Luna paced around her room, replaying the conversation with Celestia over and over in her mind.
“Luna, listen to yourself. You’re talking nonsense!”
“I’m talking nonsense? I’m talking nonsense?! You are the one claiming to have no memory of our best friend, the stallion who wielded two of the Elements of Harmony against Discord, who wielded three against me!”
“Please calm down, Luna. Why don’t we both sit down and talk about this?”
Luna sighed and sat down “Sister, I just don’t understand how this can be, how can you not remember?”
Celestia put a wing around Luna’s shoulder, holding her close “Because there is nothing to remember. Little Sister, I don’t know why you think that there was ever an alicorn stallion named Aecorum, but I promise you, that never was.”
“But...But that can’t be so. It can’t be.”
“It is.”
“But I remember everything, every day, every conversation. Tia, how can all of that be false?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps it was a trick of Nightmare Moon, or maybe a dream. It might even have been…” Celestia turned her head away.
“What? Sister, what is it?”
“It may be…And believe me, I love you with all my heart when I say this, and I will have to research it, but maybe…It was a fantasy.”
“A fantasy? What do you mean?”
“When you were in the moon. Perhaps a part of you, the part that was separate from Nightmare Moon, created this Aecorum as a friend to keep your mind intact.”
Luna stood up and looked at her sister in shock “You are saying I imagined an entire life with him? Celestia, how can you say such a thing?”
“I say it because I am concerned about you, Luna.” She stood “I say it because I love you, and this idea you have of Aecorum worries me.” Her voice grew firm “I don’t like saying it, but it has to be said. Aecorum never existed, and that is final!” She stood straight and proud, glaring firmly at Luna for a moment before she looked at Luna with a small smile and kindness in her eyes “Do you understand, Little Sister?”
Luna was about to protest but after a moment of silence she nodded “Yes, I understand.”
Celestia smiled and nuzzled Luna “Good. I love you, Luna.”
Luna sighed and walked out onto her room’s balcony. She stood thinking for a moment before looking up at the night sky. She remembered the exact moment she placed each star, formed each constellation, and even planned out the phases of the moon. She heard Celestia’s words echo through her mind and tried to figure it out. She stood for what seemed like an hour with her thoughts racing around in the same circles before she stamped her hoof on the balcony floor.
“No!” She said aloud “It can’t have been a fantasy, it was real!” She straightened up and looked more like a queen than a princess as she said with determination “I will read every book, search through every legend, and turn over every stone in Equestria if I have to! And I will find him.”
After a moment’s thought Luna realized that she would have to travel Equestria during the day if she expected to find any answers in libraries or other institutions and sighed. “I suppose that is the price I pay.”
---
The next day came and Luna decided that the best place to start would be Proper Page, Head Librarian of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She had already spent four years searching the Canterlot Castle library and the official Equestrian records and found nothing, so the school was, hopefully, the next best thing. Luna was about to call for her chariot but decided against it at the last minute, telling herself that she wanted to stretch her wings but deeper she knew the real reason was she didn’t want the guards flying her to tell Celestia where she had been.
She stopped suddenly and thought What am I doing? Am I really that suspicious of my own sister? She shook her head No, no, calm down. I will have my guards fly me there in my chariot. It cannot do any harm. She called her chariot, which reached the courtyard promptly being flown by two of her most skilled royal charioteers. They landed and stood at attention, neither one so much as glancing to the side.
Luna got into the chariot and the guard on her right asked “Where to, Your Highness?”
“Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, as near the library as you can.”
“Of course, Highness.”
They took off quickly but smoothly, a skill Luna appreciated in her pilots, and soon found themselves above the school and descending. They landed right in front of the library and as Luna dismounted, she saw many young unicorns studying and practicing spells of all sorts. She walked up the steps to the elegant yet strong building and said to her guards “Go back to the Castle, and return for me in three hours.”
“Yes, Princess.” The guards took off again and headed for the castle.
Luna sighed before she straightened up and walked into the old library. The building itself was enormous, and was renowned for being one of the greatest sources of information in Equestria, second only to the Royal Library at Canterlot Castle. Immense pillars supported the roof and had been integrated into the tall bookcases filled with books and scrolls on almost every subject. Luna could practically smell the ancient knowledge in the old books, and she smiled. She did love how this place smelled. She walked through the library towards the Head Librarians desk, nodding at young students and older staff as they bowed to her respectfully. Luna finally reached the desk of Proper Page, or “The Talking Encyclopedia” as a few students called the middle-aged slate grey mare, although her friends just called her Page. As Luna approached, she saw the unicorn mare amidst a seemingly endless stack of books, working furiously to correctly catalogue each one.
It took a moment for Page to notice the princess, but when she did she immediately ran around to the front of her desk and bowed. “What can I do for you, Your Highness?” She looked up at Luna with respect, her cinnamon eyes filled with determination and an eagerness that the students of Celestia’s school always found invigorating and inspiring.
