"The Summer Sun Celebration is here again," Squeaky Clean said as he walked towards the royal chambers. He got up bright and early more than usual and made it to the castle a little after the princess raised the sun. "It's time to tell the princess how I feel." Having finished his morning routine Squeaky was able to take his morning break a little early and made his way to the princess. However, romance would have to wait, for upon reaching the chambers the doors were flung open by a mysterious force.
"I have returned!" A voice Squeaky never heard before said. After he entered he noticed day turning into night and when he looked out the balcony he saw the moon lowering to Equestria. Stopping just before touching anything, the moon suddenly turned into an alicorn just like the princess, but with a dark coat and mane along with a cutie mark of the moon instead of the sun. "And now the night shall last forever! MUWAHAHAHAHA!"
***
Squeaky awoke from his sleep in a fright, not to mention all sweaty. Squeaky looked around and saw he was in his house. "Uh, nightmare, nightmare. Or more like a night terror." Laying back down in his bed Squeaky looked at his clock and saw he had an hour until he needed to be at work. "I doubt I'm gonna get back to sleep."
So with that he got out of bed and prepared for work while also trying to make sense of that crazy dream. Some ponies theorized that some dreams can predict the future and he was worried if that was the case here. Before long he made his way to the castle and got to his usual cleaning routine. "The Summer Sun Celebration is here again," he said to himself.
"Nice work as always, Squeaky," Stone Wall said.
"Oh thanks," he replied rather modestly. "Hey is it okay if I go on my break a little early?"
"Well I suppose you more than earned it," Stone Wall replied.
"Thanks," Squeaky then made his way to the royal chambers of the princess to confess his feelings for her. As he did, he realized how what he was doing was much like his dream and wondered if the alicorn he saw would appear. He also remembered that the princess wasn't in his dream and wondered why that was the case. Would the princess be in some sort of danger? Would that other alicorn attack her?
Squeaky started to walk faster to the royal chambers out of concern, when he made it the doors opened as Princess Celestia walked out before he even knocked.
"Oh good morning Squeaky Clean," Princess Celestia said rather surprised to see him.
"Good morning princess," he replied. "Uh listen, do you have a minute?"
"I suppose, is there something you need?"
"Well I just wanted to tell you that-" Just as Squeaky was about to confess his feelings, upon gazing into the eyes of the princess it was as if he was stunned.
"Yes?" Princess Celestia asked with interest.
"C-Can I have some water?"
"Oh is that all? Well, you do sound dry." She then lifted one of her cups with her magic and used a spell to put water in it. "There you go." When she offered it to him he didn't waste any time drinking it down. "Oh easy now, don't go too fast."
"It's all right I'm fine but that wasn't what I wanted to say. What I wanted to say was......Do you need the royal chambers cleaned?"
"Oh well now that you mention it, yes I could thank you Squeaky."
"Y-Your welcome." The princess walked away and Squeaky entered the chambers and began to clean the floor. "Can I have some water? Do you need the royal chambers cleaned? I acted like a 9 year old!" He said to himself and about himself. "I mean I know I've never been in a relationship before but I had no idea talking about these things could be so hard." Squeaky then started scrubbing the floor faster and harder out of frustration. "Well, what the heck am I going to do?"
***
After cleaning for what felt like hours, but really was about 5 minutes of cleaning, the floor literally started glowing and it was making it hard for him to see. After leaving he saw Princess Celestia returning and she noticed the floor of her room glowing. "I think you did enough cleaning for now."
"Yeah I kind of figured that out as well," Squeaky replied to the princess.
"Has this ever happened to you before?" Princess Celestia asked.
"Sometimes when I scrub and clean super hard, but don't worry it should stop in a minute or two," Squeaky replied.
"Well, do you know what I can do in the meantime?" The princess asked. “It’s kind of hard to stay in a room when the floor glow hurts your eyes.”
Ah geez, quit staring at me with those big beautiful eyes. Wait a second. Squeaky then reached into his saddle bag and got out sunglasses. "Here."
