"Scales, are you listening to me?"
Scales opened his eyes upon the sounds of Twilight's voice awoke him from his slumber. He rose his head up from his nest and turned to Twilight, who had her nose deep inside of a book at her desk. Last time he was awake she was only just running off to the Canterlot library. He must've fallen asleep again while she was gone.
"Wha-? Oh yeah, I was listening. Just resting my eyes is all." Scales said before stretching his jaw open into a ghastly yawn. His voice would be described by some as ratty and dry while oddly elegant in pronunciation at the same time, but Twilight found no such problem with his way of speaking. "Just say it again to be sure I understood everything."
Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed, gesturing for Scales to come over. The snake complied and slithered over to Twilight's position. Scales had grown a bit in terms of size since his hatching years prior, as had Twilight grown from a small filly into a young beautiful mare. But he could still coil around Twilight's body in fluid fashion and comfortably for both of them as well, and that's just what he did in order to peer over Twilight's shoulder and look at the big open old book before her.
"The mare in the moon." Twilight stated as she pointed to the page as though Scales knew what she was talking about. On the pages Twilight was pointing to was a rather evil looking black and midnight blue alicorn on one page and a picture of the moon on the other. There were also a lot of words in between the pictures, but Scales wasn't interested in reading them.
"That old mare's tale? What about it?" Scales asked with an arching of his head to get a better look at both the book and Twilight's face.
"Don't you see? The mare in the moon is Nightmare Moon! Princess Celestia locked away in the moon a thousand years again with something called the 'elements of harmony'. And the stars are going to aid her escape!" Twilight stuck a hoof out to the air as though that conclusion were obvious, "Nightmare Moon is going to return!"
"Riiiiight." Scales nodded his head slowly, before looking back to the pages opened before him with squinted eyes, "where's the part that says it's our problem?"
"Scales! It's everypony's problem!" Twilight exclaimed, following it up with a sigh at Scales' attitude towards this. "If Nightmare Moon returns then according to legend she'll banish the sun and bring about everlasting night!"
"Ah, yes, now that is our problem..." Scales nodded in agreement, pointing the tip of his tail at her like a limb, "so what do we do? We can't fight a constellation, can we?"
"No, I'll have to warn princess Celestia. I'll write her a scroll, be ready to send it." Twilight said, placing the book down and levitating a quill, ink pot and page of blank parchment before her. Spreading the page out flat and dipping her quill into ink, Twilight began to ponder on how to word her letter to the princess, then after a moment she began writing with Scales peering over her shoulder at what she wrote. "And the moon isn't a constellation." Twilight then corrected Scales after a moment of silence.
"You sure you should write to her? Should you really bother her during all those preparations for the summer sun celebrations? The celebration is in like, two days." Scales pointed out.
"Exactly, two days away until the one thousandth summer sun celebration! That will be when Nightmare Moon returns for sure!" Twilight insisted before she continued writing.
"If you say so." Scales nodded with a small roll of his eyes.
The letter Twilight wrote to the princess read:
Dear princess Celestia
My dearest teacher, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster! For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
Upon finishing the letter Twilight levitated the parchment and rolled it up into a scroll, tying it shut with a red ribbon. Placing the scroll back down on the table, she nodded to Scales and moved back a little. Scales stretched his head forward and made a small hissing sound with his mouth before venom dripped from his fangs and onto the scroll. The second the first drop touched the scroll, the entire letter was enveloped in green flames. But no ashes remained however, the letter disappeared in a puff of smoke. A useful spell Twilight had discovered, primarily intended for use on dragons but she managed to tweak it so it work for Scales.
"There, once the princess gets that she'll know exactly what to do." said Twilight, tapping her hooves together in impatience.
"Will she? It's not everyday you're told an alicorn demon is going to return so she can screw over everypony." Scales stated, positioning his head so he was in the forefront of Twilight's view.
