Chapter 3 : Luna x Athena.
To access the archives, one needed to be on the list of those authorized to do so and request the assistance of the head librarian. The key to get to the archives was kept in one of the books, which was changed regularly and hidden inside of a cypher. The key itself was not a physical object. It was a teleportation spell. The physical location of the archives was underneath the castle itself. After it had been built, it was sealed away. A magical barrier protected it. Without the proper code, the teleportation spell would fail. Two ponies were borrowing a few novels when Luna reached the front desk. They gave her a frightened glance and were not reassured by her slight smile. Litty Tear, the ancient caretaker of the library, was assisting them. She had been old a thousand years ago thanks to her bloodline, which made her related to key members of the royal family, but now it was getting a little ridiculous. Back in the day, she had been an adviser to their father.
"Back again, Luna?" Litty asked as she sent her patrons on their way.
"This is the first time I've been here today, Litty."
"My, you've grown so much since I last saw you. It never ceases to amaze me."
"Thank you, Litty. I – "
"You were so little. I'm glad you're finally back. Celestia missed you deeply."
Luna chuckled darkly and grinned.
"If that were the case, don't you think that – "
"I remember the first time you saw the moon. You weren't yet old enough to understand the ways of the world, yet somehow your mark appeared anyway. It was a miracle."
Tears began forming in Litty's eyes. Luna had to be nice, but she was in a hurry.
"Could you take me to the archives, please?"
Litty frowned skeptically, a rather bad sign.
"Were you not in there the other day?"
"Litty, I'm sorry, but like I said, this is my first visit."
"Really? I do apologize. Sometimes I don't remember things as well as I do other times these days."
"Don't say that, it's nothing. Can we go there? Now?"
"Of course. Just let me close the doors. I can tell that we're alone. The library hasn't been very busy this month."
Litty moved very slowly. Luna quickly closed and locked the doors to the library for her, smiling eagerly.
"Thank you, child," Litty said.
That saved them about ten minutes. Litty moved through the library with Luna at her side, going on and on about all the embarrassing stories concerning Luna that she could remember, including the time Celestia had convinced her the entire west hall was haunted. Luna tuned her out and felt herself begin to sweat. She was two seconds away from carrying Litty to wherever they were going. Litty suddenly stopped and tilted her head in confusion for a moment before smiling.
"Right, right. This is where the old trigger was. The new one is actually on the other side."
Luna cried out in exasperation.
"Can we skip the formalities? What's the call number of the trigger?" Luna requested.
"Ah, youth. It goes by so quickly. Life does not slow down until you are my age, which is a pity. Very well, my filly. I can see that this is urgent. The call number is DC 1.238."
"Thanks!"
She spread her wings and shot into the air with enough force to knock a few books off their shelves. Luna almost crashed into the chandelier above her. She soared toward the aisle containing the book and landed almost directly in front of it. The volume was only twenty pages long, but it was bound thickly. The call number directed Luna to the spell hidden among the pages since the method to locate it had not changed in her absence.
Luna placed the volume back where she had found it and cast the spell. In an instant, she was deep underground. The usual disorientation associated with blinking, the slang term for teleporting a short distance, was as present as ever. Luna held steady for a moment while it passed. The deathly quiet room was devoid of light until Luna cast an illumination spell. A large box full of the necessary supplies for making a torch were to her right. While such a task seemed impossible to the animals blessed with thumbs, it was easy for ponies to do such things thanks to the enchanted bit of iron they wore inside their hooves. It was not strictly magnetic, but it attracted many of the tools they worked with, allowing them to be manipulated a little easier. Earth ponies would have been at a loss without it. Certain materials could be used to hold specific spells indefinitely. The entrance and exit to the archive was bonded to an obsidian platform. Strangely enough, she believed Nicodemus had been involved in the construction of this lair. It was a shame that they were out of innovators these days.
She lit and placed a few torches near the reading desk, which was fashioned out of granite. The room suppressed this light and she needed to use an illumination spell to see where she was going. There were twenty shelves three stacks high lined with thirty books each. Four of them were in use while the others waited eagerly for the secrets they would guard. Three composition books were sitting atop the first shelf, all of them containing Celestia's distinctive writing. These were her personal notes, mostly dealing with her pet project, Ponyville. There was a reason why there were more mares than stallions in that city and while Luna was curious, she chose not to read through them.
