1 A Friendship Report to Princess Luna
Twilight sat in the familiar surroundings of the Golden Oak Library, quill suspended in her magic, poised ready to compose her weekly friendship report.
She couldn’t think what to write.
Sure, a lot had happened, but how to distil something meaningful for the Princess?
Her mind wandered as she thought back to the day she had first been accepted into Princess Luna’s School for Gifted Unicorns and her mentor’s direction to go to Ponyville. She had no idea then how quickly her magic and her courage would be put to the test in a showdown with Daybreaker. Also, she had witnessed first hoof the mercy that Luna had showed in accepting back the penitent Princess Celestia following her escape from banishment to the sun.
The prospect of Daybreaker's vengeance fueled plan to introduce an eternal scorching day with a drought turning Equestria into a dust bowl had been almost too frightening to consider. She could imagine vividly the panic as all ponies, no matter how rich and powerful, would have been left fighting over the last few precious drops of water. She still shuddered at the thought, and of the petty sibling rivalry that had caused it.
Siblings; she still had trouble reconciling that Luna and Celestia were sisters.
She was grateful that Princess Luna had always been there; the calm and steadying figurehead in times of crisis to steer the ponies through whatever problem faced Equestria. It was incomprehensible to even contemplate what could have happened had the sisters’ roles been reversed; presumably eternal night? Yet, it was impossible to consider such rash and reckless behaviour from Luna, Equestria’s most benevolent leader and her beloved personal mentor.
But if it had happened, if, then a night time version of Daybreaker could have terrorised the ponies as their crops died without sun and the ponies would have faced starvation in the relentless cold. The end would have been just as assured, just different in its torment. But that would never have happened; not with Luna.
It was funny thinking of Princess Celestia as her sister; the smaller white alicorn still talking, or more often shouting, as had presumably been the accepted form a thousand years ago. There was no doubt that it would be some time before she would be able to acclimatise and Luna could even consider letting her take charge of the sun again.
Twilight, the young unicorn who had faced down Daybreaker alone, felt sorry for her. Having been away from the contact of ponykind for so long, she hoped Princess Celestia would fit in quickly given how far society must have moved on since the days of Star Swirl the Bearded.
Although Twilight relived her confrontation with Daybreaker in nightmares from time to time, she wished the new Princess well in her new life and even looked forward to cultivating a relationship with her; one in which she wouldn’t have to constantly worry about whether the wayward Princess would make a grab for power once again.
Sure, she shouted a lot, but that didn’t mean she was angry, probably just that she was trying hard to adjust, and that was something that could best be done with friends. She paused in her thoughts, the feather end of her quill tickling her lip as she stared into the distance, and then began to write with a flurry of enthusiasm.
Dear Princess Luna,
My friendship report this week concerns your sister, Princess Celestia. Night and day are complementary, too much of either extreme can be a bad thing, and that’s why we need friends to help out when somepony starts to tilt things out of balance. I know the whole Daybreaker thing was pretty scary, but that’s not her any more; all she needs is a friend and there are seven of them right here.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
“Spike!” she called in her sing-song voice “Send a letter to Princess Luna please.”
“Sure thing, Twi” said the baby dragon, tearing himself away from dusting the bookshelves to look up at her with green reptilian eyes. He trotted happily over and picked up the scroll in his claw, took a deep breath and tilted his head back, exhaling a gout of green flame that made the message disappear from his grip.
Princess Luna sat on her throne as a trail of smoke twisted a serpentine route through the air towards her. She knew what that meant and her heart lifted as a green swirl started to form in front of her followed by a flash and suddenly the scroll appeared and unfurled.
She read Twilight’s report and smiled. Somewhere in the distance, echoing through the passageways of the castle, her sister was shouting something at somepony, or life in general. Yes, there would be need for adjustment, but it was good to have her back and with the support of Twilight and her friends, she allowed herself to feel positive. Perhaps she would be able to hand back control of the sun and go back to devoting her energies to the night, her beloved night, rather than try to untangle all the wearisome political distractions of the daytime that she had been forced to manage for so long now?
Already Celestia was showing signs of returning to her former self; her mane and tail were starting to show the familiar traces of green and purple rather than the pure pink she had when Twilight had released her from the curse of Daybreaker. Also, although she was the older sibling, Celestia was noticeably the smaller of the two, possibly indicating that she still lacked all the magic she had before she had been banished.
Luna was grateful for the support of her young protégé and could tell that she was not at her peak yet. Twilight had already shown more promise at her School for Gifted Unicorns than any other student in centuries and she had plans to put her to the test with an unfinished spell from Star Swirl the Bearded, but that would have to wait until she knew that her sister could be allowed to resume her duties in an unfamiliar world once more.
Equestria was poised on the cusp of a new era, no longer one of singular monarchy that had been in place for a thousand years, but a new one led by her and her sister together in harmony once more, and maybe even with room for her faithful student too if everything went as she hoped. Princess Twilight Sparkle did have a nice ring to it, a title she could grow into if she fulfilled her destiny.
