Dear Princess Twilight,
Thank you for replying, Princess, it really means a whole lot.
What made you change your mind about friends? And… Seeing as you're the Princess of Friendship, maybe you can actually explain this to me. Why are friends so important? I know you gained your title from being friends with a lot of really cool ponies, but you said there was more to it.
Sunny Skies
P.S. Sorry for the incredibly short letter. But do you like the postcard? This is me and my family!
I stared at the postcard for a moment, not really expecting a reply that quickly, before looking over the rest of my mail again. It flipped over in my peripheral, showing a smiling family of three. One pale blue filly with bright yellow hair, a green mare with dark red hair and a (handsome) bright blue stallion with pale yellow hair All pegasi. Her parents flanks were hidden, but hers was obviously seen to be blank.
Maybe her peers didn't hang out with her for being a blank flank? I can't really help with that unless she has a Cutie Mark in magic, which is very unlikely. I let out a yawn, casting my gaze to the two thirds finished book open on the table, I hadn't slept but a few hours since I sent the letter a few days ago, but between friends and the equivalence of princess chores—cleaning up records, dealing with testy citizens, etc—I still haven't finished this book. I suppose rereading the fourth through twelfth chapters because they were so amazing didn't exactly help towards that either.
I should sleep before trying to give advise to a confused filly. Just a little nap. My eyes drooped as my head rested softly on my desk; the postcard fluttering down with a haze of purple, softly sliding into the book as a book mark as said book closes.
«♦»
My eyes opened in a sea, I was underwater; drowning, but the freshest cool air filled my lungs. Above me the sky rippled through the water like blobs of light, casting shadows and shifting shapes across the seafloor. The world was a painting in blue and white; what was this? I knew not. Was I still alive? But I forgot myself as I watched life bloom, the world itself cascading and filling with green and life, the sea washed away and trees sprouted like wild fire, forging onward from me, like I was the source of life itself.
I breathed; my lung filled fuller before I exhaled. Around me, at the pace of the galaxies and the stars, trees grew and fell, rot was buried away under the new sprouts of grass and bush. The seasons changed, each passing like the blink of an eye. Wind blew leaves and my mane calmly, the former dancing across my eyes like butterflies. But through it all, one tree remained. Vibrant, green and forever. Growing and never rotting, it's branches reach out like great wings above my meek form. My wings shuffled against my side; I felt inadequate.
I looked around, but the only life left was this tree. This one, big and beautiful tree. Ever growing, ever persistent. Above the browned clouds of apocalypse, reaching out as though to pluck the sun from the sky. I blinked—my old home—Golden Oak Library. Around me were busied ponies, walking in droves around me, like shifting water. I didn't recognize any of them, not a single one. Ponies; tall and short, bright and dull. But none familiar, not even in coat tone. "Twilight!" I throw myself around, grazing the crowd for the voice.
Rainbow. I saw her and reached out to call for her. But my voice was mute. "Twilight!" I turned completely around to the next voice, I saw Pinkie Pie, waving. But again, my voice was gone.
"Twilight." I turned again to find Rarity. Silence.
"Twilight!" Another turn and Applejack. I screamed and cried silently, I wanted them to hear me, to understand me.
"Twilight." I dreaded my next turn as I looked to face Fluttershy. But again my voice failed me. I waved my hooves as they all turned to leave, tears blinded me as they were engulfed by the walls of ponies around me. One by one; I turned, watching each of them leave until Rainbow remained. I started to run after her, but she only turned and left before I could reach. I slammed into the wall of ponies with the boom of two pillows clapping, pushing and clawing at them to get through.
But eventually I realized I was alone, my head tipping down as I wept. Even the ponies, the hundreds of millions of faces, each milling about their own lives I'll never know, they too left. Until I was truly alone, and only the tree remained. I smiled, reaching to touch my last possession. But as my hoof brushed against it, sparks danced away as though my hoof were steel against magnesium. As I pulled back, even going as far as to fall to the ground, it was too late. I watched as even that tree—my home—was licked up by flames. I threw myself at it, closing my eyes to blink away the tears. But my hoof thumped on the ground as I fell into a pile of soot and ash.
I had nothing.
"Twilight?" I scrapped to my hooves, blinking over and over again to try and see as I reached out for the voice, mouthing words never heard. My hoof collided with something solid, just as something else rubbed against my face, wiping my tears and the ashes of my burnt belongings away.
"Rainbow?" My voice croaked like the creaking echo of an aging mare as I looked up at her pitifully. Glancing around, I saw each of my friends gathered in a circle around me, the remains of the tree cleaned away, a sprout of green, a stem with a single leaf, planted in the center below me.
They all reached out, wrapping hooves around me as I wept, my voice carrying beyond the farthest reaching mountains as I cried and held them, never to let them leave again. My friends, the ponies I trusted. They were always here for me. "We love you, Twilight." They all said in chorus.
«♦»
My eyes opened again, crusty and wet against the desk. I lifted my head slowly, caressing my stiff neck as I groaned. "Spike?" I called out before clearing my throat. I looked around, the room almost entirely black with darkness. My horn flared, reaching out and lighting several of the candles around the room. Outside it was already night, I must've slept for at least five hours. I sighed, my magic picking up the book. Spike was already—My attention was caught as I saw the postcard slide out of the book, falling onto the desk. I stared at it—the book hovering beside my face for a moment—before I reached out and picked it up, placing the book down at the same time.
Why are friends so important?
I narrowed my eyes at that one sentence, my magic grabbing up parchment and quill without barely a thought towards either action.
Dear Sunny Skies,
Friends are important to me because they are the only ponies outside of your family you can depend on. They are the only ponies you can truly trust in this big and dangerous world, it's a rare and beautiful thing when a stranger will help you out of the kindness of their heart.
When my home was destroyed—even though I gained a new castle the same day—I lost everything but my friends and my distant family. But my friends were there to comfort me, they helped me rebuild in my new castle; helped me decorate it. They helped me turn the Castle of Friendship from a castle into my home. I'm not saying that friends are always going to be there for you, nor am I saying that family isn't as important. But my friends are almost always here for me, no matter how tough things get.
So my answer to your question, "Why are friends so important?" is to ask you this: Why is having somepony you can always depend on and trust so important?
On another note,
I changed how I felt about friends when they showed me how much they cared about me, despite having just met me. When they showed me the true magic of friendship, beyond the flashy light show and demon destroying powers.
Sincerely,
Princess Twilight
P.S. I do like the postcard, you family looks very nice. You're quite cute yourself by the way.
With a nod, I rolled the letter up and teleported it into the mailbox. But not before including a spare booklet of enchanted parchment, if she was going to keep mailing me, she might as well use Spike.
«♦»
“Letter writing can be seen as a gift because someone has taken his/her time to write and think and express love.”
― Soraya Diase Coffelt