//------------------------------// // The Plan Begins // Story: The Secret Cult of Nightmare Moon // by SunnyCharm //------------------------------// - Five Years Later - Twilight Sparkle was on a train, headed for the frozen north, and Trixie Lulamoon sat beside her. The blue unicorn had used an illusion spell to make herself look about five years older than she was, to produce the illusion that the young fillies weren't traveling unattended. Even though fifteen was around the age most foals left to start their apprenticeship, it would attract less attention for a filly to be riding with her responsible big sister. Also, Trixie liked to pretend she was older, so she could lord it over the other filly. Luna had contacted them both in a shared dream just a week before. Apparently, a powerful unicorn the same age as the other fillies was about to make a terrible mistake. "Trixie still does not understand why the Princess wants us to help some unicorn with her nervous breakdown." While the blue filly had become less whiny over the years, she never lost the habit of referring to herself in the third person. "I'm not really certain myself." Twilight replied, reaching into her saddle bags for something. "I think she's meant to be a powerful asset, and the Princess would rather her be on our side, over Celestia's." Twilight continued to dig in her bags, not mentioning the second part that Luna had told her to keep secret: Without their intervention, ponies would get hurt, and Celestia was either too lazy, or too blind to see it. Not finding what she was looking for, Twilight turned to her companion with a glare. "Trixie, have you seen my newspaper?" The purple filly asked, as if she didn't already know the answer. "Trixie is certain she hasn't." The blue unicorn smirked, about as innocent as a fox. With a puff of magic, Twilight dispelled the illusion enchantment, and her newspaper reappeared, sticking out of the other mare's saddle bag. Trixie had also become quite the prankster. Once she discovered (thanks to Pinkie Pie) that her magic was especially given to making people laugh, she kept up, if only because it got her the attention she so craved. Twilight snatched back her paper, and the two shared a giggle. "You can't treat Big Sister Trixie like that!" The blue unicorn's eyes widened in false outrage. "If you aren't careful, I'll dispel your age illusion too." Twilight flippantly responded, before glancing down at her newspaper. Apparently Sunset Shimmer, Celestia's famous student had up and disappeared. For as long as Twilight could remember, Sunset Shimmer had been Celestia's guard dog, and nearly everyone in Equestria feared her, because when the Princess sent her somewhere, she left a huge trail of destruction in her wake. Honestly, Twilight didn't know how this boded for her Princess' plans. Was Sunset merely running away, or was she on an undercover mission somewhere? Was she dead? Would Celestia try to replace her? Luna suspected that Celestia had been trying to groom Sunset to wield the elements of harmony. To utilize the mysterious sixth element of magic was tricky, and required the bearer to be well versed in magic, AND friends with the other elements. Now, thanks to Sunset's intimidating nature, it seemed like that may never happen. Or, instead of running away, perhaps Celestia merely sent her student off to make some friends. Twilight sighed. She'd tell Luna tonight, but it wasn't her job to be data-collection. Today she and Trixie were to disguise themselves as older unicorns, and convince Starlight Glimmer to come with them to the Lunar Colony. It was easier said than done, if only because they knew nothing about the young unicorn. Only that she was very powerful, and about to make a terrible mistake. Things had been going well since the other five fillies arrived at the Lunar colony. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash lived full time in the compound, while Applejack and Pinkie Pie lived in town. Shining Armor and Nightblade had both become the first full lieutenants of Luna's Night Guard, and the first of two distinct new branches: Shield Corps and Sword Corps. Twinkleshine had discovered the nearby star that most closely matched the sun, and was now working on the logistics of supply lines from Equus to the moon, should they need to follow through on Luna's backup plan and make an escape colony there. The pink-maned filly was having a field day, thinking about how much magical energy it would take to fling a craft from Equus to the lunar body, without harming anypony inside. Not to mention, she was also astrologically tracking the stars that would aid in Luna's escape. Twinkleshine had become a multitasker after Twilight's own heart. Sweet Dreams and Bright Idea had finally given in, and stopped dancing around their feelings for each other last Hearts and Hooves day. For weeks afterwards, Bright's notebook was filled with ideas for medical machinery, all of which, like the triage machine, he'd made into realities. The