//------------------------------// // Letters and Silver Tears // Story: An Unexpected Party // by Gallifrey //------------------------------// An Unexpected Party by Gallifrey Chapter Five Letters and Silver Tears Luna bolted down her corridor, flinging open her doors with magic, and ran to the east facing window before throwing it open and sticking her head out. “Forgive me,” she whispered, panting, as she reached out to the Moon with her mind and concentrated hard on bringing it above the horizon. The waning gibbous floated up from behind the hills and Luna released the magic. Having got her breath back, she took a minute to survey the view. A soft breeze kissed her cheek as she looked around; to her right, southwards, was the small collection of lights that was Ponyville. She spared a thought for Twilight and her friends, and on whether this surprise party was going to be successful. She drew her head back in, still lost in her thoughts. She flicked a bedside lamp on as she retired to her bed. She wondered whether to send Twilight a letter. Where would I begin? She thought to herself. We are not good at being what they call “normal” and “friendly.” But there was no harm in trying after all. But how to address Twilight? Loyal subject? Too formal. Dear friend? Too much. She settled on loyal friend. She levitated a scroll of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a large black quill towards her and began to write. My loyal friend, Twilight Sparkle, We hope you are well and that thou hast begun preparations for my sister’s party. I have complete faith in you to make this a birthday worth remembering. I write to you in the hope that you might be able to attend the sunrise on her birthday, we promise that it will be worth it. I shall visit you in six days to see how you are getting on. Your humble Princess, Luna She reread what she had written and was pleased. Her horn lit up and the letter glowed. It spun around in the air then disappeared with a small pop. “Now what do I do?” Luna said to herself. After a few minutes pondering she decided to go for a flight. She walked outside, spread her dark wings and took off into the night. ---------------------- Celestia closed her doors. She trotted wearily to her bed and lay down on it, pulling her silken sheets over her, getting warm and cosy. She sat up suddenly as she remembered. She ought to write to Twilight before she forgot. She levitated a scroll of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a large white quill towards her and began to write. My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, I have a request of you, would you and your friends be able to attend the sunrise on the morning of the Summer Sun Celebration? For you see that this year I am granting the honour of raising the Sun to dear Luna, and I know how much it would mean to her for you to bear witness to such a special moment. I hope you and your friends are all well. I look forward to seeing you soon my dear. Your mentor and friend, Celestia Her horn glowed as she sent the letter. Finally she rested her head on her feather pillow and closed her tired eyes. -------------------- There came a gentle tapping from Twilight’s bedroom door; the purple mare’s eyes screwed up and she rolled over in her sleep. The knocking got louder, and still Twilight remained asleep. “Er, Twilight?” said Spike from behind the door, “Twilight, there’s two letters for you!” Twilight woke up. “Huh, wassat?” she mumbled sleepily. “Two letters,” said Spike. “At this hour?” What did the Princess want at this time? “Yup, can I come in?” “Yeah, sure,” said Twilight, waking up a little more. Spike opened her door and walked into the room, carrying two short scrolls. “Two of them?” “Yeah, I did say,” said Spike. “Oh.” Twilight magicked the scrolls over to her, unfurled them and read them. “My, my, it seems that the two princesses have completely different motives here,” she chuckled, “Luna seems to have a trick up her sleeve, she’s hiding something I’m sure of it, and Princess Celestia just wants us to be there. I wonder what’s going on.” She decided that she would just ask Luna the next time she saw her. But for now she would write a reply confirming that they would all indeed be there. “Thank you Spike for bringing these up, but it’s late now.” “Goodnight Twilight,” he said. Twilight looked fondly at the assiduous little dragon. “Hey, come here,” “What?” Twilight reached out her forehooves and hugged him. He seemed taken aback for a second, but then returned the hug. “Thanks Twilight. Goodnight,” he said, smiling. “G’night Spike,” she mumbled, lying down in her bed again and drifting back to sleep, slipping into a dream about her and Celestia. -------------------- Luna had landed in a small glade next to a stream; she was laying on her back, lost amid a sea of stardragons, her favourite flower. She was deep in thought, as she often was, thinking about stars, time, the weariness of the world… and pudding. She stared into eternity with her brilliant turquoise eyes, and the stars stared back at her, winking. Her horn glowed softly. The stars all shimmered with the power for a second. A huge, dark blue band of light began to grow in the sky and Luna moulded it into an s-shape. Then she created a green band and wove it alongside the blue one. She continued in this fashion until the sky abounded with great undulating waves of light. She rolled over, sitting up and admiring her work with a sad smile. Then her smile became a grimace and she struck a hoof to the ground in anger. “Why did I even bother?!” she yelled to the darkness. “Nopony is ever going to notice this! They never notice!” she added bitterly. Her horn glowed brightly and she swung her head, undoing all her work. She sat with her head bowed. Eventually she raised it, and a single silver tear fell from her eyes onto a stardragon, causing its star shaped petals to glisten in the light of the Moon. She took several long breaths to calm herself down, just like Celestia had advised when she got angry. Sometimes, her loneliness and isolation got the better of her; what brought her joy also brought her much pain on occasion. She loved her solitude from the rest of Equestria, and the freedom to do anything she wished without fear of judgement because, well, who was there to judge her? But she could not deny in her heart that she was alone; alone in a world that didn’t care. That’s how she saw it at least. Nopony understood, not even her sister, who tried her hardest. Luna eventually calmed back down into her normal, thoughtful mood and stared back up to the sky, thinking of pudding.