Princess Luna awoke with the sun warm in her face. The previous night’s events had exhausted her and she had slept soundly. Looking around, she saw her sister, Princess Celestia, was lying in the full light of the sun with a small, contented smile.
“Good morning, sister,” she beamed at Luna. But the only response she received was a sniffle as Luna hung her head in shame. Celestia shifted to shield Luna beneath her wing.
Luna buried her muzzle into her sister’s mane and took some deep breaths as she tried to sort through her feelings. On one hoof, being freed from a thousand years of anger and resentment felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her. On the other hoof, she felt responsible for a lot of
fear, pain, and suffering.
The worst part was that she knew the only pony she could blame was herself. Her sister had
forgiven her; she didn’t doubt this as she could feel the calm of it around her. But she was worried that the other ponies would still fear and loathe her. She would have to earn their trust, one action at a time. She had to admit that the ponies of Equestria might never trust her, but she owed it to her sister and herself to try. Luna had felt better enough to smile at her sister when a scroll popped into
existence in front of her.
“What’s this? It’s much too early for a letter from Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia mumbled while magically opening the scroll. Her eyes raced across a line of text before she remembered Luna was in the room and read it aloud.
Princess Celestia,
Just now I saw an entire flight of dragons in the western sky. I am no expert, but a group that size is difficult to mistake as anything else. I pray that you are already aware of the situation, as I have not known of activity of this magnitude in my lifetime.
Your faithful servant,
Starbow
After pausing to digest fully the importance of the letter, Celestia surprised Luna by commenting, “I am very much glad you are back, Luna.“ Luna blushed and swelled a little at her sister’s comment.
A piece of parchment and quill floated to the princess’s side and Luna watched as she penned a quick response. After she finished, Luna felt her sister concentrate on the scroll for a moment and magically transport it to the recipient. In response to Luna’s curious look she said, “We shall
watch the dragons carefully, but they are free to move as they wish, within their own territory of course.”
Rising to her feet, Celestia suggested to her sister that what could be done had been done and the best thing to do now would be to join some other ponies for breakfast.
***
Several weeks later Twilight Sparkle sleepily stretched in the morning sun and accidentally knocked a book (or two) off of her bed and onto Spike’s head. She cringed, but didn’t hear any noise from the little basket at the foot of her bed. Peering over the edge of the bed she met the eyes of a very grumpy baby dragon.
“Gosh, I’m sorry, Spike,” she smiled sheepishly at him. “But on the bright side we’re both awake and look,” she pointed to the window, “it’s a beautiful morning. We wouldn’t want to waste it in bed, right?” With that she rushed out of the room before Spike could complain about the falling books.
The little dragon sighed and abandoned his covers; he had known Twilight for far too long to expect to stay in bed on a morning like this. He rubbed the bump on his head where one of the books had landed. With a little grumble he picked up the books to return them to the library downstairs.
Later on a grassy hill Spike fidgeted while Twilight concentrated on some spell or another. “Spike, don’t squirm so much,” she yelled at him from several yards away. Spike felt threads of magic swirling around him but they dissipated as quickly as they had come.
“Come on, Twilight,” he tried to cheer his companion on. “I felt something that time!”
Spurred on by her companion Twilight gathered herself and threw everything she had into one last effort. Spike could feel the spell come into being this time and envelope him in a bright light. Suddenly, a large, translucent bubble surrounded him. It quivered for a moment in the summer breeze then popped.
Twilight flopped to the ground. “That’s it, Spike. I’m done” The little dragon was surprised. Twilight wasn’t much of a quitter. As he walked closer he could see her fur slick with perspiration.
“It’s okay, Twi,” he sat next to her and unpacked a few apples and sandwiches from her saddlebags on the ground nearby. “I’m a dragon and my magic doesn’t always work the way I want it to either.” Twilight gave her friend a look. “Well, what I mean is I definitely didn’t accidentally send my muffins along with your letter to Princess Celestia this morning…” Twilight was about to lecture Spike when a thought crossed her mind.
“Spike, have you ever sent a letter to anyone other than Princess Celestia?”
“Uh… no, I don’t think so.”
Twilight munched her apple in thought. Well, just because I couldn’t work my spell properly doesn’t mean the day should be a waste. “Spike, take a letter.”
Spike quickly finished the remainder of his sandwich and rummaged in the saddlebags for a quill and some ink and finding them sat to record Twilight’s letter.
***
Princess Luna slept in her room as the sun hung high overhead. Her dreams were not pleasant. She was flying through the night sky pursued by something. Her wings ached but the thing following her seemed to be gaining on her; it was tireless and she was not. Finally she could fly no more and she turned to face the monster and saw nothing except blackness everywhere she had flown.
Princess Luna was almost grateful when a thick scroll, appearing above her bed and landing directly on her face, woke her.
