Luna’s hoof had almost grown sore as she stroked Tiberius’ fur for the millionth time since Discord had begun his story. In her thousands of years, she had never heard such a wild, fantastical tale. Considering who had told it to her, she was almost inclined to say that he was lying. But, there was also something more in what Discord had told her. Over the course of things, she had heard how Discord was trying to make sense of things, instead of the opposite. How he had willingly put his life in danger for others. And other things that the Discord she knew would never do. Even if he hadn’t behaved as such, his experiences were too similar to her own to dismiss.
“That’s quite a story,” Luna quietly said, as she unconsciously tickled her pet’s ears. “Tell me: you’ve already brought Spike into your confidence. Why me too?”
Discord laid on his back, silently watching the underside of Luna’s canopy bed. His mismatched hands were folded corpse-like over his chest as he breathed in and out. One of his eyes glanced in Luna’s direction, and he released a long, slow breath.
“Because, and feel free to deny this, I think you’ve been seeing the same kind of things,” he said.
Luna had stopped stroking Tiberius, who seemed to sense her dilemma and remained still in her lap. It was all coming back to her. The terror she felt. The isolation. The denial. And through it all, everypony else thought that it was all in her head. After so long, she wondered how she hadn’t broken. Most mares would have killed themselves to end it by that point. Now, she had the closest chance she ever had to a different way out. One that led to dark places that she feared to go.
“Y… Yes. I-I’ve known about them ever since I was a filly. But, everypony thought that I was insane!” she said.
“Feels good to be validated, doesn’t it?” Discord asked.
“Truly, it does,” Luna said, feeling as if she were on the verge of tears.
Discord remained silent, allowing Luna a moment to collect herself.
“Um… If you want, I think me and Spike can take things from here. You’ve already kind of been through a lot, so–” Discord said.
“No,” Luna interjected. “No. I’ve spent so long with this personal Hell. I’m going to see it through to the end.”
Even though she knew how deep she was going, her mind was made up. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, so close, yet so far. She was going to reach it, even if it killed her to get there. Without thinking, she stood up from her seat and realized that the sun had already been lowered, and the moon was well into the sky without her notice. Tiberius skittered over to the door, and pawed at the glass to get out.
Luna obliged and let her pet out, knowing that he would be safer with his other nighttime friends, instead of with herself. Once the sounds of him descending the ivy faded, she turned to Discord on her bed.
“We still have work to do. If you would, please assist Spike in trying to find more information. It seems our dragon friend is becoming a rather adept novice in this unusual magic,” Luna said.
“Anything to fight those things off,” Discord agreed.
“Take this.”
Discord watched as a key materialized out of thin air into his hand, and looked curiously at it.
“It’s the key to my own personal library. The door is over there,” Luna said, indicating the direction. “See if there’s anything that can elucidate you about that idol of yours. And don’t remove anything from there!” After hearing how Discord had rummaged through Twilight’s private collection, she wasn’t going to allow her own to be defiled. It had taken her centuries to accrue that collection, and she wasn’t about to lose a single issue.
“What about you?” Discord asked.
“I have to see a griffin about a ghost.”
A candle flickered weakly, before it was snuffed out by a sharp breath.
In a small book shop, a griffin replaced the glass housing around the candle by the door and turned the ‘open’ sign in the window to its ‘closed’ side. It had been a long day for her. Restocking the shelves, pricing the merchandise, customer after customer treating her establishment like a library. And on top of it all, tomorrow was the day her new shipment of books arrived. If anypony needed a day off, it was her.
She stopped before the last light in the shop that she had to extinguish, and thought that taking the next day off might not be such a bad idea. Take the day to do the things that she had been meaning to do for almost a month? Nopony would miss her for just a day. They could wait that long for a new book.
Her mind was made up. She would not be at work tomorrow, and would resume work the day after.
The bell over her door jingled, and the griffin rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh.
“The sign says ‘closed,’” she called to the intruder.
“I know. But, it’s not reading material that brings me here tonight.”
The griffin’s eyes lit up at the familiar voice behind herself, and she turned around. There in her shop was Princess Luna once again.
“Princess Luna? What are you doing here?” the griffin wondered.
Luna didn’t answer right away. Her request was unusual, and her objective was even more so. She was so close to getting out of it that she could feel it as if it were held in her hooves. Just one simple request, and she was closer to ending it all.
“I need you to tell me more of your grandmother’s story,” she said.
“Oh. Well, you’ll have to come back in a couple of days to hear that. Sorry,” the griffin said.
“I’m afraid that I’d need to hear it now. It’s a matter of some urgency,” Luna replied.
“Um…Princess, I didn’t want to be rude, but I’ve got a day off coming up. So, I kind of don’t want to be caught in anything else.”
“I suppose that I wasn’t clear either,” Luna said, “This is a matter of life and death. If I don’t learn what I need, a lot of ponies, including myself, may be in grave danger.”
The griffin stared in stupefied silence, before she spoke, “What does this have to do with me and my grandma?”
Luna took a moment to prepare herself.
“Do you remember what you told me before?” she began. “The story of the ponies in the graveyard? How they summoned something? I think…I think that it may be coming back.”
“This–Princess, that happened a long time ago.”
“As did the disappearance of King Sombra, and the imprisonment of Discord. Centuries later, Sombra and Discord reappeared, and were dealt with again. Now, the Crystal Empire is a thriving metropolis, and Discord is a close friend of the Bearer of Kindness. History has a way of repeating its most terrible chapters if nothing is done to prevent it. Nothing has happened yet, but we may have a chance to stop this now before it ever has a chance to terrorize everypony once more. That is why I must hear more of your grandmother’s story,” Luna pleaded.
The griffin was silent again. But, it was her silence that said volumes to Luna, who began to realize that a shopkeeper and her grave digging grandmother shouldn’t know so much about such things.
“You…know it’s all true? Don’t you?” Luna gently asked.
The griffin’s beak pursed uncomfortably as she tried to avoid the gaze of Luna.
“It’s alright. I know they’re real too. Ever since I was a filly, I’ve seen things that nopony else could. It hasn’t always been easy,” Luna said.
Tears welled up in the griffin’s eyes, and her throat quivered. With a sharp breath, she managed a tiny smile.
“Everypony said I was crazy…” she nearly whispered. “I told them when I was a chick. And I started having these dreams. They put me on pills!”
“Oh, dear griffin,” Luna said, offering her shoulder to her company.
The griffin had already stopped crying, but breathed heavily into Luna’s shoulder. She took her time, and allowed her nerves to settle. In time, she was able to raise her head to face the princess.
“Thanks. But, I don’t know a whole lot more about it. You’d have to talk to my grandma to learn anything else you want to know,” the griffin said.
“I see,” Luna said. “Tell me, is it true that ghosts respond better to those who they were close with in life?”
“Yeah,” the griffin answered.
“Erm…You’re free to decline, but–”
“No. I’ll do it,” the griffin blurted out. “I’ve always been a little, er–sensitive–to these kinds of situations.”
“Thank you ever so much. I promise that this will be the only favor I ask of you–er–” Luna said, nodding suggestively.
“Misty. My name’s Misty,” the griffin said.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Misty. I’m Luna,” Luna said, purely for formality’s sake.
Misty giggled quietly, but then realized the time.
“We should go now. It’s a long way to walk there,” she said, noting Luna’s wing.
“Yes. The night is still young, and my sister won’t extend it for any reason this time of the year,” Luna said.
They both left the shop. As Misty locked the front door, she thought that maybe she would take the whole week off instead.