Previous to this point, Princess Luna faced the prospect of slumber with a feeling of despair. Now, there was a fierce sense of determination. Luna planned to go to bed angry, and stay angry. The plan was still unknown, but at least there was something to work with now. Some faint glimmer of hope in what had been such a bleak situation.
Defiance now blazed inside of Princess Luna’s breast and she was behaving a bit more like her usual self. With anger came confidence, with confidence came resolve, and with resolve came Luna’s famous grim determination. Luna was the Night Mare, and she could be a nightmare.
One way or another, this was going to end.
“Okay… I am going to need a few more attempts to get a good lock on the signal. I don’t know how many more attempts it will take, but you seem to have some of your spirit back, so that will make our job easier. Once I have a good lock on the signal, we need to figure out what we’ll do next so that we can help Maeve and do what is right for her.” Twilight Sparkle cast a spell on a bank of crystals and they began to pulsate with an odd, eerie pale green light, a faint eldritch glow. The surface of the mirror rippled in time to the pulses coming from the bank of crystals.
Saying nothing, Princess Luna had her own opinions on what was right for Maeve.
“The girl has her own magic… whatever it is, it is alien, weird, and strong. If we’re going to help her, we need a way to get her to focus her magic and encourage her belief in her own power… some way to get her to believe in herself and strengthen the source,” Twilight Sparkle said as she turned away from the mirror to face Luna.
“Do you think the mirror could be opened into her world?” Luna asked in a low, hesitant sounding voice. Luna had trouble meeting Twilight Sparkle’s eyes.
“Do you have plans on going through the mirror and then trying to find the sort of help she needs?” Twilight Sparkle asked in reply.
Gritting her teeth and lifting her head, Luna nodded.
“You may find yourself in human form and without magic. You will be weak… human beings have so little strength compared to us equines. If Maeve’s father is violent, you could be in danger… he might hurt you… or worse… we know what he does to Maeve. So much could go wrong… I don’t know if this is wise.” Twilight Sparkle’s gaze dropped down to the floor and she shook her head. “I will trust in your judgment though. You are a being with centuries of experience and you wouldn’t be doing this unless you believed you could see this through.”
“I no longer care about the danger. I am already in danger. Now is the time for action, even if it is drastic action.” A pained expression crept over Luna’s face. And I can no longer bear to allow this to continue, Luna thought to herself. One way or another, this ends.
“I am almost done here, if you want to start trying to make yourself ready for sleep. If you lay down, I’ll bring you a nice cup of tea with the valerian root that Zecora recommended,” Twilight Sparkle said in a low, soothing voice.
Princess Luna felt herself being picked up and squeezed. Confused, Luna did not understand what was going on. She was far too small. The room was far too large. Maeve was far too large. The dolls were as large as she was.
“You’re so adorable! And you have such shiny button eyes!” Maeve cried as she squeezed Princess Luna.
“I am a doll?” Luna asked, coming to a somewhat delayed understanding.
“You’re so soft and velvety… oh, you are just perfect. I always wanted a talking doll,” Maeve said as she redoubled her efforts to squeeze the stuffing out of Luna.
And seeing as how Luna was now filled with stuffing, this concerned Luna a great deal. Pushing these thoughts out of her mind, Luna tried to focus on what was important. “Maeve, I need for you to listen to me. Do you remember how you told me about using chalk to draw doorways?”
Maeve stopped squeezing and nodded.
“This is very important. While you are awake, I want you to draw a chalk door around your closet door over there. And I want you to believe that it is a real door with all of your heart and soul. Please, you need to listen to me and do exactly as I say,” Luna said.
“Why?” Maeve asked.
“Because I am going to come and help you. This is more than just a dream. You need to believe that this is real if this is going to work. If you believe with all of your heart that this is possible, then I shall be able to come and help you,” Luna replied.
“Hmm. Maybe,” Maeve said. “I listened to what you said, about lucid dreaming. As I started to drift away, I believed with all my heart that you would appear as a stuffed doll, and here you are.”
