Noctilucent set her book aside and pondered on what she had read. The schwesterhooven movement was old, it had been founded during the terrible times before she had been exiled to the Moon. After Discord and his ilk had been put down and during the growing antipathy between the two Courts, some ponies had sworn to be pacifists. They had exiled themselves to the old world nations of Germany, Fancy and the Grittish Isles, where they still lived in small communes. They held fast to traditions of matriarchal herds, laborious farming, communal property, orthodox worship of the Two Sisters and of course the now antiquated way of speaking that Clicky had noted.

While no pacifist, she could certainly pretend to have been raised Schwesterhoof as part of her disguise. Noctilucent yawned, rubbed at her dry eyes and leant back into the uncomfortable chair behind the hospital's reception desk. Though she was naturally more energetic during Her dark and pleasant night, the hospital was very dull and quiet. The janitorial staff had finished their labour and the lone security pony was keeping vigil outside. Once Clicky had left it was just herself and Nurse Blackheart, who was flitting around checking on everypony who was staying overnight.

There was time for a little dream walking as she was not likely to be disturbed at this hour. Ponies had their strongest and most memorable dreams during these wee hours before dawn, making it the most fruitful time to be walking.

Noctilucent closed her eyes and her horn glowed briefly.

Standing before the cuckoo clock door to Clickspring's dreams, Luna decided against visiting him or Dirt Nap tonight. Instead she remained in the Hall and cast another spell. Hair-thin threads of glowing light spread out from her horn and attached to the doors around her, lightly linking her senses to several hundred dreamers. A mere fraction of Equestria's population but it was the most she could manage for now.

She stood with her eyes closed, ears perked forward and 'listened' for anypony having a truly awful nightmare. There were foul entities which could enter dreams and inspire terror, lust, envy, and other primal emotions. Feeding upon the dreamer, leaving them weak and easily led down evil paths by their demonic brethren. She well knew how ponies could succumb to their whispers of power and false justice, having fallen for them once herself.

Luna eagerly sought for the horrible miasma of a Tartarus induced nightmare; the sound of hopeless screams, the stench of rotting flesh, the cold touch of an undead hoof, a fetid exhalation over decaying teeth.

What she was not expecting was the scent of vanilla and a warm breath in her ear that said, "Hello..."

Noctilucent's body spasmed. She kicked the reception desk and almost fell out of her chair while making a very undignified and loud snort. After a moment of disorientation, she recovered and righted herself in the chair with an annoyed grunt.

"You ok down there, Noctiluthent?"

Noctilucent looked up to see Nurse Blackheart hovering at the top of the stairs gazing down at her with bright yellow eyes, her black wings making only a whisper of sound.

"Y-y-yes, f-fine. Thank th... you, Nurse Blackheart. I, ah, read something humorous in my book is all. N-nothing to trouble yourself over. My apologies."

Blackheart glanced at said book, laying closed on the desk, raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she fluttered away into one of the third-floor corridors.

Noctilucent sighed, settled back into her uncomfortable chair and let the still active dream walking spell pull her back in. She slipped into her manifestation within the time-queer Hall of Dreams and heard, "...dear sister," breathed into her ear.

Luna smiled and leant sideways, pressing up against Celestia's warm side. "Good evening to thee, dearest sister. Thou… You are awake very late. Or is it early?"

Celestia rubbed her cheek against Luna's and said, "I have an early morning meeting with the mayor of Manehatten and while I was waiting for my airship to dock I felt you beginning a dream walk." She stepped away from Luna and smiled down at her. "It is good to see you again."

"Tis wondrous to gaze upon you as well." Though in truth Luna also felt ashamed for having avoided her for so long.

"Do you have a few moments to chat? It is unlikely that there will be any nightmares that are terrible enough to require your intervention. Ponyville has been remarkably free of diabolic scheming since the Elements returned."

