In her office, Doctor Redheart had been combing through pre- and early-equestrian history records she had gotten from the on-site library to find references to Princess Luna. With nobody having a clue about the signs of previous wounds the mare hid within her, the doctor had been forced to search through the pile of books herself, trying to find any mention of battles, injuries, or illnesses that mentioned her in any way. She was going to ask the Princess about it, and it wasn't like she discredited personal accounts from patients; it was just that they occasionally proved inaccurate. Getting information from third parties, such as first responders or previous healthcare providers, proved more reliable in such cases. She was trying to do just that, but in an arduous way. Redheart wouldn't doubt the princess' memory or her honesty. But it was better to be safe than sorry; for an important patient like her, it was better to be prepared.
Unfortunately, the results of her endeavor were meager compared to the number of books she had to sift through. There were just too many, and whenever she found any semblance of relevant information, any mention of the princess' health was brief and lacking detail. It made sense that such information about their rulers was considered state secrets even back then, but now? It was a point of frustration for the good doctor. Sighing, she stopped before she could finish going through even a quarter of the material she'd brought into her office, taking a brief reprieve from her quest to fill out a medical record of a mare from a thousand years ago.
"Why am I even trying to do this by myself? I should have just gone and asked others for help." Placing a bookmark between the pages, she closed the hefty book with a thud.
In general, Redheart knew two things about the researchers working at Ponyville Royal Observatory. First, they were highly knowledgeable about their field of expertise and devoted to their work. The second was that most of them were huge admirers of Princess Luna and her alternate form and were also highly knowledgeable regarding her history and legacy. Out of the loop, Redheart thought this was a bit odd when she first started working here, but after talking to some of them, it wasn't hard to understand why.
Positions at the Ponyville Royal Observatory were highly sought after, not only because it was a prestigious institution. Considering the research station's mission of saving the Princess of the Night, it was natural that her most devout followers would congregate here. After all, the inspiring yet tragic story of Princess Luna has captivated the hearts and minds of many Equestrians over the centuries. Ponies saw a lot of things from her. A kind and caring soul, an upright and honest mare, and a dedicated scholar of the arcane arts. Despite only existing in historical records for millennia, Redheart didn't doubt that she was the most popular princess in numerous parts of the country and in several branches of academia. In astronomy in particular, it was not an exaggeration that the tale of the Mare of the Moon alone had led most young would-be astronomers worldwide to find their interest in the field and eventually to find their calling. And with so many considering her a role model and a virtuous figure, what better contribution was there than doing your part in the forefront of saving Her Highness, The Night Princess, Shepherd of Dreams, and Patron Saint of all Night Creatures? For them, there was no higher honor than that.
The tired doctor let out a defeated sigh as she leaned on the back of her chair, stretching her stiff neck and limbs. Instead of suffering alone, she admitted defeat and decided to seek help. Surely, she'd have a better chance of finishing this by discussing it with ponies in other departments. They could give her some useful information, or at least give her pointers and help her narrow her search. More than likely, they'd be rather happy to help. Leaning further and stretching her neck backward to relax her stiff muscles, her break was rudely interrupted when someone began banging loudly on her office door.
"Doctor Redheart, are you in there? Doctor Redheart?"
Surprised by the loud interference, Redheart jumped in surprise while leaning back on her chair. Losing her balance, her chair was tipped over completely, throwing her onto the floor with a loud crash. She hissed as she slowly got up, holding the back of her head in pain. She could already feel that a bump had already formed there. Dusting the dirt off her white lab coat to make herself presentable, she did her best to not visibly frown as she approached the door to open it herself.
This better be good. When she opened the door, she saw a guard standing in front of her with a worrisome expression.
"Now what's so urgent that you've been practically breaking down my door? You know you can just knock."
"It's the princess. Quickly, follow me, please."
That was all she needed to hear. The doctor's attitude did a 180 as she nodded, closing the door behind her and following the guard briskly. There was no need to know which princess the guard was referring to. In either case, she knew it was very important. Trotting through the halls and climbing up staircases, she could see several other guards and ponies heading the same way as her.
Please don't be anything serious... Despite her hopes, the signs did not look good as she arrived on the fifth floor. The guards had formed a barricade to prevent entry to the fifth-floor hallway, stopping the small crowd from entering further.
"What's going on in there? Why won't you let us pass?" A pegasus mare wearing a tool belt, presumably one of the maintenance crew of the facility, questioned the wall of guards who stood adamant.
"We're cordoning off this wing until further notice. Please return to your respective departments and await further instructions. You will be notified when needed here. If you have not been brought here by one of our guards, return to your duties; we need to keep this area clear!"
Among the crowd, Redheart could see some ponies moving through the crowd with the help of some guards, making way for them and ushering them deeper down the hallway. Before the doctor could fully take in the situation, she too was ushered inside as her guard escort urged her to move inside quickly. With the clamor of the ponies now fading behind her, she rushed down the hallway, only to hear more clamoring, this time coming ahead of her. There was nothing normal about this; there was no doubt that something was wrong.
The normally quiet corridor of the fifth floor was now littered with guards, observatory staff, and stacked books. While the armed guards did a poor job of hiding the anxiety and dread on their faces as they stood in orderly rows, the researchers were frantically discussing and arguing with each other as they flipped through the pages of their notes. That wasn't all. As she carefully swerved past them and neared her destination, she could occasionally feel the ground shake; her earth pony hooves could feel it. Redheart did not know the reason for all this until the door of the dusk ward was within her sight, along with everyone around it.
