“…and with that Luster stayed in Ponyville and made new friends. Her teacher was content at last. Safe in the knowledge that her student had finally accepted that Friendship is Magic,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, reigning ruler of Equestria. Twilight let her hoof linger upon the final pages of her most treasured book. She gently closed it.
“Is that it?” spoke the pony to her right. Twilight turned to regard her latest student, Moonlight Radiance, a young unicorn filly. Her coat was a deep navy blue, and her mane was short and tomboyish.
“Yes, I’m afraid this is where the story ends.” Twilight lifted her gaze to the surrounding palace gardens. They had settled in a quiet spot, far from the hustle and bustle of the castle. “Well, this part of it anyway.”
“But I have so many questions!” objected Moonlight. She leapt to her hooves and stood in front of her mentor, her face contorting into a pout. Twilight could not help but roll her eyes. It seemed no pony was ever content with a happy ending. She put on her best teaching smile and looked down at her student.
“What questions, my faithful student?”
“What happened to the other Princesses?” blurted out Moonlight abruptly. “Or Discord?”
“Oh, the Princesses?” Twilight waved a dismissive hoof as if she was speaking about the weather. “They sailed off into the west and were never heard of again.”
“Really?” asked Moonlight, eyes wide in awe at the implications of such a statement. Where in the far west did they go? Some Alicorn paradise hidden by a magical illusion, perhaps? Could such a place exist? The possibilities were endless to Moonlight.
“No.”
“Princess!” protested Moonlight, her theories crushed in an instant. Twilight chuckled heartily and gently tussled Moonlight’s hair, much to her student’s annoyance.
“Apologies. It was just too easy of a tease to pass up.”
“You’re not funny,” grumbled Moonlight, her cheeks puffed out with indignation.
“No, I’m hilarious” replied Twilight, laughing even more.
“How did you ever end up as a Princess?” Moonlight groaned, burying her head amongst her hooves.
“Do I need to read the book to you again?” said Twilight sweetly, thoroughly enjoying the prolonged teasing of her student.
“Ugh.”
“You must lighten up Moonlight! You’ll never make friends poring over dusty books about some old mare’s tales,” said Twilight in a sing-song voice.
“What, like you?” answered her student tersely.
Twilight blinked.
“Point taken.” Twilight shrugged her shoulders. “The princesses and Discord got their own happy endings, I assure you,” said Twilight with as much finality as she could muster. “But that is a story for another day.”
“But I want to know!” cried Moonlight falling to the ground, her exasperation overcoming her.
“Now, now, my faithful student, there are still many lessons to come and many stories to tell,” said Twilight, barely concealing the amusement in her voice. She placed the book underneath her wing and lifted herself off the ground. “All in good time.” She turned to leave as it was the evening twilight, and she would soon need to raise the Moon. How fitting, the princess thought idly to herself as she beckoned Moonlight to follow.
“Fine,” sighed Moonlight. She sat up, glancing at her teacher. “Can you at least tell me about your friends? What happened to them?” Twilight stopped and turned to face her student. The princess scratched her chin, deep in thought.
“Well they lived long, happy lives, filled with laughter and adventure.” Moonlight looked at Twilight strangely, as if she had been expecting a different reply.
“They died,” whispered Moonlight. Twilight remained quiet for a moment.
“Yes, as most ponies do.” Moonlight blinked rapidly, pursing her lips and clicking her tongue as she often did when she considered complicated topics. Twilight waited patiently, humming some nameless jingle she had picked up over the years. A lifetime of songs usually meant she would occasionally be stuck with the odd tune, even when she had long forgotten the lyrics.
“Was…was it…you know?” stuttered Moonlight. She seemed almost afraid to say more, though Twilight’s gentle nod encouraged her to continue. “It’s just, you know with how close you all were. I expected you to be a bit more…” Moonlight awkwardly rubbed her hooves together.
“Sad?” offered Twilight. Moonlight nodded. Twilight patted the ground next to her and extended one of her wings outward. Moonlight rushed over to Twilight, taking her place beneath the large feathered appendage. She leaned in comfortably beneath her mentor’s barrel, looking upward in anticipation of her teacher’s answer.
“You would think so,” started Twilight. “That I would wallow in despair at their passing. And for a while I did, I suppose.” Twilight sighed, but as she looked over the distant landscapes of the mountains that were her home, she could envision the outlying towns and cities that lay beyond the horizon, though her mind was instinctively drawn to a small little town nestled between the Everfree forest and the flatlands of Equestria’s countryside. Twilight smiled as she remembered the thatch houses and gentle hills of her former home.
