After a quick stop at Moondancer’s house to pick up some supplies, the two were ready to set off. Spike had wanted to come with them, but he was so exhausted from two late nights in a row that he had fallen asleep by the time Twilight and Moondancer came back from her house to get him. Twilight tucked him in, then the two took an express pegasus coach to Ponyville, a town built on the edge of the Everfree forest and that year’s host of the Summer Sun Celebration.
When they landed, the town was in chaos. Ponies ran every which way, rushing into homes and locking doors. One magenta pony they encountered told them frantically that Nightmare Moon had appeared during the Summer Sun Celebration and had vanished into smoke after a few minutes, saying that the night would last forever. Without another word, the pony hurried into her house. Twilight and Moondancer galloped to the entrance of the Everfree forest before stopping suddenly.
Huge trees rose before them, and the forest was dark and foreboding. Twilight looked back at Moondancer. Both ponies looked nervous, but Twilight managed a smile.
“Ready?” she asked.
Moondancer nodded, and the two ponies stepped into the forest together.
★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★
The forest was nearly pitch black, and the only light came from the full moon above, which wasn’t very comforting. The unicorns walked nervously, casting frequent glances behind them as if Nightmare Moon might be behind every tree they passed. Occasionally one tried to start up a conversation, but it always died out after only a few seconds. Moondancer’s tracking spell made her horn glow faintly as she guided their route.
After around thirty minutes of walking, the path they were on opened up, winding around a hill with a steep cliff below. Twilight could have sworn she saw a flash of deep blue below them, but when she checked it was gone. As they neared the curve, Moondancer’s horn glowed brighter as she tried to determine Nightmare Moon’s exact position.
“It looks like she’s still in the ruins. The fastest path is actually down the cliff.” She frowned suddenly. “Wait a second. Now the signal is coming from here. Right underneath us!”
Twilight peered over the side, and the ground suddenly fell out from under them, sending them down a steep incline. Twilight flailed but couldn’t find anything to grab onto, and she found herself at the edge of the incline, clinging to the side with her hooves. Moondancer clung in a similar position beside her.
“What do we do?” Twilight shouted to her, scrambling as the ground started to give out from under her hooves.
Moondancer glanced down at the ground below, then looked at Twilight. “Trust me, okay?” she called. Twilight hesitated, then nodded. Moondancer’s horn brightened, and Twilight’s body gradually began to be surrounded in a pale pink glow. She was inched out from her spot until she was suspended in the air, nothing but the ground far below her. She began to freak out, thrashing wildly, and Moondancer pressed tighter against the cliff face, gripping onto it hard in concentration. “Stop struggling,” she yelled to Twilight, her voice tight. “It makes this almost impossible.”
Twilight tried to calm down, and forced herself to look at the sky instead of the ground. She began to descend, and in a few seconds had landed on the dirt at the bottom of the cliff. The pink glow released her, and she could see Moondancer relax on the top of the cliff. Twilight waited for the mare to bring herself down, but seconds went by without the mare moving.
“What are you waiting for? Do yourself!” she yelled up, but Moondancer shook her head.
“I can’t!” she called back. “My magic is exhausted!” Her horn lit up faintly, before flickering and sputtering out in a few seconds. “Can you help?” She began to slip and pulled herself back up, but she was clearly tired. “I can’t hold on much longer!”
Twilight danced around the small clearing below the cliff, looking for something she could use. She wasn’t good enough at full body levitation to carry Moondancer herself, but maybe there was something else she could levitate to catch her. Something like… tree branches! Twilight quickly snapped off ten tree branches and threaded them together with her magic, making a strong net with the leaves cushioning it. She quickly levitated it up to where Moondancer was still struggling.
“Here!” she shouted. “Let go!”
Moondancer looked around nervously for a moment before spotting the net. She released her hooves and fell onto the branches, landing softly. The additional weight made it hard for Twilight to hold on to the branches and she gritted her teeth, digging her hooves into the dirt and straining to let the net down slowly. A few seconds later, the branches landed on the forest floor and Moondancer hopped off. Both were panting from exertion, but smiled at each other.
