//------------------------------// // In Ponyville // Story: The Secret Cult of Nightmare Moon // by SunnyCharm //------------------------------// When Twilight awoke, she took in a deep breath of air, and let out an excited squeal that awoke every member of the family. "Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh!" The filly bounced up and hit her head on the bunk above her with a painful thud. "What is it-" Velvet paused to deeply yawn. "Mmm, Twilight?" "Listen to this, Mom! Luna said that my special talent was magic! Like all of it! All magic!" The filly could barely contain her excitement, and it came out through her horn. "She said I was a magical engineer! Like Starswirl the Bearded!" "Wow! That's wonderful, honey!" Night Light grinned, and dodged a stray telekinetic bolt as he wrapped his daughter in a warm hug. "She's going to teach me, Dad! She said I'll be in the history books just like Starswirl, and I can invent new spells, all on my own!" The two proud parents finally got their daughter to calm down, and they all ate a quick and simple breakfast before the train reached the station. They didn't want to make any unnecessary stops to avoid suspicion, so that meant putting off a good meal until they got to their destination. Ponyville was a quaint little town, and the most noticeable feature was a bizarre house built into a tree. To Twilight's surprise, they headed right for it, as soon as they stepped off the platform. When they got close enough to read the sign, the filly was delighted to see that it was a library! Inside, the place was dusty, as if it rarely saw use. The lights were off, and while the door was unlocked, the place gave off a terribly foreboding feeling that Twilight had never felt in a library before. "Harvest Moon? Are you here?" Night Light called out, and there was nothing but silence. After a moment of quiet, an earth pony mare emerged from the shelves. "Ah, Mr. Light and Mrs. Velvet. Nice to finally meet you." The mare proudly introduced herself, and Twilight took a moment to look her over. She had a fluffy orange mane, and light-grey fur. Her cutie mark was a yellow-orange full moon. This mare turned out to be their liaison with the rest of the Everfree Colony, and she told Twilight to fill her saddlebag with books, if she wanted them. "My cousin Golden Harvest owns this library, and no one ever comes anyway. Who'll miss a few books? I already got the ones I came for, anyhow." Harvest shrugged, not knowing the monster she'd unleashed. Twilight raced through the stacks, finding a copy of Advanced and Intermediate Unicorn Magic. She shoved them into her bag, along with a book of historical biographies and a guide to gryphon culture. She found a book of Zebra alchemy, and grabbed it too. Soon, she'd stuffed her saddlebags full, and all together, the group trotted off to the edge of town. The outskirts of the the Everfree weren't so scary, really. The group kept up a tense silence while they listened and watched for danger, but they didn't see any wild animals as they followed the trail through the underbrush. Soon, they reached a small hut that was built in the roots of a tree. Outside the cozy little home hung bottles and foreign-looking masks. Shining readied a shield in defense, but Twilight examined the curios with interest. "Zecora?" Their guide announced, knocking on the door. "It's Harvest. I have guests!" The door creaked open to reveal a pretty zebra, who ushered them inside. "My humblest greetings, I give to you. Welcome, Luna's faithful few." The zebra rhymed, and the party smiled and gave introductions. Shining allowed his shield to fizzle out when he saw the adults relaxing. "Your travel must have tired thee. Come in, and I will offer tea." Zecora invited the travelers inside, and Twilight looked around the hut with awe. There were all manner of charms and potions along the wall, and the filly examined them with interest. She focused on an interesting torque that was engraved with mythical creatures. When she looked up close like this, she could see some of the enchantments, and it was nothing like anything she'd seen in Equestria. Then again, she'd only recently gotten her cutie mark, so she hadn't had much time to explore the inner depths of magic. Soon, tea was served, and conversation carried on fairly well, given that sometimes the visitors had to stop and figure out what their host meant in her rhymes. Soon, Night Light asked a question. "Zecora, how did you come to be allied with our princess?" The stallion asked, and the zebra sighed sadly. "I have not left my home, of late. For outside, I find only hate." She paused to let that sink in, before she continued. "I thought that soon, I might defect. For here, I can never gain respect." The group of ponies nodded solemnly. Luna taught acceptance and equality. Celestia allowed fear and bigotry to continue, especially toward immigrants, and bat ponies. She never outright said that she distrusted them, but she never directly spoke out against their persecution. Under Celestia's reign, there was even an unspoken rule of tribalism. The majority of noble seats were held by unicorns, and only unicorns were allowed in Celestia's famous school. The subjects of the Sun Princess' regime had grown so used to the intolerance, even as they prided themselves on friendship and charity. "I'm sure you'd be welcome at the settlement." Velvet ventured. "While I know I am not alone, I cannot bear to leave my home. If something happens, and my life may suffer, only then shall I accept your kind offer." The zebra smiled, no harm meant. "Let's be pen pals then!" Twilight exclaimed. "We can keep in touch!" "Some might say that thought is silly..." Zecora giggled. "But I think it sounds fun, you exuberant filly." After tea, the group left on their way again, and thankfully, didn't encounter any wild creatures along their way to the castle. And what a castle it was! Twilight could feel the residual magic, even as she saw the towers rise into the treeline. Magically preserved tapestries still remained, fluttering gently with the sigil of two sisters. Within, the castle looked exactly