Luna nodded and sighed. "Aye, the past few nights that I have Walked there has been nary a single nightmare for me to battle. In sooth I find it disturbingly peaceful." She pawed a hoof on the floor and snorted, wishing there were some foe to smite and a frightened pony to comfort.

"Are you enjoying your vacation? Have you made any friends in Ponyville?"

Luna chuckled and said, "Nae, not yet in any case. Our group session patients have tasked us with making a friend afore the next session. But I have not, yet." Luna had been putting it off and putting it off, but the session would be soon so she would need to stir her tail and attempt to befriend somepony or face Dr. Cake's wrath. Assuming the chubby fellow was capable of wrath.

Seeing her sister's discomfort Celestia nuzzled her cheek and said, "I recommend consulting with Twilight Sparkle if you require advice. I can tell from her letters that she is quickly learning a great deal about the magic of friendship."

"Indeed. As thou… you have foresawn, she shows promise of growing from a bibliognost to a worthy leader of the Elements."

"We will need them and others like them, Luna." Celestia sighed and said, "I worry that great danger is coming for our little ponies."

Luna's dark blue hide shivered upon hearing her sister confirming her own sense of foreboding. "Shall I end my respite and return to Canterlot? Is this why you have sought me out?"

Celestia shook her head and said, "No. I believe we have some time remaining, but please be ready to come if I should call for you."

"Always."

Kissing Luna on the cheek she said, "Thank you. I know that you are eager for your strength to return and to take up your duties again. I'm certain Equestria will need you soon but do not rush your vacation, Luna. Make friends, take a lover and enjoy being just a pony for a while."

Luna made a small, amused snort at being advised to take a lover by her sister, who had become the embodiment of the 'maiden in an ivory tower' archetype. She wondered if there were a pony in the land who was brave or foolhardy enough to try and scale that tower.

"I will continue to see to our nation's needs for a while longer. I had better return to the waking world for I have a mayor to scold."

The sisters hugged and Celestia nuzzled her smaller sibling's ear. "I love you, Moony."

"I love thee also, Sunny."

Alone again, Luna stood watch over Ponyville's dreams.

Sweetie Belle sat at the kitchen table, sipping a mug of warm milk and idly scribbling designs for a Cutie Mark Crusader coat of arms. She was bored with a capital 'B'. So very, very bored. Being dropped off by her parents to spend the weekend with her sister had been fun at first, but Rarity had grounded her when she came home covered in tree sap. Again.

At this rate, she would end up with a cutie mark for getting covered in tree sap, or one for spending hours in the tub scrubbing the sap out.

She was startled, mid-yawn, by somepony knocking on the kitchen door. She hiccuped, hopped up from her chair and went to window next to the door and used her magic to lift up a corner of the curtain so she could peer out. She squeaked happily because it was someone interesting! That weird old unicorn who's asked her sister to be his Master. Grinning, she dropped the curtain and scurried over to the open doorway between the kitchen and the Carousel Boutique's showroom.

"Raaaarity! Your coltfriend is at the back doooooor!"

She heard her sister yelp, "W-what?" and Twilight Sparkle ask, "You have a special somepony, Rarity?"

Sweetie Belle pressed her hooves over her muzzle to try and contain her giggles.

"No! I don't have any…" She heard Rarity sigh in exasperation. "We can talk about this later, let's just finish getting your dress fitted, ok?" She called back to Sweetie Belle, "Please let Mr. Clickspring in and let him know that I'll be there in a little bit!"

Still giggling, Sweetie Belle trotted back to the kitchen door. It looked like she would be staying up a bit late tonight, as you couldn't let strange ponies wander around your home unescorted. She wouldn't even let a strange pony in, except her sister had said it was ok. She opened the door just as Clickspring was getting ready to knock again.

Dropping his hoof he smiled down at the little filly and asked, "Uh, hi. Is your sister in?"

Putting on her best dealing-with-Rarity's-clients manners, Sweetie Belle gestured and said, "Do please come in. My sister's with a client right now but said that she'd be ready to see you soon. Won't you take a seat, please?" She couldn't help squeaking a little bit, even though she was trying to be professional like her sister.

