"Ponies require only three things to live: Food, water, and air. Unicorns possess a great advantage, as magic can summon or create all three."

- Clover The Clever, 67 AD

The first stop on the grand tour was the incubator, a fancy name for the room where crops were grown. Each row of sprouting plants were labeled, and Twilight read them off silently. Hemp, Oats, Wheat, Grass, and Pumpkins. Harvest Moon was busy at work, measuring growth and taking notes.

"The most of the crops over there are being grown by a uv lamp." Nebula explained. "It's enchanted to have roughly the same make-up as sunlight, and we're hoping to get a bunch more made before The Princess returns, so none of the farmers suffer for her sister's stubbornness."

"Um, excuse me, Mrs. Nebula," Twilight interjected. "What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Well, when Celestia banished her sister to the moon, she ripped from her the ability to raise and set it every day. When Princess Luna returns, she swore not to do the same thing to her sister, because it hurts to have your special talent torn away like that. She plans to give Celestia the option to relinquish her sun willingly, but if she refuses, we'll just have to make do until she gives in."

"Twilight!" Twinkleshine shouted as she emerged from what seemed to be a storage closet.

"Um, hello? Twinkleshine, was it?" The purple filly cringed a bit. Was this other foal actually glad to see her? Why?

"I was just helping out here, but I'm sure I could come with you if I asked." The pink-maned filly announced excitedly, before turning to Harvest Moon. "Hey mom, can I play with Twilight? She's my new friend!"

"Sure, hon. Just be sure to stay out of the way if the grownups are busy, okay?" The earth pony mare absently answered as she kept working. Twinkleshine trotted over to the other filly, whose mind was still reeling about the idea that Twinkleshine thought of her as a friend.

Next stop was the infirmary, where a young unicorn mare was flitting around with a selection of small crystals held aloft in her magic. She had a light yellow coat and raspberry-pink curls.

"Oh! Oh, hello dears. I'm rather in the middle of something at the moment, but it's nice to meet you! I'm Sweet Dreams, but everyone calls me Nurse Sweets." The mare introduced herself. Her cutie mark was a red cross over a pink heart.

"What are you working on?" Twilight asked, drawn by the enchantments on the object in front of the unicorn nurse.

"Oh, um, it's a triage device." The mare explained. "See, in Equestria, only unicorns are allowed to be doctors, because only they can learn the spells necessary to assess and heal patients. With this device, anyone who can hold it can get the blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature of a patient." She sighed with frustration. "But even though I enchanted it with the right spells, it doesn't seem to be working..."

"May I take a look?" Twilight asked, and even though the mare doubted a filly could fix her work, she hoofed it over.

Twilight examined the enchanted magnifying glass, and immediately noticed the problem. She saw the blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature spells, but there was nothing linking them together, no trigger to start it, and no power source. Twilight began to link the spells together, and put a pressure sensor spell on the glass, so that when a pony put a hoof on it, it would begin working. Next, she made all these spells powered by Equus' ambient magic, and cast an illusion spell to display the results on the glass.

"Okay, nurse. Place a hoof on the glass panel and test it on me." Twilight announced after explaining her changes.

"My stars! It's working!" Nurse Sweets announced, amazed as she held the glass in her magic and took Twilight's temperature.

"Not really," Twilight blushed. "I just read about how to do all that in Advanced Unicorn Magic..."

"That book is a college-level read, honey." Nurse Sweets cast a sidelong look at the filly, suddenly suspicious. Then, she took a deep breath, and recalled Luna's teachings. Just because she was powerful and smart, Twilight Sparkle was just a little filly. Nothing to fear. The group left Nurse Sweets to make more Triage Devices by copying Twilight's spellwork as they made their way to the workshop.

"Um, did you really mean what you said back there?" Twilight stuttered. "Do you really want to be my friend?"

"Of course!" Twinkleshine announced cheerfully. "Before you came along, the only other filly here was Trixie, and she can be kind of mean sometimes. I'd love to be your friend!"

"Oh, okay. Cool!" Twilight nodded. Friends. She hoped she wouldn't mess this up somehow.

"This is where you two will be working." Nebula said to the two adult unicorns as they entered the workshop. The young bat pony was there, using a wing to scribble away at a notebook.

"Over in that back room is a library-" Nebula was interrupted by a filly's excited squeal. "- with a printing press." The mare concluded.

