Chapters How's Life Been Treating You?
Dearest Twilight,
It seems that Celestia has finally calmed herself down after her initial "honeymoon" phase, as they say. She's been out constantly ever since she figured out that she has free will and doesn't have to tell anyone where she's headed off to. Of course, this doesn't stop her from telling me anyway. If she can't catch me awake, she'll leave me a whole letter describing her whole planned day. In that regard, you remind me a lot of her.
I am not writing to you simply to rant off about my sister's antics. She is currently taking a very well deserved nap, so I am able to write to you for the first time since we have left Canterlot. I am certain that Celestia has been descriptive in her writings to you and that I do not have to explain everything that has happened in these few weeks.
But I shall anyway.
As you may know, my sister has always been full of energy with such a free spirit that rivals those I see in the realm of dreams. In the first few days, she went about exploring the land on which we now live, telling me of all the sights she has found and bringing back quite the strange findings to show me with enthusiasm. She likes to spend her days on the beach enjoying her sun; an act she never much got the time to do during her rule of the land.
As for myself, I am still having a struggle to change my sleep schedule to be diurnal. I very much dislike sleeping through the night that I hold so dear, but doing so I will be able to experience more things that I have so wished to see since my return.
Though I do have to admit, although it is enjoyable to have this much time to relax, I believe that we are realizing that we have more time on our hands than what initially was presented. I fear we may go through our activities too quickly and get bored with our time. Perhaps we shall start taking the days as they come.
But I shall not get into the small details of our woes. I am sure that you have enough of those on your own. And that is why I must ask; how has life been treating you? I understand that we shortsightedly threw this position onto you without a lot of thought to your mental health. Even with the extra time that you were given, I know that going simply from Celestia's student to ruler of the country in a few years is much to take on.
From personal experience, it took some time getting used to. Although where Celestia and I only had each other in the birth of a new country, you have your friends to help you with any decisions you may have trouble facing. I dare say it is already better than our first model of ruling.
When first starting out, we were undoubtedly just as inexperienced and confused as you may be now. Of course Equestria is much more built up and unified than it was then. I hope you never have to face that kind of unification process in the future.
It has been nearly a month since then, so I do understand that everything is still new to you, and still may take time to fully get accustomed to this way of life. But take my advice as you will, ask for help when you need so. Those who work at the castle are there to do just that, to help with any daily task that you do not have the time to spend on.
I will admit this was especially difficult to wrap my head around at times and was nearly kicked out of the kitchens on multiple occasions for trying to feed myself and not wanting to bother anyone. I swear the cooks would have bitten me if I were not royalty. They are very passionate of their work, so please try to indulge whenever they present you a meal they are proud of.
As always, we are very proud of you, Twilight, and know that you will do many great things for the country as time goes towards the future. To be frank, we're both quite nosey and have been following up with some of the gossip in Canterlot in relations to what your plans are. (If you want unfiltered opinions of the nobles on such political matters, we found a source that we will attach that provides such a resource. As I mentioned, ~~we~~ Celestia is very nosey).
I beg to fear that though we are retired, old habits die hard, and we're likely to continue following up on such events in the future. This is in warning to expect many, possibly confusing, out of the blue letters from my sister or I.
We are much looking forward to the treaties with Equestria's neighboring kingdoms. Even with our rule and balance, we see that your bringing of harmony over the years has spread to lands further than our boarders reach.
I have enjoyed watching you grow throughout the years that I have known you, and I am forever eternally grateful for all that you have done for me. And I thank you, as I have, for looking after my sister in my absence and making sure that she had a companion and did not fall into despair. I hate that I was unable to be there for her all those years, and without you and your friends, I would not be here today. I do wish we had more time to truly talk with one another, but with our respective duties it was never an easy feat. I hope in the future that will change, even if in the form of letters.
Speaking of, I have read some of the letters you sent Celestia over the years about what you have learned through your experiences with your friends. Initially, she thought they would help me to understand how ponies interacted in this new age, and that they did. But they also made me feel like I knew you personally and helped me to loosen out of my old ways.
