One week after Twilight Sparkle's coronation as newest Equestrian Royalty...

Twilight Sparkle was reading her very newest book in front of the very newest addition to her library home- a brickwork hearth, with a merry red flame dancing before her and warming her hooves. She could stay there forever, happily immersing herself in her books as she pulled new ones down from the beautifully carved ebony bookshelves.

The doorbell rang.

Oh, damn. No, I guess I can't.

She would have normally simply trotted down to meet the door, but since her coronation- and subsequent exponential increase in magical power- she had been casting spells at every opportunity, discovering her new limits and imposing them upon herself should a spell be too powerful. Immediately following the conclusion of the coronation ceremony and feast (in which Twilight had drunk more cider than she had cared to admit, possibly explaining her subsequent behavior) she had cast almost every spell she knew, resulting in Spike sporting an enormous moustache, her tree growing three times its original height and resembling a fortress, and inventing regenerating apples, among other things. It took a long time to fix the damage caused, but she had since been careful not to go too wild.

So it came as no particular surprise to her that when she teleported herself down to meet the pony at the door, she took the middle section of the couch on which she was sitting with her. It looked as cleanly cut as if it was scooped out by a knife. She sighed; she had really liked that couch. Turning her attention to the door, she trotted over and peered out of its peephole. She recognized the blond mane and orange flank that nopony else in Ponyville had and threw open the door.

"Applejack! I havn't seen you around recently... why are you so wet?" She was- her usual neat mane was sodden and rivulets of water cascaded down her muzzle, despite her stetson's best efforts at protecting her from the elements.

"It's raining, yer majesty. May I come in?"

"Of course you may. Is it really raining out there? I haven't been outside all day... or all of yesterday." Applejack walked in gratefully, hanging up her hat on a hook and scraping the mud on the bottom of her hooves off on a mat.

"Ah need ta ask ya something, yer majes-"

"Don't call me that, Applejack." Twilight interjected. "You're my friend. Please, don't stand on ceremony with me. It's bad enough when everypony else does it, but from you, or the others, it's unbearable."

"Ah. Sorry, sugarcube. Anyway, yer m- Twilight, ah need ta ask ya something. Got a letter from Braeburn asking me if i'd like to come down an' visit, an' all th' other girls are comin', so ah was wondering... well, if you'd maybe like ta come."

Twilight smiled warmly. "Of course I would!" she said as she trotted with Applejack upstairs to the fire, so she could warm herself before venturing back out into the downpour. "Why do you sound like you think I might not want to?"

"Well... with ya being all high and mighty now, I thought maybe ya wouldn't want ta be friends with us anymore."

"Oh..." Twilight hung her head. So that was it. "Applejack, no matter what, I will never leave you, or Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, or anyone else behind. I'm still Twilight- I haven't changed, I just found my wings."

Applejack brightened considerably. "Thanks, Twi, ya took a load off my mind. Train's tomorrow at six. G'night." She walked downstairs, taking her hat (which Twilight had done a quick Drying spell on) and gently opening, exiting, and closing the door.

Twilight sighed. I'll never leave you, but you'll be forced to leave me. Maybe living forever isn't so great.

Ten days after the coronation of Twilight Sparkle...

The reddish rock of the Macintosh Hills loomed proudly before them as they traveled through the dusty air. Great boulders, deposited by some ancient river or glacier, threatened the tracks with their bulk. Twilight was at the train's caboose, which had the best sight of the landscape about them. They were in a canyon, and a small gulch ran besides the track with the dying remnants of the spring's flood.

The blue of the water, with small carpets of green moss like a matress dotted here and there along its banks, set a beautiful contrast with the sandstone red of the ancient walls. She enjoyed the warm mare's tail wind as the train sped through the winding canyon. Only a nagging thought in the back of her mind troubled the tranquility of the scene, but she pushed it away. The scenery was unchanged, and Twilight thought foolishly for a moment that perhaps the ravine might never end, and she was not at all displeased by the possibility. Although... she could do with somepony to share it with.

As if on cue to her thoughts, she heard a pony trotting up to meet her. Turning around she saw the unique rainbow-mane that, perhaps, nopony else in all of Equestria possessed. Rainbow Dash- Element of Loyalty, hero of Equestria, and a pony who could always spare minutes to talk.

"Hey there Twilight. How you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, Rainbow Dash. Could I talk to you for a bit?"

"You already are, but continue." Rainbow chuckled.

"Thanks. When Applejack came to visit me and ask if I wanted to come on this train ride, she acted unsure, as if she thought I might not want to be her friend anymore. Do you feel the same? Did you ever?"

Rainbow Dash stopped laughing. "Never. Applejack is just being a worrywart. I've known her for longer than you and she doesn't like big changes in her life, especially when they're so unexpected. But I know you well enough to know that no matter if you gain wings or lose your horn, you're still our Twilight Sparkle, and you'd never leave us hanging."

Twilight's eyes brimmed with tears, and she hugged Rainbow Dash. "Oh, Rainbow Dash, thank you! When Applejack came by, I thought I might have lost you all!" She bawled.

"It's alright, Twilight. It's alright, we'll always be here for you." Rainbow Dash was somewhat wrong-hoofed. She could not honestly say this was the first time a mare had broken out crying in her forelegs, though it was the first time when said mare was Equestrian royalty. Thus, her usual modus operandi would likely be poorly received. So she stood in the dying sun, Twilight wailing and the cyan pegasus awkwardly stroking Twilight's mane as a mother would a foal. "There, there." she murmured.

Eventually Twilight stopped. Wiping her eyes with her hooves, she spoke coherent words at last. "I'm sorry," she mumbled thickly. "Dunno what came over me. I've been so stressed recently, with messing up that spell and... well, changing- and now I have even more responsibility and less time than I ever did, so when Applejack seemed so distant from me I thought you would all leave me!"

Rainbow Dash, with some difficulty, extricating herself from Twilight's grip, and stood straight. "That won't happen. You know i'll stay with you, that's why my Element is Loyalty. You should get some sleep- i'll tell everyone else to stay out of here for a few hours."

"Thanks," Twilight mumbled, and doing her best already to follow Rainbow's advice- the railing was surprisingly comfortable, and she rested her muzzle on the iron in time to catch the dying rays of the sun over the red rock.

Far overhead, a massive muscle-bound, shining steel-clad figure flapped its great white wings. It grinned at the sight of the alicorn- alone, asleep, and defenseless. He signaled to the others, who were waiting eagerly for him to motion to them. As one, the legion dropped like stones out of the sky, directly for Twilight Sparkle's prone form.

Author's Note

Trying out non-HiE story. Tell me how I did.