Twilight stared, her mouth open, unable to process what was going on. It just… how did… why?! The words played over and over in her mind. This was terrifying! Horrifying! Mind boggling!
“It’s… it’s… NEVER? Not even ONCE?!”
“Dragons don’t exactly have museums,” Spike said, giving her a flat look. “What’s the big deal? A bunch of old stuff that ponies gawk at. Sounds boring.”
“Museums are NOT boring!” Twilight and Moondancer said in unison, glaring at the dragon.
“Okay, that’s it,” the earth pony said, before getting to her hooves. “We’re going to the Canterlot Museum. Now.”
“Ughhhhhh,” the dragon said with a roll of his eyes. “All I was asking about was where that big, fancy tapestry had gone!”
“To get restored. And now we’re going to restore your excitement for learning,” Moondancer said firmly, picking the dragon up in her magic and depositing him on Twilight’s back. He merely groaned in annoyance. “Did you know, the Canterlot Museum is the second largest holder of ancient pony historical artifacts, second only to the castle itself?”
“I did!” Twilight said excitedly. “Did you see the display on Mistmane?”
“Oh my gosh, yes. It was incredible, hard to believe an old legend like that has had such an impact, isn’t it?”
Twilight snickered and trotted out the door, ignoring his complaining while she gushed over the past exhibits with Moondancer. Things had begun to calm down in the few weeks since the Hearts and Hooves fiasco. Nightmare Moon had been keeping a low profile, not even bothering Moondancer aside from the occasional lessons.
Fortunately, while the event had been the talk of the newspapers, a lot of the facts had been distorted and confused. Most ponies seemed to believe it was an attack from the dragons themselves and, for once, Nightmare Moon was being hailed as a hero who protected them from the assault. There seemed to be only a hoofful of ponies who were making any connection to the dragon that assaulted the train and the small, baby dragon on her back.
Then again, she had seen Spike be turned back to a baby and even SHE could barely believe he could be such a creature. So she wasn’t too surprised other ponies doubted. She had no intention of correcting ponies, either. As much as she hated to do it, this was one piece of knowledge she didn’t think should ever be spread.
Spike let out another groan. “The museum… with a bunch of nerds. I can’t imagine anypony is having a worse day than this...”
------
Applejack let out a soft, low hiss while she walked, slowly moving outside the house. “Ah feel fine, sugarcube,” she said, glancing back down at Applebloom, who was staring at her with worry.
“Yah don’t sound fine.”
“Ah’m fine. Ah ache, but ah’m fine,” she said with a shake of her head. “A few days of runnin’ about an’ ah’ll be good as new. Ah feel like ah could go an’ buck a--”
“Not a chance!” Applebloom said firmly, shaking her head. “We have strict instructions. Girls!”
Scootaloo and Sweetie dashed out from the house, the former carrying a first aid kit on her back, the latter carrying a small backpack bursting with food. “Cutie mark crusaders physical rehabilitators!” the three called out in unison, hopping into the air.
The earth pony rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. “Of course. Ah don’t know what in tarnation convinced Big Mac tah go along with this.”
“Cause yer an Apple an’ yah don’t know how tah take a rest?” Applebloom offered.
“Because he already caught you trying to buck trees twice?” Scootaloo added.
“Because the only thing stopping you from trying to gallop outside and get to work is the fact that you’ll be a bad example for our impressionable young minds?” Sweetie offered, drawing stares from the other two. “What? Rarity told me to say that.”
Applejack groaned and rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine. Come on, then. Buncha lil guilt trippers... Let’s go walk around the field. An’ yah know, yah didn’t need tah bring a packed lunch. We ain’t gonna be THAT long,” she said, glancing to them. “Or a first aid kit. Ah ain’t gonna crack a hoof walkin’ about like this.”
“We’re prepared for any situation!” Applebloom said with a nod. “Now come on, let’s get this show on the road!”
The mare rolled her eyes again and started walking. Her whole body felt stiff, each movement drawing light, soft pains through her. As much as she wanted to buck the trees again, she doubted she could get enough force out of them right now to knock over a fence post in the mud, let alone knock all the apples out in a single move. It’d probably take two or three. Maybe five. Off in the distance she could hear the steady thump of her big brother working.
It brought another sad sigh to her. She was injured and she loathed it. She wanted to be out there, working. Not trapped here, foalsitting her sister and her friends. She snorted at the thought of Big Mac’s ‘idea’. She suspected he just wanted them out of underhoof while they all worked.