“Yes Maeve.” Luna steeled herself to endure this humiliation as best as she could. If being a stuffed doll brought Maeve comfort, then Luna was willing to bear it. “You believed that it was so and you made it real. So when you are awake, take a piece of chalk and draw a line around your closet door, around the wooden frame. It will make me real when I come to help you.”
“I suppose I can try it. It can’t hurt anything.” Maeve lifted Luna up, brushed her blue yarn mane aside, and kissed the stuffed pony on the head. “The book I read that it was possible to reach Tír na hÓige by drawing a door with sacred chalk and making a wish… and I have been wondering if a chalk door could open into the world of the ponies.”
“It will, I promise you, but you have to believe. Magic works through will. Because of your will, I am now a talking stuffed animal.” The stitches that made up Luna’s mouth turned up into a soft grin.
“And you have pretty button eyes.” Maeve let out a girlish squeal, squeezed Luna to her breast, and bounced up and down. “Will it really work? Do you think you could help me?”
“If you believe that I can, then yes, I will. What happens now is up to you. This is a test of your faith, your character, and your will. You have magic. You are making this happen. You have a great and powerful gift… and if you call me to you, I will help you,” Luna replied.
“I want to believe this is true,” Maeve lifted Luna into the air once more, spun Luna around, making the stuffed pony fly through the air, and after whirling a few times, Maeve set Luna down upon the bed.
Even as a stuffed animal, Luna felt her skin crawl with revulsion as she was set down upon the bed. The bed was a place of horror and Luna knew all too well what dark secrets it held. She pranced about on spindly stuffed legs and fluttered her felt wings.
“So, in Equestria, do bad things happen there?” Maeve asked.
With a thoughtful pause, Luna pondered her answer. Luna had been one of the bad things that had happened to Equestria. “Bad things do happen, but there are many brave ponies who step up as heroes. There are monsters in the world, but there are also fierce guardians.”
“So with you being a princess pony, do you have an army of knights protecting you?” Maeve looked at Luna, her green eyes wide and filled with adoration.
“No.” Luna shook her head. “I am one of the guardians. I am the Princess of the Night. I go out into the darkness and I battle monsters… shadows, creeping things, abominations that threaten my subjects. I might be a princess, but I get my hooves dirty. I have the combat experience of centuries and I can be a terrible foe if my ire is provoked.”
“A princess that goes out and fights?” Maeve blinked and looked incredulous.
“I love my subjects and I would never want them hurt.” Luna blinked and made a gesture with her stuffed leg. “A princess must prove their worth, like Twilight Sparkle has, or Princess Cadance. Both have battled terrible foes.” Standing on the bed, she watched as Maeve pulled out a piece of chalk from her dresser drawer and then began to draw white lines around the closet door frame.
“Your princesses are knights?” Maeve asked, her voice an excited gush. She tossed the chalk to the floor and then pressed both hands into her cheeks and squeezed her face. “That’s so exciting!” A white streak was left over her freckles after her hand was pulled away.
Considering Maeve’s words for a moment, Luna nodded.
“I would love to be a princess knight… I never understood why princesses can’t save themselves…” Maeve began to choke, to gag, and her eyes went bloodshot. She clawed at her throat, gurgling, and her eyes bulged as her face turned purple.
Luna blinked, lifted her head, and looked around. She felt an odd sense of panic. “What happened?” she asked in a groggy voice. She felt a terrible pain in her head and her ears were ringing.
“I dunno! I dunno! The signal just got all weird and then it fizzled out. I don’t know what happened! It keep getting weaker! Luna, the signal is fading away… like… like it is dying or something!” Twilight pranced around, frantic, watching as the crystals that powered the mirror grew dim.
Terrified, Luna thought about the chalk outline that Maeve had drawn in her dream. She wondered if it would be real enough. Dream magic had its own rules, its own peculiarities, its own oddities.
“Luna, we are losing the signal!” Twilight cried.
