Nights in Ponyville are quiet. They always have been, for the most part, but lately even the library has been still. Once lively and active, the lights are rarely on after dusk these days. The silence that falls over the town in the evening is relaxing, and somehow sobering.

Rarity works tirelessly on a new line of dresses at the Carousel Boutique. She can make use of her sewing machine at night now that she lives alone. It’s been a few years since Sweetie Belle left to adventure with Scootaloo and Applebloom, although they make a point of returning to Ponyville every now and then. As it turns out, the Crusaders now focus on helping other ponies wherever they’re needed. The three ponies at some point decided that the most important thing to do was help out the ones around them, even if it meant falling a little behind on finding their talents. Rarity works her needles quickly to ensure that the dress order for the upcoming ball is completed by the end of the week. She’s developed quite a connection to the Canterlot elite through Fancy Pants, allowing her to make a name for herself from one end of Equestria to the other. Of course, the heart of her work still remains in Ponyville, making simpler outfits for simpler ponies. Although she sometimes thinks about moving to a larger city, she can never bring herself to do it. Rarity takes a moment’s break to glance at a basic yellow dress off in the corner of the room.

Pinkie Pie stands in the upper window of Sugarcube Corner, her smiling gaze fixated for a moment on the boutique. She nearly gets lost in thought, but is quickly pulled back to reality by the voice of Pumpkin Cake behind her. It seems the dessert’s nearly finished in the oven. Pinkie flashes Pumpkin a wide grin and thanks her, though her voice remains unusually quiet tonight. She thinks back to the first encounter she had with Pumpkin and her brother, Pound Cake. They’d been quite a lot of trouble, but Pinkie had bonded with them quickly. Now they both help her keep Sugarcube Corner running smoothly as the elder Carrot Cake and Cup Cake spend time focusing on their catering orders. Pumpkin is often the one awake late at night, since she’s taken up magic classes in the evenings, while Pound tends to be sleeping in preparation for Flight School the next day. Pinkie pulls the perfectly-baked cake out of the oven and sets it on the table to cool before returning to the window. She looks over at the odd helmet that she’s held onto for a while, and a subdued smile comes to her face.

Fluttershy floats past the bakery as she does every few evenings, tranquil as the night itself. Every now and again, Fluttershy takes a flock of owls for a glide through Ponyville. Owlowiscious is among them, of course. They make a point to head past the library whenever they’re out. Even though it’s in Fluttershy’s nature to be a little distant, something about the darkened windows is sobering to her. Through them she can just barely make out the empty bookshelves, once filled to their edges with knowledge of history, theories and magic spells. Owlowiscious always falters for a moment when they pass the door; tonight’s no different. He takes a quick glance over at Fluttershy to see if she noticed. It’s more out of habit than anything; she always notices. She opens up her saddlebag and smiles, taking out a pair of goggles that she’s kept.

Up above the empty tree, Rainbow Dash lays with her head over the edge of a cloud. She’s looking down at Ponyville like she always does around this time. Her adventures have given her a sense of purpose, as a sort of protector. A silent guardian of the peace, to keep watch and make sure the quiet nights continue undisturbed. She smiles as the thought crosses her mind to call down and greet Fluttershy, but resists the temptation. Dash knows Fluttershy’s ritual all too well, and doing anything to interrupt her midnight glide with the owls would scare them off. She glances off into the distance, gazing out over the horizon. Canterlot, Appleloosa, even the spires of the Crystal Kingdom are visible from up there, reminders of the journeys she’d had with her best friends. Dash glances down at the piece of paper in her hand with the number 42 on it, and can’t help but laugh to herself a little.

Applejack looks out the window of Sweet Apple Acres at the sparse clouds in the night sky. She and Big Mac took over the farm after Granny Smith passed away. Before that, of course, the old mare had left most of the work to them anyway. Even without Applebloom’s help, the two stalwart ponies tirelessly maintain the apple orchard and its traditions. Zap apple jam is made each year that passes, with the unlikely help of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Applebloom and the two high-class ponies eventually put their past behind them and started new friendships with each other. Even though Applebloom is off traveling now, and Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara both live in Canterlot, all three make a point to visit each year to help with singing to the watering cans to make the jam. Cider season comes around every fall, as it has for years, and Applejack and Big Mac still make it one barrel at a time. Even though ponies age and the world changes, some things just need to stay the same. Applejack glances down to the snow plows near the barn, cracking a slight smile.

Rarity smiles, remembering the way her friend had tried to dance in Canterlot in that dress. Pinkie Pie starts giggling uncontrollably, the memory of the attempts to analyze her odd twitches flooding back to her. Fluttershy straps the goggles to her forehead, recalling the final push her friend had given her to help get rainwater up to Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash stretches her wings out with a smirk as she remembers the time the unicorn beat her in a race with her slow-and-steady pacing. And Applejack can’t help but laugh as thoughts of her attempts to pull a snow plow on her own come back to her.

With generosity in their actions, laughter and kindness in their hearts, loyalty and honesty in their words, and magic in their time-defying bonds of friendship, the friends look up at the sky. From the balcony of Canterlot Castle, the princess fixates her violet eyes on Ponyville. Her number one assistant stands to her side, his adolescent wings a testament to the years that have passed. Though his form is more intimidating now, the growing dragon is as friendly and helpful as ever. Although the princess never says it, he knows that she wishes every night, on every star in the sky, to return to Ponyville.

Still, she knows that no matter how much distance is between them, no matter how long it’s been, she will never forget them, and they will never forget her. But over the years she’s come to realize that once in a while, it’s nice to know someone’s thinking of you. The princess smiles to the horizon, to the small, quiet town where her friends live. After a moment, she turns silently to her assistant.

“Spike,” she says. “Take a letter.”