"What's her plan?" asked Twilight, leaning forward in her throne. "What's her play?"
"I'm not sure. Her dreams aren't giving me any hints." said Luna. "She's hiding it somehow. She's planning something big, and I fear we will not learn what it is until she already begins implementing it." Twilight groaned, and fell back in her chair. Around her subjects, Princess Twilight kept up a facade of elegant grace, but in reality, she had no concern for proper etiquette, something Luna berated her for constantly.
"Stop doing that." ordered Luna. "It's unbecoming for the Princess of Equestria."
"Does that even mean anything now?" asked Twilight.
The doors to the throne room opened, and a guard slowly marched into the room. He was followed by an alicorn mare with a light orange coat, an orange-red mane, and a single, piercing cyan eye. The other eye was missing, replaced with a thin sheet of flesh that had the mark of a swirling yellow and red sun, one half red with a yellow flaring outside and the other half yellow with a red flare.
"Your highness." said the guard, dropping to his knee before Twilight and Luna.
"Which one are you again?" asked Twilight, looking to the alicorn. "I'm sorry, but there's a lot of you."
"My name is Twilight Shimmer." said the alicorn. "I have word back from the team we sent to open the library."
"And?" asked Luna.
"The combination worked. The books are being transported as we speak." supplied the guard. "But that's not what we came here for."
"Then why did you come?" asked Twilight, slightly excited. The books were coming, which was good news for her kingdom.
"It's the prisoner. She says that she's ready to talk." said Twilight Shimmer. "She says that she will tell you how to cure Eclipse, but only if Queen Luna lets her go first."
"What?! Of course not!" shouted Luna. "Why would you even bring that nonsense before me?"
"We thought it would be good information for you to know." said Twilight Shimmer, flinching slightly.
"And it was. Don't listen to Luna. She's just being grumpy." said Twilight Sparkle. "Do you have her exact words? Did you write them down?"
"Yes, Mother. She said, quote 'I have the secret of Eclipse, and I am willing to relinquish it to my sister, only after she releases me, forgives me, and accepts my embrace.', end quote. What do you make of it?"
"She's lying, obviously." said Luna. "Why would she all of a sudden want to give up the cure?"
"Perhaps she's only now remembering it." suggested Princess Twilight. "Her memory loss was genuine, as you know, and it could be reasoned that she is slowly regaining it. Maybe she's just remembering, and her guilt is taking over. Maybe she wants to repent, to do the right thing."
"A pony who wants to do the right thing just does it, without demanding certain conditions be met." said Luna. "She is planning something."
"I don't doubt it, but what could go wrong?" asked the princess. "No magic, and far too weak to overpower either of us. Worst case scenario, we release her, she hugs you, and tries to run. We restrain her rather easily, put her back into chains, and continue like nothing happened."
"Is that really the worst you can imagine?" asked Luna. "This is Celestia we're talking about. The mare who killed all of your friends."
"A fact I am painfully aware of, but thank you for reminding me, Luna." said Twilight angrily. Luna's eyes widened slightly, as she forgot how sensitive her subordinate could be at times.
"Forgive me. You're still a relatively young alicorn, so you don't have the detachment that I and Celestia have." explained Luna. "Give it another thousand years and you will be able to push them from your mind."
"If that was meant to make me feel better, it failed spectacularly." said Twilight. She shook her head and addressed her child again. "Did Celestia say how long the offer was good for?"
"She said to come see her whenever you're ready." said Twilight Shimmer. She darted her eyes from her Mother to Queen Luna in slight unease. She had never seen the Queen and Princess argue even in the slightest.
"Well, then, we shall see what comes of the situation." said Luna. "I still feel that this could be a trap, but we shall consider it."
"If we avoided every single trap, we'd have lost a long while ago." said Princess Twilight. "You would not be on that throne, and I would be in the ground."
"I find it hilarious that you think you are in a position to tell me to live on the edge." scoffed Luna. "You are likely the most cautious pony I've ever met."
