Celestia sent a message to an old friend. A friend she hadn't contacted for- well, she didn't want to think about it. She didn't even know if it would be wise, even so long after the fight, to contact any being outside of Equestria.
"Your turn!" Rainbow urged Twilight. "Flap- no, harder- against the current, Twilight, you need wind! Good!" The experienced flier hovered above her friend. "Gosh, you sure learn slow for such an egghead."
"Flying can't be learned from books. Believe me, I've tried." Twilight let her focus slip and fell a foot. She flapped again and rose.
"Better." Rainbow Dash sighed. "Practice, Twilight! I know you're busy, but flying takes work!"
"I can tell." The purple Alicorn panted. "When you do it- even Fluttershy makes it look easy."
"We've practiced, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said. "Look, I know you need this, but Soarin is having a poster signing in a half hour at one if the starbits near here. Why don't you practice on your own? Or Fluttershy can help. But I have to get down there- I may get a chance to get into the Wonderbolts!"
"Sure, Dash." Twilight Sparkle sighed. She let herself slowly down using a combination of flying and magic.
"Great!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly and sped away.
"Your Highness!" A grey stallion trotted up to Twilight and saluted. "Princess Celestia would like to see you in her quarters."
"All right." Twilight said. "thank you." Celestia usually spoke to her in person when they needed to talk. Twilight wondered what could have been going on. She teleported herself to the hallway outside of Celestia's room and knocked. "Prin- Celestia?" She hadn't gotten used to omitting the 'Princess' yet. "It's Twilight Sparkle." The door swung open and Twilight trotted in. Celestia was reclining on a couch, looking at a letter with a strange seal. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, Twilight Sparkle." Princess Celestia looked at her former student, now her colleague. "I want you to read this letter."
"Letter-" Twilight Levitated the letter with her magic and brought it in front of her eyes. At first it looked like it was in a strange language, but at a closer glance, she saw it was normal...
"Read this?" Twilight looked at Celestia to make sure.
"Yes, Twilight."
'Dear Princess Celestia,
What an honor it was to recieve your letter. I heard from Eve of Ev that you have not contacted anyone outside of Equestria for quite some time, and I thank you for contacting me.
I agree that it is time for our two kingdoms to get to know each other. I am sure the citizens of Oz would love to meet those of Equestria. A handful of the older residents remember the years before Nightmare Moon, but so much has happened since then. I am sure we have both matured as rulers since the two thousand years we last saw each other- I as a child, you as a filly.
I look forward to seeing you once again.
With friendship and respect,
Princess Ozma of Oz'
Twilight Sparkle looked up.
"This is from- outside of Equestria?" She said in disbelief. "You had friends from outside?"
"Yes." Said Celestia. "We all did, back then. It was a simpler time, of great friendship between all lands. Come, Twilight, sit here. I'll tell you a story of long, long ago, a tale written down only once."
Twilight did as Celestia bade and sat on the couch beside her friend and ruler. Celestia smiled into the distance and began to speak.
"Long, long ago, before Nightmare Moon, Equestria and all of the nearby kingdoms were at peace. Even the Griffin kingdom did not invade and attempted to make friends.
"The Antlertic Ocean has another name: The Nonestic Ocean. On the other side, there are many smaller kingdoms, the largest of which is Oz."
Celestia looked at Twilight. "Here." In a flash, a map appeared beside Twilight Sparkle's hooves.
Twilight looked at the map.
"Oz?" Twilight asked. "What's that?"
Celestia laughed, not unkindly. "Let me finish the story." Twilight nodded.
"Ok."
"Oz was ruled by a man descended from Lurline, a fairy, who created it. The inhabitants were mostly human- Human looking, anyway. You see, Twilight, very few humans have the capacity for magic. They don't believe."
"Wait." Twilight had to interrupt. "Humans are real?
"Yes." Celestia said. "Now, I was good friends with this man's daughter. So was Luna. We met every so often on an island halfway between our two kingdoms, and remained close as we grew older. However, this ended soon after I recieved my cutie mark. One day, Luna and I visited the island at our designated time, and instead of Ozma, we were met by Glinda."
"Who?"
"Glinda. Nopony knows where she came from or how old she is, but she has magic more powerful than anypony in any universe.
"Wait- There's more than one universe?!" Twilight's brain was struggling to process everything Celestia was explaining.
"Yes, but- Let's not get into that now, Twilight Sparkle." Celestia smiled at the newest princess of Equestria. "I know this must be confusing."
"Twilight nodded.
"Glinda told Luna and me that Ozma had been kidnapped and her father destroyed. A new wizard ruled Oz, and he remained in power for a long, long time.
"It was around then that Equestria set up magical protection and left the usual time stream. These are all secrets only Luna and I know. Even Cadance does not know the full extent of our knowledge, but she has been told different things.
"Soon after, Luna became possessed by Nightmare Moon- And the rest, as they say, is history." Celestia looked at Twilight. "I decided that now, with a new princess, was the time to contact my one time best friend."
"She isn't kidnapped anymore?" Twilight blurted out, then yelled at herself for being such an idiot.
"She is free, yes. It seems her memory was wiped and she was transformed into a boy, but regained her former shape end memory." Celestia leaned in to look at the map. "In Oz, nopony grows old unless they want to and there are very few deaths. Destructions, rarely, but death even less. Ozians cannot die." Celestia then pointed one dainty hoof at the desert surrounding Oz on the map. "This desert is deadly- To touch, to breathe."
