Canterlot castle was alive with ponies going about their daily routines. Guards patrolled the halls, maids and butlers saw to minor cleaning duties to keep the pristine castle spotless, chefs and servers prepared the evening’s meal with dutiful pride, and hidden away in one of the highest towers was one alicorn princess going through great efforts to unveil the mystery behind the disappearance of dozens of ponies.

Luna went through the five papers she took from the house of a mare named Lotsa Luv, trying to find a pattern where there might have been none. The sheets floated in front of her face as she rested front down on her bed, muzzle buried in her crossed arms as boredom took its toll. Luna had looked over words that she had studied for days, words so familiar to her that she almost didn’t need the pages at all. Names, dates, items that needed to be delivered and where they needed to be delivered to, but nothing that stood out to the alicorn more than the rest.

If only there was something buried in the pages that could point her toward the answer to Lotsa Luv’s disappearance, a canceled order, an unusually large order, even an address that was far out of the way to explain why she might have been gone for so long, but there was nothing. All the orders on the five sheets were completed, of the normal size for a flower and candy delivery service, and were within either walking distance or easily reached by the Equestrian railroad system. If anything Luna thought it was all too normal, but that might have been a leap to conclusions when presented with a brick wall.

The blue furred alicorn, as she stared at the papers passing through one after another for the umpteenth time, felt her eyelids droop down. Darkness enveloped her world for a split second, but then the surroundings of her room popped back into view. She couldn’t nod off, not yet. To do so would be to admit defeat for another day, and that would be another day that Lotsa Luv would go unfound. Luna would not abide the time wasted in rest, and so got up from her position to walk around.

She neatly stacked the papers in the grasp of her aura upon a table, let the glow of her horn fade, and stepped over to the fireplace. In matters of architecture, Luna’s room was the same as her sister’s, but the decor of the room varied vastly. It had been decorated by Celestia before Luna’s return as Nightmare Moon, made in preparation of their reunion as sisters and co-rulers of Equestria.

The walls were of a dark blue, replicating the color of the night sky. The ceiling was speckled with gems that twinkled like stars in the presence of magic. The archway that lead out to her balcony had large glass doors that were enchanted to block out noise, along with a set of full sized blinders to keep out the light so she could sleep soundly during the day. This had caused a problem in the past during a certain wedding, but it was necessary to allow the princess of the night to sleep through the noise and commotion that came with the activities of the daylight hours.

The last bits were some small trinkets that Celestia had used to give the room even more of a feel that it belonged to the pony who created the night sky. Small crystals and statuettes in the shape of crescent moons, thestrals in flight, and the old castle that resided in the Everfree Forest. While it was a little on the nose, Luna didn’t have the heart to alter a single thing that her sister had caringly created for her living space. Everything that Celestia had done to make her feel welcomed back after a thousand years was treasured by Luna, from the night themed decorations, to the small knick knacks.

Surprisingly little from the old castle residing in the Everfree Forest had been brought to Canterlot. Not even the library of books, as her bookshelf contained more recent editions of tomes from that time. What she did have from it though hung above the mantle of she fireplace, a painting of herself, her sister, and their mentor and friend, Starswirl The Bearded. It was a picture of better times, painted after the defeat of the villains Discord, Sombra, and Tirek, but before her own descent down the path of darkness.

Luna gave it a long glance and dwelled on time lost with the old and wise stallion during her exile in the moon. “You would have found all the missing ponies and declined the parade to be held in your honor by now, wouldn’t you?” she said aloud, using her horn to lift a coffee pot from inside the fireplace, along with a cup to pour its contents into. A quick levitation, a small tilt, and Luna had what she needed to stay awake for another hour at least.

The alicorn took a sip, and then a gulp of the blackish-brown liquid, taking in the taste of mocha and cinnamon. It was a bittersweet blend that she was fond of as of late, not really drinking that much of the substance before her private investigation into the missing ponies. It was silky, went down smooth, and piping hot from sitting above an open flame. The feeling of the liquid flowing to her stomach filled her with a pleasant warmth, and the flavor returned to her a bit of happiness that she had lost in her failed attempts to discover what had happened to Lotsa Luv. It wasn’t much, but it kept her going.

Taking drink after drink, Luna’s mind became more awake and aware, the powerful aroma of the unsweetened brew assisting in that matter. By the time she finished she felt capable of continuing her pursuit of answers, and with cup empty she set it down and picked up her papers once again. She was only able to give the first two pages a small flip before a knock at her chamber door interrupted her train of thought.