"I know, but she's got a plan for everything. All the villains she's faced in the past and defeated, I bet she's seen it all." Twilight said.
"Yes, but has she told it all?" Scales queried with a tiny pointing flick of his tail.
Twilight's eyebrow raised as she looked at Scales. "What do you mean?" she asked, looking to her serpent friend and assistant.
"Well, nopony can be one hundred percent perfect and unbeatable surely. She's bound to have some big screw up she's keeping hidden." Scales answered as he slithered his way back onto Twilight's shoulder and back, "like that Nightmare Moon you were talking about, she couldn't have really defeated her if she's going to return."
"Why would she lie to her subjects about something like that?" Twilight asked, neck turning so she kept her eyes on Scales.
"I don't know." Scales shook his head in place of a shrug, "maybe she doesn't have any secrets, maybe she is as perfect as you say. I'm just saying don't always put your hope into other ponies being able to save the day. Sometimes, you can only rely on yourself to set something right."
Twilight thought about that for a moment, but before she could retort Scales quickly slithered off of Twilight's body and onto Twilight's desk. He clenched his jaw for a moment before bearing his fangs. Celestia's response was going through, great! Twilight leaned forward as the same greenish venom dripped down and made a scroll suddenly appear accompanied by green flame disappeared as quickly as it had came.
Scales tore the ribbon with his fangs, causing the scroll to unravel itself. He then began to read the letter from Celestia while Twilight awaited for him to read it aloud. "Well? What does it say?" Twilight asked, just knowing that Celestia would know what to do.
"My dearest, most faithful student Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely." Scales began reading the letter.
"Mm-hm!" Twilight gestured for Scales to continue.
"...but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!" Scales held back the urge of laughter, whether it was from the princess's letter or the resulting gasp Twilight gave he didn't know.
"My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!"
Twilight only gave out a sigh and a groan, while Scales chuckled wholeheartedly at the letter. "It's not funny, Scales!" she said, the words having no effect on the humour Scales found in the letter.
"Come on, it's a little funny. Even the princess thinks you're a loner." Scales chuckled, his laughter swiftly dying out when he saw the droop look on Twilight's face, "come on Twilight, learn to laugh at yourself. Besides, you have friends! Like that... blue pony, I think she was blue, or that one with the glasses. What was her name?"
"Moondancer?" Twilight suggested.
"Maybe, but that doesn't matter right now." Scales said with a shake of his head before he made his serpent body stand to meet Twilight's face in height, "what matters is that the princess doesn't think that mare is leaving the moon anytime soon, she thinks you need to live more in the moment and spend less time in a book. That's something even I can agree with."
"But—"
"No buts, except the one you're sitting on currently. We have a pegasus chariot to catch and ponies to meet in this...ah..." Scales leaned down to read over the scroll again to remind himself of the town's name, "...Ponyville! So get ready, unless of course you want to tell princess Celestia herself no?"
Twilight sighed, but couldn't help but smile at Scales. "Alright Scales, you win." Twilight said as she rose from her desk.
"I'll fetch your accessories." Scales said as he slithered down off the desk and across the room.
"I don't think I'll need them for this trip. Ponies in Canterlot have grown used to them, but won't small townsponies think that kind of stuff is a little... weird?" Twilight said with a shy tilt of her head as she levitated several things into a bag. Nothing much, just some light reading. Five books should be enough for a trip from Canterlot to Ponyville.
"Weird? What's weird? Something that's different, or something that's different from you?" Scales asked as he wrapped the end of his tail around a somewhat large box and began to slither his way back over to her, "the prissy elites of Canterlot got used to it, so the townsponies will have to get used to it as well."
"Well, I guess you're right." Twilight said. After a moment she nodded and levitated the box from the snake's grip and opened it.
Inside was a pair of long black earrings that ended in circles with red gemstones at the bottom along with a black choker with a strap shaped like a silver snake with its mouth opened. They were a gift from Scales a little while back and she'd worn them most days ever since. She honestly never thought it'd be her kind of thing, earrings and a choker, but she felt so comfortable in them whenever she did wear them.