two were a very efficient team, when they got down to it, but Twilight tended not to concern herself with young mares and stallions, and the silly things they did when they were in love. There was still no news on what to do about the elements of harmony. Luna suggested that after their trip, Twilight try to isolate their power from the crystal tree beneath the old castle, to see if she could locate them like a magical radar. Whatever they decided to do, whether to destroy the elements, hide them, or use them against Celestia herself, it had to be done before the Summer Sun Celebration. When the two unicorns arrived in the northern town, Trixie applied the age illusion to both of them, as they both planned to pose as teachers from the Everfree Academy Of Magic. Once they got back to the train station, the two would explain the real situation. This show was mostly for the benefit of young Starlight's parents, who would feel better if she left home in the hooves of two teachers, instead of fillies their own daughter's age. As she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror of a storefront, Twilight rather liked her older appearance. She seemed strong and reliable. The town's architecture was even more old-fashioned than Ponyville. Between that, and the near-abandoned rail station, Twilight got the impression that this town received few visitors. Which was a shame, because the nearby slopes looked great for winter sports like skiing and snowboarding. The town could probably make a decent revenue in tourism if they wished. However, the cold wind only served to make the two unicorns shiver a bit, as they made their way to the town square. Like Ponyville, this town was mostly made up of earth ponies, so finding Starlight Glimmer's house (two unicorn parents, small singe marks in the yard where she likely practiced magic as a filly), wasn't too difficult a task. Besides, if they were wrong, Trixie could always bluff and say they'd gotten lost and needed directions. The two fillies-turned-mares approached the house they'd chosen, and knocked on the door. "Hello, is the the home of Starlight Glimmer?" Twilight asked politely, and the stallion who answered the door went pale. "Erm, yes... Who are you? Is this about... the incident?" The tone of the stallion's voice spoke volumes, so Twilight smiled gently, and tried to put him at ease. Clearly, something had happened with his daughter, and it was something that scared him. Whether he was scared for Starlight, or because of her, the purple unicorn couldn't say. "We're from the Everfree Academy of Magic." Twilight smiled. "We're here to talk about Starlight, but not in a bad way. May we come in?" "Yes, yes, you'd better come in..." The stallion finally replied, exhaling in relief, and invited the two mares to follow him. The house was rather cheap, and sparsely furnished for a unicorn abode. Even Twilight's old home in the Canterlot suburbs had four bedrooms. As far as she could tell with a subtle scrying spell, this one only had two. On the wall above the fireplace was a picture of the happy family: the stallion who'd led them inside, a pretty mare, and a little pink filly. Once Twilight and Trixie were settled on the couch, the stallion left to make some tea, and sent his wife to talk with the visitors. "Ah, Hello." The mare smiled, and sat in an armchair across from the other unicorns. "I'm Sunlight Gleam. Who did you say you were again?" She asked more shrewdly than her husband, and Twilight made a note to be careful around her. "I am Twilight Sparkle, professor of Matrix Theory at the Everfree Academy of Magic." She nodded towards her blue companion. "This is my colleague, Trixie Lulamoon. We came to talk about your little filly, Starlight." "She's not ours." The mare's face hardened, and even Twilight was taken aback. "P-pardon?" "She's adopted. My husband and I adopted her from a service in Stalliongrad." The mare relaxed a bit, and her prior flash of coldness seemed forgotten. "Why don't you tell T-Twilight, about the incident?" Trixie asked, almost referring to herself in the third person again. "I'd like to hear the story from your own words." Twilight bluffed as if she knew anything whatsoever about this 'incident'. "It all started when her best friend Sunburst was accepted to Celestia's school. She was always a late bloomer, you see, and she just didn't have the same raw magic that he did." Twilight nodded in understanding. It must have been hard for the filly to feel like she wasn't good enough. It was only thanks to her friends that Twilight kept those kinds of thoughts at bay. "Well after Sunburst left, she kept studying and practicing, and slowly improved a bit. We never expected much from her, but at least she seemed happier... Then the flare-ups started. The first time was at home, thank the sun. Starlight... She was trying to levitate a pencil, and burst into flames." Wellthatwould explain the scorch marks, Twilight thought, as the other mare's facade fell, and she looked older, weary