There was still so much work to be done, how could she just laze about? Before even considering the trees they had to buck, they still had to plant all the trees that their family across Equestria had sent to help in their recovery. The Apples were a big family and when one of them got hurt, well, they all felt it. It wouldn’t make up for the damage they’d suffered, but it’d at least lighten the load a smidge.
She hated herself for this. How could she just be lazy and heal, when everypony else was working so hard to make everything right?
------
“Ah, Twilight, Moondancer!” a dark yellow coated mare with a pink mane said when they walked in. Spike found his eyes drawn to the blue diamonds that were connected to her hair, licking his lips. “Why, the Gladiators of Equestria Exhibit was spectacular, did you know that there were a few dozen different types of bows alone used back then? My uncle, Precise Strike, did a few demonstrations with them, ever since he was at the games he’s been adoring putting his skills on display. He even considered trying jousting for a while, but his wife quickly put a stop to that. Oh, what was I talking about? Oh, right, I haven’t seen you two since the Gladiators of Equestria Exhibit, its been so long!”
Twilight nodded, giving the mare a smile. “Ah! Spike, Meet Nuclear Blossom, she was one of my old teachers.”
Spike sighed. “Oh? And what did she teach you?”
“Oh, when I was getting my minor in archeology she was one of my favorite teachers. We’ll have to talk later, okay?” she told the mare.
Nuclear merely nodded, giving them a smile and motioning them inside.
“I didn’t know she taught that,” Moondancer said, cocking her head to the side.
“Oh, yes. We actually bonded a lot when I found out she was a writer as well. She goes under Glacial Veil. I’ve had her sign a few of her works, even,” the earth pony said proudly.
Spike made gagging noises.
The two ponies rolled their eyes. Moondancer shook her head. “Come on, let’s go. I think I know exactly what we should show you first. I think you’ll like it a lot.”
“Oh? I doubt that. It--” His words caught in his throat when he saw the display. “W-wait. REALLY?”
“Yes, really,” the unicorn said with a grin. “Museums are about learning. Not JUST old, ancient stuff.”
“Oh my gosh!” Spike yelled, racing forward.
The two mares shared a smile, before racing after him.
------
“Oh mah gosh!” Applebloom yelled and the three fillies raced forward, drawing a frustrated growl from Applejack.
“Don’t touch hi… her? Them. Sorry!” she yelled out. “Yah okay? Don’t try an’ move ‘em, yah three!”
“Awwwwww,” the three said in unison, drawing a roll of the eyes from the older mare while she trotted forward.
She didn’t know WHY that orange coated, green maned pegasus had crashed into one of their trees, but the pony had left a rather sizeable imprint on the tree before bouncing off it to land in their path. Applejack cocked an eye when she came closer and could make out a bit more detail. Bat wings, blood red eyes, wild mane. Vampire pony. Possibly concussed judging by the way he was wobbling.
“S-sorry...” the pony said, looking up at her and giving a weak smile. “I kinda was trying a new move and… well… o-ow.”
“Mmmm hmmm. Yah gonna need a doctor? If yah like, ah can--”
“No! No no! I’m fine, really, I still have a bunch of work to do, anyway. I--”
“Are you a vampire pony?!” Scootaloo asked.
Applejack sighed and shook her head. “Ah’m sorry, they aren’t the most tactful at that age,” she said quickly.
The stallion nodded slowly. “Err… yes. I… I am. I’m sorry. Is… that a problem? I’m not going to try and bite you or anything. I just--”
“Oh, don’t even start with that apologizin’ when yah ain’t done nothin’ wrong. Yah ain’t the first vampire pony ah met. Heck, Fluttershy is one of yah all now, an’ she’s one of the nicest ponies ah know. So don’t get so jittery.”
The stallion perked up. “You know Fluttershy?”
“One of mah best friends, both ‘fore an’ after. So, if yah gone an’ got yerself hurt with that stunt of yours… what exactly WERE yah doin’, anyway?”
“Oh! Right! I’m Crimsonwing!” He spread out his wings and then paused. “Oh. Um. Now that they’re bat wings, they aren’t really… crimson anymore.”
“Bit confusin’, ain’t it?” Applebloom asked.
“Yeah, it kind of is,” he said, his eyes lowering.
