A clear sky is what you could see when you look upon it! No traces of clouds existed in the dim heavens nor a subtle form of mist on the earthly space. The moon in the sky was brimming with such magnificence that even the starry sky could do nothing more than highlight her beauty! This is a worthy setting for the witching hour!
It was said that during the times of knights and kings of old, witches would lure curious children and males full of lust and greed to use them as sacrifices to the Lords of Darkness which they worshipped with absolute fervor. Those dark entities blessed their faithful servants with everlasting youth as long as they continue their dark labors and praises.
These woods in the back of this house could be an excellent hideout for the black sorceresses to plan their schemes, prepare their most somber spells and guide their victims to their endless demise and despair until the end of times!
…But this is not the times of old, and those trees shaded in the red of autumn were not a big place for a dent of evil. Those were in fact the beautiful apple trees of the Apple family and the sky upon me was beaming with the softness lights of the moon and stars.
This place was full of radiance and tranquility, qualities I thought were only found on the landscapes of Equestria. The human world simply doesn't have many places like this. There was a time where this kind of beautiful sky was something common for me, a granted spectacle, always there for me to marvel upon it when I wished to after a day of arduous magic lessons. It was an existence made of roses and sunshine.
Then the spark of ambition pummeled everything to the ground.
Facing my former teacher and abandoning all the ponies and places that were a home for me once, suddenly became a distant memory when I stepped upon this world! Forever unreachable to me all the things I had after I betrayed the Sun Goddess. It didn’t matter to me at that time. I would get something far more valuable than the bonds of ponies that Princess Celestia tried to instill on me. But in the darkest hour, during my reign of terror in a small place that I considered a concentration camp to gather forces to claim what I thought it was mine by right…
…She came!
The mighty but humble Princess of Friendship showed me the way in a harsh but loving manner that everybody deserves a second chance to become something else, something far better from your old self. The Magic of Friendship was her invincible weapon and it became an instrument of salvation to me.
I got free from the chains of greed.
Learning from my past deeds and doing everything in my power to spread the Ideal Friendship, I decided to form the Idol 6 committee in the school and thanks to the friends… NO! The family that stayed by my side even after I tried to bitter their lives, the school and its surroundings is slowly but surely becoming a better place for the world.
The Ideal Friendship will start at my school and will spread its light to the town, the town will reach its surroundings, its surroundings will reach the whole state, the whole state will reach the whole country and it will keep growing until the whole world becomes free of the shadow of selfishness and greed! It will not be easy! But if a lonely pony rose to become the Princess of Friendship and defeat the forces of evil in two worlds, then my quest is not impossible!
The book in my hands is my link to have a grasp of her insight if I ever get lost!
“I miss you so much…”
The book answering my desires to speak with her suddenly glow in a soft shade of red before me. As I opened it to find the pages being filled with her thoughts, words were appearing in an elegant fashion.
‘My dear Sunset Shimmer
I hope you are doing alright over there. I can’t find comfort in the solitude of my room. The pegasi in the Cloudsdale factory mixed by mistake the wrong quantities of electric charge to their clouds and a harsh storm hit Ponyville. I’m not afraid of the thunders but it’s so noisy right now! Until Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Wondercolts control this mess, I decided to read some books and I was reminded of you when I read about the Windigos once again. Spike got stuck in Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie Pie and its somewhat lonely here without him.
Oh Goodness! I didn’t notice how late it was! I’m so sorry if I awoke you! Spend a good time of rest.
Always yours, Twilight Sparkle.’
Oh Princess…
‘Dear Princess Twilight
I too couldn’t find in me the urge to sleep. I should feel tired right now after the long fair I experienced today! Cleaning the Town’s Hall was difficult but the sheer numbers of the Apple family cleaned the place with no sweat before ten o’clock!
I gaze upon the skies of this world and it reminded me so much of my old home that I just simply wished to watch upon them more. All the girls are sleeping in Applejack’s bedroom because we planned a slumber party for the occasion. Your other self is slowly opening to the Magic of Friendship and she already got closer to the girls. But all the seven of us miss you dearly. Twilight found pleasure in knowing that someone who could match her raw intellect could be found in another world.
We miss you and I hope you can visit us soon.’
I wonder if she will talk with me a little more…
‘Sunset Shimmer, I’m so glad to hear from you after all these weeks! I have been so busy with recent Friendship Problems! Since the incident with Starlight Glimmer, Equestria became a chaotic mess of misunderstandings! But you would believe it were for serious issues but noooou! The silliest of reasons were the source of the problems! Missed toys, wrong times of arrival, a failed date, for Celestia’s name! But as the Princess of Friendship, I must go where the Map of Harmoy needs me to be and I must give the example that it demands!
I’m also glad to hear that the girls over there are fine as well! I too miss you so much! And as much as it honors me to be considered an intellectual being, all you are selling short of yourselves! All of you are bright, brave and capable of many things! And it’s all thanks to you!’
‘I just did what you taught me to do! Spread Friendship to everyone! The school has become a better place than before! Everyone is more united than ever and most families and their child’s are becoming closer than before! Whether they are aware of the Magic in the place or not, there is a positive change in everybody’s lives!’
‘I’m so proud of you! I knew that you were capable of this and I’m sure you can achieve more! Princess Celestia is so proud of you as well! I hope you are the one that could visit us soon… She misses you dearly. You are still… No! You are one of her beloved students and you are a dear friend to me!’
