Is a blessing if you remember
I was gazing at the dull gravestone before me. It was at the end of a row with four others to one side. My gaze drifted between each of them. Specifically, the familiar cutie marks engraved upon the top of each of them. The funeral service had ended hours ago. Everypony had left shortly after that.
“Hey, Twilight. Care to talk?”
Or so I thought.
“Hey, Sunset,” I barely got out as tears continued to fall down my face. “Thanks for coming to Equestria.”
“Anything for a friend in need. Celestia suggested that I try to talk to you before I head back.”
Why? Just leave me be. I thought as I locked my gaze at the gravestone before me. With all of them gone, even my mind was as empty and hollow as I felt.
“She told me about your alicorn project.”
A memory immediately came to mind at those words.
“Sugarcube I’m sorry, but I’m going to pass. I’d rather not see my family grow old and die.” Applejack had said with the rest agreeing with her.
“But I will offer it to everypony.”
“They declined,” I eventually got out.
“They didn’t want immortality?”
“No.”
“I can understand why. I wouldn’t want to see others that I care about grow old while I lived forever.”
“I was going to offer it to everypony!” I shouted as I looked at Sunset. For a moment it caught me off guard how young Sunset still looked. She looked older compared to the last time I saw her as a pony, but she was much younger than I was expecting. She should be... I paused in my thought when the realization came to me that Sunset was aging at a different rate in the human world. Of course.
“You still can.”
My head dropped back to the gravestone before me, “but..”
“They didn’t need immortality to live on. Did you not notice everypony’s stories?”
My mind went back to the funeral earlier today. The stories that the Crusaders had shared with laughter. Flurry Heart shared stories with laughter as well. Celestia and Luna joined in with their own stories. Even strangers that I couldn’t remember who they were. Yet I couldn’t get away from the pain, the emptiness, the hollow feeling left inside at the loss of the last of my closest friends. While I smiled at the jokes and stories, I knew they were fake smiles that lacked genuine happiness or joy. I wondered if anypony else could tell how fake they were. Even as I told my own stories and saw the reactions from everypony, I felt nothing but the same feelings from before. I was living a nightmare that I still hadn’t woken up from.
“They are also still alive if you want to come visit.”
I looked at Sunset and froze. The human versions of them would still be alive. The offer to see any version of them again, while alive, was alluring. The idea of asking them to come to Equestria was quite tempting. They aren’t the same though. They haven’t done the same things. They won’t have the same memories. It would be nice but...
“Celestia’s idea. She wanted me to offer it to you.”
I would be living a lie.
“I have duties.”
“Celestia said that she will take care of them. She said you could take as much time as you need.”
“They won’t be the same. My friends are dead.”
Sunset bowed her head and sighed while shaking her head. My gaze returned to the gravestones.
“No, they aren’t.”
I immediately glared at Sunset, “How can you say that?! How can you say that when their graves are right there?!” I shouted as I pointed to the grave before me. The sudden outburst took Sunset slightly aback.
Sunset quickly recovered and looked at the Castle of Friendship in the distance, “From the moment I came through that portal I saw pictures and window paintings of them. While they may not still be alive they achieved immortality, just like you.”
My jaw dropped and I was taken aback at what I just heard. But… How? After a moment of silence, Sunset looked at me.
“Twilight. Everypony will know of their deeds through the history books. However, that isn’t all. They achieved immortality through you. The pony who knew them best is going to live on for what may be more than a century. So long as you go around talking about them, who they were, what they were like as ponies, they will never truly die. Physically they may be gone. That is true. Spiritually, however, they will live for as long as you keep their memories alive. It is up to you to keep your friends’ memories alive.”
Of course. I couldn’t help but smile at what Sunset had said as the realization hit me. It was the first genuine smile I had for a few days. Sunset was right. Everypony I knew would live on through me even after they had left this world so long as kept their memories alive. The pain was still there. It may be there for some time to come, but I was now sure that time would ease that pain. For the first time since the first one passed the hollow emptiness that had been growing and consuming me with each passing had finally started to fade. I could still feel them inside me. If I listened close enough, I was sure that I could even hear them. I looked at the gravestones once more. For some reason they didn’t quite look as bleak as they had before. I gave a sigh and felt some of the pain fall away as I relaxed a little. I looked back at Sunset. She looked more vibrant than before. It wasn’t just her big smile and gleaming green eyes. Her mane and coat seemed to shine in a way I hadn’t noticed before and the dress she was wearing seemed to be glowing in the light of the day. I gave Sunset a big hug.
“Thank you. I forgot about that.”
I was gazing at the gravestone before me. It was at the end of row with four others to one side. Actually my gaze was drifting between each of them. The service had ended hours ago. Everypony had left shortly after that.
“Hey, Twilight. Care to talk?”
Or so I thought.
“Hey, Sunset,” I barely got out as tears continued to fall down my face, “Thanks for coming to Equestria.”
“Celestia suggested that I try to talk to you.”
Why? Just leave me be. I thought as I locked my gaze at the gravestone before me. With all of them gone even my mind was as empty and hollow as I felt.
“She told me about your alicorn project.”
A memory immediately came to mind at those words.
“Sugarcube I’m sorry but I’m going to pass. I’d rather not see my family grow old and die.” Applejack had said with the rest agreeing with her.
“But I will offer it to everypony.”
“They declined,” I eventually got out.
“They didn’t want immortality?”
“No.”
“I can understand why. I wouldn’t want to see others that I care about grow old while I lived forever.”
“I was going to offer it to everypony!” I shouted as I looked at Sunset. For a moment I was caught off guard at how young Sunset still looked. That passed when the realization came to me that Sunset was aging at a different rate in the human world.
“You still can.”
My head dropped back to the gravestone before me, “but..”
“They didn’t need immortality to live. Did you not notice everypony’s stories?”
My mind went back to the funeral earlier today. The stories that the Crusaders had shared with laughter. Flurry Heart shared stories with laughter as well. Celestia and Luna joined in with their own stories. Even strangers that I couldn’t remember. Yet I couldn’t get away from the pain, the emptiness, the hollow feeling left inside at the loss of the last of my closest friends. While I smiled at the jokes and stories I knew it was more of a reflex than from genuine happiness or joy.
“They are also still alive if you want to come visit.”
I looked at Sunset and froze.
“Celestia’s idea. She wanted me to offer it to you.”
“I have duties.”
“Celestia said that she will take care of them.”
“They won’t be the same. My friends are dead.”
Sunset bowed her head and sighed. My gaze returned to the gravestones.
“No, they aren’t.”
I immediately glared at Sunset, “How can you say that?! How can you say that when their graves are right there?!” I shouted as I pointed to the grave before me.
Sunset looked at the Castle of Friendship in the distance, “From the moment I came through that portal I saw pictures and window paintings of them. While they may not still be alive they achieved immortality, just like you.”
My jaw dropped and I was confused at what I just heard. After a moment of silence Sunset looked at me.
“Twilight. They achieved immortality through you. Everypony will know of them. The more you tell Equestria of them and the longer you go through history they will go with you.”
I couldn’t help but smile at what Sunset had said. It was the first genuine smile I had for a few days. Sunset was right. Everypony I knew would live on through me even after they had left this world. I gave Sunset a big hug.
“Thank you. I forgot about that.”
