Twilight is in Canterlot Castle, sitting down in front of a stained glass panel in one of the windows, showcasing her and her friends defeating Discord. The sun can be seen shining through the glass, just below Discord’s image, centralized between the Mane 6 and Discord. Starlight’s voice can be heard echoing from the doorway:
"Twilight, good to see you today! How are you holding up?"
"Hey Starlight! Come in."
"Is everything in order, Twilight? All our friends are waiting for you outside for the Council of Friendship to start."
"Yes Starlight, everything’s fine, just remembering the old days." Before promptly standing up and heading outside, accompanied by Starlight. As they pass through the doorway, their images fade and their voices echoes, Twilight is still sitting down in front of the glass panel, alone. She sighs, it echoes through the room. After half a minute contemplating the image, Twilight stands up and heads outside.
It is a beautiful day, the light of the sun shines through the blue skies, clashing with the grass. Twilight is taking a walk through the field, a small breeze flowing against her makes it relaxing and eases her mind a little. Her destination is a hill in the horizon with a single tree on top. The birds chirping and the sound of the trees leaves against the breeze makes the situation more bearable, even peaceful, one could say.
As she arrives on top of the hill, six gravestones can be seen. She felt a small tear flow through her face.
"You wanted to see me, Princess Twilight?" She hears a voice, as a tall figure materializes beside her.
"Discord, so glad you could come." Discord sits down, he sighs looking at the graves:
"You know… before all of you, I had nothing worth remembering…" Twilight stayed silent
"I mean, sure, Smooze is a good friend and all, but I can’t really talk to him like I did with all of you." After another moment of silence from Twilight, she finally responds:
"Discord…"
"Hmm..?"
"Can I ask you something?" She doesn’t deviate her eyes from the six graves
"Sure Princess, go ahead."
"How do you deal with loss?" Discord stood silent for a moment, looking at a gravestone with the name Fluttershy. Not taking his eyes off it, he responded:
"Look, Twilight… I may not be the pony you want to ask this kind of question… I am the Lord of Chaos, the Spirit of Disharmony… All I can really say is that, you 6… you changed me… for the better, forever…" Discord felt a tear flow through his face. Twilight continued to face the gravestones.
"You all gave something to me I didn’t know was missing… and now…" Discord’s silence was heartbreaking. Twilight knew he wasn’t going to answer such a question, she just wanted to hear someone else talk, just to take her head off the situation. After a moment of silence, now recomposed, Discord continued:
"Twilight… do you remember that one friend of yours..? From overseas..? Uhm, what was her name again..? Uhh… Sunset… Glimmer, was it?" He turns to face Twilight
"Sunset Shimmer?"
"Yes, that’s her name… You know, it’s been a couple years since you last visited her…"
"Yes, it certainly has been…"
"Does she know about these unfortunate news yet?"
"No… I-"
"Well… with you being the Princess of Friendship and ruler of Equestria, I don’t think it would be very nice not to tell a friend about what happened. I know that you know that she probably expects you to not talk to her for long periods of time, since she probably thinks you have important royal duties to care of. But right now, you’re free." As Discord made the book she used to communicate with Sunset appear floating beside him together with a quill.
"I can’t"
"Can’t? What do you mean, can’t?"
"I mean I can’t talk to her. It’s been so long I fear she does not want anything to do with me anymore, she’s probably mad at me for not being there most of the time."
"Twilight, you of all ponies should know that friendship… True Friendship, lasts forever." He finished the sentence looking back with anguish at Fluttershy’s grave.
"I… I’m afraid, of what- or rather, who I might encounter if I go back there… especially after all these years. And if I do encounter someone… what will they think when they see this?" She looked at all the gravestones.
"Twilight, you six have made me the pony I am today. I often ponder at what my past could have been like without you, I was afraid that you would leave me and everypony else behind after what happened, but you are still here. You still call me even after knowing our time is over. Having a friend to fallback to is what keeps me going. This isn’t something you shouldn’t do because you are afraid of what might result from it, you should do it because of what you might gain from it. So please, give an old friend a chance" as he pushed the book and quill closer to Twilight.
With a deep breath, Twilight began to write:
“Dear Sunset Shimmer, it’s been too long since we last spoke, and I would like to talk to you in person…”.
3 days after her conversation with Discord, Twilight was hesitant about going through the portal she made all those years back after Sunset responded joyfully only a few hours after the letter was sent: “Of course you can come Twilight! I would never miss your visit! What do you say about coming in three days, at two in the afternoon?”. The mirror was moved from her old castle in Ponyville to Canterlot shortly after she became ruler of Equestria. Twilight put the book on top of the machine, and turned it on. She was going through the portal without Spike, as he was dealing with some problems in Yakyakistan. She contemplated the portal for a moment, and with a deep breath, she went through it.
At the other side, she was met by a yellow hand to help her up and a welcoming embrace by Sunset:
"Twilight! Hello again!" It was dark, Twilight recognized Sunset’s voice, but it was very hard to see. She heard the flick of a switch and was promptly blinded by the light:
"SURPRISE!" 6 voices shouted in unison.