Oh…
‘You don’t know how much those words mean to me! I wish to visit home soon but like you, I still have so much to do here! I managed to find a way to control the spikes of magic inside us! By thinking a big but harmless negative thought, the magic can be controlled and stopped before the Pony-Up process starts! Rainbow and I nearly transformed in the middle of a race during the fair but we managed to prevent the process in time! But the school and its surroundings need work still and I’m planning to use your Ideals and beliefs as a foundation to make better than ever this world.’
‘You must walk this path with a patient mind, Sunset Shimmer! Don’t try to take all the work on yourself! You have wonderful friends that will support you in your goals and I know deep in my heart that everything is going to be alright! Remember this at heart, Sunset:
Friendship is about giving ourselves to others and also receiving all of their beings at heart, you must share with them the blessings you receive in your daily life and also help them in overcome their griefs! Share with others that they must be proud of their talents and nurture their dreams to achieve their goals, give them faith and be a source of strength to overcome their greatest fears! When the might of Honesty, the honor of Loyalty, the grace of Generosity, the joy of Laughter and the tenderness of Kindness unite, the spark that ignites the Magic of Friendship will be revealed before you!
And never forget that you always have a place to call home with your friends when you are in doubt! …And you have me too!’
‘I’ll take your words at heart, my friend!’
‘Finally the clouds are back to normal and a gentle rain is gracing the land! I’m getting sleepy now… I’ll take my leave for today. Have a peaceful night, Sunset Shimmer!
Always yours, Twilight! Your friend!’
‘Good night, my friend!’
After writing the last word in my journal, I softly closed the book and once again I gazed upon the stars.
“This night surely is beautiful today…”
“Indeed it is.”
This voice!
A gentle breeze soon graced upon ourselves, our long and untied manes did a brief dance with the tempo of the wind. In front me, a sleepy but majestic Twilight Sparkle was slowly approaching me, her thick glasses were dropping off her face.
“Here, let me help you with those!” I said while putting back her glasses in an appropriate way.
“Thanks…can’t sleep either?”
“No, I saw the sky and I wanted to admire it for a moment…how about you?”
“Rainbow Dash is so noisy… her snores are straight from a horror movie!”
“Hehehe I know! The first time I slept with them in a slumber party I found myself sleeping in the corridor of Rarity’s house! The next day Fluttershy woke me up and asked me why I was sleeping there and I just pointed out in the room the source of my stress! She just said that I would get used to it soon!”
“And you did, right?”
“Yes, I did… after five slumber sessions later!”
And we both laughed of my silly grief.
“I had so much fun today… uhm, well, yesterday! It’s Sunday right now!”
“I’m glad you decided to join us! It felt so right having you with us, all of us enjoyed to be with you and I hope you enjoyed being with the girls!”
“It was amazing… the most amazing day I had since I met you all! Spike said that he enjoyed being here at the farm! All the dogs of Applejack’s family were a great company to him! This town truly is something different… a home away from home!”
“And I will make it better than ever!” I rested my hands on her shoulders. “WE will make it a better place! The Magic of Friendship will be spread through our actions! We must be careful in not showing our magic to the world, they are not ready for it yet. But once that time comes and friendship reaches the hearts of everyone, slowly but surely this world will become a better place! I’m sure of it!”
“I wish I could use the Magic of Friendship like you… I can’t even Pony-up like you do, even if my magic detector marks that I possess magic in me like all of you!”
“Twilight, it took me a half year for me to reach the state of mind to finally Pony-up! So it’s obvious that you will struggle with it. I mean, you just have a month with us! When the time you can reveal your truest self to people comes, it will be the moment when the magic inside you will spark your inner light! Until that day arrives, you are under our protection!”
“Oh Sunset…”
This little smile of hers…
“You know… every time we see your smile it fills us with such peace!” I hugged my book dearly. “I know deep in my heart that you were destined to be part of us and help us in our quest to better the world!”
I carefully left the book in the nearest table, and slowly approached my way to Twilight, kindly hugging her and speaking to her.
“The girls have told me that they shared an important personal experience with you, and I have already given you my lesson after our clash was over during the Friendship Games! How I was corrupted by ambition long ago, how someone who resembles you saved me from the path of the wicked. These experiences we give to you, these lessons that are the foundation of the Elements of Harmony, will serve you as the moral compass you needed long ago! With it, you’ll never feel alone again and more importantly, you’ll recognize who are truly your friends in life!”
“Do you think… he and I are truly friends? I feel safe with him! It’s the same feeling I have every time I’m with you!”
Oh, Nitpick, right? He nearly got pummeled in the fair... but still.
“After amending in his own way the conflict he had with Fluttershy, how he could manage to befriend a girl who is considered a troublemaker and make her behave really nice around him and how he helped Rainbow and Indigo Zap against Wind Rider, I’m sure that deep inside he is a good guy! Once your inner magic awakens, I’m sure that you’ll help and guide him in the right path, the right way to be a good friend!”
“I hope so… To be honest, I really wanted to help him with his problem with Fluttershy, or at least hearing him out but I’m glad everything turned out fine!”
“You’ll have your chance to help him soon! I can feel it! For now…’yawn’ let’s go back to sleep! I’m finally getting sleepy!”
“’Yawn’ You are right… let’s go back inside! It’s getting colder here!”
Before we walked straight to the comfort of the Apple household, I firmly took my journal while walking with Twilight. I know this is just the beginning for something amazing! Princess Twilight is right, as long as I have my friends at my side…
Everything will turn out alright!