Blood Moon

During that day Luna did her best to get as much sleep as she could. She was not able to get much sleep and when she did get some sleep, she had daymares of the night before. All she could see during her times of slumber was Twilight killing Celestia and her not being able to do anything about it. When she finally woke up it was about an hour before she would need to lower the sun and raise the moon.

As she headed downstairs she couldn't help but glare at the guards. When they saw her looks of disapproval, they knew it would be best to simply remain quiet and give her her space. As she headed into the dining hall the chef was waiting for her arrival. The guards had told him about what kind of mood she was in and that it would be best if he said as little to her as possible. He asked, "Your favorite?"

Luna simply nodded and sat there alone waiting for her meal. At first she sat there continuing to question herself, thinking "What if?" in so many scenarios. Eventually she said to herself, "Stop it Luna, stop it! You did your best and you need to stay focused tonight!"

Once the chef arrived with her meal she was much more focused. After thanking the chef Luna began to eat her meal knowing that she had to have a full stomach that night and she had to be fully alert. After finishing her meal it was time for her to lower the sun and raise the moon. Like she was that morning, she was crying in agony. The part that was hardest for her though was lowering the sun as it made her feel like she was lowering her sister's legacy.

Once she finished her duties she said to herself, "Calm down Luna, calm down. You have to be alert and ready for tonight."

Eventually she calmed herself down sufficiently that she decided the time to take care of business had arrived and she flew off towards Ponyville. When she arrived the very first place she headed was Sweet Apple Acres. She figured that Applejack and Pinkie would be inside so she headed to the house and knocked on the door.

Applejack answered and said, "Hurry up and get inside your Majesty. I don't want you getting attacked."

Luna quickly headed inside and found a determined Pinkie and Applejack. She asked, "I take it you two are ready for tonight?"

Applejack replied, "Yeah but we're both nervous about how we're going to handle them. I don't think Fluttershy will be as difficult though since she doesn't have any magic."

Luna said, "That is true but still, getting her to stay still long enough that I can look straight into her eyes for thirty seconds will be next to impossible."

A thought crossed Pinkie's mind. She suggested, "Back when Fluttershy was a vampire fruit batpony, we were able to get her to stare at her reflection in a mirror for long enough so Twilight could reverse the spell."

Applejack added, "That's right. She could do the stare on herself long enough that you could stare at her long enough to free her."

Luna replied, "That is true. Now that we know how to handle Fluttershy, we need to discuss how we are going handle Twilight."

Both of them could tell that Luna was not unsure on this. Applejack asked, "From the way you're talking I'm guessing you already have plans on how you're going to do this?"

Luna replied, "I do. I realized that with as strong as that protection bubble of her's is, we are going to have to find a way to disable her magic."

Pinkie asked, "How are we going to do that?"

Luna replied, "Well I have two plans. One plan is for me to use a dispelling spell on her to prevent her from using magic for a while or I am going to have to get into a physical fight with her and shatter her horn. If I can do that, that will also disable her magic. Then it would just be a matter of holding her down to where I could cast the necessary spell."

Applejack asked, "Either way though, there is going to be a huge risk of one of us getting bit or maybe even killed."

Luna replied, "I know that Dear Applejack but we have no other choice. Sometimes we have to put ourselves in grave danger for the sake of everypony else."

Luna headed out the door and continued, "Well we better do this before either one of them has a chance to feed on anypony else."

Both Applejack and Pinkie followed Luna out the door ready to do this. While the two could tell that Luna was more than ready for this, they had no idea what Luna's true intentions were that night. She decided to keep it a secret because she knew that if she were to tell them of her plans for Twilight, that they would not aid her and she would have to do this alone.