Titanium Dragon

I have not read that book, I'm afraid. Perhaps I shall someday. However, there is a difference between being DEPENDENT on your friends and DEPENDING on your friends. I would say that, at least in the series, Twilight depends on her friends, but is not dependent on them - she is quite capable of operating on her own, but her friends are helpful/useful/additive. Dependence is something else entirely, where you fall apart without them, which is a terrible situation to be in. I would say that friends need to be independent, but dependable.

Sadly, they probably can't teach this very important friendship lesson until the end of the series, but here it is: Friends are more than people you are around every day. Friends are people whom you love and trust, no matter where they are, no matter where you are. Sometimes, people move away from each other, due to work, school, or other considerations, but that doesn't mean that they cease to be your friends. Even if you don't see each other as often, that doesn't mean that your affection for one another need ever fade. Someday, Rainbow Dash will join the Wonderbolts, Twilight Sparkle will return to Canterlot (or end up elsewhere), and Rarity will be some big-wig fashionista and no longer reside in Ponyville. But just because they are not living in the same town forever doesn't mean that their friendships will go away, and that they won't still love one another. They will. And I think this is an important lesson all of you should learn. Dying together isn't a good thing; its a tragedy. And while you speak of her friends, Celestia and Spike are both very intimate with Twilight Sparkle as well, and indeed, arguably more so than her friends in Ponyville - Spike is essentially her little brother, and Celestia is her mentor and a somewhat motherly figure, and Twilight worries more about impressing her than anyone else. And let's face it - in the end, relying on the word of Meghan McCarthy is no better than relying on the word of Lauren Faust. No one person has control over the series forever, and if it isn't in the show or other official materials, it isn't canon. Not to say that it isn't how it works, but, really, in the end, Word of God when you're working on a show with twenty other people is not nearly as strong as the Word of God of a single author.

I am a bit sad that so many people are upset over the possibility that Twilight won't die. Seriously, you guys are saying, "You know what's awesome? Death!" You don't realize it, but that's precisely what you're saying. Why would Twilight dying be a good thing? Twilight growing old and dying with her friends does no one any good. Her friends certainly wouldn't want her to die, and moreover, if she dies with the rest of the main characters, then Spike, Luna, and Celestia would STILL be alive and have to mourn her death - it is not as if those three are going to die when the rest of the ponies do. Her dying would be as tragic as anyone else dying, and dying is not a good thing (well, not if they really do deserve to live forever, anyway - and Twilight seems to be heading that way). People die. Twilight is mature enough to cope with it. It will be sad, sure, but if she does become immortal, then her friends' passing will be of old age, which is the least sad way to die - it would be far worse if one of them died violently. It seems likely that becoming an alicorn does not make you immortal in and of itself - after all, we know that some alicorns existed historically who seem to no longer exist today. Most likely, the actual answer is something along the lines of power levels - you've got the basic unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. You have the alicorns, who are ascended - they have all performed great feats that transformed them into something greater. And then you've probably got at least one step above that, where alicorns become like Luna and Celestia - huge, towering beings with magical manes and extreme power, likely after attuning with some basic element of the universe (day and night in the case of Celestia and LUna). Twilight IS special - she's attuned with the elements of harmony, she's a powerful mage, she has immense knowledge, and she has great leadership abilities. She has been special from the start of the show, and a lot of the lessons she has learned have helped groom her for leadership. I suspect that if she is to live forever, she will have to truly embrace her element of magic (or possibly act as some sort of helper to the day-night cycle; she IS called Twilight, after all). It isn't depressing to think of her as immortal - its a good thing. Earning immortality is a pretty great reward, isn't it? The idea that her friendships would be worthless if her friends all died is nonsense too - not only did her friends help her make more friends, and she will always be able to make new ones, but it also helped her befriend Luna, who is most likely immortal (or at least as long lived as Celestia). But they will never, ever address this in the show. Ever. Ever ever ever ever ever. They are far too afraid of talking about death - and quite frankly, I sort of agree. Death isn't really an appropriate theme for the show, though I suppose dealing with the loss of a loved one with friends IS at least thematic. But killing someone off would be too traumatic, and given that they refuse to even mention that Applejack and Applebloom's parents are dead, I cannot imagine that they would write an episode about death Let's assume that they DID make an episode about death, which wouldn't involve Twilight outliving her friends because that WOULD upset people. If they WERE to do it, they'd probably write it about the death of Applejack's parents anyway, as they're already dead and therefore the viewers wouldn't have to see ponies dying. I suppose another possibility would be one of fluttershy's animal friends dying. But no, I doubt that they will ever do that. I can think of a few ways that they COULD, but Hasbro would not. Writing something about people dying that: A) Won't offend anyone on the basis of their religious beliefs. Won't offend the moral guardians. C) Won't traumatize children. Is really, really hard and risky. Hasbro is not particularly noted for their love of risk-taking. Lord knows they could make a giant pile of money with MLP if they took a few more risks, but they refuse to do so. And this has no potential to make money at all. So you won't ever see it addressed.