Nopony Lives Forever, Twilight

Celestia yawned as she opened her eyes. She closed them again. Painfully bright rays of sunshine burned through the window, making her wonder how late she'd slept. The bed was so comfortable, like something she'd never felt before. She realized with sadness she probably hadn't. The only other time she'd slept in a real bed was in one of the orphanages. That bed had been as stiff as the dirty floor it sat on. Celestia yawned again. She tried to pull herself together to wake up completely, but couldn't muster the energy. Perhaps she should go back to sleep.

She reached out to snuggle Luna, but touched nothing but sheets. She shot up, suddenly filled with energy. Where was Luna? Why wasn't she here? If she'd gone off on her own, surely she would have told Celestia first! Celestia hopped out of the bed, face-planting. She looked down to see the sheets practically tied around her legs. She cursed them, wondering how she could have loved them before. She untied them using her magic, and then slammed her way out the door.

"Luna! Where is she!?" She screamed at Lana, breathing heavily.

"Calm down, Missy, she's in the kitchen. Why don't you join her?" Lana pointed her towards the kitchen's door. Celestia blushed, and walked through the door.

She was met by the rich sounds of laughter, along with a generous helping of pancake batter to the face.

"Tia! I'm making pancakes!" Luna giggled, stirring a large bowl of batter. The walls, floor, and even ceiling of the kitchen were dripping with batter, more than there was in Luna's bowl. Celestia tried to hold back her laughter as she scolded the blue filly.

"Now, Lulu, look at the mess you've made!"

"That wasn't me, silly, that was Newton!" For the first time, Celestia noticed the bright blue magician standing sheepishly on the other side of the central counter. He had enough batter in his mane alone to feed an entire orphanage of hungry ponies. Celestia couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. She fell to the ground, rocking back and forth, bumping into chair legs, and not giving a care in the world. Luna was shocked. Her sister was never this fun before!

Celestia stood up, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "Oh, Lulu... What am I going to do with you?"

"What do you mean?" Luna cocked her head.

"You shouldn't consort with people like him," Celestia replied, pointing a hoof at Newton's batter-filled hair, "or else you'll grow up to be just like him." At this she started laughing again. Luna stopped stirring the pancake mix.

"Hmm... Maybe you're right. I guess Newton will have to clean this up all on his own..." She leered at the older unicorn as he stopped smiling.

"Wait, what?" Newton stared as the two fillies hopped out the door, shutting it behind them. Newton chuckled. "Ahh, just like their mother." He smiled, picking up a rag.

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Celestia threw herself onto the bed, letting out a breath. She was pooped beyond reason. Luna continued to play outside, but Celestia had gone inside to take a break. She looked over at the desk near the door. Sitting upon it was the book that Green Binding had given her. To her surprise, as she trotted closer to it, one of the 6 stones began to glow, getting brighter and brighter. Mesmerized, Celestia put a hoof onto the book's cover. As she did, the red glow dissipated.

Celestia opened the book, surprised to find that of the pages of swirly characters, the first hoofful had become ordinary letters. She read the title on the first page. The first lesson: Friendship Celestia flipped through the legible pages. Each page had a small header titled simply Friendship, in a deep red ink. Beneath that were titles. Spells, such as Invisibility, Cloudwalking, and even Short-Distance Teleportation. But also other pages. Some had recipes for potions, while others contained explanations of complex magic theories. Breathless, Celestia returned to the first page, and began to read.

If you are reading this, it means you have learned the first of the seven lessons that govern this book. Friendship. The other six,,,