Chapter 1
It wasn’t long after Twilight’s coronation ceremony that Celestia invited Twilight to come live in the castle within Canterlot. Twilight was walking besides Celestia in an unfamiliar wing of the castle. The hallway was long and windowless, only lit with torches. The two princesses continued walking down the hallway until arriving at the end, which ended in a grand circular room with three doors.
To the left was a set of doors with Celestia’s cutie mark prominently displayed. On the right was a set of doors with Luna’s cutie mark displayed. The center door had Twilight’s cutie mark. Celestia stopped in the center of the circular room at the end of the hallway, and Twilight followed suit and stopped as well, taking her time to study the grand, wooden carved doors. Each set of doors was guarded by a pair of guards.
“Can you guess which room is yours, Twilight?” Celestia asked Twilight rhetorically.
Twilight did her best to come up with a witty response, which was never her strong suit. “I’m thinking door number two…” Twilight responded.
Celestia put on a serious face. “Is that your final answer?” Celestia saw Twilight give a firm nod. “Well then, let’s see what’s behind door number 2…” Celestia motioned towards Twilight’s doors with her front right leg.
Twilight approached her door, walking right between the two guards. It made her slightly uncomfortable to be standing between them, even though it was their job to protect her. Twilight’s horn and right side of the door glowed a pink color but the door didn’t move. It didn’t take more than a second or two for Twilight to realize she was supposed to pull, not push. Twilight pulled the door open, walked into her room and stopped.
Celestia used her magic to open the other side of the door and walked into the room, standing beside Twilight. The room was beautiful. Light shone into the room from elaborate, crystal clear windows. To the right was the most elaborately carved wooden desk Twilight had ever seen, and to the right was the most elaborately carved wooden bed frame Twilight had ever seen. In fact, Twilight couldn’t remember ever seeing a room as ornate and perfect as hers. Twilight couldn’t help but wonder what Celestia and Luna’s quarters looked like.
Celestia broke the silence. “Of course, we will eventually determine find a more suitable kingdom and castle for you, but this will have to do. I hope this accommodation will be alright for now.” Celestia smiled and looked down toward Twilight.
“It’s the most beautiful room I’ve ever seen, it’s wonderful! I can only imagine what your room and Luna’s room must look like.” Twilight hinted her desire to finally be allowed to see her once-mentor’s room. Celestia received Twilight’s no so subtle hint, but didn’t say anything.
Suddenly, a blood curdling scream was heard through the stone walls. The sound was fierce, and obviously came from a pony of great distress. Twilight jumped in surprise at hearing the screams. “Gah! What is that?!”
Celestia didn’t so much as flinch. “What do you mean?”
The screaming sounds were still coming in loud and clear through the walls. Twilight looked to Celestia. “Those screams! Can’t you hear them?”
Celestia suddenly realized that she hadn’t fully briefed Twilight on the real reason she was staying at the castle in Canterlot. “Oh, that. Yes, I can hear it, but after a while, I learned to just tune it out.”
Twilight’s draw dropped as the screams of terror kept on coming. “How can you tune out screams like that? Who is that? Princess Luna?”
Celestia’s ears went down as she sighed, something which Twilight didn’t see very often. “Yes, Twilight. It is. Even though Luna’s return was over three years ago, she’s still quite traumatized. During the night, she visits other pony’s nightmares to offer assistance, and during the day she sleeps, having terrible nightmares of her own. I’m afraid that has become her life now, one nightmare right after another.”
Twilight knew that Luna had issues, especially after their encounter on Nightmare Night, but Twilight never fully realized how damaged Luna really was. “Isn’t there anything you can do to help her?” Twilight inquired.
“I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that. I can barely get within talking distance to Luna before getting a violent reaction out of her. If I get too close, she just screams and tries to run away. She thinks I’m going to send her back to the moon.” Celestia said, sadly.
