It was lucky, Luna decided, that her return train would be in so late.
The princess of the night sat alone on the deserted station platform, staring up at the moon as it bathed the land in its gentle light. It had already been some time since her return, yet seeing it from afar once again felt strangely unnatural. Was that simply due to how long she had been gone, or…?
She shook her head as Twilight and the others surfaced in her mind. Those ponies deserved a much better evening than the one they got, having to babysit a moody princess. What was the point of all this, anyway? She should have told Celestia to stuff it.
She should have stayed up there in the first place.
Her sister was doing fine without her. All of Equestria was doing fine without her. No one really needed her around for anything, did they? Maybe she could just -
No, she couldn’t simply flee anywhere; they would certainly come looking for her, which would only make things worse… so, then…
“Uh… Princess?”
Luna gasped as a small voice startled her, head darting about as she sought its source.
“Sorry if we spooked you.” Spike idly fiddled with the scroll in his claws for a moment before glancing over at Waterwing beside him, who gave him a simple nod. “Here, this is for you.”
Luna stared at the scroll. Hesitantly, she grasped it with her magic and floated it over for a closer look. Before she could bring herself to open it, however, she caught a familiar sight out of the corner of her eye: Waterwing was watching her intently, just as she had earlier. Luna frowned, lowering the scroll as she pondered the peculiar pony. Had Waterwing written this? What was it? Luna suddenly found herself apprehensive of its contents, but couldn’t quite summon the nerve to ask about it.
To her mild surprise, Luna soon realized the little pegasus was frowning, her ears folded back. With a quiet sigh, she looked down at the scroll, lifting it once again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Waterwing’s expression brighten.
“…”
Luna set the scroll down and turned toward Waterwing. Sure enough, her frown and folded ears returned. Looking back down at the scroll caused them to spring back up in turn.
Under different circumstances, Luna might have laughed. Was she a pony, or a dog?
The princess sighed once more; her attempts at stalling were only fueling her apprehension. It was time to bite the bit and just see what all this was about. She unfurled the scroll and began reading.
Dear Princess Luna,
Hi! :3 I know you know this already, but my name’s Waterwing! Sorry about the weird greeting before; I can’t really introduce myself the way other ponies do but you probably figured that out by now
I guess I sorta owe you a couple of apologies, I think. I wasn’t super friendly at first because, well… when I saw you, the first thing I thought of was what happened during the Summer Sun Celebration, and I made my judgment before I knew more about what was really going on.
I know you think you deserve to be treated badly after what you did, and I’m sorry you feel that way… but you’ve been punished enough by now. You spent a thousand years on the moon all by yourself - I can’t even imagine being alive that long in the first place! You must have been angry, and lonely, and confused…
…but continuing to beat yourself up for what you did isn’t the right thing to do. That won’t help anyone with anything, least of all you; all it’ll do is make you feel worse. Now is the time for making amends and working hard to become a better person pony than you were before, a pony worthy of forgiveness.
Actually… I know this will seem weird after just saying that, but you can’t always count on others to forgive you when you hurt them. Sometimes they’ll forgive you right away, but sometimes it’ll take them a long time to stop being upset. Some just won’t ever forgive you no matter what you do, and you just have to accept it! None of that means you shouldn’t work hard to be worth forgiving.
Just don’t forget that you also need to learn how to forgive yourself… because you’ll never be able to work past your mistakes if you let them define you.
Long, long ago, there was a beautiful princess of the night who cast her gentle moonlight over all of Equestria, keeping the ponies of the land safe as they slept. That princess is asleep somewhere deep inside your heart, and only you have the power to wake her up. You were once a beacon shining in the darkness, and you can be that again if you try!
I know it’ll be hard, but you’re stronger than you know… and if you ever need help, you can count on us.
Your friend, Waterwing
As Luna lowered the scroll, a tear splashed onto the parchment; evidently she had begun crying again without noticing.
Waterwing stared at the princess, worry etched into every line of her face. Had she gone too far? Had she made it worse? Had she -
“Waterwing.”
It seemed she would get her answer in fairly short order as Luna finally spoke. “I… have one question.”
Waterwing tilted her head, making Luna even less certain that this pony was not inexplicably part canine.
Luna spent a moment wiping her tears before responding. “May I… have that hug now…?”
All of Waterwing’s tension melted away in a second as she nodded happily, and then gave a silent gasp: Luna was smiling. Through all the awkwardness, and the tears, and the self-doubt… at long last, Luna was smiling. It was a nervous, uncertain thing… but it was there, and it had been well worth the wait.
