Dear Honest Quill
Whilst reading the Canterlot Inquirer this morning I came across quite the interesting article by some fledgling journalist by the name Gusty Transcript. The content of this article "Sunset Shimmer Equestria's greatest monster" left me baffled to say the least considering that my own last five submissions to your humble paper have all failed to make print. Had I known that the sole requirement for submission into your paper was a vaguely literary surname and a slew of unproven and borderline libelous ideas then I would long ago have stopped writing to you as my own contributions are so clearly devoid of merit. I am of course joking, regardless of how unlikely you are to publish my work we both know that I'd still write letter after letter to my favorite muck raking, dirt shoveling editorial upstart.
I digress. Returning to the main point of my letter I am making a formal request for you to print a retraction of the article, my own research into the last ten years proves the article to be biased in several accounts and outright wrong in a dozen others. Attached are notes confirming most of these accusations whilst I have information currently concealed by the red tape of 'National Secrets' that discredit the rest. Should you refuse to print the retraction I can assure you I will be taking this matter to the Princesses, precisely which ones I have yet to decide but I'm pretty certain I can grab the attention of a couple of them in this matter. Speaking of the royalty I hear that it is career suicide to get on the wrong side of them, you know just saying. Attached please find tickets to the last two Grand Galloping Galas, I am led to understand that you have never been invited but perhaps if you are really careful and the royal guard doesn't notice that it is the wrong date and wrong name you might be able to sneak into the next one with these. Don't worry they haven't been used before, I receive a personal invitation to the event every year but just can never seem to make the time. Still what are connections for if not helping ones friends and hindering ones opponents, enjoy the tickets!
Yours, Eventide Trailblazer
Eventide put down her quill, folded the letter and slipped it into the envelope. Looking over her handiwork she frowned, something wasn't right. Running through her mental checklist everything seemed to be accounted for.
-Expired tickets to the gala, check.
-Research notes, check.
-Particularly unpleasant letter to despised editor, check.
Nope, all the intended documentation was present, snide barbs and personal stabs accounted for but somehow she knew it still wasn't perfect. Trotting across to her stationary cabinet Eventide ran her eyes over the resources available to her looking for the necessary piece of paper. Envelopes and scrolls, ribbons and seals were crudely pushed about, gripped by the light blue aura of her magic until at last she found the desired item. Returning to her desk she removed the letter from its previous envelope and replaced it in the new one. Pink wasn't really her normal style but for Quill she was willing to make an exception. The thought of his face wrinkled up into a great big smile upon receiving the envelope only to drop into a despairing grimace upon realizing who it was actually from... oh what she would give to see that for herself. The ornate monogram of HRHFH adorning the corner of the envelope was all but guaranteed to raise his hopes before dashing them spectacularly, now it was perfect.
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With the letter posted it dawned on Eventide that perhaps the change of envelope was not the smartest decision she had ever made. It was one thing to get herself in trouble with the press she thought (proudly glancing at the framed restraining order from Honest Quill that was hung above her desk) but using the 'borrowed' envelope came with a small risk that Flurry would end up in hot water with her mother. Still it was too late to change that now (not without some serious mail tampering) so Eventide dismissed the matter as a potential problem for another day, and a small one at that.
Practically collapsing onto her sofa she sighed and spared a brief glance to the stack of papers piled onto her coffee table. A dozen or so rejection letters from various publications, a handful of polite letters from friends and colleagues pleading with her to stick to writing about ancient and pre-Lunian equestrian history instead of her recent 'obsession' with current events... Scooping them all up in one burst of magic she shoveled the offending documents into a trash can and scanned her eyes over what little remained. Compared to the previous stack it really wasn't much, an invitation to the Crystal Empire, a reminder to book her monthly appointment with Miss Starlight, a request by Miss Heartstrings to discuss Eventide's findings on 'theoretical pre-Equestrian societies' and last (but by no means least) a letter from her aunt asking that they meet up to discuss her concerns about Eventide's health. Oh boy, that was a meeting she could do without. Her aunt meant well she really did but there came a point where good intention ceased to become sweet and instead became a nuisance. She couldn't of course put off the meeting forever but that wasn't going to stop her from trying.
