[colour=#000080]Well you know, Ice Storm,”[/colour] The princess said thoughtfully, [colour=#000080]“Fire Heart has mentioned that she's been learning to control her own Unicorn powers. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from her and her teachers.”[/colour] But Luna held back on making a comment on what Ice Storm might be doing wrong. Based on what she'd just said, Luna would have guessed it had something to do with anger issues. She decided not to mention it, though as to not be offensive rather than out of fear. With her powers, it was unlikely any of the three Unicorn fillies could do her any permanent damage. Besides, in order to create her ice confections, Ice must have already had some control over her magic. It did surprise her when Ice Storm admitted to never having attended the Nightmare Night festivities, despite living in Ponyville. How could somepony just ignore a holiday when it was going on around them? Even if she had grown up in Canterlot, she'd been in Ponyville for a couple of years now, right? But Luna did have to giggle at Ice Storm's comment on the age group that Nightmare Night was apparently intended for. [colour=#000080]”If Nightmare Night is just for fillies and colts, then I must be Equestria's oldest filly!”[/colour] Even if she was new to “fun” and letting her mane down, Luna did enjoy the activities just as much as the foals, and even the other adults, did. Saying that Nightmare Night was “a time for fillies and foals” was like saying that eating cake could only be enjoyed by children. [colour=#000080]”Oh, and that is true, Fire Heart! Nightmare Night is one of the few times that the Moon Palace deep inside the Everfree Forest is safely accessible to ponies. Enchanting a safe path takes a good bit of magic, so that's why it only happens once a year, and is premeditated by the townsponies. I suppose that is one thing no other town will ever have.”[/colour] She paused, her face growing somber. [colour=#000080]”And yes, it was quite spectacular to behold.”[/colour] Old memories, both pleasant and unpleasant, suddenly filled her mind as she thought of her childhood home. [colour=#000080]”But of course, it pales in comparison to the current Canterlot Castle.”[/colour] She threw a fake smile on her face, both to hide her discomfort, and to hopefully brighten her own mood and take her mind from her previous thoughts. Luckily the conversation was fast moving between the four of them, and a topic change was quick. [colour=#000080]”It's not really that you have to be sure your friends like or love you. It's just sort of something you know—you feel it, in the way that you act toward each other, the things you do for one another—it's, it's not really something you can explain. But I think that you'll know.”[/colour] Luna wasn't exactly an expert on friendship. Sure, she'd had friends before, and she had several now, but ponies didn't treat a princess as they did a fellow pony. There were the rare few that could see a princess as just another normal pony. Even those present here had done a fair job of socializing with her like she was anypony else—but the fact remained that they all still knew she was a princess, and whether or not they did it on purpose, continued to treat her as such. There were so many little things that ponies did when they were around a princess, that weren't natural or ordinary, that they wouldn't do when around their other pony friends. It was all well and good to be courteous and polite, but Luna could tell those things were done a little extra whenever she or any of the other princesses were around. Then Luna turned to Moon Dancer. [colour=#000080]”Oh yes, there are quite a few defenses in place for when the comet passes by. I guess since you already know about it, there's no since in hiding the event. The guards have already begun some extra training, though there's no guarantee whether or not there will actually be any kind of actual attack. The worst that might happen is that a few Unicorns lose control of their magic... or it could be that several of the beasts from the Everfree Forest might find their way into Canterlot or Ponyville. The results are very hard to predict, and so everypony who has a hoof in defending Equestria must be ready. I don't know that the effects of the comet will make the papers, though. Potential threats, no matter how minor, tend to send ponies into a panic. So it's... probably best if you don't mention your findings to too many ponies. Your book mentions that there will be a magical surge, but it doesn't exactly say what that will do to Equestria. And nopony can really know until the time that it passes. But, rest assured that everypony will remain safe. Celestia and I shall see to that.”[/colour] Luna smiled warmly at all those present, trying to reassure them of her promise. It was true that she and Celestia would do everything in their power to protect everypony in Equestria, and with the steps they were already taking to ensure that, Luna hoped that their preparations would be enough.