Softening the Stone

by TheMyth

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Sad, Main 6, Princess Luna, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Prince Blueblood, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life
Length: 69615

After a thousand years of banishment, Luna has finally returned to Equestria. However, not everything is quite as Celestia had hoped for.

It has been a thousand years since Celestia last saw her beloved sister after her banishment. Ever since then, she has counted the days to her sister's return. When the night finally befell upon Equestria, and Nightmare Moon liberated, it was suppose to be a joyous reunion. But fate has something else in mind...

Collab done with TailsFox88 (Chapters 1-17)
Chapter 18 (Solo)
Collab done with Foals Errand (Chapters 19 onwards)
Artwork done by pridark

Published 2013-08-29 23:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-01-15 01:19:34 UTC

The Desolation of the Moon

Everything was different. The world around her had changed in an instant. No longer was everything cold and dark like she was familiar with. All around her were new colors, bright and vibrant. A cool breeze blew through the mane upon her head, bringing with it a variety of foreign smells and sounds from the world outside.

The voice that was not hers was speaking as it often did. Though this time, there was no anger in its sound as it had been a few moments before. It was happy now, almost giddy in fact, as it mocked the purple unicorn lying across the hallway. Below its hooves, the remnants of precious stones laid shattered by her own design. Was that what the voice was so excited about?

Between the fits of laughter, new sounds filled the room. These ones weren’t like the voice which wasn’t Luna’s. They were more like the purple one’s, much kinder and gentle. As they continued to grow louder, the unicorn reacted to them. Within a few moments, new ponies arrived, standing beside the first. As she began to speak, the fear in her voice had seemed to disappear. She stood up tall and proud, speaking with confidence as she turned back towards the voice that was not Luna’s.

The shards sitting beneath Luna’s hooves sparkled as the purple unicorn spoke. The voice that was not Luna’s spoke again, but the laughter in it was gone. Though it wasn’t angry either. There was fear in it now as it spoke back. Glowing with an unearthly light, the shattered pieces flew into the air, encircling the different ponies that had appeared and stood beside the first.

The two talked for a minute more, confidence still radiating from the one, while the voice that wasn’t Luna’s was filled with more and more dread. The purple unicorn, still standing firm, spoke confidently as a light, far brighter than Luna had seen in ages, began to fill the room. The air swirled around them as the light enveloped the six ponies across from her, lifting them into the air.

In an instance, the light shattered, streaming forth in a majestic burst of colors which shot across the room towards the location Luna was sitting. It twisted and circled about her as the voice that was not her own screamed out in terror. As the air around her spun faster and faster, it seemed to pull against the darkness within her. Its voice continued to cry out as she felt the shreds of darkness being eradicated from the heart in her chest, until the light dispersed and there was nothing.

As the light subsided, the six friends laid against the floor exhausted from the magic that had just taken place. Rainbow Dash was the first to stir, rising up with a groan. “Ohh… my head…” she moaned.

Applejack was the next to her hooves. “Everypony okay?”

“Oh, thank goodness!” Rarity cried out in joy, looking at her fully grown tail that was shining.

“Why Rarity, it’s so lovely,” Fluttershy spoke softly.

“I know! I’ll never part with it again.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No. Your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark.” She pointed towards the necklace on Rarity’s neck that had a diamond shaped gem in the middle.

“What?” Rarity looked down on her necklace and gasped in awe at its beauty. “Ooh,” She looked up to Fluttershy and pointed with her hoof to her neck. “So does yours.”

Fluttershy gasped, looking down on her necklace that bore a butterfly shaped gem. Pinkie Pie jumped towards the group with a large smile. “Look at mine! Look at mine!”

“Aw yeah.” Rainbow Dash grinned smugly, showing off her necklace that had a lightning bolt shape gem in it.

“Gee, Twilight!” Applejack turned Twilight, surprised by what just happened. “Ah though’ ye were just spoutin’ a lot of hooey, but Ah reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship.”

“Indeed you do.”

The group of pony looked around for the source of the new voice; a regal, maternal voice. A new source of light shined from the window, momentarily blinding the mares. When the light subsided, a white alicorn stood before them. With her ethereal rainbow mane and her golden crown, she smiled proudly down upon the ponies who immediately bowed to her. Save for one.

“Princess Celestia.” Twilight gasped and trotted towards the princess, nuzzling her as though she were her own mother.

Celestia continued to smile as she held her student close. “Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. I knew you could do it.”

Twilight cocked her brow slightly, looking confused for a second. “But… you told me it was all an old pony tale.”

“I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more.” She looked up to the mares of the room. “I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon’s return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your hearts.” She continued to smile and looked to a mass of dark shards at the back of the room. “Now if only another will as well. Princess Luna!”

Sitting among the blackened remains of armor laid a dark blue alicorn. Her wings were sprawled out to her side, and her head hung against the floor. Her eyes were wide open as Celestia trotted over to her.

“It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this,” she began as she approached. “It is time to put…”

She paused. Something wasn’t quite right here. Luna did not react as she approached. Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t looking at anything. They simply stared forward, glazed over and unmoving. Her head was lying limply, craned at an awkward angle though she didn’t seem to protest.

“...Luna?” Celestia asked, hesitation evident in her voice.

Twilight trotted over towards her mentor, stopping just a few paces away from the pair. She looked down at the fallen alicorn with fear in her eyes. “Is… Is she?” she began to ask.

Celestia leaned down, pressing her head against Luna’s chest. She was still breathing and there were signs of a heartbeat, but both were irregular and faint. “Luna!” she cried out, leaning back. Grabbing the blue alicorn by the shoulders, she began to shake her. “Luna! Luna!” she continued to cry out. “This wasn’t supposed to happen! What’s the matter? Please get up.” Yet despite her pleas, Luna remained unmoving.

“Please say something!” Celestia continued to cry, tears forming on her already moistened eyes. “What’s wrong?! Please tell me, sister!”

The other six looked at each other in surprise. "Sister?"

No matter what she said, Luna remained completely immobile, not even responding to the dread that began to fill the room.

Twilight looked to her mentor and to the navy alicorn with her eyes wide in shock. A part of her was shocked to hear from Celestia that she had a sister, who was Nightmare Moon no less. She shook her head correcting herself, Luna was her sister and not Nightmare Moon. She was also saddened to see her mentor in tears, anguish and despair on the proud princess’ face.

The others were also dismayed; their short term celebration forgotten by the pyrrhic victory they had accomplished a few moments ago. Applejack couldn’t help but lower her hat in shame, feeling that she was responsible for what happened.

“What do we do?” Pinkie whispered in her ear, her mane strangely straightened and losing some of its colour as her smile vanished.

Applejack placed her hat back on her head and turned to Rainbow Dash behind her, a look of determination on her face. “Rainbow, go get the doctor right now!” she ordered her cyan friend, making sure she wasn’t heard by Celestia.

“What?! Me?!” Rainbow pointed to herself, flabbergasted that her friend would ask her to get help for somepony that was her enemy earlier.

“Ya heard me. We need all the help we can get!”

“But-”

“Please Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy pleaded with her friend, her eyes becoming moist from the withheld tears. “Please Rainbow, we need to help the Princess…”

Rainbow bit her lower lip and sighed in defeat. “OK,” she spread her wings and hovered above the ground, saluting her friends. “I’ll be back in a second!” With that, she was gone from the ruins, leaving a rainbow trail behind.

Once Rainbow Dash was no longer in sight, Applejack turned back and walked over towards Twilight and the two alicorn princesses. Celestia had scooped up her sister, holding her delicately in her forehooves. As she cradled the younger alicorn, she rocked her gently back and forth. She was quietly humming a simple lullaby that Applejack was not familiar with. Yet despite all this, Luna still remained completely impassive.

Applejack leaned over to Twilight, who was busy watching the scene with a mix of fear and confusion on her face. “I don’t get it. What do ya think is wrong with her?”

Twilight bit her lower lip as she looked over to her friend. “I have absolutely no idea.”

“She’s appears to be in some sort of catatonic state,” the doctor explained, pointing towards the various charts and figures hanging on the wall.

After Rainbow Dash had returned with the doctor, he took one look at the unmoving princess and demanded that they bring her to Ponyville hospital at once. Somehow managing to convince the downfallen Celestia, she carried her sister there as quickly as she could, while the others raced back through the forest. As soon as the princess arrived, the doctors and nurses immediately set to work, examining Luna to determine exactly what had happened. The others managed to arrive just as the examination was coming to an end.

Applejack tried deciphering the notes the doctor was showing the group, but it was well above her head. “And just what exactly is that supposed ta mean?” she asked in frustration.

The doctor sighed as he pointed towards a very specific chart. “What that means is that she’s suffering from a severe mental disorder, one that is directly affecting her motor functions and comprehension.”

Applejack stared at him for a moment with a deadpan expression. “In Equestrian, please.”

Rolling his eyes, the doctor began again. “It means that she’s suffering from something that is preventing her from thinking clearly. Her mind is still in there, but she just can’t focus on the things that she needs to in order to behave normally. Because of that, it’s preventing her from moving, speaking, or reacting in anyway.”

“Well, we kind of gathered that much already,” Applejack said with a huff. “But what does that mean for her?”

“Let me put it to you like this,” the doctor inhaled before slowly exhaling. “Imagine you are standing in front of ponies, but you can’t say a word nor move a muscle at all. When a pony comes to greet you, you can’t greet back. When a pony bumps into you, you don’t feel pain and don’t react on reflex at all,” he looked back to Luna who was still staring off into space. “In other words, you are just a spectator and can’t be a partaker in life…”

Applejack’s frustrated look turned to horror as she backed away in shock. She looked back at the princess and saw there was no motion coming from her at all.

“What do you think could have caused this doctor?” Twilight asked, both curious about Luna’s condition and desperate to find a solution.

The doctor sighed as he closed his eyes. “I am afraid I don’t have the answer to that, Miss Twilight Sparkle. I only have several theories.” he titled his head as he started to count down the theories to the group of mares. “The Elements of Harmony could have affected Luna’s heart that by using it on her, it not only cleansed her heart and soul, but also erased all that made Luna herself…” He spoke on, not seeing the looks of guilt and shame on the group of friends’ faces.

Twilight especially was gobsmacked and repulsed by what they might have done to the princess, having only the best intentions for Equestria when they used the Elements.

“Another theory could be the guilt of what happened over a thousand years ago with Nightmare Moon trying to cover the land in eternal night. The last theory, the most likely one would be, a thousand years of solitude on the moon’s surface. Either way it’s quite likely the shock of whatever happened in that castle scared her mind into remission causing her current state.”

“So what can we do for her?”

The doctor looked over towards the bed Luna was lying in. “The best thing that you can do for her now is to simply stay with her. We haven’t been able to find anything physically wrong, so there is a very good chance that she will come out of it eventually. For now, simply take care of her, talk with her, and share your love with her. Though I can’t guarantee how long it will take, doing so should help her to start to get a grasp on reality again much more quickly.”

Twilight nodded in approval. “Alright. We’ll do our best,” she said, her mind already starting to form a list of things she would need to prepare. She also turned to look towards the resting alicorn, though more specifically her mentor seated next to her sister. Since they had come in, Celestia had not left her sister’s side. When the doctor’s demanded that Celestia leave the room for the examination, she had apparently threatened them with a royal decree that she had to stay. Even afterwards, she still sat gently stroking her sister’s hoof and not taking her eyes of her. “And what can we do for Princess Celestia?” she asked unsure.

The doctor looked stoically at the regal alicorn as he pondered the question. “Let me talk to her privately first, then I’ll let you know if there’s anything you should do for her.”

Twilight hesitated. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to leave her mentor at this time. Still, the doctor knew much better about these situations, so she reluctantly agreed. Moving through the room, she told the rest of her friends what was going on, and escorted them outside with her, quietly closing the door behind.

The doctor watched as the door clicked shut, before turning back and trotting towards the regal alicorn. If it wasn’t for the tears in her eyes and her ability to sit up, he’d almost have assumed that she was catatonic as well since she didn’t react to his approach. He thought for a moment about what to say, but Celestia cut him off before he had the chance.

“Tell me honestly.” she said with her eyes moist and her lips dry from crying. “How bad is she, doctor?”.

This was the part of the job that he hated the most. He knew that he could try and sugar coat it for her, but the princess was smart. “She’s not doing very well,” he responded. “I don’t know what happened to her, but there’s very little activity in her brain right now.”

“I see,” Celestia stated flatly, still not taking her eyes off her sister. “Then tell me, doctor. What can I do for her? How can I help her through this?”

The doctor sighed again. “Right now, the one thing that she needs more than anything is you. You’re the only thing that she is familiar in the world right now. If you want her to get through this, you’re going to have to spend a lot of time with her.”

Celestia’s pupils shrank as panic started etching its way to her face. “But, my duties! I can’t—”

“Celestia.” the doctor cut her off, stepping hard on his forehoof to silence her. “Excuse the insubordination, but you have to decide on which is more important, your duties as a princess of Equestria, or your duties as an elder sister?” he asked her rhetorically, not giving her time to answer. “Why don’t you take a good long look at the pony lying down next to you and say that she doesn’t need you right now. For over a thousand years, we have had you in our lives and we are grateful for that. But now, a pony that has not been in contact with you for over a millenium needs you the most.” He placed a hoof to her shoulder and sighed. “I trust you will do what is right for your sister.” With that, the doctor was off from the room.

As the words sank into her brain, Celestia looked back to her non-responsive sister and started to stroke her mane. Celestia’s lips started to quiver as her eyes turned moist, anguish still present in her features. She slowly closed her eyes and nuzzled her sister as tenderly as she could, humming to her softly as tears escaped Celestia’s eyes.

When she removed herself from her sister, she opened her eyes wide to reveal absolute determination in them. She gently placed her sister’s hoof back onto her lap and got up from her chair. She held her head high, though no happiness was found on her face. Celestia made her way outside, where she was greeted by the worried Element bearers.

“Princess…” Twilight started off, pausing when she saw Celestia’s stoic expression. She blinked and opened her mouth, only to be silenced when the princess turned her head sharply to her.

“Twilight, please come with me.” Celestia told Twilight, with a strict tone Twilight had never heard her mentor speak before.

“Y-yes Princess!”

“The rest of you, remain here until I return. Understood?”

The others nodded vigorously, both surprised and frightened by Celestia’s new attitude. When the princess and Twilight left the room, they all turned to each other as their brows were furrowed in concern.

“What do y’all think that was about?” Applejack asked.

“Beats me,” Rainbow Dash interjected, hovering in the arms with her forelegs folded. “It’s been a pretty crazy day for her though.”

“I can’t imagine how the poor dear is coping with all of this,” Rarity added. “To finally see your own sister after one thousand years apart and have this happen… I shudder to think of it.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie sprang in. Although she wasn’t as perky as she normally was, a lot of her energy had come back after hearing that Luna wasn’t going to die. “She’s probably really, really sad right now, and if she’s sad then that means we should help her, and if we help her then maybe that will make her happy, and if we make her happy then we can have the most bestest party ever!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ah don’ think righ’ now’s the best time to be planning some party Pinkie, but Ah do agree, we should probably do somethin’ to help out.”

The remaining girls all nodded their heads in agreement, save one. Sitting back and away from the others, Fluttershy kept her head bowed hiding the tears that were falling from her face. Although she wanted to help, she couldn’t get the same repetitive thought out of her head.

I did this…

“Are you sure about this princess?” Twilight exclaimed in surprise. Celestia had just finished explaining her plan for Luna’s recovery, and quite frankly it shocked the poor student completely. “I mean, this is—”

“Please, Twilight,” Celestia chimed and lowered her head to her student’s level. “I need to do this.”

Twilight scrunched her lips and closed her eyes, nodding slowly to Celestia’s plan. “Alright, I hope this works out…”

Celestia raised her head slowly, looking out at the window to see the sun high up in the air.

For Luna’s sake, I hope so too.

The Coming Eclipse

There is a particular cafe in Canterlot that is extremely popular with the noble class. It sits just outside of the main castle’s wall, overlooking the vast plains of Equestria. One can sit there for hours on end, soaking in the magnificent atmosphere while enjoying some of the most soothing tea available. Normally, it is a sanctuary of peace.

However, Prince Blueblood, royal heir to the Northwest Territories, was anything but peaceful as he entered the small cafe. It was surprisingly almost completely empty for this time of day; everypony else having gone off to discuss the strange turn of events that had happened. Still, that was a good thing. He was not eager to have to deal with the common folk at a time like this.

Ignoring the waiter at the entrance, Blueblood charged right into the heart of the area, making a beeline for the only table that was currently occupied. Within its seat sat a pale grey unicorn stallion, his head buried deep within a menu. Grabbing the chair across from him, Blueblood sat himself down, exhaling a huff of anger as he did so.

The other unicorn barely seemed to acknowledge his presence. “I think I’ll order the soup today,” he hummed to himself. “I’ve been meaning to try their dandelion and saffron mix.”

His menu glowed with a bright yellow light for a second, before being torn from his grasp and flung over the balcony’s edge.

“How can you possibly think about food at a time like this, Proud Lining?” Blueblood snarled. “The entire country is falling apart and you’re worried about lunch?”

Proud Lining sat unmoved by Blueblood’s action, as if he was still holding the menu in his hooves. With a sigh, he gently folded them across his chest and looked at the irate Blueblood. “I’m hungry,” he answered simply. “And besides, this isn’t the end of the world as we know it.”

“Oh isn’t it?” Blueblood retorted. “First off, Aunt Celestia decides to go to some little backwater town to hold the Summer Sun Celebration this year. Then, when the day finally arrives, not only does the sun fail to rise until late in the afternoon, but apparently the town claims that Nightmare Moon, a creature from old pony tales, showed up to wreck the celebration.”

“Yes, I am aware of all of that,” Proud Lining responded, gently lifting his teacup up and taking a sip. “But as you are aware, the sun did indeed rise and all is well once again. I still fail to see what your concern is all about.”

The veins in Blueblood’s forehead were popping out so far, they looked as though they could burst at any moment. “Really?” he asked sarcastically. “You don’t see how after all of this, Celestia decides to take an extended vacation as a problem?”

Proud Lining shrugged. “She’s always been allowed to take a couple weeks of vacation. Why should it be a problem now?”

“I’ll tell you why.” Blueblood’s brow furrowed as he looked over to the balcony. “She is always scheming something, especially during her so called ‘vacations.'”

“Are you still holding a grudge for that prank she pulled on you?” Proud chuckled heartily, remembering Blueblood’s birthday where Celestia pranked the cake to explode. “She did apologize by giving you a new and larger cake.”

Blueblood slammed in hoof on the table. “It’s not the prank that mattered, it’s the principle!” the stallion snorted. “She had the audacity to pull such a prank on those who she calls family?” A laugh devoid of mirth escaped his lips. “If she could do that to a nephew of hers, I would hate to be a brother or son to her. In fact, I’d pack up and bid her adieu.”

“Surely you jest,” Proud chimed in, shaking his head in disapproval. “Why without, your connection with Celestia, you would not survive a day out there in the harsh world with all those ruffians and barbarians about.” Proud sipped his tea, sighing as the taste roamed his mouth. “From what I hear, Ponyville is filled with those barbarians!”

“That I agree with.” Blueblood calmed down, if only a little. “Why my aunt decided to fund that cesspool of pony society is beyond me.” He shrugged as he chuckled. “Charity, I suppose. Gain more favour from the lower ponies.”

Proud Lining shook his head as he closed his eyes. “Charity is the best solution to appease a crowd, everypony can be bought in life,” he took another sip of his tea. “It all depends on the amount of bits we are willing to bargain their lives for…”

“Well obviously, my aunt did not receive any bits from that deal. Only some vermin food and barbaric clothing.”

“I couldn’t agree more!”

Blueblood smiled. He might be a pain in the neck sometimes, but at least he could always count on Proud Lining to have proper taste as well.

“Still,” Blueblood said hesitantly. The fury in his voice was gone though it still lingered a bit in his eyes. “You can’t blame me for being worried about everything that’s happened. There’s something fishy about all this and I don’t quite like it.”

Proud Lining chuckled. “Well, I suppose you do have a point there,” he said refilling his teacup. “It is a little bit odd for Celestia to decide she’s leaving so suddenly and not telling anypony where she’s going.”

“Yes,” Blueblood exclaimed. “And not only that, but she’s even asked the royal court to take over in raising the sun and moon for her each day. She’s never done anything like that before.”

Levitating the teacup up, Proud Lining stared at its dark contents as he gently swirled it around. “Yes, it does seem rather peculiar now that you mention it. Perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye.”

“I know that there is,” Blueblood said sitting back triumphantly. He gazed out over the horizon with a smirk. “And once I figure out what it is, you’d better believe that I’ll do everything I can to stop it.”

“Are ya sure about this Princess?”

Applejack along with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie were all seated at a table with Twilight, Spike and Celestia at the opposite end. After Celestia explained her plan to the other mares, she was met by uncertain looks from the others.

“I am sure Applejack, I need to do this…” Celestia replied calmly to the orange earth pony, taking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly and taking a sip of the tea Spike provided for the group. “Tis’ a wonderful brew of tea, Spike.” she complimented the young dragon.

Spike rubbed the back of his head and chuckled lightly. “ It’s not that great…”

Twilight however, was sweating bullets at this point. Her hind hoof was tapping on the ground endlessly as she looked at her mentor. A nervous smile was plastered on her face, shortly followed by a soft laugh escaping her mouth. “Princess, you sure you’re ok like that? I could perhaps give you an extra pillow! Or even some biscuits to go with that—”

“Please, Twilight…” Celestia raised her hoof to silence the lavender unicorn. The alicorn’s brow furrowed in thought as she looked on to her student’s scared form. Why is she so nervous?

One pony did however find Twilight’s behaviour humourous. Rainbow Dash snickered, leaning into Pinkie Pie’s ear. “Now that’s funny how she panics!” she whispered into the pink wonder’s ear.

Pinkie turned to her friend, shaking her head with her eyes closed. “No Rainbow Dash, there’s a big difference between funny funny and scaredy funny…”

“Well, yeah…” Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes. “But it’s still just a little bit funny isn’t it?”

The look from Pinkie Pie was enough to tell her that no, it wasn’t even a little bit funny. Grumpily, she turned back and slouched over to fiddle with her own teacup. Ever since yesterday nobody had been quite the same. Pinkie Pie was the most obvious of the group, since her usually carefree attitude seemed to have deflated. Applejack and Rarity both were acting rather nervous, though not nearly as much as Twilight was. And Fluttershy was…

She paused for a moment, before suddenly looking up. “Hey, where is Fluttershy?”

Applejack shrugged. “Ah stopped by her place on my way over here. Told her we were all meetin’ up and all that. She told me that she couldn’t make it though. Somethin’ ta do with all them critters she keeps in her cottage.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. She and Fluttershy had been friends for the longest time, ever since they met at Flight Camp. She knew that Fluttershy had probably got roped into something, likely by that demonic spawn she called a pet rabbit. Even so, this didn’t seem to sit too well with Rainbow either.

“Are you sure that you’re comfortable?” Twilight began again, interrupting Rainbow’s train of thought. “Because really I could get you something, anything that you might want.”

Celestia turned to her student and smiled. “Really, Twilight, I’m fine.” Turning back towards the middle of the table, she reached out for the tea kettle, grabbing it with her magic. “Though I could use some more of this tea.”

Twilight gasped. “Let me get that for you!” she cried. Leaping for the tea kettle, she nearly knocked all the other cups and dishes to the floor attempting to grab it from her mentor’s grasp.

Thankfully, a bright yellow light surrounded her, and the table as well, catching everything before any damage could be done. Gently setting the unicorn back into her own seat with a smile, Celestia lifted the kettle over and poured herself a cup. “Honestly Twilight,” she said softly, “I’m more than capable of pouring my own cup of tea.”

“But—”

“No buts,” the princess insisted. “I told the nobles that I was going on a vacation without my servants and I intend to do just that. That means that while I am staying with you, I do not want you waiting on me wing and hoof.”

“But I—”

“Twilight,” Celestia said firmly, her gaze trained on the purple unicorn.

With a sigh, Twilight nodded as she looked away. “Yes, Princess…” she muttered.

Applejack snickered at the pair, but quickly hid it as she turned towards Celestia. “Beggin’ yer pardon, uh, yer majesty,” she said sheepishly, “but are ya sure that this is a good idea? Ah mean doesn’t Equestria need ya to rule and all that?”

Celestia took a sip of her tea as she sighed. “As I explained to you before Applejack, this is something that I have to do. The government will be able to take care of itself for a while.”

“Well, yeah, I suppose so,” Applejack mulled, “but what if something happens and you’re not there? Couldn’t Equestria be in danger?”

Surprisingly to the ponies in the room, Celestia smiled fondly at Applejack’s question. “No need to worry about that. I have a plan just for that.”

Before either pony could speak, a knock came from the library’s door. Twilight got up from the table and made her way gingerly to answer it, albeit quickly. When she opened it, her jaw hung open when she saw who it was.

“Twilight!”

Twilight’s jaw closed and she beamed to the new pony before her. “Cadance!” she shouted out in joy, letting Cadance in. She was another alicorn, missing an ethereal mane and shorter than Celestia. Her coat was pink with lavish tri colored mane, with a tiara sitting on top of it. When she was in the library and the door was closed, both she and Twilight started an odd performance.

“Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” When both ponies were done shaking their plots to each other, they laughed and hugged each other.

“I missed you so much!” Twilight said as she continued to hold onto the elder pony that was her foalsitter.

Cadance nuzzled Twilight’s head with a soft smile of her own. “I missed you too Twilight, so much…”

The ponies and dragon in the background, save Celestia, all had their hooves to their mouths not trying to laugh their flanks off at the scene before them. Before any of them did, Twilight and Cadance turned to them.

"Everypony, this is Cadance… my former foalsitter.”

Turning back towards Cadance, she extended a hoof to the others. “And Cadance, these are my new friends,” she said proudly.

Cadance walked forward towards the group, respectably bowing in front of them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” she said kindly.

The others returned the gesture, bowing in kind. All except for Spike however. He instead ran up to the alicorn, jumping up and tossing his small arms around her neck. “Auntie Cadie!”

Cadance grabbed him before he could fall, holding him up and returning the hug. “My little Spikey,” she said gently. “My word you’ve grown since the last time I saw you. Still keeping Twilight out of trouble?”

He laughed as he fell back to the ground. “I try my best, but you know how Twilight can be sometimes.”

“Yes, she can be quite the hoofful, can’t she?” she replied turning back towards the now blushing unicorn and winking.

Twilight coughed, quickly moving to change the subject before the two started telling the really embarrassing stories. “It is wonderful to see you Cadance, but what are you doing here? I thought that you were in Trottingham for the time.”

“Well, I was,” Cadance began. “At least, until I got Auntie Tia’s summons to come to the Ponyville Library at once. Something about taking over the rule of Equestria in her stead?”

The entire group of ponies turned and looked at the regal princess, still standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a smile. “I told you that I’d taken care of everything.”

Twilight cocked her brow at her mentor, confused and concerned. “But Princess… who’s going to raise the sun and moon?”

“My dear Twilight, surely you remember your history classes,” Celestia chuckled at Twilight’s face. “Unicorns raised and lowered both the sun and moon before Luna and I came into power…” she trailed off when she mentioned her sister’s name, her smile dissipating slowly.

Cadance’s ears perked and her brow raised slightly. “Where is Auntie Luna?” she asked curiously, turning her head in all corners. She was amazed to find out she had another aunt in her life, though she was partially disappointed from hearing about it via a letter.

“Upstairs in the guest bedroom,” Spike pointed upwards with his index talon. “Want me to show you?”

“Oh yes please!” Cadance focused her magic and lifted the dragon onto her back. “If you will excuse me.” she bowed to her company and walked on upstairs with a happy dragon as her guide.

Applejack just smiled at what just happened. “So she was yer foalsitter Twi’?” she asked curiously, looking back to her friend.

“Yes, before I started as the Princess’ student.”

“Hang on…” Rainbow Dash cut in. “How old is Spike? Isn’t he as old as you Twilight?”

Twilight laughed at Rainbow’s question, receiving an irritated look from the cyan pegasus. “I hatched Spike when I did my entrance exam Rainbow… wow, now that’s a story to tell…” she smiled at the fond memory of her entrance exam to Canterlot’s School for Gifted Unicorns over a decade ago. The day she became Celestia’s prized student, receiving her cutie mark and bringing Spike into the world.

“Oh! Oh! So you're Spike’s mommy!”

The silence in the room was so intense, a pin could be heard falling to the floor. “What?” Pinkie asked, confused at what was happening.

“Anyways…” Rainbow said hesitantly. “It’s starting to get late and I can’t miss another day of weather duty. I think it’s about time I flew the coop.”

Rarity replied with a yawn. “Why, yes. I do think that I must agree with Rainbow Dash. It has been a rather eventful couple of days, and I’m sure that you have plenty you two still need to talk about without us here,” she said turning towards Twilight and Celestia.

Twilight nodded in agreement. “Well, thank you all for coming. I know that it’s been only been a couple of days since we’ve met, but I really can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done.”

“Well shoot,” Applejack responded, laying a comforting hoof on Twilight’s shoulder with a wink. “We’re more than happy to help out a friend in need.”

The group made their way to the door, which Twilight opened and held for the others. Led by Pinkie Pie, the group made their way out into the evening air, each turning and heading their separate ways. Just as Twilight was about to again close the door, Applejack paused and turned around. “Now listen Twi, Ah know that things might seem a bit hard right now, but Ah want ya to know, if ya ever need anything at all, just holler and we’ll all come running to help again, alright?”

Twilight smiled. “Thanks Applejack. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Satisfied, Applejack turned once again and started heading for home. Twilight didn’t shut the door immediately, instead watching as her new friend trotted off. It felt good, being able to say that she actually had friends to call her own. In a way, Twilight was kind of glad about what had happened. Had it not, she likely would have been on her way back to Canterlot to continue her studies. But since Celestia wanted to stay somewhere quiet to help her sister, she was more than happy to stay behind in Ponyville with her.

When Twilight finally closed the door, her smile disappeared and she trotted towards the princess who was busy sipping on her tea in thought. “Princess, where is the town’s librarian?” she asked, remembering she never met Ponyville’s librarian at all.

Celestia smiled softly before answering. “I asked the librarian, Ms Cherry Mint, if I could stay here until Luna’s healed,”

“But that could take months for her to heal,” Twilight cut her mentor off.

Celestia nodded. “True, hence why I gave her a paid vacation until further notice, something I think an elderly mare needs in her twilight years…” Celestia trailed off before yawning loudly, covering her mouth with her hoof.

“Princess, aren’t you tired?” she asked, seeing the fatigue in Celestia’s eyes.

Celestia just shook her. “I’m alright Twilight,” she answered dismissively to her student. “I just have a lot on my mind is all.”

Twilight scrunched her lips. “Princess, about your sister… I think—”

“AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHH!!!”

Celestia head jerked backwards, with her pupils shrinking as the magic that held the tea cup dissipated. The cup smashed into tiny pieces onto the saucer, but Celestia did not care. She jumped onto her hooves and looked up to where the source of the scream was coming from.

Twilight was also in a state of shock. Before she could ask Celestia what it was, the princess was already gone from her spot. She looked to where the princess ran off, and spotted her charging the stairs with all her haste yelling out her sister’s name.

"Luna!”

The Waning Crescent

“So she hasn’t shown any signs of movement at all?”

Spike shook his head sadly. “Not even a little bit. Ever since they carried her in from the hospital the only thing she’s done is lie in bed. Heck, I don’t think I’ve even seen her blink yet.”

Cadance furrowed her brow as she followed Spike up the stairs. It was odd enough to hear that she suddenly had another aunt that she had known nothing about. But when she read Celestia’s description of her condition, she thought there had to be some sort of mistake. “Do they have any idea what could be causing this?” she asked.

“No clue,” Spike responded with a shrug. “Apparently, she was perfectly fine trying to create eternal night one minute and then they zapped her with the Elements and *POW* she’s not responding to anything anymore.”

This troubled the young princess. She had of course heard the legend of the Elements of Harmony. They were supposed to be the most powerful magic in all of Equestria. However, she had always heard that they were a force for good, capable of cleansing the darkest heart or calming the most troubled spirit. The idea that they could be used in such a way to potentially destroy the mind of somepony as powerful as Nightmare Moon…

It terrified her.

As they approached the large oak door at the end of the hallway, Spike reached up and gently pushed against it. It creaked on its hinges as it cracked open, letting out the light from inside.

Cadance gasped. Before her was the same alicorn she had read from in her history and story books, Princess Luna. Yet she was surprised to see that Luna was no bigger than her in size, especially from what she remembered seeing the stained glass windows in the Canterlot Castle depicting her glory.

But now, there was no glory. Only a shell of a pony was before her. Cadance shuddered, thinking what the poor pony had been through to end up like this. A part of her mind also begged to know what she had done to deserve this?

Shaking her head to rid her of the somber thoughts, Cadance slowly approached her aunt sat down next to her haunches.

“Auntie Cadie, you sure you don’t need a chair?” Spike asked Cadance, rushing to the other side of the room.

Cadance waved her hoof to Spike. “No need Spike! I’m perfectly fine,” she looked to Luna and noticed her chapped lips. “But can you fetch a glass of water for me please?”

“Right away!”

With that, Spike was out of the room. Before Cadance knew it, he was back in the room as quickly as he left it, with a glass of ice cold water in his hand.

“Here you go!” He handed the glass to her, feeling a tingling sensation in his claw before a pinkish aura surrounded the glass and lifted it from his grasp.

Cadance smiled demurely to Spike, reaching down and nuzzling him. “Thank you, Spike.” She told him and turned her attention again to Luna, lifting the glass to Luna’s dry lips and pouring a small volume into her mouth. Only a small amount of water actually went in though. Most of the water slipped out, running down the side of Luna’s face and pooling into the sheets below.

Quickly retracting the glass, Cadance set it down before rubbing down the sheets to try and remove the water before it soaked them too heavily. She shuddered as she touched the chilled liquid. “Oh, I am so sorry,” she exclaimed. “I didn’t mean to do that, it’s just—”

She stopped. Though the water was freezing cold, her aunt hadn’t reacted in the slightest to it running across her fur. Even after everything Spike had told her, it still surprised her that a pony could really be that far gone.

Grabbing the glass again, Cadance returned it to Luna’s lips, this time making sure to pour much slowly so that it wouldn’t overspill again. As she did, she peered into Luna’s eyes, looking for some sign of response. But like the rest of her, they were cold and unmoving, glazed over and seemingly unaware of the world around her.

Still, Cadance knew she had to try. “Can you hear me?” she asked, pulling back the water and leaning in closer to her aunt. “I mean, can you understand what I’m saying to you at all.”

Once again, there was no reaction. Ignoring that, she pressed on. “My name is Cadance by the way. I’m your niece. Well, at least I’m Celestia’s niece, which I guess means that I’m yours as well, right?”

Nothing.

“I bet you didn’t think you’d have a niece now did you? Unless of course, you had nieces before you left. Though, from what Auntie Tia says, it sounds like the world was a lot different back then. She doesn’t like to talk about it however. It makes her sad you know?”

Still nothing.

Cadance sighed. “I wish you could talk about it. I bet you have all sorts of stories about what Equestria used to be like. Tales of all the heroic adventures that you and your sister used to have together. I’d just love to hear all about them. Wouldn’t you like to tell me one?”

Yet again, she was met by the same cold look staring past her and up at the ceiling.

Cadance sighed, wishing there was something she could do for Luna. Cadance’s nose tickled for a moment, before she sniffed and gently sneezed in her hoof. “Oh my,” she blinked a few times before turning back to Spike. “Spike, could you possibly open the window?” she asked Spike.

“Will do.” Spike made his way to the window and reached out to open the curtains. With his tiny claws, he latched onto them and gave a mighty pull, separating each curtain from the other. He opened the window, feeling gentle breeze running through his scales. “Beautiful night tonight, isn’t it?”

Cadance nodded in approval. “It is, I hope this is okay for you Auntie.” Cadance turned back to Luna, who was still looking at the ceiling. Cadance furrowed her brow slightly, and decided to reach out to Luna’s head. She gently manipulated the position to have her eyes look out at the night sky. “What do you think Auntie? Isn’t it bea—”

“AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHH!!!”

Celestia rushed upstairs as the sound of her sister’s scream. Once she made it to the door, she immediately pushed it open and found Candace on her haunches with Spike being held by her. She turned to the bed, seeing Luna scream out and cry. She was also trying to back away from something, but was stopped by the wall behind her.

Wasting no time, Celestia ran over and grabbed her thrashing sister, pulling her into a tight hug. She tried whispering soothing words to her, but they did nothing. Even tightly held in her grasp, Luna struggled to break free, never stopping her screaming for a second.

“What happened here?!” Celestia yelled out to Cadance and Spike, unintentionally using her famed Canterlot-voice on them.

Cadance looked up from trying to tend to Spike. “I don’t know,” she yelled back over the sound of Luna’s blood-curdling scream. “I was just talking to her and then she started screaming!”

Celestia’s brow furrowed. There had to be more to it than just that. Returning her gaze to her younger sister, she looked a bit closer at her. She was still struggling, though with her lack of coordination she would never break free from Celestia’s grasp. Tears were pouring from her now narrowed eyes which were focused as though there was some terrifying creature right in front of them.

Turning back, Celestia attempted to follow her younger sister’s gaze. However there was nothing to been seen in the room. The only thing that she could have been looking at was…

“The window!” Celestia shouted out. She turned and looked towards Twilight who was standing the doorway with a confused look on her face. Releasing one arm from her sister, she pointed and shouted at her student again. “Quickly Twilight! Shut the window!”

Quick as a flash, Twilight jumped into action. Leaping across the room, she grabbed the window slamming it shut while simultaneously pulling the curtains behind it closed with her magic.

The effect was almost immediate. No sooner had the window been closed, Luna’s screams subsided being replaced by a faint sobbing. Celestia grabbed her sister, again whispering comforting words as Luna eventually quit struggling again. Within a matter of seconds, she once again went limp in Celestia’s grasp, her tear stained eyes glazing over as she fell completely silent.

All the sound that remained was the faint whispers of Celestia and the heavy breathing of the other occupants. There was a sickening tension as Celestia gently lifted her sister and again placed her into the bed and made her comfortable.

Cadance walked up to her aunt, tears already having formed in her own eyes. “I… I’m sorry,” she said, trying not to lose anymore. “I didn’t know. I—”

Celestia bit her lower lip and reached out to her niece, holding onto her with her hooves. She unfolded her wings to encase Cadance in a feathery cocoon, gently nuzzling her.

“There there,” Celestia whispered to her softly. “It’s okay Cadance, it’s okay now…” she chanted to her over and over, trying to convince herself too that everything will be okay.

Spike was breathing heavily as he sat on the ground alone. A chill ran down his spine, the effects of Celestia’s booming voice still affecting his tiny body. He shuddered, feeling his eyes turn moist as his throat became dry. He then felt a gentle hoof on his back, and was soon brought into a hug by Twilight.

“Spike, are you alright?” Twilight asked him, stroking his spines gently. The only reply she got from him was a nod before he buried his face in her chest. Twilight scrunched her lips before picking Spike up and placing him on her back. “Let’s go to bed Spike.” She turned to Celestia, who only nodded to her, before she left the room with only the royal family remaining.

As the door clicked shut, Celestia sighed as she pulled Cadance in a bit tighter. “It’s alright dear,” she said again stroking Cadance's mane. “This wasn’t your fault.”

Cadance nodded, still caught up in her aunt’s embrace. “I know,” she said quietly, still shaken up from the sudden events. Pushing back, she looked up and into the kind eyes of her aunt. “But I don’t understand. I thought that Luna wasn’t able to move? So, what just happened?”

Gradually, Celestia turned back and looked at her younger sister. Luna had returned to normal, or at least back to her catatonic state. Once again, she was lying completely still in bed with only her faint breathing as a sign that she was still alive as her dead eyes peered up to the ceiling.

“I have no idea…”

Twilight groaned as she laid down on the large magenta sofa. It wasn’t nearly as comfortable as her bed back in Canterlot was, but it would have to do for the time being. The library only had two beds, and Twilight had insisted that the two princesses be the ones to take them. Still, as she attempted to get comfortable, she made a mental note to go shopping for a third as soon as possible.

Sighing as she rolled over onto her back, she looked out through the small window above some of the library’s bookshelves. The moon was already high in the sky, its light gleaming through and bathing the darkened library with its pale glow. Twilight smiled as she saw it. At least the unicorns Celestia chose had managed to get it into the sky without Celestia’s help. Perhaps this crazy plan was actually going to work.

“Twilight.” a voice from down the hall caught her attention. Leaning back up, she looked out, seeing Spike standing sheepishly in the doorway.

“Spike…” Twilight trailed off as she looked at Spike. “Something wrong? You had a bad dream?” she asked softly, remembering the past when Spike would always climb into her bed and snuggle close to her when he had nightmares.

Spike shook his head, and yawn slightly before answering. “I’m just checking up on you,” he told her, walking towards the couch where she was lying down.

Twilight smiled demurely at Spike and his thoughtfulness. “I’m alright Spike,” she answered him. “But it’s getting late now, and you need your sleep.”

The whelp played with his tail a bit before looking back at Twilight's eyes. “You mind if I—” his words were cut off when an aura of magic surrounded him and levitated him towards Twilight. He was gently placed next to her and he felt her hooves wrap around his tiny frame, holding him close for him to feel Twilight’s breathing and her steady melodious heartbeat.

