"So we were true true friends, all the way to the end..."
Twilight Sparkle blinked away the sand that had mysteriously gotten into her eye, wiping the tear it had caused with her spare forehoof. Her array of pictures from her first, so very magical friends still held their colors and shine, courtesy of the preservation spell she had cast on them- hay, was it that long ago? Nopony even remembered their names anymore, or their coats and colors, or anything other than the fact that they were the 'Heralds' of Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Snort.
She could still remember each and every one of their lives, and their deaths. Pinkie's heart attack at the end of organizing the 100th anniversary gala of Luna's return. Dash's encounter with... well, her statue still stood on display in Celestia's court, watching over everything from above the door. Fluttershy's greatest act of kindness, saving all those poor foals from that fire. Rarity went out quietly and without the fanfare of much of her life. Hay, most ponies never did figure out the exact day that she died with the way she slipped into mystery and seclusion. And Applejack... helped from this life and into the Summer Glens by Celestia herself, at the ripe old age of 200.
And not one of them was remembered by anypony outside of her, Luna, Celestia, and Cadance whenever she rose. They deserved better than that. All of her friends deserved better than that.
Twilight flipped the pages; looking at Starstreak the Unhatted and his gaggle of friends who had helped her stop that terrible plot and save the griffons from their enslavement. And what about Surprise? And Firefly, and Trixie the Wise, and Pomegranate, and-
"HEY! Twilight, what are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay out for your own sake?" Calming Waltz trotted in, snatching the book from Twilight's grip and placed it back in the chest almost aggressively. The pink and purple unicorn mare slunk over to Twilight's side, gracefully curling around her mentor with all the grace and poise of a cat. "Why?"
Twilight chuckled weakly, reaching for the chest as she berated her faithful student and Best PonyFriend Forever. "Why what? Be specific Waltzy."
"Why do you torment yourself with these memories?" Waltz reached out with a hoof and pressed the chest shut once more, trapping Twilight's hoof in the ancient wooden box. The young mare looked up into her mentor's eyes pleadingly, her blue eyes flecked with gold trembling with sympathy for her mentor.
Twilight extracted her hoof from the shut lid with some difficulty, leaving her platinum slipper behind as she wriggled free. The old alicorn traced her hoof up Calming Waltz's chest, sliding it up underneath the multi-shaded mane to slowly brush the unicorn's unruly mane back and behind her ear. Twilight hesitated at the top of her stroke. Waltz's ear flicked against Twilight instinctively, begging her to stop. Finally, the alicorn swept her lavender hoof down and cupped Waltz's chin and raised it up so she could stare her in the eyes. "Finally, you asked the right question."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I'm not tormenting myself, Calming Waltz, even if it looks like it sometimes. I'm reminding myself of every good pony that I've made a friend out of in my life, reminding myself of all the good things that I've done and seen. I remind myself of all my friends that are waiting for me on the other side in the Summer Glens." Twilight's voice grew heavier with each word, as she continued down her trip into memory.
Waltz nestled her head into the nape of Twilight's neck, closing her eyes to fight off the tears that wanted to squeeze out. "You don't have to live in the past anymore, Twilight. You've taught me, your beloved student. You spend more time down here than you do with living ponies."
Twilight pulled free of Waltz, slowly walking past the multitude of preserved artifacts hanging upon the walls that glinted in the setting sun. "No, Waltz, I don't. This is the first time I've been down in a month. I came down here to remind myself most of all of the most important friendship lesson of all."
"W-what is that?"
"That all good things come to an end." Twilight cheekily waited until Waltz opened her mouth to refute her, and immediately spoke up, putting a hoof over the pink unicorn's mouth to silence her. "Yes, even me, even Princess Celestia, even Luna and Cadance. But that doesn't mean that good things shouldn't be done or had. That's part of why they're such precious special things. They happen, and then they're gone."
Twilight got to all of her hooves, crooking a wing over her student to drag her along a guided tour of the Alicorn of Friendship's memorial to history. The soft downy carpet swallowed their footsteps, letting Twilight project the faintest echoes of the joyous sounds from all of her friends over the millennia. A ghostly, wondrous chorus of happiness that left Twilight half-blind with bittersweet tears welling in her eyes as she led Calming Waltz past display cases and wall hangings and grand picture frames holding all manner of images. "Look around you, Waltz. If I followed your advice, where would I be? If I hadn't listened to my first friends when they begged me to remember them, but not wallow in their loss, where would all of these ponies have been?"
"H-how many?"
"You make the millionth Pony-Friend Forever that I've had. Scary, isn't it?" Twilight's chin trembled with a smile as she looked up to one of the stained glass windows she had stolen from the first Canterlot Palace before it had been demolished. The Sisters and the Students, it was called. She and Cadance sat beneath Celestia and Luna's wings, with a pictorial history of most of ponykind's now distant past up to the day that they first spread their wings and took to the very stars.
