Celestia suppressed her anger while her spell finished teleporting Luna. With an adamant mien, she watched her sister materialize and waited for her to start shouting. She knew that Luna would be furious, and wanted to let her vent before having a serious talk with her. Luna, however, didn’t show the slightest inclination to react to Celestia’s rude intervention.
If Luna hadn’t been breathing she would have looked like a statue, although one of a pony with a sinister stare. She stood upright, her head high, staring in her sister’s direction with lowered eyebrows. Nonetheless, Celestia felt as if Luna wasn’t looking at her but through her. Even though Luna was smaller than her sister, in this moment any observer would have had no doubt that they were equally powerful.
Wind blew through the open window and through their manes. The cooling breeze on a warm summer evening was something everypony would enjoy… something that could even cool down somepony’s temper, Celestia thought. Luna, on another hoof, didn’t even seem to notice that a strand of her mane blew over her face and covered her eye.
Minutes passed as the sisters continued to stare at each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. When Luna didn’t show the slightest inclination to say something or even move, Celestia began to understand that her sister wouldn’t trigger the upcoming fight. Everything is always my responsibility, isn’t it? Oh Lu’, sometimes I wish you were the older one.
“Luna,” Celestia said firmly. “Tell me what happened.”
Motionless, the younger alicorn kept staring at her. Celestia had noticed that her sister’s whole body had been tensed up since she arrived, and for a moment she wondered if Luna’s muscles wouldn’t start aching soon. After waiting some time, Celestia started again.
“Lu’–” she said.
“Celestia!” Luna merely hissed, but there was a plea and a threat in this word and, above all, the assurance that Celestia would regret her words.
“...na,” Celestia said, shaking her head. The unyielding tone in Luna’s voice had brought up her anger again. “Talk to me, tell me what–”
Celestia broke off when her sister turned around in a sharp move. With a short glow of her horn, Luna opened the door to the next room and set to leave without another word. Celestia, bewildered by the sheer arrogance, used her magic to slam the door shut just a moment before Luna reached it.
“NO!” Celestia yelled at her. “I will not let you leave before we have talked this out! Tell me what happened between you and–”
“Do not pretend to be uninformed,” Luna interrupted. With trembling nostrils, she turned around and took a few steps towards Celestia. “‘Twas one of your precious little ponies who already told you. Your guards watching my every step is all but a secret to me.”
“Luna, what are you talking about?”
“Did you think I would not notice that the guards are watching me more closely than is good for them?” Luna snorted. “Am I a foal in your eyes that you could think I would ever tolerate this?”
“I would never give any order like that!” Celestia said. “You are imagining things. Our guards observing you? That is pure paranoia, sister, and I’m not willing to further discuss this. You are changing the subj–”
“You want to talk about what I just did?” Luna said. Her voice searing with fury, she started walking up and down in front of Celestia. “I was helping Twilight until you interfered. I was solving a crime, dear sister. A crime committed against a Princess of Equestria, your student and” – despite her angry speech, she gulped – “my companion. Neither you nor the guards are helping. It is solely up to me. I am leading the investigations now, and I will proceed using my own methods, whether you like it or not.”
“Luna, do you listen to yourself?” Celestia gasped. “I don’t even know where to start! I am as much worried about Twilight as you are, but are you sure you are doing this for her and not for yourself? We can’t ‘cure’ Twilight, and you will have to live with that just as I have to. You know we consulted the best psychotherapists, but they’ve only come to the same conclusion as I have: we can’t undo the magic that caused Twilight’s condition without causing more harm. If you want to help, assist Twilight with her studies, gently nudge her in the right direction.”
“You cannot expect me to sit idle while–”
“You just threatened a pony with torture, Luna!” Celestia shouted, losing her countenance. “Do you really believe I will allow you to continue like this? You violated every ideal you and I ever stood for! Did you even think about your own actions for a single moment? I have as much sympathy as possible when it comes to you – your banishment, your difficult return and now Twilight’s condition – but you've just undone everything you achieved in the last years. You went and outright shattered every spark of respect those ponies had for you.”