beyond her years. "After that, it was like a dam broke. She went from being the least talented unicorn we'd ever seen, to becoming the most powerful filly I've ever known. The incident happened not long after that. I don't know all the details, but she got into a fight with a pegasus foal at school." "And?" Trixie prompted. The mother went pale. "She stole the other child's magic." "I'm sorry, she what!?" Twilight exclaimed, right as the father returned with a tray of tea for all the assembled adults (and fillies posing as adults). "We aren't sure if she did it on purpose," The stallion clarified. "And the other filly got her magic back eventually." "But for a period of time, Starlight actually ripped out another filly's magic. Then, when she absorbed it, she started another flare-up, and turned her teacher into a potted plant!" Sunlight exclaimed, a deep frown marring her pretty features. It was clear that as much as the father loved his adopted daughter, the mother was tired of dealing with the disasters that their child was causing. It seemed more and more similar to the kind of shenanigans Twilight got into as a child, but without the wise mentor to help her through them, and without friends to remind her of her worth. "Has anyone been able to reverse the effects?" Trixie asked, right as Twilight opened her mouth to ask the same question. "No. We only have normal unicorns in this town. Sunburst's parents were earth ponies, for Celestia's sake!" Sunlight exclaimed, throwing her hooves in the air. Unbidden, Twilight felt her anger seethe. "Pardon my bluntness, Mrs. Gleam, but Starlight sounds like a brilliant unicorn, a prodigy who just needs a mentor to help her control her gifts!" The purple unicorn exclaimed, and Trixie gently nudged her, to get her back on track. "We would like to speak with Starlight. With your permission, we could take her back to the Academy with us, and teach her to use her talents in a productive way." "Go ahead." Sunlight nodded to the doorway. "Her room is the second door on the left." The two mares approached the door, and knocked carefully. "Come in!" A quiet voice called from inside, and the two unicorns walked inside. The filly that looked up at them was not a scared teenager. She was a calculating prodigy. Calmly, she cast a soundproofing spell on her room. Then, in an instant, she brute-force overpowered Trixie's magic, and dispelled their age illusion. "Wha- You two are my age!" The pink filly . "I knew you had an illusion, but I thought..." "You thought...?" exclaimed Twilight prompted, despite the fact that she and Starlight were now eye-to-eye. "I thought you were the royal guard. I thought you were going to take me away because I turned my teacher into a plant." The filly admitted, bashfully, before glaring again. "But hey! You're too young to be teachers! Who are you!?" "Trixie must admit, she is... Mildly impressed by your magical prowess." The blue unicorn confessed with a slight blush. Such was as close to praise as one could expect from Trixie. "We might not be teachers, but we do want to help you, Starlight." Twilight explained as she lay down on the floor to rest. This seemed like it might take a while. "If it's alright with you, Twilight, Trixie shall go and restore that potted plant to its rightful form." The blue unicorn announced, before recasting her illusion and leaving the room. "So, did you know there's a name for that type of magic, Starlight?" The purple filly asked, with a tilted head. "Really!?" Starlight bounced eagerly, before she got control of herself and glared again. "I- I mean, of course there is." "Transmuting others' magic into your own, changing a pony's genetic makeup: these spells are all under the school of alchemy." Twilight smiled, remembering her own brief lessons with Luna. She hadn't taken to alchemy quite like Trixie had, but she could do basic polymorphs and other simple transformations. Given that her special talent was all magic, she could learn more if she wished, but that was a subject for a future study, someday when there were less pressing matters at hand. "I see... After Sunburst left, I studied so hard. I thought that if I learned enough, I could overcome my limits. It was like there was something blocking me from reaching my full potential." The pink filly admitted, glaring down at her hooves. "That's actually not uncommon for young unicorns." Twilight spoke, recalling a study she'd read on the subject. "If a unicorn has particularly powerful parents, often, their magic will seal itself off, until they develop enough stamina to control it. It's a defense mechanism, and one that I find very likely, given that you don't know your birth parents." "So you're saying that until I had my first flare-up, I was a nearly-adult mare with a newborn's level of magic?" "Correct. Personally, I was the opposite way. Neither of my parents were strong unicorns, but my brother and I both have immense magical reserves. Even as a baby, I had a huge amount of magic at my disposal to throw