Her mane shifted slightly as the breeze cut through her hut, tickling one of her ears to make it flick. Teal eyes glanced over to the window, narrowing slightly as she found it to still be closed and locked tight. Taking a deep breath she stepped away from her work and moved to where her cloak hung beside the door. Gripping the thick cloth in her teeth she swung the garment over her shoulder and shook lightly to have it fall into place. Tugging the hood over her head she trotted briskly to her front door and paused only long enough to make sure that it shut behind her.
Again the wind gusted past her as she began to move through the darkened landscape that surrounded her home. A small frown creased her lips as her pace increased down the direction the breeze directed her towards. A tangle vine reached for her hoof, but she sidestepped it with a practiced ease from her many walks through her adopted homeland. Glancing upward she looked at the sliver of the moon that was just barely visible in the pre-dawn sky. A small chill went down her back as she realized that the forest had gone unnaturally silent.
“Are you certain about this? The timing seems…risky.”
She stopped in her tracks as she heard the voice through the thick underbrush, crouching low in a defensive posture. Inching forward she peered through the foliage and spotted the source, or at least possible source, of the voice. Her head tilted as she could just barely make out the three figures that walked unhurriedly beneath the large trees. Concentrating for a moment her eyes began to glow faintly yellow and the darkened world began to illuminate for her. Their garb was like her own, a simple hooded travel cloak, that obscured their faces from casual view.
“We may have waited to long already.” The largest of the ponies spoke. “If something doesn’t happen soon…” There was a heavy sigh from the male voice as he shook his head. “Well, I don’t think we can afford to wait any longer.”
“I don’t see why we can’t just take Canterlot and be done with it.” Complained the mare within the group. “She has to remember once she sees us.”
“Yeah, and if she doesn’t, we get our tails hooved to us like a bunch of foals.” The second male voice responded. “I don’t mind taking my licks if it’s for a good reason, but a meaningless fight is, well, meaningless.”
“You’re a regular poet.” The mare shook her head. “You know that?”
“Stow it.” The large pony paused at the edge of the forest line. “You know your assignments?”
“I should be going with you.” The second stallion stepped forward. “If something goes wrong.”
“That’s exactly the reason you can’t go with him dummy.” The mare snipped curtly, though a trace of fear could be heard in her voice. “We’ll do our part Sir. You just make sure you stay out from under her hooves. I don’t want to have to explain to everypony back home that you got stomped by that hor…”
“That’s enough.” The lead pony turned just enough that the faint light of the moon glinted off his eyes causing a flash of green. “If she gets me, somepony else will take up what needs to be done.” His voice softened as he turned away from his travel companions. “All the same, I expect to see the both of you again soon.”
“I still don’t like it.” The smaller stallion jabbed out a hoof at the bigger pony. “But I’ll hold down things here.”
“Thank you.” The first pony reached out and bumped his hoof against his friend’s. “I’ll see you soon. There’s a lot of work to be done, let’s get moving.”
In the brush, the observer watched as the mare shucked off her cloak and spread her wings before taking off to the sky. The smaller male pony glowed brightly for a moment before vanishing in a burst of white light. Yellow eyes watched, carefully tracking the only remaining pony expecting a flashy exit as well, but he simply started walking slowly down the dirt path. Back stepping along her original path to avoid detection she let the light fade from her eyes and stood in silent contemplation for a few moments. “A blast from the past, or so it seems to me.” Teal eyes stared into the darkness of the forest to the regions even she was hesitant to go. “At last on the move, the forgotten denizens of Everfree.”
00000
“Good morning sister.” Celestia greeted as she heard the flapping of wings out on her balcony. “Join me for breakfast?”
Luna yawned as she stepped into her sister’s room. “Sounds wonderful. I don’t suppose you have…” She smiled as she caught the scent of her favorite chamomile mint tea. “That smells divine.”
Celestia’s horn glowed as she lifted the pot and poured her sibling a cup. “How was your evening?”
Luna yawned again as she sipped the warm drink. “It was a bit different.” Her brow furrowed a tiny bit. “Some of the dreams I visited were troubled, many of them actually.”