"Oh sunglasses, perfect," The princess said as she placed them on.
Yeah perfect. Now I can talk to her without getting lost in her eyes.
"Thank you very much Squeaky," the princess said.
"Oh it's the least I can do."
"What do you mean?"
"Well I mean all you do is help other ponies, somepony should do something for you for a change."
"Well that's very sweet of you Squeaky."
"Thank you, speaking of other ponies doing things for you, maybe after work I could take you-" Squeaky suddenly stopped. To a restaurant was the rest of his sentence but he just couldn't get those last few words out. Just then Stone Wall came down the hall.
"Princess," he said after taking a small bow and continued. "The guards are ready to take you to Ponyville."
"Oh good I'll just be a minute, we can talk later Squeaky." Princess Celestia then entered her chambers and closed the door.
"Why is the princess going to Ponyville?" Squeaky asked his friend.
"You don't know? She's heading there for the Summer Sun Celebration," Stone Wall answered.
"Oh yeah now I remember now, I guess it must have slipped my mind."
"Well you still have more cleaning to do after your break before the day is done so don't let that slip your mind either."
"Right Stone Wall."
***
"Well another day another spotless floor," Squeaky said, taking pride in a job well done. "I wonder if the princess has returned yet?" He then walked towards the window and saw that it was still night. "I guess not, the sun isn't up yet. I had a bad feeling when I had that crazy dream but nothing bad has happened." Squeaky was about to head out for the day and maybe head to Ponyville. Suddenly Squeaky returned to the window after realizing something. "Wait, what happened to the mare on the moon?"
"Wait, who's on the moon?" Shining Armor who was just walking by asked.
"Look at the moon!" Squeaky said surprised at what he was looking at.
"What's the big deal? I don't see anypony on the moon," Shining replied after looking out the window.
"Exactly!" Squeaky replied. Shining Armor then figured it out and realized what Squeaky realized.
"Wait a minute, I remember hearing about this when I was little. On the longest day of the 1000th year she will return and bring forth eternal night, the mare in the moon, Nightmare Moon."
"Nightmare Moon! Could it really be?"
"Maybe we should ask Stone Wall, I bet he'd know what to do."
"Good idea, Shining. That’s what we’ll do." The 2 stallions wasted no time in getting to the captain of the royal guard. Along the way they realized what time it was and that Princess Celestia should have raised the sun by now which confirmed Shining Armor's theory. Before long the 2 found Stone Wall who himself was noticing something strange was going on.
***
Stone Wall, Squeaky Clean, and Shining Armor were taking a carriage to Ponyville to investigate. Stone Wall agreed something was up but wanted to check things out and make sure there was a problem before bringing more of the royal guard. No point in needlessly scaring them as he put it. "Do you think Princess Celestia is okay?" Squeaky Clean asked.
"I hope so. She's a capable mare but she can't handle everything herself," Stone Wall answered.
"It's still so hard to believe Nightmare Moon might be behind this," Shining Armor said. "I always thought she was just a myth, a fairy tale."
"Funny thing about myths and fairy tales," Stone Wall replied. "There's always a little bit of truth to them."
"If we are looking for Nightmare Moon, where should we look?" Squeaky asked.
"First we stop in Ponyville and ask around," Stone Wall answered. "I want to make sure we have a crisis. This one time the princess had to postpone raising the sun for a little bit because she had to deal with a head cold and needed a little nap."
"So a postponement to raise the sun has happened before?" Shining Armor asked.
"Yeah but it almost never happens," Stone Wall answered. "In fact the only other time it's happened, at least since I've been around, was when she had some salad as a snack a little before she was supposed to raise the sun. Somepony must have left it out in the sun too long or something, because she had the runs and had to raise the sun on the toilet." Hearing that Squeaky Clean and Shining Armor tried to hold it in but suddenly bursted into laughter.
"Well knowing that I can still say I had fun at this year's Summer Sun Celebration," Squeaky said, keeping down the last few chuckles he had left.
"Well it's not the Summer Sun Celebration until it's daylight," Shining Armor added. "At least that's how my family celebrates it anyway."