“Of course you can,” she told him softly. She expected to feel him relax in her grasp, but he still remained tense. “What’s wrong Spike?”

Spike bit his lower lip before looking up to meet Twilight’s gaze. “I’m worried about the princess.”

“So am I.”

“And I’m scared,” Spike admitted, looking away for a moment. “I’m scared of her Twilight.”

Twilight was puzzled for a moment. “I know Princess Celestia can be scary at times, but—”

Spike shook his head. “I meant her sister. It’s Luna that I’m scared of.”

“Spike,” Twilight placed her hoof on Spike’s cheek. “Please don’t be scared. Princess Celestia needs all the help in the world to help her sister.” Her eyes looked up to the staircase. “And I know Princess Luna isn’t bad pony, like others make her out to be.”

“I know.” Spike interrupted. “It’s just that, what if she never gets better? What if she stays like that all the time? Or worse, what if she freaks out the way that she did earlier tonight again. What will that mean?”

Twilight paused. “Honestly, I’m not sure myself Spike,” she responded pulling Spike a little bit closer. “But I promise you this much. No matter what ends up happening with Luna, we’ll get through it together alright?”

“You promise?”

“I promise.” She said with a smile.

Spike returned the smile, snuggling up closer to Twilight as well. “Alright,” he said with a yawn, his eyes already fluttering as he relaxed and began to doze off with the beating of Twilight’s heart acting as a lullaby to him. “Goodnight, Twilight.” he said through her chest, his voice being replaced by light snoring soon after.

Twilight kissed him softly on his forehead, nuzzling him and closed her eyes slowly. “Goodnight, Spike…” she trailed off again before entering into a peaceful slumber.

Doctor Stable was not used to making house calls. He much preferred spending his time working at the hospital. At least there, he had an environment that he was used to along with all the tools he needed to do his job.

Of course, he also wasn’t used to treating catatonic alicorn princesses either.

His horn shone as he focused the beam of light into Luna’s empty eye. “So, you’re telling me that she had an episode last night, but you didn’t bother to call me about it?”

Celestia sighed. “It only lasted for a minute. I didn’t think that it would be good to wake you.”

“I’m a doctor,” he said moving the light over and peering into Luna’s other eye. “The welfare of my patients far outweighs my own comfort. Next time something like this happens, I want you to call for me immediately, alright?”

Celestia nodded as the doctor extinguished his light and sat back with a sigh. “Fortunately,” he began, levitating his stethoscope up to Luna’s heart and listening, “it appears that there wasn’t any lasting harm done. All things considering, she still seems to be in stable condition.”

With a sigh of relief, Celestia smiled. “Thank heavens,” she whispered softly. Turning back towards the doctor, she paused before asking, “What do you think caused her outburst Doctor?”

“It’s hard to tell exactly,” he said removing the stethoscope and placing it around his neck again. Levitating up a chart, he began scribbling some random notes. “Had you called me in immediately, I might have been able to get a better idea of what triggered it, but for now I can only guess. What exactly was going on when it started?”

Celestia closed her eyes, furrowing her brow as she recalled what happened. “Well, Cadance and Spike went up to meet Luna and Spike went to open the window. Cadance turned Luna’s attention to the night’s sky and that was when she started screaming.” Celestia remembered how terrified Luna looked that night, grimacing at the image. “When I closed the window, she stopped screaming.”

Doctor Stable tapped his chin in thought. “Interesting,” he continued as he gazed at Luna’s immobile frame. “Could you see the moon with the window opened?”

“Oh yes,” Celestia nodded. “It was a full moon and you could see it clearly outside the window.” Celestia trailed off, a part of her happy that the unicorns she had entrusted with the moon and sun were able to pull it off.

“Then I guess my hypothesis is correct, unfortunately.” Doctor Stables sighed as he rubbed the temple of his forehead. “I don’t how to say this, but it seems your sister is suffering from a severe case of Selenophobia.”

Celestia froze, her jaw agape as she blinked. “You don’t mean—”

“The fear of the moon, yes.”

“B...but… That doesn’t make any sense,” Celestia stuttered. “Luna has always been the keeper of the moon. Why would she be afraid of it?”

Doctor Stable shrugged as he began packing up his things. “While I can’t give you an exact reason, I can’t imagine that spending a thousand years trapped there did her any good.”

“But when she came back, before she became catatonic I mean, she wanted the night to last forever. Why would she do that if she hated the moon?”

Again, he shrugged. “Those are answers I’m afraid you’re going to have to discover on your own. All I can tell you is that now she has a terrible fear of the moon, enough so that her primeval instincts kicked in to try and get her away from it.” He turned back and looked at the patient. “You got quite lucky this time. If this happens again, it’s very likely that she could have either hurt herself or one of you. Until she’s started to recover a bit more, I’d recommend keeping the blinds shut at night, alright?”

Celestia nodded slowly. “Alright.”

Clicking his bag shut, Doctor Stable stood and started trotting towards the door. “I’ll come back in a couple days and check on her again just to make sure. Until then, just keep talking to her and make sure that somepony is close to her in case she has another episode. If that happens, come and get me immediately this time, no matter what time it is.” He paused, turning to look at the crestfallen princess. “Also, if you don’t mind my saying so Princess, you really shouldn't keep yourself cooped up in her all the time. Try to get out at least a little bit. The fresh air would do you a lot of good.”

Celestia turned to him and smiled. “Alright. I’ll try.”

Satisfied enough, the doctor bowed before turning and leaving, shutting the door behind him. Celestia turned back towards her sister, still lying motionless on the bed. She sighed deeply as the tears she was holding back started to poke their way out.

What happened to you sister?

The Somber Umbra

Cadance groaned slightly as the last noble left the throne room. She now fully understood why her aunt dreaded the court meetings with nobles and other ponies; all they were, were just ponies wanting to satisfy their lust for gold and power.

The throne room opened again, and the trumpets sounded with the arrival of another pony. “Presenting Prince Blueblood.” One pony shouted out loud to introduce the white stallion, who was smiling smugly with his blond hair swaying as though it were made out of golden threads.

Oh please, not him! Cadance gulped and grimaced for a moment before giving her cousin a smile, a forced smile. “Blueblood, how may I be of assistance?” She asked kindly, as the stallion bowed before her and raised his head proudly.

“I merely have a question for you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” He began speaking, using his royal obnoxious voice to bring out the importance of his request, not realizing how much Cadance disliked the voice.

“And that is…”

Blueblood cleared his throat before removing his smile. “Where is Princess Celestia?”

Cadance was silent for a moment, before her smile twitched slightly. “Princess Celestia is on vacation, haven’t you heard the—”

“Please, do not patronize me Cadance.” He spoke in his regular voice again, staring deeply into Cadance’s eyes. “You of all ponies should know that a national official story is mostly hogwash created to hide something else.”

“Princess Celestia is on vacation and she wished her location to not be disclosed to the other ponies,” Cadane responded with a little force.

“Yet she didn’t mind telling you where she was going?”

“Since I am acting steward, of course she would tell me.”

“Yet why not tell the rest of her family about this sudden holiday?” Blueblood’s questions turned into an interrogation, as his gaze never left Cadance’s face. It was as though he was expecting her to show signs of deceit, but what he definitely could see was Cadance’s sweat starting to form on her forehead. A brief smirk was displayed on his muzzle, thinking he was near her spilling out the truth. “Do you know what I think?” He asked condescendingly. “I think that Celestia is—”

“That is quite enough!”

The booming voice filled the room, stopping Blueblood in his tracks. Whipping around quickly, he turned to see a royal guard approaching the throne. His dark blue mane poked out through the top of his purple armor, a symbol of his rank.

Blueblood’s eyes narrowed at the intruder. “How dare you speak to me like that?” He asked angrily. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

The guard trotted right up to him. “Yes. You’re a pony that is harassing the princess. A princess that I have sworn to protect as Captain of the Royal Guard.” He leaned in closely, staring him straight in the eye. “Any other questions?”

This time, it was Blueblood’s turn to sweat. “None,” he muttered. Stepping back, he turned and walked around the angry guard, head held low. Turning back he glared at the now relieved looking princess. “This isn’t over yet,” he said. “Celestia’s plotting something and I am going to find out what it is.” He was about to continue, but one look at the captain silenced him, as he turn and quickly ran out of the room slamming the massive doors shut behind him.

Snorting with disgust as Blueblood disappeared, the guard turned and looked up towards the princess. “Are you alright princess?” he asked respectfully.

Cadance nodded with a soft smile. “I am now, thank you captain.” she told him and gave him a wink. She giggled softly as she turned back towards the attendant waiting by her side. “Is there anypony else currently waiting?”

The elderly mare shook her head. “None at the moment your highness.”

“Excellent,” Cadance said with a sigh of relief. “In that case, I think that that’s quite enough for today. Tell anypony else who arrives that the court is over and to come back tomorrow.” Turning back to the guard, she added, “Captain. If you would please follow me, I have some things I would like to discuss with you.”

“Of course Princess,” he saluted and followed Cadance as she walked outside of the throne room. When both ponies were alone near the garden entrance, the captain removed his helmet from his head. His blue mane with darker tone of blue streaking through it reached down the base of his neck as he looked again to the princess. “This month hasn’t been the best, has it Cadance?”

“You could say that,” Cadance laughed before sighing and looking down on the ground. “How my aunt deals with those snobs is completely beyond me…” she trailed off as she was thinking back to her aunt Celestia, who was most likely doing everything in her power to help her sister Luna. Cadance then looked at the captain, giving off a smirk. “I’m amazed you can be so casual with me, Shining.” she teased him.

Shining shrugged and grinned. “Well we both know each since the days when Twilight was just a filly…” he trailed off, reminiscing the days he used to carry Twilight on his back. A small part of him was sad that Twilight grew up so fast, with her becoming Celestia’s personal student among other things. “I hope she’s doing well in Ponyville.”

“Last time I was there, she seemed so happy to be there. Her and Spike…”

“Haha, Spike certainly grew up too… even though he is only a kid.” Shining spoke as he remembered the day when Twilight brought Spike home from the academy, the memories of the little whelp still fresh in his mind.

“He certainly did, Uncle Shiny.” Cadance winked and giggled as she teased the stallion, remembering how Spike called Shining an uncle in his toddler stage.

Shining rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. “And Twilight’s ‘Mommy’.” he laughed at the adorable memories that flashed in his mind. His laughter vanished though when he looked at Cadance. “Seriously though, Blueblood has a point. Celestia has been gone for a month now. And now, my troops and I have been summoned back to Canterlot. What is going on around her Cadance?”

“It’s… complicated…” she said after pausing for a moment.

Shining sighed. “I understand. Royal secrets and all that.”

“No.” The force in her voice made Shining Armor stop in his tracks. Cadance sighed. “As captain of the royal guard, you should know what’s really going on.” She turned and looked him straight in the eye, the utmost seriousness on her face. “Do you remember when Nightmare Moon returned last month?”

He nodded. “I was part of the patrol that was supposed to help calm down ponies in Canterlot during the time. But what about her? She was defeated wasn’t she?”

“Kind of,” Cadance hesitantly answered. Leaning in close, she began to whisper quietly in his ear.

As Shining Armor listened, he face contorted through a variety of expressions, surprise, determination, and confusion. Finally he pulled back in shock. “In Ponyville?!” he exclaimed.

“Shhh!!!” Cadance quickly hissed. “Not so loud.”

“Right… sorry…” he responded sheepishly. “It just… surprised me is all.”

“I understand. It’s a lot to take in,” Cadance nodded. “Still, I trust Auntie knows what she’s doing. Just give her some time. She’ll be back before you know it.”

Shining Armor nodded. “Alright.” Turning back to Cadance, he gave her a playful grin. “At least in the meantime, it means I get the chance to spend time with a different princess.”

Cadance gave him a friendly shove. “Careful now captain. You’re still on duty remember.”

He laughed. “As you wish, your highness. But afterwards, you’ll have to give me the chance to take you to dinner.”

Cadance smiled and began trotting off. “We’ll see about that.” she said with a smirk.

Shining Armor trotted off after her and soon enough the halls were filled the the pairs happy chattering. The two were enjoying the other’s company, they didn’t notice the pony step out of the shadows behind them as they left.

In Ponyville huh? Just what are you playing at Auntie?

Twilight groaned with frustration as she hurled yet another book across the room. It landed with a thud, bouncing against the ever growing pile behind her. Reluctantly she pulled the next book from the stack she had grabbed that day. Levitating it to her face, she read the title, Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour. A month ago, the title would have seemed fascinating. At that moment however, it filled her with an overwhelming sense of dread. So much so, that when the window burst open and a rainbow streak came crashing into the large pile, it was almost a relief.

…Almost.

Rainbow lifted her head, her eyes rolling from the dizziness created from the impact. She shook her head and turned to see an irritated Twilight looking at her. She chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head, flying upwards from the mess she created.

“Sorry Twilight,” she said as she looked to the books lying beneath her. “Why are you inside, reading, on such a sunny day?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and started picking the books up from the ground. “I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with Luna.” She looked up to Rainbow Dash hovering. “Can you help me out please? It is your mess.”

“Alright.” Rainbow replied, and went straight to work. When all the books were back in stacks, Rainbow looked around the library. “Where’s the princess?” she asked curiously, not seeing a trace of her.

“She’s with Luna.” Twilight looked upwards with a somber look on her face. “She rarely leaves Luna’s side for anything.”

Rainbow scrunched her lips and sighed. “It’s that bad?”

Twilight nodded her head. “No improvement for a whole month now.”

“Woah, that’s so not cool.” Rainbow landed on the ground and looked a little upset herself, her brow furrowing with a frown forming. “So, I take it that you still don’t know what’s wrong with her?”

Twilight shook her head. “No idea, and I’ve been through every book in this library,” she said pointing to the large pile Rainbow had just landed in.

Rainbow Dash’s mouth dropped open as she looked over the mass of books lying on the ground. “You’ve read all of these this last month?”

Twilight laughed. “That’s just this week’s.”

Turning her head back and forth with the same deadpan expression, Rainbow looked between her friend and the mountain of literature. With a sigh, she put on a determined face. “That’s it,” she said grabbing Twilight and dragging her towards the door. “You officially need a break from all of this.”

“What? No!” Twilight exclaimed, attempting to pull herself away from Rainbow’s grasp. “Princess Celestia needs my help! I can’t leave until I find an answer.”

Despite her protests, Rainbow was unrelenting. “No can do,” she said continuing to pull her closer to the exit. “You need to get away from these books for a while.”

Twilight’s horn glowed brightly for a moment, catching Rainbow Dash of guard. Without warning, Twilight disappeared from her grasp, simultaneously appearing on the opposite side of the room and causing Rainbow to roll out of control crashing into the door.

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but I really need to stay here and help out. What if something happens and the princess needs me?”

With a sigh, Rainbow stood up, rubbing her head with her hooves. “Fine,” she grumbled. “You’re no fun either.”

“What you mean ‘either’?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow rolled eyes his and grumbled slightly. “Fluttershy’s been stuck in her home the whole month long!” Rainbow exclaimed. “She keeps saying she’s too busy feeding her animals and tending to her pet bunny.”

“Really?”

“Yeah!” Rainbow looked to her side in irritation. “But I’m pretty sure she’s up to something in there, even if she is kinda pushover.”

“What do you think she’s hiding?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be wondering that myself. Now would I?” Rainbow asked Twilight rhetorically.

Twilight shook her head. “I think you're overreacting Rainbow.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Rainbow said turning around and heading towards the doorway. “Have fun with your research.”

Pushing the door open, she trotted out and into the sunlight outside. Twilight felt like she should say something, but before she knew it, the door was slammed shut behind her. A twinge of guilt went through her. When all this was done, she’d have to make a point of making it up to Rainbow in the near future, once this was all done with.

With a sad sigh, she turned back to the book. Somehow, it looked even more boring than it had just a few minutes ago. Reluctantly, she set it aside. Perhaps Rainbow Dash was right after all. It had been an entire month and Luna still wasn’t showing any signs of improvement. Maybe there wasn’t anything that they could do for her after all.

“Hey, Twilight. You need some help?”

Twilight’s ears perked to find Spike rushing up to her, and she immediately noticed the bags under his eyes along with the red tint in his iris’. Twilight gave him a small smile before shaking her head. “No need Spike,” she told him and reached out a hoof to him. “Why don’t you take you go outside and have some fun?”

Spike shook his head fast, furrowing his brow. “I can’t do that. You need my help! And also—”

“Spike.”

Both Spike and Twilight turned to look at Celestia descended the stairs. If anypony had seen her now, they would have thought Celestia was a poorly disguised imposter. Her mane was dull in colour, along with her missing crown. The bags under her eyes were more severe than Spike’s. Her lips were dry from a lack of a proper diet. Celestia’s feathers where lacked proper preening and and a few loose feathers were sticking out. Celestia looked as though old age was catching up to her.

“Spike, I think it would be wise for you to be outside right now.” She told him as she reached the ground floor. “Twilight and I will be fine.”

“But I—”

“No ‘buts’ Spike,” Celestia cut him off. “Do this as a favour for us please.”

He hesitated for a moment. Still, as much as he wanted to, he could never say no to Princess Celestia. He sighed as he nodded, before turning and heading towards the door. As he pulled it open, he paused for just a moment, looking back with a wistful look in his eyes. Twilight just smiled at him and waved him along with her hoof. Defeated, he turned and walked out the door.

“He’s a rather good little dragon, isn’t he?” Celestia asked.

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Yeah. He’s just so willing to help. He’d probably give up sleeping entirely if he could just to help us out.”

Celestia nodded back. “Yes, though I must admit that worries me a little bit.”

“Really? What do you mean?”

Celestia sighed. “I’m afraid I may be asking too much of you and him. It’s not healthy for the two of you to be caught up in here with me all the time. I think that it would be wise if the two of you spent a little more time out with other ponies instead.”

“But—” Twilight began.

“No ‘buts’ Twilight,” her eyes turned towards the stack of books lying in the middle of the room. “I think you’ve done more than enough already.”

“But there’s so much that I can do. Really, I don’t mind helping out.”

Celestia turned and smiled at her student. “Twilight. I just overheard your conversation with Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight’s ears drooped. “Oh… Really?”

“Yes, really. I know that you want to help, but I also don’t want you to neglect your friends either. I sent you to Ponyville in order to learn the value of friendship. I’d hate for you to forget that lesson already because of me.”

Twilight gave one last longing look up at her mentor. Celestia’s eyes, though worn and tired were still just as loving as she had remembered when she was filly. Her reservations melted away as she gazed into them. Sighing deeply, she nodded. “Alright Princess,” she said at last. “I’ll try and get out more often. If I hurry, I might even be able to catch up with Rainbow Dash.”

Celestia nodded in approval. “And Spike?”

“...What about Spike?”

“I think it would also be wise if he had the chance to get out of the library as well. Maybe even make some of his own friends along the way.” Leaning in close, she whispered with a wink, “And just between the two of us, I think Luna makes him nervous.”

“Hehe…” Twilight laughed nervously. Quickly trying to change the subject, Twilight said, “Alright. I’ll talk with him about it. Maybe it’s about time he attended school.” She hesitated. “Can dragons even attend a school for ponies?”

Celestia smiled. “I think that we can arrange that.” Turning, she reached out pointing towards the door. “But we can deal with that later. I believe you had a friend to try and catch.”

Twilight looked to the door and looked back at Celestia. “Alright, I’ll see you later.” She gave Celestia a nuzzle before rushing outside, closing the door behind her.

Celestia sighed and looked to all the books Twilight had gone through, just for her and Luna. What would I do without you, Twilight? Her gaze looked upwards and she decided to walk up the stairs again. She reached Luna’s room and opened the door, revealing her sister on the bed. Still and silent.

“Morning, Luna.” She greeted her sister and walked up to her, taking a seat next to her sister. She took hold of Luna’s hoof and looked at her sister’s eyes. “I just sent Twilight and Spike outside, giving us some alone time.”

Nothing.

Celestia smiled wryly and chuckled. “Remember how we always sneaked away from the royal court meetings just to have some alone time as family? You always loved to sneak out with a slice of cake too, just for the two of us.”

Again, nothing.

Celestia sighed. Slowly, her eyes began to moisten as the tears she held back forced their way out. “You were always looking out for me, and… I wasn’t able to do the same for you. I was so blinded by the praise that I got each day, I didn’t even bother to notice the signs until they were too late. And now?” She looked back at her sister, still unmoving and quiet.

“Look what’s happened to you.” The tears began to pour more freely, Celestia not bothering to try and stop them now that Twilight was no longer in the library. “I just… I just wish that you could show me some sign that you’re alright. Just something to tell me that you’re going to make it through all of this.”

Reaching up, she attempted to dry her eyes. “I don’t know Luna. Have I messed up too badly this time? Have I really lost you forever? Have I…”

She stopped. The tears froze on her face as she looked at her younger sister. Luna was still laying in the same position, her head laying facing straight up towards the ceiling. However, her eyes were no longer focused there as well. They were pointed towards the side, right at Celestia.

Celestia blinked. “...Luna?” she asked hesitantly. Quickly, she moved her head to the side… and Luna’s eyes followed her. She move her head back… and again, Luna’s eyes followed.

A beaming smile appeared on Celestia’s face. She reached forward and grabbed her sister, pulling her into a tight hug. Luna still hung loosely in her grasp, but Celestia didn’t care anymore.

Luna’s eyes were looking at her.

*BANG, BANG, BANG*

Rainbow Dash pounded on the cottage’s small door yet again. “Come on Fluttershy!” she yelled out. “I know that you’re in there!”

Once again, there was no response from inside the small cottage. Frustrated, Rainbow Dash pounded yet again on the door. “Please Fluttershy. You’re starting to freak me out. It’s not like you to be quiet for this long. Please can you just come out and talk to me?”

Silence was the only response. Rainbow Dash raised up her hoof once again, but paused before she could bring it down. Dejected, she dropped back down again with a sigh. “Fine…” she said turning around. “I’ll be back again tomorrow. Please come out and talk to me then will ya?” With a flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash took off, heading out across town.

On the other side of the door, Fluttershy sat, curled up at the foot of the doorway, tears streaming down her face. She couldn’t let Rainbow Dash in. She couldn’t let anypony in. Fluttershy’s lips quivered before she placed her hooves to her face, sobbing endlessly.

The other animals did their best to help her. Even her notorious rabbit pet Angel was troubled to see Fluttershy so depressed.

Fluttershy lifted her head to reveal red eyes and streams of tears flowing freely.

“I…” she paused as she sniffed, even though the tears never stopped. “ I’m a monster...”

The Twilight Discovery

Ponyville was known for it’s jubilating environment. Nearly everypony was as welcoming to a new visitor as they would be to their friends or family. The sunny weather added to what seemed to be a perfect day. For some, it was not as perfect at they had hoped for.

“Are ya sure about this RD?” Applejack asked Rainbow Dash as they walked up to Fluttershy’s home on the outskirts of town.

Rainbow’s eyebrows were furrowed in determination, with a mixture of frustration. “It’s been over a month since I last saw that mare, who happens to be my best friend!”

Twilight, walking behind Rainbow Dash and Applejack, made her way up towards them. “I’m sure that she’s alright.” She said with a small smile, though a part of her felt that something was indeed very wrong.

“‘Alright’ my flank! I know Fluttershy, and if she has been cooped up in that house for too long, I know something is up.”

Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who were behind the group in front of them, looked to each other with frowns forming on their faces. “I certainly can’t fathom why Fluttershy would not speak to us for so long.”

With her hair losing a little of it’s inflation, Pinkie Pie could not smile at all. “I know I should be happy we going to go and visit Fluttershy, but I’m always getting the twitching tail just when I think of her.”

“Twitching tail?” Rarity asked curiously, cocking her brow when Pinkie nodded. “Is it your Pinkie Sense?”

Before Pinkie Pie could answer her, their attention was drawn to Twilight and the others stopping before them. When Pinkie Pie and Rarity looked over the backs of their friends, they saw a white rabbit jumping in the air. From the look on the rabbit’s face, he was in a state of panic. His eyes were moist as though he were holding back tears, and his paws pointed to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Angel Bunny!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed flying in close to look the rabbit in the eye. “What’s the matter?”

She was responded to by a series of over-exaggerated gestures from the small rabbit, including a fit of coughing, loud crying and lying perfectly still.

Applejack blinked. “Anypony here happen to speak rabbit?”

Thankfully, Rainbow Dash was slightly less oblivious. “What’s the matter boy? Is there something wrong with Fluttershy?”

The rabbit quickly nodded, pointing again towards the cottage before running off as quickly as he could. Rainbow turned back to look at her friends. “Still think that I’m overreacting, huh?” She asked before rocketing off in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage, the others quickly running up behind her.

As soon as she reached the front door, she began pounding on it for all she was worth. “Fluttershy!” she screamed out. “I know that you’re in there! You’ve been cooped up for way too long!”

When there wasn’t a response, she decided to yell even louder. “I’m not kidding Fluttershy! We’re not leaving until you come and talk to us.”

From deep within the cottage, a small and quiet voice finally spoke up. “...Go Away.”

Part of Rainbow Dash was relieved to finally hear her friend’s voice again, even if the circumstances were dire. “Come on Fluttershy,” she said, her voice a lot more calm then it was a few seconds ago, “We’re really worried about you. Please won’t you at least talk to us?”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Fluttershy squeaked. “It’s not worth your time anyways.”

“Not worth our time? You're my best friend Fluttershy. Of course it’s worth my time!”

There was silence for a moment before the shy pegasus spoke up again. “Please Rainbow Dash,” she begged. “Just go away and leave me alone.”

“No can do,” Rainbow huffed. “I told you I wasn’t going to leave until you let us in and I’m not changing my mind anytime soon. Now open this door!”

“...No.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Fine,” she muttered. Turning around she looked at the rest of her friends worried faces. “You might want to duck.”

In an instant, she was back in the air, quickly soaring in the opposite direction as the door. Her friends watched in curiosity as she climbed high into the air, pausing just below the few clouds that were remaining in the sky. Curiosity turned to shock as Rainbow suddenly dove straight for the doorway. They only had a second to jump out of the way before Rainbow was back, hitting the door with a mighty kick and shattering it on impact.

Rainbow Dash skidded on the ground when she performed a rough landing inside the cottage, with her friends following her. The ponies found the cottage to be very dusty and unkept, as there was a foul odor in the air. The ponies looked around to see any signs of their cream pegasus friend.

“Oh my goodness!” Rarity shouted out, landing on her haunches and pointing to the centre of the cottage. Her face was contorted in horror and disgust. When the others looked to the direction of her shaking hoof, they gasped.

Fluttershy was laying on the ground, with her head facing the roof. Her feathers on her wings looked worn and tarnished, with her ribs showing. Her eyes were sunken in and red from excessive crying. Her lips were chapped, with a few scratches on them.

A pony did not need to have a doctor’s certificate to see that Fluttershy needed medical attention.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash was immediately at her side, carefully lifting her up with a gentle hoof. “Fluttershy? Speak to me!”

Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow Dash, her eyes just barely open. “Go away Rainbow… You shouldn’t have come in.”

Rainbow Dash ignored her. Darting her head up, she immediately started dishing out commands. “Applejack, go grab some water. Pinkie Pie, find some food. Rarity, see if you can find some rags or something like that. Twilight, come help me get her onto the couch.”

Everypony quickly ran off to perform their assigned tasks. As Twilight began levitating Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus started struggling futilely against her grasp. Carefully, she floated her over towards the couch, lying her down so that her head was resting on Rainbow Dash’s lap.

Fluttershy continued to kick, trying to roll back onto the floor below. However, her weakness prevented her from doing so. “No,” she cried. “Let me go Rainbow. I’m not worth saving.”

“Don’t say that ‘Shy,” Rainbow replied, gently running a hoof through her mane trying to comfort her lifelong friend. “You know that I’d do anything to help you. What makes you think that you’re not worth saving?”

“Because I’m not!” Fluttershy said, the closest way that could be considered shouting in her state. “I’m a terrible pony!”

“No, you’re not. I—”

“Yes I am!” Fluttershy insisted. “I’m a horrible pony! I’m a monster! It would just be better if I was dead!”

Rainbow Dash paused. Fluttershy had been depressed before, but never this badly. “Why?” she asked hesitantly. “Why would you think that about yourself?”

Fluttershy sobbed. “Because I hurt her. I hurt her so badly.”

“Who? Who did you hurt?”

“Princess Luna,” Fluttershy wailed. “I thought that I was trying to save her, but I ended up almost killing her instead. She’s almost about to die and it’s all my fault.”

Twilight gasped as Fluttershy’s last words started breaking up from the new tears finding their way out of her face. Stepping forward, she leaned down and looked Fluttershy in the eye. “Fluttershy,” she said softly, “that wasn’t your fault. We were all there as well. We all used the Elements to stop Nightmare Moon.”

It did little to comfort the pegasus. “But I should have known better. I should have done something to try and help her. I should have stopped it from happening. But I didn’t! I didn’t and now Luna is almost dead. She’s almost dead and it’s all my fault!”

“But—”

Twilight was quickly interrupted by a stern gaze from Rainbow Dash and a subtle shake of her head. She took a step back as Rainbow continued stroking a hoof through Fluttershy’s mane, allowing the downcast mare to simply cry.

“... and that’s what happened.”

Twilight was sitting in the library with her mentor, Princess Celestia. Both were sipping cups of tea as Twilight was explaining the events that lead to Fluttershy being in the hospital. As she was sipping on her tea, Celestia brow furrowed with her mind having multiple thoughts simultaneously. How blind am I to my subjects pain? If I couldn’t help Luna, how can I even help my subjects? What kind of ruler am I?

“Princess?”

Celestia’s eyes widened as she was brought back to her senses. She blinked a few times before looking into her student's eyes.

Twilight scrunched her lips as she saw the worry on Celestia’s face. “What do you think we should do?”

“For now Twilight, I think it’s be best to—”

*BANG, BANG, BANG*

Celestia and Twilight’s head turned sharply to the door, that was vibrating from the impact of whoever was knocking on it. Twilight got up from the table and made her way to the door. “Coming!” she called out, just before her magic surrounded the knob and pulled the door open. Before her was her friend Rainbow Dash, who was grinding her teeth and her eyes were almost completely white. She looked ready to kill.

“Where is she!? Where’s that good-for-nothing Nightmare?!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t wait for an answer. Flying quickly through the doorway and past her friend, she headed towards the stairs. She was only stopped at the last minute as Twilight managed to grab onto her tail before she disappeared to the floor above.

“Rainbow!” Twilight cried out. “Calm down for a minute.”

The pegasus turned her head around, the bloodlust in her eyes nearly causing Twilight to shrink back. “Calm down?” she spitefully asked. “That monster upstairs nearly destroyed my best friend, and you’re asking me to calm down.”

“She’s not a monster Rainbow Dash,” Twilight exclaimed. “She’s—”

“She’s the princess’ baby sister, I know. But apparently everypony else seems to have forgotten that she’s already tried plunging Equestria into eternal darkness twice already. You’re all so worried about saving a pony who so far has done nothing but try to destroy you!” Turning back towards the stairs, Rainbow tried pulling against Twilight’s grasp. “If nopony else is willing to do anything about this, then let me tell you, I’m sure as Tartarus not going to sit by and—”

“THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!!!”

Twilight had only seen Princess Celestia mad once before. One time during their studies, she had been permitted to sit in on some of Celestia’s private meetings as an observer. She didn’t remember much about the day, mostly that it was really boring and that she wished she had brought a book with her. However, near the end, a couple ponies came in and said something. Again, she didn’t remember the specifics, but she would never forget Celestia’s reaction. She rose up, seeming to tower above everything else in the room. Her coat shone as though you were looking at the sun. Her voice boomed so loudly, Twilight was surprised that ponies three cities away couldn’t hear it. Just looking at her was enough to strike fear into the heart of even the strongest of dragons.

That was Celestia when she was angry. At that moment, when Celestia walked in on Rainbow Dash however, she was furious.

Rainbow fell to the ground as the princess entered the room, more out of sheer shock than respect. She began to stutter something, but was quickly cut off.

“I. Am. Absolutely. Sick. And. Tired. Of. Everypony. Badmouthing. My. Sister!” Celestia stomped her hooves to the ground, emitting a tremor from the base of where she was standing. Her eyes were glowing white, as magic poured out of her. The magic itself transformed to look like dancing flames on her body. Celestia had turned into a living inferno.

Rainbow gulped, standing up again with her legs shaking and looking up to Celestia without making eye contact. “B-But Princess, she—”

“Rainbow Dash.” Celestia cut her off, her magic dissipating and her form returning to normal. Her iris’ returned to colour, but they were now moist. “I’m sorry about your friend and of her health, I really am.” Celestia sniffed, a few streams of tears travelling down her face. “But hasn’t my sister suffered enough? Why must she be the scapegoat for everything? Why?” Celestia chocked, before turning away from the stunned Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow wanted to say something, but she was again stopped by a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see an agitated Twilight starting at her and shaking her head. Her head pointed to the door and both ponies made their way outside. Rainbow took one last glance at the princess walking upstairs, most likely to further tend to Luna.

Twilight pulled the door shut behind them with a sigh. She knew she had to say something, but wasn’t sure how to begin. “I’m sorry, Rainbow,” she hesitantly started. “Celestia can be a bit protective.”

Rainbow Dash sat down on her haunches. “Yeah, whatever.”

Trotting over, Twilight sat down next to her. “How is Fluttershy doing by the way? Is she alright?”

“She’s still really upset, but she’s doing a little bit better,” Rainbow explained. There was still a lot of anger in her voice as she spoke. “She finally ate and drank something. I also managed to get her to talk to me a little bit more. She still thinks that everything happening to Luna is all her fault though.”

“Is she—”

“She’s asleep right now if that’s what you’re wondering. The whole ordeal, plus this morning just wore her out completely.”

Twilight sighed. “Listen Rainbow. I’m really sorry that I didn’t listen to you beforehand. I should have paid more attention to your concerns.”

“Yeah you should have,” Rainbow snapped back. “But it’s fine. I know you have a lot on your mind with the princess.” Twilight couldn’t help but notice a particular amount of venom on that last word.

“You can’t be too mad at Princess Celestia,” Twilight said gently. “She’s got a lot on her mind at the moment.”

“If you say so.”

Twilight looked over at her friend. Rainbow Dash’s head was bowed, avoiding eye contact with her and the same angry expression in her eyes. It was no use trying to push the issue at the moment. “So, what are we going to do about Fluttershy now?”

Rainbow sighed. “Personally, I’m heading back over to the hospital. I want to make sure that I’m there with her when she wakes up. Hopefully she’ll be more willing to talk with me then.”

“That’s a good idea,” Twilight said. “She’s probably going to need some medicine as well. At least something to help her get her strength back.” She reached a hoof up to her chin. “Actually, I was just thinking, I wonder if Zecora would have something that could help.”

“That zebra from the woods we met last week?”

Twilight nodded. “She seems to know all sorts of potions and natural remedies. I wonder if there’s something that she’ll have that could help.”

“Yeah, maybe…” Rainbow said her voice trailing off. Standing up, she stretched out her wings. “Well, I’ve been away long enough. If you find anything, bring it over to the hospital. I’m going to be there for a while I think.” Flapping her wings, she started to take off.

“Wait,” Twilight quietly said, stopping the pegasus. Still hovering, Rainbow turned back and looked at her friend. “Whatever happens, try not to stay too mad at Princess Luna for this, alright? She’s been through a lot as well.”

Rainbow hovered for a minute, the same cold look on her face. Turning back she sighed. “Fine.” Then, without another word, she gave her wings a mighty flap as she flew off towards the hospital.

There were a number of reasons why ponies were not willing to venture into the Everfree Forest. Very good reasons. The forest itself was a magical miracle on it’s own; a place where the weather was not manipulated by pegasi, where the flora had grown to sizes ponies could never fathom and where the fauna were very exotic and very dangerous.

So it was that Twilight Sparkle ventured onwards with extreme caution. Memories of the adventure to the castle ruins still fresh in her mind, along with the many dangers. That did not stop Twilight’s determination however, as she had to reach Zecora’s hut. Why the zebra decided to live here was beyond her.

Or maybe not completely. She remembered how the ponies were all xenophobic towards the zebra when she entered town, only looking for an ingredient to buy. Thankfully, she and her friends were able to bring all the rumors of Zecora to a halt and welcome her with open hooves to the community. Even though she was happy to be accepted, she still remained here in the enigmatic forest.

Twilight was pleased to see that she had reached the hut without any dangerous delays. The hut itself was crafted from inside an old tree, much like the library was. On the front entrance were a few masks from Zecora’s country and a few bottles were hanging from rope suspended from the tree. Twilight reached the door and gently knocked on it.

“Who comes to visit me? Who comes knocking on my tree?”

Clearing her throat, Twilight answered. “It’s me, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Ah! Twilight Sparkle, student of the sun princess. Your visit to me is priceless.” The door opened and revealed a zebra on the other side, wearing golden rings on her neck and a gold bracelet on her leg. “Come on in to my dome. Make yourself at home.”

As Twilight entered the small hut, she couldn’t help but once again notice how different it was from other houses in Equestria. The entire room was full of bright colored urns and decorations, native artifacts from Zecora’s homeland. In the very center of the room sat a large caldron which both served to keep the room warm and help her mix up her healing brews.

What caught her attention the most however was the smell of herbs and spices that tickled her nose as she walked in. “That smells wonderful Zecora,” she exclaimed. “Is that a potion that you're currently making?”

Zecora smiled. “A healing brew, the smell is not. Rather, that is supper stirring in my pot.”

Twilight nodded. “Really? It smells delicious.”

“From my homeland, I have brought knowledge of this stew. If you would like, I will give some to you.”

“That’s alright,” Twilight said, though the offer was indeed tempting to her. She knew that she had a reason for being here, and didn’t want to waste anymore time than she absolutely had to. “Actually, Zecora. I’m afraid that I’m not here on a casual visit. I wanted to ask you for your help with something if that’s alright.”

“Alas, someday else we will share a dinner pan. Until then, I will help you if I can.”

With that, Twilight went into detail explaining what had happened that day with Fluttershy, She explained how they found Fluttershy caught up in her own despair and how weak she had become from the time. Other than stopping a few times to ask a couple questions about specifics, Zecora sat and listened intently. When Twilight finally finished, Zecora sat back with a sigh.

“This is indeed troubling news my friend. What would bring poor Fluttershy to this end?”

Twilight hesitated for a minute before answering. “I’m… not sure,” she finally said. She didn’t think it would be wise to try and explain Princess Luna to her at this time.

Zecora nodded. “Perhaps, someday we will find out why, this trouble has harmed dear Fluttershy. However, if I look I just may find, a potion that will clear her mind.”

“You mean you have a cure for her?” Twilight said as her ears perked up.

“A cure for her sadness, I know not. But to give her strength, I have quite a lot.” Turning around towards the back room, Zecora smiled. “Wait here my friend, I will get some for you. This wondrous potion and healing brew.”

Twilight sighed and inhaled before letting her breath out slowly. She looked around the hut and saw many books, some of which she did not have in the library in Ponyville. Her eyes traveled across the pictures of the books; one having a strange fruit on it, another bearing a pot and one having a pony with reptile eyes.

She paused and blinked, looking to the book with that image. She quickly went towards the shelf and grabbed the book fast, looking at the cover. It was indeed a pony, with reptile eyes. The same eyes that were present on Nightmare Moon.

Twilight heard a cough from behind and she jumped, sheepishly smiling as she turned to see Zecora smirking. “Sorry, Zecora.”

Zecora chuckled as she approached Twilight. “Curiosity is not a sin, my collection of books are pretty thin. I see there is one that you must find interesting, what book may it be? My curiosity is tingling.”

Twilight showed her the book. “Zecora, what exactly is this book?”

“Ah.” Zecora squinted her eyes as a smile formed on her muzzle. “That is a book depicting of a terrifying creature, a nasty entity that brought about great blight and a peace impreacher.”

“A creature?” Twilight’s head turned to the book and she opened it fast, but she stopped when she could not decipher the books content. It was not written in Equestrian. She looked up to Zecora again with pleading eyes. “Please tell me Zecora, what is this creature?”

“In my country, it was known as ‘The Ndoto’ that brought despair." She answered solemnly, recounting the dark tale. She turned and looked at Twilight, the utmost seriousness in her eyes. "But in translation to your language, it is known as ‘The Nightmare’.”

The Solar Dolefulness

“The Diamond Dog walked up to the small wooden house. Raising his paw, he pounded against the door and snarled, ‘Little pony, little pony, let me come in!’

“‘No, no!’ The pony cried back, ‘Not by the fur on my muzzy, muzz, muzzle!’

"The Diamond Dog reared back with a roar. ‘Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!’”

Trying her best to look menacing, Celestia stood up as tall as she could and took a deep breath. She held that pose for a second, before leaning down and blowing as hard as she could right in Luna’s face.

Luna in turn, just continued to lay there, though her eyes darted back and forth for a moment before once again locking onto her older sister.

Celestia sat waiting for a moment, with a hopeful smile on her face. When she got no other reaction, however, she leaned back into her chair with a sigh. Even though she hadn’t really been expecting anything to happen, she still hoped that perhaps this particular book would spark something in her sister. It had always been one of her favorites after all.

