"Will she be all right, doctor?" Celestia implored for the tenth time since the medical team left Canterlot Castle's courtroom.
The doctor, a thin, wiry unicorn stallion with a frizzled mane, replied like he did to previous inquiry. "We don't know what is ailing the Princess Luna until we can reach the hospital and run through all the tests to find out." he said dryly.
Glaring at the doctor, Celestia responded, "I only got back my sister a couple of years ago. I'm not losing her again."
"We will do all we can your majesty." He smirked wryly. "You alicorns are quite resilient, much more than the common pony."
Celestia sighed and looked down at her sister. Luna was on a gurney, oxygen mask over her muzzle, breathing faintly. Bending down, Celestia whispered, "Hold on, my sister. Just hold on."
After a couple of more minutes, the ambulance-chariot raced into the emergency room drive. Celestia, the doctor, and another paramedic hopped from the vehicle, the two unicorns levitating the gurney between them.
Bursting through the emergency room's doors, the trio pushed past the few nurses wandering about, the doctor crying: "Make way!" He shot a look at one of the nurses. "Nurse Blue Cross, get the x-ray room ready!"
"What can I do to help?" Celestia asked, keeping pace beside the doctor and paramedic.
"I'll get you when we know more of what's ailing Princess Luna." he replied, two nurses pushing the doors open to further into the hospital.
Helplessly watching them go through the doorway, Celestia sighed and found a place to sit on the floor, as none of the chairs were designed for an alicorn.
The pony beside her bent away in awe that her princess would sit beside her. Looking at the pony, Celestia asked, half in interest, half with just needing something to occupy her mind, "What are you here for, citizen?"
"Pneumonia," the pony replied, not managing to block a sneeze, which blew right in the direction of Celestia. "Sorry." the pony said, wiping its nose.
Celestia looked away, a chagrined expression on her face. "Don't worry about it," she answered sarcastically, wiping the sneeze from her face.
***
"Luna! Luna, can you hear me?"
Luna moaned at the intrusion of her head's privacy, weakly asking, "Where am I?"
Slowly, her head began to clear, and she noticed that she was on a cot in a hospital. The concerned personages of her sister and Twilight hovered near her bed.
"Oh my little sister!" Celestia exclaimed, rushing to embrace Luna. "I feared I might have lost you again!"
"What happened?" Luna asked, her voice quivering a little with exertion.
"You collapsed during court," Celestia answered, pulling back and sitting back down on the floor next to Twilight, who was looking just as relieved as Celestia. "Nopony knew what happened. You were fine one moment and then you were on the floor."
Exhausted, Luna sighed and rested back on her cot's pillow. Her body ached and felt drained; she didn't need to guess that her appearance reflected her weakness.
"It was a major headline; the news channels are still in a buzz," Twilight said, grabbing a TV remote and switching the one by Luna's cot on. She changed the channels until she found one dedicated to news.
"In other news: PNN News Channel has yet to receive a formal statement about Princess Luna's shocking collapse this past Saturday. So far all that is known is what Princess Celestia had to say on the matter."
The screen changed from the news anchor-pony to a recording of Celestia against the entrance drawbridge of Canterlot Castle. "Currently, I can only tell you that my sister is being treated as we speak, and I am confident she will be performing her duties very shortly."
"Princess Celestia went on to say that her sister's collapse had nothing to do with her rumored heavy addiction to video games." Luna cringed as a slightly blurry yet distinguishable picture of her when she first visited the electronics store with Resonance appeared next to the anchor-pony's head. "The Sun Princess promised to keep news teams informed of any major happenings in the future of this story."
When the pony had finished, Twilight turned off the TV and faced Luna again. "You're lucky to be alive, princess." she stated.
"Why is that, Twilight?" Luna inquired, settling down again on her cot.
"Because you were poisoned, your majesty." Turning her head, Luna saw the speaker to be the same wiry doctor that came to Celestia's call.