"Well my family always treated the Summer Sun Celebration and the day before it as the same thing. Kind of like Hearth's Warming and Hearth's Warming Eve."
"My sister Twily looks after a baby dragon she named Spike. On their first Hearth's Warming Eve Spike got so excited to open presents he couldn't wait until tomorrow. And ever since they opened their presents a day early every year."
"Oh that's cute, hey Stone Wall how are your Hearth's Warmings?"
"We're here, come on, we need to find the mayor."
Stone Wall wasted no time upon leaving the carriage when they arrived in Ponyville. He jumped out, made his way to the town hall to talk to the mayor. Shining and Squeaky followed but by the time they made it to town hall Stone Wall was already leaving. Stone Wall told them to follow him as he soon led them to the edge of the Everfree Forest.
"So I'm guessing the princess isn't just on the toilet again?" Squeaky Clean asked.
"No she isn't," Stone Wall answered, annoyed and starting to regret telling Squeaky and Shining that story. "The mayor and a few other ponies explained that Nightmare Moon did indeed appear."
"So what are we doing here?" Shining Armor asked.
"Before Canterlot, Princess Celestia lived in the castle known as the Castle of the 2 Sisters, which is in the middle of this forest. If I was Nightmare Moon where else would I go?" Stone Wall answered.
"Of course!" Squeaky said as if he had an epiphany. "It used to be Nightmare Moon's home as well and after 1000 years away from it I bet she's ready to go back."
"Right, now come on every second we waste here is a second we can be using to rescue the princess."
"Wait Stone Wall," Shining Armor said just as Stone Wall was about to enter the forest. "Maybe Squeaky Clean should stay here. No offense Squeaky but I'm not sure you'll be able to deal with the type of stuff royal guards deal with."
"Non taken," Squeaky replied, understanding what Shining Armor was saying. "But don't worry if we run into any problems I'm sure I can handle it." He told Shining Armor as he subtly tapped his saddle bag.
Being in a group it would be a little harder to slip away, but if push came to shove he was sure they could keep his secret. Stone Wall had been his best friend since they were foals and despite not knowing Shining Armor that long he seemed like somepony he could really trust.
"Squeaky is right he may not be a royal guard, but he's learned a lot of spells over the years, even from me. He can take care of himself, plus he has the both of us." Stone Wall replied quickly to defend his friend. "So the way I see it we just need to stick together, now come on we've wasted enough time already."
After that the trio entered the Everfree Forest and would have to deal with a few obstacles, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. A manticore appeared but one death glare from Stone Wall kept it away. At a river Shining used a barrier spell to make 2 magic walls appear in the water side by side like books on a shelf. The 2 walls then moved away from each other and pushed the water away as well allowing the trio to walk across.Shining Armor then made the walls disappear and got the water to return to normal.
"We could have just teleported across the river," Stone Wall said to Shining Armor in a rather lecturing tone. Because teleporting would take less time and they could have used it to get closer to the castle.
"Yeah but my idea was cooler right?" Shining Armor replied, sensing tension from Stone Wall right away and tried to relieve it with some humor.
"This isn't a game Shining Armor!" Squeaky Clean said surprising Shining Armor and especially Stone Wall because Squeaky snatched the words right out of his mouth. "The princess is in serious danger as well as Equestria! We can't afford to waste anytime, now come on we're almost to the castle."
"Yeah, what Squeaky said," Stone Wall added, the tone in his voice now gone.
"R-Right sorry."
The Castle of the 2 Sisters was in sight, the trio had almost arrived. They soon came to a bridge and right away Squeaky not wishing to waste time grabbed Shining Armor and Stone Wall by the necks. He quickly used a teleportation spell and the 3 stallions were on the other side of the bridge and that much closer to the castle.
Upon entering the castle because of the size of it they weren't sure where to go first. They quickly got their answer however when they heard a pony screaming and ran towards that direction. They quickly got there and noticed that it was finally day when they arrived at where they heard the scream. They were surprised to find that not only was the princess there but also Twilight Sparkle and 6 other ponies one of which was on the floor.
