"Luna?" First thing in the morning, Celestia went to visit her sister. She had never returned to report her findings, so Celestia had assumed that she had gone to bed pondering whatever Eclipse had told her. She said that they talked more about her than about Eclipse... How does that make any sense? Then again, Discord didn't enjoy making sense, either... "Luna, are you in there?" Celestia knocked on the door.
"Yes, I'm here..." Luna's voice was muffled, and it was obvious that she was yelling from across the room.
Probably still in bed, she does enjoy sleeping late... "Luna, are you ready to tell me about what you learned from Eclipse?"
"Not really, Tia... I think that I'm going to stay here. He really got me thinking, and I want to make sure that I have everything sorted out in my mind. You were right: he does have a very novel perspective. You go on ahead, he'll probably fill you in on what bits of his past I heard..."
Celestia did a double take. Everything sorted out? What could he have told her that would shake things up so badly? Luna always keeps things neat and orderly, most of all her mind... "Luna, can I come in?"
"No! I just need time, okay? Please, just let me be for a while!" Luna's voice was starting to sound a bit edgy, like it did after Celestia walked in on one of Luna's video game sessions. Aside from those moments, Luna almost always kept calm when her older sister walked in unexpectedly.
And now, when I actually stop to ask for permission, she gets angry? Celestia shook her head. "Whatever he told you seems to have shaken you up pretty badly, Luna... I'll go." She turned to the guard outside of Luna's door. "Send somepony to inform me the moment she comes out again, alright?" She whispered. The guard nodded and gave a quick salute.
Celestia's fears only grew throughout the day. She checked back with her sister several more times, getting the same response each time. "I need time!" "Just let me be!" Luna hasn't acted like this since right before she... Oh, no. Celestia's paranoid fears only grew more and more solid with each passing hour that she spent pacing in her own room, waiting for Luna's emergence.
Finally, the time arrived that Celestia was supposed to meet with Eclipse. Luna was still locked away in her room, and Celestia knew exactly what her first question would be.
"What did you tell Luna?" Celestia didn't wait to ask her first question, walking confidently into the clearing. To her surprise, there was no one there. She wandered around the clearing for a short while before settling down at the base of Discord's statue to wait.
He must have said something that truly bothered Luna... She didn't come out for the rest of the night, nor this morning. Celestia determined to get to the bottom of what Eclipse had done or said to hurt Luna so badly. If he hurt her, I don't care WHO he is, he's not going to get away with it!
"Celestia!" Eclipse appeared in the entrance to the clearing, waving to her. "I wasn't expecting you to be waiting for me!"
Celestia jumped to her hooves and began marching towards him, trying to restrain her anger. "After whatever happened last night, Luna has locked herself in her room and won't come out! I want to know what happened right now, or else!" The sudden loss of her horn and wings didn't even faze the solar princess as she continued advancing towards him. "What did you do to Luna?"
"I- I didn't do anything!" Eclipse stammered as he stepped back. "We talked, that's all!" As Celestia drew near, he teleported away to the other side of the clearing, forcing her to walk the diameter again before she could reach him.
"What did you tell her?" Celestia sped to a trot, trying to catch him. "What did you say that could have hurt her?"
"N-n-nothing, your highness! I thought that I was complimenting her, to be honest!" Eclipse teleported up into the sky, where he suspended himself with his wings. "I told her nothing but the truth! I complimented her on how beautiful the moon is, told her about how much it meant to me that the moon was always there at night for everyone to see-" He was cut off as a stone whizzed past his head with dizzying speed. "Hey! I'm being honest, here, believe it or not!" He shouted, more than a bit indignant that the great and powerful ruler of Equestria had stooped to throwing stones. "If Luna was affected by what I said in some way other than what I meant to say, I'll take it back! But unless she's SO unaccustomed to receiving compliments that a few kind words affected her that badly, then that's not MY FAULT!" With those final words of anger, he vanished in a puff of smoke again.