“Luna, are you awake in there?” Luna recognized her sister’s muffled voice, and became curious as to why she had come for a visit. It wasn’t often that Celestia troubled herself to walk the steps up to her tower, especially when a flight to the balcony would be easier.

Luna started for the door, but then remembered the pages in her hands. She still hadn’t told Celestia about her excursion to Hoofington, and didn’t intend to do so until she had some solid proof. She had gone against Celestia’s request to allow Twilight to covertly take care of the problem. She didn’t want to upset her older sibling, so she went over to her bed and slipped them in between her mattress and boxspring.

As the mattress fell down, the door opened. “Luna?” Celestia said, her horn sliding slowly into the room followed by the rest of her head.

Luna acted casual, turning her head towards her sister while stepping away from her bed. “Why sister, what brings thyself up to my chambers?”

Celestia stepped inside and took Luna’s lack of offense at her poking her head into the room as a sign of welcome. “I noticed that your blinds hadn’t been pulled down. It is far past your bedtime.”

“Dearest sister, I am the princess of the night. I make my own bedtimes, quite literally.”

Celestia giggled, amused by the younger alicorn’s jest. “Yes, but you are rarely up at this time, and I seem to recall the last time you stayed awake during the later hours of the morning you were so tired that the servants had to carry you to your bed. Took Kibitz hours to get everypony back up to schedule once they got you up here.”

Luna blushed a bit, reminded of how so many ponies fussed over her well-being in her exhausted state. It was the last time she would stay up for over twenty-four hours straight, as well as the last time she considered job as ruler during the day hours a simple task. “That was under different circumstances, and I’m more than capable of staying up past my normal sleeping hours.”

“With a bit of help it seems,” Celestia said sniffing the air, smiling as the scent filled her senses, “Most ponies don’t drink coffee this ‘late’, unless they have a reason to be awake.”

As usual Celestia was able to pick up on things quickly when something was amiss, seldom being wrong about these sort of things. Luna wasn’t found out yet though, “Truthfully… I’ve been worried lately.” It was no use to tell a lie or give an excuse about the reason she was awake, as once she had declined something as important as an invitation to Princess Cadence’s wedding due to need of rest, but a partial truth could make things easier, explain her concerns without saying that she was acting on them. “Those ponies, the ones unaccounted for, anything could be happening to them and I can’t do a thing to help.”

Celestia gave Luna a knowing look; it was not an easy task being a princess, especially in times such as these. One thousand years ago, when Equestria was still young and the two alicorns were just establishing their realm, the land was in turmoil. Evil creatures of great power ran rampant, laying claim to the lands and the ponies that resided in them. It was a time that required action, a time where the two sisters faced one foe after another, defeating them with a combination of their own power and the Elements of Harmony. That time was all Luna knew of leadership, that being the era that ended with her banishment, and it was hard for her to act any other way since she had never known a time of peace and prosperity.

The white alicorn grabbed Luna’s coffee pot and two cups with her magic, took a seat on Luna’s bed, and poured out a little for herself and her sister. “Luna, please sit.”

Luna was relieved when Celestia sat, as she had plopped herself directly above the sheets of paper she was hiding. With them placed snugly underneath her sibling’s royal rump it would prevent Celestia from stumbling across them and her firm mattress kept them from making crinkling noises under the weight. Luna took a seat next to her sister and took the cup handed to her once she was off her hooves.

“I know how hard it is to think that somewhere out there somepony is suffering. It’s something that weighs on the minds of all leaders, how to do what is best for their people and protect them from harm.”

Luna watched Celestia bring her cup to her lips and drink deeply, and likewise she took a sip. “I know where you are going with this. That even with our power we can’t solve every problem that comes along. That we need to pick and choose our battles, that sometimes we must let one thing go in order to protect what really matters. It just isn’t… fair.”

“Luna…” Celestia said, the wisdom of over one thousand years reflecting on her face, “Why would you ever think that?”

“Huh?” Luna was curious as to what Celestia meant by the odd statement. Even young foals knew the lesson she had spoke of.

