Dismounting her chariot, Princess Luna took a quick glance around the dark street of Fillydelphia which she had landed upon. A gentle night's breeze ran between the quiet businesses that lined the cobble road, giving lift to the ink-black cloak and hood she wore atop her regalia. The morning was young, only two hours past midnight, putting her moon where it could hardly be seen unless one was in the clouds. Giving her tired legs a stretch, she turned to her Night Guard at the helm of the chariot, who too stretched their legs and large, membranous wings.

“Congratulations on another wonderfully executed landing.” Luna informed her Night Guard in their native Nocturn tongue.

Gazing to her, their eyes of amber shined in the darkness.

“Many thanks, Luna,” returned the leftmost with a grateful smile.

Silently, she returned his smile and nodded, taking a second glance about the dark, deserted street as she finished up her stretching. It had been a long night of watching over the quiet towns of Equestria. She found it comical how sitting could be so taxing.

“Do stay put, We shall signal if you are needed."

The two Nocturn offered a little nod of confirmation. Spreading her wings from beneath her cloak, she beat at the air to adjust her slightly ruffled phthalo-blue feathers, and as silently as an owl, touched off from the cobble-paved path and climbed into the vertical. Now free of structures, she was at the will of the October breezes, the occasional gust sending a pleasant shiver down her spine anytime it struck. Using the gusts in her favor, she gained altitude effortlessly, losing some airspeed, but quickly regaining it by working at the atmosphere with her magic, pushing air over her wings to hover in place.

Her eyes, slit-pupils open wide, scanned nearby paths, the brick and wood housing and business blocks thin in their dispersion thanks to this part of the city's distance from the center. Rather quickly, she found what had brought her down in the first place; a single pony pacing their way along one of the many little roads. Focusing upon them, she could see that, even from how great of a distance separated them, this pony was a Pegasus mare, her deep brown mane and tail were nearly black when juxtaposed to her sandy coat. Luna smiled as she began her descent. It had been a short three months since her release from Nightmare, and many of her once so finely-honed skills were a bit lacking, be that her practiced, eagle-like eyesight, workings of the air around her, or even dreamwalking. Things were certainly coming back to her, however.

Beating her wings at the last moment, she touched down atop the gently sloped wooden roof of one of a couple businesses that shared a two-story building, the mare below having no idea she was there. Watching her a while, Luna began following along, staying on the rooftops as she studied the mare. Her mark was of a black notebook with its cover flipped open and a quill inking scribbles upon the pages. She couldn't quite piece together what meaning the mark could hold. Certainly, something to mention. Now, she watched her in her entirety, taking note of her tired slouch, semi-unkept mane, and the frown her face wore. What she found odd was her periodical, methodical scan of her surroundings, constantly looking past the wings on her back to ensure nothing followed. Too, did she notice the conversation she held with herself. She most certainly had a lot on her mind.

Spreading her wings once more, she quietly crossed the gap between her roof and the next, this new one being steep tile rather than softwood, her turquoise hoofguards clinking as she continued to follow. The mare below froze, Luna doing the same as she watched her take an anxious look around the dark street. Her gaze stopped with the structure Luna stood atop, and a split second later, her eyes met with Luna's. Her face contorted in fear, her hooves carrying her back a few steps and her wings half-spread in preparation to bolt away from the Princess. Calmly, Luna lifted a hoof to throw back the hood of her cloak, offering a genial smile that went mostly unnoticed thanks to the darkness.

“Splendid night.”

She froze once more, glaring into Luna's luminescent azure eyes as if they were the tips of spears ready to strike her.

“Wander beneath moon's light in seek of solitude? To recollect?”

The mare gave a tiny nod, eyes still wide with fear. Spreading her wings, Luna stepped from the edge of the roof, gliding down and gently landing before the mare. Luna scanned her for a moment, noting how her hind legs were held together tightly and shivering, not from cold, but from fright.

“Princess… Luna?”