Luna passed books containing proposals for various forms of government, hidden treasury reports, classified logs from explorers who had gone beyond the borders of Equestria, and a variety of other goodies deemed unfit for consumption by the general public. A spot on the shelf was missing the complete unedited encyclopedia of ancient terrors Equestria had faced during its extensive past, which had been kept here so the populace would have even more of a reason to rely on those within the family that ruled it without question. Luna looked closer and saw a simple piece of fabric discarded on the shelf. It was purple and contained one yellow star and several other stars of varying sizes in different shades of blue. Whoever had taken the book actually had left something behind that would identify them. Luna was thrilled with her luck.
Had Litty not mentioned Luna had been to the library recently? Somepony must have entered the castle posing as her and duped Litty into allowing them to come here. Unless the imposter was found, Luna could easily be blamed for this leak. But why steal a bestiary, of all things? Could the thief know something about the Malum? Now was not the time to jump to conclusions. She placed the calling card in her vest. Perhaps there was somepony who could help her identify the thief with it. If not, Luna would have to rely on brute force to stop the Malum, a prospect that did not seem entirely ideal.
It was time to send an armed platoon of guards to Ponyville so the citizens could be protected. Luna blinked back to the library and intercepted the first servant she found in the hallway who was cleaning a window. The irony present in the fact her cutie mark was also a window escaped Luna.
"This is an emergency. Sound the alarm and send word to Twilight Sparkle immediately!"
"Twilight is gone. She's with Princess Celestia."
"What?" Luna shouted. "What about the other five?"
"They're gone too. They're assisting with the development of the new settlement."
"Why?"
"Since they are all the embodiment of the elements, Celestia believes that their input in the structure of the town would be invaluable."
"You must be joking! Isn't that what her jaded adviser is for?"
"I was thinking the same thing, actually."
They couldn't count on the Elements of Harmony for help. That was a bit distressing. They might manage without them. Harder battles had been won with far less. A particular weapon hidden in the armory suddenly came to mind. Luna tucked it away for now.
"In any case, I need all of our available guards to assemble in the courtyard this instant."
The servant dropped what she was doing and galloped to the bell tower while Luna went to the courtyard and waited anxiously for the chime. Three gongs reverberated throughout the castle and surrounding area. This summoned every single guard, even those who were not on duty and were relaxing in the barracks. They had all gone through numerous exercises that guaranteed they would all be ready for duty within twenty minutes of the bell sounding no matter where they were in Canterlot.
None of them seemed thrilled or confident that they were addressing Luna. A sizable force consisting of the finest warriors in Equestria were now at her disposal, as were ten captains and the general of their army. Stragglers were arriving and finding their own place within the ranks, but Luna decided that the remaining stallions could be briefed later.
"Soldiers of Canterlot! There is a creature assaulting Ponyville that is turning the citizens into mindless savages. The same enemy in question may have also desecrated the Shrine of Nicodemus in the Everfree Forest. Finally, there has been a theft from within the castle and the culprit must be located quickly. I need one captain and twenty-five soldiers. Twenty will build a perimeter around Ponyville and gather information concerning the thief while the remaining five will accompany me to the shrine to search for clues."
They looked confused. Predictable. Just as Luna was about to take any questions, a rather sharp laugh ruined her opportunity to do so. Athena. She was in the company of two arch mages and the pony with the window cutie mark. This was not going to end well. The garishly dressed adviser walked in front of Luna and attempted to stare her down without success while the soldiers began conversing with each other quietly as they tried to figure out what was going on.
"What do you think you're doing?" Athena asked.
"Protecting our citizens. What does it look like I'm doing?"
"I'm not sure. Where is your proof that Ponyville is in danger?"
It became evident that Athena was trying to steal her fire. Luna had destroyed the original message once she had read it to prevent this from happening. In hindsight, that didn't seem like such a fabulous idea. Then again, it was catch twenty-two. Athena could get her for withholding information or burning an important message. Luna was screwed no matter what so long as Athena could pretend she was in charge, which she undoubtedly would.
"I have seen it for myself."
"And we are to rely on the word alone of Night Mare Moon?"
Luna said nothing. Anything she tried to say would be countered viciously by Athena. She had to choose her words carefully if she wanted to talk her way out of this.
"Why were you conversing with Discord?"
That sent a ripple through the soldiers. The general and the captains were beginning to lose faith in her. She must have been sighted by the pony who helped clean the windows of the castle, who was hiding behind one of the unicorn court mages. Denying it would only serve to dig her grave even deeper.
"Or did you fall asleep? Were you sleeping in the garden?"
Athena was trying to catch her in a lie.
"I asked for his help," Luna admitted.
