//------------------------------//
// Verse 42 
// Story: The Nightmare Knights Become A Band 
// by SwordTune 
//------------------------------//

Luna levitated the last book back into its shelf. The bedroom, once Celestia’s, had long since been refurbished to better suit the new princess, and it surprised Luna a little bit to see how different the student was from the mentor. Celestia could be more stubborn and head-strong than she let on, and that part of her showed itself the most whenever she spoke to other creatures. An extrovert at heart, it wasn’t merely that she enjoyed speaking to other ponies, or that she was good at it. She seemed to need it. Canterlot itself was proof. The old castle in the Everfree Forest was a small court, a perfect place to rule with privacy. But matters of government was free and open to all in Canterlot, allowing Celestia to fill her hours and days with conversation.
In contrast, Luna saw a bit of herself in Twilight. Although she was strong-willed, the new princess did not flaunt it or even call attention to it. She had a very small taste for the pomp and fanfare of royalty. That had its own perks and drawbacks. Royalty was not always about extravagance. In the end, however much they wanted to sugar coat it, a ruler needed to be controlling. And Celestia believed a show of luxury was the surest way to reinforce the strength of a regime and convince others to follow. Every pony wanted to be successful, and if obeying the Princess was the way to do it, they would. 
Celestia’s comfortable, but relatively modest compared to the rest of the palace, bedroom had been stripped further down to make space for utility. Pictures and notecards were connected by pinned strings of yarn to long line graphs and then posted up on a cork bulletin board. Twilight’s introversion had clearly given her more time to alone than Celestia. The notes were personally written by Twilight, not an assistant. Every word curved and rolled with her noticeable script. Every letter was carefully shaped and consistently spaced. It was one thing she had in common with her mentor. Both Twilight and Celestia made writing an art form.
“Here it is.” Twilight returned with Raven Inkwell, levitating the mirror shard wrapped in a kerchief. “You could have just asked in the first place.”
Luna chuckled sheepishly. “I thought I could just grab a piece. I had not realized that Starswirl already dismantled them.” 
Months ago, shortly after Twilight had been crowned, the old wizard had visited the palace to finally clean up his dangerous and unfinished works. In the process, all of the mirror portals which he had collected were to be dismantled and stored in separate places across Equestria. Meanwhile, the room which Luna thought would contain the mirror had become an office for student interns from the School of Magic.
She took the crystal from Twilight. “When Starswirl cam by, did he happen to mention anything about what lies behind this mirror’s portal?”
Twilight shook her head. “He didn’t want to talk about it.” 
“If you knew, you’d understand why I could not ask,” Luna replied. “Starswirl was right to seal them away.”
“Then why are you asking for it?” Raven asked, already flipping to a new page in her notebook.
“It’s not a happy story.” Luna smiled sadly. “Not yet, at least. Perhaps I will tell it if it turns out better this time.”
“But why were you looking through my room?” Twilight asked.
“It wasn’t anywhere else,” Luna shrugged. “How many other places in the palace would have a powerful mirror portal shard? I thought you might’ve taken it to study it.”
“And even though that thought crossed your mind, you would’ve just come in and taken it?” Twilight eyed her fellow alicorn with a mix of bewilderment and disappointment.
“I would have given it back,” Luna defended. 
“Yeah, okay,” Twilight sighed and put her head in her hoof. “But just ask next time. You’re still welcome here in the palace after all. No need to be a stranger.”
“That is very kind of you to say. You should find some time to come to our Rainbow Falls concert, we have a new song lined up for the event. I think you’ll like it. You’re in it.”
“I’m sure I can find some time— wait, come again? I am?”
Luna spun around and peered her head out of the window down to the palace entrance. “Oh, look at that, are those reporters from the Canterlot Gazette?” She pushed open the window as wide as it would go and stretched out her wings. “It would appear that you have another appointment and I’d hate the ruin the surprise. Guess you’ll just have to come to our concert. Bye!”
Twilight watched helplessly as Luna spurred up a gust of wind and shot through the air, climbing high above the clouds before any pony could spot her from below. Even if she wanted to catch up and beg her to help ease some royal responsibilities, Twilight wasn’t sure if she was fast enough in the sky. Working in the palace all day gave her very little time to practice her flying.
“S-should I tell the Canterlot Gazette that we want to reschedule?” Raven tentatively asked.
Again, although much heavier this time, Twilight sighed. “No, no. Just have the staff prepare a deep-tissue massage after the photoshoot. And find where Nightmare Knights tickets are being sold.”