After a moment of grim silence, he continued. "Princess Celestia and... and..." He gestured his hoof in annoyance at Twilight. "I'm sorry, what was your name again?"
"Twilight Sparkle." she responded.
"Right. Princess Celestia and Twilight here are the only ones who know this outside of myself and my medical team that identified what was pumped out of your stomach." he stated, flipping through a few pages on his clipboard.
"Mind you, it wasn't a deadly poison; we have yet to decide what it was though," he continued, looking up from his clipboard and trying as well as he could to reassure Luna. "Although combined with your lack of rest for the past few days prior, and your apparent lack of eating helped increase its potency."
"Who could have done such a thing?" Luna asked, shocked at the implications.
Putting in his two cents worth, the doctor replied, "Anarchists, terrorists, rival governments; anyone with a feeling of animosity towards our way of government."
"The royal guards have tightened their security around the castle," Celestia told her sister. "Now that you are awake, we plan on moving you back to it for safety."
"I don't mean to object, princess," Twilight broke in, "but if somepony was able to infiltrate the castle, wouldn't they try again?"
"Your concern is noted, Twilight," Celestia replied, turning her attention to her student. "But this way I can look out for Luna. Plus, her servant, Nightshine, will more closely oversee her itinerary in the future."
"I still don't agree that this is a good idea," the doctor complained, shaking his head. "The Princess Luna spent the last two days in a pseudo-coma from bodily exhaustion. She still needs to be monitored."
"Which can be done back at Canterlot Castle," Celestia snapped back. "I want to make sure my sister is as safe as can be."
***
"Thou were not jesting when thou said that the guard had been increased." Luna mumbled as the chariot she and Celestia rode on landed inside the courtyard of Canterlot Castle.
Patrolling the area with fervor, the said guards looked up at the descending chariot, their numbers doubled in lieu of the attempted poisoning on Luna. As they climbed off the chariot, Celestia said, "This is no laughing matter, Luna. Until this threat is taken care of, I ask of you to limit your time on your games, to lessen the risk of word getting out that you're back at the castle."
"But what can we do?!" Luna demanded, stamping her hoof on the ground. "If we are not recovered enough to raise and lower our moon, and we mustn't be seen, what else can we do?"
"You could read a book and catch up more on modern Equestria." Celestia suggested, nudging her sister along with her hoof.
Grimacing, Luna trudged along with her sister, a few of the guards nodding in salutation. Inside the castle, there was no change. Servants were bustling about, with only a relatively minor increase in guard number.
As the pair rounded the corner of the hall leading to Luna's suite, Luna walked straight into Prince Blueblood, knocking them both to the floor. Angrily getting to his feet, Blueblood yelled, "Watch where you're going you useless--! Oh! Auntie Luna! Auntie Celestia!" He gulped slightly after he realized he just berated his aunt.
"Blueblood," Celestia said flatly. "What a pleasant surprise to run into you here."
After shaking her head to clear it, Luna rose from the floor, inquiring, "What were you doing coming from our suite?" She looked past the prince into the hall behind him. From his angle in the hall, she surmised he came from that area.
"Luna!" Celestia decried, shooting a warning glance at her sister.
"I came from your suite?" Blueblood gasped. Luna was unsure if he was feigning ignorance or not. "I was merely taking a leisurely stroll through the castle grounds, auntie. The servant who directed me back must've been mistaken in his rooms. "
Unconvinced, Luna only stared back at her nephew, scrutinizing him for a moment. Finally, she sighed and said, "Very well. We believe you. Thou may go."
"Okay. Hugs and kisses!" He trotted towards the turn in the hall, blowing kisses towards his two aunts. After a few seconds, he poked his head around the corner. "Oh. I love the new look Auntie Luna. How did you get it?" Without waiting for an answer, he drew his head back and the two alicorns could hear his hoofsteps on the carpeting soften as he continued down the hallway.
