A great long line of dust billowed up like so much smoke, waking in the trail where Luna had skidded in for a landing. Off her back slid Applejack, tumbling to the outskirts ground on clunky hooves. Calmly though, Luna redrew her hood and withdrew her other piece of toast, biting with a crunch.
Applejack righted herself, adjusting her hat, and shook out the rest of the shakes that had seem to come with suddenly being reintroduced to firm ground. Suffice it to say, the ride was a little rougher than she anticipated, making her glad she didn’t eat her toast before setting off. She too got out the toast her little sister had made, chomping on both pieces at once. Perhaps it was the adrenaline that had made her so ravenous suddenly.
“So uh, you gonna head on into town lookin’ like that, still?” AJ vaguely gestured at all of Luna’s Louise look, and grabbed another mouthful to chew on both toast and Luna’s response at the same time.
“Well,” Luna told her, rather flatly, “to be fair, I do have a lot of the same… visual distinctions as the monster who is currently causing all this. You see my dilemma?”
“Monster?”
“You said I was in a storybook, no? Then surely everyone still recalls the horrid visage of Nightmare Moon.” Luna glanced down the empty street. “We have the same hair and eyes, so somepony might mistake me for her.
“Mm.” Applejack gulped the huge bite and the truth of it. “Guess you’re right. Might be best to stay Louise for now and come clean later. Ya know, when we can actually show ‘em all you and Nightmare Moon are not both one singular monster that’ll bring about famine to all Equestria and what have you.”
“Thanks,” Luna said, the sarcasm practically dripping off her fangs like so much venom.
“Oh wow, I just now got why my joke about kicking monsters outta town bothered you so much. Haha, oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Wow.” Applejack tried to laugh it off, holding her hoof to her forehead.
“Applejack, please.”
“Aw, I’m just ribbin’ ya.” AJ illustrated by actually nudging her ribs, before tossing the last pieces of toast in her mouth.
“Can we just go now?”
Mouth still full, Applejack led on, passing by small cottages too far out to be considered apart of the town proper and any more than just outskirts. Here and there, shutters swung open to reveal confused ponies wondering both where the sun was and who these two were sprinting past their yards in the dark. But eventually, dirt roads turned to gravel, and then into cobblestone.
“We coulda landed a bit closer, ya know.”
“And how do you think it would look to the already confused crowd to see a unicorn fly with no wings?”
“Crowd?”
A few minutes more, and Luna proved to be right. Whatever small band of ponies that rose with the sun defiantly refused to pay no mind to the lack of its presence on the Eastern horizon. And any ruckus they had made awoke others that wouldn’t normally be up this early, in the march toward town hall, hoping their appointed local societal leaders might offer up some insight on the issue.
From what the duo could gather, this mayor by the name of Mare, had done what she could to placate the crowd. Up on the platform, she stood before them, grayish white hair still frazzled from rushing out of bed.
“Listen, everypony, please. I’m just as confused as all of you are!” She stamped the planks several times, demanding attention and silence from the crowd, who all seemed to finally humor her. “I don’t know what troubles the capital might be facing that our noble leader, Celestia, hasn’t been able to raise the sun today. But the important thing right now is to remain calm.”
“A plan,” somepony cried out, “we’ve got to have a plan.”
Miss Mare stamped again to hush the newfound bickering to another murmur.
“For the time being, I’ve sent one of our postal pegasi off to Canterlot, to get news on the situation fast as they can. We’ll know what’s going on as soon as she gets back!”
“Wish I was up sooner,” came a voice, drawing Applejack and Luna away from the heat of the growing crowd. “I’m definitely way faster than whoever they sent.” She landed next to them, softly, with a yawn.
“Dash? You’re up mighty early.”
“Ha, funny, AJ.” Rainbow glared at her, but tried to move on. “It’s supposed to be my day off from storm guard duty, so yeah,” she said, rolling her eyes, failing to move on. “I was gonna sleep in. Anyway, all this fuss kinda woke me up. Hey, by the way, Louise. Nice to see ya again.” She smiled.
“Oh, hello, Rainbow.” Luna almost forgot to respond to that name.
“What are we supposed to do until then?” cried a mare at Mare.
“Everypony please, remain calm.”
Mayor Mare’s stamps were not enough this time. The crowd clamored on. Inquiries came in like a tidal wave, crashing against her about protection, supplies, and monsters lurking in this newfound darkness.
Luna stepped forth, inserting herself into the middle of the crowd, ignoring the confused protests of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. A couple incantations, and magic sparked off her horn. She took a deep breath.
“Siiiiiiiiiiileeeeeeeeeeeeence!”
Deafened by the minor projecting spell, all eyes flew to her. Nearby, any ponies still asleep leaned out windows and doorways at last. Luna sighed.
“Give your leader a moment to propose the plan you demand she offer. In troubled times like this, panic leads to chaos, and from chaos, destruction is born. Calmer minds prevail, so we must breathe, and stick together.”
The clamor died down to whispers and mutterance. The mayor seized her opportunity with an “Ahem.”
“I’ve lived in Ponyville all my life. I understand your concerns about safety, but our humble town has no walls because we’ve never needed them, for lack of bandits and brigands. So for the time being, all concerned ponies may gather friends and family in the town square, where barricades will be erected and defended by our city guards. Tents from yesterday’s festivities will be set up again for temporary shelter. Mares, foals, and the infirmed will be kept in the walls of town hall. I’ve already sent scouts to take stock on our grain and water stores, and gather volunteers for defenses if needed. Alright, everypony, let’s move!”
Thunder spread out from hooves hammering the cement in every other direction as ponies hurried home to gather sleeping friends, family, and whatever supplies they could carry. Various deputies rushed in and out of town hall with said tents, while others still ran through the city streets with bells to alert those still unaware. And above the dispersing storm of dozens of separate stampedes, the mayor locked this stranger in place from over the top of her nose with a tiny smirk.
“You have my thanks, miss. Whoever you are.” Mayor Mare went to greet her from a more common ground. The solid possibility of simply jumping down from her stage crossed her mind, but her old knees balked at the very notion.