Celestia raised a piece of toast to her mouth and took a bite. “You suspect trouble?”
“I…can’t say for certain.” Luna shook her head and took a piece of toast for herself. “The dreams were so similar. I don’t ever recall seeing so many dreams with the same underlying theme.”
The white-coated pony paused in mid-chew. “Similar how?”
“It wasn’t a portent.” Luna shook her head as she saw the knowing look on her counterpart’s face. “Starswirl trained me well in those, this was more like a remembrance, a memory, something long forgotten.” Turning her gaze toward the window she missed the concerned expression on Celestia’s face. “At the same time, I can’t say that is nothing. Seeing the same vision in the dreams in so many minds surely has some significance, but I’m not sure what it means.” Closing her eyes she sipped at her tea again. “Clarity sometimes comes in my own dreams, I will try to discern it’s meaning after a good day’s rest.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Celestia pushed a plate of daisy flowers towards Luna. “With the Summer Sun Celebration being held tomorrow we don’t need any unpleasant surprises.”
“Agreed.” Luna took a few of the offered flowers and chewed thoughtfully. “Thank you for the meal sister.”
Celestia watched as her younger sister moved towards the door. “Luna? What was it you saw in those dreams?” Her expression became more sullen as she observed Luna’s wings droop.
“I saw myself…as…as the Nightmare.”
“Luna…”
The dark coated pony shook her head. “I will not walk that path again my sister. Do not fear that reoccurrence. I will not allow myself to cause that kind of pain to our ponies ever again.” Looking back over her shoulder she smiled, though with a hint of worry visible. “Never again. I promise.”
“I don’t doubt that.” Celestia returned the smile. “Good night, little sister.”
Luna chuckled. “Good day, big sister.”
The elder pony sat in silence as the door opened and shut, leaving her alone to her thoughts. “I thought I’d never have to experience this feeling again.” She whispered quietly to herself as she gazed at the reflection in her teacup.
00000
Twilight trotted down the center of the road looking over the various decorations that hung between the houses. “I’m not sure that we have enough banners. I want this to go well, it’s Princess Luna’s first Summer Sun Celebration since her return.”
“More…banners.” Spike looked up from where he added the latest addendum to his list. “I’ll ask Pinkie Pie to see if we have anymore. If anypony will have banners in reserve it’s her.” Glancing skyward he caught sight of a familiar, pale, blue mare. “Oh! And Rainbow Dash said she saw some weird clouds over the Everfree Forest, but she doesn’t think there should be any concern for tomorrow.”
“That’s good.” Twilight’s horn glowed as she levitated Spike onto her back, quickening her pace ever so slightly. “We don’t need any unexpected rain.” Her brow furrowed a little bit. “So strange that the Everfree Forest is the one place in all of Equestria where the weather ponies seem to have no control at all.”
“It’s the Everfree.” Spike shrugged. “When has it ever done anything like the rest of Equestria.”
“Fair point.” Twilight agreed. “Though that kind of adds to what I was saying too.” Shaking her head she looked forward again. “But, we can look into that another day. What’s next?”
“Check in with Rarity for the costumes and Applejack for the catering.” The dragon licked his lips. “I hope Apple Fritter made her specialty.”
“I’m sure AJ has all hooves hard at work.” Twilight chuckled as she turned the corner for Carousel Boutique. “What...exactly do we need costumes for though? The changing of Sun and Moon Ceremony doesn’t require any special garments, and my part in this certainly doesn’t either.” When silence answered, she turned her attention over her shoulder to see a confused dragon staring back at her. “Right…” She sighed as her head dropped forward.
“I’m sorry Twilight.” Spike leaned over to try and better see his long time friend, recognizing the less than happy expression. “I thought she had already spoken to you about the costumes.”
“Its ok Spike. We all know how excited Rarity gets with her clothing for special events.” Twilight responded as kindly as she could muster.
Jumping down off the pony’s back Spike jogged ahead of Twilight and began to run backwards so he could face her. “Why don’t I go see Rarity and you go check out the food over at Sweet Apple Acres? We’ll get more done at once.”
