The stars disappeared beneath the eastern horizon while the night sky slowly became day. It was the crack of dawn, however today the moon and sun rose at the same time. Celestia and Luna stood side by side, the sun rose in the northeast, the moon in the southeast. Today was the day of the second annual Royal Eclipse Festival. Once the celestial objects were set in motion, Celestia silently headed back into the castle. Luna quickly followed, searching for words of comfort.

"Princess, please cheer up, we can't keep doing this. Today is a day of celebration." Luna cringed after realizing what she had just said.

"I know what today's meant to be little sister, but you know as well as I do, today is a day of mourning for us." Celestia slowed her pace, allowing Luna to catch up to her.

"I agree, but I believe the citizens of Equestria have noticed your lack of enthusiasm at our performance. To them, today marks a great triumph for ponykind, the eclipse represents the unity within the palace. Your ponies need us to be strong for them, they need you to be strong. This is meant to be a most joyous occasion for all, and I do believe Twilight would want us to be happy, not to mourn." Luna nervously stamped the ground just outside the palace walls, slowly looking up to meet Celestia's eyes, desperately hoping she'd understand and not be angry.

"Don't talk down to me Luna, I know very well what the celebration represents." Celestia calmly scorned her younger sister.

"I'm sorry big sister, I didn't mean to..."

"No, I'm sorry Luna, I don't mean to snap. It's just that to me personally, this celebration represents something else as well. It represents all the work I put into this consolidation of courts, it represents the hundreds of pointless political meetings and the thousands of letters and bills I had to sign day in and day out. These are the things that distanced me from Twilight for the last three years of her life. If I could trade I would. I'd gladly have a broken palace, I'd even have let Equestria split into two nations if it meant I could have her back." Celestia looked away as a few tears dripped to the ground.

Luna wrapped a wing around her sister, and nuzzled the tears off her cheek. "Twilight was a dear friend to me as well big sister. No one knew what she was going through. Do you still have that letter she wrote you? I think it's time you've learned that lesson again."

Celestia nodded and the two Princesses headed inside. They went into Celestia's research archive, she found the magical studies section, then ran her hoof along the alphabetized file cabinets.

"C, D, E, aha, F. Friendship." Inside she pulled out Twilight's many letters and began reading each one from the first, to the last. Luna sat by her side, most of these letters she had never seen, and with each word she felt her heart growing weaker. Soon the two princesses were caught between laughing at the wonderful memories some of letters brought back, and crying for their fallen friend.

Celestia let out a deep sigh as she pulled out the last letter.

Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned one of the hardest lessons anypony will ever have to learn. I learned that in every pony's life, there's a chance you might lose a very close friend. But even though they've left us physically, the impact they've left on our lives will stay with us forever. And more importantly, the loss of one friend, will strengthen the bonds between you and your other friends. Making everyday you spend with them more precious and valuable then ever before, because you can never be sure which day you spend together will be your last.

"I know I don't tell you this often enough Luna, but, I love you." A sniffling Luna looked up at her older sister. "I love you too big sister."

"That does it, today IS a day for celebration, I need to write a few letters." Celestia stood up and went into her private quarters.

She came out a few minutes later with three letters levitating in front of her. She closed her eyes and each one burst into flames, their ashes drifting out the window.

"Now sister, come with me and help prepare the ballroom. We're expecting very important guests today." Luna trotted behind her, glad to see her sister's change of mood.

Rainbow Dash woke up to a violent knock on her door. She leaped out of bed, and rushed around in a circle.

"What's that?! Who's there?!" She stopped panicking when she heard another knock, snapping her back into reality.

"Oh... heh, the door." She wobbled over to the door, knocking a few things of her night stand with her widely spread wings. A name badge fell to the floor, Rainbow Dash, Floor Supervisor.

"Rainbow open up already!"

"I'm comin, don't get your feathers in a knot." Rainbow continued on her way to the door, noticing the calender and that today was the day of the next eclipse.

She opened the door, and to her surprise there stood Scootaloo. Rainbow met her eyes with a shocked stare. She considered slamming the door and hiding from Scoot's wrath, but she didn't.

With a long sigh, she stepped out of the way, letting the shivering filly in.

"Alright kid, I know I lied but what can I say. I'm sorry." Rainbow Dash offered a halfhearted apology. "But wait, how did you get here? Did you pay for a carriage?"

"I flew." With those words a deep sense of pride washed over Rainbow.

"Look, I dropped out of school, ran away from home, lived on the streets for a few months, and taught myself how to fly long distances. It took me like ten tries to make it all the way up here. You can be mad at me, you can punish me, hit me, yell at me. I really don't care, just please, PLEASE don't tell me to leave."

Scootaloo was dirty and clearly cold, not being used to the cooler temperatures above the clouds.

"You didn't come back for me, and I missed you. I don't belong back there. I belong with you, you're like my big sister, but I know I need you a lot more than you need me..." Scootaloo stamped the cloud beneath her, looking away from Rainbow. She let out a short but deep breath, expecting the worst.

"I don't even know where begin with you. Alright come inside, you need to get cleaned up, then we'll talk."

Rainbow let Scootaloo walk past her into her small home. "My shower's through the first door on the left, the sink doesn't work so don't mess with it."