"The stallion over there, Bright Idea, invented it." Nebula indicated the other bat pony, who simply nodded. "It isn't quite as magic-efficient as a modern printing press, but it works for our purposes. We need another unicorn to power it so that we can copy down the Pre-Monarchial transcripts, lest they be lost to history."

"Ooh, I can do that!" Night Light announced, and trotted to the back room. Sounds of machinery moving could be heard from the library, and the party was surprised by the arrival of another unicorn mare.

"Sorry I'm late, everypony! I had to get Trixie to do her assignments before I left." It was Nova, the mare who'd introduced herself earlier.

"Excellent timing, actually. Velvet, you'll be helping Nova in her work on the Equestria-wide Broadcast System." Nebula announced, indicating a table covered with scattered parts and devices on it.

Despite the fact that Twilight was quite certain she could help with the advanced spell work, both fillies were shuffled out the door and out of the way. Not, however, before they had gotten a new copy of the Lunar Manifesto from Night Light, fresh off the presses, no less. Eager for new knowledge, they set out to read it, taking turns by chapter. Twilight knew that it would be faster to just read silently, but there was something soothing about having a friend to share it with.

"Introduction: The Need For Change." Twilight read, imagining for a moment, that she was the Lunar Princess, with authority to right all wrongs.

"Modern Equestria lives in a golden age of prosperity. Crime (officially, at least), has gone down drastically. Starvation and war are things of the past, only encountered in history books."

"No, the war thing." Twinkleshine blushed pink, just a bit. "I've never read any, but a lot of the romance novels I've seen have geared-up stallions in war armor on the covers."

"But despite the success of Celestia's reign, many creatures do not experience the full benefits that ponies, and especially unicorns, take for granted. Bat ponies are in hiding, and their race is nearly extinct, thanks to persecution. Zebras are mistrusted and feared by many. Unicorns are the only tribe that hold sway in government, education, and the medical industry."

"It's kind of unfair about bat ponies." Twilight noted. "Nightblade seems really cool."

"There are many inventors in Equestria, whose life-changing advancements are repeatedly turned away by the government, because of fear that they might horn in on the unicorn-dominated industries. The last great spellcaster lived over a thousand years ago. The only education young foals receive is diluted history and basic literacy and math. Then, once they get their cutie marks, it's friendship lessons until graduation.

"The time has come for a scientific, artistic, and cultural revolution. Too long has Equestria stagnated under Celestia's rule. I call upon the innovators, the downtrodden, the creators and the gifted. I call upon those who love the night. Come and rally behind me, my children. We will rewrite history, those of us who were written out of it."

Twinkleshine stopped her reading and glanced at Twilight. The manifesto was powerful and encouraging. Just having read it, they felt as though they could take on the world.

Later that night, at dinnertime, the community's foals ate together, and talked about their days.

"Today, the princess had me looking at the statistics of various stars through my telescope!" Twinkleshine announced.

"We practiced sparring with Dad!" Nightblade announced, bumping hooves with Shining Armor.

"Yeah! And I worked on my stamina for shield-casting!" The unicorn colt added cheerfully.

"While you foals were working on your silly pursuits, The Great and Powerful Trixie was working on her illusion and puppetry spells!" The blue unicorn filly announced as she munched her supper. No one bothered to argue that their own pursuits were less than silly, because they knew better. While Celestia's 'gifted' unicorns were working on teleportation and learning simple spells, the foals under Luna's guidance were becoming prodigies. They were being groomed to be Luna's first line of defense against Celestia on her return.

Twinkleshine was becoming an astronomer AND astrologer. Luna had created the stars with certain properties, and the ability to read them was a lost art. Trixie was currently a below-average illusionist, but under Luna's teaching, she was to become an above-average trickster, with the ability to fool anything short of an alicorn. Shining Armor was learning new techniques that revolutionized his use of magic.

As the six-pointed star on his flank confessed, Shining Armor possessed massive amounts of magic, and instead of learning brute-force spell techniques like they taught in the Royal Guard, he was going to maximize the use of his magic, and become the greatest shield-mage of his generation. Nightblade was a fine warrior, with exceptional speed and agility. If Shining Armor was Luna's shield, then Nightblade was her sword, and together, they would lead her Army and Guard.

