Canterlot Palace - Later That Night
Starlight made her way to Luna's room along with Celestia and the others, curious about what Luna wanted to try. Twilight walked up beside her for reassurance.
"It'll be okay, Starlight. I'm sure whatever Luna wants to try will help," Twilight said reassuringly. "I have faith in her."
"I know, Twilight. It's just... the fact that it may involve that nightmare I had," Starlight said. "Something about it felt more creepy than it should."
"Maybe Luna has a theory about your dream being somehow connected to this investigation," Twilight said.
"In what way, Twilight?" Celestia asked.
"I think we'll find out from Luna sooner or later," Twilight replied.
The group continued down the hall until they reached Luna's room. Entering the room, they all saw Luna sitting on the floor surrounded by several purple candles. Luna welcomed them with open wings.
"Hello! We are so so glad you're here, Miss Glimmer," Luna said pleasantly. "Everything's ready for this procedure."
Entering the room, Starlight walked over to where Luna sat. She was still pretty nervous about this whole thing, so she wanted to talk about this procedure with Luna before doing anything.
"I'm not questioning your judgement, Your Majesty, but could possibly explain to me what exactly this is?" Starlight asked.
"I can see your trepidation, Miss Glimmer, and I can assure you that this is safe," Luna said. "This will involve me going into your mind, like I always do as part of my nightly duties, but with an additional facet."
"And what's that?" Rarity asked.
Luna gestured to the unlit purple candles on the floor. "With these lavender-scented candles, it will allow me to access the minds of those who sleep breathing in the scent. This means I will be able to access Starlight's memories."
"My memories? This is about my dream?" Starlight asked. "What does a bad dream have to do with this?"
"Miss Glimmer, dreams and memories are more intertwined than you think," Luna replied. "You were able to speak to the spirit of one the Kid Killer's victims and you have a dram about a stallion murdering several children. I want to confirm my theory before we move forward."
"Is it... going to work?" Starlight asked.
"Do not worry. I've done this before with no issues," Luna replied. "All you need to do is fall asleep and breath in lavender candles."
Starlight Glimmer laid down on the carpet in the center of the candle circle while Luna used her magic to light the candles for the ritual. Celestia got a pillow and a blanket for Starlight while the rest of the friends watched over her. As she waited for sleep to come, she felt weird having her friends simply watching her trying to sleep.
"Uh, I can't exactly sleep with others watching me," Starlight said.
"Could you give me and Starlight some privacy?" Luna asked. "I assure you, we'll be fine."
The group reluctantly left the room to wait outside. Once they were gone, Luna laid down right next to Starlight, their bodies pressed so close together that Starlight could feel Luna's heartbeat. This was something that Starlight didn't expect from the Princess of the Night.
"Uh, Your Majesty? What are you doing?" Starlight asked.
"This is a technique to maximize the subject's comfort: cuddling," Luna said. "It'll be fine. I've been told that I'm quite soft and warm."
Luna the wrapped a wing around Starlight to pull her closer. The scent of the lavender, the softness of Luna's fur, and the warmth of Luna's body combined made sleep easier for Starlight. She fell asleep in a matter of seconds.
-
Luna found herself standing in a place filled with filing cabinets. Rows upon rows of filing cabinets going as far as the eye can see. This was a good sign as far as Luna could tell.
"Yes! Another successful entry!" Luna said. "Better take a look around."
The Princess of the Night began to search through the various file cabinets she saw until she finally found something that looked promising.
"MEMORIES"
"Maybe there's something in here that could shed light on things," Luna said.
Luna proceeded to open the cabinets and look for anything that stood out to her. "Losing Sunburst", "Failing to Play Basketball", and "Experimenting with Time Travel" were some of the ones he noticed immediately. So far, none of these memory files had anything to do with her dream. Closing the cabinet, she flew above the rows of cabinets to see if she can find anything of note.
In the far horizon of the space was a single set of file cabinets. This set looked beat up and abandoned, like no one had been attending to it for years. Curious, Luna flew over to them and opened it to search through the files before finding something that caught her eye.