Clickspring trotted inside and sat down at the kitchen table while Sweetie Belle closed the door and hopped back up onto her own chair. She grabbed her cooling mug of milk and drank down a gulp, staring at the strange unicorn sitting across from her. She wondered if it would be ok to offer him a drink, but Rarity had banned her from doing anything in the kitchen after the last fire.

Sweetie Belle knew she was staring and Rarity had told her that it was impolite, but he was just so strange to look at. He had a weird horn, wore weird glasses and had a weird tuft of blue hair on the end of his chin. He was all kinds of weird and interesting.

He coughed and pulled some papers out of his belt and started reading them, glancing at her a few times as she sipped her milk. Sweetie figured he must be embarrassed by her staring at him and that he probably got a lot of ponies staring 'cause of his horn.

"What happened to your horn?"

Clickspring sighed and folded up the form he'd been reviewing and placed it on the table in front of him. "I had an accident when I was a little foal. Younger than you, actually."

Sweetie leant forward, her big eyes wide as she asked, "Does it hurt?"

"No, not unless I try to do too much magic anyway. The left side of my horn works fine, it's just the right side that's kind of useless."

"I'm sorry for staring. Did you get teased a lot at school? I get teased 'cause I don't have a cutie mark yet."

Clickspring nodded and said, "Yes, I was bullied at school. Foals can be kind of cruel, without realising how much they're hurting somepony. I'm sorry that you're being teased, it isn't fun is it?"

"No. It. Isn't. Is that why you're wearing a dress too? Do you not have your cutie mark yet?"

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened in fright as she imagined what it would be like to grow up and still not have a cutie mark. There were whispered stories at school about ponies who suffered such a horrible fate, or lack of a fate.

"Oh, no. I have one. I don't understand it, but I have one. My 'dress' is actually called a kilt, and wearing it is, ah, it's a traditional thing. I was born in the Shetland Isles."

Sweetie looked very puzzled and asked, "How can you have a cutie mark that you don't understand? I thought they showed what made you special?"

"I'm sure that they do, and most of the time a cutie mark is really easy to understand. Like a pony who drives a train and has railroad tracks for a cutie mark. Or a pony who grows apples and has an apple for a cutie mark. But sometimes it's not as easy to figure out." Clickspring nodded his head towards the doorway into the boutique. "Like your sister's cutie mark of three diamonds. Why not a needle and thread? Wouldn't that have made more sense?"

"Well, my sister has an af… An af… Affinity?" Clickspring nodded and she went on, "An affinity for gemstones. She's really good at finding them and using them in her couture."

Clickspring nodded and said, "So there's a connection between what makes her special, her fashion sense, and her cutie mark. But it's not obvious, is it? Shouldn't she be working as a miner? Or a gemstone cutter? Or making jewellery? My cutie mark is a lit taper; that's a strip of wood with one end of it on fire. I've never figured out why I have that as my cutie mark. I've worked in a few jobs over the years, and none of them has had anything to do with lighting things on fire."

"Maybe if my sister becomes your Master she can help you figure it out?"

Clickspring shrugged and said, "Maybe." But he didn't sound at all hopeful.

Rarity appeared in the doorway, wearing glasses with fancy red frames and a bright yellow tape measure draped over her shoulders. She smiled at Sweetie Belle and said, "Thank you for entertaining our guest, Sweetie, darling. Now finish off your milk and get to bed, dear." Her voice became a bit stern as she said, "We'll talk later about your little joke."

Turning to their guest and in a much more pleasant voice she said, "Come with me, Mr. Clickspring."

Sweetie Belle sighed and picked up her mug as Rarity and Clickspring walked out of the kitchen. Nopony ever appreciated her sense of humour.

Rarity gracefully walked over to a round platform, patted the top of is with one of her hooves and said, "Hop up, please."

Clickspring stopped a couple of meters away and looked puzzled, his head cocked to one side with one ear flopped over and the other up straight. "Wait. What?"

