After all was said and done, 1000 years in the future, there is no threat of disharmony. All lives live in accordance with the purest form of harmony.
Friendship.
Twilight Sparkle opens her large crystal doors and is met with a sight she will see for many hundreds of years in the future. Positioned to the north in the Crystal Forest is the Tree of Harmony. She smiles widely and remembers when it was but a sapling. Only 20 feet tall and bearing its first fruit. It was crazy to believe that it had been so small, considering that it was so massive now. Standing over 4 miles tall and unyielding even in the strongest breeze, the Tree of Harmony was at its full size, spreading peace and harmony in ways that the Crystal Empire could never accomplish. Everypony feared it at first. They were confused and just getting over a fight with a formidable opponent. When the Tree of Harmony ate the elements, everypony was afraid, even Celestia and Luna. That was when it all happened. Its crystal branches spread like a web over the forest and cast beautiful colors all over Equestria during the day. At night, it shines like a beacon to pinpoint the Crystal Forest to help wayward navigators. But, it does not make it any harder to sleep. At night, it acts as a dream catcher and actually makes it easier to fall asleep. Twilight ruffled her wings as she took a deep breath of the pure air.
“Alright… today’s my day off, let’s spend it with my friends.” Twilight closed her eyes and repositioned her saddlebags before spreading her wings. She was much taller now, though she knew she would never reach Celestia’s full height. She formed a gradient on her wings that looked similar to Cadance’s wings. Her mane and tail maintained their original pattern but now sport the ‘Ethereal Wave’ as Rainbow Dash so eloquently dubbed it. Twilight ran forward and let her great wings beat down and she was off. Even though she was a unicorn for most of her fillyhood, flying came naturally only 2 years after she became an alicorn. Rainbow Dash and even Fluttershy helped her out at the beginning.
Earth pony strength came with the alicorn package deal as well, something that Applejack caught onto after 3 years. After that, Applejack taught her how to tend the soil and buck trees in case she were ever needed. Just for fun, Pinkie taught her how to split rocks.
Rarity was surprisingly helpful and taught Twilight how to properly sew and repair dresses. She even ruined a couple of dresses of her own to help Twilight become more intricate with her levitation spells. Now she knows how to sew and also now is the ‘best levitator in Equestria’, something that Rarity titled her not 4 years after her ascension.
Twilight was currently soaring above Ponyville, basking in the Springtime sun. Celestia and Luna have long since retired and are currently traveling Equis at their own leisurely pace. Every decade, they send Twilight a message showcasing their exciting discoveries and mainly just checking in on Twilight. She spots Sugarcube Corner, now renovated into a museum of sorts. Pinkie had specifically asked Twilight to buy Sugarcube Corner and make it useful in the far future. It was once useful and still is. The original bakery she knows and loves still lives on, even if it means she has to tour the building. As she looks at the old bakery, she feels a pang of nostalgia bud in her heart and she smiles warmly. Many ponies see her high in the sky and wave at her. Twilight softly waves back. She spots the plot of land that once housed the Carousel Boutique. In its place, there is a new clothes store named Barley’s Clothing Line. A casual wear store, even though casual wear is not as common as it was in Canterlot. As she flies out of Ponyville and above the Crystal Forest, she spies the capital in the distance, still perched on the side of the mountain. Princess Terrace was hard at work in the castle, most likely concealing her anger over the nobles during Day Court. This caused Twilight to chuckle out loud.
The forest below her was once the overgrown forest called the Everfree Forest. It was a savage place, full of the most hostile and dangerous monsters known to Ponykind. It was also the place where Celestia and Luna built their castle, back before the forest was as thick as it was. Now, the castle is not much more than dust blowing in the wind, ground down into fine grains by the ever-expanding roots of the Tree of Harmony. Speaking of which, that was where she was headed.
The trunk of the tree was thick and tall, reflecting the sunlight and emotions all across Equestria, but near the top, there was a room that only Twilight knew about. Only she could fly so high. Only she could teleport so far. Only she had the knowledge of what lay inside.
Quickly approaching the room, she slowed her wingbeats and landed on the perch right outside the room. Inside the room was the glowing depiction of what the Tree of Harmony once looked like as a sapling. On each of its branches, glowing their respective colors, were the Elements of Harmony. Unneeded, but a source of comfort for the lonesome Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight trotted into the room, looking up at the depiction with a smile on her face and tears welling up in her eyes. She eyed every single element and placed a hoof on the element of Magic.
