Chapter 1

The night after the events of ‘Episode 2: Friendship is Magic, part 2’.

“Lastly the Blue Blood family requests an extended visit of their Prince to the Citadel” the pony scribe Vellum read out.

“Yes yes, fine.” Celestia said, her eyes trailing to the archway of the study. Her days always finished here officially, with matters of state. But today she had little mind for such things, this would be her sister Luna’s first night back from banishment.

Officially, Celestia would continue the role of overseeing night for the time being, but it truly belonged to her sister. She was concerned that Luna might not take well to seeing another control the night, even if she had agreed to it earlier that day.

“...arrive three days hence. I shall have a room in the far wing prepared.” The scribe finished, looking over her glasses. She frowned.

Celestia blinked blankly, her thoughts quickly running back through what had been said. Something about... a guest?

“Uh. Indeed, the far wing would be a wise choice.”

“Yes, my Princess. I shall endeavour to keep his presence from tangling into your affairs.”

“Thank you, Vellum” Celestia bid her scribe, wondering to whom she’d agreed to allow a visit.

Vellum knelt, “I bid you night, Princess.”

With that, the unicorn Scribe rose and left, followed by a trail of hovering parchments. Celestia watched the line of scrolls bobbing out of the room, imagining them as the stuffy scribe's tail. The goddess smiled.

But all too soon her smile faded as her thoughts returned to her sister. Soon she would need to raise the moon, but first she needed to talk to Luna. Yet she found herself dreading it. Luna had always had a bubbly nature back before the second War of Sisters, and at first, Celestia had thought her nature had survived banishment on the moon, but as the day had continued, Luna had grown progressively despondent and distant.

Perhaps her cute little sister was gone forever. Celestia wondered if Luna would forgive her for the banishment, then wondered if she could forgive herself.

For a moment, the final battle played across her mind. Five of the Elements of Harmony facing off against Nightmare Moon and her derisive laugh, the deep shadow she cast, and Celestia banishing her doubts, before too banishing her sister.

Sighing, she rose. The day must end, and she couldn’t afford to wait any longer. She would see Luna, and then perform the Rites of the Moon to usher in the night.

As she left the study, the two royal guards, both pegasus, stood statuesque either side of the archway. They bowed their heads before returning to motionless figures. Sometimes she grew weary of the military presence, of the reverence, of the control.

But what had happened before the royal army had existed, the near destruction of Equestria, what had happened to her father... Celestia shuddered. She would not soften, the total power, the might of Equestria. They must be ready, no matter the cost.

So lost was she in her thoughts, she had already opened the door and started into the courtyard before she realised she was at the gardens. Luna sat not ten pony lengths away, staring into a rippling pond. It’s reflection that of the golden streaked sky above.
Celestia swallowed once, then ploughed forward, forcing confidence into her step.

“Luna, my sister. Do you wish to accompany me in raising the moon tonight?”

Luna turned, quickly wiping a tear from her eye; sadness across her face, a picture of misery.

Celestia’s heart clenched, her step faltered. This was the torment she had bestowed on her sister. How could Luna ever forgive her, she could never redeem herself for the years she had stolen from Luna. Her little sister must hate her.

“Sis...” Luna began, but seemed to lose courage.
Celestia, bit down her guilt and reach down to Luna’s cheek, wiping away a tear.

“My poor little Luna, how the last 1000 years must have taken their toll...”
Luna looked up at her sister, seeming to find her words again

“Sister... do you hate me?”
Celestia froze in shock. Her eyes locked on Luna’s, and in them she saw a soul laid bare. Pain and remorse with the fear of kinship lost. In those eyes, Celestia saw the little sister that had wept on her side after their parents had been lost. The little sister that had giggled at Celestia's pranks on the stuffy court members. The little sister that had relied on her big sister to protect her.

A tear ran down the Sun Goddess’s cheek.

“Oh, Luna. I’ve never hated you, not even once. Every night I would gazed upon the moon, and I would weep at what I’d done.” Celestia wrapped her wings about Luna and nuzzled her cheek. “I regret I didn’t protect you better. I’m overjoyed to have you back.”

Luna grasped for words, emotions playing across her face.

“Hush little sister, we will have time enough for this later. The moon must be raised. Let us do so together.”

The Moon Goddess smiled meekly.

***

The purple pony surveyed the library. Despite it being her second day in Ponyville, this was the first chance Twilight had had to really take in her new home. First Pinkie’s welcome party, then the return of Nightmare Moon, Twilight hadn’t had a chance to take things in.

