Celestia smiled as she looked over the theater from the seats after the play was over. "Fluttershy is quite the actor."
"You have no idea." Twilight thought back to when Fluttershy was asked to watch one of Rarity's locations.
"I'm sorry you weren't able to be the lead actress, Celestia." Starlight put her hoof on Celestia's shoulder. "Maybe someday, after you get enough practice, you can be the star in your own performance."
"Yeah, maybe someday. For now, helping with this one is good enough for me," Celestia said dreamily, looking at the stage. Then she sat up straight. "Before I head back to Canterlot, I want to know something."
Twilight smiled at her mentor. "Of course! Anything!"
Celestia looked at Twilight, her smile gone. "What's bothering you?"
Twilight's own smile fell. "Huh?"
"I can tell something is bothering you." Celestia put her wing over Twilight's shoulder. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."
Twilight wanted to remain quiet, but couldn't say no to Celestia's gentle smile. "There is something I didn't report to you that I should have. Not long after opening the school, something happened to Pinkie Pie."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "She wasn't hurt, was she?"
"No." Starlight waited for Celestia to turn towards her before continuing. "She became a golem and went on a rampage. She's completely back to normal now, though."
Celestia clearly did not expect that. "A golem? That hasn't happened to any pony, or creature, for that matter, in a long time. Not since..." Realization spread across Celestia's face, as she slowly turned towards Twilight. "What stopped her rampage?"
Twilight knew Celestia already knew, but responded anyway. "From what my students described, someone with the White Curse."
Celestia stared at Twilight for a moment, then turned away. "I see."
Starlight jumped on the question swirling through her mind. "Why did you make the law so strict? It seems excessive, given that only seven ponies-"
"I think," Celestia interrupted, "You two deserve to know the truth." She cast an illusion spell, causing seven creatures to appear on stage. "The heroes... I hate to say it, but I've forgotten what they were originally called. Either way, they existed for a long time, with a history stretching back to the time of the Pillars themselves, possibly before then. There were two groups I know of, each having seven members. The group from the time of the Pillars, as Starswirl introduced me to them himself, and the group from a thousand years ago."
"Why is it always a thousand years?" Starlight wondered out loud. "Was that one year that hectic?"
Celestia giggled. "This was more like 985 years ago, but a thousand is easier to say and remember. Either way, you were wrong about one thing. They weren't all ponies. In fact, the only pony in the group was their leader, Sky Blitz." The pony on the stage pulled out a boomerang and struck a pose. "He was also the one to control wind. The others joined him to form the most powerful team they could." She motioned to the other six creatures on the stage, each one pulling out a weapon and posing when she said their names. "Blazer the Dragon, Baxter the Diamond Dog, Terramar the Hippogriff, Castor the Abyssinian, Gabriella the Griffon, and Eshan the Yak."
Twilight put her hoof to her chin. "Terramar is the name of Silver's brother."
Starlight stared at Baxter. "They had a Diamond Dog?"
"Diamond Dogs were more civilized back then, and Silver's brother was likely named after this Terramar. They were considered heroes, some even to this day. But..." Celestia took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "Here's the part where I doubt telling you this..."
Twilight looked at her mentor, worried. "Celestia?"
"It wasn't the power that caused them to go mad." The creatures on the stage vanished into black smoke, replaced by one, ominous figure. "It was... him."
Starlight felt a chill go down her spine. "Him?"
"Gold Strike. The leader of the Night's Embrace, a terrorist sect, bent on following the example of Nightmare Moon."
Starlight and Twilight looked at Celestia in shock and spoke in unison. "TERRORIST?"
Celestia somehow kept her composure. "They were known to cause destruction anywhere they could, in the name of their 'true' princess. The day before the incident, I received a short letter from him. 'I will take what is most valuable to you.' That's all it said."
Twilight's eyes went wide. "So that's why..."
"I didn't outlaw the power because it turned the former heroes into criminals. I outlawed it because someone has, or at least had, the power to take control of them. I did it so they wouldn't have a living super-weapon causing destruction."
Starlight thought of something Celestia likely hadn't. "What if a child gets this power?"
"They can't. It has to be a trained warrior, and they would need to be an adult. Older than any of your students, at least," Celestia said, not knowing how wrong she was.
"What if something happened that forced you to kill someone that young?" Twilight expected her mentor to snap at her over the implications.
Instead, Celestia looked at Twilight in shock, then back at the stage, then shuddered. "I-I'd rather not think about it."
"S-sorry." Twilight looked at the stage herself. "Although, if we take out the Night's Embrace, then we wouldn't need to worry about them taking over the White Cursed, right?"
"I already did." Celestia stared at the figure on the stage. "At least twice. But they keep coming back, and I don't know why." She started tearing up and buried her face in her hooves. "I just don't know how."
"What if it's because someone you trust is a part of-"
Celestia glared at Starlight over that implication. "Of course it's not! I wouldn't trust them if they were. Members of the Night's Embrace tend to announce themselves rather proudly, and I am not an idiot. I've investigated them fully, and none of my most trusted have shown any signs of being parts of the Night's Embrace."
