...
"THE MOON HAS BEEN DOUBLED!" Louise cringed and covered her ears when she heard Luna's voice. She had just managed to get outside after following the alicorn's trail when the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice stopped her in her tracks. Louise was stunned for a few moments after getting an earful of that voice and she thought that she faintly heard Kirche scream out before hearing a splash from the nearby fountain.
"I have to find her..." Louise muttered to herself as the ringing in her ears finally stopped. The young mage turned back to the entrance of the dormitory tower when she started hearing panicked voices of students and some servants. She shook her head and started to walk across the field to find her familiar.
It did not take long as a dark purple winged unicorn that had a free flowing translucent mane and tale was very hard to miss. Louise approached said winged unicorn and saw that Luna had her wings fully spread out and her horn was glowing with the same purple aura it had when she closed the door in Louise's room.
"Guh! Why?! Why is this not working! The power of Luna compels you! THE POWER OF LUNA COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF LUNA COMPELS YOU!" Luna frustratingly yelled out as she stomped her front hooves on thr ground while she continued to attempt and fail at trying to manipulate the twin moons of this land. She had pumped as much magic as she could to try to move the moons or get any sort of response from them, but everything she had tried so far simply gleaned off the two heavenly bodies. She could not understand it. She was the goddess of the moon and the night! She has been doing this for centuries! Guiding the moon across the sky was second nature to her! Letting the stars shine as magnificently as possible was her art! So why?!
"WHY?!" Luna asked out as she glared at the two moons, which were just...there...as if taunting her.
"Luna!" The moon princess' frustration, anger, and sorrow was interrupted by a desperate call from behind her, a voice she now associates with a certain...human.
"Luna! Stop yelling! You're scaring everyone!" Louise once again called out to her familiar. She heard the frantic footfalls of several other people coming from several directions but she chose to remain focused on Luna instead. The alicorn slowly folded her wings before turning her head to look at the young mage and Louise gasped before running toward Luna when she saw the tears in her eyes.
"I...can't...move them...I..." Luna weakly said with a shake of her head as the glow of her horn died down. Louise's heart went out to the mare as she knew that look she had right now. It was a look that she herself had many times over the course of her life and it broke her heart to see that expression on a creature as magnificent as Luna.
"It's okay. Whatever it is, we'll figure something out." Louise finally said soothingly as she embraced Luna by the neck before slowly stroking her mane. Stroking the alicorn's mane was admittedly and odd experience for the young mage. It did not feel nor flow like hair normally would. Instead, it felt like she was stroking the air itself but it gave a certain amount of resistance to ensure that something was indeed there. Louise also noted that she could literally 'feel' magic in her fingers as she stroked the alicorn's mane. It was very strange but very soothing.
"Miss Valliere? Is everything alright? We heard your familiar yelling out and we thought the worst." Professor Jean Colbert called out to Louise and Luna. Both of them turned to the worried looking professor and saw that several students and teachers, even servants, were there. It seemed that Luna's outburst called on more attention than Louise originally thought.
"We're...fine Professor. Luna is just working through a few things. I deeply apologize for my familiar's outburst and assure that it will not happen again." Louise said as she let go of Luna and stepped in front of her, as if to shield the alicorn from any more attention. Louise didn't really care if Luna was a bit taller than she was when standing up, she couldn't call herself a proper mage if she couldn't even take care of her own familiar.
A familiar is the extension of the mage that summoned it. It is meant to serve the mage and the mage must care for it in return. The familiar's actions is the mage's actions. Care for it as you would care for yourself.
Those were the words that she had engraved into her heart before trying to summon a familiar for herself and Louise will abide by those words no matter what. Luna was hers and she was Luna's, this was the truth ever since she completed the ritual and the contract runes engraved themselves on the alicorn's left hoof. Louise was wondered momentarily why the runes appeared there of all places, but decided to think about that at a later time. She's been doing that a lot for the past few hours, setting things in the back burner and making Luna's well being her primary concern, her Big Sis Cattleya would be proud of her...she hoped.
Professor Colbert looked at both mage and familiar intently as he wondered what he should do. On one hand, the sudden outburst of Louise's familiar had singlehandedly woke nearly everyone up and put the entire academy on high alert. On the other hand, it did not seem to be anything serious or life threatening to anyone and Louise herself assured him that everything was okay. The Professor looked at them one more time and noted how similar their expressions were. Frightened but standing their ground, drawing strength from themselves and one another. He gave a helpless sigh before nodding to the determined, if a bit desperate, expression of his student.
