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June - End of Luna's Hiatus4,391 words
Epilogue - Night Mare Night494 words
Bonus Chapter: November 1st , Post-Night Mare Night407 words
Bonus Chapter: Hearth's Warming Eve/Hearth's Warming5,486 words

January

"You're getting to be quite the object of attention, little sister - over forty letters in the past few days."

"You know I just burn them all, right? The weird love letters, anyways." Luna unfolded another letter and groaned as she read the contents, hastily sending it into the fireplace. "Honestly, they act like I'm the only mare in all of Canterlot! Not to mention how terrible all of them are at trying to woo someone. And all of this started right after my mane changed."

Celestia stifled a laugh and continued to sort through the letters. "I've got the perfect pun to use for that."

"Just get it out of your system, 'Tia." The young Princess reached a letter with Twilight Sparkle's name on it and carefully set it aside - it would likely be the only one to survive the sorting. "I know how bad your jokes can be anyways."

"Okay, okay. I guess you could say the guards have all been..." Celestia leaned towards Luna, grinning from ear to ear. "...star-struck!"

"...I hate you so much, Celestia."

-----

Dear Princess Luna,

Based upon how often the prophecy has been mentioned within your dreams, it obviously has some importance. It's possible that there's a deeper meaning to it that we simply haven't seen yet. You've mentioned the presence of five shadowy figures alongside myself within the dream - have you ever been able to identify what they look like?

In regards to your previous question, I think it's safe to say that the star you initially posted about within 'The Equestrian Astronomy Journal' is a white dwarf. All the signs seem to point to it being one.

Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle

P.S.
Princess Celestia mentioned to me the other day that your winter cap was getting too small. One of my friends made a new one for you. Hope you like it!

Luna set the letter down and glanced about - she never saw any cap included with the letter. The only other place it could possibly be was the Canterlot Post Office. Acting quickly, she hopped off the stool and ran for the Post Office. The cap was nowhere to be found, however, and the answer she received from the postmaster was surprising.

"I'm afraid Princess Celestia picked it up already - said she was gonna deliver it to you. You still haven't gotten it, your Majesty?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be here, now would I?" The postmaster quickly averted his gaze, staring at the floor. At least Luna was right. "I thought as much. Thank you for your time." Without speaking another word, the Princess departed as quickly as she had arrived, leaving the postmaster just as confused as he was before. If there was any place her sister would be, it was going to be her own room. She galloped as quickly as her hooves could carry her, the sound reverberating off the walls and ceilings of the castle, stopping as she arrived outside her elder sister's room. Luna pushed the doors open, and sure enough, there sat Celestia in the midst of trying the cap on.

"Looks good, doesn't it Luna? I'll have to ask Twilight Sparkle if her friend can make me one as well."

"Celestia, you know that's mine." She eyed her older sister, ears flapping with irritation. "The postmaster said you were going to deliver it, so-"

"Oh relax, Luna. I was going to give it to you. I just wanted to see what it looked like. You get so strung up over some things, little sister." The elder sister pulled the cap off her head, her mane flowing once more as she passed it to her younger sister. Luna said nothing as she inspected the cap - her sister was right, and they both knew it. The colors on the cap were a tad strange, a series of purple and white stripes streaking the cap. Whoever had made it even put a little fuzzy ball on the top, something Luna thought was unnecessary but somewhat cute all the same. Regardless of her opinion of how it looked, she was in dire need of a new cap for when she played out in the snow, and this one would likely grow on her anyways. Whoever made it had even remembered to make holes for her ears.

The young Princess carefully put it on, making sure to get her ears through the holes. Given how thin the fabric had been, she was surprised at just how warm and comfortable it was - Luna trotted up to the mirror and had a look for herself. "What do you think, 'Tia? How does it look?"

"Why? Trying to impress some lucky stallion?" The elder sister snickered and shook her head. "Ah, I'm joking of course. It looks good on you, Luna - matches your coat."

"Yeah, I suppose it does." She carefully took the hat off and folded it up before looking at her sibling. "Sorry for snapping at you, Celestia. I don't know why I've been so on-edge."

"I'd say it has something to do with the fan-mail, dear sister." Celestia lovingly gave her sister's forehead a poke. "Just don't let it get to you. You're bound to run into folks you won't get along with - how you handle that is the important part."

Luna sighed and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess."

"Cheer up or I'm taking the hat back."

At that, Luna put on a comically huge grin. Celestia wasn't entirely sure what to say, and simply blinked at her sister, her mouth agape. Finally, she replied.

"Oh fine, just not that much. It gets to a point where it starts getting creepy."

"Thought so."

