An odd sort of power struggle tugged and pulled among the ancient beings in the dining room. Twilight, despite being shaken by the sudden violence of nature erupting into the room, felt that intoxicating flutter of adventure bristle every hair on her coat. The new marking on the teapot announced the arrival of another spirit requesting to speak with them. It was teatime.
Then there was Princess Luna, steely and determined. She cantered up to Twilight and looked her up and down. "Are you alright?"
"I'm perfect!" She perked up and puffed her chest. The cursed teapot levitated next to her face. "We should establish contact with this new spirit ASAP!" The mad scientist in her reared forwards. Luna recoiled, a bit surprised with a dash of endeared.
Entered Princess Celestia, eternal and brilliant, seizing the room under her command as she stepped between the two ponies. "Now, now. Are we sure we should be jumping into this so recklessly?" Magenta eyes fell upon the pile of ancient lumber and splinters, once a royal dining table. "This has gone far beyond being a simple Nightmare Night fright."
"Sister..." Luna began, frown set and groaning. "Now you think to worry about vines and spirits? Quit whatever game you're playing. You relinquished authority over this mission long ago."
Celestia was taken aback by this hostility. "Little sister!"
Luna slammed her hoof down. "Go back to reliving your glory days with Talonhart, won't you?"
Then a large, thundering voice rumbled through the brick. "Cease!"
Lord Talonhart slithered his neck over them, lowering his large draconic head into the conversation. He scolded the sisters. "I am not going to watch you bicker like you did not just have the greatest sibling fight of all time in the last millennia!" Then, to Twilight's horror, he turned to look her way. "As your host, I declare our little princess gets to decide how you'll proceed."
"M-me?" The three sets of eyes staring at her didn't object. "Me. Okay." Twilight released a shaky breath. Conjuring her imagination, she tried to replace the princesses for her dear friends, and the giant dragon for her adorable tiny Spike. It helped. Marginally. She gathered resolve. "We'll meet tonight to commune with this spirit! Princess Celestia, if you want to join us your help would be much appreciated."
The sisters side eyed one another. Only a beat later did the motherly mask slide back onto Celestia's gentle beauty. She smiled and nodded. Princess Luna rolled her eyes.
"Until then- I'm going to take another look around the castle with Piece of Wheel." However, the mare was nowhere to be seen.
Who could blame her? She was only a unicorn servant stuck in a haunted castle filled with all sorts of volatility. Piece of Wheel was nothing short of a nervous wreck. Twilight understood, even though it had been quite a while since she last felt so dainty.
With a burst of magic, Twilight dismissed the white teapot to her room. She wandered the halls of the decrepit castle as strong, thick vines crept along the crumbling walls, constricting, grinding down. Perhaps agitating the spirits was accelerating the chaotic energy trapped in this area of the forest. Sooner rather than later the castle would be consumed, whether or not the princesses were in it. It made Twilight all the more worried for Piece of Wheel, the only vulnerable civilian in this equation; she had to find her.
"Piece of Wheel?" Twilight called out to the empty halls. "It's only me! Twilight Sparkle! I know the Royal Sisters are a little intimidating...I've been there. Trust me." She chuckled. Some days more than others were the sisters so much larger than life itself. "I need your help. Your knowledge of the castle is extremely valuable! And so are your gadgets!"
The further the investigation progressed the more Twilight realized the issue would require magical finesse more than any other skill. However, the books did point to certain gadgets- such as Piece of Wheel's camera- as methods to trace the energy of lingering spirits. They could detect fluctuations in light and energy which evaded their limited pony senses.
But Piece of Wheel remained elusive. Twilight felt a pit in her stomach, but she would have to abandon her search for the time being.
Instead she navigated towards the main hall of the castle. As the sun traveled across the sky, Twilight watched the canopy of the surrounding forest reject sunlight as did the layout of the castle. Most windows faced westward, petulantly refusing the strongest hours of daytime radiance. The glass dome set atop the main hall's roof was largely obscured by leaves and moss clinging on. Mosaics of sunlight filtered through, precious droplets of warmth in this wet, musty castle.