"'You guys worry so much about staying alive that you forget to live a little.' Rainbow Dash used to say that quite often."
"Mostly before she did something foolish." pointed out Luna. Twilight glared at her co-ruler with an odd rage. Twilight wasn't sure why she was so angry with Luna. The Queen was never especially sensitive to the concept of death. She disrespected Twilight's friends almost daily, but the princess never paid it too much attention. Today, however, she was enraged, near to the point of violence. Even Luna herself, who was normally oblivious to the deep emotional workings of others, noticed Twilight's rage.
"Why are you glaring at me in such a way?" asked Luna. "So much hate."
"Hate is far too strong an emotion to waste on somepony you don't like." said Twilight. Under her breath, she muttered "So, yes. Hate."
"Hold on a second. Where did you hear that?" asked Luna. Twilight shrugged her shoulders. It was just a saying, a proverb so old that it's origins were lost in time.
"That saying… Celestia." said Luna after pondering for a second. "This is her play, as you said. She's trying to pit us against each other."
"That's ridiculous. It's impossible, for starters." said Twilight. "She would have had to have known when exactly to say that particular proverb, then she would have had to have known when Twilight Shimmer would give us the information, then she would have had to have known that we'd start bickering over it. Even if she knew all of that, somehow, there's no way she knew that you would disrespect Rainbow Dash when you did, and she couldn't have known that I even remembered her saying the proverb, let alone repeat it."
"Celestia is cunning. This we know for a fact. I put nothing past my sister." said Luna.
"Unless you're implying that Celestia is that much more intelligent than yourself, I can't see that happening." said Twilight.
"Celestia is more intelligent than all of us, Twilight Sparkle. You know that as well as I." said Luna angrily.
"Celestia is an all-powerful, psychotic, clever, sadistic, cunning being who, with next to no aid, eradicated most of her people." said Twilight. "She is a genius, and that is insulting to her. She is smarter than almost every Equestrian, dead or alive. She is smarter than Cadance, smarter than you, smarter than Tirek and Sombra and Chrysalis. But she is not smarter than me."
"Are you implying that you are above me, Twilight Sparkle?" growled Luna.
"I do not mean to imply my superiority." said Twilight. "I mean to directly state it; I am superior to you, Princess Luna. Your title of 'Queen' is purely for show."
"Do you really wish to fight with me? In front of one of your precious science experiments, no less?" shot Luna. Twilight flinched, angry with herself. In her anger, she completely forgot that her daughter was standing in front of her.
"Twilight Shimmer, to your barracks." ordered Princess Twilight, knowing full well that she just did the equivalent of sending her daughter to her room. Twilight Shimmer rose to her feet, brought the edge of her hand to her heart, and marched out of the room. The guard followed her after giving his own salute to the Queen and Princess.
"What is your problem today?" asked Luna, as soon as the doors were closed. "What has gotten into you?"
"I'm sorry. I'm just so frustrated." sighed Twilight. "I get all this anger built up inside of me, and I feel like I want to destroy something. My life has become one long temper-tantrum. I haven't properly smiled since Pinkie died, did you know that?"
"I've seen you smile after her demise." said Luna. Twilight shook her head.
"Just because I show my teeth and go like this." She spread her mouth open into a blank, emotionless smile. "Does not mean I'm smiling. 'A pony smiles with more than just their mouths. They smile with their souls'. I never thought something so deep and profound could come out of Pinkie's mouth."
"Perhaps you should recall Pinkamena's wise words more often. It would save me the embarrassment, and the headache." said Luna. "It's unfit for a true leader to let their emotions manifest."
"Then you are quite a leader." shot Twilight. "Where's your passion? You're so cold and detached."
"Passion is an excuse for intelligent ponies to act foolishly." said Luna. "No amount of care or passion for something can save it."
"If you care enough about it." argued Twilight. Luna was growing impatient with the conversation.
"Then you must not have cared about your friends very much." spat Queen Luna.