tantrums with." Twilight giggled a little, and Starlight even managed chuckle as the other unicorn reveled in her little burst of nostalgia. "Well, knowing that still doesn't change anything. Sunburst is still gone, and I have no friends." Starlight frowned, turning away from Twilight Sparkle as she glanced out her bedroom window. "Sometimes, I wish everyone were the same. If I had the same magical talent as Sunburst, I wouldn't be alone right now. If my parents had the same magic as me, they wouldn't be so scared I'd turn them into plants..." "Don't say that, Starlight." The purple unicorn chided. "The things that make you different are the same things that make you special. It's something I've noticed about all of my friends. I can't make my friends laugh, like Trixie or Pinkie Pie can, and I can't buck trees like Applejack and her brother." "But I can create and modify spells. I can enchant objects and design spell matrices like no one else I know." Twilight stood, and walked over to the other filly, lying down right beside her. "There's no one like you in the whole world, Starlight, and that's a good thing." * * * "Hah! Is that all you can do, bat boy?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed teasingly, as she and Nightblade flew at breakneck speeds through the old castle of the two sisters. Currently, the ponies who weren't below ground in the workshop or incubator, were putting in the elbow grease for a grand spring-cleaning. Rainbow had insisted that she and Nightblade could use their gale force winds to knock down cobwebs and sweep up dead leaves, but anyone who knew them, knew that it was just an excuse to race. With a gust of wind, she blew past Rarity, who was hanging one of her new tapestries on the wall. "RAINBOW DAAAASH!" She shouted, but the unicorn's protests were already far behind the racing pegasus, as she overtook Nightblade, and blew a raspberry at him as he spun in her tailwinds. Unfortunately, trash-talking the competition required looking over her shoulder too long, which Rainbow painfully discovered when she flew head-first into a pillar. The whole castle was abuzz with activity. For a long time, the colonists had put off the restoration of the castle, for fear that it would attract undue attention from Celestia. Now, however, they were just a few years away from Luna's return, and they decided that the risk was worth it, if they could get the castle ready for her arrival. Besides, even the cultists who distrusted Celestia had a hard time believing she would attack a communal group of artisans and organic farmers, which is what they were pretending to be. The running story was that they were a group of mostly unicorn scholars from Canterlot, who escaped to the Everfree to live as a herd. Rarity's moon tapestries were inspired by the full-moon motifs around the castle, and none of them knew anything about Nightmare Moon. The bat ponies came to live here because the commune was more accepting and open-minded than the rest of Equestria. It actually helped their lie hold water if they worked on fixing up the castle, because that way, they could seal all the magical technology and pre-Monarchical books, and incriminating Nightmare Moon stuff down in the underground passage. They would seem, for all intents and purposes, like a group of dissatisfied yuppies who wanted to get back to nature. "Um, Rarity, I made all of the rat colonies leave from the cellar like you asked me to." Fluttershy announced in her normal, quiet voice as she walked up to the white unicorn, who was going through the hall with a telekinetic sweeping broom. Rarity turned to face her friend, and froze in fear when she saw the beady eyes poking out from her mane. "Er, all the rats except for Sniffles and Daisy. They wouldn't mind to be pets." Fluttershy bashfully added, as Rarity hid her shudder of disgust. Even if she didn't like rats, she wouldn't take it out on her friend, who had a soft spot for all living creatures. "Darling, they will be staying in cages, right, Fluttershy?" She asked with a weak smile. "Oh, of course. I repurposed one of the old songbird cages from the atrium for them. If you don't mind, Rarity, I came to ask if I could take a break, to go put them in it." "Of course, darling. I'm just an organizer, not a supervisor. You don't need my permission." Rarity waved her friend off with a smile, and watched the pegasus walk away before resuming her sweep of the room. "It's nice to see you taking charge, Rarity." Shining Armor noted quietly as he trotted up, and Rarity cursed her fair coat for not hiding her blush. "Really, Shining, it's something any pony can do, if they put their minds to it." Rarity went over the mental list with a faint sigh, and recalled another mare who would be so much better at this. "I wish Twilight were here though." "Yeah..." The stallion let out a little chuckle. "If there's one thing my sister loves more than studying, it's organizing." "Is that why you stopped in, hmm? To get your marching orders?" Rarity