"Um, Luna, I don't feel totally comfortable with this..."
"Nonsense! This is but a fun little spar! There shall be no lasting harm done."
At those words, Twilight Sparkle, one of the alicorn princesses of Equestria, raised her eyebrows. "No lasting harm?! What do you mean by no lasting—"
"Have at thee!" The other alicorn present, Princess Luna, smiled widely as she pushed off the ground in a single, mighty leap and cast a spell with practiced ease. She took aim at her opponent and released from her horn a tiny spark that grew larger and larger as it traveled. By the time it reached its target, the spark had become a boulder-sized ball of energy. Twilight yelped and teleported herself out of harm's way a mere instant before the spell struck the ground and detonated. Both mares were blinded by the explosion, and when their eyesight returned to them, there was a giant crater where just moments before Twilight had stood.
"Luna!" she said, voice shaky. "Do you have any understanding of the concept of 'self restraint'?"
"I know not of what thou speakest," the princess of the night replied. "Dost thou claim thyself to be unfit to proceed?"
"Not exactly, but—"
"Then we continue!" Luna lunged forward, horn leading the way. With a deft twist of her head, Twilight's own horn deflected the attack, and she took the opportunity to retreat while casting an enchantment that left a slick puddle of grease in her wake. Luna wasn't tricked, however, and so instead of charging and losing her footing on the slippery surface, she chose to take to the skies.
"Why are we doing this again?!" Twilight shouted as she dodged a bolt of conjured lightning. A second bolt was blocked by a magically-summoned shield.
"Thou seekest a reason to engage in friendly combat?" the darker mare asked. "'Tis not enough to desire to test thyself against a worthy adversary?"
"I prefer my tests to be less... dangerous, I guess?" The younger princess sighed and shook her head. "Whatever, if this is the way you want it..." Her horn lit up and she sent a wave of magical arrows arcing towards her opponent. Luna gracefully spun through the air, avoiding every last one of the projectiles.
The princess of the night summoned a gigantic, purple, glowing hammer in front of her, and swung it downwards; Twilight's eyes grew wide as the monstrous mallet descended. She only barely managed to conjure another magical shield in time to avoid being flattened.
"Luna..." she grunted through gritted teeth, straining against the weapon that bashed repeatedly against her barrier. "How...much... longer...do...I...have...to...do...this?!"
"Oh, very well," Luna snapped. She reached up a hoof and flicked her horn, and the hammer disappeared instantly. Twilight released a pent-up breath.
"Thank you!" she gasped as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. "I don't think...*pant*... don't think I'm the right... *wheeze*... right pony for this."
A disappointed expression crossed the dark princess's face. "We suppose We were a bit... hasty... in arranging this duel." She sighed while she looked Twilight over for any injury. "Art thou in good health? I did not inflict any dire injury upon thy body, did I?"
"I'm fine, don't worry," Twilight said, waving the princess's concern away. "Just a bit... tired. Also, um... you're talking in the old-style again."
"I beg thy—your—I beg your forgiveness."
The purple alicorn used her magic to levitate some water from one of the garden's ponds, and began to sip it daintily. "If you want to get exercise so badly, why not arrange for a few of the guards to spar with you?"
"The guards still fear Nightmare Moon enough that they would refuse such a request."
"Surely there must be somepony who would be a more appropriate opponent than me!"
Luna turned away to hide her somber expression. "Twilight, thou art—shoot, I mean, you are the only pony that I could ask. That is, I don't have any other..."
"'Any other' what?" The dark alicorn muttered something inaudibly. "Sorry, could you say that again?" Twilight asked.
"I don't have any other friends!" Luna said in an embarrassed tone. "Aside from Celestia—who absolutely hates this sort of thing—you're the only pony to truly reach out to me!" She sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"Oh, Luna, I'm so sorry," Twilight said, placing a hoof on the other mare's shoulder. "I didn't mean to make you cry—"
"I'm not crying! I am a warrior, and warriors do not cry!"
"But there are tears—"
"It's sweat! You see sweat!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, Twilight was flying home to her library in Ponyville, thinking hard on the state in which she had left Luna. That poor mare, after all this time I'm still the only one besides her sister who will spend time with her... She tilted herself to the side in order to dodge a goose that wasn't paying any attention to where it was going.
"Honk!" it honked in honk-like apology.
I wonder if there's anything I can do to help her out. I bet the girls will give me a hoof with this—I'm sure they'll be happy to help. Well, except for maybe Fluttershy— she's probably still terrified of Luna. Dang, this isn't going to be easy.
A plan began to form in the purple mare's mind, one that would hopefully accomplish the task of finally getting Luna some new friends.
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"Go on! You can do it! I believe in you!"
Fluttershy stood in her kitchen, watching while Angel Bunny gripped a tiny barbell. He flexed his muscles and pulled as hard as he could.
"Almost there! Go, Angel, go!" she cheered. With what appeared to be a monumental effort, the bunny lifted the weight proudly over his head. "Yay!" Angel dropped it to the ground, where it landed with a barely audible *thud*, before he flexed once more and kissed his biceps. "Alright, Angel, go wash up and I'll prepare a nice lunch for mommy's big, strong bunny." He scowled at her and tried to hide a blush before hopping away to soak in his pint-sized bath tub.