“But to linger in sadness is to do a disservice to the memory of their lives. So, I came to a different view with time.”
“What view?” questioned Moonlight. “No offence Princess, but I can’t think of many positives.” Her student shook her head, though that quickly shifted to a more guilty look. “Sorry.”
“None taken,” laughed Twilight. Her student was wise beyond her years, she just did not know it yet. “It is something I grappled with myself for many years. In time, I think I have learned to remember without grief.” Twilight closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the world, she swore even now she could hear the tune of distant songs from long ago beyond the natural. “I realised my friends lived on in me, through their experiences. Through the love they gave me and the happy memories and the lessons that I carry with me, here.” Twilight lifted a hoof and gently prodded her student’s chest. Moonlight’s eyes followed her teacher’s movements.
“In your heart?” offered Moonlight. Twilight nodded.
“So, they are never far from me.” Twilight’s wing instinctively held her student tightly against her barrel. “I sometimes talk to them, you know.”
“Impossible,” said Moonlight as she touched her cheek. Her eyes darted back and forth as she searched her mind for the possibility of any such spell existing.
“No, no.” Twilight gently patted her student’s back. “This something greater than any magic.” She then proceeded to lean down close to her student until they were almost snout to snout, her voice but a whisper. “If you ever wish to speak with those that are not there just listen to your heart.” Twilight winked knowingly. “But you have to listen carefully, for the heart only whispers.”
Twilight unwrapped herself from Moonlight and rose to her full height. She awaited her student’s reply, looking carefully for her reaction.
“So, if I listen to my heart, I can speak to the dead?” said Moonlight eventually.
“That was not exactly my intention,” said Twilight in surprise before bursting into a fit of giggles. “It’s more metaphorical than that.” She motioned with her wing for her student to follow. Moonlight eagerly jumped from her seated position to rejoin the princess at her side. “You will understand when you are older,” said Twilight
“My parents say that all the time too,” grumbled Moonlight, Twilight chuckled lightly into her hoof.
“Our lessons for today have come to an end.” Twilight nodded her head towards the descending sun. “We can pick back up on this topic at a later time. Unfortunately, there is a particularly important meeting I must attend tonight. I simply cannot miss it.”
“But Princess, you have nothing official scheduled for this evening,” said Moonlight as she followed the princesses back to the castle.
“Oh, this is more important than some silly court meeting,” scoffed Twilight. Her student looked up at her with awe as if Twilight had uttered something blasphemous. “It is a meeting long overdue.”
“Can I come?” asked Moonlight earnestly.
“Perhaps, someday, my student.” For a moment, Twilight swore that it was not Moonlight standing beside her, but rather a familiar purple unicorn looking back at her, one who once wondered what friendship could be. “Perhaps someday.”
The moon hung low in the Equestrian night. A shadow briefly passed over its surface as a figure took to the sky.
Princess Twilight’s great wings flapped as she ascended with speed that rivalled even the fastest fliers. She let the cool night air wash over her face as she beat her wings thrice and rose higher into the sky until she touched the soft underbelly of the clouds.
There was something incredibly exhilarating about flying at night with only the solace of her mind to occupy her, a far cry from the cries and tumult of the courts and their protocols. Twilight spun and adjusted course.
She knew the trail well.
She could probably do it with her eyes closed at this point.
But then again, she would miss the rolling hills and flats that made up Equestria’s countryside, doused in a beautiful luminescent shade of blue. She never grew tired of seeing her country from up above amongst the clouds. It gave her perspective on what governing this great land meant, all the more reason why it was so precious. Her home was indeed something beautiful, almost as beautiful as the blessed souls that inhabited it.
With impressive speed, Twilight reached the familiar territory of her destination within only half an hour. She made a note to record her time when she returned to Canterlot if only to compare with the time taken on previous trips. Twilight supposed that she had never managed to shake the competitive nature Rainbow had instilled in her.
Twilight spotted her journey’s end from some distance out, It’s distinctive homely shape unmissable amongst the darkness, at least to Twilight’s keen eyes.
In the outcrop of a hill lay a stately cottage, nought but a few miles from Ponyville, though it was more of a city than a village now. It was a cosy two-story-tall homestead, but its stature befitted the comfortable country living many ponies found fashionable these days. The cottage had a single chimney that puffed out gentle white smoke into the night sky. Its windows were illuminated by a warm orange light.