Luna's eyes widened a bit, “Aye?”

She took a weary step towards the Princess, outstretching a hoof and carefully placing it around Luna's foreleg. Much taller than the nervous mare, Luna looked down at her with curious eyes, ear flicking as the meek mare peered up with what she only saw as desperation.

“P-Princess, I-“ she cut herself off, her gaze no longer seeming to focus on Luna's eyes, rather, pass through to something beyond.

Luna raised a brow, bringing her other hoof over and placing it atop the mare's, “Aye, young one?”

Blinking, the mare refocused her gaze, staring into Luna's eyes for a moment before looking down at the hoof the Princess held over hers.

“I-I need help.”

Gently chuckling at the odd mare before her, Luna nodded. “Worry not, young citizen, for thy hoof holds a mare who hath n'ver let lie the worries of her ponies.”

Within her emerald eyes, a glint of hope shined.

Patiently, Luna and her flanking Night Guard sat upon the sofa within the mare's apartment as they awaited her to bring their promised cups of tea. The living room, and for that matter, the entire place, was left quite dark, only a single candle on the coffee table before the trio providing light. This was a place with modern plumbing, electricity, and a ‘central air' system; why opt to use a candle? Something to investigate, surely.

Glancing about, Luna investigated the small apartment space further, taking note of the somewhat disorganized state of things. There was a bookshelf to the left of the couch, yet about the room laid various texts which would be quite easy to put away. There was a hanger by the front door in the short entry hall, yet snippets of clothing and a few saddlebags went unmounted. Most curious was how some things were placed. To the right of the sofa, beside a door she suspected being the bedroom was a wall-mounted shelf with three picture frames upon it, yet they were all turned to where no pony could view them. By the open entryway to the kitchen on the left side of the space was a bag of shopping, but curiously, the bag's goods had been removed, stacked nicely, then sat upon their neatly folded paper bag. Why not take the cans, boxes, and bags and put them in their respective cupboards?

Just as the mare herself was, this little place was off. She still knew not what problem she held, other than lack of rest, as she refrained from saying anything along the way to her home. Along their journey, she hadn't ever ceased her nervous searching and constantly peered back to observe both the Princess and her Night Guard. Nearly every minute of their encounter thus far had been totally out of the norm. Nopony had ever shown such anxiety and paranoia in her presence, and if she were to be honest, she had begun worrying it was her fault. Sister had said she might try looking a bit less imposing, but what would that entail?

Her eyes were drawn into the kitchen as a loud thud sounded out, a jar of honey rolling out into the living room. The mare soon followed, cursing under her breath as she collected the undamaged jar and went back out of sight into the kitchen.

“Sturdy jar, that one,” stated the rightmost Night Guard, eliciting a little chuckle from his comrade and Princess.

“Quite. Sister once dropped a jar of jam and it nicked the marble without suffering a dent,” returned Luna with a smile.

The mare returned, peeking her head out of the kitchen entryway as she looked over the trio.

“What?” she inquired, looking a bit nervous.

“Oh, we were sharing conversation.”

She looked at Luna for a moment, “W-was it about me?”

“Nay, nay, not thee, but rather thy jar. Tis sturdy.”

The mare didn't quite seem pleased with the reply. “O-Oh, alright… I just couldn’t hear what you said.”

With that, she returned to her tea brewing.

“She views us as suspect, yet she welcomes us into her home. If she believed we were to do harm, or have other malicious intent, why allow us entry and offer tea?” explained Luna, getting nothing but a shrug from either Night Guard.

Again returned the mare, this time with a scowl on her face, “What are you saying about me?” she barked, instantly shrinking her posture as her scowl faded into a look of fright, “I-I… I mean, I hope you aren't talking about me! I'm sorry, Princess, I didn't mean to shout, I-I really am.”

Luna curiously observed her for a moment.

“Thou art fine, young mare. Mine Night Guard speaketh not a lick of Equestrian, rather, their native Nocturn tongue.”

