Luna didn't expect this to happen.
Everything was going exactly as she hoped it would, but then it came without warning. The midnight blue alicorn was fairly sure Twilight hadn't even noticed it until it was too late, and even then she still doubted the all powerful mare registered anything but the agony of having her magic ripped right out of her.
But Luna had seen it.
She and Cadence had seen everything through Twilight's powerful Barrier. The magic Luna had seen Twilight cast brought back vivid memories of her own sister's rampage, but with Twilight it was different.
The power was there, but it was controlled.
Twilight had actually managed to control herself far more than Celestia ever had. The Barrier she had erected was a clear indication that she was more self aware -- that the 'desire' of the ambient Magic hadn't clouded her mind.
At least, not completely.
Luna had seen a hint of the madness behind Twilight's eyes, even from where she had stood on the ground. Still, the mare was quite a sight, her magic aura burning as bright as her own sister's Sun and her shining white eyes ablaze with fury and purpose.
With only two words, two simple words, Twilight had managed to completely wipe out every Umbrum in the city -- and all without causing the other Princesses any harm whatsoever.
It was better than Luna could have ever dreamed.
She knew Twilight had it in her to overpower the 'desire', all she had to do was push and eventually the situation would arrive where the lavender alicorn had no choice but to act.
Luna herself didn't feel particularly good about having to manipulate Twilight like this, but in the end it would've been worth it. Twilight would kill the demon and Luna could face whatever fallout she'd have to go through with the others with the knowledge that they were all finally safe.
The Lunar Princess had the distinct feeling Cadence had somehow fallen under the influence of the demon, but even that wouldn't have mattered once Twilight had finally slain the demon, as her niece would've been freed from any demonic influence.
Luna would finally get the magic she was sure the demon had stolen away back, and then she could access the Realm of Dreams once more.
Her subjects and kingdom would finally be avenged.
Then that very demon had come and ruined everything.
At first, Luna wasn't sure what she had seen, but then it came into focus. The eldritch monstrosity faded into existence and wrapped Twilight in a cold embrace, stealing her magic away and leaving her to fall out of the sky -- weak, vulnerable, and screaming in agony.
And then it vanished once more, leaving both Cadence and Luna confused and distraught by Twilight's plight.
It was almost more than Luna could take.
She had cried out to the mare -- they all had. Celestia couldn't see what had happened, but there wasn't a chance in Tartarus that she hadn't heard her former student and daughter figure.
The instant Twilight began to fall, the Barrier vanished, and both Luna and Cadence wasted no time in charging forward to save Twilight. Celestia tried to do the same, but stumbled and hit the ground.
Luna had stopped and turned to look at her sister, a split second debate taking place in her mind. She bit her lip and looked from her recovering sister to Cadence who was getting further and further away.
With a growl of frustration, Luna doubled back to help Celestia regain her footing.
"Blind or no, I hope you can see the folly of your complacency, sister," Luna hissed as she help Celestia up, "you've become a hindrance to the ones who need you here and now. Your former student, and my only friend need you now more than ever."
"What do you want me to do, Luna?" Celestia argued back as the two of them quickly but carefully made their way towards Twilight, "whether or not I have the desire to regain my sight means nothing when nothing can be done to fix it!"
At the very least, Luna noted with some satisfaction, the situation had made her sister more lucid than she had been back in Equestria. Perhaps the wise and optimistic sister she knew was still in their somewhere after all.
"Just knowing that you yourself are willing to try would be enough to lift our spirits sister," Luna said with a sad shake of her head, "your complete and utter lack of hope and willingness to ignore the world around you is taking its toll on Twilight and our niece."
Celestia didn't say anything in response.
"She has not said as much, but I can tell," Luna continued, her unwavering gaze never leaving Celestia, "Twilight has all but lost faith in you."
Celestia winced and looked away, the words hitting her like physical blows to the heart, but nevertheless, Luna continued.
"There is also something wrong with Cadence, and I'm sure even you have noticed this."
"...In all the years I've known her, She's never displayed such... anger," Celestia admitted quietly before shaking her head and trotting forward once again, "but that's not important right now. What is important is making sure Twilight is okay."
"Tia, stop," Luna commanded in a firm voice, "Cadence is on her way to help Twilight as we speak, and that aside, she is an alicorn the same as us. A fall even from that height will not put her down for long."
"But--"
"No, sister, we need to talk," Luna interjected sternly, "it's time you pulled yourself out of this mire of despair and self-pity you have so thoroughly tried to drown yourself in," Luna took Celestia's face in her hooves and turned to her own, staring deep into her sister's white milky eyes, "we still don't know the extent of the ruin that has befallen our land, and--"
Luna suddenly gasped in shock as what felt like an electric charge shot through her body and into her horn. She quickly backed away from Celestia and grabbed at the sparking appendage with a cry of surprise and pain.
"I NEED... MORE... POWER... MORE DESPAIR... MORE OF THIS... MAGIC..."
The voice boomed within Luna's head, drowning out Celestia's shouts and her own screams. Her horn continued to spark and flash with a dark blue light, but beneath all the pain and confusion, she could feel something else.
Unlike the pain Twilight had experienced, Luna's pain originated from a massive influx of excess Magic -- as though all of Twilight's magic was being forced fed directly into her horn.
No, it wasn't Twilight's magic.
It was her own.
Some familiar feeling was welling up within her, growing stronger and stronger by the second until it pushed aside the pain. Then, unbidden, an image made itself apparent inside Luna's mind.
A set of double doors.
The dark blue doors -- tall, ornate, and imposing in their design -- called out to Luna.
She couldn't help but answer.
She'd know these doors anywhere, for beyond them was a place beholden to none but her -- a place that had been a part of her since her ascension to alicornhood many millennia ago.
Gone was the pain.
The pleas and cries of her sister went ignored.
She had all but forgotten Twilight's current predicament.
The only thing that mattered now were the doors in front of her. The only thing she could think about, despite all the pain, misery, and suffering they had all endured, was how relieved she was to have her magic back -- to be able to once again envision these doors in all their splendor.
She didn't know how or why it was suddenly possible, but in that moment, she didn't care.
She once more had access to the Realm of Dreams.
Without a thought for what might lie inside, she mentally shoved the doors open, stepping out of reality, and into the dreamscape. Now, as an ethereal construct within the Dream Realm, Luna could finally connect with all of her subjects and once again be surrounded by...
Nothing.
"NOW YOU SEE... TO HOPE... IS FUTILE... MOON PRINCESS..."
No...
Luna's eyes slowly widened in horror. She frantically looked left and right, trying to find any trace of the dream motes that normally filled the dark void like the Stars in her own night sky.
No... this cannot...
She clenched her eyes shut and concentrated, trying to draw something -- anything to where she was. She shivered and shook from both the effort of pulling forth any kind of presence and pushing back the rapidly growing despair.
It was all for naught.
Luna opened her now teary eyes to see the same empty void that had haunted her thoughts ever since she had first laid her eyes upon her and her sister's ruined kingdom.
She couldn't even see or feel Celestia, Twilight, or Cadence.
They're gone...
She fell to her haunches and stared out at the nothingness before her in shocked disbelief.
They're gone...
They're gone...
They're gone...
They're all gone...
THIS REALM... IS NO LONGER YOURS... MOON PRINCESS... I HAVE... STOLEN YOUR DREAMS... FROM YOU...
NOTHING LEFT...
ALL GONE...
ALL MINE...