“Luna…” Celestia trailed off. Seeing her sister’s eyes alive yet no other part of her body moving was a short-lived victory for her. She tapped her chin in thought, until an idea came to her head. “I’ll be right back.” She told her sister and gave her a gentle peck on her forehead, and she was rushing downstairs to a bookshelf intended for foals.

Where is it? Celestia scurried through the books, finding the sortation of the books to be in alphabetical order by author and not by name. I will have to have a word with Twilight on this. As she was thinking this, the door of the library opened up to let a familiar dragon in.

“I’m home!” Spike called out, putting his backpack aside and looking around him. When he saw Celestia, he waved at her and moved towards her. “Hey Princess.”

“Hello Spike, how was school?” Celestia asked him curiously, as she leaned down to Spike’s level and gave him a brief nuzzle.

Spike shrugged and grinned. “Pretty easy with the work and all, made some friends too.”

Celestia’s ears perked at this and she smiled proudly at Spike. “That’s good to hear, what are their names?”

“Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” he replied to her, before looking behind her and see the foal’s section. “Any book you're looking for Princess?”

“The Little Seapony,” Celestia said turning back towards the shelf. “But I can’t seem to figure out how these shelves are organized.”

Spike laughed. “Yeah, Twilight’s system for organizing does take a little bit of getting used to I’ll admit.” Walking up beside the princess, he immediately reached onto one of the shelves and seemed almost magically to pull out the correct book. “Though once you do figure it out, it’s not really that hard to find anything.”

He held the book up to Celestia who gratefully levitated it out of the young whelps claws. She looked it over for a moment. It was a bright blue book with the title written on the front in large letters. Fanning it open, she was pleased to see that it had all the pictures that she was familiar with.

“If you don’t mind me asking princess,” Spike spoke up hesitantly, “but isn’t that book a little bit… I don’t know… simple for you?”

Celestia chuckled. “Even I enjoy a simpler story now and again Spike,” she said with a smile. “But actually, I was planning on reading this to Luna. It was her favorite story when we were younger.”

“Really?” Spike asked a bit surprised. “That’s kind of strange. Twilight used to read that story to me all the time when I was young... Well, younger.”

“That’s because I used to read it to her when she was younger as well. In fact, I think I’ve read it to all the ponies who used to study under me. Twilight, Cadance, even Blueblood. He in particular used to love this story,” she said, a warm smile gracing her face as she thought back to those happier days. “I guess, part of me just wanted to keep the story alive as a way of keeping Luna close while she was gone.”

Spike paused for a moment. “How is Luna doing?”

Celestia sighed. “Still no change I’m afraid. She can still move her eyes, and she’s started looking around at her surroundings more, but other than that there hasn’t been any other progress.”

“But at least she’s not doing any worse right? That’s something at least.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” Celestia responded with a smile. “These things do take time after all.”

“Exactly!” Spike said proudly. “And even if she’s not showing it, I’m sure she’s doing better all the time. In fact, I’ll bet she’s back up and on her hooves in no time at all!”

“I do hope so,” Celestia said with a light chuckle. It was nice to see that the young dragon’s energy had returned to him. She reached down and patted him gently on the head. “It would be nice if she…”

“PRINCESS CELESTIA!”

The door slammed open, startling the pair sitting there.

Twilight came rushing in with a broad smile on her face, albeit a weary smile from running all the way to the library. When she stopped before Spike and Celestia, she huffed with her head lowered. When she finally caught her breath, she raised her head and saw the two before her with the book.

“Oh…” she trailed off, her eyes darting from Spike to Celestia to the book. A small smile was present on her. “Spike, aren’t you a little too old for those books?” She asked him with a maternal voice and a gentle smile, completely misinterpreting the situation.

Spike snorted before shaking his head. “Not for me, for her.” He pointed to Celestia, who nodded meekly. “Anyways, what’s got you so excited?” He asked curiously, seeing Twilight was practically skipping in glee.

Twilight gasped and giggled, with a blush on her cheeks before using her magic to pull out a book. “I found this at Zecora’s! Look!” She literally shoved the book in Celestia’s face, before putting a little distance between the book and the princess’ muzzle. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Celestia replied dismissively, taking the book from Twilight’s magic and looking at the cover. Her eyes widened in shock, nearly dropping the book. “What is this Twilight?”

“Well,” Twilight cleared her throat before answering. “Zecora tells me that what there’s a creature that’s been documented in their homeland that seemingly possesses equine beings. Ponies, zebras, kirins, donkeys, mules,” she continued, but noticed Spike staring blankly at her. “You get the point!” She waved her hoof before continuing. “This creature in her country is known as the ‘Ndoto’,” she tried to pronounce the name properly, but didn’t succeed. “But in direct translation to Equestrian, it’s called ‘The Nightmare!’”

Spike’s eyes blinked before the iris’ widened to the size of plates. “Hold on! Did you just say ‘The Nightmare’? As in like Nightmare Moon?”

“Exactly!” Twilight exclaimed. “You see, according to the legend this creature acts like a parasite. It finds a host that feels depressed or lonely and latches onto them. At first it feeds the host more negative emotions, making them feel angrier over time. Then, once the host has reached the point they are filled with despair, the parasite is able to feed off their emotions and take control. The host is still there mentally, but loses all ability to move their own body. The parasite takes over, speaking and acting in place of the host. The host in turn, can only sit and watch as the parasite continues to feed off of their emotions.

“In addition, the host’s body undergoes a physical change as well. The host body becomes much stronger, and the fur turns to a much darker color. But what is really interesting is that apparently, those who are infected gain what is called ‘Serpent Eyes’. Their eyes literally change and appear to look like a dragon’s would.”

“So…” Celestia said slowly, staring intently at the cover of the book, drawn in by the eyes printed there. “What you’re saying is, Luna had been infected by this parasite?”

Twilight nodded. “Everything that we’ve seen so far seems to match the description of the creature. It makes sense that Luna was feeling a bit depressed all those years ago, and the Nightmare saw her as the perfect host.”

“So,” Spike said thinking for minute. “Does that mean that the Nightmare was with her the entire time that she was stuck on the moon?”

“Probably so. In fact, that would make sense as to why Luna’s having so much trouble right now. She probably hasn’t had control of her own body for over a thousand years now. When we used the Elements of Harmony, it was probably enough to remove the parasite from Luna’s body, leaving her in control of herself once again!”

“So, what that means is…” Celestia slowly began.

Twilight didn’t let her finish. “What that means is that Nightmare Moon and Luna are, in reality, two completely different ponies!” she exclaimed proudly. “It means that your sister isn’t really evil, she was just under this parasite’s control at the time. And best of all, it also means that now we can look into the best way to help her recover! Isn’t that great?”

Standing tall, Twilight beamed while she waited for the princess to respond. After a moment though, she started to falter a bit as Celestia still hadn’t said anything. The smile on her face began to disappear as she looked over to the alicorn. Celestia’s head was bowed, hiding her face from Twilight’s vision. “Princess?” she asked hesitantly.

Slowly, Celestia lifted her head up and looked over to her student. She looked as though she was about to burst into tears at any moment. Her eyes were already moist and she was breathing heavily. “I… I…” she stammered unsure of what to say.

Then, without warning, she pushed Twilight aside as she ran towards the door. Her horn glowed for just a moment, throwing the door open as she charged outside into the midday sun.

Twilight sat stunned, though only for a moment. “Princess Celestia!” she cried out rushing over to the doorway.

Spike followed close behind. “Wait, what just happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight responded. “I thought that she’d be thrilled to hear this news. I didn’t think she’d react like this!”

“Should we go after her? Ponies might notice if they see the Princess of Equestria running through town like that.”

Biting her lip, Twilight nodded. “I’ll go after her. You stay here and keep an eye on Luna alright?” Without another word, she ran off in the same direction, hoping to catch the princess before she did something too stupid.

Being discharged from a hospital can be a very enjoying moment, especially if a pony is more used to the outdoor air. This was especially true for Fluttershy, who walked out of the hospital doors with her best friend Rainbow Dash. She looked better than what she did when she first entered the hospital but she was still looking a little ragged out. The doctor told her that it would take a couple of days before she was as good as news. For now, she was given some medicine and a diet to follow for proper recovery. A diet that would be threatened by the arrival of a pink friend.

When the doors closed behind them, Pinkie Pie literally fell out of the sky and right in front of Fluttershy. “Oh my gosh! You’re out of the hospital Fluttershy! Let’s go and have a party to celebrate your ’Get Well Day’. Let’s go to SugarCube corner now! Huh! Huh?! Hu-”

“Pinkie!” Rainbow yelled out, irritated slightly by the excessive enthusiasm of Pinkie. “First of all, keep it down please. Second, Fluttershy is not in any condition to party now.”

“Oh…” Pinkie trailed off, sitting on her haunches with her mane slowly deflating. Her bright smile slowly turning into a dark frown.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, feeling a little guilty of making Pinkie sad. “Tell you what, why not walk with us back to Fluttershy’s home? Chat on the way okay?”

“Okay!” Pinkie jumped in the and bounced to Fluttershy’s side. “Let’s go!”

Fluttershy was silent the whole time, mainly because she couldn’t reply fast enough. She only nodded with a soft smile and they ventured off towards the cottage.

“So,” Pinkie happily began as she hopped along. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better…” Fluttershy responded quietly.

“Well of course you’re feeling better silly,” Pinkie Pie laughed. “If you weren’t feeling better, they wouldn’t have let you out of the hospital.”

Fluttershy smiled.“Yeah, I suppose so. I’m just glad that I get to go home again.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet Angel Bunny will be happy to see you again. I’ve been trying to keep all your critters in line while you were gone, but I don’t think they like me as much as you do. They really, really missed you Fluttershy.” Pinkie stopped mid bounce, slowly falling to the back to the ground with a sigh. “We all missed you Fluttershy.”

The change of attitude kind of startled the timid pegasus, though she kept walking with Pinkie Pie now trotting alongside her. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to make you all worry so much.”

Pinkie Pie smiled. “That’s okay,” she said, a lot of her energy seeming to return instantly. “We’re all just happy that you’re alright. Just promise me that you won’t do anything super crazy like this again.”

Fluttershy tried to agree, but couldn’t do so. “I’ll try,” she managed to mutter.

For a second, Pinkie faltered, but soon was right back by Fluttershy’s side. “You’re not still feeling bad about Princess Luna are you?”

With a sigh, Fluttershy nodded. While she was indeed feeling better at the moment, the memory of Luna lying helplessly at the abandoned castle still gnawed at her mind. No matter what she did, she could still hear the criticizing voice in the back of her mind, condemning her for what she had done.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself Fluttershy,” Pinkie happily responded. “Luna’s doing fine right now. In fact she’s getting better all the time.” Rainbow Dash let out an angry sounding cough, though Pinkie Pie seemed to ignore it. “Next thing you know, she’ll be back up on her hooves and perfectly fine again in no time.”

Suddenly, Pinkie stopped, letting out a loud gasp that startled the two pegasi. “I’ve just had the best idea!” she exclaimed. “We should all go and visit Princess Luna right now!”

Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie as though she had transformed into a giant insect. “Pinkie, are you crazy!?”

“Nopey dopey! Just happy!” Pinkie replied, oblivious to what Rainbow Dash had really meant.

“There’s no way I’m letting that mare near Fluttershy!” Rainbow retorted, her eyes showing no mirth to Pinkie.

“Aww! Why not?”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped and she blinked before closing her mouth. “Has everypony forgotten that she tried to put the whole of Equestria in eternal night?! Have you all forgotten what she did to all of us?!”

Pinkie waved her hoof to Rainbow. “Psst! That was Nightmare Moon! Not Princess Luna! Besides, we helped her with the Elements of Harmony…” she trailed off, her smiling losing some of its potency. “Mostly…”

“Whatever. I’m still not letting Fluttershy near-”

“I want to meet her.”

Pinkie and Rainbow looked to Fluttershy, the latter’s eyes shining in determination to the direction of the library. “I want to talk to Princess Luna, please.”

Rainbow placed her hooves on Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, no. She might hurt you if you come near her. She might be faking the whole thing to—”

“Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy initiated the legendary ‘Stare’ on Rainbow, who fell on her haunches at the sight of the new eyes. “Please don’t speak badly about the princess like that.” She didn’t wait for a reply, walking past her friend. “I just need to speak to her for a moment, please.”

“Okie dokie!” Pinkie said as she bounced past Rainbow Dash and towards Fluttershy, both of them heading to the library.

Alone on the ground, Rainbow stood up and looked stunned. She looked back to where her friends had ‘deserted’ her and to where they were walking. A frown formed on her muzzle and she shook her head.

What is wrong with everypony?!

Cadance sighed as she set down the quill beside her. She had never realized how much paperwork her aunt went through during a single day. Even after more than a month since taking the throne, she still hadn’t gotten used to it.

She groaned once again. Had it really been that long? When Celestia had sent her the letter asking for her assistance in this matter, she hadn’t really thought about how long Celestia was going to be away. She’d assumed that it was going to be for a couple of weeks, maybe a bit longer, but not for an entire month. What was worse still, she hadn’t heard anything from her aunt or even Twilight since then. Who knew what condition Luna was currently in.

The nobles were starting to get restless as well. There had been a couple of problems when Celestia first left, but for the most part things were pretty calm. However, as the days kept ticking by, there were more and more complaints being filed. Celestia had never taken a vacation longer than two weeks before and certainly not completely disappeared during that time. Ponies were starting to get curious, and Cadance was quickly running out of excuses to tell them.

Still, she was trying her best to keep everypony happy. The best that she could do was continue to tell them that everything was alright and keep ruling to the best of her ability. However, there were a few that refused to listen to her.

One in particular happened to catch her eye as he trotted past. Blueblood appeared to be in a particularly sour mood this morning. His head was bowed and he was grumbling something to himself as he trotted past.

Cadance bit her lower lip, a part of her wishing to just ignore him. She knew though, that family came first for her. She quickly followed him. “M-morning Blueblood.” She tried to greet him, hoping he may respond well enough.

“Hmm?” Blueblood turned around, his frown still present. When he saw Cadance approach him, smiling kindly to him, he felt his stomach curl and a deeper scowl was now on his face. Oh no, not her…

“How are you doing today?” She asked, trying to look as oblivious as possible to his miserable state.

Blueblood pointed to his face. “Does my expression not tell the tale?”

Cadance blinked and looked over his face. “What? Did you get a new haircut? Didn’t exactly work for you?”

Glaring at her for a second, he turned around and starting walking away from Cadance. “Blind like Princess Celestia, how typical.”

Her smile dropping, she cocked her brow at him. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

Blueblood didn’t even bother turning his body around this time. “Are you deaf now too? Trying to win over some subjects’ sympathy votes? You really take a leaf out of Princess Celestia’s book.”

Cadance jaw went agape. “Auntie Tia is not blind!” She told him sternly, though this did not seem to affect Blueblood one bit.

“Denial.” Blueblood shook his head, letting out one laugh without mirth. “Spoken like a true politician. She really is teaching you well.”

“Blueblood!” Cadance marched over to him and actually stepped in front of him. “I don’t like what you are insinuating about our aunt.”

“I only speak the truth.” He replied flatly to her, not bothering to blink when starting at her eyes.

Cadance mouthed soundlessly until she shook her head and looked back at the stallion. “Where’s your love for the family?! The royal family.”

“Love in the royal family? That’s quite the most ironic thing I have ever heard you say.”

Before Cadance could even say a word, Blueblood walked past her and left her alone with her thoughts.

Standing alone in the hallway, Cadance’s anger slowly subsided as it was replaced by sadness as she looked down. Her eyes turned moist as a myriad of images from the past flashed before her. Most of them pertaining to her cousin in his younger years.

Why did you rid yourself of your kindness, Blueblood?

The Celestial Rejuvenation

Applejack sighed with relief as she pulled the last wheelbarrow full of apples into the barn. It had been a long day, spent hard at work apple-bucking. With the quickly approaching Autumn months arriving, she had to work harder to try and get all the apples harvested. Not to mention that soon enough it would be cider season, and Nightmare Night shortly after that as well. It was a lot of work keeping the farm going.

Still, Applejack wasn’t one to complain. In all honesty, she loved every minute of it. There was nothing that she enjoyed more than a hard days work. During the winter months, when there was very little to be done, she spent most of her time wishing for Spring to arrive so that she could once again go out and get her hooves dirty.

Behind her, the door swung open once again, letting in the setting sunlight behind her. She turned, just as her older brother, Big Macintosh, came through, pulling his own load of Apples into the barn as well.

“Is that the last of them?” Applejack asked as he entered.

Stepping back, he unbuckled the wagon from the yoke around his neck, setting it gently on the ground. “Eeyup.”

“Woowee,” Applejack exclaimed looking at the overflowing baskets. “Applebuck season is almost over and done with. Can you believe it?”

“Nnnope,” he responded simply.

Applejack laughed. Big Mac always was a stallion of few words. He always figured that if there was something that needed to be said, there was no point in wasting valuable time beating around the bush.

“Well shoot. I think that’s more than good enough for today,” she said triumphantly, clapping her hooves together to remove the dirt. “I think it’s about time we head on in for dinner. I can almost smell those Apple Fritters Granny Smith is cooking up right now.”

Her brother’s mouth started visibly watering from the very mention of the word fritters.

Applejack chuckled at her brother, closing her eyes and placing a hoof to her mouth. “Come on. Let’s go get some—”

“Applejack!”

With her ears twitching, Applejack looked behind to see a little yellow filly running towards her and Big Macintosh. The filly had a pink bow attached to her lavish red mane, that was bouncing with her running. She finally came to a halt before Applejack, looking rather distressed.

“What’s wrong Apple Bloom?” Applejack asked the little filly, who was catching her breath.

Apple Bloom looked up to face her sister and pointed off into the horizon. “I just saw Princess Celestia!”

Applejack took a step back and started forming sweat on her forehead. “N-now what ya talkin’ about there Apple Bloom? The princess is on holiday and—”

“But she’s right on our farm! Over there!” Apple Bloom pointed behind her as she spoke loud.

“N-now don’t ya go pullin’ our leg Apple Bloom,” Applejack told her sister with mock anger. “It’s not nice to lie.” She said the last words as she was pursing her lips and darting her eyes.

Apple Bloom groaned and rolled her eyes. “Come on! Let me show y'all!” She took hold of her sister’s hoof and started dragging her. Big Macintosh merely shrugged and followed his two sisters, thought a part of him was curious to Apple Bloom’s claim.

“N-now Apple Bloom! Surely ya imagining it! Come on, let me go now and let’s go get some dinner!” Applejack tried to persuade her sister, but to no avail.

Before Apple Bloom could respond, she stopped and pointed to another figure off in the distance. A white alicorn lying on the ground with her head in her forelegs and her jewelry lying on the side.

“There she is!” Apple Bloom whispered loudly to her sister and brother, the latter staring in disbelief.

“Ah don’t believe—”

His words were cut off by Applejack, who pulled him to the side and smiled nervously. “Why don’t ya take Apple Bloom back to the farm now Big Macintosh?” She asked her brother, her sweat flowing freely from her forehead like a stream.

Big Macintosh merely stared at his sister. “What’s going on here Applejack? What ya know—”

“Look Big Mac,” she said interrupting him again. “You have to trust me on this. Please, just take Apple Bloom and head back to the farm. I’ll be along in a minute, alright?”

He paused for a moment, before finally nodding. “Alright,” he said. “Come along AB,” he added, turning towards his youngest sibling.

“Do I have to?” she whined. “I want to go and say ‘hello’ to the princess though.”

“Eeyup,” he answered back with a nod. “I think it’s best we let Applejack talk to her instead.”

Reluctantly, Apple Bloom started trotting back towards the farmhouse, a large frown on her face. Big Mac turned to follow her, stopping for just a moment to give Applejack a look of concern. When she didn’t bother to look back at him, he sighed before heading off towards home as well.

Applejack waited for a minute until her two siblings were out of hearing range before trotting over to the princess. Celestia didn’t seem to notice as she approached, instead remaining on the ground with her head buried in her own hooves. Although Applejack had at first assumed that Celestia had been lying in silence, as she got close enough she could hear the distinct sound of sniffling coming from the alicorn.

Stopping just shy of where the princess was laying, Applejack stopped and thought about what to do next. She knew that she needed to say something, but had absolutely no idea where to begin.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to think about it long. Celestia suddenly poked her head up, as though she had instantly become aware of Applejack’s presence. Her head spun around, quickly stopping as her tear-stained eyes met the farmers own. “Applejack!” she exclaimed, quickly reaching up to dry the remaining moisture from her eyes. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you arrive.”

Applejack smiled back as warmly as she could. “That’s alright yer highness. I should be the one apologizing to you for interrupting. If ya don’t mind my asking, what are ya doing out here all by yourself?”

“I was…” Celestia began, but caught herself before continuing on. Here ears drooped to her side as she turned her head away. “Nothing. I was doing nothing.”

“Beggin yer pardon, your highness, but that’s not what it looks like to me. Something must have happened for you to come all the way out here in broad daylight, without so much as a disguise. Now, why don’t you go ahead and tell me what’s wrong.” She paused for a moment, before hesitantly asking, “Did something happen to Luna?”

“No, nothing happened to Luna,” Celestia said, dismissing her with a wave of her hoof. “At least, nothing recently.”

Applejack furrowed her brow. “Recently?”

Celestia nodded with her lips pursed and quivering. “I-I am so blind…” she trailed off, a stream of tears present on her face.

“What’re ya talkin'—”

“Everything!” Celestia shouted out at Applejack, startling her. “I am so blind to everything and everypony gets hurt because of it!” She lost her breath as her face was stained in tears. “First my little beloved sister, instead of helping her like a big sister should, I end up destroying her! All because I couldn’t stop being a glory hound for my family!” Celestia closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. “And now she returns from that Tartarus I sent her to even worse!”

Applejack felt a tinge of pity for Celestia in her heart as she lowered her hat to cover her face, her eyes peering at the saddened princess. “Princess—”

“All my other subjects fall to my ignorance! How many have suffered because of it?! Your friend Fluttershy was near death because I couldn’t care a flying feather to get off my fat lazy flank to just visit her! My own so—”

“Princess!”

Celestia stopped as Applejack suddenly spoke up. Turning back, she saw the apple farmer looking down at her with a comforting, yet sad smile on her face. “Forgive me for saying this, but Ah think yer being way too hard on yerself right now.”

“But I—”

“No buts,” Applejack interrupted not allowing the princess to continue. “Yer not the only one who failed Fluttershy. The rest of us didn’t notice anything was wrong either. Besides that, you were trying to take care of yer sister. Ya couldn’t even leave the library, let alone know about what was going on with Fluttershy.

“And as for yer sister, you did what you had to do. She would have destroyed the world if you hadn’t—”

The sound of Celestia laughing between her tears caught Applejack off guard, silencing her. “Yes, she would have wouldn’t she?” Celestia asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “Except for one small problem. That wasn’t Luna trying to destroy the world all those years ago.”

With that said, Celestia proceeded to tell Applejack all about The Nightmare that Twilight had informed her about earlier. She told her all about how Luna was not the one responsible for anything that had happened. When she finally finished her description, Applejack let out a low whistle. “I don’t believe it…” she muttered.

Celestia nodded and turned back to face the dirt. “Do you understand now? I failed her. I failed my own sister. In the time of her greatest need, I not only ignored her, but I sent her away without even bothering to ask why. I was so blinded by my false sense of duty, that I banished my own sister, a victim already, to a thousand years of torment from a monster that fed off her mind.”

Applejack sighed. “Princess, you can’t blame yerself for that. You thought that you were doing what was best for Equestria.”

“But I should have done more for her! I should have stopped and tried to make things better. Instead I picked the easiest option and sent her away instead. Everything that’s happened, every hardship that she’s had to endure, all the pain that she’s going through right now… it’s all my fault.” She began sniffling again as a fresh set of tears began pouring from her face once again. “Even if she recovers, how could she ever forgive me for what I’ve done? How could I ever face her again knowing that this is all my fault?”

Celestia sat and sobbed for a moment, waiting for Applejack to tell her how wrong she was. Only, the rebuke never came. Instead, a comforting hoof rested on her shoulder. Turning back again, she looked into Applejack’s smiling face. “Because princess, she’s your sister.”

“...What?”

Applejack smiled knowingly upon Celestia. “Princess, Ah know how it feels to have a little sister and let her down. Heck, one day she came home cryin’ cause them bullies were teasing her to pieces about her not having’ a cutie mark yet.” Applejack remembered the days leading up to her sister returning on that fateful day. “Now to be completely honest with ya, Ah told her to just plain ignore it. Seems it didn’t help much… cause of her returning in that rotten state that day. Ah thought Ah was such a rotten apple to have her cry like that, till Granny told me this. ‘It takes a foal to ignore a mess before them. But it takes a full grown pony to clean it up.’”

Celestia blinked as she remembered a similar saying, she wanted to speak but was silenced by Applejack again.

“That’s when Ah realized. Ah wasn’t being honest with myself when Ah knew there were messes with my little sister. Ah just ignored it till it hurt her badly. But Ah promised to fix it and make it up to her.”

“And did you?”

Applejack nodded with a proud grin. “Sure did. Them bullies will know now not to mess with others again. Luckily their parents agree with my form of lecturing.” She said before she inhaled and let her breath out slowly. “Yeah Princess, ya really messed up with yer little sister. That much is clear. But to go on and say ya can’t do anything to make it up to her, that just makes ya a liar. And are ya a liar Princess?”

Celestia shook her head furiously, furrowing her brow at Applejack. “Of course I’m not a liar!”

“Then get yer flank over to yer sister right now and set things right!” Applejack pointed to the library off in the distance, her eyes staring down at Celestia. “Remember, family first. Go on, git!”

Only, Celestia didn’t leave immediately. She looked up at Applejack in wonder until the farmer started to feel nervous of being reprimanded. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, as Celestia grabbed Applejack and pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you Applejack,” she whispered. “I… I needed to hear that.”

At first she was stunned by the action, but soon enough Applejack returned the gesture. “No problem princess. We all need to have our flanks kicked once in awhile.”

Celestia laughed as she pulled back. “Please. Just Celestia is fine.”

“Well, alrighty then pri… I mean, Celestia.” Applejack responded with a warm smile. “Now ya really should get back to yer sister. She’s probably wondering where you ran off too.”

Celestia nodded. Without another word, she turned and prepared to head back towards the library. However, she didn’t get too far, before the sight of a purple unicorn standing in the midst of the trees with a horrified look on her face caught her attention.

“Twilight!” She exclaimed trotting over to the frozen mare. “What are you doing out here?”

“I… I…” Twilight began to stutter. “I was looking for you, princess. I’ve been all over Ponyville looking for you. I was worried about you.”

Celestia smiled. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m quite alright now. Your good friend Applejack helped knock some sense into me.”

“She… I saw… and…”

“Aw shoot,” Applejack exclaimed trotting up next to the princess. She casually reached up and gave her a gentle punch to the shoulder. “I just gave Celestia here a bit of advice. Nothing anypony else would have done.”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “Celestia? You called her… Celestia? I… don’t even…” she muttered before her eyes rolled backwards and she fell to the floor with a thud.

The other two stared at her for a moment before turning and looking at each other blinking.

“What the hay is wrong with her?”

Fluttershy took a deep breath as she trotted up the stairs of the library. Spike was leading the way up, while Pinkie Pie bounced behind her. Rainbow Dash, still insisting that this was a bad idea, had decided that she was better off waiting outside instead. Fluttershy couldn’t really blame her for feeling that way. In all honesty, she wasn’t really sure what to expect from this visit either.

As the reached the guest room at the end of the hall, Spike pushed the door open, stepping aside so that the others could enter first. The room was rather gloomy looking, the blinds having already been drawn and the only light coming from a couple of candlesticks in the corners. In the very center of the room, laid the princess of the night, still just as helpless as Fluttershy remembered her.

For a moment, the timid pegasus felt her courage leave her. She turned and prepared to run away, but was blocked by Pinkie Pie.

“Nopey dopey Fluttershy! You’re already here now, let’s go in and say ‘hello’!” Pinkie told her friend, jumping behind Fluttershy and pushing her to where Princess Luna was lying.

Fluttershy gulped as she was pushed forward, standing inches away from the princess. She saw the princess’ eyes moving and felt a shiver of fear running down her spine. Fluttershy merely took a step forward and rested herself on a chair at Luna’s side.

“Um… Princess Luna… how are you?” She asked timidly, with her voice as soft as a mouse’s.

No response came from Luna, only her eyes were alive as they traveled from one spot to the other.

Fluttershy shuffled her hooves, thinking of what to say next. “I hope you are doing well here in Ponyville…” she trailed off, seeing only eye movement and nothing else again.

Taking deep, deliberate breaths, Fluttershy continued. “Look, I um… what I’m trying to say is… I mean I don’t know if you can hear me and all but…” Her mind raced as she tried to calm her thoughts. She knew what she wanted to say, but was still having trouble managing to say it.

Turning back, she looked at Pinkie Pie and Spike. Both were giving her supportive smiles. It helped calm her down just enough. Turning back, she took a deep breath. “I… I’m sorry…” she said softly, closing her eyes to try and hold back the tears. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do this to you. If I’d known that this was going to happen, I’d have never done this to you.”

Fluttershy tried to continue, but the tears were starting to flow much to freely at this point. They prevented her from saying anything else, other than “I’m sorry” over and over again.

She was so caught up in her own emotion, she didn’t notice the others entering the room until she felt a comforting hoof laid across her shoulder. She turned around quickly and looked into the smiling of of Princess Celestia looking back at her.

Forgetting decorum, Fluttershy immediately reached and grabbed the princess in a tight hug. “I’m sorry,” she cried into her fur. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Celestia returned the hug. “There’s no need for that Fluttershy,” she said comfortingly. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“But I—”

“No Fluttershy,” Celestia interrupted. “You have done nothing wrong. Everything that has happened, it is entirely my own fault.”

“Don’t say that princess!” Fluttershy said pulling back in shock. “I mean it isn’t—”

“It is though,” Celestia insisted. “It’s my fault that Luna is in this condition in the first place, and it’s my fault that you feel this way.” The tears began to pour down her own cheeks as well. “And I am so very sorry Fluttershy.”

Both ponies remained in the hug for a few moments before letting go. Fluttershy smiled softly as she wiped a few tears away from her eyes. “Princess, it’s not your fault for what happened to me.” She told her, looking to Luna again.

Celestia scrunched her lower lip. You are so kind She thought to herself, before turning back to Luna.

“Luna,” Celestia began, taking a hold of Luna’s hoof again. “I wasn’t the good sister ponies made out to be. In fact, I was the worst kind of sister ever.” Celestia sniffed, a new set of tears forming. “Maybe I still am? All those years you’ve been alone up there with that monster, I know now why you ended up like this.”

“But I promise you, from now I promise to set everything right.” She gently nuzzled her sister’s head and kissed her forehead softly. “I love you Luna. I love you so much.” She pressed her sister’s head against her chest as she held onto her, crying freely.

“T..”

Celestia’s eyes opened wide and her ears perked. Everypony in the room gasped. Removing herself from Luna, Celestia looked at Luna’s head. Her eyes were moving along with her mouth, albeit slowly.

“Lulu?!” Celestia called out, using Luna’s nickname she used all those years ago.

Princess Luna’s eyes looked up to Celestia’s and her mouth moved again steadily. It was just for a moment, but the word Luna spoke was as clear as a bell.

“Tia…”

The Ambivalent Dawn

Autumn was in the air, as the leaves of trees started becoming weak in their links to the trees they grew out of. It would be a couple of weeks before The Running of the Leaves took place in Ponyville, many ponies already signing up for the event. On this particular sunny day, many ponies were outside enjoying themselves either through picnics or other outdoor activities.

The same could not be said for Twilight Sparkle. Ever since Luna spoke her first word, she has been more proactive in her research to help the princess. This proved however even more challenges for her as their were not many books pertaining to the legendary parasite known as ‘The Nightmare’. The only books she heard of that seemed to have even the slightest knowledge of the parasite were folklore tales from different cultures around the world. Much to Twilight’s chagrin, she did not have the books containing them in the Ponyville library.

So it was that Twilight was now sitting at her desk, sorting through every Equestrian folklore before and after Discord’s defeat. She sighed as she rubbed her eyes, the bags under them indicating to a lack of sleep. Once she was done with yet another book, she levitated it back to the corner of stacking books.

“Spike!” She called out, only to be met with silence. Realization kicked in when she remembered he was now at school, busy learning either new things or just relearning the basics. Twilight smiled proudly as she was happy to see him finally becoming more socialized with foals of his age, especially with him being friends with three fillies. The three fillies were surprisingly the younger sisters of her best friends, save for the orange pegasus filly named Scootaloo who looked up to Rainbow Dash like a little sister.

Twilight looked down with her smile dropping a bit. She was also a little sad, missing the company of Spike during the day. She chuckled lightly, realizing that this must be what every parent goes through when sending their child off to school or any other thing.

Taking a break from her research, Twilight stood up from the desk and stretched her legs as they had become numb. The nerves in them started to spasm the legs, before finally submitting to proper functionality.

She made her way to the kitchen, putting the kettle on for some tea. Twilight looked around herself to find the tea bags and a cup, but unfortunately she was not as well versed in the kitchen as either Spike or Celestia were. Opening each cupboard one by one, she reached the last cupboard at the far end. She opened it with her magic slowly.

“Hi Twilight!”

Letting out a less than refined scream, Twilight jumped backwards as a fluffy pink pony randomly came jumping out of the cupboard in front of her.

“Pinkie Pie!” she exclaimed after catching her breath. “What in the Creator’s name are you doing in there?”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “Grabbing the tea bags of course.” She held out the bags in question, showing them to Twilight “Where else would I find them except for in the cupboard?”

Twilight sighed as she levitated the bags out of Pinkie’s hoof. She had learned that it was usually better to not question the crazy mare’s logic and just go with the flow instead. Though, how she ended up in the cupboard in the first place gnawed at the back of Twilight’s mind. “Thanks Pinkie,” she said trotting over to the teapot. “Would you care for a cup of tea while you’re here?”

“Nah, I’m alright,” Pinkie responded with a smile. “I just had a big lunch.”

“...Then why were you looking for teabags in my cupboard?”

Pinkie laughed. “Because you were looking for them silly.”

Twilight raised her hoof up, but paused before she could speak up.. It’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie, she thought to herself over and over again, as she poured herself a cup of water. “So, what brings you around here today,” she asked attempting to pull her mind away from Pinkie’s antics.

“Well,” Pinkie Pie began, suddenly putting on a much more serious, though almost humorously so, expression. “It’s been quite awhile since Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came to visit, and there is something very important that we still haven’t done for them.”

“Oh? And what exactly would that be?”

Pinkie looked at Twilight as though she had suddenly turned bright green. “We haven’t thrown them a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party yet!” she exclaimed. “I’ve never not thrown a new pony a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party before! It’s been over two months now and we still haven’t had it yet!”

“Sorry Pinkie,” Twilight said. “But I don’t think it’d be a good idea right now. Princess Luna is still recovering and—”

“Oh come on Twilight,” Pinkie interrupted. “Hasn’t she been doing a lot better recently? Can I please throw her a party for that at least? Just a teeny-tiny one? I promise that I’ll only invite half of Ponyville.”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at her friends pleading. Asking Pinkie Pie not to party was almost like asking the Sun not to shine.

In addition, she was right about Princess Luna. Ever since her first word almost a month ago, her recovery had rapidly increased. By the end of that week, she was moving her head and limbs around by herself. By the next, she could sit up in bed without assistance as well. This last week, she had taken her first tentative steps around the library. Now she was able to walk around, though she was still a bit weak in the knees as she did so.

More importantly,however, was her communication skills. After her first word, it was another couple of weeks before she managed to speak again. Had it not been for her other progress, they might have been a bit worried about her. Eventually though, she did start talking again, though very little. She would only answer questions when she was asked, and usually with only one or two words. Even now, she very rarely spoke unless she was spoken to first.

Twilight sighed and reached out a hoof to her friend’s shoulder. “Pinkie I’m sorry, but Princess Luna is in no condition for a party right now.”

Pinkie’s mane started to deflate, and her smile turned upside down as she looked with moist eyes to the floor. “A-alright Twilight.” She replied to her friend, the mirth in her voice almost devoid.

“But!” Twilight raised Pinkie’s chin. “You can plan for a gigantic party once she is fully recovered.” Twilight forced a broad smile, hoping it would infect Pinkie.

It did, and the mane started to inflate and form curls again. Pinkie gave a toothy grin to Twilight and started bouncing. “I better get to it then! Bye Twilight!” She yelled out and zoomed out of the library via the window.

Twilight’s ears perked when she heard the shuffling of hooves behind her. Looking back at the bench, a pony’s head popped out of the back shaking in fear. “I-is she gone?”

“She is, it’s okay to come out now.”

The pony behind the bench complied, albeit reluctantly. Taking a few cautious steps, Princess Luna was now out in the open. Even though she lacked an ethereal mane like her sister’s, her ribs were no longer showing and her coat was now shining clean. Her eyes were constantly active though, moving from one corner to the other as though being on the lookout for an unknown enemy.

“Listen, Princess Luna,” Twilight began speaking, softly to ease the princess. “It’s okay, you’re safe here.”

Luna didn’t respond. Instead her eyes kept darting back and forth as she cautiously made her way across the kitchen.

“Is there something that you need?” Twilight asked trying to be helpful. “I could fix you a cup of tea if you’d like.”

Without looking at Twilight, Luna shook her head while continuing to look around. It was obvious that she was looking for something in particular, but Twilight couldn’t tell what.

“Well, if not tea, is there something else you would like to drink?”

Another shake of the head.

“Or, maybe you’d like something to eat. Are you hungry?”

Success! Luna looked directly at Twilight and gave her a simple nod.

Twilight smiled back. It was difficult sometimes figuring out what the princess was after, but at least she was showing real progress every day. “Well, I can whip you up something quickly if you’d like. I think that we’ve got some soup left over in the fridge. And I could also—”

“Luna!!!”

Though the cry from upstairs startled Twilight, Luna’s reaction scared her far more. Crying out, the alicorn jumped across the room diving for and hiding underneath the table. She remained there shaking as Twilight rushed over to try and comfort her while simultaneously calling out, “Down here Princess!”

Not a second later, Celestia came running down the stairs, a worried expression on her face. As soon as she saw Luna lying on the ground, she quickly rushed over to her, nearly knocking her student over in the process. “Luna! Are you alright? What happened?”

“She’s fine Princess,” Twilight said, straightening herself back up again. “She just got a little scared when you cried out.”

“Oh? Oh…” Celestia trailed off as she realized what had happened. Turning back to her younger sister, she started running her hoof through Luna’s mane to try and calm her down. “I’m so sorry Lulu,” she said comfortingly. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. You just scared me when you wandered off like that.”

“It’s okay,” the younger alicorn whispered back softly. She had stopped shaking a bit and was beginning to stand back up again.

“Well, I’m glad that you’re alright,” Celestia said, helping brush off her younger sibling. “You really should tell me when you want to go somewhere though, alright? Why did you leave in the first place?”

“I heard voices…” Luna responded quietly keeping her eyes fixed to the ground.

Celestia turned to Twilight with a worried look in her eye. “It’s alright princess,” Twilight explained. “Pinkie Pie just came over for a moment.”

With a sigh of relief, Celestia turned back to Luna. “Well, no harm done then,” She gave her sister a warm smile. “Now, I don’t know about you but I’m hungry. Would you like something to eat as well Luna?”

With her eyes still trained towards the ground, Luna nodded.

“Excellent!” Celestia used her magic and lifted Luna off from the ground, trotting towards the kitchen. “Let’s have some broccoli stew, I know it will be good for you.”

“Tia, can you pl—”

“And after that, I think a nice hot bath will do you good too.” Celestia continued to speak, not hearing Luna’s protests.

Twilight cocked her eyebrow, confused at what she was seeing. Before she could talk for Luna, the door of the library opened again.

“I’m home!” Spike’s voice echoed throughout the room, and he saw Twilight standing alone. He walked up to her and gave her a hug. “Hi Twilight, how’re things here?”

“Welcome back, Spike.” Twilight nuzzled her baby dragon softly and took the bag from his back. “Everything is well here,” she said, though her eyes looked to the kitchen with concern. “Any new assignments?”

Spike just grinned and waved his claw at her. “Nothing I can’t handle.” He told her, going to his bag and reaching out a scroll for Twilight. “But I did get something from Miss Cheerilee, about an outing on Family Appreciation Day.”

“Family Appreciation Day? But that’s months away from now.”

“Hey, planning ahead. You know all about that I’m sure.” He told her, with a grin as he looked Twilight in the eye.

Twilight’s blushed as she scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. “I suppose,” she then looked at the note. “Something I need to sign?”

“Well for the ‘Family Appreciation Day Outing’, we can bring a guardian along.” He smiled brightly at Twilight, his eyes glittering in anticipation.

“Oh..” Twilight’s breath hitched and she placed a hoof to her mouth. Can I really leave the library alone for a day?! What if the princesses need my help?! What if… She stopped and regarded Spike’s eyes, a tender smile forming slowly on her muzzle. She nodded and signed the paper. “I’d love to Spike.”

“Yay!” Spike hugged her again. “Thanks Twilight!”

Twilight’s eyes wetten as she nuzzled into Spike as she returned the hug. She held him close and slowly closed her eyes.

Anytime, my baby.

“Come on Fluttershy! You can’t really be serious.”