Rainbow sat down on her bed, pressing her hooves to her tired eyes.

"What am I going to do with this kid..." Rainbow soon decided. Although she wouldn't admit it out loud, she had missed Scootaloo as well.

Scootaloo came out of the shower, dripping wet. "No towels?" She said drearily.

"Nope, just air dry like I do, flip your mane back and forth and roll around like a crazy pony."

She began shaking her head back and forth, flinging water all over the walls and floor, then rolled around on the soft clouds. The clouds absorbed her water instantly.

"There ya go. Now I've decided, you're in a lot of trouble. You're going to live here with me, and I'm enrolling you in Cloudsdale City School AND Flight School. You're going to ace both or you're out of here."

"Yes! I'll do great I promise!" Scootaloo ran up to Rainbow, hugging her tightly in appreciation.

Just then a magical fire ignited and a letter appeared on Rainbow's nightstand. After spotting the official royal seal on the scroll, Rainbow rushed over to read it.

Dear Rainbow Dash,

I am inviting you to attend a small private party that I'll be hosting after the Royal Eclipse Festival this afternoon. As I'm sure you know, today marks one year since our dear friend Twilight Sparkle left our world. The small event I'm hosting is for her closest friends to get together and celebrate the impact she's left on our lives. I have a very important message to share with you all, a message left by Twilight that only recently filled my heart and left me a better pony. I sincerely hope you can attend.

~ Your Princess, Celestia

Rainbow rolled up the royal scroll and sat it back down on her table.

"Well Scoot, I guess we'll be making a trip to the palace." Rainbow Dash smiled and rubbed her hoof on Scootaloo's mane.

Applejack was raking leaves out of the orchard, she had come to like her new life. Apples had always been her life, and now she worked in a bigger orchard than she could have ever dreamed of. She had made a somewhat decent living ever since she started, and with her hard work and devotion, she's received a series of promotions and raises. Life was simple, yet satisfying for this particular earth pony. Big Macintosh called Applejack inside.

"AJ, you got some sort of fancy letter in here! I reckon it's from the princess."

"Alright I'm comin!" Applejack quickly sat her rake up against a tree and headed in. Sure enough, she had received a scroll with the palace's royal seal. Her letter was very similar to Rainbow Dash's, and she decided she couldn't disappoint the princess by missing this event. Work would have to wait for today. She packed up and caught the first available carriage to Canterlot.

Rarity hadn't slept much last night. Knowing today was the day that marked Twilight's death, and only a week ago was Pinkie's, Rarity's emotions were in turmoil. She had never been a pony very capable of controlling them. However during most of the last year, her inspiration had come back to her. She knew she had lost Twilight and would never get her back, but the memories she had, and all the pictures she cherished, filled her heart with the love that she would never allow to leave. Her business had picked back up, she filled orders for clothing stores, along with a few private orders. On top of her work keeping her distracted, she had acquired three new cats. All of which she devoted every second of her spare time to.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and let go of her the pillow she had been squeezing all night. She was startled by the sudden and unexpected appearance of a royal scroll on her desk. She picked it up and read it, not going wasn't an option as far as Rarity was concerned, but there was one issue.

"Hmm, what should I wear?"

The Royal Eclipse Festival went off without a hitch, Luna and Celestia each took turns addressing the public, assuring them that things were going to continue to get better, Equestria was going to continue to prosper, and Love and Tolerance will continue to reign supreme. After the successful event, the two princesses headed back to the palace to greet the guests. Celestia walked into the ballroom. The three invited guests were there, each laughing and talking about their new lives, they were telling one another about their new jobs, and how much they've missed each other. They took turns hugging and sharing memories and stories about their days back in Ponyville. Celestia and Luna walked into view.

"Thank you all for coming, I'm so glad to see you all could make the long trip here. I am however surprised to see you here Scootaloo, although you like any other pony are a welcomed guest in my palace."

Scootaloo blushed for a moment, not used to being the center of attention. She put her hoof on the back of her mane, and smiled. "Thanks, glad to be here." She stated simply.

"I don't plan to keep your attention long, I just wanted to share something important with the three of you in person. I've been mourning this past year. Mourning for the loss of a very important friend of mine, when I should have kept in mind a very valuable lesson she had taught me. This past year, I haven't spent nearly enough time appreciating my dear sister Luna, my friends in the palace, or any of you. Before I go on, I want to share something with you all, a lesson a very smart unicorn once shared with me."

Celestia pulled out Twilight's last letter, and read it out loud to the ponies below. While listening to the letter, each of them felt like they had grown closer than ever before. They joined in a group hug and promised to spend more time together. Celestia and Luna flew down and joined as well. They continued their chatter, laughing about all the good times they once shared. Twilight's wisdom, immortalized in that letter, reignited the magic of friendship within their hearts, pushing them towards a less bleak future.

Later that evening all the ponies returned home, and Luna was off to her quarters. Celestia walked outside, enjoying the beautiful night her sister had brought forth. Each star reflected in her eyes, she felt like a new alicorn, Twilight's words had re-inspired her to be the best princess she could be. Celestia was stunned that it had taken her a year to learn such a simple yet important lesson.

"Thank you Twilight."