//------------------------------// // The Elements (Part One) // Story: The Secret Cult of Nightmare Moon // by SunnyCharm //------------------------------// "I'm so glad you wanted to spend some time with me, Twilight!" Twinkleshine exclaimed cheerfully. "To be honest, Shiny sort of strong-armed me into asking you." Twilight admitted bashfully. "He said I needed a break." "Well he wasn't wrong..." Twinkleshine noted, silently reminding herself to thank Twilight's brother. "So... I don't want to talk about work related stuff," Twilight blushed. "But now that I'm trying, I can't think of any other topics..." "Harry Trotter or Daring Do?" Twinkleshine asked. "Er, what?" "Do you prefer the Harry Trotter series, or the Daring Do books?" Twinkleshine clarified, knowing that a book-related question would be just the thing to pull Twilight out of her shell. "Well... I like the books where Daring Do solves puzzles and sneaks under the radar to save the day, but the later books are a bit too action-packed for my tastes." Twilight noted, before letting out a short hum of consideration. "Then again, I really like how Harry Trotter builds up to a huge climax and takes care of all the loose ends... Is there a third option?" The purple unicorn giggled. "The third option is the Archmage of Oz series." Twinkleshine giggled. "Oh right!" Twilight exclaimed cheerfully. "With Windy Gale and her dog, Toto!" "I loved those books when I was a foal." The pink maned unicorn mused, lost in the nostalgia. "Funny thing is, those stories gave me my first idea of rebellion." Twilight added, in a quiet voice. "The Travelling Archmage took over the throne from the old Queen, and exiled the true heir. But later, when Princess Ozma returned, she ruled to the best of her ability, even as a foal, so that everyone in her land was happy." The two mares were talking as they made their way through the corridors of the castle. When Twilight asked for some quality time, Twinkleshine jumped at the chance, because she already had an idea in mind. They were headed to the top of the east tower, which was roofless. There, they could lie on their backs and stargaze. "Did you know Rainbow Dash likes to read?" Twilight asked, as they turned the corner to the stairwell. "Really?" Twinkleshine commented. She had never pegged Dash as the reading type, but she wasn't the sort of mare to judge a friend by the cover. "Yep. She's a Daring Do fanatic, but she reads other things too, mostly biographies and historical essays. She's always coming out of the library with a Wonderbolts memoir, or a pegasus war story." "Sounds like she's taking her position as Shadowbolts Captain seriously." The astronomer noted as they reached the rooftop. "Mmhmm." Twilight nodded, before turning to Twinkleshine. "So... why did you bring me here?" "I wanted to show you something." The other unicorn nudged her purple friend, and indicated the sky. "It's Spring, and some of my favorite constellations are out." Twilight sat down on one of the blankets offered, and looked up into the night sky. "That one there is the sea-pony, isn't it?" She asked the resident astronomer. "Right. You can tell because of the three stars that make up her fins." "So which is your favorite?" Twilight asked, looking up into the stars. Twinkleshine didn't respond, because she was too busy watching her friend, and the stars reflected in her eyes. "See if you can find it." Twinkleshine murmured, wrapping her fluffy pink tail around Twilight's own violet one. "It's a bright star..." "There are a lot of bright stars. I need more detail." Twilight responded, still searching the night sky. "Okay, um, there are five smaller stars right around it." There was silence for a moment, and Twinkleshine could practically see the gears turning in her friend's mind. "Hey!" Twilight finally exclaimed. "You meant my cutie mark, didn't you!?" "Um, maybe, hehe!" The other unicorn giggled as she was tackled by her oblivious friend. * * * Rainbow Dash lived (a majority of the time) in the castle compound, in a room right across from Fluttershy. The colonists were currently in the process of moving all their furniture from the underground caverns, into the rooms they had prepared in the Castle. Each pair of married ponies got their own room, and the young adult ponies got the adjacent hallway. The castle-wide renovations were almost complete, and it was Rainbow's job to fly over to Sweet Apple Acres, and pick up the wood they'd purchased through the earth pony family. As the blue pegasus touched down in the south orchard, she heard he sound of ponies talking, which was rare on a workday. Peering through a grove of trees, Rainbow saw Applejack talking to an unknown mare. At first, Dash was nervous, especially