Dear Princess Celestia,
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Today, I and, well, someone I knew learned friendship is something you work at. Some think they can be entirely themselves and expect, or exact, no repercussions from their friends when they treat their friends in ways unruly, hurtful, or oppressive; some think they can choose and dispose of friends however they please; and some think their own freedom is integral to friendship.
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But if your friends canβt even begin to stop you from mistreating them, but if your friends canβt stop you from burning bridges, but if your friends canβt choose to stop you from choosing your own self-destruction, then whoβs to stop you when you finally destroy yourself? All too often, I think, some take friendship for granted and donβt even try to resolve their conflicts with their friends. All too often, they forget it took work to gain a friend. All too often, like with love, they think friendship is about finding the right friend for themselves and, thereby, spiral into selfishness.
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Friendship. . . is an art. It is the art of reconciliation. It is the art of making a self thatβs compatible with anotherβs. Because of this, friendship doesnβt involve self-expression, at least not of old selves, or perfection or freedom: it involves rebirth. I know thatβs a really sentimental definition of friendship, but I think itβs wonderful and magical.
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And it is what we learned today.
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From your most faithful subject,