"Um, no, I think you have me confused with somepony else." Princess Luna attempted to avoid suspicion. It was a very weak attempt.
"No, of course it's you! I wouldn't forget you... Even without wings... What happened there?"
"Oh, it's a disguise..."
"It's not a very good one. Anypony who knows you will recognize you."
"I was hoping nopony would know me."
"What brings you to Ponyville."
"Um... Princess Celestia sent me.... Yes. To um... Learn... Um..." She tried to think of some pointless, stupid thing that Celestia would be likely to send somepony to learn. "Friendship!"
"Really? That's wonderful! That's what I'm here for too!"
"So I've heard."
"Oh! I can help you! I can introduce you to my friends!"
"Hm... Maybe later, after I check into the Inn, alright?" Luna racked her brain to think of a way to escape.
"Alright! I'll wait for you at the library!" The unicorn Luna recognized as Twilight Sparkle smiled and walked off. Luna hurried to the Inn, being very careful not be noticed by any other ponies from her past.
She arrived at the Inn and went to the reception desk. "Hello", she started, "I would like a room please."
"Hmmm." The rather large, grey stallion though. "Nope, sorry, all out of rooms."
"What!?"
"Well, there is one pony staying in a two-bed room. I could put you in there if you're alright with having a roommate."
"Okay, I can live with that. Can I ask who it is?"
"Nope. Customer Confedfidentiality."
"But I am going to meet them in a few minutes anyway!"
"Sorry, I don't make the rules."
"Don't you own this place?"
"Yep."
"Then who makes the rules."
"..." There was a long pause. "Just take your key." The Inn keeper slid Luna her key and she grabbed it with her magic. She nodded and started up the stairs.
The Inn was a relatively nice looking place. The walls were finished wood, and nothing more. The floor had a simple, blue carpet. This is how the entire Inn was. Not even an occasional painting on the wall. Just wood.
Luna unlocked her room's door and stepped inside. She didn't see anypony, but she did see a large lump under the covers of the far bed. The lump wriggled a little bit, and a fluffy pink tail popped out of the bottom.
"Oh no... Please, no..." Luna whispered, as an entire pink, curly maned pony sprung out of the bed and landed in front of Princess Luna.
"HI THERE!" She shouted. "You're my roommate! Oh, it's so cool that I have a roommate! I always had a room to myself at Sugar Cube Corner. That's where I stayed before here. I liked it there, but I thought it would be fun to stay somewhere else for a while! You must be new in town, that's why you're at the Inn, hi! My name's Pinkie Pie, what's your..." Pinkie Pie cut herself off with a massive gasp. "It's you!!! You’re that moon pony who was really good at guessing games! And the one who tried to be all evil and do the eternal night thing but you didn’t because we made you happier and your sister and you were happy again!
Luna sighed once more, not entirely sure what this pony just said. She was starting to think that leaving the castle may have been terrible idea in the first place. "Oh my gosh! This calls for a party!" Luna watched as the pink pony bounced hyperly. She quickly closed the door behind her.
"Whew... Finally, some peace and quiet." Luna laid her suitcase on her bed. Luna pulled out another of her many identical shawls and put it on, thinking maybe it would make her less noticeable. Suddenly, the door burst open.
"I forgot my..." Pinkie Pie started. "WHOAH! Who are you? Where’d Luna go!? ... Ahahahaha, just kidding! Nice shawl though!" She reached into the closet and pulled out a Bassoon, then left again.
Luna unpacked her suitcase and sat on her bed, thinking. She really wished she had a book to read, but she was afraid if she went outside at all she would be instantly assaulted by another insane pony.
She ran over and looked out the window. The sun was setting soon, so most of the ponies were heading in side. Luna formulated a plan to sneak to the library and get some books to read. Odds were the purple unicorn would be there, but she could brush her off pretty easily.
Luna put on another shawl, this one was just solid black. She snuck down the stairs and out the door of the Inn. She tried to blend in with crowds as she made her way to the library. Finally, she arrived.
Before entering, she took a few moments to examine the library. It was built in a tree, which was rather odd. However, something else caught her eyes. On the very top, there was a telescope. This was the first telescope Luna had noticed since she left Canterlot. A device invented for the sole purpose of appreciating her work. It was hard for this to not bring a smile to her face.
She opened the door slowly and crept inside. To her surprise, the lights were off. She felt around for a light switch, when suddenly the lights all came on.
"SURPRISE!" Six ponies shouted.
"I threw you a party! Just like I said! But since you're a princess and stuff I only invited your good friends!" Pinkie said happily.
Luna wasn't sure how to react to this. These six ponies had single hoofedly stopped Nightmare Moon, for better or for worst. Luna wasn't sure if these six saved her or destroyed her.
“We wanted to make sure you felt nice and welcome here in Ponyville, so Pinkie threw you a little party.” Twilight explained, smiling.
“An’ don’t sorry, sugercube, yer secrets safe with us.” Applejack added.
