The Darkest Night

It has been a full week since Queen Chrysalis was defeated. Her statue now stands in the castle gardens at Canterlot, where she will remain forevermore. There has been no sign of her changelings. Perhaps they have returned to that distant land whence they came. Without their queen to lead them, they are not so ready to invade Equestria.

The Elements of Harmony were returned to the Tree of Harmony. With Zecora’s help, the Tree lived well after the dawn. When the cleansed Elements were given to it once more, the Tree healed itself and now stands as pure and wondrous as the day it was first discovered by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Princess Luna has made a full recovery. Truth be told, it was difficult to keep her in bed and resting while she healed after the first few hours. Perhaps it has something to do with alicorn magic, or perhaps Princess Luna is just too devoted to her duties and her subjects to be bothered by severe magical trauma. Either way, she is in perfect health now and glad to be out and about once again.

A celebration has been declared in Ponyville, at Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle, to honor the return of Equestria’s harmony and the ponies who rose to defend it. Everypony will be there, even Princess Cadance and her husband Shining Armor. Princess Celestia is set to lead the ceremonies, and Princess Luna will begin the festivities by raising the moon—

“Misty Moonrise?”

Misty paused, quill hovering above the paper, and turned to see Princess Luna entering the room.

“What art thou doing in the library?” asked the Moon Princess. “ ’Tis nearly time for the celebration to begin. Thy friends wonder what hath become of thee.”

“Princess Twilight—” Misty caught herself. “I mean, Twilight gave me this journal, so I can write about what I’ve learned.” She set the quill aside and closed the journal, on the dark blue cover of which was enameled a full moon partially veiled by clouds. “Look—she even had the cover made to resemble my cutie mark.”

“ ’Tis truly a special gift,” said Princess Luna, smiling. She peered closely at her pupil for a moment, and then remarked, “Thou hast brushed thy hair.”

Misty glanced up at her neatly brushed mane. It still fell over one eye and down both sides of her neck, and her tail still dragged the ground, but it was no longer unkempt. “Lilypad convinced me,” she explained. “I kind of like it.”

Princess Luna leaned close and whispered conspiratorially, “As do I.” She chuckled, straightening. “Thou hast enjoyed thy stay in Ponyville, then?”

Misty’s gaze fell, and she shuffled her hooves. “Yeah…”

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Well, not really…” Misty glanced out the nearby window, through which she could see the decorations and stage that had been erected for the celebration. Dusk granted an ethereal cast to all of Ponyville, but especially the front lawn of the castle. Ponies were beginning to arrive, but the princesses had been there since that morning. Princess Celestia stood talking with Princess Cadance, and Twilight Sparkle was running through her checklist with Spike one last time.

The ponies that drew Misty’s gaze most, however, were her own friends. Steel Shield was resplendent in his Royal Guard armor, and Lilypad had donned a lovely periwinkle dress for the occasion. Nightingale was practicing the song she was scheduled to sing as Princess Luna raised the moon. Juniper Berry was setting out a spread of treats she and Pinkie Pie had baked especially for tonight, her perfected pineapple soufflé among them. Cloudy Day was surrounded by a group of foals, relating some great story that had the foals utterly enraptured.

Princess Luna followed her student’s gaze. “Dost thou wish to remain with thy friends?”

“It’s just that…” Misty looked up at her mentor. “I’ve never had so many friends before, princess. What if I go back to Canterlot and they think I don’t want to be their friend anymore? What if they forget about me? What if—?”

Princess Luna slipped a foreleg across Misty’s shoulders and drew her close. It was a brief embrace, but a warm, sincere one. “If this is what thou wishest,” she said, stepping back, “thou need’st only ask.”

“But what about my studies?” worried Misty. “I haven’t been your student that long. There’s so much more I have to learn.”

“And thou will. Thou can learn much from thy friends, as well as from Princess Twilight and hers. Besides, we have the realm of dreams. We can continue thy studies there when needs we must.”

A smile began to stretch across Misty’s face. “So I can stay?”

Princess Luna nodded.

Misty Moonrise hugged her teacher in thanks, and then galloped out of the library to tell her friends the good news.

Princess Luna stepped up to the library window. She watched as Misty Moonrise ran out of the castle and gathered her five friends around her. A moment more, and all six ponies were celebrating and embracing one another. Luna glanced over at her sister, who was gazing knowingly up at her. Celestia dipped her head in approval of Luna’s decision, and then returned to her conversation with Cadance.

Luna smiled to herself and turned to take her leave of the library. She paused beside her student’s journal. With a tendril of magic, she opened the book and flipped to the last page. She took up the quill with a second thread of magic, dipped it in the inkwell, and set to write. But then she stopped, contemplating the wisdom of what she was about to do.

After a minute, Luna decided to err on the side of caution. She pressed quill to paper and in an elegant script wrote:

Misty Moonrise,

When the Shards of Shadow are again one,

Seek not the darkness, nor the dying sun;

Seek not the Nightmare if she chooses flight;

Seek out instead the long forgotten Light.

When the stars are lost and all hope is gone,

Look to the Sunset to restore the dawn.

Thy teacher,

Princess Luna