A soft breeze ruffled her mane as Twilight crested the hill just outside Ponyville. Casting her eyes over the familiar little town, Twilight felt a nostalgic warmth well up inside her as a smile crossed her face. She glanced to her side where Spike, her still loyal assistant, was standing beside her. He was a little older now and a little bigger, well, a lot bigger, but he was still the same Spike to Twilight.

No longer the little baby dragon, Spike had grown into a size appropriate to the passion in his heart. He stood a head taller than Twilight, and his wings had started to come in finally. His purple and green scales glistening in the sunlight, Twilight marveled at how much a dragon could grow and yet still have so much more to grow into. He was, after all, still just a youth by dragon standards.

“Do you think they all got my letters okay?” she asked, looking back to the town as a worried expression crossed her face.

“Of course,” said Spike, “I sent them myself, didn’t I? You worried that your friends won’t show up?” Spike gave a mocking chuckle.

Twilight laughed quietly along with Spike. “No, no, nothing like that. I’m just… nervous I guess. I know it sounds weird, but it’s been awhile so you never know how ponies will change.”

Spike shrugged. “Have you changed?”

“I don’t know. My only frame of reference is my own, so it’s hard to tell.” She looked at Spike. “Have I changed?”

A hearty laugh echoed from deep within Spike’s chest. “No,” he said with a shake of his head, “you’re still the same, Twilight.” Spike brought a finger to his lips thoughtfully. “Well, actually that’s not entirely true. Of course you’ve changed and grown, as have we all, but y’know, are you actually a different pony? I don’t think so.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Twilight conceded. “Well,” she said with a happy sigh, “shall we go meet the others?”

Nodding happily, Spike said, “Let’s.”

Glittering in the bright sunlight, Twilight’s old castle still looked every bit as out of place in Ponyville as it had since it first appeared, but over time Twilight had grown used to the sight of it. It was, after all, quite like her when she had first arrived. The castle was a product of mysterious magic and was as alien as Twilight had been, a filly from Canterlot with no real friends or experience with small town life. But much like the castle had come to be accepted and even welcomed in Ponyville, so too had Twilight.

Her horn glowing a soft purple, Twilight opened the massive castle doors slowly, entering as soon as they were wide enough. Spike followed after her. Twilight had barely made it a few steps in when she was suddenly showered with confetti and balloons accompanied by a loud bang and shouts of “Surprise!”

Brushing the confetti from her mane, Twilight looked around and saw all her friends gathered around the hall. Pinkie Pie floated up near the ceiling, suspended by a group of balloons while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy held empty buckets, presumably previously confetti-filled. Applejack and Rarity stood on either side of the hall, holding up signs saying, “Welcome” and “back!” respectively.

With a soft chuckle, Twilight threw her hooves wide as the other five ponies swooped in for a group hug. “I missed you girls,” she said. As they separated, Twilight glanced around the room. “I appreciate it, but what’s with the surprise?” she said, gesturing to the signs and the balloons. “I was the one who invited all of you here, right?”

Pinkie Pie blew a raspberry. “Sure, we know that, but surprises are always more fun! We could have all just waited and said, ‘Sup’ when you opened the door, but that doesn’t seem nearly as fun.”

“Plus,” added Rainbow Dash, “we got to dump confetti on you and Spike, so that was pretty funny.” She chuckled.

Twilight shook her head, laughing, “Well, you got me there.”

“So, how’ve ya been, sugarcube?” asked Applejack as she put a hoof around Twilight’s shoulder. “The castle’s been feeling mighty lonely since you an’ Spike left all those years ago.”

“Yes, we would love to hear all about your adventures outside Equestria, dear,” said Rarity with a smile.

“Me?” said Twilight, putting a hoof to her chest. “No way, I wanna hear all about you guys and what you’ve been up to since Spike and I left.”

“Well…” began Rainbow Dash before Fluttershy spoke up.

“Um, why don’t we go into the crystal map room and sit down? It should be more comfortable.”