Celestia took another sip from her cup, a smirk appearing when she removed it from her lips. “I would’ve thought by now you understood that nothing is impossible.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry little sister, I do understand what you are saying. As individuals we cannot be everywhere at once. Everyday I’m approached with a mountain of forms to sign, complaints from the citizens of Equestria, and other problems that I have to attend to, so I can’t deal with every single problem as it comes. That is why I trained a protege to help me manage things and take care of the issues I’m unable to do myself.”

Luna gave a nod, “Of course, Twilight Sparkle has proven to be a valuable ally.”

“Not only Twilight,” Celestia corrected, “But each of her friends as well. Each of them are able to do great things, and have done so on several occasions already. They might stumble and make mistakes from time to time, but I believe that the bond they share with one another will pull them through any situation.”

Luna, having finished her coffee, set her empty cup onto the blanket of her bed.This all sounded like the typical Celestia speech about how the magic of friendship would guide those that used it to good things. Luna knew first hand about the power that friendship held, but she also knew that it was a power that could be broken. That she and Celestia were no longer able to wield the Elements of Harmony was proof that it was possible to render it useless.

Celestia could sense Luna’s concerns, and followed up her thoughts by saying, “I know that, even with all the power in the world, there will be some things we still wouldn’t be able to solve. If something bad has happened to those that have vanished we would never be able to take that away, but we can work to make it better. What we cannot prevent, we can mend. It might take time, effort, and some careful planning, but I’m certain that there is nothing we can’t get through.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Luna, still unconvinced by the white alicorn’s overwhelming optimism. Celestia was the type who could be completely helpless, magic sapped from her body, and still look a foe in the eye with a smirk. Luna didn’t know if she could do the same, but it was that confidence that often inspired her.

Another knock came to the door, a little short of a bang against the ornate room divider. “Princess Celestia, you’ve used up the entirety of your breaks for today! We have to get back to the schedule, else you won't have enough time to approve the stack of zoning permits waiting for you to sign, then we have an art showing that you have to attend before lunch with Fancy Pants and Miss De Lis. After that you have to-”

“I’m coming Kibitz!” Celestia called to the door, taking a moment to finish off what remained in her cup, “A princess’ work is never done.” She pushed herself off the bed, and headed to the door to meet with her scheduling adviser. She stopped just short of turning the knob, procrastinating ever so slightly. It wouldn’t cause that much trouble to spend a few more seconds with her sister. “Luna…”

Luna had to pull her hand out from under her mattress in a flash, having thought Celestia was would simply leave. “Yes sister?” she asked, holding back her nervousness from almost being caught.

“I know that you care for every single pony in Equestria, just as a ruler should, but this problem needs a bit of subtlety in order to solve it. If you really wish to help, perform your duties and let Twilight do the investigating.” Celestia opened the door, revealing a white, grey maned unicorn stallion with a thick mustache looking mildly irritated at a pocket watch in his hands, tapping his hoof in a manner to express that they were losing precious seconds. “And please get some rest. It will let you take your mind off things, and perhaps allow you to look at this problem from a new perspective.”

The two white ponies walked down the spiral staircase leading back to the lower portion of the castle, Luna closed the door behind them as they got out of sight. No longer in fear that her sister might come back, she went to retrieve the sheets under her mattress without delay. They were just as she had left them, the third page being the one on top.

“One more time…” Luna said to herself, her determination dwindling, but still present. Her eyes rolled over each letter of the page more intensely than any of her previous times.

Name : Address | Order | Payment | Order Date | Delivery Date

Caramel : Ponyville, 52 Riverside Drive | Chocolates | 20 Bits | 05/11 | 06/11

Shooting Star: Trottingham, 78 Orchard Lane | 12 Roses | 15 Bits | 05/11 | 7/20

Cherry Jubilee: Dodge Junction, 8 Cherry Lane | Perfume & Card | 15 Rubies | 05/14 | 05/15

Chocolate Tail: Baltimare, 266 Chestnut Street | Chocolates | 3 Emeralds | 05/16 | 05/21

Silver Spanner: Canterbury, 36 Canterbury Drive | 8 Daisies | 14 Bits | 05/20 | 06/05

Cream Tangerine: Fillydelphia, 5 Hill Street | C. Cake and Balloons | 1 Diamond | 05/20 | 05/30

Meadow Song: Hoofington, 86 Park Avenue | Card | 11 Bits | 05/25 | 06/15

Star Bright: Fillydelphia, 12 Spruce Avenue | Singing Telegram | 6 Sapphires | 06/02 | 06/05

Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing she could go off of. She sent that page to the back and proceeded to the next.