“We-” Luna caught herself “I need to find information on a certain pony, and came to ask for your assistance.”
“Oh, certainly, anything I can do to help, Princess Luna!” She smiled and brushed away a strand of her auburn mane that had fallen into her eyes. Most of the time her mane was styled in a very professional looking way but today it was just slightly out of order, with only a few grey hairs showing. Page prided herself on her particular style’s ability to look pretty while not interfering with her daily routine.
Luna nodded “Thank you. I am looking for any records of an alicorn stallion named Aecorum.”
“Aecorum…Aecorum…” Page furrowed her brow in thought for a moment before she walked back around to her desk and shuffled a few papers. “I don’t remember anything about an Aecorum off the top of my head…Perhaps more detail? If you don’t mind, of course.”
“He may be referred to as the High Prince of the Sea.”
“Hmm…” Page tapped her hoof against her chin and closed her eyes “I’m not sure that I have any records like that, you may have better luck at the Equestrian Records Office. Oh, what am I saying? I’m sure you already thought of that, you are a Princess after all!” She smiled warmly.
Luna smiled slightly “I did, and I found nothing. Perhaps some of the ancient histories or legends would have what I seek.”
Page brightened “Oh of course, how absent-minded of me!” She turned quickly and started sorting through a drawer filled with cards and pulled several out, her horn glowing with a delicate yellowish light. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier!” She set them on the desk in front of Luna “Forgive me for my lapse, Princess, it’s been hectic with a new shipment of books arriving a week late, final exams being pushed up, and the students scrambling to study.” She laughed “Although I do so love it when students check out stacks of books on a regular basis.”
Luna looked at the cards in front of her. There were three altogether and each one had fifteen entries written in very neat script with the title of a book and its location. Luna picked them up with her magic and read the entries. “Thank you, Proper Page, this should greatly help.”
“Anything for you, Princess Luna. Do you want me to bring them to you?”
“That will not be necessary, thank you.”
Page bowed “You are very welcome. If I can help you with anything else, just ask.”
Luna nodded and walked towards the History section of the library, watching Page practically attack the pile of books in an effort to organize them. Luna smiled when she realized how fitting Page’s Cutie Mark was: A pile of books and scrolls neatly organized and marked.
Luna found the first book on her list, “Equestria: A Complete History” by Histor Rian and lifted it off the shelf to a nearby empty table. She sat down and opened the book, hoping that she would find at least some small mention of Aecorum in its many pages.
---
Luna slammed the last book shut and shut her eyes tight, trying to control the urge to scream.
“Nothing!” She forced herself to whisper even though she would have much preferred to yell at the top of her lungs. She opened her eyes and stared at the massive pile of books all around her and the table that she had spent hours searching through.
“How can there be nothing? It isn’t possible!” Her magic lifted a few of the books as she re-read the tiles, thinking maybe they would give her some clue: “Pegasus Tales: Folk Lore and Legends of the Sky”, “Earth Pony Roots”, “Equestrian Ghost Stories” and the book she had just finished “A Thousand Stories of Pony Glory” by Tall Tale. The last had a few parts that she partially enjoyed but hated at the same time, specifically the story of how she and Celestia had defeated Discord and brought peace to Equestria. It, like all the others, had not even the slightest hint or whisper of Aecorum, Prince of the Sea, or even the Tide-Caller. She put her head between her hooves on the table and whispered “There has to be something. There just has to be.”
Luna didn’t notice Page walk up behind her, a look of compassion and kindness in her eyes. She walked a little closer to Luna “Princess Luna? Is something wrong?”
Luna sat up with a jerk and recovered her composure “No, nothing is wrong; I merely did not find what I was looking for.”
Page smiled sympathetically “I hate it when that happens. But don’t lose hope, this library doesn’t have everything, you’ll find him.” She started to re-shelve the books “You know, I think I might know someone who could help you.” Her smile widened just slightly.
Luna stood and looked hopefully at the mare “You do?”
“Twilight Sparkle. Well, I suppose I should call her Princess Twilight Sparkle now, but to me,” She smiled fondly, like a parent thinking about a child “She will always be the shy little filly that would come here every day and read for hours, asking me all sorts of wonderful questions, and brightening up the whole place with her eager mind. Ah, little Twilight was such a joy to know.” Her eyes misted up a little at the reminiscence.
“Of course, Twilight Sparkle! How did I not think of it?” Luna started walking very quickly “Thank you, Proper Page.”
“My pleasure, Princess!”
Luna almost burst through the library doors and found her chariot waiting there. She was taken aback a little at how late it had gotten, the sun was nearly down. She stood thinking for a moment before she decided that she would have to wait until morning. Luna sighed and boarded her chariot “Take me back to the castle.”
“Yes Princess.”
As they took off, Luna hoped with all her heart that Twilight would have some answers. I will find you, Aecorum. She thought.