Things did not go as hoped for Applejack and the rest of the Mane 5. They were doing so well to get back on Twilight's good side but then Pinkie (unintentionally) opened her big mouth about the Elements of Harmony and now they were back to Square One. Cadance was taken by surprise at how quickly the plan went belly-up, but as a firm believer in Twilight, she knew the latter would still allow room for a second chance. They had to try again, but it was just a matter of how.

"Come on girls, you did well the first time. It was just a slip of the tongue. Accidents do happen. There's still a chance for you to make up with Twilight. All you need to do is think of a Plan B, something that can make and have Twilight understand how sorry you really are."

Applejack cried silently. She looked about ready to give up "But we were so close to getting her back! I know we did try but it's just not enough. She's even madder now."

"Yeah, we screwed up big time." Added Rainbow. "It's as simple as that. We all chose that stupid bug over our best friend, that's how we repaid Twilight for all the fun times we've had together. How are we gonna be friends with her again if we can't forgive ourselves?!"

The other girls silently nodded as they cried; even if they were to try again, the same result will be apparent and they didn't want that if they were going to get Twilight to be their friend once again.

Cadance knew they had to do something and fast; the changelings and Chrysalis were still at large and if they don't get Twilight back as their best friend and the Element of Magic back in full swing, the Elements would remain inactive and Equestria would still be open to attack.

Meanwhile, Rarity had managed to pull herself together. Not forgetting her strong sense of generosity, she decided to offer Cadance somewhere to sleep for the night.

"Princess, it's getting late. Would you care to stay with me for the time being?"

Cadance took a moment to consider Rarity's offer. She wondered if she should stay with Twilight, just to watch over her, but she felt that perhaps it would be an invasion of her privacy, and anyway, Spike was there for her, so it was best she served only as a mediator between the two sides.

"I'd love to. Thank you for the offer Rarity."

"Anytime darling. We couldn't be more grateful for your help."

"First thing's first though, I should probably go check on Twilight, make sure she's OK. As for you girls, you should probably go home and get some sleep. You're going to need it, because there are long and trying days ahead. Rarity, I'll meet you at Carousel Boutique."

With that, the girls bade each other farewell, before returning to their homes. Cadance headed back to the library to help Twilight and Spike cool off, Rainbow went back to her cloud house in Cloudsdale, the mission to repair the broken bond with Twilight stuck firmly in her mind. However, despite her sureness Rainbow could not shake off the nagging of her conscience, which continued to question her loyalty towards Twilight. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, it throbbed away in her mind like the many bruises she sustained from her numerous crash-landings. Rarity, meanwhile, had a relatively peaceful journey back to her place of business, but she also had a feeling it would be a while before Twilight will forgive her and the other girls.

Pinkie Pie went back to Sugarcube Corner and her spirits were lifted by the Cakes and their children greeting her happily. Unfortunately her mind would not serve the same purpose, constantly tormenting her with the still fresh memories of herself and the girls abandoning Twilight at the rehearsal and her subsequent reaction following the victory over the Changelings. Fluttershy returned to her cottage and carried on her duties to her animal friends but all the while, she thought about Twilight and how much she had been hurt behind her and the others' backs. Just thinking about her down in the caves, cold, heartbroken, alone and dying while they were all caught up in the happiness of the false wedding and then Chrysalis taking over and her army wreaking havoc across Equestria, especially Ponyville, without their best friend to help stop their greatest enemy brought tears of shame to her eyes. Worse still, she couldn't comprehend just how little she cared for Twilight, compared to the amount of love and attention she gives to her animal friends daily. It left a horrible panging feeling in her heart as once more, the magnitude of her and the girl's collective actions hit home. Angel tried his best to comfort her, not knowing the reason behind his master's sorrow.