“It was the very least I could do, I assure you.” Luna made sure her hood stayed right where it was, peering past the hem as miss Mare held a rather dignified air all the way down the steps along the side of the platform.
“I know all my citizens, but I don’t know you.” Shrewd seeming at first, she held out her hoof. “I’m mayor Mare. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, stranger.”
“Louise Moonshadow,” Luna told her, lying. They shook hooves as AJ and Rainbow caught up to flank her.
“Wow,” Rainbow mused, “I haven’t seen this side of you, Louise.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” AJ muttered dryly.
“Well,” Luna told Rainbow as Louise, quickly brushing past Applejack’s snide little comment, “sometimes you just have to step in and help a situation. Even if it means shouting at it, you know?” She poked her cheek and stuck out her tongue. Pinkie Pie had done this, after delivering a punchline at one point. It got a chuckle from Rainbow, while Mare and AJ stared rather blankly, but she decided it was victory enough.
“If there’s nothing else you needed,” Mare announced, monotonic.
“Oh,” Applejack replied, pushing forward, taking off her hat to bow her head. “Mayor Mare, we know you’re awful busy with everything, but my pal Louise and I had a rather pressing question for ya. Ain’t that right, Louise?”
“Right,” agreed Luna, leaving Rainbow completely in the dark, now figuratively as well as literally. “We need to know if you have any older maps of the local countryside surrounding Ponyville. I have reason to believe the ancestral home of Equestria’s own Luna and Celestia is relatively nearby, I’m just not sure where.”
“Now is not exactly the best time for an historical dig, you understand.” Her head fell back and she screwed up her face at Luna, quirking one brow.
“I-it’s just, I think it could house artifacts pertaining to the current, um, ahem.” Luna gestured at the lack of sunlight. “The predicament we’re in?”
“And how do you know about all this, miss Moonshadow? Are you a scholar?” Mare leveled her gaze and adjusted her pointed glasses. The chain dangling from their corners rattled.
“Y-yes,” Luna lied, wearing the face of a liar, with details that were themselves lies.
“Huh,” noted Rainbow, “I would’ve guessed astronomy or something, given the cutie mark.”
“Ha,” Luna fake-laughed, “yeah, I get that a lot.”
“Afraid I can’t help you, Louise,” Mare interjected, shaking her head. “All the records kept in town hall are about Ponyville itself. Any maps, however old, are all going to be about the land allocation, building layouts, street designation, that sort of thing.”
Luna and Applejack thanked her anyway and made to leave and take Rainbow with them. But mayor Mare called back to them before they could get more than a step away and start discussing fallback plans.
“However, come to think of it, there is that dusty old library I still haven’t found a keeper for.” From around her neck, Mare retrieved a ring of many keys rolling on a sturdy chain of gold. She ran a silvery key all the way around the ring, passing it off to Luna directly. “Louise, you’re one I think I can really trust. You take this, and you search that library. I can’t say for certain you’ll find all you’re looking for there, but if it’s anywhere, it’ll be there.” She sent them off with a wink. “Good luck!”
“Somepony want to fill me in, here?” Rainbow Dash, though unclear on what Luna knew about the sun not rising, followed nevertheless.
“We’re headin’ to the library. Or weren’t you paying no dang attention, girl?”
The trio rounded a corner, picking back up to a trot after the slow down.
“Ok, first of all, AJ, it’s ‘weren’t you paying any attention?’ Second, whoa look out.”
A narrow pass was made all the slimmer by a few parked carts. Rather than falling into a line to dart between them, Dash hopped into the air, flying overhead. She sped up, sailing directly over Applejack to continue arguing with her.
“Second, yeah, I caught the bit about the library. I was there too. What I’m asking here is uh, ya know, how it is we’re going to solve our sun problem by heading to a library that hasn’t been open for a month to look at some musty old maps of the green hillsides out past the suburbs!”
“Fluttershy,” said Applejack.
“Fluttershy?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow?” asked Fluttershy.
The two fliers promptly collided in the air, careening everything but gracefully into some hedges. Out of said hedges flew a couple pigeons, a few crows, and one very confused flamingo.
“Wait,” Fluttershy pleaded, trying to disentangle herself from leafy branches and one sky blue pegasus. “C-come back. Oh. Ow.” She flopped over on the ground, rolling onto her side to stretch out her wings and rub her back. “How am I going to protect all the nearby critters from down here?”
“Oof.” Rainbow Dash fell down beside her.
“Oh! Hello, Rainbow. Fancy meeting you here. Heheh.” She propped up on one hoof.
Rainbow picked herself up, then Fluttershy. “You’re adorable and all, Fluttershy. But that was a terrible crash. And I don’t crash.” She crossed her hooves as AJ and Louise caught up.
“Awful sorry,” Applejack told them, dusting off Fluttershy. “Tried to warn ya, but I guess I wasn’t quite fast enough.”
“Hi, AJ, it’s ok. Hello to you too, Louise. Nice to see you again.”
“Right?” affirmed Rainbow, cozying up to her again. “It is really nice to see her again, isn’t it? Oh, Flutters, you shoulda seen it. A few minutes back, she calmed this entire crowd by shouting at them, and, oh wait right, what’re you doing out here?”
“That’s right,” mewled Fluttershy, covering her concerned little mouth with her hoof. “The sun hasn’t risen this morning, and it’s, well, um, kind of freaking me out. I wanted to gather all the nearby fauna and keep them safe in my cottage just outside of town.” Fluttershy stumbled as they walked along, wincing with worry.
“Ah, I’ve got you.” Luna hunched down to catch her on her shoulder, hoisting her onto her back. “Why don’t you let me do the walking for the both of us? That was quite a spill.”
“Gosh, thank you, tall friend, heheh.” Fluttershy adjusted her legs, hoping to keep both of them comfortable as possible.
“Think nothing of it. Rainbow, what about you? You alright to walk for now?” Luna craned her head around to look behind them.
“Oh,” groaned Dash, hopping off Applejack’s shoulder to hide a limp, “y-yeah. Totally. For sure.” She already started huffing and puffing to keep pace, mentally begging the leader to turn back the other way. Which she finally did.