Celestia shook her head. “What am I supposed to do with you? Do you even remember the time we agreed on living to protect our little ponies? Think about the laws we passed together! You were the one who came up with this particular law, and we didn't even think it was necessary in those days! Now you, my own sister, are the first pony to break this law.”
When Celestia finished, she had to blink away a single tear in the corner of her eye; Luna only snorted, but continued pacing up and down. Her head still held high, she continued to give the impression of being above it all.
“'Tis of no importance, Celestia,” Luna said. “We created the law, we can change it as we please.”
“Luna! You can't!“
“I can and I will,” Luna spat.
Celestia sighed. After a moment of silence, she said, “I will not let you do this. Leading the investigation? You are biased, sister. You just proved this.”
“I will lead the investigation!” Luna shouted, bringing down her hoof on the marble floor with a crack; some sparks originated from her horseshoe while her voice still echoed through the castle. “Nothing you say or do can change that.”
“Luna, please don't,” Celestia said, resigned. “If you continue, you will only cause more harm. What good could come out of this? Maybe you find the responsible pony, but what then? If we can't undo the magic, nopony can. Go and help Twilight. Don't continue like this.”
“You do not understand. I am helping Twilight. I will find whoever is responsible, and I will make them reverse the spell. You can't stop me. What do you want to do? Banish me again, sister? 'Tis impossible. You know as well as I do that you can't use the elements anymore. Even if you bring up Twilight's friends against me, the magic of friendship is powerless without the final element. See this investigation as a service to help Equestria regain its defense if that helps you sleep.” Looking at Celestia's reproachful face, Luna paused for a moment. “Fine. I will avoid harming the traitor if – and only if – they lift the spell, but you will leave me alone until then.”
Before Celestia could breathe easily again, Luna continued, “No, do not assume this is the end. Those who fall must pay the price. It has always been like this, and I experienced it myself. I will find them. I will see him safe behind bars. I will never rest till then.” Putting all her authority into one sentence, she added, “This I swear by my stars!”
“Sister...” Celestia started, knowing there already was a winner of the whole argument. Losing a fight that was meant to be a lecture felt wrong, but now the only thing left to do was damage control – especially since Luna was already leaving, and no magically sealed door would stop her. “Please... don't get carried away again. Don't let your temper get the better of you. Promise me you'll stick to our law.”
Luna halted her movement for a short moment without turning around. “I... I promise I will try. Do not interfere with my investigations again if you do not intend to help.”
“I can't.”
“Then everything is said,” Luna said before slamming the door shut.
Celestia went towards the open window and stared at the sky as the moon slowly climbed over the horizon. She blinked another tear away. Images of days gone by tried to creep through her head, but she immediately blocked them out – if she was really good at something, it was shielding her mind from unpleasant memories.
She took a deep breath. Enough. Time to finish today’s paperwork. When she turned around, something on the floor distracted her thoughts. Taking a closer look, she found a semicircular dent with multiple cracks running in several directions. At the bottom of the u-shape, the stone hadn’t been able to give way even more which had caused a few slivers to splinter out the floor.
For the split of a second, Celestia wondered what kind of heavy object she might have dropped to damage the white marble like this before it dawned her.
“Luna…?”
“Your highness.”
“Commander Iron.”
“I heard you are investigating the attack on Princess Twilight,” Cast Iron said. “I assume you are here to talk about Morning Sentry.”
“You are well-informed, Commander,” Luna said; her voice was cold. “Maybe enough to tell me what I want to know.”
“I’m not sure if I can help, Your Highness,” Cast Iron said. He pulled a file out of a drawer and put it on Luna’s side of the desk. He shook his head and sighed. “I’ve read it over and over again, but I can’t find a single clue. He has a clean slate. Well, ‘had’, I assume. Too bad, he was a good guard.”
