> Of the Moon and Stars; A TwiLuna Tale > by The Boisterous Brony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Oh, Faust help us... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Of the Moon and Stars, A TwiLuna Tale A MLP; FiM Fan Fiction Written By: The Boisterous Brony Chapter 1; “Oh, Faust help us…” In the majestic palace of the Crystal Empire’s vibrantly blue private dining hall/conference room, quite a strange scene was unfolding, one with two Alicorn mares beginning to dine together, with a certain Draconequus waiting just outside… “Get a hold of yourself, woman!” thought the younger, purple alicorn “just accept the fact that you’re–” BUT ALAS, just then her lunch companion had to brake her trance-like state… “TWILIGHT!!!” shouted Princess Cadence “are you alright? You’ve just been standing there staring wide-eyed and muttering something to yourself.” After hearing this the purple mare snapped back defensively, “Well, why the hay didn’t you do anyt–” That was the last straw for the ruler of the Crystal Empire, who had already spent a good deal of time trying to return Twilight to the realm of the living, and had already burned through her metaphorical fuse, didn’t have patience necessary to do this, would not stand insults, snapped back at her sister-in-law with a vicious look “I DID! I’ve been calling your name trying to get your attention for twenty-three minutes!” And with that Twilight’s mouth snapped shut as she flushed red from embarrassment, “Oh… Sorry.” “No, no, I’m the one who should be sorry, I shouldn’t have been able to lose my temper with you that easily, now, back to business, why did you request to see me?” replied Cadence, having calmed down. As she said this, Twilight grew increasingly uneasy. “Well, I-I need your help with… well, something…” said the purple princess, shuffling on her hooves, who was beginning to slightly tremble from her nerves… Cadence’s ears perked up a bit after hearing this, “and…” she pressured gently. With that all of Twilight's mental and emotional preparedness broke "oh, I can't do it!" she stated, collapsing to the floor, covering her muzzle with her hooves, and started whimpering. “Ah, of course” replied the older alicorn, a smile of understanding beginning to grow across her muzzle. “Who is he?” she asked softly, laying down next to her sister-in-law, draping her forearm over Twilight’s withers in a protective manner. Twilight looked up from beneath her hooves, “w-what?” she sniffled. “I said who’s the lucky stallion?” repeated Cadence softly, to which Twilight hid her face again, and lightly groaned. “Twi?” asked Cadence, who was beginning to grow concerned for her younger sister-in-law. “Mare” muttered Twilight, her words muffled by her hooves. “Pardon?” said the puzzled Cadence. Finally, Cadence and Twilight rose as Twi started to speak slowly “I said, MARE!” (thank Faust for the sound-proofing spells around the room…) now bracing for the inevitable shout of “YOU’RE GAY!!!” from her sister-in-law. Instead, all she heard was Cadence lightly whisper to herself, “Shiny! You owe me 50 bits!” then Cadence returned her attention to the smitten mare “Now, who is she?” Twilight flushed a deep, dark red “Princess Luna” she said in the smallest voice she could. “Pardon me?” Cadence questioned, slowly raising an eyebrow. Twilight took a DEEP breath as she got the most determined, serious expression ever, “Swear by everything in the multiverse that you won’t even subconsciously think about breathing a word of what your about to hear to ANYONE, even Shining! Swear!!” Cadence furrowing her brow in a questioning manner, weighing her options, whinnies indignantly, and submits, nodding her head, “Fine! I swear, now please just tell me!” Twilight, apparently pleased, took another deep breath as she confessed the biggest secret she has EVER had, “Now i-it’s, well, it’s… Princess Luna…,” after hearing this, Cadence was at a loss for words. “U-uh, whe-what? You, ‘Princess Twilight Sparkle,’ have the hots for Princess LUNA!!” she coughed, putting a hoof to her mouth to stop herself from laughing, as her face began to turn a light purple from holding in said laughter. Twilight was now becoming somewhat ticked-off, not to mention embarrassed, “Well, gee! Do you think ANYPONY in Equestria DIDN’T hear you!?” she grumbled “Anyway, I need your help getting a-a date. And–” At that, the pink alicorn could no longer contain herself any more, and started laughing so hard, she lost her balance and fell onto her back, and just lay on the crystal floor, clutching her stomach, all the while DYING of laughter. “You finished?” whinnied Twilight indignantly. After a few more moments, the Love Regent regained her composure “I SWEAR I’m not judging you. I just wasn’t expecting you to fall in love with Luna, Celestia maybe, heh but Luna!” she said, having recovered from her laughing fit, “mhmm!” she coughed, before asking “When did you fall for her?” “Well, ever since she came to Ponyville for Nightmare Night” said the purple alicorn who was now blushing profusely, “I mean, I