//------------------------------// // Little Improvisations // Story: Little Memories // by Skijarama //------------------------------// “This… is a plan,” Twilight mumbled to herself as she took her place back among the crowd amassed around the stage in Ponyville. Most were happily chattering amongst themselves or comforting their frightened foals, who had all come sprinting back with proclamations of Nightmare Moon not all that long ago. Most of the adults clearly didn’t believe them, citing it as either being a clever illusion or playing along in an overly dramatic fashion. She looked up at the sky and squinted, looking for any sign of movement. Nothing stood out to her, though, and she let off a quiet snort of impatience. “Might help if they went along with it, though…” Somewhere in the distance, Pinkie Pie frantically clucking like a chicken could be heard. “Howdy, Twi!” Applejack’s voice suddenly carved through the sea of voices, drawing Twilight’s attention away from the heavens. The farmer emerged from the crowd with a warm smile on her face. She glanced back and forth for a moment before leveling a questioning look at the alicorn. “Er, where are RD and Spike? Ah thought they were with ya.” “They were,” Twilight replied before shaking her head and sighing. “But I had to split away from the group. Something happened and they need me here.” In a flash, Applejack’s curious look became more serious. “Somethin’ happened? Are they alright?” “They’re fine. I just need to be here to look at the sky.” Applejack slowly raised an eyebrow. “Er… oh… kay? What are ya lookin’ for?” “Nightmare Moon.” There was a moment of silence. Applejack coughed into her hoof. “Er… Sugarcube, ya do know that-” “I know,” Twilight cut her off, swishing her tail back and forth. “Now please hush for a second. I think I see something…” It was hard to make out against the shadowy mass of clouds that had long since smothered the sky, but she swore she saw movement. She didn’t want to jump into action too early, though, and so she waited for the shape to become more defined. Whatever it was, it was steadily drawing closer. Her suspicions as to what the shape was were confirmed when she faintly heard Spike’s voice crying out in terror from somewhere high above them. Twilight’s eyes snapped open, her ears folded back, and she sucked in a deep lungful of breath. She then pointed up at the mass, making her hoof tremble, before shrieking at the top of her lungs. “OH MY GOSH! NIGHTMARE MOON!” Every single face turned to look at her, and Twilight had to resist the urge to blush from not just the sudden attention, but also the realization of just how squeaky her voice had gotten from that little outburst. Mercifully, the ponies turned to look where she was pointing, and a collection of alarmed gasps and shouts echoed throughout the crowd as a swirling cloud of blue smoke became visible just above the town hall. The cloud suddenly parted, and Princess Luna was revealed, her wings snapping wide and flapping in a slow, gentle rhythm to hold herself aloft. Her eyes narrowed down at the crowd, and her lips peeled back into a wicked grin. Her eyes briefly flicked down at Twilight, boring into her own as if to seek confirmation. Twilight gave a subtle nod, and Luna carried on. Spike’s voice rang out again, muffled and distorted. Another gasp tore its way through the crowd when his face became visible amidst the billowing blue of Luna’s aetherial mane, his features displaying a cartoonish amount of fear. “Somepony, HELP ME!” That was Twilight’s cue. She fell back onto her haunches, her hooves flying up to her mouth. “Oh no… Spike!” she shouted before putting on her best scowl and kicking off of the ground. She unfurled her wings and flapped hard a few times to gain some altitude. And she only wobbled a little bit as she ascended. Once she was at Luna’s eye level, she met her gaze head-on, then pointed at Spike. “Hey! That’s mine!” Luna lifted her head so she was staring down her nose at Twilight, her grin growing. “Oh, is he now?” she asked before he disappeared into her mane again. Her eyes then lowered to stare down at the amassed crowd, who were all looking on in a mixture of fear and confusion. Except for Applejack. She just looked confused.  Luna’s malevolent smirk returned, and she gave her wings a harder flap before projecting her voice out and down to the crowd. “Such a pity. He’s mine now! As are all of you!” she declared, a gust of wind blowing by as lightning exploded across the sky behind her. Foals dived under their parents, chattering anxiously and looking up with wide, terrified eyes. The adults backed away or took protective stances in front of their foals, though none of them looked really sure of what was happening. Luna reared back, a long, evil, and frankly cheesy laugh slipping past her lips. “Mwahahaha! Fret not, little ponies, for the night shall be long and full of wonders, both terrible and magnificent! I hereby decree that tonight shall be the most frightening Nightmare Night of all!” she declared, thrusting a hoof into the air and leering down at the crowd. Her eyes latched onto a filly who poked her head out just a little bit. “And there is nothing any of you can do to stop me!” Twilight drifted forward a few inches