//------------------------------//
// 11. Open and Out 
// Story: Shadow in Equestria 
// by ClankHoof 
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	I slept soundlessly that night, probably due to magic cast by Luna to keep my nightmares at bay; yet I still dreamed, long and thoughtfully.

Luna and I had gone over many other matters while I was in her quarters, but it was more small talk, and continuously our conversations would drift back to the monster plaguing the Everfree. Eventually Luna decided to call it a night, allowing me to ponder further on my blurring thoughts as I returned to my room at the bottom of the stairs.

Breakfast the next morning was as expected as one could be in a castle. The table was almost overburdened with delicacies. I couldn't inhale without smelling cinnamon or freshly baked bread. It reminded me of the pastry shop back in Ponyville, except here I couldn't name some of the treats currently laid before me. Too bad my mouth was dry and my stomach tightened with anxiety, as it ruined their true tastes.

Both royal sisters were absent from the table. Luna because her sleep cycle must be maintained to watch over the night, and Celestia was conducting her normal business that she does elsewhere in the castle after raising the sun. Everyone was to meet later this afternoon to discuss the matter in full.

“Hey, are you going to eat that?”

There was a flash of pink fuzz that whizzed past my head, and a platter that until then held a pile of jelly filled scones was left spinning back to its prior position on the table, sending the few remaining crumbs bouncing away to sanctuary.

“Pinkie! where are your manners?” Rarity said from across the table. She had been using a fork and knife to cut small pieces out of a crumpet, and daintily patting her mouth with a napkin after each bite.

"Alright everyone, listen up," Twilight stood up on her chair so she was visible over the higher platters on the table. "We have a lot to do today. Princess Celestia needs help with a few things to prepare for tonight's dinner, and we have to find information for Shadow's monster-thing lurking around the Everfree."

It suddenly hit me that due to the fact Luna had all the information about her experiments locked away in that secret chest in her tower, looking for research anywhere else might be nothing but a wild goose chase.

"Um, Twilight?"

"Don't worry, Shadow. I split the group based on where I think their skills would be the most useful, so both jobs will be well accounted for."

I shook my head. "No, it's not that. It's-"

Applejack cut in, saying "It'll be a breeze in the park. That library's got everything; and even if it don't, maybe Celestia'll give us a-"

"IT'S NOT GOING TO HELP!" I bellowed and slammed my hoof on the table in frustration, making the others jump in their seats. The room fell silent.

I noticed what I'd done and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down before continuing. "I don't think we'll find anything about Slendermane in the library, nor do I believe Celestia knows any more than we do. At least, no more than you."

"Where did this come up all of a sudden?" Twilight asked. "You were all for the idea of using the castle's resources when we first got here, weren't you?"

Rainbow squinted her eyes at me suspiciously. "Did Princess Luna tell you something about Slender last night?"

I could see mixed feelings coming from each of the girls. Mostly I could see confusion, but there were also trace amounts of curiosity, impatience, and...pity. The last one hit me the most, as I'd seen it more often than any other. Both princesses were good at hiding it, but it was there; my friend in Manehatten, helping me when I felt like there was no further I could go; even going back to the eyes of the villagers that had raised me after the incident. There were even times when I felt I'd seen it before that as well, but I couldn't place from who or why, when my problems hadn't started until after Him.

"Well, Shadow?" Rarity snapped me back to the present. I sighed, hating to spill the beans without Luna.

"Luna...well, Nightmare Moon, was the one who created Slendermane." I paused, letting that sink in. "She had been doing experiments, trying to make a kind of nocturnal species of pony that would love and respect her nights back when she felt ignored. He was one of the failed experiments." I probably said more than I should, so I stopped. The gears were turning in their heads now, and they had questions on the tips if their snouts, but I cut them short. "I won't say any more on it until after the dinner, as Luna wants to be the one to break the news to her sister. Please don't tell Celestia until she gets the chance. I shouldn't even have told you this much. Just don't look at Luna any different until then, as she'll explain it better."

"Woah, talk about a bit-dropper," Pinkie said.

Twilight wrote a few things down in her notebook, then addressed the rest of the table. "Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack will help with the dinner preparations while Applejack, Fluttershy, Shadow, and I look for information in the library."

"Wait-what? Didn't ya'll hear what Shadow said?" Applejack shared my astonishment.

"Yes, but if this creature's been around for a thousand years, then more than likely there might be some record of it somewhere. And where better than within the walls of rulers who've lived longer than that."

I was about to argue further, but she was right. It's better to have tried and failed than to ever have tried at all. That's what my old matron told me when teaching me to fly.

We finished breakfast in silence, then went to our respective tasks.

~S~

The dinner went off without a hitch. We had ceased our digging through the library a few hours prior so we could get ready for it. I didn't have any fancy clothes, so the royal fitters provided a dress shirt and vest with matching tie, which I felt fit me better than a normal tight-fitting suit.

Many of the other guests were nobles or diplomats, which made me feel even more out of place. However, I noticed a few of the Elements were sharing in my uncomfortableness. One of them later mentioned that they'd created the biggest party crashing of the biggest party in Canterlot -and had one if the worst nights of their lives- simply by being themselves.

