Dipper couldn’t help but feel disappointed as he stood upon Rarity’s modeling stand while the fashionista took his measurements. He’d thought the meeting he’d set up would lead the way to the downfall of Bill Cipher and a reunion with his beloved twin sister, or at least hold him off for a while. What he hadn’t realized, however, was that he’d planned the meeting the exact same day that Nightmare Night was on. Not only that, but Rainbow had been called in to do weather duty for tonight, and Applejack had to set up activities for the townsfolk to enjoy. So, he’d had to call the meeting off.
“I’m so terribly sorry that your meeting wasn’t able to happen… this Bill Cipher character sounds like he could cause absolute chaos on an unimaginable scale. I wholeheartedly agree that proactive action is required if Ponyville or even Equestria itself is to survive his impending arrival,” said Rarity as she used her magic to manipulate the tape measurer she was using.
“It’s no problem, but Bill ‘causing chaos on an unimaginable scale’ would be the understatement of the century,” said Dipper.
“Perhaps…” said Rarity under her breath.
Just then a young girl of around 13 walked in the door of the boutique. She had pink and lavender hair, green eyes, and wore a lavender zip-up hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, blue jeans, and lavender and white shoes.
"Ah Sweetie Belle, I thought you were out playing with Jack," said Rarity.
"I was, but then Pinkie found out that Jack ate all of the rainbow cakes at Sugarcube Corner again." The young girl stated, slightly terrified.
"I don't get it, what's so bad about eating all of Pinkie's cakes?" Dippers question was quickly answered by hearing Jack outside.
"Now now honey bun, let's not get hasty, heheheh...heheh...heeeeeeeh." Jack’s voice was filled with worry. Then came an animalistic growl. "OH GOD NO-AHHHH!!!" Rarity closed the blinds and locked the front door.
"That's what's bad about eating all of Pinkie's cakes."
Dipper looked over his shoulder to see a man around Rarity’s age with slicked back midnight purple hair and eyes wearing an unbuttoned black dress shirt with a white t-shirt underneath, blue jeans, and black boots."Oh don't worry she's not going to hurt him, she'll just punish him in her own way,” he added.
At the sight of the man, Rarity dropped what she was doing and leapt into his arms with a cry of, “MOON! YOU’RE BACK!”
“Oof! I missed you, too, Rares,” said Moon, staggering a bit from Rarity’s sudden pounce as he embraced her.
“How was your trip, Big Brother?” asked Sweetie Belle, who had a huge grin on her face.
“It was just smashing, little sister, just smashing,” said Moon, ruffling Sweetie Belle’s hair before turning his attention to Dipper. “Now, who might you be?”
Sweetie Belle turned towards Dipper and frowned. “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen you in town before. You new here?” she asked him.
“Yes, I am. My name’s Dipper Pines,” said Dipper, holding out his hand to shake.
“Moon Stone, I’m Rarity’s fiance and business partner,” said Moon, shaking Dipper’s hand.
“I’m Sweetie Belle, I’m a Crusader!” said Sweetie, shaking Dipper’s hand as well.
“Er… what do you mean by ‘Crusader’?” asked Dipper, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, it’s this club me and my friends Scootaloo and Apple Bloom started, where every chance we get, we go looking for adventure-” said Sweetie before Rarity chipped in.
“-and more often than not end up finding trouble that more often than I’d rather discuss results in injury and ruined dresswear. Now, run along, Sweetie, I’ve got to finish up with Dipper’s wardrobe. Poor thing wound up here while trying to escape a terrible creature that invades people’s dreams and wields chaotic power that exceeds Discord’s, and lost his sister in the process,” explained Rarity.
“Oh, poor guy…” said Sweetie and Moon in unison, before turning to each other, shouting “JINX!” and walking off, leaving Rarity to finish up with Dipper.
…
Dipper, who had his brown hair slicked back with his birthmark, or mark of power, prominently on display, and was clad in a baby blue dress shirt, black dress pants with a black leather belt, black dress shoes, and a black vampire-type cape tied together with a bolo tie with an emerald embedded in it, couldn’t help but smile as he watched Spike pace the floor back and forth.
"What's wrong Spike, you seem agitated."
"It's just Twilight always takes forever when it comes to these things, why can't any girl not take a full hour to get ready!?" Yelled the young teen as he threw his arms in the air.
As soon as he said this the upstairs door of the library opened, revealing Twilight in her costume. It appeared to be that of a wizard’s, complete with robes with bells around the cloak’s hem, a pointed hat, and a white beard that dangled off several inches from her face.