"A million? Why didn't you ever-"
"Tell you before? You wouldn't have believed me without seeing all of this. You probably still don't, but that's a risk I think I can live with. Rainbow Dash would love to see how cool things have gotten, Rarity would likely have died again from a heart attack at either the horribly outdated state of my clothing or from the extent of my wardrobe, Pinkie would be trying to throw a party for all of my friends even if she had to bring them back from the dead, AJ would be... so very proud of the family I've built, and Fluttershy... I would hope she'd be proud of me." Twilight patted Calming Waltz on the back, gesturing to each of her first friends in turn.
"I- I don't know any of them."
Twilight nodded sadly once more, remembering the slow creep of time and what it had done to them. "Well, you do. But as the Heralds of Harmony. Pinkie and Dash would probably be gagging like Cuppie and Spectra would at the title. Maybe they are in the Glens right now." Twilight mimed a pony choking on pompousness and overly flowery titles to cheer them up.
Waltz giggled in spite of herself, clamping her forehooves over her mouth in horror and staring up into the metal ribbing of the ceiling to try and avert her gaze. Twilight waited patiently for all of ten seconds before licking a hoof and jamming it into Waltz's ear, making the poor pony squirm and fall to the floor. "Stop that right now! That's silly, I'm not a deity, and they were not some kind of grand spirits singing a heavenly chorus to announce me gently descending from the afterlife to lead ponies!"
Waltz gave her mentor a long-suffering look even as Twilight did her best to appear sillily serious in return. Twilight's protests had sounded uncomfortably close to what she considered what she thought she knew the Heralds to be. "So, what were they really like?"
"You know your friends, right?"
"Well of course I know my friends. They wouldn't be my friends if I didn't!" Waltz grumpily bristled at the implication that she didn't actually have any friends, after the Xanathos incident, how could she not call them her friends?
Twilight beeped Waltz on the nose as she conjured up an illusion of her pre-alicorn self and her friends playing at a slumber party not long after her brother's wedding. Tears tingled in her eyes as she silently chanted their old songs under her breath, remembering how Pinkie had been so adamant that she remember them. Of course she wanted Twilight to remember the songs. How else would Pinkie put smiles on everypony's face after death?
"They look like-"
"Your friends? Yours is the first nearly perfect match for the first elements of harmony. Down to you serving as an adorable... or is that adorkable? Eh, an adorable romantic replacement for me. Sure, two swapped species, but it's the closest fit I've ever seen." Twilight conjured up an image of Calming Waltz's bachelorette party waiting for her upstairs, overlaying it upon the projected memory, and demonstrating how even the poses were nearly identical. "It's creepy, really."
"Wait, I've always heard you refer to them as being like Vector Root, or Surprise, or some other famous pony." Waltz looked at the spectral images, wondering how history could have forgotten any friend of Twilight Sparkle. She was always chasing after Princess Cadance, and reforming world after world and fighting evil and injustice with the power of love and friendship. Everypony Twilight met always seemed to become some big important pony.
"You want to know why I refer to them as being like Vector Root, or Surprise, or Starswirl the Hatless instead of Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, or Rarity?"
Waltz nodded, wondering what lost history she might learn from Twilight's reminiscing. "There has to be a reason..."
"It's because you remember them still. Though, they're kind of pale shadows of my first friends." Twilight pursed her lips as she remembered each of them. "Though in their own ways, they were certainly different."
"Vector Root. That Vector Root?" Waltz blinked as she put her history lessons in the front of her mind. She couldn't ever remember seeing any of the ancient photos and early videos showing Twilight near him.
"The Vector Root who discovered Farther than Light Teleportation? Yeah, him." Twilight giggled, as she remembered the now sanitized incident in question. Boy that had been a mess. "You want to know something? His whole public persona? All a lie. The poor stallion was a hopeless jock when he thought nopony was looking."
"But... he was so... verbose and knowledgeable! And charming, and-"
"Helped him out with every line. Poor stallion would go tongue-tied whenever he tried to address crowds. Hay, even though it was his special talent, he invented it entirely by accident. He was trying to slow teleport somehow. I remember how he got this panicked look on his face as he began to partially emerge from the other side of the teleport. If I hadn't managed to copy it, well... it wouldn't have been pretty." Twilight shuddered as she considered what would happen to a pony if they were left in a hard vacuum. Ick. "Just as well, the two of us managed to figure it out right afterwards. He wasn't too happy about getting the credit for the discovery, though. His last words on his deathbed were something along the lines of 'Oh Celestia, I'm going to egg-head heaven!'"
