Celestia sat on her chair in her study in deep thought and tapped the floor with her hoof. Luna had been gone for most of the past few days and Celestia had just found out about her visit to the library. She had hoped that their talks had gotten the idea of this strange “Aecorum” out of Luna’s head, but apparently that wasn’t so. She just wanted to help her baby sister. Her thoughts were interrupted as Luna walked into the study, Celestia told the guards to send her in as soon as she returned, and Celestia stood, her eyes widening slightly as she saw how her sister looked. Luna’s head was hanging, her mane was droopy, and she glared at the floor as she walked.
“Luna, you look like you haven’t been sleeping for days, is something wrong?” Celestia’s voice was filled with a kind concern.
“It is not possible…” Celestia barely heard her.
“Luna, I thought that we had already-”
“It is. Not. Possible.” Luna was glaring at Celestia now.
“Luna? Are you alright?” Celestia’s face shifted into a worried expression.
“No! No, I am not alright, Sister! I simply cannot believe that you would do something as heinous as this! Why, Celestia? Why did you do it?” Her eyes were angry but also pleading and confused.
“What are you talking about? Luna, I have no idea what it is you’re accusing me of.”
Luna clenched her teeth and hardened her glare “You know very well what I am accusing you of. You were the one who destroyed all traces of him. You are the only one who could have taken Aecorum away!”
Celestia closed her eyes in frustration “Luna…Not this again. Aecorum never existed! There was never anypony else besides us!”
Something snapped inside Luna as the last bit of patience drained from her. “LIES!”
Celestia almost jumped back in surprise, but kept her composure. “Luna.” Only somepony who knew her extremely well could tell that her voice was beginning to strain slightly.
Luna clenched her teeth and grabbed the journal with her magic, slamming it down on the desk with enough force to shake the solid oak legs. “Look at this, Celestia! You thought that you could have kept our journal from me, but Twilight Sparkle returned it to me, and I have seen what you have done!” Her voice rose in volume as she spoke until a crystal vase on a shelf behind Celestia began to wobble precariously.
“I have spoken to Proper Page of your school’s library, Zecora, Twilight Sparkle, and even Discord! And none of them knew of Aecorum, not a single one of them!” Luna took a single step forward “I have spent the last four years studying what the world became during my banishment, and in all that time I have been patient, I have waited for him. I knew, at least I thought I knew, that he would be there, my best friend would be there when I was freed of my prison, but I have found nothing! Our journal, my journal, has been desecrated! There are entries that are written in my hoof-writing, but not by me. You, Celestia, you who raise the sun and rule a kingdom so vast, are the only one with enough power to destroy him!”
“Enough of this!” Celestia matched her sister in volume but her voice was firmer and she showed more of her regality, but if you looked carefully enough you could see the hurt in her eyes and the very, very slight hint of tears forming. Luna was silenced and Celestia’s voice became deathly quiet, revealing only to her sister the emotions she actually felt. “I can’t believe that you, my own sister, would think that I would do something to ‘destroy’ anypony. This cannot go on, Luna. I will tell you for the last time, and I pray, I wish, I hope, that you will listen and believe me.” Celestia looked right at Luna with a tired expression, and Luna tried to hold her glare but she saw the pain in Celestia’s eyes and guilt began to gnaw at her.
“Luna. My little sister, the dearest pony to me in the whole world. You know that I would never do anything to hurt you, and do everything in my power to protect you. And I swear to you, on my life, the sun, and the moon that I never did anything to anypony named Aecorum. I never knew him, he did not exist.”