“But hold on, I remember you and Luna were next to each other before I was sent to save the Crystal Empire!”
“Yes, but that was only possible because Luna was heavily medicated. But this last year, she’s refused to take anything at all.”
“Why won’t she take any medication?” Twilight asked.
“She seems to be under the impression that I’m trying to poison her. It breaks my heart that Luna has such little trust in me. Though I suppose I don’t really deserve Luna’s trust…” Celestia did her best to hold back her tears, but one got through anyway and slid down her check. Twilight noticed, but didn’t say anything. A moment of scream-filled ‘silence’ passed before she spoke.
“Maybe I can talk to Luna for you. She seems to trust me, at least enough to talk with me.”
Celestia sniffled and wiped away the single sear. “That’s exactly what I had in mind. I was hoping that maybe you’d be able to talk with her, befriend her, and rehabilitate her. I’ve already send in countless therapists, but none seemed to make any progress. I’m hoping you can talk to her, even befriend her. Maybe you can teach her about modern Equestria too. Anything to take her mind off of the past.”
Celestia bent down to be at eye level with Twilight. With their faces close together, Celestia waited a moment and spoke. “Do you understand the importance of your task?” Twilight nodded. “Good. Then you shall begin tonight when Luna is awake. I have faith in you, young princess.”
With that, Celestia took her exit, leaving Twilight alone in her new room. With Celestia gone, Twilight could hear Luna’s screams through the stone wall more than ever. Twilight couldn’t help but wonder if Luna was having one long nightmare, or multiple short nightmares. The more time Twilight spent wondering what Luna was dreaming about, the less she wanted to know. After a few minutes, Twilight couldn’t take listening to the screams anymore, and decided to step outside for some air.
Twilight spent the rest of the afternoon meandering about the royal gardens. She couldn’t help but think about the terrible situation Celestia and Luna were both in. And then Twilight realized the reality, that her new quarters in the castle was completely unusable during the day. Celestia surely positioned Twilight’s room next to Luna’s to motivate Twilight to rehabilitate Luna as soon as possible. Twilight decided that she had walked in the gardens long enough. Time to start working on her little problem.
With the evening just beginning, Twilight made way to the royal library. As she entered the enormous room, she couldn’t help but notice an elderly mare asleep and snoring at the information desk. The library was off limits to the public, and it had probably been weeks, maybe months since anyone had actually gone there searching for a book. With the moon rising, Twilight knew that Luna was awake. She walked over to the sleeping librarian and coughed, trying to wake the mare up. After no response, Twilight coughed again, but louder. Still no response.
Growing impatient, Twilight levitated one of the larger books on the librarian’s desk, and suddenly dropped it. The book slammed down onto the desk right in front of the librarian’s head, giving her a rude awakening. “Aaah!” Screamed the librarian. Looking up, she saw Twilight standing in front of her desk, frowning. The mare had heard about the new princess, but had never actually seen her. “Oh! You must be the new princess! How may I help you, your highness?”
“I’m looking for a history book. A light survey of important historical events of the last thousand years would be just perfect!”
“Well, that’s certainly specific, let’s see what we can find.” The librarian got off her chair and started walking through the aisles of books with Twilight in tow. Twilight’s royal duties had prevented her from exploring the library in detail before, so she was excited that now her royal duties involved browsing books. The librarian stopped.
“Here we are, this is where all the history books are kept. Let’s see, we have the great pegasi and griffon war…”
“No.” Twilight flatly replied.
“Okay, um…Here’s an interesting one. The history of the royal [REDACTED]…”
Twilight looked at the cover, which literally had a black bar over it and red letters saying redacted. “Certainly not.” Twilight replied with another flat tone.
“Alright, how about….Historical survey of inferior and primitive zebras?”
Twilight couldn’t believe that was an actual title of a book. Instead of verbally replying, Twilight just narrowed her eyes and gave the librarian a mean look.
