Unbound

Unbound

By Sojourner

Celestia sighed and removed her crown from it place atop her head, setting it gently on its pedestal left of the balcony doors, which were left open to keep the room fresh and cool. The wide, circular room that was Celestia's bedchamber was nothing but windows, save for the door into the castle proper. The tint of the windows helped keep the light of the night out, easing the eye and calming the mind with the surrounding darkness. It was like a comforting blanket, and the warm summer dreariness made sleep come that much easier. The only other things in the room were her bed, canopy draped in pink translucent fabric, and her mirror, tall enough to show her entire form. Celestia's eyes were heavy lidded as she approached her bed, a small smile forming across her lips as she fluffed the pillows. Those eyes quickly widened at the sound of the balcony doors slamming shut. She turned to find Luna standing in front of the now shut doors, staring daggers straight into Celestia's gaze.

"Sister, what are you doing in here?" Celestia asked, raising her eyebrows at Luna.

"We would hope you would know," Luna retorted, annoyance showing through her tone and eyes. "How could you? Again?"

Celestia sighed, rubbing her eyes. She looked back at her sister. "Can we talk about this later, Luna? I need to get some sleep-"

"You've been making nothing but excuses since last year! Always, it's either 'we'll talk later', 'I'll find you later', 'now isn't the time'. Well, it's time! We are fairly certain you have no business to attend to here." Luna swept her front leg around in an arc, "So why? Why haven't you given Us back control of the moon? Of the stars? It's our proper role in the kingdom, and We are tired of sitting around doing nothing!"

Celestia straightened, letting her sleepy, downtrodden gaze grow firm as she approached her sister. A full head taller, she looked down at Luna. "You need more time to recover," Celestia said, her voice still gentle despite the hardening of her features. "A thousand years under the control of Nightmare Moon, and you still speak of yourself as 'We' and 'Us.' Your're not back to your old self yet, and once you are, we will see about getting you back where you belong."

Luna's eyes quivered slightly, but her body remained rigid and defiant.

"We... I am fine, Celestia, and will be much better once I am helping to run the kingdom again!"

"Stop yelling," Celestia spoke in calm tones. "There's no need—"

"Sometimes, it's the only way to get my point made. And sometimes it's the only way to get something to stick in your skull, Celestia! So why?"

Celestia's face grew cross. If anything, she seemed bigger now. small tendrils of light yellow energy sparked from the corners of her eyes.

"Maybe," She said, her voice grave, "just maybe, when you stop having that dream of yours we'll see."

Celestia's words made Luna recoil, as though she had been slapped in the face.

"My dream?" Luna repeated after her sister, as if saying it again would stop the words from coming.

"Yes. The one with Nightmare Moon. It's been going on for a long time now, Luna."

"Why does it matter? Its just a dream! And how long have you been violating my privacy? We agreed never to dream weave unless we told the dreamer. Just what are you doing?"

"It does matter, Luna. You of all people should understand dreams. It was your field of expertise, far more-so than mine." Celestia voice grew in volume slowly as she spoke. "Nightmare Moon isn't gone yet. She still lingering, waiting for her chance to get back at you, and I'm not going to allow that to happen. That's why I want—"

"Stop." Luna glowered at her sister. "Just stop. We don't care." Celestia's eyes widened.

"Luna..." Celestia softened, her eyes losing the streak of anger that had been building, and her body seeming to shrink. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried..."

"Worried about Nightmare Moon taking over again. I know." Luna took measured steps to the door, not looking at Celestia while she spoke.  "Scared that I'm not strong enough to overcome my jealousy. Too scared to even trust your own sister."

"Luna, you know that's not true."

Luna didn't look back as she left the room.

"Prove it then."

________________________________________________________________________________________

The library was always quiet this time of night. Everypony was asleep, and the only ones up besides Luna were the Nightguard tending to their duties, leaving Luna little other discourse. Though book-reading hadn't been something she originally enjoyed, it was something she had grown fond of. It had been quite the way to pass the night, without anyone else around to talk to and nothing more to handle than the night sky. Her favorites turned out to be the Fiction: stories of adventure, excitement, and especially romance. Things Luna realized she would love to do if she had the chance. Or would have done now, if something just didn't feel so wrong.

