"Good evening Sky, I've come once again" greeted Rare Belle emerging from the tortuous path that went from Ponyville to the clearing where Nightmare Moon's statue was.

She was clearly older now, a beautiful young mare in her early seventeen with her mane stylized as her grandma's, yet she was the same at heart. And she still wore the nightmare's pendant.
She slowly paced toward the statue and sat in front of the once pegasus with a big smile.

Northern Sky stood still, as he did the first time she went there.

"It doesn't seem that a year already passed away, uh? I mean, I remember as it was yesterday that I was sitting here telling you that I transferred to Ponyville to teach in the local school!" she said, her smile waving a little.

Again, the nightmare didn't answer, nor moved.

"But enough with the sad memories! From where I should start, there's just so much to tell" she said tapping her chin with a hoof.

She had just decided to start with her first day as a teacher in Ponyville when a rustle from the bushes behind her made her jump.

"Who's there?" she asked getting nearer to her friend.

From said bushes appeared a pair of foals, two of her students: a light blue male pegasus with very short, black mane and tail whose name was Thunder, and a leaf green earth pony filly with her long light pink mane tied up into a braid named Cherry Blossom.
They both had the typical expression wore by foals found out doing something they shouldn't.

"You two, what are you doing here?" asked Rare Belle, who didn't expect to meet anypony in the clearing.

"We're sorry miss Belle, but we saw you coming here and followed you out of curiosity. Please, don't tell our parents!" explained the colt with teary eyes.

"Fine" sighed the unicorn "But next time remember to ask permission before following somepony"

"Sure miss Belle!" they chimed in unison.

"Uhm, may I ask a question?" asked the filly blushing slightly.

"You were wondering who I was talking with, right?" guessed the mare with a knowing glare.

They both nodded.

"Is he your secret coltfriend?" asked Cherry, her eyes sparkling.

At those words, the pegasus made a gagging sound.

"I'm sorry to let you down, but he is just a friend, a very old one" answered Rare suppressing a chuckle.

"But where is he? There's nopony around" protested Thunder glancing all around the clearing "There's just us and those two creepy statues"

"Well, he is one of those creepy statues" said the mare, her mirth faded.

"Uhm, that means that he doesn't exist?" asked the filly corking her head.

"It's a very long story" said the teacher longing at Sky's simulacrum "You see, when I was your age I wandered in this clearing and here I met a pony, no, that's not quite right, for he wasn't a pony, but a nightmare"

This revelation extorted a pair of loud gasps from the two foals.

"You know, that reaction is exactly why I became a teacher, sadly I still couldn't set things right" said Rare Belle with an undecipherable smile before resuming her story.

She told them everything, from they very first meeting, to her conversation with Twilight, to him saving her life from the vampire hunters.

"We were both hospitalized right away, of course, but while I got away with just a bit of rest, his condition was far more severe: even thou he was more resilient than a normal pony, he was too badly burnt. My aunt, to thank him for saving my life, offered to use the Elements to -"

"Excuse me, miss Belle" said Cherry Blossom disrupting her teacher flow of memories "I thought that only the princesses could use the Elements of Harmony, who is you aunt then?"

"Oh, right, I just told you that I lived in Canterlot castle with my auntie. Well, I am princess Rarity niece" explained the mare as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

At those words, both of the foals clumsily bowed down to the ground and said: "We are sorry, your mastic"

"There's no need for that, I'm just a plain teacher; and it should be majesty, not mastic" said Rare with a smile.
As the two stood up once again, she resumed her tale: "Anyway, she offered to my friend to turn him to stone until they would be able to heal him"

"And he accepted?" asked the young pegasus rushing to the obvious conclusion.

"No, he refused"

"Then, how did he become a statue?" asked the filly visibly confused.

"While it's true that he refused auntie's offer, he also asked two thing instead: he begged to be petrified after he... Went to a better place, so he could be rejoined with his special somepony and still stay with me to share many pleasant memories" she concluded with a sad smile.

"And the other request?" asked Thunder after pondering for a while.

"Well..." started the unicorn.

The filly stared curiously at the envelope floating in front of her eyes enchased in a light blue aura.

"Uhm auntie, what's this?" asked Rare Belle shifting her gaze from the letter to her aunt's sad face.

"Northern Sky asked me to give it to you" explained Rarity depositing the letter on the bed her niece was sitting on.

"Oh, is he doing better? Has he already left the hospital?" asked the filly while focusing her attention in opening the envelope with her hooves.

"I think it's better if you read the letter first, dear" was the princess cryptic answer.

Rare nodded and started reading the few words on the sheet she was holding:

Dear little miss,
when you'll read those words, I'll be probably already gone to a better place, but that's not important; I just wanted to thank you for granting my only wish, meeting my special somepony again.
I heard that your aunt wants to reward me with a medal for saving you, like some kind of hero, but the real hero here is you, who saved me and rehabilitated my name in the eyes of the princesses. So, thank you kindly for everything.
Remember me, because I'll be waiting for you,
Northern Sky

The little unicorn put the letter back in the envelope and then on her nightstand before starting to cry, while her aunt embraced her with both forelegs and wings.

Author's Note

And so the story ends...
Thank you all who red this story, who liked and/or faved it, you really made my days