Celestia and Luna couldn’t believe their eyes: the vast kitchen of the castle, where every breakfast, every lunch, every dinner was diligently prepared, ordinarily so clean and so neat, had been transformed into a shambles. Shelves had been opened and roughly emptied of their contents; bags had been torn or slashed open, their contents spilled all over the ground: flower, rice, oat, barley… Squashed fruits and vegetables were spattered all over the place, and various bottles had been toppled, many of which had fallen and were now straggled on the ground as sharp glass splinters. The corpses of an apple cobbler and various other cakes were still visible as bright crumbs of various colors randomly strewn here and there. On the far side of the room, squatting in a corner, a young mare was sobbing; a guard was trying to comfort her.

“Who could have gone that berserk and made such a mess?” wondered Celestia, “And why? I mean, the kitchen is no secret place, nor is it reserved to our private usage; if someone is hungry, it’s easy to ask for a lunch, a sandwich or an oatburger. The staff is so friendly and helpful…” She did not wait for her sister to respond, and zigzagged, as far as she could, between the various motes of food, sloppy puddles and threatening shards of glass, until she reached the vicinity of the victim. Feeling her presence, the guard stood up and bobbed. “She is shocked but alright, I think, your Highness. We are still waiting for the physician to examine her, though. We found her in this very corner, decumbent and unconscious”, he declared in a low tone.

“Thank you so much for having taken care of her, sergent. Do you think she will be able to answer a few questions?” inquired Celestia.

“Maybe, your highness. With your permission, may I now leave?”

“Of course!” answered Celestia. The guard walked cautiously away, leaving Celestia alone with the brown-coated, still sobbing, earth filly. “What is your name, child?” asked Celestia mellowly.

“Amaretta, your Highness,” answered the maid, with a smidgen of foreign accent.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I was… I was…” she began, trying to stifle her tears, “preparing your breakfast, as per Princess Luna’s orders, when I heard the sound of… of hooves behind me. I turned around and… and… saw a big white shape towering over me and… there was a bright flash and I felt like I was clenched in a vise, I couldn’t move, and I think I fainted… That’s all I remember. When I came back to my senses, I was lying here with the guard standing over me. I am so sorry Princess, I should have been more plucky. All that disaster is my fault… Please, o please, forgive me. Don’t fire me, my family is so poor…”

“Are you kidding child?” responded Celestia. “You’re the victim, not the culprit. You were surely bewitched, there’s nothing else you could have done. Go home and rest. I give you a leave of ten days. When you feel better, report to the chief of personnel, he will find you another job here in the–”

“Celestia!” called Luna suddenly. “Can you come over here please?”

“What is it, sis?”

“Please come and see by yourself.”

“Take care,” said Celestia. She nuzzled the filly and trundled towards her sister. “Look,” murmured Luna as she approached, “the thug has left traces on the floor after carelessly trampling in the flour.” She pointed at a raw of big white prints. Big ones.

“The pony who’s left these tracks must have been really bulky. Look at the size of the hooves!” Celestia exclaimed.

“Indeed!” responded Luna. All of a sudden, she noted the bleary eyes of her sister. What’s that? she wondered. Why is she almost crying? This calls for acumen, not emotions. Bizarre. “But there is more. Follow them. Where do they lead to?” she carried on.

Celestia padded slowly forwards along the spoor, until she finally came in front of one of the walls of the nearby scullery. The marks were ending abruptly there. Raising her head, the Sun princess seemed to realize something. Her eyes widened, she shuddered and, cocking her head, gazed behind at her sister, who nodded silently in response.

“Please,” asked Celestia in a shaky voice, “Everybody clear out of the room now. Sorry for the inconvenience. This should last no more than a couple of minutes. Thank you for your co-operation.”

Polydorus came to help the lumbering filly out, and closed the kitchen door as they left. When she was assured to be totally alone, Luna whispered: “Open it.”

Celestia became wan. “Nobody knows, expect me and you. What do you imply?”

“I imply nothing,” retorted Luna. “Open it. We have to find out.”

“It can’t be…” muttered Celestia.

“Open it, or I swear I’ll do it myself!” Luna’s voice was hushed, but harsh.

Celestia’s horn briefly glowed as she whispered a short word, and a concealed door slid open. Beyond it, a flight of stairs were leading up.

A few faint white hoofprints were visible on the first steps.

“A big white pony, obviously mastering magic, that does know not only about one of the secret entrance of your private stairs, but also the formula to open it. That’s rather baffling, no?” said Luna to her sister as both were climbing up the marble stairs, heading back to their private apartments. The dark-coated alicorn was carrying a big notebook in which she had collated all the details of the incident and the statement of the sole witness.

Celestia squirmed queasily. “This makes no sense. Nopony is aware of this entrance, nopony even suspects the existence of this passage,” she repeated, unsuccessfully trying to brush off a nagging sense of guilt.

“Then who can it be?” asked Luna. “Any clue?”

“None,” answered Celestia, shaking her head. “Yet, someone had to spill the beans. And that telltale is not me.” She cast a sidelong glance at Luna.