"How did this happen to us?" asked Twilight angrily. "There was once a time when I admired you, when you were one of my only role-models. I guess a thousand years and a plague tend to strain a relationship."
Luna felt a tingling run down her back, and she forgot her retort. She shushed Twilight and closed her eyes. The world melted around her, and she fell through the nothing. She flipped over and over through the air, her hooves eventually hitting cold concrete. To her right was Celestia, chained to the wall. In front of Celestia was Princess Twilight.
"It's been years since I've seen into your dreams, sister." muttered Luna. "Let's see what you have to offer."
"Are you sure that it will work?" asked Twilight.
"I am positive. Any amount in Luna's food will be lethal." promised Celestia. "Even though you are immune, I would recommend shielding yourself. I upped the power of Eclipse to make sure that it kills my sister, and it is possible that your immunity will be unable to protect you."
"When should I do it?" asked Twilight. "Today?" Celestia shook her head.
"Don't show your hand until all cards have been dealt. We'll wait until Luna frees me, and kill her only if necessary." said Celestia. "Luna might still be useful to us in the future, and it would be short-sighted to needlessly kill her."
"Why give me Eclipse if you don't plan to use it?" asked Twilight.
"The best weapon is the one you never have to fire. Only kill Luna if she attacks you. If she tries to employ diplomacy… Well, Luna can't have Eclipse leaking to her subjects, now can she?"
"What happens when Luna is out of the picture?" asked Twilight with a greedy, sinister smile.
"You free me, of course." said Celestia. "You explain to your subjects that you were bewitched by the terrible Princess Luna, and the spell has been broken. I clean up Eclipse and we work together to fix the surface. Between the two of us, it'll take a year, at most. Then, we split the land. If you have no major objections, I would prefer if I kept Canterlot as my capitol. I put many years into that place, and I'd like to return to rule in a familiar place."
"Of course." said Twilight with a nod. "I will take the Crystal Empire." She looked over her shoulder nervously. "I have to go. Try not to sleep too much."
"Right. We can't have Luna seeing my dreams. Not that it makes much difference." said Celestia. "We have her right where we want her." Celestia slowly turned her head to the left, her eyes falling on Luna. "If she so much as acknowledges that there is a coup d'etat underway, the coup will complete itself. This, my faithful student, is what we call a checkmate."
"I cannot wait until you're back on the throne, where you belong." said Twilight. She smiled to Celestia and turned for the door. She vanished from the room, and Celestia began whistling to herself.
"Luna thinks she has me trapped, chained and lost in the Devil's hall." said Celestia cheerfully. "But Luna's wits have gone and snapped, and that is why Luna will fall."
"Luna!" shouted Twilight. The queen blinked furiously, removing herself from Celestia's dreamscape. She looked around in confusion, calming down only when she realized where she was. Her throne room normally filled her with power and purpose, but she now felt nothing but fear and uncertainty. She looked to her subordinate, Princess Twilight Sparkle, with the feeling of dragons flying through her gut.
"Is everything okay, Luna?" asked Twilight. "You dazed off."
"It is… It is fine." lied Luna. "I thought I saw something. Wait! Blood. I need blood."
"What for?" asked Twilight.
"I just had a thought. We might not need to free Celestia for the cure. I think I just cracked it." said Luna.
"Then let us go." said Twilight. Luna shook her head vigorously.
"You must stay. The books will be getting here any second, and you have to begin looking through them at once." said Luna. "Who knows what sort of counter-spells Celestia put on those books? She was rather paranoid when it came down to her magic, and she used to put up methods to prevent others from reading a spell more than once. Or to prevent them from reading at all."
"Then I will be careful." nodded Twilight. Luna began walking at a brisk pace, grabbing her cloak off of a hook by the door. She threw the black cape over her and reached into the inner pocket, retrieving a bloody needle and tube, tied to a bag filled with blood. She stared at it uneasily for a second before stowing it back into her pocket and setting off for her sister's cell.