Celestia's golden-shod hooves clicked against the marble floor as she walked. It was late evening, two days after Discord had been recaptured, and she and her sister had spent, between the two of them, the entirety of the past 48 hours cleaning up the mess. Fortunately, Discord hadn't had the chance to do too much damage this time around. According to reports from guards stationed in Cloudsdale, the majority of his changes hadn't even made it that far. Canterlot itself, however, had been in shambles, and likely would continue to be until the leylines re-established themselves. On the bright side, the chaotic changes caused by the proximity of the Draconequine homeland to Equestrian borders had also reverted when the elements went off, and no new ones had been reported. The island must have moved elsewhere for the time being.
Luna paced next to her with a somewhat bleary look in her eyes. Both sisters had needed to work together to raise the sun and moon, and Luna hadn't had the thousand years of practice in being awake for both events.
“I cannot believe I slumbered throughout the entire ordeal, once more,” Luna grumbled.
“It's alright, Luna. I would rather have you ready to take my place than lose you in battle,” Celestia said.
A wry smile crossed Luna's face. “I understand thou made a charming kitten.”
The royal sisters shared dainty chuckles. They rounded a corner, and met Twilight in the next hall.
“Hello, Princesses,” she said with a quick bow.
“Hello Twilight. How are the leylines mending?” Celestia said.
“Much faster then we expected. At this rate, everypony should be back up to full power, or maybe even better, before Monday,” Twilight reported happily.
“That's excellent news.” Celestia smiled. She glanced out the window.
“Oh, I was wondering if I could get some research materials from the archives to bring home for a little while. I have a theory related to the elements that I'd like to work on.”
“Of course, my student. Put through the official requests and I'll see about expediting them. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's somepony I need to see before it's time to cycle the heavens,” Celestia nodded.
“Thank you.” Twilight gave another quick bow before she headed for the library.
“Thou should have had this talk long ago,” Luna pointed out as they drew closer to their target, in the castle infirmary. Only a few of the guards that had been caught in the Element's blast were still bedridden, with a dislocated shoulder as the worst injury amongst them. Even still, they set themselves at attention as the Princesses enter the room.
“I am aware, Luna, but hindsight is always 20/20. You may go ahead if you wish.” Luna nodded and turned for the royal balcony. “How is she?” Celestia asked one of the attending nurses.
“Improving,” the nurse nodded. “She can take visitors, if you would like.”
Celestia allowed the nurse to guide her into a more private area, cut off from the rest of the infirmary by a curtain. A bundle of covers on the bed stirred. A white horn poked out from under them, followed by a tangled black mane and an exhausted looking draconequus.
Moonstruck smiled. “Hello, Auntie!” she said as she freed her arm and waved.
“Hello, Moonstruck.” Celestia smiled. She slid a cushion from across the room and took a seat at her bedside. “How are you feeling?”
“The tip of my tail and toes are all tingly. Nurse Triage says that that's normal for recovering from petrification, though,” Moonstruck said. “I still don't understand what happened. I thought that was it for sure.”
“Twilight suspects that a small amount of the chaos magic you loaned her had remained in her system after triggering the elements. When you took her hoof, it must have broken the spell from their backlash. Of course, we never can be certain when it comes to the elements of harmony,” Celestia explained.
“I'm really sorry about freeing Discord,” Moonstruck said.
“No, Moonstruck. I should be the one apologizing,” Celestia admitted. “When I first found you, I thought I had discovered a weapon for use against Discord when he inevitably broke free again. I was, however, also afraid. I was afraid that if I let you explore your nature as a draconequus, you would turn against us.” Celestia turned to look out the window at the setting sun. “I went so far as to keep you secret from Equestria as a whole, not because you weren't ready for the world, but because I believed the world was not yet ready for you, not while the wounds from Discord's escape were still so fresh. I had tried to teach you the importance of friendship and harmony, but it would seem that in three days you learned more than I had taught you in six years.”
Moonstruck seemed to be lost in thought as she also stared out the window.
“I must help Luna with the sun and moon,” Celestia said. “Perhaps we can talk more later.” Moonstruck nodded in response.
“'Bye, Auntie.”
The sisters guided the sun and moon through the sky as usual. Celestia covered the night court for an hour or so while Luna took a quick nap, then returned to the infirmary.
Moonstruck was no longer in her bed. In her place was a scroll of parchment tied with a red ribbon. The window was open, and there was no sign of the draconequus anywhere.
“Dear Aunt Celestia,
I have learned a lot in the past few days. I've learned about chaos, order, friendship and harmony, but most importantly I've learned about myself. Honestly, I don't know if I can say that things would have turned out the way they did without you, or Aunt Luna, or Nana, or any of my new friends, or even my dear brother. I'm happy you raised me the way you did, because if chaos was all I'd ever known, then you well may have had another Discord loose in Equestria.
Speaking of loose in Equestria, I imagine I'll be more than halfway to the Everfree Forest by the time this letter finds you. After all, I only got to see the smallest portion of the kingdom before I needed to come home, and I have a friend I promised to meet.
Be sure to thank Nana and Aunt Luna for everything for me.
Your loving niece,
Moonstruck”
Celestia peered over the letter and out the window. Silhouetted against the moon, she could see a dragon take off over the forest, away from the palace. She smiled and pulled the window closed.