Name : Address | Order | Payment | Order Date | Delivery Date

Moon Dancer: Canterlot, 272 Hillcrest Avenue | 12 Roses | 15 Bits | 06/05 | 06/15

Lemon Hearts: Rainbow Falls, 60 Sycamore Lane | Singing Telegram | 17 Bits | 06/05 | 06/06

Clear Skies: Ponyville, 930 3rd Street | Balloons | 5 Rubies | 06/07 | 06/08

Amber Waves: Crystal Empire, 63 Cypress Court | Chocolate Cake | 30 Bits | 06/08 | 06/15

Sweetie Drops: Ponyville, 10 Glenwood Avenue | Card | 11 Bits | 06/10 | 06/14

Tall Tale: Fillydelphia, 55 Hickory Lane | 8 Daisies | 14 Bits | 06/12 | 06/20

Braeburn: Appaloosa, 16 Maple Street | Singing Telegram | 6 Sapphires | 06/12 | 06/17

Raven: Canterlot, 13 Bridle Court | Chocolates | 3 Emeralds | 06/20 | 07/01

The same the list told her nothing except that the business of spreading romance was profitable. Frustration building inside, she brought the final page to the forefront.

Name : Address | Order | Payment | Order Date | Delivery Date

Parasol: Baltimare, 66 Edgewood Drive | 13 Daisies | 14 Bits | 06/24 | 06/29

Amethyst Star: Ponyville, 17 Cedar Avenue | Chocolates | 15 Bits | 06/25 | 06/28

Cinnamon Swirl: Trottingham, 22 Prospect Street | Singing Telegram | 17 Bits | 06/26 | 06/30

Prim Posy: Detrot, 21 Evergreen Drive | Perfume | 20 Bits | 06/27 | 06/29

Red Delicious: Appaloosa, 24 Cherry Street | Balloons| 11 Bits | 06/27 | 07/04

Thunderlane: Ponyville, 1313 Mockingbird Lane | Chocolates | 15 Bits | 06/28 | 07/15

Golden Locks: Manehatten, 533 Main Street | 12 Roses | 15 Bits | 07/01 | 07/02

“GRAAHH!!!” Luna’s irritation finally got the better of her. She tossed the papers into the air, making no effort to stop them from falling to the floor. She was just wasting time at this point, unable to garner anything from these names except that these ponies may or may not have had contact with Lotsa Luv a few days before her disappearance. If the alicorn could she would have brought each pony named in for individual interrogation, but that would draw too much attention from Celestia and if none of the ponies were the supposed kidnapper then it would be a warning to the real perpetrator.

Defeated, Luna slumped into her bed. She had reached a dead end before she’d even started, the lead she thought she had was just a fabrication of her own want to figure out what was going on. Whether the disappearance of this mare was foul play or of her own accord, Luna didn’t know and had no way of figuring out. At this rate sleep was the more valid option, and so Luna closed her eyes.

It took a while for the night princess’ consciousness to fade from the world around her, drifting quietly to a plane few could experience like she could. The darkness that the back of her eyelids created gradually became a vast blue space. Shrouds of clouds formed with, of lighter blue and purple, holding within them orbs of splendid light. Luna’s mind had transversed to “The Realm of Dreams”, a place where the subconsciouses of all living beings went to as they rested. Each point of light, in the shape of an orb and glimmering like a star in the night sky, was some creature’s dreamscape, a place where their slumbering thoughts were made manifest and vivid to the dreamer.

Looking around, she found a large cluster of these light orbs beneath her, converging together to make an almost solid looking mass. As few knew that the realm of dreams even existed, at least as something more than one’s own personal dreamscape, few would know what this formation was called, but Luna knew it as the “Dream Heart”. Here dreams were in such close proximity that Luna could go from one to another freely.

Around the Dream Heart, far off in the distance, were other dreams that had drifted far away. They were so far separated from the rest that Luna couldn’t reach most, and had no ability to enter them at all since when she came to this realm she always appeared close to the Dream Heart. Mostly they were they dreams of stallions and mares whose dreamscapes, for some reason unknown to Luna, moved away as they aged.

