Will of Fire

Chapter 33 - ART THOU MAD!?

By: TheXIIILightning

"Please take a seat everypony." Luna spoke "Oh, and I do apologize about the lighting, it has been a long time since I had any guests here."

We were inside Princess Luna's personal quarters, the room was enormous but strangely cozy. Considering eight ponies were inside at the time. The room sported a big round bed besides a balcony, every window inside the room had large curtains covering them. If Luna wanted to, the room could be pitch black in just a few seconds.

The walls were colored in a deep ocean blue, strangely contrasting with the normal wooden furniture that shone with every tiny piece of light it could get. It looked really old, but it was polished to perfection.

The most incredible thing about this room, was the ceiling. Instead of lights there were stars, literally stars. With a simple glance it would look like the room had no ceiling and we were appreciating the night like always.

"Wow..." We were all aiming our heads up high, appreciating Luna's work. Sunshine was the first to speak.

"I'm glad you enjoy it." Luna gave us a smile. "Being the Princess of the Night means that I sleep during the day, but sometimes is best to sleep under our, I mean... my creation." Her horned glowed softly for a few moments, and the starts shone even more brightly.

"It's incredible, but does this mean you are only awake at night, Princess?" Sunshine said.

"Not at all." Luna shook her head. "I do not require sleep, neither does my sister, but we enjoy the pleasures of a warm bed and the comfort of dreams. Just like anypony else. I usually sleep after setting down the moon in order to regain my strength, but that's more of personal treat for myself." She gave a long stare at the stars and spoke softly.

"Please tell me, why did you seek me this night?" She asked me.

"Well, I'd like to know more about the Moonstone. What does it do, who would want it, stuff like that." She glanced at Shining Armor.

"That is all? I assumed the Captain already debriefed you about the robbery, what do you expect to learn from me?" She asked me with a lift of her brow.

"I'm just investigating a bit, if I am to make a good plan I need to know everything I can." She gave me a small nod.

"The Moonstone is an ancient piece of the moon. After raising the moon for the first time, thus gaining my cutie mark, I took a small piece of the moon and presented it to our sister, I did so to thank her and to show her that I would always treasure her company. By giving her a piece of the moon, I am giving away a piece of myself." She smiled again, I could sense some nostalgia.

"As the years passed, the history of the stone had been changed from mouth to mouth. What started as a simple stone became an object of great power, some even said power big enough to rule over Equestria." She scoffed. "Rubbish, absolute rubbish!"

"The Moonstone is nothing more but a common stone, it doesn't contain any power, it's just a stone! There have been many attempts of robbery, just like the one you are accused of, but not a single pony as yet succeeded to do anything with it." She got a little angry, but calmed herself down again.

"It gives me great sorrow that one would treat such a treasured item with such disrespect, they are only achieving to cause hurt and grief with their attempts." I nodded.

"I agree Prin- Luna..." I corrected. "Is there any group of individuals you recall that might want the Moonstone?" She got pensive for a while.

"No, no such ponies come to mind. Why, do you have a plan to lure the real thief out?" Everypony looked at me, I held my hooves out.

"Okay, okay, I might have a plan, but I want to hear you guys first. We should only do mine as a last resort."

"Oh come on, Light!" Rainbow yelled. "What's the plan? I want to catch some bad guys!" Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Lightning is right, Rainbow. If he thinks we should give this more thought, then he has a reason to." Rainbow huffed and crossed her forelegs.

"Thanks Twilight. So, do you have any ideas?" I asked her, she nodded.

"As a matter of fact I do! But we can't do it any longer. I had planned to request somepony to perform a time-traveling spell I found in the library a few months ago, but the time range can't be longer than a month, so it's impossible to use now." Shining Armor's ears perked up.

"Wait, we have time-traveling spells in the library? We could use them to solve crimes, and nopony told me about this!?" He facehoofed hard, and I can see why, it could save so much... time. (yay!)

"I agree, it's a very big flaw in the Unicorn Guard, but those spells can only be cast once per pony. Besides, the pony has to be very powerful in order to succeed. For example, I could go back a week, maybe more. Shining, you could go back approximately the same as me. As for Trixie, she could only go back six or five days. I don't think half your guard could do half of that time and for more than a couple of seconds." Shining sighed.

"I knew it was too good to be true..." He said.

"Okay, so I guess I better tell you all my plan..."

