It was about a half hour later before the reunited mentor and student were able to think of anything besides each other. They were still teary eyed when the rest of the Sparkle family and Luna entered the library. It was then that Luna explained the dream state that she had found Naruto in the previous night.
“After being evicted from Naruto’s mind I spent the rest of the night searching for reference to exploring the mind realms. I was directed to the works of the reportedly insane unicorn Silver Stem the Bewildering. The works of the mage were difficult to understand but I believe I have found a spell that should allow me to better explore his mind and give me additional control of the mental plain.”
“So what will we need for the journey?” Twilight asked. Luna’s ears perked up at this,
“We, Twilight Sparkle?” The dark colored alicorn asked.
“Well he is my son, I want to know what is happening first hand.”
“And it would hardly seem fair to make you bear this burden by yourself sister.” Celestia said.
“I for one would be interested to see such old magic at work.” Sunset Shimmer added.
The rest of the assembled ponies, human and dragon included, expressed their desire to make the journey into Naruto’s mind a group effort. Luna’s face contorted into a look of disappointment,
“I am sorry everyone, but I cannot take you into Naruto’s mind with me.” She said sadly, “The spell that I will be using is too foreign to me to risk a large group. In fact, I am confident to only use the spell on myself at this point.”
There was a general sense of disappointment but all present relented to Luna’s reason. So about fifteen minutes Luna was making her final preparations to enter the child’s mind. The old tome by Silver Stem lay nearby open to the mind walking spell with a curious Twilight Sparkle reading it,
“I can see why many have never heard of Silver Stem before, this stallion is absolutely insane.” The Princess of Friendship stated, “These are more along the lines of a crazy pony then a scholar. Thank goodness the archivist also gave you an annotated version. How anyone could understand these passages is beyond me.”
“Silver Stem was at one point a well-respected mage,” Celestia stated, “During his youth he was heralded as the next Starswirl the Bearded.”
“You knew him sister?” Luna asked curiously.
“Indeed I did Luna. He was one of my first students after I opened my school for gifted unicorns. He was also my personal protégé for many years. He was also my first failing as a mentor.” This got everyone’s attention.
“Princess, wha… what happened?” Sunset Shimmer asked with wide eyes. Everyone could see the Princess of the Sun struggle to find the words to speak her confession,
“I gave him too much freedom of study. He dabbled in strange magic and artifacts; some ponies even accused him of trying to raise the dead. He ran away from my teaching and vanished without a trace until I received a letter from him asking to store his life’s work in the archives. For his sake and my own, I discouraged the inclusion of Silver Stem in any contemporary work.”
Celestia shook her head,
“It seems that I have many skeletons in my closet; but I regret every last one that I was never ever able to help or make amends to.”
This statement made by the princess made a lot of heads hang in sadness for the white alicorn. The mood was broken when Naruto said,
“Well, don’t ya keep on trying?”
The simple wisdom of the child snapped everyone out of the sullen mood and made Celestial smile,
“Thank you Naruto.” The princess of the sun walked over to the child and embraced the little human. Naruto was more than happy to return the embrace; he was not going to pass up any opportunity for a hug. Everyone smiled at the display of affection,
‘His family just keeps growing.’ Twilight thought to herself.
After Celestia ended the embrace Luna resumed her work on preparing the spell. Once it was ready Luna gave her assurance to everyone gathered.
“We should be gone for at least an hour, maybe more. Silver Stem made it seem that time is convoluted when on the mental plain.” Then she turned her attention to Naruto, “I’m going to cast a small sleeping spell. It is dangerous to mind walk when a brain is active. Are you ready?”
Seeing her foal’s small amount of nervousness, Twilight got on the couch and had the boy lean up against her. With his mother beside him the kid nodded his head,
“I’m ready.” With the confirmation Luna lit up her horn with magic. Naruto let out a little yawn and leaned into the pony next to him. His eyes closed and his rhythmic breathing was a telltale sign he was asleep. Luna then touched the tip of her horn to Naruto’s forehead. As soon as contact was made there was a small flash of bright light and Luna’s body remained completely still signifying the spell was in effect.
What went unnoticed by the ponies and dragon in the room was what had happened to the book by Silver Stem. When the light had erupted from the spell working a small bolt of violet energy shot from the pages of the book and into the mind of the unsuspecting sleeping human.
It was completely dark around Luna. Nothing but an empty inky blackness around her; but in spite of the darkness she could still see herself, like she was illuminated by her sister’s sun. Not seeing the young human, she started calling out,
“Naruto! Naruto!”
“The mind you are seeking is not here.” A strange voice said from behind her.
Luna quickly turned about and gasped in surprise at the sight of another pony standing behind her. However, this one did not look like a regular pony. The body build would suggest a unicorn mare with that was made of sapphire crystal. The eyes of the pony startled Luna, those eyes were completely empty. They were simply two white voids. The other strange thing about the pony before her was her mane and tail. They were comprised of pure violet energy.
“Who are you?” Luna asked the strange pony. In a seemingly fake voice the mare responded,
“I was designated as L.O.G.I. Librium Operated Guidance Intelligence. My master created me as a means to store his research notes when he was travelling in the realm of the mind. May I ask your designation?” With her mind a buzz with questions Luna responded,
“I am Luna, Princess of the Night and Moon raiser for Equestria.” L.O.G.I’s face shifted into a confused expression,
“I am unfamiliar with that name. My master informed me that the ruler of Equestria was designated Celestia.”
