Luna patiently sat in her room, waiting for Twilight to arrive. Though the sun had just risen, and it was normally the time that she would be going to sleep, she and Twilight were planning to meet. Today was going to be their first session as doctor and patient, and although Twilight had studied tirelessly, Luna couldn't ignore her doubts. While she had no issues with Twilight being the one to do this, it didn’t make it any less worrying. Her nerves getting the better of her, Luna rose to her hooves, and started pacing around her room.

“Luna, can you calm down? I never thought you’d be worried. But it’s driving me up the walls in here.” Mare quipped as Luna rose. “And you also know just how much your emotions bleed off into me.” Mare slowly shook her head. “You know I have no way of handling these raging emotions.”

“Well you’re doing well enough right now.” Luna snapped back, her voice cracking as she spoke. “I’m just worried about this. How do we know this will help us at all? And what good can she do? It’s not like talking with her will help put us back together!” Luna continued her pacing, her frenzied hoof falls starting to scuff the polished floors.

“I have no idea Luna. All I know is that Celestia wants it, and I don’t see how it can hurt.” Mare quickly responded. “Look, this might help. Who knows. But we should give it a chance.”

Luna sighed, shaking her head. Turning to make another trip of her pacing, her head flew up as she heard her door open slowly. Twilight Sparkle, a pair of thin glasses upon her muzzle, and a clipboard floating behind her, walked in.

“And that’s sexy. Very sexy.” Mare thought, staring at the purple unicorn.

“Yes, yes it is.” Luna slowly responded, her own eyes never leaving Twilight as well.

“What was that princess?” Twilight looked at her charge, slightly confused. “Oh, talking with Mare are we? Well, what did she say?” The unicorns face lit up with genuine curiosity, staring at the blue alicorn.

“Oh, nothing important.” Luna quickly responded. “Just saying that your look is new.” And sexy Luna mentally added to nods from Mare. “So, what do you plan to do today?”

“Well, the problem I’ve had is that I want to talk to both you and Mare, at the same time.” Twilight sat across from Luna, motioning for her to join her. As Luna sat, Twilight continued. “So I talked with some experts in the field, asking for help. After many dead ends, one of them told me of a spell. It will place the target pony into a hypnotic state, which should allow you to talk with Mare. But from what I understand, you already can. Then I remembered that you can enter other ponies dreams. So I thought, why not cast it on both of us? Then you and Mare come to my mind, and we can all talk there.” Twilight clapped her hooves as she finished, excited with her plan.

“I assume you would like us as separate ponies, so that you may talk with both of us?” Luna asked after going over Twilight’s idea. While it was a novel concept, logically, it would work.

Quickly nodding, Twilight sat down, her horn beginning to softly glow. “It’s going to take me awhile to charge the spell properly, so please, relax Princess.

“Lets hope Twilight is as bright as Celestia says.” Mare commented, relaxing back in preparation for the spell.

Luna nodded to herself, sitting down. “Alright Twilight, we are ready when you are.”

Twilight nodded back, smiling. Her horn continued to glow, growing in intensity, as Twilight finished charging her spell. She let it loose, casting her hypnosis spell across the room, in a bright flash. As the light died away, Luna and Twilight were revealed to be laying on the floor, sound asleep.

“Well, that was bright.” Mare remarked as she rose to her hooves.

“Yes it was.” Luna responded, rising to her hooves as well. “I believe we need to pop over to Twilight’s dream now?” She shook her mane out, letting her blue strands fall about her face.

“Yes, I believe we must. Follow me Luna.” Mare walked off into the white, Luna following close behind. “I hope you don’t mind invading her dreams. She is likely in a very nice dream. We will have to bring her lucid, without waking her. That shall be fun.”

Luna thought to herself for a moment, continuing to follow her friend. “Is there anything we can learn from her dreams? Anything about her?”

“What is it you want to learn about her Luna? Her dreams for the future? How to win her heart?” Mare asked jokingly.

“Perhaps Mare, perhaps.” Luna responded thoughtfully, much to Mare’s surprise.

The pair continued walking for a bit, before finding themselves in a warm office space, complete with a few couches and a wingback chair. Sitting in the wingback chair was Twilight, sitting happily, her glasses still on her muzzle. “Ah, glad you two could make it. And I’m very glad to see there are two of you. And yes, I am fully lucid.” Twilight stated happily, relaxing in her chair. “Please, take a seat, both of you.”

The alicorns did as requested, relaxing on their couches. “Glad to find you lucid Twilight. How did you manage it? And may we have a cup of tea?” Mare asked.

“Certainly,” Twilight responded, gesturing to a table that rested between the couches, bearing a kettle of tea and a pair of cups. Luna nodded with a smile, pouring a cup of tea for herself and Mare. “Now, I would like to begin if you don’t mind.” Both alicorns nodded, with a gentle smile from Mare. “And I want to know, Mare, how shall I address you? Are you Princess Mare, or would you rather just Mare?”

Mare gave a small chuckle. “Just Mare please. I am no princess, nor would I want to be called one if I was.”

Twilight nodded her understanding before continuing. “Alright. Well, on to my questions. First, Luna, why do you trust Mare? After she got you banished, how could you ever trust her again?”

