Celestia's First Note to Twilight
"Wow," Twilight said nervously, "I can't believe I'm going to be leaving Canterlot; after all this time spent in the library. I don't know how I'll live without it."
"Eh," Spike mumbled, "I think this'll be good for you, Twi. Getting a change of scenery just might be what the doctor ordered. Besides, I heard great things about Ponyville."
"Like what?"
"Well," Spike pondered, "I heard they have the tastiest apples from a farm called Sweet Apple Acres."
"You know I'm not a fan of apples," Twilight replied.
"I also heard they have the best bakery anypony in Equestria could hope for."
"Sweets aren't my thing to be honest."
"Okay," Spike said with some frustration in his voice, "I know that there's a fashion store there that has some of the-"
"Just," Twilight interrupted, "Please Spike. Nothing's going to make me feel better at the moment. I've been in Canterlot for so long now that I don't think I can get used to this move."
"I'm just trying to help, Twi!" Spike exclaimed. "You know, I'm not really enjoying this either, but you don't see me pouting my day away! I'm just trying to look on the bright side, but you're batting me away like a fly!" Spike harrumphed and took a seat on the first step of the stairs to the upper section of the library.
Twilight stared at the floor for a second and looked back at Spike, "You're right. I'm sorry Spike. You're over there trying to make me happy and I'm being a pitiful pony."
Spike looked and walked over next to Twilight to sit down beside her, "I bet there's more to Ponyville than you might think Twi," Spike assured. "I feel from all the stuff I heard about it that there's even more than what I was told."
"I looked at the history of the town, though," Twilight said, "There's nothing but a few sights to see and some community events that take place every year. I don't think that's the kind of change I'm looking for."
"There are some things about places that you will only find out about if you experience them first hand."
Twilight glanced at Spike and smiled, "You're correct, as always. You know you're much smarter than you give yourself credit for."
Spike blushed slightly, "Well, being around you has gotten me reading some of these books around the library, so I have picked up a few facts."
Twilight laughed, "Oh Spike. What would I do without you?" They shared a laugh for a few secounds, followed by a big belch by Spike in which a letter formed.
"I don't know how I'm going to ever get used to that," Spike said. "The letters give me awful heartburn."
"I guess this is the letter to send us off," Twilight sighed. With a glow of her horn, Twilight opened the letter and began to read the words of Celestia.
Dear Twilight,
I want you to know that there will be times at Ponyville during your stay that you might find peculiar, strange, and completely unknown information. I understand that most of your life you've been secluded in your own home with your caring parents and more recently here at Canterlot's library, but that's about to change. You won't have your parents or Canterlot's assistants to help you with knowledge that is beyond you. You won't have my help most of the time now. Even books at some point will not be the least bit of help to you.
The only one that will be at your side is Spike. What will happen if he does not know something of the world you are oblivious to? This is the reason why I am assigning you personally on this special task I ask of you. Learning facts and spells that have already been discovered is important, but to get your own findings on a subject that nopony has ever worked on is crucial at its peak. Friendship is what you will be studying on your stay at Ponyville's library. Studying isn't the choice of words I should use though; this is more of an experience.
There will be words of wisdom you hear that will change parts of your perspective on your current understanding. There will be ponies out there that you haven't even met, yet they will most likely be the one to be by your side in the end. There will be mysteries to solve that will alter everything as we know it. There will be moments where even the darkest of times will be forcing you back from your goal. There will be experiences that're in your reach just waiting for you to take hold of.
These experiences will expand your know-how on friendship. There is no success in these adventures you will soon embark on if you don't have anypony to be there with you. Friends are the reason this harmonious land of Equestria came to be. Your friends are what's going to matter in the end, not the amount of studying you put in each day or the amount of books in your library. The friends you make will become a part of you.
My times with you were great and they won't cease, but now there will be times when you need somepony(s) besides me. I won't be able to be there with you through all your hardships. These problems will be solved by you and the ponies you meet in Ponyville.
I cannot begin to fathom the wonders of your journey that lies ahead of you. The time you spend in Ponyville will create memories, the memories will create friendship, and the friendship will become the happiness in your life. I'll expect a letter from you when you arrive in Ponyville, Twilight.
Your mentor, Princess Celestia.
"I should get going you guys," Twilight yawned. "That was a fun party Pinkie Pie, but all the excitement of Luna's return and the Elements of Harmony is just exhausting."
"I hear ya, sugarcube," Applejack agreed. "I think all of us should go on home and hit the hay."
