It had been several weeks since Midnight and her friends had met up with Luna, but it felt like much longer. The guards continued their search for the princess of the night, but so far they had remained hidden. The Doctor and Ditzy were staying in Ponyville and bringing the others supplies and, since the guards did not know who Luna already had helping her, they went undetected. Dinky was glad to have her mother home, though she wasn't told why. Others had been, however. Very few could be trusted, but that first night they had run into a few close friends, Pinkie pie was one of them, and had been able to explain the situation to them. Each had pinkie promised not to tell anypony else and many volunteered to help however they could.

Since then the situation had become much more complicated. Celestia, or the Vexion as it were, had released publicly her story that Luna was once again Nightmare moon and that she was gathering followers to form an army against Equestria. Anypony who was suspected to be aiding her was to be reported immediately.

"We need a plan," MIdnight announced to the gathered ponies. It was a small group, and neither of her time traveling friends had been able to come, but simply hiding was becoming too dangerous. Even the remote caves the princesses and Guise were staying in would be discovered before too long. Everypony knew the time had come to act, but there was much dispute about what exactly they should do. Midnight, with the help of her friends, had called a meeting to discuss what was to be done. She stood next to her sister in front of the small crowd, her cloak once again concealing her identity. "It is necessary that we show the ponies of Equestria that their princess is not the dark mare she once was! No offence Luna,"

"Of course," she nodded, showing her understanding. They both understood why Luna had done what she had, although only one of them really believed it wasn't Lunas fault.

"But how do we do that?" somepony called out

"That, my friend, is what we are here to discuss. All ideas are welcome, but we need them quickly for I fear our time is limited. Celestias guards will find us eventually."

"What we need to do is infiltrate that castle. Stop this conspiracy against Luna at its source," Cried one eager stallion.

"Then what? All Equestria will know is that their Princess has been attacked by her sister. A direct assault will only work against us!" called another

"Well we have to attack sometime, they came after us first!"

"I agree, but not until we can make others understand what is going on. Let more join us before we make our move,"

"We can't just attack, Celestia is not the problem, it's that thing inside of her! We have to figure out how to get rid of it without hurting her!"

The ruckus stopped when Luna spoke up.

"I agree, in part, with many of you. The first thing we must do, however, is show the citizens of Equestria that I have not returned to darkness. Midnight, you look as though you have an idea," she nodded thoughtfully, then paused.

"I do, well, part of an idea anyway. I was thinking what we really need right now is Nightmare moon," there were shouts of protest and anger before Midnight could continue, but they were silenced once again by Luna. "What I mean is, if Nightmare moon were here, Luna could fight her and everypony could see that Luna can't be Nightmare moon because she is fighting against her." there was a pause. "Of course we can't bring back the real Nightmare moon, and I know we wouldn't even if we could, but perhaps a transformation spell..."

"No," murmured the princess "Not a transformation spell," she turned to the crowd of ponies "Thank thee all for coming this night. We have much to think about. Please return to your homes, and tell nopony of what had has transpired," with that, she turned and walked thoughtfully away.

Hello everypony, enjoying the story? I hope so! What is Luna planning? Will it be enough to save her good name? Will Midnight ever actually listen to me when I'm trying to explain the plot to her?! ... probably not. *sigh* Oh well.

see you all later!

~Autumnbreeze (my pony name)