Luna rolled her eyes, laughing softly. “Fair enough Twilight. First though, you need to understand, while she will take all the blame for the banishment, I don’t blame her. It was her idea to start the long night, and I let her. And in the end, I went to Celestia to end the war. I honestly expected her to kill me to end it. But she banished me instead. And while Mare had become corrupted with hatred and jealousy, it was my hate and my jealousy. She had to earn her trust back, yes, but she did. No matter what happened since we returned, she has done nothing but gain my trust.” Luna let out a small happy sigh. “She has earned my trust back.”

Twilight nodded slowly, processing the load of information given her. “Wow. Well then. So she has your complete trust?”

Luna nodded. “Yes. That’s why I let her meet Celestia a week ago. She had earned my trust.”

“And I thank you for that Luna. While Celestia did try to kill me, and I’m not surprised, I’m glad to have gotten to see her again.” Mare smiled, slowly sipping on her tea.

“Well, I’m glad to hear Mare has your trust Luna. But Mare, do you trust Luna in return?” Twilight turned in her chair to face the black alicorn, smiling expectantly.

“Yes. She has been nothing but good to me, and has done her best to keep me from harm.” Mare smiled at her friend. “She has done nothing to break my trust.”

“Something I’ve been wondering.” Twilight slowly responded, choosing her words carefully. “Where did you get the idea for an eternal night? Or even just a really long one?”

Both alicorns looked to each other, raising an eyebrow. Twilight tried to hide in her seat, worried she had upset the pair of them. Luna was the first to speak, asking “That’s a good question. Where did you get the idea Mare?”

Mare hung her head, looking sheepish for a moment. “It’s was something that just came to me. I was working on a way to get the ponies to at least view your night, rather than sleep through it. And I thought, well, why not bring out the night during the day? When everypony is already awake, make it night. Then they have to see it eventually.” Mare sighed deeply, shaking her head. “I also knew they would run and hide the moment the sun went down. I knew it would have to stay night for a while to force ponies to accept it. I didn’t think of how they would hate it, or how Celestia would react. I only thought of showing our night to the ponies.”

“Still Mare,” Twilight responded. “And please don’t take this the wrong way, but that sounds, well, cruel. Why not find the few ponies who did enjoy the night?”

“There weren’t any Twilight.” Luna responded sadly, raising a hoof to stop the inevitable retort from Twilight. “I looked. We looked. We couldn’t find a single pony who ever stayed up to view the night for simple pleasure. A few ponies were awake, but they were lost, using the stars to find their way home. Back then, there were no astronomers, everypony saw our night as something evil, something to be feared.” Luna hung her head in sorrow, a few tears dripping down her cheeks. “It hurt to be so excluded.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories.” Twilight quickly responded, jumping up, wrapping both Luna and Mare in a hug. “I was just curious.”

“We know that Twilight.” Mare responded. “I just don’t like thinking about that time, and I don’t think Luna does either.” Luna slowly shook her head in agreement. Slowly the alicorns calmed down, smiling. “Thank you Twilight.”

Twilight nodded as she took her seat again. “So,” she began, trying to steer the conversation to happier topics. “How does the coexistence work? When Luna is in control, what  do you see Mare? And same to you Luna. Where do you go? How do you switch back and forth? Can you communicate easily? And why does Mare have the emotions, and Luna the business? And princess-” Twilight was starting to bounce in her seat as she rattled off the questions, stopping only as Mare raised a hoof.

Luna chuckled quietly as she heard the eagerness in Twilight’s voice. “It’s simple actually. For me, there’s an empty white space in my mind where Mare normally sits. Nice place.”

“Very strange though.” Mare picked up. “It’s a part of our subconscious, and so we both can control it. And we can manipulate it as much as we want. It’s like being in a lucid dream.”

“What do you mean by that Mare?” Twilight inquired.

“Well, it’s like here. When we asked for a cup of tea, there was a kettle and cups waiting for us on the table. And it’s not so much that they appeared there, so much as they were always there, we just hadn’t noticed them. That’s how it works there. If we need something, from tea to a couch, it’s there. The mind will go to extraordinary lengths to rationalize everything.” Mare explained, sipping her tea.

Twilight gave a thoughtful smile as she went over the new information. “Well, interesting. But what happens in that space?”

“Nothing really. You could say it’s like the backseat of a carriage.” Mare explained. “I don’t have to look out the front window, and see what Luna see, but I can if I want to. And when I do, I see it as if I were the one standing there, looking. Otherwise, I just sit back and relax, letting Luna go about her business.”

“So how do you communicate? I know you can, but how does that work?” Twilight asked, sitting on the edge of her chair, taking notes on a clipboard.

Luna gave a laugh at Twilight’s eagerness. “Imagine a little voice, nagging you about everything. That’s how Mare talks to me. She says something, I hear it. I then can think back to her. The strange, and annoying, part is that her voice sounds like it’s coming from outside me. I know it’s from my mind, but at first I thought she was somepony who had snuck up on me.”

“Yes I am sorry for giving you such a start. I only meant to comment on the events of the Gala.”

