The Thorn of Equestria

Prologue

By Wind Song

REVISED 16SEP20

It was a cool morning as the sun rose slowly over the land of Equestria, casting its warm rays on Princess Twilight Sparkle who gazed disconsolately out on the vast meadowland before her from her high palace balcony. The verdant landscape was laid out before her like a map. The balcony, which she had built for this very purpose, faced southward toward Ponyville, still beloved by her even though it had been nearly seventy years since she had ascended the throne and began her rule in Canterlot.

However, between her lofty Canterlot perch and the town of Ponyville lay the grassy hills of Bell Meadow. From the meadow, bedecked as ever with oceans of wildflowers in full bloom, blew a light breeze, carrying with it the sweet-scented perfume of billions of daisies, poppies, and bell flowers which washed over the royal alicorn, easing for the moment some of the distress which had kept her awake all night. The calming wind also brought with it the scent of the dew which, Twilight knew, had only a short while ago lain upon the grass and flowers, but now floated in the air above the meadow in the guise of a gently undulating mist. As the sun's rays met the mist, it filled the air with a dazzling, almost blinding brilliance as the light caught the tiny droplets.

Behind her, near the doorway leading to her private chambers, Twilight could hear the faint "tap...tap...tap" of dew drops falling amongst the leaves of her decorative topiaries above the familiar din of the waking city below. The marching and shouted commands of the Royal Guard could be heard, marking the shift change as the hooves of its soldiers drummed a disciplined cadence on the palace's cobblestone courtyard. In the distance, near the base of the Canterlot Terrace, she could see the waterfall cascading downward in glistening silvery ribbons as it poured into the foamy basin at the base of the mountain.

From this basin, the Canterlot river wound its way ponderously south through the vast hilly grassland of Bell Meadow until it joined Saddle Lake, barely visible in the hazy distance.

The once nameless meadow, which stretched between Canterlot and Ponyville, had once been the site of the last great battle Equestria had known in the sixty-seven years since. So named after Grogar's Bewitching Bell, Bell Meadow was now a place of mystery, superstition, and even fear amongst some of her kind. Stories of strange lights seen in the night, nameless creeping terrors, and even winds that sang to lure ponies to their doom were just a few of the tales she had heard over the decades. It was even said that after Discord retrieved the Bewitching Bell following the battle, he had taken it deep into the meadow and buried it where nopony could ever find it or use it again for evil. Though her studies and research, accompanied by the unshakable burden of rule, had kept her occupied for so many decades, she was determined to, at least at some point, discover the nature of the meadow's mysteries.

Just beyond Saddle Lake, she knew, lay Ponyville. Barely changed in the decades of her rule, Twilight still saw Ponyville as her home in spite of the fact that she had been living in Canterlot all these years. Her melancholy only deepened with this thought and she quickly drew her thoughts to other matters.

Twilight heard the harsh cry of a rooster in the street below. Applejack...Applejack had had a few roosters. And Fluttershy too, hadn't she? A nauseating wave of homesickness washed over her. The thought of her friends, now bent with age, lives already magically stretched beyond that of normal ponies, caused a single tear to well up in each of her large violet eyes. With a sniff, she drew one hoof across her face, wiping them away. It wouldn't do to dwell on that now. After all, making things better was what today was about, wasn't it?

The piercing whistle of the first train of the day approaching Canterlot Station snapped her out of her reverie. Her friends would be on that train. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity, ponies who were nearer her own flesh and blood than mere friends, would soon be arriving. Instead of the transcendent joy she usually felt, however, she was filled with a sense of trepidation and impending finality. So much rode on what she would be proposing in a few short hours and she wasn't sure that she was ready. But if she didn't at least try soon, well...it would be too late.

Twilight stood, the sense of foreboding and the fatigue of her sleepless night causing her normally steady limbs to shake slightly as she walked slowly back inside. She passed through her chambers, spotlessly clean, and out into the hall beyond. Corridor by corridor, stairway after stairway, she made her way down to the throne room. When she arrived, the two guards standing by the rear entry stood at attention, saluted, and pulled aside the curtained doorway for her to enter. Upon entering, she found the room to be vacant, save for a blue-feathered griffon in resplendent armor of white and gold standing patiently in the opposite corner of the long hall.

The floor of the hall glistened resplendently as the light of the morning sun shone through the tall stained glass windows, casting a myriad of colors on the smooth tiled surface like a million brightly glowing gems.

This griffon, while not bent and wizened like Twilight's five friends, was certainly getting on in years. His wise, gentle face, confident bearing, and highly polished armor bespoke the comfortable but disciplined life as a high ranking member of the Royal Guard. In fact, this particular griffon, Gallus by name, was captain of Twilight's personal guard and a good friend besides.

Gallus smiled as Twilight entered. Momentarily forgetting her distress, Twilight grinned broadly and walked toward him, only just containing an outburst of enthusiasm in a well-practiced mask of regal self-control.

As she approached, the griffon bowed low before her.

"Your majesty, I…"

This statement was cut off as Twilight, closing the distance between them, pulled Gallus into an embrace with both her front legs as he rose.

