Hello, old friend.
I won't bore you with a recap of what you already know. Our time together has come to a close and it's time for us to leave. This isn't something that any of us were looking forward to, but at the same time we all knew this day was coming.
I know you're probably expecting me to go on a summary of all the lessons we learned together, but I'm not. No sense in repeating something that both of us already know. Instead, there being a chance that this will be our final correspondence, I'd like to leave you with a bit of knowledge.
I know what you're thinking; “seriously? A lecture?” Friend, have you met me? Just because I'm the ruler of Equestria doesn't mean that I'm going to change who I am as a pony. I'd thought you'd have figured that out after I got my wings. I was actually thinking about that the other day, how nervous and excited we all were at the thought of me, Twilight, becoming a princess. And to think, we'd only just scratched the surface of all that we would experience and accomplish together.
So anyway, as you know I've collected a fair amount of stories from your world. I know it's not exactly in line with The Rules but no one seemed to mind. Besides I'm reasonably sure the transfer of ebooks doesn't violate the laws of Metadynamics.
Your world has a lot of amazing stories, but one in particular stood out to me. You know what it is? King Lear. Surprised? I don't blame you. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Daring Do adventure as much as the next pony, but King Lear is one of those tales that just grabs you and doesn't let you go. It's as tragic as it is exhilarating.
Anyway, in Act V King Lear passes on (sorry for the spoiler but the play is over 400 years old). And do you know what Shakespeare wrote in the script when that happens?
“He dies.”
That's it. No fanfare, no spectacle, no famous last words, none of that. This amazing, incredible story culminates with “he dies.”
It strikes me that Shakespeare really was one of your greatest writers, because only a genius could come up with “he dies.” It's just two simple words and yet every time I read them, I become overwhelmed with emotion. Not because Lear died, but because of the life that we saw before those words.
I imagine you're feeling something similar now. Not because our time together is ending, but because of what we did together over these 9 years.
I want you to know that these years have been amazing. It's been an incredible journey from town librarian to Monarch, and I can't thank you enough for being by my side through it all. But we've had our time, more than enough to be thankful for, and now it's time for us all to move on.
_I'm not asking you to be happy that we have to go. I'm just asking you to turn the page, keep reading and let the next story begin. It may just be that new friends and adventures are waiting for you.
The time has come for you now to begin that story, which may very well be your own. It's time for you to take everything that we learned and put it to good use. It's time for you to show your world the magic of Friendship._
And if anyone ever asks about us, tell them about all that we did together and all the great times we had, and then wrap it up simply and modestly by saying “the story ended.”
Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.
Your friend,
Princess Twilight Sparkle.