always had feelings for Celestia, but when Luna came that night, and as I spent more and more time with her, the more attracted to her I became. Eventually, a long time later actually, I came to realize that the feelings I had towards her were of a much deeper and very different nature than that of how I felt towards Celestia, that’s when it hit me; I admired Celestia as a mentor and a friend, but I loved Luna, not to mention I had a crush on her. This feeling was confirmed back during the Tantabus incident- I'll explain later- because, and do please try not to laugh at this, when she entered my room, I almost- actually it'll be better for everypony if you don't know, so let's just say it was almost an extremely awkward situation" And with that Twi breathed a sigh of (partial) relief, surprised by the fact of how good it felt to be able to tell somepony this stuff, and not have to be afraid of being shunned or judged. Cadence seemingly sensing Twilight's feelings, chuckled quietly to herself, and smiled at the smaller, love-struck alicorn “As long as you truly love her, nopony will shun you. Also, that’s the most realistic claim to love I’ve heard in some time. Usually it’s something like ‘I saw him/her and I just knew it was destiny…’ or something even more cliché.” She said as she rolled her eyes, then her eyes widened as she seemed to remember something important “oh, Uh… does Celestia know?” Cadence asked. Twilight shuffled on her hooves a bit, “Well… I never told her…” Cadence just looked at her with a semi-judgmentally incredulous expression, Twilight looked at her hooves as she said “Okay, okay… I honestly have no clue whatsoever! But I guess I’ll have to tell her if I wish to know more about Luna and her fa-” But, she would never be able to finish that sentence, because at that moment she was interrupted by the sound of somepony teleporting, or should I say some Draconequus, because Discord had just decided to, quite literally, pop in on their conversation, which caused an unpleasant outburst from Cadence who said, more-so screamed, “Discord, how dare you!? You know the rules about barging in unannounced! Do you want my help or not!?” Discord, not fully caring about she was saying, simply retorted “well excuse me, Princess, hehehehe, always wanted to say that, I’m here to help Twi, that is, IF she can help me.” He paused, turning his attention to Twilight, “Twilight, err, princess, I can help you because I, er, well, I dated Luna. Granted, I never loved her as much as I should’ve, come to find out it was because I actually loved Celestia, but that’s beside the fact, what? You didn’t know?” he paused, having just noticed Twilight’s gaping mouth “yes, I’m in love with your mentor, well, ex-mentor, but still, big deal! Oh, yeah right, it is actually a big deal, so, how about this- I’ll keep your secret IF you keep mine, deal?” “S-sure Discord, uh, how can you help me?” asked a slightly skeptical Twilight “also were you just acting polite, or should I say, sincerely polite?” Discord blushed, and I mean BLUSHED, and then began to speak, “y-yes, w-well, uh, you see, I’m practicing proper etiquette for when I meet up with Celestia, but that’s not the point! The point is that I know the answers you’re seeking; her favorite things. But where to begin! Oh, yes. That’ll do, so…” MEANWHILE; Deep in the heart of the Canterlot Palace, within the blue bedchambers of the Princess of the Night, a few, shall we say, issues were arising between the two Alicorn sisters… Celestia was pacing in front of the door to Luna bedroom, calling to her sister. “Luna just answer the door! It’s 13 minutes past time for you to lower the moon! I get sleeping in, even for eight or nine minutes, but thirteen is long enough” she shouted, growing angry with her sister, but still giving one more chance and waiting just a couple more minutes, but then she decided to actually listen to her own words, ‘thirteen minutes is long enough, indeed, I shouldn’t have given her another four!!!’ “THAT’S IT, I’m coming in, like it or not!!!” she called out as she teleported into the middle of the room, only to have a pillow slam into her face, and get stuck on her horn. “OW!!” she exclaimed, trying to remove the pillow, which just so happened to be absorbing her magic, until she noticed Luna emerging from a one-way force-field, saying simply, “If you had listening, you would’ve heard me tell you that I was still in the process of getting out of bed, I had only just woken up.” This definitely piqued Celestia’s curiosity, “well, well, what could’ve possibly been soooooooo important as to keep you in bed, hmm?” As Luna made excus- I mean, explained what it was, Celestia sensed she was trying to hide something, why else would she try to contain Celestia, but she kept up the conversion with her sister a few more moments... Mainly because, she was only talking to distract her sister as she dispelled the force-field bit by bit, immediately wishing she hadn’t… Luna could do nothing but look on in sheer terror as Celestia broke the containment field, and when