"It's so good to see you, my friend." Twilight said joyously. "Please, business aside for just a moment, how are you? It's been so long since I saw you or your family last."

"Your majesty, the pleasure is all mine." Gallus replied, allowing some of his formality to fall away. "As you know, I have been busy with this command, but I couldn't be happier..."

Here he paused, looking earnest.

"...or more honored." he added. "My family is well. My daughter, Ipsi, just began school a few days ago. Your school, in fact."

Twilight looked taken aback, "Oh! In Ponyville? So far away?"

"No, no, no!" Gallus replied quickly, giving his head a vigorous shake and sending a few loose feathers drifting lazily to the floor in slow spirals. "Nothing like that. She's at your Canterlot campus."

"My word, we have a Canterlot campus now?" Twilight asked, surprised. "When Ocellus took over leadership of the school I assumed she would simply carry on where Starlight left off, not expand beyond Ponyville. This is marvelous! And how is your daughter liking it so far?"

Gallus contemplated for a moment. "She was certainly nervous at first, but I suppose any youngling's first few days always are." He chuckled, remembering his own first days at Twilight's school in Ponyville. "I don't suppose I was much better myself...all pent up with youthful anger to disguise my anxiety."

Twilight and Gallus both laughed at this as they recalled the fateful days of the beginnings of Twilight's School of Friendship.

After a few moments, Gallus started, "Oh, I almost forgot my original reason for coming, your majesty. Your friends have just disembarked from their train at Canterlot Station. My guards are seeing to it that they receive the finest accommodations before the journey up to the palace so they can freshen up first. Should I show them in when they arrive?"

Twilight tensed visibly and Gallus noted this.

Nevertheless, she replied evenly, retreating back into her guise of royal indifference, "Yes please, Gallus. I'll be waiting for them."

Gallus nodded solemnly, and, bowing low again, turned to leave.

Twilight again hesitated for a moment, one foreleg raised slightly as though she were contemplating reaching out and pulling the griffon back. She pulled her hoof back as though she regretted some kind of near slip-up and placed it quietly back on the tiled floor before calling after the griffon.

"Gallus!"

Gallus, who had made it about halfway to the door, turned to face her.

"Your majesty?" he replied.

Twilight smiled, "It's good to see you again. Please don't be such a stranger. If it's amenable, I'd like to clear a time in your schedule one night this coming week so you and your family can join me for supper."

Gallus smiled back, "It would be an honor, your majesty. A great honor."

Twilight nodded her dismissal and Gallus turned and walked through the large doors at the entry of the throne room, closing them behind him without a sound.

Twilight, meanwhile, turned to her throne. She stared at it for a moment, pondering. She had not asked for it, she had not wanted it. Nevertheless, it had been given her to tend for the last sixty seven long years with no end in sight. Sweet Celestia! How quickly that time had seemed to have passed.

Enveloped by these musings, Twilight walked slowly toward the tall white marble chair with its plush red cushions. She gave it one last look of resentful loathing before she stepped up, turned, and sat on it.

Sixty seven years...Twilight supposed that wasn't too long in the grand scheme of things. After all, her race, that of the mighty alicorns, did not know the afflictions of age that plagued the rest of ponykind. She would never experience the release of death or the Ever After. Instead, she would endure, long after her friends were dead and gone. That is...if today didn't go precisely as she hoped it would.

For the briefest sliver of a moment, she felt a stab of hatred for Celestia and Luna for what they had made her...for what she had become. Without her permission, they had changed not only her body, but her very nature. The great burden of immortality now rested on her back, irrevocably thrust upon her without her permission or consent. Not for the first time, she felt a bitter resentment for who she was. She could have stayed with her friends, could have grown with them, lived among them, grown old with them. After a quiet life of bliss and tranquility in Ponyville, she could have died with them, a happy old mare content with the life she had lived. But now even that had been taken from her. She was the eternal ruler of a land which had not even bothered to ask her if that's what she wanted.

A sharp knock on the throne room door brought her out of her fantasy and back to the present and very real world where she had a very real problem to solve. What was done was done and no amount of bitterness or complaining would change that, which left her with only one option.

Determined, she stood.

"Enter."

The enormous doors swung slowly open. The two palace guards who had opened them stepped to either side of the doorway, allowing Gallus to cross the threshold. He then turned and stepped aside, revealing five old ponies, wrinkled and bent...her friends, very real and very frail.

In spite of her determination to remain calm, she drew in a sharp breath when she beheld her dear friends as they filed in, lined up before her, and bowed as low as their frail bodies would allow. A long moment of silence followed as Gallus and the two guards exited the hall, quietly closing the doors behind them as they left.

The moment the doors were closed, Twilight's resolve melted away. The occasion's seriousness forgotten, she leapt from her throne and closed the short distance between herself and her friends, not bothering to hide the look of longing desperation on her face as she enveloped them in her wings in an all-encompassing feathery hug.

"Luna's mane, how many times do I have to tell you to stop that bowing nonsense!" Twilight managed to choke out past a laughing sob.

"And how many times do we have to tell you that you're the princess and we're gonna bow whether you like it or not. So stop fussin' over it ya silly filly!" replied Applejack, a broad grin spread across her honest old face.

