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The Eternal Lonely Day

by Starscribe

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Day of the Dead (50AE)

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The work took months; it always did. At the rate Alex was going, her family would return to a house far better than the one they had left behind. They put in the new floors, they redid more of the furniture to be sized better for pony bodies. They repainted, expanded the garden, and did maintenance on the septic system. All while making more and more frequent visits to Bountiful.

There were no longer resources to waste on frivolous calls home when so little of the satellite network remained intact. She couldn’t hire messengers to write home either, since of course no messenger knew of this house or the city that existed nearby. She had radio, but that too would’ve revealed her position if she kept at it. As such, she had no contact with Alexandria until winter, when the project ended and they flew home.

Alexandria had been transformed by the first snows, practically vanishing into the surrounding countryside. Aside from the train tracks, none of the surrounding roads had been cleared, leaving Alexandria as a single island of light and civilization in the darkness of winter. The airport had only one runway (and the parking lot) not covered with icy slick, and it was there they landed.

They walked together down the single lane of clear road back to town, Alex and Taylor occasionally propping up Amy when her less-steady pegasus limbs faltered. They parted ways once they got into town, where street and sidewalk alike were salted and cleaned daily by diligent labor and none had any trouble getting around. Amy did not fly home as she might’ve done by day: an equestrian’s weak night vision might be annoying on the ground, but it had proven lethal to more than one pegasus who flew about in the dark.

Alex made her way to the center of town under the bright amber of many streetlights. Her own home, however, was dark. The shutters were drawn, and the path covered in enough half-icy snow to suggest nopony had walked there since the snow had fallen. Alex was short, but the depth of the snowfall wasn’t terribly great. She made her way up to the door easily, and pushed it open. “Hello?”

Alex’s house was connected to the city’s CHP system, meaning the waste heat from their power plant went to keep the homes from freezing. Whatever strange desolation had come upon the place had not severed her connection from the city’s grid, and the inside was blisteringly hot. Instead of having nopony around to turn the air on, nopony had been around to turn it off.

Alex flicked on all the lights, and wasn’t surprised to see they still worked. All her bills were managed by a trust these days; whether she was in town or not.

At first, she suspected that the era of unlocked doors had ended in Alexandria and that her home had been robbed. She passed the study and found computers, anatomy books, and posters all missing. Nothing else was similarly missing however; her expensive paintings were still hanging exactly where they had been left in the living room. The old-but-functional appliances in her kitchen sat untouched.

Except for a letter on the kitchen table, a letter with her name written on the outside, written in Oliver’s handwriting. It wasn’t very long.

Alex: I took my stuff, you can have everything else. Please don’t visit unless you need a doctor. Good luck with your forever.
- Oliver Pittman

Alex stared at the note until her tears robbed her of her ability to read and smeared the letter into illegibility. She wandered the house like the survivor of a shipwreck, finding Oliver’s bedroom as empty as the study but everything else where it had been left. They were both adults after all, there was no reason for the end of their relationship to be messy and full of hard feelings.

Lonely Day wasn’t mad at Oliver, any more than her tears on the festival of that name were hard anger at Equestria. But just because a pain was inevitable didn’t mean it wasn’t painful. There was no rage, though rage would’ve helped her feel better. There were no indignities to redress when the offenses were all hers.

Where could she turn for peace? Her first thought, the only pony she thought might understand the pains immortality might cause, was Sunset Shimmer. But Sunset had her own life, and she couldn’t waste satellite time to have a crying voice-chat. Yet if she stayed alone in her own house and didn’t do anything, she would probably… do something she’d regret.

Alex ignored what little pre-Event alcohol she still had. Such luxuries were not for wasting on depression and wallowing, not anymore. Not when the alternative was a salty fermented swill that only vaguely resembled beer. She didn’t get her jacket, didn’t get her hat, just tossed off her cyber-gauntlet and stumbled out the door.

Alexandria was very cold in the dead of night, as might be expected when there was more than a foot of snow on the ground. Without cold weather gear only a pegasus would last in such conditions for long. Fortunately Lonely Day had magic, enough to take some of the molten blood of the Earth into herself and keep her blood flowing. The act was so natural to her it had become subconscious, or else she wouldn’t have done it. She hadn’t done anything else to prepare for her walk across the city in the middle of the night.

