“AAAAAAAAAAHHH!”
Luna jolted up from her pillow. Her heart was hammering hard against her rips and she was panting badly.
“Ha.... Ha....”
She brought one of her hooves to her chest, attempting to still her racing heart. It seemed to work as her heart beat slowly returned to a more casual pace. However, her calmness didn't last long as the doors to her chamber were thrown open, causing the night princess to jump in shock.
“Your majesty!”
Three armored pegasi came storming into the room. Two of them wore the traditional armor of Celestia's Royal Guard. One however, was dressed differently. Instead of the golden plates that her sisters soldiers wore, this stallion was clad in what seemed like purple scales with spikes on top of his shoulder plates. His helmet lacked the crest that Celestia's guards had on top of theirs. In its place, he had a line of tiny but very sharp-looking spikes. The armor, combined with his rather dark coat and piercing turquoise eyes had earned him the nickname of “Dragon” amongst the others of Luna's guardians.
Luna looked at the pony and upon seeing his higher rank armor she recognized him and her expression softened immediately.
“At ease, Midnight Cloud,” she said with a calm voice. “I just had a bad dream.”
A very bad one... Luna ignored the voice in her head for the moment.
“Are you sure?” Midnight Cloud looked around the princess' room, still not lowering his guard as if he expected to be attacked at any moment.
Luna resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This pony could be a bit overprotective at times but she actually liked that about him even though it was tiring at times, especially in situations like this. Midnight Cloud was one of her highest ranked soldiers. Only captain Shining Armor, Night Breeze, the captain of her own Night Guard and first mare to have risen to this rank in almost three-hundred years as well as Luna herself and her sister were above him.
At some point, Midnight Cloud had made it some kind of personal duty to guard Luna while she rested even though that was technically the Royal Guard's job since she usually slept during day time which was governed by her sister. Luna didn't really know the exact reason as to why he had done this but she was grateful for it. Knowing that somepony who took his duty as seriously as he did gave her a sense of security and allowed her to rest easily. Most times.
“Yes, I am sure,” said the princess with a gentle smile on her lips. “I thank you for your concern, but I assure you that I am fine.”
The 'dragon' kept looking around for a few more seconds before he allowed his body to relax again, the two other pegasi behind him doing the same. “Very well,” he said and bowed slightly before the princess. “I apologize for coming into your chambers in such a rude and rushed manner.”
The princess of the night just waved a dismissal hoof and shook her head. “Think nothing of it. You were only doing your duty as my guard.” Lune gave herself a good stretch afterwards. “I don't think I will go back to sleep again. You are dismissed, Midnight Cloud.”
Said pony bowed his head to her again. “Your Highness.” With that, he and the two other guards made their way out of her room.
Once the door was closed behind them, Luna dropped the mask she had been wearing and let out a deep sigh.
Why... she thought as she climbed out of her bed. Why did I have to dream about that night of all things? With another sigh she made her way to her balcony and stepped on to it.
She was greeted by warm sun rays and a very gentle wind. It would soon be summer and the days became warmer and warmer each day and even though it was still morning it were already 60 degrees.
Normally Luna would have enjoyed such a beautiful morning whenever she was awake at this hour but she barely felt the sun on her coat this time. Her mind was still trying to make sense out of her dream.
She remembered that night all too vividly. The thunderstorm... the beautiful crafting of her and her sister that hid the entrance to the forbidden archive.... the scroll....
That scroll... It was what allowed the nightmare to come to Equestria...
You know that is only part of the truth... There was that tiny voice again and its words caused Luna to sigh once more.
I know... It was my own selfishness and jealousy that gave birth to the nightmare. The scroll just...
Her eyes went wide with shock and horror at the sudden realization and an ice-cold sensation went through her whole body. Without a second though she turned around and galloped out of her room as fast as her hooves could carry her.