Sunshine suggested that Luna could do a little bit of mind-reading. Yes, it could work, if you want to turn somepony's brain into soup.

Rainbow suggested that we could dare or bribe somepony to say they are guilty... I'm not going to say anything else.

Shining Armor and Sparrow didn't say a word, since they were part of the investigation, they had already tried everything they could.

"Just promise me that you won't be mad..." I pleaded. Luna raised her brow again.

"Is there a reason you ask this of us?" I nodded.

After everypony promised not to be angry at me, I decided to tell them my plan. My stupid and terrible plan that might possibly work.

"We... are going to steal the Moonstone." I said as a cyan blur knocked me to the ground.

"ART THOU MAD!!!?" Argh, my ears!

"HOW DARE THY SUGGEST SUCH TERRIBLE FEAT!!? Luna spoke, towering over me with very, very angry eyes.

"Just hear me out, I promise it's the only way to catch the true criminal!" I said, Rainbow Dash was on top of me and pushed her forehead towards mine.

"How would steal the Moonstone help catch a burglar? It makes no sense!" She growled.

"Yeah, and bribing somepony to say they did it, makes perfect sense, right?" I shot back and she reluctantly got off of me.

"As I was saying." I got a few nasty glares across the room, even from Sunshine and Trixie. "If we make it look like the Moonstone was stolen, the real thief might show up and try to find it. That's how we will find out who stole it in the first place.

"Strangely, he may have a point." Shining spoke. "What do you think Sparrow?"

"It's not very likely, but it's worth a shot. I'm in." He said, looking at Sunshine.

"I'm in too, I think that's the only way we can finally end this." Twilight spoke next.

"I agree, we are running on very few options here, so we better take what we can get." Rainbow took the air.

"Yeah! And when that thief show's up, I'm gonna let him know who's boss!" She jabbed the air a few times.

"Trixie agrees, she might try to eavesdrop on some conversations at the "Drunken Mare". If the thief is in Canterlot, he will surely stop there."

"If everypony agrees, then I will allow you to do so. The only ones that shall know of this are those in this room, my sister and Commander Hurricane." Luna spoke.

"Commander Hurricane, why him aswell?" I asked.

"Commander Hurricane has been a trustworthy member of my Nightguard, and his family have long since served us. I do not trust anypony to guard the Moonstone other than him. He is loyal and a specialist in combat, the most suitable one to guard the stone."

"But Luna, why not just hide the Moonstone in your chambers?" Twilight spoke.

"Because, Twilight Sparkle, the stone should not be kept inside in the palace. It would not be safe in our chamber because a thief could simply enter from a balcony. I will not give it to Lightning because he's still not trustworthy." Ouch...

"I will not give it to either Shining Armor or Sparrow, because they have family to keep safe. And I will not burden you or Rainbow Dash with this responsibility. Clearly Hurricane is the best option we have."

"I agree with you Luna, Commander Hurricane can handle the job." I like that guy, he may be crazy, but he cares for Equestria above all else.

"Very well then." Luna got up and moved towards the door, we followed. "I shall speak with Commander Hurricane shortly, I thank all of you for your company tonight." She gave a curt nod of her head and we mimicked. "I wish you all a pleasant evening, goodnight.

We all wished Princess Luna goodnight and left to our rooms. Shining Armor went back home to his wife, Sparrow went to his, our old home. Twilight and Rainbow Dash went to their room, while Trixie, Sunshine and I went to ours.

"Where are you going?" I asked Sunshine.

After entering our room Sunshine started packing away her stuff, well, she hadn't that many stuff, except for a few brushes, her scarf and other small stuff.

"Sparrow asked me if I wanted to move to our old home again, and I said yes." She said, smiling brightly at me.

"Really now, he didn't tell me anything."

"H- He didn't? Well, he must have forgot or something. You know, with the Princess and stuff." Her eyes were shifting a bit.

"Sunshine, why are you going tonight?" She panicked a bit.

"W- Well, I've got work at the orphanage tomorrow, and it's closer from there, and I kinda miss my old bed and... stuff." I gave her a shit-eating grin.

"Sunshine, are you and Sparrow go-" She gave me a quick hug, then rushed towards Trixie and did the same.

"Don't forget the date! Tomorrow after Trixie's shift! Bye now!" She ran towards the door and slammed it closed.

