Chapter 3:
Being the rather pedantic ponies they were, it didn’t actually take all that long to pack, most of their items already stored away in boxes and the like. As they piled the containers with their worldly possessions inside into the library proper, Twilight thought about how rushed everything was, and she had a flashback to that day years ago when she was told she would be picked up fifteen minutes after she read the letter. ‘History sure has a way of repeating itself.’ Twilight mentally sighed to herself.
When finally the last box of the lot was placed neatly and carefully on top of another, and the magical violet aura that surrounded it faded away, Luna sat herself down on the couch. Twilight stood by her and looked out the window, noting the setting sun.
“Are you going to raise the moon tonight?” Twilight asked, Luna shook her head.
“I wish I could, but it would be best to wait until we get to the castle.” Luna replied.
“How come?” Twilight said.
“It’s hard to explain, but suffice to say it is many times easier to do at the castle than anywhere else. Perhaps I can find you something on that subject in the Canterlot Library.” Luna mused. The thought of Canterlot Library reminded Twilight of something that she was pondering early but had forgotten about.
“Oh! That reminds me, what am I going to be doing in Canterlot? I’m sure the Canterlot library already has a librarian, and I know I don’t really need a job but... Well, it would be nice to have something to do instead of just sitting around all day.” Twilight said.
“Hmm... I’m sure there will be plenty of work around the Castle that needs doing.” Luna frowned slightly and thought, “Or... Or you could come with me sometimes and help out in Night Court?” Luna said excitedly, the prospect of Twilight and her being together making her happy. “It’s always good to have some help on the busy nights, or just someone to be with on the quiet ones.”
“That’s perfect, why didn’t I think of that sooner?” Twilight smiled, the idea of her helping Luna was inviting. “Um, what would I actually do at Night Court?” Luna launched into explanation.
They spent a fair bit of time talking about what Night Court would entail, Twilight’s curiosity and Luna’s in-depth knowledge keeping the conversation going on. They finished just as the sun dipped below the horizon. Luna was part-way through an explanation on the various numbers of signatures needed for different levels of petitions when she stopped speaking. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, slowly releasing it moments later, a smile appearing on her face. Twilight looked at her silently, wondering what was going on. She wasn’t really worried, it didn’t look like anything was wrong. Luna slowly opened her eyes.
“Luna?” Twilight asked, Luna looked at her as if just noticing her for the first time.
“Sorry. But it’s been a long time since I felt that.” Luna told her.
“Felt what?” Twilight continued her questioning.
“The moon, Tia just raised it.” Luna explained. Twilight nodded, though she wasn’t directly connected to Luna’s alicorn magic like she was with their unicorn magic, she still felt the residual touch of the moon coming across. Together the glanced out the window to watch the pale orb rise into the now Navy Blue sky.
“I guess this means we should head off for bed, we’ve got an early start tomorrow.” Twilight said, looking at the boxes containing their stuff. Luna nodded solemnly and together they walked to their now bare bedroom and climbed into the bed. As they always did, Luna lay slightly wrapped around Twilight, though not too tightly. Sleep came slow, the thought that they had to get up early the next morning keeping them frustratingly awake. Eventually though, the night enveloped them and they slipped off.
The dream faded in around them, or maybe they faded into the dream. This was actually quite surprising for the both of them. In the first few months of them being connected, Twilight and Luna had dreams almost every day, though as time wore on they became less and less frequent as the two ponies settled into their lifestyle.
“Must be because of tomorrow.” Luna reasoned, answering the unspoken question they were both thinking of. The dreams that came on nowadays usually came about when something happened or was going to happen soon, something that of massive effect.
The dream realm of that night seemed to prove Luna’s idea, they stood in Canterlot. Namely, they were on the balcony of Luna’s room, overlooking the Everfree Forest. Luna looked around and sighed in nostalgia as she remembered her life in Canterlot. Twilight looked inside the room and thought of that day two years ago, when Luna was trapped in the bubble.
“Whose dream is this?” Twilight asked. Though she had spent countless hours searching and asking, she had never really learnt the inner workings of dreams, much to her frustration. Even when she asked Luna, the best answer she could get was ‘It comes with time’.
“I believe it is both of ours.” Luna replied. Sometimes, when they both were focussed on the same thing, their dreams merged to become one single dream which they both controlled. Twilight gave a nod and they stood together awkwardly, neither of them knowing what to do as neither of them had planned, nor expected, to be here.
“So, uh, anything you want to do?” Twilight asked Luna who was staring out across the Everfree Forest. Luna tilted her head slightly to the right in thought.
“I’ve got nothing,” Luna replied, her head returning to its natural position, “but we have to be here for a reason, and it has to do with both of us.”
“Could it just be nerves?” Twilight questioned but Luna resolutely shook her head.
“No, nervous dreams tend to be a bit more... unpleasant than this.” Luna told her, “Perhaps we should go inside the castle? Make use of this time to show you around to the places you wouldn’t normally go.” Twilight smiled at the thought, even when she was Princess Celestia’s prized student there were areas of the castle that were off limits to everypony save for the two royal pony sisters. “In fact, there is one place I’m looking forward to showing to you when we get there; I guess I could give you a taster now.” Luna continued, turning back to her bedroom and leading Twilight through it.