"How do we get across? Teleportation?"
"If we are invited." Celestia answered. "Oz has magic even Luna and I can barely imagine."
"Were you invited?" Twilight asked.
"Not yet- I believe we should invite Ozma and her friends here, first. I believe many of them are- Strange. Even to humans." Celestia smiled suddenly. "Luna and I will be so glad to see Ozma again!"
Twilight grinned back. "Let's get planning."
A Letter From a Friend II
Author's Note
After the 'Wonderful Wizard of Oz', L Frank Baum wrote maybe fifteen more Oz books. This is a crossover between those Oz books and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I'll do my best to center it mostly around the better known characters (E.g The Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, even the 'Little Wizard', who returns to Oz) Still, some characters might be unfamiliar. I'll do my best to give you a backstory that doesn't contain spoilers.
For the record, I would greatly recommend the Oz books for light reading. They're very sweet and whimsical and funny, plus they're public domain and free. I'll add a link in my blog.
A Letter From a Friend II
The rope slapped the ground in rhythm with Dorothy's counting. "Ninety, ninety one, ninety two-"
"Princess Dorothy-"
Dorothy whirled around, startled out of her jump rope rhythm. "Oh, Jellia Jamb. It's you."
"Princess Ozma would like to see you." The young housemaid smiled at the little girl.
"All right, Jellia." Dorothy put down her jump rope. "Thanks." She ran out of the garden and through the emerald palace, her dog, Toto, trailing at her heels.
"Ozma!" Dorothy burst into the Princess of Oz's boudoir. The fairy ruler was on a loveseat, staring wistfully out of the window. "Ozma, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, Dorothy." Ozma sighed. "I'm just missing someone. Someone I knew before I was Tip, even. Someone I have not seen in- Well, nearly two thousand years."
"Two-" Dorothy's eyes widened. "How?" She walked over to sit next to the fairy princess. Toto curled up on top of her feet.
"Time flows differently in Oz and in Equestria, where my friends live." Ozma answered. "The Wizard thinks he only ruled Oz for forty, fifty years- And he did, in time outside of any fairyland. But in Oz- That was one thousand years. When you left Kansas that first time, you were in Oz for at least a week, but your Aunt and Uncle missed you for three days." Ozma pulled the younger girl into a hug. "Can I tell you about my friends?"
"Awright." Dorothy grinned. "Can I meet them?"
Ozma laughed. "I hope so! That would be very fun for everyone." She gazed off into the distance. "Celestia and Luna would be very good friends with you, I think. And the sawhorse."
"The sawhorse?"
"Yes." Ozma said. "I didn't say? They're alicorns."
"Ally-whats?" Dorothy looked at Ozma with a confused expression.
"A-li-corns. Ponies, with a horn like a unicorn and wings like a pegasus. They live in Equestria, a land entirely populated with ponies." Ozma explained, illustrating what she meant with dainty hand movements.
"So- What happened?" Dorothy asked. "And where do they live?"
"Across the Nonestic Ocean, only they call it the Antlertic." Ozma answered the second question. "Do you remember Inga? The prince of Pingaree?" Dorothy nodded. "We met on that island, before it was very well known. Luna, the younger one, discovered the pearls. We were playing hide-and-seek, and she thought she found Celestia, who has a shining white coat. But instead, she found a beautiful bed of many-colored pearls. Celestia had the idea to enchant them and give them to the king as a gift." Ozma sighed again. "I forgot them until I got the letter. The spell Mombi cast is still holding back bits of my memory." She frowned as much as such a pretty girl could. "I wonder what- or who else I can't remember."
Dorothy patted her hand. "I'm sure you'll remember sometime. After all, you're recovering thousands of years of memories, and it's only been about a hundred since you were freed." The little girl smiled at her best friend.
"I suppose. Glinda tried to help me and I thought she got everything. At any rate, Celestia sent me a letter and I responded. So much has happened since I knew her! I am quite excited to see where this goes." Ozma grinned again, her spirits lifted.
"Can we look in the magic picture?" Dorothy asked.
"Of course!" Ozma answered. She used her wand to pull back the curtains covering one of Oz's most valuable magic objects: A picture that could show anywhere in the world with a simple question. "Show me Princess Celestia!"
The picture swirled and showed an elegant white alicorn mare, with a flowing mane and tail. Dorothy gasped. "Goodness! She's really pretty!"
"Older than I remembered." Ozma said. "I knew her as a filly." The mare bent to talk to a smaller alicorn, a purple mare with a straight, squared mane.
"Is that Luna?" Dorothy asked. Ozma furrowed her brow.
"No. I have never seen her." Ozma answered. "Oh! There's Luna! And- Another one I don't know." A purple alicorn mare entered with a pink alicorn mare. All four seemed to be engaged in a conversation.
"I wonder what they're doing." Dorothy wondered aloud.
The four mares finished what seemed like a letter and magicked it away. A second later, it appeared in the room the two girls were standing in.
"Ooh!" Dorothy exclaimed as Ozma read it. A grin grew on the princess' face.
"Dorothy!" She exclaimed. "Celestia and Luna want us all to visit! An invitation for the entire court!" Ozma beamed. "Oh, yes! YES!"
Dorothy had never seen Ozma get that excited.
"Shouldn't you tell everyone else before answering yes?" Dorothy asked.
"Of course." Ozma calmed down. "We'll meet right away."