Rainbow Dash moaned as she rolled over on the couch. Her head was hanging off the edge so that her legs were pointed up towards the ceiling. In this position, the scowl on her face could almost have been mistaken for something a bit more cheerful.

Fluttershy ignored her as she floated around her cottage. She had a bright smile on her face and was whistling a happy little tune. Occasionally, she’d grab something lying around, giving it a quick look over before setting it in the basket she carried in her hooves.

“I mean, you really shouldn’t be going to such great lengths to help her of all ponies out right now. You still need your rest you know.”

With a sigh, Fluttershy picked up a loaf of bread from her pantry. “I’m fine Rainbow,” she said softly. “Really, I feel much better now than I did before. Besides, I’m just taking Princess Luna a couple of things that she might like. I’m not really overworking myself by doing that.”

“Well, yeah…” Rainbow said rolling back over so that she was facing upright again. “But do you really think that it’s a good idea for you to be visiting her? I mean, after what she did to you—”

“What happened was my own fault, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said a bit more forcibly that she was used to. “You can’t keep blaming her for that.” Turning back she gave her friend a sad smile. “Besides, Twilight already told us that she wasn’t even responsible for turning into Nightmare Moon in the first place. She needs all the support that we can give her right now.”

“Well, I still don’t like it,” Rainbow Dash huffed as she slouched across the couch again. And I still don’t trust her, she thought to herself as well.

Fluttershy shrugged. “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but I still feel like I need to help her out somehow, alright?”

“Yeah, whatever…”

With a sigh, Fluttershy turned and floated over to the doorway, the overflowing basket in her hooves. She briefly thought about inviting Rainbow Dash to come with her, but knew that offer would be quickly reject. “I’ll be back in a little while,” she said softly instead.

When Fluttershy left the cottage, Rainbow Dash sank right on her haunches with her mouth agape. She shook her head in disbelief at her friend’s tenancy to do what was dangerous. Rainbow Dash sighed and flew over to a book she had specifically asked for from an old friend, a griffon by the name of Gilda. Once Twilight had told her and the others of the so-called-parasite, she wanted to do a little digging of her own. Turned out that the Nightmare was also well known Gryphionic Kingdom, as ponies possessed by it had burned down villages and ended the lives of hundreds; ponies and gryphons alike.

Rainbow Dash was half way through the book pertaining to gryphon folklore, when her ears twitched to the sound of a critter. She turned to her side to see Angel Bunny munching away on a large carrot, looking content with his master leaving to visit a potential threat and disturbing Rainbow Dash from researching.

“Can you eat somewhere else?” Rainbow barked at the rabbit, seeing as it didn’t care for Fluttershy’s well being nor Rainbow Dash’s need for concentration.

Angel did respond however by blowing a raspberry to Rainbow’s face, spitting out a few chunks of carrot at her too. With the deed done, the rabbit hopped away from the fuming pegasus. Rainbow slammed the book shut and rocketed towards the fleeing bunny.

“That rabbit is stew!”

Blueblood sat in his study with a pony in a black cloak, who bowed to him in respect. He did not look happy.

“So… you still have nothing to report?”

The cloaked figure shook it’s head. “Other than a few young fillies claiming that they saw Celestia in one of the orchards, I haven’t managed to turn up anything else.”

“And her student, Twilight Sparkle? What about her?”

“No leads there either. She runs the library in town and hangs out with her friends. Nothing out of the ordinary for the mare.”

Blueblood scowled. He knew that there was something going on in that sorry little town, but Celestia was doing too good of a job keeping it covered up.

“Keep looking. Eventually one of them will make a mistake. When that happens, I want you there to uncover it.”

The cloaked figure coughed. “Of course, my liege. Though spying like this takes a lot of effort on my part. I might be able to do a better job if I had a few extra bits.”

Grumbling, Blueblood lifted a small bag from off the table and tossed it to the other pony. “Your regular fee, plus an extra five percent. If you bring me something worthwhile, I’ll make sure that you’re rewarded most handsomely.”

The figured leaned down, grabbing the bits and pulling them within their cloak. “Very well sir. I will let you know the second I discover something.”

“See that you do,” Blueblood said, turning back and heading towards his desk. “Now then, if there’s nothing else to discuss I suggest that you…”

He stopped as he turned back around. Without a word, the cloaked figure had already dashed out of the room. Blueblood smirked. Even if he hadn’t found anything yet, he could not have asked for a better spy.

Blueblood’s smirk slowly vanished, as it was replaced with a deep frown. He sighed and rested his head in his hooves, staring down upon the wooden carpentry.

His head rose slowly, with his gaze landing upon a line of pictures. All of them had him in them, ranging from when he was still a foal till now. The last picture that caught his eye was of him and Celestia together.

Using his magic to grasp the picture, he slowly pulled it towards him and looked down upon it with nostalgic eyes. He was just a foal of no more than eight, being held close in Celestia’s embrace. Blueblood still remembered how warm her hug was and how soft her feathers were when she held him close to her heart. When she loved him.

Blueblood’s teeth clenched and his eyes narrowed, as his grasp on the frame became tighter. He let out a scream as he tossed the picture to the other side of the room, and heard the frame crack as shard of glass littered the floor. His eyes became moist as he calmed down, breathing slowly to ease the pent up rage within.

“I don’t know what you’re planning Auntie,” he huffed out the last word with as much distaste as possible, staring at the shattered portrait lying across the room. “But I swear, I’m going to stop it. I’m going to make you pay for what you did to me.”

The Jubilant Outcry

“You can’t be serious?!”

Twilight sat in the middle of the living room, a horrified expression on her face, as Celestia trotted back and forth across the room. The princess was humming a happy little tune, all while gathering a number of odds and ends from around the library and placing them in the basket.

“I mean,” Twilight continued, “the entire point of coming here was to try and remain inconspicuous. What happens if somepony recognizes you? Or worse yet, what if they recognize Princess Luna? She’s still not in perfect condition yet either. How do we know that she won’t freak out the second she’s outside again? How can we—”

“Twilight,” Celestia firmly said, shutting up the unicorn. “It’s not like we’re going to the middle of Canterlot to see a show. We’re just going to Ponyville park for a picnic. Nothing more.”

“Yeah, but what about ponies recognizing you? I know that it’s a small town and everything, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t recognize the Princess of Equestria when they see her.”

To Twilight’s utter surprise, Celestia merely giggled with her hoof to her muzzle. “Who says I am going as Princess Celestia of Equestria?” She asked rhetorically and closed her eyes, her horn glowing brightly.

A blinding light emitted from the horn that forced Twilight to cover her eyes. When the light subsided, Twilight opened her eyes gingerly and gasped in surprise. In place of an alicorn, a white unicorn with a light pink mane no taller than Twilight stood before her. When the said unicorn opened her eyes slowly, Twilight saw the same purple eyes of her mentor.

“Princess?!”

With her eyes fully opened, Celestia gave a laugh and a cheery smile to Twilight. “What do you think?” She asked as she spun around, like a ballerina dancer on stage. “Don’t I look cute?”

Twilight mouthed wordlessly, smacking her cheeks before speaking again. “How did you do that?!”

Celestia looked down on her form with a appreciating smile. “Morphing magic takes a while to learn properly.” She bobbed her head in thought. “Took me the better of ten years.”

“Ten years?!” Twilight exclaimed, shocked that a spell can take that long to master for even an alicorn princess like Celestia.

“Oh yes!” Celestia nodded her head and looked up the roof. “Why, Luna and I used to do this to get out of those awful meetings before…” Celestia trailed off as her smile slowly vanished and she looked down to the floor in shame. “Nevermind.”

Twilight was still too much in shock to recognize Celestia’s comment. “But… but..” she sputtered before finally managing to get her mind back on track again. “But Luna’s in no condition to perform a spell like that right now. Even if nopony in town recognizes her, they’ll certainly notice that she has both wings and a horn.”

“Relax Twilight,” Celestia said, returning to her gathering of various items. “I’m not only able to cast the spell on myself, but I’m more than capable of casting the spell for her as well.” She paused thinking for a minute. “I wonder if Luna would be upset if I gave her a white coat as well?”

Twilight sighed as she bowed and shook her head. “Even so princess, I still don’t think this is a good idea. There are still so many things that could go wrong.”

“I know, Twilight,” Celestia responded, trotting over and placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “It’s a bit risky, I’ll admit, but I think that it’s something that we need to do. Haven’t you seen the way that Luna likes to hang out by the windows during the day? I really think that some clean air and sunshine will do her a world of good.”

“But—”

“Please Twilight,” Celestia interrupted. “Just trust me on this, alright?”

Twilight looked up into the eyes of her mentor. Although the rest of her looked differently, they were still the same gentle, caring eyes that she had learned to love while growing up. She let out a deep breath and smiled. “Alright,” she said reluctantly. “But, only as long as I can come with both of you as well.”

Celestia laughed. She lifted the basket up, handing it over to Twilight. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The park was filled with families and couples today, as it was perhaps the hottest day Autumn had yet to offer. There were the laughter of foals playing with each other, from the halcyon of families being together to the jubilation of couples basking in their love for each other.

The same could not be said for Luna though. From the moment that they had left the library, she had begun to panic. Their trek towards the park was slow, as several times the disguised alicorn would try to shy away from a group of ponies passing them as they walked down the street.

Things only got worse when they actually reached the park. As Twilight had feared, there were quite a few ponies in the park. As soon as they entered and Luna saw them all, she immediately froze up. It took a lot of coaxing from Celestia and Twilight to get her to follow them again. Then, it took even more time to try and find a spot, as they had to try and keep a fair distance from everypony else to keep Luna from panicking again.

Thankfully, the one thing that she had been the most afraid of, somepony recognizing either of the princesses, had not happened. The disguises that Princess Celestia had come up with were working perfectly. While both Celestia and Luna looked similar to their original forms, they were still significantly different enough that nopony seemed to be able to recognize them.

Eventually they managed to find a nice small area near Whitetail Woods. It was mostly secluded, being pretty far away from the entrance and the small river where most ponies spent their time. There were a couple of ponies around, but for the most part, the group was free to be by themselves. They quickly rolled out their blanket and pulled out the various snacks that Celestia had gathered for the occasion.

As they began to eat, Celestia kept a watchful eye on her younger sister. At first, Luna remained as she had when they arrived, still curled up defensively, with her eyes darting back and forth in search of some unknown enemy. However, after a while, she began to relax a little bit. Her eyes still were darting back and forth, but the fear that was in them no longer seemed as prevalent. Instead, as she began to sit up a bit more straight on the blanket, there was almost a sense of curiosity mixed in as well.

Celestia took notice of Luna’s calming demeanor and sighed in relief. “Do you like your sandwich Lulu?” She asked curiously, seeing her sister take a small bite of the club daffodil sandwich.

Luna nodded and proceeded to eat more of her lunch, albeit very slowly. Her eyelids became half-open as she was starting to relax more to the melodies of the birds chirping and the wind rushing through the grass around her. Her eyes raised when she saw Twilight Sparkle before her, who was smiling nervously. Luna’s cocked her eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion.

Noticing Luna’s facial changes, Celestia looked to her side to see Twilight. She swore she saw her student sweat raindrops and her eyes was now also moving from one corner to the other. “Twilight? What’s wrong?”

“What!?” Twilight’s head rocketed up, her teeth clenching as she scope the whole park hastily. An awkward silence soon followed, leaving Twilight to blush in embarrassment and shy away as she sat back down again.

“Twilight,” Celestia spoke again, in her maternal voice as she leaned towards her student. “What’s the matter? You can tell me.”

“It’s just…” she started, looking quickly around the park before lowering her head with a sigh. “I guess I’m just nervous is all…”

“Nervous? About what?”

“Well, I…” Again Twilight’s voice trailed off as she began pondering the question. There were still so many things that she was unsure about. Luna’s recovery was of course near the front of her mind, but there were a lot of other problems bothering her as well. “It’s nothing,” she finally muttered.

Celestia smiled. “Now Twilight. If you’re still worried about us being out here in the open, I think that it’s finally safe to relax, don’t you? I mean,” she added pointing towards Luna who was staring intently at a yellow flower growing through the grass, “just look at how well Luna is responding to this all.”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Twilight answered hesitantly. “But I still can’t help but think that something bad is going to happen.”

“Come now Twilight,” Celestia answered with a chuckle. “We are all by ourselves out here. What could possibly go wr—”

“INCOMING!!!”

Before Celestia could finish her sentence, a giant ball flew right towards the three mares. Twilight quickly used her magic to catch the brightly coloured round object. She sighed as she dissipated the magic, and looked at who the ball belonged to.

Three little fillies and one baby dragon ran up to them. “We’re so sorry! We didn’t mean to—” Spike came to a stop when he saw who it was that caught the ball. “Twilight?”

“Spike?” Twilight began, her brow furrowing. “What were you thinking sending a ball like this flying at top speeds towards others! You could have seriously—”

“Twilight.” Celestia chimed in and placed a hoof to her student’s shoulder. Twilight looked up and saw Celestia shake her head in disapproval. Twilight inhaled slowly, calming herself down just a little.

“Sorry Spike,” she began to speak. “But that was still not safe.”

“Please Miss Twilight, it wasn’t his fault!” A yellow earth pony with lavish red mane and a pink bow defended Spike. “We were just trying to get our cutie marks as Hoofball Players.”

“Turned out to be a bust.” An orange pegasus with purple mane spoke, shuffling her hooves.

“Yeah, and I really thought we were going to get it this time.” The white unicorn filly with greyish pink mane added in with a squeak to her voice.

“Hoofball Player cutie marks?” Celestia repeated the words in her mouth, finding the idea odd in her mind. “Who might you three fillies be?”

“Here we go…” Spike trailed off as he mumbled and stood behind the three fillies.

“I’m Apple Bloom!” The yellow filly introduced herself, smiling broadly.

“I’m Sweetie Belle!” The white filly was next as she stood next to her friend, jumping up in the air with a broad smile.

“I’m Scootaloo!” The tomboyish orange pegasus said proudly as she nuzzled her wings and smiled smugly.

“And I’m Spike!” Spike spoke up loud as he pointed a thumb to himself with a broad smile, albeit forced.

“And together we make…” All four youths took a pose. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

Celestia couldn’t help but giggle at the antics of the young group of fillies (and dragon). “Well, it’s very nice to meet you all.”

“Yeah, it’s good to meet you too!” Scootaloo exclaimed proudly with a bright smile. She held the pose for a moment before suddenly turning sheepish. “Um… who are you exactly?”

“Oh, well I’m…” she paused for a moment, suddenly remembering that she didn’t quite look like herself. “I’m… Cherry Blossom,” she finally answered with a smile. “I’m one of Twilight’s cousins.”

“Cousins?” Spike suddenly spoke up very confused. “But Twilight doesn’t have any…” he stopped as he looked over to Twilight who was furiously shaking her head with a very worried expression. His eyes grew wide as he suddenly realized what she was trying to say.

“Twilight doesn’t have any what Spike?”

“Oh, um…” he said, beginning to sweat with a nervous chuckle. “She doesn’t have any cousins in the area. Yeah! That’s it. I mean, I didn’t realize that anypony was coming to visit us. I would have gotten the library cleaned up better.”

“That’s quite alright Spike,” Celestia answered warmly. “It was a rather unexpected trip. We didn’t really tell anypony that we were coming.” Her head popped up as she soon remembered her sister sitting there. “Oh, and this is… Starry Sky,” she said turning and pointing behind her.

Only, there wasn’t anypony there. Her eyes grew wide with panic as she quickly began looking around. She almost called out for her, but realized that she couldn’t without using Luna’s real name.

“Is that her?” Scootaloo asked pointing up at the tree behind them.

Luna, or Starry Sky, was hanging from a branch up in the tree above the rest of the ponies. She was shaking with her eyes darting from one corner to the other, thinking another attack was imminent. From the looks of it, Luna was now imitating a cat who was chased up a tree.

“Oh my!” Celestia gasped and quickly rushed over to her sister. “D-don’t worry Lu-Starry!” She corrected herself quickly and she started to use her magic. “I’ll get you down, just hold on!” Enveloping her magic around Luna, she lowered the frighted mare to the ground and immediately scooped her up. She started humming to her and stroke her hair gently, trying her best to calm her little sister down.

“What’s wrong with her?” Scootaloo asked Spike curiously, leaning into the dragon’s ear.

“It’s a long story.” Twilight cut Spike off, wearing a toothy smile. “Let’s just say Starry is not used to surprises.” Twilight said as she chuckled nervously.

“Miss Twiligh’, are ya hiding somethin’?” Apple Bloom asked Twilight, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Why would I hide something?” She waved her hoof as she laughed more, sweating as all three fillies were now looking at her.

“Ya just look like Applejack when she is telling a fib.”

“Fib! Me!? Don’t be silly now!” Twilight laughed out loud, hoping the fillies would buy it.

They didn’t.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes as she trotted around the obviously lying unicorn. Instead she walked over to where Celestia was still attempting to caudle her still distressed sister. “Is she alright?”

Celestia turned to her with a weak smile. “She’ll be fine. Just got a little bit frightened is all.”

Sweetie Belle turned towards Luna who had mostly calmed down from the experience, though she was still shaking a little bit. “I’m really sorry Miss Sky,” she said sadly. “We really didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

“...It’s fine.”

Sweetie Belle jumped a little bit as Celestia suddenly gasped. “What’s wrong? What did I do?” she cried out nervously.

Celestia turned to the young unicorn, and waved her hoof to calm her down. “I’m sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She turned back to Luna who had stopped shaking and was staring intently at Sweetie. “It’s just that, Starry here doesn’t talk very much, not even to me. I guess it just surprised me how well she seems to have warmed up to you.”

“What happened to her exactly? Why is she so skittish?” Scootaloo asked, also abandoning Twilight to join the more interesting conversation.

“Scoots!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Ya can’t just ask questions like that! It ain’t polite.”

“She’s quite alright,” Celestia responded with a chuckle. “Starry here has been through some…. very difficult times lately. She still hasn’t quite recovered from them though.”

“Oh,” Scootaloo said as her head and ears drooped. “I’m really sorry Starry.”

“Yeah, me too,” Apple Bloom also chimed in. “We promise it won’t happen again.”

“...Thank you,” Luna said softly.

Celestia managed to withhold the gasp this time, though her shock at seeing her sister was no less than before. Luna was sitting up straight, and staring at the three fillies with a sense of wonder in her eyes. It was very different than how she was before, scared to come within ten feet of another pony. In fact, she didn’t even flinch when Sweetie Belle suddenly cried out.

“Hey! I’ve got a great idea,” Sweetie excitedly spoke up. “Why don’t you come and play with us Starry?”

Spike’s iris’ shrunk to the size of pins and he shook his head. “Oh no no no no no no no! Starry needs her rest, right Twilight?!”

“You’re quite right Spike!” Both she and Spike chuckled and shrugged nervously to the company of fillies.

“If she needed rest, she wouldn’t be out today.” Scootaloo countered, her wings buzzing to levitate off the ground for just a few seconds. When she landed on her haunches, she grumbled a few words. “Pony feathers!”

“Girls, I really think that Starry shouldn’t be playing just yet.” Celestia spoke to the them, hoping it would end the debate.

Apple Bloom looked to Luna and back at Celestia. “Can’t she play just with us just this once?” Apple Bloom asked Celestia, deploying her secret weapon against any adult. The Puppy Eyes.

“I’m…” Celestia trailed off, feeling a mighty tug at her heart seeing Apple Bloom’s watery eyes.

“Please…” All three fillies jumped in, with all of their eyes moist and their lower lips stuck out.

Celestia was now clenching her teeth, trying to look away from the fillies’ faces. “I… Well I…” Celestia’s words were becoming mute as she was now looking into the eyes of the foals before her. “I—” She stopped abruptly when Luna passed her by.

Luna stood before the fillies, looking down on them. She was unfazed by their puppy eyes, though she smiled softly at them. No words came from her but she did give them an answer. A nod.

“Awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Rushing over, she grabbed the princess by her hoof and started pulling her, guiding her off the blanket and into the field. “Maybe with your help, we’ll actually be able to figure out how Hoofball is supposed to work.”

The remaining two fillies followed quickly, leaving behind a very stunned dragon, unicorn, and disguised princess. “Shouldn’t we try to stop them?” Twilight asked nervously.

“I don’t know if we can,” Spike answered. “Once those three get an idea in their heads, it’s almost impossible to convince them otherwise. Believe me, I know,” he said with a shudder.

Twilight still wasn’t convinced. “Princess?” she quietly asked turning to her mentor.

“I’m still not certain myself Twilight,” Celestia answered with a shrug. “But, Luna seems to be reacting well to them. If she wants to play with them, I suppose that we should let her.” Turning to Spike she quickly added, “Though, would you please go and keep an eye on them Spike? Make sure that they don’t try anything too ridiculous, alright?”

He quickly nodded. “You’ve got it princess,” he said before turning and running off after his friends.

“And stay within eyesight alright?” Twilight called out as he ran out. “I don’t want you five running off anywhere.”

Spike turned back while running and rolled his eyes. “Yes, mom,” he called back sarcastically.

A light blush came across Twilight's face as Celestia started to laugh. “Quite a hooful, isn’t he?” the princess asked.

“He most certainly can be,” Twilight agreed as she looked on to Spike playing, a tender smile appearing on her muzzle. Her expression quickly turned back to nervous though, as she turned to face Celestia. “Still, do you really think this is a good idea?”

“Not much that we can do about it now,” Celestia responded with a sigh. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on them for now.” She paused as she thought back to her sister’s reaction. A small smile started across her face. “Still, perhaps this could be exactly what Luna needs.”

To Twilight’s relief, the rest of the day went by without any sort of serious problem. She and Celestia sat back, keeping an eye on the crusaders as they attempted to teach Luna all sorts of games. As Scootaloo had suggested, they started with Hoofball. However, it appeared to be much too complicated for the princess, as she insisted on standing in the same spot, never quite figuring out what to do.

The fillies then decided to try some more simple games. They started with hide and seek, but again Luna didn’t seem to grasp the concept of seeking very well. When that plan failed they moved on again, this time to tag. At first, it appeared that Luna wasn’t going to get that one either, but within a few minutes, she started running around with them.

The children and disguised princess played for quite a few hours, Luna getting more and more involved as time went on. Eventually, she was skillfully dodging the fillies as they would chase after her, and chasing them in return when she was “it”. They played for so long, that the sun was starting to get low, and the foals were completely exhausted.

The fillies were sitting close to Luna as they watched the setting sun, the latter was wearing a gentle smile on her face. Spike was leaning against Twilight, who wrapped a hoof around him as they watched. Celestia was just taking in the euphoria from the experience, feeling very relieved that her sister had fun today at least.

When the sun finally disappeared over the horizon, the stars were beginning to fill the night sky. Luna looked up in awe and was lost in the moment, not taking notice of the filles leaving the comfort of sitting close to her and turning around.

“Hey Starry! Look at that!”

Luna’s ears twitched when she heard her other name coming from Scootaloo, and she abided to the fillies request. When she turned around though, her smile completely vanished.

“Ain’t the moon big tonig-”

“AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHH!!!”

Celestia, Twilight and Spike rocketed in the air as they heard the screaming of Luna. Celestia turned around immediately and saw her sister cowering on the ground, streams of tears present in her eyes and she was backing away from the moon as far as she could. The moon! Celestia cursed herself, not taking the moon phase calendar into account. She hurried off to her sister and covered her view with her body, lowering her head to nuzzle her terrified sister.

“It’s okay Luna, it’s okay…” Celestia chanted to Luna multiple times as her eyes were closed, not noticing the looks Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were giving her.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please don’t send me there! Please don’t send me back there! I don’t want to go back! I don’t want to…” Luna whimpered as she closed her eyes, praying that her request would be answered.

Celestia bit her lower lip as she removed herself from nuzzling Luna, her own eyes looking down on her sister. She was close to tears herself, hearing what Luna was saying. Oh Luna! How could I—

“What’s wrong with Starry?” Scootaloo asked Twilight, who was becoming a nervous wreck from what was happening.

“Starry is afraid of the moon, badly.” Twilight quickly explained, rushing off to Celestia and whispering in her ear. “Princess! I think we need to get out of here quickly!”

Celestia nodded quickly as she levitated Luna on her back and used her magic to create a blindfold over Luna’s eyes. “Girls, I’m sorry. But I need to take Starry home right now. Goodnight.” With that, Celestia was trotting off towards the library.

“Awwww…” The fillies looked down on the ground dejectedly, their eyes turning moist again and they were shuffling their hooves in shame.

Twilight used her own magic to lift Spike up and placed him on her back. “Time to go home Spike.” She told him as she smiled, albeit sadly at what just happened.

“Okay…” Spike trailed off and looked back at his friends. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.” He waved at them and Twilight began to follow Celestia back home.

“Night Spike!” The fillies waved him goodnight, although they were lacking their previous enthusiasm. When Spike was gone, all three fillies sighed and looked down on the ground before looking at each other.

“I hope she’ll be alrigh’.” Apple Bloom mumbled.

“So do I.”

Scootaloo only nodded slowly. “I sure hope so. Starry is a-” She paused before her eyes became as wide as plates. “Wait!” She looked up to where Celestia walked off to and cocked her eyebrow, tapping her chin with her hoof. “Did Blossom just call her sister ‘Luna’?”

The Inhospitable Prism

Twilight stood in the very center of the library’s main room, pacing back and forth nervously. She was all alone, her mind racing with worry as she thought about the events of that evening. Spike had originally insisted on staying up with her to help take care of Luna, but the fun and adventures of the day had taken it’s toll on the small whelp. He was lightly snoring, even before the group were able to make it back to the library and was quickly put to bed.

When she finished with that, Twilight made her way to Luna’s room to try and help out there. However, Princess Celestia shooed her away, saying that she needed to try and calm down Luna on her own. This left Twilight with nothing to do, except for sit, wait and worry.

After what seemed like the longest of time, Twilight finally heard the door upstairs open quietly, then shut a few seconds later. This was shortly followed by the appearance of Princess Celestia, no longer in her disguise for the day descending the stairs. Twilight eyed her nervously as she entered into the main room with her head bowed low. “Well,” she began hesitantly. “How is she?”

Celestia lifted her head up and looked at Twilight confused, as though she hadn’t understood the question.”Hmm…”, she asked, before shaking her head. “Oh, Luna. She’s fine. I was able to get her to calm down enough to fall asleep at least.”

“That’s good, I guess,” Twilight said relieved. However, she stopped when she saw that Celestia’s expression still appeared troubled. “And… how are you doing Princess?”

Celestia looked down in shame as she sighed, her eyes becoming moist. She walked up to the table and sank to her haunches, resting her head against her front hooves. “How could this have happened?”

Twilight scrunched her lips as she walked up to her mentor. “Princess—”

“Everything was going so well for Luna, and yet I was stupid in not remembering it was going to be a full moon that night!” He slammed her hoof to the table, looking even more bitter than what she did before.

“Princess, it wasn’t your fault—”

“But it is, Twilight.” She looked up towards her student, streams of tears escaped her eyes and she was smiling weakly. “I literally destroyed my sister, Twilight.” She sniffed, her lips trembling as tears fell on the table. “I should have saved her back then Twilight, with the Elements of Harmony… instead I sent her to that Equestria-forsaken place to rot!” Her words became choked as she was now sobbing with her hooves to her face covering it.

“And what does she do in response? She apologizes to me. To me, Twilight! She takes one look at the moon, and starts apologizing like crazy, terrified that I’m planning on sending her right back. That’s her fear of the moon. She’s scared when she sees it, because she thinks it means she’s going to have to spend another thousand years there with some monster feeding off her soul!”

Somehow, Celestia seemed to sink even lower in spirits as she continued to sob. “How could I have done that to her Twilight?! How could I have been so stupid!?”

Twilight sighed.“You didn’t know back then, Princess. You thought you were doing what you thought was best for her and for Equestria. You can’t keep beating yourself up over a mistake that you’ve already made.” She did her best to put on a warm smile. “Besides, you’re doing everything you can now to try and help her. And did you see how well she did early today, when she was playing with those fillies? I can’t remember the last time that I saw her smile that much.” Taking a step forward she rested a comforting hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “Just give it time. You’re both going to be just fine, alright?”

Celestia turned and looked at her student. She shook her head with a sigh. “I just… I just don’t know Twilight.”

“Just trust me on this alright,” Twilight said retracting her hoof. “Right now though, I think that we both could use a little bit of sleep. I think it’ll do you a lot of good.”

Celestia didn’t answer directly. Instead, she simply gave a single quick nod, before turning and heading towards the staircase. That was good enough for Twilight, who quickly rose as well and followed behind her.

As they trotted up the stairs, Celestia paused as they passed the small window there. She looked out, catching a glimpse of the moon as she did so. The mere sight of it was enough to drive her to tears again.

I’m so sorry Luna…

“Look! I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“But Spike! We need to apologize to her!” Sweetie Belle pouted as she and her friends were on going to the library, in what they called a ‘Crusade for Salvation’.

“Besides, she looks like she needs more company in her life.” Apple Bloom chimed in as she was walking in the middle of the group.

Scootaloo remained silent, but she kept on nodding to her friends arguing.

“I know, but Starry is not really in good condition to have visitors.” Spike countered with a fake story, having picked it up from Twilight’s methods of negotiating when hiding something very important. But, no matter what he did the fillies remained headstrong.

“What should w’all say to Starry to show her how mighty sorry we are?” Apple Bloom asked Sweetie Belle, remembering they did not have a proper apology planned.

“That’s easy, we say how sincerely sorry we are and do something to cheer her up!” Sweetie Belle answered, her voice cracking near the end of the sentence emitting a squeak from it.

Spike sighed and shook his head. He looked to Scootaloo, who was still looking down to the ground. “Scootaloo, what you make of all this?”

Scootaloo raised her head and met her gaze with Spike’s eyes. “I’m just curious about something Spike.”

“Yeah?”

“Why did Cheery call her sister ‘Luna’ when she was being all scared of the moon?” Scootaloo asked her friend, with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion in her voice.

Suddenly, the crusaders going to visit Luna was the least of Spike’s concerns. “Oh, um…” he said quickly beginning to fumble over his words. “It’s a nickname she uses for Starry.”

Scootaloo shot him a weird look. He in turn gave her a bright smile in response. Too bright of a smile she thought. Not to mention, he was visibly sweating the more that she looked at him. Still, Scootaloo simply shrugged, “Yeah, I guess so,” she said casually, even though she knew that he was hiding something.

Thankfully, he seemed to buy her acceptance. He turned around quite pleased with himself until he noticed that in the brief time he was chatting with Scootaloo, they’d managed to arrive at the library. Before he could say anything else, he was cut off by the sound of Sweetie Belle knocking loudly on the library door.

For a moment, Spike briefly considered turning and running away. However, he found himself stuck as the door swung open to reveal Twilight standing there. She looked down at the three expectant fillies with a surprised look. “Oh, hello girls,” she said before her eyes wandered to the nervous dragon standing in the back. “...and Spike,” she added with a raised eyebrow. Shrugging it off, she put on a bright smile. “What can I do for the four of you today?”

Sweetie Belle beamed, putting on her biggest smile. “Is Starry Sky here? We wanted to see how she’s doing.”

Twilight’s face turned pale and she chuckled lightly. “Well girls, I—” She gulped as she looked down on the three fillies and her baby dragon. “I’ll be right back!” She immediately slammed the door, leaving the children outside.

“What’s she doing?” Apple Bloom asked curiously, hearing many hoofsteps inside and she swore she heard the words ‘what do we do?!!’.

Before any of them could answer, the door opened again. This time, Cherry was there to greet the children with a broad smile, though her eyes showed signs of fear.

“Hi there!” She greeted them, her ear twitching as she looked around to see all three fillies looking pleased to see her, though Spike was cocking his eyebrow at her. He worded to her ‘What are you doing?’, hoping his friends didn’t see him.

Celestia cleared her throat to speak to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “You wanted to see my sister today?” She asked them kindly, her mind racing with ideas.

“We want to see Starry.” All three fillies answered her in unison, looking determined to see their new friend again.

“I’m sorry girls, but she’s not feeling tha—”

“Please…” All three were now sticking out their lower lip and their eyes became watery, as their iris’ grew larger.

Celestia tried to say the word ‘no’, but that word was lost to her when the fillies were looking at her with those eyes. Why am I so weak against this?! She looked to Spike for help, but he shrugged and used his lips to word out to her ‘might as well’ before walking inside.

She sighed and closed her eyes. “Alright, but just wait downstairs for a moment please?”

“Yay!” All three fillies ran inside, at a speed that left dust hanging in the air before Celestia. She shook her head before sneezing, smiling a little at the energy they were displaying. She closed the door behind her and made her way upstairs.

The three fillies quickly moved to the center of the library, hopping up and down as they were barely able to contain their excitement. Spike came in from behind, stopping next to Twilight. She turned and shot him a very confused look. Spike just shrugged as if saying, Hey, I tried my best.

Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed before trotting over to the jumping fillies. “Now girls,” she said gently catching their attention. “I know that you’re excited, but remember that this is still a library and Starry still isn’t feeling well right now. You’re going to have to keep quiet while you’re in here alright?”

The three fillies beamed happily.

“Yes ma’am.”

“We can do that.”

“No problem.”

Twilight chuckled nervously. Somehow, she wasn’t entirely convinced. “Why don’t you girls take a seat over there while you wait for Starry to get ready. In the meantime, I could get you all a quick snack. Would you like that?”

The girls quickly nodded before rushing over to the chairs that Twilight had pointed at before. Spike ran over to Twilight. “Here, let me give you a hand with that.”

But Twilight held up her hoof stopping Spike before he could run past her to the kitchen. “No, that’s quite alright Spike,” she said warmly. “I can handle this by myself. You stay with your friends, alright?” Then leaning down, she whispered so that the other Crusaders couldn’t hear. “And please, keep an eye on them. I don’t want them getting into trouble while I’m gone.”

Spike chuckled. “You’ve got it,” he answered with a salute, before running off to sit down with his friends.

As he approached, Sweetie Belle gave him a warm smile. “Gee spike. You sure have an awesome mom,” she said with a wink.

Spike immediately turned bright red. “Oh, well… You see…”

Thankfully for him, he was cut off by the sound of a door opening upstairs, and all the crusaders jumping up when they heard it. They rushed over to the staircase to see Cherry Blossom helping guide Starry Sky down the stairs to meet them.

“Hi Starry,” the three fillies said in unison.

As soon as Luna looked at the three fillies, her face immediately brightened as a soft smile formed when she saw who came to greet her.

“Hello,” she responded softly.

“Listen Starry, we wanna say how sorry we are for what happened last time.” Apple Bloom spoke, her head bowing a little as she apologized to the towering unicorn.

“Apologize?” Luna repeated the word, her eyes gazing down upon Apple Bloom. “To me?”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo cut in, jumping next to Apple Bloom. “That was so not cool what happened to you.”

“What happened… to me?”

Sweetie Belle nodded vigorously as Luna spoke. “Right, so we wanted to check up on you cause you’re our friend.”

“Friend?”

All the fillies beamed at Luna as they nodded. “That’s right. Friends always stick together no matter what!” They told her, with Spike standing next to them as they spoke.

A myriad of thoughts were now rushing through Luna’s mind, all of which were pleasant ones. It was becoming too much to bear though, with the addition of seeing three innocent fillies and one dragon willing to be friends with her. Why would they want to be friends with a pony like me? Her eyes were becoming watery, before a gentle smile became present on her face.

“Thank you.”

“Yay!” All the fillies ran up to her and began to bounce around her. “Say I know, let’s go play a game!” Apple Bloom suggested, before reaching up and slapping Luna on the shoulder. “Tag! Your it!” she cried before darting off across the library.

Luna smirked. Apple Bloom wasn’t going to get away that easily.

“Thanks for coming with me today,” Fluttershy said as she merrily skipped along. “I really appreciate it.”

Rainbow Dash simply scowled as she hovered alongside her friend. “Well, somepony has to keep an eye on you.”

Fluttershy turned to her friend and smiled. “I told you Rainbow Dash. I’m fine. Really, I am. You don’t have to keep worrying about me.”

“I know that,” Rainbow said with a sigh. “It’s just that… I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be spending so much time with Luna.”

“I think that once you see how much she’s improved. You’ll change your mind about her Rainbow. She really is doing much better.”

“Yeah, sure…” Rainbow said, before adding under her breath, “That’s what worries me.”

The pair continued on in silence as they made their way over to the library. As they approached the doorway, Fluttershy reached up her hoof to knock. Before she could do so however, Rainbow Dash had already grabbed the door and began to push it open.

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “You can’t just walk in like that. It’s not polite!”

Rainbow Dash gave her an odd look. “Um, hello? It is a public library isn’t it. Besides, if you’re so certain that everything is fine here, then what is there to be afraid of?”

Before Fluttershy could say another word, Rainbow pushed the door open and flew inside. “Hey, Twilight!” she called out. “Are you h—”

Her voice trailed off as she looked caught sight of the scene across the room. Huddled in the corner were three very familiar young fillies and dragon. They were cowering in the corner, the fear evident on their faces. Standing over them menacingly was a dark blue Unicorn with a slightly lighter mane. Hearing the voices, the unicorn turned to look at Rainbow and Fluttershy. The blood in Rainbow Dash began to boil as the unicorn’s pale eyes met hers.

She recognized those eyes.

“GET AWAY FROM THEM YOU MONSTER!!!”

Nopony had anytime to react as Rainbow Dash soared across the room. She immediately grabbed the disguised princess, hurling her across the room and placing herself menacingly between her and the crusaders.

“Wait Rainbow!” Twilight shouted out to her running over to where Luna had landed.. “She’s only—”

“I knew you were just waiting for a moment to strike! And to think you terrorizing children for your first victims! You should be ashamed of yourself!”

All three fillies looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, what’s wrong with you? We were just playing tag with Starry—”

“Oh! So now you’re using a fake name to infiltrate into towns to gain the trust of your victims before striking!?” Rainbow’s wings flared at Luna, who was standing stock still in fear of the angry pegasus before her.

“That’s enough Rainbow!” Celestia walked up to Rainbow Dash and placed a firm hoof on her shoulder. “Luna was just having fun with her friends and—”

Rainbow swatted Celestia’s hoof away, not bothering to look up and only continued to glare at Luna. “With all due respect Princess, that’s not your sister there! It’s a monster!” She shouted out the last word with disgust. “I read about how the ‘Nightmare’ infected ponies and others, they destroyed towns and killed how many others. Not once were they even cured! Only thing that stopped them in their tracks was ending them!”

The ponies gasped at what Rainbow was saying. She had indirectly mentioned killing Princess Luna, her justification coming from the books she had acquired during the months before. Celestia’s lips were trembling, both in rage and in sadness. She so wanted to teach Rainbow a lesson by a verbal lashing, but she paused when she saw the look on the children’s faces.

“So why don’t you do us all a favour and get the hay out of here! You’re not welcome here and never will be!”

Luna’s breathing became short and she was sniffing to contain the tears from her eyes. She just wanted to wail right there on the spot, but she did something else. She lowered her head, her lips quivering as she spoke.

“You… you’re right.”

Immediately, she ran upstairs with all her haste. She left a trail of tears in the air that soon evaporated and slammed her room’s door behind her. When she was gone, Rainbow Dash sighed and wore a smug smile on her face.

“Everypony, you can relax now. That monster won’t be—”

*SMACK*

Rainbow Dash staggered back, though more in surprise than from the pain of being slapped across the face.. She looked up wide eyed into the very angry face of Fluttershy.

“How dare you…?”

Rainbow Dash backed up slightly. “Well, I was just—”

“How dare you?” Fluttershy repeated, her voice still very angry and her eyes starting to grow moist. “How could you say those things to her?”

“Because, it’s what she is, Fluttershy. She’s a mon—”

“Princess Luna is not a monster Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy interrupted stamping her hoof into the ground. “Right now, she is just a pony, confused and scared of a world she still doesn’t understand.”

“But she—”

“She might have had a rough past Rainbow, but that’s exactly why she needs our help right now more than ever. She needs us to support her in case anything bad does happen.”

“Well, yeah but—”

“You’re right about one thing though. There is a monster here, but it certainly isn’t Princess Luna.”

“...Shy. I—”

“Go home Rainbow,” Fluttershy said turning her back to Rainbow. “Just go home and think about what you just did.” She walked off, towards the door Luna had just escaped through, pausing right before she walked in. “And don’t bother talking to me again until you do.”

Without another word, Fluttershy pushed the door open and trotted through. The entire library seemed to shake as she slammed it shut, leaving several stunned ponies sitting behind. Rainbow Dash sat unsure for a moment before she looked over to Twilight.

“Twilight… I didn’t…”

The unicorn sighed and shook her head. “I think it would be best if you just left Rainbow Dash. We’ll talk about this later.”

Without any support there, Rainbow turned her head to the other disguised alicorn who was scowling at her.

“You should listen to your friends, Rainbow,” Celestia told her before turning and heading towards the door as well. “You have a lot to think about.”

Rainbow continued to look around the room for support, but found none. With her head bowed low, she slowly walked across the room, stopping to give one last sad look around the room, before exiting the library.

The tension remained long after Rainbow had left. Twilight sat for a moment, before she finally bowed her head and sighed. “Spike,” she began quietly. “Can you start cleaning up in here a bit? I need to go and talk with Princess Celestia and Luna real quick. See if there’s anything I can—”

“Um… Twilight…” Spike nervously interrupted.