Simultaneously Celestia and Luna wiped off the air-kisses they received from Blueblood. Turning back to face the direction of Luna's suite, the two began walking. Celestia asked, "Is something on your mind?" She glanced at her sister, whose face was darkened in thought.
"Yea, I--Well--We are not sure." Luna replied hesitantly. After a moment of silence, they reached Luna's suite's door. Yawning, Luna stated, "I wish to retire for the day, sister. I still feel very weak."
Celestia nodded. "I understand. I suppose I could take on your duties again, for a few more days at least." she answered, yawning herself.
Luna frowned at seeing her sister's tiredness. "We are sorry, Tia, for not taking responsibility for our duties." she apologized, scuffing one of her hooves on the floor.
Smiling reassuringly, Celestia replied, "You were only enjoying yourself. You need to get some rest." She bid Luna a restful sleep and departed.
Wearily, Luna entered her suite and bee-lined for her bed, ignoring that her windows' blinds were still left open. Without bothering to take off her royal regalia, she dropped onto her bed with a contented sigh. After a moment of silence, she drifted off to sleep.
***
"Good day, your majesty." Luna heard the familiar voice of Nightshine come through the fog and cobwebs in her head.
Groaning, Luna rolled over and covered her head with her pillow. Its cushy exterior brought another shot of ecstasy in the form of thought of more sleep before she heard Nightshine's hoofsteps resound on the floor, then stop. After a moment, Luna mumbled from beneath the pillow, "Why didst thou wake us?"
"Princess Celestia told me what happened, and I felt I should repay by making your breakfast myself." Nightshine stated meekly as Luna inched the pillow away from her face.
"It was not thy fault," Luna began, eyeing the platter set on the edge of her bed.
"But it was," Nightshine replied fervently, nudging the platter closer to her princess. "I was tasked by your sister to watch after you, and I failed to check your meals."
"It wasn't thy fault," Luna repeated. "We do not think Tia had what happened in mind."
"I suppose so," Nightshine said, scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment.
Luna nodded and continued to eye the food. "It's not poison, for lack of a better term," Nightshine sighed at Luna's hesitance.
"We are not convinced." Luna replied despite her stomach's disagreement.
"I made it myself," Nigthshine declared. "I'm not out to kill you!" After a lengthy pause and a scrutinizing stare from Luna, Nightshine huffed, "You are like a child some days. See--" she drank a bit of the juice in Luna's glass. "Not poisoned."
"What about our bagel?" Luna countered, pointing to the possible offender.
Sighing, Nightshine resigned herself and took a piece of the bagel and ate it. After a few minutes passed, Luna shrugged and began to consume her breakfast.
"Finally." Nightshine quipped testily.
"Thou art dismissed to thy other duties," Luna mumbled between mouthfuls of bagel.
Nightshine curtsied and left the bedroom. At the door to exit the suite, she paused and turned around, her mouth open as if about to say something, then thought better of it and left.
Smilling, Luna continued to eat her breakfast. If Nightshine did make this, then she should give the royal cooks a lesson or two about how Luna's breakfast should be prepared. Or perhaps it was just that her stomach still remembered what the juice that probably had the poison in it tasted like. Either way, Luna quickly finished the meal and got up, heading to her computer.
She placed her headset on and booted up Ponycraft. When it had finished loading, she looked for the notification of Resonance being online. Her face sunk as the normal beep decided to not make an appearance. After a moment of checking, Luna closed the game, sighing as her memory lit up with Celestia's request to keep her time on video games to a minimum.
Getting up from her chair, she walked over to the mirror hanging on the wall near the exit to her bedroom. The reflection that greeted her wasn't a surprise. Her normally navy blue coat and flowing mane had lightened and become static. Lazily drifting her hooves to her mane, she fixed her tiara slightly, before inspecting her image more closely.
"We have not looked like this since the Elements rescued us," she muttered to herself, remembering how weak she felt after her return.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught a flash of red from her telephone. The unit it was plugged into was flashing a small red light. Curious, she pressed the "play" button on the machine.
