The rain fell slowly, almost like the world was becoming a snowglobe as the pitter patter became slow. This wasn’t the first time Twilight saw such an effect of a spell but this was the first time she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. She looked back on her life and thought about her previous adventures, how she saved the world so many times. She saved hundreds of her subjects, but now she can’t save…

“Princess Sparkle?” A voice drew her away from the view on her throne to the subject standing before herself. It was a small unicorn, one the seem so small compare to Twilight. His horn doesn't even reach her chest plate but she knew he was going to deliver news that would bring her down in a single blow. “The council has reached a verdict.”

“What did they say, Soothy?” Twilight asked, trying to look regenal. She was the ruler, after all. She needs to be above such childish emotions such as…greif. But she knew the second he step away, she was going to cry to the heavens. Beg that her teacher would come back and relieve her of this burden. Just to be in charge, for one last time.

“It was unanimous, we will accept the sacrifice to save the countries.” Soothy Neigher said, he himself tried not to show the grief that was haunting him. “If you wish, we could send some other pony to do…”

“No.” Twilight said firmly, rising from the throne. Soothy immediately bowed as Twilight trotted by him. “It is my duty and for my subjects. I will do what is necessary."

She trotted out of the throne room but the keenest observer would notice that a few drops of water marked where she stood for a second before she exited the room. A few tears of a princess is a horrible sign of what must be down.


She sat in the royal carriage as she arrived at Ponyville, her mind wandering and distance. She hated the carriage, the reminder of her separation from what she once was. A student, a citizen… a friend. She usually flew here, to show she was a leader of her subjects. That she wasn’t going to forget them. But today, she decided that she needed to arrive like this. Because today she was their leader and she must fulfill her duty. She also didn’t trust herself to not to fly in the opposite direction, like a foal that got caught stealing cookies. A tear build up in Twilight’s eyes and she quickly blink them away.

“Can’t think like that. Don’t think about that. Not now.” She silently scolded herself. “Not today.”

The carriage door swung open with a heavy creak, almost foreboding, given why she was here. She duck out and didn’t wait for the guards to make any announcement. She stepped out and was a bit shocked to almost get hit by a couple of birds. She watched as they lazily flew past her, almost like they were on strings for a foals’ puppet show. She steel herself and straighten herself. She should have looked around, she knows that it would be worse here.
She moved forward towards the town, ignoring the guards who were trying to keep up. Her detail knows that she wasn’t in any danger here. Well, not in any danger they could protect her from. But that didn’t mean they could rest on their laurels. As they approached the town, they picked up their pace as they saw that a crowd had gathered and given the situation, some of them might not be happy. They practically charged forward as they rushed in front of their princess, shield creating a wall to prevent the villagers from getting close.

“When are you going to stop this!?!” A voice cried out as Twilight crossed into the town lines. This was followed by another shout and some jeering, causing her escort to raise their shield higher. This wasn’t how she entered when she first came here. Or how she entered for the last ten years she had been their royal leader. She wished she could be coming here to christen a new business, or for the many celebrations she saw when she lived here. But it wasn’t, and after today, she would not be able to come here ever again. It would be too painful.

“Every pony! Stay back!” Her top guard, a stallion by the name Watch Sentery. He joined after his older brother, Flash, became one the personal guards for the elements. Twilight wished he was here instead, because he would say something like, “Don’t worry, Twilight. You listen to your heart and it will lead you down the right path.”

Twilight had to choke back a sickening chuckle. The very sentence, even if it hadn’t been real, was beyond a joke at this point.

“My heart!?! This is where my heart led me. If I was just paying attention, I could have seen this coming. I would have been able to stop all of this. If I was just paying attention!” Twilight silently chastised herself. Most of the time, she could have her friends reassure her. Pointing out that she was being overly dramatic or just being too hard on herself. But that wasn’t going to happen, not this time. This time the blame fell on two pony only. Her and her…

“Listen to us!” Another pony shouted, breaking Twilight out of her thoughts. Twilight looked up to see a tomato come flying in from the sky. Twilight didn’t react because if the worst to happen was her getting rotten produce thrown at her, then she would take the hit. But one of her guards reacted, much to her horror. She watched as the guard's horn started to glow.

“NO! STOP!” Twilight order but it was too late. The magic halted the red fruit in midair and for a second, that seemed to be all that would happen. But then it started. The guard realized too late the mistake he made.