"Alright, I trust you Miss Valliere." Colbert said with a warm smile before turning to the crowd of curious onlookers. He then started to assure everyone that everything is under control and to go back to their rooms for a good night's rest. Louise gave a sigh of relief, she will need to thank Professor Colbert for everything he has done for her once things settle down. She then noticed something fly overhead.
"What is that? A dragon?" Luna asked and Louise had to squint to see what it was exactly. She finally made an 'ah' of recognition when she saw who it was. It was a blue wind dragon that was summoned by one of her classmates, one Tabitha of Gallia. Tabitha was well known as being a quiet introvert who only liked reading books, but no one could deny the sheer skill and power she had as a mage. She was also a friend of Kirche's and even now, Louise could not understand why the small and quiet blue-haired girl became friends with that haughty dark skinned red-head.
Tabitha dismounted from her dragon and adjusted her glasses before walking up to them, in her right hand was a crooked wooden staff...her casting focus of choice.
"Yes? Can I help you?" Louise asked the guirl after she stood in front of her and her familiar, Tabitha's dragon was staring at them from a distance.
"Sylphid was worried. Is she injured?" Tabitha inquired while pointing her staff toward Luna.
"Sylphid? Your dragon?" Luna ventured the question and was rewarded with a nod.
"We saw you from the sky. We heard you. Sylphid was worried that you might be hurt. I'm here to make sure." The blue haired girl responded. Both Louise and Luna wasn't sure what to make of that answer. Tabitha's DRAGON was worried about Luna? And it apparently told its master about it somehow and asked her to check up on the alicorn?
"Tabitha? What are you doing over there?" A sultry but curious female voice came from the direction of the now dwindling crowds. Luna looked in the direction of the voice then back to Louise when she heard the girl give an 'urk'.
"Checking." Tabitha stated simply. Luna looked at the new arrival and found that it was the same girl she had passed earlier, the one sitting on the fountain. She noted that she was a bit wet though, Luna blushed when she thought that the girl must have fallen into the fountain or something when she started yelling out in the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. Upon closer inspection, the girl was taller than both Louise and the blue-haired girl, named Tabitha apparently. She had hair of blazing red and dark skin but Luna noted that there seemed to be two rather large sets of fat on her upper torso that seemed to jiggle whenever she moved. Curious, Luna glanced at Louise and Tabitha and wondered why they did not have such things. Was it some sort of illness or an adaptive trait? Perhaps those bags of meat served as emergency energy supplied should that human ever find herself unable to eat for an extended period of time.
"Checking on what? Zero and her horse?" Kirche asked with a sneer as she looked at both Louise and Luna.
"Pony. Luna is a pony. At least get that right, Kirche." Louise corrected with a bit of venom in her voice. The girl known as Kirche narrowed her eyes at Louise for a moment and Luna was worried that they might start fighting.
"No fighting." As if reading the alicorn's mind, or at least thinking the same thing, Tabitha stepped between the two girls to prevent things from escalating.
"Sylphid asked me to check on the pony. No other reason. Pony is fine." Tabitha quickly diffused the situation by explaining to her friend why she was talking to Louise and Luna. The blue-haired girl stared at her friend for a few more moments before turning back to Louise and Luna. They all stood there in silence until Tabitha turned back to Sylphid and nodded.
"We go." Tabitha said before walking away. Kirche gave one last sparing glance at Louise and her familiar before following Tabitha without another word.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Louise asked her familiar after making sure that no one else would be dropping in on them.
"I am alright now. Thank you for your concern Louise Francoise and I apologize for my earlier display...that was very unbecoming of a princess of Equestria." Luna replied before berating herself, her ears drooping slightly in shame. Luna sighed in comfort when she felt Louise stroke her back, no doubt trying to make her feel better.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Louise asked after a few moments as she continued to stroke the alicorn. Luna considered the question from the young mage. There was a lot of things she wanted to know actually. She wanted to understand why she held no power over the moons of this land. She wanted to know where she was exactly since Equestria certainly did not have two moons at any point in her life. She had yet to be able to established a means of communication with her sister. She had so may questions but above all else...she was just very tired. When she thought back on it, she never really managed to get a whole lot of sleep. She was just dozing off when she was pulled into this world and the adrenaline kept her up since. Her sleepiness was now catching up on her and she let out a tired yawn, making sure to cover her mouth with a dainty hoof for the sake of manners.