With nothing better to do, Luna dived into the Dream Heart. Flapping her wings, she flew through the sea of dreams as she looked for one to enter and occupy her time of rest. When this close to the orbs, the princess could easily tell who the dreams belonged to and what they were dreaming. During the day, there were very few orbs floating about, as most creatures were awake. The ones she saw now were those of nocturnal creatures such as herself; bats, opossums, owls, thestrals. During the night the Dream Heart was twice as thick, and the distant star-like shapes went from hundreds to millions.

The animals' dreams were amusing, as in many cases it gave a glimpse at animal life that a princess like her hardly got to see first-hand. There was one that made her worry a bit though, as she stumbled upon the dream of a familiar white rabbit. The rabbit was sitting on a throne, somehow with menacing presence despite his small and cute appearance, while ponies served him hand and foot.

“More carrots lord Angel bunny?” said an illusionary version of Fluttershy, wearing a modest maid’s outfit, as she held a bowl of carrots bigger than the rabbit itself before him. Other identifiable visages were present, in the form of other ponies that Luna had seen in Ponyville during her visit. A notable example was Rarity, who appeared when the rabbit took a carrot and extended his other jewelry covered paw over his throne’s arm.

The unicorn immediately came to his side, her body concealed in little more than rags that covered the necessary parts, and used a cloth not too far off from what she was wearing to polish the gems on his rings to an even brighter shine. Standing behind the throne was Applejack and a large red stallion she recognized from a festival in Ponyville, following the bunny’s chosen uniform for his lesser servants and waving large fans over him to keep the lapin lord cool and refreshed. Pinkie Pie was not too far from the rabbit’s seat, not in rags but instead dressed as a court jester as she performed hilarious acts for his entertainment. Twilight’s image didn’t join those of her fellow Elements of Harmony, though Luna had little doubt if she explored the dreamscape she would find one somewhere and wouldn’t be too satisfied in her fellow alicorn’s representation.

She had half a mind to enter the dream and teach the tiny creature a lesson in respect for other beings, but before she could another dream caught her eye. One of a young pegasus colt, floating not too far away from the bunny’s. Normally this would be nothing to deter the princess from enacting swift retribution, but a pony of his age didn’t usually sleep during the day. It peaked her curiosity, the colt’s distraught look and the light purple coloration of the orb adding in compelling her. She moved away from Angel’s dreamscape, giving it one last glare. It might have been fruitless since the rabbit had no way of knowing she was watching, but it made her feel better.

Entering the colt’s dream, Luna was greeted by a loud groan. The dreamscape appeared to be a classroom, filled with empty desks save for one in the middle of the room. The young pegasus, grey furred with a dark grey mane, stared dismayed at a small stack of papers in front of him. It was odd to see this, as the purple glow she had seen was an indication that this was a nightmare, and those tended to dramatize a pony’s inner turmoil. This was fairly underplayed, the young stallion was not being chased by some horrid monster or living out some terrible fear. Seeing that the dream was rather underwhelming, Luna decided not to make her usual dramatic entrance and approached the colt directly.

A tap on the shoulder alerted the colt to Luna’s presence and drew him away from the paper on his desk. “My little colt, what could be troubling you so much that such calm surroundings could be considered a nightmare?”

The colt wondered why he was dreaming about Princess Luna, but then things started to click. Scootaloo had not long ago spread stories about how Luna had the power to enter dreams and had used it to visit her during a camping trip. Some of his classmates, himself included, didn’t really believe the tale, but this seemed to confirm it.

But even if this was the real Luna, the colt didn’t have much to say to her. He looked to the floor, rubbed an arm in his hand, and remained uncomfortably silent.

“How about we start off small, what is your name?”

The colt lifted his head to meet Luna’s eyes, “Rumble…” he said meekly.

“Well then Rumble, thou art in the presence of royalty. That alone should be enough to grow a most splendid grin.” Luna allowed for a few seconds to pass for her stern, and almost demanding statement to settle, and then puffed out her cheeks, stuck out her tongue, and crossed her eyes. The sudden contrast from serious to silliness broke the boy’s coyness, a short snort coming out for the split second he was able to hold back before bursting out with laughter.

“There is that lovely smile I wanted to see.” said Luna, grabbing a seat and sitting down upon it in the opposite direction. It was a manner unbecoming of a princess, but children didn’t respond well to protocol and court etiquette. They needed to know that they were on the same level as an adult to open up to them, and sometimes that allowed for a few rules to be broken. “Now please, explain to me if you will what has you in such a gloomy mood.”