“Wait, wait, wait.” He started to panic as his horn stayed glowing. The magic that had frozen the tomato was starting to spread downward. “I’d forgot. I saw that some pony threw the tomato and I just reacted…”

“Breathe, soldier. Breathe.” Watch said, moving to their side. “You’re going to need to take a deep breath. That will help you…”

“No, it won’t!” The guard started to pull back but it was like his horn was frozen in the air. There was no give and as the magic started to creep down his snout, he couldn’t even move his head. His eyes widened and he started to scream. “Stab me! Now! Make it quick!”

“I’ll do it!” Another guard shouted before grabbing his sword with his mouth. He ran right at the doomed guard and aimed for a quick death. But this magic wasn’t satisfied with quick deaths. The magic seemed to creep fast enough that it covered the guard's neck, causing the strike to bounce off harmlessly. But his mouth was still free, like this spell was enjoying his panicking screams. As the magic reach his hooves, it was over for him. Now, in the entrance to Ponyville, a petrified pony stands. But he wasn’t rock at all. If you were to look close enough, you could see that the fur was real. So were his tears in his frozen eyes.

Twilight stomps the ground in rage and turned back to the offending crowd. They had backed away in fear, seeing the scene as a grime reminder of what could happen to them next. Twilight wanted to yell at them, to release some of the rage in her chest. But they were just scared. Scared and angry. Because their leader risked their lives instead of doing what should have been done days ago. She snorted before she turned back to her destination.

The crowd parted as she reached the sign that was seemingly shining brightly without any source. The entire building was actually doing this, glowing like neon unnatural. It’s been like this for the last five days. Sugarcube Corner was seemly sucking all the color around it, making it the center to this danger. Twilight took a deep breath and opened the door. There wasn’t the sound of a bell, as it was frozen from the last time Twilight came. If she had just noticed that, she could of fixed everything before it came to this.

“Twilight! Came for those cupcakes?” Pinkie asked from behind the counter. Her hair was up in a bun, put together by hair pins and bands. Her face had her trademark smile but it didn’t reach her eyes. She was covered in baking powder and flour, with some chocolate dripping from behind her ear. “Let me just get Lil’ Cheese from the back. I believe she was working on them.”

“Pinkie, stop.” Twilight said shortly. She couldn’t let this continue anymore. “You know what I’m here for.”

“Ye…yeah, the cupcakes.” Pinkie said, still smiling but not turning her back on Twilight. Twilight started heading to the back but Pinkie blocked the way. “Hey, you may be the Princess but this is an employee only area!”

Twilight was a little taken back by this. The facade was slipping, Pinkie was glaring now and one of her hair pin came loose. But this needed to be done, it was too late for alternative.

“Pinkie, you have to know what this is doing outside?” Twilight said calmly, hoping she can talk sense to the grieving pony. “Ponies are dying. It slows them down so much that they can’t breathe…”

“I DON’T CARE!” Pinkie shouted, stepping forward. “I have given so much for this world. I made every pony I’ve met happy and feel welcome! I did whatever was needed to make ponies smile! CAN’T I HAVE MY SMILE BACK!?!”

“Pinkie, she’s dead!” Twilight couldn’t stand by anymore. Although Pinkie was a strong earth pony, Twilight was able to still use her magic. She focuses her magic and picks up Pinkie with ease. “I know it hurts! But this isn’t the answer!”

“You don’t know how I feel!” Pinkie shouted, trying to break free from the spell. “YOU NEVER HAD A CHILD!”

This was the last straw in Twilight’s mind. With a cold look, Twilight shoved Pinkie to the side. She screamed, cried and cursed Twilight as she walked into the kitchen. Sure enough, the late Lil’ Cheese was kneeling some dough. She didn’t seem to notice Twilight’s entrance but that made sense. The amberlet that Pinkie stole from the Star Swirl’s collection was tricky like that. It was able to stall a pony’s body from the effect of diseases and injuries. To give them a better chance at surviving. But Pinkie abused it, used it to stall death. This was a step too far.

Lil’ Cheese turned finally and it seemed she realized that Twilight was in the bakery.

“Oh, Auntie Twilight. You are here for the…”

Twilight grabbed the amber and with a mighty tug, ripped it off of her. It was instant. The light in her eyes went out and she slumped to the ground without another breath. It broke Twilight to see the twenty year old foal being so still after being alive and bouncing for so long. The howls of Pinkie filled the bakery as Twilight walked out of the building. She didn’t look back as she entered her carriage. She had left Ponyville…

For one last Time