I looked at the door for a few seconds, and then at Trixie. We were both blushing a bit.

"Are they gonna..." I said.

"Yeah..." That's all she said.

"Hey Trixie, you awake?" I whispered into the dark room.

I couldn't sleep, I was... worried I guess. This is the first time that Sunshine sleeps away from me, except from when I was in Ponyville. We would always share a room or a campfire, I would always check is she was well before drifting away into my own dreams, but tonight... I don't know, I just can't sleep.

"Yeah?" She said, rolling around in her own bed to face me, her voice sounded tired and drowsy.

"Sorry Trixie, did I wake you up?" Damn, now I felt awful and tired.

"No." She lied. "Trixie was just..." She gave a small yawn. "resting her eyes. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just worried about Sunshine... I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she is." I saw her horn glow softly for a few moments, then an azure glow surrounded my medallion, lifting it in front of my eyes. "Take a look for yourself." I grabbed the medallion, and Trixie kept her magic so I could see it in the dark.

I could see small shades of green surrounding the edges, that meant she was happy. But I could also see small shades of pink towards the center of it... maybe it's love?

"Hey Trixie, do you remember when we were foals and slept in the same bed together?" I chuckled softly and I saw a small smile on her face. "I remember the first time we did that, what about you?"

"Remind Trixie." She said, by the look in her eyes I knew she remembered aswell.

"I think it was a week, no, two weeks after I met you. It was raining a lot and the sky was bright with thunder and lightning, I had never seen a storm like that before, the noise alone was loud enough to keep me up all night."

I turned my head to Trixie and we both shared a smile.

"The other thing keeping me awake, was the sound of a crying filly. A little filly named Trixie." I gave her a small grin.

"Trixie was scared, she had never spent so much time away from her..." She got a grim look on her face. "from her parents..." She got quiet for a couple of minutes, this topic was still very touchy for her.

"I'm sorry..." I said. "do you want to talk about it?" I head her sniffle a bit.

"What is there to talk about? Trixie doesn't remember any of them, she doesn't remember if her mother tucked her in at night, or if her father taught her how to walk..." She was crying now. "Trixie doesn't even remember how they looked like."

I saw Trixie cover her eyes with her forehooves, she was no longer using her magic to light the room, so we were once again shrouded in darkness. I slowly got up from my bed and went towards her own, once she felt me sit on the side of her bed she stopped crying. Without saying a word I lied down beside her while hugging her gently from behind.

I could feel her hearth and hear her breath, she was slowly calming down. She scooted a bit closer to my chest and hugged one of my forelegs.

"Why..." It wasn't a question nor a statement. It was just a word that escaped the poor mare's mouth. "Why do you treat Trixie like this?"

"Because..." I thought hard on what to say next. "Because I care for you, I always have and always will. You may be 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' nowadays, a mare that does what she wants and is constantly living under the spotlight." She turned around, she was now facing me. Her eyes were wide open and her face was moist with tears. I wiped her a bit with my hoof.

"But to me, you will always be Trixie. A mare that loves to laugh, read a good book and do her best to impress her friends. You're like a sister to me, Trixie. I'll always love you."

She gave me a a very long and tight hug, like she didn't want to let go. I never knew my parents, so I wouldn't know what it felt like to lose them. I hope I never lose anypony else, ever again.

After a couple of minutes she let go and gave me a small peck on the cheek. I could feel myself start to warm up.

"W- What if Trixie wants to be more. Not just a sister, but something better?" Is she asking what I think she's asking?

"I- I don't know Trixie." Damn, this isn't what I wanted to say, and by the hurt in her eyes she didn't want to hear this. "What I meant is, tomorrow we are going on a date. Let's see how it goes and then we'll talk... about us." I smiled a bit, somehow it felt good saying that.

"Trixie is fine with that." She gave me a small nuzzle and turned around again, hugging my foreleg to her chest. "Goodnight, Light." I couldn't hold it any longer, she's so cute when she wants to!

"Goodnight, Trixie." I said after I kissed her in the back of the head.

When we were foals, we slept together as brother and sister, just like today. I wish tomorrow we can do the same, but as something more.

End of Chapter 33

Love is in bloom~!
*forgot the rest of the lyrics*

Now for the Hype. *Ahem*

Trixie and Lightning are realizing their feelings for one another.
Will somepony get in the way?

Find out in the next chapter of...
Will of Fire!