Phantoms

by TheFictionalWriter

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sad, Drama, My Little Pony: A New Generation
Length: 3847

Twilight has served as Equestria's princess for a long time now, but with each passing year she can feel the memories of each adventure blur. Like faded pages, their meanings have wavered & have become torturous as she tries to remember anything.

Narrated By The Author

Phantoms now has a self-narrated audio book!
It's a thirty-six-minute listen created by yours truly, who has a small amount of VA experience!
Please take a listen and tell me your thoughts!

The Magic of Friendship Reigns thanks to the six friends who would usher in a new age for all of Equestria with magic of friendship and the power of the Elements. The road to this new Equestria was paved with parties, battles, laughs, and a bit of magic. The Mane Six would take up their new roles and Spike would take one last letter as Twilight became the Princess of Equestria.

However, like everypony, these heroes would age and fade with time - except the Princess of Friendship. She would stay and with each passing year no student could fill the gap left by ever fading memories of her best friends. Like Celestia and Luna before her, she would live much longer than a normal pony.

When all seems lost to the sands of time, a single scrapbook brings back embers of the past and a spark not felt since her journey began.

Published 2022-08-17 00:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-08-17 00:40:00 UTC

Six Friends Who Would Cast Out The Dark

Author's Note

I recommend listening to Thought I'd Let You Know by 4everfreebrony as you read because it helped shape the themes & the whole of this story. Thank you for reading, please enjoy.

Six Friends Who Would Cast Out The Dark

Light fills the sky, a loud chromatic boom taking the clouds with it. Waves of rainbow light fill the air, with it comes a surge filling six special mares. A rainbow-maned Pegasus streaks across the sky with enthusiastic excitement, breaking all manner of records and forming a need for the extreme. A white-coated unicorn stands before a cracked open rock brimming with gleaming gems, finding a deep, limitless inspiration. A pink Earth filly experiences the power of joy and laughter like never before, with the need to spread a smile to all she can find. A homesick orange filly finds her purpose, heading home with a renewed spirit and an unbreakable familiar bond. A shy yellow Pegasus would find her heart in everything that lived in the forests and trees; her spirit would be kept with a fuzzy heart and a warm smile. A purple unicorn surges with magic, hatching a dragon egg and becoming a very special student.

One by one, these elements would be called together by this spark, this call to Harmony. Together they would defeat Nightmare Moon and bring back the Princess of the Night. They would banish King Sombra and restore the Crystal Empire. They would redeem Discord, the Lord of Chaos, and together they would earn so many more achievements and forge so many more bonds. Together, they would save Equestria from threats new and ancient, big or small, great and petty.

Together they would be cemented across Equestria, from the friends they would make to the family they would share, victory by victory and adventure by adventure. At their peaks, the Elements of Harmony would safeguard their world and rule the Kingdom of Equestria. However, as with all heroes of legend, they would pass on. They were still only mortal. As with all legends, their stories remained long after they were gone. However, even the pages of legends fade with time and become lost. Though their stories would remain by virtue of their last remaining member, the Princess Twilight Sparkle and she kept them alive with her tales of friendship and magic. Even so, that would fade with time as Equestria fell into decline, the school of friendship eventually closing and the ponies of the realm forgetting what a united Equestria meant. After a while, each remaining page of this forgotten generation would start to fade, each word would become hazy, and each memory would start to blur, until they died out and vanished.

Twilight was alone in her castle, desperately trying to call back to the faces she once remembered with every passing moment. She was surrounded by long dilapidated hallways—a far cry from the opulent halls of the past—with her study at the farthest end. Her eyes dragged at the carpet beneath her hooves as her mind wandered endlessly. The expressive scholar who had at one point been in there before, behind those lavender eyes, had been replaced by a hollow version of herself. Her expression reflected it, dry and exhausted. The once vibrant lavender now replaced with a dull, draining purple.

She was lost in thought as she headed back across the vacant hallway. Her steps stuttering with the echos as her attention wavered back to the moment and the window next to her would come into focus. She could make out the crumbling remains of Canterlot, the once magnificent royal city of the Alicorn sisters, abandoned and ravaged by the passage of time. Twilight would heave a difficult sigh as faint memories of the royal sisters would return with a brief glimpse of the grand gala in its heyday. These desolate streets used to be crowded with ponies filled with joy, laughter, and the spirit of celebration. Now they sit empty, abandoned and filled with nothing rubble and brush.