Luna’s eyes glinted with the spark of anger “No, no, that isn’t true…”
“Stop. Now. Luna, I don’t know how Aecorum got in your mind, but it has to end here. Please, Luna. Please.” Despite her years of training herself to remain stoic and calm at all times, Celestia could not hide her emotions from her sister, much less when Luna’s welfare was in question. “I don’t know how I can help you understand any more than I already have. You are my sister, and my friend, and I want to help you, but I can only help you if you let me. Aecorum is nothing but a fantasy that your mind created to keep the part of you that had not been consumed by Nightmare Moon whole. That is the only explanation that makes any sort of sense to me, and you yourself have seen that there is not a shred of evidence that Aecorum was ever real.” Of all the ponies in Equestria, Luna was the only one that could have seen how close Celestia was to tears on the inside.
“Celestia…” Luna hung her head in shame as she realized how much she had hurt her sister.
Celestia walked back around her desk and sat down “I love you, Luna. And this accusation,” She sighed barely “it pains me. Listen, I would never do anything to hurt you, but when you speak like this, when you tell me of Aecorum and get angry at me for something I did not do, I can’t help but fear that,” she looked up at Luna “There is a spark of darkness stirring within you again. I can’t go through that a second time, Luna.”
Luna walked over to the desk, guilt finally extinguishing her anger “Forgive me, Celestia. Oh please forgive me, Sister. I did not mean to upset you, I was just so angry. I simply cannot believe it.” her voice fell to almost nothing “Can…can it be true?”
“Yes.” Celestia’s voice had a quiet firmness that made it seem so final and absolute that Luna began to seriously question the existence of Aecorum. Luna’s head was beginning to spin as she sat down and silence filled the study. Finally, Celestia spoke.
“Luna, I received a letter from Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire today. She and her husband are having some difficulty dealing with a band of refugee changelings that has recently appeared and there are some rumors of violence. She has asked me to come to the Crystal Empire and help her.” Celestia nodded her head towards Luna “I think it would be better if you went rather than me.”
“What?”
“You need rest. The changelings are semi-nocturnal, so there would be plenty of time during the days for you to visit with Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, or explore the Crystal Empire, but most importantly, it would give you time to sleep. I can tell that you have spent the last few days without sleep, and that isn’t healthy for anypony.”
“But, why me? Why not you?” Luna raised her eyebrow
“I trust you, Luna. I know you will do wonderfully, you deserve it.” Celestia walked over and hugged her sister with her wing “I haven’t been giving you as much power and responsibilities as I should be, and I mean to change that. Will you go, Little Sister? For me?”
Luna nodded “Yes, I will go. When do you wish me to leave?”
Celestia pulled back “It would be best if you left as soon as possible, perhaps even today or tomorrow.”
Luna stood “Very well. I will leave tomorrow morning.” She opened the door and was halfway out before she turned back and spoke softly “I am sorry, Celestia.”
Celestia walked over to Luna and hugged her again “It’s alright, I forgive you. I love you, Luna.” She nuzzled her sister “I always will.” Her smile was warm and kind, and Luna walked to her bedchamber to pack.
---
Luna spent the train ride to the Crystal Empire gazing out the window of the royal passenger car in deep thought, barely noticing when a servant came with her lunch. She ate absentmindedly as she went through every moment of her childhood in her mind, trying to see if there was something out of place or wrong to tell her whether or not Aecorum really was a fantasy, as Celestia said. The train pulled into the station and Luna stood. Now there are more important matters to deal with. She thought as her guards opened the door and rolled out the dark purple carpet on her path. Both Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were there to greet her and Shining bowed as Luna came closer and spoke to him.
“That is not necessary, Shining Armor. You are royalty both by marriage and by your sister. I assume that Celestia contacted you and told you that I would assist you?”
Shining stood a little sheepishly “Of course, Your Highness.”
Cadence rolled her eyes slightly and walked up to Luna with a smile “It is good to see you again, Luna.”
“And you as well, Mi Amore.” Luna nodded slightly.
“Please, call me Cadence.”
“Cadence.” She began walking towards the carriage prepared for her, made of beautiful dark crystals. Once all three ponies were inside they started for the palace. Luna sat a moment marveling at the beauty of the crystal ponies who seemed oddly fearful for some reason, and buildings before she turned back to Shining Armor and Cadence. “Please, tell me of what has occurred with the changelings.”
