Long as We’re Still Here Together
Twilight returned to Canterlot after sending Luster to Ponyville and spending the night in her old castle with her friends. All of them had aged considerably, but she hadn’t. She was an alicorn… and alicorns were either immortal or lived for thousands of years. One day, she would be forced to watch all of her loved one pass on. The tragedy that came with having a horn and wings… unless she found a way to make them live longer… or perhaps revert back to a unicorn. Which she was seriously considering.
She lay in front of the very tree where she had started her journey long ago. That day that she had read the book on the two sisters and the elements of harmony. The day she had first gone to Ponyville and found her very best friends. They’d made her the princess and ruler she was today. But now she wondered if it was worth it.
She opened her book of memories that her friends had given her when she first moved back to Canterlot after her coronation as ruler of Equestria some years ago. She gazed at the pages which started at her arriving in Ponyville, her individual meetings with each of her friends.
They were fond memories, ones that Twilight would treasure till the end of her days and would enjoy looking back on. But she didn’t just want to be able to look back. She wanted to be with her friends… even if it was in death.
Between immortality and them, it was no contest to Twilight. True she could make new friends… but they would pass as well. And she did have others like Spike, Discord, and Flurry Heart. Cadence however was gone, she’d given her life to protect Flurry Heart along with Twilight’s brother Shining Armor. As for Celestia and Luna, Twilight wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with them at the moment, not after she had learned what Celestia had done.
Celestia had revealed to her that the long lifespan would allow her to live for thousands of years. She was practically immortal now!
“If I had known that this was going to happen I would never have agreed to becoming an alicorn!” Twilight snapped. “I’m the Princess of Friendship! You want me to be the Princess of losing friends?”
“Twilight, with such a long life you can always make new friends!” Celestia tried to reason with her former student.
“I don’t see the point of doing that they are just going to pass away as well!” Twilight said.
“You’ll always have me,” Celestia said.
“You? After what you’ve done, putting this curse on me?” Twilight asked.
“It doesn’t have to be all bad,” Celestia told her. “If you focus on what’s good in life you can bear it. Being royalty is filled with the most wonderful privileges, you have all the money you want, servants to care for your every need. You can watch your friend’s families grow.”
Twilight was having none of it.
“I don’t want it! I’d rather live one lifetime than watch the world without my friends!” Twilight raised a hoof. “I can’t believe it! You were grooming me to be your successor from the time you took me as a student. Ever since you sent me to Ponyville. You taught me the value of friendship, and now you want me to just let it go like it means nothing! You made me a princess and have had me take over your duties, when you know me better than anyone! You knew that I was prone to hysterical fits and nervous breakdowns!”
“But you’ve ruled well so far,” Celestia pointed out.
“Yes… so far. But what about when my friends die? I go insane and become a tyrant maybe, the new Nightmare Moon? Or maybe Terrible Twilight? Really, you couldn’t pick someone more qualified. You do have a sister you know!”
“Leave Luna out of this!” Celestia finally lost her patience.
“Oh, I’ll leave her out of this!” Twilight said. “In fact, I’m leaving you both out of my life!”
“Twilight!” Celestia called after her as she turned back on her former mentor. “Wait there’s…”
Her words were drowned out by the sound of Twilight slamming the door behind her.
A bit of regret filled Twilight at the words she had said to Celestia that. But now she knew the former princess had really crossed a line by making Twilight an alicorn. Death happened to all of them sooner or later. Twilight knew that, she’d known it all her life and had accepted the fact that one day it would come to her. Sure, it could tempt any creature to live forever. But the price of the pain was not worth it. Happy memories to look back on or not, being able to make new friends and cope or not. In the end she would be alone. Even if she made new friends it seemed pointless since she’d have to watch them all go.
“Twilight?” a voice asked.
The regal alicorn looked up and saw her younger brother. The Purple dragon with the green scales.
“Oh hey Spike,” Twilight said.
She might still have him. That was a slight comfort. Dragons lived for thousands of years, so she might not outlive all her friends.