-----

Luna was no closer to solving the riddles in her dreams, even with the help of Twilight Sparkle. The only bit of information they managed to figure out had been Twilight's identity - all other developments had come along at a snail's pace. There was the prophecy, the dream-version of Twilight Sparkle, and the five shadowy figures, as well as that constellation she had seen in that other dream of hers. Somehow, it was all connected, and she simply couldn't figure out the 'why' or 'how'. She tapped the pencil against the desk, thinking aloud as she looked for anything that might help.

"So all we've got is Twilight Sparkle... Unicorn, mare, my sister's protégée, one of the Elements of Harmo- wait. Elements of Harmony." Luna quickly set pencil to paper and began to write at a frenzied pace.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I'm aware that you're one of the Elements of Harmony, specifically the Element of Magic. There are five other Elements, and five shadowy figures within the dream. What's the likelihood that the five shadowy figures are the other Elements of Harmony?

The young Princess was gnawing on the pencil and quickly stopped once she realized what she was doing - she was getting far too excited over this. Luna pondered what to write next before continuing.

In addition, there's something else I've neglected to mention until now, largely because I didn't think it was important. One of my other dreams had me, quite literally, swimming through the stars in the sky. I could toy with constellations and stars at a whim, but there was one particular constellation I refused to mess with, and I'm not sure why. It wasn't anything overly complicated either, just a six-point star. What's your take on this?

Sincerely,
Princess Luna

It would have to suffice. Luna carefully folded the letter up and stuffed it into an envelope, stamping it shut with her wax seal before carrying it off to the Canterlot Post Office. Even after passing the envelope to the postmaster, she stayed and watched, just to insure it was properly sent on its way. The postmaster, aware the Princess was watching, carefully placed it within a set of saddlebags. All that remained now was for a pegasus to pick it up and make the deliveries. Satisfied, Luna quietly left and made her way back towards her room.

-----

1/19

Thanks to the aid of Miss Twilight Sparkle, I've been able to deduce the identities of the five shadow ponies within the dream - they're most likely the other Elements of Harmony, which in this case, would be Twilight Sparkle's closest friends. We still can't quite figure out the significance of the prophecy, however - neither of us can figure out what the constellation from my other dream might mean. As the dream-version of Twilight Sparkle said, though, time will give me the answer I seek. I suppose we'll sort everything out in due time.

I made a most wondrous discovery the other night while in the observatory. It seems a star in some distant system went supernova - though it's impossible to fathom just how far away the system might be, the amount of light being given off by the supernova is astounding. I've already forwarded my findings to both Twilight Sparkle and 'The Equestrian Astronomy Journal'.

The anonymous love letters have slowly started to wind down as well. I think all the guardsmen are beginning to get the hint that I'm not interested in the slightest. It took longer than I would have hoped, but at least they picked up on it - better late than never, right?

Luna set the quill down and glanced out her window. Much of Canterlot was still blanketed with snow, and would remain that way for another month or so. A smile slowly spread across her face, and she had the sudden urge to draw. Flipping to a new page, the Princess swapped the quill for a pencil and began to sketch and scribble within her diary. Slowly but surely, shapes and lines began to fill the page, and those same things soon transformed into trees, snow-covered ground, or the sky. The last time she felt this same kind of artistic surge was when she was repainting the old playroom - it had been a warm, yet foreign feeling, but she loved it all the same.

Little by little, Luna continually added more and more to the picture, trying to make it as similar to what she saw out her window as possible. Trees and shrubs were added in, and even a few of the guardsmen who were outside training made their way into the picture. She would frequently swap the pencil for crayons, coloring in portions of her drawing and slowly bringing it to life, yet something still felt as if it was missing. It needed that special something to make it whole. A smile slowly spread across her face as an idea formed in her mind, and she set the crayons down, throwing on her cap and scarf and making her way for the training yard.

Once outside, the young Princess located her window as best she could and slowly began to make something she hadn't made since she was but a filly - a snowpony. It wasn't something you could simply make with magic, as such a thing lacked the same love and attention a hoof-made one did. She worked slowly but carefully, and gradually made four pillars for the legs. From there, she started to work on the body, adding more snow to the legs so it would support the weight. It was a tricky thing to balance, but she surprised herself and managed to pull it off. All that was left was the neck and head, and though it proved troublesome at first, she finally succeeded. All that was left was to make it look like an actual pony - for that, she scavenged about and gathered several sticks, pebbles, and pine needles. It all began to come together, with the sticks making up the tail, the pine needles for the mane, and the pebbles for the eyes. It looked perfect, but it still seemed to be missing something - Luna soon had her 'Ah ha' moment and placed her old winter cap atop the snowpony.

Satisfied, she made her way back into the warm halls of the castle and proceeded to finish up her drawing, adding in the snowpony and something else she felt was appropriate - a small filly with a blue mane and coat, making the snowpony.

She had found that special something.