Cadence nodded and said “A few weeks ago, a changeling was spotted in a small village west of here. It only stayed in the town for a few hours before it vanished again. After that changelings appeared more and more often and we sent a few scouts to follow one.”
“Who was in this scouting party?” Luna asked.
Shining Armor motioned to himself “I headed up the scouts, accompanied by two of the Crystal Royal Guards, Prismatic Sight and Silent Reflection, as well as a member of my old unit in Canterlot, Shadow Stealth.” Luna nodded and he continued “We followed the changeling for about six miles before it went into a network of caves near the North Crystal Peaks.” There was an almost imperceptible hint of anger and disgust in his voice as he spoke.
“And it was lost within the caves?”
“On the contrary,” Cadence smiled at her husband “Shining led the scouts through the caves and managed to catch up to the changeling again.”
Shining smiled at Cadence before turning back to Luna “The changeling came to a large cave and joined about fifteen other changelings, mostly adults but we spotted a few small ones we assumed to be children.”
“And what is it that you are requiring assistance with?” Luna raised an eyebrow.
“Well, somehow the citizens found out that a group of changelings was hiding out in the mountains and became very concerned, almost to the point of panic. There have been numerous requests to destroy the changelings or banish them, and recently rumors have been going around that a band of ponies within the Empire are going to gather arms and get rid of the changelings on their own.”
Cadence nodded and spoke “Normally, this wouldn’t be reason enough to ask for your help, but the Crystal ponies are still recovering from Sombra’s attack and after what happened at our wedding, we thought it would be best if a more powerful alicorn took the lead.” When she spoke about her wedding there was the same anger in her voice as in Shining’s.
“I see.” Luna thought for a moment before she asked “Would you mind if all of us were frank with one another?”
“No, of course not.” Cadence said while Shining raised his eyebrow slightly.
“That is good. Because it seems to me that the reason you asked my sister to come assist you was due to your fear of being manipulated again, Shining Armor, and the anger and hate both of you still hold for the changelings as a result of the attack on Canterlot during your wedding. Forgive me if I offend, but honesty is crucial in times of crisis.”
Both Cadence and Shining Armor looked shocked and after a second Cadence spoke “But, neither of us really hates changelings, we just-"
“I did not say that the hatred was strong, or the anger, but if you deny that it exists in any form, you are lying to everypony involved, including yourselves. Your anger is not without justification, and it is good that you were able to recognize it enough to ask for assistance from somepony more impartial to the changelings than yourselves. All I ask is that we are honest with one another.”
After a silent moment passed Cadence nodded “Yes, I’m still angry with changelings, but I am willing to move past it in this case.”
Shining Armor nodded too “I suppose on some level I am as well.”
Luna nodded and smiled “Good. Now that the emotions are out of the way, we can move on to a plan of action.” The carriage rolled on to the castle and the three ponies figured out what they were going to do.
---
Shining Armor and Luna, as well as the original scouts, walked into the mouth of the cave the changeling had been followed to. Luna had just finished raising the moon and the Crystal Mountains sparkled in the soft moonlight. They walked for a while in silence as Shining led them through the twisting caves until they came to an outcropping in the rock they could hide behind. As Shining said there were a little more than fifteen, maybe eighteen changelings gathered together in the larger cave and as the group of ponies inched closer Shining got a touch closer to Luna.
After a moment Luna looked out and saw a changeling come in through another cave on the other side and spoke in their strange buzzing language. Luna raised an eyebrow as she saw the newcomer’s horn light up and all the changelings were enveloped in a greenish light, and as the “spell” continued, a few of them grew obviously stronger.