Spike and Dipper both raised an eyebrow at the sight of Twilight. “Are you that one crazy grandpa from Ponyville Retirement Village?” asked Spike.
“I was going to guess Professor Dumbledore,” said Dipper.
“Uh, no… I’m Star Swirl the Bearded,” said Twilight.
Both Dipper and Spike gave her blank looks.
“Father of the Anamorphic Spell?”
Spike and Dipper continued to stare at Twilight, causing the young sorceress to growl in frustration. “Spike, did you even READ that book I gave you about obscure Spellcaster history?” she asked her assistant.
Spike chuckled nervously under Twilight’s glare. A moment later, the library’s front doorbell rang. “Oh, that sounds important! I’d better go and answer it!” he said, dashing to the door and opening it, before jumping at the sight of monsters that Spike realized a split-second later were actually children in costumes.
“Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite!” sang the children as one.
Smiling, Spike grabbed a bowl of candy as Twilight came to the door. “Hey, everyone, great costumes!” she said, using her magic to give each of the three foals at the door a piece of candy.
With the children satisfied they all ran off to the next house, leaving Pinkie Pie who was dressed as a chicken behind.
"Hey Pinkie, where's Jack?" Twilight asked looking around.
"He ate all the rainbow cakes again, so he's not allowed out of the bakery until he makes me an even better batch. And we all know he'll never be able to make better cakes than me."
"Think again Hun." Jack appeared from behind Pinkie and gave her a peck on the cheek. He then reached behind and pulled out a tray of freshly baked rainbow cupcakes. Pinkie just gave him a smug look and lifted one of the cupcakes. When she took a bite out of it her eyes widened. She then proceeded to chow down on the treat her husband had made. "Soooooo?"
Pinkie rolled her eyes and patted him on the cheek. "Fine, you can join Nightmare Night now."
"Yay!"
With that Jack shot off to get his costume.
Dipper couldn’t help but smile. Pinkie and Jack would make a killing back in his dimension as a comedy routine. “Well, shall we?” he asked Twilight and Spike.
Twilight returned his smile, which, for some strange reason, made Dipper’s heart trip a beat or two. “We shall,” she said.
And with that, Dipper, Twilight, and Spike set out into the pumpkin and spiderweb decorated streets towards town square, where the mayor and city administrator were about to give a speech to the populace.
“Is this thing on?" asked what appeared to be a man clad in a purple suit and chalk white makeup with a dyed green mop of hair as he spoke into a microphone on a stage that had been set up recently.
A man next to him that had electric purple and white hair stood up and flipped the switch on the first ones microphone. He wore purple glasses that rested on the tip of his nose, a small purple beret, a purple cloak and a black suit. "Try switching the damn thing on next time, Simon I'm not always gonna be here to hold your hand the entire way." His voice was deep and smooth, his purple eyes caught sight of Dipper. "Oh, that must be the new arrival, come on mayor, let's go greet him."
Simon shrugged and followed his city administrator off the stage to greet Dipper. “Hello, there. Dipper, right?” asked Simon.
“Yeah?” said Dipper.
“My name’s Simon Sez, the mayor, this is my city administrator Shadow Strike,” said Simon, pointing at Shadow. “I just thought I’d come by and welcome you to Ponyville.”
“Uh, Simon, it’s time for the commencement speech,” said Shadow, pointing at the city clock.
“Good lord, you’re right. Well, gotta go, see ya around!” said Simon as he took to the stage to begin his speech. “Welcome to this year’s Nightmare Night festival, everybody! Mayor Simon Sez here…”
For what felt like hours, the mayor rambled on about this, that, and the other thing. As the speech ended Shadow turned to Dipper. "Mr. Pines, if you need anything you come talk to me, not the halfwit on the stage. Also, welcome to Ponyville." Shadow shook Dipper's hand and walked by Twilight. "Miss Sparkle, I should inform you that Princess Luna will be making an unscheduled visit tonight."
With a flap of his cloak Shadow disappeared, leaving Dipper and Twilight in awe.
“Who’s Princess Luna?” asked Dipper.
“She’s one of our land’s leaders. She’s in charge of lowering and raising the moon at night. Although, she’s a little behind the times owing to the fact that she’s been imprisoned in the moon for 1,000 years-” explained Twilight before a loud cry from Jack and Pinkie Pie cut her off.
“RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! IT’S NIGHTMARE MOON!!! SHE’S COMING TO EAT US ALL!!!” they yelled as a swarm of frightened children followed close behind them.
Dipper, Twilight, Spike, and many of the townspeople looked up in the sky to see a dark chariot being pulled by what appeared to be two thestrals. Sitting upon the seat of this chariot was a dark cloaked figure whose wicked face was briefly illuminated by the moonlight as it reflected off the surface of a mask.
As the chariot landed, the cloaked figure lowered her hood, revealing long flowing midnight blue hair. With a black gloved hand, she reached up and removed her mask, revealing herself to be a beautiful woman around the age of 20 with dark blue wings growing out of her back.
As the woman walked among the trembling townsfolk, her cloak flew off as a swarm of bats, and she was revealed to be wearing a dark blue military dress uniform with black leather heeled boots, a rapier at her side, and a black tiara upon her head.
“CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! WE HAVE GRACED YOUR CELEBRATION WITH OUR PRESENCE, SO THAT YOU MAY BEHOLD THE REAL PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!” yelled the woman as though she were speaking from one side of a football field to the other.
The Night Princess made numerous attempts at talking to the people that bowed before her, only to either have them run away screaming or just back away.
When Twilight tried to walk up to her Spike held her down and shook his head. Luna gave up on trying to socialize and stormed off down an empty street. Looking to Dipper, Twilight waved over to Flynn who wasn't in a costume and had only entered the area.
"What's going on here?" he asked as he reached Twilight.
"Princess Luna decided to pay a visit." explained Twilight. "Hey, where's Fluttershy?"
"She wouldn't come out of the cottage so I came here to get her some treats, poor girl is scared out of her mind."
"Hey, could you come with us and try to help Luna get more accustomed to modern life?" asked Twilight out of nowhere.
"Uh, sure. Let me just get a few things then I'll catch up with you."
...
Meanwhile, Luna had slowed her pace as she now walked down the long street. At the end of said street there was a clock tower with a shadowed figure standing at the top on the small point. Luna looked up and gasped as the figure was lit by the moon as a cloud moved out of the way, revealing Shadow standing there and looking down at the Night Princess.
'Help her and keep her safe, Shadow.' A voice spoke from the back of his mind.
"Yes, my master."
“SHADOW STRIKE! WHAT, PRAYTELL, ART THOU DOING UP THERE?!” yelled Princess Luna.
Shadow smirked and teleported down from his perch. “Hello, Luna. It’s been a long time,” he said with a gentle smile.
Luna nodded. “Far too long indeed… we haven’t seen hide nor hair of you since…” she said, before a depressed look crossed her face.
Shadow’s eyes looked down towards the ground. “You know you couldn’t have saved him if you tried, Luna… he always did talk about mapping the multiverse with that portal of his, but the truth is, he loved you more than anything else in the world,” he told Luna, who nodded.
“We know he did… but that doesn’t answer our question. What art thou doing here in Ponyville?” asked Luna.
“Well, I’m the city administrator, and I saw the trouble you were having fitting in, so I thought I’d come by and see if you needed any help,” explained Shadow.
“Great minds must think alike.”
Shadow and Luna turned around to find Dipper, Twilight, Spike, Flynn, and Fluttershy, who was completely frozen in terror, standing there.
“Well. I’ll just leave you guys to it then. Nice to see you again, Luna,” said Shadow as he walked off.
Twilight then spoke up. “Princess, I’m not sure if you remember, but my name is-”
“Admirable Star Swirl the Bearded costume. Thou even got the bells right,” said Luna.
“Finally, someone who gets it! My real name is-”
“Twilight Sparkle,” said Luna, before taking to the skies. “IT WAS YOU WHO UNLEASHED THE MAGIC OF THE ELEMENTS UPON US, AND TOOK AWAY OUR DARK POWERS!”
“And… that was a good thing, right?” asked Dipper, not entirely sure what the Night Princess was talking about.
“But. of course, young Spellcaster. We have never been happier,” said Luna.
“Uh, actually my name is Dipper. Dipper Pines,” said Dipper while Dusk gave him a confused look.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” said Luna with a curt nod.
“Question: why do you always yell?” asked Dusk.
"'TIS THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE! ALL MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL HOUSE SPEAK IN THIS TONE WHEN ADDRESSING THEIR SUBJECTS!"
Rider held his ear. "Even when they're standing right in front of you?"