This type of integration has also helped me connect with Stygian more as well. We have a certain thing in common that brings us close, something that no one lese quite understands. Him, as well as the other pillars, I have helped in some ways to blend in with society as it runs today. Starswirl, of course, still tries to treat us like fillies on occasion. It's refreshing, almost, to not be treated in such a way that I am sure you will come to recognize by your subjects.
Being a regular citizen after so long is like a breath of fresh air, and something that I would wish upon anyone. It feels almost if I have become free of my burdens. Of course, I still have Tia hanging off of me, but she is more positive baggage. Though I suppose I am more "luggage" since she tends to drag me around like a child in a candy store when going off on one of her adventures. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has had to suffer her enthusiasm. She reminds me of your friend Pinkie Pie; and Starswirl when he was a bit younger.
I shall bring this to a close, now. Enough with my ranting on. Please, and I say this with a light heart, feel free to ask us for advice may you need it. We have over a millennium of experience in running a kingdom and getting political with foreign nations. We will do our best to help with any concerns you may have.
And of course, visit us here in Silver Shoals when you have the chance. Celestia and myself would love to see you again once you get settled and want some reprieve from royal life. Politics can be quite draining.
Your Friend,
P.S. Celestia has forbidden me from specifically saying what, but she has a surprise for you the next time you meet face to face. She seems very excited about it and I would hate to ruin it for her.
Author's Note
This is my first work on here and I am not entirely familiar with how it works quite yet, so bear with me on that. As always constructive criticism is welcome!
How's Life Been Treating You?
Dearest Twilight,
I can see that things have been getting quite busy in Canterlot. Setting treaties between multiple kingdoms at once is tricky, but you're handling it with grace. I'm glad to see that your influence has spread them to limit their fighting with each other. I never thought I'd see the day where the dragons and griffons would be at legal peace with one another. You truly are a wonder.
With these, I've noticed an increase in the diversity here in Silver Shoals as well. Mostly hippogriffs, of course, but there are quite a few new creatures settling into the further parts of Equestria. It is such a drastic change from the beginning of our rule. Then, it was still rare to see earth ponies, unicorn, and pegasi living in the same town. Though different in its details, it is similar enough that to where I can give you some advice on the matter: do not be alarmed if things seem like they are going south. With any change as big as this, there will be conflicts between the creatures themselves and with the ponies. Keep a level head the best you can, but don't be afraid to step in and reprimand those who cause trouble.
Speaking of trouble, I have the need to ask you about my sister. I hate to admit, but you know this version of her better than I do, as you grew up with her. I feel as if I do not know her well enough as I should as family. Afterall, we are all each other has biologically. She has changed much in these years and I can only imagine how much more she will continue to. That being said, she has asked me a simple question that I never seem to have an answer for; that of expanding our family.
Celestia adopted Cadence as her niece, and therefore by law I am an aunt as well, but Celestia, for some reason, does not feel as if that is enough. ~~I do not count Blueblood.~~ I do not know what has come over her all the sudden. Perhaps since freeing herself from her duties as princess, she feels the need to occupy her days with another task that will keep her busy. Or perhaps she was reminded of you growing up. She may never have admitted it directly, but you are the closest thing she has had to a daughter. At least that I know of.
I myself have never thought of the prospect of romance much. I am, as they say, married to my work, much like yourself. Though now, I suppose that could change. But I feel quite content with just myself and the relationship I have with my sister. Though that conversation is probably better to have with Cadence than yourself. She, out of any of us, would know the most out of romance, being the princess of love.
While I have not heard Celestia mention a stallion that she has her eye on, it is possible that she will try to pursue one in the near future. Though, at the current moment, she seems more driven to raising a foal. I will have to remind her that it is not that simple a process. Knowing Celestia, however, anything is possible. If she does not seem the type to have the type of courtship, perhaps an adoption would be more her style.
