To say that Princess Celestia was shocked would be the understatement of the century. To say she was confused would be the understatement of the millennium! From her perch on top of the labyrinth wall, she dropped to the ground, slowing her fall only a bit with her wings. When she hit the earth, though, she allowed her knees to give way and dropped to the ground. She could hardly process what she had seen, and was still trying to take it all in. She stared down at her hooves, the familiar sight helping her to focus enough to repaint the mental image of what she had witnessed.
Alright, if this isn't a nightmare, then... I just saw another draconequus. Discord was the only one any pony ever knew of, so this must either be a new threat, or one of his stupid tricks. For a moment, she looked up at Discord's vitrified form, as if it would give some answer, but it remained as it was: a horrified visage writhing in the throes of defeat. No smug grin, no hooting laughter... She turned her focus back to her own memory. But, what kind of threat would he be? He was mourning, that much was obvious. Perhaps he would want revenge for Discord's defeat? She shook her head again. To have known Discord before he was defeated would mean that he's been waiting more than a thousand years. He would have struck far sooner if her wanted revenge, maybe even worked with Nightmare Moon...
But if he cares enough about Discord to come and mourn him, why hasn't he appeared until now? There were never any signs of new chaos... A thought struck her like a ton of bricks. The Princess looked around, taking in every detail of the clearing. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she rose to her feet and made a quick jog around the entire clearing, inspecting every inch of shrubbery, every blade of grass, but nothing was wrong. There isn't even a single drop of chocolate milk or a wisp of cotton candy! If he's a draconequus, where's the chaos? She shook her head and took off into the sky. This doesn't make any sense! A draconequus who cares about Discord didn't try to help him, and hasn't left so much as a smudge of chaos!
If the Princess was acting in a way out of the ordinary, none of the palace servants would bring it up with her, out of respect. After her "day off", however, she had become extremely antisocial, spending all of her time in the Canterlot Library. She would only come out for her most essential royal duties, and nopony, not even her guards, was allowed to enter. Some rumored that she was taking from the example of her faithful student, trying to better understand her. Others said that she had cracked under the pressures of leadership after 1,000 years and was making preparations to leave.
After two days of isolation and rumors, Princess Luna could take it no longer, and resolved to find what had bothered her normally tranquil sister so much. She put her other appointments on hold and rescheduled her meetings, then left for the library. As she drew near to the doors, two white-coated soldiers in the customary gold armor of the royal day guard bowed and moved aside. Luna smiled, happy at the fact that she would not have to force her way into the library.
"Your highness, I mean no disrespect..." One guard stuttered as she passed by. "Princess Celestia has requested that there be no visitors to her during this time, and that we are to repel all intruders..."
The first guard's tentative words gave his companion the extra courage to speak. "We will, of course, defer to you, but we felt that we should first warn you of your sisters wishes..."
"And our orders, which we swore never to disobey when we were inducted as guards..."
Luna was a tad bit taken aback, at first, but soon realized what was truly happening. "My sister is indeed wise, and has chosen her guardians well. I thank you for your warning, and you may rest assured that there shall be no repercussions for your deference. Your oath of obedience shall still be held fulfilled..." Both guards seemed to relax at the fact that they would not be punished for disobeying their orders, and Luna passed through with no more interruptions.
All was silent in the library when Luna first entered. Most of the hallways were darkened, and all of the curtains were pulled down. This was no problem, of course, Luna's eyes could spot a black cat under a new moon at 150 yards. She felt it odd, though, that her sister would do such a thing. Her hoofsteps echoed in the empty halls as she walked forward, giving the entire library a feel of total abandonment. As the unnatural silence permeated her body, her ears grew in sensitivity, and she began to make out a familiar voice from far off.
"No, I don't want to know about Discord. Tell me about the other one!" The voice was faint, but Luna quickly pinpointed the direction that it was coming from and hurried to a trot.
"I know what a draconequus looks like, I want to know an identity, give me a name!"
Draconequus? What is Tia doing? Who is she talking to? Luna wondered, more than a little concerned, now. Her trot sped to a full-out sprint and she soon found the room where her sister had taken up residence. From the light creeping out under the door, she could see that it was the one well-lit room in the library. Luna burst through the door, ready for anything.
Anything, except the sight of her sister, haggard and messy, sitting in the middle of a sea of open books, yelling at a volume on the history of Africa, homeland of the zebras.
"Is that all of the information you can give me? You're not helping!" She levitated the book and threw it into the corner, where it landed on top of a pile of open volumes.
"Celestia, what are you doing?" Luna asked, feeling a bit relieved at the fact that there was no one else in the room, pony or draconequus. She was, however, more than incredulous at the fact that her sister, in complete opposition or her normal, levelheaded nature, was freaking out over something having to do with Discord to the point of interrogating inanimate objects.
Celestia turned around, her surprise at an intruder clear. "Me? What am I doing?" She nervously chuckled, pulling a curtain over the pile of books in the corner. "Nothing! Nothing... I just felt like... Catching up on my reading list! It's grown quite long as of late, and I really felt that a to-do list shouldn't grow unchecked!" Her eyes were bloodshot, her mane had ceased its normal flow, and it was obvious that she hadn't been sleeping much. She smiled unconvincingly.
"Celestia, you have rarely lied to me throughout our entire lives. You are very bad at it." Luna was blunt with her words as she picked up one of the books lying on the floor. "Besides, I doubt that 'A Historie Of Chaotic Magiks' by Starswirl the Bearded is on your typical reading list..." She picked her way through the books, trying not to tread on any volumes, and sat down next to her older sister, spreading a wing over her protectively.
"Now, will you please tell me what's really got you so worked up, Tia?"