Celestia saw what Luna was hiding she became seemingly frozen from shock and disbelief, and stood staring wide-eyed, mouth gaping, and as Luna followed the gaze of her petrified sister to the massive, crescent moon shaped bed, specifically the center of said bed, where an… object lay, revealing the, in Luna’s opinion, beautiful facial features of a certain lavender mare, and covered in an incriminating blue-black substance… “WHEREFORE DOST THOU HAS’T AN IMAGE OF MINE PUPIL LAYING IN THE CENTRE OF THY SLEEPING CHAMBERS- AND COVER’D IN THY LIPSTICK!?!? WHAT, PRAY TELL, IS THE MEANING OF THIS, DEAREST SISTER??” screamed Celestia falling into the Old Equestrian dialect, something usually only her sister had a problem with, until she saw Luna was trying not to cry, then it hit her as hard as if Applejack and Big Mac had just simultaneously kicked her straight in the face!!! “Uh, Luna? Are you in love with Twilight? Well, judging from the lipstick stains, that would be a yes… but why didn’t you tell me?” Luna just glared in response, “why, WHY!? Because I was afraid, afraid of what you’d do if you knew, afraid of how you’d see me, afraid of h-” but just then she was cut off by a golden-clad hoof being pressed to her lips, but she just pushed it away and continued, ignoring her sister’s futile attempts to interrupt, “and based off of what I just witnessed, I wasn’t wrong to fear.” Celestia winced at her sister’s choice of words, specifically the phrase ‘afraid of what you’d do’ because, with their past, this was like daggers of burning ice and freezing fire carving into the deepest recesses of her heart and soul, but her love and compassion for her sister was stronger than her pain and sorrow, and she knew just how to respond, she did, after all, have a thousand years to chose her words... “Luna, listen to me! Above everything else, you are my sister, I drowned in my own sorrow and guilt for thousand years because of what I had to do to you, and I knew that, under Nightmare’s control, every second of every day you spent on the moon, you’d feel nothing but bitterness and hate towards me, so now that you’ve been restored, I would rather forfeit my position, free will, and even my life, to spare from any more bitterness, you’re all I got left; mom, dad, everypony we grew up with, they were destroyed during Discord’s rule; I can’t lose you as well, I love you too much!! So, if you’ve fallen in love- congratulations on who you chose by the way, she’s definitely perfect for you- anyways, if you’ve fallen in love, then I would feel nothing, NOTHING, but happiness for you, and I would support you through it all!!! And, I could even find reasons for you to visit her, oh, I can teach you how to send her private scrolls; that way Spike won’t see them, even some of her favorite thi- oomph!!!” she was cut off by a hug from Luna so strong, it tackled her to the floor, “OhmyFaustCelestiaThankyouIloveyousomuch!!!!!” Luna said all at once. Celestia reciprocated the embrace, then continued, “On ONE condition; No. More. Secrets. About. Sparkle! Understood?” to which Luna nodded, then she saw a teensy-weensy, little problem with her wording, and semi-hastily added “unless it’s something I really don’t need, or want, to know...” Luna looked at her with an expression of semi-disapproval, as she stated “what you mean to say is ‘I don’t want to hear you two talking about how she is in the bed’ or at least something along those lines, right?” “Yes, well, anyways, now that I know about your feelings, I can help you. I am- was, WAS her teacher after all! I now her favorite places to eat, to drink, to party, etc.!!” Celestia exclaimed with a smile on her face. “ohthankyouthankyouthankyou!! Celestia, you’re the best sister EVER!!” Luna said gleefully, her joyousness returning twofold, hopping in circles around her sister… All Celestia said in response was, “Alright, all we gotta do now is prep you for your date with Twilight!!” Luna froze mid leap, “Say what now!?” was all she said before her body remembered that it was still a servant to the laws of physics, and came crashing to the floor in a crumpled mess Celestia smiled a devilish smile “you heard me, I. Am. Getting. You. A. Date. With. Twilight!!!” Luna's eyes went wide with fear as she audibly gulped “oh, hehe, righ…” was all she managed to say just before she blacked out… > Chapter 2 (OR ch 1.5) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Back in the Crystal Empire ~ As Discord neared what the two alicorns hoped was the ending, and feared that it was merely the mid-point, to the chimera-like creature's rant, err, speech about Luna, a strange, almost buzz-like sound filled the room, cutting him short (much to the relief of the Princesses) while simultaneously a small rectangle of soft, blue light showed up against the fur of his chest, and, almost as if he was expecting this, he pulled the layer of hair out as if it was actually an article of clothing and not his body, reached in and withdrew a seemingly tiny device- yet it also seemed to be perfectly fitted to his paw, which