because no one outside their commune ever visited the farm. Then, she saw that the unicorn's cutie mark had a crescent moon, a symbol of Luna if there ever was one. "Hiya there. I'm Rainbow Dash" the pegasus offered as she emerged from the trees. The stranger accepted her hoof bump. "Moondancer. Nice to meet you." The unicorn replied, and from her new angle of vision, Rainbow could see a little dragon standing beside her. "I'm Spike." The dragon declared, and leaned closer to Moondancer. "What brings you to these parts?" The unicorn asked, and Dash was so caught up in the idea that this was a baby dragon, and that Fluttershy loved rare baby animals, that she didn't notice Applejack furiously miming that she should shut her mouth. "Jus' pickin' up some wood and supplies for the colony, wanna come along?" The pegasus replied. "Oh no, you don't wanna do that." Applejack frantically burst into the conversation. "No siree, that place is dangerous. Filled with, with manticores, and renegade scientists!" It wasn't exactly a lie. There was a dangerous manticore... Before Fluttershy befriended it and sent it away. The scientists were renegades, from a certain solar viewpoint... But they were renegades who stuffed you full of homemade cookies. "Scientists?" Moondancer asked, one eyebrow curiously raised. "Oh yeah, mean ones." Applejack said, visibly cringing at her pitiful lie. It had the opposite effect of what the mare had intended. Instead of making Moondancer fear the mysterious colony, she only made the unicorn more curious. "It's no place for the personal student of Princess Celestia to be going!" Applejack bit out, glaring at Dash, who only just now realized her mistake. Princess... Student... Oh ponyfeathers... Rainbow thought, and as she and Applejack mimed at each other over Moondancer's back, the concept wasn't lost that the young mare was painfully oblivious. If there was any solar agent they could fool, it would be this one. "Hey AJ!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Why don't you go on ahead and clear the path for us?" "Uh, right!" Applejack replied. "I'll be sure to let those colonists know you're comin', lest they plan any funny business!" With that, the orange earth pony took off running, heading for the castle at a break-neck speed to warn them who was coming. Meanwhile, Rainbow took off to the barn in a slow canter, taking her time, on her way to pick up the supplies. "So what's your relationship to these renegade scientists?" Moondancer asked, as the dappled sunlight fell across her face. They were walking through the main orchard now, and Rainbow tried to focus on the spots of sunlight rather than her own nerves. "Well they aren't really as scary as Applejack makes them out to be." Dash admitted, deciding to go with the 'harmless hippies' cover story. "They're mostly a bunch of scientists from Canterlot, trying to get back to nature, and work on experiments on their own funding." Moondancer nodded. She could definitely relate to that feeling. What she wouldn't give to have enough money to invent on her own, not tethered down by Royal Grants and donations, so often swayed by the upper crust! "They aren't like, dangerous, are they?" Spike asked, from atop Moondancer's back. "Nah." Dash replied, and the unicorn was surprisingly quick to defend her. "Ponies always fear what they don't understand, Spike. I know that from firsthand experience." The mare explained, and it was honestly like hearing a solar version of Twilight Sparkle. Is that how Twilight would be, if trained by the opposite sister? Lonely and frustrated? Throughout their walk, Moondancer had told Rainbow a little bit about her life in Canterlot, and why she'd moved to Ponyville. It didn't sound like a very fun existence, fighting with nobles, feeling abandoned by the princess, no friends to soften the blow. Rainbow shuddered a bit, at this Twilight-apparition from the other side. The egghead really dodged a bullet there... She thought. * * * When Applejack collapsed onto the floor, drenched in sweat, and gasping for air, Starlight and Trixie were the ones who found her. "Oh stars... Trixie, get Nurse Sweets!" Starlight commanded, and while the blue unicorn might normally object to being ordered around, even she saw the gravity of the situation. She took off at a gallop, back down to the tunnels. "What happened, Applejack?" The pink unicorn asked gently as she ran a diagnostics scan on the earth pony. So far, the only results were mild stress and exhaustion, likely from running all the way here. "Celestia... Personal student... coming here..." The mare gasped out between breaths, and Starlight's blood ran cold. This was, by all estimations, the worst possible scenario. She had to