She wandered through the dusty tomes, the tall shelves shading her as she perused the books and scrolls. None of them were familiar. Being away for a long time, you would expect something like that. But that didn't mean it wasn't now alien to her. Where was the good fiction hiding? All her favorites? She sighed. Even though her sister wanted her to take time for herself, she just didn't feel comfortable not having anything to do. And besides that, Celestia didn't even seem particularly pleased Luna was here, if her actions were any indication. She had been back for a year, and the longest time she spent with her sister was breakfast. Along with that, no one ever seemed happy to see her. It was almost as if she was still Nightmare Moon. The worst part of it was, though Celestia seemed to believe Nightmare Moon to be some other pony, she wasn't. All these years, Nightmare Moon was Luna. A thousand years on the moon is more than enough time for your jealousy and rage to build to a point where you can't even recognize yourself.

"Princess?"

Luna jumped.

"Who's there?" she said, suspicion wrought in her frame.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you would be up this late." A small plump unicorn bowed to her when she turned to look at him.  His coat was tan and his mane brown and disheveled. He looked up at her, pushing a large pair of square spectacles back up onto his snout. The open book marked on his flank gave a good indication of his profession.

"Who are you?" Luna asked, perturbed by this meeting. No one was up at this hour. Not normally, at least.

"Oh! Names, uhm,  Dewy Delights, Like the delights of the Dewy Decimal System!"  he replied, his voice nasally. he laughed at his own joke, before quickly quieting. "Yes, but uhm, as you can see, I am the librarian, so I suppose that would mean it's alright for me to be up, unless you would prefer peace and quiet, your highness."

"No, no. please," Luna spoke, her surprise giving away to a curious joy, "Stay. We have never been treated so, well, casually before."

"Oh! I'm sorry, highness. Am I, uhm, not quite respectful enough? D'oh, I knew I should've looked up that book on proper etiquette-"

"No! no, your're fine. We would enjoy some company where we can relax." At that, Luna loosened up, her body having gone rigid out of instinct. "Please, if We may inquire, Why are you up so late? Normally, no one stays up so far into the night."

"Well, Your highness-"

"Please, call Us Luna."

"Oh, of course, your high- uhm, well, I mean, Luna." She smiled at this. It felt so strange for someone other than Celestia to call her Luna without all her usual titles. "I find it much, much easier to organize the books and returns during the night when no one is trying to check out books or do research. I have assistants who take care of the matter of checkout during the day, and I, well, I-I take care of categorizing and putting the books back in their proper places." Luna nodded in response.

"It must get lonely," she said remorsefully.

"Well, not always. Books are amazing companions," Dewey said, a small speckle growing brighter in his eye.

"It can't compare to normal ponies, though, can it?" Luna asked.

"Well, not always, but I do get my time off. So it's not all terrible, at all."

"We've had more than enough time off, and yet still, We have almost no one to talk to."

"Really? Well, uhm, why would that be, Your- uh, uhm, I mean, of course, uh, Luna?"

Luna stood quietly for a moment, thinking.

"Would you mind playing Us in a game of chess?" Luna asked suddenly.

"Wha-What? I, uh, mean, uhm, well-"

"We will help you with the books, as payment?"

"I suppose. O-of course! I enjoy a good game of chess!"

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"Knight to E-7..."

It had been so long since Luna had played a proper game of chess, and it was showing. So far, Dewy had the advantage.

"Bishop to A-3."

If she could take the knight now, she might have a chance.

"You've made such an, uh, obvious move, Luna," Dewy noted out loud. "There's something else here, right?"

Luna simply smiled. "You'll have to see, won't you?"

Dewy return the expression, his smile only growing wider at Luna's chuckle.

"I haven't played a game this good since that one time Celestia played me." Luna's bad mood returned just as quickly as it had left at the mention of her sister. Dewy didn't miss this, and a look of concern spread across his features. "I'm sorry, d-did I?- What's troubling you, uhm, Your High- uh, whoops, I mean, Luna?"

"Obvious enough that even someone like you can tell?" Luna sighed in answer. She had done her best to hide her shift in feeling, but Dewy was more perceptive than she originally thought.

Dewy gave a small smile, eyes scrunched shut. "I know what you mean; there's more to me than first meets the eye."

Luna was unsure what would be okay to share. I'm sure it wouldn't be horrible of me to have him listen. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. No one minds being graced by royalty. And, I'll have someone to really talk to.