Twilight looked at the image on the stage. "The White Curse could be very useful to have on our side, but if someone, especially a terrorist, could use it against us, then it's not worth the risk. What should I do about the ones that exist?"
Celestia looked at Twilight. "If I tell you, then you aren't acting like a princess. As far as I'm concerned, you're the one that should handle this."
"Why do you leave so much to Twilight?"
Celestia waved her hoof dismissively. "Because you're only aware of half of the incidents that need to be handled."
Twilight looked lost in thought. "Do you mind if I keep quiet on how I plan to handle this?"
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "You can, but I'd be very suspicious of what you're planning."
Twilight looked Celestia in the eye, then turned away and sighed. "I'm not going to hunt them out yet. They haven't shown themselves to be a threat to any innocents, and we only have one incident they were involved in. Heck, as far as I know, it may be someone trying to emulate their powers without actually having them."
Celestia smiled. "That's a fair point."
"I don't have much information, and, to be honest, I hope I don't get any more. Because if I don't, then that means it was a one-time incident, and we don't have to worry about it going forward."
Starlight had one small question. "And if a White Cursed starts causing trouble?"
"... I'll do what I have to."
Celestia patted Twilight on the head, shocking the latter. "While I can't officially endorse your plan, I personally believe you're making the right choice." She leaned towards Starlight and whispered. "That's why I trust so much to her."
Starlight gasped. "Wait, what are the odds of Gold Strike having a descendant?"
Celestia chuckled. "Not a bad question, but the odds are almost none. He only ever had eyes for Lu-" Celestia suddenly slapped her hoof over her mouth. A syllable too late.
"Were you about to say... Luna?" Twilight was incredulous. "Did he fall in love with Luna?"
Celestia giggled nervously, then changed the image on the stage, making it resemble a movie. "I actually did know Gold Strike personally, before he joined Night's Embrace. He was a trapper by trade, and one of the most capable I ever knew."
The images started changing to reflect the tale Celestia was telling them, Gold Strike shown as a yellow creature resembling a pony. "The first I heard of him, he had trapped a Dragon. A younger one, sure, but it was still a dragon. He brought it to my castle to ensure it got back to the Dragon Lands, and that's when he first met Luna. If I didn't know better, I would say meeting her was his sole motivation for bringing the Dragon to us.
"After that, he started sending her letters. Long, romantic, and a bit tacky at times. The last one was about him claiming that she valued her loneliness too much, and he would change that, or something along those lines. In response, she brought him to the castle to personally chew him out. I only heard the tail end of the discussion, but I remember it clearly. 'What will it take for you to leave us alone?' 'If your heart is too much, then how about your friendship?' 'If you want either, trap the moon, so-called, "Master of his craft." Now leave, before we have the guards vacate you by force.'
Starlight tapped her chin. "'Trap the moon?' Why does that sound familiar?"
Twilight's jaw dropped. "That's where the phrase came from?"
Celestia giggled at Twilight's amazement. "I don't think she expected him to treat that as a challenge, but he did. Less than a week later, a guard led Luna to the front door, while I followed out of curiosity. He waited to open the door, but when he did, we found something shocking." The image on the stage showed Gold Strike at the steps of the castle, the sisters in the doorway, and between them...
"A bucket?" That's all Starlight could see, and she was right.
"It was full of water and showed the moon's reflection. I still remember his smile as he looked at Luna and said, 'Does this count?' She agreed to a date, and their love blossomed from there."
Twilight looked at Celestia. "She fell in love with him?"
"It was rather shocking. She was always so distant from anyone that approached her, and he tore down that wall in a moment. Figures. The "Master Trapper" trapped the heart of a mare once thought to be heartless. And thus the phrase "Trapping the Moon" was born. Performing a feat thought to be impossible."
Starlight went back to the darker topic. "So he joined the Night's Embrace... because he loved Luna?"
"That's the only reason I can think of. His love became corrupt, so he went to the dark side with her." Celestia then floated up out of her seat. "Regardless, I'll leave this incident up to you! Here's to no more monsters, curses, or annoying bureaucrats headed your way!" She saluted her student, then flew off towards Canterlot.
Starlight smiled at Twilight. "I know you can handle this. And I'll help you any way I can."
"Thank you." Twilight got up and started towards her castle. "I'll trap this moon, no matter what it takes."
Luna took one look at the letter and knew what it was. "Thank you. You're dismissed."
The guard saluted her, and left, closing the door behind him. Luna opened the letter and read its contents.
To the Princess of the night.
You're still so stubborn. You haven't responded to my letters, and don't think I didn't see you scowl at me when I was in the crowd earlier. If you don't like me, well, I apologize.
However, do not think I have abandoned the thought's I have of being yours. Living life alone is not good for one, no matter what they think or desire. Yet, you value your loneliness above all else, possibly even the night itself.
Since that is how I see you-
The rest was torn off.
Luna folded the letter again, put it against her head, and cried.
"Goldie..."