"Trust me, it wasn't pretty." Rainbow grumbled, shifting uncomfortably in her dress. "But at least we got Celestia to laugh."

I didn't have too much to worry about in the end, as I was ignored most of the time. One of them, a rich merchant, briefly asked me what I did for a living, to which I replied with "a problem analyst and avid researcher", hoping that sounded sophisticated enough. Luckily, the stallion hardly paid attention to my reply, and instead went into the statistics and fundamental exchanges of trade goods for a solid fifteen minutes, stopping only to put more food into his mouth, or when one of the other nobles disagreed with one of his statements.

~S~

Two and a half hours later, the last guest was saying their farewells as they got into a carriage and drove off into the night. As soon as the door closed, everyone sighed with relief.

"Sweet Celestia, I thought it'd never be over!" Applejack quickly fixed her mane back into a ponytail, then noticed the alicorn was in the hallway too. "Oops, sorry, Celestia."

"No need to apologize, Applejack. I completely agree." The princess chuckled, smiling warmly. I understood that just like her sister, Celestia kept a professional bearing for the public, but had a fun side tucked away.

Luna was already sitting in the throne room, where our next order of business was to take place. She had her chest next to her, and I caught Celestia looking at it with vague curiosity as she sat down on the throne. Twilight brought some maps, and a dusty volume we had found on the catalogued creatures of the Everfree, and the estimated times in which they were first sighted. When Fluttershy discovered it while looking through the top-most shelves, I'll admit I was amazed and embarrassed for doubting the usefulness of the royal archives.

The book was outdated, and didn't contain any information on Slendermane, but we agreed it might still useful in cross-referencing with Luna's "creation phase".

Obviously, the most interesting chunk of the meeting was Luna revealing the documents and other miscellaneous items in the chest she'd hidden from her sister for so long, and Celestia listened quietly until the end, only the occasional flicker of disappointment or amazement betraying her feelings for what she was hearing.

When she was done, Luna bowed her head in shame. "I am sorry, sister. It was one of the rules to not mess with the laws of nature. And by ignoring it, I caused pain and suffering comparable to that of the criminals of Tartarus."

Celestia stood up and walked over to her sister with an emotional haze; I couldn't tell if she was going to yell, lash out, or hug the midnight blue mare, and it looked like neither did Luna, as she flinched back a bit, and tears began to stream from her eyes.

But Celestia surprised us all, as her eyes were also awash, and she instead rest her head on Luna's. The salty streams seemed to shine as they were lost within their manes, which were mixed together into a beautiful array of color, the likes of which were rarely seen save within a late summer sunset.

"Dear, dear Luna. I've hurt us both through my negligence in being an older sister. You were crying out for help, and no one answered, so you fell into such a pit of despair that you thought only delving into dark arts would cure." Celestia pulled away and looked directly into Luna's eyes. "If anything, I should share in your suffering. I saw only the anger and envy that brought forth Nightmare Moon and thought time to cool off would be what you needed, but I didn't see there was much more to it than that. I punished you for crying out for help.

"While the rest of the world celebrated the sour victory of your banishment, I spent a thousand years in sorrow and regret, waiting for the time when you would come back home, when I could say sorry, but for the wrong reasons. That's why it was the Nightmare that came back instead."

Luna smiled a little. "I guess it should be me that should've tried to be more clear. I was the quiet, unsocial type anyways, so I didn't really know anyone else to help me except you, but you were always busy making sure Equestria was safe, only seeming to need me when harmony was at risk, and the Elements were to be used to restore the peace. I began to think of myself only as a tool, and cast myself further into the darkness until evil found me in the shape of my own dark emotions, which I used to lash out."

~S~

The bearers of the Elements and I learned much of the internal struggles of the princesses, and would've probably been wit was to more if they hadn't been interrupted by a sudden flash of green fire and smoke near Celestia's head, causing me to jump in alarm, thinking she was in danger.

When the smoke cleared, a scroll was floating by Celestia's magic. Wiping away tears as she regained her royal composure, she opened it.

"Spike sends a message." She said as she opened and read it. Her face grew worried as she scanned the page.

“What is it, Princess?” Twilight asked.

Celestia looked up and sent the scroll floating toward Rarity. “You must return to Ponyville right away. Sweetie Belle is missing.”

“WHAT?!”

Rarity summoned a couch and fainted.

Twilight grabbed the scroll, reading it out loud for the rest of us to hear.

Sweetie Belle was put into care with the Apple family while Rarity went with us to Canterlot, but she disappeared sometime last night. They sent out a search party, but some of them have yet to report back. The last time anyone saw the missing ponies, they’d gone into-

“-The Everfree Forest.” We all looked at each other, knowing what caused this. Twilight’s eyes went back to the paper. “Mayor Mare has banned anypony else from going near the forest, but she wishes for our return so as to resolve the matter.”

"It seems like the spark has caught the hay, and now the barn's on fire." Applejack moaned.

A lot of us have her a blank look, so she sighed. "I mean, things have just gotten a whole lot more complicated."