She was delighted to find a perfect place for star gazing; she could see herself spending many a night here. Twilight was just considering whether to spend some time now looking at the new night’s stars when she heard spike running up the stairs.

“Hey Twilight!”

“Yes, Spike?”

“A letter!”

“Well don’t just stand there, Spike, read it.”

Spike gave her a brief look of irritation then unfurled the scroll.

“Dear Twilight,” Spike began, “You’ve done well facing such an overwhelming challenge, better than I had expected. I’m so happy for you. Since I didn’t know who would win, you or Nightmare Moon, I haven’t had a chance to get the next one ready.”

Spike blinked, then ran his eyes down the page.

“Why did you stop Spike,” asked Twilight. “What was Celestia talking about?”

“Uh, Twilight...”

“What?”

“This letter isn’t signed by Princess Celestia.”

“But I thought this came by your dragon’s fire?”

“Well, it did.”

“You must be mistaken, only Celestia can send letters to your flames, Spike.”

“I know that. I mean, well, it did come from my fire, but it’s not signed by the Princess.”

“Give it here.”

Twilight Sparkle snatched up the parchment, hoisting it with her magic, and quickly set about reading.

Dear Twilight

You’ve done well facing such an overwhelming challenge, better than I had expected. I’m so happy for you. Since I didn’t know who would win, you or Nightmare Moon, I haven’t had a chance to get the next one ready.

Don’t worry though. I’ve done this sort of thing before, many times in fact. Which means it shouldn’t take too long. So just keep doing... whatever it is you do, and it’ll all be ready soon enough.

Your new friend,
D

P.S. I was rooting for you, but don’t tell Nightmare Moon.

Twilight read over it twice. Then looked up at Spike, stunned.

“Well?” he asked.

“Are you... sure this came by your fire?”

“Of course I am”

“Spike, find me the volume ‘Multitudes of Message Magics’.”

“Right!”

She was determined to get to the bottom of this. It looked like star gazing would have to wait.

***

One week later, an hour before the events of ‘Griffin the Brush Off’

The sun’s light was streaming down, its glow illuminating the lake and hillside in a perfect scene. Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile to herself, this would be the perfect place for the soon to be mother duck to bring her ducklings.

Located past Ponyville opposite the side her house rested, she didn’t often come this way. Most of the animals lived in the general area she did, that was why she had chosen that spot; but the mother duck would require a less crowded place than the lakes near Fluttershy’s home to teach her ducklings.

Voices from a conversation drifted over the hill.

“Oh my, I hope this spot isn’t already taken” said Fluttershy. If somepony else was using this area, it might not be a good place to bring the mother duck. She considered just leaving and looking for another place, but she was unlikely to find anywhere half as fitting as this lake. Mustering what little courage she could, she slowly teetered up the hill.

Over the rise she could see two ponies talking. The first, a unicorn, light green from hoof to mane, wore a light lilac cloth saddle, her cutie mark a piece of slate, chiselled into a tablet. She was talking sternly to the other pony.

The second, a pegasus stallion, was a light blue colour with a brown mane, his cutie mark a stack of boxes. He was looking bashfully at the green pony, mouth holding a package by its string wrapping. The package swung idly as the stallion nodded to a barrage of comments.

“Oh dear”, Fluttershy said softly. It didn’t seem like a good time to interrupt them; they were obviously talking about something important. She would just come back a little later and see if the pond would be free.

“Oooh, Fluttershy! Do you come here to swim, too?”

Fluttershy yelped, suddenly freezing ridged from shock. Slowly her eye drifted to looked behind her, revealing Pinkie Pie.

“It’s better to come after morning though; this hill blocks the early sun’s heat” continued Pinkie.

Fluttershy notice the two ponies below were staring at them. She cringed into her mane, wishing she could shrink down and hide in it.

“Um, h-hi, Pinkie.”

“You know what? We should have a lake party. We could put a table over there with drinks and sweets, oh and some of those apple treats Applejack’s been making lately.”

“Well... uh, I was hoping to let a mother duck use this lake. She has to teach them to swim soon, but the lakes are so crowded over the other side of town. So um...”

“Oh. Well, I suppose we could have a party elsewhere.” Pinkie put a hoof to her chin in thought.

Fluttershy noticed the pegasus pony flying off into the sky, package still in mouth. The green pony was striding towards them. Fluttershy wondered if the pony was angry at being disturbed.

“What brings you two ponies out here?” asked the unicorn her eyes slightly cold.