Her exhausted eyes would begin to well up with tears as a wave of agonizing nostalgia overtook her. Her days were consumed by these flashing blurs, and her nights were haunted by forgotten memories of better times. She moved swiftly down the hallway, pushing through the swelling emotions. With images of the stars; a rainbow lightning cloud; a collection of gems; colored balloons; a bundle of apples; and pink butterflies, each of the remaining glass portraits she passed down the hallway couldn't stop her welling tears. These symbols of Harmony were all broken, in disrepair, or on the verge of disappearing, along with the rest of the once-glowing city.

Each step echoed through the empty halls, her hooves coming to a halt once she found herself in her study—a pitiful room of bookshelves, scrolls, and inkwells. She fought back her tears, letting out a trembling sigh as she paced the room, waiting and struggling for her emotions to quell themselves. She stepped behind her desk once what remained had composed herself, sitting in the lone chair behind the desk, she stared down at the unfinished pages. She sat motionless for what felt like an eternity, her eyes locked onto the blank page in front of her.

Twilight would take a slow deep breath, opening her lips as her mind wandered over what to say, even though she was alone. She paused, her eyes darting around as if searching for the right words to say, but she was lost and unable to find them. It was a name she was looking for, one of someone important, but she couldn't remember his name and pushed on like she had so many times before.

"... T-Take a letter..." Her voice stuttered and her heart picked up into a slow race as she took a quill with her magic, bringing it over to a blank scroll and dipping it into one of several inkwells, many of which were empty. She brought the tip of the quill to the page and spoke as she wrote. "Dear..." She paused, trying to remember the faded names of the royal sisters—or at least just one of them. "Dear... Dear Princess... No, no... Dear Whomever..." She sighs again, scratching out the letter and hanging her head, a sob escaping the mare. "Why can’t I...? Why can’t I just remember!?" She yelled out into the lonely room, straining her voice in the frustration. A harsh quiet echo replying before silence filled the room. The page lay blank as teardrops began to stain the parchment and her voice began to crack. The mare broke, tears falling down her face and cries escaping her voice to call out into the castle. She wept—painful and deep breaths cutting in between her sorrow. Her body shook and trembled, her face dropped into her hooves as she let go of a buried wail. The room was cold and uninviting as she could feel her throat burning and clog up. Her eyes ran sore as she kept them clamped shut.

It took time for her cries to quiet and her tears to dry; her eyes were reddened and her cheeks stained like the page. Her mouth was dry and her body wavered and shook lightly. She caught herself slowly and wiped her tears from her eyes with her hoof. Twilight looked around the room, her eyes jumping from old book to old book, though none were helpful, none were about her friends—or if they were, they were decayed and unreadable. She let out a shaky sigh and picked up the quill again, dipping it in the ink once more and setting her gaze back to the letter.

Dear... My Friends,

Who I can't remember

I wish I could see your faces just one more time. I wish I could hear your voices again. I wish I could remember your names. If only you could see this letter. Every night, I see these color blurs and fading shots of my adventures with you. Every time I pass through the hallways of this castle, I can hardly stop myself from crying. We used to be the Elements of Harmony, but now I’m all that's left. Everywhere I look, I can see these passing blurs of what we used to be. They’re faded and murky, but they’re all I have left of you.

please come back to me.

Please don't leave me again.

I don't want to keep playing this game!

I can feel time weighing on me now. Is this what you all felt? Or did something happen to you all? Did we lose? I've grown a lot since the last time we were together, I can only barely remember a blur of us taking a picture together, one which I don't have anymore. I miss you all so much. I can’t remember if I had an apprentice or what happened to them, but I... I believe I'm all alone now…

I hope I’m not.

I think there may be…

No, no, I don't think he…

Because of this, I’ve been working on something, and I've decided to do something to fix this, well, not for me per se. I believe this will keep the magic of friendship alive for whoever comes next. At the very least, I won’t have to raise the sun and moon any longer. I only hope I can see you all again after this is finished...

Maybe then I can finally rest?

But I only have to do this because... because I failed us. That I know. Canterlot is nothing but a ruin... Our old home, that I can even remember the name of is gone, I think, I don’t even remember where it is...

It’s getting hard to write, I don’t even know what else I could say to you all. If you can see this letter, please, please, know I tried my best—even if I can’t remember what my best was.

Her heavy eyes would slowly shift away from the scribbled unfinished letter, staring out into the corridor. Night had already fallen, and the only light she had was the soft purple glow from her horn and quill.

"I know you’ll never answer..." she says softly, her eyes gazing back to the letter, "... but I just hope you've been alright... all of you." Twilight cut off her magic as she laid the quill down, staring forward as she sat alone in the darkness and silence for another eternity. Her voice was faint and trembling, a dull pain constantly being with her, and her heart was stuck in her throat. "I-I... just thought you should know."