- - -
Outside of her room, Midnight Cloud was talking to the other ponies who had been on guard with him. Since Luna had dismissed him for the day he was off duty now which meant that he had time for some friendly conversation now before he would leave for his home to get some rest. He had taken off his helmet, revealing his silverish-blue mane. Without that thing on his head he looked a lot less like the beast that gave him his nickname but rather like a pony who was dressing up for Nightmare Night which made talking to him on a friendly level that much easier.
However, that conversation soon got interrupted by the doors being flung open once more as Luna stormed out of her own room and down the corridor. “Y-Your highness?” the startles Night Guard asked as the princess shot past him. Hadn't she been in such a hurry, Luna would have found the surprised expression on his face very hilarious. Right now though she didn't even notice he was there.
“Your highness! Wait!” It was of no use. Luna had already disappeared from their sight. Leaving three startled and very confused pegasi in her wake.
- - -
Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne in the great hall. She could hear the murmurs of all the ponies who were waiting just outside the door. The alabaster alicorn knew that a fair share of them would be nobles from Canterlot looking to increase their status and influence further by some kind of scheme or request but the sound still managed to bring a smile to her lips, because even though she would have to deal with these nobles she also knew that the wast majority would be ponies from all corners of Equestria who really needed her help. It made her happy when her little ponies came to her for advice. Almost as happy as it made her when she was able to help them.
“Alright,” she said and allowed herself a second to mentally ready herself. “Please open the door. Day court is in session.”
The guard at the door nodded and stepped forward, opening the door. However, just as the first pony, an earth pony mare who kind of reminded Celestia of Applejack, another door on the side of the hall was opened with a lot more force.
“Tia! We need to talk! Now!”
Everypony in the hall, including the guards and Celestia herself looked at the intruder with confused and, in case of the earth mare, even frightened expressions.
Celestia looked at her sister. Luna was heaving badly, even sweating a bit, from what Celestia assumed was running all the way from her room to the great hall. Her mane, even though flowing in its ethereal breeze, was a mess as well as her tail. She wasn't even wearing her royal regalia.
The sun princess raised an eyebrow. “Luna, can this not wait? I have just opened cou...”
The sentence died on her tongue when she saw her sisters eye's and the emotions in them. She had seen those eyes before. They reminded her of the biggest mistake she had ever made in her millennium long life. She wasn't going to make the same mistake again.
“Court dismissed,” Celestia ordered as she made her way from her throne over to her sister. She barely even heard the ruckus this caused among the waiting ponies undoubtedly caused by the nobles among them.
Luna mouthed a “Thank you” to her sister before they both left the hall to find a place where they could talk in private.
- - -
“So, are you going to tell me what this is all about?”
Celestia and her sister were sitting at a table in Celestia's private rooms. In front of them were a can of tea and two cups which they had ordered from a pair of maids they had met on the way there.
Luna was already sipping on her second filling though this one was emptied much slower than the previous one as the tea did wonders in calming the night alicorn's nerves.
“Sorry for interrupting your court like that,” she said as she put the cup back down on the table. Now that she had calmed back down again Luna's brain was working on sorting out her thoughts as well as the best way to talk about it with her white-coated sister.
The ruler of the sun just waved a hoof and smiled gently at her sister. “Think nothing of it, Luna. You know I'd do anything for you. However, I would like to hear about the reason behind your rushed actions. What is troubling you?”
Upon hearing this, Luna let out a sigh. “I...” Again her mind worked hard to find the right words for this. She opened her mouth to speak a few times but always closed it again without saying a word. Her sister kept waiting patiently and she silently thanked her for not pushing the matter. Finally after the fifth failed attempt Luna decided to just come clean and tell her sister what had happened. “I... I had a nightmare, Tia...”
This certainly got the alabaster alicorns attention. She knew that, as princess of the night, it was one of Luna's duties to keep the ponies' dreams save from nightmares. In order to do so she had to shield her own mind exceptionally well from evil dreams. Otherwise, her mind may be taken over by the dream a pony was having when she entered it should it, in fact, be a nightmare. So for Luna herself to have an actual nightmare was something that naturally alarmed Celestia.