“This forest really is dangerous,” Twilight gasped, still out of breath. “Quick, which way do we go now?”
Moondancer strained, closing her eyes tightly, but her horn still wouldn’t glow. She opened her eyes and shook her head. “It’s not working!” she exclaimed with frustration, looking around. Three paths lead out of the clearing, one in each direction along the cliff and one going deeper into the forest. She pointed to the path leading into the trees. “As far as I can remember, the castle is this way.”
Twilight nodded and, now more apprehensive, trotted into the trees.
★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★
The two mares followed the path. It was much darker down here and Twilight strained her eyes as she looked ahead. Moondancer’s magic gradually began to replenish itself, and she soon was able to confirm that they were on the right path, which Twilight was relieved by. As they continued walking, they began to strike up more conversations. For some reason, Twilight felt a bit more at ease, both with the forest and with Moondancer. There was nothing like a good dose of trauma to help two ponies bond.
“I’ve recently been looking at books from Nikola Horsela, and he has several interesting theories,” Moondancer said as they walked. “I’ll loan you a few of his books when we get back, if you’d like.”
Twilight nodded and smiled. “That would be great!” She looked over at her new friend gratefully, but paused when she saw Moondancer had stopped in the middle of the path. “What’s wrong?”
In answer, Moondancer only pointed further along the path. Twilight looked back at the path, and her eyes widened as she realized she was nearly face-to-face with a beast she had only ever read about. “A manticore!” she squealed, and quickly backed up a few steps. The manticore roared in the faces of the two ponies, spraying them with saliva.
“What do we do?” Twilight hissed at Moondancer. This manticore looked particularly violent. In all her years of study, she had never fought anything, so she had no idea which spells would work in combat. She was running through her mind, trying to think of any spell that could be useful, when Moondancer’s horn suddenly began to glow. A ghostly musical sound came out of it, and she directed it at the manticore, closing her eyes. A few seconds later, the manticore began to yawn and swayed slightly on its feet. It yawned one last time before falling to the ground. After a few moments, it began to snore.
Twilight ran over to the sleeping manticore, looking at it before turning her attention back to Moondancer. “That was amazing!” she shrieked. “How did you do that?”
“Sleeping spell.” Moondancer adjusted her glasses again. “I have problems sleeping sometimes, and I learned it to use on myself. I figured it would also work on somepony else.” Her horn glowed dimly for a second, and Twilight knew she was accessing the tracking spell again. Moondancer frowned. “That’s strange. The signal is coming from here, on the manticore.” She focused, attempting to scan the manticore’s body with the spell. Twilight thought she saw the same sky-colored swirl come out from the manticore’s body, but when she blinked it had vanished. Moondancer’s eyes suddenly shot open. “Now it’s gone! It’s coming from straight ahead now.”
“I saw some deep blue smoke coming out from the manticore, and it headed in that direction! It might be the same smoke the mare from Ponyville was talking about, the kind Nightmare Moon turned into!” Twilight said before she could second-guess herself.
Moondancer sighed. “Then we have no way of knowing where she’ll go next. We could be chasing her around in circles!”
Twilight thought for a moment. “Let’s head for the castle, but still use the tracking spell in case she changes directions. She’ll probably go back to the castle at some point, and we can find her there if we need to, even if we have to wait.”
“So, we head straight?”
Twilight nodded. “For now.” The two walked around the sleeping manticore and headed deeper into the forest.
★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★
Moondancer’s horn continued to glow with her tracking spell. “She’s still right ahead of us,” Moondancer whispered to Twilight. The two mares became hushed as they continued, sticking closer together.
As they walked, the tree cover became thicker above them and the forest became even darker. Twilight walked a step to the side and bumped into Moondancer, sending both mares sprawling.