“A good guard?” Luna repeated mockingly. “I do not think so. Not only did he attack another pony with consequences we can not yet assess, it was royalty. He swore to protect Princess Twilight, so he did not just fail, he broke his oath. ‘Good’ is not proper attribute to describe somepony like Morning Sentry.”
“I wasn’t talking about what he did that fateful night. He did have a clean slate before, though.” He opened the file and pointed at several confidential reports. “Not a single officer has ever complained about him, not even doubted he would quickly advance in ranks. That is why he was allowed to be on guard duty for a member of royalty after all.”
“‘Twas the wrong decision.”
“With all due respect, Your Highness, but I’d object,” Cast Iron said, tilting his head slightly to the side. “He has never done anything wrong, and there was no chance any officer could have predicted what he would do.”
“Could not or did not want to, commander?” Luna asked in a harsh voice. “‘Tis not unlikely somepony else was involved. If an officer has indeed helped him, then those reports bear no message.”
“Your Highness, there is no evidence that points at another officer being involved.” He shook his head again. “I know my officers; I would gladly vouch for each of them at any given time.”
“As you would have done for Morning Sentry?”
“They are good ponies, and each would give their life to protect you and every other member of Equestrian Royalty,” Cast Iron said. “One even did a while ago to protect Your Highness. I believe his name was Warding Moon.”
“Thou darest not speak of him!” Luna hissed through clenched teeth.
“Very well,” he said with a nod. “But as you can see, I speak the truth.”
“Then tell me, Cast Iron, why you haven’t started giving me names yet. Names of ponies who could be involved.”
“There are none, Your Highness,” he said. “I don’t want to interfere with your investigation, but you’d have to question every single guard. Like I said, they are good and honest ponies. You might as well start with me.”
“As you wish,” Luna said. Staring him in the eyes, Luna slowly continued, “When did you first think about high treason, commander?”
Sheets of paper filled the air, quickly raining down and covering the floor with a layer of scribbled notes, official forms and pictures of ponies. The content of several files joined a collection of scrolls, a few books and the remains of what had once been a shelf. Shards of an inkpot and a puddle of ink completed the scene; a blue alicorn was panting for breath in the midst of the unfolding chaos.
“Um… Princess Luna?”
“Spike,” Luna answered; there was no kindness in her voice. “What are you doing in here?”
“I… I… um…” he stammered, ready to jump for cover. He stood in the doorframe, the door still in his claw and glanced at the chaos. The surroundings told him that it hadn’t been Luna’s first blaze of anger.
“So?” Luna asked impatiently. She walked towards him and blocked the view at the rest of the room.
“Are you are busy? I could come back an–”
“Tell me now and begone,” she said. She pushed him through the door into the previous room. “I do not intend to waste more time than necessary.”
“Is that a red string map showing your investigations?” Spike asked, pointing at the pinboard behind Luna. He noticed that there weren’t many threads, and the map didn’t look like it would show three weeks of investigations. There was a photo of a guardspony near its middle, but there were no red strings connected to it. “That’s really cool, can I have a lo–”
“No, you cannot,” Luna responded, pushing him further and slamming the door shut behind herself. “What do you want, dragon?”
“Oookay... the others and I were discussing on how to cheer up Twilight,” he said, keeping secret that their plan also involved cheering up Luna. “Applejack and Rainbow Dash came up with the idea. We want to go camping the day before Twilight’s birthday, then stay up late until we can celebrate her birthday. We’re also going to surprise her with stories about the past three years.”
When Luna stayed silent, Spike continued, “Since her birthday is in gossamer, we all thought it was a great idea. Fluttershy mentioned how nice that time of the year is. I think she said something about morning dew and cobwebs, but I didn’t really get that. I wonder what that could mean… Maybe the–”
“Spike,” Luna said. “I will not make an appearance.”