Though I could only imagine what atrocities we would be at parenting together. Celestia practically raised me, and while I wouldn't say I turned out awful, I definitely am not the poster for angel child. Then again, raising a child of your own is different than growing up alongside a sibling. As one yourself, I am sure you can attest.
Only time can tell with Flurry Heart, but it is possible that she will grow up similar to you with Shining Armor raising her. Let us hope that she takes after Cadence more. Though perhaps I am biased towards my niece. I unfortunately never spent much time with your older brother. Like many things since our retirement, I hope to get more time to do so.
As for an update with our lives, I have yet again stolen this letter for myself to send. No doubt Celestia will send one soon, however. She has been keeping herself busy. Some activities of her I am not sure are the safest. I mean honestly, she could put herself in serious danger and want to do it again without the blink of an eye. I feel like a concerned parent at times, watching over a hyperactive filly. But I am also glad. She never got to do these things and set herself free as she does now. It makes me happy to see my sister so full of life.
I have been busying myself with gathering my own personal library of books that I used to love when I was growing up in the Everfree. A few have lasted the years in our old castle, but many others have seen the lasting effects of its untamed nature. I hold many dear memories of that place, but still find it difficult to stay for long. The shadows there are not welcoming. (The crystal treehouse was also a jarring sight at first).
I know you are busy, but I would love to know if you come across any titles that I am looking for in any of your collections. Whether in the original Old Ponish or the translated text, I will appreciate either. The language holds a special place in my heart, as it is what I grew up with. I still have trouble after all these years to really understand how drastic a change it was to how we speak now. I know you are fluent as well, which is a welcoming feeling. It is sad to see that so many do not know even a word of it.
Starswirl, whenever he comes around from his own adventures, sometimes will slip back into the tongue. It leaves Celestia quite confused, as she only picks up parts, which we both find quite amusing. He was once as close to us as you were with Celestia when under her study. I am glad that he is exploring to find what he wants to do in this new age. Last time we talked, he mentioned settling down soon to fully study the history of the land during his absence.
Wear your crown high and with pride Twilight. I know it may be hard at times. Cry if you need, let your emotions out as they come. Continue to be true to yourself. Advice that I wish I knew and upheld when I was young and newly crowned. Though now it has been a few months. It is unlikely that such major problems like Tirek or Chrysalis will happen often in your rule, but I know that you can handle them if they do. As monarch, most problems will not be this severe that you have to deal with. The worst you're going to have most weeks is fighting dignitaries and nobles.
You continue to surprise us everyday, and I hope you still do so years from now. Keep things exciting for us.
Your friend,
How's Life Been Treating You?
My dearest Twilight,
I've noticed Luna has been sending you letters, no doubt talking of our lives now. She never lets me read them. She's always been like that.
But I am also writing to you to give an update of what we have been getting up to. Since her return, Luna has been wanting to explore the new cities that sprung up across the kingdom. We very briefly visited some during our short vacation what you and your friends filled in for us during the royal swanifying, but longer visits were definitely needed.
We decided to go in a circle around the country, starting near Vanhoover, it being the closest and going clockwise around the country. We hope to return soon to when the Festival of the Two Sisters is meant to be celebrated in Canterlot.
At first, the big cities seemed to frighten her some. Back a millennium ago, the biggest city was still smaller than that of Ponyville. Even the royal city where Princess Platinum resided was not quite the same size. Mentioning her, I hope that Luna finds a friend like that again. While off to a rough start, the two of them where good friends. Luna's recklessness, her element of laughter, fit so well with Platinum's charms.
But she closed off so much in the later years. Even still, she's rough around the edges. As her elder sister, I feel it's my responsibility to right my wrongs in this area that I messed up. Thanks to you, she's opened up to more, has smiled more. That nightmare night she came back from her first year was one of the first times I truly saw her smile again. I am striving to make her smile more. Despite how rough she presents herself on the outside, on the inside, as I'm sure you know, she's quite passionate in what she loves. Those interests just so happen to be calmer than mine.