“What you doing up here?”
“Just looking back on good times,” Twilight said.
She looked back at her book and turned to a page of the day when she had fought against Trixie Lulamoon in a magic duel. How Trixie had used age spells with the aid of an alicorn amulet that gave her greater magic power. Twilight had often considered using that on her friends to make them live longer, so that they could always be together… but would it have been right?
Would they choose to be immortal or long-lived like her? Would they want to be turned into foals? And by doing so, it would mean they would share her burden of watching everyone they cared about passing on. True, Twilight could have used age spells on others as well. She could have made their families last longer throughout her Alicorn life. But she was smart enough to know that that would have consequences.
It would have been a perfect world if there was no death at all. Especially given how there were ponies in relationships with dragons who would live much longer than their current mates. But this world was not meant to be perfect. If she were to somehow make every creature have long lifespans they would overpopulate. Food would eventually run out, the environment would be in bad shape.
As much as Twilight hated to admit it, death was a necessary part of the cycle. It made room for future generations of creatures.
But… at the least… Twilight could ask her friends if they would be willing to stay by her side. If they wanted to pass on, she would have to accept that. They were her council of friendship, her best friends, she wouldn’t force them to do anything they wouldn’t want. But she also had a duty to her people, to rule them for as long as she could.
Finally, Twilight closed the book with a sigh.
“Spike, send a letter to-
Suddenly the dragon belched out a scroll before Twilight could finish her request. He opened it and looked.
“It’s from Nurse Redheart in Ponyville!” he exclaimed.
“Nurse Redheart, I don’t have her linked on my spell to connect letter through you!” Twilight exclaimed. “It must have been sent by someone who was. What’s it say?”
Spike began reading.
“Dear Princess Twilight, your friendship council members are in the Ponyville hospital and are requesting you to come and visit them. We don’t know what’s wrong… and fear they might not have long.”
A shiver travelled down Twilight’s spine at this. She teleported both herself and Spike to Ponyville just like she had done only a couple days ago when sending Luster back there. They appeared in front of the Ponyville Hospital and dashed into the reception area. They saw Nurse Redheart there in the waiting room along with-
“Celestia! Luna!” Spike exclaimed.
The two former princesses looked over their shoulders and saw Twilight and Spike. Twilight wanted to give her former a mentor a glare, but her heart forbade it. She loved Celestia, and could not bring herself to hate the alicorn whose size she now matched.
“Twilight- I-
Twilight merely stuck her nose in the air and asked Nurse Redheart. “Where are my friends?”
Nurse Redheart lead her and Spike through the hospital hallways. Celestia and Luna followed them, Twilight kept her gaze ahead, not wanting to look at the former. She came into the large hospital room which was shared by her five best friends. They all lay on separate beds, grunting in pain with doctors tending to each of them separately.
“Girls whats wrong?” Twilight asked approaching them worriedly.
“Twilight… darling… oh thank goodness you and Spike are here!” Rarity groaned.
Spike approached Rarity’s bed with saddened eyes and took her hoof in his claws. “What’s happening to all of you?”
“I don’t know! I just started getting a massive headache this morning!” Rainbow Dash said. “Fluttershy did as well!”
“Yes… I did…” Fluttershy stated weakly. “Now I can barely move.”
“I have an awful set of dual pains in my back!” Rarity said. “Its like something is moving in there!”
“Pinkie and I have both back pains and headaches!”
“But…why?” Twilight stammered looking around at them. “Rarity getting back pains, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy having heachaches, Applejack and Pinkie Pie having both?”
A unicorn orderly brought his horn over Applejacks back.
“I can feel a lot of strange magic flowing in the areas that they say are hurting. Its building up rapidly. I fear there may not be anything we can do.”
“Please! There has to be something!” Twilight said.
She put her horn on Applejacks head and lit up her horn, she felt the magic inside her friends head. It felt familiar.
“This magic…” Twilight said. “It’s the same as from the elements of harmony!”