“Sorry!” Twilight burst out quickly. She was almost glad it was dark so the other mare couldn’t see her flush of embarrassment.
“No problem,” Moondancer’s voice came from close by. If it wasn’t for the faint glow of her horn, Twilight wouldn’t have had any idea where she was.
The two had just gotten back up to continue walking when Twilight saw a flash underneath them.
“Look!” She gestured at the ground, where she had just seen a navy blue vapor, but it was already gone.
Moondancer’s voice confirmed what she had seen. “She’s right on top of us!”
Twilight looked anxiously around, but the forest was so dark she couldn’t see a thing. She was peering into the trees when they suddenly lit up all at once. The light temporarily blinded her and she stumbled back a few steps, hitting Moondancer again. The mare’s body tensed up beneath her.
“Twilight?” she whispered, her voice strained. “Have you seen anything like this in a book before?”
Twilight forced her eyes open, then tripped backwards in shock. The trees had grown colorful faces, leering at the ponies from every angle. She shrank back against Moondancer and the two mares stood close, peering at the trees.
“Do you know anything we can use on them?” Moondancer asked quietly.
Twilight took deep breaths, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. The only way they would be able to solve this was if they worked through it rationally, and for that she needed to be calm, not terrified out of her wits. She thought for a few moments. “I do know one thing that might work.” She concentrated, and her horn slowly lit up with a brilliant white glow. It bathed the forest in light, and the trees appeared normal again. Smoke seeped out of the trees, speeding along the path as if hiding from the light. After a few moments, the light receded, and Twilight breathed heavily, exhausted.
“Twilight, that was awesome!” Moondancer abruptly threw her hooves around Twilight in a hug. Twilight tensed up, not used to the contact. Sensing it, Moondancer pulled away, adjusting her glasses and shrinking back into the darkness. “Sorry,” she said in a small voice.
“No, it’s fine,” Twilight was flushed again. She hadn’t meant to make Moondancer feel bad, but she didn’t know what to say after the awkwardness of the hug. The two mares stood in uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Moondancer cleared her throat.
“Should we move on?”
Twilight nodded before remembering that Moondancer couldn’t see her. “Yeah,” she said. “We probably should.”
★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★
Twilight and Moondancer continued along the path, but the air had regained some of its tension. The two didn’t speak for some time. Eventually, the path began to lighten again. Now that they could see each other, Twilight felt she had to say something to try and clear the air. She took a deep breath before speaking.
“I’m sorry, about earlier,” she said, looking down at her hooves. “I haven’t spent much time with other ponies before, and I just wasn’t expecting-”
“No, it’s fine,” Moondancer was looking down too. “I haven’t spent much time with ponies either. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s my fault.” Twilight forced herself to look up at Moondancer, and gave her a small smile. “You were just being nice. ”
Moondancer smiled back, and Twilight relaxed a little. She hadn’t messed things up that badly. Other than Spike, Moondancer was the closest thing she had to a friend, and she was enjoying her company. She really didn’t want to screw it up.
As they walked, the atmosphere gradually lightened. The two approached another clearing talking to each other again, even laughing.
“You should have heard my professor. He actually made up a song for us to remember the charges, right in the middle of the lesson!” Moondancer said.
Twilight giggled before bumping into the mare from behind. Moondancer had abruptly stopped in the middle of the path. “What is it?” Twilight asked. She craned her neck to see beyond Moondancer and gasped.
The path in front of them did open up, but instead of a clearing, a raging river separated the two parts of the forest. The water churned with rapids.
“How are we going to cross this?” Moondancer called to Twilight. Twilight shook her head.
“I have no idea!” she called back. Her ears abruptly perked up as she heard a noise off in the distance. It sounded almost like… crying.
“Do you hear that?” she shouted. Moondancer nodded. As one, the two ponies backed into the forest, revising their route so they could see what had made the noise.
As they came back out to the river, they saw a gigantic purple sea serpent beating the river with his tail, creating the rapids they had seen further down the river.