With nods all around, they agreed and headed up the stairs towards the back of the castle. Flying up a little ahead of the rest of them, Rainbow Dash shot a grin back at Twilight. “Okay, but actually, there’s this really cool story I wanna tell you.” She did a little loop-de-loop and flared her wings. “It was a dark and stormy night…”

Rarity and Applejack shared an eyeroll, giggling to no one in particular.

Gathered around the room, each of them sitting in the chair that bore their cutie mark, Twilight couldn’t help but feel that same warm feeling from before start to wash over her like the tide on a lake shore. They had been sitting around talking for what felt like days, but the sun outside the stained-glass windows suggested that it had only been a few hours. Flowing through the window like honey, the sunshine was tinged orange with the setting sun. The old Golden Oaks library tree roots hung from the ceiling, its crystal memories suspended like dewdrops, was starting to glow with multi-colored light cast by the crystalline shards.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were laughing about something that had happened with Discord, but Twilight wasn’t really paying too much attention to the specifics. She had let her mind start to wander, her eyes flitting about the room and catching the odd memory here and there. Her horn giving off a gentle glow, Twilight picked up the mug in front of her and took a little sip of the apple cider.

Pinkie Pie snorted with laughter. “Discord is so silly, isn’t he, Twilight?”

Twilight looked up from her mug and gave a grin. “Yeah, he is. I’m glad he stopped being so, well, evil. He ended up being a pretty good friend.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “He just needed somepony to care about him, I think.”

“Oh!” said Rainbow Dash suddenly, her wings fluttering excitedly. “That reminds me. You guys remember that time we traveled halfway across the world chasing after Trixie?”

“How could we forget that rattlesnake barrel of an adventure?” asked Applejack with a chuckle. She took a swig of cider, smacking her lips. “I do wonder how Corona and Polaris are doing though. Hope they’re all right.”

Rarity took a gentle sip from her own cider, which of course was not in a mug but in a delicate glass. “Oh, I’m sure they’re doing just fine, Applejack. I know Polaris had a hard time after… you know, but what with the drake war being over and all, I’m sure Frostvale is getting along rather nicely.”

Pinkie Pie gave a pouting face. “I can’t believe Fluttershy and me didn’t get to go with you guys. It sounds like it was a super awesome time.”

With a little fidgeting of her wings, Fluttershy adjusted her seating. “Oh, I don’t know about that, Pinkie. From what I heard, it sounds like it was really scary and dangerous.”

“That’s what makes it fun!” said Pinkie leaning forward in her seat. With a sigh, she grabbed her mug and downed the whole thing in one gulp. Without saying a word, Twilight telekinetically grabbed Pinkie’s mug off the table and brought it over to the cider barrel, refilling it before setting it back down in front of Pinkie. “Thanks, Twilight.”

Twilight waved a hoof dismissively.

“Shucks, sugarcube,” said Applejack, turning slightly in her seat to look at Fluttershy. “It’s not like you haven’t had your share of adventures. You did save Rarity from that grand larceny conviction with, uh…” she tapped her hoof on the table. “What was his name again? That attorney?”

Fluttershy smiled, “Oh! You mean Cavalier Cairn?”

A shiver ran down Rarity’s spine. “The thought of our first meeting with him still makes my blood boil,” she said, then sighed. “But, I can’t deny. He truly was an ace attorney.”

Nodding in agreement, Fluttershy said, “He was kinda… brash at first, but he was really nice once you got to know him.”

Rarity grimaced. “I supposed he had his charms, in a certain… tortured sense of the word. But in any case, I will forever be grateful to both Cairn and you, Fluttershy. You saved my flank more than once during that trial.”

“That’s what friends are for, right?” said Fluttershy with a happy grin. She took a sip of cider and glanced over at Spike. “You haven’t said much since you and Twilight got here, Spike. Is something wrong?”

“What? Oh, no,” said Spike, blushing a bit and giving a chuckle. “Sorry, I was just looking at all the crystal memories hanging from the tree and just kinda reminiscing.”

“Oh yeah?” said Rainbow Dash, waggling her eyebrow. “You thinking about that time you became a magical pony princess?” She snickered.

Spike fumbled with his mug, gulping. “I try not to think about that time,” he said, quickly taking a swig from the cider mug to hide his reddening face.

“I thought the skirt was rather fetching on you, darling,” said Rarity with a shrug.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack burst out laughing. Eventually, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy joined in too. “You did manage to save Canterlot from a giant tentacle monster though,” said Twilight patting Spike on the back with a hoof. “So, good job there.”

“Ha ha ha,” Spike laughed dryly. “At least I didn’t fall in love with a book and go to court over it.”

Twilight abruptly stopped laughing, her face flushing red immediately. “Yes, well, umm…” She trailed off, picking up her mug and taking another sip.

As Twilight sipped her cider, the rest of the ponies and Spike had a good chuckle. Eventually the room quieted down again and Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up again.

“Y’know,” she said, gesturing up at the roots of the Golden Oaks Library tree, “all this stuff is kinda reminding me of how many times we’ve almost leveled Ponyville.” She set her mug down and unfurled her wings, flying up to the tree to pluck a memory off one of the strands. “Like, remember this time?” she asked, holding the crystal out.

Each of the crystal’s faces showed a different piece of the memory, but it only took one look for Twilight to immediately recall, “Yeah, I remember Yog-Sothoth. It was pretty handy that the grocery store had milk though, or that whole thing could’ve completely spiraled out of control.”

“Wait,” said Rainbow Dash, looking into the crystal herself, “Yog-Sothoth? Oh, I was thinking this was that time with Snog-Sothoth.” She started looking around the tree again for the right crystal. “You remember that don’t you, Twilight? That time you and Trixie—”

Sparkling purple magic grabbed Rainbow Dash and yanked her back into her seat. With a burst of magic, Rainbow’s cider mug flew into her face. Twilight laughed nervously. “Anyway, speaking of Trixie, have any of you girls seen her recently?”

‘’Fraid not,” said Applejack with a shake of her head. “Ever since we all got back from that whole ‘End of the World’ business, she left, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember,” said Twilight, lifting her mug up. “I was just wondering if she’d been around since then.”

“She does write from time to time,” Rarity said cheerfully. “Apparently she’s doing rather well now.”

“That’s good to hear,” said Twilight, her ears drooping slightly.

Rarity frowned slightly. Her horn lit up as she refilled her cider. “I know she misses you terribly, dear.”

“So do I.” Twilight gave a little sigh.

“Hey,” said Spike, glancing up at one particular memory crystal, “do you remember that time Trixie got me to help her get into your good graces, Twi?” Spike stood up from his seat and stretched upwards, plucking a blue crystal from tree. Twirling it around, he said, “She ended up working as an assistant for some time after that to pay off the damages caused by that catapult.” Spike laughed, tossing the crystal to Twilight.

Catching the crystal in her magic, Twilight chuckled. She spun the stone around, looking at the various pieces of the memory, pausing for a moment at the image of Trixie standing outside the Golden Oaks Library with a stereo on her shoulder. A smile spread across her face. “Trixie was always a little, well, silly wasn’t she?”

“She did open a shop that sold cursed objects,” said Fluttershy.

“And she got into that weird DJ battle with some kinda dance party pony,” added Rainbow Dash.

“Oh! You mean the one at Beats and Beets?” asked Pinkie Pie. “I love that place. They have the best beets, and their music is pretty good too.”

“Yeah, and there was also the time she challenged me to a boxing match,” said Twilight with a chuckle.

“What was that now?” asked Applejack. “A boxing match?”

“Technically it was a cage match,” Spike said before taking a sip from his cider.

Twilight waved a hoof nonchalantly. “It’s probably best not to think about it too much. Besides, AJ,” she said with a sly grin, “it’s not like you’ve never been part of something silly.”

Applejack leaned back in her seat, tipping her hat up out of her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Twi. I ain’t much for silly jokes.”

“No, of course not,” said Rainbow Dash, catching on to Twilight now. She gave Twilight a wink and then continued, “It’s not like you would ever, like, I dunno, almost destroy Ponyville with your eyebrows or anything.”

“Oh, sweet Celestia,” Applejack breathed, her hoof unconsciously reaching towards her eyes. “I thought everyone had forgotten about that.”

Rainbow Dash laughed, slapping her chest with a hoof. “Not a chance! Like we could ever forget about the princess of eyebrows.”

Her face turning red, Applejack pulled her hat down over her face. The rest of the group laughed goodnaturedly, eventually coming to a quiet again.

“That does remind me, though,” said Pinkie Pie, looking back at Twilight, “about that time Trixie became a princess. Well… temporarily anyway.”

“I seem to recall that incident also almost ending in disaster as well,” said Rarity, touching her mouth thoughtfully. “In fact, that seems to a rather common theme when Trixie’s involved.”

Twilight laughed. “Well, that’s just how Trixie is, I guess. She really came into her own though during her travels north. I think the events at Frostvale changed her a lot, perhaps even more than she had already changed before she started her journey.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. “Trixie’ll always be Trixie, but she’s become a better Trixie, like a bad seed making good fruit.”

Chuckling, Rainbow Dash shot a grin at Applejack. “You have an apple metaphor for everything, don’t you?”

“Wouldn’t be much of an Apple if I didn’t,” Applejack retorted with a grin to match Rainbow’s.

“Hey, speaking of Apples,” said Twilight, looking at Applejack. “How are Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith doing these days? Apple Bloom must be, what, in her twenties now?”

With a proud smile, Applejack said, “Twenty-three actually, and she and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are busy traveling all across Equestria now.” She took a sip of cider. “AB said they’d thought about it and decided that they could use their talents to help ponies in places other than just Ponyville. I’m awful proud of ‘em. I always knew those kids would go far.”

“That’s really great to hear,” said Twilight with a warm smile. “I’m glad they’re using their talents so selflessly. Even Scootaloo and her, well… y’know,” she waved her hoof around in a lazy circle, “ability.”

“She’s learned to live with it.” Rainbow Dash shrugged nonchalantly. “Ironically” she added under breath.

“As for Big Mac and Granny Smith,” Applejack continued, “well, they’re more or less the same. Big Mac’s still working on the farm, an’ ol’ Granny Smith is just as cantankerous as ever.” She gave a quiet laugh. “She don’t get around much these days, and I think she knows that she ain’t got much time left, but you’d never guess it talking to her. That old mare can sass with the best of ‘em.”

“How’s Sweetie Belle?” Twilight asked, turning to Rarity. “I mean, I know she’s with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders now, but have you talked to her recently, Rarity?”

Rarity’s smile sparkled as she replied, “Oh my, yes. I hear from her just about every other day. I have piles and piles of her letters at home. She’s become quite the young lady.”

After taking a tiny sip of cider, Fluttershy said, “Do you girls remember the time Rarity made a scarf that sent Sweetie Belle into another dimension, and then Twilight, Rarity and I had to go rescue her?”

“Hang on now,” said Rainbow Dash, putting her hoof on the table. “I haven’t heard this one before. What happened?”

Rarity waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, it’s not terribly exciting, dear. I’ll tell you about it some other time. Really though, I’m quite interested to hear about what you have been up to, darling.” she said, gesturing towards Twilight. “You’ve been gone for some time.”

Spike glanced up at Twilight, catching her eye briefly before she said, “Oh, you know, princess stuff mostly. I’ve been traveling around, but there’s not much to tell.” She lifted her mug up and took a long drink. Her eyes wandered up towards the tree and its hanging memory crystals. She caught a glimpse of a newspaper with the pages spread out. She could just make out the title of one of the articles, On the Importance of Keeping Checklists. She chuckled inwardly, her eyes drifting to another crystal, a stack of books reflected in the crystal face. One of the titles read Insane Edicts: A Legal History of Equestria. “Oh,” she said suddenly, “Rainbow Dash, I just remembered. Did you finish those Daring Do books I gave you a while ago?”

“You mean Daring Do and the Crystal Chalice and Daring Do and the Sunken Silver?” Rainbow Dash said. She nodded. “Yep, I finished them, like, years ago. Not bad, but not my favorite.” With a shrug, she added, “A lot better than that book you and I found though.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “Which one was that again?”

Rainbow Dash grinned wolfishly, leaning forward in her seat. “Oh, y’know, the one we found in that cave with all the stalagmites? The one Daring Do tried to find and failed?”

“Oh… that one,” said Twilight with a shudder. “The Punrinomicon. Yeah, let's not revisit that particular memory. I still have pun-filled nightmares at least once a year.”

“Aw, jeez, speaking of nightmares that reminds of the time that you got me to try, whatcha call it? Liquid dreaming?” Rainbow Dash tapped a hood on her chin, lost in thought.

Twilight shook her head with a chuckle. “Lucid dreaming, and yes, it was a bit of a nightmare wasn't it? Though not as bad as that fever dream I had one time where I thought Celestia had ordered me to burn all of Equestria down. Remember that, Spike?”

Spike frowned, looking down at his mug. “Yeah, I remember it, but I don't remember it being a fever dream. Didn’t that actually happen?” He glanced up at Twilight. “I swear I can picture it perfectly.”

“Obviously it didn't happen, silly,” said Pinkie Pie with a giggle. “How could we be here if everything burned down?”

“Well, I guess that’s true,” said Spike thoughtfully. “But I just can't shake the feeling that it was all real somehow.” With a resigned shrug, Spike lifted his mug and took a long swill.

“Oh, darling, I know exactly how you feel,” said Rarity, exaggerating the first and second syllable in 'exactly’. She waved her hoof at him, and then continued, “I sometimes have this dream about this ghastly box that I can never get rid of no matter how hard I try. When I wake up it always feels so real.”

“What's in the box?” asked Fluttershy in a soft voice.

“I haven't a clue, dear. I never try to open it.”

Pinkie Pie gasped suddenly. “I just remembered!” Slamming her mug down on the table, Pinkie Pie jumped from her seat and shot out of the room, leaving behind only tottering mug.

“Uh…” said Rainbow Dash, looking around the room. “Anypony have any idea what she was talking about?”

“Dear,” said Rarity with a bit of sarcastic wit dripping from her voice, “when have any of us ever known what Pinkie Pie is talking about?”

Applejack gave a hearty laugh, nodding towards the door Pinkie Pie had left out of. “Don't worry, y'all. I'm sure she'll be back soon and then she'll explain herself. Pinkie's… well, she's Pinkie, but she's got her reasons for doin’ the things she does. At least, I assume she does, heh.”

Twilight chuckled quietly under her breath. As the other ponies started to quietly chat among themselves, she took some time to look around at the various memories hanging down. There was a purple crystal which showed Rainbow Dash prancing across a room, doing some kind of dance, hanging next to brilliant white crystal which portrayed Twilight herself as a filly operating on a helpless Smarty Pants. A small smile crossed her face. She continued to scan around, her eye catching on a red crystal with a blonde-maned earth pony giving out lemonade near Twilight's old library. Next to that one was a shimmering blue crystal which depicted Twilight and Trixie in giant robot suits, posing beside of each other. She had forgotten about that memory and as she recalled the whole incident in her mind, Twilight couldn't help but laugh.

After some time, only a few minutes in fact, Pinkie Pie came rushing back into the room, screeching to halt in front of Twilight. She had a small satchel with her and as she reached into it to grab something, she said, “Rarity said she never opens the box in her dream, and it reminded me that I never opened this.” Fishing a letter out, she shoved it into Twilight’s hooves. “I remembered that I never opened it because it was for, so I thought I shouldn’t open it, but now you’re here so you can open it.” She looked expectantly at Twilight. “Well, go ahead. Open it!”

It was a rather familiar sight, Twilight thought as she looked down at the letter in her hooves. Trixie’s familiar writing was scrawled across the envelope. With a tiny burst of magic, Twilight carefully cut the envelope open and pulled the letter out. She looked at it for a moment, her eyes moving back and forth as she read. The others waited, watching her. Eventually, Spike tapped Twilight on the shoulder, saying, “Uh, you gonna tells us what it says, Twilight?”

“Yeah, what’d Trixie say?” Rainbow Dash asked as Applejack and Rarity nodded in agreement.

“Um, you don’t have to read it out loud if you don’t want to,” said Fluttershy quietly, “but I would like to know what it says too, if that’s okay.”

Twilight glanced up from the letter, her eyes watery. With a pained smile, she began to read.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, Twilight. After we parted ways in the aftermath of the whole, well, dragon war thing, I decided I should travel Equestria some more and see what there is to see. I got the letter you sent a while ago, saying that you were going to be visiting Ponyville. I know you asked if I could make it as well, but unfortunately I’m too busy to make it right now.

I’m sure I must have said this before, but I want you to know that I’m thankful for you, and your friends. For what you did for me, coming after me like that. When I started writing you those letters all those years ago, I never thought it would end with us traversing the end of the world to face down a dragon god. It’s kinda funny when you think about it that way, I guess. I may be great and powerful (obviously I am), but I was only able to make it through that whole ordeal with your help, Twilight. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, and ever will have.

I’m sorry I can’t make it to Ponyville this time, but maybe I can make it for your next trip? I’m planning on coming back that way in a few months, so if you’re not busy then it would be nice to see each other again. I have so many fun stories to tell you! Anyway, I hope you have fun with your friends (and don’t drink too much cider). Make a toast for me!

I miss you, Twilight.

Your friend always,

Trixie

When she reached the end of the letter, Twilight felt teardrops streaming down her face, staining the letter still held out in front of her. She set the letter down and brought a hoof up to her face to wipe away the tears. She was beat though by a napkin surrounded by a light blue glow. Rarity smile at her from across the table. Blotting the napkin below Twilight’s eyes, Rarity said, “It’s all right, dear. We all miss Trixie too.”

Twilight smiled, her eyes still wet with tears. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had already left their seats. They stood beside Twilight, Applejack patting her on the back. “Come on, sugarcube. What’s the matter? So you didn’t get to see her this time. There’s always next time, right?”

Putting her head in her hooves, Twilight said, “That’s just it, Applejack. There won’t be.”

“Wait, what?” said Pinkie Pie, cocking her head to the side.

“Do you wanna tell them, or should I?” said Spike.

Twilight shook her head, putting her hooves down. With a sad sigh, she said, “No, Spike, I should be the one to say it.” She glanced around at each of her friends in turn. “The truth is, I didn’t just come here to hang out and reminisce about old times.” She paused for a moment. “I came here to say goodbye.”

Rainbow Dash screwed up her face. “Well, duh, it’s not like we expected you to stay here forever. We knew you had to go back to your, uh, princess stuff, or whatever it is that you do.”

“No, Rainbow Dash, I don’t mean goodbye for now.” Twilight sucked in her breath. “I mean goodbye… forever. I’m leaving Equestria.”

“Now hang on one apple-buckin’ second, Twi,” said Applejack, stamping her hoof. “What do you mean you’re leaving Equestria? Where are you going? Why didn’t you tell us before?”

Twilight closed her eyes, breathing in slowly. With a heavy sigh, she finally opened her eyes again and looked at Applejack. Staring into the other mare’s emerald eyes, she said, “I’ve been putting it off for a long time now. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence have already left, but I kept making excuses for myself. I couldn’t bear to leave.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying, dear,” said Rarity, frowning. “Where did the other princesses go?”

Twilight shifted her gaze to Rarity. “They went to a far away land, somewhere outside of Equestria. This world doesn’t need us anymore, the princesses, I mean. We’re supposed to leave and go help others now… but I wasn’t ready to go.” She glanced down. “I’m still not.”

“But, um, why didn’t you tell us before, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy.

“I was afraid to,” Twilight replied, looking at Fluttershy. She fiddled with Trixie’s letter in her hooves. “I know I have to go, and I’m ready for that, but I’m not ready to say goodbye. I don’t want to forget you girls.”

Applejack gave a sad smile, patting Twilight on the head. “Shucks, sugarcube, y’know that you can’t ever forget us, right?” With a flick of her eyes, she gestured up towards the hanging memory crystals. “Look at us right now. We’re surrounded by all the memories we shared, both good times and bad.”

Smiling back at Applejack, Twilight said, “I know.” She paused for some time. “I know that I could never forget you girls, but somehow saying goodbye feels like saying goodbye to the past. I’m not ready to let that go.”

Taking her hoof off Twilight’s head, Applejack poked her in the chest. “Ya don’t just forget the past, sugarcube. You carry it around with you all the time, in your heart. Even if you have to leave and we never see you again, you’ll always be in our hearts, just like we’ll always be in yours.”

Rainbow Dash joined in, grinning as she also poked Twilight’s chest. “Yeah! Like AJ said, you can’t forget us. We’re too awesome! Any time you fly around, just think of me.” She smirked.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing up and down. “And any time you’re having fun, just think about me!”

Twilight chuckled. “Hopefully I’ll be having fun all the time.”

“Exactly!” Pinkie grinned that silly grin. “You’ll always be thinking about me, well, all of us.”

Her cheeks tugging into a smile, Twilight said, “I hope so.”

“Oh!” Rarity exclaimed suddenly, her eyes lighting up. “Idea!” Her horn began to glow blue as she grabbed her saddlebag from out in the foyer and set it before herself. Fishing through it, she pulled out a radiant diamond. Looking around the room, Rarity gathered her magic into her horn, and then, with a concentrated look on her face, touched the tip of her horn to the diamond. It glowed soft white, started rotating slowly, and then abruptly stopped when Rarity pulled her horn away. “There we are!” she said happily, fastening a hook to the gem and running some string through it. Making her way to Twilight’s side, she said, “I know you could never forget us, darling, but I thought maybe having a little something to bring with you might help.” She presented the diamond, now a diamond necklace, to Twilight, holding it up proudly.

Twilight let Rarity set the diamond in her hooves, and she looked down to examine it. Only a few seconds passed before Twilight realized exactly what this was. Like the memory crystals hanging above her, this was a new crystal, but instead of showing memories from their past, it showed them all sitting around the cutie mark map table this very night. Twilight looked at Rarity, tears welling up in her eyes. “You made a memory crystal of tonight.”

Rarity nodded satisfactorily. “Well, I reasoned that you couldn't really take all these crystals with you,” she said, gesturing to the many dozens of gems overhead, “but I thought if I made a memory of this night, then you could use it to revisit all our shared memories at once.”

Smiling through the tears now streaming down her face, Twilight said, “It’s… it’s beautiful, Rarity. Thank you.” Raising the necklace with her magic, Twilight slipped the diamond around her neck, looking down to admire it as she did so. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

“Okay, everypony,” said Applejack, standing up and drawing everyone’s attention to her, “this night ain’t over yet. We’ve still got the whole evenin’ to chat and reminisce over this an’ that, but first I wanna make a toast.” Raising her mug, Applejack said, “Here’s to all our families, wherever they may be in their journeys.”

Pinkie Pie was the first to join in, slamming her mug into Applejack’s. “Here’s to a super fun party with all my friends!”

“Here’s to, um, a lovely night and good cider,” said Fluttershy, bring her mug up to meet the others, blushing slightly.

Rainbow Dash scooped her mug up and raised it as well, saying, “Yeah! And here’s to awesome adventures!”

With a soft smile, Rarity raised her glass. “Here’s to old times.”

Dowing the last bit of cider in his mug, Spike quickly ran over to refill it and then came back to the group. As he added his mug to the toast, Spike looked over at Twilight, smiling. “Here’s to you, Twilight. For being the best friend a dragon could ever ask for.”

Twilight stood up, lifting her mug. As she went to raise it to meet the others, she glanced down at Trixie’s letter. A thousand faces flashed through her mind all at once. A smile crossed her face as she joined the toast, saying, “And here’s to absent friends.”

Author's Notes:

This story is a love letter to FiMfic. It's somewhat allegorical for my experience of leaving the fandom and then coming back, knowing that I'll have to leave again eventually. I just want to say thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my stories, especially my long time fans, and I appreciate all the comments. I've changed and grown so much thanks to the friends I made here, and I wouldn't trade that time in my life for anything.

Here's to you guys!