“That one must be feeding the others somehow.” Luna whispered. She looked around again and saw that there were indeed some very small changelings and some of the larger ones looked seriously injured. Luna turned to the other ponies and whispered “I will make myself known to them and find out if any speak Equestrian. If any do, I shall speak to them and figure out what has happened and why they are here. You four shall retreat to the main entrance so they are not as afraid.”
“But what if something happens and they put up a fight?” Silent Reflection asked.
“If I am unable to control them I will send out a magic flare to you.”
“If we see the flare, we gallop in here faster than we ever have.” Shining Armor began walking out as silently as possible and the guards followed him. Luna spent a few seconds taking deep breaths to prepare herself before she stood and walked out from behind the rock.
“Changelings! Hear me!” She spoke loudly and firmly, but not harshly. As soon as the changelings heard her a few began to run but because some of them couldn’t move they were forced to stay in the cave. Fearful chattering filled the air as they began to flit around the room and some tried to shape shift in green flame.
“You need not fear me; I am not here to bring harm to you! Please, calm yourselves so that we may speak.” The same changeling that had just “fed” the others seemed to understand her and chattered louder than the others, calming them. After a minute all of them calmed down and the ones that had been flying landed. Every eye was turned towards her and she could see how truly afraid they were. Her voice softened just slightly “Are there any among you who understand and speak Equestrian?”
The changeling that had calmed the rest down stepped forward “I speak your language. A few of the others understand Pony speech but cannot speak it. The rest do not understand, but I can tell them what you say.” The voice was deeper and Luna guessed it was a male, and it seemed to have the same sort of chattering accent as the changeling speech.
“What is your name?” Luna stepped down to the floor of the cave and the changelings backed away from her in fear.
“I-I am designated drone 47233628.” His voice began to quaver slightly and his eyes were wide with alarm “But I am often called Beguiling Cloak.”
Luna smiled and she tried to sound kind “It is an honor to meet you, Beguiling Cloak. I am High Princess Luna of the Night.”
The changelings were obviously confused and they chattered amongst themselves for a second before Beguiling Cloak asked “Of-of the Night? Not the Day?”
“No, I am not the Princess of the Day, but she is my sister, and I rule over Equestria with her.” A few of the younger changelings began to twitch nervously and the older ones seemed frozen with confusion and fear.
“Does that mean…Are you going to…” Beguiling Cloak’s voice faded away
“What is it?” Luna lowered her voice slightly
“Hurt us. Are you going to bring us to the Sun Princess so she can torture us or imprison us or…” Every changeling in the cave backed away some more.
Luna slowly shook her head “No. I would never do anything to bring harm to defenseless creatures, nor would my sister. I am simply here to help you. Why are you here?”
Beguiling Cloak relaxed very slightly “We ran. After the failure of Canterlot the Queen became harsh and cruel to us. Many drones were taken without cause and tortured or even killed. Family units were torn apart because the Queen blamed us for the failure of her plan, a plan we did not wish to be a part of. Sickness spread through the Hive and hundreds, perhaps thousands, died in the first few months after the Canterlot Failure.”
“Hunger, starvation, treachery, things that had not been known in the Hive for generations raged among the changelings and corpses of imagines and nymphs began to fill the streets. She only called this weakness and began to treat us with even more cruelty and hatred. Fear of this new tyrannical side of Her kept most of us in compliance but there were some that resisted. Some drones saw what life was like for ponies and wanted the Hive to be like that for us, so they became an underground rebellion against the Queen.”
Luna heard the sincerity in his voice and felt pity for the changelings. “What became of this rebellion?”
“They failed.” A few changelings lowered their heads “The Queen discovered them and destroyed them. That was when we decided to run from Her, run from the Hive. We feared Equestria, so we came here. There are nineteen of us, including nymphs. There used to be twenty, but my clutch-brother was lost.” His voice wasn’t sad, or angry, it was completely emotionless.
Luna nodded sympathetically “I am sorry for your loss. How long have you been in this cave?”
“One moon and twelve suns have passed since we came here.”