“Applebloom!” Applejack hissed, glaring at her. “So, Crimsonwing, why were yah crashin’ into our trees?”
“Oh! Right! I’m your new weather pony! I’m taking care of the weather around here since, well...”
“Rainbow gone an’ got a new job? Well, that’s good. Ah was wonderin’ when we were gonna get a replacement.”
He nodded. “Yup! Well, its been great meeting you. I really have a lot of work to get to.”
“Wait! Are yah sure yah ain’t hurt? If yah are, yah best at least have the doctor look at yah. Ah can--”
“No. I’m fine, really,” he said with a smile, then paused. “Though… it really means a lot that you seem to care. So… ummm, thanks, but I’m fine! See you around!” he said, before flying up and into the air.
“Huh...” Sweetie said, staring at him. “He didn’t look like a rat at all...”
Applejack’s mouth fell open and she turned to the filly. “I-I’m sorry, what?”
“Well, some of the ponies back at Ponyville said that the new weather pony was a flying rat. I was really excited, too! But he was just a regular ol’ pegasus.”
Applejack just stared at the filly, before shaking her head. “Wow. Of all the talks ah thought ah’d be havin’ today… okay then, yah three. Those… ponies, callin’ him a rat? That’s like when those kids called yah a blank flank. It’s meant tah be an insult,” she muttered. “A very derogatory one. Or like… oh boy. This is gonna be a fun talk...” she said, sitting down. Thankfully, her flank didn’t hurt too much when she did that.
------
Spike let out a squeal as he stared at the life sized statues of the power ponies. “How does a stuffy museum have something like THIS?!” he asked, staring up. A claw reached out, only to quickly pull it back.
Twilight smiled, satisfied he knew to look, not touch. “It’s an exhibit on comics through the ages. You know, entertainment has a lot of different forms. Comics, books, games. And over the centuries, they’ve changed drastically.”
He snorted. “Well, yeah, everypony knows books and games existed like, forever. But--”
“Trotjan’s column,” Moondancer interrupted, pointing over towards a small stand filled with replica’s of different pony images on stone.
“What’s that?”
“One of the earliest forms of using pictures in place of words to show a story,” the unicorn continued. “In this case, a carving on a tower. It depicts an earth pony victory over a hydra and is considered one of the precursors of what eventually became modern day comics. And, it is well over a millennia old.”
“Wow...” Spike whispered, staring at the models. “That’s kind of cool...”
“And, while it’s true that modern comics are a, well, modern invention,” Twilight said, trotting besides him. “The same could be said of modern day books and games. It wasn’t that the concepts weren’t there, it was that the ability to mass produce them was missing. While comics, books and games are far more accessible in the modern era, in the past, before inventions such as the printing press, they were far, far more difficult for a pony to have access to. It’s because of the great leaps of technology that we’re able to have comics and books like we do now, in such an affordable and accessible format.”
“Huh… OH MY GOSH!” Spike said, rushing off and staring at a display. Encased, was a single comic, still in its sleeve. “Is that a Claw the Destruktor, issue one?”
Twilight trotted over and cocked an eye. On the cover was a weird dragon/pony hybrid. White coated, with thin, purple scales/mane mix. “I think so.”
“Ohhhh, I wanna read iiiiit!” Spike said, giving a little squeal.
“While you can’t touch the ACTUAL book...” the earth pony mumbled. “They usually have a… here!” She pushed a hoof out against a small symbol on the side of the case. A crystal screen appeared, with the image of the cover on it. “There. Just swipe left to turn the page and don‘t use your actual claws! Use your palm,” she added quickly, barely stopping the dragon in time from slashing the screen. She then stepped back, letting him read. She grinned to Moondancer. “I think this has been an excellent lesson for him.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” the unicorn said, smiling back. “It’s always so much fun to teach ponies all kinds of things like this.”
“Mmmm hmm.”
------
Applejack trotted along the field, shaking her head. She was exhausted, and not just from the walk. Explaining the concept of racism to a bunch of little fillies was not exactly how she wanted to have to spend her afternoon.
Even worse when Applebloom had pointed out a question that was just a bit too hard for her to answer.
‘So, kinda like how everypony treats Zecora?’