"Twily?" Shining Armor asked surprised his sister was there.
"Shining Armor?" She replied also surprised.
"Stone Wall?" Princess Celestia said surprised too.
"3 ponies that I don't know?" A pink pony said surprised as well.
"What's going on?" Princess Celestia asked. "Why are you all here?"
"That's exactly what I'd like to know," Stone Wall said in a strong but not yet rude tone.
"I see, I'll tell you what you want to know, but first I need to talk to somepony." Princess Celestia then walked towards the pony that was on the ground. "Princess Luna." Saying this caused the pony of the ground to open her eyes. "It has been 1000 years since I have seen you like this, time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."
"Sister?" Twilight said surprised once again.
"Weirdest Summer Sun Celebration ever," Squeaky added, still trying to process information.
"Will you accept my friendship?" Princess Celestia asked her sister. Suddenly Princess Luna jumped up to her sister.
"I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister."
"I've missed you too," Celestia replied as she and her sister both had tears streaming down their faces.
"Well isn't that sweet," Stone Wall said. "NOW WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS GOING ON?" Stone Wall yelled angrily, getting the attention of everypony in the room.
"Geez bring down the whole mood why don't you," Squeaky said to his old friend.
"Shut up!"
***
The ponies quickly made their way out of the Everfree Forest and back to Ponyville. There Princess Celestia after being escorted with her sister to Ponyville talked with Stone Wall about her plan to defeat Nightmare Moon by the use of her student, Twilight Sparkle learning the magic of friendship and connecting to the Elements of Harmony. Stone Wall didn't take it very well.
"YOU PUT ALL OF EQUESTRIA AT RISK TO TRY TO GET YOUR STUDENT TO LEARN SOCIAL SKILLS?" Stone Wall said, screaming at the top of lungs.
"Please don't scream Stone Wall."
"Oh please we're the only 2 ponies in here all the others are outside enjoying the Summer Sun Celebration," Stone Wall replied. Stone Wall and the princess were inside the city hall of Ponyville, while everypony else was as Stone Wall said outside. "This was an extremely huge risk and you know it!"
"Yes but I wouldn't have done it if I knew it would work."
"You couldn't know it would work because I've still yet to see any proof that you can see the future!" Stone Wall said still upset. "I mean geez at least make a contingency plan."
"I did, it was you," Celestia quickly replied back, making Stone Wall give a subtle yet obvious look of surprise.
"What?"
"If my plan didn't work, I knew you would do everything in your power and ability to stop Nightmare Moon and bring me back. Plus you would have the royal guard to help you and I'm sure Super Stallion would be willing to help you as well." She then walked up to her captain and gave him a quick hug "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I just didn't want you to worry. I know you work so hard at keeping me safe, I just wanted to lighten that in a way."
"I guess that's understandable, but next time something like this happens let me know."
"Fair enough," Princess Celestia replied as she gave him another quick hug. The 2 then went outside ready to return to Canterlot. Squeaky Clean and Shining Armor were ready to head back as well, however Twilight Sparkle wasn't as ready as the others as the princess could tell.
"Why so glum my faithful student," The princess asked Twilight with concern. "Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"
"That's just it," Twilight said with sadness in her tone. "Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them."
"Spike, take a note please." Hearing this Spike, a young dragon readied a paper and quill to write said note. "I Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings, from her new home in Ponyville." Hearing this brought joy to not only Twilight but her 5 new friends who gathered around their new friend happy to know she would be staying.
"Oh thank you Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before," Twilight said, grateful to her teacher. However one pony became sad upon hearing this news.
"Wait Twilight did I hear you right you're moving out of Canterlot?" Shining Armor asked his sister as he walked up to her.
"Shining Armor, come on, we need to get back to Canterlot asap," Stone Wall said.
"Captain permission to stay just a little longer to talk with my sister."
"Permission denied!" Stone Wall snapped.
