How long had Luna been asleep? It felt like she had been out for years, everytime she thought she was waking up, she would sink back into the comfort of dreamless slumber, the weight of it was comfortable on her brow as her body took the time to heal itself and her mind was at peace for the first time in forever. Still, everyone had to wake up sometime, and she opened her eyes to an unfamiliar room smothered in comforting darkness. It took a moment for her to remember where she was, and she had a small smile on her face as she stretched in her prone position, her plushie opossum Tiberius still safe in the crook of her arm.

It wasn't the end of everything horrible in her life. Far from it. But it was nice to not wake up on the cold floor in Celestia's former bedroom, with a large and brutal Caribou berating and degrading her while her sister merely stood by as a passive puppy.

She could hear the three guardians who had rescued her working in the enclave outside the little nook she was sleeping in, beyond the starry curtain that gave her privacy. Someone was turning pages in a book, scribbling things down with a pencil. Someone else was cooking, she could smell beetroot bacon sizzling in a pan and porridge bubbling away.

Slipping into the bathroom, once again she was pleasantly surprised to see her own items. Her toothbrush and facewash were there, along with her face flannel for drying off. It was almost like they had planned for a sleepover, rather than a rescue, and the idea made her feel better in a strange way. Refreshing herself, it felt so good to have control over such basic things as her own dental care, and she came out of her little room to greet the members of the ILUNAnati.

"Good morning ..."

"Good morning, my Princess" All of them immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads towards her. Ever since her fall, Luna had ponies ignore her, harass her or even spit at her. It was somewhat nice to be bowed at again.

"Please, there's no need ... " She shook her head, but it was rather obvious that they wouldn't stop doing that. A group dedicated to her happiness and protection would always do that.

"Would you like some breakfast, my Princess" Silver Song was the chef on duty, holding up his sizzling pan of bacon, the fire being provided via Crystal Clear's magic on a little stove. Fire risks couldn't really be tolerated in a secret hideaway, and magic was the easiest solution.

"Please ..." Luna would love for some food that wasn't spiked in some way with potions to try and make her more pliant or increase her libido against her will, or simply tainted with bodily fluids from the staff making it.

Beetroot bacon, Canterlot egg toast and hash browns were served with a bowl of warm porridge and a tall glass of fresh blood orange juice. On instinct, Luna tried to raise her fork with her horn, before remembering that it wasn't there. Pausing, she picked the fork up with her hand as Crystal Clear ate her food in much the same way as a show of solidarity, instead of using her horn and making the Princess feel terrible. The unicorn mare had to remember that she had hands in this world.

"How do you feel this morning, my Princess?" Crystal Clear broached the topic after a few silent moments of eating. Princess Luna had to think for a moment, sitting in her pyjamas around a small table with three strange ponies from another world.

"Better than I have in many moons ... How long was I asleep for?"

"Three days, my Princess. We were becoming worried, but you seemed so peaceful, we felt it better to leave you"

"Three days?!" She was astonished, it really did not feel that long, "I ... I don't think I've ever slept that long. I didn't even dream ..."

"You probably just needed it, my Princess" Crystal Clear didn't really want to point out that the mare probably didn't get much sleep in her situation.

"Have they noticed I'm gone?"

"Oh, yes" Silver Song's eyes glinted mischievously. He was tasked with listening in the secret passages for the chaos going on upstairs, and he took a great amount of glee that their rescue had caused so much anger in the Caribou, "The moment they realised you were gone, all sorts of arguing broke out. They have searched all of Canterlot and probably half of Equestria for you, but they can't find you"

"How is Celestia?" Luna frowned, she would share the joy once she knew her sister's fate.

"Confused" Silver Song couldn't think of a better way to describe it, "She was interrogated at first, but since she wears a red collar, they ruled her out pretty quickly. She doesn't understand why you are gone. Not even a 'I don't know who took her', so much as 'I don't know why she would run, this is our place'"

Luna looked down, toying with her hash brown. Oh Celestia ... how the mighty had fallen ...

"My Princess" Whisper Blue broached the obvious topic, putting her fork down, "How did this all happen? Why are ponies acting this way?"