Twilight climbed up one of the twin stairs leading up to the upstairs platform, bordering along the circumference of the main hall. She stared at the enchanted set of doors face to face. Her gaze lowered to the clobblestone floor directly in front of the doors. She recognized scratches etched in a pattern; the runes that poor griffon clawed into the stone as they pleaded for the moon's magic.
"I'll make this right." Twilight declared, filled with determination. "I can't bring your parents back, but I can finish what you started."
"Be careful."
Twilight gasped and whipped her head around, smacking herself with her own mane. A young, skinny griffon's wispy image materialized in the dust motes fluttering down through the rays of the sun. "You..."
The griffon's beak was scrunched with dread. "There's a terrible, angry spirit living past these doors. The more you prod, the more the forest will retaliate against you."
"Rest easy." Twilight assured. "We can handle this."
The griffon grimaced with skepticism. The shadow of a swooping bird cast over them, and they were gone.
Twilight contemplated the runes on the door. She thought of a griffon praying for its family. She thought of Luna answering said prayers from her cold, lonely seat mounted on her very own moon. The image was beautiful and heartwrenching. Then Twilight sat and poured over the griffon's notes until the sun came down.
She found it perplexing that these runes failed to crack the spell apart, and even more so, impressive that a non-magical being was capable of studying such an intricate enchantment. Twilight magicked a piece of chalk to her side and traced over the scratchy, faded engravings from centuries ago. The runes were restored just as she remembered from the dream. The next step was to cast them.
Thus Twilight channeled her own power forth. Her horn glowed, casting warm light where the dark of night now prevailed. In her focus she was oblivious to a fellow princess walking into the main hall, hooves clattering against the stone of the base floor like a whisper.
The runes lifted from the chalk and swirled into the currents of Twilight's magic, flowing and stringing together one by one. One after the other, the runes touched the door and faded into the air.
When Twilight opened her eyes and her magic faded from her horn, she found...nothing happened at all. The doors stood unmoving, as did the faintly glowing runes on the wood, and the chalk drawn in front of her hooves was smudged away by a hasty, chastising force. "What? I..."
"Fascinating." Luna muttered a few feet back, loud enough to startle the younger alicorn.
"Luna- Hi!"
"Good evening to you." She offered, before turning her attention fully onto the magical problem at hoof. Her magic swept the ancient notes towards her eyes. "There's no reason why this spell shouldn't work."
"Exactly! I..." Twilight looked around, suddenly aware of her surroundings, and the time. "Oh, oh no, I must've lost track of time. Did I keep you and Celestia waiting? I'm so sorry-"
Luna lifted a silencing hoof as she pondered, the corner of her eye creasing the further she stared into the doors. Then, she shook her head and continued their exchange, "I can hardly blame your reluctance. We're not exactly pleasant company, my sister and I."
Twilight lowered her voice, aware of the echo. "There's still baggage. I understand. You don't just shrug off a thousand years...just like that."
"I resent how she's aged past me. Or...evolved, might be a better word." Luna sighed, gaze dropping. "She has all this experience...all these memories and knowledge. No matter how hard I try to catch up, I am obsolete."
"That's actual nonsense, Luna. I promise you." Twilight offered a reassurance, but it fell on a heart too wounded to be held together by a mere bandaid. "Let's just...do what we came here to do, okay? Focus on our mission. Sisterly quarrels aren't meant to be resolved in haunted, oppressive castles." She chuckled at the end. She would be the only one to find humor, as Luna sullenly turned away.
Yet, against Twilight's own judgement, she placed a comforting hoof on Luna's shoulder. "I believe in you." And she meant this from the bottom of her soul.
Luna smiled. A tiny blush tinted the dark coat of her cheeks. Twilight suddenly felt as if set on fire with embarrassment...and something else, something coiling in her chest sparked by the encapsulating teal in this mare's eye. Should she step back? Was she digging deeper into a boundary the more seconds ticked by with the two staring at each other so uselessly?
As if struck by the absurdity of it all, Luna giggled. She unfurled her wing and nudged the back of Twilight's neck with it. "Come along, you. Celestia is waiting."
Twilight nodded stiffly and the two set off into the castle.
