Luna sat in her study sipping coffee, preparing to read the notes Celestia had left for her. Shuffling the papers on her desk, she noticed a scroll with writing that she didn't recognize. She lifted the scroll in her telekinetic grasp and unrolled it. The letters were scrawled as if the writer were unused to modern-style letters, a feeling which she could relate to. It had taken her weeks to get into the habit of writing in lower case (and speaking in lower case, for that matter). With some difficulty, she read:
PROPOSAL FOR TRAINING AND R3ϽRVITING TH3 ROYAL GVARD
Whoever had written this proposal had writing that was almost as messy as Star Swirl's.
“Good evening, Luna.” Star Swirl poked his head through the doorway.
“Star Swirl!” She grinned, setting down her coffee and the paper. “I was just thinking about you.” Luna stepped out from behind her desk to meet him. “I would have thought that you would be in bed by now. Not that it isn't good to see you!”
“It is good to see you too, my faithful student.” Her old mentor came into the room and shut the door behind him. “I'm accustomed to staying up late, and I wanted to spend some time getting reacquainted. It feels like only a few weeks since you were a young filly playing pranks on your sister.” His expression grew wistful.
“In some ways, it doesn't feel very long ago to me, either.” Luna ruffled her wings, just barely keeping her composure.
Star Swirl held out his foreleg toward her. “I already had a group hug with the other Pillars yesterday. We might as well hug too.”
His former student walked over and wrapped her forelegs around his shoulders in a tight embrace.
“You have grown stronger.” His voice was strained.
She released him and stepped back, grinning. “I am so glad you came back, Star Swirl. I thought I would never see you again.”
“I thought the same. You and Celestia have accomplished more than I hoped. And I'm impressed that you can make your mane and tail wave in the ethereal streams, especially considering you never got the opportunity to study under Mistmane.”
Luna glanced back at her twinkling, undulating hair. “Celestia and I learned to combine the three types of magic within us to infuse our bodies with the energies of the cosmos. With the unending flow of energy, our hair is constantly channeling thauma even when we are not actively using it. I am a little surprised that Mistmane can achieve this with only unicorn magic.”
“Hmph. Only unicorn magic?” Star Swirl rolled his eyes.
Her ears twitched. “I'm sorry, I meant to say only one type of pony magic. No type is better than the others.”
“Fair enough. Mistmane's school emphasized living in balance with the universe, but she took her studies to a level beyond the other scholars at her school. I used to wonder if she were a nascent alicorn. In fact, I used Mistmane's research when I formulated the spell that helped Twilight Sparkle ascend.”
“Mistmane is quite a remarkable pony. I should get to know her better.”
He stroked his salt-and-pepper beard. “Indeed. It is curious, however, that nopony else has used my spell to become an alicorn. I would have thought that Rarity or perhaps even the pink one would have attempted it. That is what I would have done.”
Luna tilted her head, pondering this. “I can't say why they didn't try to repeat the spell's results. Perhaps they do not wish to become alicorns. You would have to ask them. But I'm not certain that it will work the same a second time. Celestia and I have a theory that a pony must understand friendship and work with friends to use new magic that has never been tried before in order to ascend. This would fit my sister's observations with both Cadence and Twilight. But with only two new alicorns to base this theory on, we're unable to reach any solid conclusions.” And then there was Luna's grand-niece, but she was a special case. Luna elected not to mention the alicorn foal just yet. The Lunar Princess didn't know if Star Swirl and Flurry Heart were ready to meet each other. She didn't know if Equestria was ready for the two to meet.
“Speaking of new magic, what is this device?” He moved around his old pupil to examine the orb that hung from the ceiling, suspended on silver wires. Pale mist swirled within it, and chartreuse sparks flashed like static electricity.
“I have not seen anything quite like this before,” he added.
“This is my Nightmare Tracker,” she explained. “Each flash represents a bad dream. It is my responsibility to guard the dreams of the citizens of Equestria each night. Unfortunately it became too stressful for me to spend the entire night in the dreamscape, night after night with very little time off, other than to sleep during the day. I took up the task to prove that I could be the princess my ponies deserved, not a vindictive tyrant who would punish them just because they didn't appreciate the work I did.” She sighed and stared at her hooves.
Star Swirl reached out his front hoof and lifted up her chin. “I told Twilight, 'Once a villain, always a villain,' because that was all I understood. But I was wrong. Ever since I returned, I've learned a great deal about ponies – and other individuals – who once did evil things, but have changed their ways. You are not the pony you were in your darkest moment, Luna. You have learned from your mistake and become the good pony you were always meant to be.”
Tears pricked Luna's eyes. “Thank you, Star Swirl. I used to be so guilt-ridden that I created a nightmare entity called the Tantabus to punish myself. The more guilt I felt, the stronger the Tantabus grew, until it was able to enter the dreams of other ponies. And then I felt guilty about unleashing the Tantabus on others, and as a result it became so powerful that it almost escaped into the physical world. Who knows what terror it might have spread! Only by forgiving myself could I shrink and vanquish the Tantabus once and for all.”
