Oldnew Luna: After the Dawn
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Luna’s violet aura enveloped the china mug in front of her, levitating it up to the optimum point to take a nice sip from it, but she just gulped it all down in one go, her eyes never leaving the magic-written piece in front of her. Twilight frowned slightly at her in faux frustration.
“Maybe if you don’t want to have to drink it all at once you could try drinking it before it becomes lukewarm?” Twilight suggested to Luna as her eyes continued down the sheet, she paused her reading and looked up at the purple mare standing beside the table in front of her.
“But where would be the fun in that?” Luna asked with a slight frown, Twilight glared back. Eventually it got too much and they both burst out laughing, Luna quickly putting down the mug she was still holding before she accidently dropped it. Once the laughter subsided Luna continued.
“Seriously though, I wouldn’t have left it if your work hadn’t been so riveting!” Luna said, gesturing at the pages on the table that were adorned with quick, careful writing that could only be achieved by frequent practice with the simple levitation spell that almost every unicorn knew. Twilight blushed.
“So, you really thought it was good?” Twilight asked hopefully, Luna was reading through the accumulation of about two months of work, compiled into one document. Luna slyly tapped the side of her muzzle with a hoof and went back to reading, indicating that she wasn’t going to say until she was finished.

Twilight was used to this sort of thing happening, Luna never liking to commit herself unless she was sure, it was that sort of work ethic that let Twilight know that when Luna said something, she meant it. While she patiently waited beside the table she watched the blue alicorn on the couch as she held aloft the thick tome that held her work. She gazed at the familiar violet magic that was the only visible proof of their magical link. She found herself thinking about how much more powerful Luna’s magic had gotten lately, of course it had been steadily increasing over the course of their two or so years together, but in recent months it seemed to be growing exponentially. Spells which may have been difficult for Luna to cast before now took barely any effort, she didn’t even flinch when performing a teleportation spell, a notoriously difficult branch of magic that required the aura to completely fill the body in order to transport all of it at once.

Twilight knew what this meant, that Luna was getting better, and that soon she would regain mastery over the night sky. It made her happy that the other pony was getting her magic back, and she knew that Luna would have to take back her duties from her sister and was glad. But at the same time, in some guilty part of her mind, she felt a little sad. Twilight knew that with the coming of Luna’s powers, it would herald the need for them both to leave Ponyville and return to Canterlot, and thus the time when she would need to leave behind the friends she had made here. But she pushed those thoughts out of her mind, she and Luna had already discussed them multiple times, each time ending up with Twilight admitting that though she knew it was for the greater good, it still made her feel melancholy all the same, and with Luna comforting her and telling her about how at least they will have each other.

Luna put the pages down slowly before turning to her student with a grin on her face.
“That was excellent, well done.” Luna told her, drawing Twilight in for a congratulatory hug.
“Really?” Twilight asked, always the skeptic. Luna nodded.
“Yes. You must have done some extra studying, I don’t remember teaching you about that one case where the pony teleported into a wall.” Luna said, recalling a particular point in Twilight’s work.
“Yeah,” Twilight replied sheepishly, “I wanted to give another example to back up my point." Luna gave another nod.

The princess of the night was surprised by the intensity of Twilight’s study and work. She obviously knew that Twilight worked hard and was smart, how else could she become Celestia’s prized student? But Twilight took her work far beyond when others would stop, even going to such lengths like tracking down the distant ancestor of an old wizard just to prove that he wasn’t infertile. Last year Luna had decided that now that Twilight was getting back into the swing of using magic, she should start writing more, and set her on the task of creating a report at the end of each of her topics that would summarise it. Twilight had performed much better than Luna could have hoped. She was looking forward to showing off Twilight’s progress to her sister when they next met up. The last time they had met with Celestia was over a month ago and was because there was an important document that required the signature of both pony princesses to be valid. Luna had noticed just how tired Celestia looked, she seemed much older than normal, her smile more drawn-out. Luna hated having to pile her duties onto her sister and would be glad when they returned, once more able to take up the mantle she was meant to command. Of course she knew it would be hard on Twilight, hay, it would be hard on the both of them, Luna having gotten used to Ponyville and its informal ways over the two years she had lived here undercover. Though she wasn’t really undercover anymore.

About half a year after the incident that left Luna ‘in the care’ of Twilight, they had decided that it would probably be best to let the citizens of Ponyville know that a princess lived amongst them. The pair had met with Mayor Mare and arranged a town event where they would announce the news. Needless to say, the citizens of Ponyville were shocked, though Twilight spotted a waiter from a local restaurant pointing at Luna and talking avidly to the pony next to him, who seemed to be ignoring him. In the days immediately following the announcement, ponies kept turning up at the library to catch a glimpse of the princess residing within. Unfortunately they couldn’t turn the ponies away since it was meant to be a public library and so Luna was forced to hole herself away in the bedroom to wait for the pony visiting to get bored and leave. Eventually though ponies seemed to get used to the presence of a minor deity and stopped visiting. However, they did persist in bowing or kneeling before her and addressing her as princess despite all protestations. Their relationship on the other hoof, well they decided that ponies would be able to find out on their own, it wasn’t like they were hiding it at all.