Starlight held her breath and squinted through tinted safety goggles as she worked her magic on a piece of an extremely rare gemstone. The column of tourmaline liked a rainbow given solid form, gradually changing from red to green, then to neon blue and fiery orange. Certain gemstones could take on unique properties when exposed to magic. However, the diverse colours were caused by the stone’s diverse composition. More elements, more magical effects. Getting the right property took time and patience. Two things that were difficult to come by with her impromptu assistant.
“Aqua-rose tourmaline is incredibly rare,” Mudbriar reminded Starlight for the fifth time that hour. “It’s a boro-silicate crystal with high magnesium, lithium, and copper contents.”
“I know, I also read Maud’s notes,” Starlight grumbled. “Look, cutting a gem with magic is harder than it looks, so just let me concentrate.”
“Are you sure you’re doing it right?” Mudbriar closed one eye, holding up a hoof as he measured the beam. “The angle of incidence where the magic hits the stone isn’t how Maud described it.”
“Well, if Maud were here she’d know she’s an expert at rocks, not magic, so her calculations aren’t going to be perfect.” Starlight lifted her goggles and stepped away from the gemstone. Dust and fine flakes of the crystal had fallen around her hooves on the floor, and she had to be careful to sweep them up. It was a good thing that she got a dustpan ahead of time. 
There couldn’t have been a worse time to experiment on the mirror portal. The faculty had reserved their final lectures before cram week for guest speakers. The topics wouldn’t be on the tests, but they would definitely help give the students some new ideas. Naturally, Pinkie Pie asked her sister to guest-speak for her lecture.
Maud was, of course, interested when Starlight had asked her about a gemstone that could take on portal manipulation properties, but her sister came first. Starlight considered herself lucky that Luna had already left for Canterlot when Maud arrived at the school. Sisterhood seemed like a sore topic. 
Any other time, Starlight would have waited rather than reading off of Maud’s notes and listening to her boyfriend. But the School of Friendship would be on its break in two weeks, just in time for the trade fair at Rainbow Falls. Luna had to prepare for their concert, Starlight would have to focus on her role as Headmare once midterms were over. Even Sunburst could not grade every assignment, despite how much he wanted to.
Neither of them could spare much time working on the portal. Starlight wiped the sweat from her forehead. Starlight didn’t hate him, and Maud genuinely seemed to care for the stallion, but the time crunch simply made Mudbriar seem all the more annoying. 
“It doesn’t look finished,” he muttered.
“I know!” Starlight snapped. “But magic takes focus, and right now I need a moment of silence to think.”
“Calming down first should help. Maybe you could try breathing exercises—”
Starlight stormed up to him, levitating his lanky body inches off the by the scruff of his neck. “I will hurt you, Mudbriar. Don’t doubt that.”
“What?” Mudbriar’s faced paled and his blood ran cold.
She let him down, but her horn still blazed with magic even as she paced around the library. She stopped when the door swung open and Luna walked through it, cheerfully carrying a small pouch on her head. 
“Look what I have!” she chimed.
Starlight gasped with relief. “Great, now we can start.”
Mudbriar’s eyes widened as Luna unwrapped the mirror shard and passed it over to Starlight. He eyed the long,  jagged, and sharp piece of glass warily. “Princess Luna? W-what’s that for?”His voice softened, abandoning the usual assurance he had in being correct. “Starlight’s not going to anything to me, right?”
Luna turned around, her feathers ruffling up as if she had only just noticed him.“You can call me Luna. I’m not a princess anymore.”
“Ahem,” he cleared his throat. “Well, technically the title of Princess refers both to a government station and a social class. Simply because you’re retired doesn’t mean you’re not a princess.”
Luna rolled her eyes gave a short snarl. “Starlight?” she asked, though still staring at Mudbriar. “What’s with the stallion? He doesn’t look like your type.”
“Heugh,” Starlight gagged as Luna’s remark planted an unwanted image in her mind. “Blegh, that’s disgusting.” 
“Rude,” he frowned.
She levitated the mirror shard and scurried away from Mudbriar as quickly as she could. “Just ignore that, it’s Maud’s boyfriend.”
“This Maud,” Luna said, “I don’t think we’re acquainted.”
“She had a gemstone we could use on the portal,” Starlight explained. “But I needed her notes on how to cut it, so her boyfriend brought them over.”
“Oh? And how’s it coming along?”
“I was hoping you could help me out,” Starlight replied. “Maud’s probably one of the smartest ponies in Equestria, but even her calculations aren’t perfect. I’m close to fixing it, but I need a second pair of eyes to check my work.”
“I could’ve checked it,” Mudbriar stomped his hoof, “and though I’m not a rock expert, I would consider myself quite the intellectual as well.”
Starlight laughed. “I’ve worked with Starswirl the Bearded and Princess Twilight before. Sorry, but you’re a little low on my list.”