Normally there would be just two guards stationed in front of the dusk ward's entrance at all times, but the white door was now surrounded by numerous ponies. In front of the enchanted door, a unicorn connected her glowing horn to it and feverishly wrote down lines upon lines of data on a scroll. When a scroll was filled, it was then tossed to the group of artificers and astronomers behind her, whom they examined with the utmost scrutiny. Soon, they too began writing something down on their sheets of paper, passed the scroll to others further down the hallway, and began flipping through pages of huge dusty tomes with their magic to cross-reference whatever they had written down. Someone had even brought a blackboard, where several ponies were putting their heads together and feverishly writing down equations and calculations.
But that wasn't the most concerning part. What made the worried doctor stop in her tracks were the faint sounds of arcane blasts and destruction coming from the other side of the door.
This can't be happening. This can't be happening. The terrified mare could only stand still in abject terror. Those were not sounds that should be coming from inside a hospital ward, let alone anywhere near it. She doubted her ears, but the sounds refused to subside, and dust fell from the ceiling with every vibration that shook the building's walls. Had it not been for somepony to snap her out of it, she would have been frozen there for several more minutes.
"You alright there, Redheart?"
Startled as she was broken out of her spell, Redheart turned her head to find Doctor Horse standing next to her with a hoof on her shoulder, but his gesture failed to calm her down at all.
"No! I am not feeling alright! Just what in Tartarus is happening? How can you be so calm, Horse? Have you forgotten that our patient's in there?!" Redheart, in turn, turned around and grabbed both of his shoulders as she nearly screamed at him.
At his coworker's strong reaction, Doctor Horse backed off to gently get her forehooves off of him. "On the contrary, I'm feeling just as disturbed as you are. I know it's bad, but we should be the last ponies here to succumb to panic. You know better than that." Rummaging through his bag on the ground, he pulled out a thermos and passed it over to her with his shaking hoof. "Drink it. It's chamomile."
Taking the steel container with her hoof, Redheart screwed it open and began drinking. She gulped the lukewarm tea down, not bothering to sip or enjoy any of its aroma. She wasn't particularly fond of chamomile, and she was feeling parched anyway. After finishing nearly half of the bottle's contents, she passed it back to her fellow doctor, feeling slightly less anxious than before.
"Feeling better now?"
"I... yeah. I apologize for what I just did. That was unprofessional of me. You're right, we have to stay levelheaded."
"That's the spirit. But enough of that. Haven't you been briefed on the way here?"
"I don't think I have."
"Then I'll give you a concise one." The caramel-colored unicorn pushed his glasses up, much of his styled brown mane now matted with sweat. "About fifteen minutes ago, the guards noticed the EKG machine inside the room flatlining and stopping, then heard sounds of disturbance. When Princess Celestia didn't respond to their calls, they decided to enter, but they found the door locked and the lock supposedly broken from the inside. For now, both princesses are locked in there."
"Wait, that couldn't have been a cardiac arrest, right? W-we checked everything! We made sure to give her the safest treatment we could! We have to check them! Can't they scry inside the room or something?"
"As long as the lock is in place, the Dusk ward's enchantment will block magic, sound, and everything, so we don't have confirmation on what's going on inside. Worst case scenario: we can't completely rule out the possibility. If it's an actual medical emergency and we can't get to her fast... then Harmony help us all." Both doctors shivered, intense dread taking over them at the implication of such a possibility.
"But you're correct. None of the data we have suggests the princess was particularly at risk of having one. Most likely, we're suspecting a malfunction or a user error. The way the door was supposedly locked and broken and the fact that destructive spells are being cast inside are suspicious. The most probable explanation the guards have pieced together so far is that Princess Nightmare Moon woke up, briefly made the machine flatline by pulling off all the electrodes, and..."
This time, a muffled sound of an explosion rang out from the room, rumbling and startling everyone on the floor and rattling the lamps on the walls.
"...and is now fighting her sister."
"Oh no." The pink-maned doctor's face turned into one of remorse. "Horse, that's not reassuring at all. I told Princess Celestia that she could visit her, I- I told her to be careful, but-"
"Don't blame yourself for everything like that. It was a majority vote from the team, including me. We'll worry about that in the future."
"Are the guards sure about this? What if it's an intruder? What if someone's gotten inside to harm them?"
"The guards insist that every single creature going in and out of the room and this entire building has been screened and accounted for. I believe them, though. I'm not joking when I say that this is currently the most heavily guarded place in Equestria."
Redheart shook her head. "This is terrible. Regardless of what's happening, we need to get inside. We can't just sit here; are they anywhere closer to opening that door?"
"To be frank, it's not looking good." Doctor Horse replied dejectedly. "The guards only know the spell to operate the locks. But now that the spell's not working and they can't teleport in, they're trying to force it open. The artificers are doing their best to break the room's enchantment... but I don't know. They say they've sent a messenger to Canterlot about this, so either the artificers here crack it or whoever designed this room comes here with a counterspell."
Turning her gaze back at the door, Redheart watched said artificers at work. With the absolute focus they had on their task, they were almost detached from the unnerving situation unfolding around them.
"But I don't understand. How come nobody here knows the counterspell for the Dusk ward? I know that must be classified, but surely someone has to!"
"That's the thing. The only pony in this building who knows how to disable it is inside that room."
"Wait. Are you talking about Princess Celestia?" Redheart's eyebrows were raised. "I don't get it. If she can free herself, then why hasn't she done it already? Isn't she in danger? What about her sister? What are we even supposed to do about this?!"
"I don't know anymore, Red. Your guess is as good as mine at this point. For now, we stand by and wait. That's all we can do now."
Sighing, he gestured to the other doctors and nurses down the hall, stretchers and doctor bags ready. Reluctantly, Redheart followed him to the rest of the medical staff currently on standby. With bags under their eyes and staring into nothing, it was evident that none of her colleagues were taking the situation well. It was as if they too knew that the outcome of this quandary was not going to be pretty.