“What a world, what a world!” he cried, burying his head in his hands.
Twilight took a breath before stepping forward. “Excuse me, sir,” she said politely. “Why are you crying?”
The serpent looked down, noticing them for the first time. He made his way to the edge of the river, looking down on the ponies. “Well, I don't know,” he said. “I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off!” He indicated his orange handlebar mustache, half of which was indeed gone, before dramatically leaning backwards. “And now I look simply horrid!” He began to sob again and fell into the river, splashing Twilight and Moondancer with water.
“What can we do?” Twilight asked Moondancer. The sea serpent's head came out of the water and he laid it on the bank of the river, watching the ponies talk while he churned the water. The ponies thought and came to a conclusion at the same moment.
“A duplication spell!” they shouted at the same time. As one, they focused their magic on the remaining half of the serpent's mustache. After a few seconds, an exact copy floated off of it. The ponies guided the mustache half to the other side of the serpent's face and fused it to the short remaining hairs, tying the strands in tight knots with their magic. They set it loose and it curled downwards, perfectly matching the other one.
“Ooh!” The serpent shrieked, running his fingers through his new mustache. “My mustache! How wonderful!”
The two mares just stared at each other, and they broke into giggles.
“How did we do that?” Moondancer asked in shock.
“That was amazing! I’ve never tried doing magic simultaneously with another pony!” The two ponies reached for each other in a hug and this time, it didn’t feel awkward at all.
The two were interrupted by the serpent's voice. “Here, let me help you across the river.” He bowed, and lifted his body to make stepping stone-like bumps for the mares to hop across.
When they got to the other side, Twilight turned and gave the serpent a wave with a hoof. “Thank you so much for your help, sir!”
“No, thank you!” The serpent gave them one more regal bow before diving into the river, splashing Twilight and Moondancer again. The two looked at each other and laughed, their faces bright.
★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★
Moondancer’s tracking spell showed that Nightmare Moon was back at the castle like Twilight had predicted, so the two mares continued straight ahead. The journey had now become fun and Twilight felt completely relaxed around Moondancer. The other mare seemed comfortable with her too, and the two gave each other playful shoves as they continued on, laughing about their adventures so far.
Eventually, the forest grew foggy and Moondancer stopped, focusing to determine the location of the castle. “We should be getting close,” she said, her voice hushed now. Twilight followed the mare, staying close behind her so she wouldn’t get lost in the thick fog.
The fog suddenly cleared up, and the ponies stepped into a last clearing. The castle was visible before them, just over a deep gorge filled with mist.
“There it is,” Twilight whispered. Moondancer nodded.
“I’ll keep the tracking spell on just in case, but she’s in there now.”
Twilight grinned and galloped for the gorge, but stopped right at the edge as she realized the rope bridge had broken and was hanging beneath her. Moondancer cantered behind her and took her tail in her teeth, quickly pulling her backwards from the drop.
Both mares stopped to catch their breath. “Thank you so much,” Twilight huffed.
“Sure,” Moondancer panted back. “We wouldn’t want a repeat of last time.”
After a short break, Twilight peered out towards the castle. “It looks like the posts are still intact. We just need to levitate the ropes over and tie them back up. Will you help?” She glanced back to Moondancer, who nodded with a smile.
Each mare grasped one rope with their magic, Twilight’s aura a bright magenta, Moondancer’s a paler shade of pink. Together, they brought the ropes up to the posts on the other side of the gorge and tied them tightly. Twilight walked ahead on the bridge, testing each board as she went. All of the boards seemed secure, it looked like the bridge had been specifically untied in an attempt to stop them instead of it being so old that the ropes had rotted. Moondancer followed, and the mares made it to the other side of the gorge.
Ahead, the castle ruins loomed, dark and foreboding.
“She’s right inside.” Moondancer indicated the old wooden door of the castle.
Twilight took a step forward. “I’ll go,” she said bravely. “You stay here and keep safe.”