But it would not be enough, not while Celestia held the elements of harmony. From her prison, Luna couldn't cast magic, but she could still sense it, and so far as she could tell, all those currents of magic, all the machinations of fate and destiny were converging on one region. One town. One pony.

In her dreams that night, Twilight cuddled up to her teacher. She had only known the mare for a few months, but it felt natural. Right. They lay side by side in the cozy study that had become their default dreamscape, and Luna began to talk, her voice measured, as if reciting a story.

"That event you saw on the day you got your cutie mark was a sonic rainboom. You were not the only young filly who got her cutiemark that day."

"Wow!" Twilight exclaimed. "That makes us kind of like sisters, doesn't it? We got our cutiemarks on the same day!"

Nightmare Moon sighed in relief. She had hoped that exposure to real friends would open Twilight up to new experiences, and that would be important for what was to come.

"Would you like to meet them?" Luna asked, and was rewarded by a squeal of glee. "It just so happens that they're all coming to Ponyville soon, and I need you to welcome them."

"Me? All- all by myself?" Twilight shrank back a bit, blushing. "I'm not very good at this whole 'friends' thing yet. Why me, Princess?"

"I'm telling you this because I trust you, Twily. Those fillies are something special. Just like you, and just like all the other foals I've gathered here. We need to get to them, before my sister does." Luna admitted, and Twilight nodded briskly. She gave off the sense that she was proud to be treated like an adult for once, and glad to have been told the whole story.

"Can Twinkleshine come with me?" Twilight asked. The other filly was kind and had made her feel welcome. Even as a filly, Twilight knew the advantage to having an ally who was versed in areas she wasn't.

"Yes of course, my student." Luna smiled at the filly with pride. "Was there anything else you wanted to say?"

"Um, I have a question, I guess." Twilight bit her lip, trying to figure out how to phrase it. "I know you don't want to wrest control of the sun from Celestia, but... the ponies on Equus need the sunlight. Even if we can grow crops without the sun, what's to stop Equestria from just freezing? And what about the dragons and the griffins, and the zebras, etc?"

"I have been brainstorming many possible solutions, Twilight, but I'm curious as to what ideas you have." Luna confessed, eager to hear.

"Well... You can move stars right? Like you moved your constellations? Just not THE star. Why don't you just... snatch a similar star from a nearby galaxy? Something that has a similar size and heat to our sun?"

"Good thinking, my student." Luna smiled. "I have had Twinkleshine and Starbright working on that problem for a few months now, and they have given me several good ideas."

"Oh! So that's why they were
working on the statistics of neighboring stars!" Twilight announced proudly.

"Indeed, my student. Now that all has been said," She paused and threw a glance at Twilight, who nodded. She had said her peace. "We shall thusly begin tonight's lesson."

Twilight and Twinkleshine set out for Ponyville the next day, after waking up later than usual (they'd both been briefed in dreams) and packing until sunrise. It was safer to traverse the forest in daylight, and they wanted a better chance to find the fillies Luna had told her to look out for. According to the Princess, there were probably about five other foals affected by the event. Two from each tribe, except for unicorn, of which there was only one. That was good, Twilight thought, because she already had a heck of a lot of unicorn friends.

"What's the best way to make new friends?" Twilight asked her companion as they walked the trail back to Ponyville. One might think that it would be risky for two foals to traverse the forest alone, even in the daytime, but Luna taught Twilight how to mark them, with dark magic. Now all the creatures of the forest would know who their mistress was, and even the manticores and cockatrice were smart enough to stay away from Nightmare Moon.

"Do we have party supplies at the colony?" Twilight asked, and the other filly shook her head.

"No... I wonder if we have enough bits to buy some in town?" The pink-maned foal mused aloud as the two trotted out of the forest.

"You can't have a party without party supplies." Twilight agreed, and puzzled out what to do. She had only been given enough allowance money to buy herself some lunch in town, and she assumed Twinkleshine had the same. Bits were tight, since all their funds were going to support the cause.

Suddenly, both fillies noticed a pink pony bouncing their way. She seemed to be about their age, and her cottony mane was bouncing along with her as she traveled towards the two friends.

"Did I hear someone say they needed a party!?" The pink pony practically shouted in excitement, and the two other fillies shared a knowing glance.