The lights in Cloudy Skies’s home were not on when she finally made it there, snow in her mane and ice crusting the edges of her hooves. She didn’t bother knocking, just let herself in and made her way into the dark manor. Warmth blasted her from all sides, and soon she was soaking wet as well as cold, and the wooden floor made it harder to take help from Earth without really trying.

Even so, she didn’t need her magic to get around, even in total darkness. Cloudy Skies never really changed much. She stumbled upstairs in a numb trance, turning down the hall to Sky’s door. There was no danger of interrupting anything: Adrian hadn’t been there for over a decade. Sky slept alone.

She did knock though, and wasn’t entirely surprised to hear a muffled voice from within. “Come in…” She wasn’t surprised by this either. There were still foals in the house. How often had a frightened filly found her way to this door after having a nightmare?

Sky’s bedroom had a single, huge picture window, which to Alex’s eyes seemed almost filled with the moon tonight. As such, the room was far brighter than some of the hallways had been. Alex could clearly make out the gigantic bed, seeming all the more gigantic for holding only a single pony as for being built for a species far larger than the one who used it now.

The pegasus inside didn’t look up, just gesturing sleepily towards the bed with one hoof. “Just climb up. Whatever bad dreams you have, you won’t have them here.”

“I think I better not,” Alex replied, keeping her voice as quiet as Sky’s. “I think I’d get your bed all wet.”

“Wet?” Sky sat up, looking blearily at her through the dark. There was only partial recognition. “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah.”

Sky stared for a few moments more, then her tone changed, becoming softer and gentler still. “I didn’t know you were back.”

“I kinda wish I wasn’t.” Alex sat down at the edge of the bed, on one of the huge carpets. At least that gave her something to drip onto that wasn’t the floor, what water was still on her. “Did you hear about O-Oliver?

Sky nodded, resting her back against the headboard. “We had a… heated discussion about you about three weeks ago.” She reached out, pulling Alex tight against her with one hoof. If she noticed the moisture and the chilling cold about her, she didn’t say so. “I’m so sorry, Day. I would’ve warned you if I’d known how.”

She was crying again. It felt much better to cry into somepony’s arms than to cry alone in an empty house. “H-He… He didn’t even tell me in person. More than four decades he’s lived in that house, a-and he couldn’t even…” And so on. Sky didn’t seem to care that she had been woken after that. She held Alex as long as she needed, listened to all her ranting, and nodded sympathetically at all the right moments.

When she had finished, Sky shoved Alex into the shower and promised she would have a proper warm meal waiting for her when she finished. Alex stood under the too-high tap in her best friend’s house and let the searing heat wash over her, filling the room with steam and letting her mind fill with thoughts. She had plotted and planned for Alexandria until they kicked her off the city council a decade ago. She had planned her estate, shrewdly investing when the city started so that she would have enough to fund projects the city didn’t support, like her museum.

Yet for all that, what had she done to plan her own personal life? Had retirement and a life of quiet study been the right choice, even when Arithmetic was grown and gone? Maybe it had been selfish of her to try and keep her relationship with Oliver going as long as it had. The stallion deserved somepony his own age. The curse of her perfect memory meant her own feelings for the stallion wouldn’t change so easily as his.

It was five AM when she finally stumbled out of the shower, dry and clean and smelling like minty soap. True to her word, a steaming hot breakfast of oatcakes and hashbrowns was waiting for her, along with a small glass of fantastically expensive imported orange juice. Her favorite. Only one place was set, though Sky was still cooking. Alex didn’t have to ask to know why. Her memory told her Sky was currently caring for four little ponies, all of which would probably be up soon enough.

“You didn’t have to do all this.” Alex sat down at her place, though she didn’t actually start eating. It would all still be warm for another minute more. “I pretty much ruined your night I think.”

Sky put her spatula down so she could talk. “No, I didn’t have to. I wanted to. You’re my friend, little Day. You needed help.”