Twilight paused and looked at Spike knowingly. The fact that the dragon’s blush only grew beneath her gaze confirmed her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “All right, just don’t fill up on Rarity’s spare gems or you won’t be able to enjoy the Apple family’s cooking.”
With a smile the hatchling saluted. “Yes ma’am!” Turning around Spike broke into a light run. “I’ll meet you back at the center podium after!”
Twilight watched her charge until he was out of sight before turning towards her own destination. She couldn’t tell him, but she worried about him and his crush on Rarity. After seeing the effect that the fashion pony had on Spike even when he’d been transformed by his greed she’d looked into the possibility of the two ever being together. The research had not proven fruitful. The calls of nearby ponies pulled her from her thoughts as she waved a quick reply. “Other tasks closer at hoof.” She reminded herself quietly as she spread her wings and took a running start.
The take off was far from graceful, but it was considerably better off than her first attempts some weeks ago before Rainbow Dash had given her some lessons. Once she cleared the rooftop of Ponyville Twilight closed her eyes, forcing herself to feel the winds around her the way Rainbow Dash had taught her. Compared to her usual method of constant self-analysis, it was more of a challenge than she was comfortable admitting. Within a few moments she felt her flight level out and wings fell into a steady rhythm allowing her a much smoother transit. Opening her eyes once again she looked over the streets of Ponyville below her.
Though the festival was tomorrow, the town was already alive with excitement. Some was from the residents who lived in Ponyville, preparing for the big events, but much was from the tourists as well. Her smile returned as she saw the distinctive looks of different areas all coming together in a central location. “Manehatten, Las Pegasus, Broncton, Appleoosa, even a few from the Crystal Empire.” Tilting her wings she circled slowly around the town. “It seems that word of Princess Luna’s part in this year’s celebration has drawn quite a crowd.” There was a loud bang, followed by distinctive squeal, in the distance as several balloons made their way skyward. “I should probably talk with Pinkie just to make sure we don’t have a repeat of Nightmare Night though.” Twilight mumbled as her expression sobered a bit.
Turning back to her original course she headed for the red barns at the edge of Ponyville. “First things first though.” As she rounded about she paused, goose-pimples making her mane stiffen slightly. Keeping her wing beats steady she hovered in place, looking for the source of her sudden unease, but couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. “Discord?” Twilight called cautiously. “Is that you? I’m not in the mood if this is one of your jokes.” With the distant chatter of the ponies below her the only answer Twilight shrugged and resumed her flight. Only after she was a good distance away did the cloaked pony step out from the shadow of the shop awning, green eyes tracking her until the treeline hid her away.
Deciding to err on the side of caution Twilight made her landing along the dirt road leading up to the main farmhouse and walked the rest of the way. “Hello? Anypony home?”
“Hi Twilight!”
The purple mare jumped back as a tiny streak of yellow and red zipped out the door past her towards the orchard. “Apple Bloom?”
“Bye Twilight!”
The princess stared after the younger mare for a moment wondering what the rush was for before sticking her head into the ajar door.
“Applejack?” She called cautiously.
The orange farm pony jumped and spun about like her hoof had been caught in the apple bushel. “Twilight! Um, I mean, Princess Twilight! What are you doing here?”
Leaning to look past her friend Twilight took in the sight of multiple pots, pans, and other cooking equipment running full tilt. “Everything all right Applejack?”
“Course it is!” Applejack’s face scrunched up and her eyes began to focus on anything but the pony in front of her. “Why wouldn’t it be? Why even ask such a question?”
Twilight leveled a stare at the now sweating earth pony. “You do know as the Element of Honesty, you are absolutely terrible at lying, right?”
Applejack’s head hung forward as she sighed. “I’m sorry Twilight. I don’t know what happened. This morning the orchard went all haywire for some reason.”
“Haywire?”
Moving over to the window Applejack pointed at the nearest trees. “Yeah, weirdest thing I ever did see. Some of the trees are dropping apples so green you can’t even eat them, while the ones right next to ‘em are dropping fruit that’s gone rotten. A couple of the Zap Apple trees even bloomed for a few minutes before they vanished like a puff of smoke.”
