The Letter That Was Never Sent

by Delta 727


The Letter That Was Never Sent

The Royal Library was dark. Silent. The guards had already closed for the night, and locked the door, and all tucked in for the night.

Which meant none of them were guarding it.

It was only a few days after the Discord incident. The damage had been repaired, and Discord was sealed back in stone. Celestia had greatly praised the Elements of Harmony in their success, while to a couple of them it was just another day.

All except for Twilight.

Twilight Sparkle had not been herself. Discord had done things that she had never thought possible. He had not only plunged Equestria into mass chaos, but had tuned her friends into their polar opposites. Which had as well turned her emotions into a downward spiral.

It broke her heart in half.

Even though afterward when she defeated Discord and brought her friends back to their normal selves, she couldn't stop thinking about the despair that she'd felt when her hope was depleted. She felt as though she had failed everypony she knew, and needed some pony to confide in. But she didn't feel ready to talk to any that she knew. Which is why she found herself where she was now.

She had come to the library to write a letter. She couldn't write it in her own, because she would wake Spike, and he would start asking questions she didn't want to answer. After the guards had locked up for the night, she sneaked in. She knew she didn't have to, but if one of the guards saw her they would have notified Celestia, and Twilight wanted no pony to know about what she was writing. Not until she was sure she wanted them to.

She found a small corner in the back of the library, lit a candle, and grabbed a quill, ink well, and sheet of paper. Taking one more glance around the room, she began to write by the light of the candle.

Dear Princes Celestia,

I'm sorry. I failed you and all of Equestria trying to stop Discord. He tore our home apart, and I was helpless. I lost so much that day. My friends, my home... My pride. And when I realized that there was no hope, when my color had faded, my heart broke in two.

I'd never felt so hopeless in my life. I felt like if I were to die right then, it wouldn't have mattered. My friends wouldn't be grieving, because they would've been too busy arguing with each other. All because I wouldn't have been able to turn them back. Even though I was, and still am, perfectly alive, are we really better off now than we were knowing that he could come back any day and do it all over again? Would I be able to stop him twice?

And what about you, Princess Celestia? I know you knew DIscord in the past, and it must have been horrible knowing that he had returned to wreak chaos. Which is why he was targeting me. He must have known that you were tutoring me in magic, so he knew how to hurt us. But worst of all, he succeeded. And what I feel the worst about is that it wasn't your fault whatsoever.

It was mine.

I was too weak to stop Discord. Too ignorant and careless. And I want to apologize for even letting him return in the first place. How could I let something as big as the God of Chaos reawaken? I could have stopped it. Equestria could have been perfectly safe, but my ignorance let Equestria fall into the claws of a Draconequus. And what could I do?

A tear ran down her cheek, and landed on the paper as she wrote:

Nothing.

She wiped her face, and suddenly though about her friends, and complete despair hit her as she wrote the next part.

All five of the ponies that were supposed to look up to me turned on each other. Something was truly wrong with them, but I was too ignorant to notice. I had a chance to stop it, but the realization couldn't get through my thick, egghead skull.

She was openly crying now, and her hoof shook as she began to finish the letter.

What good is being the Element of Magic if magic never solved anything? Discord used magic to destroy Equestria, but I used it to destroy him. Is that all magic can do? Can it only destroy?

It was because of you and the Elements of Harmony that stopped Discord. If it weren't for you, he'd still be loose. I could never have stopped him on my own. There were so many of us that he hurt, and all I could do was cry for myself. Cry like a little filly when my home was being destroyed.

Discord is gone, but the scars he left will never leave. I'm sorry, Celestia.

But your loyal and faithful student has failed you.

Your loyal, but unfaithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

She set down her quill, her quiet sobs echoing through the library. Her tears fell down her face and onto the edges of the paper. She wanted to go back to her own library, curl up in her bed, and cry the night away, to just forget about the letter, but her despair froze her limbs like stone. She felt horrible.

She felt like a true failure.

Twilight heard hoofsteps coming from further in the library, and she looked up, a tear running down her cheek.

Standing in front of her was Princess Celestia. There was no sign of confusion on her face. Only pure pity.

Twilight wanted nothing more than to leap off the ground, to hug the goddess and to never let go. To cry in her heart's despair and to let the Princess comfort her. But she didn't. She immediately took off through the library, galloping out the open door, out of the Canterlot castle, and escaping through the dark streets, crying aloud as she ran away into the darkness.

Princess Celestia didn't chase after her student. She simply laid down on the floor where Twilight had been, and picked up the letter she had been writing. As she began to read, she felt her heart jump into her throat, then fall back down into her stomach. She had never seen her student write such an emotional letter. As she continued to read, tears formed in her eyes, and she too had felt like a failure. She felt that she should have been there for her loyal student, been there to comfort her after the trauma she had been through.

She thought to herself that Twilight was wrong. If it wasn't for her, Discord would have not been stopped. It didn't matter how much Celestia had helped her. If Twilight had not had the will to return her friends' thoughts and to stop not only a Draconequus, but a God, there would have been nothing left between Discord and the destruction of Equestria. Compared to Twilight, the task would have seemed impossible to any other pony. But even with those odds, Twilight took the challenge with full determination.

Twilight was not only a victorious pony, but she was the bravest, strongest, and most willing pony in all of Equestria. Her magic had saved the lives and personalities of all five of her friends. If it wasn't for her magic, she would have failed. And Celestia truly believed that Twilight was the only unicorn in history capable of being called the Element of Magic. Discord had done more damage to her than most ponies would be able to take, but still she remained strong. Even so, Twilight had never felt hopelessness before, and no matter who had experienced it, even the strongest of ponies couldn't handle the feeling of failure. Weaker ponies had lost their lives to it.

Twilight was a stronger pony than Princess Celestia and all of Equestria combined.

With one last despairing sigh, she set down the paper, blew out the candle and left the room, leaving the despairing letter in the darkness.

Twilight and her Royal mentor secretly knew from that night on that things had changed.

Neither of them would ever be the same again.