"Hop up here, please. I need to take your measurements." Rarity patted the top of the platform again and said, "And please take off that wretched thing that you are wearing." Rarity was grateful that he had come in the rear entrance this time, but gratitude did not stop her from feeling ill when she laid eyes on that plaid pustule he was wearing.

"But... I just came by to ask if you'd be my Master. I had the T.C. test done last night and…"

Rarity impatiently cut him off. "The answer is 'yes', Mr. Clickspring. I'll take you on as my apprentice, but no apprentice of mine is going to be seen in public wearing…" She trailed off as she noticed that Clickspring's brain seemed to have shut down, judging by his stunned look and statue-like stillness.

Rarity rapped her hoof on the top of the wooden platform again, much harder this time. "Mr. Clickspring? Come now. Hop up, I'd like to get this done sometime before morning, please."

Clickspring's brain appeared to play catch up, he shook his head and began unbuckled his belt. Rarity turned away and waited patiently, her ears twitching as she heard a rustle of fabric and a muted thump as his belt hit the floor. A moment later he jumped up on top of the modelling platform she was standing next to.

"Ah, this doesn't involve any touching does it?"

Rarity lifted up her tape measure in her magic and shook her head. "No, I'll avoid touching you, Mr. Clickspring. I have heard that you missed the last Festival and I'm aware of your unfortunate... condition."

Although she wasn't gay, Rarity had an arrangement with an old filly friend to take care of her Festival urge, as she was saving herself for marriage. Afterwards, she enjoyed hobnobbing with the local unicorns in the refreshments tent and she had never seen Clickspring there, which was unusual as there were not many unicorns living in Ponyville.

She began the painstaking process of measuring Clickspring, using her magic to handle the tape and to write everything down on a notepad. She started by measuring his head length, horn length and horn diameter at the base, which was a little awkward due to the malformed stub on one side.

"Why are you measuring my head for a kilt?"

"Oh, I keep all of my client's measurements on file Mr. Clickspring, in case they're needed at a later date. Perhaps you may need formal wear at some point." Rarity's eyes sparkled as she said, "I think you would look dashing in a tux and tails." Yes, his slender yet toned build would look good in form-fitting formal attire.

Clickspring laughed nervously. "I doubt I'll ever need to wear something like that. And please, call me 'Clicky'."

"All right, Clicky. Please hold still for a bit, no need to hold your breath. Just breath normally."

Getting accurate and detailed measurements of his front half was not an issue, but as she measured from his withers to his dock, Clickspring's hide began to twitch. His condition became worse as she measured around his girth in several places and began working her way down one of his hind legs; he was twitching, shuffling his hooves and sweating. Her tape measure was getting sweat on it!

'Ugh. Nasty.'

Rarity gave up after getting only very basic measurements of one of his legs. She dropped her notepad and pencil off on her desk but wasn't certain what to do with the tape measure. It would need to be cleansed. Shrugging she dropped it onto the floor next to her desk and said, "All right, we're finished Clicky."

Clickspring jumped down and quickly trotted over to his kilt, pulled it up around his middle and belted it in place. He wiggled his long whip-like tail to get it settled in the slit cut into the back of the kilt's fabric.

"You'll have to give me a few days to come up with a design for your new look, Clicky. I don't usually design skirts for stallions." Rarity paused, her lower lip pouting as she thought for a moment and then said, "In fact, this will be the very first one." Thoughts of starting a new trend danced through her head; a vision of stallions all over Equestria lining up to purchase one of her fabulous kilts.

"Umm… Can you make sure it has a few pockets?" Clickspring adjusted his belt and then scratched his belly with a forehoof, annoyed with the itchy fabric.

Rarity nodded and said, "Pockets. All right. I can do that."

"And no frilly stuff."

"No frills?"

"And no gems."

Rarity snorted, frowned and in a hard voice said, "Don't push it, Clicky. Gems are important!"