“I take that’s why Apple Bloom just went running off?” Twilight looked over the odd scenery. “Has Granny Smith ever seen something like this?”
“I don’t know.” Applejack rushed back over to the stove as one of the pots started to bubble over. “Granny won’t be back until late tonight from visiting family. I sent Apple Bloom to help Big Macintosh and the others to collect as much good fruit as they could before whatever is going on here wrecks the whole crop, but that left me a bit stranded here with the cooking for the festival.”
“Do you have recipe books?”
Applejack turned to see Twilight had tied an old apron around herself and was looking through the items cooking on the stove top. “Yeah, why?”
“As long as I have some directions to follow, I can’t imagine that cooking is that much different than potion making.” Twilight’s horn glowed as she lifted a couple of measuring utensils. “How can I help?”
“Well, I ain’t about to look a gift pony in the mouth.” Applejack opened a cabinet and pulled out an old, tattered cookbook with Granny Smith’s cutie mark emblazoned on it. “I’ll start on the pie filling, you start on the crust. Let’s get to it.”
00000
Mrs. Cake looked up as the door to her shop open and triggered the little bell chime. “Good morning. Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner!” She greeted warmly, though her smile faltered a bit as she saw the cloaked and hooded pony that entered. “How can I help you?” Her tension seemed to increase as the large form moved silently over the wooden floorboards. Unconsciously, her eyes drifted to the twins in their pen behind the counter.
The pony stopped a few steps from the counter and looked over the choices without speaking for a few moments. “How much for the peppermints?”
The mare startled at the voice. “Two for a bit.” Mrs. Cake replied as she focused on the stallion yet again. It wasn’t the size of the pony that made her nervous, Big Macintosh still had a few inches on him it looked like by her estimate, but there was something about him that set off warning bells in her mind. When he stepped forward to place the coin on the counter top she was surprised again that he almost immediately stepped back to give her space. Taking the coin she turned to reach for the glass container filled with peppermint candies, turning her back to the twins and her customer. As she lifted the lid there was a flash from inside the playpen and she felt a quickening of her pulse. “Pumpkin!”
Spinning on her hoof she spotted the second flash as Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake teleported back into existence right over the mystery pony’s head. Mrs. Cake stared as Pound continued to fly overhead, but Pumpkin dropped toward the hooded figure. Without looking up the pony leaned back and caught the falling foal by the edge of her diaper as she attempted to pass him. In a seamless move he gently flipped the little filly back up into a sitting position and caught her on his head, accidentally shaking his hood back in the process.
Pumpkin Cake giggled as she sat surrounded by a wash of grass green mane atop the brown earth pony’s head. “Again!” She clapped her front hooves together as she smiled. Looking over her shoulder she watched as Pound settled gently on the large pony’s back behind her. “Uppy! Again!” She frowned as Pound remained still and looked at her blankly.
“Come on little one.” The pony stepped forward again and leaned his head forward, letting the foal used his snout as a slide to deposit her onto the counter top before Mrs. Cake. Bucking slightly he popped Pound up on to his head and repeated the action to leave the two twins laughing on the counter. “Looks like you gave your poor mom a bit of a fright there.”
The cupcake marked mare stared for the briefest moment at the now hoodless pony. She still had a sense of unease about her, but it was far less than it had been a moment ago and seemed to be fading as she watch him make faces at her foals. “Sorry about that. Her magic is still a bit unpredictable.”
“No harm done.” The green manned pony nodded slightly as he watched Mrs. Cake return her children to their playpen. His brown eyes closed and a chagrined smile turned his lips for a moment. “I remember the feeling.”
“What was that dear?” Mrs. Cake turned again to face her customer as she missed his whispered comment.
“Nothing at all.” He dismissed with a shake of his head. “The peppermints?”
“Oh! Right.” Grabbing up a serving scoop she prepared to drop them into a small bag.
“Actually, I’d like to try them now please.”
Mrs. Cake shrugged and laid the candies out on a piece of wax paper on the countertop. She almost laughed at how he flicked the sweets into his mouth, vaguely reminding her of Pinkie Pie for a moment. “You don’t look pleased. To strong?” She questioned as she watched his expression change.