The longest, lowest sigh escaped the Princess as she thought of how to really tell this group how the Kingdom had fallen. What would be the best way? The simplest way?

"The Caribou came from East of Equestria, landing first on the shores of a place called Lindisbarne in the Crystal Empire. At first, it seemed just like a visiting group of people, we were most interested in hearing about their arrival. According to what we read, they had fled their homeland to escape some terrible prophecy that their leader said was coming. That leader was Dainn, the ... beast you saw in my sister's bed" Luna gritted her teeth, but continued, "They were gruff, but didn't cause trouble. They had unique magic, and didn't quite know what the plan was next, at least, so they said. It took a while to realise that they were mostly male ... their does were hidden away. Had we seen them before, we would have known what was coming for us ..."

"Cadance and Shining Armor came to visit them. They seemed very taken with Cadance, asking about Equestria and love. Cadance thought it a little strange, but nothing out of the ordinary. Shining Armor was given a chat, and Cadance said he was very quiet when they returned home, something seemed off about him. The next thing we heard, the Crystal Heart had been stolen. The Caribou reshaped it to something base and horrible, using their magic to corrupt it in a way we have never seen before. One by one, ponies fell. Stallions became abusive, mares become submissive, the ones that would not were forced or converted. My sister and I lead our brave armies to fight against these invaders, but we were defeated. Shattered. Broken. I refused to bow. I refused to submit. Celestia ..."

"Why is she Red, my Princess? Why is she Red?"

"I don't know" Luna screwed her eyes shut, "I thought at first it was a ploy, a trick. But no-one would do as she does for a simple ploy. I thought she was going to fall to Purple, to be completely broken in mind and spirit, but she is not there. They've done something to her with their horrid magic, and we cannot fight back as strong as we want. All of Equestria's greatest defenders, our strongest ponies ... the ones that resist are beaten, tortured, broken. I've heard what has happened to some, but not others"

"How can this system work?" Whisper Blue raised an eyebrow, "If it's all about mating, then what gets done?"

"The Caribou claim to be working, but that is a lie" Luna's voice was full of spite, "All they are concerned about is making every mare submissive, they seem to not be interested in tending crops and keeping the world working. They say that slave mares are doing the work, but I doubt they can work when they are stripped and forced into degrading bindings and taken off to be touched whenever a lazy stallion or caribou wants. The griffins will not speak with us, nor the hippogiffs. The dragons stay away, the Caribou are eager for their bones to use in magic. Soon, I predict Equestria will fall to pieces. I suspect the same happened in their own lands, as little as they want to admit it ..."

The group considered this.

"Is ... there a way to defeat them that you know of, my Princess?" Crystal Clear had to ask the obvious question. Princess Luna shook her head.

"Outside of brute force? No. The only thing I can think of is somehow getting the Crystal Heart and healing it, breaking the spell over the ponies. Freeing the strongest, rising up against the Caribou"

"Then that's what we'll do" Whisper Blue said firmly, "As soon as we return your magic to you, that is what we will do"

"How will you do that?" Luna blinked, "My horn is gone. I have tried to cast magic, but everytime I try, I get nothing but sparks and punishments"

"Where is your horn, my Princess?"

"As far as I know, it is displayed in a museum in Canterlot that shows a history of the Caribou takeover. There's a room full of horns from Unicorn mares, a room of feathers from Pegasi mares, even a room of horns and feathers from stallions punished for not converting to the Caribou way of life. And ... there is a display of my and Celestia's horns, and our wingfeathers. Dainn took great pleasure in telling me how he arranged the display personally"

"Then we'll just have to get the horn back"

"But even if you could, how are you going to heal it? Broken horns are incredibly difficult to heal"

"We are the ILUNAnati. We will find a way ..."

Author's Note

I don't know if beetroot bacon is a thing, but I wanted to keep the general vegetarianism of the MLP world for ponies since horses are herbivores with only occasional trips to meat eating depending on circumstance and nutrients. Plus I thought it was cuter than tofu bacon and other real-life vegetarian and vegan options.