Insomnia

I sat down with the bread and fruits I managed to acquire from the kitchen and began unrolling the scroll that Candy had given me.

So according to Princess Luna, this is supposed to answer a lot of questions, lets see if that rings true.

As I unrolled it, a small piece of parchment fell from inside. I levitated it within reading distance.

“Subject, we have included portions of our diary that we believe will be beneficial to your understanding the current situation and the importance of our association. We regret we couldn’t simply explain the situation to you in greater detail, but time is of the essence, as we don’t know what is going to happen next. - Your princess.”

This all seems really serious, I wonder what’s going on, and why Luna apparently no longer rules alongside Celestia. I guess that’s why I’m reading this though.

I finished unrolling the scroll and began reading the entries.

“Seventh Night, Eighth Cycle -- Equestria is living in a period of harmony and bliss. Every aspect of the culture is thriving, and the military grows with each passing day. Since there are reports of enemies appearing in the areas surrounding canterlot, more and more funds have been going towards the military and defenses. At least, this is the story everypony keeps telling. We can see that everything is not as it seems. Ponies are living in bliss, yes, but as they say: ignorance is bliss.

Our sister is not the same ruler she once was. We do not know what has happened, but she has changed, for the worse. There have been no enemy sightings within a hundred miles of the capital, so for what end our beloved sister continues to amass such an army we do not know, but... maybe we do not want to know. When we try to speak with her about it she only shrugs us off or acts like she didn't hear us. We fear something is terribly wrong with her. Perhaps the millennia are finally catching up to her: driving her insane. She distances herself further from us with each day.”

“Twelfth Night, Eighth Cycle -- Our sister has taken to effectively kidnapping young stallions from the street to add to her army. She says it is a draft, but there is no reason for any such thing since the enemy threats, as we mentioned, are non-existent. We must approach her on this matter; what she is doing is just wrong. Since when has Equestria ever needed an army so large?”

“Fourteenth Night, Eighth Cycle -- Our sister has.... There is no explanation for this. We approached her civilly about the army she has amassed, and she reacted in a - most violent manner. She now says that we must refrain from any interaction with her subjects. Not that we ever did interact with them, being keeper of the night. She says if we interfere, she'll send me back to.... She cannot stop us from walking among the dreams of our subjects, though. We have a duty to the citizens of Equestria and we will not neglect them no matter what our sister demands.”

“Twentieth Night, Eighth Cycle -- We saw our sister’s dreams. She is not herself. There is nothing but darkness in her mind. Violence, anger, vengeance. She hates me. We are going to find some citizens that may have noticed what we have. Surely somepony has noticed something strange, we cannot be the only one who finds my sister’s recent actions and proclamations unreasonable. Surely someone will believe us when we say that our dear sister, Celestia... has become a villain.”

I was shocked.

How could something like this be going on under my nose? Under everypony’s noses?

For a moment, I entertained the thought that Luna might have once again been corrupted, and was lying about the situation.

Surely, she wouldn’t amass such a following if that was the case. When I was walking about earlier, I counted at least three-hundred ponies just on my way to the kitchen. This place, whatever it is, is huge.

On top of that, from the stories I had heard, her entire appearance and personality changed when she became Nightmare Moon. This Princess Luna I had been speaking to was nothing even resembling an evil tyrant. She was almost motherly in a way.

What could be wrong with Celestia though? Had she really just snapped? I couldn’t imagine living for hundreds, let alone thousands of years. Perhaps Luna’s guess was right.

Although the story still had holes, and I was more confused now than ever, I knew if I wanted answers, the only way to get them was to stick with this and see where it lead.