Through the crevices between the branches of the evergreen trees shown the last slivers of golden light, illuminating the landscape and producing long, lanky shadows. As the sun set into its cradle its palette and brush of light made wispy strokes in the sky, smearing lines of orange, red, and yellow onto the blue canvas. Life itself was preparing for slumber, the creatures of the daylight getting ready to rest and the creatures of the night not quite awake yet. It was a silent bliss that covered the landscape and added to the peaceful nature of it all. Although most life had found its nest or den to retreat to for the night, two creatures remained on the land, their eyes locked and mouths hung slightly ajar, as if words wished to come out but failed to. In the stillness of this moment, these creatures -- ponies -- took long, cool breaths and watched each other, one facing the other, as if they were looking into a mirror and feared ruining the image by moving. Their shadows were cast far into the forest that stood erect in front of them.
One of these ponies carried a saddlebag upon her purple fur, a pony whom was beckoned to by "Twilight Sparkle". The other carried no burden upon her soft, groomed white fur, a mare whom was called "Rarity".
In this mediator of afternoon and night that the sun created, the ponies stood still, their gazes piercing the others, their untrained mouths unable to pierce the silence. In front of them was the dark forest, no longer a recipient of the sunlight as it sank lower into the horizon, shrubbery lining the forest floor and idle calls of an owl making their way to the outside on the back of a stand of wind.
It seemed like minutes were no longer being counted, hours frozen still, as these two ponies faced off with the expectance that the other would break their silence. As they stood, the sun continued to sink lower, and the shadows grew even longer. Twilight knew that before long that shadows would be nothing but part of the larger darkness that swallowed the land, and the light would be sucked from the area and replaced with the cold, hazy illumination of the moon.
Finally, as if an obstruction had been lifted from her throat, Rarity spoke.
"You don't have to do this."
Her words filled the air, hovering around Twilight and causing her ears to perk up. Twilight's gaze softened as her mind shifted from her gaze to thinking of a response.
"No," she said,"I have to do this." Twilight's voice was solemn, and she almost broke her stare as she spoke the words.
"I cannot let you do this," said Rarity, her voice feigning an air of command and firmness. The emotion of the situation was hidden behind the words and the tone, it was an unspoken understanding. Both ponies tried to maintain their composure under the conditions the situation put them under, and the emotion in their voices suffered from it. Neither wanted to let the other know their true feelings, but their masks were thin.
"I'm sorry Rarity, but there's no other option," said Twilight, her eyes finally closing and breaking the gaze that she had held for so long. Rarity could not tell, but Twilight's eyelid just barely caught a tear, keeping it from rolling onto her cheek.
"We can talk about this, we can fix this," stammered Rarity. Her own tears were welling up underneath her eye, but a quick blink took care of that.
Twilight was silent. Her mind was a jumble of memories, conversations, arguments, her recent past flashed before her as she thought about Rarity's words.
"No. It's too late." Twilight took a step towards the forest, but Rarity's outstretched hoof kept her from proceeding any further.
Twilight tried to push through but Rarity stood firm, keeping Twilight at bay. Eventually, Twilight gave up her efforts and retracted her step, returning to her previous position.
"Twilight, we have been friends ever since you came to Ponyville," said Rarity, her voice quivering. "And I could not imagine Ponyville without you. You don't have to go."
Twilight gave a hard, long stare towards Rarity. Then, she turned to look behind herself. The sun had already set. The bright colors that had lined the horizon were gone, and the darkness of night took its place. Glimmering among the darkness were the first few stars, the pioneers who awaited the arrival of their infinite brothers in the night sky.
With a deep sigh Twilight turned back to Rarity. Her eyes were brimming with tears, her heart was heavy, and a conscious choice of words seemed to fail her. In that moment, she no longer spoke what she wished to, but what her heart deemed necessary. As if by impulse, Twilight spoke.
"Rarity, behind me lays the past. I will never be able to take back what I have done. My actions are forever ingrained in the earth, not in the wind. Should I ever return they will still be there, unlike the wind which is fickle, which will be somewhere else by tomorrow. No, Rarity, this is not a decision I made based on my desires. This is a decision I made on my principles. You know that if I could, if the deepest recesses of my heart would let me, I would stay in Ponyville. Why would I ever make a choice that would separate me from my friends if I did not have to. I wish that I could stay, I wish that I could remain in Ponyville with you and the others, but the past is ineradicable. Even if I used a time spell and attempted to change what I had done, what kind of pony would that make me? How could I sleep at night knowing I changed my own actions to cover up my own mistakes, to compromise my own morals just for my benefit and ease? Every day I would have to deal with the fact that the life I live is a lie, something that I crafted with my own hooves rather than the natural course of time. I could not do that, Rarity. This is why I must leave. I must do what my principles dictate, because I am nothing without them. I hope you can understand."
Twilight wiped away a tear and turned away for a moment, brushing her eyes in privacy. She did not want Rarity to think she was weak. Rarity held back her tears, too. This entire time she knew it was inevitable, that Twilight had to leave, but she knew she had to try. To let her best friend leave her without any opposition would be to compromise her own morals, but Rarity knew that her efforts had come to a close. Now it was time to let go.
With defining steps, Twilight strode forward, on towards the depths of the forests where her heart led her. As she passed Rarity she could here her audible sniffles and see the tears streaming down her face.
"Wait! I just have one last thing to say," said Rarity between sniffles, almost choking on her own words. Twilight stopped and faced her friend, her own tears streaming down her face, leaving wet lines. They held each others gaze for a short moment, and Rarity wished it could last forever, but she knew Twilight needed to be on her way. She gave a couple more loud sniffles and wiped away a tear. With the last of her strength, she managed to say her parting words to Twilight.
"Twilight," she started,"You have always been my best friend, but I could not think of a more appropriate time than now to say, I need some money, do you have about tree fiddy?"
It was about this time that Twilight realized that Rarity was actually five hundred feet tall and from the paleolithic era.
"God damn loch ness monster, I ain't given you no tree fiddy!" yelled Twilight. Rarity let out her loch ness screech and waddled away into the darkness of the night.