She didn't believe Celestia had truly joined them until they entered Luna's temporary quarters. There sat Celestia on a nest of velvet pillows befitting of a royal of her utmost status. The guest room had been cleaned to spotlessness, the linens fitted to the bed diligently and new curtains drawn for moonlight. A modest chandelier with five candles bathed the room in more comfortable, visible light.
The sooty teapot waited in the middle of a circle of pillows missing two royal occupants.
"There you are." Celestia drawled, flawless and fresh. "I was starting to think you'd gone on a rendezvous under the stars." She punctuated this with a wink.
"I'm really sorry, I lost track of time and-" Twilight blushed a few seconds after the mare next to her. "A-anyway."
Luna scrunched her nose at her sister, her eye twitched. Celestia laughed.
Foregoing any further pleasantries, the three alicorns sat around the teapot. Celestia was the one to pour a cleansing brew of peppermint into their teacups. Twilight observed her drink, rippling innocently as it exhaled gentle, curling vapors towards her muzzle.
"Here's to hoping this spirit has a slightly less turbid story to tell. Considering I will be joining your dreamwalk tonight." Celestia elevated her wish to ghostly ears then took a shy sip. She appeared nonchalant, but her words hinted at reservations.
"And I hope you get the worst of it." Luna took a large gulp.
Twilight's eyes widened. "Luna! It's- the tea- it's scorching!" Yet she drank and drank, throwing it all back like hot whiskey. And when she was done, she lowered the porcelain gently, sitting tall and poised.
Celestia, unperturbed, took another sip. "I love you, Luna."
Twilight wanted to bolt back to her room, as the haunted murmurs of the castle were, somehow, more comforting than the stiff air quickly charging between the sisters. She wasn't willing to burn her esophagus, though. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed slithering movement. Vines squeezed into the castle through gaps in the window. They punctured through the mortar, peered in through a crack in the ceiling...then slowed to a stop in their approach. Twilight gulped.
Celestia suddenly spoke, her voice laden with warmth and affection. "I have to thank you, Twilight. For joining us in this little adventure. And for tolerating our antics."
"Of course, Princess Celestia, I..." Her eyes darted about. Nobody else had seen that, apparently, or at least the sisters didn't care. Luna abandoned their tea circle to sort through the small collection of books she accommodated into the shelf by her bed. "I just hope the castle doesn't come down on us while we're trying to fix it?"
Celestia bounced with jolly laughter, closed her eyes and rejoiced in her drink. Twilight had no further excuse to put off consuming her own ghostly brew, as it had cooled off to an acceptable temperature at this point. She lifted the teacup to her lips and drank.
When all pieces of porcelain sat empty on the table, the three princesses exchanged good-nights before retiring to their own rooms. Twilight wanted to stay and talk to Luna...but it would have to wait for another, more appropriate time.
Galloping among the shadows, a lone unicorn mare escaped an unseen monster. Her camera flashed as she snapped pictures of her pursuer.
Twilight sank into her dreams like a rock swallowed by a lake. Her exhaustion was deep and all consuming. When her eyes opened in the dream world, the castle was rebuilt, renewed, revitalized. The carpet was a rich purple. A breeze swirling with sweet pollen entered through the windows, fluttering the banners strung along the pristine entrance hall.
The double doors facing northwards clicked loudly as they opened. A small parade of Royal Canterlot Soldiers marched in, covered from head to toe in an ancient iteration of the white-and-gold armor. Leading them was a well-dressed blond colt in frill and pomp. His well coiffed hair bounced with each step; he appeared young yet carried himself with seasoned confidence. Eyes full of contempt and hostility bore right into Twilight's skull all the way through to the other side of her.
South of her another pony walked in, raising his own royal pretentiousness. The tailcoat over his shimmering taupe coat was a grim indigo as dark as night, and the curls of his mane, black as the void, fell over his eyes, casting them in brooding displeasure. Accompanying him was a nameless, faceless servant in uniform. Twilight looked left and right; it was two against an army of steel. Why?
"He was a supporter of the tyranny of the Moon." The voice emerged from the blond colt. "After Nightmare Moon's banishment, cults spread across Equestria. Duke De Roue was one such heretics."