Moondancer walked to meet Twilight, her expression unafraid. “No. We’ll go in together.”
Twilight shook her head firmly. “You have to stay. We don’t even have the Elements of Harmony, and I have no idea what’s going to happen in there. I’ll go in alone, and if I don’t come out, I need you to go warn the other ponies.”
Moondancer took another step forward and faced Twilight, standing close. “Either we go in together, or not at all.” When Twilight shook her head again, the other mare took a deep breath and began to speak.
“Do you know why I got this manecut?” she asked. When Twilight looked, she saw her eyes were filled with tears. Moondancer looked at the ground as she continued.
“It’s because I wanted to look like you. I’ve spent years learning spell after spell, and I did it mostly so I could impress you if I ever got the chance to show you them. I’ve always wanted to be your friend ever since I first met you. I was so socially awkward, and I thought you might be the only one I could really connect with. Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Minuette helped to show me that I might actually have a chance. That’s why I threw that party. When you didn’t show up, I was so worried that it meant I wasn’t important to you, even after all those years we spent together. But then you did come, and you’ve showed me that I really can make friends. And I needed that so much.” She looked back at Twilight. “So I can’t let you go in here alone. Because friends stick by each other, no matter what. Anything that’s in there, we can face it together.” She gave Twilight a smile.
Twilight could only stare for a few seconds, open-mouthed. She had no idea she was so important to Moondancer’s life. If Spike hadn’t convinced her to go to that party, she didn’t even want to think about what might have happened! She was so wrapped up in her studying that she had somehow missed how desperate Moondancer was to have her as a friend, even though it had been happening for years. What if there were other ponies she was important to, and she didn’t even know it! She looked at the mare in front of her, and her eyes teared up. This time, she was the one to hug Moondancer. When they pulled away, Twilight wiped her tears and nodded.
“Together.”
★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★
The ponies walked slowly into the castle, glancing around them. In front of them stood a rock pedestal with five spherical-shaped stones resting on it. It looked oddly similar to the diagram of the Elements of Harmony in her book.
“Are those the Elements?” Moondancer asked.
“I’m not sure. Even if they were, we wouldn’t know what to do with them. Whatever we do to stop Nightmare Moon, we’ll need to do it without the Elements.”
The two mares continued to search the room, looking for any sign of Nightmare Moon.
“That’s strange,” Moondancer said after a while of checking with no results. “My spell says she’s right around here somewhere.”
Twilight peered into a corner on the other side of the room. On Moondancer’s side, she heard a faint rushing, like the wind had started up inside. She turned around and gasped.
Moondancer was caught in a vortex of the vapor, struggling as it expanded, going faster and faster. “Twilight!” she shrieked. Twilight ran towards her friend and reached for the smoke, her hoof just barely touching it before a bright flash of light turned the room into pure white.
★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★~★
When Twilight opened her eyes, she was lying on the floor of a different room in the castle. Moondancer lay beside her, coughing. She looked forward to see a mare on a pedestal before them, cackling as she looked down at the ponies. She looked just like the pictures Twilight had seen in her books, with a sleek back body and a mane that looked like the galaxy surrounding her.
“Nightmare Moon,” Twilight whispered.
Nightmare Moon regarded the ponies with disdain. “Did you little foals really think you could stop me? You don’t even have the Elements of Harmony!” She took a superior pose. “You’ll never see your princess, or your sun, again. The night will last forever!” She began to cackle again, and lightning flashed around her like a storm.
Twilight looked at the alicorn, and for a moment, she saw something flash before her eyes. A little filly, with a light blue mane and a slightly darker blue coat, laughing as she played with a young white alicorn with a pink mane. Twilight could see the mare she used to be, and suddenly, she wasn’t afraid anymore. She stepped up to the pedestal and looked up at Nightmare Moon.
“Princess Luna,” she said in a hushed voice filled with sympathy. “What happened to you?”
The alicorn took in a quick gasp, and just for a second, she looked like she was still the filly Twilight had read about. Then her eyes narrowed again, and she let out a barking laugh.
