II

Deceit

"On the longest day of the thousandth year the stars will aid in her escape," Twilight Sparkle recited once more as she paced around the library. "Why would they aid in her escape? And how? It just doesn't make any sense!"

"Okay, no need to panic," she said to herself. "You know all sorts of things about stars. This is nothing a little research can't solve. Spike!"

There was a yell and a loud thump from upstairs A few seconds later, Spike came walking down, yawning loudly. "What is it, Twilight?" he asked sleepily. "It's like 6 in the morning."

"Sorry about that, Spike," said Twilight, "But I need you to do me a favor and bring me the Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac-"

"Uh…," interrupted Spike, "You wouldn't be talking about that book I accidentally burned that one time, would you?"

Twilight paused for a moment. It took a while for her to recall, but then she remembered: The night of the meteor shower, when Owloysius had first flown through her window. "Yes, actually."

"Bummer. Because, you know… I accidentally burned it."

Twilight continued pacing once more. "In that case, we'll be making a trip to the Canterlot library, to study everything we can about stars."

"Can't it wait?" asked Spike. "I at least want to catch up on my sleep."

"Spike, there's no time for that, this is important! Now let's go get the others and make our way over to Canterlot."

"You're early," noted Luna as her sister Celestia walked up to the balcony behind her.

"Unlike someone I know," Celestia smiled as she took her place beside her sister. There was a short silence as both seemed to contemplate what to say next.

"You seemed bothered by something yesterday," said Celestia. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," Luna lied, "Everything is great. Want to raise the sun now?"

Celestia frowned a bit, but said nothing as they began to work their magic.

"You know, you can tell me anything," Celestia said as the sun was slowly rising. "I'm your older sister, and I care about you. You know that, right?"

Then why did you send me to the moon? Luna thought, then instantly regretted it. I shouldn't be acting so spiteful, she told herself. She only did what she thought was best.

"Well, you see…," started Luna. Maybe I shouldn't tell her, she though. "See, the thing is…" It doesn't even matter, right? "What's been bothering me…" It's all in the past.

"I haven't seen my friends in Ponyville in a long time, and I was wondering if I should pay them a visit, but what if they're busy?" Luna tried to pass it off as if that really was all that was bothering her, and by the looks of it, Celestia had bought it.

"Well, no need to worry any longer," said Celestia, looking over Luna's shoulder. "Looks like they're on their way over here right now."

The moon stopped dead in its tracks.

"They're what?!" Luna exclaimed, turning to face where Celestia was looking. Sure enough, Twilight and her friends were just getting off the train and making their way over to the library.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" asked Celestia, looking up at the moon, which was still halfway beneath the horizon. "Luna, would you mind moving the moon the rest of the way?"

"Yes, of course," answered Luna, focusing her magic once more. She finished lowering the moon twice as fast as usual, then quickly excused herself and withdrew from the balcony, leaving a bewildered Celestia in her wake.

"Do we really have to be going all the way to Canterlot this early in the morning?" questioned Rainbow Dash as they made their way over to the library. "Some of us need our beauty sleep, you know."

"Well, I think that, as her friends, it is our duty to help Twilight in any way we can," said Rarity. "Isn't that right, Applejack?"

"Er, yeah, thas' right," said Applejack. "Speaking of, why is it you wanted us here again, Twilight?"

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted by a large shadow passing overhead. The six ponies looked up to see a dark blue alicorn flying overhead, circling like a hawk.

"Twilight Sparkle," said Princess Luna as she landed on the ground with the grace of a swan, the six ponies (plus the dragon) bowing before her. "We need to talk. In private, preferably."

"Of course, Princess Luna," said Twilight. "You guys can go ahead to the library," she said to her friends, "I'll meet you there."

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Princess Luna?" Twilight asked as her friends wandered off towards the library.

Luna looked to make sure no one was listening before changing her voice to a whisper. "What are you doing here, Twilight Sparkle? I thought I told you not to press the matter any further."

Twilight knew this was coming, and decided to play her cards wisely. She could tell Luna that she wasn't going to change her mind… or she could tell a half-truth and have her believe that she was here for a different reason. Deciding she didn't want to deceive Luna like that, Twilight went with the former.

"I'm sorry, Princess Luna," said Twilight, "But this is something I must know. You know me; I can't stand the thought of not knowing things. If you refuse to tell me… Then I'll have to figure it out myself."

"Mark my words, Twilight Sparkle; you do not want to do this. There are things up there… Things you have no business knowing about."

"I'm sorry, Princess. But I'm afraid you already have my answer." Twilight turned around and began to head toward the library. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some research to do."

