About the Whole 'Defeating You]'Thing...We're Cool, Right?
Just as Princess Luna had promised, we were given full access to the Canterlot Royal Library. It brought back memories for me. I hadn't been in there since I was a filly. When I came of age, Celestia provided me an off-site place of residence where I could study. It had a decent selection of books, sure, but it was nothing compared to the Canterlot Royal Library. Celestia had it packed with volumes upon volumes of reference material and historical texts. It was a rather humbling sight...well, to me anyway. The others didn't seem nearly as enthused.
We decided to settle in early that night and prepare to search the entire next day. After we had all stashed our belongings in our respective rooms, Luna invited us to join her in the dining hall.
It was a bit awkward.
I had never properly talked to Luna before. I didn't know what to say to her after what had happened at the castle ruins. Celestia always told me that we had saved Luna from herself. That Luna was grateful. That Luna understood how we were only trying to preserve the peace.
But I couldn't help but worry that Luna might be suppressing some residual bitterness, that we weren't as welcome as she said we were. I wished I could resolve the issue simply, but I was reminded of the cat and the poison hypothetical. I realized that I couldn't confirm or oust my suspicions of Luna's bitterness without perhaps creating a new tension.
So I had no plan. All I could do was take a preemptive measure and attempt to be vague so that if things got bad I could back out easily.
"Luna...I'm sorry."
"It's no problem, Twilight Sparkle. There are rooms in this castle which are perpetually empty. Putting you all up is no burdon-"
"No, I mean...for the whole 'Nightmare Moon' thing. I really feel bad about that."
"What would make you say such a thing?"
"I just thought-"
"Twilight Sparkle, there is another side of my story I suspect you're not aware of. Make no mistake, I am not Nightmare Moon, and Nightmare Moon is not me. Nightmare Moon was a dominating personality which resided in my subconscious, formed from repressed fillyhood memories and unfulfilled dreams. I am the Luna I am now because you were able to destroy Nightmare Moon. I would never hold it against you that you saved me from myself."
Luna's words hit me like a freight train to Appleloosa. Now that I'd heard all that, and thought it all through, my worry seemed narrow-minded and self-justifying.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize-"
"Twilight Sparkle, please stop apologizing," and for the first time, she smiled at me. It was comforting, and I could tell that I was just being overly cautious. I let it go.
"So," Luna broke the silence, "my work is caught up, and I am fully prepared to assist you all in your research tomorrow. It has occurred to me that a good starting place may be the archives of Equestria Daily."
"What's 'Equestria Daily'? I've never heard of it."
"It's an old newspaper, from long before your time. I myself just recently discovered it in the castle library. My sister, apparently, never missed an issue; for the longest time she was obsessed on a rather gruesome story written by a pony under the penname of 'Sergeant Sprinkles'. Anyway, the paper has been out of print for nearly 300 years. The writers split off into two separate papers: the Canterlot Times and the Ponyville Tribune. I assume you are familiar with these two publications?"
"Yeah."
"Now, the original Equestria Daily papers were comprised mostly of two sections: fiction and non-fiction. The non-fiction section held the news, world events, and the like. That part we can ignore completely. The fiction section, on the other hoof, held original stories which ponies would write. This section became a training ground for independent authors who wanted to share their ideas. Though there were many beloved stories among this section, many of the serials were amateurish and conformed to the most bare-bone tropes of their genres. There were many violent and gruesome stories, dubbed 'grimdark'. These are not the stories we're worried about. No, the stories we want are romance stories, referred to as 'shipping'. Such stories were quite abundant in Equestria Daily, and if my hunch is correct, we will find some similarities between these shipping stories and the strange romance which now grips the land.
"...Anyway, we can check the Equestria Daily archives tomorrow; for now, it would be best to get our rest tonight, so we can be at our best when we begin our hunt."
Taking that as their cue, everypony went their separate ways. Luna caught my eye and I held back a second. When it was just the two of us left, Luna said to me,
"Make no mistake, Twilight Sparkle...you are my sister's protege. I hold an obligation to you as well."
And with that, I walked away as well. But not before returning the smile from earlier.