She would carefully rise from her seat and take slow, tired steps out into the hall, past crumpled attempts to write, leaving her unfinished letter for another time. Each step was difficult, and each moment she was trapped inside her mind, trapped within the damned study, trapped with that unfinished letter... That will never be sent. Passing by the old rooms of the castle and past the crumbling walls, she headed towards her bedchambers. Walking aimlessly, she stepped away from her path and headed into the old, crumbling throne room. Broken stained glass and tattered banners adorned the walls. The once beautiful red carpet leading to the throne was ruined, dirty, and faded. Her old throne lay barren and the smaller advisor seat lay in dismay. Dry tears ran silently down her tired face, a ruinous sigh escaping her dry mouth. She regretted what she couldn’t remember and hated what she could. Every faded blur was so close, but oh so far and so much better than what lay before her, but so impossible to reach. All she could do was shake her head and turn away—back to her bedchambers.

Twilight laid down in one of the two rooms that had not been completely laid to ruin, her crown on the bedside table, staring at it from her pillow. She wanted to cry again, but she had no more tears. The dull gold crown adorned with her cutie mark, with her symbol of Harmony, only brought pain to her heart. She inhaled deeply before slowly closing her eyes and wrapping herself in the blankets. She was once more, as she had been every night that she had to suffer through, left with only memories of the past for this brief period of time. Although they were hazy and jumbled, all she had were these memories.

Memories of a group of friends. Memories of six friends standing against all odds and making every day the best of days. Memories of a grand Equestria ruled by the ideals of Harmony and kept alive by the magic of friendship. Memories of the slow and happy days. Memories of the long and stressful nights.

Memories of six friends who would cast out the dark.

Once Upon a Time...

The ancient, tarnished halls of the castle kept her awake every night. Moonlight peaks through the wild clouds and distant winds only to land on Twilight’s face. She rose from her bed and walked over to the window before letting out a long, tearless sigh. The moon was full and yet so empty, unlike when she had started with the five others she called friends. The city perched atop the mountainside had been overtaken by the wilds of Equestria; it was now consumed and covered in moss and vines embedded between the stoneworks, cracks and crevices adorning the long winding streets and the old crumbling walls.

Her attention was drawn away from the ruins of her rule and to the to the lone tall tower, which had once belonged to the Princess of the Night. Despite being engulfed like the rest of the castle, it still had a nostalgic feel, one that survived the fall of an empire. She was once more overcome by faded memories, but this time it was different. She could feel the cool wind against her face, like the cool night that was once protected by the Princess. She was given the slightest crumb of hope as the tower having been abandoned so long ago, she had forgotten that it even existed. Maybe there was something untouched inside its chambers.

The sounds of hurried hoofbeats brought Canterlot's desolate halls back to life as Twilight rushed across the empty keep, spurred by even the smallest grain of hope. Past shattered glass that once told the stories of the guardians and past tattered banners of the purple star of magic, she ran. Tears welling at the mere hope of something, anything to give her a vision of the past. Her heart ached, sore for the days of old, weakened by the years of decay.

Her wings unfurled for the first time in ages, the worn purple feathers outstretched and stiff, pushing her forward with an overdue heavy flap. She flew through the long grand halls, dust and rubble kicking up from her hurried flight. Her hooves touched the old floors once again as she arrived, standing before the threshold of the tower’s ascending stairs. She wanted to storm up into the chambers at its top and discover whatever it was hiding immediately. But she caught herself, unsure even if it did hold something, whether or not it was still readable.

Her hoof lifted for a step, and she hesitated. Did she really want to know what lay above? What if it held something, something painful and dark? Could she live with it for the rest of her days? Or what of a memory? The pain it would cause her, the pain it would conjure as it slipped away like everything else—could she go through it all again just for a moment of catharsis? Her lips drew another breath, her hoof trembling suspended and she took the first step forward, into the tower.

She began the ascent, those questions striking her over and over again. Assaulting her as she heads higher and higher. Could she live with what she would find? What about the pain it brought, the slipping thoughts, the blurred faces, and voiceless conversations? How long would these last? Even then, it could be blank and faded—or nothing could be awaiting her, nothing but heartache. Her breath quickened. Twilight could feel how close she was. How close that final step was. There it lay at the top of the stairs, the door waiting for her to push it open and retrieve her gift or curse.