The pegasus hummed a cheery tune while she got started on the task of making her favorite animal's favorite meal (although if she was asked, she would most certainly say that all animals were her favorite).
"Ah..." she said. "Bright sunlight, perfect temperature, and all my friends..." If every day was like this... I think that would be wonderful.
A hoof pounding on her front door frightened Fluttershy from her thoughts. The ruckus continued until she opened the entryway and peeked around the edge.
"Wh-who's th—oh, Twilight?" The purple alicorn was running in place, wings spread and a frantic look on her face. "What can I—"
"No time!" Twilight exclaimed. "My place! Meet! Thirty minutes! Thanks a lot, see you then!" With that, she was gone, galloping away as quickly as her legs could take her.
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"...so that's basically, it," Twilight concluded. "She's really really really lonely, and I can't just leave things the way they are! I have to do something about this!"
"Wait, that's just stupid," Rainbow Dash said after a moment of thought. "She's a princess! Can't she just, like, order somepony to be her friend?"
"Use your noggin for once. Ya should know that ain't how it works." Applejack turned her glare from the brash pegasus. "But Twi, Ah don't get what ya want us to do. Ah mean, the rest of us barely even know the mare."
"Isn't that exactly the point Twilight's trying to make?" Rarity asked. "The poor thing doesn't have any friends, and it's all because nopony has truly gotten to know her!"
"Yep, Rarity's absolutely right!" The unicorn beamed at Twilight's confirmation. "And I know that if you girls spend some time with the princess, you'll like her just as much as I do!"
"Oh, fine," Applejack groaned. "What do ya need me to do?"
Twilight pulled out a calendar and held it up for the other mares to see. "Right before you all got here, I invited her over for the evening to have some girl-time," she said with a grin. "I just need you all to be here!"
The look that Rainbow gave her was decidedly wooden. "Let me get this straight. You invited us over here now, so that you could invite us over here tonight."
"Well when you say it like that, it sounds stupid, but...c'mon, what do you say? Will you do it?"
Applejack immediately shook her head. "Sorry, no can do. Big Mac and Granny Smith are goin' out, and Ah need to be at the farm to take care of Apple Bloom and her friends. Ah'd bring them here, but that probably ain't the best idea... Ah don't think you want to drive the princess nuts."
"And I've got a bit too much on my plate this evening," Rarity added. "I apologize, but I must also decline. In the future, however, I would be more than happy to help."
"And Pinkie's out doing... something..." Twilight said. "Who knows what she's up to... Rainbow, Fluttershy, I can count on you two, right?" Her eyes were almost pleading.
"When you say 'girl-time', you mean mane-braiding, and gossiping, and stuff like that?" Rainbow asked, causing the alicorn to nod hopefully. "Nope, that's not my scene." With that, she was out the window in a flash.
All eyes settled on Fluttershy, who had been sitting silently, as per usual, listening in on the conversation. And so we get to the pony who least wants to do this. "Fluttershy, please," Twilight begged; she dropped to her belly and grabbed the pegasus's legs. "You're my last hope!"
"B-b-but isn't she l-loud and sc-sc-scary?" Fluttershy asked, trembling at the mere thought of the lunar princess and their last encounter. "I d-don't think I can..." Her voice trailed off when Twilight's eyes grew large and watery while her lower lip trembled. It was enough to break somepony's heart.
"My my, you've been practicing your puppy-dog expression," Rarity commented. "I can see my lessons haven't gone to—"
"Rarity," the purple mare said flatly as the moment fell apart. "C'mon, Fluttershy, she's a good, honest pony. And she's not really that loud anymore! I promise, it's getting better!" The pegasus didn't appear to be convinced, and Twilight's face fell. "Alright... I'm sorry to have pressured you. I'll send her a letter to let her know not to come..."
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That poor pony's going to be very disappointed, a voice said in Fluttershy's head. It sounded suspiciously like Iron Will, the minotaur that had once had a hand in teaching her to be more assertive.
But... I'm certain she doesn't want to spend time with me—not with stupid, scared Fluttershy! The yellow mare grimaced inwardly at the words she used to describe herself. Twilight had picked up a quill and parchment and was busy scribbling a note.
You never know until you try. Plus, you could be her second friend! The second friend she has in the whole world!
Fluttershy watched as Twilight finished the letter and began to roll it up. But I'll probably mess things up, and make her feel worse than she did before...
Don't be so negative! Who's the nicest pegasus in all of Equestria?
...
I SAID 'WHO'S THE NICEST PEGASUS IN ALL OF EQUESTRIA'?
...I am?
Is that a mosquito I hear, buzzing in my ear? SPEAK UP!
I'm the nicest pegasus in all of Equestria!
C'MON, PANSY! TELL THE WORLD WHO THE NICEST PEGASUS IS!
"I AM!" Fluttershy yelled, using her indoors-voice.
F*yay!* YEAH YOU ARE!
"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, just about to place the letter into Spike's clawed grip so that he could send it to Canterlot. "Did you say something?"
"Oh." The pegasus coughed delicately. "Uh, yes. Twilight, I'll definitely be there tonight!" Her sudden courage immediately fled and she cringed backwards. "If that's alright with you, I mean..."
"Yay!" the alicorn cheered, throwing the letter away and leaping forward to hug her friend. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you! The princess will be so happy! I promise, you won't regret this!"