Rumble looked around, as if to make sure nothing else was listening in. “Well…” he took a deep breath, right before blurting out, “My grades have been really bad lately, my parents are really upset, my big brother’s not at home, I can’t go outside to play anymore and I think it’s all my fault!”

Luna went wide eyed. She had expected something big, at least in the eyes of a foal, but nothing like the avalanche of information she had been given. That the colt took the blame for it all in the end was upsetting, as there was no way one so young could be the source of so many woes. These were things certainly worthy of a nightmare, though the symbolic nature of the empty classroom still escaped her. She would have to fix this, but it would be a delicate matter. She had to approach the real problem, without immediately dismissing these fears. If she treated them like they were not substantial then she would only distance herself from Rumble.

“That is a heavy burden for one so young.” said Luna in an understanding tone, “Might I ask what you did to think this all lays squarely on your shoulders?”

Rumbles had a few tears welling up in his eyes, threatening to pour out but not quite able to do so. “I… I broke something that belonged to my brother, and… and…”

It was a common occurrence that children had problems recounting events, especially when it implicated them, but the dreamscape around them was already making up for his lack of words. The classroom was shifting to a the bedroom of an young adult stallion pegasus. The inspirational, educational posters were switched out for ones featuring sports teams. The desks replaced with a single one near a wall holding a few books and some personal knick knacks, and a large cloud bed took up a good majority of the room’s center.

Laying on the bed, in a position similar to what Luna was in earlier, was Rumble. The colt had a comic in his hands, Power Ponies, and seemed deeply enveloped in the book. His tail wagged side to side in excitement as he turned the page, Luna able to track what part of the book he was at by the angle of his irises. After a few more page turns, the colt went to the corner of the mattress, put his arms around a bedpost and dangled the book over the side, stretching it out as he rested his head on the side of the post so he could keep reading.

The real rumble watched a Luna’s side with a frown, he knew exactly where this was heading and he didn’t like it. He turned his head to the bedroom door, and Luna noticing him did the same. Before long the door flew open, a black stallion with blue striped hair coming in. “Rumble, you in here?”

The memory of Rumble got surprised by the sudden entrance, jumping slightly. The start was enough to make him fall off the side, hitting the cloud floor with his grip still firm on the comic as he fell.

“There you are, what are you doing in here. We need to get started on your home… work... “ Rumble’s brother went around the bed to reach his brother, and saw that the foal had his issue of Power Ponies #1, and that it was torn in two. Signs of confusion shown on the stallion, then grief, then anger. He did his best not to say something he would regret as his emotions built, but his face said what he didn’t.

“I’m sorry…” said the memory of Rumble, the real Rumble mimicking the words at the same time. His brother didn’t reply, just lifting his hand to silence the colt and walked out of the room. Rumble followed the stallion with the torn pages in hand. “I’m sorry! I’ll fix it! I promise!”

“Rumble, not now!” the older stallion yelled, the pleading of the colt pushing him past his limits. “Not… now… I need to go for a fly. Clear my head.” The stallion left out the front door, shutting it hard behind him. The colt stayed where he stood, looking at the door until a loud yell came from behind it, scaring him off.

The scene soon changed, two new adult pegasi appearing. A mare was walking around in a panic while a stallion sat at a table with a concerned look. “Where is he? He hasn’t been home for a week, he didn’t go to work, he’s not at a friend’s!”

“Calm down,” the stallion replied, “ He’s old enough to take care of himself. He’ll be safe.”

“But what if he’s in trouble, what if he’s…”

“He will be fine. We just need to wait and let the guards take care of this.”

The two pegasi discussed the situation back and forth, but something else was catching Luna’s attention. The sounds of sobbing coming from another room. She went to check on what it was, and found Rumble in his own room, crying over the torn comic book as he tried to put it back together with tape.

“See…” said the real Rumble with a sniffle, “I made him so mad that he left home. And no matter what I do he won’t come back. I even try to look for him, but mom and dad told me I have to stay inside. They grounded me because they found out about what I did.”

The whole scene looked terrible, but Luna felt there was more to it than what was to be seen. The brother’s actions were of anger, but restrained. In the situation stepping away from the colt was perhaps the mature thing to do, to not allow himself to lash out against the colt over an accident. Try telling that to a child though, especially one so filled with guilt. The parents didn’t seem angry either, and didn’t mention a thing about Rumble’s supposed involvement. He was probably less grounded than kept inside for his protection. The school was making more and more sense, as with what he was feeling he must have felt better away from the things that reminded him of incident; home, his parents, other ponies in general. Those sheets she saw before might of even been the comic, the thing that haunted to colt and what he thought would fix everything if it could be fixed.