Her eyes widened a bit. “O-Oh, they don’t?”

Luna shook her head.

“Oh. W-Well… could you please-“ she cut herself short, just as she had earlier, her gaze falling into nothingness for a time as if she contemplated something, “could they possibly leave? They make me nervous…”

Luna sat unmoving for a time, her expression showing nothing as she studied the mare.

“Post by the door,” Luna informed to her Night Guard, who looked to her in apprehension, “We shall signal if you are needed.”

Reluctantly, the two stood and bowed to her before making their way out, the mare watching the entire time.

She breathed a sigh of relief, her posture relaxing a bit. “Thank you, Princess.”

“They understand none of thy words, why wish their departure?”

Feeling the weight of the Princess' gaze, she took a short step back, hiding more of herself within the kitchen, “I-I know, but they make me nervous…”

Shy fit not with how she acted. Twilight's friend, Fluttershy, if she remembered properly, was shy; bashful. This mare was paranoid, but for what reason?

“Tis fine, some find their appearance to be unnerving.”

Chuckling disingenuously, the mare nodded as she backed into the kitchen.

“So, young mare,” called Luna, “what be thy name? We hath not asked, nor hast thou told.”

There was silence, the mare staying in the kitchen.

“I-I don’t usually like giving my name,” finally came her quiet reply.

That, too, was a first. Luna held her tongue a moment, peering around for any possible clues as to her name. Finding just that, she discovered there was a red jacket hung near the door in the entry hall, and from where she sat, the nametag pinned below the collar was just hardly visible. Encompassing it with her magic, she turned it to herself, focusing closely to find it read 'Wispy'. Smiling proudly, she ceased the spell. Such tiny lettering in such darkness would be impossible for the normal pony to read at such distance. Her stellar vision was returning to its former glory.

“Shall we refer to you as ‘Emerald', then?”

Again, there was a pause from Wispy.

“Why Emerald?”

“For cause of the most illustrious hue of thy eyes. Shine even in this darkness, they do.”

Another pause. “Oh, okay.”

Luna had been hoping her compliment would shed some light on their thus far dim conversation. Normally, ponies quite liked it when she complimented their appearance. Moments later, Wispy appeared from the kitchen, now carrying a cup of fresh, steaming tea atop her half-unfurled wing, the feathery surface doing a fine job of serving as a tray. Skillfully, she knelt before the table and slid the drink from her wing, not a drop spilling. She smiled, dropping to her haunches at the other end of the coffee table before Luna.

“Many thanks for the tea,” a blue aura of magic surrounded the cup, floating it to Luna's lips.

“You're welcome, your highness.”

Wispy suddenly appeared far more chipper than before. This was the first time she had seen her smile. The puzzle fell together; her mark, her coat and name tag, and her skillful delivery.

“Thou art a waitress.”

She nodded. “The best waitress to ever work at... well, where I work!”

“And where is this?”

Her smile faded into that same anxious frown as before. “Oh, well… I'd really like to not say…”

Luna stayed silent, their eye-contact only breaking when Wispy darted her gaze to the side.

“What ails thee, Emerald?”

She looked back, seemingly surprised.

“What… ails me?”

Luna nodded. “Brought us here for a reason. Called upon us for a cause. In thy life, something is awry, and thou hast felt that we shall be the one to aid. What ails thee?”

“W-Well… at my work, I was the best waitress. I’ve… I-I don’t know, I think it’s my lack of sleep, but I just haven’t… been myself. My roommate left, she said she was moving to another part of town for a new job, but I know why she left… she left because of me. And, now, I have to pay all of the rent, which my pay hardly covers, and I haven’t been getting tips because I can’t… I can’t be myself!”

Her posture slumped as she let out a long sigh.