"Didn't need to hear! I sensed it with my Pinkie Party Sense!" the filly grinned, and extended a hoof, which the other two cautiously bumped.

"The name's Pinkie Pie! Ever since I got my cutie mark after the big ol' rainbow in the sky, I've been traveling all Equestria to find ponies who need parties!"

Twilight gasped in understanding. This was one of the foals who had been touched by the sonic rainboom! If they got her on board, it would solve two problems at once.

"You weren't the only pony who got their cutie mark that day!" Twilight announced proudly, showing off her star. "I got mine too!"

"Oh wow!" Pinkie vibrated with happiness. "We could throw a Got-Our-Cutie-Marks-On-The-Same-Day Party!"

"Right!" Twinkleshine confirmed. "But there are other ponies who also got their cutie marks on the rainboom day, and we need to invite them too."

"Right. All we have to do now, is find them, so we can invite them." Twilight grinned. "Is there any way you can sense them, like you sensed us?"

"I dunno." The party pony replied. "The only thing my Pinkie Sense is telling me now, is that juuuust over that ridge, a pony needs a party and is too shy to ask for it!"

Twilight shot Twinkleshine a concerned look, as if to say 'Can we really trust this mare?' The astronomer shrugged in return. They didn't really have a choice.

"Okay then, lead on, Pinkie Pie." Twilight sighed, and they followed the party pony over the hill.

There was a clearing on the edge of the forest, and in that clearing sat two pegasi. One was lying on her back, staring up into the clouds, as her rainbow mane blew in the gentle breeze. The other was smiling serenely, surrounded on all sides by a flock of multicolored butterflies. When the party of three crested the hill, that serene pegasus squealed in fear, and hid behind a bush. Her blue coated friend stood protectively in front of her.

"Who the hay are you?" She demanded, and Pinkie Pie shouted her own name in answer.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is my friend, Twinkleshine." The filly announced.

"Twi and Pinkie got their cutie marks on the same day, and we were hoping to find others who did too." Twinkleshine kindly explained, and Twilight was again thankful for bringing her.

"We wanna throw them a party!" Pinkie exclaimed, and the mare inside the bush squeaked in surprise.

"Oh, well that's cool." The other pegasus relaxed a bit. "My name's Rainbow Dash. What day are you guys talkin' about? Maybe I can help."

"We got our cutie marks during a sonic rainboom." Twilight explained, and Rainbow's eyes widened, a huge grin creeping across her face.

"No. Way! I'm the one who created that sweet rainboom!" Dash exclaimed. "Me and Flutters both got our marks that day too!" She announced, indicating the friend hidden in the bush.

"Come on out now, we won't bite!" Twinkleshine coaxed to the bush, and the butter yellow pegasus poked her head out cautiously.

"We just want to invite you to a party, silly." The astronomer spoke softly and sweetly, and the pegasus eventually emerged from her leafy abode.

"Fluttershy wasn't super popular in flight school." Dash admitted. "That's actually the reason we're here instead of in Cloudsdale."

"And her parents totally didn't even care that she was leaving! They were like 'Whatever makes you happy, Flutters!'" Dash whined, in what Twilight could only assume was a scathing imitation of Fluttershy's parents. What ponies would allow a ten year old filly to just leave home unaccompanied? Then again, it seemed Pinkie was in the same boat.

"So Rainbow Dash promised to um, come with me, and help me find a place to live." Fluttershy finished, and Twilight shook her head in confusion.

"Rainbow, you completed a sonicrainboom." Twilight exclaimed. "You could have had a fast-track scholarship to the Wonderbolts academy!"

"The Wonderbolts can wait a few years. Flutters is way more important than that." Dash explained, and the other ponies were impressed by the show of loyalty. After the situation was fully explained, and singing party invitations delivered by Pinkie, the group of five made their way to the heart of town. Twilight was still trying to wrap her head around the idea of throwing away scholarships and a future, because of a friend. Could she sacrifice that for Twinkleshine?

Morning in Ponyville was rather lovely, Twilight thought, as she trotted down main street. Pinkie Pie said she could sense a party-needing pony nearby, so the others followed her lead. In the middle of the town square, a young unicorn filly was sitting despondently on a wooden bench in front of a fountain. Her coat was a splendid white, and her hair was royal violet. Thanks to the coloring, she almost resembled Starbright. That unicorn looked up for a moment, when she saw the small herd coming her way.