“You daren’t imply…” protested Luna, stopping short. Her eyes blazed as she glared at her sister intently.

“I imply nothing, no more than you did before,” Celestia declared, turning around to face her. There was a heavy hush. “Come on,” she finally said, “we are playing with fire here. In an affair like this, given the scant evidences that we have collected yet, the worst thing to do would be jumping directly to conclusions.”

“You’re right,” sighed Luna, stooping her head. “I am sorry sis’. The last thing I want to do is make you feel bad, and I apologize deeply if I did. I think I’ve not yet gotten over the strain of yesterday's disaster.” She grinned, came to Celestia and hugged her warmly. They resumed walking.

“Yet,” continued Celestia, “we have a staggering riddle to solve.”

“That’s an understatement,” tittered Luna.

They carried on silently at a slow pace until they reached Celestia’s quarters. The white alicorn opened a wide door engraved with a Sun symbol, and both trod into the bedroom.

“What is on your agenda today?” asked Luna casually.

“Except the daily crisis meeting with the astronomers and another bunch of officials in the Royal observatory, nothing much,” responded Celestia. “Darn!” she blurted. “What time is it?”

“Quarter to nine,” answered Luna. “Why?”

“It’s scheduled for nine sharp! I must skedaddle at once; no time for a makeshift breakfast.”

She hastily picked up a pale yellow couture from her walk-in wardrobe, slipped into it, and got ready to leave. “I’m not shoving you off, you know,” she apologized, “but I really must go.” The two alicorns trotted out and Celestia closed the door. “If anything else happens, don’t hesitate to warn me,” she told her sister. “See you for lunch!” And with that, she was gone.

Luna dawdled thoughtfully towards her own premises, trying to sort her conflicting feelings out. The elements she had gathered were nonplussing, yet she was instinctively dismissing any possibility that her sister could have been involved into the misdeed, even in the remotest way. She made up her mind, deciding that, under the shock, the maid had certainly magnified some details of her story, or maybe that part of it was mere figment. Yet, there remained the nasty evidence that whoever was the true culprit, he or she was aware of secrets that should never have been divulged. That alone was unsettling.

She was about to enter her apartment when she suddenly realized that she had forgotten her notebook in her sister’s bedroom. “What a featherbrained nitwit I am!” she cursed herself, and returned on the spot to fetch the forlorn object. After a brief walk in the deserted corridors, she was back whence she had come a few minutes ago. Absentmindedly opening the door, she stepped inside and froze.

Celestia, naked, was sitting on the bed, greedily guzzling a large piece of cake.

“What are you doing here?” gasped Luna, flummoxed. “Aren’t you supposed to attend that crisis meeting at the observatory? Where does this cake come from? And what about your couture?”

“I felcht peckisssh,” answered Celestia, her mouth half-full. “I deshided to turchn back.” She finished swallowing her slice down. “It’s–well it was–a piece I saved from yesterday’s breakfast. Besides, I’d really appreciate you knocking at the door before you walk in. May I remind your Highness of the night that these are my private apartments, and not an entrance to the royal gardens.”

“Oops…” stammered Luna. “I’m deeply sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude, I had surmised you were gone, and I merely intended to get hold of the notebook I had left behind on your table.” She pointed a hoof at it. “How could I guess you had decided to turn back?”

“Gone or not, that does not matter,” Celestia growled. “If you were polite, you’d knock. But you’ve always considered the castle as your personal possession anyway, starting from your infancy, when you were nothing but an ill-mannered and snotty brat, indulging in uncouth behaviors that—”

“Pardon me?” Luna cut in. “What’s the matter with you now?”

“What do you mean by ‘what’s the matter with me’? Not only do you impinge on my private property without even asking permission, but you also blithely dare inquire on matters that do in no way regard you. And I suppose you expect me to just put up with that and shut up? Well, if I did heretofore, that was the final straw. Now, to slake your relentless curiosity, I wasn’t that prodded by attending a briefing in which I would not learn anything valuable, surrounded at that by a gang of such prissy ass-lickers. They’ll have to wait. As for any further inquiry you would have, I respectfully request you henceforth refrain from prying on my privacy. Period.”

“ME? Prying on your privacy? How the hay could you possibly rebuke me for that?” roared Luna, gritting her teeth to curb a sudden fit of anger. “You’ve gone crazy!”

“As far as I know, I and only I am the executive ruler of Equestria, and, as such, I am NOT accountable for my acts or decisions, whatever they be, to anypony, including YOU. Therefore stop harrying me, and mind your own business, Moon, stars and all, would you? I’m seriously beginning to get bored and to regret your millenium of banishment. I was alone and resented it, granted, but, at least, I was relieved of your unceasing badgering. And—”

“Stop this at once!” interrupted Luna in a commanding tone. “I don’t know what happened to you, but I warn you I have no intention to embark on a pointless bickering, especially when the future of Equestria is at stake. Now, I’m giving you satisfaction: I’ll take my book and clear off. Have a nice meeting, so long!” She levitated the book and retreated through the door.

“I have really no intention to go through that chore,” shouted the muffled voice of Celestia from within the room. “They can burn in Tartarus, all of them! They’ll mail me their conclusions. Now scram, you pesky little bat! Give me some fresh air!”