“AJ, there’s a fork in the path, which way?”
“Hang a left, and we’ll be there in five minutes.”
That’s when another group came from the right. Two stallions and a mare. The stallions were a bit bulkier, and weighed down with simple chainmail hauberks that rattled as they walked. Their shins, shoulders, and collars were held in place with metal plates. And on their heads they wore simple conical helmets for charging.
The mare however, was a unicorn in some sort of regalia. She wore a red coat with gold fastens, and black leather boots with tight laced chords for marching and hiking great distance. Atop her purple mane pulled back in so many perfect ringlets was nary a helmet, but a wide black hat with one brim folded on her left, in which sat two ostrich feathers dyed red and purple. And on her right side, most peculiar of all, hung a long and narrow sword with a swirling swept hilt to protect one’s hand.
Only, she had no hand, but hooves like any other pony.
“The clamor came from over that way, my lady.” One of the two guards pointed down the path they’d just come from for his officer.
“Just a moment, boys. Mayhaps this lot has seen where the trouble lies.” She bid her guards on to intercede Luna and the others. “I say, you there.”
“Good evening,” said the other guard as the two stepped up, blocking the view of their officer, shrewdly taking in the sight of them from under the brim of her hat. “Sorry to bother you folk, but we heard some kind of crash over that way just a moment ago, and wondered if you might’ve seen what happened?”
“Oh, dear, this is, well it’s so embarrassing.” Fluttershy yanked on Luna’s hood to hide her face.
“Aw, Fluttershy. It’s quite alright, accidents happen.” Luna returned her view to the curious guard, solemnly, hair now free from said hood to loosely tumble to one side. “You must forgive her, please. She’s a little mortified because that crash was her and her friend, Rainbow Dash.”
“I don’t crash,” cried Dash from the side, perking Luna’s ears quite a bit. “I’m the best flier in Equestria, ya hear?” She drew Luna’s gaze, fumes seemingly steaming off her reddening face, presenting a pout to end all pouts. “I do not crash.”
The two guard observed one another out of the most suspicious corners of their respective eyes. They pressed a little harder, before Luna could puzzle out a response to the bruised ego.
“You gals are being just a might bit shifty, if ya don’t mind my saying so.”
“Yeah, was there a crash, or wasn’t there?”
Rainbow didn’t get the opportunity to deny it any further; an incredibly haughty cackle put her to shame and silence all at once. The guards’ officer seemed to have gone completely manic. She parted the two of them, who dutifully stepped aside as she came forth. And as she arrived, she released a long, contented sigh of delight, pleasure, and above all, amusement.
“Afraid the story checks out, boys. The only thing Rainbow Dash has a harder time swallowing than sour tart is her own stubborn pride. Isn’t that right, my dear?” Rarity finally tipped her hat skyward, revealing the regal geodes she called eyes.
Surprise only struck three of the four fillies, however.
“Hey, Rare,” Applejack said, leaning to one side and smirking. “Nice outfit.”
“AJ, darling, look!” Rarity struck a pose, tall and imposing as she could. She was not very much of either of those things. “I’m in the volunteer militia,” she said, boldly. “I aim to keep Ponyville safe from whatsoever lurks in this mysterious and magical darkness!”
“Yeah, ok, that’s nice. We need you instead though, so…” AJ pulled her head to one side, already taking the first steps along the break in the path. “C’mon now.”
“Oh. Alright then.” She went to join her friends, but turned in place. “Sorry I won’t be joining you after all, boys. Take care, Stoneheart. You too, Horace.”
“Shoot, I was looking forward to the company on our morning rounds,” lamented one; if this one was Stoneheart or Horace, Rarity’s friends knew not. They also didn’t care, already moving on down the break in the path.
“It was a pleasure all the same, miss Rarity. Good hunting out there.”
“Mm, yes, and you too. I shall be rather cross with you two if I can’t find either still in one piece after all this, mark my words. Ta ta for now.” Rarity swept her hat off her head, bowing so deeply she might whiff of the nearby rosebuds. “Oh, roses!” So she did, taking a deep breath and plucking the first bloom, prettily as she pleased, to pin on her lapel with a bobby. Then she cantered off on airy steps to rejoin her original troupe.
Rainbow gave her no greeting, utterly flustered.
“Hello, Rarity. I like your hat.” Fluttershy waved from Luna’s back, where it seemed she would remain until their arrival.
Officer Rarity thanked her kindly, but hurried to the front of the pack when Luna chimed in, eyeing her with a piercing red gaze over the shoulder, nary a hood to hide behind. Several questions were in order, from one party to the other. Applejack stayed with Rainbow in the back, though, doling out directions when needed.
“What of your sister?”
“Other guards I’ve befriended with my brief comradery escorted her to the square. I’m told that’s our defensive position if things take a turn for the worse. Not that I actually fret for that. Honestly, these guard ponies are so dramatic.”
Somewhere off in the back, the comedic stylings of the reunion tour one night only stand up duo, the Dashing Apple Power Hour, wickedly chided that last audacious comment to appease a very nonexistent crowd. Rarity paid no mind to snickering jocks, but let them have their little fun, all the same.
“I tell you, we’re all going to look rather silly for all the armor and barricades, if it all just turns out Celestia overslept or something.” Rarity sniffed her new rose again, looking out over the babbling stream they were now crossing, and wistfully so. “Even royalty is due one bad day, now and again.”
You’re telling me, Luna griped to herself.
The oh so merry quintet crested a hill. Rising above its zenith from below at the foot of the steady slope, the branches of a massive tree partially obstructed the horizon, upon which still sat no sun. Moonlight filtered through the waving leaves like the sun to a murky lakebed, washing the wooden planks affixed to it here and there in a very dull glow. From the rear guard, it was announced: this was it. And not a light shone through any of the windows, their panes already accruing a fine layer of dust.
“The library is built into a hollowed greatwood?”
“So now it’s your turn, darling,” demanded Rarity as Luna turned the key with a heavy click.
In strode the party, wrinkling up their noses at the faint must of air beginning to stagnate. Rarity and Luna launched a couple orbs of magic into a few corners to light the way, as the other girls set to pushing open a few windows here and there, in hopes of a few fresh breezes.