Calming Waltz broke out into giggles over the absurd lament, choking up after a moment as she realized she was giggling at somepony's death, and how badly she had misjudged Twilight's melancholy. "I'm sorry..."
"For what, presuming that I'm a miserable wreck inside and moping about them? Don't be, it's a reasonable enough mistake to make." Twilight chuckled; glad she had developed an ability to laugh at herself several millennia ago.
"But... but..."
"Waltz, I've spent more lifetimes than I can count before your wedding going through every last part of my mind, it's hard for me to take my own issues seriously anymore." Twilight smiled as she remembered an old joke Surprise had once told her. Hay, it had likely come from Pinkie. "I mean, neurosis? I don't see Nero anywhere!"
Calming Waltz couldn't help herself, giggling alongside her mentor and friend. She hugged Twilight around a foreleg, letting
the alicorn's massive wing drape over her in nearly her entirety. "Who told you that silly joke?"
"You know her as Surprise, the Bringer of the Great Party-Crash of the 9999th Grand Galloping Gala. That party lasted for what, a decade?" Twilight wiped another small tear from her eye as she dug through her effects, finding a small portrait of the white and blond pegasus mare to show Waltz. Twilight hung the photo beside a picture of Pinkie and Cuppy, who seemed to fill in for the legendary mares. "I'd like to think it was something that Pinkie Pie, who you know as the Herald of Laughter, had passed on. It’s got her touch."
"Were all of your friends like that?"
"Most of them, Waltz. I guess one of the advantages of being the Alicorn of Friendship is that I end up bringing out the best in ponies. Or is that the crazy? I'd have to spend a lifetime checking their diagnosis against the medical definitions." Twilight generated the illusion of a giant scroll and settled a pair of fake glasses on her face so she could watch the worried expression on Waltz's.
"That had better be the checklist for my wedding."
"Hmm, self-interest over the concerns of others, classic sign of-OW! Okay, okay, it was a bit much." Twilight rubbed her ribs where Waltz had elbowed her. The elderly alicorn pulled out the real checklist for the wedding, showing it to her student. "I wouldn't worry too much. All that's left is Helm's bachelor party that he's suffering through right now, and getting the two of you dressed up tomorrow."
Calming Waltz smiled happily and sighed with relief. "I'm just so worried about all of this. It feels like something big is about to happen, that's all. And here you were down here, and I guess I just assumed the worst. But, I suppose I should ask what I should have asked years ago. Why me?"
Twilight began to put most of the mementos and keepsakes away as she chose the words for her answer carefully. "I suppose it's because Cadance chose you, really."
"Princess Cadance hasn't been seen anywhere in almost 40 years. And she disappeared on the other side of the galaxy! How could she have chosen me?" Calming Waltz looked around in a fit of paranoia brought on by Twilight's revelation. Hay, nopony knew how Twilight picked the worlds that she did, or how she got from world to world and somehow set herself up with her small palace so quickly.
"The same way she's chosen where I've gone since nearly the beginning. By being there. You know her right now, even if even she doesn't remember who she is." Twilight smiled knowingly as she tilted her head away from her student and friend.
"That... doesn't make any sense."
Twilight sighed, wondering if she had a chart on the issue. Graphical aids that were ready-made were so hard to come by if you weren't Pinkie Pie. The alicorn rubbed her student's back, watching interestedly as Waltz leaned into the rubs while groaning in relief. So soon... "Well, Cadance is the alicorn of love. Well, Romantic Love. The problem is that romantic love wears out for an alicorn far, far faster than friendship and sisterly love. It's hard to keep giving half of your heart to somepony else when you know that they will wither and die and take that part with them."
The illusion of a great flaming phoenix burst from flames before the pair, startling Calming Waltz for a moment. "So, she does something like a phoenix to get around it?"
"Very good, Waltz. After her first love died, she realized that she would never love anypony else in the same way. Not unless she purposefully wiped him from her mind. But to do so would be to betray his loyalty and love. She said to me that she would have to die in order to forget him, and so that is exactly what she did." Twilight let the illusionary phoenix burst into a brilliant pink flame, curling in on itself to form the Fireheart of Love.
Calming Waltz rubbed her back further, attacking the backache she had developed over the course of the week with all of her might. "But if she died, how did she-"
"-Bring herself back? I don't know. But the power of her love spread across the land as a piece of her soul ascended into the Summer Glens to follow her beloved husband so that he might never be alone. The rest of her stayed in this plain of existence. Her mortal body burst into the flame that spread love across the skies, and her soul went to a new mother, impregnating her so that the missing part of her heart might be restored by returning as a young foal." Twilight showed the fiery pink heart pulling in on itself, into a pink bright dot of power that flittered around the room and entered into a cartoonish outline of a mare.