"Ah heh. Ummm… how much will it cost?"

"I consider this to be required, ah, 'supplies' for your apprenticeship. So I'll be billing it to the Crown along with the cost of your books and other supplies. Oh, that reminds me." Rarity trotted past Clickspring and lifted up a satchel that was laying against the wall. She brought it back and held it out to him.

"In here are your study books. There's one on practical magic theory, another with lessons for you to practice and yet another with tests as you complete each section of the theory book. There are a few other pieces of equipment we'll need as well, which I will acquire before our first lessons."

Clickspring took the satchel in his magic and slung it around his neck. "Thank you."

The corresponding Master's study guide was sitting on the desk in Rarity's bedroom. She had been leafing through it earlier in the day, re-familiarizing herself with what had been taught when she took her Master qualification training and certification.

"For now just read through the theory book and we can meet again in a few days to talk about how we are going to approach your training. I should have at least a rough version of your new kilt ready to be fitted by then. All right?"

Clickspring nodded and said, "Sounds good to me. Thank you, Rarity. I really appreciate this."

"You are most welcome, Clicky." She yawned, holding a delicate hoof in front of her muzzle. "Now, if you don't mind I would very much like to get my beauty sleep."

Clickspring nodded and headed back into the kitchen, stopping when he noticed his application form sitting on the table.

"Oh! I forgot, here's my completed application form." He used his magic to hand the folded up form to Rarity, then opened the door and headed off into the night.

Rarity shut the door and had a quick look at the form as she headed up the stairs to her bedroom, trying to keep her hooffalls quiet so as not to disturb Sweetie Belle. It just needed her information before she could post it off to Canterlot.

She sleepily muttered to herself, "Oh dear, a mere 10.4 percent for T.C.? Tch, tch, tch. Poor Clicky." She would need to review the section of the guide on how to train particularly weak students.

Twilight Sparkle's advice was sound, Noctilucent was certain of that. Taking her sister's advice she had spent several hours discussing Friendship Theory with her at the library, preparing to tackle her homework assignment. Twilight had drawn up a helpful list.

Step 1: The first step in getting to know a potential friend is to talk to them. Look for somepony who enjoys things that you like and strike up a conversation.

But what did the ponies of Ponyville do that could be described as something that she enjoyed?

Noctilucent had been wandering around town for the much of the afternoon, having woken early so that she would have this time. The group session was scheduled for this evening and she still had not made a friend, nor even made the attempt. She yawned and floated her coffee mug over to take a sip of frothy, sweet-bitter nectar.

She had yet to catch sight of a pony engaged in any activity that she was particularly fond of. Working the fields. Tending to flocks of lesser beasts. Buying and selling goods. Ponyville was primarily a farming and market town, and while a calming place to reside there was little of interest for a battle hardened mare from another time. Not that she desired to be knee deep in gore, the tranquillity was most pleasant, just not interesting.

She had struck up a conversation with the pony who had sold her the coffee, but such a customer to servant discourse could not be considered friendship. Friendly words had been exchanged, but they held little of personal merit.

Thinking back to those she had considered friends when she last strode the soil of Equestria, she realised that almost all of them had been friendships based on martial camaraderie or the bent knee of nobility to their rulers. She wasn't certain that such would even be considered friendship by modern standards. Most recently there had been one advisor in particular who she had felt close to, had confided many of her personal problems and joys to. Sadly it was a memory tainted with bitterness, as Dame Fleetwing had fallen in battle during the Long Eclipse. Though it had been an arrow shot by a pony loyal to the Sun that had done the deed, Noctilucent knew that the blame for her demise was solely her own.

Pacing the cobbled streets she felt morose, the regrets of her past hanging heavy on her heart, a companion for the fear of failing with the task set for her at the group session. By Clickspring, damn his hide. It galled her! Failing in her own task when she knew that he was succeeding in the one she had set for him. Rarity had visited the hospital to inquire after Clickspring's mental health, concerned about taking on an apprentice who was under the care of a therapist. Noctilucent would not sit in the group session and report she had failed while he sat smugly satisfied by his own progress. She would not! Her nostrils flared and she snorted angrily, startling a couple of mares who selling flowers out of the back of a cart.

