Umbra drew the letter close and sniffed. It wasn't that she made it a habit of sniffing every letter, but that one had a scent she could smell right away. It was a sweet aroma, a girly aroma. "Who would..." She flipped the letter over, revealing a mark. It was Starlight Glimmer's cutie mark. "Oh... Oh no..."
She usually kept her cool in dangerous situations, but at that moment, her heart raced with panic. She ran off with the letter, the paper billowing in the breeze as if it was chasing her. Umbra could hear the clink of cutlery and the sound of laughter as she approached Shining Armor and Cadance's breakfast.
Shining cocked a brow, spotting the distressed pony joining them. "Something wrong, Umbri?"
Umbra slapped down the letter. "After all that, and all the promises I made, I never sat her down and explained it. She probably thinks I'm a friend, with benefits, and this is probably a super friendly letter. And she isn't even doing anything wrong! She did nothing wrong! I did it wrong and now it's exploding, again!" The words spilled from her with barely any pauses, her breath uneven and catching.
Cadance made the slow motion of even breath, hoof to chest and away. "Calm down... Has anything actually happened?"
"Huh? No." Umbra hopped back from the letter as if it may explode at any moment. "I swear! She just sent me a letter... And probably wants me to visit, and do some magic battling, and then probably get hot and heavy..."
Shining coughed into a hoof, colored at the thought. "I see... Well, um, time to tell her what the deal is then?"
Cadance nodded. "Exactly. Starlight is a reasonable pony. You can write, exactly if you want, I'm getting married! You can invite her, which she may accept or not. Then if she wants to duel, without the extra parts, you can do that, guilt free."
Umbra crashed to her haunches bonelessly. "Oh... yeah. Wow... Adulting failure." She laughed a little hysterically, calming herself bit by bit. "I just have to tell the truth. No drama here..." She reached for the paper with her magic. "I didn't even read it yet... Maybe it's not even so bad."
She flipped the letter over to read properly, eyes sweeping left and right as she went, her tail still behind her.
Hiya,
It's been so long! Twilight duels are great and all, but you really take it to the next level. I want to have magical competitions with a pony that knows the meaning of a real battle, and you got that spark. Ahem, I wouldn't say no to one of us being the pony in charge afterwards either. Double fun, if you ask me.
I should warn, that will be me. I won't lose! But I look forward to seeing your best attempt.
Friendship may be magic, but passion is sorcery,
Starlight Glimmer
"Nope." Umbra set the letter down in her magic. "It was exactly what I thought it'd be. I feel awful... She did nothing wrong, and now I have to shoot her down."
Shining casually took the letter, abandoned as it had been. "It can't be..." He actually read the words. "Oh. So... This is what got you and--"
Cadance slapped him from across the table. "Shining! Rubbing salt in the wound isn't the goal. I say you tell the truth. She won't like it... But she may look forward to taking it out on the battlefield, and you two can be wizard peers, minus all the... extra."
"Yeah..." Umbra's magic won over the letter as she tucked it away. "I'll write her back. Just to be super clear, we're a thing now. 100% No others are allowed in."
Cadance patted Umbra far more gently than her swat had been. "Glad to hear it. I didn't doubt you. Now, go on. Let her down gently. This doesn't have to be an end of a friendship, just... a romance."
Shining rubbed the warm spot where he had been hit. "Easy there... But yeah. Just tell the truth. For what it helps, we're not mad about this. You didn't do, um, anything new. So write."
"Write..." Umbra clucked her tongue softly. "Just a few letters." She rose to her hooves. "Right. Sorry to interrupt breakfast." She set off without further delay.
Cadance sipped from her cup of coffee. "She may need our help."
"We're here for her." He sipped from his own. "But let's trust her to decide when that is."
The two were in agreement, tapping their cups together.
"Oh." Starlight let the letter fall from her magic with a frowning pout. "Shoot..."
"What is it?" Spike peeked in at her from the hallway. "Bad mail?"
"You could say that." She turned away from it, towards Spike. "Somepony I thought... I was getting ahead of myself." She coughed into a hoof. "She still wants to practice magic! That's good...." She tapped her hooves fitfully. "I was being dumb."
Spike knew that feeling, and those mannerisms. "Oh, ow, sorry." He scampered into her room and hopped up to give her a big hug around her neck. "It'll be alright."
Starlight curled one arm around him, holding him close. "Thanks..." She wiped a few tears away with her other arm. "So... When are you going to talk to Rarity?"
Spike fell to the ground stiffly. "Mean! Um... We're working on it." He fiddled his fingers fitfully. "Um... so... who was the other pony? They have to be special if they got your attention."
"Yeah..." Starlight threw a hoof. "Yeah... A wizard, like me and Twilight. But she loves some battle magic, more like me, less like Twilight. Um, no offense to her. She's been a great teacher, and a sparring partner..."
"But she isn't big on fighting, right." Spike put that together, nodding. "Also, she isn't super romantic."
"No..." Starlight leaned in. "This is between you and me, but part of me wonders if that isn't part of why Celestia picked her. A proper pony princess of Equestria can't be distracted by another pony catching their eye."
Spike raised a claw dubiously. "What about Cadance?"
