I fear Lyra can no longer write to you.

Dear Princess Twilight,

I'm sorry about the previous message. In spite of some complications regarding Lyra's current situation, I, Bon-Bon, will be appointed Lyra's letter-writer from now on. I think you've done such a thing with Celestia, too, no? Although it wasn't because of illness. Spike's told me quite a bit, so don't try to hide anything from me. Lyra, I mean.

We're stronger together, so don't think of hiding anything from either Bon-bon or I. You should open up more. You'll feel so much better once you let us give you some advice. Or help. Or whatever it is you may be in denial of needing.

Anyways, the original thing we wanted to ask you. How are you doing? I know it must be tough being a responsible princess as well as keeping in touch with several sets of friends. And special individuals such as myself. Anyways, get back to me? Us, I mean? Sorry about all of this. We'll be more coordinated the next time we write a letter together. I hope.

Here for you,
Bon-Bon & Lyra

Hey, Twilight!

As you can see, I've forced Bon-Bon to drop the formality for the sake of both of us. I've been spending my days on Sudoku. Kind of. It's confusing and hard the way life is now, but Bon-Bon is incredibly smart and helpful. But I know you love nerdy games like these even more, so I sent you a few of the hardest pages for you to solve. Have fun!

Anyways, my latest update: I'm officially blind. Cataract eyesight, can you believe it? Now, how are you doing? I'm still cheerful, which you can probably tell, but I'm worried about you. You've been keeping quiet about yourself, which I don't like. It only means something's off. Please do tell.

Goodbye, my glorious queen,
Lyra (and Bon-Bon)

Hi, Twilight!

How are you?

Thank you SO MUCH for the birthday presents! I absolutely love them, and I can't believe you guys remembered my birthday, even after all these years.

And I'm shocked to have recieved something other than a book from you, for once!

Anyways, my vision shows zero signs of improvement, and my body's worse, so Bon-Bon carved me something. I'm going to spend my life trying to figure out what it is other than a comfort object I can fiddle with. But at least now I can finally say I understand all the midnight scraping that's going on downstairs—wood and sandpaper.

Anyways, Thank you so much!

Lyra's really depressed.

Helloooo Twilight!!!!! (please don't kill me that's how she said it)

I'm back with round two of Sudoku!! Along with this message, I have attached a whopping twelve pages for you to solve! Glad you enjoyed it the last time, but don't procrastinate just to write letters and play games for your friends. Old friends, at that. I think you Bearers of Harmony have the most powerful friendship of all. Far more important than us two. Like Bon-Bon and I, we have our first priorities. I know I'm not your first priority, and that's okay.

BUT STILL?!?

Please tell me what's going on with you! I'll keep you updated on me: I have ALS. My body will become weaker. My hoof muscles are immobile, now. My magic, too. If I'm lucky enough to get out of bed, I have to do everything the Earth Pony way, which really sucks. No offense to Bon-Bon, because she does an amazing job taking care of me without magic. Please tell her that, even though she's the one writing the letter for me.

Yeah, you took a break in between these paragraphs, right? Maybe even before you finished that last paragraph. Don't be shocked, Twi. I know you well. It's okay. Now can I please get your answer?

Please stop suffering in silence and just tell me. I'm an understanding friend. If you don't want my pity, you won't get it. Just vent at least? Just let me know what's going on so I'm not constantly wondering how you're doing. Please don't beat yourself up over nothing. Don't hide away from everyone, from me, and bury your muzzle into Sudoku puzzles and books.

Do you want to be the reason I die in sadness?

It's been five letters since you've been becoming more and more depressed, so you can just tell me.

Your (VERY GOOD AT LISTENING) friend,
Lyra

P.S. I'm bound to my bed, just give me an answer and I'll get up.

She's refusing to eat. Thought she was happy, huh? Open up to us, for once, and you'll understand.

Hi, Twi?

I know you're really busy and don't like talking about your feelings, but you can't avoid us like this forever. It's already been a few months. Lyra's not in the best condition anymore. I'm afraid she'll have to go sooner rather than later, but we both want to talk to you when we have the chance. Your hiding isn't helping.

She's sleeping right now. It's midnight now, but we've been up all night. She finally cried herself to sleep worrying about how she's dragging the whole world down, and how she's a such a terrible friend that you won't even consult with her. She's beating herself up for us, and this isn't good, Twi. Just give her an answer and I'll forgive you. Yeah, I'm mad. I'm mad at you for keeping us in the dark. Mad at the world for attacking poor Lyra.

Mad at myself for not doing better.

Mad that Lyra's starting to have trouble speaking. That she can't swallow. Can't sleep. Sometimes she can barely even breathe. Sometimes I don't do any of it, for her sake.

Come check on us before it's too late, will you?

Lyra can't remember me. She wants to see you, though.

Twi.

She's gone.

Everything keeping me going is gone.

I'll be gone, too. Soon. See you in another lifetime?

Author's Note

if you have some critique for me please do tell because i can tell that was not my best piece but i mean its all in the spirit of the contest rahh

anyways guys if you look at the cover art again you'll notice that only some letters are dripping—those are the letters that arent repeated. because best friends (pairs) will never fade away (hehe im so smort thank you thank you)