"THE PIZZERIA INCIDENT"
"This may be something I can work with," Luna said. "If this was hidden away, then you must've been repressing this."
Luna leafed through the file and was horrified by what she read. That was no mere nightmare Starlight had, and this would explain why she was able to talk to Lily's spirit. Starlight had a bigger connection to this than she currently realizes. Armed with this newfound information, Luna used her magic to bring herself back to the waking world.
-
Princess Luna awoke easily, with Starlight still sound asleep next to her. Luna gently stroked the sleeping mare's mane in a loving way.
"Sleep well, little pony. You deserve a peaceful rest," Luna said. "I have to tell the others what I found."
Luna exited her room, only to be surrounded by Celestia and the Elements in an obvious want for answers. The Elements were all asking their questions at once until Celestia fanned her wings to silence them.
"Sister, what were you able to find?" Celestia asked.
"Follow me to the library and I'll explain," Luna replied.
"Is Starlight okay?" Twilight asked.
"She is more than fine. She sleeping peacefully thanks to the candles," Luna said. "Now, let's get to the library."
The group went to the library and Luna started sifting through the files, looking for something in particular. Holding one of the files, she showed the group a picture of the abandoned Hoover's Happy Pizza Palace, a pizzeria that was abandoned after a group of children disappeared from there, It was suspected to be where the Kid Killer first started killing, but it was never proven as there were no bodies found. The group looked at the picture intensely.
"Starlight said she saw a pizzeria in her nightmare, but what does this have to do with this?" Applejack asked.
"Because this must be the same pizzeria she saw in her dream," Rarity replied. "And the file says that four children disappeared from that place."
"Indeed, Miss Rarity, this is the very same building," Luna said. "I looked through Miss Glimmer's memories and discovered that she was there the day those children disappeared, as well as witness their murder."
"What?! Then why didn't Starlight say anything?!" Rainbow asked incredulously.
"Because seeing it was so horrible, her mind blocked out the memory in order to cope," Luna said. "This would also mean that she saw the Kid Killer in the act."
"Then who is it?" Celestia asked.
"I don't know. Apparently, Starlight wasn't able to get a good look at the killer's face," Luna replied. "At least we have something to go on now."
"Great! So where do we start?" Twilight asked.
Before anyone could speak further, the doors to the library burst open and a servant rushed into the room with a large envelope in her mouth. She looked worried about something. The mare bowed before the Princesses before giving them the envelope.
"Your Majesties, this was found just outside the gates! It's addressed to the both of you," the servant said.
The Princesses looked to each other for a bit before opening the envelope, their eyes huge after seeing the contents. Luna pulled out a letter inside and read it aloud for all of them.
*
Dear Princesses Celestia and Luna,
You may not remember me, but I definitely remember you. I'll cut right to the chase: I have a hostage and if you want him back alive, you'll meet me at the corner of Buck and Bronco at midnight tonight. You should easily recognize this particular hostage: Chief Nightstick, of the Canterlot Police Department. You know him, right? The police chief who was there with you the night we met. You better follow my instructions and head to the meeting spot alone, and if you don't, then Nightstick's as good as dead. See you two soon!
Sincerely, Springtrap
PS - If you don't believe my threat to Nightstick's life, I left you some proof in the envelope.
*
The Princesses looked into the envelope after reading the letter and pulled out a few horrifying items. Laying on the table now were several broken, bloody teeth and a police badge with a few drops of blood on it. Celestia looked at the name on the badge.
"Nightstick"
"Sure enough, this is authentic," Luna said. "This is an actual threat."
"Isn't Nightstick one of the previous head investigators on the Kid Killer case?" Pinkie asked.
"Indeed. He had a retirement party last night, if I recall," Celestia said. "Well, it looks like the Yellow Rabbit found him."
"So what do we do now? You're not seriously thinking of doing what this guy's says, do you?" Rainbow asked.