“LET’S PARTY!” Pinkie shouted as she put on a record. The music began to play, and Luna stood completely still in the middle of the library. She wasn’t one for parties. Even before her banishment, she had usually let Celestia handle most of the social gatherings.
Pinkie Pie jumped in front of her, startling her. “Come on!” She shouted encouragingly. “Dance!”
“I... I don’t dance, sorry.”
“Oh come on, it’s easy! Like this!” Pinkie Pie raised her left hooves and pointed out to the left with them. Luna stared at her for several moments before realizing that she was supposed to do the same. She sighed and raised her right hooves, as to mirror Pinkie Pie. “Okay, then you do this!” She brought her hooves down, and as soon as they made contact with her right hooves, she raised her right hooves.
Luna had seen this before somewhere. It was like those clacker balls where you lifted one ball and dropped it, and every time the ball came down the ball on the other side would go up. It simple physics converted into a dance. Luna followed, bringing her right hooves down and her left hooves up.
The two continued mirroring each other, and before long, despite all odds, Luna was dancing. “Hey, you’re good at this!” Pinkie complimented. Pinkie went to get some punch, but Luna continued to dance for a short while longer.
After a while, Luna decided she needed to take a break from the festivities, and snuck up to the perch she’d noticed at the top of the library. She peaked through the telescope. It was pointed at Orion. Luna smiled, she remembered making Orion like it was yesterday.
"Orion's one of my favorites." Twilight Sparkle had snuck up the stairs behind her.
Luna turned to face Twilight, something resembling a smile still plastered across her face. "I... Mine too. I remember when I first made Orion. I was young, a little filly. Celestia still raised the moon at night. But back then, the night was nothing more than the moon, and a black sky... I decided to decorate the sky... Orion was my first creation."
"You did a beautiful job." Twilight complimented. "The night sky, it's so beautiful. It's one of my favorite things to study." Twilight looked up at the star painted night sky. "Other than friendship. I'm glad Celestia sent you here. I'm sure you'll love it."
"Yeah... I'm sure I will..." Luna was quite clearly unsure.
Twilight turned to Luna. "Don't worry, I was skeptical at first too, but in the end I'm so glad I have the friends I do today."
Luna didn't respond after that. She just smiled, and Twilight smiled back. They sat on the perch and watched the night sky for several hours in silence. Finally, as the party started to die out down below, Luna said goodbye to Twilight and left the Library, heading back to the Inn.
When Luna got back, she found that Pinkie Pie was already sound asleep. What a relief. She quietly snuck into her bed, pulling the covers over her head. She smiled, realizing that maybe this is where she belonged. Here in Ponyville, with Twilight Sparkle.
“Hey!” Pinkie Pie whispered loudly. “Did you have fun?”
Luna was slightly impressed by the Pink Earth Pony’s ability to fake being asleep. She pulled the cover down from her face. “... Yes, I did.”
“Good!” The Pink Pony shouted, not even trying to whisper. She gave Luna an ear to ear smile. “Goodnight!”
“Goodnight.” She pulled the covers back over her head and slowly drifted to sleep.
That night, an excited Twilight Sparkle wrote a message to Princess Celestia herself. It read:
Dear Princess Celestia,
It's so amazing that you sent your sister Luna here to learn about friendship too! She's shy right now, but I'm sure she'll open up pretty quickly, just like me. Oh, this will be so much fun!
I'm considering asking her if she wants to sleep in the spare bedroom at the library. The Inn is a bit crowded for her I think, and I'm sure she would be more comfortable in a quieter place like the library.
I'm honored that you would trust me with a task such as teaching your sister! Her secret is safe with us, since us six are the only ponies in Ponyville who would really be able to recognize her.
Always your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
She had Spike send the letter the next morning. She didn’t tell him what it said, and he figured it was better not to ask.
Princess Celestia was understandably confused when she got the letter from her star pupil. She had recently found her sister's note saying she was leaving, and now she's received a letter from Twilight saying that she was there in Ponyville studying friendship with her.
Celestia wasn't sure what to do. Of course she wanted her sister back, of course she felt bad about driving her away like she did. Though, at the same time, she felt that a good lesson in friendship may be exactly what Princess Luna needed. Finally, she wrote back to Twilight.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I am so glad you and Luna are getting along. I was worried she would try to alienate herself, like you did. I'm convinced that you and your friends are exactly what Luna needs right now.
She hasn't really been herself since she's returned from the moon. She's been isolating herself from everypony, and has overall just seemed depressed. I'm counting on you to help her, since you're the only one who can.
- Princess Celestia
Celestia now wished that she'd thought to send Luna to study friendship in the first place. Now that she thought about it, she realized it would have done her a lot of good. However, Luna leading herself to this revelation worked just as well.
Back at the library, Twilight was sitting at her telescope, studying Orion once more. It seemed more beautiful more now than ever before. Orion, the very first consolation. Twilight liked Luna, and she felt like she could learn a lot from her as well.
Also Luna, whether she would admit it or not, felt the same way about Twilight...