find Twilight. "Listen, AJ, I've got to go warn the others. Will you be alright until Trixie gets back?" The unicorn asked, bouncing on her hooves impatiently. "Don' worry about me, sugarcube." Applejack replied, waving a hoof in weak dismissal. "Just gotta catch my breath." Starlight darted off as soon as she got the ok, and galloped up the stairs. Her younger self of just a few months ago might have ignored Applejack and gone anyway, but her new friends (and Trixie especially) were teaching her a lot about friendship. When Starlight burst onto the second floor, she headed for the room where she knew Twilight and Twinkleshine were engaged in the process of spacecraft design. It would be necessary for a small team (probably Shining, Twi, and Twinkleshine), to go up to the moon first, in order to map out the huge teleport circle they would use to move the old castle. When Luna returned, she was going to power the teleport, but since she wasn't here yet, the unicorns would have to get to the moon on their own power, hence the need for a ship. "We should call it the Crescent." Twinkleshine said, as Twilight pored over some blueprints. "For its shape, or for the lunar connotations?" The purple unicorn asked absentmindedly. "Both." The other replied, and looked up from her work as Starlight slammed open the door. "A solar agent is coming!" The pink mare announced, and Twilight was so shocked, she dropped her papers. "Can we take her out? Is she bringing reinforcements?" Twilight grilled her poor friend, who shrank under the weight of her bad news. "Applejack said she was Celestia's personal student..." Starlight admitted. "To kill her, would bring down the entire army onto our heads." "I never said we would kill her. I'm not inequine." Twilight rolled her eyes. "I was just going to teleport her back to town under a sleep spell, and wipe her mind of the last few hours. If any memories slip through, she'll think it was just a wacky dream." "Twi-light..." Twinkleshine chided, drawing out the syllables of her friend's name. "It's not right to use memory spells on other ponies without their permission." "Well it wouldn't be the first option, anyway." Twilight conceded, but thought to herself that tampering with one solar agent's mind was a preferable outcome if it kept her from alerting Celestia. "Sorry to interrupt, but what is the first option, Twilight?" Glimmer asked, anxiously flicking her tail. "We stick with the cover story. I'll go with a welcoming party to meet the agent, and try to ascertain her knowledge and intentions." Twilight explained. "I know the rock-moving spell." Starlight added. "I'll gather up everyone who might still be underground, and close off the passageways." "We can't let her know about our connection with the Princess." Twilight noted, as she gathered up all their blueprints and teleported them to her underground study. "We should give her a tour of the above-ground workshop though. Nurse Sweets' triage devices and the long-range communication devices are harmless." Twinkleshine added, knowing that while it was a risk, it would be a bit difficult to call themselves hippy scientists when all their science was locked up underground. "Starlight, do what has to be done to hide the tunnels." Twilight ordered, fully in her element as leader. "Twinkleshine, make sure everyone is aware of the plan." "Aye-aye, captain!" The pink-maned unicorn saluted. "As for me..." Twilight grimaced, knowing that the hardest part of this plan was also the most essential. As much as it pained her to downplay their achievements and breakthroughs, it was twice as vital to appear harmless and silly. The prodigious unicorn sighed deeply. "I have to play dumb." * * * "Are you sure this isn't too much?" Shining Armor asked the seamstress who was currently adjusting his sash. "Never, darling. I think you look sophisticated, yet down-to-earth." Rarity replied with another of her famous teasing smiles. "Mature, yet approachable?" Shining suggested. "Precisely, darling." Rarity grinned,she had planned to dress Shining Armor up for the little show they were to arrange tonight, but she was a little blown away by how stunning he actually looked in his outfit. His blue and indigo mane had been trimmed, keeping his shaggy look, but making it a bit more professional. He wore a red sash, pinned with many old family medals from the royal guard. To use an overused expression... Rarity thought he looked like a knight in Shining Armor. Her own meager necklace of tear-drop diamonds was pale in comparison. "Uh, Rares? You're kind of staring a little." Shining noted, snapping the unicorn out of her trance with a deep blush. "Well, I- I need to make sure all the details are in order!" "You're as red as