"Three new messages..." an electronic voice said from the machine. Luna listened intently. The first two were dead silent aside from somepony's nervous breaths. The third one started like the others, but Luna could make out somepony mumbling something on the other line. "Hoo boy; you can do this..." it said.
After a few more seconds of silence, the voice on the other line began, "H-hi, your majesty; it's Resonance. Um-- I saw the news reports about your-- Oh what should I say?-- Your collapse. Um--" Luna waited as he broke off again. "I-if you get this-- No don't say that-- Um... look if you need to talk, I'm always available. That sounded abso--" Whatever he was saying was cut off as the message ended.
Quietly, Luna picked up the phone from its rest. After a moment she put it away again. She needed somepony to talk to about what happened: in the flesh, not over the phone. Preferably somepony who was outside of the castle and away from its affairs.
Luna trotted over to her nightstand, looking for the piece of paper with Resonance's phone number on it. After a moment of searching, she discovered it missing. Dismissing it as Nigthshine, or some other maid who cleaned the room while she was away discarded it, Luna levitated her phone over, remembering Nightshine telling her when the phone had been set up that it had what she called "call display".
Sure enough, after a minute or two of fiddling, the miniature screen on the phone displayed the last handful of calls she had made and received. Aside from when she had to set it up, all of the few calls she made were to Resonance.
"What do I do now?" she thought, mentally jotting down his number. "This number is useless to me if I do not know the residence it to which it belongs."
Pondering the predicament, she spied a small pile of mail on a nearby table. At the bottom of the pile was a thick book. Mentally shrugging her shoulders, she floated the pile over to where she was sitting on her bed and flipped through the letters. When she got to the book, she read its title of that being a "phone book", or, as she discovered when she investigated, a book filled with phone numbers and their addresses.
"Verily this is a stroke of luck," she mumbled to herself, moving through the pages, searching for the address to fit Resonance's phone number.
After minutes of searching, she finally found a residence that fit the number. Jotting it down in her head, Luna closed the book and paused. "How will I evade being noticed?" she wondered, her eye catching her cloak she used for the cooler months hanging next to her suite's door.
Struck with an idea, she levitated the cloak over and put it on, pulling the hood over her head. Glancing at her mirror, she saw that her figure was mostly hidden beneath the cloak. While her horn was still noticeable, her wings were not, giving her the guise of a more blessed in physique unicorn.
Nudging her suite's door open, she peeked out into the hall. The hall was empty. In surprise, Luna ducked back in and looked at the clock hanging over her suite's small dining area. Slightly after six, as she read on the clock. Obviously Nightshine had let her sleep much longer than Luna thought.
Treading back out into the hall, Luna thanked protocol for the evening time meal, wherein the servants served the nobles and then had an hour off for their own meal. She crept through the halls, being careful not to get noticed by anypony.
Suddenly, she heard a door handle begin to rattle. Searching frantically, Luna noticed a slightly ajar door to a broom closet and dove in. Peaking through the crack, she saw the door across the hall open and a servant pause, muttering with somepony else inside. She recognized the servant to be one of Blueblood's, and that she was across from the prince's suite.
Curious as to what the servant was doing staying later than normal at a suite, she edged closer to the door, barely muffling a squeak of surprise when she knocked over a mop, which clunked against the wall.
The servant whipped his head in the direction of the sound. Luna could swear he saw her, but after a tense moment, he just shrugged and gave a nod in affirmation to something the other pony, most likely Blueblood, said, and left in the direction from where she had come.
Sighing and wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead, she snuck from the broom closet and down the hall.
***
"At last," Luna muttered as she came up to a small, slightly dilapidated apartment building, squished between two other larger buildings.
Gulping at a few of the unsavory looks from some of the passersby, Luna clambered up the steep steps to the small porch. She peered at the plate of buttons on the wall next to the door, most of the buttons having a small, removable, clear plastic cap which held underneath a name. As she searched, she checked her back, not trusting the way the area looked.