Levitating them up, she carefully attached the earrings into the base of each ear before moving on to the choker. She fastened it around her neck, making sure it was on properly, before she posed for Scales. "Look good?" she asked him.
"Just as good as you do normally." Scales answered with a friendly smile, "who knows, you may make more than friends in Ponyville if you keep your good looks up like this."
Twilight's cheeks went a rosy pink under her coat at the serpent's comment. "W-what do you mean by that?" she asked with a small splutter to her tone, turning her head back to her bag in an attempt to hide her blush.
"Me? I don't mean anything, it's just..." a grin spread across Scales' face as he jested, "you know how ponies used to celebrate the summer sun celebrations in the days of old. All that drink, all that dance, all that—"
"Don't even go there!" Twilight squeaked out, pointing an accusing hoof Scales' way.
"—debauchery, I was gonna say debauchery." Scales teased with a smirk, raising his tail like a pony would raise defensive hooves.
Twilight sighed, smiling as she shook her head at him. She then turned to continue with her packing, the chariot wasn't going to wait for them all day.
The chariot drawn by two pegasi soared over the beautiful clear blue skies above Equestria, nothing but beautiful lively fields below as they travelled from Canterlot to the town of Ponyville. Twilight's parents and her brother had waved her off and said their goodbyes until Twilight returned from her royal duty. She smiled upon thinking of her family. Her parents and her brother had been most supportive of her and thought only of her best interests, even if Shining Armour was a little overprotective of her.
Twilight sat in the chariot, still not thinking she needed to be making friends when there was a chance of great world threatening danger occurring in just a few days time. Scales On the other hand was just leering his head off the side of the chariot much like a dog out the side of a wagon. His tail was wrapped tightly to the chariot door as not to risk the winds blowing him out of the chariot.
"Do you have to do that?" Twilight asked, watching the snake flail in the wind like a crumpled flag.
"I'm embracing my inner flying snake." Scales called back to Twilight.
"Well don't, it's making me nervous that you'll fall out." Twilight told him.
Scales looked out off the edge of the chariot for a long moment of silence before doing as Twilight said, slithering back inside of the chariot and to Twilight's side. "You should relax. You know the princess made arrangements for you to stay in the local library, the 'Golden Oak' I think it was called. So if the whole making friends thing doesn't work today you can flee back into your little book den." Scales said.
"Exactly! This is the perfect opportunity to prove I'm right. We're here to supervise the summer sun celebration preparations. That first, then I'll head back to the library and find proof of Nightmare Moon's return and see what I can find out about these 'elements of harmony'." Twilight stated her intent clearly and proudly. "The fate of Equestria doesn't depend on me making friends."
"Right..." Scales said before he peered his eyes off the edge, "looks like we're here."
Upon hearing that Twilight peaked off the edge of the chariot as well, looking down at the moderately sized town that was beginning to come into view. It was a fairly pretty little town with all the things you'd expect to see: town hall, a farm off to the outskirts of the town, buildings of all varying sizes dotted about the place. Nothing stuck out that much and it appeared to be a rather simple and regular village. It made Twilight wonder why such a boring little hamlet was selected to host this years summer sun celebrations, usually it was larger cities like Manehattan, Vanhoover or Trottingham that would hold the celebrations. What made this place special?
The chariot landed down along a stretch of road outside the town before coming to a complete halt. Twilight stood up and turned to Scales, waiting patiently as the snake coiled himself around her body comfortably. Around her fore hoof, around her chest carefully before finally peering over her shoulder. It may have looked unsettling or even scary to some other ponies, but to Twilight it was as comfortable as a scarf or a scaly blanket. Twilight and Scales exchanged smiles before the lilac mare dismounted her chariot.