“Just the opposite.” He crunched down on the candies and swallowed. “Got anything stronger? About three, no, I had two of them, so, about six times stronger?”
The blue pony blinked a few times. “That much peppermint oil will burn out your taste buds.” When he didn’t respond she considered the old adage of the customer being right. “We don’t have anything like that on hoof, but we could do a custom order I suppose.”
“That’d be great. Tomorrow possibly?”
Mrs. Cake nodded. “And what name should I put on the order?”
“Blackbriar.” The pony turned. “Payment on pickup?”
“Sure. We’ll have it ready a little before lunch time tomorrow.” Mrs. Cake spoke around the quill in her mouth as she wrote down the order. “Anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
As the stallion turned toward the exit Mrs. Cake heard the soft clip clop of hooves on the wooden floor. It prompted her to wonder if she had imagined the silence before when Blackbriar had entered. The door was just started to close when another flash of light came from the playpen. “Pumpkin!”
Blackbriar smirked at the frustrated yell of the mother as he pulled up his hood again. He spared the quickest glance back over his shoulder to see the small Pegasus hovering outside the door and holding up his sister by her diaper.
“Bye uppy!” Pumpkin waved with the kind of warm smile that only foals are capable of.
He turned away again and continued on with an unaltered pace, though his frown slowly returned as he increased his distance from Sugar Cube Corner. Before long he found himself standing before the stage that would serve as the center ground of the Summer Sun Celebration festivities. Although it was only partially setup, the two main totems were already erected. The sun totem only received a passing sneer from the pony and he quickly turned his eyes away from the sight favoring the moon totem instead. Sitting back gently he continued to observe the statue, seemingly oblivious to the ponies working around him, with his expression hidden under his hood.
Had anypony been near enough to him, they might have heard a faint humming coming from the visitor. Little by little the insistence of the humming increased, driven and focused with intent. As it continued to increase the pony began to sway lightly in his seat, seemingly in trance as the words began to utter forth quietly. “Rise now, from thy thousand years of forgotten memory. Retake what was stolen from thee. Eclipse the sun, graceful light of Moon. Retake thine kingdom, the time comes soon. Return to us Princess of Night, Princess of Stars, She who dared embrace the Mare in the Moon and survived the scars.” Beneath the dark brown hood, eyes bright and glowing green suddenly flared to light. “Return!”
OOOOO
Applejack wasn’t sure what had happened. One moment she and Twilight had been talking and preparing baked goods for the festival, the next moment Twilight was screaming in pain as though her very horn were being ripped from her head. Ducking under a wildly flying, glowing, spoon the farm pony made her way to her friend’s side. “Twilight!” Applejack tried to support the purple pony’s head, if only to protect her as she thrashed about on the kitchen floor.
Tears streamed down the young princess’ face as she ground her teeth. She tried to force her jaw to unclench to no avail. The wave of magic that had passed over her had been so concentrated with intent it overloaded her sense. She could taste Applejack’s voice calling to her. She could see the scents of the pies floating about her head, heard the sensation of the rough wooden floor against her coat and skin. Nothing made sense after that spell had passed over her.
“Twilight?” Applejack’s voice was quiet as Twilight went still in her forelegs. Only scant minutes had passed, though it seemed like far longer to the orange pony as she sat helpless to do anything for her friend.
“AJ!” Big Macintosh burst through the door and paused only long enough to see both mares with tear streaked faces, ignoring completely the utter chaos of the cooking paraphernalia embedded in the walls of the kitchen.
“I…I don’t know what happened.” Applejack looked up at her brother. “I don’t know how to help her. I think…we should get to the hospital.”
“Nope.” Big Macintosh shook his head. “Won’t do any good.” He lightly touched Twilight’s horn with his hoof. “Worst part’s over. She just has to rest now.” His eyes remained on Twilight Sparkle, giving him an excuse to ignore the silent questions his sister directed towards him. “Help me move her to the couch.”