was dark colored and almost metallic looking, and then he pressed the side that was emitting the strange light, the object giving a weird *BEEP* in response, and then he held it up to his ear and began speaking "Yes, Kay-Kay? What, how did I know it was you? Oh, that's an easy one; I have caller-ID!! Hmm? Oh, nevermind, you wouldn't understand... Anywho, why were you calling again? Oh, yes, that, well, good news and bad news, but can we talk in a little bit? Kinda not a good time... Oh, okay, that works!! See ya' soon! Bye..." was all the two alicorns were able to hear of the conversation he was having, then he tapped on the device again, getting another beep and dropping the thing back into his 'fur-shirt' and then he turned back towards the others, a near gleeful look in his mismatched, and a sly grin upon his muzzle, but before either of them had a chance to ask any questions, he quickly changed his expression to one of virtual sadness, and, sighing as he did so, simply said "Sorry ladies, gotta pop..." and then he did just that: he popped as if he were a balloon, except the 'debris' flashed into nothingness as it fell to the floor. As for the two Royals seated across from each other on the floor, they sat there a moment longer, slightly shaking their heads and blinking furiously to remove the spots in their eyes that the flashes had left, before turning back towards each other, and after a momentary pause, Twilight sighed and facehoofed, then began laughing softly, her shoulders shaking in quiet mirth, then after another sigh, looked at her Sister-in-Law with an almost disappointed expression and asked with a groan, "How in the name of Faust did we fall for what he was doing? I mean, he did tell us exactly what he was doing; '... gotta pop' seriously, how!?" her own word choice and actions only fueling her amusement further, causing her to start laughing a full and proper laugh Twilight's little reaction to how incredibly oblivious they had been to Discord's antics, albeit obviously a tad exaggerated, was just enough of a comic relief from the sheer absurdity of the day's events to get her to crack a smile and then, almost without realizing it, she too was chuckling like a madmare, and after a few more glee filled moments together, Cadance quickly schooled herself and faking a cough to help regain Twilight's attention, she asked the smaller regent, using an inquisitive, yet almost motherly tone, "So, why are you really here? You now I don't actually setup dates, I may hint at the idea and I might offer suggestions, but I can't actually get you a date with her... So, what is it that you wanted my help with, specifically?" then she stood and started to move to sit next to Twilight, but almost instantly stopped and put a forehoof to her head "Whoa, on second thought, Twilight, could you hold onto that thought for just a tad? I'm going to make some tea, my head is feeling kinda funny... While I'm at it, you want anything?" Although their was no response of course, because ever since Twi heard Cadance ask that oh-so difficult question of "Why are you really here?" she had gone into a miniature panic mode, her brain racing to come up with semi-reasonable explanations of her intentions and ways to try and convince her Sister-in-Law to aid her, or at the very least invent reasonable excuses, and in the process she slowly became increasingly aware of the fact that she was starting to have trouble with controlling her anxiety and she also noticed that she had started shaking, a state she hadn't been in since before Discord had convinced her to go with him to see Cadance in the Crystal Empire, and then she started to ask herself 'wait, but doesn't that mean that he was- no, nevermind, question for later, I should really focus on the issue, err, topic at hoof' "Err, yeah, chamomile tea please, oh, and a daffodil sandwich, too, if you don't mind" As the Cadence lit her horn to begin heating the water, she stopped and tilted her head towards the ceiling, as if remembering something, then with an almost imperceptible shake of her head, she went back to brewing, when the tea and sandwiches were finished, and they had eaten a little, Cadence cleared her throat, crossed her hooves, and fixed Twilight with an interrogatively, quizzical look, and began to speak, an odd tone in her voice, "Why, Twilight?" This oddly worded question threw Twilight for a loop, "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean" "Yes, you do. Why did you come here? You don't need my help with Luna, you're already friends with her, you can just used that to your advantage, but you didn't- otherwise you wouldn't be here- so, why didn't you? Why did you really come here?" "Err, well, I suppose it was because, uh, well-" "Ah, now I get it... You needed, or at least you wanted, my permission to try courting her... You're afraid that if you hadn't come to see me, then you would not be successful, and that I'd be disappointed that you blinding rushed into something like this... Am I at least close to being right?" Twilight merely sagged in her