"Sorry, Princess Luna, but quite a few things have changed," said Twilight.
"SO NO ONE USES THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE?"
"Er... No. Not often."
"Oh," Luna said, returning to the ground. "So, um, how do royals address the public now?"
"Well... We'll show you."
"Really?"
Twilight nodded. "And I know just who can help us with that."
…
After a quick visit to Fluttershy’s house and getting her to help Luna adjust to modern Ponyville times with the help of Flynn, the group made their way back to the town’s square through the crowd of trembling and frightened children and adults, Dipper couldn’t help but wonder about what Luna had meant when she said that Twilight had taken away her dark powers by “unleashing the magic of the elements upon her.” Just what were these elements exactly? Could they possibly be their saving grace against Bill Cipher and his army of monsters?
Only one way to find out, thought Dipper as he walked up to Twilight. “Hey, uh, Twilight?” he asked the young sorceress.
“Yes, Dipper?” asked Twilight.
“What exactly was Luna talking about when she said you unleashed the power of the elements upon her and took away her dark powers?” asked Dipper.
Twilight looked over at Luna, who nodded.
“About 1,000 years ago, Luna and her older sister, Princess Celestia, had a bit of an argument. She felt as though the night she slaved away over was going largely unappreciated. One day, she just refused to lower the moon so that Princess Celestia could raise the sun at dawn, and transformed into Nightmare Moon, a wicked mare of darkness. Celestia had no other choice but to use the Elements of Harmony to seal Luna away in the moon. However, Nightmare Moon was able to return 1,000 years later. It was up to me, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack to stop her with the Elements of Harmony. We were able to turn Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna, and that was that,” explained Twilight.
Dipper nodded his head to show he understood. “And these Elements of Harmony are, what exactly?” he asked.
“There’s six of them, each represented by a person. Rarity’s is generosity, Applejack’s is honesty, Fluttershy’s is kindness, Pinkie’s is laughter, Rainbow’s is loyalty, and mine is the most powerful of all: magic.”
“Uh-huh… and do you think they might be able to help with our-” said Dipper.
“There they are!” said Flynn, pointing towards an activities center where Applejack stood in her scarecrow costume, alongside a man around her age with brown hair, blue eyes, and wearing a white stetson hat along with his own scarecrow costume.
“Applejack! Buck Shot!” called Twilight as she and the others ran towards them.
Applejack and her partner looked towards the group. “Howdy, Twilight, Dipper, Fluttershy, Flynn, an’ Nightmare Moon-” said Applejack, before she realized what she just said and got into a duck and cover position with Buck Shot. "Mah gosh, I am so sorry Princess!"
"Relax AJ, she's not going to hurt you or anyone else." Flynn reassured. "Princess Luna here just wants to have a bit of fun and to fit in a little, think you can help with that?"
Applejack looked to her friend and nodded. "Well then, ah guess I can help ya have some fun Princess. Buck Shot, mind taking the Princess 'round and showing her some of the games?" She asked her partner with a soft smile.
"Sure I can AJ, Right this way, Princess." Buck began leading Luna towards the main area of the festivities.
"Well, I'll go and leave these treats off at my house then I'll go find where Jack ran off to. I'll catch up with you guys in a bit." Flynn explained before walking in the direction of Daisy Streams, with Fluttershy hot on his heels with a squeak of “Me too,” leaving Dipper and Twilight alone together.
“So… since you’re a Spellcaster, I assume you’ve had experience with magic before, right?” asked Twilight as she and Dipper watched Luna toss spiders and launch pumpkins from a distance.
Dipper shook his head. “Not much. I’ve only used magic twice before, and that was only to try to stop Bill. The first time was to try to get into my Grunkle Stan’s mind so me, my sister, and our family friend Soos could stop Bill from getting that safe combination. The second time was… to try to seal Bill away while me and my family worked on a more permanent solution to stop him,” he explained.
“Wait… you tried a sealing spell with almost no experience with magic?” asked Twilight, shock and concern in her eyes.
“Yep. The spell worked for the most part, but let’s just say I felt like I got hit by a bus for almost a month afterwards. I could hardly move without getting a terrible headache and pain rushing through me,” said Dipper with a shrug.
Twilight was about to speak, but was cut off by screams of terror coming from nearby.
“HELP! NIGHTMARE MOON’S GOT PIPSQUEAK! SHE’S GONNA EAT HIM!” yelled what both Dipper and Twilight immediately recognized as Jack and Pinkie Pie’s voice a split second before they and a small crowd of frightened children ran away screaming, and lagging behind them in a pirate’s costume was a small boy of around six or seven with an expression of true terror on his face yelling, “DON’T LET HER GET ME!”
