"Alright Luna, what did you want to talk about?" Celestia asked her sister. The two sisters were in Celestias room. It was evening and Luna had just raised the moon. Celestia had been approached by Luna, who asked for a private conversation.
Luna hesitated before replying. Celestia was her sister and she knew she could trust her with anything, but she felt awkward voicing her suspicions out loud. This was just so strange, and she wasn't sure she could explain herself clearly.
"I spoke with HoneySeed last night." Luna finally began. She felt it would be best if she explained how her own thoughts had started down this path.
"Oh?" Inquired Celestia. "How is she?"
"She is doing well. Her eldest is infatuated with some farmers daughter apparently." Luna dutifully relayed the news of their mutual acquaintance.
"Aw, that's cute." Celestia said with a smile.
"Um, yes." Luna paused to re-rail her train of thought. "I was speaking to her and it struck me that... well... she's starting to look old."
"Having foals will do that to you." Celestias smile shifted into a smirk.
"She's younger than us." Luna replied with irritation.
Celestia just gave her sister a puzzled look, clearly not understanding what Lunas point was supposed to be.
Luna gave a sigh. "She's starting to look old... and we're not."
"Like I said," Celestia responded with a shrug. "Foals."
"It's more than that." Luna insisted. "After I talked with her, I took a careful look in my mirror. Not a single wrinkle or gray hair or... anything."
"You make it sound like you want to get old." Celestia was now amused as well as puzzled.
"I don't. It's just... I feel like something is wrong. Like... something is happening that I don't understand." Luna looked down at the floor unhappily.
Celestia gave her sister a long look of concern. "This really bothers you, doesn't it?" She said.
Luna nodded silently. Celestia stepped beside her sister and wrapped a wing around her. "I think you're working yourself up over nothing." Said the elder alicorn. "But even if it is something, would it really be a bad thing if you stayed pretty forever?"
Luna fixed her eyes on the floor. "I'm not that pretty." She muttered.
"Of course you are. Why you're probably the most beautiful mare in Equestria!"
Luna gave her sister a sideways glance. "Prettier than you?" She asked with a sly smile.
"Sure. You were always the pretty one, Luna."
Luna flushed and looked away from her sister. "Ok, now you're just making stuff up."
"No I'm not. Why, I bet that there's dozens of colts writing poems about how beautiful you are right now." Celestia grinned at her sister.
That prompted a snort of amusement from the darker alicorn. "Stop it. Although... there do seem to be a lot of would-be poets around these days." Luna sniggered.
"There's probably at least three poems about your wings. And two about your horn. And another three about how the wind blows through your mane." Celestias teasing prompted a giggle from the younger sister. "Oh, and five or six about your eyes of course."
Luna laughed again, and looked over at Celestias bedroom mirror. She wondered if anypony would really write a poem about her looks. They probably would. She was a princess now after all, and she did look quite nice in the evening light, with that slight breeze blowing her mane away from her face.
With her wing over Lunas shoulder, Celestia was immediately aware of the the sudden tension in her sister. Luna stood straight and looked around the room in apparent alarm.
"Luna? What's the matter now?" Said Celestia in surprise.
Luna forced herself to stay calm. It might be nothing. She could be imagining it. "Is there a draft in here?"
"What?" Celestia found her sisters abrupt change in behavior confusing and alarming. "No, of course not. They would never allow something like that in a princesses chamber."
"And none of the windows are open..." Luna murmured quietly. She turned to face Celestia. "So why is my mane moving?"
"What? No it's not." Celestia responded automatically. She took a step closer and focused her attention on her sisters mane.
Lunas mane was the the same pale blue it had always been. It flowed down her head to shoulders in a beautiful cascade, a few stray hairs waving in a gentle breeze.
Except there was no breeze.
"Okay... " Celestia said slowly. "That is really creepy."
"Really?!" Lunas voice rose in pitch as fear began to take over. "Thanks for telling me! I thought it was completely normal!"
Luna always got sarcastic when she was scared. Discord had found it endlessly amusing.
"Okay, just calm down Luna. We will figure this out." Celestia attempted to comfort her little sister.
"Easy for you to say! Your mane isn't going to come to life and strangle you in your sleep!"
"You are not going to be strangled." Celestia said firmly. "If worst comes to worst, we'll just cut it off."
"Okay... okay... " Luna put her head down and took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down.
"Luna." Celestia called to her sister. "Luna, look at me."
Luna raised her head and looked into her sisters face with wide frightened eyes.
"We are going to get through this, Luna." Celestia stated. "We will find out what is going on and fix it."
Luna stared at her sister for several long seconds before her face seemed to soften. "Oh, no." Whispered the Princess of the Moon.
"What?" This was not the reaction Celestia had been attempting to provoke.
"Your mane." Luna said in a quiet breathy voice. "You've got it too."
"What?" Celestia turned to her mirror in alarm. The two pony princesses stared at the silvered glass side by side for a long moment before Celestia spoke.
"What is happening to us?" Celestia felt a small twinge of pride at how steady her voice was.
"I don't know." Said Luna. "But like you said, we'll figure it out."