“I see.” She took a few steps forward to get a closer look at a nearby changeling with a broken leg and cracked wing. She turned to Beguiling Cloak “How many of you are injured?”
“Three nymphs were injured during the journey as well as four imagines, but five imagines were injured by forces of the Queen when we left the Hive. We have been trying to heal them, but we only dare to send out one of us at a time, and because all need to be nourished, we can’t focus enough energy on a few to heal them completely.” A few changelings in the back of the cave chattered at Beguiling Cloak and after a few seconds of back and forth communication, Beguiling Cloak took a step towards Luna “We are afraid. We are afraid of the ponies of crystal and we are afraid of the rulers. We did not know that the ponies targeted by the Canterlot failure were the rulers of this place until we arrived, and now we are afraid. All we want is peace. Do you truly wish to help us, Moon Princess?”
Luna could see the desperation in Beguiling Cloak’s eyes and she nodded. “Of course I do. It is honorable that you should try and help your kind live better lives. You are defenseless creatures and I will do everything in my power to give all of you a chance at real lives within the Crystal Empire or Equestria if you wish. Do not fear attack, I am sure that in time everypony shall accept you and until that happens I will protect you myself.”
“You will?” Beguiling Cloak’s voice was filled with hope.
Luna smiled and nodded “Yes.”
Beguiling Cloak chattered excitedly to the other changelings and soon the ones that could fly were flying all around the cave and others were smiling and talking to one another happily. A small changeling walked up to Luna nervously and chattered something at her with a shy smile. Luna knelt down to be eye level with the nymph and smiled. Neither one said anything but Luna’s eyes were filled with kindness and it was almost like they were talking to one another through their eyes. After a second the nymph got a little closer and hugged the large pony’s neck. Luna returned the hug and the changeling seemed to flesh out a little in her embrace. She put down the nymph and stood, turning to Beguiling Cloak.
“Do you think you would be able to walk as far as the village?”
“A few of us perhaps, but many are far too injured to walk any distance.”
Luna thought for a moment. “Gather all the changelings that are able-bodied enough to walk on their own on one side of the cave and the injured or sick ones on the other side.”
Beguiling Cloak nodded and spoke to the changelings. Almost instantly the changelings repositioned themselves in the cave and soon there was a space of about five feet between each group. Luna nodded and turned to the injured changelings “You are able to heal yourselves through love, correct?”
“Yes. But we can feed on weaker emotions as well, just not as effectively.”
“And you can transfer such emotions from one changeling to another?”
“Yes.” Beguiling Cloak turned towards the princess.
“Very good. Now,” Luna turned to face Beguiling Cloak “I am going to allow you to gather emotional energy from me. But if you take more than what is necessary to heal the injured enough to make it to the village,” Her voice and face hardened “The Sun Princess will not be the only name you fear.”
Beguiling Cloak shifted nervously and said quietly “Of-of course not, Kind Moon Princess.” He stepped closer to Luna “This may feel…odd.” His horn lit up in a green light and Luna felt herself being drained of energy. It took a moment to process and her mind began to go slightly numb but it was only a few seconds before Beguiling Cloak released the spell and backed several feet away “Forgive me if I have hurt you, Moon Princess.” He looked away from her and she could hear the terror in his voice.
She shook her head slightly “No…No it is alright, I am well.” She straightened up “Heal the others.” Already she could feel herself recovering from the drain. Beguiling Cloak nodded and the group of injured changelings was enveloped in the same green aura. Luna’s eyes widened very slightly as the same broken changeling she noticed before stood up and flapped its wings with vigor in a matter of seconds. Soon it was over and all the injured changelings walked or hovered overhead towards the others.
Beguiling Cloak smiled “Your energy is very strong, Moon Princess, thank you. Thank you so much.” He bowed low to the ground.
Luna smiled “It was no trouble. Come, tell the changelings to follow me, we will start towards the village immediately.”