“What exactly is it, might I ask, we’re doing here?”
“That’s what I was saying earlier,” chimed in Dash.
“We went over that, Rainbow,” scolded AJ. “You were there when we talked to the mayor. Same as me and Lu-”
“Yeah ok I got that part,” Rainbow interrupted, her hoof inadvertently stopping one accidental confession when pressed hastily to Applejack’s word hole. “Locate castle because artifact, sun rise again, yadda yadda. What I’m asking is A), how does Louise know so much about all this?” From AJ’s mouth, she pointed her hoof, as if accusing her of something.
“Oh, well, you know.” Luna kicked a dust bunny aside. “I’ve read books,” she said, like a liar.
“Astrologist, and a history buff, eh? Quite the scholar you are, Louise.” Rarity nodded.
“Yeah,” concurred Fluttershy, resting on the nearby stairs, “you must have read a lot of books.”
“Yes.” Luna spat the next lie out quick, desperate to move on.
“Ok. Two.”
“B,” corrected Applejack.
“B.”
“Or not to be,” broke in Rarity, for no real rhyme or reason, “that is the question.” She stared around the room at all the eyes staring back. “Aw come now, nopony at all?”
“Naw,” imparted Applejack, tight-mouthed. “We got it, hon. It was just a bit obvious of a reference is all, ya know?” She twiddled her hooves together as she watched Rarity puff up.
“I’ve no idea whether to be impressed or offended that my Applejack just told me my playful reference to classical theater was too obvious to be enjoyed.”
In a huff, Rarity grew even more offended as Applejack informed her that the Bard’s work was actually considered by many at the time to be bawdy, lowbrow comedy. Rarity brought up the possibility of juvenoia, while also suggesting a certain amount of elitism amongst art critics of the period, preventing them from enjoying a good thing simply because “the unwashed masses of plebian serfs” happened to like it. Rainbow stared on in utter dismay, but could not allow Applejack to further concede a certain amount of classism affecting the social standing of historical work within the context of the past.
“Rah!” she screeched, leaping between the two ponies suddenly become philosophical art historians. “Enough! My second question was just gonna be about what gosh darned artifacts Louise was even looking for, ugh.”
“Aw, Rainbow,” cooed Fluttershy, softly setting down beside her to pat her back. “I’m sure our friends didn’t mean to leave you behind in their discourse over classic plays.”
“Wha, no. I’m mad I got interrupted, again, and for two entire minutes over this old hat nerd talk. It was rude.” She crossed her hooves and sat back against the wall. “Also I never cared for the Bard, anyhow. Building your entire narrative to work in iambic pentameter is like building a house out of waffles; it’s impressive, sure. But that doesn’t make it a sound structure to work with, especially for longer periods of time.”
They all just sort of gawked at her for a moment. She, however, grumpily pondered at the dimly lit ceiling. “Yo, Louise? You wanna answer me?”
Luna already had several books splayed out on a table in the corner. When a few skimmed pages of one failed to provide the answer sought, her hoof pushed it aside to scrape another one near. And on she went, flipping papers, eyes peeled to hone in on certain keywords, deaf to the growling and grinding teeth and Fluttershy trying to calm her riled up pegasus friend.
None could ignore the sudden squeak though. In through the door they’d very carelessly left hanging open bounced a red rubber ball. It held all attention on it, as it rolled to a steady stop a few feet in. But all of them looked up at the empty doorway as the sound of desperate chasing hoofsteps followed after it down the hillside path. Applejack, being the closest to the very open door, tensed every muscle in all four legs. Her hoof twitched in place on the floorboard. Should she close it?
Poofy, bouncy, airy magenta hair entered the frame before the pony.
“Aw where’d it go?” she asked as the others breathed a synchronized sigh of relief. “Oh! Hey, gals, it’s me. Pinkie Pie!”
It was Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie explained that as she rushed around town, trying to figure out what was going on, her rubber clown nose slipped from her person, rolling down the above hill, bouncing into the library through the open door.
“Yeah, that tracks,” remarked Applejack.
They caught her up to speed, she complimented Luna’s so called scholarly pursuits, and Rainbow took control again. So Luna finally relinquished; “The Elements of Harmony, Rainbow.” She rubbed her temple. “That’s what I’m looking for. Even after the regal sisters abandoned their ancestral home, which I hypothesize to be nearby, Celestia and Luna kept them hidden away in the old castle in secrecy. In hopes that nopony would ever be able to find them and use them against Equestria.”
“Well, ok, but you have to admit, that’s a lot of highly specific information. You got some names to those sources?”
“Rainbow,” rasped Luna, slowly cantering over to her, watched uneasily in doing so by the others. “I’m begging you. I will drop to my knees.” Her cloak fluttered after her as she did just that. Acute dust settled in a tiny thin ring around. Their eyes locked in the pale moon’s light. “I want to fix this, I want the sun to rise on Equestria once more. I promise you, I promise each of you, to tell you everything I know, why I know it, and all very soon. Honestly. But for right now, I am begging for your trust in me. Please.”
Teeth clamped down on Dash’s waivering lip as her quivering brows quirked, so wayward was this unicorn she’d known all of a day. These were all forces beyond her control, and her new friend knew so much of what she was talking about, or so it seemed. Choices were limited.
“Ok. Stand up, Louise. I trust you, alright? I don’t know how to fix the sun, but you seem to have some kind of idea.” She hoisted Luna back to her hooves. “So just point me in the right direction.”
“Could it be in this book here?” Pinkie Pie thrust the tome between them. “Equestrian Folklore. It was filed under E! Though I didn’t see any with ‘element’ in the title.”
“Well, perhaps if it has a section on the elements.” Luna gave her a little smile of encouragement as she flipped through the pages. She didn’t expect anything, and started to move past her.
“It does!”
It did.
The nearest table sufficed, as all six gathered around to pore over the pages. This was their first clue, and their eyes drank in the words like parched fish. But instead of a foreword of the section, concerning the actual origin of the elements themselves, it began with an old mare’s yarn, spun a thousand times to foals by the light of a fireside or wood burning stove.
