Instead of the starry path that she took to each dream she entered, Luna found herself in a dark ball of smoke. Using her horn to guide her, she pushed her way through the smoke. Unseen vines wrapped around her legs and she instinctively shot her magic at them, making them retreat. Unseen voices whispered and urged her forward. Cautiously, she followed them through a forest.
"Luuunnnaaa, why did you leave me?" Her sister's wail made her flinch back. Luna turned and ran the other direction. I had no other choice she told herself over and over again. If we had both been captured, Equestria would have no hope of surviving. I am the only one who can defeat her now. Even as Luna told herself this, her confidence wasn't high. She had never really fought an enemy alone, not without her sister. She sighed and summoned her magic so it glowed bright white, then she was transported back to the real world. She got up from where she was resting. She could hardly tell when it was day or night because of the eclipse.
"There you are, Luna! We've been looking everywhere for you." Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were flying towards her with an anxious expression their faces.
"I just took a nap. How long was I gone?" Luna said, stunned
"We don't know," Fluttershy admitted. "But it felt like hours....or maybe even a day..." She looked utterly confused.
"Let's fly back, shall we?" Luna said quietly. The mane six were already heading back, each carrying a bucketful of apples. Trixie trailed behind, her eyes uncertain. She followed them into the castle.
"I'll show you to the guest room. It's on the same floor as where the princess is staying." Twilight was saying. Then she turned to look at Luna. "Is that alright with you, princess?"
"Of course!" she replied. Trixie's eyes were wide and she dipped her head gracefully. Luna flew back up to her room, leading Trixie to hers. As Luna entered the room, she noticed at the alicorn amulet was sticking out from her bag. She lifted it slowly and examined it.
"Forgive me for intruding,Princess, but I don't think you need that amulet to help channel your magic." Trixie's quiet voice startled her. Luna turned to look at her.
"I used that amulet once to get revenge on Princess Twilight because she humiliated me, but I found out that all the necklace does was corrupt me. I only realized what I did was wrong when she tricked me into taking it off." Trixie continued. "That amulet may not affect you as much, but it will still change you and..." Trixie paused, her face worried. "You may end up doing more damage than trying to save us. You may not have your sister by your side at the moment, but you need to show everypony that you are capable of caring for Equestria and you need to show your sister that as well." Trixie said.
Luna blinked and smiled. "Thank you, Trixie. As long as Equestria believes in me, I will have the willpower to protect it and rescue my sister. I am not planning to use this amulet for my magic, but I was going to bring it back into the castle for safekeeping."
" Black Ember, what do think you're doing here!" Rainbow Dash's accusing voice brought their attention to the halls.
"Wait, Black Ember?" Trixie stiffened, then ran down the hall. Luna hurried after her but stayed at the end of the hall to peer over.
"Trixie, how wonderful to see my favorite cousin," HIs voice rang out.
"Y-You're no cousin of mine!" Trixie snapped, retreating back a step.
"Why not? I was the one who showed you where the Alicorn amulet was. Did you not use it properly?" Black Ember soothed. Everypony turned to look at her.
"No, actually, I didn't use it properly. In fact..I returned it back to the store owner." Trixie stammered, but Luna could see her sneak a look back at her.
"Leave, you're not welcome here. We won't listen to your lies about the Princess," Applejack said sternly.
"Fine, but you've been warned. You should decide which princess to be loyal too." Black Ember sneered, before turning and walking out the door.
"We're loyal to both of them, so there!" Rainbow Dash yelled after him, then closed the door.
Silently, Luna teleported herself out of the castle and ventured out into the forest. She had a secret hideout here when she and her sister had lived in the old castle. Her sister had taught her magic there, and now she was going there again to practice to fight against Queen Eclipse. She paused in front of the ancient stone wall. There was no door visible, but there there two holes off to the side, one with a sun, and another with a moon. She inserted her horn inside the hole with the moon and let her magic flow in briefly.
A stone door slid open and she walked in. As the door closed behind her, torches lid up as she walked down the path. When she got to her destination, she paused to look around the room that she had not been in for moons. She glanced around at the stone ponies who were covered in dust and cobwebs. When activated, they came to life, and she would practice fighting them. Each time she defeated one, it would shatter and the next pony up would be more difficult to fight.Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the arena and activated the statues. Slowly, they began to move. They had no faces, but they did have horns. It shot out a blast of red light at her. Instantly, she formed a shield around herself, and shot a lightning bolt of magic back out. It shattered the stone statue. When she had fought all the unicorns, the most difficult stone pony came forward: an alicorn. Luna breathed in deeply. She had never needed to fight another alicorn in a situation like this.
By the time she returned to the castle, she was exhausted. She curled up on the bed and fell asleep in seconds.