chair, her face downcast, and began to speak, her voice beginning to quaver a little, "I just knew how you felt about wanted me to find that one special somepony, and that if I tried to do this on my own it would never work because I've never been in a relationship before, I don't know what to do, and then I thought that if I couldn't make it work that Luna and I wouldn't be friends anymore because we couldn't even be in the same without it becoming awkward for us, and then I remembered how throughout the years that you were my foalsitter, you basically gave lectures about how I shouldn't just chase after everypony I thought I had feelings for, and to keep a level head, and don't do anything 'til I was sure my heart and head were on the same track, but I thought that if I didn't come to you that you would think I never listened when I was young, and then you'd be disappointed that I never trusted you and... and... and I jus-" At this point, the ever studious Alicorn had finally reached her limit, and was in tears, and Cadence had pulled her into a tight embrace, and just held her there for a few moments letting Twi take her time to calm down, and when she was sure Twilight was finished she released her sister-in-law, but still held her close and looked her in the eyes, "Twilight, firstly; you're my sister-in-law, I know you would never ignore something like a lecture, even if it wasn't meant to be one, secondly; I am proud of you for trying to to do what you thought it was that expected you to do, however, love is different for everypony, not even I can give an all encompassing piece of advice, and as for you not knowing what to do in a relationship- guess what, neither will she! At least not the more modern aspects of relationships, so you'll both have similar problems and you'll be able to figure them out together... But again, you don't need me, trust in yourself, you're more than capable of doing it, and if it doesn't work out, don't despair, it obviously wasn't meant to be, and there will be other opportunities if she's not the one, trust me" "Okay, Cadence, you're right, I can do this, just be myself and trust that it'll work" "Exactly, now... Go get 'em Tiger..." ~ Private Study within Celestia's Bedchambers ~ As Celestia sat at her desk, reviewing the petitions from court yesterday (Except for Blueblood's, those she saved 'til she was absolutely certain she would be able to handle whatever his moronic bigotry and his sense of entitlement could throw her way), wearing an enchanted monocle that recorded everything that it 'saw' and then displayed the recording, and highlighted any details that she may have missed or skipped over in case she had been reading too fast or anything, just to be extra certain she didn't let anything slip through, because that had been happening more and more frequently the last few years, mainly the years since Luna's return, and had allowed more than a few of the more corrupt side of the nobility, like Blueblood and his cronies, to be able to dip their grimy, greedy little hooves into many areas and subjects that, in hindsight, they shouldn't even know about, let alone participate in... She was, in fact, so focused on the task that she- somehow- didn't notice that nothing, save her, was moving creeping up behind her, but the shout of surprise and 8-inch thick book that slammed into Discord's head were worth it, in his opinion at least... "Discord! What the hell were you thinking!? I ought'a-" "Too bad you can't... 'cause-" "It was rhetorical, seriously, I know there's nothing I can to you unless you want me to..." she growled at the draconequus, before adding in barely a whisper 'Damn chaos magic' however, she decided that he wasn't worth it, after all; he was just having a little harmless, albeit annoying, fun, and it wasn't his intention to ruin her train of thought, and scrap her progress, so, taking a deep breath, she released her anger, then tried to have a civilized conversation with the lesser god of chaos... "Discord, why are you here?" she said dryly, putting a forehoof to her head "Uh, you called me" he stated matter-of-factly "That was hours ago! It's been at least thr-" she started to say, before noticing Discord's expression, and his pointer-talon aimed at the clock, which showed that only twelve minutes had passed... "Wait, what?? How!? This doesn't... make... sen-" She said, beginning to trail off, before she caught on, her eyes narrowing slightly, "Discord... What did you do?" "I thought I would be helpful, and give you the time needed to get your work done without having to sacrifice a portion of your day, so that way, you can have more time to do what you want to do, so I created a time bubble where time seemed to pass faster while time outside the bubble didn't pass at all... but, then I kinda got bored... Sorry 'bout that, by the way..." "Well, oh.. okay, then... I apologize for the way I treated you just now, and thank you for trying to be helpful, I appreciate it. All I have to do now is deal with Blueblood's petitions... Actually, you want to