“I-I’m just stressed. My… my Father hasn’t… really helped, always insisting I go back to th-“

There came that pause. Luna leaned forward, gazing into Wispy’s eyes as she stared right through the Princess. Something more was going on within her mind, something she wouldn’t openly admit to, and something she was terrified of. Luna often forbid herself from gazing into the waking mind of a pony before her, as it was the highest invasion of one’s person that could be imagined, but in this moment, it seemed the only way she could figure out what truly plagued her.

“Sleep… that’s all I need. I-I just need rest.”

“Restless nights are all which ails thee?”

Wispy nodded. Silently, Luna began weaving spells which allowed passage into the realm of dreams. From there, she could peek into the thoughts, speech, and visions of any pony sitting before her. As the spell finalized, a familiar scent of ozone hit the air, an inky, void-like aura formed around her horn, and her ears were filled with the low, unfamiliar rumble of Wispy's thoughts, her mind's sight melding with Luna's own, giving the sensation that her vision extended in a full three sixty. If she were honest, she didn't really enjoy the feeling.

“What truly ails thee?”

Wispy frowned.

‘She doubts me. Why does she doubt me? Was it my pause? I can't control the pausing.’

“What… what do you mean?”

“Sleep for thee may be lacking, we doubt that none, but more to thy problem exists than what thou hast told.”

‘Lie.’

“T-There's nothing wrong with me! Like I said, I just need more sleep!”

From her thoughts came an overwhelming sense of fear. Fear of having something discovered.

“N'ver implied something was wrong with thee. Thou hast done that. Truth is often revealed through lie.”

‘She tricked you. She is not friend.’

Luna's heart skipped a beat. That voice hadn't been Wispy's. Throaty, rumbling, and brooding, was that voice.

“I-I didn't lie! Nothing is wrong with me! I'm not… I'm not crazy!”

‘Crazy. The insane asylum. Don't let her know. I can't let her know. She'll tell them.’

“Through thy words slip the sands of truth. Called upon me, thou hast, to give aid. Why lie to the being who may help?”

‘She is not help. She will tell them.’

An image of a hall, white, sterile walls lined with doors, each door holding a number. A hospital.

‘She'll tell them. You're right. She's like my Father, or my boss, or my roommate. She thinks I'm crazy.’

“Princess, I'm not lying. I just wanted to know if you can help me sleep,” Wispy explained, her tone one of impatience.

“Aye, we certainly can, but sleep shalt not help thee. Thy stress, doubt, anxiety, and paranoia stretch far deeper than insomnia.”

A unicorn mare, magenta fur and orange mane, adorned with in ghostly white doctor's coat. Before an older, brown-furred and jet-maned stallion, she stands, a document held out for her to read within her blue aura. Paranoia, she says, among other things.

‘I'm not paranoid. She thinks I'm paranoid, just like that oaf Doctor Autumn.’

“P-Paranoid?! I'm not paranoid of anything!”

“Then why watch over thy shoulder as if being followed? Why give mine inquiries such flak? Why look upon myself and mine Night Guard as if we are to carry thee off to some wretched place?”

Wispy's eyes widened.

‘Carry me off to a wretched place. She’s just playing with me, now.’

Her slight shock turned to an angry scowl, her eyes boring into Luna’s. “Look, your Highness, I asked for your help, not for you to mock me!”

“We hath offered help, and thou hast driven thyself away. We mock thee not, Emerald. We listen to what is said, and what is not, and thusly, We tell. What words n’ver leave the lips often bear greater weight than those which do.”

That gave her pause. Her scowl faded only in the slightest, though her gaze remained with Luna’s.

‘She sees into your head. She has been listening.’

Suddenly appeared Luna, standing before the entrance to the apartment, aiming her hoof into the open door and barking for two stallions dressed in doctor’s jackets to enter. Luna’s ears rang, her own stomach churning as the pain, anger, and terror Wispy felt at this image radiated into her own body. She’s thrown into a room. A simple box with a window, bed, and simple furnishings. A prison cell, disguised as a hospital. A vision of what was to come.

