Tonight, Princess Luna sat on a throne placed upon a dais. On each side of her were similar thrones of smaller size, with alicorns of their own. The smallest sat upside down on her chair, wings flopped out as she looked around, kicking her hind legs. The other was trying to copy Princess Luna, looking down at Starry Skies who had just finished reporting on what had happened that morning (or, was it yesterday morning now?).

"A unicorn that is able to dream walk," Luna said as she shifted, tapping at her chin. "Fascinating. And you say she claims to be Chaos Touched as you and Pumpkin Cake?"

"She never actually stated it, but did seem to indicate it strongly," Star answered. "Is it possible, though? Can a pony other than you and your daughters really dream walk?"

"It has been possible," Luna replied, "but rather uncommon. Very few ponies ever had an interest in such magic, even between my banishment and return. However, it is not something that I have ever kept track of. When you also have the addition of ponies altered by chaos magic, it is something that may occur. I could double-check, but am fairly certain I do not have a dossier on a pony that is able to do such a thing."

"It would help if we knew what it looked like," grumbled the middle-sized alicorn. She ran a black hoof through her dark glittery blue mane. "Are you sure you can't tell us anything more about her? Like, what she looks like?"

"No," Star said as she shook her head. "As I said, she had herself hidden for the most part. I doubt that she actually has a black coat and gold eyes."

The alicorn -- Princess Nightmare Moon -- nodded, then turned to her mother.

"What about the silver light? Could that help? We have records of aura colors for any unicorns on file, don't we?"

"An admirable thought, Moon," Luna said with a smile -- getting a swell of pride from her daughter -- "and you are correct. We do have record of magical auras for the unicorns. However, there is an issue with that. Even if the light were from this Sleep Thief's magic, it may not necessarily reflect the normal color of her aura. Even my own magic has been silver when using dream related magic."

With a snort, Princess Nightmare Moon, crossed her hooves and turned away, sticking her lip out.

"Do not be upset," Luna said. "You came up with a wonderful idea based on what you knew. Be proud of that."

Nightmare grunted in response but did not reply.

"Moving on to other matters," Luna continued. "I have heard rumors on what could possibly be a cult for Chaos Touched ponies before, but have gotten very little in substantial information. I will have the file brought to you by Mimic when she comes to visit you shortly."

"Cult?" Star said, raising an eyebrow. That sort of made sense, did it not? Sleep Thief did try to make them feel like it would be a welcoming place and trying to play on their personal fears and self-doubts. It was especially irritating since Sleep Thief found out about it by seeing her nightmares.

A small gasp escaped her as something suddenly clicked into place. It had been bothering her since she had snapped at the mare, and now she finally understood why.

"If I may be excused," Starry Skies said with a bow. "There's something I would like to check on right away."

"Very well," Princess Luna replied. "We shall see about continuing this next time."

"Thank you. Princess Luna. Princess Nightmare Moon. Princess Tantabus."

"Bye, Star," the youngest alicorn -- Princess Tantabus -- said, waving a hoof.

"Until our next meeting," Princess Nightmare Moon said with a nod.

With one last nod, Starry Skies disappeared.

Waking up, Star jumped out of bed and ran out the room. Downstairs, she wrote a quick note.

Left early. Need to check something. Be back later. Star.

After sticking it to the fridge, she took off. As soon as she was out the door, she was up in the air, flying above Ponyville. The sky was still dark, with the first hints of pink from from the sunrise touching the horizon.

Maybe she should not have left so early after all.

Reaching Sugarcube Corner, Starry Skies found that some of the lights were on already. Landing at the door, she pushed it to see if it would open.

It did, ringing a bell to announce that it had as well as her entering.

"I'm sorry," a voice shouted from behind a door that was being pushed open. "I'm afraid we're not open yet. If you -- oh. Hello Star."

"Hi Pumpkin. Sorry for showing up so early, but I wanted to ask you about something, and didn't want to wait. Is there some place we can talk in private?"

"Yeah," Pumpkin replied. Turning back toward the kitchen she shouted "I'll be right back," before stepping out and heading for the stairs. Star followed after her until they went into a bedroom.