Luna bit her bottom lip. She should not have said that, but it was too late to take it back.
"Help? From him? Help with what? Some grand scheme of yours? How are we to know that joining Discord in his Ether has not in some way contaminated you mentally?"
"Are you implying that Discord is absolutely evil?" Luna asked calmly.
Athena guffawed, a hint of weakness.
"Are you or are you not, Athena?"
"I am."
"A sweeping generalization. He could have done a lot more to us than what he did, yet instead he played the role of a jester, turning our world upside down for his own amusement."
"And that is not a bad thing? By the way, what you just said was an appeal to emotion."
"Which makes both of us idiots! So what?"
"It pains me to do this, but I must suggest that you be detained. I will see what has happened to Ponyville and as Princess Celestia's personal adviser, I will decide what needs to be done. Until then, I am confining you to the dungeon as I believe you are still under the influence of your old persona."
"You do not have the authority to do that!"
"Well, we can't just let you wander around. All Discord had to do was touch Fluttershy and she was lost to Twilight Sparkle. Who knows what he has done to you?"
"Athena, so help me. . ." Luna said, a dangerous rage building inside of her.
"Mages, please make this easier for everypony."
The two unicorn ponies stepped forward, preparing to cast a spell of some sort.
"No! Stop!" Luna shouted frantically. "You have to trust me!"
Luna was losing her chance to redeem herself. She knew Celestia would release her the moment she heard her side of the story, but by then Athena may have taken care of the matter herself. The fact still remained that she had spoken with Discord and Celestia did not cut him nearly as much slack as Luna did. That would remain a point of contention between them and it would only be something she could fix if she managed to defeat the Malum herself, which was becoming highly unlikely.
The two unicorn ponies hesitated, uncertain of themselves. Nopony was going to intervene unless they absolutely had to. Right now, they did not know who to believe. That meant they at least had some faith in Luna, which was reassuring.
"Do not allow her to fool you," Athena said.
Should she try to run? Would that not make her appear guilty? It would, but she might just get away. However, should she attempt to fly away, the mages would most certainly do their best to disable her. They would want to keep her where she was until they decided for themselves what action they should take. Athena was looking a bit irritated since this was taking so long. Luna made her decision.
"Very well. I will voluntarily confine myself. Athena, I wish you the best of luck and I urge you to be careful."
She momentarily considered giving Athena the cloth she had found in the archives, but that would make it easy.
"I will lock myself in my own cell. I only need one of you to ensure that I am safely imprisoned. Who among you will go with me?"
"I shall accompany you," Athena said.
That sounded about as fun as breathing nothing but helium for ten minutes.
"May I ask the mages you have brought with you to oversee this?" Luna requested, looking directly at them.
They nodded wordlessly. Athena wouldn't pull anything funny with them there. Luna turned to the crowd.
"You are all dismissed," Luna stated.
None of them moved. They couldn't figure out whether they had just witnessed a comedy or a tragedy. Luna walked back inside the castle and headed into the basement. The cells were rarely used these days and came with plenty of amenities. Prisoners who wound up in the castle dungeon were treated well until their actual sentence was handed down from Celestia herself. It had been quite a while since somepony had been down here since the latest big scandal had something to do with copyright infringement between two famous playwrights. That would be taken care of by their local court unless the decision was successfully appealed.
Luna walked into the first cell she saw while Athena fetched the keys since the guard on duty was still in the courtyard with everypony else. Luna closed the barred door and Athena locked it.
"Since she can use magic, one of you will need to stay down here for a shift. I will have two additional guards come down on rotation to ensure that she does nothing funny. Nullify her cell just in case," Athena instructed.
Neither of them objected. The mages worked together to put a hex around the small area that would absorb magic. This was a complex task and it took them a few minutes to do so. When they finished, one left while the other stood guard. Luna's adrenaline shot was immediately dispelled and she became quite exhausted. The magic that made her mane so fabulous was also taken away, returning her hair to normal. Furthermore, she was robbed of the enchantment that made her look like a member of royalty and quickly morphed back into a regular looking alicorn, which was quite humiliating. Athena smiled, satisfied with what she had done. Luna could see she was trying to think of some witty line to say before she left.
"See you later, Night Mare Moon," was all Athena could muster.
Luna sneered. That was pathetic. Athena left the dungeon. All Luna could do now was wait and hope somepony would come to their senses. That was probably going to take a while. Faith in her people. The same ponies she had terrorized for less than a day. It was all she had left at this point. Luna crawled into bed and closed her eyes, hoping that Athena could not do this on her own.