Twilight Moon
Upon the balcony, where everypony had been awaiting Princess Celestia, a smokey apparition of stars seeped in through the open window and appeared to solidify, becoming the form of Nightmare Moon. She beat her wings once before looking upon the crowd.
“Oh, my beloved subjects, it’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious, little sun-loving faces.”
“What did you do to our princess?!”Rainbow Dash demanded from Nightmare Moon. Applejack, held her back as she tried to rush at Nightmare Moon. “Easy, Rainbow.” Rainbow Dash looked back at her.If I hadn’t had been so entranced by what was occurring on the balcony I may have even found it humorous.
Nightmare Moon began to laugh at the display of the two ponies. “Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?”
A pink earth pony perked up at this question. “Oh! Oh! More guessing games! Uhm, Hockey Smokes? How about Queen Meany? Oh, Black Snooty! Black Snooty!”
“Black Snooty? Is she serious? I’m surprised she wasn’t the first one blasted.”
“I personally feel Nightmare Moon was too confused by Pinkie Pie to think of blasting her.”
An apple was quickly shoved into Pinkie Pie’s mouth. I think Applejack did it but I can’t be certain. Nightmare Moon looked directly towards the trembling Fluttershy.
“Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for one thousand years?” Not receiving a answer, she turned to Rarity. “Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?” That was when Twilight Sparkle spoke up.
“I’m guessing this unicorn was related to you, Princess?”
“That unicorn is me, Shooting Star. Why?”
“This sounds like it was written for foals. No offense, Princess Twilight, but seriously?”
“This is a precise biographical account. Fluttershy and Rarity will both attest to this.”
“I did, and I know who you are! You’re the ‘Mare in the Moon’: Nightmare Moon.” The rest of the ponies in attendance gasped.
“Well, well, well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I am here?”
Twilight eyes went to either side, searching for a way out. “Y-you’re here to… to…” She gulped as Nightmare Moon chortled.
“Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!” Lighting began to crack overhead as all the ponies cowered.
“A bit melodramatic, but she doesn’t read, like, the stuff of evil and retributions.”
“Oh, and what have you been reading about evil lately? Never mind, don’t answer that.”
The mayor then ordered Nightmare Moon to be seized, as only she knew where Princess Celestia was. Several of the Solar Guards flew up to do just that. Nightmare Moon zapped them with lightning bolts, stunning them momentarily so that she was able to escape.
“Escape? Isn't she winning? She’s supposed to be a nigh unstoppable evil. And aside from the fact that nopony can find Princess Celestia, all Nightmare Moon has done is some taunting, lightly zap the guards, and ran away! She ought to be striking ponies into the ground. She’s not a mosquito! She’s doom and destruction!”
“She had just returned from the moon. Perhaps she needed time to regroup herself?”
“She has had a thousand years to think about what she would do when she got free. Unless we assume she was brain-dead, she ought to have been better than this! If she wasn’t going to have the power she needed then she would’ve appeared at the old palace, not Ponyville City Hall. Maybe even hide the Elements of Harmony or try to use them herself? She gets one shot and she’s playing games!”
“She escaped to get the elements, my student. Now.”
Rainbow Dash raced after Nightmare Moon, but she was far too quick and got away. Twilight ran for the library, and after tucking in Spike, her baby dragon, she went downstairs to search for anything about the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow Dash, who had watched Twilight race off, confronted her.
“Just what are the Elements of Harmony? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon? Huh? Are you a spy?” Applejack grabbed ahold of her tail again to make her stop advancing upon Twilight, who was already backed into the wall. Twilight explained to the five ponies surrounding her what she had learned in her studies.
It was then that Pinkie Pie found a book: “The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide”. It explained that there were six elements but only five known ones; Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty. The sixth one was a total mystery.
“Right. The same Elements of Harmony that the Royal Sisters used to seal Discord in stone! The Element of Magic wasn’t exactly a secret!”
“Well, it wasn’t mentioned in the book.”
“The last known location of the elements was in the castle of the Royal Sisters, which was located in what is now the Everfree Forest.” Twilight Sparkle was determined to enter the forest on her own, however, the ponies who had been in the library with her insisted they would come as they would not allow their new friend to do this alone.
As the six ponies chatted about what to expect, the cliff they were standing on collapsed. Rainbow Dash caught Pinkie Pie; Fluttershy was able to grab Rarity. Applejack stopped herself by grabbing hold of a root with her teeth and was barely able to catch Twilight by the hooves.
“I have to admit, Shooting Star, that was one of the times I’ve truly been terrified.”
“Especially since, by all rights, Nightmare Moon could have killed you and Applejack right there and then. She can shatter a cliff? She can snap a root. A root that was very conveniently located, wouldn’t you agree, Princess Twilight?”
