//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Princess Luna is Dead // by Horsegirl123 //------------------------------// "How can you be lost?! You live here for Celestias sake!" complained Spike as the duo passed the same tapestry for the third time. The moon had long risen to its place in the sky, the hues of sunlight disappearing well over two hours prior to their expedition and leaving the sky sprinkled with individual, twinkling stars. "Hey, its not my fault," retorted Twilight, taking a left turn down a new hallway as the pair continued to navigate through the endless corridors. "Have you seen where she's gotten me holed up? I'm like Rapunzel up in there!" "Without the beauty part," snickered Spike quietly. With a quick flash of purple, his mouth had been zipped up tight. "As I was saying... I'm lucky I can even find my way to breakfast in the morning!" Twilight blew her bangs out of her eyes a little, continuing her endless search through the never-ending hallways of Canterlot Castle. The only light was the gleam of the moon shining in through the paned windows that made up the outer wall. From up in the castle, Canterlot city looked magnificent, with bright neon sign advertising every type of business, and some ponies even setting off fireworks on the outskirts if town. The bars were probably in full swing, with mares being hit on and stallions having the time of their lives with their best friends. 'Pinkie would love it here,' thought Twilight with a smile at the thought of her party-crazy friend. From what she'd overheard from one of the maids, a carnival was supposed to be set up in town tomorrow that most of the palace servants were planning to bring their children to. Peering closer into the night, Twilight could see the bright flashing lights of a ferris wheel being constructed, along with some miscellaneous red striped tents only visible by numerous floodlights set up around the perimeter of the area. Twilight turned her attention back to her mission at hand, staring down the abyss of the hallways that were now consuming her. The halls were elaborately decorated, some covered by large oriental rugs that seemed to stretch forever, just like the corridors themselves. Some were so long and straight that you could almost see a horizon line; however, that didn't deter Twilight Sparkle. She was determined to find her destination and sort out this mess once and for all, even if it meant starving to death trying to find her way around the castle. Many tapestries showed scenes from the Hearts Warming Eve tale, depicting a grey unicorn mare with a dark indigo mane and shining crown, a brown earth pony with a tub of pudding on his head, and a dark blue pegasus pony flanked by a slimmer yellow pegasus. The ponies were stuck in a quarrel in this depiction, not yet having made up in the cave where friendship was born. Twilight tore her eyes away before it could alter her pace, ad after a few more twists and turns, the pony and dragon came to a halt in front of a large pair of doors with the sun inscribed across it. Flanking the walls were multiple benches and a podium set up in precise order, stained a deep brown and holding thin cushions and little comfort. "Hey we're here!" happily exclaimed Spike. However, he was stopped in his tracks by a magical yank on his tail that began pulling him back to Twilight by his bottom. "That's the court room, Spike. Day court at least..." Twilight trailed off. "What, what are you thinking?" "Night court must be going on right now," said Twilight, turning back down the hall and taking a left. Spike groaned, slouching his head, but obediently followed after Twilight. The two continued making twists and turns through hallways, careful not to make too much sound as their feet trod on the polished floors. As they passed through a hall that overlooked the Canterlot Gardens, Twilight completely stopped her walk for a moment, causing Spike to smash into her. Rubbing his head, he got back up to his feet. "Why'd you stop? Woah..." he said, looking over the frozen statues of the garden. Some where majestic, like a pony holding a flag, or dancing, or a swan, but some were downright terrifying. One statue looked like a mare sobbing with pleading hooves at some unknown source, trying to escape whatever she was facing. "What do you think that represents? Like, who would make something that...creepy?" asked Spike, looking at the particular sculpture. Twilight looked at him, then back to the statue before mustering up an explanation. "I think it represents suffering, the lack of mercy that can come at any time. I think it means that something is dangerous, and you can't trust what you know forever." "Twilight, are you refer-" "Of course not Spike!" said Twilight, offended that he would suggest such a thing. "I took a tour once when I was little, and that was what the tour guide said." "Oh, ok. What about that one?" asked Spike, pointing a claw at what seemed to be a pegasus stallion with wings draping at his sides bowing his nose to the plinth. "That's Markarian," answered Twilight. "The tour guide said he represented disloyalty, and that hell rains on those who question what is right." "Do you think these were ever real ponies?" asked Spike hesitantly, but Twilight only laughed off his question, much to his annoyance. "Of course not Spike! That would be down right unethical." "Then how come Discord broke out of a statue? Doesn't that mean that he was alive in there?" Twilight's face paled sightly as she peered closer into the eyes of the pleading mare statue. She shook her head away from the piercing eyes, unable to harbor the thought let alone consider it. "No, Discord is a spirit, that's probably why he was alive. These are states; they were created by some pony, and they can be destroyed by some pony, end of story." "Ok, Twi. We should really get going though," said Spike as he took the lead walking ahead while Twilight stared at the statues for a few moments longer. "Of course they're not real ponies," she said quietly under her breath as Spike continued to walk away from her. After another twenty minutes of meandering, Spike collapsed