Time marches on as it always has. Great calamities arise, threatening a new age with fraught dangers at every corner... Then they are snuffed out just as soon as they had come in the iridescent glimmer of unity, love, and hope. But just as abrupt, those times of peace are brought to the simple humdrum of the everyday. So soon is excitement brought, it is put aside; time does not allow for endless excitement. If it did, even excitement would become dull. So, time marches on, as it always has to.
Kingdoms rise, and fall; crowns are worn, and they rest. Heroes live on, so they can one day rest. The greatest of heroes must one day retire and enter their final harmony---their lasting reward for bringing calamity after disaster to an end; for giving those that remained hope. And though that hour comes, it does not come with anything less than open arms. Arms that have accepted millions before, and friends alike.
Remarkable, isn't it? I've seen tens of millions come through here, but not one of them had a track record like you?
...Huh?
I mean---not to fluff your feathers---stopping a handful of invasions, interrupting a coup---twice---, besting being beyond comprehension, turning the hearts of primordial monsters and jerks alike? Granted, "turning jerks" doesn't sound like a world changing event, but you'd be surprised.
What are you...?
Overturning the system, bringing unity to a broken world, going above and beyond for the highest of ponies to the tiniest of foals. This is---without a doubt---the most impressive record I've ever seen in my eternity of watching.
...Have we met before?
Countless times.
I'm sorry I don't remember you... I'm a bit tired.
Don't worry. You've had a very rough... rough everything.
Have I? I sort of remember having it pretty nice.
Oh, of course. Good friends---the best---, cozy life, more books than you could handle---
No such thing, I'll have you know.
---But above all, you could certainly handle it all.
Doesn't sound so rough, does it?
Well... That all weighs on someone. Even the best of us feel the weight of the world beating down on us when it happens every other hour.
…I managed.
Certainly. You did have amazing friends along the way, didn't you?
Like you said: the best.
And that's the beauty of it, isn't it? With each new pair of hooves and claws, that weight pressing down on your haunches feels a bit lighter.
No argument there. I owe them everything.
All the more reason why when those hooves faded away, one by one, that weight must have been unbearable...
...I...
You don't need to put on a face. Not here; not to me.
...It was never easy, no. Watching as another would not show up for a meetings; like slow-motion, sometimes. I would see a full court, then I'd blink and one would be missing. Then another... All of them smiling all the while; knowing. There were moments where I would waver in everything I taught my student---students...
About how friendships endure?
I always believed it... But while the idea always endured, friends weren't as persistent. It's such a grim thought to have; and I just hated when it came up.
Lives are so tenuous, aren't they? Why even hang onto ideas when the minds that hold them can go so easily?
No! No... Nobody's gone as long as you remember them. Not a day went by that I didn't wish they were still right there with me... But, I see their children, and their children's children; and they remind me so much of them. You wouldn't believe just how much Peachy's like her mother; never a day goes by where I don't get at least one noise complaint.
I'm aware. It hurts... But the hurt has many salves. New hooves to push away at the grief... At the weight... Even if they don't fully understand it all; they lack the history of just how that pressure got there. But... It helps.
It helps...
It helps to know that those hooves will be ready to transfer the weight onto themselves, doesn't it?
Not a... comforting thought. It's never comforting to know those troubles will have to be picked up...
Then don't let them be. Let those troubles fall, scatter against the winds.
Have them fly into the eyes of ponies that didn't ask for it or aren't ready.
...It's never fair, is it?
Not in the slightest.
...But someone has to, don't they?
Someone always has to.
They're ready.
How can you be sure?
Were you ready?
Not even a little. It was always so much. And it was always one thing after the other. I didn't ask for all that responsibility.
But you did it... And you pulled through... Someone placed you into those dangers, not knowing if you were ready, but having faith that you'd meet your adversities none the less... Blind faith, some might say. Not exactly the best way to do things...
Maybe it was more than that...
You would know better than I.
Is that so?
Maybe... I wasn't the one who opened a school specializing on the topic, now was I?
I suppose not. Probably one of my proudest accomplishments, thank you.
Your friends said about the same thing when they came by. Well... Most of them. Apparently "Wonderbolts" and "largest cream pie in Equestria-and-beyond" were just too high of accomplishments to be outdone.
I'm not even a little surprised.
...Have you made your peace?
I just hope I left behind a good enough story. One that won't be forgotten. Like Starswirl; remembered for generations to come.
Millions have come through here... Out of them all, I can speak with utmost certainty that you will be one that will never fade from this world. You and yours. The lives you touched and the legacies you left behind... Immeasurable.
You know... I think I'm starting to remember you now.
I'm glad... It'll make the rest of our time that much more enjoyable.
With the passage of time, stories begin and end with most certainty. And yet, within each book, what remains uncertain is the length and contents of each passing chapter, and where it will yet lead. Thus, while the story will one day fade, the spirit of its words will never truly end.
