The End of the Beginning

by Uncle Knot

Hatched?

To my sovereign and regal Princess Celestia, in the 998th year, letter # 11,987

This is extraordinary, that a plebe on the day of her admission entrance exam to the magic academy should actually hatch a dragon egg. This is a bit of an inconvenience to me, as your dragon egg collector. I cannot replace the egg with another. I must wait until after the next dragon migration before I can find a nest location again. I had chosen that egg on behalf of my Cadenza. It was my hope that the colors would be a closer match, not that it matters much. It is very difficult to understand what future any dragon will take, for there are so many variables between the dragon and hatcher as they grow and influence each other.

To think that an untrained unicorn could hatch a dragon egg without even a cutie mark. It boggles my mind. We both know that the entrance exam to the magic academy is about how well the unicorn handles pressure and failure, not about actually hatching a dragon. Who is this Twilight Sparkle? You tell me she got her cutie mark upon completing the hatching and has named the dragon Spike. Well, well, well, they are bonded to each other now. I am grateful that you have decided to make Miss Sparkle your special student, keep your eye on her. The investment of a dragon egg will be expensive if she falters.

Yet she must have blinders on her harness, for you say she does not seem to notice that she alone has a dragon companion, unlike the other students at the school. Please keep her in ignorance of this. We would not want her to pick up a false sense of pride like that other student who left the school before completing her discipline. What was her name again? Something like Sunset?

This is a difficult thing for me to speak on, as you know my inner nature and my estranged relationship with thy banished sister. Thank you again for all the investment of your compassion for me over these past 1000 years. Has it really been that long? To think of all the little things we have done over those years. Why did we do it all? Was it duty? Was it loyalty to each other? Was it the fact that we saw the need and had the moral imperative to act? I hope it has been fun for us, for there is little point in saving Equestria if we didn’t have fun doing it.

I know you would argue it was love that motivated us. But I still argue love is trapped beyond me, all I will concede is my loyalty, generosity, honesty, humor, and kindness. Why do we always stumble over this riddle and when will it end? I know that you have plans for the redemption of your sister, but you still do not tell me. Perhaps this is necessary as my involvement would further jeopardize your intent. I do not know, but I am curious. I trust you enough to let you remain silent on this. But do not pretend that I will remain silent upon completion of that future event of your sister. I have a duty to her too.

Still, how can any of us see the future? For us it might seem to go on forever, we do not measure it by the passing of years or the loss of friends. We must be careful not to delude ourselves that it will go on forever. Replacements should be considered. It is amazing to me that if we go on for another one thousand years, who would notice? Or if we should perish at the next sunset, who would remember us a thousand years from now? Will it really matter? Only in our knowledge that we did our best does it count and only to us. And that is the best I can offer to this riddle we call life. Sincerely Sumponeigh Knot Yew