Several ponies in town had noticed the outsider dismounting her chariot, whispering to one another though Twilight didn't know whether it was about her sudden appearance into their town or the snake wrapped around her body. Twilight could feel her heartbeat quicken slightly, but she calmed herself as she saw those same ponies turning back to continue on with whatever they were doing before she came.
"So good so far, nopony has chased you out of town yet." Scales teased.
"Ha ha, very funny." Twilight said dryly, a small smile forming on her face as she trotted along into the town. She continued walking through town while Scales reached his head around to look at Twilight's face.
"Why don't you give this friend making thing a try? Just try talking to somepony." Scales said as he spotted a pony coming their way, "like that one."
Twilight looked in the direction of where Scales' tail was pointing to, and she saw the pinkest pony she had ever seen in her entire life. Pink coat, a thick puffy pink mane, pink everything except for her blue eyes. She had a smile on her face and happiness in every step she took. Twilight assumed that her cutie mark, of three balloons, had something to do with happiness or rather bringing happiness to others.
Once the mare was close enough to hear, she stopped walking when she heard Scales' comment and looked to Twilight. "Just say hello." Scales said to Twilight.
"Umm..." Twilight looked at the pink mare, giving an awkward smile, "...hello."
The mare's reaction was far, far off from what Twilight or Scales were expecting. Like a sentient spring, the pink mare bounced several feet off of the ground and gave out a gasp so sharp and long that Twilight thought for a moment that the mare was struggling to breathe. She then bolted off away from Twilight and Scales with lightning fast speeds, zooming away faster than Twilight's eyes could follow.
"Okay..." Scales said slowly as he looked up to Twilight, "maybe we can leave making friends on the back-burner for now."
Twilight trotted on toward the sight of a large farm, Scales holding onto her as he read the list of things they had to do. The farm was of impressive size for sure, clearly having taken serval generations worth of hard work to achieve.
"First thing on the list: food from Sweet Apple Acres," Scales read off the list, "should be a farmer around here somewhere."
Twilight looked around for a moment but all it took was the sound of some southern sounding mare hollering "yeehaw!" for Twilight to quickly pinpoint the origin of said holler. An orange coated mare with a blonde mane wearing a light brown stetson hat rushed toward a large apple tree and bucked it with enough force in her back legs to knock every single apple out and perfectly land into wooden buckets lay down beneath the tree prior to the bucking. Twilight couldn't help but be impressed by the mare's strength, must come in handy.
Twilight approached the mare with a friendly enough smile. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm here to—" Twilight began, only to stop upon the orange mare taking Twilight's hoof and shaking it with such vigor that Twilight thought her foreleg was going to pop out of its socket.
"Well, howdy-doo, Miss Twilight, a pleasure makin' your acquaintance. I'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends!" said the orange mare.
"Friends? No, well actually—" Twilight blundered out before saying, "I'm here to oversee the food preparations for the banquet."
"Ah, I see. Taste testing and the such? Well come right along now." the mare called Applejack said as she gestured for the mare to follow her. "We got all sorts of things for y'all to try: apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts..."
"Actua—" Twilight was about to say before being tapped on the shoulder by Scales.
"Come on Twilight, five minutes can't hurt. Think of the pie." Scales reasoned, drooling over the idea of pie.
"Fine, but let's make it quick." Twilight said as she began to follow the orange mare, "we do have a schedule to keep."
Applejack looked back at Twilight for a moment and then said. "Umm...I don't mean to alarm you, is that your snake? Or do I have to get granny's shovel?" Applejack asked Twilight.
"Oh, no he's with me. This is Scales." Twilight introduced her serpent friend to the orange mare.
"Pleasure to meet you." Scales said to Applejack, the act of talking seemingly causing a small shock to dash across the orange mare's eyes.
"Oh, you talk? I've never met a talking snake before, least not one I could talk to. Animals are usually Fluttershy's thing." Applejack said with some thought. She then gestured for them to follow, "well, I suppose you can taste test too if you're interested?"