Throwing off the blankets, Luna got out of bed. Closing her eyes, Luna made a terrible decision, one that she knew could leave her stranded. “Twilight, can you open a portal with what little signal we have left?”
“Yes, I think but it could be dangerous and—”
“DO IT!” Luna opened her eyes.
Whimpering, Twilight’s horn flashed magenta and the mirror came to life.
Banishing her fear, Luna stepped towards the mirror. It glowed with silver light and the whole room thrummed. She heard Spike gibbering with fright. Standing before the mirror, Luna looked at Twilight Sparkle. “Tell my sister that I love her. One way or another, this ends. Good bye, Twilight Sparkle… you have been a brave and noble friend, and my life has been made better by knowing you.”
Before Twilight Sparkle could respond, Princess Luna stepped through the mirror and vanished. Wailing from the pain of her mental anguish, Twilight Sparkle went to work, trying to keep the portal open.
Princess Luna stepped through the closet door and into a familiar bedroom. She looked around, heard gurgled cries and other, terrible sounds too awful to describe. She heard the creaking of bedsprings.
Luna, still in pony form, realised that she had no magic in this place.
“Get off of her, YOU CUR!” Magic or no, Luna still had her voice, and her voice was terrible. The glass globes of the gas lamps all shattered from the force of her voice.
“What the hell?” the bearded human male disentangled himself from the body face down in the bed. Reaching down, he picked up his belt from off of the floor and wrapped it around his fist a few times. He raised it and waved it at Luna.
For a moment, Luna thought about impaling the naked male on her horn, but the very thought made her sick. She charged and then felt the burning sting of leather against her flesh. She clipped the human as she passed, sending him sprawling. While he was down, Luna lifted her hind legs, took aim, and bucked.
Both hooves caught the human in the gut and sent him skidding over the wooden floor. Winded, helpless, the human lay on his back, his lips looking rather fishlike as he struggled to find his breath.
He was no longer a threat. Luna turned away and went to the girl in the bed. In the soft light, Luna saw blood all over the sheets… and vomit around the pillow. Unable to use her telekinesis, Luna used her hoof to roll Maeve over.
There was a gasp as Maeve sucked air into her lungs; then she began to cough and splutter, clearing vomit out of her airway. The little girl clawed at her throat and her mouth as she drew in those first painful breaths after not breathing for far too long.
For a moment, as Luna realised that Maeve’s father had been drowning his daughter in her own vomit while he slaked his sick lusts, Luna contemplated murder. She turned and glared at him. He was coughing up blood all over the floor. Luna considered the scene for a moment. Perhaps I have already killed him, and this is the slow death he deserves. She turned her head back to Maeve and made a terrible decision, a decision that she knew there would be dreadful consequences for. Even though Luna was a princess, she could be made to answer for certain crimes. Luna ceased to care about right or wrong.
“Maeve, can you stand?” Luna asked in a gentle whisper.
The girl flopped about and coughed, she made no reply.
“Maeve, I’m taking you away from his place. You’re coming home with me.” Luna lowered her head. “Maeve, I cannot lift you in this form. I need for you to grab ahold of my neck and try to pull yourself over my back. The portal might already be closing. If you don’t move, we’ll be stuck here forever.”
Covered in blood and vomit, Maeve rolled over and threw her arms around Luna’s neck as she continued to cough and splutter, trying to fill her lungs with much needed air.
Luna stepped away from the bed, pulling Maeve with her, and there was a thump as Maeve’s legs hit the wooden floor. Luna feared that Maeve would lose her grip, that the girl would let go.
“Tír na hÓige,” Maeve croaked in a guttural whisper as Luna dragged her towards the closet door.
Bracing her legs, Luna pulled forward, dragging Maeve with her. In the faint light, Luna saw a chalk outline around the door. A piece of chalk lay on the floor nearby, it had broken in two. With a grunt, Princess Luna stepped through the door, pulling Maeve Rosethicket with her, and the pair vanished in a flash of silver light.