“But how… the elements are destroyed!” Spike wondered aloud.
“I don’t know!” Twilight said.
“Perhaps I can explain,” Celestia said.
Twilight slowly turned her head and gazed at the former ruler with a frown.
“Using the elements of harmony multiple times can have certain effects on the body. It can result in changes.”
“Then why am I not being affected by it?” Twilight asked. “I should be in pain as well shouldn’t I?”
“You are an alicorn,” Celestia stated. “So it affects you differently.”
“So its hurting my friends but not me? Why?”
“Well-
Celestia’s sentence was cut off as Rarity let out high pitched scream. All the others did so as well, though Rainbow Dash did her best to hold it in. They all glowed brightly, Twilight had to shield her eyes as beams of light flew from her friends and connected with each other in the air. There was a hiss and crackle, then suddenly all of Twilght’s friends were gone from their beds. The sheets where they had laid were scorched as though hit by lightning bolts.
Twilight put her hooves over her mouth in shock.
“No,” she said. “They’re gone.”
“No, Twilight. They’re still here,” Celestia said.
“In my heart?” Twilight guessed. “I don’t want them just there-“
“No Twilight, they’re-
“Shut up!” Twilight snapped as tears appeared in her eyes. “You knew that being exposed to the magic of the elements would have some effects! You knew this would happen didn’t you?”
Celestia didn’t deny it. Twilight turned and looked at her, her horn lighting up, ready to in her rage unleash a powerful spell on the one who had put this curse on her. Celestia’s mouth fell open as she took a step back. Twilight’s horn built up intensely with magic.
“Twilight, stop! What are you doing!” Luna asked, putting herself between her sister and her friend.
“Twilight no!” Spike said.
Twilight snarled as her heart won out seeing the distressed look on Luna and Spike’s faces as well as the fear on Nurse Redheart and the others. She could not bring herself to attack Celestia, despite all the anger she felt right now. Slowly, she withdrew the magic on her horn and bowed her head.
“Leave!” she shouted.
“Twilight please… listen,” Celestia said.
“No, you listen!” Twilight snapped. “I looked up to you more than any pony. You gave me knowledge and guided me since I was a filly. You taught me friendship… and now… you’ve killed my friends!”
“They are not dead,” Celestia said.
“W-what? But-“
“They are coming back,” Celestia said. “Come with me. I will show you.”
She reached out her hoof, giving Twilight a soft smile despite the fact that Twilight had moments ago been ready to destroy her. Reluctantly, Twilight took it.
Celestia lit up her horn and teleported herself and Twilight to a familiar area. It was the same place of light where she had gotten her own alicorn wings years ago. All her friends were there. But to Twilight’s surprise they were younger, looking the same as they had in their earlier years.
“Girls!” Twilight exclaimed. “Oh thank goodness, I thought you were all dead!”
“So did we!” Applejack said. “What is this place? Though we ended up in heaven?”
“Well, I could certainly live with a heaven as lovely as this!” Rarity said as she admired all the stars passing by.
“Yes, this is… um… lovely. But are we really alive?” Fluttershy asked.
“Do not fear, Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “This is the place where Twilight received her wings long ago.”
“Her wings?” Rainbow Dash repeated. “Wait! Don’t tell me-
Celestia smiled. “Twilight was the merely the first of you who would be destined to become alicorns. You have all been exposed to a lot of magic of the elements of harmony. Twilight was the element of magic so she was the first to ascend. It was quick for her, but I knew that one day all of you would become alicorns as well.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Twilight asked.
“I tried to,” Celestia explained. “But whenever I did you cut me off. You didn’t really think I would have made you an alicorn and forced you to watch those closest to you pass on?”
Twilight lowered her head. “I’m sorry… I was ready to exile you from Equestria.”
“You had every right to be angry at me,” Celestia said. “Immortality is a path of loneliness. Unless you have those you love by your side it is a terrible curse. It has been bearable for me at least because I have my own best friend… my sister. Those thousand years we spent apart were the hardest of my life. We were inseparable, just like you and your friends. The years since you’ve become ruler have proven that. Not everypony has friendships that last for so long. But I can see now that your friendships will last a long long time. Until the ends of your days.”