“A nightmare? What kind of nightmare?”
Luna looked deep into her cup of tea. Silence fell over both ponies and lasted for a few minutes before she answered the question.
“It was... a memory I had locked away... It was the... the night when... I became Nightmare Moon...”
Luna saw her sister move, undoubtedly to comfort her, but she held a hoof up to still Celestia and the princess of the sun sat back down so Luna could continue.
“I can handle the memory, Tia. They will probably haunt me for the rest of my life. No, that's not what I'm worried about.” She looked back at her sister now, her eyes as serious as her sisters had been when she faced the changeling queen. It actually caused a cold shiver to run down Celestia's spine to see her sister like this.
“Do you remember the archive we kept hidden in our old castle?”
Celestia actually had to think for a moment after that question. She had been using this castle in Canterlot as center of government for almost seven hundred years now so it took her a moment to call the structure of the old one back to her mind. Eventually though she remembered and gave her sister a nod.
“Yes, I remember. You are talking about the forbidden archive deep down in the dungeons of that castle right?” Luna nodded at that. “If you are worried about somepony wandering into the ruins and stealing something from it then I can calm you. The entrance is sealed with various spells and will open for nopony except you or me.”
“I know! I helped you setting up the enchantments after all.” Luna fought the swelling anger down. Now was not the time to have an argument with your sister. “What I am worried about, sister, is the object that has already left it.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow at this. “What? But Luna, nothing ever left the...”
“One thing did,” said the dark-coated mare. She didn't even care that she had just interrupted her sister. “That night, I sneaked into it and stole a scroll. It was easy since the barrier was set to lift upon recognizing either of our magic. I then used the scroll to set the nightmare free and let it take me over. After it was done I took the scroll with me to keep it as a kind of good luck charm. Do you understand what this means, Tia?”
The alicorn in question was far too shocked to actually answer that question so Luna answered it herself.
“Unless you have put it back there after banishing me, that scroll is still out there!”
“Put it back?” Celestia replied after finding her voice again. “Luna I didn't even know that it was missing up until now! Oh sweet Cosmos...”
Luna fell silent upon hearing the name of the being she and her sister had been born from.
“Maybe it's still somewhere in the castle...” Celestia's mumbling brought Luna back to the present. She could have facehoofed herself for letting her panic cloud her mind from such an obvious possibility.
“If that is the case then we must recover it immediately.” Luna jumped up from the pillow that was serving as her seat until now and made a hasty exit for the door.
“Luna wait!”
The princess stopped and looked back at her sister. “There is no time to waste, Tia! We must get it back now!”
“I know that,” Celestia said with a slow nod. “But before you go there I want you to take a slight detour.”
- - -
Twilight Sparkle was wearing a white scientist coat and clear safety glasses as she focused on the experiment in front of her. She rarely had any guests, save for the occasional sleepovers with her friends, so the unicorn had turned the guest room of Golden Oaks Library into her own private laboratory.
“Okay, this looks good. Now to add some gem extract...”
She was just about to carefully add a few drops of a red liquid into a flask in which a greenish-yellow liquid was already boiling on a bunsen burner. However, before she could even put a single drop into it someone knocked on the door, causing the mare to jump in surprise.
“Twilight?” a familiar voice called out to her. “Are you in there?”
The purple unicorn sighed and made her way over to the door. “Dammit Spike,” she said as she opened the door. “I told you not to disturb me when I'm on a experiment. These things can be very dangerous so I can't use any distractions.”
“I'm sorry...” the baby dragon said and looked down.
“Haaa....” Twilight sighed. “What do you need?”
“Oh right!” Spike then pulled a small scroll from his back and held it out to the mare who then took it into her magical grasp. It bore the royal seal of Luna and Celestia.
“You've got a letter from the princess.”