“Hi, girls,” Twilight whispered so quietly that not even she was sure if she spoke. She backed away from the depiction and undid the straps on her saddlebags, sitting down. She opened the bags and pulled out a large, thin book, simply titled the Book of Memories. “Been a while, huh? I got caught up during work. You know how it is, being princess and all.”
Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat. No matter how long she would live, this would never get easier. She missed her friends so, so much. Clutching the Book of Memories in her hooves, she brought it to her chest and hugged it. Releasing it, she grasped the book in her magic and opened it to the first page. There, it showcased her meeting with Applejack. She noticed how much younger both she and Applejack looked. She chuckled at how uninterested younger her looked as she sat down and began to eat the food.
Looking at the next page, she saw her first meeting with Rainbow Dash. Even in old age, she had never changed. Twilight chuckled as she saw Rainbow crash into her, getting her soaked in mud. She saw herself get a cloud of water poured on her and quickly dried by a Rainbow Tornado. She chuckled again at the reactions of Spike and Rainbow.
Spike.
He was sleeping, as most dragons his age did. Far away, deep inside a cave on the side of a mountain. He was not greedy nor angry like other dragons. No, he was always Twilight’s and Rarity’s Spikey Wikey. Flipping the page, she saw her first meeting with Rarity. Spike was always head over heels for Rarity. It was a silly childhood crush that he got over after an odd amount of years. It was always great to see the little things in Memory Books. Twilight saw each dress that she was put into by the late fashionista. Even if she didn’t appreciate the dresses in her first meeting, she loves every dress given to her like it was her child.
Twilight looked to the next page to observe her meeting with Fluttershy. She was always a timid mare, but she grew stronger over the years. In old age, the timidness was still there, but it was vastly outpaced by her love for her friends. Twilight choked back a sob. She watched her short but very meaningful interaction with Fluttershy, and her meeting with Spike had her gushing over baby dragons. Young Twilight was obviously annoyed by the whole interaction, but older Twilight wishes that she could relive it 1000 times over.
Her first meeting with Pinkie was short, but as she flipped to the next page, her second meeting was anything but. Older Twilight jumped when memory Pinkie shouted ‘Surprise!’ along with the entire town. At young Twilight’s reaction, she couldn’t help but chuckle. Pinkie’s parties were some of the best parties she had ever attended. When Pinkie passed, any party she attended in the future just felt dull and bland, as if it were missing something important.
Twilight either didn’t notice or didn’t care about the tears that were dripping onto the book, slowly soaking into the aged paper. She watched as she and her friends witnessed Nightmare Moon’s return, giggling at memory Pinkie’s antics. She smiled as she watched every hurdle get overcome by each of her friends. She beamed when she saw her and her friends use the elements for the first time. She smiled again at Celestia’s and Luna’s reunion. She cried when the book was over.
With her magic no longer operating properly, the book fell to the crystal floor and bounced once before falling shut. All those years, all those memories. She never wanted to lose them. Ever. As the tears streamed down her face and sobs wracked her body, she looked up at the depiction of the sapling Tree of Harmony. From each element, excluding Magic, there was a thin trickle of a sparkling liquid. Twilight shakily got to her hooves and walked over to the depiction, wrapping her hooves around the trunk of the sapling.
“D-Don’t cry, girls… don’t c-cry because it's over… smile because it happened…” Through the sobs and tears, Twilight smiled as she felt a radiant warmth from the crystal trunk. Backing away from the depiction, she smiled up at the elements and felt them smile back. Using her magic to strap her saddlebag back on and put her book away, she turned around and trotted back to the door. Peering outside over the Crystal Forest, she smiled, wiping away the tears with a forehoof. The sun was still high in the sky but on its journey down to sleep below the horizon. In the distance, she saw many great cities outlining the horizon, but she had her gaze focused more on the small town in front of her. Though she lived in Canterlot now, she only knew of one place that she could call home.
“See you girls later, I’m going home,” Twilight said over her shoulder before she jumped off the balcony and spread of great wings, flying toward the small and still quaint town called Ponyville.
Author's Note
A lot of small details may have been missed, but the comment section is there to any bold enough to point any out.