"Not tonight. A lot has happened and I am quite tired now. Some sleep with do a lot of good in clearing my mind and relieving some stress." Luna admitted as she gave a tired smile to Louise. The young mage nodded in agreement before remembering what sleeping arrangements she had prepared for her familiar in her room.
"Is something wrong Louise Francoise?" Luna asked with a tilt of her head.
"Nothing. You can sleep on my bed but I'm not sure it can support both of us." Louise sheepishly admitted. They could probably fit on her bed with some clever adjustments but she was not sure that her bed could take the combined weight without collapsing.
"I think I may be able to do something about that." Luna responded with a smile. Louise wondered what she meant but decided to trust the alicorn for now. They both made their way back to Louise's room without much incident. Everyone was either already back in their own rooms or were doing something else. There were still those who were walking the halls and gave them curious glances but nothing more.
"Please stand back." Luna asked after both of them managed to get back inside Louise's room. The young mage closed the door and stood behind and to the left side of Luna. Satisfied that the young girl was at a safe angle, Luna turned to the four post bed and concentrated. Luna looked on in silent awe and expectation as she saw Luna's horn give off another purple glow. Louise tilted her head to the side curiously when her bed started glowing with the same purple glow as well. She turned back to Luna and saw that she had her eyes closed and had a look of concentration.
"Analyzing Structure..." Luna murmured and her horn glowed a bit as Louise felt her magic work. She was once again in awe at how the alicorn was manipulating magical energy so easily.
"Identifying Components..." Luna continued and the glow around Louise's bed became stronger in turn.
"Begin Reinforcement." The alicorn said with a bit more force than before. The young human mage blinked as her bed started glittering with what looked like tiny stars. As mesmerizing as the display was, Louise was silently worrying as to what exactly Luna was doing. She would ask her what she was doing but Louise was afraid of interrupting the alicorn considering how focused she looked at the moment.
"Creation Complete." Luna finally said with a satisfied smile as the glow on her horn and on the bed finally died down. She then turned to Louise with a nod and a smile before tilting her head toward the bed.
"Shall we?" Luna offered as she slowly walked toward the bed. Louise looked between Luna and said bed before adopting a contemplative look. After all that glowing and sparkling...nothing really changed.
"Umm...what did you do exactly?" Louise finally voiced while rubbing her chin with her right hand.
"Oh that? That was a reinforcement spell. It allows one to manipulate the structure of solid matter and make it stronger than it originally was using magic." Luna explained as she gave a swift kick on one of the bed posts with her right foreleg. The reulting thud that the wood gave off did not sound quite like what wood should sound like when hit. It still sounded like wood getting hit but it seemed more...solid.
"Reinforcement...how did you do it? All I saw was just a lot of glowing and sparkling but nothing really changed." Louise asked and elaborated on her question as Luna tested out her spell further by going up onto the mattress and laying down on it. The bed creaked a bit by the weight of the pony but otherwise remained solid. Louise noted this as she went to her wardrobe to change back into her pink negligee.
"That is because I did not actually change the structure of the bed, I changed what it was made of. That is why there are no visible changes on the bed itself." Luna answered but only earned a confused raised eyebrow from the pink-haired girl.
"Think of it this way. I did not change the actual structure of the bed. Instead I manipulated the wood and other components that make up the bed and made them stronger, hence reinforcement. It is not a very flashy spell, it is actually considered rather basic in our land and considered as a stepping stone to so called 'real spells' because it trains one to be able to analyze and concentrate on something. However, I am of the opinion that reinforcement has a much greater potential than that. Granting a few more centuries of practice and experimentation, I predict that it could end up as a completely different kind of magic." Luna explained at length with and enthused smile on her face. Application of Magical Theory was always a subject she found great interest in. It was one of the things that she and Twilight Sparkle ended up discussing for days on end because they sometimes had different ideas on how a spell should be developed.
Her smile faltered somewhat when she saw Louise simply look at her with a surprised expression.
"Ahem...is something the matter?" Luna asked after pretending to clear her throat.
"Did you just say centuries?" Louise finally asked, making Luna blink. She wasn't really expecting the reason for her shock to be the pony's sense of time.
"Well yes...it would seem that we do have much more to discuss. However, they can wait until tomorrow. We both need some rest and the night just continues to march on without me..err..us..." Luna said, faltering at the end when she realized what she was getting at. Louise looked like she still had something to say but relented and got on the bed. It creaked again but remained strong.
