//------------------------------//
// A Friendship Lesson 
// Story: A Friendship Lesson 
// by The Atlantean 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle laid back on the grass, taking care to keep her wings from being crushed under her. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, breathing in the cool night air. She felt a light breeze rippling her mane and fur and smiled contentedly.
It was her first true night alone since becoming ruler of Equestria. There was always something that needed her attention, whether it be an Everfree monster, a friendship problem, or plain and simple administration. The ripples in pony society left from the final battle against Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis looked like they were at last smoothing, and Equestria was truly at peace again. Finally, she could relax.
“P-Princess Twilight?” a young voice asked. It sounded like it came from a filly she knew well.
“Yes, Luster Dawn?” Twilight answered.
“I just thought you’d be in the observatory tonight. Since it’s the meteor shower and all.” Luster sounded hesitant, flustered.
“I’ve seen it through the royal telescopes before. They’re not quite right. You can only ever really see one at a time through them.”
“So you’re watching it here?”
Twilight sighed again. “Yes, I am. It’s a very beautiful night. The weather Pegasi did an excellent job with the clouds this afternoon.” She waved at the horizon. “Clear skies as far as the eye can see.”
“M-May I join you?”
“Of course. And it’s just Twilight. You don’t need to call me Princess.”
Twilight adjusted for the filly as she patted the grass and laid back, placing her head over her hooves. Luster Dawn, the top student from her School of Gifted Unicorns and her private student (as Twilight herself had been for Princess Celestia years ago), shook her golden mane out of her eyes and stifled a yawn. She reminded Twilight of her own fillyhood in many ways.
“Were you in the archives again last night, Luster Dawn?” Twilight asked.
“Yes, Princess Twilight,” Luster replied through another yawn. “I wanted to learn more about magic, specifically runes. Just the idea of channeling magic through carvings in a rock sounded so intriguing—more so than friendship. Why do you even want me to have friends?”
“I see.” Twilight pulled her hoof out from under her head and pointed at the sky as a meteor streaked across it. “I was a lot like you as a filly. The friends I did have were closer to acquaintances because I was so focused on my studies. My only true friend then was Spike, and he was my assistant!” She chuckled. “I was Princess Celestia’s private pupil then—just like you are to me.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what changed?” Luster asked. “You’re always telling me about your friends.”
“Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville to make friends. I didn’t realize how important they could be until then.”
“Is that why you want me to make friends? Because it worked for you? But your friends are never here.”
Twilight sighed. “While it is true that my friends have moved on beyond their lives in Ponyville just as I have taken Princess Celestia’s place as ruler of Equestria, that doesn’t mean they’re never here. Your truest friends are always with you wherever you go.” She patted her chest. “Right in here. In your heart and memories.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s not something I can teach, Luster Dawn. Just as Princess Celestia needed me to experience friendship for myself, I need you to do it too. I can guide you, but you must take that first step once you’re ready.”
“How will I know?”
“You just will. Start friendships and nurture them well. It can take many years, but you will be proud. You can start with your fellow pupils.”
“But—”
“Shh.” Twilight leveled her hoof over Luster’s muzzle and smiled kindly. “I know you don’t want to, but it is all I ask.” She gestured at the sky, which glowed with the dim light of the crescent moon and now displayed a new meteor every few seconds. “Tell me what you see.”
Luster hesitated, confused, but eventually answered. “Stars. The moon. And the meteor shower.”
“Do you know what I see, Luster? I see constellations, pictures etched into the sky telling stories of great heroes and myths. I see our lives reflected back to us in a beautiful display of our history. And I see my friends.”
“But your friends aren’t gone, are they?”
“No, my friends are very much still alive. But they don’t need to be gone for you to see them in everything around you. For example, the recipes for many of the desserts served in the castle kitchens come straight from Pinkie Pie, who helped the Cakes run their bakery back in Ponyville.
“The Wonderbolts are impressive, and they’re all trained by Rainbow Dash, who was Ponyville’s weather pony and a great flyer for many years before she joined them.
“My dresses are personally made by Rarity, who ran the Crystal Boutique before she expanded beyond Ponyville and no longer had the time, but she hasn’t lost her touch in the years since.
“Castle fruit and vegetables come straight from my friends in the Apple Family, and they have yet to make bad cider. Applejack still hasn’t left Ponyville, but she believes her place is home at Sweet Apple Acres.
“And finally, Fluttershy lives with Discord and her animals, and she is happy where she is.”
“You get all that from the stars?”
Twilight laughed. “No, they tell me! I still keep in touch with all of them.”
“Then what do the stars tell you?”
“They tell me nothing, now. But I can tell them my stories, and in a thousand years when I miss my friends, they will remind me. The stars do not tell us our present stories, Luster. They tell us what has already come to pass, and we give them something new to say.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“You will.” Twilight tucked her hoof back between her head and the grass. “But for now, let’s enjoy the night. Your friendship lesson can wait for morning.”
“Was that not my lesson?”
“No.”
Luster looked over at her mentor, puzzled. “Then what was it?”
“It was mine, many years ago.” She smiled at her student. “It wasn’t a lesson Princess Celetia could teach me.”
Neither spoke for a long time. They silently watched the annual meteor shower veil the night sky in beautiful streaks of light over a starry backdrop and the dim moon. The breeze faltered for a moment, then picked up again, signaling a coming batch of rain clouds from Cloudsdale.
Eventually, Twilight felt a light tap. “Yes, my student?” she asked.
“Princess Twilight, what if I can’t keep the friends I make?”
“Then I will help you make new ones.”
“And if I can’t again?”
“Then I will help you again.”
“And—”
“And again and again. And if there are no ponies or creatures in Equestria willing to be your friend, you will still have me.”
“But why? I’ll have failed you.”
Twilight reached around Luster Dawn and pulled her closer. “Because that’s what friends are for.”