"Twilight Sparkle, we have come to ask for your assistance in a situation most dire. I fear that the stars are being stolen from me." Princess Luna said when she stepped onto the balcony that connected to Twilight's room.

Luna had come in the morning after sending Twilight a letter last night informing of her visit. It stated nothing other than how important of an issue it was that they would discuss. Twilight was surprised, to say the least that Luna of all ponies had sent such a letter and visited her in the morning no less. Still, with the way the princess looked with her mane disheveled and her coat somewhat dull. It didn't take a genius to know that something had her anxious.

"What do you mean they are being taken from you, Luna? I don't think I quite understand what you're saying." Twilight motioned for her to take a seat and offered her some water from the pitcher Spike had left before Luna showing up.

Luna took hold of the glass with her magic and sat down across from Twilight. Taking the time to calm down and fix her mane while doing so. She had to admit that it was most unbecoming of royalty to be panicking in such a way as to ignore her appearance. She finished the glass and regained her composure.

"I meant exactly what I said Twilight. The stars are slowly disappearing from my night sky. I have no idea as to when it started but, I cannot ignore it any longer as there are fewer stars for me to form all the constellations."

"Wait a minute Luna, so you mean to tell me that you haven't just been trying something new these days? I have noticed a few stars missing but, I thought you were just attempting to experiment with minimalism in your work."

Twilight had indeed noticed that a few stars were lacking in the usual amount that she plotted in her maps of the night sky. Not one to question the literal embodiment of the night, she shrugged it off as Luna just trying something new as she usually did whenever she grew interested in concepts that did not exist 1000 years ago. Though, it usually didn't last for long as her attention span for such things never exceeded more than a week. This time, however, it seemed to have lasted longer, and Twilight had become intrigued at the prospect of Luna becoming interested in such a subject. With this visit, though, it seemed to be more of a problem than a topic for them to become closer friends.

"While I appreciate you noticing my attempts to implement new artistic styles to my night sky, I am afraid that this "minimalism" as you called it has nothing to do with any of it. No, I fear that this is the work of something sinister. I have never before encountered anything that could do such a thing as move the stars other than myself, save my sister of course."

"Wait, so nothing like this has ever happened before? So where do we even start looking for clues? I'm exactly sure if there is anything here that could help us figure this out."

"Do not fear Twilight Sparkle; I have brought books from my personal collection given to me by Starswirl himself. I must admit, even though they were received as a gift, I never did bother to read them as my pride was overwhelming back then. I felt as if reading anything dealing with my area of expertise would be an insult to my intelligence."

Twilight gasped as Luna made a stack of books appear on the table. She was surprised not only at the concept of Luna having a private collection but, also at the chance of reading books that Starswirl had picked specifically for the princess of the night. The amount of possible knowledge they contained regarding moving the heavens themselves made Twilight have several thoughts of holding herself up in the castle for one of her studying sabbaticals. These thoughts were quickly pushed aside as she remembered why they were in here in the first place.

"Right, I'll help you look through them, Luna. Together we're sure to find some clue as to why this would be happening. Though I do have one question before we begin our search."

"What is your question Twilight?" Luna looked at her with curiosity as she had not expected to be asked anything when she knew nothing about the situation.

"You mentioned that they were being taken from you. Why did you say that if you have no idea as to what is happening?"

Luna had a look of confusion as she tried to recall what she had said. It dawned on her that she had in fact mentioned that the stars were being taken. This realization made her think as to why she would say such a thing and a revelation came to her.

"Twilight, I knew coming to you for assistance would be the best course of action. It is as you say and the reason as to my earlier statement is exactly because it felt like it was being done. Each time I try to call upon the stars that are missing, I feel as if something or somepony is blocking my magic. I feel a strong presence surrounding hem that I had never felt before, one that is even stronger than my alicorn magic. The only way such a thing could be possible is through either an even more powerful pony than myself and Celestia or deep ancient magic."

Twilight hung on every word and thought about what was said. The possibility of somepony stronger than both Celestia and Luna was a terrifying. If this was the case and this pony or creature was taking the stars away then what exactly would be able to stop it if not the two most powerful alicorns in Equestria go against such magic? Ancient magic alone could be a viable option as to why such an event was taking place but, why now after all this time? What had caused this situation?

Too many questions were racing through Twilight's mind and with each possible answer, more questions were presenting themselves. Luna nudged Twilight having noticed her lost deep in thought. This action made Twilight jumped slightly and wondered when Luna had gotten up and next to her.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought about the situation."

"It is ok Twilight; I understand that this predicament is not one that presents itself every day. Is there anything in your musings that might help us?"

Twilight took one of the books on the table and materialized pen and paper for both the mares. "You mentioned it might be somepony or ancient magic. That helps to narrow down our search and is indeed a clue we can work with considering we knew nothing about it."

"Ah, yes. Well then let us commence the search with the tomes that Starswirl gave me so long ago. If there is anything regarding such deep magic, we should take note of it regardless of how small it might be. Even the most insignificant of information can be lead to our solution."

Luna sat down across Twilight once more and took a book from the pile. Each princess was focusing on the task at hand. Oblivious to the movements of Spike as he came to check on them every other hour to refill the pitcher of water and leaving food. He was used to taking care of Twilight when she had something that made her go into full blown study mode, and the fact that Luna was participating in such a thing didn't bother him one bit. If anything, it helped him focus on the chores he had around the castle and taking care of the two mares.

As he set down a fresh plate of daisy, tomato, and lettuce sandwiches he couldn't help but, laugh on the inside as both alicorns had the same expressions when lost in thought. It was going to be a long day taking care of these two. Though it was not something the number one assistant of Twilight Sparkle Princess of Friendship couldn't handle.

Author's Note

Another day, another story. I think I might be way too ambitious about the amount of free time I have to write. While I should be focusing more on my classes I just feel like writing all day every day. I want to write and entertain but, I know my limitations as a writer. That, along with my crippling low self-esteem prevent me from doing anything with that passion. Anyways, this story is inspired by something a friend showed me recently. I don't exactly have a link to it so I apologize for not being able to show it as my search results ended in vain. This story is something I have no idea when I'll be getting to as I still have Paradox Scholar and Dear Twilight Sparkle to work on. I also have some short stories in the works.

Concerning updates for this story, I'll be doing them randomly so I hope that won't be a turn off. This is literally something I wrote today March 16, 2016. So nothing is really planned out at all, which adds to the whole random updates as I am one of those people that needs to plan something before doing anything so please bear with me.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story, please leave a comment to validate my existence and hope you have a great day.