"So you attacked him?!" Twilight exclaimed angrily, her wings unfurling with emotion.
"No. Dear Celestia, no. But we should have."
"Silver De Roue!" He said to the darkly dressed pony. "We're here to inspect your castle for...heretic paraphernalia, as our formally signed and sealed letter sent your way said."
"Of course the Sun Princess would be too cowardly to show her face around these parts." Duke De Roue spat. "Instead she sends an ambassador. A messenger boy. How pathetic."
"Her Majesty has better things to do than entertain the likes of you!" Retorted the ambassador, drawing closer. The line of guards approached in tandem, lending their intimidating presence. "I understand why you did this, worship the Nightmare; it gave you power and standing over the misguided folk who join these cults. Otherwise you are a nobody. This small forest you claim as your duchy is but an irrelevant, uninhabitable patch of land!"
"Enough." Grunted De Roue. He huffed through his nostrils, then stepped aside. "Go on, begin your inspection."
A tense few seconds ticked by. The ambassador was taken aback by the invitation, expecting De Roue to stall them. Nevertheless he accepted and brought the guards with him. Twilight followed them.
"The iconography was off-putting," echoed the ambassador, "strong imagery of the Nox, statues, banners and paintings. But nothing incriminating or disturbing."
Twilight then saw the duke's castle in its full glory, before it was stolen by time and robbers. A statue of their own Princess Luna reared for battle as moonlight cascaded upon her from a glass dome above. She was slender, powerful, and bore the helmet of the Nightmare. This was the main hall. In Twilight's present time, there was no statue. The glass dome was so grimy that the mosaic depiction of the moon's craters was completely covered. All moss and dirt.
And the ambassador trekked up the stairs with his guard. He came face to face with the double doors. The wood was clean, flat and polished, no runes carved into it. The ambassador entered, then the guard one after the other.
The double doors glowed with magic, then slammed closed. Twilight whipped around to see Duke Silver De Roue, his horn glowing, his features set with murderous determination.
"What are you doing?!" Twilight cried, helpless. She tried her own magic on the door, but this was a dream and she was but an observer. "Calm down, Twilight...it's just a vision."
"What happened behind those doors...we were trapped in an enchantment."
Pounding rattled the doors. De Roue focused his might and cast a barrier spell, branding the wood with a simple string of runes. Twilight learned how to undo those in her first year of magical studies.
"We were drained of our magic, of our life essence. And it was fed into the castle."
Twilight's surroundings faded into a nighttime landscape. Rippling patterns of light showered into the main hall. She looked around in wonderment. "If the castle itself is enchanted...that would explain why its trapping the energies of the dead within it. They simply can't escape and rejoin the Wheel of Life." However, one question haunted her: "Why, though? Why did the duke do this?"
The ambassador appeared at her side, gaunt and pale. Luscious locks of blond shriveled into a sparse head of wispy hair. He stared her down with the same anger, the same contempt. "He wanted to free the Nightmare from the Moon."
"Free the..." Her eyes scanned faraway, until something clicked. "He wanted to break the seal of her banishment."
"Somehow...he succeeded."
"Huh?" Twilight tilted her head at the ghostly presence. He stepped into her space, his muzzle drawing closer and closer. "But...Luna, she only returned after a thousand years...like she was supposed to. And the Nightmare was purged!" She backed away, hoof before hoof, until her rump pushed into the door.
The ghastly ambassador was joined by shadowy figures; dozens upon dozens of ghosts trapped within the halls, doomed to confinement among brick and stone. And they vibrated with ire.
Twilight steeled herself, shielded with an act of fearlessness, and imposed her light upon the wall of angered spirits. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, and I'm here to help you. We can set you free!"
The ambassador growled. "We want the Nightmare from the Moon to die."
Twilight gasped.
"And you must kill her."
The ghosts lunged towards her and crashed into her like a wave of pure darkness. Twilight shrank into herself. She couldn't inhale, as though her lungs were full of the tar of their hatred.
She awoke from the spirit's dream with a gasp. And both royal sisters looming over her bed.