For most of her life, N.B. lived a solitary life. Her only companions were the pigeons she raised and trained to carry letters all over Equestria. After all, this was her special talent. Still, it would be hard to call these birds her friends. For one, they spent most of their time flying back and forth between distant lands, often leaving N.B. by herself for days.

On one of these days, N.B. was wandering through the Everfree forest, a favorite pastime for the lonely mare on her birthdays, when suddenly she fell into a deep, dark tunnel. Stumbling out the other side, she came upon a glistening pond. The surface was completely still and shone like a mirror. It was then that N.B. remembered a story she heard as a young filly.

As if in a trance, N.B. felt the words come to her lips. Stepping into the mirror pond, N.B. recited, “And into her own reflection she stared / yearning for one whose reflection she shared / and solemnly sweared not to be scared / at the prospect of being doubly mared.”

Emerging from the pond, she was stunned to see the story had been true. From that moment on, N.B. knew she would never be lonely again.

The first year was wonderful. N.B. had never had a real friend before. Still, this friend was a little different the friends most ponies would have. N.B. found she had to teach her new friend a lot of things about the world. In some ways, it was a bit like how she trained her pigeons. Eventually, under N.B.’s supportive care, her new friend grew to be her own pony and soon became restless. It was then that N.B. decided that she would have to let her go.

On the birthday after she discovered the mirror pond, N.B. watched her first real friend leave ponyville to explore the world. Even though she promised to write, N.B. knew it wouldn’t be the same as really having somepony there with her. That night, N.B. returned to the mirror pool.

So it was, every birthday after that, N.B. would repeat the spell, spend one, wonderful year with her new friend, and finally say goodbye, though she still received letters from all of the friends she made. N.B. loved to read about their adventures.

But at the end of the ninth year something happened to N.B., and though the letters still came, no one would read them. These are their letters…

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