Alex nodded. “You’re the best friend a pony could ask for, Sky. Thank you for doing all this for me.” She started eating. Sky went back to cooking, and for several minutes more there was silence. Except for the sizzling of butter on the skillet, and the whistling of the winter wind outside. “Hey, Sky.” She yawned, then collected herself enough to continue. “I meant to ask another favor. You can say no if you want, and I’ll totally understand.”

“I’m sure I won’t, but go ahead and ask.”

“I don’t wanna live in my old house. I won’t sell it, but I think I’ll let my son live there. His family deserves better than a little trailer when they’re getting started. I think… I think I’ll be healthier if I stay away from the memories. And I was wondering if… maybe… I could live with you for a while. A few weeks anyway, while I sort myself out.” She blushed, staring down at her oatcakes. “I’ve got chits. I could rent the room. Pay you whatever you thought was right… and I wouldn’t be trouble. I promise not to wake you in the middle of the night, or-“

She hadn’t noticed the mare had crossed the room until she embraced her again. The force of the gesture silenced Alex. “My silly filly friend,” she said, forcing Day to meet her eyes. “Ever since Adrian left, I’ve been caring for little lost fillies and colts. Now one of them who happens to be my friend is lost, and you think I want her chits?!” She shook her head vigorously. “Unfortunately I don’t have the space for you to have your own bedroom.”

She grinned, turning away and returning to her work. “I already remade my bed, all fresh and dry. You can have it when you’re done eating. I’ll talk to Surefire when she gets up, but I’m sure she’ll be willing to let me set up another bed in that huge bedroom she’s using. Unless you think she’ll want to get away from you, after putting her through one of your construction retreats. Then I suppose we could set up another bed in my room…”

Alex shrugged. “Just so long as I’m not too much trouble. I’ll find my own place eventually, but I’d like to figure out where before I do.”

“Have you thought about it?”

She nodded. “I’ve got some ideas. I think it’s high time I attend the university, for one. I’m friends with the president, I think he’ll be able to squeeze me in. Either that, or get my son to get me a job as a shop mechanic in that factory he runs. Something to keep my hooves busy.”

“Just so long as you don’t work yourself as hard as you did when you were mayor,” Sky said, glaring at her. “If you’re going to live in my house, you’ll follow my rules. Nopony works themselves to death in my house.”

“Deal,” Alex said, pushing her plate aside and hopping down onto her hooves. “Now… if you were serious about bed…”

Alex was in no hurry to leave Sky’s home once she moved in. She ended up sharing a room with Amy just as Sky had suggested, and never really had a desire to get her own place after that. This worked to their mutual benefit, since Alex was another pair of hooves to be home and take care of the foals, another mother they could latch onto as an additional source of stability in their unstable lives.

She didn’t idle her time away, nothing like it. Alex enrolled in the college just as she said she would, and not just in the classes for earth ponies. True, she couldn’t fly with the pegasi or create dreams with bat ponies, but she could watch, she could listen, and she could memorize. In addition to keeping up on all the latest research, she attended regular meetings of the city council whenever they were open to the public, even though she never ran for important office again.

When she wasn’t helping raise the city’s orphans or taking classes often not even meant for her species, Alex spent her time at her new job as a “mechanic’s assistant” for Alexandria Steelworks. As the years went by, she learned everything about the changing ways ponies had for building and maintaining machines. When she had risen all the way to a manager position, she switched to the foundry and worked her way up from a “coalburner” all the way to administrative director.

From there she joined a construction union, and after that she tried her luck with a farm. So she went from one position to another, learning every position she could, as well as keeping in touch with the friends she made along the way in order to stay abreast of changes to the industry. Such would’ve been impossible in the world she had left behind, which produced new knowledge so quickly that even someone with her photographic memory could not absorb it all. The new world had no Internet outside of HPI facilities, and a population far too small to innovate at that speed.

Of course some careers were closed to her simply by reason of her race. After a century Alexandria started manufacturing its own weather to a schedule, and no amount of youthful eagerness would get her onto a team. Likewise with the city’s growing number of “enchanting” businesses, producing minor cantrips with the use of runes and a little unicorn magic. She memorized every new spell they published, but was helpless to cast them.

