//------------------------------// // Epilogue - New and Old Friends // Story: Tales Above a Scorched Land - Sunfall // by gerandakis //------------------------------// Epilogue - New and Old Friends As the humming of the Lumiere's drive core slowly died down, the hatch opened, releasing the ponies aboard onto the pier of the dock beneath Golden Oaks Library. The princesses followed the other seven mares up the stairs. As they stepped out onto the plaza surrounding the library tree, they were greeted by confetti, streamers, music and the various other trappings generally associated with celebration. Only upon hearing that Pinkie Pie had set up the party, did the mares notice that she had vanished some time through their trip back up to the floating island. "Wha- How didst- When did she-" Rarity simply laid a hoof over Princess Celestia's withers. "Don't question it, your Highness. Trust me, it's easier that way." "How?" "Don't worry about it, sister," Luna quietly shushed the smaller alicorn as the others walked off to enjoy the party. "I've had my agents keep track of all five of these mares for years. I cannot recall anypony – or anycreature for that matter – ever giving them as many headaches as young Miss Pie and her family. All of them have a rather ... loose handle on generally accepted reality at times. "That being said, they have also told tales of Miss Pie's parties. If they are to be believed, this isn't something we should miss." There were several 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from the gathered ponies as the two royals joined in on the party. While almost everypony bowed to Princess Luna, much to her chagrin, the introduction of Princess Celestia caused some confusion. Most ponies had, after all, forgotten that Princess Luna even had a sister. Though many had to agree that, in retrospect, the existence of a Princess of the Moon did imply that there should be a Princess of the Sun as well. Luna had been right. The party was fantastic. Somehow, Pinkie Pie had managed to have something for everypony's tastes. Even Celestia's, which was impressive considering even Luna had forgotten what her sister enjoyed after so many years. Everypony had a great time, which wasn't really surprising, given who was throwing the party. Still, after a few hours, evening came around once more and, to Luna's observant gaze, Starlight, Sunset, and Twilight's seemed to be growing increasingly subdued. "Is there something wrong, my students?" The three turned towards her, exchanging a glance. "Well, not really," Sunset began, "it's just that well-" "Now that we've finally understood what it means to have real friends..." "We have to leave them behind," Twilight finished. All three of them were looking at the floor, unaware that their new friends had approached from behind. Luna smiled proudly as she looked at her three students, then she turned to the young dragon who was once more sat on Twilight's back. "Spike, take a note. I, Princess Luna, hereby decree that, from this day forward, my three students shall remain in Ponyville to study the magic of friendship. Furthermore, they shall send me reports on what they learn so that the ponies of Equestria may benefit from their studies." As the three unicorns smiled at each other and turned to the other five mares they had only just noticed, Luna looked after them for a moment, then looked to her sister and motioned for her to follow before walking off to the town's main port where the Selene was docked. A few moments after the princess had walked off, Sunset inclined her head as she often did when communing with Philomena. "Goodness, you're right. We totally forgot about Moon Dancer's party!” The other two looked to her with dawning shock. "Oh sweet Luna, we did, didn't we?" "Well," Starlight eventually pointed out, "it's too late now. Guess we'll have to write her an apology. And it's not like we can't visit Canterlot if she wants to throw another one. Y'know, when the world isn't ending." The other two chuckled and Twilight summoned a piece of paper and a pen, beginning to write. Sunset, meanwhile looked in the direction of the port. "Y'know, if we're fast enough we should be able to give it to the Princess... es and they can have it delivered. It was only early evening, but, despite that, the house near the central library of Canterlot was darkened. The only light came from the unicorn lying on the couch with a depressed expression. It wasn't her horn that was emitting the light. Rather, her entire form glowed slightly, fading in and out in some places. Every now and again, sparks of magic danced off various points on Moon Dancer's body, but she couldn't be bothered to hold her form properly. If she could have, she would have been crying, the fact that she couldn't was only another reminder that she wasn't a pony anymore. Not since the accident. Ever since, everypony had treated her like some kind of dangerous beast the moment they learned of her condition. Until she met those three unicorns. They talked to her like they would to any other pony, like they did to each other. It had taken weeks before she had learned that they were the personal students of Princess Luna. Over the years, she had started to see them as friends, even though they only talked on occasion, seeing how the three were always busy with her studies. She had understood. She was much the same. It had taken their other friends, Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemonhearts, and, of course, the ever bizarre Lyra, to get her to come out of her shell a little more. Finally, she had been ready to throw a party of her own, had invited them all. All except Lyra, that is, given that she had moved out of town only a few weeks before. And the three mares she had wanted to attend the most hadn't even