“Twilight Sparkle, we have come to seek thy advice!” announced the midnight blue alicorn bursting in to the Golden Oak library as the oak door ricocheted dangerously off the wall behind her.
Spike stared open mouthed, not only at the breach of decorum within the closely guarded sanctuary of the library, but also at an unannounced visit from royalty, especially the reclusive Princess Luna, to Ponyville library.
Spike, caught in the centre of the floor like a rabbit in the headlights did the only sensible thing he could think of and bowed deeply, desperately hoping her gaze would pass over or around him; he didn’t care which.
“Wherefore art thou, Twilight?” she persisted, her dark silhouette outlined dramatically in the light spilling in from the doorway.
“Dragon!” she ordered.
“Who, me?” replied Spike, before adding hastily, “Your Majesty …”
“Well, obviously; there are no other dragons present! Seek out thine mistress immediately and inform her of my intent for audience.”
She posed imperiously, surveying the inside of the hollowed out tree that served as the provincial town’s public library, while the baby dragon scampered off to find Twilight before Luna turned into Nightmare Moon again, praying under his breath that she hadn’t gone out and left him alone with the Princess of the Night. He pressed his head up to the window and saw Luna’s chariot outside with two fearsome looking Bat Ponies shackled to the front. One of them sensed movement from the window and turned a golden slitted-pupil eye to stare towards Spike’s shrinking face. The baby dragon didn’t so much see the Bat Pony’s stare, moreover he felt it as all the spines on his back raised as a defensive reflex action, but this was a fight he would not seriously be ready to consider for at least another twenty years.
“Twilight! Twilight!” he called in increasing desperation, “Please tell me you’re here!”
“Hey, Spike” came a soothing voice from down in the kitchen, “What’s all the commotion?”
“We got a visitor!”
“Oh! That’s nice …”
“A really important visitor!”
“Oh … ?”
“And she wants to talk to you right now!”
“Who … ?”
“Princess Luna! … Don’t you listen?”
“Oh, OK” said Twilight, far too curious to be scared, “Go make us some tea please, Spike.”
Spike scurried away as fast as he could while Twilight rummaged through her mind trying to think of what kind of book Luna could possibly want from Ponyville, given the extensive library at her disposal up in Canterlot, but looked forward to putting her knowledge to the test. Astronomy; that had to be it, she reasoned.
Luna remained posed heroically as she had since she had entered the library, boresighting Ponyville’s librarian as she ascended the last few steps up from the kitchen and stared at her aloofly.
“Good morning Princess” greeted Twilight warmly, trotting happily over to meet her guest as if nothing was out of the ordinary, “I have tea coming. How may I help you today?”
Luna tilted her head slightly to one side, “It has been some time since thou tookest away our dark powers, Twilight Sparkle.”
“And that was a good thing, right?”
“Yes, but that is not the purpose of our visit. Thou art known to our Sister better these days than are we, and it is our duty to report that she is disconsolate and incapable of performing her Royal Duties. Wouldst thou be prepared to visit her and determine what ails her?”
Twilight cast her mind back to the rather brief meeting she had with Celestia and Rainbow Dash a few days previously when she seemed distinctly out of sorts. Since then, there hadn’t been any night time, and the concept of ‘a few days ago’ was now of itself a little vague. Something had happened during the visit that had struck her as odd at the time, and it seemed that her sixth sense had been right after all.
“OK, Princess” she resolved, “When do we go?”
“Now?”
Just at that moment the clattering of fine china on a tray rattled its way up the stairs and a baby dragon stood looking imploringly up to his mistress.
“Tea?” he asked.
Twilight took one look at the disapproving glower from her guest and turned to him, “No tea, thank you Spike.”
He looked crestfallen.
“Twilight Sparkle, our chariot awaits without” urged Luna.
“Without what?” asked Spike, just loud enough for his mistress to hear.
“No, silly” corrected Twilight, turning to her number one assistant, “She means ‘outside’; it’s just her way of talking.”
“Why didn’t she just say so …” mumbled Spike incoherently as he returned to the kitchen with his tray of untouched refreshments.
Luna showed herself out through the opened doorway with Twilight in tow, leading them to her chariot. Spike summoned the courage to look out the window once more, just so as he could see his mistress safely away, but when he raised his head tentatively above the window sill, he found the same golden eye staring unswervingly straight back at him, and swiftly ducked back down once again. Had that guy really been staring at the window the whole time waiting for him to look back out again? That was too scary …
Although the sight of Princess Luna’s chariot was most unusual, there were few souls brave enough to even risk a peep given the fearsome reputation of Nightmare Moon and her potential to extract revenge for the most minor of misdemeanours. Spike, for one, certainly wasn’t going to risk another look, just in case his card was marked.
Twilight looked at Luna’s personal chariot, taking in its sinister colour and swept back lines, so completely different from the one that had carried her from Canterlot to Ponyville in the first place. But whilst it was certainly eye-catching, it was the two Bat Ponies that commanded even the most casual glance. They appeared larger than the average ponies and looked threatening with their grey/purple coats, unusual bat like wings and piercing golden eyes with unusual reptilian vertically slit pupils. Twilight recoiled briefly, but caught up again when Luna looked back over her shoulder giving her a look that said ‘Well, where have you got to?’
Conversation with Luna on the journey was stilted and amounted to little more than well-rehearsed pleasantries from days long since gone by. For her part, Twilight asked a stream of questions about Star Swirl the Bearded to the point of obsession that Luna soon found irritating. Both were keen for the journey to end a heaved a collective sigh when the nation’s capital came into sight beneath them, descending gently to align with their touchdown point beside the Royal castle.
“We shall escort thee to our Sister’s chambers from where she has not set hoof these last three days, and wait without such that we may be ready to assist in any way” instructed Luna as they dismounted and made their way into the castle. The passageways were dark following the brightness of the day and their hoofsteps echoed, alerting the guards ahead. All saluted smartly when they saw the Princess, who in the absence of her sister was the de facto ruler of Equestria, even though she still had not recovered her powers sufficiently to control the sun or the moon and also lacked the diplomacy to conduct affairs of State; she was in effect a figurehead.
Finally they stood outside Celestia’s chambers, in front of the doors bearing her sun cutie mark. The guards on duty parted, one to either side, rigidly to attention with their polearms shouldered. Just before Twilight opened the door, Luna reached forward and held her foreleg in the first gesture of true support since she had arrived at the library that morning. The Princess was too insecure to say what needed to be said, but condensed all the meaning into one pleading look that took Twilight by surprise.
“Thank you” whispered Twilight earnestly, looking her in the eye and then opened the door to go in.