Celestia was just as shocked and indignant. "Are you accusing ME of letting my sister go unappreciated? Never in all my years have I heard such a thing! Ever since her return, I have been working to help her return to the ponies that love her! I would never do anything that would make her feel under appreciated, you... you... dumb draconequus!" Celestia continued her tirade, even after Eclipse left. She looked around, but saw no sign of any kind of box with her wings and horn inside. She sank to her knees again. "I would never do that... Luna's my sister, I just don't want to lose her again..." Now that it began to sink in that Eclipse was probably going to be gone for a long time, Celestia began to see that she may have overreacted. I was so worked up, I didn't think about what I was doing. I lashed out blindly at who I thought was the cause...
"Celestia!" Luna's voice rang through the air as she landed next to her sister. "Where's Eclipse? What happened to your horn and-" She was cut off by Celestia's embrace as she practically tackled her sister in a hug.
"Luna! I'm sorry! Whatever I did to make you feel unappreciated, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Celestia gripped her younger sister tightly, relieved to see her again.
"Unappreciated?" Luna was more confused than ever. "Tia, I don't feel unappreciated at all, you make sure of that every day!"
Celestia wiped a tear away from her eyes. "Then, why were you mad?"
Luna rolled her eyes as things seemed to fall into place. "Celestia, I didn't lock myself in my room because I was mad! That's a silly thing to assume. I locked myself in there because I wanted to spend all day working on a new spell! After he told me about how much the moon and the fact that I was watching from it meant to him, it inspired me to create this!" She closed her eyes to focus. Rather than her normal dark blue shimmer, Luna's horn began to radiate a misty white fog. The fog floated out into the air in front of her and began to roll itself into a sphere. More mist formed and joined the rest, and the shape of her creation began to solidify. To Celestia's surprise, within a few seconds, Luna had created a minuscule replica of the moon, complete with the craters that had adorned it during her imprisonment. Luna was a little out of breath by the time it was over, and the moon began its orbital track around her head.
"Luna.. It's beautiful!" Celestia was completely taken aback by the beauty her sister had created. "This is what you were doing all day? But, why wouldn't you let me in?"
"Because it was a surprise, and I wanted to do it myself!" Luna stood tall and proud. "The best part is, it's also a way of contacting me at any time! Whether it's an emergency, or he just wants to talk. Eclipse can call on me with this! Now, Tia... Would you please tell me where Eclipse is, and why you don't have you wings and horn?" Luna reached up and tapped her sister's head where her horn used to be.
"Luna, I fear that I may have made a dreadful mistake... When I thought that something or someone had hurt your feelings, I decided that it must have been Eclipse. He was the last one you had talked to, after all. I got so worked up, that by the time I came out to meet Eclipse, I had worked myself into a fury and blamed him for your behavior. We had an argument, I even threw rocks when he retreated to the sky, and he finally left in a huff! Luna, I think that I may have driven him away, and he took my wings and horn with him!"
Luna's jaw dropped for the second time in as many days. "You WHAT? Tia, I understand that you're a bit protective of me, but this is ridiculous! We have to find him and get your wings and horn back!"
As if on cue, a gift box dropped out of the sky and landed at their hooves, this time bearing a large tag. You're going to need these. -Eclipse Tumult. Celestia sighed and opened the box, restoring her to her normal self. "You're right, Luna. We have to find him. I have to make things right and apologize." Celestia flew up to the spot where she had last seen Eclipse hovering before he vanished. "Now, if he teleported, then there must be some residual energy from the wormhole that we could use. Aha!" She pointed to something that only she could see, waving for Luna to fly up next to her. "We just have to feed it a little energy, and it'll take us to wherever Eclipse wound up!" She lowered her head, her horn beginning to glow. A small shaft of light leaped forward and struck an invisible barrier. Luna lowered her horn to help, but Celestia waved it away.
"Save your strength, sis. The sun is setting, and you'll have to raise the real moon soon..." With a final burst of effort, there was a sound of breaking glass, and a multi-colored portal opened in front of them. The two sisters looked at each other, nodded, and flew inside.