shown up. The other three were still there, sure, but even they had to admit that it wasn't the same without the three. A knock on her door broke her out of her reverie. A normal knock probably wouldn't have, but this wasn't a normal knock. A normal pony's knock ranged somewhere from shy to polite to impatient. This one was different. It was forceful and clear. Polite, yet making it clear that the door wouldn't really hinder her visitor if she didn't open it for them. Simply put, it was a guard knock. Sure enough, when she opened her door, after restoring her form to proper cohesion, of course, there was a mare in the usual armor of the night guard standing outside. "Miss Moon Dancer?" "Yes?" "I have a letter here for you." Moon Dancer looked in confusion at the envelope as she took it in her own magic. "Since when do the royal guard deliver letters?" "We usually don't, but we make an exception for important royal communication. From what I've heard Princess Luna's students were quite eager to make sure you got this letter. Something about being unable to attend a party because of official royal duties." "Really?" "That's what I've heard at least. I suspect the letter will make things clearer. Regardless, I have to go now. Have a pleasant evening ma'am." As the guardsmare walked off, Moon Dancer let the door fall closed and returned to her living room, actually turning on the lights now, and opened the letter. Sitting back down on her couch, she began to read. Dear Moon Dancer, we hope this letter reaches you quickly. We're very sorry that we couldn't make it to your party, but we were called away on royal business. I suspect that you will learn the details of it from the news soon, but just in case Princess Luna plans to keep quiet about them, we won't discuss them in a letter. In case you're wondering if this has anything to do with the Sky Light Festival being cut a bit shorter than usual or the strange behavior of the sun, it does. Moon Dancer hadn't been wondering about that, so Twilight's suggestion only left her confused. Before the question can come up, yes, the fact that Equestria suddenly has two ruling princesses rather than one also plays into this. Two ruling princesses? What was she talking about? Had something changed in Princess Cadence's status? It was a commonly known fact, in Canterlot, at least, that, while she was a princess, Cadence was not the head of government as Luna was and only took over rule when Luna was occupied elsewhere. We'll be visiting Canterlot in a few days so we can tell you the details then if the media doesn't pick up on it. The more Moon Dancer read, the more confused she became. Whatever was Twilight talking about? How could those three be visiting Canterlot? They lived in town didn't they? As she made to read on, she noted Twilight's clean, formal script transition into Sunset's elaborate cursive. To explain what Twilight is talking about, we've made some new friends during our business in Ponyville, who managed to show to us the value of friendship. Looking back, we understand now what terrible friends we've been to you and the others. Hay, we didn't even know Lyra had moved here until I ran into her yesterday! As such, we really want to apologize, not just for missing your party, though we'd gladly come by if you want to throw another one when the fate of Equestria doesn't hang in the balance, but also for being such terrible friends all these years. Could you pass our apologies on to the others as well? We'll apologize personally when we visit Canterlot next week. Moon Dancer was now firmly somewhere between touched and confused. The girls' apology was touching, it really was. But what in the wide skies of Equestria were they talking about? The fate of Equestria hanging in the balance, a second ruling princess, irregularities with the sun and the Sky Light Festival, none of it made any sense. And Sunset, too, was talking about visiting Canterlot as though it wasn't the city they called their home. She could only hope that the rest of the letter, written in the elaborate cursive that was the result whenever Starlight was writing something intended for somepony else to read, rather than the notes to herself and her sisters she wrote in her usual chicken scratch, would give her answers. Since the other two apparently can't be bothered to explain, let me give you as much detail as I can in a letter. In short, something bad happened that threatened all of Equestria and we had to go to the surface with our new acquaintances to retrieve some ancient artifacts to save the day. That's also why they keep talking about visiting. To study the power of these artifacts, we'll be living in Ponyville for the foreseeable future. Why we have to do that from here should become clear when we give you the full story directly. Regardless, we hope we can be better friends to you and the others in the future and we still have the Lumiere so it's not like we can't visit anytime. Alternatively, you and the others could come to visit, but be prepared for a welcome party. That seems to be custom here. Take care, Starlight, Sunset, and Twilight Well, it wasn't all the answers, but there was hope that she would get the full story in due time. At least she now knew that her friends had an actual reason to miss her party. Probably. She would reserve judgment on whether she would really forgive them for when she had the full story. Regardless, for the moment she was feeling much better than she had before. She should probably go meet the others tomorrow, they had been trying to talk to her all day and she had a message to give them anyway. For now though, that could wait. It was late and she was tired. Going up to her bedroom, she fully let go of her pony form and jumped into the miniaturized drive-core that was her bed.