“Don’t look at me like that! It’s one of Celestia’s favorites.” The librarian replied to Twilight’s mean look. Twilight made a mental note to ask Celestia about that later.
Twilight decided to take matters into her own hoofs, and started looking at the bookshelves instead of the librarian. In a matter of seconds, Twilight gave a smile and levitated a book in front of her. “Here we go. A brief history of Equestria from 100 A.N.M to 900 A.N.M.”
“Great! I’m glad I could be of assistance to you!” The librarian was pleased Twilight found a book. Twilight was annoyed at the librarian but didn’t mention anything.
“Well, thank you for your help! I really ought to be going now. Thanks again!” Twilight walked briskly out of the library while levitating the book in front of her. While in the hallway, Twilight could see out the windows that it was definitely night time now. She headed over to Luna’s room, where two different guards were posted. It was refreshing that there was no screaming coming from Luna’s room anymore. Twilight didn’t acknowledge either guard, but instead walk up to the door in order to knock. Before she got within walking distance, the guards crossed spears.
“Halt!” The guard on the left used his magic to take the book which Twilight was levitating.
“Hey! Give that back!” Twilight watched as the guard used his magic to open the book and rifle through the pages. The guard then open and shook it violently up and down, as if expecting some hidden object to fall out. After a few more moments of inspection, the guard levitated the book in front of Twilight and let her grab it back with her magic.
“Be sure to bring that back out when your visit is finished.” The guards uncrossed their spears and stepped to the side.
Twilight felt violated being searched like that. Was that really necessary? “Why can’t I leave the book with Luna?”
“All items in Luna’s room must be approved by princess Celestia. No exceptions. Orders from Celestia herself.”
Twilight didn’t want to make a fuss or question Celestia’s rules. She approached the door and knocked. There was an immediate and brief shriek that could be heard through the door. “Luna? It’s Twilight. You remember me, don’t you? Can I come in?” Twilight waited, but there was no reply. After a moment, Twilight decided to take the silence as a yes. Twilight breathed in and exhaled slowly to calm her nerves. She grabbed the door with her hoof, and slowly inched the door open. When the door was open just enough for Twilight to squeeze her body inside, she did so slowly.
Twilight took a moment to take in her surroundings. Luna’s room was nothing like Twilight’s new room. No ornate furniture, no antique books, no bed. Almost nothing at all. There was a fireplace, but something wasn’t right. There were not logs to burn, and there was no chute for smoke to escape. Why would Luna’s room have a fake fireplace? Twilight could see narrow slits in the walls to let sunlight or starlight through. They were windows of sorts, but had no glass. The small slits in the walls were open to the environment. Twilight could see that the walls were massive and thick, perhaps three feet thick. It was a far cry from her new room, which had ornate stained glass panes and a door to an open balcony.
Twilight then looked over to Luna, who was sitting in the center of the floor on a large fur rug. Aside from the rug and Luna, there was literally nothing else in the room. No objects whatsoever. “Celestia’s approved item list must be very short indeed…” Twilight thought to herself. “H—Hello, Luna. How are you?”
Luna’s face perked right up when she heard Twilight’s voice. “Twilight! Yes, I remember you. I am doing…I am alright.” A moment of awkward silence ensued.
“I….brought you a book you might like. I thought maybe we could read it together over a cup of tea.” Twilight levitated the book over towards Luna. Luna didn’t even bother looking at the cover, her eyes remained fixed upon Twilight’s eyes.
“We do not think our sister would allow us to have a cup, or tea. Certainly not a cup of tea. Even if she did allow us to have tea, I would not drink for it would be poison.”
“But why doesn’t Celestia let you have anything in your room? I don’t understand!” Twilight couldn’t make any sense of Luna’s situation.
“It is for my own good, she says.” Luna let out a sigh. Twilight was beginning to grasp the reality of the situation, that Luna was essentially a prisoner.