in the air, lighting up her horn. “That’s not true! I’ll stop you!” she challenged, narrowing her eyes. “I did once before, didn’t I?” Luna rolled her eyes dismissively before leaning forward. “Aye, perhaps you did best me once! But without the Elements of Harmony, and without your precious friends, you have no hope of defeating me! And besides…” her mane shifted so it shielded her front, and Spike became visible in it again. “You wouldn’t want to hurt your adorable little assistant, now would you?” “I… did not expect that,” Twilight thought to herself, her ears drooping and her jaw falling open. She allowed the light on her horn to fade away, and she slowly drifted back. “No… Spike…” Luna began to laugh, an evil cackle that was so sinister and villainous that it could only belong to a truly monstrous individual. “Ah, sweet victory! How I have longed to taste it! Submit to me, Twilight Sparkle, and maybe, just maybe, I will restore your pet to you.” Spike glanced over his shoulder at her as well as he could, his expression shifting from terrified to mildly offended. “Hey! I am not her pet!” he protested before the mane shook him around a bit, silencing any more indignation. Twilight let off a quiet whimper before allowing herself to fall from the sky and land on the ground a few yards below. Ponies scattered to get out of her way, and a small puff of dust was kicked up from her landing. She kept her eyes glued to the grass at her hooves, letting her ears droop and her wings go limp. Ponies around her murmured amongst themselves, clearly taken aback by this turn of events. Luna laughed again, and more lightning conveniently struck across the sky directly behind her. “How delightful! Now, then…” her face pushed through her mane to smirk down at Twilight, who lifted her head just enough to meet the other alicorn’s gaze. “I could keep my word to you… but alas… I fear it may not be in my best interest to return him to you so easily.” Another gasp shot through the crowd, and Twilight’s eyes widened. She stood upright, her wings snapping to attention. “What?! But… but… SPIKE! You said you’d give him back!” “I did…” Luna cooed, a strand of her mane coming around to idly tickle Spike’s chin. He squirmed and closed his eyes, struggling futilely in her restraints. She hummed, pleased with the sight. “But I lied.” “No… Spike,” Twilight choked out before falling to her haunches and looking on in shock, her eyes distant. “My number one assistant…” Luna cackled again, rearing back as if to do something. “That’s enough!” A new voice suddenly rang out, drawing a whole new host of gasps from the crowd. All eyes turned to face the speaker just in time for a blinding flash of light to explode across the sky. A rainbow ring expanded out from the epicenter, and a similarly colored blur shot by at well past the speed of sound, kicking up a gust as it went. Luna only had time to gasp before said rainbow blur swooped right in front of her, snatching Spike out of her magic and pulling him free. She reached after him, growling loudly in her throat, but was unable to catch him in time. The blur whisked him away before coming to a landing amidst the crowd of ponies. A sizable cloud of dust was kicked up from the impact, obscuring everypony’s vision. “What?! Who dares?!” Luna demanded, flaring out her wings and lighting up her horn. “Oh, come on,” the voice of Rainbow Dash spoke, her silhouette appearing in the cloud of dust. “You remember your little niece, don’t you?” With that, Rainbow unfolded her wings, lifted them up, and flapped them down as hard as she could. Another gust was picked up, this one strong enough to dispel the cloud and reveal her standing tall and proud at its core, Spike clinging onto her neck and looking only a little unsteady.  Twilight blinked, then grinned. “Wha… Spike!” she shouted, rising up and sprinting over. Spike saw her coming, unlatched himself from the pegasus’ neck, and leaped to meet her, the two meeting halfway in a tight embrace. Cheers exploded through the crowd, even as Luna’s brow angled into a furious glare. “How dare you?!” she demanded, her horn lighting up even brighter. “That was mine!” Rainbow snorted derisively and jerked her head in Twilight’s direction.”Pretty sure he’s Twilight’s, but whatever you wanna tell yourself at night,” she casually stated before leaping back into the air. She came to a steady hover at Luna’s eye level, meeting her gaze with her own. The blue alicorn growled, then took a deep breath and cackled again. “Ah… well played, little one,” she commented in a snide tone before her eyes began to glow an ominous white. “But I think you overestimate yourself.” “Nah. If anything, you’re underestimating me,” Rainbow shot back while casually flexing one of her forelegs to show off her admittedly impressive musculature.  “Underestimating us,” Twilight added, releasing Spike from her grasp and flying up to join Rainbow’s side. She wobbled again and almost lost her stability, but a quick hoof from Rainbow brought her into an even hover. Once she was situated, she glared intently and confidently at Luna. “Even without the Elements, or the rest of our friends, we can still defeat you!” “Ah’m right here,” Applejack mumbled under her breath from the ground below. “Oh? Is that so?” Luna snorted unbelievingly. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” Rainbow turned to Twilight with a nod, then reached out to her. The alicorn smiled and took Rainbow’s hoof in her own, her horn lighting up with a bright, bright light. They then both turned to look at Luna and, as one, spoke. “With the magic of friendship.” Luna’s eyes widened as if she had just been given the mightiest slap of realization in the whole world. “Oh…” “Tonight may be the scariest Nightmare Night of all,” Rainbow declared, her expression softening into something more serene. “But that doesn’t matter. The world can be absolutely terrifying if it wants to be..” “But as long as we have our friends at our sides,” Twilight pressed on, pouring more power into her horn to brighten the light. “We can be brave and overcome any terror the darkness throws at us!” “And then, when there are no more fears to face,” Rainbow pressed on, grinning wide and throwing the lunar princess a wink. “We can all find peace and comfort under the moonlight!” Luna’s own horn began to glow brighter, and Twilight gasped when she felt a steady stream of power being added to her light, magnifying it many times over to the point it was blinding. She could hear the other alicorn crying out through the magical ringing noise filling the air. “No! NO! Not again! NOOOOOO!!!” The light pulsed once, then faded away entirely. The clouds that had once filled the sky cleared away, revealing the night sky in all its glory. The full moon hung overhead, shining it’s pale, gentle light down onto Ponyville below. The crowd looked on in awe and wonder, not entirely sure what just happened. Twilight blinked the spots from her eyes and looked to where Luna had been. She was no longer there. “Come on,” Rainbow whispered to her before tugging her back down towards the stage. Twilight followed along, and the two of them drifted down until their hooves settled upon the wooden surface. They released each other’s hooves and turned to face the crowd, who were all looking on in shock, their breath held and their attention caught. For a moment, all was quiet, and Twilight couldn’t help but look over the crowd to assess their feelings. They were clearly confused, but more than a little enraptured by what had just transpired. The foals themselves were looking up with an odd mixture of apprehension and excitement, and a few were brave enough to venture out from the safety of their parents' legs. Spike was noticeably absent, while Applejack was looking on with a tilted head and a bewildered expression. Pinkie could be seen at the very back of the crowd, her hooves held over her beak and her eyes focused intently on the stage. Twilight was torn from her musings when she heard the cloth of the stage’s curtains shifting behind her. She briefly glanced back and caught sight of Luna emerging, along with Spike. The former took a position next to Rainbow, while the latter stood by Twilight. The crowd visibly tensed at the sight of the dark alicorn, a few of them shuffling back. And then Luna bowed. A collective gasp shot through the crowd when Rainbow and Spike joined her in that gesture, and Twilight followed closely behind, her head low to the floor. There was a second of silence. And then the crowd exploded into thunderous applause and cheers. Ponies began to stamp their hooves and cry out in delight at the sudden performance, while others whistled their approval.  A wave of relief washed over Twilight, and she glanced sideways at her fellow performers to see how they were taking it. Spike and Rainbow were both glowing with pride at having pulled that off, and Luna just looked relieved that the crowd wasn’t screaming and fleeing for their lives.  Rainbow looked sideways at Twilight and winked before standing upright and gesturing at the rest of them. “So! Did you all like that little performance or WHAT?!” she asked loudly, and another wave of cheers exploded from the assembled audience. Luna, Spike, and Twilight stood back up at that, each one wearing a smile. Rainbow chuckled. “Heh, of course, you did. And none of it would have been possible without the help of this year's special guest, and my aunt, Princess Luna! Let’s give her a big round of applause, fillies, and gentlecolts!” Luna was briefly taken aback by that, her eyes flicking towards her niece. But, sure enough, more applause came, and she found herself on the receiving end of all of it. She took a step back, looking quite unsure of what to do. Twilight watched her, starting to feel just a little worried about her. Was this too much? Was she being overwhelmed? Her worries were put to rest, thankfully, when Luna adopted a small, sincere smile and bowed her head again. “Thank you all very much, ponies of Ponyville! You are too kind!” she called out to them before standing upright and smiling wide. “It is my pleasure to walk among you this night.” The cheers and applause went on and on. Luna relaxed on the stage, closed her eyes, and leaned her head back as if to soak it all in. Rainbow, Spike, and Twilight shared a quick glance, smiling triumphantly. Then, the pegasus trotted over to Luna and spoke to her in a hushed whisper that only those on stage could hear. “Happy Nightmare Night, Aunt Luna.”