Rarity sidled up next to Luna, and began to recite:
“ONCE upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria…”
Luna protested with false intentions. “Can we skip this part?”
“Aw, but I love a good story. Here, I can get us past it really fast.” Pinkie Pie squeezed in, taking over the monologue. Luna could not stop her once she got started.
“There were two regal sisters, who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies.”
Luna’s breathing became uneasy.
“But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.”
Her ears folded back and her knees began to shake. Her eyes felt weary.
“She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon.”
No, no, no, please make it stop. The knot in her stomach grew more and more taut.
“The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon. And harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.”
With all eyes on the page, not one of them could’ve missed the soft plop of one tear, and then another. Hanging, uncertain jaws gawked all around, all of them deathly silent. The only interruption in the hush was another couple drops running off onto the words, blurring them like Luna wished she could. She drew an unsteady breath through flaring nostrils, staring down at the increasingly hazy story. Her brow furrowed, her teeth clenched, and she hated herself so very, very much right now.
And right about here, Applejack gulped, deeply regretting letting her curiosity get the better of her.
“You stupid girl. Let your envy get the better of you.” Sniff.
“Um. Louise? Are you alright?” Fluttershy winced as Luna answered with a raucous, facetious guffaw.
“Ha! Ha, ha. I’m fine.” Sniffle. One hoof dragged like a slug across her cheek, leaving a smearing of tears like a its slimy trail. “But I’ve had enough of this fairy tale for foals.” The book went flying, arcing for the ground.
Rainbow Dash yanked Fluttershy, dodging the errant literature for the two of them. She snorted in Luna’s direction. “Hey watch it! What is your problem?”
As she tried to move in, though, Luna slammed the table. “The horrible, evil sister got what she deserved, didn’t she?”
Wide, confused eyes got all the wider around her, swiveling to meet one another then going back again. Applejack made to intervene, but she pushed away from the table. Rarity easily stepped aside, frowning all the while.
“I just… I need some air. Alone!”
Each hoofstep was deafeningly heavy on the thick wooden floor. And yet, held high as her head may have been, it sank. Tightening eyes wrung more tears still, and her head bobbed with a choked little hiccup.
“Stupid girl,” she said again, her shoulders bouncing with a sob. Through the tears, she couldn’t count the steps at the entrance, and neither could she remember. One hoof slipped over the edge of the second step, and she tumbled forth the rest of the way with a yelp.
There Luna lied, choking up with a now further shattered confidence. She stayed on her side in the dirt, where she felt she belonged. The moon on high taunted her with this incessant glow, now a constant reminder of her failings and imperfection and rage. A faulty princess, fallen from grace, crying on the ground.
As above her, in the doorframe, appeared five worried faces, she paid them no mind. They retreated into the shadows of the old library, to chatter amongst themselves. She loosely picked up one word in three, not bothering to ponder respective source.
“... alright?”
“... gotta…”
“... cried…”
“... princess?”
“... really?”
“... really.”
Idle back and forth went on within as a pair of pink manes flanked her on either side. They pushed and pulled respectively, until she sat vaguely upright. And limply, she didn’t stop them. There they sat, quiet for a few moments. But eventually and quite pensively, Pinkie Pie pulled Luna into a hug. Again, Luna didn’t fight back or push or pull or do really anything about it at all; she was there only physically.
“I feel so really dreadfully awful. You asked us not to read the story. But I went ahead and did it anyway.” She ran a brush through Luna’s fake hair. It reacted like the real thing well enough. “My parents always told me I was too excitable. That I tend to barrel on ahead without thinking things through. And it always causes trouble.” Now it was her turn to hiccup.
Luna rubbed her eyes and peered up. Pinkie was crying too. From the right, Fluttershy slid in closer, their sides getting warm together, and stretched her left wing like a soft blanket over her and Pinkie’s backs. She blinked away a few more drops, feeling rather cozy.
“And now,” Pinkie went on, “I’ve gone and hurt my newest, most bestest friend in all Equestria. I-I’m the real stupid girl, here, Luna. I’m so, so sorry.” She kissed her forehead and tried to dust off her cloak. A dense, all-encompassing pit opened up in Luna’s heart.
“Oh dear, Pinkie, no. No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” She sat up to look her in the eye. “I’m sorry to all you girls. For lying to you all. For shouting.” Turning to Fluttershy, she gently swept some of those silky pink strands aside. Beneath were uncertain teal gems glimmering back at her. “And I am really, really sorry about the book.”
“It’s alright. We kind of made you relive something that must’ve been pretty traumatic for you.” Fluttershy took hold of that hoof as it fled her, Luna sucking in the air through her teeth. “I am honestly a little hurt you took it out on us, but I guess this has all been pretty hard for you.” Oh so tenderly, she pat Luna’s hoof. “Do you want to talk about it? Who knows, it might make you feel a little better to get it all out.” She considered the moon, and the lack of a mare’s profile. “You don’t have to, though. If you don’t want to. Ok?”
What little Fluttershy had to offer her up, she gave in a most cordial little look. Luna took a deep, long breath, and let it out.
“I messed up,” she blurted. “You know? I really, truly made a complete mess of things. I hurt a lot of ponies, some of whom I did care about at the time. Most of all, my sister. I loved her so very dearly, really I did.” With a sigh, Luna looked out over the horizon, noting right about where the sun ought to be by now.
“But,” she went on, “I also envied her deeply. She was the more beautiful elder sister everyone else seemed to adore so much more. I wanted to feel that too, that much in the story is true.” Her view drifted back along the dirt. “So I struck a deal with an otherworldly denizen, and became a monster. It all fell apart from there. One night, I… I confronted Celestia.”
Concerned, but hanging onto every word, Fluttershy and Pinkie urged her on. “What happened,” they pleaded, “what did you do?”
“At first, she told me I was being completely silly, you know. ‘Come now, little sister. Of course everypony loves you as they love me. They just… show it in different ways. If nothing else, I love you. I love you very much.’ And well,” Luna chuckled dryly, “that just heated my rage to a frothing boil.” Luna threw her hooves out, miming a shove. “So I shoved her over a balcony.”
