Through the dark of the room a candle was flickering, as magic suspended it above an open book. A dark purple hoof shut the book closed and left it there upon her bed. The title read, “Once Upon a Lonely Night”.
The unicorn let out a sigh as she got up and left her house, extinguishing the flame and leaving the candle behind as she crept into the star-litten night. What a beautiful night it was... but it wasn’t the night which was consuming Twilight’s thoughts. No, only one thing would trouble her like this.
She walked silently across the stone path, which led from her library-home, across a bridge and into the rest of ponyville. But she didn’t travel all the way to town; merely stopped upon the bridge and sat down to watch the river flow beneath her hooves and reflect the moon’s glow. She often came here when she felt like this, and tonight was no different. She was consumed by her loneliness.
“Why must I feel like this… even now?” she whispered to herself, ever so quietly. “I have great friends; and they all make me happy. What more do I need?” Her answer came as her thoughts strayed to each of her friends, remembering everything about who they are. They were almost all very outgoing, especially Pinkie Pie; and Fluttershy had her animals to keep her company. Without her friends and Spike, she had no one.
Twilight’s thoughts jumbled together as she attempted to understand her churning feelings. ‘No, my friends are always there for me… when they aren’t busy elsewhere. Flying loops in the skies, working on the orchard or in the shops… they all had places to be after all, I guess. Well at least Spike is always there for me. Ever since I hatched him he’s stuck around me, and I trust that he’ll always be there.’ He was the worst example though, and she quickly realized it.
Spike spent numerous years with Twilight, ever since she was a mere filly, and he still didn’t understand her… none of her friends did. The fact that he was an entirely different species helped, and once he could live on his own, Twilight knew he would leave her for good.
‘Why isn’t there anyone there for me, why doesn’t anyone understand who I am?’ she thought to herself, nearly crying as she reached the depths of her loneliness, unable to find happiness in the friends that she had. ‘No one can see why I study so hard; no one will stay up with me while I can’t sleep each night; no one is there for me. No one even cares… Why was I chosen to symbolize the Element of Friendship, I don’t even have any true friends!’ A cool breeze ruffled her mane and sent a shiver down her spine. It was nearly the darkest hour of the night, and the moon stood high over head, being blocked by clouds that no pegasus pony moved, as they all lay asleep in their homes… or so Twilight thought.
Swiftly the clouds moved away and light shined down on the bridge, along with reflecting off the river once more. Looking up, Twilight saw a dark shape in the sky, flapping blue-black wings and blowing away clouds until they left the city. Only once she fluttered down to ground did Twilight recognize the dark pony. It was Luna, the princess of the night.
Even as she stood a short distance away from Twilight, Luna seemed to be unaware of her presence. Twilight wondered if it was better that way, but then decided otherwise and confronted the royal alicorn. Coming up from behind Luna, Twilight’s voice rang out a greeting, disturbing the night’s peaceful silence, and startling the princess.
She quickly calmed down after she turned around and saw who it was talking. “Oh, hello there Twilight, what are you doing up at such an hour?” Since Luna regained her place among Equestria, Twilight had hardly talked to her, excluding the few occasions where she was with Celestia. Regardless, the two of them were friendly enough towards each other, especially since Twilight was the main pony to save Luna from Nightmare Moon’s curse.
“Oh, I just had some trouble sleeping…” ‘Like always.’ she silently added. “And I figured I’d go for a short walk,” even though that wasn’t quite true. “But what are you doing up Your Majesty? You should sleep too.”
“Please, I’d rather not be called by such a formal name…” She turned away with a slight blush. “And, I wish I could sleep. Sadly, my duty calls for me to spend the entire night awake as I guide the moon around Equestria.”
“Oh, that seems rather tiring,” Twilight said as she gained even more respect for Princess Celestia, considering that for a thousand years she rose and set both the sun and the moon. “It must be hard to stay up the entire night each day,” as she thought of how she nearly stood up each night studying.