“Oh hi, Rasa” said Pinkie Pie. “We were going to have a lake party, but some ducks need it for tutoring lessons. What brings you out here, Rasa? I thought you didn’t like swimming?”

“I... was on a walk,” replied Rasa.

“Who was the pegasus? I know everypony in Ponyville, but I haven’t seen him around.”

“He's... just a deliverypony. The poor thing was lost; I was just giving him directions.”

Flutteryshy noticed the pony smirk for just a moment. Then it was gone, leaving her to wondering if she’d imagined it. Suddenly Rasa turned to her. Worrying she’d been staring, Fluttershy averted her gaze.

“You, I’ve seen you tending the animals. You would know how to care for sick ones, yes?”

Fluttershy blinked, looking back at Rasa. “...um, yes? Wait, why? Is an animal sick? Oh dear, I hope it’s nothing serious.” Suddenly standing straight, she ran through a quick list of all the animals she’d seen today, trying to remember any signs of illness.

“My precious pet bird, he’s not doing too well. Maybe you could have a look, perhaps help him?” Rasa’s features softened, replaced by concern.

“Fluttershy’s your pony. She’s great with animals!” said Pinkie.

With the compliment, and the thought of a poor sick bird, Fluttershy felt the last of her nervousness vanish. “Where is he? I’ll tend to him right away.”

“He's at my home, I’ll show you the way.”

***

The water swirled in the pond, rising slowly into a funnel of water. It drew up spiralling into a perfect sphere, hovering above its small home below. The bubble of water hung, a centre piece to the garden, its liquid surface shimmering with the wind.

Luna smiled to herself. Her magic skills had barely degraded. She watched it ripple, reflections of the garden playing across its shifting surface. Then it burst apart into a thousand tiny droplets, each hanging suspended in the air, each a mini version of the previous sphere.

A bead of sweat ran down Luna’s brow as she concentrated, perhaps her skills did need retraining. The droplets flowed to new positions, never touching, as they came to form a picture. Made of a thousand bubbles of water, a crescent moon of liquid hung in the air, behind it a horseshoe.

She stared at the image as memories surfaced. It had been the symbol. The symbol of their hopes. Ponies flashed across her thoughts, each one had believed in her, trusted in her.

The water crashed back down to its earthen bed, as Luna stood abruptly. She forced her thoughts back to the present. There was much to read, a thousand years worth to be exact. She had a lot of catching up to do; much had changed during her absence.

Walking off from the garden courtyard, she found a stray thought pricking into her mind. Twilight Sparkle. The purple pony. Something about the unicorn nagged at Luna’s mind, like a half memory brought by a scent, Twilight Sparkle reminded her of somepony from before her banishment. Somepony that had...

She’d arrived at her chambers, the door creaking from her entrance, with its protest the phantom memory fled just out of reach. It left her standing at the room’s threshold, silence reigning.

Shaking her head, she strode over to the table, a pile of books and papers upon it. She’d always loved to read, more so than her sister. Celestia had always joked that Luna had created literacy just so she could read.

The books and parchments lay splayed out, some still open, many in apparently random places, yet she knew the location of each. Unlike her sister, she had never bothered to keep things sorted or neat, but Luna kept track in her own way.

Yet one parchment lay across the top, its placement foreign to her. Its presence out of place. For a moment, she simply looked at it, trying to remember what it could be. But it was not one she remembered.

Her magic grasped it, the paper unfurling before her, revealing its contents: a letter.

Dear Luna

Nightmare Moon lost. Are you happy or sad? And wow, hasn’t your big sister changed over the last 1000 years? Though I wonder, have you? You do know the Midnight Ponies still exist, right? Hidden away from the light of day.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing the wonders of your nights again. You always made the most beautiful meteor showers. I’m sure the ponies would all gasp and wonder at the brilliance of it, now that they no longer fear the night.

Oh, don’t forget, you made me a promise.

Forever near,
D

Luna put the letter down, pondering its contents. She considered everypony that knew her well enough to send a letter, then recalled it had been 1000 years since she’d seen them. A sudden pang of sorrow struck as she realised all the ponies she would never see again. Everyone but Celestia and herself would now have passed away.

Except for perhaps one other... She and he had been close friends.
Snatching up an inkwell and quill, she started writing a response, wondering all the while how she’d deliver it. After all, if Celestia found out she was in contact with him again, Luna didn’t doubt her sister would be furious.

The sun goddess had always hated him, and vice versa. They’d long been enemies. A doubt played across her heart, she’d failed to walk the line between them before, her friendship with both cracking apart. But she couldn’t ignore the letter. After all, no pony wanted to be alone.

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