Twilight sighed as she landed before short stone pillars with a black iron gate that served as the entrance to the cottage’s estate grounds.
The post box had fallen over again.
She raised it back up into place. She would need to bring some nails the next time, she noted, before pushing the gate open. After a short trip up the cobbled pathway, Twilight was greeted by the door, and the words emblazoned above it, ‘Speak Friend and Enter!’ Twilight smiled as she pushed through the door, where she was greeted by the sound of laughter. The house was warm, in pleasant contrast to the chilly outside. Twilight followed the noise to the living room which was the first room to the right after the doorway. She peeped into the living room, eager to see what the commotion was all about.
“A giraffe? The invention of the wheel?” shouted Discord in exasperation.
“A coffee cup? A piece of cake? Work with us Tia’!” boomed Luna.
“Antidisestablishmentarianism!? Oh, I give up,” shouted Discord in defeat. Twilight turned to find Celestia standing before a small fireplace. A board was to her left with various scribbles dabbled over it. She was making wild gesticulating movements that were incomprehensible to the younger princess.
There were a set of couches before Twilight with Cadence and Flurry Heart lounged on the left couch, while Discord and Luna animatedly shouted at Celestia on the other couch to the immediate right. After a few seconds, a small alarm clock rang loudly on the nearby coffee table.
“It was the school of friendship,” huffed Celestia angrily. Luna and Discord sat mouths agape in disbelief and exasperation.
“Booyah!” roared Flurry as she thrust a hoof into the air. Cadence’s reaction was more muted, merely smiling triumphantly. As Celestia returned to the couch, she was subject to angry glares from the Lord of Chaos and Lunar princess. “I believe that is Team Crystal Heart, 5, and Team, Chocolate Milk Sundae, 4.” Flurry leaned back in her seat, her face sporting an ear to ear grin. “Game, set and match.”
“Sister, you're terrible at this!” protested Luna, snorting derisively.
“If you two knew how to play,” said Celestia glumly.
“Celestia as the most imaginative person in existence, I can confirm that you are terrible at this game,” lectured Discord, crossing his arms in a huff.
“You lost us the last round!” snapped Celestia. Discord looked ready to argue some more before Twilight coughed lightly. Five heads swerved towards the hallway.
“Twilight!” they cried in unison. The loss and triumph of the game were forgotten, at the arrival of their final guest. Cadence lifted herself from the couch.
“You’re late again,” said Cadence as she kissed Twilight’s cheek and brought her into a hug, which Twilight gladly reciprocated. She frowned at the words though.
“A princess arrives-”
“Exactly when she means too,” the group collectively finished for her. Twilight let out a snort. Before long, the rest were off the couch offering hugs and greetings in their own unique way. Discord swept her into a hug that lifted Twilight off the ground before unceremoniously dumping her on the floor. Luna’s bear hug was hearty, with much jovial laughter accompanying her hold. Finally, after Luna released her, Celestia and Twilight shared a tender embrace, that reminded both of times long ago, when they were still but teacher and student. Celestia proudly smiled as she looked over Twilight.
“I’ll never get used to you being taller,” whispered Celestia with a beaming smile.
“How do you think Luna feels?” guffawed Twilight. The lunar princess stuck out her tongue in their direction, leading to another round of laughter amongst the group.
“Where’s Spike?” asked Cadence after they quieted.
“Where do you think? Asleep,” said Twilight while rolling her eyes. “Lately he’s been more of the Royal Sleeper rather than Royal Advisor.”
“I think our dragon friend is merely making excuses once more. Too afraid I’ll kick his butt at some ogres and oubliettes,” interjected Discord.
“I assure you he’s eager for a rematch,” replied Twilight. “Just as soon as he decides to stop lazing about.” Flurry moved forward and bowed formally before her aunt. Twilight mirrored her niece’s action. The two kept their prim façade for a moment more before both of them broke out into a fit of giggles. Flurry swept her aunt into a tight hold.
“Auntie, it’s been too long.”
“I can’t even remember how many moons it’s been,” sighed Twilight, parting after what seemed like forever, yet it still felt too short. “How’d you manage to get here from the empire without causing a panic?” Twilight reluctantly parted, keeping a hoof on her nieces’ shoulder.
“According to the courtiers I’m on an important diplomatic mission,” said Flurry in a faux haughty tone reminiscent of the archaic mannerisms of the Empire. Twilight couldn’t help but snicker.
“Really? How’d you convince them of that?”
“Well, you are technically a head of state auntie. How about you, Twilight?”