“But… I’m sure Twilight would–”
“No, she would not,” Luna said, resigning. “She does not approve of my presence. Merely seeing me has led to conflict. I do not wish to spoil the celebration.”
Spike shook his head. “Hm… Maybe you don’t have to stay. You could just come and tell her a story.”
“She does not remember a single moment of the time we shared,” Luna sighed. “I do not see how you could trigger a change. Even if a mere tale could do the impossible, I would not be of any help. Twilight does not want to see me, because she does not know me like she once did. Without that knowledge, a peaceful dialogue is improbable. It is a vicious cycle.”
Spike stayed silent for a moment, until a triumphant smile appeared on his face. “Isn’t it easy to break this cycle then?”
“Whatever are you talking about?”
“Just spend time with her. You don’t have to tell a story if you think it’s a bad idea. She doesn’t remember you, but if it’s really the worst case and nothing can ever bring back those memories, everything she knows is what she learns now. So if we don’t find a solution, she will only know you like you are now. Everything you do now is what she will remember.”
Apparently, Spike had caught Luna off-guard.
“I… had not considered,” Luna said absently. Spike thought he could almost see the wheels turn in the alicorn’s head before she continued. “Twilight Sparkle has taught you well, young wyrm. Your obsessive optimism is annoying at times, but you are still right.”
“So… you will come?”
“I will think about it. ‘Tis all I can promise,” Luna said with a sigh, but this time, it was not one of desperation.
“That’s… something, I guess,” Spike said. “Hey, do you want to tell the others yourself?”
“Off with you now,” Luna responded, nudging him in the direction of the exit. “You have my thanks.”
“Okay, um... bye then,” Spike said, already halfway through the door.
“Spike?”
“Yes?”
“I believe you will keep secret what you saw of my investigation. ‘Tis of nopony’s concern, and you will not talk about it. Understood?”
This is not right. It cannot be!
Wherever she was looking, there was nothing. Nothing was as it had to be. The focus had to be right there, but it simply wasn’t. She couldn’t find a single sharp image, not even a recognizable sound. It was as if her spell had gone wrong. Impossible!
Strictly speaking, Twilight’s dream wasn’t completely empty. Luna could see all kinds of things that seemed to be in the distance: blurry images of floors, walls, furniture, even ponies – whole rooms constantly replaced each other, but none of them were relevant. They were the extras in the play that every dream was.
Every dream but this. In her whole life, Luna had never encountered a dream like this. Not only was the main stage along with the main actress missing, even the extras weren’t what they had to be. Long cracks ran through the obscure side stages, and on each side of the crack there was a different image.
Stars, what has happened to you, my dearest Twilight?
Luna withdrew from the broken dream, not noticing the single tear on her cheek. Silently, she took a deep breath to keep calm. A huge part of her wanted to take whoever was responsible and vaporize them; the spell almost reached her lips. Seeing Twilight in her bed was the only thing that kept her from blazing up in dark flames.
Instead, she started listing the stars’ names in her mind, locking out everything around her except Twilight and the sound of her breath.
After a while, she had calmed down enough to get to work. She had to help Twilight to dream. What was of no interest to most ponies, was that dreams weren’t just a weird thing that happened now and then. Everypony dreamt, and they dreamt every single night. They would rarely remember a dream, but dreaming itself was mandatory for the mind to function during the day. It was the brain’s way of taking a break, of arranging and processing the experiences of the day. Not being able to dream was a serious health issue.
Luna didn’t understand what she had just experienced in Twilight’s dream. A dream without the dreamer herself being present, that was something she would have thought impossible. She didn’t even want to think about the consequences. The only thing she knew was that she had to try to fix it. I cannot bring back your memories, but nopony will interfere with my domain!
Knowing she couldn’t just cast the first spell she could come up with, she used her magic to grab a quill and a scroll from Twilight’s desk. As quiet as possible, she started scribbling formulas with notes and drew several sketches resembling the balance of magic she needed to achieve. Tampering with dreams was a delicate business, even more so since she didn’t know the cause of the problem.
