Luna was looking more disheveled by the day. Between spending her nights looking for Twilight and spending her days dealing with the panicking citizens, she was unable to find any time for herself lately. She knew it wouldn't last forever, but dealing with a crisis like this was more than she could bear on her own.
To make matters worse, Celestia was no longer returning to the castle. The least she could have done was to tell her face to face, but all Luna received was a letter. She understood the reason Celestia wasn't returning, but it would have been nice to part with at least a hug.
She rolled out of bed and quickly brushed her mane and tail, until it could be tied down. Whatever she could throw together to look presentable was best. While it wasn't the most fashionable 'do, it would suffice, and it was more important to be available for her citizens than it was to radiate the serene beauty of the night.
After a very quick breakfast that she ate while walking, she stopped in at the library to check on Spike. He'd gone through thousands of books, with thousands of pages in them, looking for something she didn't know about, but knew it was related to the disappearing patches of land all throughout Equestria. She wished she had the time to help him, to look into this and better understand it, but all she could do was make sure he rested well. She picked up the book he'd fallen asleep on and bookmarked his page, placing it on the table where he was keeping his notes. There were quite a few, so she organized them into a neat stack, rather than a random pile. She then brought him over to the bed he'd been using during his time here in Canterlot and tucked him in. The world was counting on his research returning results.
With Spike tucked away and snoring peacefully, she made her way to the throne room, where Several ponies were already lined up to talk to her, but she walked right past them to the guard at the front of the line. "Talk to me."
The guard saluted. "Princess Luna. According to most recent reports, three new rashes have appeared since yesterday. Two of them were out in the open, but one cropped up just outside of Manehattan. Tens of ponies have been marked as missing, but as the number keeps going up with new reports coming in, I can only say for certain that the number exceeds forty-seven." A scroll materialized in front of him, and he read it quickly. "Make that fifty. Fifty confirmed reports of missing ponies."
Luna shook her head. "We're doing all we can to stop this. We have multiple scholars looking into the cause of these rashes, and we hope to have answers soon. Any news from the Crystal Empire?"
"Nothing yet, Majesty. The patches seem to have moved right past them. They're surrounded, but nothing has appeared there as of yet. Some of my subordinates think that it might be safer there, but I think it's only a matter of time before they run into this problem, too."
Luna nodded. "Hopefully, we'll have a solution by then. Have you encountered any other of those ape-like creatures Celestia found?"
"A whole hive of them in the Manehattan patch. Six buildings that look very similar to ours, but taller. Apparently, they're larger than us."
Luna furrowed her brow. "Is the hive contained?"
"As best we can. We still don't know everything about them, but these ones are either unarmed, or simply better at following our orders to stay inside. The captain in charge has apparently talked to one of them, meaning they can hold a conversation. I'm waiting to hear back on his results."
Luna nodded. "That's good. Opening a line of communication with these creatures would be most beneficial. Anything else?"
"Just one more thing. Princess Celestia sent out for a weapons expert from Course to examine the weapon we found with the first ape creature. She arrived last night. I told her to report to you directly when she woke up."
"Excellent," nodded Luna. "Do we still have the weapon in the vault?"
"I'll send somepony to check, Majesty."
"While you're doing that, I want reports on the soldiers it injured. All four of them."
The guard saluted. "Yes, Majesty."
"Dismissed." Luna gave the guard a half-hearted salute as he ran off to attend to his orders. Luna, on the other hoof, made her way to the throne and sat down to hear the complaints of the common citizen. With the crisis going on, she'd made several announcements to try to calm them, but they still came forward with questions. Oftentimes, they came with questions she'd already answered in the recent press releases, but sometimes they asked good questions. Sometimes the questions were so good that Luna didn't have an answer, as she was left wondering, herself.
After a few hours of answering questions she'd already spoken of, a guard brought in a mare in Coursican formalwear. Luna quickly dispensed with her current citizen, telling them to come back again if they had more to say. While they were quite miffed at being told they had to wait, Luna had more important matters to attend to.
"You are the Coursican weapons expert, are you not?"
"I am," smiled the mare. "I hear you've been having problems with rifts opening up here in Equestria, as well. I'm told that you found something in one of them that bears a resemblance to one of our weapon prototypes."
"Yes, I was hoping you might be willing to have a look?"
"That's why I'm here."
"Good. Follow me."
Luna led the mare down to the vault where they were keeping the weapon. On arrival, one of the guards was sent inside to collect the chest. As Luna opened the box, the mare looked inside.
"It does look familiar," she said. "May I examine it closely?"
Luna nodded. "Of course."
Gripping it as one would grip a crossbow, the mare gave it a thorough examination, examining all the parts she could. When she was satisfied, she placed it back in the box. "If I understood how it worked, I might be willing to say that it's a good amalgamation between a crossbow and a small cannon. If it is not too much trouble, I would like to set up a small workshop in the dungeon to study this further. Four thick stone walls, with a big hay cushion against the furthest from the door. I may be able to figure this whole thing out."
Luna nodded. "I'll have it set up for you right away. I just need to know how best to defend my soldiers if another one of these comes through."