“Oh, boy,” said Dipper, a sinking feeling growing his stomach.
“This isn’t going to end well,” said Twilight, a similar feeling in her stomach.
Luna, meanwhile, had a look on her face that clearly indicated that she was VERY offended. “Tis a lie! I have no intentions whatsoever to feast upon thou, you ungrateful whelp!” she called after the screaming crowd, a fork of lightning and an enraged expression following her call.
Needless to say, the panicking children and the fright from the lightning bolt caused the adults to start feeling a little frightened of Luna themselves. Realizing this, Luna tried to keep the townsfolk calm. “Dear villagers, do not back away. We were joined together in… fun!” she said, before tossing a fake spider at a citizen, which only caused the tension to increase.
“Not enough fun for you? What say you to THIS?!” yelled Luna, her eyes glowing pure white as magical lightning surged from her fingertips and struck the fake spider, turning it into a very real and very scary looking one, which, needless to say, caused the crowd to scream like little girlies. Luna’s magic lightning then found its way to the bowl the rest of the spiders were in, bring them to life as well, most of which made their way to the web onto which they were supposed to be thrown on.
“Huzzah! How many points do I win?” asked Luna eagerly.
Unfortunately for her, a couple of the enchanted spiders had crawled their way onto some of the citizens, causing everyone at the festival to go into a panic and start knocking things over.
“Do not be afraid!” called Luna over the turmoil. “As your Princess, we command you!”
But, no matter what Luna did to try to calm the fears of the panicking townsfolk, her words fell on deaf ears. Finally, Luna had had just about enough of all the screaming and running from her in fear.
“BE STILL!!!” Luna finally yelled in her Royal Canterlot Voice as dark clouds and lightning bolts swirled around her.
That did the trick, as everyone present dropped onto their elbows and knees in fear of the Princess of the Night.
“Uh, Princess, remember to use your inside voice!” said Dipper.
“NO, CHILD! WE MUST USE THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE FOR WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO SAY!” snapped Luna as she used her dark blue wings to take to the skies. “SINCE YOU CHOOSE NOT TO LOVE YOU PRINCESS, AND DISHONOR HER WITH THIS INSULTING CELEBRATION, WE DECREE THAT NIGHTMARE NIGHT SHALL BE CANCELED… FOREVER!!!!”
And with that terrifying note, Princess Luna landed and stormed off towards the local park, leaving devastated and heartbroken townsfolk in her wake.
Applejack and Buck Shot walked up to Twilight and Dipper, looking thoroughly downcast.
“Such a shame…” muttered Buck.
“Ah’ll say. We had everything going our way. Luna was happy, everypony in town was happy, and now look at them,” said Applejack.
As Dipper and Twilight looked around, they felt tugs at their heartstrings as they gazed upon the heartbroken children, crying about not being able to dress up as a zombie, or an astronaut, or whatever else they wanted to be next year.
“It’s not over yet,” said Twilight, a look of determination on her face.
“Agreed,” said Dipper, matching Twilight’s determined look.
“What’re you two gonna do?” asked Applejack.
“Well, I don’t know about you Dipper, but I’m going to do what I do best: lecture her!” said Twilight.
“As will I!” said Dipper.
And with a swish of a cape and a jingle of bells, they were off to find Luna.
…
It didn’t take long for Twilight and Dipper to locate Princess Luna as she sat by a pond, gazing at her own reflection.
“Princess Luna!” called Twilight as she and Dipper ran up to the brooding Princess of the Night.
“Leave me be, Twilight Sparkle,” said Luna, sadness evident in her voice.
“Look, Luna, I may not have been in Ponyville for very long, but I can easily tell that Nightmare Night is really popular around here. Think about those kids who look forward to it, who look forward to dressing up and getting candy,” said Dipper.
“Oh, yes, I can tell how popular this horrid celebration is with all the screaming in terror and running away,” said Luna, before she got up and walked off.
“Well, got any ideas, Twilight?” asked Dipper.
“Hmm… maybe one…” muttered Twilight.
…
A short time later, we find Pinkie and Jack, both in their chicken costumes, acting like, well, chickens for some strange reason, and come across two pieces of candy, which they proceed to peck at and eat, before noticing a whole trail of candy. As they followed the trail, pecking at each piece as they moved along, before they were bum rushed by Dipper and Twilight.