She turned her head back and saw Spike pointing towards the corner of the room. Following it, her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped as she spied the three very confused looking fillies looking up at her.

“Oh… right…”

The Timorous Dusk

How could this have happened!?

Celestia was walking up the stairs towards Luna room, immediately after lecturing Rainbow Dash for the foalish deed she had just committed.

Who gave her the right to just blast my sister like that for something she couldn’t help?!

And who gave you the right for hurting your sister first?

When her conscious finally spoke, Celestia stopped dead in her tracks, realization coming to her like an oncoming train. She remembered the last time Luna ran off like that in tears; the night before Nightmare Moon happened. She remembered every word she spoke to her sister, when the latter merely wanted a day where she would could be appreciated like her elder.

Nopony wants to celebrate in the night when they are too tired from working in the day Luna! Nopony cares!

Celestia shook her head, clenching her teeth as he shut her eyes in shame. How she regretted saying those words to her sister and denying her equality she so deserved, and giving her a thousand year torture session instead.

She finally arrived at the door leading to Luna’s temporary sanctuary. Celestia froze and began to ponder what she could say to her sister. Knowing the past, mostly any excuse she would throw to her would be a hypocrisy herself, seeing as she was the prime benefactor of Luna’s suffering.

Celestia sighed and finally lifted her hoof to knock on the door.

“Luna? May I come in please?”

No answer came from the other side of the door, as Celestia waited patiently for a response.

“Please Luna. We really should talk about what happened.”

She could hear some shuffling on the other side, but still, her sister remained completely silent.

Celestia tried her best to contain herself, though a few tears started to leak their way from her eyes. “Luna, please. Just talk to me. I just want to help you. I… I just…”

As her voice began to crack, she was silenced by a hoof suddenly tapping her on the shoulder. She turned and was surprised to see that Fluttershy was standing there. Being lost in her own thoughts so much, she had completely forgotten that Fluttershy had actually run off to check on Luna as well.

“Um… Do you think, if it’s alright with you I mean, maybe I could try to talk to her instead?”

Celestia turned back looking at the locked door once more. Of course, there was nothing stopping her from simply unlocking the door or teleporting in either. Still, it was clear that whatever was going through Luna’s mind at that moment, she didn’t want to talk. “I don’t know, Fluttershy,” Celestia said softly. “I think maybe we should just give her some space right now.”

“Oh, well…” Fluttershy said sadly, “can’t I at least try?”

Celestia sighed. She ran her hoof along the grain of the door, before slowly nodding. “Alright.”

As Celestia stepped aside, Fluttershy quickly moved in behind her. Taking a deep breath, she reached up and lightly tapped on the door.

“Princess Luna?” she called softly. “It’s me, Fluttershy. Would it be alright if I came in and talked with you for a little bit?”

Once again, there was no response from the other side as Luna remained completely silent.

“I’m really sorry about what happened earlier. Rainbow Dash was completely out of line. She shouldn’t have said what she said.”

Still no response.

“Please princess. You’re beginning to worry us. We just want to talk to you. We just want to help—”

She was cut off as Celestia rested her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. She turned and looked at the princess who shook her head with a sad look in her eyes. “I’m sorry Fluttershy,” she said, “but I don’t think that Luna is ready to talk with us yet. Let’s just give her some time and try again later.”

Fluttershy wanted to argue that she wasn’t ready to give up yet, but the look in Celestia eyes made her reconsider. With a sigh, she lowered her head in defeat. “Alright… If you say so Princess.”

Celestia gave her a smile and started to turn and trot away, Fluttershy following close behind. However, she froze in her tracks as the distinct sound of a lock clicking echoed through the hallway. The two turned back quickly, just as the door began to crack open.

Luna’s eyes appeared at the opening, seeing the two ponies leaving. “Wait.” She called out softly, though she got the attention of Celestia and Fluttershy.

“Luna!” Celestia called out as she marched to the door, a smile present on her face. “May I come in?” She asked politely, but was greeted with Luna shaking her head.

“Just her.” She pointed Fluttershy, who let loose a ‘eep’ when Luna looked at her.

Fluttershy blinked, surprised at what Luna was requesting. She looked at Celestia, who seemed just as surprised. Surprised, with a hint of mortification present on her face. She slowly made her way to the door that remained only opened enough for Luna’s eyes to peek out of. Fluttershy looked back at Celestia, but she was met with Celestia downcast eyes and a sigh that came from her as she walked away.

The door finally opened wide enough for Fluttershy to squeeze through, leading her inside and she saw Luna walking back to the bed lying down on it. When her whole body was inside, the door behind slammed shut and the sound of it locking came from it.

The cream mare looked back Luna, seeing the red-rimmed eyes on her face. No doubt from crying endlessly since the encounter with Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy gulped and slowly walked towards Luna, taking a seat by the end of the bed.

“Um… how are you feeling?” She asked meekly, shuffling her hooves as she spoke with Luna.

No answer came from Luna, who just continued to stare at the ceiling above her.

Fluttershy sighed. “Listen… about earlier. I’m sorry about what Rainbow Dash said to you out there. She shouldn’t have said those things. She was just worried is all. Just give her a bit of time, I’m sure that she’ll eventually come around.”

Luna kept looking at the ceiling, but managed to nod in response.

“She’s not the only one who’s worried either. Your sister is worried about you too. She really just wants to see you happy, you know that right?”

Again, Luna nodded, but didn’t say anything.

An awkward silence filled the room as Fluttershy struggled to think of what else to say. This conversation wasn’t going quite how she had expected. “Anyways… I’m sorry about everything. I hope that you can forgive Rainbow Dash. She’s really not that bad once you get to know her.”

Luna lowered her head and sighed. “I know,” she said softly. “It’s just…”

Fluttershy waited for Luna to finish her sentence, but after a moment of silence, she never did. “It’s just what?”

Luna shook her head. “Nothing,” she muttered.

Fluttershy sighed. Obviously, Celestia had been right about Luna not being ready to talk yet. “Well, alright then,” she said standing up. “If you ever want to talk, just know that I’m always willing to listen, alright?”

“...Alright,” Luna said quietly, not bothering to look up at the pegasus.

Fluttershy gave one last look at the downcast alicorn before turning towards the door with a shake of her head. As quietly as she could, she started to make her way out. Reaching up, she grabbed the doorknob, preparing to undo the lock.

“She’s right you know.”

Fluttershy jumped a bit as Luna suddenly spoke up. She turned around quickly to see Luna still lying on the bed with her head turned away from her.

“Your friend, Rainbow Dash. She was right. I am a monster.”

“No!” Fluttershy shook her head as she spoke. “You’re not a monster! It wasn’t your fault th-”

“But it is my fault,” Luna continued with a monotone voice, but she raised her head and sat up right as she rested her head against her hooves. “Everything that happened to me I deserve, and every hate I receive from ponies is just for them to say.”

Fluttershy’s lips quivered as her eyes were watering from Luna’s words. Why did this happen to you Princess? She scooted closer to Luna and gently placed a hoof over the princess’ shoulder. “Princess, we found out that it wasn’t your fault. You were just controlled by some meany. It wasn’t your fault.”

Luna removed her hooves from her head and looked to Fluttershy’s eyes confused. “How can you ever forgive a pony like me? It’s my fault you nearly entered eternal paradise.” She told Fluttershy, remembering a conversation Celestia had with Twilight not so long ago about Fluttershy’s condition.

“Because it was my fault for not speaking to my friends about it.” Fluttershy smiled softly to Luna. “Back when we saved you and we saw how hurt you were, I thought I was a bad pony for hurting you. I can’t stand to see anypony or any other creature hurt thanks to me.”

The lunar princess backed away slightly from hearing Fluttershy’s words. Luna was flabbergasted by the kind words exiting Fluttershy’s mouth, even after everything that has happened. Luna was sure that she would no doubt side with her friend Rainbow Dash’s accusations. Instead, she did the opposite and came to the aid of a pony who was not worthy of such privileges.

“But still,” Luna insisted. “After everything that I’ve done. I don’t deserve your pity.”

“I told you already. That wasn’t your fault. It was—”

“But it was my fault!” Luna shouted. Fluttershy had never heard Luna raise her voice before and it caused her to stumble back a bit. “It’s my fault because I let the Nightmare into my heart. I was upset and angry and hurt when it came to me. I willingly gave into it and let the darkness take hold of my heart.”

Luna began to shake as she covered her head with her hooves, cowering from the mere thought of it. “I can still hear it’s voice everytime I close my eyes. I can still feel it’s anger and hatred whenever I look at anypony. I can still hear it’s maniacal laughter all around me-- I can—”

She suddenly stopped as Fluttershy grabbed her, pulling her into a tight hug. “It’s alright now Princess,” she said between her tears. “That creature is gone now. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Luna sat in shock for a moment before turning her head away from Fluttershy. “But what if it isn’t? What if it’s only a matter of time before it comes back?” she muttered softly. “I… I don’t want to go back,” she cried, trembling as the tears started flowing anew. “I can’t go back there. Not again. Never again.”

“It’s alright princess,” Fluttershy cooed gently, pulling the princess in just a bit tighter. “We’re all here for you. We’ll make sure that nothing bad happens. Nopony’s going to send you away.”

Luna began shaking a bit more, before throwing her own hooves around Fluttershy and sobbing into her fur. “I don’t want to go back. Please, don’t make me go back. I don’t want to go back.”

As the two sat, with Fluttershy trying to comfort the princess while she cried, neither were aware of the other Alicorn seated outside with her ear pressed firmly against the door.

Celestia pried herself from the door, with her breathing becoming heavier by each second. She felt sick. Sick from how disgusted she felt. How disgusting she was for installing fear and despair in Luna when she should have given her hope and happiness.

She slowly walked towards her own room, with memories of events from a thousand years ago flooding her mind. From the time Luna and her were just fillies, to when she held her close during the night and stargazed with her. Memories of birthdays celebrated, to innocent pranks on each other. More images came from events from Luna crying and pleading to be loved but scoffed off as jealousy, to the night when Nightmare Moon came and to the morning when Celestia lost everything.

When she finally reached her own room, she mouthed off soundlessly as she stood still with her eyes threatening to break free the dam building up from behind. She saw her crown resting on her desk and she grabbed it with her magic, bringing it closer to her. Celestia inspected it as it shined brightly, her own reflection casting from it. The reflection suddenly changed to multiple ponies ranging from Cadance, Blueblood, Twilight and lastly Luna who was crying.

She clenched her teeth in rage and threw the crown to the opposite side of the room, where it clattered on the ground still in one piece. Celestia finally fell to the floor and cried with her head in her hooves. For what seemed like hours to her, she just let it all out.

She finally raised her head, with her eyes burning from the tears and from a new found determination. She narrowed her eyes as she stood up, looking down on the crown before closing her eyes.

“Luna… I promise, I will set things right…”

“Wow…” was all that Sweetie Belle managed to say as the three crusader fillies trotted down the path towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“‘Wow’, is right,” Apple Bloom responded equally as surprised. “I mean, I did not see that coming.”

“I know right,” Scootaloo said triumphantly. Out of the three, she was the only one who didn’t seem to be shocked. “And you two didn’t believe me when I said there was something fishy going on around here.”

“Well, how were we supposed to know that Starry Sky was actually a prin...”

Apple Bloom quickly placed a hoof over Sweetie Belles mouth, shushing her loudly. “Didn’t y’all hear Twilight? We’re not supposed to talk about that!”

“Oh lighten up Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said laughing. “There isn’t anypony else around here right now anyways.”

“Doesn’t matter,” the earth filly insisted. “Twilight told us that for explaining to us what Rainbow Dash was going on about, we had to keep quiet about the whole thing. And that’s just what I plan to do.”

Scootaloo huffed and fell silent. Apple Bloom was right of course. After realizing that the crusaders had been in the room during all of Rainbow’s outburst, Twilight knew that there was no way to get the fillies to stay quiet unless she told them the truth. She did so, but also told them that in order for Luna to fully recover, she needed her identity to remain secret.

The three trotted on in silence for a bit, before Scootaloo finally spoke up with a smirk. “Still, I told you there was a reason she called her Luna.”

Apple Bloom shot her a dirty look, while Sweetie Belle sighed. “Yeah,” the unicorn said. “I still can’t believe it though.”

Scootaloo smiled widely. “I know. We’re actually friends with a princess! I mean, how awesome is that?” She paused for a second. “I wonder if you can get a cutie mark for being friends with a princess…”

“Oh please,” Apple Bloom said rolling her eyes. “What would a cutie mark for that even look like?”

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo retorted sticking out her tongue. “I just know that it would be awesome.”

Apple Bloom sighed. “Why are we talking about this anyways? Twilight told us not to talk about Princess Celestia or her sister Luna to anypony at all. That includes each other, you hear? Now, let’s just forget about it for now, alright.”

Scootaloo was about to argue back, but was stopped by a look and shake of the head from Sweetie Belle. Grumbling, she turned her head back and nodded. “Fine…”

Satisfied, Apple Bloom turned and started back down the path with her two friends following close behind. Scootaloo looked at her with a smirk as they trotted. “It still would be an awesome cutie mark though.”

Apple Bloom paused for a moment before laughing. “Yeah… it probably would be.”

The three fillies all started to laugh as they continued to walk down the path. They were so preoccupied, not one of them noticed the pair of eyes staring at them from behind one of the apple trees in the orchard.

“Her sister Luna, huh?” the shadowy stallion said to himself tapping his hoof against his chin. “Very interesting…”

The Rainbow Conciliatory

Rainbow Dash was not happy. She had no reason to be happy. Thanks to her stupidity, she had not only made enemies with Princess Celestia but also lost all her friends in the process. She sighed as she walked through the busy crowd of the market, not noticing how everypony was staring at her like she wanted somepony to perform euthanasia on her.

Her mane was a complete mess thanks to not taking care of it in over a week. Though she never really looked after her mane, it was never as disheveled as it was now. Her own coat was dirty thanks to not bathing and her eyes were as red as blood itself, thanks a lack of sleep and a rare act of crying.

She was so lost in thought of last week’s event that she didn’t realize she bumped into somepony. “Sorry.” She mumbled before trying to move on, but was stopped by a white hoof belonging to a friend of hers.

“Rainbow Dash! Is that you?”

The same pegasus’ ears perked when she heard who was addressing her, and she looked over her shoulder to see a concerned Rarity looking at her with dilated eyes.

“Rainbow!” She began speaking, turning her friend’s body to face hers. “What happened to you!?”

“It’s nothing, really…” Rainbow trailed off as she tried to sound convincing, but that obviously failed.

Rarity shook her head sharply, narrowing her eyes. “You’re not a very good liar darling,” she said as she started pulling on her friend’s hoof. “Come with me, we are going to the one place that helps any lady…” She looked back at Rainbow’s confused face with a bright smile. “The Spa!”

“Yay…” Rainbow rolled her eyes in annoyance, but she didn’t pull back from her friend’s grasp. She didn’t care.

Meanwhile, three little fillies and a baby dragon were looking at the two mares from a distance. One of the fillies looked absolutely wistful seeing her role-model in such a bad condition.

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash…”

The Ponyville Spa was not extravagant by any means. In fact, compared with even the most basic spas found in Canterlot, it was rather plain. Yet, there was a simple charm to the rustic spa, that gave it a life all its own. The Blossom sisters, Aloe and Lotus, along with their small staff did their best to make the business as pleasant and comfortable as possible. Thanks to their efforts, the spa flourished amongst the residents there.

A few residents in particular were extremely fond of the sister’s spa. None however were quite as enthusiastic about it than the local fashionista Rarity. Both Aloe and Lotus knew her extremely well, as she made a point to come in at least once a week, though in actuality, it was probably closer to two or three times a week. As such, when Rarity came trotting into the spa outside of her regularly scheduled appointment, the two sisters were not in the least bit surprised.

However, the pony that followed her in afterwards was quite a shock. Aloe could probably have counted on all hooves how many times Rainbow Dash had visited the spa. She had made it very well know that she did not consider visiting the spa to be a worthwhile venture. So, when she did actually agree to come in, Aloe and Lotus knew that it was an emergency.

They immediately set to work, preparing the best and most comfortable treatments for the depressed mare. However, nothing that they did seemed to have any sort of effect on her. She sat in silence, listening to Rarity ramble on about something while they sat in the sauna. She didn’t complain as Lotus brushed the knots out of her mane. In fact, she didn’t even complain when Aloe gave her a hooficure. Throughout the entire thing, she simply sat in silence with her eyes down the entire time.

Rarity was not oblivious to this fact. The entire time the pair were being pampered, she kept trying to say things to bring Rainbow out of her shell, but nothing seemed to work. Despite her best efforts, the best that she could get out of her was a couple of grunts and muttered phrases.

Still, Rarity had hoped that something would help Rainbow to relax a bit. Of all the things at the spa, the only thing Rainbow did not completely hate was getting a massage. As such, Rarity kept a close eye on her during the entire time, looking for some change in her friend’s attitude. Unfortunately, not even that was enough to cure Rainbow of her blues.

Rarity sighed. It was clear she was going to have to take a more direct approach to the matter. Giving the signal to the Blossom sisters, the two exited the small room, leaving the two all alone.

“Alright Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said folding her hooves and sitting up straight. “What exactly is the problem?”

Rainbow turned her head away and sighed. “I told you already. It’s nothing.”

“I’m afraid that I don’t believe that dear,” Rarity answered with a smile. “For starters, you somehow managed to get that mess you call a mane even more dirty than normal. Then, you accepted my offer to go to the spa without even trying to argue the point. Why, you even let somepony touch your hooves, and I know how much you hate that. So, please, why don’t you tell me exactly what’s wrong?”

“Fine!” Rainbow flayed her hooves in the air, submitting defeat to the unicorn. “You wanna know what’s wrong?! First I try to protect everypony I love from the enemy but everypony calls me crazy!”

Rarity cocked her eyebrow. “Enemy?”

“Nightmare Moon.” Rainbow replied flatly. “The one you helped defeat not so long ago, with your element. Yet she still around!” Rainbow’s eyes were burning with rage and from tears. “She managed to turn everypony I love against me and I know she’s just biding her time to get strike!”

“Why do you say that?” Rarity asked her friend, listening intently to Rainbow’s reasons for despising Luna.

Rainbow calmed herself down a little before she spoke again. “I read up on some old books my friend Gilda got me from her country,” she explained to Rarity. “Those books told me that ponies and other creatures infected with the Nightmare never got better and they destroyed and killed how many lives in their path.”

“Oh my…”

“Yeah!” Rainbow said, starting to get some of her bravado back with Rarity’s listening ear. “The only way to stop them apparently was to end them permanently!”

Rarity gasped at Rainbow’s words, placing a hoof to her mouth. “You can’t possibly mean—”

“End their lives, banish them, etc.” Rainbow answered Rarity’s question. “I bet you that’s why Princess Celestia did that to Nightmare Moon in the beginning! She couldn’t kill her sister, even when her sister was gone forever!”

“But if we used the elements on her, shouldn’t she be gone now?”

Rainbow furrowed her brow in thought. “That’s just it. I think that the Nightmare knew that it was going to get banished again. So in order to avoid that, it went into remission so that the elements weren’t able to sense it and couldn’t do anything. Then, once the time is right, BAM!” she said smacking her hoof hard against the table for emphasis. “It comes back and attacks us all!”

“I see,” Rarity hummed, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I suppose that does make some sense.”

“Yes! Thank you!” Rainbow exclaimed nearly jumping into the air. “Finally, somepony gets it! No matter who else I’ve told about this, they all insist that I’m overreacting. They just won’t see what’s in front of their own noses. Heck, I even walked in on Nightmare Moon trying to attack the Crusaders, and everypony got mad at me for rescuing them instead!”

“Yes, I did hear about that. I take it that nopony agreed with your reasoning?”

“That’s the understatement of the century…” Rainbow muttered as she rolled her eyes. “They were all convinced that they were just ‘playing’ and I was wrong for trying to stop her. And now… now they won’t even talk to me anymore.”

Rarity paused and looked over to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus had once again lowered her head back down, dejectedly laying it on her crossed hooves.

“May I ask you a question Rainbow?” she said, leaning down as well. “Did you ever ask the crusaders about what happened?”

Rainbow Dash shuffled nervously. “Well, no…” she said sheepishly. “But I saw the looks on their faces. They were afraid, afraid of being attacked by Nightmare Moon.”

Rarity chuckled softly, much to the pegasus’ annoyance. “Well, I did talk to them about the whole ordeal, and Sweetie Belle told me the whole story. Apparently they were playing a game of Tag and Luna was ‘it’ as it were. She said she wasn’t scared of being attack, Rainbow, she was scared of being tagged.”

Rainbow groaned, and turned her head back to the floor. “Perfect. You’re siding with them as well.”

“I’m not taking any sides here Rainbow,” she said softly as she turned to her friend. “I think it’s nice that Sweetie Belle finds Luna to be a kind pony, but I still haven’t really spent time around her to come up with my own consensus on whether she is evil or not.”

“Huh?”

Rarity sighed before answering. “In other words, I haven’t made up my mind about her. Still, I won’t just go against my family or my friends simply because one likes the other or not.”

“Well thanks, I guess…”

“Though I believe it is rather unfair to judge a pony simply because some old books tell you to despise him or her for something they had no say in.”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head nervously. “I guess…”

“Right, I’m sure if you took the time to get to know her better, you might see her as a different pony.”

“I’m not taking my chances, sorry.” Rainbow refused, raising her head from her hooves. “I need to be away from her so that she doesn’t use her influence on me. Like she did with Fluttershy—”

“Fluttershy? What does she have to do with it?” Rarity asked curiously as she raised her own head and saw Rainbow lower her head.

Rainbow sighed as she closed her eyes. “She’s always going to Twilight’s library to spend her time with ‘her’, I don’t know what’s really happening over there when she’s with her alone. She never invites me over to protect her in case something bad happens! It’s like… I don’t even matter anymore…” she trailed off, her own lips quivering.

“Rainbow…” Rarity reached out to Rainbow, but stopped when she saw Rainbow’s eyes leaking liquid. “Have you tried talking to her about this at all?”

“She won’t talk to me anymore, remember?” Rainbow huffed, turning away from Rarity. Her voice began to grow quiet as she tried to fight back her tears.

“Rainbow?”

“I’m scared Rarity.” She finally admitted. “I just… do you remember when we found her in her cottage? I was so worried that she was going to die right then. I don’t know what I would have done if she had.”

“You can’t keep beating yourself up for that Rainbow. None of us saw the signs.”

“But I should have!” Rainbow insisted, clenching her teeth. “You don’t understand. Fluttershy was my first friend; the very first friend that I’d ever had. Before I met her, I was teased nonstop by bullies. Despite her own shyness, she was the only one willing to stand up for me in the end.

“She’s done so much for me and I let her down. I should have been there for her and I failed her.” She drooped her head with a sigh. “And now, she won’t even let me help try to help her anymore.”

“I am sorry Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said with a sigh of her own. “It seems to me that really what you’re the most worried about, is something bad happening to Fluttershy again though, isn’t it?”

Rainbow nodded slowly. “I just don’t want to see her get hurt again.”

“So tell me dear, if Fluttershy was willing to talk with you again, what would you say to her?”

“I don’t know… I guess, I’d tell her that I’m sorry for losing it like that. And I’d also tell her that I’m just trying to look out for her,” Rainbow muttered. “It’s too bad that she won’t listen to me though.”

Rarity smirked. “Oh? I wouldn’t be too certain of that dear.”

Rainbow Dash looked up at Rarity confused. The unicorn simply smiled before looking off in the distance behind Rainbow. She turned around, her confusion quickly replaced by shock as she saw a certain yellow pegasus standing in the spa’s doorway with a light smile.

“Hi Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said meekly. “I hear you have something you want to say to me?”

“Well…” Rainbow started, but her eyes suddenly went wide as realization kicked in. “Wait a minute!” She turned sharply to Rarity. “You planned this?!”

“Hmmm…” Rarity smirked as she shrugged. “Maybe.” She stood up and made her way out of the room, leaving her two friends behind.

Fluttershy walked slowly towards Rainbow and sat down next to her, still wearing her soft smile though her eyes were becoming softer by the moment. “Please Rainbow, tell me what you have to say.”

Rainbow gulped, looking into her friend’s eyes. “Well…” she started speaking before blinking and looking away from Fluttershy for a moment before she spoke again. “I’m sorry for losing my cool like that at the library that day… I just wanted to keep everypony safe and not have them go through what you did… I mean, if only I acted faster, you wouldn’t have suffered like that…” Rainbow looked up to her friend, her lips quivering and her eyes streaking with rivers of tears. “I don’t want to lose you Fluttershy, you’re my best friend in the world. The same with all of our friends too. I—”

What came next silenced Rainbow indefinitely. A pair of hooves encircled her and she was brought into a hug by Fluttershy, who rested her head on her shoulder. Rainbow felt a few droplet of tears on her back and felt Fluttershy nuzzle her as she held onto her.

“Oh Rainbow!” Fluttershy squeaked out as she rubbed her friend’s back. “I forgive you. You’re a great friend too, the best friend I could ever have in my life. Please don’t be mad at yourself!

“And I’m sorry as well Rainbow. I should have thought about how badly I must have scared you as well. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that just for trying to help.”

Rainbow Dash smiled weakly, but wasn’t able to respond before Fluttershy continued. “Still, although I appreciate your concern, I really am fine now. I feel much better now and I really feel like I need to help Princess Luna to get better as well. You need to try and forgive her Rainbow. It wasn’t her fault for what happened to me.”

Rainbow sighed. “I… I can’t do that Fluttershy,” she said turning her head away. “I just can’t trust that she’s completely better right now.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Alright. I understand what you mean. You still want to look out for your friends and I respect that.” Then, grabbing Rainbow’s chin, she pulled her head back around forcing her to look at her. “But can you at least promise me that instead of keeping all this to yourself or lashing out at Luna, that you’ll talk to me about what you're thinking instead?”

After a moment of hesitation, Rainbow nodded. “I… I think I can do that,” she said before quickly adding, “but only if you’ll promise me that you’ll let me keep on eye on you as well, just so that if anything bad happens, I’ll be there to help out.”

Fluttershy smiled warmly. “It’s a deal,” she said pulling Rainbow Dash into a tight hug once again. “Thank you Rainbow,” she said warmly.

Rainbow Dash returned the hug. For the first time in over a week, she smiled warmly as she nuzzled her friend. “Thank you Fluttershy.”

The Amiable Masquerade

“Absolutely not.”

Celestia stood resolutely before the three fillies in the library. Despite her generally kind demeanor, she was currently very serious. She was usually more than willing to listen to different request, but they had come to Celestia asking something that she simply could not entertain.

They wanted to take Luna out on Nightmare Night.

“Awww!” All three fillies of the Cutie Mark Crusaders sighed, sticking out their lower lips and making them quiver. “Why not?!”

Celestia exhaled, closing her eyes. The thought of her sister seeing a holiday dedicated to the banishment of Nightmare Moon would surely traumatized her even more than she was, at least that’s what Celestia thought as she winced when it came to mind. “I just don’t want Luna to be at risk tonight.”

Scootaloo’s brow furrowed a little, though she did not scowl as she did not want to be disrespectful in their request. “But she will be fine with us around!” She motioned to her friends and to Spike behind them.

Celestia couldn’t help but smile a bit from their enthusiasm. Still, she shook her head. “I’m sorry girls, but despite how much you girls have helped Luna in the past, I don’t think that you’ll be able to help out if something bad were to happen.”

“Oh come on,” Sweetie Belle whined. “What bad could possibly happen?”

“Well for starters, do you remember what happened the last time Luna was outside when the moon came out? Most of the Nightmare Night activities take place after sundown. How do you think she’d react when she saw it again?”

Sweetie Belle’s ears drooped as she realized that the princess raised a good point. However, she was cut off by Scootaloo before she could agree. “Oh, the moon won’t be a problem!” the young pegasus exclaimed. “I was talking to Rainbow Dash and she told me that she’s planning to make the entire town covered in clouds all day! Something about making it even more spooky and good for pranks.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle brightened, quickly joining in. “If there’s a lot of clouds, then Luna won’t be able to see the moon and it won’t be a problem anymore.”

Celestia’s brow furrowed at the persistence of the fillies before her. “If only that were the only issue to address,” she sighed as she closed her eyes.

Apple Bloom scrunched her lips before answering. “What ya mean the ‘only issue’?” She asked curiously.

“While Luna is speaking more often and opening up to others, I can’t help but fear that with so many ponies around her at the same time it would overwhelmed her greatly.” Celestia explained to Apple Bloom, hoping that her point would suffice.

The fillies looked to each other shaking their heads. “But Princess, we’re going out Trick or Treatin’.” Apple Bloom explained. “There ain’t tha’ many ponies around when we do tha’.”

“Yes, but—”

“And when we done, we can just take Luna back to the library or even to where ma sis’ at.” Apple Bloom interrupted Celestia before she could finish. “Ma big sis’ runnin’ the games at the town center. She and the others can look out fer Luna when we done.”

Celestia regarded Apple Bloom’s words, biting her lower lip and tapping her chin with her hoof. If Luna was looked after by the Elements of Harmony, maybe… maybe it might just work… but—

Her thoughts were cut off when she felt a nudge at her side and she saw Luna standing next to her. “I want to go sister.” Luna said to Celestia, showing determination in her eyes to her elder sister.

Celestia was silenced by Luna’s words, though more so by the expression Luna addressed herself in. How long has it been since I saw those eyes of yours Lulu? She asked herself, before closing her eyes and sighing.

“Alright.”

The fillies cheered and started jumping around the princesses in joy chanting “Yes!” multiple times. Celestia couldn’t help but smile a bit from their enthusiasm. “However,” she said, causing the three to freeze, “only as long as I or somepony else older goes with her as well.”

The three quickly nodded and let out another cheer, jumping around again. They continued that for a bit before coming to a halt before Luna and inspecting her thoroughly. “We need to get you a costume for tonight!”

“C-costume?” Luna repeated the word, looking down on herself and cocking her brow. “Am I not already in costume?”

“Pfft!” Spike rolled his eyes and came before Luna. “Nah, for tonight, we need to get you a cool costume. Something that will look awesome on you.”

Sweetie Belle nodded her head vigorously as she was beaming. “Right, we already got our costumes sorted—”

“Which I think is not awesome material,” Scootaloo grumbled, but was ignored as Sweetie continued speaking.

“Maybe you could get a costume like one of ours? I’m sure that Rarity wouldn’t mind helping us with another one.”

“I wouldn’t mind helping you with another one of what?”

The library door opened, as Rarity came walking in with a curious expression. Behind her trotted in Twilight and Fluttershy, both with equally as curious looks on their faces.

Sweetie Belle quickly ran over to her older sister and shot her a bright smile. “We were hoping that you could help us to make Luna a costume just like ours!”

Rarity froze in place. “You… I mean…” Her eyes narrowed as they jumped back and forth between the fillies and visions of ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Costume Makers’ floated through her mind. “Oh dear me,” she said suddenly looking up at the clock with a nervous chuckle. “Is that the time? I dreadfully late for… something very important. Excuse me.” Without another word, she turned and ran out of the library as quickly as her legs would carry her.

Sweetie Belle just sat and blinked at the space where her sister had been standing only a second earlier. Turning around, she shrugged. “Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to ask her again later.”

Twilight just chuckled to herself lightly at the young unicorn’s response. “I’m sure she’d appreciate that,” she said as she gave the crusaders a curious look. “Though to be honest, I don’t think that Luna needs a costume if she’s just going to be staying at the library for night.”

“Oh she’s not staying at the library,” Apple Bloom quickly interrupted. “She’s coming trick or treating with us!”

The expression on Twilight’s face quickly turned from confusion to horror as she looked up to Princess Celestia. “Um… Princess?”

“Relax Twilight,” the alicorn answered dismissing her with a wave of her hoof. “They’ve already managed to convince me that it’ll be alright.”

Twilight looked back and forth around the room. “Are you sure? I mean, we’re talking about Nightmare Night after all.” Her gaze paused for a moment as she looked at Luna’s look of curiosity. “Do you really think that would be wise?”

Celestia sighed and turned back to her younger sister. “Are you really sure that you want to go Luna? It’s going to be late and there’s going to be a lot of ponies out and about. I think it might be better if we wait a while until you—”

“No,” Luna said firmly, cutting off Celestia mid-sentence. “I… I want to go. I want to see what this ‘Nightmare Night’ is all about.”

That’s what worries me, Celestia thought to herself. With another sigh she shrugged before turning back to Twilight. “Then I suppose that settles the matter. If Luna wishes to attend the festivities, then she should be allowed to.”

The crusaders let out another collective cheer, while Twilight scratched the back of her head. “Well… If you say it’s alright… Though, I guess we will have to get Rarity to make you a costume then.”

“Actually,” a timid voice suddenly spoke up. The others all turned and looked at Fluttershy, who had remained silent in to the back up until now. She shot them all a bright smile. “I think I might have a better idea.”

“Trick or Treat!”

Three fillies, four mares and one baby dragon in disguise stood before the doorway of one Ponyville resident’s house. The pony who answered the door was a cream coloured mare with a mane in different shades of red, accompanied with a single rose on her flank.

“Happy Nightmare Night to you all.” She greeted each of her Trick or Treaters and reached out for a bag, depositing an assortment of sweets into each of their carrying bags. She looked to each pony and dragon before her, admiring their costumes.

The tallest one was dressed with an eerie black tuxedo, with featherless wings and no mane on her head. From the cutie mark, that was a circle with an ‘X’ in it, Roseluck could tell that this was Slendermane. Scary

The fillies were each dressed as princess with each one with an identical tiara on their heads, though the colours varied from each other. Blue for the little pegasus, red for the unicorn and yellow for the earth pony. Each one of them smiled and thanked Roseluck, though the little pegasus seemed to be grumbling something under her breath. How cute.

The dragon in the group wore a piece of armor and was carrying a sword with him. From the looks of things, he was the princesses’ knight in shining armour. Charming.

There were two additional ponies hiding near the back, behind Slendermane. Roseluck started to walk around to get a better look at them, but was suddenly stopped as a large green something hopped out in front of her.

“Trick or -ribbit- Treat!” The bright pony in the large green frog costume said loudly. Quick as a flash, she stuck out her hoof reaching for the candy bowl. The bright pink color of her fur made it almost appear as though it was a tongue shooting out and grabbing several pieces of candy. However, before it could retract with the goods, Roseluck quickly slapped the hoof, making it freeze and drop the sweets.

“Pinkie Pie,” Roseluck said sternly, “What have I told you before? This candy is for all the children, and not just for you.”

Pinkie pulled back her hoof, shaking it lightly with a pout on her face. “But Rosey,” she whined, “this is the first house that we’ve come Trick or Treating at. That makes it an extra special house tonight. And since this is candy we’re talking about, that makes it super duper special!”

Roseluck rolled her eyes before reaching into the bowl and pulling out a single piece. “You can have one Pinkie, just like everypony else. Now don’t complain or I won’t let you have even that alright.”

Pinkie nodded quickly, watching with great interest as Roseluck carefully dropped it into her bag. No sooner had it disappeared, Pinkie jumped up and pointed over towards the next house. “Alright team, there’s no time to waste. To the next house!” she exclaimed, before turning and (rather appropriately) hopping off down the path.

As the three fillies and dragon ran off after her, Roseluck waved them goodbye with a laugh. She expected the other three mares to turn and follow them out as well, but surprisingly, they didn’t. Instead, the two still hiding in the back seemed to be talking about something in hushed tones. Roseluck thought about speaking up, but was unable to as the pair finally made their ways forward.

“Hello Roseluck,” Fluttershy said sheepishly as she stepped forward. She was dressed in a sparkling outfit, which looked like a pale light dress. On either side of her were two large faux wings, that seemed to glow a light pink. On top of her head was what looked like a tiara, with two large antenna like objects coming off it.

“Fluttershy!” Roseluck exclaimed. “I’m a little bit surprised to see you out and about tonight, and in costume nonetheless. That butterfly is absolutely beautiful.”

“Oh thank you,” the pegasus said with a light blush. “I made it myself.”

“I can tell, it’s absolutely stunning,” she responded taking another quick look at the costume. Then, with a shake of her head, she added, “Now dear, what can I do for you tonight?”

Fluttershy smiled before stepping aside. “I’d like you to meet a couple of good friends of mine. This is Cherry Blossom,” she said pointing towards Slendermane who nodded in response.

“Pleased to meet you,” the disguised mare said, her voice slightly distorted from the costume.

Roseluck returned the greeting before turning towards the mare still hiding in the background. “And, who might you be?”

However, the mare in the background didn’t have a chance to answer before Cherry spoke up instead. “This is my younger sister, Starry Sky.” Turning back, she gently nudged her, pushing her forward. “Now don’t be shy Starry. Say hello.”

The other mare stepped out of the shadows. She was a dark blue unicorn that Roseluck had never met before. Like Fluttershy, she was dressed in almost the exact same elegant costume, though her own wings were a light blue instead. She looked at Roseluck sheepishly. “Hello,” she muttered softly before lifting up her a bag of her own. “Um… Trick or Treat.”

Roseluck gave her an odd look. Outside of Pinkie Pie, it wasn’t exactly common to see a full-grown mare out trick or treating on her own. She turned to Fluttershy inquisitively, who simply gave her a warm smile. “This is Starry’s first time seeing a Nightmare Night celebration,” she explained. “She wanted to see what everything was about for herself.”

Satisfied, Roseluck dismissed her reservations with a shrug. She lifted another piece of candy before carefully placing it in the mare’s sack. “So, first time out Trick or Treating huh? That’s a bit surprising if you don’t mind my saying so.”

Once again, it was Cherry who spoke up instead. “We’ve been away from Equestria for a very long time now. Because of that, she hasn’t really had the chance to celebrate Nightmare Night before.”

Roseluck gave Cherry an odd look before turning back to the nearly silent mare. “Well, I’m really glad to hear that you decided to come and visit us during that time. It’s a pleasure to meet you Starry. My name is Roseluck and I help run the local flower shop in town. I haven’t seen you around before now. Did you just get into town?”

Again, it was Cherry who tried to respond. “We’ve been here for a little bit already. We’re here visiting Twilight Sparkle and—”

“Excuse me,” Roseluck finally spoke up, the annoyance evident in her voice silencing the disguised Slendermane. “I asked your sister the question. Not you.”

Turning back to Starry, her expression loosened back to it’s previous friendliness. “So you’re staying with Twilight, the new librarian? Are you related to her?”

Starry shuffled her hooves in silence for a moment. She turned back to look at Cherry, who simply shrugged and (thankfully) didn’t respond. Not finding any help there, she turned to Fluttershy who gave her an encouraging smile. Without any assistance, she turned back before nervously nodding. “Yes…” she said softly. “We’re her… um… cousins.”

“Oh that’s nice,” Roseluck responded cheerfully. “And how long are you going to be in town then?”

“Oh, well… I’m not really sure to be honest. We’re just visiting for a little while. I don’t know when we’re planning on heading back.”

“Well, if you’re going to be around for awhile, you should stop by my shop sometime. I’d love to give you a tour of Ponyville and show you around if you’d like.”

“Oh,” Starry said a bit surprised. “I couldn’t impose on you like that.”

“It wouldn’t be any trouble at all,” Roseluck said waving off her concerns. “One thing that we pride ourselves on around here is trying to make sure that every pony feels as welcome as can be. In fact, I’m a little surprised that Pinkie Pie hasn’t thrown you a party yet, seeing as how you seem to already have met her.”

“I would have, but they won’t let me!” the pony in question called out from beyond the fence. “Now hurry up you three! There’s still a lot of candy left to collect!”

Roseluck chuckled slightly. “I take it that the rest of your party is starting to get impatient. There’s still a lot of other activities you should look into tonight. But please, if you’re going to stick around a couple of days, don’t be a stranger alright? At the very least stop by and I’ll treat you to lunch sometime.”

“Um… are you sure about that? I don’t want to cause you any trouble and—”

“I’m certain,” Roseluck said cutting her off. “After all that’s what friends do.”

Starry paused for a second, before nodded graciously. She said a quick ‘thank you’ again, before the group said their goodbyes and headed off in their separate directions. As she, walked off into the darkness, the disguised Luna turned back towards the shut door and gave a small smile.

As the group finally reached the town center, Luna was in awe at how many ponies there were gathered. All ponies were disguised in either scary outfits or in the most ludicrous disguises they could think of. What pleased her immensely was the fact that so many ponies were enjoying an event during the night, something that she thought was not allowed in any lifetime.

When the group reached their destination, the foals took their candy and departed from the adults. “Guess this is where we leave you be?” Celestia said, shivering slightly from the cold. The bald spell she had cast made her costume especially frightening, but it certainly left a lot to be desired for comfort.

“Yeah,” Spike shrugged, looking over his shoulder to see his friends already heading off to the other foals. “We’ll catch you later.”

As Spike and the fillies went on to where the other foals were, Luna gazed at the wide variety of events taking place all around her. “What do we do now?” she asked eager to continue this evening that was already proving to be fun and exciting for her.

“Um… I’m not really sure,” Fluttershy said hesitantly. Normally she would be too frightened to actually come out on Nightmare Night, but since this was for Luna she simply couldn’t refuse.

Almost immediately, she spotted a familiar looking cart with a variety of apple related treats. “Maybe we could grab a quick bite and say hello to Applejack,” she offered softly.