“Rumble, do you mind if we return to when you tore the comic?” Luna wanted to know a bit more about what had happened, and she had a way of doing so, but she didn’t want to go back to a troubling place for the colt without Rumble’s permission. “Would that be ok?” Rumble shook his head, not really wanting to go back to his mistake.

Luna couldn’t really accept that answer though. It would be another brick wall, and after being unable to find the missing ponies another failure wouldn’t be good on her own self-esteem. She had the help this foal, for both his sake and hers. “Rumble, I want to go back in order to see if we could learn where your brother went. If we can do that then we can find him.”

That got the colt’s attention, “You… you really think you can find him?”

“I’m a princess Rumble, there is nothing I cannot do.” That was a lie, but many of the citizens liked to believe the princesses were capable of anything.

“Okay.. then we can go back.” said Rumble as he wiped a few tears from his eyes.

His permission, even if given because of false reasons, was all Luna needed. She lifted her hoof, stomped it down, and rewound the dream to before Rumble tore the comic. This time though, the two were in the living room, on the other side of the closed door to the room Rumble’s brother stayed in. The stallion was looking around for his brother, seemingly searching the rooms for Rumble.

Luna watched the stallion, taking in his every movement. Rumble hadn’t seen what his brother was doing at this time personally, but he didn’t have to. What creatures perceived with their own eyes and ears wasn’t the only thing that could be stored in memory, as they could stored much more in the subconscious of their minds. Sounds they couldn’t hear, things they couldn’t see, minute details that were normally ignored. Usually a pony would never have access to this information, but with Luna’s magic she could bring to light these hidden scenes.

The black stallion entered the room, Rumble fell off the bed, and then the stallion left the house in anger, all that remained the same. This time however, Luna followed after him with Rumble closely behind. The stallion didn’t get far, standing right outside the front door and staying there for a minute. At first he made motions to himself in silent, bringing his hands up before him, clutching at the air like he was strangling something. It wasn’t exactly the sight Luna was hoping for, and it strengthened Rumble’s fears.

That only lasted a moment though, as the black pegasus took a few deep breaths. “It’s not his fault… it’s not his fault.” he reasoned to himself, “You said he could look at your comic… you startled him when you went in. I just…” He let out a small yell, explaining what they heard earlier.

“See, he hated me so much that he ran off.” said Rumble, taking in only the bad details.

Luna shook her head, “I do not believe that is the case. Just watch, and see.”

The stallion pace a little and then reached into his pocket, pulling out a bunch of bits and counting it, “It was just a reprint, you can get another.” The stallion turned to go back inside, a look of sorrow for his bout of rage showing. Before he could grab the knob though, he stopped, “He’s probably upset… Give him time to get over it. Apologize to him after I get those chocolates I ordered for Cloudchaser.”

“Chocolates?” Luna asked aloud.

The stallion pulled out a slip from his bits, and looked it over. “Wasn’t supposed to be there for an hour, but couldn’t hurt to get there early.”

Luna rushed to his side and looked at the paper, but it was blank. She should have know better, the subconscious could retain a lot of information but it wasn’t so good as to get words off a paper that Rumble had not seen. The slip of paper was shoved back into the stallion’s pocket, and then he flew off. “One hour, that should be more than enough time.” He went out only a few feet before dissipating, reaching the outskirts of the subconscious’ perception. With the vision of Rumble’s brother gone, Luna looked back to him. The colt did look a little less uneased, but unsure of what exactly he saw.

“Rumble, did you hear that?” Asked the alicorn, hoping he got what he needed to hear out of that.

“I think so.” Rumble replied, “He said he wanted to apologize, that he didn’t blame me…. that he was coming back.”

“That’s right, and I believe that your brother intended to do just that. I think… something prevented him from returning.”

“You think he was kidnapped?!” the boy said shocked. That was a step up from running away. At least if he had left of his own accord there was the possibility that he could come back any day, but if someone had them then there was no way he could come back.

“Don’t you worry,” said Luna to comfort the colt, “I think the ponies of Canterlot might already be looking for the one who took your brother. It shouldn’t take long to find him.”