It was a sad fact of any large city, even Canterlot, that there were rundown areas. While she hated to admit it, she didn't trust the common pony on this kind of street. "If it weren't for Resonance," she thought, "we would not be here."
She found the button that corresponded to Resonance's flat and pressed. After she received no reply, she pressed it again. And again. Finally after five or six tries, she gave up and pressed the button for the landlord.
"Yeah? What do ya want?" asked a small, tinny voice came that from the panel.
"Please, I pray thee. Could you let me in? I am here to see Resonance, but he isn't answering his door." Luna explained to the voice.
"Pray what? Is this some kind of prank? He ain't here." the voice snapped back.
"But he said he was free. Also, we-- I do not like the looks I am getting from a few of the ponies on this street." Luna pleaded, keeping her cloak close to her.
"Then go home," the pony stated curtly, "and make sure next time that he's here."
"Please? I will not intrude. I would appreciate it very much if I could come in from the street." Just as she finished, the sky that had begun clouding over during her jaunt, unleashed their deluge onto the city. Cursing herself for not checking the pegasi weather schedule before leaving, Luna persisted talking to the landlord.
"Fine, fine. I'll let ya in. Don't let be said that I won't leave somepony out in the cold and rain..." the voice grumbled. A moment later, a buzz sounded from the front door and it crept open a few inches.
Inside, a cranky-looking, elderly unicorn stallion glared at her. "Follow me." he huffed, slowly climbing the narrow staircase to the next floor.
"First his blasted music disturbing everypony, then his noisy 'video games', and now, puh! Now he doesn't even tell me if he's having guests, and then they expect me to let them in!" he grumbled, levitating a set of keys in a weak magic field.
When they reached the third floor, he turned to the door on the right and opened it. "There," he said. Without another word, he began making his way down the stairs, mumbling on about just wanting five minutes of peace and quiet.
Blinking in the near darkness, Luna activated an illumination spell and quickly bathed the surrounding area in light. After a quick search, she turned on a couple of lamps that stood on a pair of small tables on either side of the apartment's couch.
The door entered through the living room, which was rather sparsely furnished outside of the couch and lamps, along with a single chair that probably went with the couch, and along the wall facing the street, a small entertainment unit that housed an old TV. Attached to the TV was Resonance's PlayStable 3.
Throwing her cloak on the couch, she saw lying against the entertainment unit the PlayStable 3's predecessors. Light from the streetlamps outside cast long shadows against the wall on the other end on the apartment, catching her eye with a small glimmer.
The other room was a combination kitchen and dining area, piles of dishes lay in the sink. "Does he ever clean?" she asked herself as she slid a slippered hoof along the countertop. After checking the dated fridge, which was mostly empty save for a few leftovers, she decided for her own sanity, and as a surprise for whenever Resonance arrived, to clean the stack of dishes.
As she finished cleaning, she noticed a faded picture that rested on the top of the small dividing wall between most of the kitchen and the living room. Levitating it to get a better look, she smiled at the serene unicorn couple and their young colt, who was grinning happily between his two parents. She squinted harder at it as she thought, "Unicorn? What is Resonance doing with--"
"Wait." she mumbled to herself. Although it was faded, she saw that the colt was the same coloring as her gamer-friend, although she never saw the telltale horn when they first met. Why would he hide that he was a unicorn?
Putting the photo back where it stood, she explored down the small hallway off the living room into the single bedroom. On the walls hung large sheets of glossy paper advertising video games, one which she recognized as the original Ponycraft; ensembles with odd names performing with strange instruments; and a few of star charts and night skies.
As she investigated his room, she smiled slightly at the astronomical paper-things. She would have to ask what interested him in astronomy later. At the far side of the room, she spied a computer, whirring quietly quite like her own, only smaller, and probably weaker.
With a final glance, she noticed a few more photos of the unicorn couple hanging on the walls as well as another family photo on Resonance's nightstand, confirming Luna's thoughts about them being his parents.