laughed, sweeping the last of the dust into a dustpan, which she dumped into a trash bag. "Do I need an excuse to just say hello?" "On a cleaning day, yes." Rarity replied with a smirk, tied up the bag of leaves and dust and dirt with her magic. "You know how I feel about being tidy." "I know you've been jumping at the chance to clean this place since you were ten." Shining laughed, but then coughed a bit as he inhaled some leftover dust. "Anyway, Dad and I have finished restoring the old beams in the chambers, so I came to see if you needed any help with something else." The stallion announced with a salute. "I am at your service, milady." As much as it gave her a pleasant shiver to hear that, Rarity didn't let it show on her face, as she moved to the next room. "Well, Captain Armor, it seems the room I've just finished is in bad need of a floor scrubbing. Would you do the honors?" Rarity giggled a bit, and the other unicorn gave a sharp nod. "Your wish is my command!" Meanwhile, on the other side of the castle, Fluttershy carefully placed her new rat friends in the cage she'd prepared. She had a few years worth of shredded newspaper to use as bedding, and the two rodents sniffed at it curiously before burrowing in. "I'm sorry there's no hideout or toys for you," Fluttershy crooned. "I wasn't really expecting visitors so soon. I promise I'll bring some as soon as I can. For now, just have some food and water, and relax." The rat sisters seemed to like their new home. Through her empathy, Fluttershy could tell, and she knew that after she made them some wooden toys, and a house to hide in, they would be loving life. She checked the songbirds' water as she left the room, and closed the bedroom door on their chirps. The yellow pegasus wasn't the type of pony you would suspect of being a Lunar Cultist. She was soft-spoken, and thoughtful, and scared of her own shadow. Despite all that, she felt most at peace here, as if it was where she was meant to be. Surprisingly, out of all the recruits, she was the one who liked Luna's Nightmare Moon appearance the most. She liked it because she knew that the pony underneath was kind, and wise, but the outside was fearsome. It was hard to be scared anymore, when the scariest thing out there was protecting you. Unlike the aloof and kind Celestia, who probably had too much faith in ponykind, Luna was like an angry mother bear who would kill to protect her cubs. Of course, Fluttershy didn't really want any pony to be killed, but it was nice to know that Luna was able and willing to do so. On her way back to the main hall, she almost ran into Twinkleshine, who was levitating six stone orbs in her telekinesis. "Oh my!" The pegasus exclaimed quietly. "What are those?" "No clue. I found 'em in the throne room. Maybe they were ornamental?" The unicorn shrugged. "I bet Twilight will know, so I should probably just put them up until she gets back." "Oh, I think there's room in the library." Fluttershy offered, and Twinkleshine patted her on the shoulder in gratitude. "Thanks, Flutters. I'll just head down there now." Twinkleshine grinned as she trotted down the hall. "W-wait!" The pegasus called out. "Do you need any help?" "Actually, these are pretty heavy..." the unicorn admitted, and levitated two of the stone orbs down on Fluttershy's back. "Thanks for the help." Steadying the stones with her wings, Fluttershy followed her friend down the hall to the library. They placed the spheres in a corner, and Twinkleshine used the rock-shaping spell to box them in. "So um," Fluttershy whispered out, trying to start the conversation. "Is there anypony here that you like?" Part of the reason Fluttershy and Rarity were such good friends, is the fact that they both loved a good bit of gossip. With all the fillies and colts who had just come into their hormones running about, foalhood crushes seemed like just the topic. "Not here. The pony I like is far away." Twinkleshine grinned, and looked back to Fluttershy with a wink, while the pegasus mulled it over. Unless she was talking about an old friend from Canterlot, Twinkleshine must have meant one of the unicorns who'd left on Luna's secret mission, and Fluttershy would bet good money that it wasn't Trixie. "For what it's worth, I think Twilight likes you too." Fluttershy noted with a soft smile. "You think so? Sometimes I feel like her only true love is books." Twinkleshine joked, even though she knew that wasn't true. "Maybe you should tell her." Fluttershy offered, and the unicorn shook her head. "I plan to after the Princess returns. I don't think she's ready for a relationship right now." "But that's three years from now." Fluttershy noted. "You must be very patient." "Patience is the least I can do. She's under a lot of stress right now, so it's more important to be a good friend first, and a filly friend second." While the two fillies bared their hearts and gossiped, something happened in the library. Three doors down, and to the left, a single stone orb bumped into its neighbor.