Celestia stood quietly on the highest balcony her castle had to offer, sighing contently after another day's work as the sun slowly sank below the horizon. Life as a princess, though envied by many, wasn't easy. She was grateful, though, that she was the one to take care of these matters. Annoying as her job could be at times, she recognized that she was perhaps the only one who could take that place. So, despite her fatigue, she smiled, satisfied with the day's work.
She took one last look at the now vacant, black sky. Normally, she'd have raised the moon as well, but in an effort to reconcile with her sister, Celestia had allowed Luna to retake her position, and raise the moon at night. So, with her duties for that day taken care of, Celestia smiled wistfully as she stepped down from the balcony, and back into the tower.
A single scroll wrapped neatly in a red ribbon sat patiently on a table, waiting for Celestia to read it. Levitating it behind her, Celestia descended the tower and slowly walked to her bedroom, suppressing a yawn as she walked the castle's now-darkened hallways.
Setting the letter down onto her desk, Celestia waved her horn at the door, closing it softly. A single lit candle on the corner of her desk provided just enough light to read by. The princess unrolled the scroll carefully, smiling as she read the opening phrase.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I’ve learned another important lesson about friendship this week: no matter how much you grow accustomed to having them around, never take your friends for granted.
I’ve come to realize that your friends mean more to you than almost anypony else in your life. This might seem obvious, but I don’t think that we express that enough.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that friends are valuable, and you’d do well to let them know that every once in awhile.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Celestia looked up from the letter, smiling as she rolled up the scroll again, and set it aside. Twilight had learned a particularly valuable lesson this time, it seemed.
“You’d do well to let them know that every once in awhile.”
The phrase lingered in Celestia's mind as she got up and left her study, making her way back to the tower she had just left. By now, the moon hung proudly in the sky, providing dim light where previously Celestia had been walking in darkness. She walked steadily, yet not hurriedly; there was no reason to rush.
Celestia entered the room quietly, smiling as she noticed her sister's ever-familiar silhouette out on the balcony. As expected, Luna had lingered to admire her moon yet again.
“A fine evening you’ve made this time, Luna,” Celestia said as she walked up to her sister.
Luna, as expected, had been reveling in her newborn night. She stood on the balcony from which she always cast her spell, watching over Ponyville. A soft, cool breeze flowed around her, causing her mane to dance gracefully on the wind. She never looked away from the sky, being much too busy admiring the stars and moon. “Celestia? What are you doing here? I’ve only just raised the moon, and your job for today has been taken care of. I thought you'd gone to bed.”
“Actually, Luna, Twilight sent me another letter today," Celestia responded, joining her sister in her admiration. "It seems she learned yet another valuable lesson on friendship this week.”
“Another one? I thought she'd have run out of those by now."
Celestia couldn't help but giggle at her sister's joke. It was rare to catch Luna in a joking mood. “Yes, another lesson. This time, she’s talking about appreciating your friends. Twilight apparently thinks she hasn’t been doing enough of that.”
Luna merely hummed, still gazing at the moon.
Celestia's smile promptly vanished. She'd been trying her best to get Luna to be more... social, but she'd made little progress. “Are we... friends, Luna?” she asked.
Luna, eyes widened, finally turned to face her sister. She smiled, “Of course we are. Twilight's letters are getting to you again, aren't they?”
"I... well... Yes. I know we've had our difference, but I'm glad to finally have you back," Celestia responded, smiling in turn. "Sometimes that purple unicorn really does have a point."
"Celestia, we're sisters. We raise the sun and moon! Of course we're friends. How couldn't we be?"
“See, this is what I mean, Luna. I don’t want you to think that we’re friends just because we have to be. I want you to think that we’re friends because we both want to be.”
Luna remained quiet. The two of them stood there for a moment, just looking at one another.
Their moment of silence was cut short as a guard frantically burst through the nearby door and stormed into the room, yelling at the top of his lungs. “Princess Celestia!" His eyes scanned the room, but no princesses were to be found. The guard was just about to turn around to head for Celestia's chamber when he noticed that the balcony's windows were open, the curtains drafting inside on the wind.
He dashed for the balcony, once again exclaiming, "Princess!"
Had the balcony been just two inches shorter, the guard would have crashed head-first into Celestia. Luckily for him, though, he managed to frantically halt his movement before the two collided. He took just a moment to breathe and collect his thoughts, then looked up. "Celestia, I..."
Only then did he realize that both princesses were present. After taking just a moment to reconsider his words, the guard cautiously spoke. “Oh... my apologies, Princesses. I... uhhh...”
"Calm down," Celestia laughed. "What's the matter?"
“Forgive my rudeness, Your Majesties, but you are both needed in the throne room, as soon as possible." The restraint in the guard's voice was all too clear. As if on cue, both Luna and Celestia frowned.
"Both of us?" Celestia answered. "My work is done for today, what could you still need me for?"
“An alicorn just walked into the throne room!” the guard yelled, still trying to catch his breath.
Celestia gasped, but quickly regained her composure and shook her head. “Not possible. She wouldn’t have been able to get past the guards without one of them noticing her.”
“But she did! We don't know who she is, but she said she wanted to speak with you. Both of you.”
“So, if that's true, then why and perhaps more importantly, how didn’t we know of her arrival?” Luna asked. “Somepony would have noticed her, surely.”
“I think we’d best go and look for ourselves, Luna," Celestia replied. "The arrival of an alicorn would have serious consequences for the kingdom."
“Fine," Luna said, nodding. “Lead the way, Celestia.”
“Thank you,” Celestia said to the guard before they left. “You’ve done well.”
The two sisters walked hurriedly to the throne room, both of them quiet. The arrival of an alicorn would be an important matter indeed, but they both found it rather difficult to believe. They shared a look of concern as they entered the room, for standing in the grand entrance to the Canterlot throne room, shaking on her legs and surrounded by guards on all sides, was an alicorn.
She had a strange sense of presence about her, almost like she was used to being the center of attention, as she was right now. She stood tall, taller even than both Celestia and Luna, and seemed to not care about the guards, her attention focused solely on the entrance the sisters had come through. Oddly enough, she stood proudly, if unstable.
She was filthy, her coat caked with dirt, the ivory hairs showing only in patches. Her mane and tail, matted and unkempt as they were, resembled flames. Even more dirt caked the crimson, tangled hairs of her mane and tail, and twigs thrust out of the blonde tips of both, as though she had crashed through a copse of brambles.
She seemed familiar, for some reason. Celestia knew better than to think that she knew her, but the princess couldn’t shake the feeling that she had seen the stranger somewhere before. The alicorn's own eyes, vividly blue as they were, only enforced this feeling of recognition.
She smiled as she met Celestia's gaze. "Celestia! Luna!" her voice trailed off as she spoke, and her legs finally buckled as she collapsed to the floor.