“But she can fly,” posited Pinkie.
Luna grimaced. “I sort of broke the stone railing on said balcony when I did.”
“Oh. I see.”
“We fought. Briefly. As Nightmare Moon, I was stronger. Hence why she couldn’t overpower me and raise the sun the next day, you see. Anyway, in our altercation, well, um, I sort of left her battered and bruised under a broken statue of the two of us.” This part was a little hard to swallow. “For emphasis, I may have set her stone head before her, and, well, crushed it.”
“Yeesh.”
“Yikes.”
“Yeah. It was pretty bad. Anyway, she teleported to our old castle, to retrieve the Elements. The next day, barely able to stand, for the broken bones, she tried to reason with me again.” She shuddered. “I-I told her I was about to kill her… so, out came the Elements of Harmony, and the rest is history.” The words hung on the air like an utter lack of breeze, defiant in their finality; their very weight seemed to press down on Luna, dense and suffocating, silencing her. Slowly though, she blinked, and kept on breathing anyway. That was that.
“And how do you feel? Right now? About it all?” Fluttershy pulled in her two friends under her wing, squeezing them harder.
“A completely uncertain amount of time whirled past me in a world that left me behind, like watching the living area in your home over a thousand days in the span of a minute through a filthy window. And now it’s a historical hoofnote in the form of a foal’s tale meant to teach them how to behave themselves.” She scuffed the ground, pulling at her cheek with the other hoof. “That upsets me. Quite a lot, actually. But I guess it’s only fitting” she relented. “As I regret everything I’d done as Nightmare.”
Luna’s newfound friends squeezed her even tighter. “That is understandable,” agreed Fluttershy.
“That dumb story doesn’t matter!” Pinkie Pie pulled on Luna’s chin. “You’ve apologized and suffered enough!”
The two more gangly and timid of this trio looked at her, unsure of how to respond. “Pinkie?”
“The past is in the past, Luna. It can’t hurt you because I’m not going to let it. This is my promise to you, as your new best friend. Understand?”
“I’m… yes, I think I really do.” Luna finally smiled again. “Thank you so much. I’m thankful for all of you. For everything.” She threw a hoof over each of them.
“Ok good, because I smelled the biscuits in your saddle bag, and I’m really hungry.” Pinkie smiled so pleadingly, she practically squeaked. And Luna couldn’t help but snicker.
“Alright then.” From her pack, she produced a portion of the rations she’d divied up with Applejack, offering Fluttershy to take of it as well.
Disguiseless, Luna rejoined the others in the library. In tow she brought along Pinkie and Fluttershy, who cheerily munched on leftover biscuits and boiled peanuts respectively. Applejack had already told the others, as she suspected, so her navy coat and teal eyes that shimmered like a tropical bay, well, they came as no surprise.
Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash tepidly removed their snouts from the various books they’d been skimming, still in search of Luna’s answer. The hush between them went on as they silently wondered who among them would go first. And Rainbow, never one for second place, put her best hoof forward.
“Look, Luna is it? I just wanna say, for what it’s worth, I get it. I totally understand what it’s like, wanting to be the best. I also get carried away in my competitive nature, sometimes. So. Yeah.” She avoided eye contact the best she could, the entire time. “I’m still with you.”
“Thank you, Rainbow. That really means a lot to me.” To Luna’s surprise, Rainbow gave her a hug. A very quick one, of course, zooming back over to find another book to search. She appreciated it all the same. Next up, sashayed Rarity. She flicked at the crimson chord dangling round Luna’s throat from the cloak.
“This is a travesty. Now it doesn’t match!”
“Rarity!” Applejack said no more. She didn’t need to, as her look alone scolded like a thousand disapproving parents.
“Right,” Rarity lamented, “not the point. But listen, darling. You came to me a pauper, and now here you are a princess. But believe you me, I’d have still made a cloak to warm your nights all the same. Status aside, you were in need, and we’re all friends here.” She came around for a side hug, patting Luna’s shoulder. “Do me a favor, though, love? Next time, pose in your true colors, would you? Good color play is key to fashion.”
“Heh. Can do, Rarity.”
Applejack took her hat off. “I know it wasn’t my secret to reveal, but I figured only the honest to goodness truth could explain the waterworks. Besides, doesn’t it feel better now, being out in the open?”
“It actually does. And you’re all my friends, you deserved to know. I can’t thank all of you enough for your love and support. What are you-oh, no, it’s fine we don’t have to-”
Luna wheezed ever so slightly as four ponies gathered around her, warmly squeezing her. Then a fifth, Rainbow reluctantly joining the group hug at the nodding behest of Pinkie Pie. Between wings and hooves, Luna stretched out as much as she could to hold them each in return. Cozily, the moment stayed. Luna elicited a few giggles as she took advantage of being the tallest, craning her head about to kiss every forehead or cheek she could reach.
“Right!” Applejack clicked her hooves together, as if to adjourn the love. “We all love each other, it’s beautiful, but there’s still a castle to find.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow shouted after her.
They all ambled off in different directions, to fumble through yet more shelves for any information. Pinkie took Luna by the hoof and brought her over to the table they’d gathered around. Upon it, she very apologetically replaced the book from which she’d read, hurting her so. Luna smiled at her with an “It’s ok,” trying to move on. That’s when she spotted the pages the book had landed upon when thrown.
“Girls!” she gasped. “Come look.”
Sure enough, it was a map of the Everfree, the very forest Luna had originally dropped into when falling back to Equestria. Within the mass of fading green ink, a section was sanctioned off by a black circle, scratched into the very paper it seemed. Here, explained the blurb, in this general area of these now old and haunted woods, it was believed, Celestia and Luna grew up in a mossy castle of ancient stones.
Applejack unrolled her map of local countryside, and between the six of them, they coordinated a recreation. And that, they announced proudly, was where to look. Each of three fliers was assigned a non-flyer to carry. Climbing up and over wall and tree alike was the fastest way possible. Luna took Pinkie, Rainbow took Applejack, and Fluttershy took Rarity.
Wings flayed out, and the trio of duos took to the skies.