Celestia smiled, though it was impossible to tell from her costume. “Yes, I am feeling a little bit peckish. That sounds like a wonderful idea Fluttershy.”

With a smile of her own, Fluttershy led the group across the town square to the small apple cart. All along the front were basics full of bright, delicious looking apples. On top were several golden brown pies, still steaming as though they had just come from the oven and leaving Celestia’s mouth watering. To the side were some large barrels containing some of the year’s last remaining, world famous, Apple Family Cider. Behind the stand was another Bearer of the Elements, Applejack. What she had on was also a tuxedo but her face was painted white and her the area around her eyes were covered in black to give it a skeletal look.

“Welcome folks! I’m Applejack! Queen of the Pumpkin Patch!” She smiled broadly, revealing rotten teeth in place of her clean white ones and a cackling laughter coming from her mouth. When she took notice of how was standing before her, she shook her head lightly chuckling. “Hey gals, nice to see you all out here.”

“Ooooh!” Pinkie inspected Applejack costume carefully, emitting a ‘ribbit’ as she jumped around the orange mare. “Neat! How’d you get your teeth so dirty?” She asked as she opened Applejack’s mouth wide, before being swatted away by the farmer.

“It’s a trick Ah learned from Granny Smith.” She said proudly, remembering how Granny Smith would always scare the jeepers out of foals who came trick or treating at the acres every year. “By the way, good costumes you have on.” She looked at each of their costumes, spotting Luna’s butterfly one. Before Applejack said another word, she shut her mouth sharply before reforming the words in her mind. “Ye a butterfly tonight Starry?”

Luna nodded with a broad smile, lifting her wings up to flap slightly. Thankfully, the butterfly wings were a unicorn trick employed by Twilight. “Why yes thanks, Fluttershy and I are a pair.” When she said the latter’s name, she looked around to find that her friend was missing. “Where is she?”

An ‘eep’ escaped from behind Celestia and they turned around to see Fluttershy hiding away from Applejack. The latter merely rolled her eyes before giggling. “It’s alright Fluttershy, Ah ain’t gonna bite.”

Fluttershy regain her composure but didn’t look Applejack in the eye. “It’s just… your costume is so… scary.” She muttered softly as she as ever.

Celestia cocked her brow in confusion to Fluttershy’s confession. “And what of mine, Fluttershy? Isn’t mine the scariest one of all?

“Ah admit Blossom, that is one good costume.” Applejack complimented the princess by her disguised name. With a chuckle, she turned her attention to the treats in front of her. “Now, what can I do y’all for? Perhaps you’d like a slice of pie? Or maybe one of Granny’s amazing Apple Fritters?”

“I’ll take the pie please!” Celestia quickly answered. She blushed only slightly after realizing just how loud she had been as well.

Applejack laughed. “That’s one slice of pie coming right up for Slendermane. And what about you Starry? What would you like tonight?”

“Oh, um… I don’t know. What would you recommend?”

“Well, shoot. Wha' wouldn’t Ah recommend? Everything here is guaranteed delicious and to put a smile on yer face. Still, if yer looking for something simple, ye can’t go wrong with a plain old, red ripe apple. Best apples in all of Equestria, if Ah do say so myself.”

Luna grinned. “Alright, I’ll take an apple then.”

“One perfectly ripe apple coming right up for the blue butterfly,” Applejack responded grabbing one and tossing it over. “Perfect for a cool night or even for bobbin’ if it suits yer fancy.”

Luna caught the apple with her magic, but gave Applejack a confused look in return. “‘Bobbing’? What is this ‘Bobbing’ you speak of?”

Applejack looked as though she’d just been hit by a train. “Land sakes, you mean to tell me y’all haven’t been bobbin’ for apples yet?” Shaking her head with a tsk she said, “Well we’re just going to have to take care of that right now I think.”

Turning to the side, she yelled out to a stallion standing nearby. “Hey, Caramel! Get over here, will ya?”

Caramel came up to Applejack, wearing a scarecrow outfit for tonight. “What do you need Applejack?”

“Watch over the stall fer me. Ah gotta show a friend how to bob them apples.” Applejack instructed him, adjusting her suit and walking off with the group before Caramel could respond.

With a sigh, Caramel stood behind the stall putting on the biggest smile he could muster. When one stallion came up to the stall, he nodded to the stallion with his eyes closed. “Happy Nightmare Night! How can I help you?”

The stallion, another earth pony who had brown hair and a red coat, merely leaned into Caramel’s ear. “Everything is set.”

Caramel’s smile slowly dissolved, and he smirked as his eyes squinted in the direction Applejack and the others had left. “Good…”

The Foreboding Nocturne

The Foreboding Nocturne

Twilight huffed as she made her way to the center of Town Square. She was more than happy when she finally ran out of candy for the evening, no longer having to deal with trick or treaters for one evening. “Homeless bum,” she muttered to nopony in particular. “What do they teach foals in school these days?”

She continued grumbling as she looked around the square. She scanned the edges, the quietest areas in particular, but was a bit surprised to not find the party she was looking for. Eventually, she turned her gaze inward, progressing to the more crowded areas. It was here, that she finally caught a glimpse of the tall, pale Slendermane costume that she was looking for.

Carefully, she made her way across the square. Easier said then done. All around the area where Celestia and the others were, a large crowd had seemed to have gathered. Her thoughts immediately turned dark, dreading what sort of horror had happened to Luna that would draw the attention of almost the entire town. She quickly started squeezing her way towards the front, bracing herself for the absolute worst.

As she broke through the sea of ponies, she got her first good glimpse of what was so interesting. There, in the very center of everyone was Luna, still in her unicorn disguise and butterfly costume, with her head submerged in a large tub of water. Twilight started to panic and rush forward to help her, but stopped as Luna’s head suddenly shot up, flinging water up and into the crowd in front of her. In her mouth, she carried a large, bright red apple. The entire group cheered as she spat it to the side with a large grin before promptly throwing her head back into the bucket and splashing water up once again.

Twilight couldn’t quite wrap her head around what exactly was happening at the moment. So, instead of reacting to the first couple of pokes to her side, she sat completely stunned. It wasn’t until the fourth and hardest poke, that she finally managed to break out of it and look up to the empty face of Slendermane looking back at her.

“There you are Twilight, I was starting to wonder when you’d show up. Are you alright?”

It took another couple of seconds to process who was talking to her, but once it did, it was more than enough to pull her out of her stupor. “Princ— I mean, Cherry Blossom. Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Celestia smiled softly at Twilight, giggling a little as she placed a hoof to her mouth. “It’s alright Twilight, I see you have a costume too. Clover the Clever I presume?”

“Thank you!” Twilight replied in joy, beaming at the Slendermane mare. “Finally! Somepony who finally gets my costume.”

“Oh?” Celestia tilted her head in confusion. “What did they take you for?”

“A homeless bum.”

Celestia snorted before laughing out loud, stomping her hooves to the ground. She calmed down when she saw Twilight’s furrowed brow and cleared her throat again before speaking. “My apologies…” she trailed off, but chuckled a little more.

Twilight simply rolled her eyes before her gaze fell upon Luna. “I take it everything is going well with ‘Starry’?” She asked Celestia, seeing Luna bobbin more apples out of the bucket.

“Oh yes,” Celestia nodded her head and looked back at her sister. “To be fair, she was nervous with the crowd gathering. But with them cheering instead of jeering, she become a bit more…” she trailed off again, hearing Luna’s mane splashing more water at the ponies. “Enthusiastic.”

Luna, not hearing her sister or Twilight speaking, continued her activity in merriment as she dunked her head back into the water to grab more apples. When she finally resurfaced, she had about three apples in her mouth that she soon spat out. The crowd keep cheering for her even louder. She felt a tingling in her stomach and heart that she thought was long since dead, and she started laughing in joy. She continued laughing so much, that tears started flowing out of her eyes. Luckily, they were disguised with the water droplets stuck on her head so nopony could see her releasing the tears.

“Huzzah! The fun has been doubled!”

When Celestia heard that, she started laughing for her sister. She too was now overjoyed, seeing her sister finally having the fun she so rightfully deserved.

“She sure seems to be enjoying herself,” Twilight commented. “Did the rest of the evening go this well?”

Celestia nodded. “She was really nervous for the first couple of houses, but she seemed to get into the spirit of things really quickly.” She smiled as she thought back on the night, as Luna eventually started racing the other children to be the first one to reach the door. “The ponies of this town really are quite kind I must admit. I will have to remember to commemorate them once I return to Canterlot for this.”

“Oh…” Twilight sad with just a hint of disappointment in her voice. After all this time, she had all but forgotten that Celestia and Luna were only staying here temporarily. “I guess that with Luna on the mend, we’ll probably be heading back soon, won’t we?”

“Well, not too soon I’m afraid. I think that there’s still a bit more time before she’s ready to regain her previous life again,” the princess said with a sigh. “Still, I must admit that I am starting to miss Canterlot.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” Twilight mumbled to herself. Although a part of her still did miss her library that she had left behind, she was surprised how much she dreaded the thought of going back. “Well, I suppose that it’s for the best if we just—”

“BOO!!!”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed as her vision was suddenly filled with dozens of slimy, slithering snakes. Each was a different color, and twisted together in a large knot. Right in the center a massive pale blue one looked hungrily at her with slitted eyes and sharp fangs. She screamed out, trying desperately to escape as the swarm moved in for the kill.

Then, she stopped suddenly as the snakes pulled away from her and began laughing hysterically. “Haha! You should have seen the look on your face Twilight! Priceless!”

Calming down, though still not dropping her guard, Twilight looked over as Rainbow Dash couldn’t contain herself and fell to the floor laughing. The snakes, which under closer examination were made of rubber and attached to her mane wiggled back and forth as the pegasus rolled across the floor. The particularly terrifying snake in the middle? That was nothing more than a clever disguise spell Rainbow had gotten somepony to perform on her eyes and a set of fake fangs.

Twilight groaned as she picked herself back up with a bit of help from Celestia who was trying her best not to giggle as well. Carefully, she brushed herself off, making sure that her costume hadn’t been damaged before turning to the still chuckling mare.

“That wasn’t very nice Rainbow Dash,” she grumbled. “You know that I don’t like snakes!”

“Oh lighten up Twilight,” the pegasus said pulling herself back up as well. “It’s Nightmare Night! The best night of all for pranks.”

“I thought that you promised Fluttershy you were going to take it easy this year and not do any pranks in case Starry thought something bad was going on.”

“Yeah, I did,” Rainbow said with a roll of her eyes. “But c’mon. You were just standing there not paying attention, and I was dressed up as Medusa. It was the perfect setup! What did you expect me to do?”

Twilight sighed. “Well, it still wasn’t very nice. You’re costume is just a bit too believable.” She shuddered looking at the plastic snakes in her mane once again.

“Thanks,” Rainbow said with a large grin. “And your hobo costume isn’t half-bad either.”

“It’s Clover the Clever, dang it!” Twilight respond a bit too loudly. She glanced around sheepishly at the number of looks everypony was shooting at her and the awkward silence that filled the area. She sighed and shook her head. “You know what, just forget it. I’m a hobo. Are you happy now?”

Rainbow chuckled nervously. “Right. If you say so. If you don’t mind I’m just gonna head over that way for a bit.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned and quickly made her way into the air and over the crowd of ponies. Things had gotten better between her and her friends in the past couple of weeks, but she still wasn’t willing to see what might have happened had she pressed the issue.

Besides that, she’d heard a rumor going around that there was an entire barrel of Apple Family Cider just waiting for her. She had to hurry to make sure to get some, before Pinkie Pie found out and somehow managed to claim all of it. Again.

It only took her a moment to reach the apple stand, and unfortunately it seemed that a few others had heard about the cider as well. There was a small line that had formed in the front, though hopefully not long enough to prevent her from getting a cup. Still, that meant that she would have regardless. She hated waiting.

With a huff, she folded her wings in and gently took her place at the back. With nothing better to do, she started looking around at the variety of costumes ponies had managed to come up with. There were the basic ones of course, ghosts, skeletons, and other ghouls. There were a couple of ponies dressed as zombies, a couple which were pretty terrifying. Lyra had once again dressed as one of those weird mythical bipedal creatures she was always talking about. And Derpy was flying overhead, either dressed as a mummy or having lost a fight with a roll of toilet paper.

Rainbow’s eyes stopped on a particular pair of unicorns walking past. There were always a couple of ponies who didn’t dress up for the holiday, and these two were no exception. Beyond that though, she wasn’t sure that she recognized them from anywhere. That also wasn’t really a big deal since ponies always came to visit during holidays, but something was off about them. Their heads were close together and they seemed to be whispering about something.

Her curiosity got the better of her. Leaving her spot in line, she snuck over to get a quick listen into what they were talking about. Weaving her way towards them while doing her best to not get noticed, she finally managed to get close enough.

“—the feathers? Are you sure they are ready?”

“I’m sure. Got them set up just—”

That was all she managed to catch. Too soon, the pair wandered into the middle of the largest part of the celebration and their voices were cut out by the sound of the crowd. Still it was more than enough to peak Rainbow’s interest.

“Sounds like somepony is planning a prank,” she muttered to herself, “and a big one at that.” She rubbed her hooves together and chuckled. Pranking was her thing. Oh, how she wanted to be able to help them out. From the brief sound of it, she could already imagine how epic it was going to be.

Then, she paused, a twinge of guilt running through her. She had promised that she wouldn’t cause any pranks tonight, and that included helping out others with there’s. With a sigh, she turned back and started to float away. They would have to enjoy their fun without her she supposed. Still, as she took her place back near the end of the line, she couldn’t help but wonder just how awesome it was going to be.

Luna was now busy with another game that she was beginning to enjoy just as much as Apple Bobbin’: Doughnuts on Strings. She along with others were all busy trying to consume the most doughnuts in the time limit they had.

“And time’s up!” Mrs Cake shouted out, she herself being disguised as the Muffin Mare. Luna stopped when she was on her tenth doughnut, which she knew wasn’t a grand number in the competition. When the winner was announced, it was a mare named Derpy Hooves who had aced the competition with a whopping fifty five doughnuts eaten.

Luna only chuckled as she was both confused and boggled by how the mare was able to eat so many doughnuts in roughly two minutes. When the short term celebration ended, Luna walked back to Celestia wearing a happy smile.

“I see you are having the time of your life, Starry.” Celestia told her sister, using the disguise name.

“Indeed.” She suddenly heard numerous hoofsteps coming from behind and she saw foals and a baby dragon coming towards them.

“Hey guys,” Spike brightly as he and the three fillies of his group walked up to where Luna and Celestia were. “What did we miss?”

“Not much,” Twilight responded as she trotted over and ruffled a hoof through Spike’s spines. “And how has your evening gone?”

“Not too bad,” he said, holding up his bag full of loot that he’d gathered during the night. “Got lots of candy. It’s gonna take a month for us to be able to eat all of this.”

“Yeah, and everypony really liked our costumes as well,” Sweetie Belle added twirling around in her princess dress.

Only Scootaloo didn’t share that enthusiasm. “I still think we should have done something cooler. Even if we’d been homeless ponies like Twilight, that would have been more cool.”

Twilight could feel her frustration building up again, but managed to bite her tongue. “Yes well, maybe next year.” Turning back to Spike, she asked, “So, tell me. What do the four of you have planned for the rest of the evening?”

“Oh, well we were just on our way to go and give our candy offering.”

“Yeah! And also listen to Zecora tell us the legend of Nightmare Moon!”

Celestia silently gasped as she quickly turned to Luna. Her sister had frozen in place, her eyes growing narrow. Slowly she turned to face the three fillies. “...What did you say?”

Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle seemed to recognize the sudden change of attitude and didn’t answer. However, Scootaloo was seemingly oblivious to the situation. “We’re going to hear the legend of Nightmare Moon. They do this every year. They tell us the story and then we offer some of our candy to keep her from coming and gobbling us up.”

“...Gobbling you up?”

“Yeah. If you don’t give her some of your candy, then she comes after you in the middle of the night, waits for just the right moment, and then—”

“That’s quite enough of that,” Celestia suddenly spoke up moving in between Luna and Scootaloo. As the young filly looked up at the disguised alicorn, her head slouched from the stern gaze she was being given.

“Oh well…” the pegasus stuttered. “I didn’t mean anything. We just wanted to know if Starry wanted to—”

“Starry is staying right here,” Celestia insisted, stomping her hoof for extra emphasis. “She is in no condition to listen to childish stories to try and scare—”

“I’d love to.”

Celestia paused. Slowly she turned back to her younger sister. Luna was facing the crusaders, though there was no readable expression on her face. “I’d love to go with you,” she repeated again stepping forward.

“Luna,” Celestia said in a hushed voice. “I don’t think that this is a good idea. You don’t need to hear these—”

“I said that I’m going Celestia.” Luna looked into her older sister’s eyes with determination. “I want to do this. I… I have to do this.”

Under Luna’s firm glare, Celestia could feel her resolve melt. With a sigh of defeat she nodded. “Alright.”

Luna turned back to the crusaders, all still very confused about what was taking place. “You said that you were going to hear the Legend of Nightmare Moon? Can you please guide me there?”

After hesitating a moment, the three nodded. “It’s just over by the edge of the forest. There’s a statue they put up for the holiday.”

Luna nodded once. “Lead on.”

The walk up to the statue was nerve-racking to someponies, whilst others were oblivious to the tension in the air. One of these ponies in particular was Luna. All logic in her mind begged her not to venture further, yet in her heart she knew that she had to face what lay in store for her.

Luna was surprised by the amount of ponies that were all gathered in the group. In the very front, all the foals were gathered, eagerly discussing their hauls for the evening and each others costumes. Behind them, were the older ponies talking with one another. Nearly all the town was there it seemed. She squinted her eyes, seeing if Roseluck was in the group too.

“Hey Starry.”

Hearing her false name being called out to from behind, Luna turned and sighed in relief when she saw her new friend Roseluck greeting her. What she was wearing was a simply red hood and a basket filled with apples.

“Hi,” Luna said with a nervous smile. “What are you disguised as?”

“Little Red Riding Hood.” Roseluck pointed out as though it were obvious. She then giggled at Starry’s confused face. “It’s an old foal’s tale. I’m surprised you don’t know that.”

Starry simply shrugged, feeling a little better. “Well to be honest I—”

“She hasn’t really been into those kind of stories.” Celestia, in the guise of Blossom, chimed in for Starry with a cheery smile of her own. The smile faded when Roseluck looked at her like a trespasser.

“With all due respect Blossom, can you please let your sister speak on her own?” Roseluck insisted, albeit a bit harshly on the disguised Princess.

Twilight had to bite down on her leg to not immediately jump in and diffuse the situation. She was starting to sweat profoundly with her teeth gnawing at her at her leg as she stood frozen in place.

Surprisingly though, Luna smiled more and felt even more relieved with Roseluck’s spoken words. “Well, what I was saying is that I prefer stories such as the Little Seapony to be honest.”

“Oh!” Roseluck perked up and beamed. “For a foal story, that is quite a romantic one. Anyway, how are you enjoying tonight though Starry?”

As Roseluck and Luna continued talking and walking onwards, Celestia was frozen in place with a myriad of thoughts running through her brain at the same time. Nopony had ever spoken like that to her before, nopony at all. She remembered then, she wasn’t Princess of Equestria right there now. She was just another pony, a pony with her little sister who she was helping out.

Helping out how exactly?

“So,” Roseluck said pulling Luna aside. “You said that this is your very first Nightmare Night, right?” Luna nodded. “Well, in that case, I think that you should have the best seat in the house.”

Grabbing Luna’s hoof, Roseluck began pulling Luna through the crowd of ponies and towards the front of the crowd. For a moment, Luna tried to pull back, to stay with Celestia and the others she was more comfortable with. However, she found herself unable to do so, as she got caught up in Roseluck’s enthusiasm.

That enthusiasm quickly faded however as they broke through the crowd and she came face to face with her worst nightmare. There, in front of everypony was a massive statue of Nightmare Moon. It stood tall and menacing, glaring down at those below with cold, stone eyes. Her large fangs were bared as she prepared to feast on the souls of those down below.

Luna immediately began shaking, her eyes frozen on the horrific sight as her hooves began slipping as she desperately tried to back up. She didn’t get far however, before she felt a comforting hoof across her shoulder.

“Are you alright?” Roseluck asked worryingly.

“I… I…” Luna stuttered,unable to form her words and still not able to pull her eyes from the statue.

“Hey, listen to me. You’re alright. It’s just a statue, it’s not going to hurt you.”

Luna finally managed to pull her eyes away from the statue and look at Roseluck. Her new friend was looking at her with a mix of concern and support. Slowly, she stopped shaking.

“Th… thank you,” she said through heavy breaths and shaking her head to try and get rid of the images floating through there. “I’m alright now.”

Though, Roseluck wasn’t quite convinced. “Are you sure? We can go back to the back of the crowd if it’d make you feel better. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s alright,” Luna said looking up at the statue again. Once again, it sent a cold shiver through her spine, though she managed to keep from panicking. “Just a bad memory is all.”

Just as Luna said those words, smoke started crawling at the ponies’ hooves with Zecora at the front of them all. She gave of a smirk, her hair filled with spiders and she was wearing a robe as she began to speak.

“Follow me and very soon you’ll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon.” Zecora began speaking in a calm yet eerie voice. The mere name of the monster made Luna’s hair stand on end.

“Listen close, my little dears, I’ll tell you where you got your fears of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary.” She then raised a hoof that held some dust in it. She blew the dust in the air, where it started forming. The final product was that of a pony, the very same Nightmare moon that hovered threatenly over all the spectators. “Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary.”

Every pony gasped, yet Luna was speechless. Her legs started to buckle and her jaw was agape as though she were about to scream.

“Starry?” Roseluck whispered, becoming very worried over her friend’s condition.

“Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes.” Zecora continued to tell the tale, with foals starting to scream as the image of Nightmare Moon started to fly towards them. Zecora was oblivious to Luna’s growing eyes and her jaw being clenched as her mouth quivered.

Celestia, being all the way in the back, tried to make her way through the crowd of ponies to find Luna. This is bad!

“But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!”

Pinkie screamed, jumping high in the air before lowered forcefully by Twilight and silenced with a withering glare. “What?”

“Pinkie!”

Luna was speechless as the image continued to taunt others. Cannibalism… did my sister write her like that? Write me like that?

Zecora was at the peak of the tale, as the Nightmare Moon she controlled with her magic began to soar. “Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe for another year!”

The ghostly form of Nightmare Moon turned stopped it’s flight, before turning to the audience with a sneer. “But alas, this is not enough you see, Nightmare Moon requires more from you and me.” The glowing figure began descending on the crowd, it’s fanged mouth open wide. “Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won’t return to come eat you!”

The smoky vestige descended on the crowd, hitting them and disintegrating as it did so. Several ponies cried out in fear. Luna however, save for her shaking couldn’t bring herself to run.

What happened next, nopony saw coming. A large vat suddenly appeared in the air. It hovered for just a second, before turning over and dumping its contents. A massive amount of dark brown syrup poured out falling to the crowd below.

However, it only hit one single target. Luna didn’t even have the chance to look up before the sticky substance poured all over her, completely covering her from head to tail. Despite it’s warmth, she still felt the shudder as thousands of plain white feathers followed afterwards, sticking to her pre-soaked fur as well.

“It’s Nightmare Moon!” Somepony in the crowd called out. “She’s put her mark on that unicorn there! She’s going to come and gobble her up! Everypony run for your lives!”

Panic ensued as ponies all over began running around screaming as though the world was ending. Luna sat stunned looking back and forth between them, unable to find herself able to say anything. Celestia did her best to push her way through the crowd, but was unable to with so many ponies running around. She tried calling out for her sister, but her voice could make it over the crowds screams. For one brief moment, she caught a glimpse of her sister, covered in feathers and shaking.

Their eyes met. Luna’s eyes were wide and tears were starting to form.

“...Luna?”

Without a word, Luna turned and began to run. The crowd dispersed around her as with lowered head, she ran headlong into the depths of the Everfree Forest.

The Caressing Petal

Running… that was the only thing she wanted to do now. Luna, still covered in syrup and feathers, just wanted to run away from everypony and everything. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes like a cascading waterfall, mixing in with the syrup stuck to her face.

Why?! She shouted out in her mind, words not leaving her mouth as her teeth were clenched. Tonight was going so well for her, yet now it was the worse evening for her ever. She thought back to the tale being told, how her dark persona was said to eat ponies unless they hid themselves. Luna grinded her teeth more and more, trying her best to persuade herself that Nightmare Moon was not her. She wasn’t a monster.

But why did my sister paint that monster in such a light and never gave me acknowledgment when I was gone?! Am I just a tool to her!? What am I to these ponies?! What am—

Her thoughts were cut off when she stumbled upon a tree trunk and fell to the ground, skidding on the ground as dirt and muck started mixing with the syrup. Pain was now also present in her body, as waves of stinging sensation started coursing through her.

Luna didn’t care, all she wanted to do now was disappear. She started whimpering and sobbing to herself, lying down in a fetal position. She opened her mouth a little, starting to wail as she closed her eyes.

They must really despise me! She thought to herself as she quieted down, but she never stopped her tears. They were only fooling me! But I deserve this! I deserve this! She remembered how everypony was running away from her and some were even cackling at her, pleased to see her like she was now.

I bet they aren’t even worried about me now…

The clearing in the forest was still a madhouse. Ponies were running around, many of them screaming as though their lives were in danger. Several were calling out that Nightmare Moon was on her way and it was only a matter of time before she’d attack them all. This only furthered the chaos, as ponies grew more and more fearful.

It made things very difficult for the small group huddled in the midst of them. Celestia had managed to grab a hold of Twilight and Pinkie Pie and the trio made their way over to where Roseluck was. The earth pony still seemed to be in shock from everything that had happened. So much so, that she didn’t even notice as the three arrived.

“Roseluck!” Twilight shouted over the noise, catching her attention. “What’s going on? What happened to Starry?”

“I don’t know,” she said back nervously, huddling over with the pair. “She started freaking out once we arrived. After… whatever that was happened, she just ran off. I tried to chase after her, but she was so quick. I don’t know where she went, but I think she ran into the forest.”

“That’s alright, it’s not your fault,” Twilight said attempting to dodge as somepony charged pass her. She gave him a glare. “We’re going to have a lot of trouble finding her though with everypony acting like the world’s ending.”

“Leave that to me,” Celestia said. Standing tall, she took a deep breath and shouted. “Everypony! Can I have your attention please?!”

But nothing changed. Maybe one or two ponies stopped to listen but, the rest kept running.

“I said,” she shouted again, “can I have your attention please?!?”

Once again, nothing happened. Her blood began to boil once again as she took a deep breath preparing the Royal Canterlot Voice.

*HOOOONNNNNKKKKKK*

Before she had the chance however, the air reverberated with the loud blaring of an air horn going off. It was so loud, that everypony stopped their running and screaming to try and block it out.

When the noise finally subsided, everyone turned around looking for the source. They found the horn in question, sitting in Pinkie Pie’s hoof as she stood in her frog costume on the top of the statue of Nightmare Moon.

She was not smiling.

“Listen up everypony!” she shouted so that everyone could hear her clearly. “Something terrible has happened here tonight, and you’re all acting like a big bunch of sillies. Somepony got upset and we need to help them.”

“What are you talking about?” a stallion near the statue spoke up. “It’s just a Nightmare Night prank. You of all ponies should understand that. It’s not like anypony actually got hurt.”

“What?” Celestia said storming over towards him. “What do you mean it’s only a prank? You knew this was going to happen?”

“Of course not,” he responded, a bit intimidated by the angry looking mare. “I just figured that it was part of the story. You know, the whole ‘Nightmare Moon’ is coming to get you.”

“Oh really?” Pinkie Pie asked solemnly from her perch on the statue. “Then tell me everypony, where exactly is Starry right now?”

The entire area grew deathly quiet as the realization of that question settled in. It was true. The mare who had been pranked was nowhere to be seen.

Zecora, emerging from the crowd, stood before the ponies looking distraught and confused. “Knowledge of this act I do not know, foul play this must have been so.”

Celestia looked around and saw ponies starting to realize what was really going on. “Does anypony have any idea who might have caused this?”

“I think I know who.”

Twilight’s ears perked when she heard a familiar voice speak, and she looked to Rainbow Dash floating towards them. “Rainbow,” Twilight began to speak, suddenly remembering Rainbow’s notorious nature as a prankster. “Did you do this?!”

“Woah Twilight!” Rainbow raised her hooves in defense. “You told me not to pull any pranks tonight, especially on her.” Rainbow replied to Twilight’s accusation.

“Really?” Celestia asked dubiously, feeling irked and livid by the event that just transpired to her little sister.

Rainbow looked up to meet Celestia’s gaze, feeling a little intimidated after remembering what happened a few weeks ago. “Yeah, it’s true. I saw a couple of ponies talking about pulling something like this tonight. Didn’t hear who their target was though.”

“Where are they Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked her friend as she started to float towards Rainbow, with her face being a mixture of anger and concern.

“I don’t see them here anymore. They must be in town now I think.”

Pinkie hopped off from the statue of Nightmare Moon and made her way to Rainbow Dash. “Dashie, let’s go and find those meanies before they get away!”

“Right! Keep up Pinkie!” Rainbow replied before looking to Twilight and nodded to her. When Twilight smiled and nodded to her, Rainbow and Pinkie immediately went towards Ponyville to find the ones responsible for the outrage.

Twilight turned back to the other ponies. “Alright! If we move quickly we should be able to find her. Let’s split up into groups, spread out and start looking. Any volunteers?”

Upon hearing Twilight’s request, Zecora walked up to Twilight and gave her an assuring smile. “The Everfree Forest is my domain, allow me help with the search please. We need to find Starry and help her be at peace.”

“Thank you Zecora.” Twilight replied, as a few others came and joined in Zecora’s group. She looked out over the crowd. “Anypony else?”

Most of the crowd hesitated. After all, chasing after Starry meant searching in the Everfree Forest.

The stallion from before was the first to step forward. “I’ll volunteer,” he said sheepishly. “It’s the least that I can do after all this.”

Behind him, several other ponies stepped forward as well. Within a matter of moments, almost the entire town had stepped up to help as well. Celestia couldn’t help but feel a little bit happy seeing so many willing to help out.

Twilight smiled seeing as the crowd continued to increase in size. “Alright everyone, break up into groups of four or five. If you find her, bring her back here immediately. I’ll stay here so that I can signal everyone to come back if she’s found or comes back on her own. Even if you can’t find her, meet back here in exactly one hour. There’s no sense in anypony else getting lost as well.”

The ponies all agreed to the plan and started forming their groups. With that done, Twilight turned back to Celestia. The worry was written all over the disguised princess’ face.

Celestia sighed. “This should have never happened Twilight. I should have known that something like this would happen.”

“It’s alright,” Twilight said trying to give a supporting smile. “We’re going to find her.”

“I know,” she responded with a nod, before turning towards the forest. “I’ll make sure that of that.”

With that, Celestia began making her way headfirst into the forest. Her resolve was strong, so much so, that she almost didn’t hear Twilight call out behind her.

“Wait! You can’t go in there alone! You have to be in a group.”

Celestia turned back with a raised eyebrow. “I think that I’m more than able to take care of myself in there, don’t you? Being in a group will just slow me down.”

“Yes, I know that,” Twilight said hesitantly. She was more than familiar with how powerful Celestia’s magic was. “But I don’t think that it would be wise for a unicorn to go into an unfamiliar forest all by themselves, now would it Cherry?”

The way that Twilight emphasized Celestia’s pseudonym made it very clear what she was implying. With a sigh, Celestia nodded. “I suppose that you’re right Twilight.”

“I’ll go with you,” Fluttershy said trotting over. “I know the forest pretty well. I think that together we should be able to find her much faster.”

“Thank you Fluttershy,” Celestia said with a smile. Turning back to Twilight she asked, “Do you think that’s better?”

Before Twilight could answer, another voice spoke up. “I’m going as well,” Roseluck said as she pushed her way up to where the small group was. “I should have taken her back once she started to panic. I want to apologize for that.”

Celestia hesitated. Taking Fluttershy along was one thing. The pegasus already knew who she and her sister really were. But taking along somepony else? “Thank you for the offer, but I think that we’ll be better off with just the two of us.”

“Excuse me?” Roseluck responded more irritated than surprised. “If I recall, your cousin Twilight here suggested that we go out in groups of four or five. You’re under that limit.” She turned and trotted between Celestia and the forest. “I’m going with you, and that’s the end of it.”

Celestia turned back to Twilight. The unicorn simply shrugged. It was what she had said after all. Turning back Celestia rolled her eyes. “Fine. You can come along as well. Just try to keep up.”

Roseluck nodded and fell in line behind the pair. “Don’t worry about that Cherry. We’ll find your sister, and quickly I bet.”

Celestia nodded. “I hope so.”

Pinkie Pie was now hopping through the town of Ponyville with her friend Rainbow Dash, looking at every corner for the ponies responsible for the cruel prank on Luna.

Rainbow Dash rolled grumbled slightly as they continued trotting. “I hope those jerks are still here and didn’t get away.”

“They’re still here.”

Cocking her eyebrow at Pinkie’s answered, Rainbow tilted her head when Pinkie replied. “How do you know that Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked her curiously, seeing Pinkie smile and pointing her ear.

“Itchy ear!” Pinkie told her friend, wearing a large smile and scratching her ear with her hind leg.

“Right…” Rainbow said dubiously but didn’t press Pinkie’s answer any further, seeing as they had more pressing matters at the moment. Rainbow Dash looked towards her and saw a familiar pony before her. She squinted her eyes and stopped abruptly, pointing her hoof to the stallion. “That’s one of them!” She told Pinkie as she started sneaking to a corner, with Pinkie following her. “And he’s got company.”

Pinkie scrunched her lips and turned to Rainbow. “You thinking what I’m thinking Rainbow?” She asked her friend rhetorically.

“If it begins with an ‘A’ and ends with a ‘H’, then yeah.”

“Ambush.” With that, Pinkie and Rainbow ventured into the alley they were peaking out from.

Three ponies were laughing as they stood in an open area of Ponyville. Lucky for them, they were away from the other ponies celebrating Nightmare Night. Even luckier, being far away from the area they pulled a prank in.

“Did you see the look on her face when we dropped the syrup?” One stallion, blue coated and white maned, asked his friends as he was laughing.

A mare with green mane and a yellowish coat, nodded her head as smirked. “That feather bag was also ingenius, a real cherry on the top I’d say.” She replied as she covered her mouth with her hoof as she snickered. “Just a shame we couldn’t find any tar, that would have really send the right message.”

“Nah, tar is bit too harsh.”

“Since when were you concerned with being too harsh in a prank?”

The stallion tapped his chin in thought, then shrugged as he smiled smugly. “Never I guess.”

“Regardless, it was still a successful evening if I do say so myself,” the mare laughed. “We got to pull a fantastic prank and best of all, nopony even cares.”

“I know,” the other stallion smirked. “Did you see them running around, acting as though they’d just seen a monster? That was priceless.”

“Why I bet that even now, Starry is crawling away and hiding as we speak. I’m sure that Blueblood will be pleased to hear that.”

“Yes, indeed. I can’t wait to get to tell him all about it.”

The mare smirked. “Yes, I think we’ve spent just enough time in this little town. Let’s hurry up and get out of here before—”

“HEY! You three!”

The three ponies all froze, the color draining out of their faces. Standing directly in front of them were two mares. The cyan pegasus who had spoken was floating in the air, a big scowl on her serpentine face. However, not one of the three noticed her, because directly below her was a pink mare dressed in a frog costume and holding a very large cannon trained on all three of them.

And the look in her eye told them that she really wanted to fire it.

“What’s the big idea?” Rainbow Dash asked after she was certain they had the three’s attention. “Pulling a prank like that and then taking off? What in Equestria were you thinking?”

“Prank?” the mare asked innocently though keeping her eyes trained on the clearly trigger happy frog. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play games with me,” Rainbow snapped. “I overheard those two talking about getting the feathers ready. I know that it was you three.”

The mare turned and glared at her companions who did their best to avoid looking at her directly. With a sigh she turned back and chuckled. “Alright, fine. You’ve got us. We’re the ones responsible. You can thank us whenever you’d like now.”

“Thank you?” Pinkie Pie asked, gently caressing the almost comically large button on top of her cannon. “What do you mean thank you? That prank wasn’t nice out all you big bunch of meanies!”

“So what?” The mare shrugged it off and smirked. “A prank’s a prank. No matter if it was nice or not, there will always be a victim in it who will feel like dirt afterwards.” She lectured Pinkie and rolled her eyes to her. “Now why don’t you just move aside huh?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head, punching her one hoof with the other. “No can do you jerk! You’re gonna have to answer to what you did earlier.”

One of the stallions in her group furrowed his brow at Rainbow, glaring at her threateningly. “There’s three of us you dumb zombie, I’d like to see you try and take us in for something that isn’t illegal.”

“All we want to know is why you would do something so mean to a friend of ours?” Pinkie asked them curiously as she continued to rub the button of her cannon threateningly, though she wore a bright smile on her face.

The mare of the group merely groaned and planted her hoof on her face. “Look, we didn’t exactly choose the target now. It just happened that your friend was randomly picked out a pony who we deemed evil; as evil as Nightmare Moon.”

Rainbow cocked her brow and gaped her jaw at the mare’s logic. “Are you serious?” She barked out as she landed. “Did you see what happened to her, huh?!”

“Ran around laughing and scaring some ponies?” The one stallion asked with a goofy smile, laughing nervously as Rainbow turned her head sharply to him. “What? It was funny in the end, that’s the point of a prank.”

Pinkie shook her head, puckering her lips as she furrowed her brow. “A prank is suppose to be where everypony laughs with you, not laughing at you. What you did was mean, beyond mean. The meanest of all.”

“Oh please!” The mare waved her hoof as she spat out her words to Pinkie’s ridiculous logic. “So what if your friend got in the way of the prank? In the end, she deserves it for being so stupid to not move away and being a cry-foal about it!”

Rainbow was silent for a moment, thinking about what these three before them were saying. Luna, or Starry in this case, did not deserve this prank at all. Yet here they are saying she does because of circumstances. Rainbow scrunched her lips as she remembered how hostile she had been towards Luna since the very first day. All because she wanted to protect her friends. Now, she became an offender to a pony who not only suffered Tartarus on the moon alone but also had to endure harsh words from her.

Just as the three ponies laughed at their friend’s words about the prank’s target deserving it, Rainbow shot her head upwards to the three and flew dangerous close to the them.

“Get out.”

The mare took a step back. “Excuse m—”

“I said get out,” Rainbow repeated. “Get out of my town and get away from my friends.”

“But we—”

“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow turned to her friend with a smirk. “Fire.”

She never had the chance to. The second the word ‘fire’ left Rainbow’s lips, all three turned tail and ran for their lives. Rainbow waited until they were a distance off before shouting out, “And I never want to see you three here again!”

With a huff she landed back on the ground. She turned to Pinkie who was giving her a kind smile.

“That’s a very nice thing you did for Luna, Rainbow. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Rainbow said dismissing it with a hoof and a chuckle. “I’d do it for any of my friends.”

How much time passed between when she had fallen to the ground and the present time, Luna couldn’t tell. She had just continued to lie there sobbing quietly to herself. Every once in a while she heard the sound of some terrible creature in the distance. She almost wished that one would just come and find her, to put her out of her misery.

Would anypony have really cared after all? She had already seen how everypony reacted to her. She was a monster. That was never going to change. The ponies had hated her a thousand years before, and they hated her still to this day. It would have just been better if she just disappeared. Nopony would miss—

“Starry!”

Luna blinked. For a moment it had almost sounded as though somepony had called out her name. But that was impossible of course. It’s not like anypony would have bothered coming looking for—

“I found her Cherry! I found Starry! She’s down here!”

Turning her head to the direction to where the voice came from, Luna saw Roseluck approaching her fast. “Starry!” Roseluck called out to her and kneeled down to her. “Are you alright?” Roseluck asked her as she reached a hoof to her, not caring about the syrup and dirt.

“I-I…” Luna was speechless, looking at Roseluck in awe with red-rimmed eyes. Why is she so concerned about me?

“We were so worried about you.” Roseluck told Starry as she inspected her legs. “Can you stand up?” Roseluck asked her, only receiving a nod. “Okay, let me help you up.” Roseluck raised Starry up to stand on her own legs. “Don’t worry about your coat, we'll get it cleaned up.” She looked at Starry, with half-hooded eyelids as scrunched her lips. “I just want to apologize for what happened to you, that was just so mean and cruel. Nopony deserves that at all, especially on their first ever Nightmare Night.”

“Y-you came looking for me?”

Roseluck looked shocked at the surprise in Luna’s voice. “Of course we came looking for you. The entire town is out looking for you. When we realized what was happening, we all felt sick about it.”

Luna bowed her head trying to process this information. That couldn’t be right. “But, what about what happened? Nightmare Moon marked me as an evil pony. Everypony ran away screaming. They thought—”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Roseluck insisted shushing Luna. “It was just a rude prank. Everybody thought that you were in on the joke. Nopony thinks you’re evil.”

Luna looked into the eyes of Roseluck and was expecting some form of malice in them, but all she saw was genuine concern and care. With her eyes already moist, Luna bowed her head and closed her leaking eyes as her lips quivered.

Roseluck felt her chest tighten, seeing her friend weeping. She reached out her hooves around Starry’s neck and pulled her in to have her cry on her shoulder. Starry accepted it and began to bawl out even more than she did before. “There there, everything will be okay now. Let’s just get—”

“Starry!”

