A New Student

"Twilight, what are you doing here?"

With an eyebrow raised, Moondancer stared at Twilight Sparkle, her saddlebag wrapped around her waist, looking at her intently as the alicorn cleared her throat nervously.

"Moondancer, I came here because I have something we need to discuss." Twilight said, a wide grin was forming on her face as Moondancer moved aside so the purple pony could enter her former home.

Moondancer closed the door and walked behind Twilight, who was looking around the room. Nothing much had changed on the inside beside a some more bookshelves and a lamp beside the couch.

The Alicorn began walking up the marble stairs and Moondancer walked behind, her head was down. She was wondering what Twilight had come all the way for to talk about. It must be important if she had to do this in person instead of sending a letter.

The upstairs looked the same as it ever did, nothing new was added, except for a small marble table in the corner on the room, since Moondancer had only been living in the tower for only a month now.

"Okay, what was it you needed to discuss?" Moondancer asked, curious as she watched Twilight look around the room before turning around and looking at her triumphantly.

Twilight walked over to the small table, sitting down on one of the chairs, motioning Moondancer to come and sit with her. Moondancer did, sitting on the seat across from Twilight, looking at her curiously.

Twilight cleared her throat. "Moondancer, I came here today because I have something to discuss with you." She said, smiling. "Remember that journal I sent you a few weeks ago, the one containing the friendship letters my friends and I had written?"

Moondancer nodded, her heart skipping a beat. Had it really only been a few weeks since she read those letters? To her, it felt like it had been months, even years.

The unicorn heard Twilight giggle before smiling and starting to speak once again. "I can already tell that by the look on your face, you've already read them." She said with joy in her voice. "That's great, that means that this will go by even faster than I thought it would!"

What is she planning? Moondancer thought to herself, confused. Why is Twilight here? What does she want?

"Twilight, may I ask why you're here?" She asked with a rather serious tone. "I hope that this is important and isn't something that's going to waste my time."

Twilight raised a hoof, silencing Moondancer. "Don't worry, this is important and it'll be worth it." She said as she used her magic to open her saddlebag, lifting up a book from the bag and placing it on the table between them.

The book was rather plain, it had no title and was brown all over. The edges seemed a little worn out, so it must've been rather old. The paper, however, seemed new and fresh despite the book's old appearance.

Moondancer laid back against the chair, crossing her arms. "Let me guess, this is another journal full of friendship reports?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as she pushed her glasses up intently.

Twilight shook her head, her joyful face was now gone and was replaced with a serious look. Moondancer was surprised, if this book didn't contain more friendship reports, then why was she here?

"Moondancer," Twilight said a quiet voice. "after I went back to Ponyville after my visit here, I wanted to take you on as my student, so I could teach you more about friendship,I wanted to show you myself that you could make friends anywhere and anytime, I wanted to show you how real friendship felt to make up all the horrible things I done before I left all those years ago."

The alicorn looked at her friend, a moment of silence passed between them. She hoped that Moondancer was going to say something, but she just stood there, her face full of confusion and just a hint of bewilderment.

She continued on. "Unfortunately, I cannot do that now, as I already have a student under my wing. Her name is Starlight Glimmer and she's in the same position as you, she doesn't know a thing about friendship and I'm going to help her experience it."

"Then, why are you here?" Moondancer asked suddenly, puzzled. "If you already have a student, then why are you talking to me about this?"

Twilight didn't reply, she just smiled, there was tenderness in that smile. Moondancer exhaled, watching her friend.

"I came here because, even though I already have a student under my wing, I came up with another way for you to learn more about friendship and what it contains," Twilight said softly. She put a hoof on the book in front of her and slid it towards Moondancer. "And its all in this book."

Moondancer looked down at the book, admiring the tattered edges, the crisp paper that was bounded by covers. It had a rich, fresh smell to it, as if it was new. She looked up at Twilight, whose face was full of glee and warmth.

"This book.." She said, leaning on the table. "is very special to me since it contains letters and messages from a friend. A special friend from another world."

Moondancer was confused. What other world was she talking about?

"My friend, Sunset Shimmer, used to be a student of Princess Celestia, until she was banished to another world. The human world. She was evil at first, but she has changed. She is just like you, she's learning more about friendship by writing to me and by her experiences in the human world and I want you to write to her about your findings on friendship and what it contains."

Moondancer's heart skipped a beat. She tried to process what Twilight was saying about the human world and having to write to this mysterious pony about friendship. How could she do that? Could she really be taught more about friendship by just writing a simple note to this pony named Sunset Shimmer?

"I thought that since she has also been through the same thing you have been through, I knew that this would be the perfect choice for you. It's better for you to learn from somepony who has experienced the same things you've gone through than me trying to understand what it was like for you. Don't worry, Sunset already told me she would be more than happy to teach you, to help you, to guide you. You're in good hooves, Moondancer, you can trust me on that one."

Moondancer was lost for words. She didn't know what to say. Twilight had traveled all the way here, not only just to visit her, but to also help her learn more about friendship. Her heart was beating fast, tears were starting to form in her eyes and reluctantly, she wiped them off, sniffling a little.

Twilight watched her friend and waited for the perfect time to ask the question she had been anxiously waiting to ask ever since she came here.

Finally, after Moondancer had stopped crying and contained herself, she cleared her throat, a grin upon her face. "So, Moondancer, will you accept this book and become Sunset Shimmer's student?"

Moondancer used her magic to hold the book and placed it close to her chest, hugging it. She looked at Twilight and nodded.

"Yes, yes I will."

Twilight and Moondancer said their goodbyes and Moondancer went inside the tower, sitting back on the chair she was on earlier and she opened the book, picking up a pen.

She inhaled, then exhaled. She let the pen touch the blank page and began to write, watching the words she was forming appear on the paper. She had to hold back her tears as she wrote and once she was finished, she closed the book and climbed onto her bed, holding the book close to her.

Meanwhile

"Hey Sunset, are you coming, darling?" Rarity asked Sunset, who was sitting on the steps that lead to the front doors of Canterlot High School. There was a meeting in band room that involved the Rainbooms and their upcoming concert and they couldn't be late for it.

"You go on ahead without me, I have to do something quick." Sunset replied, unzipping her schoolbag. Rarity soon disappeared and Sunset could hear her loud footsteps as she ran to the band room before they faded away.

Sunset could hear the loud vibration from her bag and she recognized that sound right away. It was her journal. She must've gotten something from Twilight. She picked up the vibrating book in her hands before opening it, flipping through the pages to see what Twilight wrote.

She eventually got to the page that she on and began reading it and, much to her surprise and shock, it wasn't from Twilight at all. It was from Moondancer, the pony that Twilight said she would ask if she wanted to become Sunset's protégé. She could tell that the note that Moondancer had written was very recent, it probably had been written just a few hours ago.

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

I am Moondancer and Twilight has just given me this journal to write down my reports on friendship. I hope that with you teaching me, I will learn more about friendship and how important it is. I'm still pretty new to the whole friendship thing, just like you, and I hope that writing to you for advice when I need it will guide me through it. Hope you reply soon.

Your student,
Moondancer

Sunset smiled as she got out a pen and flipped to the next blank page of her journal and began writing down her reply. She could tell that this pony still had a lot to learn, but that was okay with her. She knew that she could do this, she knew that Moondancer could do this.

She exhaled as she finished writing and she looked up at the sky, looking at the shapes the clouds were forming before putting the journal back in the bag and entering the school to go meet up with her friends.

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