Twilight recognized the room as they walked through it. It looked the same in their dream as it did in real life; the same impeccably made bed with fresh flowers beside, the same decorum made to match Luna’s colours and the same large, heavy wooden doors that blocked entry. Luna opened them with their magic, stepping neatly through them with Twilight in tow. Out of habit, Luna closed the doors behind her, even though to her knowledge there was no-one else in their dream besides them. Luna walked through the corridors with practised ease, navigating their way through the dark castle to an area which Twilight most certainly would not have had access to as a filly nor even as a young adult.
Behind a tapestry that depicted the two sisters standing on their hind legs back to back, light spilling from behind Celestia and the stars from behind her sibling, there was a corridor. It didn’t look like a corridor though; in fact it looked just like another part of the wall, that was, until Luna walked straight through it though. Twilight hesitantly leaned her hoof through the wall and took it back out again to check that she could move freely through it, once she was satisfied she hurried along to catch up with the other mare.
Finally, Luna stopped. There was a plain white double door with a simple, elegant design etched into it. Twilight had to look close to see it properly, and when she did she saw a carving on the sun and moon connected, half and half. Luna pressed her horn to the door and sparked something off; it must have been alicorn magic because Twilight only faintly felt it. The doors silently slid open, revealing a circular room, most probably part of one of the towers.
However, looking through the doorway, everything seemed misty to Twilight, she could only just make out the vague shape of the room. Luna didn’t seem to notice though and walked right in. Twilight tried to follow her but hit a barrier of some sort. She frowned and put a hoof to the open doorway, it seemed as solid as a wall. On the other side Twilight could make out Luna looked back at her. She came back out of the room.
“What’s up?” Luna asked, glancing between the mare in front of her and the open doorway.
“There’s like, a magical barrier or something. It won’t let me past.” Twilight replied, still prodding the doorway. Luna ‘hmm’d and stuck her hoof through, with no resistance. She pulled it back out and frowned, before facehoofing, an audible sound coming from when her hoof met face.
“I can’t believe I forgot.” She said, hoof still in front of her face.
“Forgot what?” Twilight asked, pulling Luna’s hoof away from her face.
“To enter this room you either need to be either me or Celestia, or if you have permission from the both of us. It’s been so long since we allowed someone in here I forgot how it all works. Even in this dream the rule still applies.”
“Oh.” Twilight replied.
Luna tried repeatedly with everything she had to try and get Twilight across, but to no avail.
“How come it is so important for me to get in there?” Twilight asked as Luna was resting after their latest assault on the barrier.
“It’s just... It’s not even that important but, I wanted you to see it. It’s not something you want to miss. I guess we’ll have to wait until we actually get to the castle though.” Luna replied, still catching her breath.
“So, should we head off then?” Twilight asked, Luna gave a nod.
“Goodnight, Twilight.” Luna said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before fading away.
“Goodnight.” Twilight replied as she did. Twilight too faded from the dream.
Luna awoke first, she groaned slightly as she did so. Opening her eyes, she gently stroked the mane that was in front of her face with a smile. She could smell the lavender scent that Twilight exuded and it relaxed her. Luna moved the hair away from Twilight’s neck and gave it a soft nuzzle, Twilight emitting a cute purring sound in her sleep. Luna gave as quiet a giggle as she could but it was still enough to wake up Twilight, who grumbled slightly and climbed out of bed, eyes still closed. She rubbed the sleep from them with a foreleg and finally opened them, gazing down at the blue princess, who was still giggling.
“Wusurp?” Twilight mumbled, attempting to say ‘What’s up?’ but she was still half asleep.
“You.” Luna managed to get out before resuming her giggling, obviously not going to elaborate further. Twilight let out a bemused smiled and shook her head slightly before stretching.
Luna eventually joined Twilight in standing and together they walked into the library proper. Breakfast was a quiet affair, neither of them in the mood for talking once they were reminded of what would be happening today. They finished and cleared away before giving their boxes and the house another quick once over to check they hadn’t left anything behind that they wanted/needed to bring. Once they were satisfied, they sat down on the sofa near to the boxes and waited.
It wasn’t long before Spike came up from his room in the basement, but he didn’t say anything. He just came up to the both of them, who stood to meet him. He gave Luna a quick hug, and Twilight and long one, before leaving the room, blinking hard. Twilight sighed heavily and Luna gave her a rub on the back.
“I didn’t actually get to say goodbye to the others.” Twilight said sadly.
“I’m sorry, it’s my fault.” Luna said, remembering her breakdown from before.
“No.” Twilight replied resolutely, “It was my own fault, I had enough time but I just ran away.” She flumped down onto the sofa. “You know, maybe it’s for the best. I don’t think I could handle it if I had to say goodbye to all of them.” Twilight continued, trying to convince herself.
“We’ll see them again, it’s not like we’re being completely cut off from them.” Luna reasoned, Twilight gave a nod of acknowledgement but nothing else.
A knock on the door disturbed their thoughts; Luna walked over to it and opened it fractionally. There, outside the door was Princess Celestia herself.