The party, though confined to one room, lasted long into the early hours of the morning. At around midday, seven tired, yet happy friends made their way to the dining hall for a late breakfast. the atmosphere was warm and inviting with sunlight pouring in through the tall glass windows and the long table draped in a white tablecloth dotted with candles and vases filled with flowers. As Applejack went to ask the chefs to fix up some food, the others took their seats either next to or across from Twilight, who had brought a few of her scrolls with her.
"So what did you find out?" Spike asked excitedly. "Anything good?"
"Yeah you've been here for three whole day!" Rainbow added. "You must have found something by now."
"Take a look at these," Twilight offered and passed around a scroll. "I found some interesting depictions of the princesses."
"Are sure you should be showing us these?" Rarity asked. "Wouldn't Princess Celestia nd Princess Luna find it rather...Rude that you're spreading these around so soon?"
"I think they look cool with the sparkly armor!" Pinkie stated. "I wish we had that when we fought Tirek."
"They look scary..." Fluttershy mumbled.
"Isn't that a good kind of scary though?" Rainbow asked. "They're protecting ponies right?"
"What about this passage here Twilight? The one about dreams, where did you find that?" Rarity asked and pointed to one the pieces of writing Twilight had copied down under the various drawings.
"That was something I looked through for a while, I wrote it down to remind myself not to get off track," Twilight explained. "it's a theory that links various points of equestrian history to the presence of Princess Luna. There's the usual stuff like defending the land against Discord and King Sombra, but it goes more into what else she's done over the years beyond working alongside her sister. I was going to ask her about it yesterday when she stopped by to visit, but..."
"Something on your mind?" Applejack asked as she came back in. "Why don't you tell us all about it after breakfast, some good food ought to help calm your nerves."
"Good idea."
***
"So Twilight, what's the big deal anyway?" Rainbow asked as the group sat around the table.
"I tried to talk to princess Luna about some of things I've discovered in my research, but she only gave vague answers and when I brought up the subject of Nightmare Moon, she got nervous, like she was hiding something," Twilight explained. "I know it was a horrible time for her, but I didn't think it was still a sensitive subject for her, she even started using the royal we."
"Ya mean that funny way she was talking on Nightmare Night?" Applejack. "I thought she stopped using that?"
"I know, but from what I've found on it, her use of it makes sense," Twilight replied. "The use of 'thou' instead of 'you' is used as an informal way of addressing somepony, It was only used when in the company of ponies the royal family could trust, ponies who didn't need to see them as a prince or princess, but as friends or trusted allies."
"So when she was using it on nightmare night.." Rainbow began. "She was being friendly?"
"I think so," Twilight replied. "But i don't understand, she wants me to meet her tonight to watch her raise the moon, but when I brought up Princess Celestia she seemed, afraid, like she really is hiding something."
"Maybe it's a sisterly problem?" Applejack suggested. "i know I've had to convince Applebloom to tell me when she's done something wrong, could be something as simple as that."
"Well, sometimes there re some things we're not comfortable telling somepoines, but telling a good friend is easy," Fluttershy added. "It must be hard for Princess Luna to tell her sister about things from a thousand years ago, maybe she just wants somepony to talk to."
"Maybe...I still can't get over the fact that so many history books just skimmed over all the things Luna has done for Equestria," Twilight grumbled. "She invented the calendar and there's an entire history of psychology inspired by her work of patrolling dreams a thousand years ago."
"Really?" her friends replied.
"Three hundred years ago a pony called Colt Jung collected stories and accounts of princess Luna's dream walking abilities and combined with a whole bunch of other things to create an entire field of pony psychology," the purple princess explained and sighed. "Maybe Luna just needs somepony to talk to after all, I know I feel much better after talking to all of you."
"Yeah and afterwards, we can throw Princess Luna a party, that'll cheer her up for sure!" Pinkie added.
***
As the sun began to set, Twilight stood outside the door to Luna's chambers. The navy blue door emblazoned with the crescent moon opened and Luna quietly welcomed Twilight inside. Light streamed in from the balcony opposite the large four poster bed and highlighted the rich blue carpet and the elegantly carved wooden furniture that sparsely decorated the room. Star charts were neatly organised on the wall above a desk covered with unfinished charts and pieces of paper, the cushion that served as a seat had a few stray feathers around it, as did the large couch by the fireplace at the back of the room.
"Welcome to my humble abode, Twilight Sparkle, please take a seat," Luna stated and motioned to the couch. "We have much to discuss."