OOOOO
Celestia slumped against the wall, what was left of it, as she regained her senses. She’d detected the spell as it was coming toward her, but it hit so fast that she hadn’t been able to deflect it completely. “Luna…” Forcing herself back to her hooves she made her way unsteadily through the corridors towards her sister’s quarters. With each step her strength returned a bit more, physically at least. The alicorn’s heart grew more pained as she moved forward, for the destruction of the castle grew worse as she neared her destination.
“You!” Charging her voice with magic she invoked the Canterlot Royal Voice and drew the attention of the nearby guards rushing to investigate the explosion. “Seal the area immediately. Nopony in or out, including Royal Guards ponies. I will see to this matter personally.”
The guards exchanged worried glances and seemed ready to balk at the orders, but training won out as they bowed their heads. “As you command Princess Celestia.”
The pastel manned pony didn’t wait to see them to their task, instead pushing on toward her sister’s location. She paused before the wreckage that had once been the Luna’s bedroom door, taking a deep breath to steel herself before crossing that threshold. It was not enough.
“You!”
Celestia recoiled as if she had been physically struck. The single syllable dripped with venom, light teal eyes filled with such anger that the elder Princess felt her own eyes began to water. Closing her eyes to block the image away she readied her spell.
“Don’t you dare!”
“Sleep, little sister.” Celestia’s horn glowed with a searing yellow light before striking the smaller pony’s pale blue body. The sound of a foal sized body collapsing to the floor made Celestia cringe. Forcing herself to open her eyes she crossed the room, making her pass through the magical burn marks that all to closely resembled the silhouette of one of Equestria’s most notable villains. Laying down she cradled the tiny pony at the epicenter of the blast between her forelegs. Silent tears trickled down her cheeks as she laid her head atop Luna’s. “You were always terrible at reading portents.”
The knock on the door drew Celestia from her trouble thoughts as she turned to face the distraught looking Royal Guard. “What time is it?”
“A-about an hour past when…when Moon rise should have been.”
Celestia nodded absently, it had felt like only moments to her but it must have been much longer. “I’ll see to it.” Flicking her head she dismissed the unicorn. “Speak nothing of what you’ve seen here.” She waited until she could no longer sense the guard and then lowered the Sun without moving from her position. Moments later the moon rose high into the sky with practiced ease. “I need your help.”
From the edge of the shadow and moonlight a serpentine pattern extended. “I warned you about this you know.”
“I don’t want to hear it. Not right now.” Celestia whispered tiredly. “I’ve barely gotten her back, I can’t lose her again.”
“You had the version of her you wanted.” Sighed the shadow as it began to take more solid form. “You never really had her back. You should probably just come clean to her.”
“Would you accept what I had to say? Even after all this time?”
Yellow eyes with red pupils appeared from the shadow form. “Well, no, but then again I’m rather far from what most ponies consider sane.” A snaggle-tooth grin appeared as color filled the shadow little bits at a time. “Oh! But the possibilities of what could happen after being betrayed twice!”
“What do you mean Discord?” Celestia demanded.
“Memory spells, spells of the mind in general, are a tricky thing princess.” Discord lifted off the ground and floated over the two sisters. “You saw how quickly Twilight and her friends over threw my personality charms. Now some mystery pony has obliterated my memory spell on the dear little moon pony.”
“You know who did this.” Celestia’s eyes widened. “You must tell me!”
“And miss out on the fun to come?” Discord tisked. “Really Celestia, it’s like you don’t know me at all.”
Celestia turned her head away, knowing she had no leverage over the draconequis this time. “What do you want?”
“That’s the beauty of it Celestia.” Discord touched a clawed finger to Luna’s horn and released a bit of chaos magic. “I already have all I want. I’m simply going to sit back and watch.” Taking his claw away he began to fade from sight. “The counter spell won’t last long now that the foundation spell has been shattered. Enjoy the coming days Princess.” All that remained of Discord was his eyes and his smile. “I know I will.”
With a small popping sound the last traces of the spirit of chaos vanished, leaving Celestia as alone as she had been almost a thousand years ago to the day. “I’m so sorry little sister.” Closing her eyes she held the slumbering, foal sized pony and began to cry softly. "I'm so very, very, sorry."