“I’m the Princess of Equestria, I do as I please,” replied Twilight drawing herself up to her impressive full height, her voice teeming with authority, despite her failing to hide the amusement in her tone.
“Oh, I’m so proud,” sighed Luna lovingly.
“Alright, Dear Leader, I believe we have a long-overdue game to attend,” said Celestia as she slapped Twilight’s back with a hoof, gesturing for her to follow.
The group had extracted themselves from the living room and had gradually moved into the neighbouring dining area, which featured a large table as its centrepiece. Five seats surrounded the table. Cadence was the first to sit. Flurry took up the spot to her left. Celestia and Luna and sat together. Twilight occupied the head of the table closest to Celestia and Cadence, while Discord occupied the opposite side from her.
“Come to lose your bits again, Celestia?” crooned Discord as he flicked a bunch of cards between his palms.
“For a supposed master manipulator Discord, I don’t recall you having ever won a game,” retorted Cadence, looking somewhat smug. Discord shot her a withering look.
“I have won…uh I’ll get back to you on that.” Discord stroked his beard in contemplation.
“Where have you been anyway? Luring foals to your gingerbread house, no doubt,” huffed Luna sarcastically.
“Excuse me? That is tasteless and rude,” said Discord as he jabbed a finger in her direction. “But the worst part of it, is that it’s cliché. Gingerbread is terrible. Everypony knows that.” Discord took a bite out of one of the cards. “My tastes are of a more exotic variety.” Faced with five unimpressed faces, Discord sighed and slumped his shoulders. “If you must know, I was flying through space in a metal ship piloted by apes.” A collective groan sounded out across the table, much to Discord’s annoyance.
“Oh, not this again” interjected Celestia. “You don’t have to lie to us to hide the fact that you’ve been napping for the past fifty years.”
“No, I’m telling the truth,” he grumbled as he childishly crossed his arms. Flurry plucked the cards from Discords paws and placed them before Twilight.
“Twilight, you’re the dealer.” She gently lifted the cards and began to shuffle them.
“Why can’t I deal?” asked Luna.
“Because Luna, we’re not spending ten minutes waiting for you to pull off some new card trick you’ve learned,” muttered Celestia through gritted teeth. Luna scowled and delivered a fierce kick beneath the table which Celestia returned. As the sisters once again descended into another bout of quarrelling, which was so common at this point that the group had long stopped caring about it, Flurry returned her focus to the game at hoof.
“Can’t wait to get back to the empire knowing I’ve won again!” she said as she leaned back in her chair. “Thirds times the charm. Discord the chips please.” Discord snapped his fingers, neatly summoning a pile of poker chips in the centre of the table.
“Shining would never have approved of you playing this game,” said Cadence. She had never been particularly thrilled at her daughter’s enjoyment of the game of poker.
“Who do you think taught me, mom?” Cadence’s mouth hung open in shock as the table rang out in laughter.
“I’ve missed this,” said Twilight softly as she finished shuffling the deck. Her eyes scanned over the ponies and the single draconequus present, and she could not help but feel a warmth in her chest.
“We did too Twilight,” said Celestia as she extracted herself from a headlock.
“Deal, book princess,” exclaimed Discord with impatience. “I know your bluff. You always squint when you’ve got a decent hand.” Twilight looked back in bemusement at the chaos spirit.
“Discord that’s your tell,” said Twilight with a deadpan expression.
“No, it’s not,” retorted Discord far too quickly, now sporting a pair of sunglasses.
Twilight moved to deal the cards, gently splitting them repeatedly as she looked over the table. She stopped for a moment, blinking to clear her eyes and for just a brief moment, the ponies across from her were gone, and a familiar set of five faces sat in their places smiling back at her. All of them looked as they did in their prime, as she remembered them from her first Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville.
Even after all this time, she missed them so.
“Is something wrong, Twilight?” asked Celestia as she rested a gentle, reassuring hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight blinked, and the table returned to normal, four alicorns and one draconequus staring back at her expectantly.
No.
Five good friends looking back at her.
Twilight shook her head, a gentle smile gracing her lips.
Some things never changed.
“No, everything is just perfect.”
Author's Note
After seeing a bunch of pretty negative takes on the finale and the concept of immortality, I felt we were missing a more upbeat and positive look, which is what led to this piece. This story is my tribute to MLP and the wonderful effect its had on me personally. I know in my heart that despite it being over, it will stay with me forever.
This was edited by the absolutely fantastic Helping Hoof who managed to get my mess of a story into shape 
The finished product would not have been possible without their help.