“No, I’m actually not that tired… it’s just that as I spend my nights awake, and my days asleep, other ponies spend their days awake, and their nights asleep,” saying this, Luna looked to the moon as her horn glowed a faint blue color. “It’s just a lonely job.”
Twilight couldn’t help but feel a deep sympathy for Luna. She spent a thousand years alone, against her will, and then came home to reclaim her duty of guiding the moon; only to find herself nearly as lonely as before. She could hardly find any words to say as she thought up a way to help the young princess. Then an idea came to her and as she blushed and stammered, feeling shy as she said, “W-well, maybe I could spend the night with you, if that’d be ok?” the thought was kind of odd to her as she didn’t know Luna personally, but it still seemed like a good thing to do. Twilight only hoped that Luna didn’t think she was weird for bringing up such an idea.
Luna stood silent for a moment looking half-surprised at what Twilight said, then simply chuckled and said, “Thank you for offering, but I could never ask you to stay awake an entire night. I’ll be quite alright, don’t worry.” Luna wore a small smile, but the sadness in her eyes betrayed how she really felt. Twilight understood this, and became determined that it wouldn’t just be nice to stay with Luna, but it would also take away her own loneliness.
Twilight smiled a true smile as she told Luna, “I actually spend most nights awake anyways, and it wouldn’t hurt if I spent this one with you instead of some random books.”
Luna saw that her offer was sincere, and she figured it would be nice to be with someone else for once. She nodded her head and Twilight came to stand beside her, already asking her about how she moved the moon. Luna smiled as her horn glowed the same light blue as before. Although nothing seemed to happen, Twilight knew that the moon had moved some small amount and she stared in wonder at what strong magic Luna must control. Looking down to the alicorn, she saw that Luna wasn’t even tried as her job was nearly half done, the moon nearly at its peak in the sky.
“Wow, I’ve never seen such strong magic, it must have taken centuries to perfect!” Twilight said, remembering just how old Luna could be.
Luna blushed at her praise and shyly explained, “No, I actually had the ability since birth and could fully control it once I was instructed and received my cutie mark. It’s a gift passed down to the royal unicorns.”
Twilight pondered what an honor and responsibility it must be to own such a role, but then eagerly asked, “What other magic do you possess? You must know a ton of tricks!”
Luna dug her hoof at the ground nervously, feeling unable to live up to the unicorn’s praise, “I actually don’t know all that much magic. I barely have anytime to practice.”
Twilight wondered how this was true, but she didn’t want to mention her thousand-year banishment, so then decided to teach the princess some magic of her own. “I wouldn’t suppose you have anything else to do for the night.” Though it sounded harsh, and Twilight didn’t mean to sound rude, but it was true all the same.
“Well…” Luna thought for a moment, not used to the idea of doing something else at night besides guiding the moon, but then decided it’d be good to entertain herself for once. “Ok then, that sounds kind of fun actually.” And so, for the rest of the night, Twilight instructed Luna through simple magic uses: telekinetics, size alteration, changing shapes, and dividing small objects. Mixed in with the tutoring, friendly conversation was always present, even up until the Luna’s job was done, and the night sky faded into a light blue-yellow and pink.
Twilight let out a yawn and Luna joined in, both realizing they were tired. “It’s been a fun night Luna,” she said, with a smile on her face.
“Yeah, it has been…” and then Luna did something Twilight never expected; she gave her a friendly nuzzle. “Thank you for spending the night with me.”
Twilight was taken aback by her gesture, but it only widened her smile more, “And we could always do it again if you want.” Luna nodded her head, and Twilight knew she had developed a new friendship; one she knew would be strong. Luna was a lot like her, Twilight thought, as she traveled home, ‘Even if she is royal.’ Maybe that’s what being the Element of Friendship is all about; finding friends in the most unlikely places.
Twilight dragged herself home, now very tired, and waved Spike away as she fell into her bed. Just after she closed her eyes, it seemed, there was a knock at the door and Spike whispered to the guests, “She’s kinda asleep right now. She got home late.” Twilight knew it was her five best friends at the door. ‘Yep, this is what being the element of friendship is all about,’ Twilight thought to herself.