‘She will end you.’

‘That’s impossible. She can’t see into my mind. She can’t. She can’t. That’s impossible.’

Luna leaned forward, stabbing into Wispy with her gaze. “Tis possible.”

Wispy screamed, clutching her head with her hooves as she scrambled backward, shutting her eyes as hard as possible.

“No! No-no-no! Y-You can’t see into my brain! That's impossible!!”

The door to the apartment flew open, crashing into the wall as the Night Guard stormed in, stopping just short of the terrified mare.

“No! You won’t take me to that damned hospital!” she screamed as she quickly got to her hooves, backing away from the two as they began to box her into the kitchen. “Get away from me!!”

“Meek! Illa! Stand down this instant!” Luna barked as she jumped to her hooves, wings spread, and hoof aimed at the door.

Wispy’s fear-ridden eyes darted from Luna to her Night Guards as they complied to her orders, taking a few steps back, but never leaving the room. Coming from around the table, Luna stopped before the entrance to the kitchen, letting her wings come back down beneath her unhooded cloak.

“Emerald, we seeketh not to take thee off to whatever place you speak of!”

Now with her back against the door of the kitchen’s pantry, wings spread at the ready, Wispy laughed. “Sure! Sure, Princess! That’s why you read my mind, right?! That’s why you came here with two armed guards?! That’s why you tracked me down?! I bet my Father paid you to come find me, because you all think I’m insane!!”

‘She must leave. She will take you.’

“Emerald, give no heed to that voice. Tis not thy own, and tis not one wishing thy well-being!”

Clenching her teeth and dropping her head, Wispy growled in what sounded to be pain. “Get out of my head, and get out of my house!! I-I don’t want you here anymore!”

“Come to us for help, and we shalt give it to thee! Help from thyself! Help from what ails thee!”

“Help from myself?! You sound like my therapist! Did she send you here, as well!?”

‘She must leave. She must be removed.’

A split-second vision of her clenching a dagger between her hooves, lunging towards the Princess, played out in her mind’s eye. It came not from her own mind.

Wispy’s eyes went to a knife block that stood atop the counter hoof-lengths away, only staying for a moment before darting back to Luna’s.

“Wispy, heed that voice not.”

Wispy flinched.

‘She knows my name. She knows it because they told it to her. She’s going to take me. I’m not letting that happen.’

In a quick move, Wispy flung a short kitchen knife from the block with the tip of her wing, clamping it firmly between her forehooves as she reared up, prepared to leap for her Princess. Before she could move another inch, Luna wholly grasped her with her aurora, freezing her in place.

“You won’t take me there!! I-I won’t let you!!”

Without another word, Luna performed a spell to drop the mare into deep sleep, and within seconds, she had gone entirely limp within her magic as sleep carried her away. Carefully, Luna laid her upon the tile and placed the knife back where it belonged, staying right where she stood for a moment as she took a deep breath.

“Are you fine, your Highness?” Meek asked as he stepped to his Princess, his deeply sienna eyes almost comforting in their luminescence.

“Fine, indeed,” Luna huffed, giving her wings an uncomfortable flutter.

The apartment then fell silent as no more words came from either of the three. For a time, they stood totally unmoving as if still processing the whole event. Sighing and bringing herself out of the small trance, Luna looked back to the limp body of Wispy, her one wing flopped half-unfurled at her side and a tiny bit of drool beginning to fall from the corner of her mouth.

“Post by the door. We shall be here for only minutes longer.”

Once more reluctant, Meek and Illa bowed to their commander and exited the quiet, dark apartment. Taking Wispy in a spell, Luna brought her into the living room and opened the door near the couch she had initially suspected to be the bedroom, and with the door now open, candle-light leaking in, she could see she had been right. She took a glance about as she entered with Wispy, noting the basic furnishings and void space at the furthest end of the small room. Most likely where her roommate once was.

