Just before sunrise, I slip into bed, mulling over the whole situation. Wishbone thinks that this King Sombra wants to use me to take over the Crystal Empire and then the world. He sounds prety crazy, to be honest. All those poor ponies who lived under his leadership before the Empire vanished.

I am on the very edge of dozing off when I hear the knock at the door. "Moonlight?" I hear Wishbone call.

"Willow, let me sleep. I'll discuss anything important this evening."

"We need to tell the Princesses about you."

"No. Tell the Princesses about Sombra if you wish, but leave me out of this."

"This is so much more than you and Princess Luna," she pleads. I wince as she says the name of my old mistress. "This is about all of Equestria."

"All of Equestria can wait."

She flies in through the skylight/hole in the roof. "It can't. Sombra is dangerous, Moonlight. I don't care what you think about me, because this isn't about you alone. We're going to the castle." Before I can argue, we are both teleported away from the Everfree Forest.

We arrive in the entrance hall. It looks just how I remember it from a year ago: decorated in the Princess of the Sun's favourite colours and far too bright and bold. It makes me sick to be here. She hurt my old mistress and turned her away, and then when we grew closer, she shattered our friendship and made me more alone than ever. Had Wishbone not taken me in, the leg injury Luna gave me would have been infected, and that could easily have turned into fatal blood poisoning. I push the details out of my mind.

"We need to speak to Princess Celestia urgently," Wishbone tells a pegasus stallion stood outside the throne room. "May we speak to her?"

The guard grunts. "What is it that's so important?"

"Do you know what it is?"

He shuffles in his spot uncomfortably. "Go in."

Wishbone drags me into the throne room and I look at the floor as I walk towards the Princess of the Sun, who is sat regally on her throne. Muttering obscenities under my breath, I bow to her as Wishbone does the same.

"Princess Celestia," Wishbone says. "My name is Wishbone Willow. This is my friend Moonlight Shade. We believe that the Crystal Empire has returned and that King Sombra is back again too."

Princess Celestia does not gasp, but instead scowls at me. "Moonlight Shade? The old guard who was sent to the moon with my sister by accident?"

"Yes," Wishbone answers for me. "She's changed a lot since then, although I think somepony still has a grudge over being sent to the moon for a thousand years." She chuckles, walks over to me and uses a hoof to lift my chin up. "Come on, Moonlight. I'm sure Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have changed as well."

"That's part of the problem," I grunt.

"Never mind, Moonlight. We need to tell Princess Celestia about your dreams."

I watch Celestia's eyebrows slant upwards. She clears her throat and asks me, "Moonlight, what are these dreams?"

"I've been having a lot of flashbacks to events in my past," I tell her. Wish gives me a small shove and a look of disapproval. "A stallion by the name of King Sombra might have paid me a few visits in my dreams."

The look of alarm on Celestia's face is amusing. Her next words less so. "I heard that the Empire was back, but this is much worse. You will both stay in the castle until further notice is given. We need to see if it is actually King Sombra in your dreams or not." She turns to Wish. "Wishbone Willow, have you been troubled by him as well?"

"No. I'm a Dreamwalker though, and I think that I saw him in one of Moonlight's dreams. He tried to speak to us, but all I could hear was growling. Moonlight, did you hear anything?" she asks me.

I shake my head. I don't want to tell her. Why, I am unsure, but it feels wrong to tell her what I heard.

"Fair enough. I will still keep both of you here for a few days. Princess Luna will monitor your dreams over this time period. She has trained a few others in Dreamwalking, so she should have some time. Also, Moonlight?"

I grudgingly look up at the Princess of the Sun whom I hate so much.

"I would like to apologise for all that I have done. I sent you to the moon for a thousand years and I took from you the only friend you had for those thpusand years. That is an unforgivable mistake on my part, but I hope that this apology lessens any negative feelings."

This comes as a complete shock, but a weight is lifted from my chest as I digest those words. I still can't forgive her for wrecking my life twice, but I think that I can swallow my feelings towards her more easily and stop yelling at the sun every time I see it. "It does," I say truthfully. "Thank you, Princess."

We are led out of the throne room by two guards, up flights of stairs and down corridors that I don't remember. I can appreciate the castle's design more now: the swirling patterns on the wall are intricate but not messy; the tapestries are woven to perfection; and every stained glass window tells a story. I try to figure out where in the castle I am when we approach a familiar corridor: the one that leads to Luna's bedroom. I lost count of how many times I was on guard duty there before the Nigtmare Moon incident. I internally groan whilst trying not to do so on the outside.

A guard knocks on Princess Luna's bedroom door, then steps back respectfully as the door swings open and the Princess of the Night appears. She looks just as she did before she became Nightmare Moon: tall, with a midnight blue coat and a darker mane that flows in an ethereal breeze. "Whaaaat time d'you call this?" she yawns, forgetting her Perfect Princess Voice for a moment.

"Princess, two bats from the Everfree Village are here. One claims to have had dreams of King Sombra's return and the Crystal Empire."

Luna stares at me hard. I glower back. "We meet again, Moonlight Shade," she snarls.

"I have changed, just as you have, Princess," I reply with just as much hatred. "Your sister wants you to monitor our dreams for a few days. Beleive me when I say that I was just as unhappy with the agreement as-"

Luna suddenly has me in a huge embrace, and begins to silently weep on my shoulder. "I am so sorry for how I treated you the last time I saw you," she whispers. I am taken aback by this sudden attack of kindness, so I say nothing. She asks, "Can you ever forgive me?"

"I - I don't know. I th-think so," I stutter. "It will take time. First of all, help us out. We think this Sombra pony is popping in my dreams, but have no idea why. D'you think you can help us?"

"It means that I will have to go in your dreams as well."

The blood drains from my cheeks, and I say nothing.

"Moonlight's scared of Dreamwalkers, but we've been working on it," Wishbone answers for me. "Since this is serious, I am sure that we can work on it."

"That is fine. We never knew that King Sombra could Dreamwalk, so I am interested in what else we can learn from him. I know somewhere that we can go and won't be disturbed. Guards, you are dismissed. I won't be spending much time in my chambers over the next few days because this is an emergency."

The guards nod and hurry away. Princess Luna leads us back the way we came, down an unfamiliar corridor, up a flight of stairs and to a tapestry. She casts a spell to extinguish all of the light in the hallway.

"It's a hidden passage. Walk through," Luna tells us.

Gingerly, I walk towards the wall, then it completely disappears. I see a torch burning in its bracket ahead and know that I am on the other side of the passageway. When I hear Luna and Wishbone are here, I let Luna take us wherever she thinks is the best place to keep an eye on us. All the while I feel that I am going to be a prisoner, and wish more than anything that nothing happens in my dreams so that I can go back to a normal life in the Everfree.