as if no one had lived here in a thousand years, and Twilight began to wonder where their guide was taking them. Harvest led down a steep passageway, and finally, to a door that lay far below ground level. "Well, here you go, Light family. Home Sweet Home!" Through the door, Twilight saw a hewn tunnel. It must have been created using a rock shaping spell, because the floor and walls (and probably the ceiling too) were perfectly flat and stable. Inside the tunnel system was a wide open square, with a well in the middle. The walls were lined with bright lightbulbs, and Twilight noted that they were powered by Equestria's ambient magic. It was strong enough that the underground village was shrouded in warm light. "Welcome to Midnight Square!" Harvest announced, and many ponies rushed from out of other tunnels at the sound of their arrival. One was a unicorn stallion with a white coat and a royal purple mane. His cutie mark was a constellation. "Starbright!" Night Light exclaimed, rushing out to meet his astronomer friend who'd left Canterlot seasons ago. "Good to see you, Light! Meet my daughter, Twinkleshine!" The stallion indicated a young filly behind him who had a fluffy pink mane, and white fur like his. "I see you've already met my lovely wife, Harvest Moon." "Guilty as charged!" The earth pony mare grinned as she gave her husband a peck on the cheek. "Um, hello. I notice you also have stars on your flank." Twinkleshine said to Twilight, hiding behind her father a bit. The purple filly noted that her cutie mark was, in fact, three silver stars. "Are you an astronomer too?" "I'm a magical engineer!" Twilight announced matter-of-factly, and then, when seeing the confusion on the other filly's face, decided to explain. "I can create and edit spells. I bet I could reverse engineer an enchantment too, if I ever found one to examine..." "The great and powerful Trixie is not impressed!" A little blue filly (whom Twilight assumed was the aforementioned Trixie) announced with flair. She wore a fancy pointed hat with stars on it, and apparently spoke in the third person. "Trixie! Be nice, honey!" An adult blue mare exclaimed, as she made her way over, and used a tendril of her magic to flick her daughter on the forehead. She turned to Velvet and introduced herself. "Hello darling. I'm Nova Lulamoon. You must be tired after your journey. Would you like to come get a bite to eat?" The mare's azure mane fell aside as she tilted her head, waiting for an answer. "That would be lovely, Ms. Lulamoon." Velvet replied, and the whole family began to move to the cafeteria, through another tunnel. On their way, they passed a wide open room with soil and crops, and a lot of various magical implements Twilight didn't recognize. She looked forward to examining everything in greater detail. In the cafeteria, which was a wide-open room, with a few wooden tables scattered about. One table was occupied by a bat pony and a bat pony colt, who was probably his son. The stallion had a black coat, and a silver-charcoal mane that curled behind him like a nimbus cloud. At another table was a young bat pony stallion, much younger than Night Light, but several years older than Shining. He had a charcoal coat, with a light blue mane, like cool starlight. "Alright, Everypony! Breakfast is served!" A female bat pony announced, placing a big pot of oatmeal onto a stone counter. Next to it were bowls of dried berries and apples, and a jar of spoons. "Mmm, smells great, Nebula!" The older bat pony stallion announced with a wave. Everyone got in line to eat, with the new arrivals from Canterlot in back. Twilight gave her mother a little nudge. "Mom? We got here around evening. Shouldn't it be dinner time?" The filly asked, confused about how life worked for these strangers. "One of the things we agreed upon for this settlement was that we would sleep in the daytime, so that we could enjoy Luna's night. It was too conspicuous to do so in Canterlot, but here we can stargaze all we want!" Velvet explained as they moved forward in line. "It's really great! My dad is teaching me the constellations! We're mapping the Princess' artwork in the sky!" Twinkleshine added with excitement. The fact that Luna created the constellations was a pretty important fact to be conveniently left out of history, Twilight thought. When they'd gotten their meals, the four sat down across from the bat pony family and introduced themselves. "Greetings! Night Light, Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle, and Shining Armor. It's a pleasure to meet you." The stallion smiled particularly fondly at the foals. "I am Moonshadow, and this is my lovely wife Nebula." "Hello! Welcome to the Everfree Colony!" The mare who made breakfast waved with a smile. "And this is my son, Nightblade." The colt's eyes widened when he saw Shining Armor, or more accurately, Shining's cutie mark. "Whoa! You have a shield!? I have a sword!" Nightblade exclaimed, and sure enough, his cutie mark was a crescent moon, crossed with a sword. "Are you joining the Night Guard too?" Shining asked eagerly, and Nightblade nodded. "Yeah! My dad is the captain!" The colt proudly exclaimed, and Shining gave a salute like he'd seen the Royal Guard perform in Canterlot. "Wow, sir!" The unicorn colt announced excitedly. "I'm at your beck and call!" "At ease, private." Moonshadow grinned teasingly. He wouldn't bother with teaching Shining real protocol until he was sworn in by Luna. He was still a colt after all! After breakfast, the family was shown to their rooms. There was a living area, with a couch and bookshelves, and a coffee table. There was one bedroom for the adults, and one with bunk beds for the foals. Back in Canterlot, Twilight had always had her own room, but she liked Shining well enough, so she didn't think there would be a problem. After they got unpacked, Velvet gave her permission for Shining to go play with his new friend. Twilight opted to stay with her parents, because she was madly curious about what they actually did here. Nebula offered to give them the tour, since she was primarily the cook, and didn't have any more duties until dinnertime.