"Wow...this is really supporting both of us?" Louise asked as she and Luna shifted into a better position. The bed rather large for a single occupant but a human and a pony quickly took up whatever room was available.
"Yes. With the degree of reinforcement I put on it, it should be able to support approximately twenty ponies of my size and weight." Luna commented before yawning one more time. Louise smiled at the rather cute action, idly thinking that her Big Sis Cattleya would be thrilled to meet Luna.
"Good night Luna." Louise said as she settled onto her pillow.
"Good night Louise Francoise." Luna replied and both of them drifted off to sleep in short order.
...
"I came here as soon as I could...oh my, what happened to you Princess Celestia?" The purple unicorn pony known as Twilight Sparkle walked up to her teacher but did not like what she saw. There, the normally radiant pony of the sun, Princess Celestia of Equestria simply looked...weary. Her beautiful flowing blue, green, purple, and pink mane and tail looked duller than usual and actually seemed a bit unkempt. Her crown and necklace did not seem to be on quite right. Even her normally shining white coat looked like it was a bit duller today. Put sumply, Princess Celestia of Equestria looked terrible.
Rarity would go into a panic if she saw the princess in this state. Twilight thought as she approached the princess, who gave her a tired smile. The prized student of the sun's morning was quickly interrupted by a sudden letter from the princess while she and her baby dragon assistant Spike were having breakfast. The letter was simple and to the point and that was what worried Twilight the most.
Twilight,
I need you here at once. A chariot has already been arranged for you and should arrive by the time you finish reading this sentence.
Princess Celestia
p.s. Due to the nature of my request for your presence, this letter will self-destruct as soon as you finish reading this sentence.
True to the words, she and Spike heard the landing of one of Canterlot's chariots outside the library before the letter ignited in a flash of white magical fire. Needless to say, Twilight was quickly whisked away to her teacher soon afterward.
"Twilight Sparkle, by dear prized student. It does me well to see you, though I wish our meeting was under better circumstances." Celestia greeted her student before gesturing her to come closer. Twilight's bad feeling was getting worse and worse every second.
Princess Celestia talking like an old woman on her death bed? Something is very wrong here! The purple unicorn stated the obvious as she cautiously stepped forward toward her teacher.
"What happened princess? What's wrong?" Twilight ventured the question once she was a few steps away from the pony of the sun. There were a few very silent, very tense moments as Celestia reacted to Twilight's question by gazing intently at the floor. The element of magic was about to speak up once more when Celestia finally answered her question.
"Luna is gone..." The ancient goddess of the sun finally said in a quiet voice that would normally be more suited for Twilight's friend, Fluttershy.
"...gone?" Twilight could only repeat what her teacher said because of her shock. It was apparently enough to set off whatever it was Celestia was trying hold back. For the first time, Twilight Sparkle saw her perfect teacher snap.
"GONE! LUNA IS GONE! I WAS JUST SPEAKING WITH HER THE NIGHT BEFORE! I TEASED HER A BIT AND TOLD HER HOW CUTE SHE WAS! BUT NOW SHE'S GONE TWILIGHT! MY PRECIOUS LITTLE SISTER THAT I JUST GOT BACK IS NOW GONE! SHE'S GONE AND I CAN'T FIND HER! SHE'S GONE AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! SHE'S...she's...she...oh Luna..." Celestia finally ended her sudden tirade and struggled to catch her breath. In the meantime, Twilight was struggling to make the room stop spinning. The unicorn had known how...effective...the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice was thanks to the events of Nightmare Night. However, she had not expected for Celestia's version to be quite so...concussive.
"What...how...?" Twilight managed to let out as she struggled to get back on her feet and think about what Princess Celestia just said.
"I went to her room yesterday afternoon to wake her up. The day was ending and Luna always wanted to make sure she was awake at least an hour before night falls so she could at least catch a quick meal before starting her work. However, when I went to wake her up she...she..." Celestia trailed off and Twilight didn't need any further explanation as to what happened.
"So you weren't able to find her anywhere in the palace?" The unicorn quickly asked to clarify, the gears in her mind finally turning after she had her head cleared up. She heard her teacher give out a sigh at her question. Twilight knew she wasn't going to like what Celestia was about to tell her.