Luna pulled back the pale blue comforter of Wispy’s bed, gently laying her down and tucking her in, doing her best to make things as comfortable as possible. Reaching forward, she put a hoof on her side through the comforter, feeling her relaxed breathing for a moment.

“Whatever t’is that harms thy mind, we shalt smite it, we do promise thee.”

Before departing, she noticed a stuffed animal at the other end of the bed. She cocked her head, her ear flicking as she brought it forth to find it was a fuzzy, black bat with blue beads for eyes and a little bit of white thread used to embroider a friendly smile upon its face. Smiling back, Luna pulled back the comforter a bit and lifted Wispy’s hoof as she tucked the cloth creature in with the passed-out mare. Finally, she exited the bedroom, sealing the door behind her and letting out a relieved sigh.

She came to the coffee table, her magic knocking out the flame atop that single candle and taking her nearly empty cup of tea into the kitchen, washing it and placing it by the sink to dry. Taking a glance around to ensure nothing else could be done, she made her way to the door, pausing just before exiting and examining Wispy's jacket. Embroidered above the left breast pocket, which held a pen and pad, read the text ‘11th Hour Cafe'. Being sure to remember that, Luna exited to find her Guard just as she had instructed them, flanking the door. Taking a moment, she made sure to make note of the apartment's number; 556.

“Come, for the night still reigns, and thus, still needs my presence,” explained Luna as she and her Guard began down the hall away from the now quiet apartment.

“That is all? No consequence? She attempted to murder you, your Highness,” returned Meek with deep concern.

“She did not. An entity within her thoughts did. Something more lies within her, and we know not what it is. We could not feel it, only hear it. It knew what we are. Knew what we could do.”

Illa, who held her right flank, now piped up, “Your Highness, if she is afflicted by some entity, why are we departing? Surely, you should turn back and rid her of this thing.”

“Cannot fight an unknown enemy. We know nothing of it. We know not how it operates. This will require time, study, observation. Much like a soldier, you think, seeing the best path is the path directly forward. This is something brute force will not stop. We have encountered beings similar in the past, and they are more cunning than the most skilled thief, more silent than the windless night, and more persuasive to their host than the most convincing actor. We must outsmart it, we believe. We must turn its host against it.”

More than satisfied with her reply, Illa remained silent as they continued. Finally exiting from the building’s lobby onto the breezy street of the town, the three paused to take a breath of the less-stuffy air. Luna pulled her hood back over her head, giving her wings an adjusting flutter as she watched her Night Guard lift off to retrieve her carriage.

She would go back into the night, indeed, seeking others who may need help, or who may simply need some pony to chat with, but at sun’s rise she would not rest. She now had a goal; discover whatever hellish place Wispy spoke of, and bring it crumbling down. What hospital would sew such fear into the mind of its occupants? What hospital would seek patients rather than seek to rid itself of them? In her mind, Wispy had named it an ‘insane asylum’, words which held no meaning to Luna. A place meant to shelter the mentally ill? Was there such a plague of illness in her nation that entire institutions were required to care for these ponies?

In her studies, she had never once seen mention of such a place, nor had her sister ever cared to tell of them. In her time, the mentally ill were non-existent. She could find the things which dug at the dreams and thoughts of her ponies, destroying them and giving new life to a pony whose life had been drained upon by these parasites of the ether. There was no need for such institutions. There was no illness. In her role as Guardian over the night, she had ensured so.

A knot grew in her stomach. Had her millennium absence brought upon an epoch in Equestria where these creatures were free to attack who they wished? Her attention came back to reality as her chariot landed just before her on the road, its well-maintained wheels hardly giving any noise as her Night Guard brought it to a perfect stop.

”Again, superb skill, my friends,” complimented Luna as she hopped aboard, taking her seat in the middle of the craft.

Their only reply was a respectful bow, and with that, they took back to the dark skies over Equestria.

Next Chapter: Nº 2: TWINE GIVETH ROPE Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 49 Minutes