"Welcome to my room," Pumpkin Cake announced as she shut the door.

Starry Skies looked around for a moment, taking in the room. It had a bed, a desk, and two sets of shelves: one with toys and the other with books. There were also several pictures of Pumpkin throughout her life, including one where she was showing off her cutie mark and Pound -- with no cutie mark -- looked to be pouting in the background. The most interesting thing was the walls. They were mostly a cream color, but some spots had clearly been patched and painted, while others had scorch marks.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Pumpkin asked.

"That stuff you told me about having trouble with your magic and having to maintain discipline," Star said. "Have you ever talked to anypony else about that?"

Pumpkin Cake thought a moment, pursing her lips as she thought about it.

"I definitely talked to Pound about it," she answered, "Twilight when I was became her student, and Aunt Pinkie of course." She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I was thinking about what that shadowy mare said. About having not having to live in another pony's shadow or have to keep strict discipline."

"Yeah?" Pumpkin said.

"And it seemed like she was specifically trying to offer us what we wanted most."

A flash of anger shot through Starry Skies, causing her ears to pull back and jaw clench. Closing her eyes, she slowly took a deep breath through her nose, then let it out through her mouth. Once the worst of it had passed, she turned her attention back to Pumpkin Cake and continued.

"The way she discovered my... private issues was because she had seen them when in my dreams, which she admitted. But to know yours--"

"She must have been in my dreams at some point," Pumpkin interrupted.

"Unless you think somepony else you told would have said something," Star added.

Pumpkin gave a shake of her head at that. No surprise considering the three ponies named were extremely close to Pumpkin, with two that definitely knew the importance of keeping a friend's secret and one was a pony that had been by Pumpkin's side since even before they were born. From what Star understood, siblings may sometimes pick on and tease each other, but are extremely protective if and when another does it.

"But why?" Pumpkin asked. "Why would she be sneaking into ponies' dreams?"

"I don't know," Star answered. "The only one who knows is her and I don't think she's going to tell us. Assuming we run into her again."

Or more accurately, she mentally added, if we are aware of her again. Star felt a tension in her shoulders at the thought. This was not like with Princess Luna, who's abilities were public knowledge and often used to help ponies suffering from nightmares (or meeting with agents without being physically near them). This Sleep Thief (and who picks a name like that?) was sneaking around in other ponies' dreams, seeming to try and pick up secrets about them.

Which led to a question that Star had never considered before: what kind of secrets could a pony pick up from another pony's dreams? Especially since it could be difficult to tell what was real from what was simply strange dream stuff. But if she actually found legitimate secrets a pony was keeping, she could do more than simply try to recruit ponies to... whatever she was a part of.

"Star?" Pumpkin said. "If there's nothing else, I'm going to head back to the kitchen. Still need to get ready for the morning rush."

"Yeah," Star answered. "That's fine." She followed Pumpkin back downstairs. "I'm going to head over to the station and wait for the first train. A friend's coming with Spike's wedding present and some stuff I forgot."

"A 'friend,' huh?" Pound said from the doorway to his room. "Are we going to get to meet him?"

The pegasus stallion looked like he had just woken up. He gave them a sleepy smile as he ran a hoof through his messy mane. One of his wings shifted by his side.

"Well, she'll be here at least today," Star answered, "but may stay overnight, or even until the wedding."

"Oh," Pound said, then smiled. "Okay. Well... maybe I -- we -- we will be able to catch up with you later." He then flew down the stairs and out of sight.

Starry Skies stood there, eyes going wide as she stared at where the young stallion had disappeared from sight. Had he been flustered? Did he mean it when he said started to say "I" instead of "we?" And now that she thought about it, had there been a hint of jealousy when he thought it was a stallion?

No. No. That was just silly. Especially the last part. It was just Star projecting her own interest onto him or something.

Leaving the bakery, Starry Skies flew to the train station. Landing on the awning, she watched the last part of the sunrise, then waited for the train. The late spring morning was slightly chilly now that she was not moving, and the sun provided a faint, comforting warmth. Under different circumstances, it would be a great day to stretch out in the grass or on a cloud and lay in the morning sun, just letting it soak into the coat and muscles. Or make a little nest in the thatching like other ponies clearly had.