Twilight did not respond. She was stunned, taken aback by the sight of her friends she hasn’t seen for years, as well as the fact that everyone was there. Twilight did not move a muscle. She felt tears wanting to come out, her head starting to hurt by the emotional train-wreck. Everyone’s smile faded as quickly as Twilight’s tears appeared.
"I…" she couldn’t even speak, she broke down and started crying, getting back on her knees. Sunset got down to her level and gave her another tight embrace, to try and make her feel better. She ponyed up, and was able to see Twilight’s past. She saw what happened: Twilight pondering in front of the stained glass, Discord’s conversation, and her hesitant about going through the portal.
"Twilight, I would never not want you to come here, especially not after all this time and not without all our friends together at your welcome back party!" Sunset helped Twilight up and all of them hugged Twilight.
"Thank you, everyone, for being here…" Twilight calmed down and was able to speak normally again.
"Feel better?"
"Yes Sunset, thank you."
"So Twilight, what brings you here?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Actually… it’s some bad news…" Twilight then explained everything, acknowledging Sunset’s comment about her insecurity in coming back to this world, as well as the fact that she lost some dear friends. She said she didn’t expect to see everyone back after what happened and that this exact thought was going through her mind when she was hesitant to come after all these years.
"Ahm awful sorry to hear that Twilight. If you need anything we’re here to help you through it. Always."
"Actually, I’m the one who should be sorry, I should behave properly in such an occasion, but well… all of this happened… I’m sorry."
"No need to be sorry, dear. You have the right to go to your friends for help when you need it, Twilight… and you clearly need it now."
"Thank you, Rarity. Thank you all." After another group hug, Sunset was the first to speak:
"Come Twilight, let’s catch up in the living room."
Twilight decided to ask what they were doing recently:
"So… what have you all been up to these last few years?"
"Twilight dear, Sunset already told you what we are all doing. She writes you all the time through that magical book of yours."
"Oh, yeah… I… sorry, there’s just so much in my head these last few days, do you all want to come over to Equestria with me? I still have some royal duties to take care of…"
"Of course! Would be lovely to visit that place again"
"Count me in! We haven’t visited your world in a while, and I sure would like to take some notes about how things work over there… you know… for science."
"Yeah! I would love to fly as a pony again!"
"Great! So, let’s get going then." All of them headed back through the tight portal room.
As they arrive in Equestria, all of them look at Twilight in disbelief. Twilight, also in disbelief seeing her friends as ponies, feels pain in her chest. Concentrating with a deep breath, she finally speaks:
"So, now that we are all here, I just wanted you to see something first. Follow me." As they go through the open field, the sun shining brighter than before, reflecting on the lake down the hill forming a beautiful rainbow. It is peaceful, the birds singing in the distant trees reduces the chest pain.
Halfway through the walk, Discord shows up in front of the group, delighted with the sight of all his friends:
"Twilight! You brought them in? Hello everyone!"
"Hey Discord! Yes I did! we are just going to that hill over there, with that tree. Care to accompany us?"
"Well, yes princess! In fact, I was just going over there myself when I saw you had returned." Discord leans towards Twilight and whispers:
"So, you didn’t tell them?"
"Not yet…"
"So, you are the Discord Twilight told us about?"
"The one and only, Rainbow Dash."
"Seems about right…"
"What do you mean Sunset Shimmer?"
"Oh, nothing really." They continued walking through the plains with the same breeze, although it felt more relaxing and peaceful this time around.
"So… we’re finally here." At this point, the sun was about to set. Everyone stopped, almost at the top of the hill, tired from walking as ponies.
"Mind tellin’ us what all this is about Twilight? My fe- uhh… hooves, hurt."
"Ugh… tell me about it."
"Well… I brought you all here because, I wanted to show you this." As Twilight moves away, revealing the six gravestones. All of them approach to read what is written in each one.
"This… is why I was afraid to come to your world. I didn’t know how you would react if you knew what happened, but I was afraid of telling you, so I had you come here and see for yourselves. I am truly, truly sorry." As tears turned to crying
"You all didn’t need to see this, I…"
"Twilight…" as Sunset approaches the Princess, after reading Starlight’s gravestone
"We are all here for you. Always." Sunset offered Twilight a hug, she accepted.
"If you had told us before, we would be just as willing to go as we are to help you and as we were in the first place. I’m sorry for your loss Princess." Rarity complemented
As the others were either talking with the Princess, or looking at the gravestones, Discord was feeling distant.
"Discord, is it?" A familiar, soft voice invaded his ears as he was mourning a beloved friend
"Yes?" He did not move his eyes
"I see that you were good friends with this world’s Fluttershy?"
"We were… best friends. Too bad it’s all gone now…"
"Would you like to be my friend?" Discord finally turns to face Fluttershy
"I… I don’t think it would be quite the same."
"It can always be something new..." Fluttershy's smile was comforting, it reminded Discord of the olden days.
"Well, in that case… I accept your friendship, Fluttershy."
As they hugged each other, Twilight embraced both, and everyone else followed, encompassing them all, in a big group hug. The sun was setting, the light breeze was comforting, the last rays of sunshine were as beautiful as the rising night sky. They stood firm atop the hill, under the single tree. The sight of the horizon, as beautiful as the rainbow from earlier. A glimpse of everlasting hope.