“I am her sister. I assume by your master you mean Silver Stem the Bewildering?” An image of a tall silver wizard pony materialized between L.O.G.I and Luna.
“My master’s designation is Silver Stem. He has not updated any of my information banks for many cycles. Tell me, what has happened to my master?”
Luna felt great unease, did this life form before her feel sadness? Should she tell L.O.G.I that Silver Stem was dead? Would she even recognize the idea of death?
“Your master is unable to, um, update you anymore.”
“Has my master ceased function?”
L.O.G.I’s emotionless voice and blunt question of confirmation took Luna by surprise, but she nodded her head in response.
“Logical. Master tried to impart the idea of mortality to me. He explained it to me that… death, is a total ceasing of all functions of the body. Last update to me he stated that his functions were becoming slower, that some might cease soon. Factoring the number of cycles since the last update it would make sense that he has ceased function.”
“You don’t seem very sad about your master’s death.” Luna observed.
“My master did not include emotional feeling in my creation. In his last update he began uploading texts about emotions. I have been awaiting more information before integrating emotional reaction into my operating procedures.”
Luna’s next thought was cut off by the sound of humming coming from somewhere in the void. It was the sound of a child humming a little tune. That was when the true purpose of her mission here came back,
“Oh no, I have to find Naruto.”
“Then it is my prerogative to help you.” L.O.G.I stated, “I assisted my master whenever he explored the realm of the mind. I can assist you if you desire.”
Luna only spent a moment in considering the offer to help. She needed to find Naruto and this L.O.G.I was her best bet, that is if her origin was truthful.
“Very well, you may help.”
“Excellent. I believe the emotion that I should be feeling in this case is elation? I am… pleased to return to my original function.”
Luna suddenly became aware of a growing light behind her. Turning around she gazed in awe at what had materialized. A magnificent set of large double doors made of stained glass stood proudly before her. The scene confused Luna a small bit. In the foreground was Naruto; he looked like he was asleep leaning up against Twilight who in turn was allowing Naruto to sleep against her. The two were in the shade of a tree that appeared to be a cherry blossom tree.
“What you see before you is a representation of what occupies the forefront of the subject’s mind.”
“His name is Naruto,”
“Noted, subject’s name is Naruto.”
Luna approached the door and asked,
“How do we enter?”
As if in response the doors swung open revealing a field of white light. Bracing herself Luna approached the wall of light with L.O.G.I following right behind her.
Back in the outside world Twilight anxiously sitting on the couch with Naruto still leaning against her. Twilight’s parents had stepped out to go bring back some food for the company as they waited for answers. Finally, Sunset Shimmer let out a long groan,
“Twilight, you need to calm down. They only started ten minutes ago.”
“Sorry, I am just on edge.”
“We all are my faithful student.” Celestia added moving her eyes off of Luna, “But we must put faith in my sister’s skills, and Silver Stem’s understanding of mind magic.”
This silenced Twilight’s physical apprehensions but her mind remained a torrent of worry. The alicorn princess turned her gaze to the floor in deep concentration. Sunset Shimmer took note of this and decided to divert Twilight’s attention,
“So Twilight, what are the plans for Naruto’s future?”
Thankful for the diversion Twilight began,
“Well for starters he needs to learn to control his magic. Yesterday at the park he demonstrated that he is capable of teleportation.” The new mother said with a not so subtle hint of pride. This statement really caught the attention of the other two mares in the room,
“Teleportation? At such a young age Twi?” Sunset asked incredulously.
“Yep, he did it to protect a couple of fillies from being hit by a wayward ball.”
“It seems we may have a future guard in young Naruto.” Celestia commented.
“If he wasn’t bound for the shinobi forces in the Hidden Leaf Village I’m sure that he would jump at the chance to be a member of the Royal Guards.”
“I see no reason why he cannot be part of both.” The Princess of the Sun stated, “If Naruto receives magical training from you and physical training from a member of the Royal Guard then he can be presented as an Equestrian Battle Mage when he is to enter his village’s ranks.”
“That would really put him at an advantage over his peers. It may just earn a few favors from the village when they see how well Naruto turned out.”
“What about his future education?” Sunset asked.
“Well, most shinobi stop their formal education after they graduate from the academy…” Realization dawned on Twilight’s face and was replaced by horror, “No child of mine is going to stop their education at the age of twelve!”
“You could always enroll him at Canterlot High School.” Sunset jokingly added.
“Sunset!” Twilight exclaimed, “You’re a genius!”
“Umm… What did I do?” Sunset asked.
“I will enroll Naruto at Canterlot High! Well, once he is of age that is. Until then I can continue to teach him here.”
Princess Celestia allowed a gentle smile as her two former students got to talking about curriculum for the young human.
‘Motherhood suits you Twilight. This journey to another world is the best thing that could have happened to you.’ The Sun Princess thought to herself. Celestia took a look at the still forms of her sister and Naruto. Celestia did a double take when she saw tears forming at the edges of Luna’s eyes,
“Luna?” Celestia’s sudden comment drew everypony’s attention to the entranced duo. They too saw the tears coming down Luna’s face.
“Princess, what is going on?” Twilight asked.
“I do not know. Luna just started crying. She must have found something that has upset her enough to reflect on the outside.”
‘Sister, what is going on?’