“Ahem, one cannot explain the Everfree Forest. I’ve taken you there student.”
“What do I do?” Twilight Sparkle cried out, trying to hold on.
“Let go.”
“Are you crazy?”
“No, I ain’t. I promise you’ll be safe. What I’m saying to you is the honest truth.” Twilight let go to be caught by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Next, the six mares ran right into an enraged manticore. The mares all tried different forms of attacks until Fluttershy was able to get the courage.
“Wait!” She flew to the manticore and walked over to it with a smile. “Shhh, it’s ok.” He lifted a paw to show a large thorn which Fluttershy pulled out after warning him it would hurt. He roared, then began licking her.
“How did you know about the thorn?” Twilight asked.
“I didn’t. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness.”
“Interesting that Rainbow Dash didn’t get hurt a lot worse.”
“It was good luck. The manticore wasn’t really thinking straight. He was in pain.”
The next obstacle was terrifying trees which seemed to be coming towards them. Pinkie Pie began to sing and laugh at the trees, which caused them to turn back into regular trees.
“Seriously? Trees? They didn’t do anything!”
“I… You know what? I can’t explain that one.”
The six mares ran straight into their next problem. The river was uncrossable due to a sobbing sea serpent who was unconscionable due to half of his mustache being cut off. Rarity told him how fabulous he was, but admitted that without his mustache it simply didn’t work. So she grabbed one of his sharper scales and used it to cut off most of her tail and used her magic to attach to the small remates that existed..
“Short tails are in this season. Besides, it’ll grow back.” He then allowed them to cross over his back.
“What is this? Ponies Quarterly?”
“It was important to him.”
The castle was in sight. The only problem: the rope bridge was broken. At least it would have been a problem if there had not been a pegasus with them. Rainbow Dash grabbed the edge of the bridge and flew it over to meet up with three pegasi who offered her the chance to be captain of their aerial team, the Shadow Bolts.
They fed into her ego and she agreed to join them just as soon as she tied the bridge. The Shadow Bolts told her she had to choose them or the five mares she was traveling with. Loyalty won out and Rainbow Dash tied the bridge, informing her friends she’d never leave them hanging.
“Another Straw Pony obstacle.”
“What do you mean by that, Shooting Star?”
“Aside from raising their voices and threatening to not make Rainbow Dash their Captain, what threat did they ever really pose to her? None! It’s like Nightmare Moon was testing the future element bearers and not really trying to stop them!”
The six mares walked into the ruins of the palace. There they were: the Elements of Harmony. Moving slowly, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy laid the elements in a circle by Twilight’s hooves.
“One, two, three, four, there’s only five!” Pinkie exclaimed. Twilight explained that the book said that when the five were together a spark would make the sixth one appear. Having an idea what it meant she told her new friends to stand back. She concentrated her magic as the five mares left to leave her in peace.
Twilight was focusing so hard she didn’t notice Nightmare Moon grabbing the elements and beginning to teleport until it was almost too late. Twilight jumped and was teleported as well.
“Teleported? Lucky she didn’t do anything violent.”
“What do you mean by that? I surprised her by jumping into the teleportation spell.”
“Going in. Coming out you could have found yourself in real trouble. You had no idea where she was going and she knew that exactly.”
Twilight came out of the teleportation to see Nightmare Moon on a dais chortling to herself. Twilight snorted and pawed the ground, getting ready to charge.
“You’re kidding? You’re kidding right?”
"Are you kidding me? Really, the big, bad, evil, ancient Nightmare Moon said ‘are you kidding me’? Th-that makes no sense! Princess Luna speaks old Equestrian. If anything, Nightmare Moon should have said ‘Doth thou jest’! No, Nightmare Moon was Princess Luna. She knew those elements first hoof! You just read about them! I get it that sometimes we don’t get to know everything but this is… unbelievable!”
“What do you mean by unbelievable, my student?”
“All you guys had to do was show up and prove you were good ponies and you won. No real struggle. And most of the time there was no real danger from a relentless opponent who seemed to know everything about you! I mean, Nightmare Moon didn’t know Rainbow Dash from any other pony, so how could she play with her ego? If she reads minds then she ought to have been able to come up with your worst fears. What about a huge shadow dragon instead of a Manticore?”
“So you’re saying you don’t think Nightmare Moon was evil?”
“Not if we believe the story as it stands, no.”
Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled at the dark-blue unicorn sitting beside her. Her student was a bright one, but was she really ready? Well, no time like the present. “Alright, Shooting Star, do you want to know the real story of Nightmare Moon?”
“If you’ll tell me, then I’m all ears, Princess!”