"Of course, lead the way." Scales answered, gesturing for Twilight to follow.
Twilight sighed and began following after the orange mare, having a strong feeling that this was going to be a really long day.
"Uhh...I ate too much pie."
Twilight groaned as she slowly trotted back through town with Scales, who looked completely fine from their encounter with enough food to feed all of Canterlot. Her stomach felt like it would burst after all the delicious foods that'd been tasted by the duo. It was possibly some of the most delicious food that had ever passed her lips, though she had an idea that she wouldn't be touching another apple based food for a little while. On top of that this seemed to be the day that Applejack's many, many relatives had come to town, because she got to meet every single one of them.
"Foods done with, next up is weather." Scales read the list as he looked to the skies, "apparently a pegasus named 'Rainbow Dash' should be clearing the clouds."
"Clearly she isn't good at her job." Twilight commented, looking up at the many dozens of clouds in the sky.
But then, as though she'd summoned bad luck her way, a big blur of rainbow and cyan came crashing into Twilight. Scales had been fast enough to lunge himself away from Twilight mere seconds before the blur came crashing down, making Twilight wish she herself had the same serpent speeds. Scales landed gracefully enough on the ground and turned to see Twilight, who was not as fortunate in her landed.
She lay in a puddle of muddy water with what Twilight could now see was a cyan coated pegasus with a rainbow mane lay on top of her. The pegasus brushed herself off as she stood up. It would seem that Twilight had broke the other mare's fall as shown by the lack of mud on her and the copious amounts of mud on and in Twilight's mane and coat.
The cyan mare chuckled sheepishly as she stood up. "Uh, 'scuse me?"
"Nnnn." was all Twilight replied with, looking at the mud on her body.
"Lemme help you." the mare said before dashing off into the skies again.
The next thing Twilight knew she had returned with a large cloud. A rain cloud. But before Twilight could object to the cloud of rain being dumped on her, the mare bounced up and down until the rain came pouring out and onto her. She was completely free of mud, but was now completely soaked from head to hoof. Twilight could only groan in response, having a feeling that if she did speak the words that came out would be less than pleasant.
The mare laughed sheepishly again. "Oops, I guess I overdid it. Um, uh, how about this? My very own patented Rain-Blow Dry!—" before Twilight could interject, the rainbow maned mare darting about Twilight with speeds Twilight believed could rival the speed of the pink mare she'd 'met' earlier. By the time the mare was done she was completely dry, but her mane was a thick poofy mess. Twilight's patience was really being tested with this one. "—no no. Don't thank me. You're quite welcome."
The rainbow maned mare then burst out laughing upon having seen the current state of Twilight's hair. Then Scales joined the cyan pegasus in laughing, all the while Twilight had an unamused look on her face. "Let me guess. You're Rainbow Dash." she said.
"The one and only. Why, you heard of me?" said the mare, now confirmed to be Rainbow Dash, as she hovered above Twilight with the aid of her wings.
"I heard you were supposed to be keeping the sky clear." Twilight stated, adding a sigh onto the end before saying, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess sent me to check on the weather."
"Yeah, yeah, that'll be a snap. I'll do it in a jiffy. Just as soon as I'm done practicing." Rainbow Dash shrugged off.
"Practicing for what?" Twilight questioned curiously.
"The Wonderbolts! They're gonna perform at the Celebration tomorrow, and I'm gonna show 'em my stuff!" Rainbow stated proudly, flexing her fore hooves as she hovered above the pony and snake.
"The Wonderbolts?" Twilight inquired.
"Yep!"
"The most talented flyers in all of Equestria?" Twilight continued, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"That's them!" Rainbow confirmed with a nod of her head.
"Pfft! Please. They'd never accept a Pegasus who can't even keep the sky clear for one measly day." Twilight scoffed. She had come to the conclusion that the only way she'd be able to get this sky cleared in time for the raising of the sun was to appeal to the throbbing mass that was this mare's ego.