However, Luna is enjoying exploring the cities in more depth. We have even stopped in the Crystal Empire to explore around the innerworkings of their culture. Most times we visited, there were usually some events that confined us to the castle, again unable to see the city proper. Luna had showed her interests in doing so more during the Equestria Games and the Crystalling. Even when we banished the empire a millennium ago, we never had the chance to explore. Of course, again, there were more pressing matters at hand to deal with.
From there, we traveled to Trottingham and Manehattan. During our last adventures we were able to stop in the latter for a few hours. But with the size of the city, it was impossible to see much of what it had to offer. Of course, we are used to the royal capital, but the industrial city was a huge change of pace. You should have seen Luna's face when she saw her first skyscraper up close. She was questioning everything about it, even went out of our way to spend an hour on research on how such a thing was able to be built.
That isn't to say we did not have fun in the city. We tried to stay away from an theater, as our tastes are too different to find something we would both enjoy. Even with a map, we managed to get ourselves lost multiple times. There are so many twists, turns, and alleys that we couldn't navigate entirely. Luckily, Luna was smart enough to remember the way we came from when this happened, so we were able to get out fairly quickly. Though there was an incident in an alley where we saw some rather, shall we say, unfortunate things. It was best to ignore the subject and turn around. Things like that do not usually happen in broad daylight, but each to their own.
On a positive note, we have tried many new dishes from these differing cities. While I have prided myself on having a diverse diet, Luna has not followed in suit. She insisted that we order one of everything to try whenever we came across another vendor. Let's just say she didn't enjoy everything, and her stomach was not happy with her at the end of the day. Because of that, we decided to take the next day easy. Manehattan has one of the best rated spas in the kingdom, and the day we spent there definitely lived up to its reputation. As much as I enjoy an adrenaline inducing adventure, I don't know if I had ever been that satisfied from a massage. Luna fell asleep soon as we returned to the hotel we stayed at. I don't think I've ever seen her that relaxed either.
When exploring Fillydelphia and Baltimare, it was more or less the same of exploring. Each city has their own charms and is unique in their own way, but seeing them right after another can be draining. Being on the coast we got ourselves caught in a few rainstorms without any protection for ourselves. However we made the best of our situation, being soaked going around the city. With my solar magic we were fortunate to avoid getting sick as well.
Luna's immune system is still not the strongest from her return. She was always getting sick when she was a filly, and I fear that it may catch up to her again.
At the moment of writing this letter, we are on our way to Mount Aris to see the Hippogriff kingdom. I understand that you have travelled there before after its reconstruction. Perhaps you could give us some pointers and activities that you would recommend that we do during our stay. Luna is very excited to travel to a place with such a different culture than mainland Equestria. If we get permitted, perhaps we could the underwater portion of their city as well. Luna, however, even with her connection to the water with her moon, has never been one to enjoy swimming. Though with the magic of their pearl, perhaps her mind will be changed and we'll be able to explore. I am very excited myself.
We are used to travelling at dawn and dusk so our sleep schedules aren't too skewed and are able to spend the majority of our time together. Luna is currently taking a nap on my shoulder here on the train, though. I think I've exhausted her these past few days. She's wrapped in my wing and as long as she's comfortable, I don't mind.
Once we go further inland, we will spend more time in the Equestrian wilds and away from the cities. Travelling with your sister is always an adventure, no matter where you go. We will have these memories and stories for the rest of our lives.
As I mentioned earlier, we will be back by the first day of summer. Perhaps even spend a few days in the city proper of Canterlot and enjoy the extended festival.
I look forward to seeing you again, Twilight. I continue to wish you all the best and I hope you enjoy these letters of our adventures in this country you rule.
Yours,
How's Life Been Treating You?