Twilight smiled as she carried the book back to their bedroom and placed it happily on the bookshelf by their bed. As she did she spotted the small wooden chest that they kept on the top shelf, she quickly pulled it down and opened it up, checking the contents were safe and sound. Inside was a metal object, or really, three metal objects. Their jagged edges fitted neatly inside the one beside it to create a three-quarter circle of metal with three inscriptions on. She ran her hoof over the fire, water and air elemental magic pieces, feeling the ancient power running through them. They seemed to get stronger with each new piece being reassembled, though it still wasn’t complete. They had fought hard for each of the pieces, going on long treks, climbing arduous peaks and the like. Though the hardest of the three to obtain had to be the water element, it was hidden in a cave deep underwater, this was back when their magic wasn’t as healed as it was now and it almost completely drained them having to hold the magical bubble of air for the entirety of their dive. Twilight closed the lid of the chest and put it back in its place, they still hadn’t been able to locate the fourth and final element, earth.

“Twilight?” Luna called from the library proper.
“Yeah?” Twilight replied, moving towards the door.
“I fee- urk.” Luna seemed to be cut off midsentence. Worried, Twilight sprinted out of the room and was met with the sight of Luna convulsing on the floor.
“Sweet Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed. She watched in horror as the convulsions got worse. Her knowledge shoved the fear out of her mind though and she swiftly got to work moving the furniture away from Luna. She didn’t try to stop her, no matter how much she wanted to, she knew the only thing you could do in a case like this is to move anything away from them that they might injure themselves on, and call help.

Twilight was just about to magically teleport a doctor from Ponyville General when Luna began to glow. This wasn’t the sort of glow a unicorn’s horn does when performing magic, no, her entire body was aglow with a soft blue light that swiftly grew in intensity. Twilight backed away, now unsure of what was going on. Soon she had to close her eyes and put a foreleg across them to stop herself from being blinded at the light that made the sun pale in comparison.

As quickly as the light came, it disappeared, leaving Twilight blinking hard to try and get rid of the afterimage. When she was once more adjusted to the light she moved cautiously towards the prone figure of Luna on the floor. She looked the same, the familiar short, pale blue mane and light purpley-blue coat.
“Luna?” Twilight said softly as she reached the mare. Luna gave out a loud groan and rolled over, one hoof rubbing her back. “Are you ok?” She continued worriedly.
“Ow.” Luna whispered, slowly opening her eyes. The sight that met her was of a purple unicorn looking worriedly down at her, though her expression changed to one of relief at the sight of Luna opening her eyes.

Twilight moved to the side as Luna groggily got to her hooves and stretched her limbs as if she had just woken from a deep sleep.
“What happened?” Twilight asked.
“I think I know,” Luna replied having finished her stretching and now was helping Twilight move the furniture back to their original places. “I think I just regained my alicorn powers.” Luna continued, now that the furniture was back in place. She took a seat on the sofa wearily and Twilight joined her, still slightly shocked at the events past.
“I didn’t think it would be so... violent” Twilight told her, Luna was deep in thought, but she still nodded.
“I guess I should have warned you...” Luna said, berating herself mentally. She stopped and looked at Twilight, “Thank you though, you handled the situation perfectly.” Luna continued. Twilight gave a small nod, not really in the mood for praise. “Are you ok?” Luna asked, looking deep into Twilight’s eyes for any sign of distress.

“I’m ok now, it was scary though...” Twilight replied, that was an understatement, the image of Luna writhing on the wooden floor was haunting her, the pained expression on the other mare’s face burning itself into her mind. Luna drew her in and gave her a strong hug, this time for comfort, as she gently stroked Twilight’s mane. After a while Luna stopped, she pulled away and held Twilight at foreleg length.
“It’s ok, Twilight.” Luna said firmly, Twilight nodded. Luna pulled her in once more, but this time for a more passionate embrace. They closed their eyes and lost themselves in the other, Luna stroking Twilight’s mane again as they kissed. Eventually, they slowly pulled away, even though they yearned for more. They stayed with their heads together, horns touching as they caught their breath. Luna was the first to recover.

“Feeling better now?” Luna asked with a grin on her face, Twilight returned the smile.
“Much.” She replied simply. Luna got off the sofa and looked at Twilight.
“Great. Now then, I think we have some work to do.” Luna said, Twilight nodded. They had a plan of action for when Luna got her magic back and they now set it into motion.
“Ok, I’ll go get the quills and paper.” Twilight told her, going to their bedroom to collect their letter-making supplies. But at the door, she stopped and turned back to Luna, a thought suddenly occurring in her mind.
“Luna?” Twilight asked, a question in her eyes.
“Yes?” Luna replied, looking up from the list she was reading.
“How come you look the same as before? I thought you would turn back to your regular self after you regained your powers.” Twilight said. Luna frowned and quickly moved to the bathroom to check her reflection. When she returned she was looking confused.
“I don’t know...” Luna began, “Maybe Tia will have an idea, we’ll have to add that to her letter.” Twilight nodded and got the supplied needed.

They sat themselves down at the main table, planning letters out, but each absorbed in their own thoughts. Luna of her form; had something gone wrong? Twilight on the other hoof thought of her friends, she would be leaving them soon and the reality of that fact was only just hitting her in full. They got to writing.