There were other duties that took her away from her learning. The HPI had less and less need of her as their own pony population grew more skilled, but she was still called in to help with the most difficult jobs. Several human generations came, then retired to the surface. Yet even when Clark was dead, his successors continued to honor his promises even as he had said.

Of course, these agreements transformed over the years. After a century, there was little the relatively small HPI needed they couldn’t get from their cloistered surface population. Trade began to trickle off, as they slowly cut their ties with most surface colonies except as a humanitarian organization. Fewer and fewer of their aircraft and their trains cut the continents, and when they did they were almost always piloted by ponies out of Bountiful instead of humans in bulky suits.

Alex never grew an inch, except as she changed manestyles. Her friends, though… that was another matter. However long the equestrian life span might be compared to the human, it was not indefinite. No matter how hard she fought to ignore it, she couldn’t fail to see the way they changed. They got smaller instead of bigger. Their fur got grayer instead of brighter. They slowed down, lost health. In short, they aged. Eventually, they died.

Adrian went first, long before any of her friends in Alexandria. Around a hundred years AE, the stallion had been caught up in an armed conflict between monsters of Charybdis and the population of a little seaside settlement. His body had been discovered when the HPI gunship arrived to investigate the fires. When they got the news, Cloudy Skies had gone into shock and not come out of her room for a week, forcing Alex to take over the house until she recovered. She did recover in the end, once Adrian’s body had been transported to Alexandria and interred in the tiny city cemetery.

Oliver died well over a century later, after completing an incredibly difficult surgery. Alex hadn’t been there, but she heard reports from the nurse that swore a dark human in green had been there that day, and argued with the stallion for hours. When his work was done, the two of them left together, leaving only his body behind. Alex didn’t preside at that funeral; he had another spouse by then and another family, not to mention dozens of heirs by the breeding program. She did sit in the front row, and stayed behind longer than anypony else when the casket was finally interred. She sat vigil there all night, remembering stories of their life together to the empty ground until morning came and the priest escorted her home.

Moriah went third, though no violence was involved. She had been lecturing in the human museum the day she died. Alex hadn’t been there either, but she heard later Moriah had a heart attack during a heated argument with a youth over the merits of human inventions. Her death had been so sudden, onlookers hadn’t even realized what had happened, since it happened right at the end of a last impassioned plea. She won the argument, but never left the stage.

Joseph lived a long time, thanks to the magic that he worked. Against all odds, he kept his position in the university even as its name changed over several times. Like Alex, he stopped seeming to get older after a century and a half or so of serious magical study. He was already old then, his mane gone white and his limbs a little shrunken, but that was all. With no wife, his work consumed him, and he spent less and less time outside the lab. He permitted no visitors, but Alex and Sky found ways past the wards every few weeks to bring him food and news from the outside world.

In the end it wasn’t time that took him, but one of his own spells. There was nothing left to bury, and it took over a week of study before the “university council” concluded by vote that his spell killed him. Alex sat vigil at his grave too, though by then the city’s graveyard had grown much larger and she had to use a little persuasion to be left alone.

She buried her only child next, and it hurt far worse than her many deaths had. When Alex died, she always woke up whole and refreshed. Cody’s passing was a death she wouldn’t ever wake from, and she became a listless wreck for weeks. Only Cloudy Skies kept her grounded then, pointing her towards her numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren and more distant relations still. She might not have any living children left, but that didn’t mean she had no family. In time this was enough, and Lonely Day said goodbye to Arithmetic.

Amy lived longer than Cody, thanks to the medical science available to her as a citizen of Bountiful. She had done much for that city and Raven in general as the group’s official historian, a position she held until her death. Day knew from experience she had loved her work very much, though not quite as much as she loved competing in the regular tournaments. It seemed like every time Alex came to visit she had another trophy to display. These along with her journals she eventually willed to Alex, who gave them special place on her shelves in the Equestrian pocket-dimension.