Celestia then walked up to face the Mane 6. She spread her wings which glowed. A bit of magic shot of their chests, just like it had for Twilight. They were surprised as the magic suddenly began spinning around them and lifted them up into the air. Then they exploded into a light form of their own cutie marks.
Feeling as though she moved at the speed of light, Twilight found herself back in Ponyville. The five large glowing Cutie Marks touched the ground. They were in front of the Castle of Friendship, Starlight, Sunburst and Trixie all outside, looking shocked. The light from the glowing Cutie Marks began to fade and the forms of the five ponies became visible.
“Is that… you guys?” Starlight asked. “I was just about to head over to the hospital when I heard the news!”
The changes were immediately obvious for Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie who now sported horns upon their heads. Rarity’s change wasn’t quite so visible apart from the younger appearance… as she had been a unicorn like Twilight. But once she spread her wings and glowed, it was obvious. They were all there, younger… and alicorns.
Starlight’s mouth fell open.
“You’re all… what… how?”
“It’s a long story,” Twilight said.
“And its gonna be an even longer story,” Celestia said. “But a happy one. Because you will have your friends by your side throughout it.”
Twilight smiled at her. But then looked at the others.
“But… are the rest of you okay with this?” she asked. “Pinkie Pie, you’ll watch your husband and child pass on!”
Pinkie sighed. “Yeah, thats gonna be sad . But I'll be able to watch the next fifty generations or more! It doesn’t have to be so bad! I can bear it, long as I have all my best friends!”
Rainbow Dash put a foreleg around Applejack. “Me and AJ are gonna be together a long time!”
“Ya got that right partner!” Applejack said as she nuzzled her wife. “Just like you said, long as we’re still here together… we’ll be flying happily! And we can all fly now!”
“Oh, I have such lovely wings!” Rarity said as she inspected them. “Though I think I may have liked the butterfly ones better… perhaps I can style them!”
“Well… I don’t have to worry about outliving Discord. Because he is a true immortal,” Fluttershy said.
“Yes… even we alicorns are not immortal. We merely live for thousands of years,” Celestia said.
“Well, we’ll be with all our loved ones again than someday,” Twilight said. “That’s a relief. I was thinking I might never Shining Armor and Cadence again.”
“Or Granny Smith and my parents,” Applejack said, looking up. “Guess you guys will have to wait a long time for me.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll see them again… it will just take us a longer time to get there. Um… how long exactly?” Twilight asked Celestia.
“I don’t know… a few thousand years at least. Even I don’t know how long Alicorns live.”
“Well… lets make sure to throw lots of parties! Things can probably get boring after a while. Nothing worse than being trapped in boredom right?”
Celestia nodded. “I know what I’m going to do now.”
“What’s that?” Twilight asked.
“Become an author,” Celestia said. “I’m going to write a story about all of you from when you moved to Ponyville Twilight. And I think I’ll end it when you send Luster back to Ponyville to make her own friends. I think I shall call the book… My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic.”
Twilight smiled.
*
Some years later Celestia sat with her book finished and opened it to read to a new generation of foals.
“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land.”
Author's Note
While I'm more of an accept death and reject immortality kind of guy, if I had a good number of my loved ones by my side I'd be okay with it. Otherwise its just a curse.
I felt it could be canon for Celestia to have written the book, since we hear her narrating it in the first episode's opening. If she is still alive (though she's not in my main story) it could be her telling the story of Twilight and her friends to future generations in a distant future.
In any case, I choose a happy ending rather than the (in my mind) despicable tragedy of Twilight outliving her friends. Its up to us... as Miller said they don't know long everyone lives including Twilight. They left it open for all of us. Made Twilight look older for those that wanted her to outlive her friends, and he also said they have been exposed to a lot of magic so who knows how its affected them? We all get our choices.