Applejack, meanwhile, slowly trudged back to Sweet Apple Acres, saddened and dejected. Her efforts to try to pick herself up were in vain, as no matter how hard she tried to put it behind her, temporarily or otherwise, her own memories always found a way back to the forefront of her mind. It was frustrating her to no end. Eventually, she reached the gateway to the family's apple orchard, most of the trees lacking the apples which commonly hung from their branches. It was obvious to the cowpony that Big Mac had been busy. As quietly as she could, she made her way back to her bedroom. Interestingly enough, neither Granny Smith nor Big Mac were anywhere to be seen, but that mattered little to Applejack. She just wanted to cry, if it meant getting all of that stress out of her system. Eventually, she reached the door to her room and opened it. Wracked with grief, Applejack flopped onto her bed in tears, but not before hurriedly hanging up her trademark Stetson. The poor mare was exhausted, having gone through so much up to this point. If it was any consolation, although she did not know it at the time, Applejack was not the only one experiencing a restless night. Pinkie and Fluttershy were also crying in their sleep, Rainbow was tossing and turning, her attempts to wear out her body coming to nothing. Rarity was the only one who was sleeping the easiest of them all, but only because she had managed to maintain her composure. One thing was for certain, the girls had a tough job ahead of them, and it did not seem likely they'd succeed, given the charges against them.

Meanwhile, Princess Luna had flown out from Canterlot Castle to the home of Twilight Velvet and Night Light. The aura she was sensing was undeniably strong, and bitter in feeling. The couple were furious at Celestia and the Mane 5, and respectively angry at Shining for treating Twilight the way they did, and Luna could tell the level of anger they felt was potent enough to allow the Nightmare Forces to exploit it and subsequently corrupt them, therefore she had to act quickly so as to deliver them from evil. The Lunar Princess knocked on the door, Twilight Velvet wasting no time in answering. However, the pony she opened the door to was unlike anypony she could've possibly expected, her eyes going wide and her jaw dropping to denote her shock.

"Good evening Lady Velvet. May I come in?"

Something snapped in Velvet's mind, and at once the unicorn bowed before the slightly bemused Luna.

"Princess Luna? What....why are you here?"

"Be at ease, Lady Velvet. I have come here to undertake important business. May I come in?"

"Please, by all means!" Replied Velvet, making room for Luna to enter. "Night Light! Princess Luna is here!"

Night Light immediately hurried to the front door, before bowing to greet the princess.

"Good evening Princess Luna. You honour us with your presence."

"Thank you for your gratitude Sir Light." Replied Luna, who walked inside.

"May we bring you anything Princess?" Asked Twilight Velvet.

"That will not be necessary." Replied Luna. "I have no time to lose. I must speak with the both of you immediately."

Both Night and Velvet looked at each other nervously, before returning their attention to Luna.

"Of course your highness. Please follow us to the living room." Replied Velvet anxiously. She wondered what could be so important that the Princess needed to speak to her personally. The elephant in the room (Shining's betrayal of Twilight) seemed the obvious reason, but it was anypony's guess. Anyway, the three ponies seated themselves in the living room, both Night and Velvet bracing themselves for whatever Luna had to say.

"Lady Velvet, Sir Light, the reason I am here is of great importance. As you know, my job as the Princess of the Night is to watch over my subjects as they sleep, and ensure their dreams do not cause them distress or harm. This has refined my ability to also sense ponies' aura."

"Aura? What is that?" Asked Velvet curiously.

"Aura is the energy which is generated from a pony's emotions. It changes depending on how they are feeling at any given time."

"I see. Please continue."

"Lady Velvet, Sir Light, the reason I am here is because of your aura."

Luna's remark made the couple raise their brows in surprise.

"I understand you are both angry because of a recent incident involving your son and daughter, plus her friends and my sister. Could you explain the basics of what happened?"

Velvet and Night looked at each other, shuffling anxiously as they did so, before deciding it was best if the former explained what happened. Taking a deep breath, Velvet braced herself.