"Stone Wall," Squeaky Clean and Princess Celestia said together. After looking at each other for a split second, surprised that they said the same thing. They returned their gaze to Stone Wall who gave a quick sigh.
"Fine, but make it quick," Stone Wall said after noticing the gaze from his old friend and his boss both non verbally telling him to lighten up. Twilight's friends then moved away to allow Twilight to get closer to her brother.
"You're really moving here?"
"I know this is sudden but friendship is what helped me and the others stop Nightmare Moon and save Equestria. I need to know more about it because it may help save Equestria again."
"That makes sense, but I'm gonna miss you."
"I know I'm gonna miss you too, but we'll still see each other from time to time."
"Yeah that's true," Shining Armor said, starting to lighten up. "I guess I'm just surprised that you're starting to grow up."
"Thanks," Twilight said. She then gave her brother a hug. "Take care, and say hi to mom and dad for me."
"I will." Shining Armor then made his way to Stone Wall, Squeaky Clean, and the princesses. Shining Armor waved goodbye to his sister as his group headed to Canterlot. He wondered just how much friendship would help her grow as a pony.
***
Having returned to Canterlot Princess Celestia escorted her long lost sister to the royal chambers then exited for a brief moment to speak to Stone Wall. She informed him she didn't want to be disturbed for the whole day.
"No problem," Stone Wall replied happy to handle any problem she would have to deal with.
"Thank you now if you'll excuse me, my sister and I have a lot of catching up to do," Celestia said as she walked back into her chambers. Stone Wall then made his way down the hall and gestured to Shining Armor to follow him so he could get to his royal duties.
"Princess," Squeaky called out to Celestia, making her turn around.
"Yes?" Squeaky tried one more time to tell her how he feels but he was still much too nervous. So after only a few seconds he gave up.
"I'm glad you have your sister back."
"Thank you, so am I." And with that Princess Celestia entered her chambers and closed the door.
"Still having some communication problems I see," Stone Wall who had returned and had Shining Armor still by his side said.
"Oh, you're back?"
"Yes I came back because I need you to clean the floor," Stone Wall answered. He then turned his head to Shining Armor who had followed him back. "Why did you come back?"
"Oh, well when you turned back I thought I was supposed to follow you. You know since you're the captain," Shining Armor answered, starting to get a little nervous "You know it was like an instinct."
"Fine whatever," Stone Wall said, turning his attention back to Squeaky Clean. "I know what's going on here."
"W-What are you talking about?" Squeaky said nervously hoping his old friend actually doesn't know about his affections for the princess.
"Don't play dumb, you're trying to kiss up to the big boss," Stone Wall said. Hearing that Squeaky breathed out of sheer relief and decided to play along.
"You're right, I guess I can't get anything past you."
"Well whether or not kissing up to the princess works out for you or not it's not going to work if you can barely talk to her."
"What do you mean?" Squeaky asked.
"You get nervous at times and you can hardly talk to her. Lots of ponies get that way," Stone Wall answered.
"Really? So I'm guessing you've talked to other ponies about this?"
"Yes Squeaky, I tell them all the same thing if you get nervous just do small talk."
"Small talk?"
"Yes, small talk, ask her about her day, ask if she has any plans for the weekend, or just say hi. Try to be her friend is in a sense what I'm saying. When you feel close you won't get so awkward when you talk to her."
"Stone Wall is right, when you get to know her Princess Celestia is really just like any other pony," Shining Armor added. Stone Wall then turned his head towards Shining Armor once again.
"Why are you still here?" Stone Wall asked Shining Armor.
"Oh, uh, I guess I don't know." After Shining Armor answered, Princess Celestia opened the door and was surprised to see the 3 stallions just outside her door.
"What are you 3 still doing here?"
"Oh, just talking I guess," Squeaky answered.
"Well I was leaving to find you Stone Wall, but since you're here it saves me the trouble of finding you. I would like to show Luna around Canterlot tomorrow. Can you help me make a planned route with an escort?" The princess asked, clearly eager to show her sister around.