on the floor in rebellion. "Are you kidding me!?" he yelled, pointing up at the familiar tapestry. "Twilight this is getting ridiculous! How are we ever going to make it to Celestia's room at this rate? We've been searching for hours!" he complained. "I can take you there," rang out a voice behind them. Spike sat up and looked slowly behind himself, just to come face to face with the co-ruler of Equestria. "Princess Luna!" he stuttered, remembering to cut 'Nightmare Moon' out of his vocabulary. "Hello Spike. Hello Twilight Sparkle. You need to make way to my sister's dormitory?" asked the princess, bending her head down to Spike's eye level, to which he responded by sheepishly shaking his head yes. "Then follow, friends! I shall guide you!" the Princess turned, walking down the hall Twilight and Spike had just come from, only momentarily looking back to see if her companions were still following. "Where did she come from?" whispered Spike into Twilight's ear from his new seat on her back. "I don't know, but its lucky she showed up when she did, or we'd be wandering for hours more!" said Twilight. "But what are we going to say when she asks why we wanted to get to Celestia's room?" asked Spike. "She won't ask that, she respects ponies' privacy." "So Twilight," called back Luna, "what is it you need from my sister's dormitory? I know a pony like you wouldn't dare wake her when she was sleeping, so you must be after something other than Celestia herself." Spike punched Twilight lightly in the withers, to which she responded with a fierce scowl. "I lent her something of mine, and she hasn't returned it, so I was hoping I could get it back from her." "Really? In the dead at night?" "Yup!" said Twilight with an overdone fake smile. Luna eyed her closely, but shrugged and continued onward. Luna continued onward until exiting through one of the grand doors of the castle, one Spike and Twilight hadn't even found yet in their expedition. Through said doors was a narrow garden, suspended above the castle ground by at lead two hundred feet. Even in the dark of the night the colors of the orchids and tulips in bloom were still vibrant, and the aroma was so amazing that it was almost intoxicating to Twilight. Exiting through the other side, the hall suddenly ended in a dome. To the right was a set of doors with the sun etched into the wood, while on the other side was an identical set of doors, only to be differentiated by the crescent moon that hung in the material. "This wasn't on the tour," chuckled Twilight. "Its really not that exciting," said Luna calmly, walking up to Celestia's doors. She wasn't wrong; the hall housed nothing more than the doors and the floral wall paper that ended on some fancy molding, and otherwise was not anything spectacular. With no further ado Luna loudly pushed open the doors of Celestia's quarters, caring not for the wicked loud noise that was sure to rouse the goddess from even her deepest slumber. Not seeming to notice the cringing faces of Twilight and Spike, Luna sauntered into the room, not even bothering to close the doors behind herself. Twilight went to shut it, but Spike tugged at her mane and shook his head no, much to her OCD dismay. Luna didn't care for careful steps apparently; moving towards the door for a better view, Twilight witnessed how bad of a spy Luna was. She moved into the room with no subtleness, accidentally banging her cannon bone on a coffee table. "OW!" she boomed, clutching her leg and writhing on the floor in audible pain. "Princess!" scream/whispered Twilight, moving to go help her before being held back by Spike, who did not wish to be caught by Celestia if she woke up from the scene. Luckily, she didn't. Luna clambered to her feet as Twilight wiped the sweat from her brow; however, her stealthiness never showed. She accidentally bummed into Celestia's dresser, sending her royal regalia crashing to the floor with loud clinks, and at one point may have even stepped on Clestia's mane that reached to the ground beside her bed; Twilight could not confirm this though for she had her hoof to her eyes the entire time, silently praying that Celestia was under a sleep spell. Princess Luna lit her horn, reaching her magic grip under Celestia's bed, and grabbing a pile of familiar books, and hurriedly trotted towards the door. "I hope these are what you were searching for?" she said quietly, slamming the doors shut so that the hall room rattled. Twilight winced at the loud noise, but perked an ear and could still hear Celestia's soft snores. "Thank you so much Princess Luna. But, how did you not wake Celestia?" "Ever hear the term sleep like a rock?" asked Luna. Twilight nodded. "Well, you're looking at the origin," said Luna, gesturing to Celestia's room with a hoof. "Oh, ok. Anyways, we better be getting back to *yawn* bed," said Twilight, "but thank you for everything Luna." Luna chuckled. "Anything for a fellow princess and her companion. You must excuse me now, it is time for me to don my ceremonial moon lowering attire." "You actually have that stuff?" asked Spike. "No, I just know Twilight wouldn't leave unless I said I had to first." Twilight blushed sheepishly before lighting her horn, teleporting herself and Spike back to their tower suite. Back in the familiar setting, Spike looked around furiously. "Why couldn't you just hocus pocus us down to Celestia's room in the first place!?" he yelled. "Because... hmm, I probably could have." Spike face clawed. "Ok, lets solve this mystery," said Twilight, brining about the stolen book and flipping to the page she was cut off on. "Ah, here we go," she read aloud, causing Spike to rush to her side and read along. "As told by a castle staff member after Nightmare Moon's banishment, there was rumor that the dead body of-" Twilight looked up in utter shock. "T-thats not possible!" she exclaimed in panic. "How is that possible!" she yelled, flipping through the pages, desperately searching for any explanation that could help tie the words together. "What Twilight? What?" Spike grabbed the book from her and flipped to the same page, before dropping it in horror. "Princess Luna is dead?"