The sound of the train reached Star, causing her ears to perk up. Hopping down from the awning, she landed on the platform with a light thump of hooves on wood. She then moved to make certain she was not going to block the disembarking ponies, while being as noticeable as possible. Mimic should be in her normal form when she got off the train, but it was not an absolute certainty. Sometimes Mimic would disguise herself for her own reasons, be it fun, experimenting, or other.

The train slowed down as it pulled into the station, letting out one last hiss of steam before stopping fully. As soon as it did, the sounds of ponies moving to disembark could be heard. As they did, Star moved to try and scan the crowd, looking for any sign of her friend.

A different, familiar, form ended up catching Star's attention. One that is slightly taller than most, and lean. One that was mostly light pink in color, with hints of sky blue in her mane and tail. One that was not entirely surprising considering the upcoming event, and that Starry Skies would have been happy about under most circumstances.

These were not the right circumstance.

Starry Skies grimaced as she looked around. She basically saw two choices: one, she tried to hide in the crowd and hoped to find Mimic before being noticed; two, she made the first move and said hello first.

"STAR!"

Life chose option three: have Starry Skies be recognized before she could do anything. Putting on a smile, Star turned toward the mare just in time to be hugged.

"Nice to see you too, Flurry," Star said as she returned the hug.

"So how's my little cousin doing?" Princess Flurry Heart asked, smirking as she broke the hug.

"Technically, I'm your aunt," Star replied, "and I'm older than you."

"Pff," Flurry huffed out, rolling her eyes. "Like, not even by a year." She then puffed out, flickering her wings. "Besides, I am a princess, which means that I outrank you, and you have to do what I say."

"Oh of course," Star said as she rolled her eyes. "How silly of me to forget." She dropped into a mock bow. "How may I serve you, oh Princess Fluffy Butt."

Princess Flurry Heart pursed her lips as her eyes narrowed, looking down at Starry Skies. The purse shifted into a smirk, then a giggle, until becoming a full laugh. One that Star shared as she got back up.

"I'm glad to see you," Flurry said as she hugged Star again.

"I'm glad to see you too," Star replied. "But what are you doing here? I'd expect you to be on The Crystal Empire train. And where's everypony else?"

"They're still in Canterlot, visiting Grandma and Grandpa and dealing with Empire-Equestria business," Flurry answered. "They'll be coming in in a few days. I decided to come early. As much as I love Mom and Dad, I just wanted to get away from them for a day." She grinned. "Having a cousin to hang out with is a bonus."

The smile faded as Princess Flurry Heart looked at Starry Skies, brow furrowing.

"But if you didn't know I was coming, what are you doing here?"

"I was actually coming to see if a friend arrived," Star answered. "She's supposed to be bringing me some stuff, including the wedding present."

"Would this friend happen to be a gorgeous green unicorn with fabulous mane and a tendency to save your butt?" a voice asked from behind Starry Skies.

"She tends to think that," Star replied, turning around.

There standing behind her was Mimic. The mare stood there with a small smile on her face, looking at Star and Flurry. Her horn glowed with magic, her aura holding a box on her back in place.

"Hi Mimic," Starry Skies said. "Glad you could make it." Raising a wing, she pointed it at the alicorn. "This is my niece, Princess Flurry Heart of The Crystal Empire."

Princess Flurry Heart scowled at Star, but said nothing.

"Flurry," Star continued, "this is my friend, Mimic, from Canterlot."

"How wonderful to meet you," Mimic said as she walked up to Flurry and offered a hoof.

"You too." Flurry shook the hoof and smiled. Her eyes then narrowed as she glanced at Star. "It's nice to meet a friend of Star's. Especially if they have some fun embarrassing stories about my dear little cousin."

Mimic turned to Starry Skies, her eyes narrowing. Her smile turned into a grin that was definitely wicked.

"Oh, I may have one or two that you might enjoy." She then turned around. "Come on. I'll tell you all about it on the way to the castle."

The two of them then started walking off. With a groan, Starry Skies started to follow after them.

This was going to be a long walk.