Luna slammed the door shut.

It was around one PM when Luna shuffled into the little dining room where she and her sister were used to have lunch. She had spent every second of her morning mulling over the assault and the subsequent inexplicably hostile behavior of Celestia, without figuring out even the faintest inkling. To her great surprise, Celestia was here, savoring a big daffodil and salad oatburger accompanied by rye fries. “Ah, Luna!” she said when she saw her sister, “I was going to look for you once I’d finished my meal. Nothing dreary happened while I was away?”

“Nothing at all,” answered Luna. “You’ll mayhap be interested in knowing that the kitchen maid had been found unscathed by the royal doctor. This good news excepted, the morning was calm.” She paused. “That is, if I deliberately ignore the torrents of insults that poured down on me from your mouth,” she added wryly.

Celestia hiccuped and almost choked, throwing up her last mouthful. “What are you talking about?” she asked, once she had cleared her throat and recovered her breath.

“Oh please, don’t top it off with feigned oblivion,” begged Luna. “You know very well what I am talking about.”

“Luna, I swear by the mid-Summer Sun that I don't have the slightest idea. I don’t remember having ever abused you this morning. How could I have anyway? After we parted, I hurried to the observatory. That wasn’t a snap, by the bye: there was so much traffic on the road that I got delayed by almost half an hour, and when I arrived, all those bespectacled eggheads looked daggers at me. This was boring as always, but the good news is that the computations were slightly wrong. We have two or three days more to act.”

“Half an hour, eh? Why do you fudge the reality?” grouched Luna, pacing restlessly around the table. “Why don’t you just simply confess you went back, gulped a cake, remorselessly flayed your little sister, and then finally decided to attend your darn meeting?”

Unexpectedly, Celestia broke down into heavy tears. “Luna… Luna…” she faltered amidst her sobbing. “…please. I confess everything you want… but quit yelling at me so… so roughly. I love you, my little sis! I truly love you…”

Now what’s that again? She wails like a foal. I’m totally lost. Luna was flabbergasted. One moment she’s in a wild fury, and the next she’s as meek as a lamb. There’s definitely something wrong with her. What should I do?

“Forgive me,” said Luna softly. “I didn’t want to hurt you that bad. Please, forget it. I know you love me, and I love you, big sister. I mean it.” She came close and hugged her; she could feel the warm body of Celestia, abandoned in her forelegs, shaken by irrepressible twitches. “Hush, hush. It’s over now,” she whispered softly. This is too much nervous strain. I must give me a break or I will collapse, too. She eased her embrace. “Go back to your bedroom and have some rest. I’ll join you in a few minutes. Alright?”

“Alright,” acknowledged Celestia, trying to recover a semblance of balance. She stumbled awkwardly to the door.

“Oh, Celestia!” called Luna as her sister was already in the corridor. “Does it really bother you if I sometimes don’t knock at your door?”

“Don’t be silly,” answered Celestia, “you’re at home everywhere here, even in my bedroom.”

Celestia found the door of her bedroom open. She creeped in, and could not stifle a squeak of dismay. No more was her bedroom a bedroom: rather, it was a bedlam, as if it had been burglarized. Her wardrobe had been opened; several coutures and gowns had been tossed carelessly on the ground. The bedclothes had been crumpled and trampled on, the bolster and the pillows had been ripped; they were gushing their feathers, and, apparently, someone had had fun playing with them. Various items, such as combs and lipsticks, had been drawn out of the vanity case, and were now strewn everywhere. With another repressed yelp, Celestia reckoned that one of these red lipsticks had been used as a pencil to draw an obscene picture on the wallpaper. Worse still, four bottles of calvados had been emptied: three were knocked over, lying on the precious rug that had been spoiled by their contents; the last one, still partly filled, was standing with its companion glass on the pedestal table. The whole place was reeking of a vague mixture of brandy and perfume and… her nostrils flared as she caught a subtle whiff of… no… not that, not here… she thought, on the verge of vomiting her meager lunch. What am I going to do now? Who could have ravaged my bedroom like that? Who will believe it’s not me? Quick… fix up this mess before it’s too late, before Luna arrives…

Fighting to overcome her nausea, she shook herself into action. Using her magic, she hurriedly put back her clothes in place, then hid the three empty bottles into her wardrobe. Too bad for the rug, she would care about it later. Turning now her attention to the bottle and the glass on the table, she levitated them up. Where can I put them away so they won’t fall and defile something else? she puzzled, hesitating.

Too late she noticed her sister standing on the threshold of the room, her jaw dropped, her eyes wide with bewilderment, gawking. The bottle and the glass landed on the priceless carpet, marring a new part of it, as Celestia inadvertently broke the spell that was holding them aloft. “I c… I c… I can explain everything,” she stuttered, all her body quivering.

“That won’t be necessary,” hammered Luna curtly. “I understand all too well.” She vanished. Celestia’s head started to reel as the clopping of her sister’s hooves receded and faded in the distance. She swooned. Next Chapter: Twenty-four hours Estimated time remaining: 33 Minutes