Calming Waltz groaned and shifted, whimpering as she scratched at her back desperately. Her mentor dragged the poor unicorn before her and began working to rub the pain and itching from her student's back. Waltz hissed with relief as Twilight worked magic into her back, glad that the pain was going away. "T-Twilight, how does she call you t-to her?"
"I don't know, actually. I just get this compulsion to come to a new land, to settle in a specific spot and wait. Usually, I foal-sit until she emerges. You see, she hides herself as a foal of one of the pony tribes, and only gains her powers and appearance at the uttermost height of her love for her soul-mate to be. She's never quite the same twice, each time she's brought up her base personality is tainted by the land around her, changed to suit it better and to bring it love." Twilight's smile creaked as she tried to broaden it a little further, hurting along every inch of her lips. Her hooves dug into Calming Waltz's back, shooting tendrils of earth pony magic deep into her to sooth the hurting flesh.
"And you said she chose me... I know her?!?"
"Quite well, actually. And she's about to emerge from her hiding. She won't actively remember much of her many past lives, just bits and fragments, vague feelings. Not unless she asks me to help her unlock the old memories entirely. But enough about her, you need to finish cleaning up for your wedding." Twilight flapped her wings once, rising up into the air and pulling Waltz to her hooves.
Calming Waltz pensively stood in thought, wondering who of her friends could be the mysterious and missing princess of love. None of them matched her coat colors, or really had the personality of the lost alicorn. But the thoughts of Helm's shining coat waiting for her at the altar crept into her mind, buoying her spirits up to a new level of happiness. Her smile practically squeaked with happiness at the thought of being with him forever and ever.
"Twilight, can we do our old ditty one last time? You know, before I get married and have to get all 'mature'?" Waltz mockingly posed herself like some self-important noble, idly waving a hoof in dismissal of maturity, earning another small giggle.
Twilight's eyes twinkled ever so slightly, hiding the faintest hint of a six-pointed star within her fathomless depths. "Oh, you mean that little ditty. Like-"
"Sunshine-Sunshine, Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and give a little shake!"
The two overgrown fillies shook their tails proudly in the air before breaking down and collapsing in heartfelt loving laughter. Twilight wiped the happy tears from her eyes and picked Waltz back up with her magic, letting the chuckling mare stand up on her own strength again. Twilight poked her student in the belly, pointing towards the door. "Now get going! You don't want to be a mess for your cutsey-wootsey Helmsie."
Waltz pretended to gag playfully, wincing as the motion made her back hurt. "I just wish my wedding wasn't going to be so hard from this back pain, and I'm the only one who gets to call him 'Cutsey-Wootsey'." The pink mare blinked her eyes rapidly as she noticed the strangest lightheadedness pass through her. She held up a hoof, marveling at the sudden optical hallucination she had developed. "Wow... your magic is really something. I think your painkilling spell is making me see myself funny. My hoof looks all see-through and sparkly and crystally-good."
"I promise it'll go away soon. Very, very soon. I know for certain it should be gone by your wedding. Just think thoughts of your fiancée, and they'll go away pretty quick. Now out! Out! Old Mare Twilight must live up to her reputation! I've got to be all reclusive and strange!" Twilight shoved Calming Waltz out the door playfully, locking all of the deadbolts and latches behind the pink mare as quickly as she could. Any second now....
The sound of unsteady hooves walking down the hall clopped through the door. Twilight pressed herself against it harder as the great spell sucked in all the magic from fifty miles around, gathering strength and likely driving the pain in Calming Waltz's back to insurmountable levels for the great ripping.
The scream of a mare suffering a moment of sudden and unimaginable pain ripped through the air, nearly drowning out the fleshy squishing of two new wings sprouting from her back. Twilight hoof-pumped midair as she added another shielding spell to the door. Calming Waltz- well, Cadance was going to do her best to kill her in just a second.
"Twilight Sparkle, I'm GOING TO KILL YOU!" And there it was. That's okay; she had a checklist for calming down a super angry Cadance who ascended before her wedding. In fact it was...
Outside, in her bedroom, locked behind a biometric lock with a 4000 number password backup. All of her contingency plans were. Oh buck her life. Plan Z, Improvise. How quaint. "Cadance, you can't kill me! How am I supposed to give you away to your husband?"
"I think I'll manage! You tricked me you evil little mare!"
"It's better as a surprise!"
"Is Not!"
Author's Note
I got very, VERY sick and tired of the 'woe is me' Twilicorn fics.
As it is, though...
Ain't no rest for the wicked, friendship doesn't grow on trees. She can't slow down, and can't hold back even if she really should.
Cause there ain't no rest for the wicked until she closes her eyes for good....
Twilight Sparkle, Eternal Mare of Friendship will return.