She began, first by telling him about how Celestia had been that evening, how angry she had been. Luna moved on, explaining her lack of contact with her sister, the mood everyone seemed to be in when she was around, how almost no one seemed to like or trust her. How frustrating it all was. She told him everything.

Dewy simply listened, his face a mask of practiced neutrality.

"W-Well, Luna," He spoke after she finished, "That's quite the, uhm, the emotional burden you have there. In fact, I don't think I would hesitate to say you need help. If you wouldn't mind, of course. It's not my place to say such a thing, but-"

Luna cut him off. "You've done quite a bit just letting Us speak with you. Thank you."

"M-might I make a, uh, suggestion?" He added, looking nervous.

"Of course," Luna said.

"Maybe this, uhm, b-b-book could help." He levitated a small tome up to the table, setting it gently between the pieces on the board. "Go ahead, give it a look."

Luna took the book herself. It felt quite heavy, even while being carried by telepathy. There was no title on the cover, merely a realistic looking bronze flower. Luna felt herself entranced. This flower seemed almost real, as if it was reaching out of the cover to touch her. She could smell the fragrance, almost like a rose, but hinting at something different, something more. The silver and gold vine's stretching across the cover almost seemed to be wriggling.

"What is this book?" Luna asked, managing to tear her gaze away from the tome.

But Dewy was nowhere to be seen.

Curious, Luna looked back to the book. It opened without a sound.

Welcome, Princess of the Night.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"Honestly Spike, why won't you tell me what's the matter?"

Rarity was grumpy, mostly because of a small dragon that just so happened to have been pounding on her door in the middle of the night. The look of terror on Spike face had quickly convinced her, however, that taking a look into whatever was scaring him was worth her while.

"That's because I don't know what's wrong," Spike admitted. "Twilight was acting all strange. Stranger than usual, I mean," he added. "She looked like she seen a ghost or something, and she wouldn't talk to me when I asked her what was up. She just stared into space."

"Hmm. That is rather odd," Rarity replied, her worry for Twilight growing with every step. "But, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about! We'll just talk to Twilight when we get to the library and ask her what—"

The two stopped when they notice a familiar unicorn inching her way down the sidewalk. "Twilight?"

Twilight jumped at the sound of her name and shook violently, her eyes darting around nervously. The book she was levitating with her remained floating, undisturbed by her movements. "Twilight, My dear, are you alright?" Rarity tried to be as kind as she could, but couldn't help the slight jitter in her voice as she spoke. A sound not unlike wind moved through her mind, the whispering sound barely audible.

There... Keep away... Move!

It was no voice Rarity could discern. Twilight continued walking, her pace faster than before. She moved right past Rarity and Spike without even so much as a word or a nod. No acknowledgement of the pair at all.

"See? I told you something weird was going on!" Spike said, the fear in his voice evident.

"Spike, I'm sure Twilight has a reasonable explanation for all of this," Rarity replied. The small laugh she spoke Spike's name in though was anything but jovial.

Normal... Wrong... Away! Away...

Rarity wasn't just worried, anymore. She was confused and somewhat scared.

"Twilight, talk to me, please! Hold on just a moment!" Twilight began trotting, and it was obvious she was trying to get away. "Slow down, please!" Rarity and Spike managed to catch up, and Rarity positioned herself in front of Twilight. Whatever was going on, it was clear as day to Rarity that Twilight wasn't aware of her surroundings. Being the social butterfly she was,the way Twilight moved and acted was more than an indicator of her distressed state. "Please Twilight! Stop for a moment, and talk to me!" Rarity put up a hoof, using it to try and stop twilight from advancing.

Keep away!

Twilight's pupil contracted, smaller than pinpricks for the moment Rarity was able to see them, the next thing she knew, she was hurling through the air. Twilight had blasted her with a field of concussive force. She slammed against the backside of a wagon, and quickly stumbled onto her feet, dizzy from the impact. Twilight wasn't trotting anymore. She was running, as though something was chasing her. Something dangerous.

"Rarity?" Spike said, his voice quivering as he spoke. "Are you okay?" She shook her head and managed to clear away spinning in her eyes. Spike looked to be at the edge of tears.

"I'm okay. But something is definitely wrong." Rarity began brushing herself off, dusting off bits of dirt from her fur. looking after Twilight, she noted her direction of travel: the Everfree Forest. "We need to get the others. Come on Spike!"