"Twilight," Rarity started, "You must come by Carousel Boutique tomorrow morning. I want to show you some of the work I do and need some insightful thoughts on my dresses."
"Gee Rarity," Twilight said, "That'd be great. I'll head over there first thing in the morning."
"Wonderful, dear!" Rarity cheered.
"Don't be a stranger around us, Twilight," Fluttershy added. "We know you haven't been here long, but all of us are here for you."
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "Just yell Pinkie Pie and I'll be there for you all the way! Pinkie Promise!" She said the words and performed the motions of the sacred Pinkie Promise.
Twilight smiled widely, "And I'm here for all of you." The ponies gathered for one big hug. Twilight felt something. Something that felt like a waterfall was coursing inside her. She knew at that moment she had made her best friends for the first time in her life. She let loose of everypony and yawned once more. "Well Spike. Let's get going!"
"Right," Spike replied. The ponies waved goodbye to each other and headed to their humble abodes. Twilight and Spike could hear Pinkie Pie rambling on about how great the party was as they headed home.
Twilight and Spike arrived at the library several minutes later. Twi shut the door behind her and sighed, "That's one way to make a first impression in Ponyville."
"Yeah," Spike assured, "You're gonna be the talk of the town for a while."
"I'm not sure if I'm ready for this though," Twilight said nervously. "What if I end up blowing it with my new friends? I feel like they're the greatest ponies I've met besides Celestia, my parents, and you. I don't want to let them down."
"Twilight," Spike explained, "The thing about friends is that they'll love you for who you are, not how you please them. If you're worried about it that much, the only suggestion I can recommend is to trust in your instincts. If you trust in them, then they will trust in you. For crying out loud Twi, they're your Elements of Harmony! Did you see how terrifying Nightmare Moon was? Yet all six of you joined together and defeated her as if you've done it before. If that's not friendship, I'm not quite sure what is."
Twilight chuckled, "You're right, Spike. Why am I so worried about this? I know deep down they're going to be amazing ponies."
"That's what I like to hear," Spike said trailed by a yawn. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed. I can't be nodding off tomorrow during our studies. Need anything while I'm still up?"
"I think I have everything I need," Twilight said, "You can go to sleep. I should be up there shortly after I finish my letter to Celestia. We can send it to her in the morning."
"Alright," Spike yawned again, "G'night, Twilight."
"Night, Spike." Spike walked upstairs and went to bed.
Twilight went to her desk and pulled a piece of parchment and a quill from the drawer. "Now where's the ink?" Twilight pondered. She searched through some drawers rustling everything around in the process. She glanced up and saw the ink bottle resting on her windowsill. "Ah, yes. Here it is." She grabbed it, opened the little bottle, dipped the nib into it, and began writing her first letter to Celestia from Ponyville:
Dear Celestia,
Being here in Ponyville has made me most anxious of my studies and my mission you entrusted me with. The strange encounters that took place with some of the ponies and I here in Ponyville have been nerve-wracking. Meeting some of them game me the impression that I would not fit in here in Ponyville. However, as the day drew on, several ponies from Ponyville befriended me after the horrible Nightmare Moon appeared. I didn't accept their request to accompany me on the journey to the Elements of Harmony, but they persisted and came along regardless of my declination. I'm glad they did though, for if they had not, I wouldn't have succeeded in destroying Nightmare Moon.
I've made some wonderful friends from Ponyville as you saw earlier today. This new experience with friendship is extraordinary. Never in my life did I know such happiness could exist in Equestria. Only my family has made me feel this way before, but I suppose this bond between the other five and I is strong as well. Each of them took the liberty to escort me on a dangerous task that I would've surely failed if it had not been for them. Occasionally I feel alone in my duties to learn and discover. The only one to help me on anything of the sort is Spike, but as you said, he will not know all of the mysteries I do not.
Friendship cannot be learned alone though; I realized that today. You need ponies other than yourself to acquire the knowledge of friends. Wings spread far but do not fly without wind.
If you understand something in only one way, then you don’t really understand it at all. The secret of what anything means to us depends on how we've connected it to all other things we know. Well-connected renditions let you turn ideas around in your mind, to envision things from many perspectives until you find one that works for you.
There is much more to learning than facts, data, books, and pure intelligence. As you mentioned in your letter to me before I left Canterlot, experience is a way of acquiring ideas and facts that is sometimes the only way of doing so. I see that now. I see that there will be discoveries I make that have never been published in a book, and there will be times that I cannot do this alone. My friends will be there for me.
Your faithful student, Twilight
Author's Note
I want to thank Polymath, cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky for being an inspiration in creating this chapter.