"Well.......basically what happened is that Twilight was concerned about Princess Cadance, who was due to be married to our son, Shining Armor, at the time.You see Princess, the Princess Cadance that Twilight was so concerned about was not the real one. She was the Changeling Queen in disguise, and she was secretly preparing an invasion of Canterlot by her army. She tried explaining to her friends, but they dismissed her concerns as mere wedding stress. Twilight then tried to confront the impostor openly, but the impostor pretended to cry so as to maintain her cover. It worked to dreadful effect; Shining disowned Twilight as a sister and Best Mare, all five of her friends walked out on her and even Celestia showed no compassion. Not only did they emotionally scar our beloved daughter, they left her vulnerable and helpless. The Changeling Queen later returned to dispose of her by sealing her in the caves beneath the castle, so as to ensure she would not meddle with her plans again. Do you realize, Princess, that had Twilight not found the real Cadance, who was also imprisoned down there, they could have both died? And in Twilight's case, alone, afraid, and very hurt?"

Luna nodded firmly. She knew what it was like to be cast aside into the background, although that technically wasn't what really happened between her and Celestia. Nonetheless, it was easy to see why this was such a serious incident.

"The wedding did go ahead, with Shining absolutely under the Changeling Queen's grip. Luckily, Twilight's timely appearance, with Cadance in tow, blew her cover. She would reveal her true identity, before going horn-to-horn against Celestia. It seemed for a moment she had the upper hand, until Chrysalis turned the tables and defeated her, an event which shocked us all."

"Chrysalis?" Asked Luna.

"That's the Changeling Queen's name, and it sounds every bit as evil as she is." Added Night Light.

"And she beat my sister?!"

"Indeed she did, your Majesty." Replied Velvet. "I don't know what happened after that because we were ordered out of the hall by the Royal Guard, but I have every faith that Twilight played a part in the victory over the changelings. I don't know how, but I just do."

"The point here, your Majesty" Night Light continued "is that our daughter was the key to stopping the invasion before it ever began. She tried alerting her friends to the impostor's cold and condescending behaviour, compared to Cadance's warmth and benevolence. But they refused to believe it was anything more serious than wedding stress. It is unknown to us what became of Shining and Celestia at that time, but Twilight had nopony else to turn to, hence why we believe that her friends basically betrayed her just for the comparably petty glamour of being the bridesmaids of the wedding. Furthermore, we find it impossible to understand how the group failed to grasp the realization that Twilight had a very close and personal relationship with Cadance, something that we are very keenly aware of, and therefore could not connect the dots that would have exposed the usurper from her veil. However, it is not just her friends who had failed Twilight. Her brother, Shining Armor, somepony she held very dear, disowned her before abandoning her in her hour of need. If that wasn't enough, Princess Celestia, your benevolent sister and the object of Twilight's idolisation and inspiration, did not even look her in the eye when she crushed her spirit. That is what Shining told us when he came here, and it is the reason Velvet and I are so furious. Twilight could have stopped the Changelings from wreaking havoc, but she was never given the chance! And in the process, the seven ponies whom she held dear, particularly her brother, showed their true colors. They betrayed her trust, they crushed her spirit and left her to die all in one fell swoop."

Luna was dismayed. Celestia did mention something about betraying somepony when she was crying in the former's embrace, but it was only after she put two and two together did she see the horrible picture that was painted in her mind. However, as enraging as that picture was, she was not here to condemn those responsible. She had a job to do, and that was to ensure the Nightmare Forces could not corrupt the souls of Night Light and Twilight Velvet, who had suffered enough just to know not only was their daughter betrayed and treated like a common criminal, but she could very well have died in an unmarked tomb which nopony even knew of.

"I understand your grief completely now, Sir Light and Lady Velvet, but while I empathize with your plight, I am not here to promise swift vengeance. I am here to save you from the Nightmare Forces that once corrupted me."

"What do you mean your Majesty?" Replied Velvet.

"My story is not so different to Twilight's, Lady Velvet. You see, before I became Nightmare Moon, I shared rule of Equestria with my dear sister. Under our leadership, there was peace throughout the land, nary a trace of conflict or discord to be found outside. But that was the thing. While there was no conflict outside, there was conflict deep inside. To be precise, the only traceable source of conflict to be found in Equestria.........was in my heart."

Velvet and Night looked at each other in surprise, before returning their gaze to Luna.