As the trees rushed by below, so close she could reach down to feel leaves wash underhoof like solid green waves of ocean blue, Applejack figured it might be now roughly about nine or ten in the morning. It seemed her promise to little sister about being back in time for lunch was definitely not going to come through.
Under any other circumstance, the cool night air, the cloudless sky, the positively romantic warm glow of full moon’s light, it all would have been so pleasant. Being an early riser, Applejack didn’t see too many nights like this. It was almost nice enough to make her forget about it all; the planting and tilling back home, the fact her new friend was the lost princess from ages ago, and that Equestria was due a cold, slow demise without the rising sun.
Yeah. It was almost pretty nice.
“Yo, AJ, come on back down to Equestria with me, huh?” Rainbow Dash swooped to skim a few of the trees in the Everfree.
“Whoa, take her easy, Dash. I’m here, ok? Just thinkin’ about some things.”
“Yeah?” She put a little distance between themselves and the pack. Out front, their conversation wouldn’t be picked up by the others. “Like what?”
“Well, I mean, it’s crazy right? Pinkie Pie befriends this soft spoken unicorn. Then boom, it turns out she’s a myth come to life, a princess no less, and now we’re rushing off in some potentially dangerous magical quest to save the land. Doesn’t any of that bother you? Not even a little?”
“I think it’s exciting.” Rainbow fluttered her wings, then spread them out wide, sailing along in a smooth little glide, slowly inching treeward. “But hey, I get it. One fancy pony in your life was already enough to drive you mad, now here’s an even fancier one.”
Not that Rainbow could see it, but Applejack curled up her lip as far back as it could twist. “Ugh, kh, psh,” she scoffed, sputtering. “Grow up, Dash. It is definitely not like that.” Rainbow Dash went wild with laughter underneath her, picking up the pace again as she began to skim leaves.
“Oh, I wish I could see your face.” She turned about best as she could, trying desperately to catch a glimpse, giggling all the while.
“Eyes up front, girl. You tryin’ to crash again?”
Rainbow started to say something. It was going to be some smart quip or other. But all that came out was “oof,” cutting off her playful laugh. A dark figure had launched upright out of the wood, hammering her in the gut. All forward momentum halted in the blink of an eye, and Rainbow sailed upward involuntarily, sending Applejack lurching over her friend’s shoulder, tumbling, disappearing into the billowing sea of leaves.
Luna and Fluttershy came to a stop, hovering in shock as they watched Dash spinning up through the air, desperate to regain control after the ambush. And there, landing gently across the top of the rolling, watery surface of leaves, it was her: Nightmare Moon, flashing a toothy, satisfied grin.
“Two down,” she teased. Somewhere off behind her, Rainbow descended in an uneasy, spiraling glide, clutching her stomach, in tears.
“I can’t fight her,” Luna announced with a weak voice, already sinking out of the air as her body froze.
“Not while carrying me,” Pinkie convinced her, hopping off when a sturdy enough branch came within jumping distance. “I’ll go check on AJ! You’ve got this!”
“You take her head on,” Rarity shouted, “distract her.”
“I’m n-nervous, Rarity,” Fluttershy told her rider, shaking.
“Oh yes, I know, dear. Me too. You don’t have to fight if you’re scared. Let’s sail above her, far out of harm’s way. Luna’s the real powerhouse here, no doubt. But I’m certain if we work together, we can take her.” She held on tight as Fluttershy reluctantly climbed, smiling nervously, but smiling all the same.
Lights beamed into existence across the way, tightening all of Luna’s muscles. She scanned the nearby landscape, frantic for something, anything she could use. Her darting eyes found a boulder of decent size, and a dull blue glow from her horn latched onto it. As she twirled her head about, all her hair falling to one side, it rocketed up just in time to catch the entire volley of magic missiles. The boulder turned to pebbles before it could even start falling back to the earth.
Branches all around her bowed in reverence, though from a stiff breeze, or the sheer force with which Luna took off, it was unclear. No more, it was decided. No more hiding or fleeing from this problem in her life. Watching friends at risk all over again was simply too much. It was time to face her demons.
Horn first!
Moon had started to say something, probably about finally getting the fight she expected. But Luna had arrived too fast, cutting her short as she braced and leaned her head a little to the left. That piercing horn scraped the gorget of her blue-enameled armor, saving her neck for now. What it didn’t protect though was all the air in her escaping as the two zoomed off in the other direction.
Luna curled herself up, tucking her legs, and kicking Moon as they swooped by a perfectly nice tree. She destroyed it with the monster of her creation. And with her wings, she hit the air to spin herself in place, taking aim with her horn, to return the favor that had been meant for her friends. Her nightmare from before became reality, as her own slew of magic bolts went hurtling toward Nightmare.
More than half a dozen silver streaks slammed Moon as she tried to recover. Yet her armor yielded not a single dent while she became airborne once more on those leathery black wings; they were wings like that of a bat. Or rather, a dragon. Which was fitting enough, because a tiny red bolt from her horn set her jaws aglow upon approach.
Luna barely ducked away as the hot orange flames fanned out all around. She let herself fall between the branches as they set alight. A babbling stream nearby gave her just what she needed. When she shot it, a swirling whirlpool launched skyward to meet the would be forest fire, scaring it off with an angry hiss. The smoke impeded her vision somewhat, giving her little time to react as several moon-white bolts arced through at her.
She weaved through the trees, mindful of the cracking of splinters behind her as she breached the canopy once more, only to be greeted by a left hoof to the jaw. In this way, the elegant, magic royalty devolved into a braying scrap in the sky. It was little good though, as Moon’s armor was simply too durable for a head-to-head confrontation.
That’s about when two shards of ice big as javelins shattered across Moon’s back. And when she turned to face their origin, the unicorn and pegasus she’d forgotten about sat some ten yards above her. Luna took this opportunity to leave melee range, nursing a stinging sensation above her brow.
Moon was not amused, waiting for the second volley. She spun in the air away from one javelin, then latched onto the next with her horn. With a violent, malicious flick of her head, the ice stake bolted right back at them. Fluttershy froze in place, before the cold point would even reach its target.