“Oh Luna, I’m so sorry about your situation. Celestia asked me to help you return to normal. The grand galloping gala will be in just a few months, we’re both really hoping you will be well enough by then to attend.” Twilight started walking over to Luna. As Twilight was just a few feet away, Luna spoke.
“That is close enough!” Luna shouted. Twilight flinched and abruptly stopped walking. Since Twilight was not standing on the soft rug, apparently the only comfort in the room, she decided to lie down to talk. Luna looked down at the book in front of her. “Do you think this book will cure me? Make me normal?”
“Well, no…I just thought you might like to know what happened in Equestria while you were gone.”
“It is a history book?”
“Yes…just like the cover says.” Twilight was puzzled about having to answer that last question. “You can read, can’t you?”
“I did. Once. A long time ago.” Luna’s voice got sadder and sadder, while Twilight felt guilty about asking her question.
“You…forgot?!?”
Luna’s head went back, clearly she was offended. “Will thou remember to read after a thousand years of nothing to read!?”
Twilight detected the anger in Luna’s voice.
“Conversation tires us. Can we talk tomorrow?” Luna inquired. Twilight received Luna’s hint that it was time to leave. She levitated the book back in front of her and walked to the door.
“Of course. Good night, Luna.” With that, Twilight exited.
Twilight was surprised to see Celestia waiting outside the door. After closing the door, Twilight walked towards Celestia, and out of Luna's hearing range. "Princess, why aren't any objects allowed in Luna's room? Is she a prisoner? What's going on? I don't underst..."
Celestia interrupted Twilight by placing her hoof over Twilight's mouth. After a moment, Celestia withdrew her hoof and spoke. "Twilight, Luna is not allowed to have any possessions in her room. This rule is in place for Luna's own good. I need you to trust my judgement on this issue."
Twilight responded, "But I don't understan..."
Celestia interrupted. "Twilight Sparkle. I need you to trust me. You are not to leave any objects in Luna's room. Do you promise?"
"Yes, Princess" Twilight said, with a dissatisfied tone. It was clear that the conversation was over.
Over the next few months, the nightly conversations between Twilight and Luna became longer. Luna started trusting Twilight. The more they talked, the more normal Luna became. She re-learned how to read, she learned about history, she even started talking with modern speech. Twilight couldn’t be more pleased with the swift progress Luna had been making. Even during the day when Luna was sleeping, Twilight noticed that some minutes went by without any screams whatsoever.
The grand galloping gala was tomorrow night, and Twilight and Luna were just about wrapping up their nightly conversation. “I’m so happy you’ve decided to join your sister and I at the grand galloping gala tomorrow! I just know you’re going to have a great time. Are you sure you’ll be okay standing right next to your sister?”
“Yes, Twilight. I’m sure I will be fine, thank you. Hopefully the dress my sister has picked out for me will be acceptable.”
“Well, other than bringing you your dress tomorrow, is there anything else I can do for you?” Twilight asked.
“There is one thing. When you bring me my dress tomorrow night, can you also sneak in a mirror for me?”
“A mirror?”
“Yes. Just a small, glass mirror so that I may see myself in my dress before leaving my room. I would not want to disappoint my sister or the guests if I do not look proper.” Luna explained.
“But…there’s no way the guards will allow that. They’re search everything I bring in very carefully.”
“Yes, but you will be wearing a dress that night, will you not? Sneak the mirror in under your dress. The guards will not search there.
“I suppose that would work. But if Celestia ever found out I smuggled something into your room like that…”
“Do not worry, Twilight.” Luna got up and walked to Twilight. She bent her head downward so she could be at eye level with Twilight. Their faces were very close together as Luna’s eyes stared directly into Twilight’s eyes. “Do you understand what I am asking of you?”
“Yes.” Twilight replied. It was just a mirror, after all. Even if Celestia did find out, it would be okay.
Luna spoke again. “You are the truest friend I have ever had. Thank you, Twilight. I shall see you tomorrow before the gala.” With that said, Twilight took her leave.