“Princess Luna? I’ve never heard of a Princess Luna. What kind of foal’s tales have you been reading? The mare you speak of doesn’t exist.”
This statement didn’t deter Twilight, it made her pity the mare in front of her even more. Moondancer walked up, standing beside Twilight.
“It’s not too late, Luna. You can still go back to how things used to be. Ponies do appreciate your night.”
“No,” Nightmare Moon said with the same earlier expression of slight remembrance. Her voice was slightly choked. Then she shook her head, glaring at the unicorns. “No,” she said, her voice going back to cold. “Luna is never coming back. This ends now.” Her horn began to crackle with energy as she built up a charge. Twilight looked frantically to Moondancer and saw her eyes were calm. Instantly, she knew what to do.
“One...two...three!” She counted, and the unicorns teleported behind Nightmare Moon just as the spot where they had stood was struck by a bolt of lightning.
“Luna, you need to remember!” Twilight shouted to her, and as she turned, the unicorns focused streams of magic towards her. The memory spell was difficult, something they had just learned in class a few weeks ago, but having Moondancer beside her made Twilight feel stronger.
She projected images into Luna’s mind based off of the entries she had read in Governess Gumdrop’s diary. The time she and Celestia had stood on the ceiling and followed her around all day. The time they tried baking and burnt everything. The day Luna got her cutie mark and how proud Celestia was. Her sister making frequent visits to Governess Gumdrop, telling her how worried she was about her sister. She punctuated these with her own memories, looking gratefully at the moon as she studied late into the night, sitting outside with Spike to see a shooting star. She knew Moondancer was doing the same beside her.
Eventually, the glow in their horns faded. “Do you see, Luna?” Twilight said, looking up at Nightmare Moon. The mare was crying, tears hitting the stone floor of the room. “Ponies do care. And your sister? She cares most of all.”
Nightmare Moon looked up at the sky with watery eyes and nodded. Without another word, she closed her eyes and the moon slowly sank in the sky. She fell to the floor, exhausted, seeming to become smaller until she was the same mare Twilight had read about in Governess Gumdrop’s diary. A few moments later, the sun came up in a blaze of light. Princess Celestia appeared in the room. At the sight, Moondancer bowed deeply, but Twilight ran up to her, burrowing into her as the princess gave her a hug. When she pulled away, Celestia was smiling down at the unicorn.
“I knew you could do it,” she said.
“I don’t understand,” Twilight said, thinking about it. “How could we have stopped Nightmare Moon without using the Elements of Harmony?”
Celestia smiled again. “The Elements would have stopped Nightmare Moon, yes, but in order to use them, you needed to travel another path. The strength of your and Moondancer’s friendship made your powers incredibly strong when you combined them, creating a force strong enough to break through even Nightmare Moon’s walls.” She looked at the pony still lying on the pedestal at the front of the room and her eyes filled with tears. Without another word, she ran to her sister.
“Luna!” she cried as she reached the front. Luna looked up, and her eyes dilated in fear for one moment before her sister pulled her into a huge hug. The sisters clutched each other tightly
“I’ve missed you so much, big sister,” Luna said, crying into Celestia’s mane.
“I’ve missed you too,” Celestia held on to her sister as if afraid she would vanish again if she let go.
“I’m so sorry,” Luna sobbed.
“I’m sorry too,” Celestia said back, her voice choked. “Can we put our differences behind us? We were meant to rule together, little sister. Will you accept my friendship?”
Luna nodded, and Celestia relaxed as though a great weight had been released from her. The two continued to hug for a few more seconds before getting up and walking over to Twilight and Moondancer, who had been standing and watching the scene as if frozen.
“Thank you so much,” Celestia told the two of them, her eyes still watering. Luna nodded, one hoof still touching Celestia’s. The two composed themselves, and Celestia smiled. “Come on. I get a feeling if we go to Ponyville, we’ll find quite the party.”