"Hey, I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat." Rainbow gave a scoff of her own.
"Prove it." Twilight told her.
Then, without a second wasted, Rainbow Dash took flight like a speeding bullet and began to assault the clouds with all the speed and strength she had in her. Seconds was all it took for all the skies over Ponyville to become completely cloud free. Twilight's mouth went slightly agape at the sheer speeds she had just witnessed as Rainbow landed back down, panting with exertion.
"Loop-de-loop around, and wham! What'd I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hanging." Rainbow said as she wiped the sweat from her brow. "I'm the fastest here in Ponyville."
"Not while I'm here." Scales muttered out of earshot of either mare.
"You should see the look on your face. Ha! You're a laugh, Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to hang out some more." Rainbow commented before speeding off again through the skies.
"Rrgh." Twilight groaned once the mare was gone, her mane still a complete mess.
"Decorations. Bleh..." Scales faked a gag at all the bright and friendly colours around him. They had entered the town hall now where they saw all the various decorations that adorned their surroundings, all of which would be visible to all the ponies attending the celebrations. To say they were impressive would be a total understatement.
"Yes, the décor is coming along nicely. This ought'a be quick. I'll be at the library in no time. Beautiful indeed." Twilight said as she took a look around.
"That looks like the mare we're checking up on." Scales pointed to the only other mare in the room they were currently in.
Twilight looked on ahead and immediately caught glimpse of the alabaster coated mane with a pristine purple mane. "No, no, no, oh! Goodness no." the white coated mare listed off to herself.
"Good afternoon—" Twilight began before being cut up.
The mare raised her hoof Twilight's way, an effective silencing motion. "Just a moment, please! I'm 'in the zone', as it were. Oh, yes! Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why, Rarity, you are a talent. Now, um, how can I help yo—" the mare calling herself Rarity then gasped in horror as she had turned to look at Twilight "—Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?!"
Twilight and Scales exchanged glances each other's way. It took Twilight a moment to understand, before she remembered the current state of her mane. "Oh, you mean my mane? Well, it's a long story. I'm just here to check on the decorations, and then I'll be out of your hair!"
"Out of my hair? What about your hair?!" Rarity exclaimed as she began to drag Twilight off somewhere. Scales had already jumped ship as it were as he watched Twilight be dragged off.
"Wait! Where are we going?!" Twilight asked before she looked back to Scales and called, "Help!"
But he didn't help. Scales chuckled to himself as he slithered after the two mares. Twilight found herself being dragged across town and into a boutique by the looks of the outside. She would've objected completely if she hadn't of realised that this Rarity was going to fix her mane up for her.
As she straightened Twilight's mane again, Rarity stopped for a moment to marvel at Twilight's earrings and choker. "I must say, you have quite an interesting choice of accessories" Rarity said as she gently touched and admired one of the earrings, "too black for my taste, but it looks great on you. Is the snake theme for your pet?"
"Who you calling a pet?" Scales asked.
Rarity jumped slightly at the snake's speech. "Oh my! My sincerest apologies, I wasn't aware that there were snakes capable of speech." Rarity said before she turned back to Twilight. "Anyways, you were saying where you were from?"
"I've been sent from Canterlot to—" was all Twilight got to say before she was cut up.
"Huh?" Rarity's eyes seemed to gleam with marvel and wonder. "Canterlot?! Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it! We are gonna be the best of friends, you and I." Rarity then dashed away as fabrics and gemstones seemed to find their way over to her. Twilight immediately this fashionista intended on making some kind of Canterlot themed dress or something.
"Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new color!" Twilight whispered to Scales as she made a beeline for the door. In response Scales only chuckled as he followed after Twilight, slinking his way back into Twilight's back.
"What's next on the list?" Twilight asked Scales as she was now trotting down a pathway quite rich with beautiful greenery.
Scales peered down at the list once more. "Oh, uh, music! It's the last one!"