help?" "You sure? I don't really have any knowledge about law or anything like that..." he asked, uncertainty clear in his voice "Trust me, once you realize how to tell his ego from his request's, anypony could handle these... But, all you have to do is use simple, dichotomous questions; If it clearly states the answer to the question, ask another question. If it doesn't answer the questions, place it in a trash-pile. If you run out of questions, put it in a separate pile for 'further review' and I'll do the same thing when I can- We need all the information to be clearly written, because if it's not in the paper then we have no evidence to confront him with if he starts using whatever he requested in a way that wasn't, or isn't, what he said he was going to use it for... I have had it with ponies like that nimrod getting away with whatever the hell they wanted! Enough's enough!!" then the Solar Regent paused, looking somewhat confused, then proceeded "Uh, so, how did it go with Twi? Did she suspect anything? Was I right?" "Geez! Slow down, one question at a time, I can't answer twenty million questions and do this at the same time!" he exclaimed, dropping some of the petitions in order to do an innocent, yet defensive pose, "Firstly; I think it went okay, Secondly; I have no idea, I think she doesn't know, but I can't know for certain without revealing the truth, in which case it wouldn't matter anymore! And thirdly, yes, you were right- uh, for the most part... You said that you suspected she was homosexual, and you were right in that regard, but as to having to 'convince,' or whatever it was that you said, don't bother- she's already head over hooves..." "Well... That solves one problem... Now, how are we gonna get them to admit it to each other? Hmm, this might be even more difficult now than before..." "Hmm, How so?" "Well, before, we didn't have to factor in Twilight's nervousness... However, now that I now they are both hopelessly infatuated with each other, we need to consider how Twilight will be nervous, and probably awkward, around Luna- not to mention how she will be deathly afraid of being rejected" "Which one was that last statement about?" "Yes" "Wha....... Actually, fair point..." "This is going to be more difficult than expected, also, did Cadance say anything that could compromise- NO! For the last time: We are NOT calling it Operation TwiLuna!!" ~ End Scene ~ So It Begins... > Mending the Timestream > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna sat up slowly, a puzzled look plastered across her face, feeling like there was something she was missing. "Why was I dreaming about that? I don't have those kind of feelings for Twilight... right?" She asked to no one in particular, before looking to her nightstand, at a picture of her and Twilight, taken on her very first Nightmare Night. Shaking her head, she chuckled and stated "No, of course not! She's my friend, nothing more! Jus-just put it out of your mind and move on. No dwelling..." when an too familiar voice popped in on her soliloquy... "I think you'll find that to be harder than expected..." said the shadows "Show yourself, wraith!! Where are you hiding!" Luna growled into the darkness of her room, bristling with anger and a slight bit of fear. Suddenly, the candles and lights came to life, revealing the mirror on the opposite wall and the reflection that wasn't a reflection... "Here, where I've always been, the corners of your mind." Said the nightmare "And what is it you want?" "To give you a warning; don't make the same mistakes as before, don't just ignore this. If you have a chance at happiness, don't squander it..." "Why are you telling me this? What are you trying to achieve? You make it seem like you care, but I doubt that's really what's going on here..." "You really can't see it, can you? When Twilight used the elements on us, it didn't split us apart or destroy me, no, that would fracture your mind! They *healed* us, healed me; they transformed me from a creature of all your negative thoughts and emotions into a manifestation of positive thoughts and emotions. Meaning that I have grown in much the same way as you, and now I worry for you and care about you... I worry that you are falling apart from the inside and you won't notice till it's too late! You need to take a step back and relook at everything..." "And how do I know I can trust you?" Sighing, Nightmare looked away "Unfortunately, there's nothing I could say to get you to trust me, and I don't blame you. There's no reason for you to believe a word I'm saying, you'll just have to trust yourself and see what happens... I suggest you include Tia, and if you need to talk, I'll be here..." She replied, almost sorrowfully, before the mirror rippled and all Luna could see was herself... > 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- For a few moments, Luna stared into the mirror, puzzled about what had happened, before shaking her head again. "No! No dwelling, no doubting, just no! I do NOT have feelings for Twilight, she's a dear friend, nothing more!" She