“Okay, listen up, you two. We’re going to show you something, but you can’t scream,” said Dipper as he and Twilight covered Jack and Pinkie’s mouths.
“Do you promise not to scream?” asked Twilight.
Both Jack and Pinkie nodded their heads. Dipper and Twilight removed their hands and nodded over to a dark corner, from which Luna emerged. Both Pinkie and Jack were on the brink of screaming, but they covered each other’s mouths just in time.
“Pinkie, Jack, you remember Princess Luna, right?” asked Twilight.
Luna scowled down at Pinkie and Jack. “The ringleaders of the frightened children. Have thou come to make peace?” asked Luna, holding out her hand.
Pinkie and Jack glanced at each other, before very carefully reaching out to grasp Luna’s hand. But, before their hands could shake a loud crash of thunder and lightning briefly made Luna appear more monstrous, spooking both Pinkie and Jack, who ran for it.
"Oh, come on!" Twilight looked up at the sound of laughter and saw two figures dressed in Shadowbolt costumes sitting and laughing on a storm cloud. "Rainbow! Jet! What was that?!"
"That," Rainbow said.
"Was funny!" Jet finished for her as they doubled over laughing.
Twilight groaned. "I'm sorry, Princess. They ..." Twilight looked around, but saw no sign of Luna. "Where'd she go?"
"Wasn't she just right behind us?" asked a confused Dipper, also looking around. "Great. She vanished. Again."
"Gah! Come on. I think I know where to find her. But first..." Twilight walked over to a large sack in the corner of the alley. "Pinkie!" The pink chicken-girl peeked out from the sack. "You promised you wouldn't scream!"
"Hey, it was a moment," Jack said in defense. "There was lightning and everything!"
Twilight face palmed. This was getting old. "For the love of... SHE'S NOT GOING TO EAT YOU!"
Pinkie and Jack both looked at Twilight, then at each other, then back at Twilight before saying, "Well duh!"
Twilight looked confused. "Huh?" Dipper asked in her stead, equally confused.
"Well of course she's not going to eat us, Twilight," said Pinkie. "I mean, I'm as big as she is. How's she gonna gobble me up?"
"Wait, then what was all the screaming for?"
"Well, sometimes, it's actually just fun to be scared!"
"Especially of something you're actually terrified of," added Jack.
"Fun... To be... Scared?" Twilight pondered for a minute. "That's it!"
Dipper jumped at the sudden cry. "What? What's it?" He asked.
"I've got an idea. But I'm going to need your help."
"O... Kay..." Dipper wasn't quite sure where this was going, but he was just going to go along with it.
...
Meanwhile, Flynn was sitting with a terrified Fluttershy curled up beside him and holding him for protection. He gently stroked her hair while cooing her into a sense of security. He held a cup of coffee in his free hand and took slow calm sips as he stared into their fireplace with thought. He thought about Bill, what his plan was this time, and how to counteract that plan.
Fluttershy hand her head buried into Flynn's chest. "You know I'm fine with holding you like this, Shy, in fact I love it when we do this. But you need to toughen up just a little bit." Fluttershy looked up at her fiancé who was giving her a concerned look.
"I know...but you know me, I'm afraid of my own shadow when it comes to nights like this." Fluttershy said.
Flynn sighed and pulled her closer. "That's why I'm here to protect you,” he said gently, a soft smile on his face.
Fluttershy smiled softly and planted a kiss on his lips.
"I was serious about the toughen up thing though. It's only because I won't always be around to protect you, but I'll damn well try to be." said Flynn as Fluttershy wrapped both of her arms around his torso and landed her head on his shoulder.
"I love you, Flynn."
"I love you too, Fluttershy," replied Flynn. A moment later, Fluttershy let out a yawn and slowly closed her eyes. Flynn smiled and lay his head on hers. "Sweet dreams my little butterfly," Flynn said as Fluttershy fell into a deep sleep. He sat there for another half an hour listening to his fiancé breathing, watching over her while she slept.
He looked out of the living room window and saw a shadowy figure standing in the trees watching them.
"Shadow..." The figure turned away and vanished into the trees. "What's he up to?"
...
Shadow calmly walked through the woods with a smile on his face. "What orders do you have for me master?"
"Keep an eye on pine tree and Twilight. Aid Luna in any way you can, and above all...secure the journals."
Shadow grinned. "Yes… Master Cipher."