"What about her?" Starlight let out her breath. "Sorry! Sorry... Not her fault... Either way, she's not a princess of Equestria, just the crystal empire. Different rules. Also, tinfoil hat time, but she had her +1 nice and early, making her getting distracted with somepony new kind of unlikely."
"Tricky." Spike wagged a finger at Starlight. "Well, um, sorry. That stinks..." He fidgeted in place. "I know what it's like, when... that kinda thing doesn't go your way..."
"You are too nice." She hugged him once more and pushed him away just as quickly. "I have to sort myself out. Just a grown pony with a grown pony problem." She hiked a brow. "Unless you know way more magic than I've been told. In which case, me, you, duel, now. You're going down."
Spike squeaked, holding up his hands as he backpedeled. "Woah! No, sorry! No magic here, other than, uh, dragon stuff?"
"Dragon stuff, right." And yet, she appeared to be considering that. "Could be fun, but limited..." She shrugged with a quirk of a smile. "If you ever want to try that, lemme know."
"You'll be the first to know." He fled before he could get voluntold into that duty.
Starlight turned back to that abandoned letter. "Not fair..." She brushed the letter aside. "All the ponies I like are taken or unhinged. Sometimes both. Ugh... And she invited me... Ugh!"
"Those aren't happy sounds." Twilight, the other half of that coin. "Everything alright?"
"No!" Starlight shoved the letter the rest of the way to the trash. "A pony I like liked went and got married, and not to me.. so..." She flopped to her haunches. "I'm having a friendship failure right now."
"Ow..." But she did come closer. "Sorry to hear that. Is..." She abandoned that thought with awkward hoof motions. "Can I help?"
"Yes." Starlight captured Twilight's round cheeks and mooshed them together. "You can let me abuse you a moment, or you can fight me. Either will make me feel better."
Twilight burst with magic, forcing Starlight's hooves away. "Calm down. Hurting other ponies isn't--" She jumped back, avoiding a force blast. "You're not listening..."
It was a fine time for a duel, and Starlight was getting one, whether Twilight wanted one or not.
"I think you have it." Cheese tipped his wide-brimmed hat at Umbra. "All the steps to make the crystal ponies proud and to have a fantastic special day for yourself." He cocked his head. "What's that?" There were no sounds. "Boneless says to remember one important thing."
Umbra peered at the rubber chicken that had not said anything. "What does Boneless say?"
"He says the whole crystal thing is for show." He leaned in dangerously close. "The real deal is between you and the others. That's where the love really is." He clapped with a big smile. "So don't get distracted. You're just showing off for the Crystal Empire."
"That... is encouraging, actually." She nodded at the chipper earth pony and his friend. "Boneless is a wise chicken."
"The wisest I know. Now, I should get back to wedding planning. Pinkie said the others were ready, so we just have to work our magic." He threw sparkles in the air and was gone by the time they had settled.
Umbra shook her head at where Cheese had been. "If only human wedding planners were more like that..." She went off in search of family, not the ones she was gaining. "There you are." She found Morning and Tomtom drawing on the ground of her bedroom. "You two are beyond adorable. What are you drawing?"
Tomtom proudly held up his parchment. "Drawing city, high. Look down. I..." He slowed, trying to speak properly. "I want to... draw what Morning doesn't... see."
Umbra quirked an ear at that. "How thoughtful... You can see what she doesn't?"
Morning huffed at that. "He has exceptional distance vision, mother. Umbrum have little need for that." She sat up, her paper floating along with her magic, no horn required. "I am drawing the family crest."
Umbra clapped at the reasonable copy of that solid crest. "Very nice. I'm proud of both of you. You see different things, but that doesn't make either vision less important, or impressive." She thought back to what she had read long ago. How to encourage children to keep drawing... "What's your favorite part?"
Morning tapped at the bulbous bits of the crest. "I enjoy the flowing parts, mother."
"It looks like a jewel." Tomtom bounced in place, joyful in his drawing. "See?" He held it up to make that more clear.
"Very jewel like..." She looked to the crest. "And I do like that part too... What does it make you think of?"
Morning huffed gently. "Our family is complex, but it comes together, mother. It is that conflicting unity that gives us strength." She nodded at Tomtom's drawing. "His is bright and colorful... It's strange, seeing what I saw... more detailed... A kind of magic."
Tomtom couldn't look much happier if he tried, and he was trying so very hard. "You like it?! I drew it for you." He presented the paper towards her to claim. "I like yours. Good shadow. It makes me think of the good shadow. Scary, but the scary that... is good. Good scary."
Umbra was less jubilantly pleased, but it felt like she had said the right things, getting the two to discuss their drawings, but not in a 'this is good' or 'this is bad' sort of way, at least as a focus. "Tom." He looked to her. "I like that you're showing a different perspective. Showing what you see... hear... The way you experience the world? That's a big part of art."
She could see Morning ready to launch a defensive volley. "You're doing it too, more subtly. I don't think most ponies would pay that much attention to the fine work. You're leaning in." She pointed to Tom. "You're leaning back. Share your experience, as you're doing. I couldn't be prouder."
They began to debate the merits of closer vs further, but they were both invested in the creation, and Umbra felt sure she had succeeded at that parental challenge.