The sound of splashing water brought her out of the angry funk she had sunk into. Without meaning to she had walked into the middle of the town square, which was not actually square, and almost up to the water fountain. She set her drink on the fountain's rim, sighed heavily making her lips flap, and stood for a while staring at the water. This was the same type of thinking that had ended in her making pacts in Tartarus and becoming Nightmare Moon. Fear. Jealousy. Rage. She wondered if perhaps it would be better to admit defeat than risk inviting such a disaster once again?

Her wings were itchy and sore, which didn't help her mood any. So she finished her coffee and teleported the mug back to the cafe, then trotted south, heading for the edge of town.

An hour later, after a long random flight over the Everfree forest, she was reclining in a cloud and giving her wings a relaxing preen. The wind ruffled her long blue primaries as she nibbled her way through the median converts on the underside of her left wing, wiggling the feathers with her mobile lips to relieve itchiness where they connected into her skin. Most of her feathers were just fine, but a few little ones drifted away on the breeze.

After preening she laid belly down on the soft fluffy cloud, wings outstretched and her head dangling over the edge. She gazed down at the wilderness and let her thoughts wander. The homework still worried her but she realised that one simply didn't go forth with the intent of 'making' a friend as one would to smite a foe. You could not make friendship appear as if casting a magical spell. Well, to be honest, one could do that if one knew the correct spells, but that was beside the point. What spells induced was not truly friendship, any more than casting Charm Beast was the same as earning an animal's trust and loyalty. Superficially they were similar, but magically created friendship was worthless and would vanish with the spell.

Perhaps if Clickspring had said she should only try to start a friendship, that would have been a sensible task, but no, she had agreed to making a friendship happen. No wonder she was unhappy with this task, it was inherently wrong. Indeed, while playing the role of Noctilucent it would be nigh impossible for a real friendship to form as it would be a friendship based upon a lie.

On thing Twilight had been most clear on was that friendship flourished in an atmosphere of honesty, and it was clear that as 'Noctilucent' any attempt at making a friend would be based upon a lie. No, best if she accepted that this was an impossible task or at least one she could not in good conscience complete.

She sighed heavily, blowing ragged puffs off of the edge of the cloud next to her chin.

Her cloud drifted near the ruined Castle of the Two Sister and she gazed at it glumly. A terrible reminder of what her rage, if let to fester, was capable of. The smashed, crumbling ruin that was slowly being consumed by the forest was jarring when compared with her memory of the beautiful fortification it had once been.

Something pony-sized was flying around and around the ruins. As she watched, the pegasus landed on the crumbling parapets, waited a few moments, then took off and flew around and around again. Luna stood up and stretched, making her back crack and pop, she flapped her large wings a few times and then dove off of the edge of the cloud. A long, swooping glide quickly brought her to the ruined castle, where she easily caught up to a little grey pegasus mare who was flying circles around it.

Flying up behind the other pony, Luna called, "Greetings, little pony. Art thou lost?" The voice modification spell that she wore like a muzzle over her mouth made her words so quiet that the little pegasus did not hear her. Luna sighed and with a hoof she swiped the spell from her face, leaving tiny tatters of magic dangling from her chin.

"GREETINGS, LITTLE PONY!"

'Oh bescītan, too loud!'

The pegasus was thrown rump over muzzle through the air by the blast and would have crashed into one of the ruin's remaining towers had Luna not plucked her out of the air with her magic.

Luna flew down and landed on a crumbling section of a curtain wall, and then set a ruffled bundle of grey feathers down onto the stone walkway. The little mare spent a few moment righting herself, shaking her yellow mane into some semblance of order and gathering her sprawled wings up against her flanks as she stood up. Shaking her head she blinked a few times and looked up at Luna... with one eye at least she looked up at Luna, the other was gazing at something off in the forest.