That was different. Zecora was scary and likely put curses on ponies. Especially now. Although, since the coming of wereponies and vampires, the ‘zebra’ had been added to the list of things that were becoming more common knowledge. And as far as she knew, she hadn’t actually cursed anypony. And lots of other ponies were not quite as scared of her anymore. She’d even supposedly talked with Trixie a time or two. And--
But she still got a bad vibe off that mare! There was just this unsettling… feeling from her. She hadn’t had the bravery to talk with her face to face herself. Maybe it was time she did. Was it possible that SHE was being one of those ponies. Sure, the striped mare was a bit odd by the standards back in the day, but now? Stripes were a lot less scary when you considered ponies that seemed to be trapped in some shadowy… thing and disappeared in the light, ponies who turned into monsters and other ponies who drank blood and turned into bats. Why, she was borderline normal!
And now that she thought about it, she’d been in Ponyville plenty of times before when the mare had been around. Everypony had hid and just stared, so she’d assumed that pony was to blame. But what if Zecora WASN’T the reason? What if all of them were just treating her badly because she was different?
The idea made her wanna bash her head on the wall. She couldn’t believe she, of all ponies, was one of those. She was an Apple, a pony from a long line of ponies who were supposed to make newcomers feel welcome and at home. And what did she do? She turned her back on a pony just because they had stripes and a couple of rumors. She hated to say it… but she was a bigot.
Buck it. The moment she was fully healed, she was going to find this mare herself. Even if she had to go through the Everfree Forest. And she was going to bring her an apology pie.
Satisfied, the earth pony sat down, wiping the sweat from her brow. “Ah think this took a bunch more outa me than ah thought. Let’s go back.”
“Well, that’s good!” Applebloom said, grinning. “Cause we passed the end of the field like… five minutes ago. Yah weren’t listenin’ tah what we said. What were yah thinkin’ about so intensely?”
Applejack blinked and glanced back at the fields of apple trees. Her cheeks turned red and she shook her head. “Nothin’ important. Let’s take a little break an’ then head back.”
Sweetie nodded before darting forward, her head turning back to grip the edge of her backpack. “I knew it was a good idea to bring lunch!” She tore it open, spilling the contents across the floor.
The earth pony picked up one of the sandwiches and stared. Well, she was certain Sweetie wouldn’t be getting a cutie mark in cooking. Who in the world TOASTED a daffodil in a daffodil sandwich?
------
Twilight sneezed, shaking her head. “Ugh, too much dust,” the mare said with a sigh.
“There isn’t any dust,” Moondancer said, her horn glowing. A tissue appeared in front of the earth pony and she took it, wiping off her nose.
“Allergies, then. Pollen? I don’t know,” the mare said with a shrug, before glancing back. Spike was laying across her back, lightly snoring. “I think he had a good day today.”
“Oh, he had the best day. This was a great idea,” the unicorn said with a snicker. “So… how’ve you been feeling?”
“Since… everything? Better. I’ve been feeling better,” she said firmly. “I was really… upset. And angry. But I can kind of understand what happened. Why… Nightmare Moon reacted the way she did. But I’d do it again, if I had to. I CAN’T let her hurt ponies like that. And even if Spike isn’t technically a pony, he’s… at least an honorary one. And… and I won’t stop doing what I’m doing. I know I can only do so much, but I won’t stop. No matter what. I promise,” she said with a grin. “Besides. It’s not like she could throw any more curve balls at us. I think, by now, we have a VERY firm idea of-- What in the buck happened to the castle?” Twilight asked, her mouth falling open.
“… Oh dear...” Moondancer said, before galloping off, the earth pony right behind her.
The castle was covered in cobwebs, with spiders racing about making more. Vampire ponies and fruit bats were hanging from the roofs. The lights were all incredibly dim, allowing shades to be seen flashing in and out of existence as they passed. Purple and black decorations lined the doorways.
Twilight felt dread fill her heart. With all this darkness, with the cobwebs and the decorations, something terrible must have happened. The ruler had to be furious. Had to be--
The pair burst into the throne room and all thoughts ceased.
Nightmare Moon was sitting on the throne, wearing a big, black cape with a high collar.
“Ah, we were wondering where you two had wandered off to. Tell us...” She raised a hoof, her cape flowing behind her. “We know it is quite early… but are you prepared for the true horrors… of our Nightmare Night? Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!” she said, baring her fangs. “For it shall be the GREATEST Nightmare Night any of you ponies have ever seen!”
Moondancer and Twilight stared at her, their mouths falling open. They then stared at each other, confusion on their faces.
“Mnnngg?” Spike asked groggily, slowly raising his head. “What’s with all the racket?”