Waterwing fluttered over and embraced Luna, her smile broadening as she felt a pair of forelegs holding her close. For but a moment, all she cared about was the warmth - and the relief - she felt in finally getting to hug the heartache away.
“Princess…!”
So quietly did the other ponies approach that Waterwing’s heart skipped a beat as Twilight’s voice came from just behind her, prompting her to slowly let go of Luna and take a step back.
“Thank you, my little ponies.” Luna paused once again to wipe away tears. “At first I did not believe this visit would be of any benefit… and I am pleased to say I was wrong; my heart is ever so much lighter for having met you all. While I am not quite ready to let go of my guilt, I have made the decision to turn it toward something far more constructive than moping.”
Rarity beamed. “We are very happy to hear that, Princess.”
Luna shook her head slowly. “Please… if I may regard you all as friends, then call me Luna. It seems improper to ask my title of you after you have shown me such displays of kindness.”
“It’s… what we do.” Fluttershy fidgeted bashfully.
“And you in particular,” Luna added, turning to Waterwing once again. “Though I may hesitate to admit it… your words were everything I needed to hear.” She turned away, staring after the railroad tracks. “I only wish I had time this evening to offer more than my gratitude in return…”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Twilight interjected. “You’ve given us more than you realize.”
Luna quirked an eyebrow. “Er, have I?”
“You most certainly have.” Twilight turned to her assistant. “Spike?”
“Got it right here.” Spike held up a necklace with an empty heart-shaped setting.
Rarity’s eyes lit up the moment they caught sight of it. “Oh, how lovely! It looks like it’s missing a little something, though…”
Waterwing blinked as Spike placed the necklace over her collar. After staring at it for a moment, she began fidgeting with it impatiently, prompting Spike to hold it steady with his claw. Waterwing grinned sheepishly as she lowered her hoof.
Twilight smiled softly at Waterwing. “I have to admit, I wasn’t sure what you were about at first… but now, it seems so obvious. You take the time to understand other ponies and their troubles… you’re patient with them when they make mistakes or struggle with their flaws… and you forgive even those who have hurt you if it means helping them become better ponies in the end.” At this, she took a deep breath.
“Waterwing… you represent the Element of Love.”
Rays of light burst from the empty setting in Waterwing’s necklace as a yellow gemstone materialized within it.
Rarity smiled. “There, that’s just what it needed.”
Waterwing waited for the blinding glow to fade before looking down at her collar, where an Element of Harmony now sat glittering in the moonlight. For several seconds, all she could do was stare… until, slowly, her eyes began to water. As tears began leaking down her cheeks, she dashed forward and wrapped her forelegs around Twilight as tightly as they would go.
“Oof!” Twilight staggered backward from the high impact hug. With an amused giggle, she gave Waterwing a gentle pat on the back. “You’re welcome.”
“Um, wait…” Fluttershy glanced nervously between Waterwing and Luna, her cheeks turning visibly rosy. “Y-You… you don’t mean they… she and…?”
“No, no, of course not!” Twilight’s smile faded. “At least, I don’t think so…”
Waterwing finally let go of Twilight and took a step back, wiping the tears from her face. <Moon pony super pretty, but not right for me.>
Twilight spent a moment processing this statement before turning back to Fluttershy. “When we talk about love, it’s easy to assume we mean romance, but there’s so much more to it than that. Love comes in many forms, and everypony expresses it differently.”
A distant train whistle interrupted her thoughts.
“It seems our time is at its end.” Luna stood up, grasping Waterwing’s letter with her magic as she did so. “May I… keep this?”
Waterwing nodded.
Luna’s smile returned, a little more confident this time. “Thank you. Thank you again, all of you. I cannot tell you what this evening has done for me.”
“We’re just glad you’re feeling a little better now.” Twilight’s smile mirrored Luna’s.
Luna quirked an eyebrow, her lips curling into the faintest smirk. “And that you have not disappointed my sister, I would wager?”
Twilight winced. “W-Well, maybe a little…”
The next few moments passed wordlessly as the train pulled into the station, the door opening to permit its passenger. Luna started toward it, but stopped at the threshold to glance over her shoulder. Twilight waved a friendly farewell, Rarity gazed in awe at the train’s exquisite decoration, Fluttershy hid nervously behind her mane… and Waterwing simply smiled.
The princess of the night waved her own goodbyes before stepping onboard, looking forward to tomorrow for the first time in a thousand years.