That seemed to brighten the young colt’s day, and with a flap of his wings he flew into Luna with a hug. “Thank you Princess Luna!”

The two ponies returned to the classroom, not much changing from before. Luna didn’t understand why it was still the same even after overcoming at least a portion of Rumble’s psychological trauma, but the colt looked happy as he went back to his seat. Luna followed him back, feeling there might be one last thing to take care of. Those sheets he had on the desk were still waiting, and if they were what she thought then she needed to take care of it.

“Rumble… you know that tearing the comic really wasn’t your fault. It was an accident that you could not have known would happen.”

“Oh I know,” said Rumble, sounding pretty sure about himself.

“You… do?” asked Luna, “Then what is all that on your desk?”

“This?” Rumble said pointing at the stack, “It’s my homework. My big brother usually helps me with it, but without him around I kinda… haven’t been finishing it.”

Luna was amazed, “Then this classroom is… are you in detention?”

“No, but I had to stay in during recess to do some of the stuff I didn’t do at home.”

“So you’re…”

“I kinda… sorta… fell asleep in the classroom.” Rumble put his hand to the back of his head and gave a large smile, accompanying it with a nervous grin. “Surprised Miss Cheerilee hasn’t woken me up yet.”

Luna put her hand to her face, now aware that she had unwittingly contributed to the delinquency of a minor. “Rumble…. you need to wake up and do your homework.”

“I know, I will, but… umm… with my big brother being kidnapped it’s really hard to concentrate on it.”

“That might be true, but this is your education at stake. One can’t leave their assignments unfinished.” When she finished speaking, Luna went quiet, turning away from away from the young colt looking at her. “Unfinished…”

“Something wrong?” asked Rumble.

“No, quite the opposite actually. At least I hope so.”

Rumble was going to inquire further, but the room suddenly shook and a voice resonated through it. “Rumble, wake up. Recess is over.” It was a kind, caring voice, one that Luna assumed it was the child’s teacher. She didn’t sound upset that the boy had fallen asleep when he was suppose to be doing his work, perhaps hearing about his troubles at home and taking pity on him.

Whatever the reason was, Luna had no time to think on it. Rumble had vanished, woken up from his nap, and that meant that she was in for a ride. She braced herself, covering her chest and tensing her muscles the best she could. A moment later she felt a heavy impact, knocking her with violent force through one of the walls of the classroom dreamscape. Next thing she knew, she was being thrown from the orb that she entered and back into the realm of dreams, forcibly ejected from the dream as its owner returned to the waking world. With her removed the orb faded from existence, just as any of the orbs would when the creature they belonged to was awake.

Luna, still tumbling from the blow she took, extended her wings to catch herself in the air. It took no time for her to stop her momentum, and when she slowed herself enough she began flapping her wings to keep herself from falling deeper into the realm. “I hate when that happens.” she commented to herself. It was never pleasant when someone’s link with their dreamscape was abruptly broken.

A little while after leaving Rumble’s dream, Luna awoke in her own room. She immediately removed herself from her bed, looking over the floor for the papers she tossed their. Gathering them up she looking over them one last time to confirm something. “The last page…” she said aloud, noticing something she didn’t before.”It only has seven entries.” The other pages had eight entries each, with no page appearing to be written on a specific date. It looked like Lotsa Luv simply kept adding entries and would jot down a new date as they came.

If that was the case, then perhaps the last person on the list was the last one the mare met before vanishing, and that could mean that person knew something about her whereabouts. Luna had to admit to herself that she was grasping at straws, but this was the closest thing she had to another lead. “It looks like I’m going to pay a visit to this…” She took one last look at the final entry, “Golden Locks.”

Author's Note

I am so very sorry that this took so long to come out. To all my patient readers I thank you for sticking around. I WILL be returning to regular updates of Equestria Trainers' Society soon, as my other project is coming to a conclusion. I would say that frequent updates will return as of August, but I wouldn't quote me on that.

Since it has been a while allow me to refresh some of you of a few things. This chapter, featuring Luna, is part of the story's Luna Side Arc that started here.

As for Golden Locks, I want to remind those who might have forgot that he is a reoccurring OC that first appeared here.

Again, thank all of you who waited for this and I promise you will not be disappointed for your patience.

Lots of MLP comic references in this chapter, so sorry if some of you didn't know what the heck I was talking about at certain parts.

Our guest ponies today are Rumble, Thunderlane, and (from the IDW comics) Kibitz.