"Twilight, I've had my guard search every inch of the whole of Canterlot and the surrounding forests and airspace. They found no trace of her. What's worse is that, when I had specialists check her room for any clues, they said that they found no signs of forced entry or a struggle...they said that she just disappeared." Celestia explained making her student's eyebrows shoot up.
"Maybe she teleported out? Or was teleported out somehow?" Twilight ventured a guess.
"There were no residual traces of magic that would indicate a teleportation spell. They said that there were trace amounts of magic but it was of a kind they've never encountered before and the amount was so miniscule that they think that it wouldn't have been a factor and was just some mistake by the scans." The princess of the sun explained before shutting her eyes tightly and gritting her teeth.
"That's impossible. That means that there's no way for Princess Luna to have disappeared. It's juts physically and magically impossible then..." Twilight trailed off as she tried to find a way around the conundrum. She adopted a look of frustration when she kept hitting walls regardless of what line of logic she tried simply because of one simple fact. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were two of the current most powerful spell casters in all of Equestria save for Discord. With the master of chaos sealed up for another thousand years or so, there shouldn't be anyone who would be able to abduct Princess Luna without anypony noticing it.
"Silly pony! Anything is possible if it happens!" The familiar high pitched voice of one Pinkamena Diane Pie, better known as pinkie pie, suddenly said from right behind Twlight Sparkle. Due to the sudden appearance of the pink pony prompted Twilight to react in the most logical way possible.
"Ghaaaawaaaahhh!" The unicorn's scream echoed throughout the audience chamber.
"Pinkie! How did you get here?!" Twilight demanded from the curly maned pink party pony.
"I went through a plot hole silly!" Pinkie immediately answered.
"What? Plot hole?" The element of magic asked her bouncing pink friend.
"Look, we don't have time for this. Princess Luna is missing and--" Twilight's explanation was cut off by her pink friend.
"And you can't find her because there is no physical nor magical evidence that shows that she was taken away or simply went away....right?" Pinkie finished the question with one of her trademark borderline maddened smiles.
"Well...yeah..." The unicorn hesitantly acknowledged.
"That's because the cause obviously wasn't physical nor magical!" The pink Earth Pony continued as she bounced around her friend.
"Explain yourself Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie. Tell me what you know." Celestia's cold voice stopped both Twilight and Pinkie in their tracks. Both little ponies turned to the princess and saw that she was staring at them intently and was clearly waiting for an answer.
"I'm waiting for an answer, Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie." Celestia voiced her desire for an immediate answer. Twilight glanced at her friend for a moment, worried that Pinkie may have bit off more than she could chew when it came to her usual random nonsense.
"Umm...well you see, around the time that Princess Luna disappeared and a little before you let out that scream heard round Canterlot, I suddenly had the weirdest Pinkie Sense moment ever! It wasn't just like the other Pinkie Sense moments, which were all pretty weird on their own, but something completely and utterly different like it didn't even seem to come from Equestria at all!" Pinke explained, regaining her previously lost steam. Sadly, Twilight saw that Celestia would not have any of it right now.
"Your point Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie?" The princess of the sun said cooly, her left front hoof tapping the floor to indicate her desire for a direct answer.
"Well! That's the amazing thing! When I tried to find out the source of the Pinkie Sense moment, it led me all the way here! And I have a few theories on what could have caused this!" Pinkie answered, apparently developing some resistance to Celestia's dour demeanor. When no one responded, Pinkie decided to continue with her explanation.
"Princess Luna was either gated out to a completely different dimension by a magician, warped away by Captain Picard, called out through the totality of existence to participate in a battle royale of epic proportions, or someone called Yukari is fooling around again, or was picked off and put somewhere else by a higher existance that has the power to turn whatever he or she writes into reality! In fact, he or she could be affecting us right now! I'm on to your wiles, mysterious interdimensional super author!" Pinkie suddenly let out before pointing to a certain part of the castle as if talking to someone.
"But...what if that interdimensional super author was making me say these things right now! AS! I! SPEAK?!" Pinkie said out in horror. Twilight just shook her head and concluded that this was just Pinkie being Pinkie again, she looked at her teacher and saw that Celestia seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"I'm sorry about that Princess Celestia." Twilight said in apology for getting the princess riled up because of Pinkie Pie.
"It's alright Twilight...I'm just...so worried about her...and I can't even go out there and look for her because I need to take care of both the night and the day as well as running Equestria as a whole. That is why I called you here my student." Celestia said before looking straight at her student with eyes that were nearly pleading.
"Please save my sister once again."
...