Bringing the necessary concentration wasn’t easy. It hadn’t just been a long day, it had been a long two weeks. Luna had barely slept or even rested; the misuse of the revitalization spell was now taking its toll. Her lips formed a tiny smile when she thought of the time Twilight had asked her to explain the spell.
After an hour, Luna had finished the theoretical part of the spell. She realized that casting it would cost her a lot of energy, and she wasn’t sure if she could bring it up in her condition. I have to. I cannot let her suffer any longer.
When she had cast the spell, her knees gave in, and she dropped on the floor. Her coat was sweaty, and even her mane and tail had lost some of their sparks. Her head was spinning, and her stomach rebelled. I… need to rest. Just… for a moment.
A few minutes later – she had kept herself from falling asleep – she felt good enough to get up and check if the spell had served its purpose. Due to her exhaustion, it would only be a short glimpse into Twilight’s dream, but she figured it would be enough to see the major change she expected. At least dreamwalking does not require much energy. I could not even make a single parasprite disappear.
She first noticed the missing cracks. So far so good. After a quick search, she found Twilight, which caused a wave of relief flood through her. Luna couldn’t quite see what the other pony was doing before the fading magic caused her to leave the dream; she only got a small impression about what was going on.
Twilight running. A bookshelf in the distance. Huge stacks of empty scrolls following her, chasing her.
When Luna had returned to the real world, she saw that Twilight was now sleeping restlessly; she was moving around in her bed and groaning quietly. I… I gave her a nightmare! Oh Twilight, I wish I still had the power to fix it. I am sorry.
Preparing to leave, she gathered the scrolls she had used. Turning around, she underestimated the grade of exhaustion she now suffered and bumped into a nearby side table. Seeing the flower vase on it fall, she reached out for her magic to catch it, but she wasn’t able to react fast enough anymore. The vase hit the floor and shattered into several pieces while the water quickly caused the carpet to turn dark.
“Wha-uuuuaaaa-t is… Luna?” Twilight asked, yawning. “What in Equestria are you doing here?”
“I…” Luna started, without knowing how to continue. “Forgive me, Twilight. I should leave. Sleep we–”
“Yes, you should! Have you ever heard of knocking?” Twilight said. Even though her voice still sounded rough from just waking up, she quickly got louder. “Coming into my room while I am sleeping. What is wrong with you? And what did you want anyway?”
“Neither do I want to argue with you right now, Twilight, nor am I in the state to do so,” Luna said. “I am sorry for waking you.”
“What do you mean, you are sorry for waking me? If you didn’t want anything from me, why did you come here?” Twilight asked. “Oh, no, no, no, please don’t say you were watching or ‘protecting’ me.”
“Twilight, please… Forget about this. Be glad that you woke from your nightmare and just lay down again.”
“We’ll talk,” Twilight started. “Wait, how do you know I had a nightmare? Did you enter my dream? You can’t be serious! Have you ever heard of privacy? Ugh, don’t answer, I don’t even want to hear it. Just leave me and go protect somepony else.”
“Sleep well, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna whispered before she left.
“Whatever.”
A few minutes later, Luna’s shaky hooves touched the balcony of her own rooms. Walking towards the bed, the map of her investigations came into her view through the half-open door.
“I cannot let this continue,” Luna whispered to herself. “I have to uncover the truth. I am missing something. Overusing the revitalization spell was reckless, it reduced my concentration. Once I get the needed rest, I will start anew. Whoever caused this: Fear me, for I will find you.”
She walked through Canterlot feeling pressured. The city faded. She was sitting on a pillow, a friendship report in front of her. She was freezing. The chimney in front of her lit itself. A roaring fire started burning. The blue flames caught her attention. Nothing seemed more important than these flames. Staring into the fire for hours, the flames filled her with warmth, a feeling of safety and happiness.
Sound asleep, the dream caused a tiny smile to appear on Twilight’s face.