Both Starry and Roseluck let go of their hug and saw Cherry galloping towards them, immediately scooping Starry up in a tight hug. She was crying for her little sister as she held onto her like she had suffered a near-fatal injury. “Starry! My baby sister!” She cooed at her, stroking at her sticky and dirty mane.

Luna, however, felt a little awkward and uncomfortable with her sister holding her like she was now. So she gently pushed her away, standing on her own hooves again. “I am alright sister, thanks to Roseluck.” She looked at Roseluck, who was smiling and nodding at her.

“That’s good.” Cherry said dismissively. She then used her magic to levitate Starry onto her back.

“Sister, please—”

“Let’s go back home and get you cleaned up.” Cherry told her and began to move out but stopped when she felt her back becoming lighter. She turned and saw Starry standing on her own legs and walking towards Ponyville.

“Wait!” Roseluck called out. “We still need to tell Twilight that she’s been found!”

“Well then, you can do that,” Celestia called back. “Right now, I think that it’s best to just get Starry home.”

“But Cherry,” Luna said softly, “I think that I’d rather—”

“No ‘but’s out of you,” Celestia snapped with a shake of her head. “You’ve had quite enough excitement for one night. I knew that it was a mistake to come out tonight.”

“But I—”

“I’m taking you home right now, so that you can get cleaned up and ready for bed. No discussion.”

Luna turned back. Roseluck was still standing there looking a bit flustered. The earth pony gave her an encouraging smile before turning and trotting off towards the field where Twilight was still waiting.

Luna rested her head down, feeling the gentle bounce as Celestia trotted forward. Thinking about what Roseluck had said, she couldn’t help but smile.

The Quelling Ember

Blueblood sat on his chair in his quarters, browsing through the package of photographs his spy had taken. The said spy kneeled before him with his head bowed, not speaking until Blueblood spoke to him first.

“Are these accurate?” Blueblood asked his spy, Caramel, curiously with a tint of excitement in his voice.

“Absolutely,” Caramel replied wit his head still bowed. “There’s no mistaking it, the plan was executed flawlessly.” Caramel spoke as he lifted his head up slightly, but keeping his eyes below Blueblood’s gaze.

“Excellent,” Blueblood said with a smirk, still looking at the photographs in his magic. “Please continue. I want to hear all the details of what happened,” he asked, his voice tainted in curiosity.

Caramel nodded before clearing his voice. “Well first, I paid some ponies to assist me in orchestrating the prank. We plunged the target with a vat of maple syrup before throwing a bag of feathers on her, just after the local zebra was nearing the climax of Nightmare Moon for the night.” Caramel recollected, suppressing a laugh from the fresh memory.

“Hmmm…” Blueblood cocked his brow, placing the pictures down on his desk. “What followed next?”

“The target ran off into the Everfree Forest, after everypony was screaming and panicking after she was declared as the new mark for Nightmare Moon.”

Blueblood laughed out loud after Caramel’s story, smiling triumphantly as he patted Caramel’s head like a puppy’s. “Excellent. Now that ‘Starry’ is properly ousted, things can finally be restored again.”

Caramel started to sweat proudly as he cringed. “I-If that were only the case my prince.” Caramel said softly, gulping nervously as he could feel Blueblood’s glare piercing his skull.

“What do you mean by that?” Blueblood’s eyes narrowed as he heard Caramel speak further.

“W-well…” Caramel started to speak but trailed off, starting to stutter. “T-the village grew concerned for her after the prank and they went off looking for her with Prin- I mean, her sister!” Caramel corrected himself, not daring to speak Celestia’s name in front of his master. “It seemed the town felt guilty for being in with what they called a ‘cruel prank’.”

“But still, the point of this endeavour was to drive the two apart. From what you’ve told me before now, Nightmare Moon or Luna, or whatever it is she’s calling herself is an emotional wreck right now. This prank should have either revealed her evil nature, or drove her into such a depressed state that she’d never be able to show her face in public again. From the look of these pictures, it seems that the mission was still accomplished, wasn’t it?”

Caramel opened his mouth to speak, but the words died before they were able to escape.

Blueblood’s brow furrowed. “Wasn’t it?” he repeated more forcibly than before.

“A-Although it initially appeared at first as though she was extremely hurt by the prank, it seems that the town’s response afterwards brought her back out of it,” Caramel responded hesitantly. He gulped loudly before continuing. “In fact, she seems to be doing better than before. She’s been spotted chatting with a couple of ponies around town from time to time and seems a bit happier than before.”

Blueblood’s expression remained neutral as Caramel recounted this new information, though the pictures he held in his magical grasp began to shake ever so slightly. “I see,” he answered quietly. “And what about her sister? What’s her reaction to all of this.”

Caramel scratched at one of his legs, taking a step back at the same time. “Her sister has become even more attached it would appear. From what I’ve gathered, she hasn’t left her side for any reason since then.”

Other than a slight twitching in one of his eyes, Blueblood’s expression didn’t falter. The pictures on the other hand began shaking more and more intently.

“...Sir?”

Without warning, Blueblood exploded. “GET OUT!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!!!”

Caramel didn’t need another warning. As quickly as his legs could carry him, he turned tail and bolted out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Left alone, Blueblood picked up the pictures again. His breathing was erratic as he began looking through them, tossing each one aside one by one. About halfway through the stack, he came across one in particular. It depicted Celestia and Luna together trotting down the street, the faintest signs of a smile across the younger sister’s lips.

He let the remaining pictures fall to the ground, holding the picture up into his view. He glared at it, his scowl growing more and more intense by the moment. Without a word, the picture suddenly burst into flames, slowly melting away the happy image it contained and turning to ash in his grasp.

As the charred remained slowly fluttered to the ground, a change came across Blueblood’s expression. His expression softened ever so slightly as he began to chuckle. The chuckling slowly got louder until it devolved into maniacal fits as he stomped the ashes and ground them into dust.

“So, you want to play that way do you, ‘Princess’,” he sneered at the remains. “Well, two can play at that game.”

Luna groaned as she frowned, trying to read a book about Equestrian history in peace. That was impossible at the moment though, since her elder sister was hovering over her humming one annoying tune after another.

“Luna, it’s time for your lunch.” Celestia told her, closing Luna’s book without inserting a bookmark and putting it to one side.

“I already ate, thank you.” Luna grumbled and pointed towards her empty plate, which was served to her by one purple dragon who she started to grow fond of. Mainly because he wasn’t always invaded her personal space every second.

“Oh that,” Celestia let loose a ‘tsk’ and levitated the the board towards the kitchen. “You need to eat proper portions Luna, you know that.” Celestia told her factly, nodding with a knowing smile.

Luna’s brow furrowed. “That was enough for three stallions.” Luna grumbled, trying to stand up from the cushion she was lying down upon. She accidently bumped a stack of books with her rear that sent them falling to the ground below.

“Look out!” Celestia called out, reaching out to Luna and catching all the books with her magic. She exhaled deeply as she sighed and placed the books back on their stack, before reaching out to Luna and hoisting her up. “Are you okay Lulu?”

“Yes.” Luna snipped back, pushing herself away from her sister. “I am fine, thank you. You truly are a saviour.” Luna told her sarcastically, something she had learned from observing Spike for the duration of her stay.

Celestia didn’t see through the sarcasm and merely smiled contently. “That’s a relief. Now come on, you must be hungry.”

Luna couldn’t help but groan as she slowly began trotting towards the kitchen, Celestia following close behind her, carefully watching every step she took as though she was about to fall over at any moment. As they reached the kitchen, Celestia rushed ahead pulling the chair out and waiting until her sister was seated before gently pushing her in and setting to work preparing lunch for the two of them.

Leaning forward, Luna placed her head on top of her hooves with a sigh. Looking back out into the main library, she could just make out the corner of the book she had been reading before. She cast a sideways glance at Celestia. Her back was turned to her, as she sliced up a tomato. Licking her lips, Luna turned back to the book. Closing her eyes and concentrating, her horn began to glow as the book slowly lifted up and started floating over towards her.

However, just as she reached out to grab the book as it was inches from her grasp, it was suddenly snatched up in a bright yellow aura. “Luna! Be careful!” Celestia said levitating the book quickly over to herself. “You shouldn’t be using your magic like that. You haven’t regained all of your strength back yet. You could really hurt yourself if you strain to hard.”

“I am fine Celestia,” Luna muttered as she rolled her eyes and reached out for the book again only to have it pulled out her grasp once again. “I will not harm myself by just levitating a book across the room.”

“Well, I don’t want to take any chances,” Celestia said once again pulling the book back as Luna tried to grab for it again. “Besides, you really shouldn’t have books at the table anyways. What if you were to spill something? You don’t want to accidentally ruin one of Twilight’s books do you?”

Luna really wanted to claim that she wasn’t going to spill anything, but found that she couldn’t quite get the words to come out of her mouth. Thankfully, she didn’t have to. “Oh, I don’t mind if she reads at the table,” Twilight said walking into the kitchen with Spike following close behind. Grabbing the book from Celestia, she levitated it over towards herself. “Heaven knows how many times I’ve taken my own books to the table before. And you never seemed to worry when I’d take one of yours to read during dinner when I was younger.”

Celestia hesitated for a moment as she looked at the Twilight’s smile and the pleading look in Luna’s eyes. “I suppose not,” she said at length before turning back and continuing her food preparations. “Just be careful, alright?”

Luna quickly agreed as Twilight floated the book over to her with a wink. She gratefully pulled it from her grasp, and began flipping through the pages looking for the spot where she had left off before.

Twilight smiled seeing how happy Luna was with something as simple as being able to read a book. She couldn’t help but think back to herself as a filly and her own eagerness to learn. Turning to Celestia however, the smile faltered as she noticed what Celestia was working on. “That’s an awful lot of food you’re preparing there Princess. Are you sure you can eat all that?”

“Oh, this isn’t all for me Twilight,” Celestia said sweetly. “This is for Luna.”

Twilight knew that Luna had already eaten with her and Spike earlier, and quite a bit to be honest. She turned to the younger alicorn with raised eyebrow. Her only response was a shrug of the shoulders and a roll of Luna’s eyes. “Well, anyway…” Twilight trailed off, turning to Celestia. “Spike and I will be away for the afternoon.”

Luna’s eyes bulged out hearing these words. “What?” Luna blurted out as she sat on the table, the food Celestia prepared for her untouched. “Why?”

“It’s for the Family Appreciation Day outing the school is doing.” Spike answered Luna, not seeing the look of horror in her eyes. “I need a parent with me on the outing, and well…” he trailed off, looking at Twilight sheepishly before clearing his throat again. “Well anyway, Twilight and I will be going for the outing.”

“That’s sweet.” Celestia said with a warm smile as she looked down to Spike. “That will give Luna and I some alone time today.” She said joyfully, as she nuzzled her sister. Celestia looked down on the plate that was still not touched and shook her head. “Luna, eat your food will you?” She told Luna as she patted her back. “I just need to ready a bath now too.” With that, she left the kitchen with only Luna, Spike and Twilight inside.

Luna bit her lower lip as she looked down on the insane portion that was before her, looking up from it to see the concerned look of Spike and a confused Twilight.

“Allow me.” Spike spoke as he marched to Luna’s plate, taking a deep breath and blowing his flames upon the food. Where there was once food, only ashes remained.

“Spike!” Twilight scolded him, but not loud enough to be heard from the other rooms in the library.

“What?”

Twilight groaned and quickly got rid of the ash on the plate. “Sorry Luna.”

“It’s fine,” Luna smiled genuinely, looking down on Spike. “Your son knows when to step in to save the day.” She gave Spike a brief nuzzle before standing up from the table. Her smile disappeared slowly as she looked up and sighed. “How long will you two be gone?”

“The whole afternoon.” Twilight replied, tilting her head as she cocked her brow. “Why do you ask?”

Luna sighed as her eyes rolled up to face the sound of Celestia’s whistling coming from the bathroom overhead. “No reason,” she muttered. “I’m just curious is all.”

Twilight opened her mouth to push the issue further, but was cut off as Spike began pulling on her leg. “Speaking of which Twi’,” he said impatiently, “they’re going to start at any minute. We have to get going if we don’t want to be late.”

With a sigh, Twilight turned to the dragon with a smile and ruffling her hoof through his spines. “Can’t have that now can we?” Turning back to Luna, her smile was again replaced by a look of concern. “Are you going to be alright?”

Luna nodded and sighed as well. “Yes. Thank you for your concern,” she said looking off at nothing in particular. “I will be perfectly fine.”

Again, Twilight’s response was cut off by a pull at her leg. “C’mon Twilight. We have to leave.”

“Alright, already. I’m coming,” she laughed as Spike began pulling her along. “Have a good day Luna,” she said looking back as she was dragged out of the kitchen.

“Goodbye,” Luna muttered giving a wave to the now empty room. She listened closely to the sound of the two trotting through the library and giggling with each other. As the door shut with a loud click behind them, leaving only the faint echo of Celestia’s humming, Luna couldn’t help but groan.

Reaching down, she picked up her book again. Fanning the pages open to where she had left off, she attempted to begin reading once again, but her mind could not focus. Her eyes eventually drifted to the nearby window and the bright blue sky outside. She could see a handful of pegasi fluttering through the air, going about their business and generally having a good time enjoying each others company and the beautiful autumn day.

Here thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sound of knocking filling the library. Luna didn’t waste a second. She shot up from the table, letting her book fall to the floor as she rushed over to the library door. “Twilight!” she exclaimed as she pulled it quickly open. “I’m so glad that you—”

She stopped suddenly. Instead of Twilight standing there as she expected, Roseluck was there giving her a very confused look. “Hello Starry,” she said slowly. “I’m not interrupting anything right now am I?”

“Uh…” Luna paused before breaking out of the trance. “No, no. Of course not. I just thought that you were somepony else.”

Roseluck smiled. “I gathered that. Though, I don’t know if Twilight would have knocked of the door of her own house.”

Luna chuckled sheepishly. “Yes. Of course.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, where are my manners? Would you like to come in?”

“That’s why I thought of coming to visit you.” Roseluck giggled and walked in when Luna gave her way. She looked to see the stack of books before her, letting loose a whistle. “I know Twilight is the study-type, but this…”

“Actually, that’s my pile.” Luna chimed in, giggling as she blushed when Roseluck looked back at her.

Roseluck only smiled and shook her head. “You must really like to read?” She asked her rhetorically, looking at one of the books that were on the pile.

Luna looked away slightly, scrunching her lips a little. “Not really…” she mumbled as she trailed off.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing,” Luna quickly chimed in, waving her hoof nervously.

Roseluck only shrugged and smiled, turning back to Starry. “Where’s your sister Starry?” She asked as she looked around the library, not seeing a trace of her.

Luna groaned as she looked down on the ground. “My sister? She’s—”

“Is somepony there?”

Both Luna and Roseluck’s ears perked and turned to the staircase, where Celestia came down walking. She stopped when she saw Roseluck, looking on her own body in panic but sighed in relief just as quickly. Lucky Luna and I still wear these disguises in here. “Good day Roseluck, how may I help you?”

“Hi Blossom.” Roseluck simply waved flatly at her. “Actually, I came here for Starry.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Roseluck beamed at Luna. “It’s been a couple of weeks since Nightmare Night. I haven’t seen you since thing. I was afraid that you two had already left town without saying goodbye.”

“Yes,” Celestia answered, moving a bit closer to the conversation. “We’ve been rather busy these past days.”

As much as she wanted to tell her off, Roseluck wisely bit her tongue and ignored her. “Anyways, since you’re still in town, I wanted to know if you are free for lunch. A few of my friends and I are going to this great place. We’d love for you to come along as well.”

Luna immediately brightened. “You want me to—”

“I’m terribly sorry Roseluck,” Celestia quickly interrupted stepping in between Luna and Roseluck. “But Starry still hasn’t quite recovered from… that night. I don’t think it would be wise for her to be going out around town for a while.” She smiled. “Besides that she’s already eaten anyways.”

“Well, then she can just come and hang out with us,” Roseluck returned more than a little frustrated. “She doesn’t have to eat if she doesn’t want to. Besides, the fresh air would do her some good, don’t you think?” Without waiting for a response she stepped around Celestia giving her a good look at Luna. “What do you say Starry? Would you like to come?”

Luna paused, looking back and forth between Roseluck’s expectant smile and Celestia’s look of concern. After what felt like the longest time, she finally bowed her head and sighed. “I would love to go Roseluck.” Before Roseluck to exclaim her delight however, she continued. “But, Cherry’s right. I… I don’t think I’m ready to go out into town again. Not yet at least.”

Roseluck seemed to visibly deflate as Celestia let out a sigh of relief. “There, you see,” Celestia said to the the upset mare. “Now, thank you for stopping by, but I think that it’s time that Starry gets some rest.”

Roseluck rolled her eyes muttering “Whatever,” under her breath. She walked up to Luna, putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder with a bright smile. “It was good to see you, Starry,” she said quietly. “I’ll make sure to stop back more often, alright?”

Luna smile back. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Maybe some other time, alright?”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Roseluck chuckled. Turning back, she gave a very curt farewell to Celestia before heading out the door and into the outside world.

Luna trotted up behind her stopping at the doorway as she watched her go. She paused, not quite able to bring herself to shut the door as her friend walked away.

“Well, that was awfully nice of her to stop by,” Celestia said behind Luna. “Now, hurry and shut the door before the cold air gets in. We can’t have you getting sick now can we?”

Luna sighed. “Of course not,” she muttered, slowly swinging the door shut.

The Euphoric Secret

“Now remember Luna, you need your sleep. It’s important for your recovery.”

Luna didn’t answer Celestia, only giving her a simple nod to answer the elder sister.

“Good.” With that, Celestia levitated Luna up in the air and placed her in the bed. She wrapped Luna tight in blankets and tucked in her bed, giving a peck on the forehead. “Goodnight sister.” She told Luna soothingly, walking out of the room and shutting the door tightly behind her.

When she was gone, Luna growled and freed herself from the blanket cocoon she was forced in and looked outside the window.

It’s not even evening yet!

Luna crossed her eyes as she dropped her head on her pillow. She narrowed her eyes to the ceiling, a visage of Celestia coming to mind. The image was just laughing at her, and she started to glare intently at it.

What gives her the right to treat me like a foal!?

As the thought went through her, she could hear the annoying humming of Celestia coming from downstairs. Luna turned on her bed, trying to rid her ears of the hum. When it failed, Luna marched to the door and wanted to open it. When that failed, she sighed in defeat.

Luna sat on her bed, looking down on the ground with her eyes moist as she laid her head to rest in her hooves.

The sun’s last rays beaming down on her head, Luna groaned and made her way to the window to close the curtains. When the curtain closed, she made her way to bed, hoping sleep would help pass the time.

A knock on the window made Luna jump in surprise. She automatically donned her disguise and carefully used her magic to take hold of the curtains, opening them slowly. Luna nearly dropped on her haunches when she saw the face of her friend, Roseluck, on the other side.

Roseluck smiled and pointed to the window’s latches, hoping Luna would understand what she needed to do.

Luna quickly got up and made her way to the window, unlatching it and letting Roseluck inside. “Roseluck, what are you doing?!”

“Letting myself in of course.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Luna hissed, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible. “What I meant was, what are you doing here?”

Roseluck smirked. “Oh come on. You didn’t really think that I was just going to leave after what happened this afternoon without doing something about it did you?” She motioned towards the window. “Now come on, we have to hurry before your crazy sister shows up and stops us.”

Luna was still confused. “Stops us from what?”

“Starry,” Roseluck answered with a sigh. “You have been cooped up in this library for far too long I’m afraid. You need to get out for a while, and more importantly, you need to get away from that overbearing sister of yours.

“I am treating you to a night on the town. You’re coming with me and meeting the rest of my friends and hanging out with us for one night. Give you a chance to actually see what this town is like without worrying about everything else for once.” She reached up and pushed the window open with a smile. “Now come on, time’s wasting.”

Luna hesitated. She pawed awkwardly at the floor unable to move forward. She looked out over the horizon seeing the sun slowly starting to descend below the horizon. She shuddered as she thought about what that meant. “I don’t know,” she finally said softly. “I don’t think that it’s a good—”

“Starry,” Roseluck answered a bit forcibly. “I know that you’re worried about this, but you have to trust me. You need to get out of here. It’s only one evening. I promise you, I’ll make sure that nothing bad happens alright. I’ll be right beside you the entire time.”

“Y— you promise?”

Roseluck smiled warmly. “I promise, Starry. That’s what friends are for after all.”

Friend. Once again, that single word was enough to completely calm all of Luna’s fears. Smiling back, she nodded. “Alright,” she said starting towards the window. She stopped suddenly. “Oh, just in case,” she said pointing back towards the bed. Her horn glowed brightly for a moment, and a single beam shot out towards the empty covers. Within seconds, the bed was filled with a pony that looked exactly like Luna’s disguise, sleeping peacefully.

Luna turned back to Roseluck proudly. However, her smile faltered when she saw the look of shock on Roseluck’s face. “What’s the matter?” she asked nervously. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Um… no,” Roseluck responded as though she’d come out of a daze. “It’s just that… wow. Creating a clone of yourself like that? That’s some very advanced magic. Most unicorn’s couldn’t cast a spell like that no matter how hard they tried.”

Luna just chuckled in response. “Just don’t tell my sister that I did that.”

Roseluck chuckled as well. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Now then,” she said stepping back, she waved her hoof towards the window with a smile, “are you ready to party?”

When Luna inhaled the fresh air of the outside world, she couldn’t help but sigh in relief. Relief that she was finally out of that library without the dominating presence of Celestia. As she was walking alongside her best friend Roseluck, she noticed the sun setting in the horizon and saw the marketplace closing down for the day. She lowered her head with her ears drooping, pouting her lips a little.

Roseluck noticed this and lowered her head to meet Luna’s eyes. “Starry? What’s wrong?”

“All the work places are closing for the day,” Luna muttered as she looked around, seeing all the ponies turn the ‘Open’ signs to ‘Closed’.

“Yeah, it’s closing time alright.” Roseluck cheerfully commented, oblivious to what Luna saw.

Luna nodded somberly. “And with that, all the ponies will be going to bed now. Fearful of the night and the stars, protected by the covers of their beds…” Luna grumbled on, but her ears perked and eyes widened when she heard Roseluck’s snorting and giggling. She turned to Roseluck, whose eyes were closed as she was wearing a large grin on her face. “Pray tell, what is so funny?”

Roseluck wiped her eyes before clearing her voice. “Sorry about that,” she smiled at Luna and pulled on her hoof towards an unknown destination. “You really need to get out more Starry.”

Luna remained silent, not knowing what Roseluck meant. As they continued walking, she started to feel light tremors. This spooked her a little, but her attention was brought to a building with neon lights covering it. Luna saw on the building the word ‘Infinity’, surrounded by even more neon lights. What surprised her even more were the number of ponies that were outside.

“Why are all those ponies outside Roseluck?” Luna asked her friend curiously. “Is this some form of accommodation?”

“What?!” Roseluck snorted out, trying her best not to laugh out loud. “No Starry, this is a nightclub.” Luna only blinked at Roseluck’s answer, causing the latter’s laughter to subside. “You don’t know what a nightclub is?”

Luna shook her head. “I have to say that I am unfamiliar with the term. Should I know what it is?”

Roseluck just shook her head, muttering something about overbearing sisters. “It seems to me that you needed to get out even more than I realized.” Grabbing Luna’s hoof she pulled her toward the front of the crowd. “C’mon. We need to get you inside, and quickly.”

Though surprised by her friend’s sudden action, Luna didn’t fight as Roseluck dragged her forward. The pair navigated through the sea of ponies quickly. Most were either too busy chatting to notice or care about them, or seemed to sense Roseluck’s urgency and stepped aside letting the two pass.

Within no time, the pair had reached the front where they were greeted by a rather plain looking set of large doors. Finally, Roseluck released Luna’s hoof. Stepping forward, she reached up and grabbed one of the handles. She turned back, giving her friend a big smile. “This is a nightclub,” she said pulling on the handle and allowing the door to swing outwards.

The moment the door cracked open, the blaring of music, the likes of which Luna had never heard before, filled the area. She couldn’t help herself as she reached up and covered her ears to try and drown it out. However, it had little effect. The music pulsed through her regardless, as the tremors seemed to intensify from the sheer volume alone.

Roseluck laughed at Luna’s reaction before grabbing her hoof and pulling her inside the room. Like the outside of the building, the interior was decorated with large neon lights, though they did little to illuminate the room. Near the front, there was a large stage like construct. A single white unicorn was seated at the top, fiddling with a variety of knobs in front of her. On either side, a random collection of lights blinked and glowed in time with the beat of the music. In front of the stage, several ponies were dancing while along either side, were a collection of tables where several other ponies were chatting with one another.

Luna was dumbstruck. She had never seen anything quite like it before. She turned to Roseluck who was standing expectantly with the same large grin on her face. “All of these ponies here,” she started, yelling to make herself heard over the music. “What is the purpose of this gathering?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Roseluck answered back. “They’re here to have fun and relax after working all week. They come to meet up with their friends, dance, and enjoy themselves.”

“But it’s so late. Aren’t they all going to leave to go home soon?”

Roseluck chuckled. “They call it a night-club for a reason Starry. The music goes on all night long, sometimes even past dawn.”

“...All night long?”

“Yes, all night long,” Roseluck repeated. “Honestly, Starry. Have you been living under a rock for the past century?”

Luna giggled nervously, sweating a little as she turned her eyes. “Of course not! I mean, I just—”

Roseluck placed a hoof on Luna’s shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. “Relax Starry, didn’t mean anything by it. Now c’mon, let me introduce you to my other friends.”

“You think they will like me?” Luna asked curiously, even though she was frightened by the concept of meeting others.

“Hey, if you and I click together, you’ll click with them. They’re gonna love you.” Roseluck winked and dragged Luna towards a table that was occupied by a few mares. “Hey Derpy,” Roseluck called out to a blonde maned pegasus with grey coat, who had a cutie mark depicting bubbles.

“Rosey!” Derpy called out and stood up from her table, giving her friend a brief hug. “How you tonight?”

Roseluck smiled broadly. “All good here,” She looked around herself, squinting her eyes. “Where’s Thunderlane?”

“Somepony called?”

All the mares turned to their side, seeing a dark grey stallion pegasus with silver mane walking up to the group carrying a plate of drinks on his back. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He told Derpy as he placed the plate on the table.

“It’s okay sweetie,” Derpy replied, giving Thunderlane a soft kiss on his lips. When the kiss ended, she turned to Roseluck and noticed Luna standing beside her. “Oh! Who’s your new friend Rosey?”

“Everypony, this is Starry Sky.” She pointed a hoof to Luna, who meekly waved to the group of ponies.

Derpy’s jaw went agape slightly before closing. “Oh I remember you. My little muffin told me about what happened on Nightmare Night,”

“Little muffin?”

“It’s her nickname for her daughter, Dinky,” Roseluck explained with a wink. “Derpy always has had a sweet spot for muffins, haven’t you Derpy?”

The remark made Derpy blush and grin just a bit, though she couldn’t deny the claim.

Chuckling at the response, Roseluck turned her attention back to Luna. “Starry, these are my friends. Derpy and Thunderlane you’ve met now,” she said pointing at them quickly before moving on to the next in line, “and this uptight mare here is Octavia.”

“I am not ‘uptight’,” the grey earth pony stated flatly, stirring the small glass her hooves gently. “I simply do not care for this ear-splitting environment is all.”

“Oh really?” Roseluck smirked. “Then how come you keep coming back here each week?”

“You know very well, that I’m here because Vinyl asks me to come,” she sighed. “Not like she’d even notice if I didn’t, what with her DJ-ing all night long.”

Roseluck didn’t bother responding to that, turning back to Luna. “You’ll have to forgive her,” she said whispering in her ear. “Octavia’s a classical musician up in Canterlot and not a big fan of the loud music. Once she gets a couple of drinks in her though, she’ll lighten up.”

“Anyways,” Roseluck said, pulling back and speaking so everyone could hear again, “last but not least, this mare on the end here is Golden Harvest, grower of some of the best carrots, celery, and other vegetables in all of Equestria.”

The goldenrod mare chuckled with a light blush. “I don’t know about all that,” she said bashfully. “It’s just what I enjoy doing, that’s all.” She extended her hoof, offering it to Luna. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Starry.”

Luna returned the gesture, bumping hooves with her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” she said with a bright smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.”

“Likewise,” Octavia said, taking a small sip of her drink. “Now that we’re all introduced, perhaps somepony could be so kind as to explain to me exactly what happened on Nightmare Night? I was up in Canterlot playing for a party and apparently I missed something that happened.”

“Oh, well…” Roseluck started sheepishly. “I don’t think that we really need to—”

Luna quickly interrupted her. “No, it’s alright,” she said. Taking a deep breath, Luna started, “Some ponies decided that it would be fun to pull a prank and I happened to get caught up in the middle of it. I… panicked, when it happened and ran off into the woods afterwards.”

“I know how that feels,” Derpy told Luna bitterly as she looked down. “I remember when I was pranked countless times in school because of my eyes.” She pointed to her lazy eye that was drifting from one side. “Even my little muffin Dinky gets pranked because of me.”

Thunderlane folded a wing over Derpy, drawing her in close before looking at Luna. “Someponies just like to pull of cruel pranks now and again, not taking the target’s feeling into consideration.” He said as he nuzzled Derpy’s head a little. “But from what I heard, Pinkie was not impressed by it one bit.”

“No she wasn’t.” Roseluck said, taking a sip of her drink. “She literally scolded everypony present at the prank scene just for playing along with it.”

“What about the prankster? Or pranksters?” Derpy asked curiously, looking at Roseluck.

“From what I heard, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash dealt with them personally.” Roseluck explained. “Though I wouldn’t know exactly, I was in the forest tending to Starry here.” Roseluck gave Luna a warm friendly look as she smiled softly.

Luna smiled in return before looking at her drink curiously and taking a small sip from it. It tasted like litchi, but had a tingling after taste that Luna enjoyed very much.

“Well speak of the devil.” Golden Harvest suddenly said looking past Luna. “Looks who’s here tonight.” Golden Harvest pointed with a hoof

All the ponies at the table turned to where Golden Harvest was indicating to and they saw a familiar pink earth pony with a cyan pony dancing wildly on the floor, laughing as they danced along with the music.

When the music changed, Pinkie and Rainbow left the floor still giggling. Pinkie’s eyes landed on Roseluck and the group she was with. She smiled broadly as she made her way towards them. “Hey Rosey!”

“Hi Pinkie, we were just speaking about you.”

“Really?! Is there somepony’s birthday I don’t know about?!” Pinkie questioned Roseluck, before pulling a journal out of no where and scanning through it. “Nothing I see for this month—”

“Relax Pinkie,” Roseluck pulled the journal away from Pinkie’s eyes, rolling her own as she chuckled. “Nah we were just chatting about what you did on Nightmare Night.”

“Ooooooooh…” Pinkie trailed off, before turning to the other ponies. “Hey Derpy, hey Thundy, hey Octi, hey Goldie, hey Starry—” Pinkie blinked a couple times before jerking her head to Luna, who lowered her head shyly. “L-Starry!?”

Before Luna had the chance to respond, Pinkie seemingly disappeared only to reappear instantly right next to her. “Oh my gosh! It really is you!” she said excitedly jumping around appearing from all sorts of odd directions. “I can’t believe that you’re really here! If you’re here then that means that you’ve gotten better. And if you’ve gotten better than that means that we can finally throw you a party!”

By the time the hyperactive pony stopped bouncing, Luna’s head was spinning. “Oh, well actually—”

“Oh this is the best news ever!” Pinkie said trotting quickly in place. “We’ll get balloons and streamers and cake and lots of chocolates, and we’ll have to invite everyone in Ponyville! Oh, there’s so much to do, I’m going to have to get started right now to get this all planned. I’ll just have to talk with your sister to figure out what sorts of things you’ll like. Oh, that reminds me where is Cherry now? I don’t see—”

Pinkie was promptly cut off as Roseluck shoved a hoof over her mouth. “Cherry’s not here right now Pinkie; just Starry.”

Pulling the hoof away from her mouth, Pinkie gave Roseluck a curious look. “Cherry’s not here?” she asked inquisitively. “But that doesn’t make sense. Cherry would never let Starry out of her sight.”

Luna coughed. “She um… doesn’t know that I’m here right now.”

Pinkie stared at her confused for a moment, before suddenly lighting up with realization. “Ohhhhh…” she said with a wink. “It’s a secret fun night. I gotcha.”

“Yes it is,” Roseluck answered. “And we’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell Cherry about her sister being here tonight. Pinkie Promise that you won’t.”

“Oh, I can do that,” Pinkie said with a couple of hops. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she added going through the motions as well. “This is still so exciting! I can’t wait to finally throw you that party!”

Roseluck and Luna shared an awkward glance. Noticing it, Pinkie Pie quit hopping. “Oh come on!” she whined. “You can’t be serious!”

“Sorry Pinkie,” Roseluck responded remorsefully. “But we need you to keep this quiet. That means no party for now, alright?”

Pinkie huffed. “Fine…” Pointing her hoof at Luna, she added, “But you have to let me throw you at least three parties for all of this!”

Roseluck smiled at Pinkie’s antics but said nothing. Instead, she turned towards the other mare who had trotted over who was being very quiet. “You promise too, Rainbow?” Roseluck asked her, hopefully getting the same answer she got from Pinkie. She cocked her brow when Rainbow just nodded before she came to the table.

“Sure,” Rainbow said flatly, performing the same promise Pinkie did a moment ago. When she finished the Pinkie Promise, she looked at Luna for a moment before looking away.

Roseluck squinted her eyes for a moment, thinking she saw moisture in Rainbow’s eyes. When she turned to Luna, she saw her friend shying away from Rainbow Dash as though being near the cyan mare was hazardous to her health. Before Roseluck could question her friend’s well being, Rainbow spoke.

“Well it was nice seeing you all, but we must be going.” She said plainly, pulling Pinkie away from the table and giving the ponies a wave before dragging her friend out of the club.

Pinkie tried to resist, but submitted to Rainbow’s strength. “Bye everypony! Remember, three parties I have to throw for you! Bye!” Pinkie waved her hooves frantically, before she and Rainbow were out of the door.

“That was unexpected.” Thunderlane finally spoke, after an awkward silence. “The boss’ usually more sociable than that.” He said as he finished his drink. “Something happened lately to her?” He asked nopony in particular as he stared at the exit.

“Not that I know of,” Derpy replied to her coltfriend. “Though to be honest, Rainbow and I don’t exactly get along.”

Luna’s ears perked when she heard Derpy speak. “You don’t get along with Rainbow Dash?” She asked Derpy, who nodded in response. “Why?”

Derpy sighed as she shook her head. “Because of my eyes and my clumsy nature, most ponies think I’m mentally challenged.” She lowered her head as she glared sideways. “Even though I was a straight A student in Flight School.” She grumbled and took a sip of her drink.

“There will always be ponies you just can’t stand in life Starry,” Golden Harvest spoke up as she leaned into the conversation. “I should know, I personally can’t stand foals who act like they own Equestria.”

“Let’s not dwell on such depressing matters,” Octavia spoke up with a goofy smile on her face. As Roseluck had predicted, the drinks were doing wonders in improving her mood. “We’re here to have fun aren’t we? So, let’s not dwell on stuff like that tonight.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Roseluck said with a grin. “No point in starting the night off by getting upset. This is Starry’s first time with our group. It should be a night to remember.”

Derpy giggled. “Well then,” she said happily, “let’s get this party started!”

Luna couldn’t remember the last time she had so much fun. Though at first, she wasn’t sure about how things were going to turn out, her fears were quelled within minutes. Everypony was eager to know all about her, where she came from, how long she had been in Ponyville and other information like that. Although she didn’t like having to lie to them to keep up the persona of Starry, they all seemed to genuinely care about what she had to say.

Over a couple of light drinks and refreshments, she got the chance to learn about each of them as well. Things such as how Derpy and Thunderlane had been dating for the past six months, and Golden Harvest’s friendly rivalry with Sweet Apple Acres and the Apple family. During a break in the music, she also got the opportunity to meet the pony who was “DJ-ing”, as they called it. Apparently, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia had been friends practically since birth. It definitely helped to explain why Octavia had been willing to come in the first place.

After chatting for quite a while, Derpy and Thunderlane excused themselves to go dancing. Golden Harvest left with them and after another drink, even Octavia was willing to head to the dancefloor as well. Roseluck stayed behind with Luna trying to convince her to go and dance as well. After much persuading, she finally managed to do so.

Initially, Luna wasn’t really sure what to do. The way that everypony else was dancing was so unfamiliar to her. She was used to the more structured style that she had grown up with. But this, it was like they were just moving along with the music, disregarding any form of structure. Their movement was almost hypnotic. Soon, Luna found herself unable to stop her hooves tapping along with them to the beat. The tapping of hooves slowly evolved as the rhythm infected her as well and she began dancing along as well.

They stayed like that for who knows how long. Everypony laughing, dancing, and overall just enjoying themselves. For the first time in over a thousand years, Luna could feel all of her cares melt away. There was no worry or fear in her mind. She was happy, pure and simple.

Luna misstepped accidentally, tripping over as she yelped. Before she could reach the ground though, Roseluck was there to catch her in time. Luna couldn’t help but giggle as she hugged her best friend, with her new friends smiling with her too.

When the music began to die down, the ponies inside the club started to diminish in number. Almost as though a hidden command activated inside of her, Luna let out a yawn that she quickly covered as she was starting to feel tired.

“Guess that’s that for the night.” Thunderlane said as he stretched his wings and legs. “Better head home now, otherwise my little bro will have it out for me.”

Derpy giggled as she nuzzled her colftfriend. “Should I come over to your place with my little muffin? I’ll make breakfast.” Derpy asked as she winked to Thunderlane, pressing her lips against his softly.

Thunderlane gave a goofy smile as he blushed. “Sounds good to me.”

“Urgh!” Octavia sat on her haunches, her head lowered as she looked down on the ground. “Get a room you two! Urgh!”

Luna blinked and cocked her brow as she scratched her head. “What’s wrong with Octavia?” She asked Roseluck, who just shook her head as she smirked.

“That’s what happens when you bang your head to the music all night long,” Roseluck leaned towards Octavia and inhaled. “Right Octy!?”

Octavia covered her ears and groaned. “Urgh!”

Golden Harvest chuckled as she walked up to her friends. “I’ll see you all later today.” She bid each of them farewell, giving each one a brief hug before departing through the exit.

“Guess it’s time we got you home too Starry?” Roseluck mentioned to her friend, seeing Luna’s downcast eyes. “Hey don’t worry, we can do this again tonight.”

“Really?!” Luna’s head jerked upwards, her eyes shining with hope and happiness as she beamed.

Roseluck nodded and smiled in return. “You bet!” She turned to Derpy and Thunderlane. “How about you two? Want to show Starry more of a good time?”

“Sure,” Thunderlane replied, looking to his fillyfriend. “As long as Derpy is fine with it, I’m all in.”

Derpy smiled as she closed her eyes. “Anything for a friend who wants to have fun.”

“Excellent.” Roseluck said, marching up to the door and opening it. “After you, Starry.”

Luna had been having a good time. So much in fact, that she had completely lost track of the time. Several hours before, when she walked into the club, the sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon. At that moment however, the sun was nowhere to be found. Instead, in it’s place and directly in her view, was the large, glistening moon.

Immediately, Luna’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks as the lunar body seemed to fill her entire view. She began shaking uncontrollably as she started pawing at the ground to move away from it, stumbling over her own hooves and falling to the floor. Though she didn’t scream out as she had before, she still couldn’t help as she began to cry out in uncontrollable, sheer terror.

“No, please! I don’t want to go back! I can’t go back! Don’t make me go back! Please!”

Seeing the sudden change in Luna’s attitude, Roseluck quickly slammed the door shut. “Starry!” she cried out rushing over to her friend’s aid. “Are you alright? What happened?”

Luna couldn’t answer. “Please don’t make me go back,” she cried out again, clutching Roseluck tightly. “I’m so sorry. I don’t want to go back.”

“It’s alight Starry. Nopony’s going to hurt you or send you away anywhere.”

“But I… I…” Luna began to stutter as the image of the moon burned away from her vision and the world seemed to come back into focus. All around her were her new friends, the looks of concern evident on their faces. “I… I’m sorry,” she muttered softly, closing her eyes to try and hide the tears pouring from them.

“You’re fine. You didn’t do anything. Are you alright now?”

Luna didn’t answer save for a single nod of her head.

Roseluck and the other’s sighed with relief. “Are you sure? What happened exactly?”

Luna clutched Roseluck just a bit tighter as she started shaking again. “The moon,” she answered simply.

“The moon?”

“It’s just... I mean… I can’t… I’m sorry...”

“No, don’t worry about it,” Roseluck responded soothingly. “I didn’t realize. You don’t have to apologize for anything. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah, it’s alright Starry,” Derpy added moving in on the other side. “We all have things that scare us. Do you want to talk about it? It’ll help.”

“I…” Luna began, but quickly stopped herself. She did want to talk about it. She wanted to tell them everything. Instead, she just shook her head.

Roseluck looked to her friends Derpy and Thunderlane, all three nodding just before they came up to Luna. “Let’s get you back home safely Starry,” she helped Luna up and reached out a hoof to her shoulder. “We’ll walk you home together.”