“It is just as important to forgive yourself as it is to forgive others. I'm glad you learned that before it was too late.” Star Swirl leaned back. “And I am very impressed that you hold such sway over dreams! You must be the most powerful magic user in Equestria.”
She gave him a little half smile. “My power doesn't come close to Discord's, although I'm not certain if he's in Equestria at the moment. He comes and goes as he pleases. But I am powerful for a pony, and I'm still learning how best to use my power. Not to punish, even to punish myself, but to instruct, guide, and build.”
“You sound like Meadowbrook.”
Luna's smile broadened. “It makes sense that the Pillar of Healing would hold this view. I should like to get to know her, too.”
Star Swirl glanced at the Nightmare Tracker. “Far be it from me to tell you how to do your job, but the Tracker has been flashing the entire time we've been talking. Do you need to enter the dreamscape?”
She studied it for a second. “Those are probably just the result of eating too much rich, spicy food right before bed. Trust me, I will know when somepony has a deeply troubled nightmare. It saves me a great deal of time and emotional energy not to patrol the dreamscape all night for the slightest disturbance. Even after I defeated the Tantabus, it became too stressful to spend all of my waking hours in the dreamscape.” She chuckled at the irony. “I had very little free time to relax with my sister. It began to put a strain on our relationship.” Her smile faded. “We were ignorant of the tasks the other did, and each felt unappreciated. Eventually we decided to leave briefings for each other to read so we could stay informed and work in harmony with each other even when we can't be together.” There was more to the story than that, but Luna didn't want to get into the nitty-gritty details at that moment.
“The Nightmare Tracker frees up more time for me to go over her minutes.” The alicorn took another sip of coffee and lifted a note that was written in Celestia's hornwriting. “Let's see what she did today,” she said in order to include Star Swirl without shirking her duties. “She sat in at a meeting for the Friendship Festival planning committee, and then held a press conference, and afterward had an impromptu meeting with Flash Magnus and Rockhoof. She decided to take a trip to the Dragonlands with both of them and Spike as well. What an excellent idea,” said Luna, adding her own opinion. “This would be a wonderful vehicle for Flash and Torch to become reacquainted on peaceful terms.”
“I was not aware of this plan,” said Star Swirl, lifting his eyebrows. “For the entire day, the only thing I heard Flash talk about was revamping the military. I admire his passion, but I do not understand his urgency. The relations between ponies and other cultures have never been better, and even if a new threat arises, I'm certain that my companions and I will neutralize it.”
“Oh.” Luna's eyes widened in realization. She grabbed the proposal she'd begun to read when Star Swirl came in. The alicorn skimmed down the paper until she read the name she was looking for. “Flash Magnus wrote this! That explains why some of the letters are backwards.”
“Yes, it's strange that many of the letters were reversed over the years. I always thought Flash's writing was very legible. I can read it for you if you're having difficulty.”
Luna floated the scroll toward him. “Be my guest.”
Star Swirl wrapped his own white aura around the paper, and his eyes quickly moved back and forth across the page. “First of all, he wants to promote specialized branches for unicorns and earth ponies. He recommends you choose a captain from each tribe and charge him with training the other soldiers of his tribe to utilize their innate tactical skills.”
“That shouldn't be too difficult. The Royal Guard has only one earth pony captain.” Luna glanced at the ceiling in thought. “I wonder if Flash knows about my Night Guard.”
“I could not say. I only learned about them from my research at the Royal Library. According to the book I read, your Night Guard is exclusively for night pegasi.”
She nodded. “I selected night pegasi as my guard because of their excellent night vision compared to the more 'common' pegasi. However, they are sensitive to bright light, so they do not interact much with other ponies during the day.”
Star Swirl rubbed his chin. “Have you considered giving them sunglasses?”
Luna laughed until she realized he was serious. “Oh. I suppose that could be a solution. It wouldn't fit the traditional style of the armor, but . . .” She held her foreleg under her chin, thinking. “Perhaps their uniforms require an update for the modern age.”
At that moment, the Nightmare Tracker flashed a brilliant green that cast the entire room in a stormy light.
“That looks like a bad one,” noted Luna. “Duty calls.”
Star Swirl glanced curiously at the Tracker and back to Luna. “Is there any way I could see the dreamscape? It sounds fascinating.”
Luna pursed her lips in consideration. “I can take ponies into different dreams, but they have to be asleep first.” Then she smiled as an idea came to her. “Perhaps when you fall asleep tonight, I can call on you and take you on patrol. Then you can see the work I do each night.”
He nodded. “I look forward to it, Luna.”
Her smile faded. “It is fascinating, and bizarre at times, but it is never a pleasant experience to enter nightmares. Are you certain you want me to take you? What you will see cannot be unseen.”
He lowered his eyebrows with determination. “If you can do it every night for a number of years, I can certainly give it a try for one night, my student.”
Luna's spirits lifted as she wrapped her foreleg around his shoulders. “Tonight, I shall teach you a thing or two, my teacher.”