Of the other founders, only Sky remained, though not for much longer. The pegasus lost her flight, then lost her sight, and was eventually bedridden. Yet if she was miserable, Day never noticed. She had so many loving family members that she was never alone, never wanted for company and conversation. Half the population of Alexandria was either related to her somehow or was close to somepony who was, and it was up to Alex to organize everything and make sure everypony got to spend time with her. In short, while magic had kept Joseph alive longer than most of her friends, it seemed that love was the best youth potion a pony could have.

As Sky’s health began to flag, Lonely Day abandoned her job, refused all calls from the HPI, and never left the house. She prepared all the meals, kept all the cleaning, and used messengers to keep the cupboards full. During the hours Sky refused visitors, Lonely Day was always beside her. They spoke less and less as Sky slept more and more.

Eventually all the visitors had paid their last respects, and most only saw Sky when she was asleep. Her room was always full of flowers and cards, every wall covered in the smiling faces of the ponies she had loved.

It was the dead of winter the last time they talked. Lonely Day brought in a mug of tea and found Sky’s face more alert than she had been in a year. She had no trouble following Day with her eyes, or taking the little glass with her own hooves to sip from it. There wasn’t even any shaking.

“You’re looking well this evening,” she said, sitting down on the well-worn leather armchair beside the bed. There was no glass of tea for her. “You must’ve had a very good nap.”

“Yes.” Sky sounded distant, as though she were looking at something far away. “It was a good sleep.” She watched the window in silence for a few moments, before looking slowly back towards Day. Her voice had changed over the many decades, becoming as soft and gentle as any grandmother. “We have to have a word, Lonely Day. There isn’t much time left.”

Day wanted to argue, but she didn’t dare. It was better to say nothing at all than lie to her best friend. So she nodded, and waited for Sky to say more.

“I want your report,” she said. “My eldest, wayward daughter. How is she doing in that secret place she moved to? Has she had foals yet?”

However clear Sky might be, she had so many children that her memory of their specific circumstances hadn’t carried forward well beyond twenty years or so ago. “She did very well until the day she died, Sky. She never had foals; everypony in that city promises not to.” Actually, Bountiful sterilized every resident, and nopony could live there who had ever had children. That was why Alex hadn’t moved when Amy did. She didn’t bother explaining that to Sky now. The mare had known it several times before, there was no point trying to get it stuck.

“Little Amy’s dead?” Sky said nothing for several moments, letting Day stroke her in a gentle and reassuring way, until she calmed down enough to return to her conversation. “Was she happy at least? Did she ever find somepony?”

“Y-Yes.” It was Alex’s turn to cry. “She found a mare, and they were very happy together. She spent her time helping humanity until the day she died.”

“Good.” Her words soothed Sky more than any touch, even though Day herself was fighting back tears. “Then I only have one burden left.” She met Day’s eyes again, and as she did Alex could swear she saw scales fall away, and the full comprehension of her adulthood return. “You were my second friend ever, Lonely Day, and my best.”

She reached out, patting Day’s outstretched hoof. “I remember your face that first night. Relieved, confident, friendly. You heard my pleading and you came, and you took care of me when I needed it.”

“You took care of yourself,” she stammered, not daring to look away from her friend. “You didn’t need me.”

“Bullshit.” Sky waved a hoof vaguely. “I’d never taken care of myself before. Never taken care of anything. I had no idea what was practical and what was fanciful. I’d have starved in that apartment if it wasn’t for you, if I didn’t die in a fire first. You took my broken life and helped me put it together.”

“You’ve taken care of me more. You haven’t needed my help for a long time.”

Sky didn’t respond directly, didn’t even acknowledge the remark. “I tried to help you put yourself together like you did for me, but I don’t think I finished.” She tightened her grip on Alex’s leg. “Alex, you’re going to be on your own after tonight.”

“No I won’t!” Alex shook her head vigorously. “You’re better than you’ve been in weeks, Sky! I’m sure you’ll be here come next spring. You can heckle the new pegasi from out your window while they clear the sky, just like we planned…”

Sky smiled even as she slowly shook her head. “Sorry, Day. I would if I could. If fate had been different, maybe I’d have been a dragon and I could watch thousands of springs come and go, and we could heckle the pegasi together. But I wasn’t a dragon.” She lowered her voice, almost to a whisper. “I can feel it coming, Alex. The others… they’re waiting for me. I love you so much, but I can’t stay. They’re already here, can’t you see? Open your eyes, Archive.”