Derpy's eyebrows went up in shock. Bowing her front quarters low and pressing her snoot to the stone walkway she whimpered, "P-princess!"

This was perhaps the most familiar thing that had happened since Luna's return to Equestria, and she felt strangely comforted by it. She smiled and being careful to keep her voice quiet she said, "Rise, little pegasus. I would speak with thee… you."

Derpy straightened up, standing in a guard-like pose of attention before the princess. One of her intense yellow eyes gazed up at Luna, while the other wandered slowly around, jumping to a new angle whenever she blinked. It was unsettling.

Luna asked, "What business have you, that brings you to this desolate place? Art th…" She coughed and said, "Are you lost?"

Derpy's ears drooped and she scuffed at the stones with one of her forehooves. "Maybe… A little."

"Perhaps I can aid you. What is… your name?" Luna smiled, pleased at being able to speak in her own voice and without stuttering, though she must still be mindful of modern speech.

"I'm Derpy." The mare looked around at the ruins and said, "I'm tryin' to fly to Canterlot. I think I got turned around, 'cause this doesn't look like Canterlot."

Luna noticed the saddlebags that the pegasus was carrying which were emblazoned with the shape of a folded letter, rather than the mare's own cutie mark of bubbles as was tradition. A servant of Equestria then?

"Indeed, tis not Canterlot. It is a short flight north of this accursed place, I will show th… you the way. Where are you flying from?"

"Ponyville."

"You have flown south when you should have gone north."

The mailmare nodded and looked like she might burst into tears. "I don't have a good sense of direction. Usually, I just deliver mail in town along with Parcel Post, but the pony who does the mail run from Canterlot didn't come today. So I'm tryin' to fly these letters there myself."

Luna nodded and opened her wings. "A noble cause, but if your sense of direction betrays you, I recommend flying low and using landmarks to guide th… you. There is a river north of Ponyville which, if you follow it, will take thee most of the way to Canterlot. Come, I will show you the way."

Derpy's expression changed like the sun coming out from behind dark clouds as her sad frown turned into a glowingly happy grin. Throwing up a cloud of dust, Luna took off and Derpy followed her up into the sky. Luna stayed below the fluffy, white clouds and took it slow so that Derpy could keep up. Shortly they were flying over Ponyville, the little grey pegasus following a bit behind and to her right. Luna could see a few ponies on the ground below looking up and staring as they noticed her and she heard a pegasus gasp as they flew past him.

This was why she usually flew very high up and out of sight; a dark blue alicorn flying past tended to stand out. In a few minutes, they reached the north end of town where she slowed to a hover and gestured for Derpy to come closer.

"Stay low and follow this river, it will take thee to the foot of the mountains. There will be a waterfalls on your right, fly up it to Canterlot. To return, fly down to the river and follow the direction that it flows."

Derpy look down at the river, and also sideways towards Ponyville. She nodded and said, "Got it! Thank you, princess." She continued to hover by Luna's side for a moment, looking thoughtful.

"Ummm…"

Luna waited, hoping the confused looking mailmare could remember her instructions and would not need an escort all the way to Canterlot. She needed to visit Twilight to have the voice altering spell recast before tonight's group session.

"Would you like to have dinner sometime?"

Luna blinked, she had not expected that.

"I'm a real good cook and I wanna pay you back for helping me."

"You are doing a service for Equestria by carrying our mail. It would be churlish of me to not offer you what little aid I could. But, I accept your offer for a meal."

The little pegasus grinned and said, "Great! Thank you again, Princess."

"Luna."

Derpy cocked her head sideway, making her eyes look even more wonky than usual. "Oh, right. Thank you, Princess Luna."

Luna watched her fly off, heading upstream towards Canterlot. Then she smiled and waved to the pegasus stallion that had followed her from Ponyville, before disappearing in a flash of teleportation.

Author's Note

At last the story's protagonist appears!

Please let me know if you spot any issues.