stated with an air of finality. After a short pause, as if waiting to see if anything else would happen, she rose and, still somewhat in shock and very confused, began to get ready, feeling off, as if something was wrong, then her stomach clearly made it's presence known. "Very well, you first..." She said to her stomach, feigning a sigh, before turning on a dime and heading towards the door. Stepping into the hall, she was surprised to see a pair of day guards standing on either side of her door, and they too, were surprised to see her, clearly flinching at the door opening, the smaller of the two holding a hoof to his chest "Oh, sorry to startle you, Sirs" She apologized quickly, with a slight giggle to herself "No, Ma'am, it's quite alright, we just weren't expecting you at this time of day, is all" the larger responded with a smile, having quickly regained his composure Luna's smile fell, and morphed into slight confusion, "Why is that? What's the time?" "It's twelve-thirty in the afternoon, your Majesty" the smaller responded, his breathing finally beginning to steady "Oh, that explains a few things... Uh..." She started to inquire, before drawing a blank "Sorry, I should've asked sooner, but what are your names? Oh, and do either of you know where my sister is currently?" "I am Ferrum, and this is my younger brother, Lithos" the larger replied, "However, I don't know where she is currently, but the last I knew, she was going through some petitions in her chambers, I don't know if she's left yet, though" "Well, I guess that's where I'll start, thank you" She replied with a small nod of appreciation, and set off towards Celestia's room, only to pause when she heard hoofsteps approaching, turning back to face the two guards, she raised her eyebrow at them "Sorry Ma'am, but protocol states that you and your sister are to be accompanied by an escort of two guards minimum, and seeing as there's nobody else to do so, the two closest guards are allowed to leave their post" Ferrum explained, as if he thought he was about to have to defend his decision "It's quite alright, Ferrum" Luna replied with a small smile, " Let's go, then" Upon reaching her sisters bedchamber, she heard a peculiar sound... laughing, but it wasn't just Celestia's laughter... "Tia? It's me, do you have a minute?" She asked through the large double doors Then something happened that really confused her, Discord was who answered it! "Oh, excuse me, just leaving" he said with a small chuckle to nopony in particular Luna arched an eyebrow at him, before shrugging it off, 'That is a question for a later date' she decided, before continuing on into Celestia's room Inside she saw stacks of papers on either side of her bed, with her sister laying between them, a pair of spectacles on her nose, and a wide grin on her muzzle, when she saw her sister however, her grin turned to a look of slight concern "Luna, you're up quite late, is something wrong?" "Well, yes and no, it's slightly complicated" "Oh? How so?" "It's about Nightmare Moon..." At the mention of that name, Celestia sat up straighter, visibly tensing, after a moment of processing, she responded "What? That's not possible, she's gone" "Well, not according to her" Luna countered, "Let me start at the beginning..." > 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna, following the Daybreaker incident, had started making changes to her schedule to allow her to at least have breakfast with her sister, most mornings at least Today she had some thoughts nagging at her, revolving around the recent events of Sombra's assault and the actions of Cozy Glow, primarily the destruction of the Tree of Harmony... "Luna, are you alright?" Said her sister from across the elegant marble table, startling Luna back to her senses, "You seem distant, is something wrong or just lost in thought?" "It's just that, with everything that's been going on, I'm starting to question some of my priorities... I just..." She said, as if she was having difficulty finding the right words, "I just want to feel like my time isn't being wasted on trivialities, after all, it took Twilight sending us on a vacation for me to even have a moment of fun. Which is partially why I am wondering if there's anything important within the next few days, and if not, I shall be taking a short leave of absence." Celestia simply raised an eyebrow, "I wish to spend some time in Ponyville with Twilight and the others, besides, this will allow us to remind her about the National Defense Meeting far enough in advance that she will be able to plan accordingly." Celestia thought to herself for a moment with a small smile, before replying "Of course, and I wil cover for you in case anything does comes up..." "Thank you, Sister" Luna said, a smile growing, and hopping from her seat, before turning back to the Alabaster mare, "The meeting is two weeks from now, correct?" "Yes, now go have fun! Oh, and don't forget that they may wish to speak with the others as well!" Celestia called out to her sister, who was already part way out of the room.