Day looked, though she didn’t expect to see anything. Even if she had half the mystical power ponies expected of her, she couldn’t have used any of it when she was crying so badly. There was no strength of earth she could call on to see what didn’t exist. Her supernatural senses strained and strained but she saw nopony no matter where she looked. They were alone. “I can’t,” she said. “I can’t see anything.”

Sky looked sad. “I’m sorry, Lonely Day. I’ll tell them how much you love them… but they’ll be fine. It’s you I’m worried about.” She reached out, gripping Day’s shoulder with such unexpected force that the young mare stopped crying and looked up again, focused completely on her friend. “I’ve been thinking about you more and more the last few weeks.”

“You shouldn’t have!” Day exclaimed. “It’s your life you ought to be reflecting on! Mine’s… Mine’s just…”

“Exactly.” The ancient mare shook her. “I’ve lived my life, and I don’t regret a minute. I loved the ponies I wanted to love, I cared for the ponies who needed it. If there’s such thing as God, I think he’ll forgive my childish mistakes. Anything with that much power has got to understand what a parent’s love is like.” She released Alex. “My last troublemaker. You’ve got a lonely road in front of you, and my funeral won’t be your last.”

“If you’re really going to be around until the end, you’re going to need to change your perspective. You can’t feel guilty about making new friends when your old ones die. And you can’t…” She whimpered, but forced her way through it. “You can’t get callous and stop loving. If you don’t love anymore, you might as well be dead. Having ponies to care about and care about you in return is the only thing that matters.”

She pulled Day in close, though her strength was waning by then and she didn’t force her. “Promise me you will, Lonely Day. Don’t let the name I gave you be a curse. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Day nodded vigorously. “I promise, I promise!”

“Good.” Sky released her, and she seemed to have no strength left to push away. “I know you keep your promises. You’ll do fine.”

“What… What was my name meant to mean?” Day asked, tentative. “You never said. If it wasn’t that you thought my days were going to be lonely…”

“A little of that. More that you knew what they were like. You ended mine, and I hoped you would end them for others too. I guess I hoped it would be ironic. You’ve got to make sure it was.”

“I’ll try.” She wiped her eyes with one leg. “I’ll try.”

“And when you think about me… use that perfect memory of yours and don’t let me be an old nag, would you? I ought to be able to fly, even in your imagination.”

Day chuckled. “Course, Sky. That’s easy. My first memories of somepony are always the strongest.” Though in her case, it was the first time she had seen her since coming back from Equestria that was the strongest, the night they all sat together in a park in Arizona and she told her story about another universe. She didn’t bother mentioning that, though. It seemed close enough.

“Good. I love you Alex. Tell all my other children I love them too.”

“I will.” She didn’t bother pointing out Sky’s mistake.

Cloudy Skies didn’t say another word. The sun went down, the light faded from orange to pink to purple, and eventually it went out. Alex didn’t move from the bedside, not even to turn on the light. Eventually she realized the pony beside her wasn’t breathing.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the short chapter. Events felt significant enough that it needed to end here. Next chapter will probably be a little longer next week to make up for the lapse.

Oh, and this is the end of part one of the story. I'm not sure how many parts there are... right now I'm thinking 5. Yes, if you've done the math, that means we're probably in for a long road ahead.

Writing this chapter hurt. I've been with these characters for so long that giving some of them up felt like losing a friend. Not that there weren't plenty of exciting adventures to be had with that cast, but... if I'd stuck around with the scale of things as they were, we'd never get to see the far future and all the exciting things I've got in store. We'd never get to look far enough ahead to answer lots of the questions of the universe (such as what happens to the HPI). This way, I can depict a broad view of all 10,000 years. I hope you'll join me. A huge thanks to all of you who made it this far, in particular those who comment. Even if I don't get to respond to everything, your comments are the reason I keep going!

Next Chapter: Chapter 10: A Little Favor (291 AE) Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 33 Minutes
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