//------------------------------// // She's Hiding Something // Story: Cries of a Self-Tormented Soul // by twilightsparkle3562 //------------------------------// "Cries of a Self-Tormented Soul" By TwilightSparkle3562 Chapter 1 "She's Hiding Something" It had been several days since Luna had recaptured the Tantabus, a creature that had the ability to infect pony's dreams like a virus. However, in order for the virus to be weakened, Luna had to confront her guilt over the acts she had caused as Nightmare Moon. Although Luna had expressed her feelings for her actions, she somehow could not share her feelings with the one pony that was the most important to her: Princess Celestia. It all started when the two sisters had their nightly dinners together in the main dining hall. Celestia could see that Luna was hiding something from her and wanted to find out the truth. After all, they were both sisters and had to be open to one another. "Luna," said Celestia. "There seems to be something on your mind and I would like to know what it is." Luna stopped eating upon hearing those words and instead, closed her eyes and pretended not to hear what Celestia had said. "If you are referring to the Tantabus," replied Luna, hastily. "It is over and done with. Twilight Sparkle and her friends helped me catch it and nothing more." "Don't hide your feelings from me, little sister," insisted Celestia. "For the past few nights, you've been acting strange and I just want to make sure everything is all right." Luna was starting to grow impatient with Celestia and she could feel a boiling anger that was growing inside of her. Out of all the princesses, Luna was the one with the fiercest temper and nopony wanted to be around her when she was angry. "I've told you that nothing was wrong and that is it," said Luna, her anger rising. "Why can't you just leave me alone, big sister?" Luna stormed away from the table and using her magic, slammed the door of the dining hall shut. But, Celestia was not going to let her sister get away and quickly followed her, determined to find out the truth. "Because I care about you, Luna," she said as she blocked Luna from going any further. "If you have something on your mind, then tell me. Is it something that I have done?" "No," replied Luna, bitterly and wanting to get back to her private quarters. "You have not done anything. This doesn't concern you at all." "It does Luna," cried Celestia, her voice filled with concern. "If you think I caused you to become second rate to me, then I'm sorry if I did. I know you have feelings of guilt towards me and you have every right to be angry with me." But Luna said nothing and continued to walk off. In her mind, she knew that Celestia was not the one who caused her to go down the dark path. Luna knew very well that it was herself and herself alone that caused her to act the way she did. But if there was one weakness that the Princess of the Night had, it was keeping her feelings private from those that were close to her, especially Celestia. "If you will excuse me, dear sister," Luna said, quietly and not looking back at Celestia. "I have to attend my duties as Princess of the Night. I will see you at daybreak." Using her magic, Luna disappeared in a flash from Celestia and left the Princess of Day feeling very downhearted. Celestia wanted to help her sister with the feelings she was harboring, but didn't know how. But, Celestia knew that something was happening. "Luna is hiding something from me," she thought as Celestia sat in her quarters that night. "Something must have happened while she was in everypony's dream and I am going to find out what it is if it is the last thing I do." At that moment, Celestia began to write a scroll to the one pony that witnessed her sister's emotional breakdown, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Twilight had been the pony who helped Celestia in the past and had always been there for her. Not to mention that she was the pony who had reunited Luna with Celestia to begin with. Once she had written the scroll, she activated her magic and it disappeared. "I hope Twilight can help us again," thought Celestia and she removed her royal accessories and tiara before climbing into bed and going to sleep. Meanwhile, Twilight was asleep in her bed, finally being able to sleep peacefully following the events with the Tantabus. However, her sleep didn't last very long when she heard Spike, her baby dragon assistant, burp out something from all the way down in his bedroom. Thinking that he was throwing up, Twilight ran out of her bedroom and down to his bedroom. "Spike, are you okay?" cried Twilight, seeing Spike hanging from the side of his bed. "I heard you throwing up. Are you sick?" "No," moaned the baby dragon. "Celestia must have sent you a late night message or something." Twilight took the scroll and read it out loud: "My Dearest Twilight, I am sorry to be writing to you this late at night, but there is something that has been bothering me for some time. I know that something had happened when you and your friends helped Luna confront the Tantabus, but she is refusing to tell me what it is. If there is one pony who could help me get her to tell me what is wrong, it is you and your friends. Please let me know as soon as possible if you could help me. Your mentor and fellow princess, Princess Celestia." Putting the scroll down, Twilight grabbed a scroll of her own and quickly wrote down a response to it. However, Spike didn't think it was a good idea and wanted to go back to sleep. "Aw, come on, Twilight," he yawned. "Can't you worry about this in the morning or something?" "I can't Spike," she replied, completing the scroll. "I guess Luna doesn't want to tell Celestia about what had happened against the Tantabus. Remember we made a pact to always tell each other what was on our minds?" "Yeah," said Spike. "So what?" "Apparently, Luna refuses to tell her own sister what is wrong," replied Twilight, giving the scroll to Spike for him to send back to Celestia. "Sooner or later, she is going to have to confess to Celestia about what had happened." Spike yawned again as he sent the scroll to Celestia with his fire breath and climbed back into bed, determined to get back to sleep. With the message sent, Twilight also returned to bed, eagerly awaiting what was going to happen next.