It was dusk on the next day. Twilight was dressed in a magnificent gown that was truly fitting for royalty. Twilight walked towards Luna’s door levitating a beautiful dress. The guards stopped Twilight and searched Luna’s dress thoroughly. After that inspection came up clean, the guard on the right motioned towards Twilight’s dress. The guard on the left held out his hoof, expecting Twilight to take off her dress for search. The guards could tell that Twilight was offended, especially after she slapped the guard’s hoof away from her. After a moment, both guards decided it would be okay not to search Twilight’s dress. Se surely would know better than to bring any unapproved items into Luna’s room.
After knocking, she entered Luna’s room, where Luna had been waiting. “Ah, Twilight, it is good to see you. You may put my dress over there.” Luna motioned towards the floor. Twilight put the dress on the floor. “And the other item?” Luna inquired.
Twilight blushed as she partially undid her dress. Luna could see that the mirror was concealed, pressed up against Twilight’s stomach by the dress. Twilight used her magic to loosen the mirror from its hiding place. She levitated it over to Luna, who grabbed hold of it with her own magic. Luna examined the mirror.
It was a small, round mirror, no bigger than a head. The border and handle was made of gold, and intricately patterned. Twilight’s cutie mark appeared decorated prominently in several places throughout the golden frame. “Thank you, Twilight. This means so very much to me.”
Twilight was pleased that Luna appreciated the gift so much, even if it meant she had to break Celestia’s rules in order to give it. “You’re very welcome, Luna. I’ll let you get dressed in private, I’ll see you at the gala in a little bit.”
“Goodbye, Twilight” Luna said, as Twilight walked out the door. Twilight went to her room next door to make her final preparations for the gala. She had to look just right for all of her subjects, after all. In a little less than an hour, Twilight was ready, and it was time to talk to the gala. Twilight exited her room and started walking down the long hallway towards the rest of the castle. She could make out another pony walking towards her. As the distance closed, Twilight could see it was none other than princess Celestia.
“Hello Twilight! I cannot tell you how pleased and grateful I am that you have helped Luna get well enough to appear in public tonight. I have been waiting for this moment for so very long. I am so proud of you!” Celestia embraced Twilight like never before. “I’m going to Luna’s room right now to see if she’s ready. I’m so excited to be able to appear in public again with my precious little sister!”
Twilight could see how excited Celestia was. Celestia was practically glowing! Knowing that she helped repair the broken bond between Luna and Celestia gave Twilight a tremendous amount of happiness and pride. Celestia continued walking towards Luna’s room, while Twilight continued walking in the opposite direction, towards the gala.
It wasn’t a minute or two later when Twilight heard the most terrible scream. It was like nothing she’d ever heard before. It certainly didn’t sound like Luna’s scream. Twilight reversed direction and galloped down the hallway. She arrived at the end, where Luna’s door was open slightly, and the two guards were nowhere in sight. Twilight approached the door and opened it further with her hoof. Luna’s body was laying on the floor, lifeless. Celestia was sobbing while hunched over her sister’s body, blocking Twilight’s view. Twilight could see the two guards were in the room looking over the scene before them.
Twilight walked over to the side making as little noise as possible, so that she might ask a guard what happened. She didn’t need to. The new angle gave her a new view. The dress was in exactly the same place where she left it. Luna hadn’t even touched it. Twilight saw her mirror had been broken. Luna had apparently used a glass shard against her own throat. It was a truly terrible scene, and was nothing like anything she had ever seen before.
“Why, Luna, why? I love you so much…I’m so sorry for what I did to you all those years ago! I’m so sorry! I tried to protect you…” Celestia’s sorrow was immense and her words almost incomprehensible due to her sobbing.
Twilight took a step forward, attempting to comfort Celestia. But she would never get that far. At the first sound of a hoof on the ground, Celestia’s neck snapped towards the sound. Her facial expressions changed instantly from sorrow, to anger. An anger unlike anything Twilight had ever seen before.
