Princess of Loyalty...Princess of Kindness and Generosity and Laughter. She paused at the amusing idea of Princess Pinkie Pie running her own kingdom. Or trying to. One big birthday party all day every day. The cake related tummy aches and the taxes on party balloons would be astronomical. She chuckled, pondering just how long it would take to teach Pinkie how to run a successful country. Eons, perhaps. She started to giggle again.
Could time be tasted? Did time have a sound? What was the color of time? Her thoughts ran away with her now, twisting and tugging and pulling in every direction at once. Time was a construct of ponies to measure things so they didn't happen all at once. Time itself could be re-written, or changed or altered. It was a concept of the mind.
Perhaps she would find a student of her own some day. Some pony quite like her, lost in the endless stretches of eternity. A single drop in the ocean. A needle in a haystack. There were one in a million fillies to choose from, and Celestia and Twilight had managed to find each other. Another comforting thought. Of course, she would have her own student someday. Someone to pass the knowledge on to. A successor. Yes! Then....well, then she could retire to an island somewhere, with her friends, obviously, and spend long lazy days watching the ocean and enjoying each other's company. Endlessly. Spike would come by to visit every now and then. Oh, yes, Twilight was certain he would choose to live in the Dragon Kingdom. Eventually, he would probably find a mate. Oh, she (or he) would be welcome on the island too. A lovely little island where it was always sunny and the sand was warm. The ocean would smell wonderful, and everything would just be perfect. It would be like a dream come true. A dream...
Twilight yawned and stretched, giving an aching groan as her fur pulled the wrong way and her joints popped. She had fallen asleep, reading late into the night and began to dream. It was so seamless she hadn't even noticed. Had she been there all night? Morning sunlight lazily trickled down into her castle and burned at her eyelids. She glanced around for the clock and wondered what time it-
She paused, threw her head back, and laughed.
She stretched out again and pulled herself up stiffly from underneath her desk, wondering if Spike had made breakfast. Perhaps he was still asleep. It really didn't matter. Either way, she would find herself spending her day with him. They'd laugh, they'd talk, share lunch and enjoy each other's time together. That, she decided, was the important part. Enjoying the time they had together now. Somehow she'd stumbled upon her own friendship lesson. Being eternal would change nothing. It was the time they shared together now, that was the important thing. That's what she would take away from the dream.
She smiled quietly to herself and went to fetch breakfast. She might even learn to cook it herself one day. She laughed at the idea. Her culinary skills were far below average, but she could learn. She had all the time in the world, after all.
Author's Note
Something weird that popped into my head. A silly little character prompt inspired by 3 am insomnia. A concept I had been thinking about. I read a lot of stories and have seen a lot of pictures where Twilight is very distraught over becoming immortal. These stories often depict her outliving her friends, or watching them die. I wanted to write a story where Twilight is overjoyed at these new prospects. The idea that she has forever to study and learn excites her to no end and it fills her with happiness.
So. I just sat at my keyboard and wrote what I wanted to read (That, and I wanted to use the question 'what's the color of time.' ). 