My dearest Twilight,
I must say that Luna and I very much enjoyed the festivities in Canterlot in the first days of summer. It was nice to explore the city as regular tourists and see how the area has changed. Even in these past few months, I fear that I do not recognize the city I called home for over a millennium, any more. It has grown just as you have.
Even though you were very busy, you made time to spend with my sister and I. And I know that I have already thanked you, but I will continue to do so anyway. If anyone would know how busy things can get ruling a kingdom, it is me. Do not be afraid to take breaks as you need. As much as you love your work, your tendency to get caught up in it may just be your downfall. And we wouldn't want you Twilighting your way through an important meeting. (Your friends were very enthusiastic to share the term with me).
As for what we have been up to, we have decided to finally settle down in Silver Shoals for a bit to simply relax. After all, we do have years left ahead of us to catch up on the things that we want to do. And we learned from that short vacation we took during the Royal Swanifying that trying to do every such thing in a short amount of time only led to chaos. I am almost surprised Discord did not catch wind of it and dig his claws into our personal business, as I am sure you know he likes to do.
Luna, for one, very much enjoys getting to spend her days slowly and doing the things that she enjoys on her own time. Though I am starting to think she will rival your record of "most books read in a day" at this rate. But is it a bad thing that I don't think that I will ever get tired of her storming around the house, ranting to me about what is happening with the characters in her stories? Like many things she does, she puts her whole heart into such activities.
As for my relaxation, the beach is where I spend most of my days. We have a private area and clean view of the sea from almost every window, and it is hard to stay inside with the ocean calling out to me like that. The flowing water almost reminds me of the waterfalls in Canterlot. It is nice to just enjoy the light of the sun against my coat.
Luna is the same way with the moon. If ever, she goes out to the beach at night, wading in the shallow water. It must be from her connection to the tides, as I never understood why she had always loved the water so much. Another reason, perhaps, is because of the awful sunburn she always gets. She told me of the time she got burnt horribly because she did not know sunscreen was a thing, and even now, with sunscreen readily available, she refuses to stay out too long during the day unless it is cloudy enough to not see even the corona of the sun.
Among that, nothing else much is to be mentioned. It has only been a few weeks since we last caught up, though, and I am sure that we will have plenty to share with you later. Though, I will admit that I did very much enjoy your expression to my shorter mane. As Luna had said, I was quite excited to show you the change I had made. It has been so long since it has been short. Since I was a filly, I think. I had been putting it off for so long, but having a younger sister being your motivator means that a lot of things get done without much complaining. She always gives me a look when I start.
Speaking of Luna motivating me to do things that I otherwise would have put off for years, I do know that she mentioned to you about my ideas of expanding our family. I have no intention of seeking a husband, as I am perfectly content with the love I have for Luna and do not need one of a romantic partner. We have come to the conclusion of adopting. Details of the issue are still being worked on, such as the gender, or even species of the child. Such as how you raised a dragon, Spike, the idea of adopting a child that is not a pony crossed our minds. Perhaps a hippogriff? Either way, it is my decision in finality.
Luna, while working with children almost nightly, never had the urge to parent one of her own. She will help me raise them, of course, as she is supportive in my plans, but ultimately I will be its mother. I never even considered calling myself such, and even doing so on paper feels strange.
Which reminded me; however brief it was, do not let your title as monarch scare you so. You seemed almost frightened when ponies would address you as such during the festival. Trust me, no matter how many times you repeat yourself, they will never stop doing so. Even now, I have ponies calling me "your majesty" when I am out and about. Luckily, most of the time Luna and I are left alone in public, but there is always that one who insists upon making a conversation. That is another reason why we love Silver Shoals so much. While there are parts of the islands that are for tourists, most of the residents are of the elderly and retired, much like ourselves, and understand that in our daily lives, we wish to have our peace and quiet.
If your duties ever become too stressful, remember that our doors are always open to welcome you. Luna also knows a spell to help you sleep like a log. Take my word for it, it's amazing after a stressful day.
We hope to see you again soon.
Yours,
Celestia