Chapter 5
"Contacting Sweetheart"
Early the next morning, Twilight and her friends travelled to find Sweetheart, the pony who had helped Rainbow Dash overcome her drinking problem and deal with Tank's hibernation. They soon learned that Sweetheart had left the Wonderbolt Academy and had relocated to Canterlot, eager to help out the elite of Canterlot get through their lives.
"Spitfire said that Sweetheart was here," said Rainbow Dash, as they came up to a large blue building that was about mid height. "She sure has outdone herself, you know."
"Indeed," remarked Rarity as they walked in. "Her waiting room looks first class too."
They all sat in the waiting room and waited for Sweetheart to become available for them. After a while, the doors of her office opened to reveal Lyra and Bon Bon walking out of the office, with dirty looks on each other's faces.
"What's up with them?" asked Pinkie Pie to Fluttershy. "I thought ponies get smiles again after they get help from other ponies."
But, Fluttershy merely responded with a nod that she wasn't sure and that she was the wrong pony to ask. Just then, the door opened to reveal a white pony with a pink mane and tail peeking out and producing a smile on her face. Rainbow Dash got up from where she was sitting and trotted over to give the pony a hug.
"It's good to see you again, Sweetheart," she chuckled.
"Me too, Rainbow Dash," replied Sweetheart as they broke apart. "I see you have been doing well."
Rainbow Dash then beckoned her friends to come over and meet the pony who helped her get over her addiction.
"These are my friends, Sweetheart," said Rainbow Dash. "Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight was uncomfortable with this thinking that Sweetheart would be one of those ponies who would get close to her because of her princess status. Surprisingly, it was not to be.
"Rainbow Dash has told me a lot about you, Twilight," said Sweetheart. "You are quite the leader."
"Well," chuckled Twilight. "You might say that I try to be a good leader."
"I have no doubt about that," replied Sweetheart as they all walked into her office. "Princess Celestia is very lucky to have you as the Princess of Friendship."
Twilight could smile at this as they all sat down on the large sofa. It was at that moment that Twilight cut right to the chase on why they were there.
"Actually, Sweetheart," said Twilight. "The reason we are all here is because of Princess Luna is hiding some feelings she shared with us from Celestia."
Sweetheart had taken a pen and paper and was writing down what Twilight was saying to her. The therapist was very careful to add as much of what Twilight was saying as possible, so as to have an idea of what was happening.
"It seems to me that Luna has ill feelings that she doesn't want to share with everypony," suggested Sweethear. "I must warn you that I can't force anypony to share their private thoughts. If Luna doesn't want to reveal anything that is private, then I must honor her request."
The ponies sighed dejectedly at this, thinking that they had come all the way to Canterlot for nothing, but Sweetheart decided to set them right.
"Hold on a second," she chuckled. "When I say anything that is private, I only mean the ones that she really doesn't want to talk about."
"Oh, that's a relief," sighed Applejack, wiping sweat from her head.
"What we are trying to say," said Twilight. "Is that a few nights ago, Luna had been chasing after a creature that she created to give herself the same nightmare every night to punish herself for what she did as Nightmare Moon."
Sweetheart took this note very seriously and wrote it down on her piece of paper. Although she had been living in Ponyland, news of what Nightmare Moon did in Equestria had spread to her hometown like wildfire. In fact, her friend Patch thought that it was cool to have a pony who wanted eternal night forever.
"It seems to me that Princess Luna has been what we therapists call 'very shady' to others," replied Sweetheart, putting her paper down. "Ponies like her will use self-harm as a way of hiding their feelings from those around them."
"Kind of like me with the alcoholic cider," said Rainbow Dash.
"That's right, Rainbow Dash," added Sweetheart. "We all tend to hide our feelings from others because we are afraid of what will happen when the truth does eventually come out. But, as I said before, we can't force everypony to reveal their darkest secrets. However, what needs to be done is that Luna and Celestia must improve on their communication with each other."
All the ponies nodded in agreement on that part. Celestia and Luna were more than princesses, they were sisters and communication between them was extremely key in not only being good monarchs, but also good ponies in general.
"So, do you think you can help them, Sweetheart?" asked Twilight.
"I think its best if I meet with both of them," replied Sweetheart. "I will have them meet with me first thing in the morning and I will see what I can do with them."
All the ponies got up at that moment and walked towards the door of Sweetheart's office, opening it up and stepping back out into the waiting room.
"Thank you again for helping us, Sweetheart," said Twilight. "I'm sure you will do your best."
"That is what I am here for, Princess," replied Sweetheart. "My job is to calm the minds of Equestria. See you in the morning."
As they left, Twilight and her friends could not help but wonder how Luna was going to react to the news that she and Celestia were going to be facing each other in a therapist's office.
Little did they all know, however, that there was another pony who was also aware of the tension between the royal sisters and who was also good at detecting lies, the ruler of the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence herself…