“Fluttershy?” Rarity shouted, but she was completely despondent. So she took matter into her own hooves. She squeezed Fluttershy tight, kicking her wings, and yanked to the side. The two of them tilted over, narrowly dodging the frozen projectile. But her grip wasn’t solid enough.
“Rarity, no!” Fluttershy panicked as she righted herself, following where her passenger had slipped over one side. She immediately began to sail after her, fast as she could.
Below the more delicate falling ponies, Moon hovered where she stayed, projecting a shield as Luna lashed at her newly enraged. She copied that little flame breath spell, yet the blaze quickly burned from a meager orange ember to white hot. Beads of sweat formed under the lifted visor of her helm while she defended against the heated fury.
“If I’m going down,” Rarity spouted, the wind whistling through her ringlets whipping behind her as she plummeted, “it’s with a fight!” Energy arced from her horn to the handle of her elegant thrusting sword, azure as her eyes. The steel greeted the world with a flash. Rarity raised, then dipped her head, her hat flying off in the other direction as her sword followed the motions of the wielder.
Even though the sword tip smashed down onto Moon’s back like a hammer which meted metal over anvil, the crushing blow still merely dented her armor. As luck would have it though, the force of the blow made her reel, scraping the motion of the attack to one side and tearing into her right wing.
Nightmare Moon screeched into the night’s sky, echoing across canopy and canyon alike, tears welling up in her draconic eyes. With one solid lash of her remaining wing, she spiraled off in the other direction, narrowly avoiding being landed upon by attacker as well as weapon. Rarity zoomed past her, mid twist, followed by a few errant rose petals. She managed a glide, barely, falling to meet ground faster than desired.
In a fraction of the second she had, Luna decided it was best to let her go, to address the falling unicorn problem. She scraped off treetops, rushing over the proverbial dark teal sea before her friend could drown beneath its waves lapping in the cold summer night winds. But she would not make it in time, nor would Fluttershy; Rarity was due for a dip. Mind racing, her horn sparked, ready for a spell, any spell at all that might save her.
A pale blue figure staggered through the leaves, meeting Rarity halfway, and the two of them briefly splashed between the trees. Gasps turned into sighs as the two breached again, unsteady as they were. It was none other than Rainbow Dash, wheezing and sinking.
“C’mon,” she huffed. “AJ and Pinkie are this way,” she puffed, nodding to beckon.
“I can’t believe that worked!” yelped Rarity, shaking like a twig in the wind in Rainbow’s grasp. “Oh my good golly gosh,” she gasped, latching onto Dash, “thank you so, so, so much Rainbow Dash.”
“Don’t hug,” hissed Rainbow. “Ribs hurt.”
“Ah! I’m so sorry!”
“I’m sorry too,” Fluttershy meekly said, flying alongside.
“There, there,” assured Rarity. “You did the best you could, darling. And we all came out alright. Hey, look at me. You did fine.”
“Y-yeah,” labored Rainbow in agreement. “I’m just sorry I didn’t see her coming. Otherwise I coulda definitely outflown her. Then we’d see who’s boss.” She coughed. “But you did great out there, ok, champ?”
“Ok. Thanks, you two.” Fluttershy seemed unconvinced, but moved on.
Luna followed, somewhat idly. She gazed to the North, the East, the West, and everything in between. Nightmare was gone, and where to, none could say. If nothing else, at the very least, they now knew the beast could be hurt.
When they landed in the small, circular clearing, this trio of freshly blooded combatants found Applejack hobbling back from drinking of the nearby stream. Apparently the water had a rather stony mineral taste she didn’t care for. “Bleh.” Pinkie helped her along.
“Applejack!” Rarity lept from a relieved Rainbow, dashing over to AJ. They embraced. “I thought you were gone. How’d you make the fall?”
Shaken from her tumble through the sky herself, AJ pointed up and over at a nearby tree. Her lasso was latched onto a higher branch, though tangled through a few lower ones. “I barely managed it, truth be told. Ugly landing, too.” Her gaze fell to a miniature crater, the impact doubtless created by falling back first, from which she was still quite winded. “Can somepony get m-my hat?”
Fluttershy rested the hat upon her head after plucking from a high up branch near the rope. The rope itself, she then set to disentangling. Rarity’s hat, however, was a completely different story. She told the others not to fret, though. Though it would be expensive and a tad difficult to replace, there were certainly more pressing matters at hand.
Such as “Luna, your head, it’s bleeding.” Pinkie Pie practically tossed Applejack aside, abandoning her for the newest, bestest friend in her life.
“My what now?” Rubbing with her shin, sure enough, resulted in a red smear. “Hm, must have happened when I had locked hooves with her.”
Skrrrrrrrrrt!
“Rarity? Your nice red coat.” Luna looked on, dismayed as Rarity’s telekinesis tore a long section off the coat.
“I can make another, but we need to staunch the flow.” She rushed in, hearing not another word as she wrapped it tight around Luna’s forehead. Taking stock, she tore and salvaged scraps off her coat to cover various scrapes and bruises, until she had not but remnants of red tassles, dangling off brass clasps and buttons, and one red rose. “I’m just glad nopony’s hurt any worse. Otherwise, I’d surely fall ill.” She grimaced, likely imagining the worst case scenario.
Applejack stowed the brass in her bag for her as Pinkie helped tie the makeshift bandages. The rose however, Rarity pinned behind Luna’s ear. Luna looked at her rather funnily at first, but she chuckled when the response she got back was a pleasant smile. “It suits you. Though, white roses would surely work better.”
All in all, her coat now covered Rainbow’s ribs, Luna’s forehead and left shoulder, and a few of Applejack’s knees. Rarity kept her boots on, though, as they were actually made for hiking. Which, it looked like that’d be what they were about to start doing from her on. She threw the harness for her scabbard back on and reconvened with the others.
“There’s no time to waste,” Luna announced after reconsulting the map. “She landed somewhere out ahead of us. And she’s hurt, but not dead yet. So let’s get going, and everypony keep your eyes out.” She rolled it away into her pack, snorting with newfound vigor. “No more ambushes.”