Celestia levitated the broken mirror decorated with Twilight’s cutie mark, and hovered it in front of Twilight’s face. “What do you have to say for yourself!? What were you thinking!? Why would you leave Luna ALONE with this?”
“I…I…I didn’t know!” Twilight exclaimed. After the words left her mouth, she realized she was just making things worse for herself.
“How could you not!?” Celestia shouted. Twilight didn’t answer. “I used to think sending my poor little sister to the moon was the worst mistake I would ever make…but I was wrong. I was so wrong. But that is one mistake I can fix.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. Terrible thoughts were racing through her heard. What sort of punishment was she about to endure? A trip to the moon? An eternity as a statue? She closed her eyes and braced herself for the punishment that was surely about to come.
“Twilight Sparkle. You are hereby banished from Canterlot and the castle. You are welcome to stay in Equestria, however.” Celestia’s horn glowed a bright yellow. Twilight felt herself being levitated by Celestia’s magic. Her wings unfurled rapidly. Within seconds, she felt an incredible pulling and twisting sensation in the bones of her wings. Twilight cried out as the pain intensified. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Before too long, she passed out from the pain before her punishment was completed.
Meanwhile in Ponyville, Spike was enjoying some ice cream, comics, and staying up late in the Ponyville library. Without warning, there was a bright flash in front of him. He saw Twilight teleported into the room, about 5 feet too high. Her unconscious body slammed to the group. The jolt was able to wake twilight up. She opened her eyes, which were swirling around in circles, not able to focus on anything.
“Twilight! Are you alright? What happened?!?” Spike shouted while running over.
Twilight recognized the voice, and finally the location where she now was. “S---spike? Is that you?”
As Spike got closer, he stopped, taking in the horrible sight before him. Twilights wings were gone, but stubs of jagged bone were poking out of her body where her wings used to be. It looked as if her wings were literally twisted off. Spike couldn’t take it anymore, so he looked away, towards Twilight’s face. But that didn’t help much. He could see that Twilight’s horn was also broken off near its base. What remained of the horn was jagged, but at least there were no nerve endings in that part of a unicorn.
“Oh Spike, I've done something terrible! Luna is dead!” Tears were streaming down her face as she made no attempt to get up off the floor.
“What happened? Where are you wings and horn?!?”
Twilight’s face made a horrified expression. She had not fully grasped the severity of her punishment. Twilight tried moving her wings, but there was no response other than excruciating pain from her back. Twilight then took her right hoof and attempted to touch her horn. All she hit was air. Her expression changed from horror to sadness. Celestia had broken Twilight's horn. She closed her eyes, and breathed in and out slowly a few times before opening her eyes again.
“Spike, I need you to get something for me.”
“Anything, Twi! What do you need?”
“That small mirror in the bathroom. Bring it to me.” Spike started running towards the bathroom. “Wait!” Twilight shouted. Spike stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. “Come here, Spike.” Spike walked over to Twilight. “Closer.” Their two faces were now very close together. Twilight looked Spike right in his eyes. “Do you understand what I am asking from you?”
Spike was confused why she would ask that. After all, the task she gave him was simple. “Uh, sure Twilight.”
“Good, then go get the mirror at once.”
Spike ran to the bathroom and got the small mirror Twilight asked for. He ran back towards Twilight and set the mirror down in front of her. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No. This is all I need. Thank you Spike. Could you leave me alone for a few hours? Why don’t you go over visit Rarity?”
“Isn't she at the gala tonight?”
“Just go Spike. I need some time to myself.”
Spike took the not so subtle hint, and started walking to the main entrance to the library. He opened the door, and looked back at Twilight, laying on the floor.
“Goodbye, Spike.”
“I’ll see you in a few hours, Twilight.” With that said, Spike exited the library and closed the door behind him.