my sash, Rarity." Shining added gently, and the other unicorn gave a very Fluttershy-like 'eep!' in reply. "It's quite rude to point out a lady's blush, you know!" Rarity huffed, and left Shining Armor with a vague empty feeling, as if he'd said something wrong, and was now regretting it. All of a sudden, he remembered something. Last spring, he'd asked Bright Idea how he worked up the courage to ask his longtime crush out for Hearts and Hooves. The advice came rushing back to him, and he swallowed hard. Rarity was the prettiest mare he'd ever seen, and she was kind, generous, and playful to boot. He'd seen her as more than a friend for a long time now, and rehearsed exactly what he meant to say. Here, now, was an obvious clue that Rarity felt the same way about him, too. It was now or never, before he lost his nerve. "Er, Rarity, could I ask you something?" He offered, and the unicorn mare felt her heart skip a beat. "O-of course, Shining." She replied tentatively. "Would you like to go out with me this weekend?" He asked, before jokingly adding: "Given that we survive this Solar agent and all." Rarity felt the squeal building up in her chest. Her grin practically jumped off her face. She did what any beautiful, cultured lady does when her dreams come true. She fainted. * * * Twilight finished mussing up her hair, and watched as Rainbow Dash arrived, trailed closely by a unicorn who looked a bit like a color-swapped Twilight Sparkle. "Oh, like, hi Rainbow!" She exclaimed in a falsely happy voice she'd heard in Canterlot once. "Hey, uh.. Twilight." Dash replied, continuing her poor acting record. "Where do you want this lumber?" "Oh, um, I think like, Big Macintosh needed it?" Twilight replied, putting on her best ditzy expression. "Hello there. I'm Moondancer." The new pony stepped forward. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" "Oh, like, not at all!" Twilight giggled. "But I may not be able to answer them." "Firstly, I notice there are a lot of full-moon motifs around here." The cream-colored mare explained. "Oh, our seamstress was like, so inspired by the sun and moon symbols throughout the castle, she just had to make them into tapestries." Twilight explained. "See, like, she hasn't finished the sun tapestries yet, so they aren't displayed." "Would you mind giving me a little tour?" Moondancer asked, and shifted Spike onto her back. "Oh, like, sure!" Twilight replied airily. "Um, we have a great foalsitter who can watch your dragon if you want?" Moondancer politely declined, because she didn't quite trust these ponies yet. She had always been taught that strange scientists with lunar symbology were likely Lunatics, dangerous rebels who were working for Nightmare Moon. Frankly, it was only her own sympathetic stance from Equestria's own science program that gave her pause. The two ponies (and one dragon) made their way up into the bedrooms, and paused when they heard elusive singing, coming from an open door. Peering through the crack, they saw a butter-yellow pegasus, singing to a family of rodents, who emerged from the woodworks. Slowly, she gathered them all into her mane. "Excuse me?" Twilight spoke as quietly as possible. "Fluttershy? I'd like to introduce you to our guest, Moondancer." "Oh, it's a pleasure!" Fluttershy replied, and came closer, noticing with dismay that Moondancer took a step back. "No o-offense to you, Fluttershy, but rats really c-creep me out." Moondancer stuttered. "How can you stand to be around them?" "Oh, they aren't so bad! You just need the kindness to get to know them!" Fluttershy smiled cheerfully. "Besides, Princess L- Celestia, would want us to be kind to all living things!" Moondancer was struck by the empathy that let this kind mare see past the creepy exteriors of feral rats in an abandoned castle. She thought about that, as they left for the next spot on their tour. "Wait a second, Moondancer thought. "What was Fluttershy going to say before she said Celestia?" "Now, welcome to our, like, greenhouse!" Twilight exclaimed. Pinkie Pie was spronking around, dusting fertilizer onto the soil they'd carted into the atrium. Trixie was levitating water from a bucket she carried, and misting it down onto the soil below with her magic. "Wow! Is that a mist-scatter spell? I thought only pegasi could do that!" Moondancer exclaimed, and her shout caused Trixie to drop her current load of water all over her head. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Moondancer said, stifling a giggle. Pinkie had no such qualms, and laughed until she hiccupped. In a single motion, Trixie cast a dehumidifier spell on her mane, and the water disappeared into steam. "No harm done. The Great and Powerful Trixie is unscathed!" "How can you be so calm after I embarrassed you like that?! I even made your friend laugh at you!" Moondancer exclaimed, and Trixie merely laughed. "Silly filly. Laughter is the heart of confidence! Once I realized Trixie's friends were laughing with Trixie, and not at her, The Great and Powerful magician became even greater! And even more powerful!" "Um, does she always talk in the third pony?" Spike muttered quietly to Twilight. Not quiet enough, however, because the blue unicorn merely smirked, and added: "It is part of Trixie's showmare gimmick." Next stop on the tour was the mess hall, but the mares never made it. At that moment, a white unicorn with a blue mane came barrelling down the hallway. "Twilight! Come quick!" He shouted. "It's Rarity!" * * * After dropping off her supplies, Rainbow Dash flew outside to join Nightblade on patrol. "So, what's the status on that Manticore we've been hunting?" The prismatic maned mare asked, with that ever-present smirk. "Unknown. We lost track of him last night, after he left the boundary markers." Nightblade answered. Together, the bat pony and the pegasus flew around the perimeter of the castle grounds. "As much as I hate it, in the Everfree it's 'outta sight, outta mind.' Out of our jurisdiction, he isn't our problem any more." Rainbow commented. "Well, if worst comes to worst, we'll just sic Flutters on him. She took care of the last Manticore well enough." As much as Rainbow hated putting her oldest friend at risk, she knew Fluttershy would rather convince the monster to leave, rather than force her friends to fight it. She was far too compassionate for that. "So how are things going with that Solar agent?" Nightblade wondered, prompting Rainbow to shrug. "Seems a little ditzy. Everything should be fine." Rainbow noted, but suddenly stopped talking and shushed her nocturnal friend, as she stopped cold and listened, flapping her wings silently. "Didja hear that?" Dash asked, and Nightblade titled his sensitive ears. "Oh no." The bat pony frowned deeply. "Rainbow, go get Twilight." Rainbow Dash darted off like a bullet, because she knew what she heard, and she knew what it meant. The manticore was back. * * * Rarity's breathing was shallow when the unicorn posse arrived, and Moondancer was so focused on the emergency that she didn't see Spike's eyes turn into massive hearts as he looked at the stricken unicorn mare. "So... beautiful..." Spike muttered blissfully. "Twilight! You've got to help her!" Starlight exclaimed. She was the nearest when Shining Armor called for help, and offered to stay with Rarity while he went to get his sister. Starlight recalled how kind Rarity had been when she first arrived to the compound. Her generosity had inspired Starlight to trust again, and she couldn't stand to see her hurt like this. "What happened here, Shiny!?" Twilight exclaimed, transforming before Moondancer's eyes as she lapsed back into her natural nerdy state. "I- I jus asked her on a date! And she passed out!" Shining explained, and Twilight giggled, despite herself. "You have a crush on Rarity, BBBFF?" "I won't have a crush on anypony if she dies!" He frantically cried out. "She's not going to die." Twilight explained, running her diagnostic spell. "She just had a magical-surge-induced fainting spell. It's common in unicorns and easy to fix." "How do you intend to fix it!?" Moondancer asked, a bit hysterical. "Like this." Twilight muttered. "Clear!" She shouted, and sent a burst of magic into her friend's body. Rarity's eyelids fluttered, and she slowly woke. "Oh my... What happened?" She muttered, looking around with a faint frown. "I was just about to ask the same thing!" Moondancer interjected. "Your animal tamer had to correct herself! Your farm supplier seemed afraid of you! This whole castle is covered with moon symbols," The mare turned to Twilight. "And you!" She pointed at Sparkle. "You are most certainly not a hippie herdist! You just revived a magical surge patient! Most unicorns can't do that, and certainly not outside of a hospital setting!" "Speaking of hospitals," Pinkie Pie interjected, appearing in the door way. "Fluttershy got dust in her eyes and can't see. What do I do?" "Twilight!" Another voice came from the opposite doorway, as Rainbow Dash skidded in. "The manticore's back! What do I do!?" "What is going on in this place!?" Moondancer exclaimed, earning her a glare from Twilight, even as she resisted the urge to add her own 'what do I do!?' "This is literally the worst possible time for this. I know you have questions, but I'm only answering them once everypony is safe." Twilight said, before swiveling to Pinkie Pie. "Flush the eyes with clean water." "As for the rest of us... We're gonna have to get ready to fight."