From outside the apartment, she heard a faint scraping at the door, and a moment later, a key turning in the lock. Leaving the bedroom, Luna caught sight of Resonance, who was curiously looking at the illuminated lamps and damp cloak lying on couch. Luna cleared her throat.
Whirling around, Resonance jumped back in alarm at seeing her. "Wh-what are you doing here?!" he demanded. "How did you get into my apartment?"
"I received thy message. Thou said thou wert available to converse--" Luna began, slowly making her way out into the living room.
"How did you get into my apartment?" he asked again in nervous disbelief.
"Thy landlord let me in," she answered, sitting down on top of her cloak as he continued to gawk.
Not entirely convinced, he gave up on asking that line of thought. "You you could have just called, right? That's kinda what I implied." he inquired, throwing his keys onto the counter in the kitchen.
"We needed to leave the confines of the castle," she explained. "We assume thou hast heard what happened to us--me?"
"Yeah," he replied, carefully sitting down in the chair that sat adjacent to the couch. "You collapsed in court."
"Do you know why we collapsed?" she asked, staring at the splattering rain on the window.
"No. Should I?"
Turning to look at him, Luna stated, "The physicians believe it was poison,"
He gulped. "And you're telling me this, why?" he asked, unnerved at the revelation.
"I believe I know who did it; but I need thy help." she said, walking over to the window beside the entertainment unit to look down into the street below.
"How can I help? It's not like I can just go waltzing into the castle with you." he quipped.
"We--I need to know whether my nephew, Blueblood was involved or not. I need you to search his suite if I provide a distraction." she implored, looking back at him.
"Are you nuts?" he snapped back. "If I'm caught, I could be killed!" Sighing he got up from the chair and moved next to her, before reaching up to the top of the entertainment unit. He pulled down a small, rectangular device with a clear screen taking up most of its length on one side.
"If it'll make you satisfied, I'll do it." he stated, turning on the device. "This'll be able to snap pictures or video footage of whatever you need me to find, though, I've heard about Prince Blueblood; I don't really think he has the gumption or the brains to pull something like what you suggest off."
"He's craftier than you think," she answered. "Look for anything that doesn't fit."
He laughed half-heartedly. "That could be anything."
Smiling, she pointed at the device, "What is that?" she asked.
"It's called a smartphone. Barely use it though." he said, tabbing through some of the menus.
As he showed off its photo and video abilities, Luna asked, "Who were they?"
Taken off guard, Resonance arched an eyebrow. "Sorry; what?"
"Who were they? Thy parents." She floated over the picture that rested on the dividing wall.
"You come into my apartment, then snoop around?" he retorted, backing away and shooting her a glare. "What? Did you go investigate my room too?"
"Yes?" she replied weakly, wincing at his outburst.
"Yes, they are my parents. And yes, you probably figured out that I'm a unicorn--" he ruffled his mane to reveal his horn, with which he promptly tried to lift the smartphone from where he put it on the counter, yet failed to succeed. "Do you know how hard it was growing up in magic schools to learn some sort of ability that only unicorns could do, when you couldn't even knock a gnat away with your magic?"
Seeing her hurt look, he calmed down. "S-sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you." he apologized.
"Thou were right to be angry. We shouldn't have been so curious about thy personal life." she admitted, gathering her cloak.
Suddenly, an insistent knocking rapped on the door. "Open up! Police!" a pony called through.
"If this is a drug bust, the place is three doors down!" Resonance shouted back.
Seconds later, a loud crash resounded against the door, and after a few more, it fell down as two police officers, followed by two royal guards burst through.
Scrambling to their hooves, the officers tackled Resonance to the floor.
Outraged, Luna stomped up to the guards. "What is the meaning of this?!" she demanded, a few flecks of spittle flying from her mouth into the guards' faces.
"Calm down, your majesty. You have been through much today," one of the guards soothed. Turning to the officers who were still holding down a protesting Resonance, the guard ordered, "Take this marenapper into custody!"