"What are we looking for again?" asked Pinkie Pie as she bounced from here to there, glancing at the bookshelves for anything interesting.

"Something about stars," said Spike, "Preferably, the Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy."

"Would that be…," started Fluttershy.

"But doesn't Twilight already know everything there is to know about stars?" asked Rainbow Dash as she flew past the rows and rows of books and scrolls. "Why does she even need this book?"

"Something about Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna," explained Spike, scanning the titles for anything resembling astronomy. "Let's just humor her and find the book."

"Do you mean…," started Fluttershy again.

"But didn't we defeat Nightmare Moon?" asked Applejack. "Why would she be worryin' about that now?"

"That's what I'm wondering," said Spike.

"Um, guys, I think…"

Suddenly, the doors to the library slammed open. "Sorry I'm late," apologized Twilight. "Anyone find anything yet?"

"Well, I…"

"So Twilight, what did Luna want to talk to you about?" asked Rainbow Dash, flying over to her.

"Oh, you know, just…"

"I'm pretty sure I just found the book!" exclaimed Fluttershy, getting about as close to yelling as Fluttershy can get.

"Well, why didn't you just say so, silly?" asked Pinkie. "Twilight, Fluttershy found your book!"

"Why thank you, Fluttershy," said Twilight, picking up the book with her magic and flipping to the table of contents. "Let's see… Hmmm… No… I don't think any of this would really help…"

"Do you mean to tell me," asked Rainbow Dash "That we came all the way over here for nothing?"

"No, there must be more to it than this," said Twilight. "Keep searching, girls! Meanwhile, I'll see if I can get any information from this book."

"If I may ask," said Rarity, "What exactly is it you're looking for?"

"I'm not sure exactly," explained Twilight, "But see, the entry on Nightmare Moon in the book that I have says that the stars will aid in her escape; And sure enough, I distinctly remember four stars moving towards the moon, and freeing Nightmare Moon when they got there."

"But Twilight," said Pinkie, "Stars are giant balls of gas, burning millions of miles away! How could they do that?"

"That's what I'm wondering," said Twilight. "They're basically suns, which leads to another question. The sun needs Princess Celestia's magic in order to orbit around the planet. So, how do the stars maintain their orbit? What's keeping them aloft?"

"You sure seem to have a lot of questions, Twilight," noted Applejack. "Was this entry on Nightmare Moon what prompted them all?"

"I'm wondering why you hadn't thought of these questions earlier," confessed Fluttershy.

"And there's no answers to any of them in that book?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight shook her head. "Judging by the table of contents, no; though I might find some after a more detailed read."

"Guess we'd better keep searching then," sighed Rarity.

"Back already?" asked Celestia. "Didn't you want to spend more time with them?"

"Oh, yes, right…," said Luna. "Well, see, Twilight was… Really busy with… things."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "What kind of things?"

"Just… things," said Luna. "If you'll excuse me…"

Before her sister could respond, Luna sped off to her room, locking the door behind her.

When did I resort to this? Keeping secrets from my sister... No, I have to tell her the truth. She'll understand… won't she?

Many, many hours later, the six ponies and their dragon friend had completely ransacked the entire library, and still Twilight had found nothing about what she was looking for.

"Thanks for the help anyway," she said, stifling a yawn.

"I wasted a whole day on this," muttered Rainbow Dash.

"I missed my spa appointment," lamented Rarity as she looked up at a clock on the wall.

"Well, guess I'll just have to double the workload tomorrow," said Applejack.

"Oh, the poor animals must be so hungry," said Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie merely bounced across the halls, glad to have spent the whole day with her friends.

"I'm sorry for putting you all through this," said Twilight sincerely. "I really thought it wouldn't take this long."

"It's really no problem, sugarcube," Applejack assured her. "After all, what are friends for?"

"So what are you gonna do now that you didn't find what you were looking for?" asked Pinkie, still bouncing along happily.

"Hmmm," thought Twilight. The library had proved absolutely useless, even after poring through book after book after book. Think, Twilight. What would Starswirl do?

When faced with a problem, Starswirl the Bearded was known for solving it in any way possible. Twilight decided that if studying wielded no results, then the only way she could solve this problem was through hands on experience.

"Girls," said Twilight, "I am going to the moon."

Not sure I executed this chapter all that well... Though I guess that's for you guys to decide, right? So, yeah, tell me what you think in your review, because I won't know otherwise! Also, I'm thinking of doing a little bit in Celestia's POV next chapter, so you guys get to know what's going on in her head. So yeah, on that note, I'll be seeing you... Afterwards.

... Worst signoff ever, I gotta think of something else.