"I'm sorry, darlings, but I'm not much in the mood for playing games right now." She spoke in a cultivated Canterlot accent, but neither of the other unicorns recognized her from their neighborhood.

"Why the long face?" Pinkie asked, plopping down beside the filly, and offering a shoulder to cry on.

"It's just dreadful. I've always wanted to be a fashion designer. It's been my dream since I was small." The unicorn sniffled a bit. "But that blasted rainboom happened, and now my cutie mark is just, just hideous!" She wailed into Pinkie's mane, and Twinkleshine examined the mark.

"That's not so bad. Three diamonds?" She commented, as Twilight still reeled over the fact that this was the fifth rainboom filly.

"No- no offense meant..." The fashionista sniffed again. "I just meant that gems are beautiful and all, but I don't want gems! I want fashion!"

"The two aren't mutually exclusive, you know." Twilight commented, earning a surprised stare from the filly crying her eyes out.

"Gems hold enchantments well, and enchanted accessories are all the rage these days. You could become successful in that area, then use your fame to promote clothing lines."

"Oh, oh my... You're right..." The diamond flanked pony whispered in a daze. "And then, oh yes... That could work..."

Slowly, ever so slowly, she smiled again. Pinkie Pie gave a loud whoop that caused Fluttershy to jump a foot in the air.

"No prob." Dash grinned. "I have no idea how that frou-frou fashion stuff works, but I'd go nuts if my special talent wasn't what I expected it to be."

"My name is Rarity Belle, but most ponies just call me Rarity." The new friend announced sweetly, for a moment, losing a bit of that affected high-class accent.

Introductions were made, rejoicing was had, invitations were sung, and the party gained a new member. All together now, the six followed Pinkie's party sense to the next target, as the sun rose higher in the sky. They made their way to the outskirts of town, where a huge orchard stood, off in the distance. An orange filly with a yellow mane was walking the road back to the farm, wearing a stetson hat that was two sizes too big. She hummed a happy song under her breath, and didn't even notice when six other ponies caught up with her.

"What in tarnation!?" She exclaimed when she finally turned around and saw her entourage.
"What the hay are y'all doin' out here?" The orange mare insisted, face full of confusion.

"Listen, I don't got time to play games. I'm just now comin' home from a long trip after-"

"Getting your cutie mark from a sonic rainboom?" Twilight interrupted, smirking.

"How did you know?" The farmer asked, aghast, and all of the assembled mares shouted:

Minus Twinkleshine, who waved bashfully.
"I'm only here to help Ms. Booksalot make friends." She giggled, bopping Twilight on the nose.

"Saw it? Filly, I made the sonic rainboom." Dash bragged proudly, and the mare seemed torn, looking off to the orchard, then to the fillies in front of her, then back to the farm. Finally, she sighed.

"Well, I've been away from home for months. I guess a few more hours couldn't hurt. The name's Applejack."

"Alright, alright. So where's this party gonna be held, Pinkie Pie?" Applejack asked, a bit tiredly.

"We could have it at my house." Twilight mused, meaning the underground colony, which had been the first choice all along. But how was she going to get them there without arousing suspicion?

"Um, but Twilight," Twinkleshine paused, and the other unicorn coughed, the signal to use the fib that Luna had told them.

"Oh right." Twilight nodded. "Girls, I know why you guys all moved to Ponyville, but now it's time to tell why we moved here." She explained, indicating herself and Twinkleshine.

"Our families are currently working here, on an experimental colony sponsored by the Crown." It wasn't technically a lie, since Luna was still a diarch after all. "As such, you can see inside of the colony, but the path to get there is a bit of a state secret."

"For ponies I've just met?" Applejack deadpanned, then took them off-guard with her answer. "Surprisingly, I do."

"Come on Flutters, it's not like we have anything better to do!" Dash nudged her friend forward.

"I ask, because in order to keep the secret, Twilight and I will have to blindfold you." Twinkleshine admitted.

The other fillies decided to go along with it, because after all, what ten year old foal would lead them into a trap? Twilight promised herself she'd take them through the real trail once they'd been vetted for trustworthiness. For now, she and Twinkleshine led them to the edge of the forest, and set off two teleports that brought them right to the colony passage way.

The Secret Cult of Nightmare Moon

by SunnyCharm

New Friends