> Upon My Return > by TheEveryDaySparkle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > My Joy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh what joy we feel! It fills us with unimaginable happiness to finally return to our sister's arms! We are happy, and yet part of us says that we are not worthy of this joy. "We did such a terrible thing to our subjects, and worst of all to our dear beloved sister, whom we treasure more than our very life. "Do we truly have the right to feel such relief? Yes, that is what this feeling is. It is not joy. It is not happiness. It is simply relief to finally be away from the grief and pain we suffered during our time spent on the moon. "Do not think us ungrateful. We may feel relieved, but we have truly seen the error of our ways. Our sister looks upon us with approving eyes once more. Eyes that care. Eyes that understand. "We have long since sent the letter to our sister and she has read its contents and forgiven us. Oh the happiness we felt at that moment as we held our dear sister in our arms once more, and felt the warm, merciful embrace she had given us. "We cried and cried for hours upon hours as all of our pain was simply washed away in that moment. "Despite our tears however, we feel that there is much to be done when it comes to our subjects. Our actions as nightmare moon have caused them to be wary of us, even as my sister reads them our letter of apology that we wrote during our time on the moon. "As we walk the paths of Ponyville, we still see the stares and disapproving glares of our subjects. They bore into us and make us feel small. But now there is a small sliver of hope for the future. It lies in each smile shared with us, in each wave and each admiration filled bow we receive from those who do forgive us, who have decided to give their princess a second chance. "The burden is still present upon our shoulders, as is the same for Celestia, but it is not as hard to carry as before. Now, it is light, and it is a burden we are more than happy to carry if it means we can make our sister happy and be of use to her. "We have spent many a night reflecting upon our actions, vowing never to forget the sadness and sorrow we caused. "Our sister however, is merciful, and begs us to move on from such depressing thoughts and be happy once more, for as she has said before, negative thoughts only will lead to more of the same. "She begs us to live life, and instead use the memory of our mistake to atone for our sin. "She begs us to continue to be the sister she lost so long ago. "But now, part of us believes that we cannot continue as though nothing has happened. moving along in life without repairing the damage that has been done, without trying to somehow show our sincere feelings. "But our sister assures us that even if we cannot reverse everything and make it as though the past never existed, with time, we can in fact, repent, and regain our lost years. "We can now sleep easier among the ponies of Equestria once more, knowing that fate and the forces that bind us have forgiven my transgressions. "We have heard the joy in our beloved sister's voice as she speaks her thoughts aloud, believing no audience present other than herself and the walls of her chamber as she prepares to enter the land of dreams for the night. "She talks of the unimaginable happiness she felt upon our return, the care she wishes to shower us with now that we have returned, and the sheer glee she feels every time she sees our face. "But we have also heard the sadness she feels, and we are sad to say we have felt it as well. "She talks of how sorry she is that she caused us to do what we did, how much she hates herself for not noticing the burden she had placed upon us, and how much she wishes she could take it all back and start fresh, starting a new life where she could be grateful for the burden we placed upon her. "These are the nights we cry the most. Yes, typically, having our dearest sister regret her actions and apologize to us would seem all well and good, however, we have much the same feelings she does, so we understand. "We do not wish to see our sister have to shed tears for our sake, or apologize and feel weighed down with regret. We wish to see her happy and smiling all the time. "Since our return, we too have felt feelings similar to those we did on the moon. We felt as though we regretted all that we did to her, and the fact that we had to force her to do something she did not wish to do. We also felt sorry for returning to begin with, and forcing our sister to have to think about these kinds of things, and to have to try as hard as she does to show us love and make us feel accepted within a world we had lost our place in. "No longer do we wish to gaze upon the night sky eternally. No longer do we wish to force our ideals and interests upon others. Now, we simply wish to gain a place in the world once more. One right beside our dearest sister where we belong. "We make this promise to you now sister, and to all of Equestria, that we will atone for our actions and return smiles to all of our subjects faces. as well as yours, because despite the grief and sorrow and pain that still haunts us till this day, I want to return to the way things were before. I want to feel that joy just once more."