"You see, while my sister did care for me, and while my subjects worshipped me in equal measure, Celestia was the only one between us who witnessed the ponies celebrating her day and singing her praises. But when it was my turn to wake........they were nowhere to be found. While I watched over my night, the ponies were asleep in their beds. I was left feeling alone and betrayed, believing the ponies did not celebrate my night like they worshipped Celestia's day. At the same time, I felt Celestia wasn't paying any attention herself, which only made me feel worse. As a result, my thoughts and feelings turned to darkness, and it was not long before the Nightmare Forces found me languishing in my bitterness and hatred. They offered to help me get the respect and attention I deserved in exchange for taking over my soul, and without much hesitation, I accepted. The Nightmare Forces possessed my body, transforming me into the devil known as Nightmare Moon. Together we would go on to do many unspeakable things, including attacking my sister and attempting to thwart the Element Bearers' search for the Elements of Harmony. But worst of all, we threatened to plunge Equestria into eternal night, just so I could get my own self-gratification from watching the ponies celebrate my night. And all this came from me feeling alone and abandoned, just like Twilight was."

Both Velvet and Night were awestruck.  However, the former could not help but wonder why if Luna was so badly affected that she allowed the Nightmare Forces to take her over, then why did the same not happen to Twilight?

"Princess, I'm curious. Why was Twilight not corrupted by these Nightmare Forces you speak of? We're both aware of how badly her friends, Shining and Celestia emotionally damaged her, but how is it she was not taken by them?"

"I have no doubt Twilight was gravely hurt by what her friends, her brother and Celestia did to her," Luna replied, "but what prevented the Nightmare Forces from corrupting her is that she had no bitter feelings towards them or desires of their destruction. The Nightmare Forces feed off negative emotions, such as the two I just mentioned. Without them, they cannot corrupt a host, hence why Twilight did not fall victim to their temptations."

"I see." Replied Velvet.

"However, for as long as you remain bitter toward those responsible for her emotional trauma, then you will remain susceptible to corruption. Therefore I must inoculate both you and your husband using a special spell which will hinder the Nightmare Forces' ability to sense your emotions. However, I cannot cast it without your permission, which is why I am here. Do you want me to cast this protection spell?"

Velvet took a long look at Night Light, who nodded firmly in response. If they were going to be of any help to Twilight at this time, they needed to be safe from anything, therefore Night felt this was for the best. It didn't take long for Velvet to catch on either.

"It will not help Twilight if both Night and myself are turned to the dark side. She has enough on her hooves without us being attacked.......you may cast the spell Princess."

"Very well." Luna responded. "Prepare yourselves."

Luna's horn lit up as she prepared to cast the spell. Night moved closer to his wife, who leaned close to him in response. Whatever this was, they hoped it wouldn't be of any discomfort. Finally, Luna cast the spell, and it encapsulated both Velvet and Night in two white bubbles filled with interlinking particles of magic. The bubbles began to increase in brightness as the energy of the spell increased, the forms of both Velvet and Night becoming obscured by the brightening light. Eventually, the spell reached its climax as both Night and Velvet were completely enveloped by the light. Then, there was an explosion; the spell was completed. Night and Velvet gently descended to the ground, their bodies embraced by Luna's inoculation spell.

"Now, the spell should protect you from any attempt at intrusion by the Nightmare Forces. But be careful. If your levels of bitterness increase, so too will the strength of the forces, to the point where the spell cannot protect you. You can still be angry at Twilight's friends, Shining Armor and Celestia, but not too much."

"Thank you Princess." Replied Velvet. "We appreciate your service."

"Anything to preserve the welfare of my subjects." Luna responded. "Now I must return to the palace. My sister needs me."

With that, Luna walked out the household door, before spreading her wings and taking off into the darkness, the moon (which she had lifted prior to flying to the Sparkle family home) lighting the way ahead. Now she knew what was going on, but then came the million-bit question; how would the events of the wedding affect her, and what would come in the future relating to that event that would also affect her? Only time would tell. Next Chapter: Chapter 9 - Trouble and Strife Estimated time remaining: 19 Minutes