The other four ponies echoed their affirmation of Applejack's words in their own various forms, concluding with a compelling cupcake analogy given by Pinkie Pie. She had become quite good at those, thought Twilight.

At this, the six ponies all laughed together as they hadn't done in years. There had been little enough time for laughter in recent decades. Twilight Sparkle and her five friends, also called the Council of Friendship, saw to the well-being of every aspect of Equestrian life that was within their power to better. From seeing to the mundane needs of Equestria's ever-increasing population to repelling the land's weak but ever-present enemies from its borders, the Council of Friendship saw that the citizens of Equestria could live their lives in peace and security.

As the conversation progressed over the course of an hour, Twilight could see in her friends' eyes an underlying desire to know the real reason she had summoned them to Canterlot growing. Out of respect, they would not press her to hurry, but she knew at some point she would have to turn from the distracting gossip to the real problem at hoof.

"...and then", Rainbow Dash, who had been recounting the story of their journey from Ponyville, said, "Rarity almost tripped over Pinkie's ball of ribbon!"

The amused chuckles of all present echoed around the room as the pins on Rainbow's old flight jacket clinked together.

"That was NOT funny, Rainbow Dash. If I had truly fallen down off that platform, I don't think I ever would have gotten up again!" Rarity said.

Twilight felt as though she had been dipped in ice water.

Rarity added, "That fall isn't as inconsequential as it was when we were fillies."

"Too true!" Pinkie laughed. "But hey! That would have been a pretty amazing way to go! Can you imagine the headline in the Canterlot newspaper?" Pinkie continued in the low, articulate voice of a radio announcer, "Eldest member of the Council of Friendship perishes in fall from train platform!"

Everypony laughed except Twilight, who backed away slightly, looking horrified.

The five old mares looked at her.

"Is everything okay, sugar cube?" asked Applejack, concerned.

Twilight, who had begun to tremble again as though sick with palsy, shook her head, eyes filling with tears for the third time that day.

"No!" she shouted at them. "I'm not okay. YOU'RE not okay! Nothing about this is okay!"

Her friends approached her as she tried in vain to keep her emotions in check and sat down hard on the cool stones of the cold floor.

"Darling," Rarity began, reaching out one hoof and placing it on Twilight's shoulder, "This is what happens when ponies get to be our age. Life must end someday, after all. It's not anypony's fault, it's just the way things are." she said in a consoling voice."

"She's right, you know, Twi. We've run our race. Soon it'll be somepony else's turn to take over and make Equestria better in their own ways!" Rainbow Dash said with an enthusiastic smile.

Twilight, who had calmed slightly, looked up into the eyes of each of her friends in turn. There was peace in those eyes. Each and every one of them. She knew that the only pony in the room who resented their fates was...Twilight.

Her friends didn't deserve the burden of immortality. What pony would want that fate? She certainly hadn't, and yet she would presume to convince her friends to bear that burden alongside her? She thought deeply for several moments.

Fluttershy, who had evidently seen Twilight's raging internal battle, asked in her soft voice, "What's on your mind, Twilight? You know you can always talk to us, no matter what."

Twilight let out a long, shaky sigh and without preamble, launched into a tale like none Equestria had ever heard: About how she had spent nearly the last forty years of her life sequestered in her laboratory and library every moment she could spare. About how she sought but one seemingly unattainable goal: the secret to immortality. About how she, after nearly giving up on the prospect that it was anything more than a foalish fantasy, had finally stumbled upon...a way...and how, if they would consent, she wished to attempt the spell on them.

When, after more than thirty minutes, Twilight finally concluded her narrative, the shouts of derision and outrage she had somehow expected never came. Rather, her five friends stood before her, mouths agape, stunned by the fantastical revelation.

They said nothing, but just continued to stare. So this was it, was it? Twilight had tried and given it her best. She knew that this outcome was the most likely and she had spent the last forty years preparing herself for that most likely possibility. But, this was how it was to be, then why did it hurt so much? Why did the slowly growing realization that all of her hopes for remaining united with her friends through the eons had been crushed drive such a dagger into her heart?

And so it was that Princess Twilight Sparkle, the highest power in the land of Equestria, perhaps even the world, bowed her head low, and wept, tears spilling down her lavender cheeks. The light of the mid-morning sun caught each of tear as it fell, each a precious gem glittering like a diamond before crashing against the polished tiles and breaking into a thousand tiny droplets.

For what seemed like minutes, though it had only been about twenty seconds, Twilight babbled streams of nearly unintelligible apologies between her wracking bouts of sobbing. She had done it. Her friends surely hated her now for even suggesting that, for no other reason than her own selfish desires, they should be deprived of their release from the sufferings of the mortal world and a chance at peace everlasting.

As she made to blurt out further apologies, she was stopped by a fuzzy fetlock under her chin. Her head was gently lifted and she found herself looking into Applejack's eyes, an expression of deepest sympathy on her face.

Applejack turned, looking back toward Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash who all nodded.

Applejack turned back to Twilight and smiled warmly.

"We're game, sugar cube."