The other letters though were all quite easily addressed. A brief letter to Starlight confirming her choice of date was indeed acceptable, a suggested meeting time with Lyra along with a curt reminder that she should bring along her usual payment and a confirmation that she would love to visit the Empire over the weekend (hay any excuse to get out of Canterlot was good in her books). With her responses penned and the remaining letter strategically forgotten beneath a dusty old tome on early Zebrican tribal customs she readied herself for the second mail run of the day. Dressed up in her darkest cloak and most discreet hat she was about to leave when she spied another letter stuck in the letterbox. Temporarily discarding her own letters she grabbed the new one in her telekinesis and floated it across the room. It certainly hadn't been there with the rest of the mail which meant it had been either delivered by hoof or by courier in place of the normal postmare. The address had been penned in unfamiliar hoofwriting with an equally unfamiliar return address in-
Ponyville.
Always Ponyville.
Had anything good ever come out of that accursed little-
No. Eventide paused her train of thought and took a series of deep breathes to calm herself. Her mind cleared (slightly) she gave out a pained sigh.
"Nothing wrong with Ponyville, you just have some bad personal experiences with it. Some of your best friends are from Ponyville, of course you can expect the occasional letter from there," little things like this, breathing exercises and voicing her problems were among Starlight's approved methods of dealing with excess anger and avoiding panic attacks. Angry letters to her former editor were on a blacklist referred to as 'negative coping mechanisms', but what Starlight didn't know couldn't hurt her. Eventide certainly had no intention of letting her know that she indulged in the occasional poison pen letter to her least favorite pony in the whole of Equestria.
Snapping herself out of her reverie (thinking about writing to Quill had the most wonderful ability to remove her from all but the darkest of funks) she returned her attention to the letter, tearing the envelope open and running her eyes over the contents.
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Dear Lady Trailblazer
I know it has been a long time since we spoke face to face and I understand why you have been trying to avoid me but I just couldn't avoid this any longer. Your friends and family miss you and we all worry for your health. Locking yourself up at home all the time, flying off to the furthest corners of the world on your expeditions and throwing yourself so heavily into your work just isn't healthy behavior for a mare your age. When I was your age I had a wonderful group of friends who would go on adventures both big and small. I'm not trying to say that you are as bad as Twilight was when I first met her but some of us do worry.
I know for a fact that you still visit Ponyville on a regular basis (Bon-Bon told me you and Lyra are quite close) so perhaps the next time you visit you might be willing to stay a little longer and maybe chat about the good times, and what you are doing now. But only if it isn't a bother for you.
It might not mean much coming from me but I also wanted you to know that I don't hold any hard feelings over the unpleasantness of five years ago and I know that the rest of the girls feel the same way. You are always welcome to visit and I know that given a chance the rest of the girls would extend the same invitation to you.
I got your current address off of Twilight because nopony else seems to have it. Please don't blame her for giving it to me, I was quite assertive in requesting it, and, I still feel a little bad that I might have raised my voice when speaking with her.
Hoping to see you soon,
Fluttershy
Fluttershy... Of all the ponies Eventide knew she never would have expected to be receiving a letter from her. They were acquaintances at best far from what she would call close friends and coupled with her crippling social anxiety put her pretty low on the list of ponies that she would expect to want to speak with her. Hay Fluttershy had more reason than most to hate her after all of the- unpleasantness.
Another problem for another day though, maybe she could visit her after she was done with Lyra, it was an open invitation after all. She could meet with Lyra, discuss business and then if she was feeling up to it she could make a brief detour to visit Fluttershy before catching a train back to Canterlot. Nice an simple no need to commit to anything she could easily skip town if she got cold hooves and nopony would be any the wiser.
It was just typical though wasn't it, every problem in Equestria always seemed to start in Ponyville...