“But I—”

“Starry,” Derpy cut her off as she looked her in the eye, doing her best to have both of her eyes looking at hers. “You don’t have to be afraid, we’re here for you.”

“That’s right.” Thunderlane said as he reached for the door. “Now when you see the moon, don’t think of it as something that’s gonna get you. Rather think of it as a big light in the night sky.”

Luna gulped, her lips quivering a little before she nodded reluctantly. “Okay,” she answered back, taking a few slow steps towards the door. “But please, don’t let me go alone.” She pleaded to her friends.

“You’re crazy if you think we’re leaving you alone.” Roseluck smirked as she stuck close to her friend. For a moment she looked back at Octavia, who was still incapacitated on the ground. “We’ll see you later Octi!”

“Urgh!” Octavia groaned, covering her ears with her hooves whilst resting her head on the floor.

Luna looked back at Octavia, waving to bid her goodnight. Seeing Octavia’s state caused her to snort a laugh before her attention was brought back to the door. She nodded to Thunderlane, who opened the door slowly to let in the moon light. Luna tensed up, trying to back away but stopped when she felt Roseluck and Derpy by her side.

“Remember Starry, don’t think of the moon as a bad thing. Rather as a big light in the sky.” Derpy reminded her as she nudged Luna to walk onwards, which she did at snail pace.

With all four ponies outside, the group made their way to the giant tree in the centre of Ponyville, where the library and home of their friend Starry was located. Even though they were in a slow canter, Luna was not screaming as she moved on towards her goal.

When the moon entered her line of sight, a myriad of memories came back to her. Most of them were of her time on there, when she had no control of her body and she was begging for anypony to come and free her. Even though she yelled out for help over there, no sound was emitted by her. Nor were there any sound heard. When the Nightmare controlled her body, she had never slept nor dreamed. Every second of every day was a continuous routine of seeing the world that was her home, feeling the ground that was as welcoming as fire is to paper. Luna bit her lips hard, trying her best to stave off the memories.

Roseluck immediately took notice as Luna began shaking once again as she gazed up at the sky. “Look at me Starry,” she said calmingly, grabbing Luna’s head and turning it towards her. “We’re almost home, alright? There’s nothing to worry about.”

“But I—”

“Starry,” she reiterated a bit more strongly, “I may not know why the moon scares you so badly, but I promise you that nothing bad is going to happen.”

As Luna gazed into her eyes, she could see the concern and determination between what she said. “How can you say that?” she asked nervously. “How can you promise nothing bad will happen?”

Roseluck smiled. “Because I promise that no matter what happens, I’m going to be here to help you through it.”

“And me as well,” Thunderlane added.

“And me,” Derpy said flying in. “We’re your friends Starry. We’re here for you no matter what!”

“You see Starry,” Roseluck continued, leaning back and giving Luna a good look of all the smiling faces around her, “we’re all here for you. Even Octavia once she sobers up a bit more,” she added with a chuckle.

“We’re your friends Starry. No matter what happens, we’ll be here to help.”

Luna moved between each ponies expression. Each of them had the same look of concern and determination. But more importantly, there was a deep caring in their eyes. Roseluck was telling the truth. It was evident from each of their faces.

“Thank you,” she whispered calmly. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“That’s what friends do,” Derpy said offering a hoof to help Luna back onto her hooves again. “Now, let’s get you home before anything else happens, alright?”

The rest of the trip home went by without any troubles. After confirming that Luna’s room was empty, save for her doppelganger, Thunderlane and Derpy helped her up and into her room.

“You sure you’ll be alright?” Derpy asked as Luna passed through the window.

Luna nodded. “Yes, I’ll be fine now. I’m sorry for the trouble that I caused tonight.”

“It was no trouble at all,” Thunderlane said with a smile. “In fact, I think that we should do this again sometime.”

“I… I’d like that,” Luna grinned back. “Thank you all for the wonderful time.”

“And thank you for coming,” Roseluck said as well. “Have a good night. We’ll see you around.”

“I’ll see you around,” Luna repeated as her friends lowered themselves down. She watched as they trotted off, looking behind and waving as they left her view.

Cautiously, Luna turned her gaze back up to the sky. A cold chill ran down her spine as the large moon came into her vision. Yet, as she gazed up at it, she could almost see each of the other’s eyes, her friends’ eyes, still looking down at her and filled with love and concern.

And somehow, the moon seemed more distant than it ever had before.

The Lugubrious Delusion

“Are you serious about this, Blueblood?”

Sitting amidst the fireplace that lit and warmed his chambers, Blueblood and Proud Lining sat facing each other as they were enjoying a glass of wine. The subject of their conversation was something Proud Lining did not anticipate.

“Yes I am…” Blueblood replied dryly as he drank his wine slowly, staring into the fire in deep thought. His light brilliant arctic blue eyes reflected the embers that danced before him as he continued to look on. The flames began to display images to him, images of his past where he was only a foal. A mere colt in bliss with the company of Celestia. The fire continued to burn brightly, as picture upon picture was shown to him in. Blueblood’s face contorted into a scowl as the flame started showing Celestia again, with other ponies and him not with her.

“Blue?”

Snapping out of his trance, Blueblood immediately threw his glass into the fireplace, causing the fire to strengthen due to the wine’s presence. The white stallion grunted as he glared at Proud Lining, baring his teeth at him in rage.

“Never call me that,” he spoke softly, eerily calm as he got up from his chair. “Do you hear me!?”

Proud Lining could only nod slowly as he collected himself from the outburst of a pony he called friend. “My apologies…” he said in response to Blueblood’s words. “Back to the topic at hoof, are you really sure you want to go through with this?”

“Absolutely,” Blueblood replied as he calmed himself down, sinking back into his chair and levitating another wine class towards him. He grabbed the bottle and poured the contents in, roughly placing the bottle back on the stand where it stood. “This needs to be done, for things to change.”

An audible gulp escaped Proud’s mouth as he stared bewildered at Blueblood. “This is just…” Proud Lining trailed off as he tried to form his words. “Radical.”

“Every change in history has been erratic, Proud Lining.” Blueblood quipped as he drank from his glass and looked back at the flame. “And this change must begin, if Equestria should have a future and not be stagnated in eternal limbo.”

Proud Lining narrowed his eyes as he registered the words Blueblood spoke. “Very well…” he trailed off as he leaned forward to rest his head upon his forehooves. “Who else is in on this?”

Blueblood brushed a hoof through his mane as he sighed, looking back at Proud Lining. “I have a few other resources I can call upon for this, added with yours and this will succeed.” Blueblood said as he got up from his chair again, making his way to a table where a number of letters were located.

“Do you trust your resources enough for this?” Proud Lining asked curiously as he looked to Blueblood’s back facing him.

A deafening silence surrounded the room the two stallions were situated in. Blueblood started to breath heavily before bringing his hoof to his face, with a few sniffs escaping him as he stood still.

“Blueblood?”

Suddenly, Blueblood jerked his head backwards as he erupted in laughter. When the laughter died down, a silence soon followed before Blueblood sighed deeply and turned to Proud Lining smiling broadly as he sauntered towards him.

“One thing I have learned the hard way, is to never trust anypony at all…” Blueblood spoke softly, albeit wickedly as he leaned in forward to Proud’s face. “Because once you begin to trust somepony, you only open yourself to be hurt by them in the most agonizing ways imaginable.”

Proud Lining only gulped audibly as he was forced to look his friend in the eye, seeing them becoming more crazed by the minute. “What are you saying?”

An idiot like him must be spoon fed every word… Blueblood rolled his eyes and pushed himself from Proud Lining. “Have I ever told you about my family?”

“Well I know Celestia is your—”

“Not that family!” Blueblood retorted loudly, glaring at Proud Lining with venomous eyes. Blueblood shook his head calmly as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before speaking again. “Let me tell you a little tale, about a young colt…” Blueblood started to speak as he drank more wine. “A little colt was living happily with his family, right here in Canterlot in the Noble Court, until a great tragedy occurred leaving the little colt all alone in the world.” Blueblood eyes looked upwards as they became moist. “Until somepony took him in under her angelic wings, promising that he will never be alone again as long as she lives…”

Could it be… Proud Lining leaned forward as he listened intently to Blueblood’s story. “What happened to the colt afterwards?”

Blueblood simply ignored his words and began to pace around the room. “Now this little colt was still very very upset over the loss of his parents, so much so that he could not sleep at night without having nightmares of that dreadful day.” Blueblood stopped for a moment as he lowered his head and breathed. “And wouldn’t you know it, the one who took him in saw his pain and cradled him to ease his suffering. She also acted as a shoulder to cry upon for the poor little colt.” He giggled mirthlessly at the comment.

“Blueblood, where are you going with—”

“And the little colt did something that even she could not anticipate,” Blueblood exclaimed loudly as he looked up to the roof smiling thinly. “He asked her if he can call her his mother… to which she actually said yes.” Blueblood chuckled again as he closed his eyes, though Proud Lining could swear he saw a build up of tears in the edges of his lids. “And that was the fatal mistake that poor little colt made… for he was not a son to her,” Blueblood turned sharply to Proud Lining as he opened his eyes to reveal moistness. “He was only a doll to her boredom.”

“What are you—”

Blueblood sighed and poured all the wine in the glass down his throat before speaking again. “And the little colt was so happy, but even happiness has an expiry date.” Blueblood throw the glass one side idly, shattering it in pieces before reaches for the wine bottle and drinking from it.

“Not long afterwards, she got herself another doll of humble origins who had many perks thanks to mastering one spell.” Blueblood grumbled as he drank more wine. “Apparently, she could no longer live with her family anymore and thus started living here for growing a horn.” Blueblood sighed as he shook his head. “And that little filly was good company, no doubts there… but when that filly was around, she simply ignored him for the filly and her gifts that spread love like a perfume.” His voice became softer, but it was dripping in anger as he snarled at the words.

“Then came a filly from the stars, who became the personal student with her pet lizard.” Blueblood mumbled as he finished the wine bottle, but kept it levitating in the air. “And no matter what the little colt did, he was always ignored and shunned because he was no longer the latest toy for her malicious desires!” He smashed the bottle in the fire, causing it to erupt violently to the presence of glass. Blueblood’s back was turned to Proud Lining as he breathed erratically before turning back to him.

“Abandoned again, there was nowhere else to go but to the court. The ponies there took the little colt in, welcoming him like the family he once had. That was until he discovered that they just wanted to use him to get at to the one who left him.” Blueblood sneered as he narrowed his eyes off into the distance, the fire reflecting in his eyes.

“When he refused, they oust him just as she did. He soon found the truth… the cold truth. That they were all snakes hiding behind pretentions of civility. They manipulated, used, betrayed, and hurt each other. From them, the little colt learned to be calculating and cold. Nopony ever liked him, but they didn't need to; that little colt just needed them to fear him enough to make them willingly go along with him. As prince, he had a leg up in playing the game, and sure enough, the little colt climbed his way to the top, doing whatever he had to even if it were against his principles." He paused for a moment, before rushing towards Proud Lining with his hoof risen. He stopped midway from hitting Proud across the face, and rested his hoof on his cheek.

“Now you know the story… and I’m certain you know why you can never trust a pony at all? It’s because to the ponies at the top, you’re only a doll to their whims.” Blueblood pressed his hooves on Proud Lining’s shoulders. “And that must change, for everypony to be happy. Do you understand?” Blueblood tilted his head, cocking his brow as he curled a smile to one side of his face.

Proud Lining could only nod at Blueblood’s words, speechless at what he had just heard.

“Good!” Blueblood pulled Proud Lining from his chair and pushed him out the door. “Now go and prepare your end… my end is nearing completion.” With that, Blueblood slammed the door shut, alone in his room. He sighed and rested his back against the door, landing on his haunches as he rested his head against his hooves.

“Never trust anypony, and never cry before others…” Blueblood raised his head from his hooves, revealing a river of tears streaming from his eyes. “Isn’t that right, mother?”

“Luna! Please stop this!”

Flying above the recently destroyed courtroom of their castle, Princess Celestia and her beloved little sister Princess Luna were engaged in a gruelling duel. Only Luna did not resemble the little sister Celestia cherished so much. Her coat was pure black, with her armour resembling that of the silver moonlight and her eyes becoming that of a dragon’s.

Celestia kept her distance from Luna who was constantly firing magical beams at her. What made this difficult for Celestia was the fact that she was carrying six artifacts in her magic. The Elements of Harmony.

“Luna!”

Fangs projected from her mouth as she was cackling at Celestia. “Luna? No, my name is Nightmare Moon!” she barked out to Celestia, firing another attack that barely missed her. “You’re so focused on not bringing harm to her, and that will be your death!” she sneered at Celestia, charging towards her with her horn shining brightly.

Celestia’s eyes started to tear up as she focused all her magic into the Elements, praying they would work. When the magic was released, the Elements shined before linking together and emitting a powerful ray of light to Luna. Celestia’s eyes were blinded as the magic intensified as they were cleansing Luna’s body. Celestia fell to the ground of the throne room, with the Elements dropping alongside her.

When she finally came to her senses, Celestia looked up and scanned the interior of the room for her sister. “Luna?” Celestia called out to her sister, but she only heard silence. A dreadful silence.

“Luna?!” Celestia again shouted out, this time flying out of the castle thanks to the new opening made by their battle. Her breathing started to become erratic as she saw no sign of her darling sister, with her eyes becoming misty with each second.

When she turned to the moon, a look of horror was present on her face as her jaw dropped and her pupils became the size of pins. A silhouette of a mare was now present on the moon. The mare being her sister.

“Oh no!” Celestia panicked, rushing back to the Elements to use their magic again to reverse what she had done. When she finally got to them, Celestia found them to be mere stone orbs now. “No no!” Celestia exclaimed, using her magic to have them function again. Nothing worked for her. Celestia’s lips quivered as her legs buckled under her weight, with her body falling to the ground as despair became prominent in her body.

A light shined from one of the Elements, giving Celestia a moment of reprieve. Instead of turning back to its original form, the stone orb displayed Luna’s sadden face as it was looking at Celestia with tearful eyes.

“Why sister?”

“No!”

Celestia’s head jerked upwards as she started panting, feeling sweat ebbing from the pores of her face. Once her breathing became stable, Celestia quickly wiped the sweat from her forehead but found her vision to be blurred by an excess of tears in her eyes. She quickly rid herself of the tears, sniffing in the process as her brain was still processing what she went through now.

That nightmare again…

Luna! Celestia quickly got up from her bed and tipped hoofed over to her door, opening it gently to not emit a creak from the hinges. When it was opened enough to give her a wide berth, she carefully made her to Luna’s room opposite her. Poking her head inside, she saw her sister sound asleep in her own bed.

Thank goodness… Celestia sighed inwardly, a small smile creeping on her muzzle. She felt the need to go over to her sister and make sure she was okay, but decided against that when she saw her sister’s body about to turn in her sleep. Gasping a little, Celestia quickly departed her head from the room and stood alone in the corridor.

Celestia carefully trotted towards another door, leading outside to the balcony of the library. Once she opened it, a gentle gust of wind greeted her as she beheld the evening’s skies. When she looked upwards, she was greeted to the stars and moon shining brightly to illuminate the night. The silhouette of her sister was now erased from the moon’s surface, showing the true beauty of the moon. Luna’s moon.

Scrunching her lips as she felt a pang in her gut, Celestia looked away from the moon and the stars. Even though she had to raise the moon and lower it in Luna’s absence for life to flourish, a part of Celestia felt it was a perversion on her part for doing so. It was Luna’s duty, her role as the co-ruler of Equestria and maintain harmony. Now the moon was a blight on Luna’s wellbeing, due to what Celestia had done.

As she made her way back to her room carefully, Celestia could hear the soft snoring of Spike coming from Twilight’s room. Celestia walked past her door and sneaked a peek into Twilight’s room, seeing her faithful student sound asleep with a gentle smile on her face.

My faithful student…

Before she knew it, Celestia was inside Twilight’s room and right next to her student’s bed. A small smile slowly edged onto Celestia’s muzzle, as she looked down on Twilight. Her ears perked to Spike’s snoring, and she looked down to see the baby dragon in a basket with a blanket over him.

Oh Spike, I think we’re going to need to put you in a proper bed soon… Celestia leaned down and nuzzled him, luckily not waking him up at this hour. When she finally stepped away, her hind hoof felt the touch of something fluffy. Looking behind, she saw a pony doll lying on the ground. Ms. Smarty Pants? Celestia used her magic to levitate the doll to face her, where she saw it still wore the same polka dot pants it did when she had given it to Twilight. What Twilight didn’t know was that the doll used to be hers and Luna’s back when they were fillies.

Celestia returned to her room, still carrying Ms. Smarty Pants in her hold. When she sat down on her bed, she held the doll up and looked at her. “I didn’t know Twilight brought you here… How time flies…” Celestia whispered to the doll, as though it were alive. "Things were so different when Twilight first began playing with you as a filly and Luna was still…” Celestia could not finished the sentence, as she felt a choke in her throat with her eyes becoming moist.

Oh Luna… Celestia brought Smarty Pants to get her chest, holding the doll close to her as though she were foal embracing it during a sleepless night. She lay on her bed, curled up in a fetal position as she continued to cry into the doll. Her ears perked to the sounds of hoofsteps from outside, but Celestia paid it no heed as she tried to stop the tears by thinking of certain things.

Once we’re back in Canterlot, I’m going to give Luna the biggest room just for her… Celestia nodded to her own words as she smiled down upon the doll. Then plan the greatest celebration Equestria would ever know, which will become annual and dwarf the Summer Sun Celebration… She sniffed again, but maintained her smile even with the build up of tears. I’m sure she will be surprised by Blueblood, learning that she’s an aunt to another pony… Celestia giggled softly, imagining the look on Luna’s face when she introduces Blueblood.

And everything will be fine, all will be well…

Then everything would be okay. It had to be okay. She didn't know what she'd do if it didn't work.

The Birth of Pandamonium

Twilight’s ear flicked as she heard the door open. “Welcome to Golden Oaks if I’m able to assist you in any way just ask.” She turned the page before looking up and blushing as she saw Rarity standing in front of her with a eyebrow raised.

“Oh! I’m sorry Rarity I was just really involved in this book anyway what’s up?” Twilight smiled setting the book down her full attention on Rarity who was acting a bit odd.

Rarity glanced left then right her eyes scanning the library. “Well I was out shopping this morning when I happened to overhear a bit of information. It seems that Starry has been out and about at night.”

Twilight blinked before slowly shutting her book “I don’t think so Rarity, Blossom has been very er proactive when it comes to Starry including a very early bed time.” Twilight sighed before shaking her head “So early in fact that Spike is still doing his homework when Starry heads to bed. Personally I think it is a bit… well I think Blossom is trying to hard to protect Starry.”

“Twilight I am certain that Starry has been in the clubs, I...may not have overheard this information. You know that I am… getting a touch desperate to find my prince charming and well, those clubs have an overabundance of...eligible bachelors.” Rarity turned to stare at the floor her cheeks tinged red

Twilight gaped silently for a few moments before grabbing Rarity’s shoulders “You mean to tell me that you have seen Starry at these clubs with your own eyes? You are one hundred percent certain it was her?”

Rarity simply nodded her head as Twilight’s ears pinned back “Oh this is bad! This is bad, bad,bad! Blossom cannot find out about this she...she I don’t know what she’d do but it would be bad!” Twilight’s eye began to twitch as her mane stuck up.

Celestia hummed as she spread peanut butter onto her bread. A nice sandwich would help her nerves a bit. Celestia sighed as her eyes moistened... Luna seems to be pulling away from me… I just don’t know what to do... I just want to help her.

“You mean you’ve seen Starry at these clubs with your own eyes? You are one hundred percent certain it was her?”

Celestia frowned and crept to the doorway to see Rarity nod silently. Celestia bit her lip feeling her fur stand up on end.

“Oh this is bad! This is bad, bad,bad! Blossom cannot find out about this she... I don’t know what she’d do but it would be bad!” Twilight stared at Rarity in panic as Celestia’s eyes narrowed and backed up back into the kitchen. And returned to her sandwich gently placing the second piece of bread on top making the sandwich complete before taking a butter knife in her magic to cut off the crusts.

“Luna going out at night after I tuck her in? Why would she do that... how could she do that? I keep a very close eye on her. She needs more time... she’s going too fast. She was infected one thousand years she needs to heal. It’s that friend of hers that mare all she is doing is causing Luna trouble and it's just going to get worse! Soon she’ll have Luna drinking! drinking then what’ll happen!” Celestia looked down to see her sandwich cut into dozens of tiny pieces and paused taking a breath

“Relax Celestia... just talk with Luna later tonight explain why you are so worried then forbid her from seeing that mare again! And if that mare dares come near my baby sister, I will have her see Tartarus!” Celestia nodded before popping a bite of sandwich into her mouth and walking out of the kitchen not noticing that the butter knife was stabbed into the counter.

“Are you sure she’s going to be home now?” Luna, in the guise of Starry, whispered to Rose who stood next to her in a room engulfed in darkness.

Rose nodded her head, though the others could not see it. “Definitely! We made sure of that.”

“Quiet!” Pinkie scolded the two as she felt her tail twitching. “She’s coming in three…” all ponies remained silent as the pink mare started a countdown. “Two... “ they braced themselves as the final number was approaching. “One…”

The door crept open with a single pony popping inside and shutting behind her. “Oh darn it! Where’s the lights?” Derpy thought out loud as she tried to find a switch, but upon her last word, the room became a lit and she found herself surrounded by ponies.

“Surprise!” all the ponies excluding Derpy shouted out, with Pinkie blowing on a party blower before she removed it from her mouth. “Happy Birthday!” she called out to the stunned pegasus, who looked up to see a banner with the words “Happy Birthday” written upon it in glittering letters. “Do you like it?!” the pink mare asked her.

“This is the best!” Derpy began to tear up, but quickly wiped her eyes and she was soon dragged to another corner of the room by Rose and Carrot Top, with Starry following suite.

Rose giggled as she let go of her friend. “You think that’s the best? Check out all these presents,” the cream earth pony grinned as she pointed to a stack of gifts, all mounted against the side of wall that nearly reached the roof. “But before that, I think somepony on your right wants to give you something.”

Derpy blinked when she turned to her right and saw dark grey pegasus stallion approaching her, with a tiny box held gently with his teeth. The mare cocked her brow until Thunderlane took flight and took the little box out of his mouth with his front hooves. He opened it slowly to reveal a stunning diamond bracelet. The grey mare gasped as she placed a hoof on her mouth, with her eyes becoming moist.

“Derpy…” Thunderlane began to speak as he grinned at the mare of his life. “I’d like to ask you, will you marry m—” His words were cut off when the grey mare charged towards him, pressing her lips against his. The stallion in turned returned the kiss, with the audience looking at the couple in admiration. “Is that yes?”

“Yes!” Derpy responded as she cried as she smiled demurely at her love, proceeding to nuzzle into his neck. Once she removed herself from him, her stallion placed the necklace over her neck and she looked down to admire the gem that suspended from it. “It’s so beautiful…”

“You’re beautiful, Derpy,” Thunderlane replied as he gave a gentle peck on his fiance’s cheek, resulting in the other ponies voicing their admiration to them.

Vinyl whistled loudly to the crowd of ponies. “Enough lovey dovey! It’s party time!” she shouted out the ponies as she rushed to her DJ set, flicking the switches on it and immediately starting the music. A few ponies opted out of dancing, instead of staying the sidelines and coercing with each other.

Luna, in the guise of Starry, walked over to her two pegasi friends who were joined with their respectable foals. “Happy Birthday, Derpy… and congratulations, both of you!” she said to Derpy and Thunderlane, who had their tails interlocked as they beamed at their friend.

“Thank you,” Derpy was the first to say as she hugged the navy unicorn mare.

“So glad you could have made it to the party,” Thunderlane said to Starry as when Derpy released the latter. “For a moment I thought you weren’t going to make it.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for Equestria,” Starry replied as she grinned at her two friends, soon joined by Roseluck and Carrot Top.

Carrot Top cocked her brow as the looked at Derpy and Thunderlane. “Why aren’t you out dancing? Come on, it’s your birthday!” she exclaimed as she dragged the couple to the dance floor, where the majority of ponies were. Only Dinky and Rumble remained behind, too engrossed by their own conversation.

My word...Luna giggled as she saw her friends out dancing on the floor, with Vinyl and Octavia working on the music together. She furrowed her brow when she did not see Roseluck dancing though. Where could she be? Luna looked around and finally saw her friend outside sitting on the bench alone. The alicorn in disguise walked towards her friend. “Hey, Rose…”

Roseluck turned to the voice of Starry and emitted a smile. “Oh hey,” she replied as she looked upon the navy unicorn. “Out to take a break from the dancing?”

“Nah, I haven’t even danced yet.”

“Aww… well,” Roseluck waved to Starry to come sit next to her. “I do know that a certain big red stallion would love to have the honour of dancing with you,” she giggled as he turned to look at Big Macintosh, who was also outside with a few other stallions. The red earth pony looked away when Starry’s eyes lingered to him.

He certain is quite— Starry blushed profoundly as she shook her head. “Well, I… um…”

Roseluck tittered as she reclined on the bench and looked up at the star skies. “The night sure looks beautiful tonight,” she said as she continued to stare at the stars and the moon above her.

“It is.”

“Much better than in Manehatten,” Roseluck blurted out, before she gasped and covered her mouth. “Nevermind!” she quickly added to Starry, who looked at her with cocked eyebrows.

Come to think of it… She never mentioned any of her family to me before…”Rose, are you from Manehatten?” Starry asked her friend, who only gave a curt nod. “You’re quite a long way from home,” the unicorn told her friend.

“It’s not my home… this is my home,” Roseluck replied dryly, beginning to shuffle in her seat as she started to look away from Starry’s gaze. Why did we even start talking about that awful place? she asked her herself.

“But what about your family?” Starry asked, her ears perking when she heard Roseluck give off a short but humourless laugh. “Rose?”

The cream earth pony sighed as she shook her head and look at Starry. “Look, what I’m about to tell you Starry… I don’t usually share with other ponies,” she paused for a moment as she drew a breath, preparing herself. “Roseluck isn’t my birthname.”

Starry blinked a few times before cocking her head. “Not your birthname?”

“Mmhmm,” Roseluck replied as she looked downwards. “Nah, my actual name is Lily Rose the 3rd, or 4th… can’t remember really, don’t really care,” she snorted and raised her hoof as Starry was about to open her mouth. “You must be wondering why I don’t go by that name and I’m all the way here?” she asked rhetorically, to receive a nod from the navy unicorn. “Let’s just say that got tired of having no right of choice.”

No right of choice… Starry furrowed her brow a little until something popped in her head. “Wait… you ran away?” she asked her friend, who nodded in response. “But what about your family? Don’t you think they are worrying about you?”

“If that were the case, but as soon as I got out, I was replaced by some other filly… another heir to their aristocratic ways…” Roseluck replied. “Look, Starry… just because I started with a different name and came from a different background, does not mean I have to be that way forever… even if others tell me I must.”

Starry fidgeted her hooves until she spoke again. “Is that why you don’t like my sister that much?” she asked Roseluck.

“I have nothing against Sunny personally, but anypony who tries to control others around me, especially my friends, will have a word with me,” Roseluck said before she got up from her seat. “We better go inside, I’m sure the others are wondering where we are now.”

“Very well,” Starry got up from her seat too and looked up at the night sky again. Just because you began with a different name and place… doesn’t mean you have to be that way forever… “The night is doing well without me…” Starry muttered to herself before she felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to gasp and turn to the source.

Roseluck grinned as she motioned her head at Big Macintosh, who was also on his way inside. “Hey! Biggie!” she called out to the red stallion, who turned around just as he was about to head enter the house. “Can you come here for a moment?”

“What are you doing?” Starry asked Roseluck, who only winked at her friend.

“Biggie, this is my friend Starry,” she introduced her friend to Big Macintosh, who gave off small smile at a curt nod at the mare. Roseluck leaned towards the red stallion’s ear. “My friend is kind of shy, but she thinks you’re stunning,” Big Macintosh’s cheeks burned, which were not picked up by Starry’s gaze.

Starry felt a blush coming to her face as Big Macintosh kept staring at her. “Um, hi there…” she waved at the behemoth. She was caught off guard when she was pushed towards the red stallion by Roseluck.

“Let’s go inside! It’s freezing out here,” Roseluck giggled as she rushed inside, taking a look behind to see Big Macintosh and Starry staring at each other with a small smile on each of their faces, soon accompanying each other as they entered the house and closed the door from behind.

Celestia put a hoof to her head with a groan as she opened her eyes to see the room she had awoken in was a blinding white infact at first glance it appeared entirely devoid of anything except herself.

“Ugh, my head where am I? Can anypony hear me?” Celestia felt her ears pin back as only silence answered her. Slowly she blinked her eyes trying to grow used to the blinding light after a few moments of this she took another look around. She was in some type of room though there were no windows or a door. Finally she saw there was something else in the room. In the middle of the floor there was a small table very similar to the one she kept in her study.

“What is this?” She took a step closer and peered down to see a chessboard. Celestia cocked her head and took a closer look the black pieces, seemed to be shaped as normal chess ponies were yet by sight she guessed they were made from obsidian.

The white pieces however made her stop cold, rather than the generic designs she was used to they appeared specially made to look like her family. Slowly she picked up each piece to study them. The queen was obviously her dear student with Spike beside her, Her beloved sister Luna was a rook though the piece appeared to look different if she gazed at it from another direction appearing as her disguise Starry. Cadance was the bishop and Shining Armor her lieutenant and Cadance’s coltfriend was of course a knight. And at the very front one of the pawns… her son Blueblood.

Celestia carefully put the pieces back and blinks “What is all this? Where am I?”

”This...this is the world you desire Celestia, A world where everything is as you wish. A simple chess game. And you, you are the chess master. Careful though.”

A black piece moved forward smashing one of her white pawns, her son, into pieces. Celestia gasped when she saw this, and saw her son’s head rolling off the board crying for help. But it never came.

In this game you play for keeps.”

Celestia woke up suddenly eyes wide sweat covering her coat and a scream stuck in her throat. She closed her eyes, panting as she tried to calm her racing heart.

“Celestia? Princess? Are you alright?”

Celestia glanced up to see her door partly opened the head of Twilight poking in. “I was studying downstairs when I heard you scream, I just wanted to make sure you were alright?”

“I… fine I’m fine Twilight, is I must not have been to loud for it appears Luna slept through my ah night terror.” Celestia closed her eyes levitating the glass of ice water sitting beside her to her lips. She paused. “Did I say anything when I screamed?”

Twilight attempted to look anywhere other than her teacher’s eyes. “Yes.”

“Well?” Celestia set the glass back down her entire attention on Twilight who squirmed a bit.

“You said… you said “I don’t want this.” And then you just… screamed.” Celestia felt a shiver creep down her back before shaking her head and pulling her covers back.

“I hate to disturb Luna but I really need her insight on the dream I just had.”

Twilight frowned “Luna’s insight? I er not to insult Princess Luna but I have some excellent books downstairs on dream interpretation I could bring one up here for you?”

Celestia shook her head “Twilight, before the Nightmare took Luna she wasn’t only the Princess of the night. She was mistress of dreams. She has the ability to dream walk and help ponies with their night-terrors.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! I wonder why she hasn’t gone back to doing that?” Twilight looked around the room as Celestia shrugged.

“I don’t know, I have guesses but i’d need to ask her directly. Twilight, I do enjoy our conversations even this late at night, but I really must speak with Luna. So if you would excuse me?” Celestia wrapped her neck around Twilight briefly before pulling back with a motherly smile.

“Oh yes of course I should get back to my studies anyway!” Twilight stepped back and went back downstairs.

Celestia sighed and went across the hall she lifted her hoof and knocked softly. “Luna? Sorry to disturb you may I come in?” When she heard nothing she opened the door and walked over to Luna’s bed “...I had a horrible night terror Luna. I was in a room with a chess board but all my pieces were the ponies I love. You and Cadance and Twilight and Blueblood… I...I don’t know what it means. Please you have to help me! Does it mean I’m too controlling? Do I need to take a step back?” Celestia paused “Luna?” She softly nudged Luna with her muzzle before frowning Something didn’t feel right. Her horn glowed gold as she yanked the covers off of her sister to reveal… “A dummy? W-why Luna? Why are you trying to go against me! I’m only trying to help you!” Her eyes turned white as she used her bond with the moon to scan Ponyville searching. She blinked her eyes returning to normal. “There you are.”

Celestia frowned disguising herself as Sunny before transporting to home of Derpy the mailmare, knocking on the door and waiting for it to open. A smile forced onto her lips as a pink mare answered it.

“Welcome to the party! You’re just in time for the ca—” Pinkie Pie’s words died down when she saw Sunny standing in front of her with a forced smile on her face. The pinkie smiled broadly as a bead of sweat started to roll down from her forehead.

“Hello Pinkie... is my sister Starry here?”

How does Auntie Tia do this everyday without help?

Cadance sighed as she looked over the forms of all the proposals she received during the week’s audiences as she sat on Celestia’s throne in the castle’s throne room. Only a few needed her utmost attention, ranging from a drought happening in Applepaloosa or an evacuation of ponies from Las Pegasus due to a surprise flooding. The other forms were primarily made from the nobles who were demanding money to finance their extravagant mansions or other needless merchandise.

Yet nothing from Blueblood? Cadance blinked as she finished skimming through the forms, both surprised, relieved and concerned that she hadn’t received any demands from her cousin. When she thought of the stallion, she couldn’t help but frown and moisten her eyes.

“Something wrong, Cadie?” Shining Armor asked his princess as he was the only guard present with her.

“It’s nothing really, just something on my mind…” Cadance trailed off as s he tried her best to smile at her lieutenant, yet failed miserably when he kept staring at her. “I’m sorry, it’s just Blueblood,” her ears perked when she heard Shining groan at the name of her cousin. “It’s just… I haven’t heard from him or even seen him in a while.”

Shining huffed as he rolled his eyes. “That’s a relief,” he said plainly, but gasped when he saw Cadance furrow her brow at him. “I-it’s just, wouldn’t you be more pleased if you didn’t get petitions or demands from him?” he asked the pink alicorn.

Cadance opened her mouth to speak, but her words were cut off when she and Shining heard the doors of the throne room opening, the reveal a lone pegasus guard walking in and bow to the princess of his princess. “Princess Cadance, your last audience for today is here.”

“Send them in, please,” Cadance told her guard, who saluted to her and Shining just before he walked outside to inform the pony or ponies on the other side. After a few seconds, a lone white unicorn stallion walked with his head barely able to be held up high and his eyes gazing into the distance as though they were not focusing on anything. Blueblood finally stopped right before the two ponies, with a plain look on his face.

I knew it was too good to be true! Shining moaned inwardly as he saw the white stallion before him. The lieutenant cocked his brow when he noticed the thousand yard stare Blueblood was emitting. What the hay happened to him? Did some mare finally stand up to him?

Cadance, on the other hand, was concerned when she saw her cousin. “Blue… is something wrong?” she asked him, only for him to actually bow at her when he stood just before her. When he rose from his bow, the pink alicorn noted the redness of his eyes and the stains underneath his eyelids. Has he been crying?

“Cadie…” Blueblood began to speak, with his voice raspy. “There’s something I need to ask you…” he paused for a moment as he drew in a breath. “What gives us the right to say how a pony should live?”

“W-what do you mean, Blue?” Cadance stuttered a little, taken aback by the stallion’s question. “We don’t decide how a pony must live. We guide them, just as Princess Celestia had taught us,” she replied, noting Blueblood’s eyes narrowing ever so slightly when she brought up the name of her aunt.

Again with what ‘she taught us’... “By using sweet words and promises to the ponies, you’re removing choice from them. Telling them that they are born into their roles in life and using the guise of ‘destiny’ to make excuses to the ponies who question the ruling of Equestria. That’s not guidance… that’s manipulation.”

Cadance remained silent as she stared at her cousin whose eyes were piercing hers. What’s going on with Blue? Why would he even think such things… “Blue, is there something wrong?”

“There is something terribly wrong with this country, if everypony must put their faith into those they call ‘Princess’ or ‘Prince’ whilst forsaking all form of freedom to appease those ‘more equal to them’... and I don’t want to be apart of this tyranny anymore!” Blueblood barked out the last word, causing the other ponies to flinch as he started to pace around the throne room. “Every foal born into this kingdom is bound by the strings we attach to them… like me, and you… this can’t go on anymore… no more… we have sinned…”

What is going on here? Cadance tried to figure out what was happening to Blueblood. “Blue… do you mind if we—”

“Okay, this has gone on long enough,” Shining chipped in as he walked towards Blueblood. “Why don’t you just leave now so that Princess Cadance may continue on with more important matters?” the lieutenant suggested to the white stallion before him, who did not even bat an blink to his words.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell it’s rude to interrupt ponies when they are engaged in a conversation?” Blueblood asked Shining Armor, not bothering to look at the guard who stood on his side.

Shining Armour merely rolled his eyes as he huffed and smirked a little. “Look, the Princess has more pressing matters to deal with, so can you just please leave her be?” he asked Blueblood placing his hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. This time, the white stallion sharply turned his head to the guard, nearly exposing his teeth as he glared daggers at him.

“Please, remove your hoof from me.”

“Look, Prince Blueblood, our Princess here—” Shining could not finish his statement when he felt excruciating pain courses through him. The guard nearly screamed out like a little filly, but suppressed it as he saw his hoof was twisted and nearly snapped off thanks to the other unicorn’s magic. The aura that surrounded his hoof soon took a firm grip on him and he was slammed to the ground with superior force.

Blueblood used his magic to grasp Shining’s neck and lifting him up from the ground. “Don’t ever call me that!” he sneered at the bruised guard who tried to wriggle his way out of the vice. “You thought me weak because I would not dirty my hooves when I was still deluded? Let me ask you something, who was that mare’s student before Cadie and before your sister? Me.”

“Prince Blueblood!” Cadance flared her wings as she flew towards the two stallions. “Stop this at once! We can still—”

“I am no longer a prince!” Blueblood retorted as he throw something towards Cadance, that collided with her flashing horn, causing her to fall to the ground as she felt her magic being drained from her.

A magic restrainer?! Where the heck did he get this? Cadance tried to pry the ring off of her as best she could, but to no avail. Since their invention, Celestia had decreed that they would only be used on prisoners who were deemed too dangerous to be ever freed again. The effects of a restrainer was strong enough to incapacitate an alicorn just like her.

Just as she tried yet again to remove the restrainer with her hooves, she heard the doors opening and saw a platoon of guards entering the throne room. A smile crept onto Cadance’s face when she saw the guards, lead by Shining Armor’s sergeant Flash Sentry. “Guards! Stop Blueblood! But please don’t hurt him!” she commanded her guards as she weakly pointed to her cousin, who was still holding a bloodied Shining with a magical vice around his neck. She heard no sound from the guards behind her, causing her to look back at them, as they haven’t moved a muscle. “Sergeant?”

“Shining Armor,” Blueblood began to speak as he brought the beaten lieutenant towards him. “As my last act as…” the white unicorn mouth began to contort as though he was about to regurgitate. “... prince of Equestria; you are relieved of duty,” he flung the stallion across to where the guards stood, landing with a thud as more pain coursed through him. “Guards, take Shining to a holding cell, and take Cadance to her bedroom,”

Flash cocked his brow when he heard the request. “Are you sure we should put her in her room? She could escape my liege.”

“I’ve already made arrangements to make sure she doesn’t… and don’t call me that again,” Blueblood’s last words dripped with venom as he glared at the orange pegasus.

“Y-yes Sir!” Flash saluted at Blueblood before he signaled the guards to carry Shining and Cadance away.

‘Why Flash!?” Cadance begged an answer from the sergeant as she tried to comprehend what just happened. “Why betray us like this!?” she barked out at the orange pegasus, who only sighed and looked back with moist eyes of his own.

Flash shrugged weakly as he looked at Cadance. “We all got mouths to feed her, some more than others… and I need to make sure my family’s safe.”

“But—”

“Shut up!” One of the earth pony guards grunted at her, followed by elbowing her head. “Just be quiet and you won’t be hurt any—” the guard’s words were cut off when he felt himself before dragged back to where Blueblood was standing. “What the?” was the only words he could speak before he was thrown towards stained glass window bearing Celestia’s image, with him crashing through it and falling to the earth below.

Blueblood turned back at the guards, who were all shivering in fear of what they just saw. “If any of you hurt Cadie… you will follow him… is that clear?” he spoke in an eerily calm voice as he looked around each of the guards who nodded their heads furiously to his words. “Now… go.”

The guards scurried out of the throne room, leaving Blueblood alone to his own devices. The stallion took a seat on the throne seat and buried his head against his hooves as his eyes streamed with tears. So this is how the throne feels like? He rocketed his head upwards as his mouth became agape, followed by him jumping out of the seat and using his magic to rip it from the ground. “Nopony deserves this kind of authority… not even me!” he threw the seat to another window, bearing the image of Celestia and an unknown alicorn, casting it from the throne room.

This… abomination… Blueblood looked around the room as he continued to cry and glare at everything. This cannot remain! I can’t do this anymore! She can’t get away with this anymore! Equestria deserves better! She needs to go! I need to go! I must atone! I must… I must… the stallion fell onto his haunches as he sobbed into his hooves with his teeth still baring in rage.

Change must happen now!