“So you first returned at the Gala Mare?” Twilight interjected. “Luna didn’t seem at all distressed when I spoke with her. And why did it take you so long to return?”

Mare gave a small, sad smile. “I didn’t speak up until after your conversation. I didn’t want to bother Luna before then. And I had been blasted by the Elements of Harmony. While they did cleanse me of the hatred and jealousy, that was what made up most of me. It took some time for me to recover.”

“What did you two talk about? If you don’t mind telling me.” Twilight asked, ears perked.

“As I remember, your first comment was to tell me to pursue a romantic relationship with Twilight, and not two minutes after she left.” Luna remarked thoughtfully.

Twilight sank into her chair, trying to hide as best she could while blushing a deep crimson. Mare meanwhile had placed her head in her hooves, slowly shaking it. “Ohh look at what you’ve done to her Luna!” Mare chastised. “Please relax Twilight. I merely commented that you are a very special pony. You were the first pony we met that enjoyed the night.”

Twilight slowly nodded coming back out of her chair. Luna sat pondering for a moment before shooting back “Oh, like she can trust you in this. When I visited your house a few weeks later she said, and I quote ‘she’s sexy and you know it.’”

Mare stumbled over her words, trying to come up with a response. “Did you actually say that? Do you really think that of me?” Twilight asked, her cheeks flushed. “Nopony has ever said that about me before.”

Now it was Luna and Mare’s turn to blush. They both stammered, trying to think of a response to Twilight’s question. “You are a very beautiful mare Twilight. I’m surprised you haven’t had suitors lining up to ask you on dates.” Luna responded, coming up with a suitable excuse to get the pair of alicorns out of that mess.

“Well, Rarity has said the same before. Though I think the reason I haven’t had any is that I spend most of my time holed up in my library.” Twilight sheepishly answered.

Luna and Mare looked to each other, a wondering smile on the formers face. “Well, I guess that might explain the lack of suitors,” Mare chuckled.

“So when you want to switch, how do you do it?” Twilight asked, moving the conversation away from such embarrassing topics.

“Well, whoever is in control returns to the whitespace, as we have taken to calling it, and the other steps forward.” Mare remarked simply, changing topics just as quick as Twilight.

“As a small side note, we can’t force the other out.” Luna added, looking off into the distance as she worded her thoughts. “To use the carriage metaphor, we are both sitting behind the reigns, but there is only one set. We can both see what’s going on, though if we don’t have the reigns, we don’t have to pay attention, and can talk to each other. But the reigns cannot be taken, they can only be given. So if I’m in control, only by giving control to Mare can she get it.”

“Alright, alright.” Twilight responded, sitting with a thoughtful expression. “So, why do you have seperate magic? I noticed that when we all talked a week ago. And why does Mare have all the emotions while Luna has the more business side?”

“Well, those are somewhat related.”Mare responded calmly. “As I said a week ago, I was formed in the back of Luna’s mind as she suppressed her pain and hate from the world. And I slowly began to come to be. She couldn’t get rid of her emotions, so in a way she created me to hold them. And all Luna was left with is the business stuff. Stuff that she needs to do, none of the stuff she may want to do. So when the Elements of Harmony blasted me, they did nothing more than cleanse me of the hatred and jealousy. I still hold Luna’s emotions.” Mare slowly shook her head. “And, while I was created from her, I am not her. And as magic comes from the heart, from what we feel, I can’t have the same magic as Luna. We feel different things, seeing as how Luna doesn’t really feel at all.”

Twilight slowly nodded as she filed away the information. After a moment of thought she asked, “So, what’s your plan now? What do you mean by heal? And what’s in it for you Mare? Why are you doing this?”

It was Mare who answered first. “I’m not sure. I’m not sure how to go about doing it. But as we stand now, with the split between us as it is, we won’t survive. Neither of us is whole enough to survive on our own.

“Living as we are now wouldn’t harm us physically, but mentally. The divide in our mind that separates us, giving me the business side, caring about work, and Mare the emotional side, caring about fun, will drive us insane. In a way, though the split wasn’t as strong, that’s what happened a thousand years ago. We both lost it, and spiraled down throughout the war. It wasn’t until the end, after we lost many good ponies, that we came back to our senses. Nightmare Moon had actually fallen on that day, about a week before the official end. I came in and gave it an official end.”

Twilight looked on, shocked. She hadn’t realized how serious the situation was. “So what are you going to do?”

“One of us needs to become the dominate force. One of us needs to take over. And then, they need to accept back into themselves the side the other got.” Mare said quietly. “I told Luna it has to be her. I would never be accepted. She has to take control, full control, and start feeling her emotions again.”

The three sat quietly for awhile. None of them wanted to break the heavy silence that had fallen upon the room. Eventually, Twilight asked the question that needed asking. “So what happens to you Mare, after Luna, ‘heals’?”

“I have no idea Twilight. I may cease to exist, I may stay as some voice in the back of Luna’s mind. Luna and I may fuse together, and the new mare has both our memories, and is someone entirely new. I just don’t know.” Next Chapter: Perilous Times Estimated time remaining: 50 Minutes