"Think about it, Rainbow. The only one who would do this is the Yellow Rabbit, and we know that he's come back from the dead," Luna said. "Like Lily said, he wants revenge against me and Celestia. And a soul bent on revenge will do anything to achieve it."
"And he was there the night we confronted 'Springtrap'. He may have the other officers on his hit list, too," Celestia said. "He went through the trouble of sending us his teeth and badge, so he's going to kill Nightstick if we don't follow his instructions."
"Are you thinking of going alone?" Twilight asked. "We don't know what Springtrap has up his sleeve!"
"What other choice do we have? If we don't listen to him, Nightstick will die," Celestia said. "Besides, we owe it him after what we did to him."
Celestia and Luna once again thought back to the night they met "Springtrap" as he was called. They remembered his screams as the suit killed him, the blood spilling from the suit as he died, and even how satisfied they felt watching him die on the floor. The whole thing now made the two of them sick to their stomachs.
"I think... I'm going to take a walk in the Gardens for a little while," Celestia said.
"I shall join you sister," Luna said.
The Diarchy left the Elements to go to the Palace Gardens. Twilight watched them go, concerned. She shook her head and turned back to the files.
"Twilight, we're not just gonna let the Princesses meet up with this Springtrap guy, are we?" Applejack asked.
"Of course not. We're going to follow them and find Springtrap," Twilight said. "When we find him, we'll try to talk some him out of his revenge plan and rescue Nightstick. All we need to do is follow them without them knowing."
"Do you think that will work?" Pinkie asked. "Springtrap said that if the Princesses didn't show up alone, he would kill the chief!"
"It has to, since we don't have any other options," Twilight said. "Let's just hope that we can get Springtrap in a talking mood."
-Meanwhile, in the Palace Gardens-
"What do we do, sister? If Springtrap is willing to harm others to get us, we have to think of something," Luna said.
"I've been thinking about that and I think I may see a way out of this," Celestia said.
"And what's that?"
"We give him what he wants."
That caught Luna off-guard. She wasn't expecting to hear something like that coming from her older sister. However, she could see Celestia's point in what to do.
"Can we even try to reason with Springtrap?" Luna asked.
"I don't think we can, but we have to do something to save Nightstick," Celestia replied. "We're the ones he's after, so I have to have faith that he'll let him go if we give ourselves to him."
The sisters continued to discuss what to do when they heard something rustling in the bushes. They saw a tall... robotic female wolf emerging from the bushes, staring at the Princesses with glowing golden eyes. There was something about this being that reminded them of Springtrap. The wolf stared at them for a moment before speaking.
"Looks like Mister Springtrap was right. I was worried he made us wait here for nothing," the wolf said.
"You're... with Springtrap?" Luna asked.
"I am. He sent us here to come get you here in the Gardens," the wolf said. "He's quite the smart cookie."
"The letter he sent said to meet him at the corner of Buck and Bronco! Why did he send you here?" Luna asked outraged.
The wolf tilted her head slightly, as if she didn't understand what they were talking about. "Because he wanted to make absolutely certain that you'd come alone. That's why he sent us here."
"Who's this 'us' you keep mentioning?" Celestia asked cautiously.
"Oh, yeah. My name is Roxanne Wolf, but you can call me 'Roxy'. And that's my friend Montgomery Gator," Roxy said, pointing behind the Princesses.
They turned around to see a robotic gator standing right behind them. Before the Princesses could react, the gator grabbed their heads and slammed them together, knocking them out cold. Happy with their ambush, Monty threw a fist into the air.
"Yeah! Let's rock-'n-roll!" Monty said. "The boss is sure gonna be happy with us!"
"I distracted them, so he's probably gonna praise me more," Roxy said. "After all, I am the best."
"Whatever. Let's just get them back to the hideout before the others come looking for them," Monty said.
Roxy hoisted Celestia over her shoulders while Monty took Luna before they made their way out of the Gardens with Springtrap's targets in hand. Springtrap was sure going to be happy with them.