The room gazed out broken windows onto the surrounding lands across Equestria, higher than any other part of the castle. Bookshelves lay filled with blank titled books all around the room, a single center pedestal awaiting her with a brown bound book, the purple star of her cutie mark on the front, drawing her close. Her heart beat in her ears as her eyes stayed locked. She lifts her hoof, bringing it to the cover to gently opening the solitary book.

Her heart stopped for just a moment, her breath being stolen out of her body and her eyes filling with new tears. Before her lay a single picture, faded and aged, but still there, with six special ponies crowded together in a tight hug—the beginning of a full and finished scrapbook. Just beneath the photo, were four heartfelt words she never thought she’d see again...

Once Upon A Time…

Twilight slept soundly that night, tightly clutching the scrapbook to her chest and wearing a warm smile. This night she dreamed for once, their missing faces and blurred memories no longer haunted her. The colors now had form. Their faces, smiles, and frowns were brought back to her. Their emotions and personalities joined her in a great reunion deep within her old crystal castle. They exclaimed in joy, shed tears of happiness, and held each other with a faded sense of nostalgia in the air.

Twilight cried and welcomed back all her friends, beginning to tell them of the stories she had, the ones about the fallen city of Canterlot, how she came to be so alone—but she was stopped. The five other ponies simply soothed her, telling her that it must have all been a nightmare. That they were all still together, that the magic of friendship was still stronger than ever.

She smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes, then nodded. They retreated deeper into the castle. After all, what was better than being together? What was better than these moments? Than these memories?

These memories of six friends.

Twilight awoke the next morning, eyes red yet full of a new life and no longer that of a hollowed scholar. There was a new life in the air, a gentle sense of magic flowing around her and throughout the castle. It had been so long since she had felt even the slightest touch of this much magic, she had forgotten its feel and energy. It was ecstatic.

She jumped out of bed with the book softly hovering next to her, held by her purple magic, which was now more vibrant than ever. She took each step with a spring reminiscent of her friends. She trotted down the same lonely halls she always did to come to her study, and she slowed, taking a moment to stand and take in the broken stained glass with a new meaning. She tried her best to piece together what remained of the glass and repair each pane, even if it was fruitless. She smiled at each one. Even in their diminished state, they held meaning again, and that was enough for her.

She had to force her gaze away from the stained glass windows and their soft rays of colored light. Pink, blue, yellow, white, orange, and finally purple. She stepped through the purple rays and into her study, a gentle sigh leaving her as she cleared off the table with care. She set down the scrapbook and opened it to the first page, the one with the four heartfelt words.

She grabs a new sheet of parchment, one of the few higher quality ones, and a new quill and inkwell with her magic, bringing them to place on her desk. Her gentle smile carries the air of the room as she prepares to write a new final letter.

My Final Letter

My Dearest Friends,

I now remember what we have accomplished, what we stood for, and who we helped. I can now see into our past and remember our adventures. I can call back what lessons we learned and what we once taught. I have sat alone here for ages now, and I have lost much of what we had, but now I understand why. I had mourned all of you, and I had grieved deeply. Even with the knowledge of a lifetime and the strength of a princess, I still could not handle losing all of you.

I now realize that you’ve never truly left me. The broken glass, the faded memories, this wonderful scrapbook. Every part of this city holds significance, even if I was blind to it for so long. My heart still aches and my eyes still water. Failure and success have been beside me every step of the way since you all have been gone.

While Canterlot has fallen into ruin, I have created three gems. With a bit of hope, these will help Harmony endure in Equestria even after I am gone. I’ve poured much of my magic into their creation, but when I found this book, I could feel the magic in the air, I could feel its touch and its strength. I could feel all of you with me.

Finding you all again has been the greatest gift I could have been given. We have been together already in my dreams, and I can feel that soon we will be together again as a whole. As friends and as family.

I’m sorry for the tears dotting this letter, but you all have meant so much to me, and now I can relive our adventures, one by one, together again. It may have been a long time ago now, but I’m eager to know what comes next.

I thought I’d let you all know how much your friendships have meant to me.

Thank you.

Your Dearest Friend,

Twilight Sparkle.

Author's Note

:yay: Thanks for reading! This has been in the works for roughly a half a year, I wasn't sure if I was going to do it or not, but I'm very glad I did!

I'd like to give a hearty thank you to my friends on Discord, I really could not do this without your inputs! Thank you again and again! <3

Inspiration come highly from these songs:
Elemental & Old Phantoms by PrinceWhateverer
Magic (And the rest of the Elemental album) by RE:MAKE
Chant of Immortality & Thought I'd Let You Know by 4everfreebrony

This project would not be able to have been done without their music :twilightsmile: