“Thank you both for agreeing to meet me,” Twilight said, sipping her tea.

“Of course,” Celestia said with a smile. “We are always happy to have you.”

“Pray tell, dear Twilight,” Luna said, “what brings you to Canterlot on this fine day?”

“Twilight lowered her teacup and stared into her drink. “I guess I was hoping you two could answer some questions I’ve been having.”

Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance.

“What kind of questions?” Celestia asked.

“I’ve noticed that, ever since I became an alicorn, I’ve continued to grow taller,” Twilight explained. “I was wondering when I should expect to stop.”

“‘Stop’?” Luna asked.

“You know, stop growing.” Twilight rubbed her chin in thought. “Will it be in the next ten years or so, when I’d be fully grown as a pony? Cadance is still growing, after all, but she’s almost the same size as Luna, so I expect she’ll probably stop soon. And I’m already taller than my friends, of course, but you don’t really notice that kind of stuff until—”

Twilight stopped when she noticed the expressions Celestia and Luna were giving her. They were an odd mix confusion, discomfort, and concern.

“Twilight,” Celestia said slowly, “what makes you think you’d suddenly stop growing?”

“I’d have to, wouldn’t I?” Twilight tilted her head. “Once the immortality sets in, that is.”

Luna cast a quick glance to her sister before clearing her throat.

“We are not immortal, Twilight.”

Twilight chuckled politely. “‘Immortal,’ ‘ageless’—I mean, I care about semantics as much as the next pony, but I don’t really see the need for a distinction in this conversation.”

Celestia straightened herself in a manner Twilight hadn’t seen since her time as her student.

“We are mortal,” Celestia said, almost as a proclamation. “We grow, we age, and yes, we can even die, just like any other pony.” She allowed her body to relax, but kept a careful watch for Twilight’s reaction.

Twilight looked between them, trying to wrap her mind around this revelation.

“But… but that’s impossible!” Twilight searched their eyes for some hint of the infamous pranks they were supposedly known for, but could find none. “You’re both at least a thousand years old. The earliest mention I could find of you two was in a book from the Crystal Empire detailing your battle with King Sombra, and that was written over twelve-hundred years ago.” Twilight froze and let out an uneasy laugh. “Uh, not that I was trying to dig into your past or anything…”

“It is okay, Twilight,” Luna said, raising a hoof. “Please continue.”

Twilight took in a breath. “In every portrait I’ve seen and in every book I’ve read, you two were as you are now.” She looked at them sheepishly. “How can you claim to age and be mortal when you haven’t changed in hundreds of years?”

Celestia and Luna shared a nod and answered together:

“Age spells.”

Twilight’s mouth fell open. “W-what…?”

“You see, Twilight,” Celestia said, “while it would take the most talented of unicorns to even cast an age spell, as alicorns, we have the power to use them quite proficiently. Luna and I have used them to keep ourselves youthful for… as you said, hundreds of years.”

Twilight, still too dumbfounded to speak, turned to Luna.

“It is true,” Luna said with a nod. “I have not aged more than a few months in centuries, though I understand my sister has gotten into the habit of using an age spell nearly every week.” She threw a critical gaze at Celestia, who had coincidently decided it was an excellent time for another sip of tea and managed to miss it. Luna turned her attention back to Twilight. “We simply undo however much we have aged since the last time we cast the spell, granting us the appearance of agelessness.”

Twilight held onto her head, as if to stop the room from spinning.

“Wow…” she finally managed. “Then that means… I—”

Twilight shot up from the table and bowed her head.

“Thank you both for having me,” she said quickly. “I have to go.”

“Twili—” Luna was stopped by Celestia’s hoof.

“We’re always happy to have you,” Celestia said with a smile. “Please visit again soon.”

Twilight nodded and disappeared with a flash, her tea left unfinished.

---

“Girls,” Twilight said, beaming, “I have great news!”

Her friends all looked at her from their thrones, curiosity painting their faces. Twilight was practically bouncing in her seat.

“Celestia and Luna are not immortal!”

A quick exchange of glances confirmed that they were unanimously confused.

“…Yay?” Fluttershy asked.

“Pardon me, darling,” Rarity said. “Care to explain how this is good news?”

“No-no-no-no-no,” Twilight said quickly. “It means I’m not immortal, either!”

At this point, even Spike had stopped his snacking to pay attention.

“…Yay?” Fluttershy asked again.

“Yeah,” Applejack said, “we’re still not followin’ ya.”

“Okay, so it turns out Celestia and Luna have been using age spells to keep themselves young all this time,” Twilight explained. “I’ll probably have to start using them on myself at some point, but here’s the best part: I can do the same thing for all of you!” She let out a laugh and topped it off with a sigh of relief. “You know, I was secretly kind of worried about this whole immortality thing, but now, we really can be best friends forever! Isn’t that great?”

Her smile diminished as she looked at her friends, all shuffling uncomfortably in their seats.

“…Isn’t that great?” she repeated.

“…Wow,” Pinkie Pie said slowly. “That's a lot to take in when you say it all at once…”

“Yeah, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. “You mind if we take some time to think about this?” Their friends all nodded in agreement.

“Uh, s-sure,” Twilight said, putting on a smile. “You girls go ahead and think about it.” She and Spike got up to walk them to the door. Her smile fell as soon as she closed the door behind them.

“I thought they’d be excited about this,” she whispered. She made her way back to the throne room with Spike jogging beside her to keep up. He fell back into his seat and dug through his bowl of gems.

“What do you think, Spike?” Twilight asked.

He crunched down on a clawful of gems and swallowed hard. “I never really thought about it,” Spike admitted. “I’m a dragon, after all. I’m already gonna live a really long time.” He tossed some more gems into his mouth before continuing. “I guess sometimes I forget that ponies aren’t supposed to live as long.”

“And now that you are thinking about it?”

Spike looked down into his bowl before pushing it aside. “I don’t know how our friends are gonna feel about this.” He turned and leaned over in seat to look up into her eyes. “But I’m happy we’ll get to spend so much time together, right?”

Twilight smiled and rubbed his head. “Of course, Spike.” She scrambled to catch him as he jumped up to hug her, but once he was secure, she held onto him tight.

---

“Cadance,” Twilight said, “how old are you?”

“Don’t tell me you came all this way just to ask me that.” Cadance giggled lightly from across the table. “I’m the same age as Shining Armor. You know that.”

“I spoke with Celestia and Luna,” Twilight said. “I learned about alicorn ‘immortality’.”

Cadance stiffened and her eyes widened by the slightest degree.

“Cadance,” Twilight repeated. “How old are you?”

Cadance inhaled to gather all of her tension and pushed them out with an exhale.

“…I’m almost seven-hundred years old.” She pressed a hoof against her cheek. “Hmm, I feel so old saying it out loud.”

“I can’t believe this.”

Cadance slid her hoof across the table and onto Twilight’s. “But this is the oldest I’ve ever been.”

“Really?”

Cadance nodded. “Let me start from the beginning: I was even younger than you were when I first ascended. Celestia actually asked me to keep myself at that age to keep up the image of being her niece. And I stayed that way for centuries, until she introduced me to you and your brother.” She offered Twilight a smile, and with a bit of coaxing, managed to get a smile out of her.

“I was still a little bit older than Shining Armor,” Cadance continued, “but once he caught up to me, I secretly stopped using age spells on myself. Celestia approached me about it when she finally noticed.”

“What did she say?”

“I thought she’d be mad, but it turns out, she was excited for me. She only asked was if I was sure.” Cadance giggled. “I think the answer’s pretty clear at this point.”

Twilight joined in her laughter, but it trailed off as another thought occurred to her.

“…Does he know?”

Cadance nodded slowly. “I told him just after we got engaged. I offered to use my magic to keep him young with me, but…”

Twilight chewed her lip. “W-what are you two going to do?”

“We’ve already discussed it. We’re going to live a long, happy life and grow old together.” The smile she was wearing couldn’t mask the cloudiness in her eyes. “And, after his time has come… I’ll use an age spell to restore my youth.”

Twilight held tight to her hoof.

“I’ve spread love throughout Equestria for centuries,” Cadance continued, still keeping up her smile, “so I know the love between Shining Armor and I is true. He’s the only one I love enough to grow old with. He’s the only one I trust enough to…” She slid her free hoof along her belly. “But he understands what it means to have an obligation—a duty—to Equestria and the Crystal Empire.”

Twilight rose from her seat to join Cadance, and the two leaned against each other in silence.

---

“Howdy, Twilight.” Applejack stopped what she was doing long enough to greet her friend but quickly went back to work.

Twilight found Applejack in her barn—a nice, quiet place to think. She seemed to be in the process of organizing the barn’s contents, but Twilight knew busywork when she saw it. Applejack had never been the type to sit still when there was work to be done, even if she had to make it up herself.

“Hi, Applejack,” Twilight said softly. “I can come back later, if you’re… busy.”

Applejack shook her head. “Nah, I figure I’ve done plenty of thinkin’ already. Any more’ll just give me a headache.” She sighed and looked up at Twilight.

“The thing is, Twilight, I had to grow up without my mom and dad. The thought of my own foals growin’ up without me—goin’ through what I went through—it scares me somethin’ fierce.” She set a rake against the wall. “But ya know what scares me even more?”

“What?”

Applejack sniffed hard and dragged a hoof across her muzzle. “Never gettin’ to see my parents again.”

Twilight brought a hoof to her lips. “Applejack…”

“It scares me to my very core,” Applejack continued. “I wanna see ‘em again, someday. I wanna tell ‘em all about how Apple Bloom got her cutie mark. I wanna tell ‘em about the Pie family. I wanna tell ‘em… about my best friends.” Applejack rearranged the empty flower pots for at least the third time before looking at Twilight.

“I wanna have a family and grow old like Granny Smith. Then I can tell my parents all about their grandkids, and their great-grandkids. And I can…” She wrapped her forelimbs around herself. “And I can feel ‘em hug me again.”

Twilight rushed over and hugged her tight. “Applejack, I never knew.”

“I’m real sorry, Twilight.” Applejack sniffed and hugged her back. “I don’t wanna abandon ya or nothin’, it’s just—”

“No, Applejack, it’s okay.” Twilight buried her in their embrace. “It’s okay.”

Applejack ignored the fading call of work that did not have to be done and lost herself in the hug.

---

“Hey, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said, holding the door open for her. Twilight stepped into the foyer and heard the door close behind her. All around them were familiar trophies and plaques and Wonderbolts posters.

“Have you thought about what I said?” Twilight asked. “It’s why you invited me over, right?”

“Yeah, I thought about it,” Rainbow Dash said casually, “and I don’t really have to live forever.”

Twilight’s gaze fell to the floor. “I-I see.”

“No, Twilight it’s, like…” Rainbow Dash flew up to the mantle and looked at one of her trophies. “What I mean is, I don’t need magic to live forever. The way I see it, all I have to do is set an unbeatable record and I’m good to go.”

Twilight looked up curiously. “‘An unbeatable record’?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash landed in front of her. “Then everypony would know my name. Like, ‘who holds the all-time record for the hundred-meter dash?’ ‘Rainbow Dash, obviously.’”

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said with a tilt of her head, “you do realize that’s not the same thing.”

“Well, duh, Twilight. I know that.” She scoffed. “But it’s like… if anypony tries to beat my record, it’d be like I’m right there flying with them, you know? I’m right there, pushing them to their limits.”

Twilight brought a hoof to chin, soaking up Rainbow Dash’s words.

“And who knows? Maybe someday, somepony could pull it off and beat my record.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “It’d mean they trained and practiced even harder than I did. It’d mean they love flying and going fast even more than I do.” She performed a flawless loop through the air and landed. “I think that’d be kinda cool. Like a little piece of me lives on in them, you know?”

“Wow,” Twilight said in disbelief.

Rainbow Dash chuckled awkwardly and scratched at the back of her head. “Yeah, I probably sound pretty crazy right now…”

“Not at all.” Twilight smiled to her. “It makes perfect sense.”

Rainbow Dash walked over and threw a forelimb across her shoulder. “Hey, you know I’ll always be there for you, right?” She poked Twilight in the chest. “I’m right there, whenever you need me.”

“I know.” Twilight leaned in closer. “Thanks, Rainbow Dash.”

---

Twilight entered Carousel Boutique, the familiar jingle of the bell announcing her arrival.

“Hello, darling,” Rarity said, emerging from the back.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, do come in.”

Rarity and Twilight gathered around a coffee table, light snacks already prepared.

“I wanted to talk to you about what said,” Rarity began. “I’ve had plenty of time to think about it, and I’ve come to a decision.”

“Yes?” Twilight asked, trying to keep her voice even.

“While the idea of staying young and beautiful forever is definitely alluring,” she said, “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

Twilight visibly deflated, but did not interrupt.

“It occurred to me while I was working on my latest designs. Styles fade away, and new styles come along. But that’s not to say the old styles weren’t valuable in their time. Such is life, I suppose. You make as big a splash as you can, but you can only spend so much time in the spotlight before it’s time to let somepony else make a name for themselves.”

Twilight nodded slowly.

“I do not intend to overstay my welcome, Twilight. It’s just not in my nature.” She gently lifted Twilight’s chin. “I am going to age gracefully and beautifully, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I hope you understand.”

Twilight looked her, a work of art as much as any of the dresses. Beautiful. Timeless.

“I do, Rarity,” she said, giving her a hug. “I understand.”

---

Twilight stepped into Sugarcube Corner and found Pinkie Pie wearing her chef’s hat and mixing a bowl of batter.

“Hi, Twilight!” she called, waving her spoon around and sending batter flying everywhere.

“Hi, Pinkie.” Twilight smiled but kept herself outside of splashing range.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Pinkie resumed feverishly stirring her batter. “I was thinking about what you said, and I kept thinking and thinking and thinking, until my thinker was all tired out.” She pointed to her with the spoon. “And you know what I realized?”

“I honestly can’t even guess.”

“I realized that I’m probably going to live a really long time, anyway.” She went back to her stirring, but at a more reasonable pace. “My nana and granny both lived a really long time, and my parents are pretty old, too.” She tapped the spoon against her chin. “That’s a lot of birthdays, now that I think about it…”

Twilight raised a hoof to point out the globs of batter she had left on her chin, but thought better of it.

“Hey!” Pinkie said, flinging more batter, “you know what else runs in my family? Having lots of foals! Can you imagine if me and my sisters all had foals? And even if they can’t find anypony on their own, there’s always Plan B: the Pairing Stone. That thing’s a matchmaking genius.” She narrowed her eyes in thought. “Where was I going with this?”

“I… don’t know, Pinkie.”

“Oh, yeah! All those sons and daughters and nieces and nephews. So many holidays and birthdays and”—she gasped in amazement—“weddings!” The bowl nearly toppled over with her squeal of excitement.

“But you know, Twilight,” Pinkie said, slowly stirring the batter, “if there’s one thing Granny Pie taught me, it’s to not mix up the salt and the sugar.”

“Um, okay?”

“Mm-hmm.” Pinkie nodded sagely. “But if there’s two things Granny Pie taught me, it’s to stand up and laugh in the face of the things that scare you. And, you know, death is just about the scariest thing I can think of, besides hermit crabs, cake-monsters, and public speaking, of course.”

“Of course,” Twilight said slowly.

Pinkie slowed down her stirring to really focus on Twilight. “I wanna be able to look back on all the fun things I did, so that when my time comes, I won’t be scared. I’ll be happy, and I can smile and laugh and make Granny Pie proud.”

Twilight nodded and smile. “I understand, Pinkie.”

Pinkie Pie held her forelimbs open for a hug, and despite her better judgment, Twilight walked over to accept it. Once they pulled apart, Pinkie narrowed her eyes in confusion.

“Uh, Twilight?” she said. “You got a little…”

Twilight looked down at the speck of batter on her coat.

“Thanks, Pinkie,” she said, wiping it away. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okie-dokie!”

Pinkie turned her attention back to the bowl as Twilight left, once more wondering why so much of the batter seemed to disappear in the mixing process.

---

Twilight knocked on the door of the cottage. It opened just enough for Fluttershy to peek her head out and smile to her.

“Oh, hello, Twilight.”

“Hi, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “Are you busy?”

She shook her head and invited her in.

“Have you had enough time to think about what I said?” Twilight asked as they sat down on the sofa.

Fluttershy nodded.

“Actually, I knew my answer before we even left your castle.” She turned her head to look at the little birdhouses and mouse holes that decorated her home. “I’ve seen generations of critters come and go here. Death used to scare me. It used to scare me so bad I couldn’t even bring myself to be around it.” She turned her attention back to Twilight, a smile on her face. “But then I realized that my friends needed me to be there for them. They needed somepony to comfort them and let them know it’s okay.”

“Wow, Fluttershy.”

“I’ve learned that death isn’t scary, and there’s no need to try to run from it.” She pressed a hoof against Twilight. “Death is natural, and I know I’ll be ready for it when my time comes.”

Twilight sighed, but smiled. “It looks like your mind is all made up.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’ve actually had a lot of time to think about it.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s not the first time I’ve had the chance to be immortal,” Fluttershy said casually.

“You—wait, what?” Twilight shook herself rapidly. “It’s not?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Discord’s offered to make me immortal before, and I told you the same thing I told him.” She looked down and brought a hoof to her chin. “He seemed really disappointed, but one of the first lessons he learned in friendship is you can't always have things exactly your way all the time.”

“You just gave me an idea.” Twilight leaned forward to give her a quick hug. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, Twilight.”

With that, Twilight disappeared with a flash.

---

Twilight struck her hoof against the door, but rather than knocking, the door made the sound of a clown’s horn. The door handle spontaneously turned into Discord’s head, a grin plastered to his face.

“Why, hello, Twilight,” he said brightly. “It’s not often I receive visitors. What brings you way out here?”

“I was hoping you and I could talk,” she said with a tilt of her head. “May I come in?”

“Oh, but of course.” After reverting back into a door handle, Discord opened the door from the inside. “Please make yourself at home.”

Twilight stepped inside and gazed around at the strange décor, taking a seat on his couch. Discord descended from the ceiling and sat down beside her.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Twilight tried to scoot away as subtly as possible. “Well, I’ve had a lot on my mind recently, and I was hoping—”

“Oh-ho!” Discord sprang into the air. “You’ve come to me for advice? Oh, I just can’t believe it!”

There was a flash of light and Twilight found herself lying across a chaise lounge and staring at the ceiling. She turned her head to find Discord in an armchair with a notepad in his paw.

“Now,” he said, adjusting his spectacles, “what seems to be the problem?”

Twilight sighed, but decided it’d be easier to go along with it.

“You’re the only other immortal being that I really know,” she began. “I thought you might be able to help me with this.” She turned back over to face the ceiling. “I was worrying about what it would mean for my friendships if I was immortal and they weren’t, but I always figured that the solution would present itself. When I found out that Celestia and Luna had been using age spells this entire time, I was ecstatic!” She turned to her side, finding it very difficult to get comfortable. “But now that I have the solution, I have even less of an idea of what to do than I did before. Should I stay young forever, like Celestia and Luna? Should I grow old with my friends, like Cadance? What do you think?”

Discord looked up from his game of tic-tac-toe and cleared his throat in a very professional manner.

“Well, Twilight,” he began, “what would you do, if it were entirely your choice?”

“I… I want to have friends with me forever.” Twilight leaned up to look at him. “Is that selfish?”

“Not at all, Twilight.” He removed his spectacles and gave her a grave look. “But have you not considered that the other Princesses have asked themselves the same thing?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“I had ample opportunity to watch the Princesses during my time as a lawn ornament. There was little else to do, after all,” he muttered. “And they’ve all had friends, Twilight—ponies that they loved and cherished. Don’t you think they’ve gone through precisely what you’re going through?”

Twilight fell back onto the lounge. “I-I just thought…”

“Can you even guess how many deathbeds they’ve each stood over, screaming to themselves, ‘You can stop this,’ ‘You can save them’?” Discord rose from his seat. “You see, Twilight, each of them has had to grapple with and accept the idea that you cannot save everypony. Some ponies have to fall through the cracks.”

Twilight sat up on the lounge. “B-but that isn’t fair.”

“‘Fair’?” Discord’s notepad reappeared in his paw. “I seem to recall you saying you’d want to have your friends with you forever.” He raised an eyebrow to her. “What about their families? And what about their friends? Would you grant them immortality, too?”

Twilight’s eyes fell to the floor. “I-I…”

“Now, I think you understand, Twilight.” He took a seat beside her.

“Do you know how long rabbits live, Twilight?”

Twilight turned her head. “What?”

“A rabbit has lived a full life if it lives to be nine years old.” He looked her in the eyes. “Fluttershy’s been making arrangements for Angel’s third birthday next month. Isn’t it sad to think that, in just a few short years, she’ll need to make arrangements for his funeral?”

Twilight felt too numb to speak, too numb to move.

“I suppose I could use my magic to extend his life,” Discord said with a shrug. “I could easily give them another year or two together. What do you think I should do, Twilight?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“You see, Twilight—this is the Princess’s Dilemma. They find ponies to befriend and love, but in just a few short decades, they’re gone.” He leaned in close to stare into her eyes. “One thing I’ve learned from watching them all of these years is that you need to cherish every moment you have with them.”

Twilight blinked at him. “What about you, Discord?”

“I don’t like to go into my own history, but I’ll consider this an exception: a long time ago, Twilight, I made a decision that isolated me from the rest of my kind. Immortality was part of a package deal, in addition to my powers over chaos and my dashing good looks.” He grinned at her, though it quickly faded. “But I was alone. Don’t make my mistake, Twilight. Don’t let ambition cloud what you know is right.”

Discord got up and stretched.

“Well, I do believe our time is up.” He turned to face her. “I think we’ve had a very productive session, don’t you?”

Twilight looked up at him, and finally managed a smile.

“I think so, too.”

---

Discord casually strolled over to Celestia, a smug grin on his face.

“Your student came by to visit me, you know.”

“Did she?” Celestia asked politely. “That was thoughtful of her.”

“And it isn’t it lucky that I was there to tell her the things you can’t bring yourself to?” Discord frowned. “Sometimes I think it’s the real reason you had them release me from the stony lonesome.”

“Please, Discord,” Celestia said quietly. “You are the only I can trust to teach her these lessons.”

“Oh, honestly—it’s the whole Tirek incident all over again.”

“I know, and I apologize.” Celestia bowed her head. “There are only a few more lessons she needs to learn before she is truly ready to be a Princess.”

“Fine, fine,” Discord said with a roll of his eyes. “But I’m getting rather tired of playing the bad guy just to do your dirty work.”

Discord disappeared in a flash of stars, already preparing for Twilight’s next lesson.