"Of course Princess Celestia." Stone Wall then followed the princess back into her chambers. "Squeaky the floor I need cleaned is at the end of this hall on the left end side."
"Okay I'll get right on it." Squeaky then made his way to the end of the hall.
"Stone Wall," Shining said, stopping the captain as he just made it through the door. He turned around to face Shining Armor. Squeaky stopped in his tracks and turned around as well, curious what he was going to say. "I was thinking, as potentially dangerous as our little adventure was, it was still kind of fun. Maybe the 3 of us could hang out again sometime, grab a bite to eat after work."
"Familiarity breeds contempt," Stone Wall answered and without another word closed the doors.
"Oh, okay." Shining Armor then walked down the same hall Squeaky was continuing to go with his head down "So much for that."
"Uh, look don't take it personally," Squeaky told Shining Armor who lifted his head up to him. "I know he can seem kinda heartless at times, but he's a real nice guy deep down.” Squeaky then put a hoof to his chest. “He just has a bit of a wall right here.”
"That makes sense, thanks," Shining Armor told him, feeling better. "Though he's not like that with you."
"I want to say it's because we're old friends but I'm pretty sure it's because I'm a janitor not a royal guard. It is his job to keep you guys in line after all."
"Oh, I see," Shining Armor replied as he rubbed the back of his neck with one of his front hooves also thinking that what Squeaky said makes sense. "Listen, what he said about the princess is right. If you just get to know her a little you'll be a lot more relaxed."
"Sounds like a good idea." When they reached the end of the hallway Squeaky saw the floor Stone Wall talked about. He could tell this was it because of signs of stains and dust. Shining Armor went down a separate hallway and they both waved goodbye. Squeaky hoped that the 3 of them would hang out again at some point.
"I should probably tell mom and dad about Twilight moving to Ponyville as soon as I can," Shining Armor said to himself.
"Yeah just small talk," Squeaky said to himself. "I should just try to be Princess Celestia's friend for now and when I don't get nervous or choke up around her I can tell her how I feel."
***
Not much later after the Summer Sun Celebration, Squeaky Clean spent one of his breaks as Super Stallion. He flew around Canterlot to look for any crimes or signs of Dr. Arachnid. Quite a few ponies saw him flying around and he was nice enough to wave back at the ponies that waved at him. "Well it looks like everything is all clear here. I still have a few more minutes until my break is over, I think I'll fly over to Ponyville and see how Twilight is doing." Super Stallion got there in no time and was surprised to see that a mob of ponies was chasing her and her dragon friend Spike. Super Stallion wasted no time and flew down to grab Twilight and Spike and carried them to the top of city hall. "Seems like I'm always sweeping you off your hooves."
"OH MY GOSH, SUPER STALLION!" Spike yelled out of sheer excitement. "IT'S REALLY HIM HE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!" After Spike started bouncing up and down Twilight placed a hoof on him to stop him from doing that.
"Okay Spike calm down," Twilight told him.
"Are you 2 okay?" Super Stallion asked. "Why was that mob chasing you?"
"Oh, well." Twilight took her hoof off Spike and placed it on the back of her head. Super Stallion couldn't help but think like brother like sister. "I got a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala from Princess Celestia, 2 actually. My friends all want to go and I couldn't decide who to take with me. Then when word accidentally got out to other ponies about my extra ticket, all those ponies wanted it."
"Well just give the extra ticket to one of your friends," Super Stallion suggested.
"I can't decide though," Twilight replied with stress in her voice, she had been thinking about this for a while. "All 5 of my friends have good reasons for going and I don't want to disappoint any of them."
"Well, you're close to the princess right?" Super Stallion asked.
"Yes, I'm her personal student."
"Can't you just ask her for some extra tickets?" Twilight formed a face of sheer shock and quickly face palmed herself saying in body language why didn't she think of that. She would later send a letter to the princess asking for more tickets as well as write a friendship report about the joy of sharing your blessings. Super Stallion then noticed Spike still standing right next to him jumping up and down again, but not as much since his feet were still planted and he had a big grin on his face.
"Can I have your autograph?"