As though on quite, Twilight and Scales heard the sounds of birds singing fill the air with brilliantly timed melodies. Quickly after they spotted the line of birds perched in a tree with a yellow coated pegasus with a pink mane. But before they moved any closer, Twilight shot a look back at Scales.
"Don't so much as think about eating those birds." Twilight told him. It may have gone unnoticed in Canterlot, but this pegasus would surely notice a few birds missing.
"Hmph." Scales grumbled before saying, "fine." After that the pair began to approach the pegasus.
The pegasus then flew up to the birds to stop their singing, choosing to speak to one specific bird in particular. "Oh my. Um, stop please, everyone, umm. Excuse me, sir? I mean no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny-tiny bit off. Now, follow me, please. A-one, a-two, a-one two three-"
"Hello!" Twilight greeted in a friendly manner. In response the pegasus yelped in fright and her birds flew away with the same level of fright. "Oh my, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music and it's sounding beautiful," when she didn't get a response she continued, "I'm Twilight Sparkle," once again no response, "What's your name?"
"Um... I'm Fluttershy." the pegasus answered, so quietly that Twilight couldn't hear.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight asked.
"Um... My name is Fluttershy." the pegasus said, somehow managing to come out quieter than the last time."
"Didn't quite catch that." Twilight said, meaning no offence as she raised a hoof to her ear. All she got in response then was a nervous squeak, but on the bright side the birds had returned to their perch. "Well, um, it looks like your birds are back, so I guess everything's in order. Keep up the good work!" Twilight offered a smile, only to get more nervous squeaking in response. By Celestia this pegasus was 'meek' as Scales would put it.
"Oookay." Twilight then turned to Scales. "Well, that was easy."
"What species of snake is that?" the pegasus said with a gasp, darting over and looking at Scales with bright eyes. "Oh, I've never seen a snake like that before. He's sooo cute!"
"Well, well, well..." Scales sent a smirk Twilight's way.
"Oh my, he talks. I didn't know there were any snakes that could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful I, I just don't even know what to say!" the pegasus was growing more excited and giddy by the second.
"Well, in that case we'd better be going." Twilight was so close to making her getaway only for the pegasus to begin following her and talking to Scales, who was on her back currently. Great so now she wants to talk, Twilight thought to herself.
"Wait, wait! What's his name?" the pegasus asked.
"I'm Scales." Scales introduced himself.
"Hi Scales, I'm Fluttershy. Wow, a talking snake! And what do snakes talk about?" the pegasus, Fluttershy, asked.
"Well, what do you wanna know?" Scales asked.
"Absolutely everything." Fluttershy said, earning a groan from Twilight.
"Well... I started out as a cute little purple and green egg. I was expected by nopony. I'm a heavenly gift even on the day of my birth you see..."
"...and that's the story of my whole entire life! Well, up until today. Do you wanna hear about today?" Scales asked. Okay, Twilight now knew he was doing this on purpose.
"Oh, yes, please!" Fluttershy said with a nod, eyes gleaming in wonder at the talking snake.
But before Scales could continue, Twilight cut in upon realising they'd reached the library. At long last! She could do what she wanted to do this whole time. "I am so sorry, how did we get here so fast? This is where I'm staying while in Ponyville and my poor snake needs his sleep."
"What are you talking abo—woah!" Scales began before Twilight managed to knock him off balance.
"Aww, wook at dat, he's so sweepy he can't even keep his widdle bawance!" she began to grit her teeth at the end as she glared daggers at Scales.
"Poor thing, you simply must get into bed..." Fluttershy stated with a look so cute even Twilight steely exterior melted for a few moments.
"Yes, yes, we'll get right on that. Well, g'night!" Twilight bolted into the library and slammed the door shut, expressing a loud long sigh.
"Huh. Rude much?" Scales said.
"Sorry, Scales, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time! I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now, where's the light?"
Then the lights flicked on by themselves apparently. Then Twilight's eyes opened in shock as possibly every single pony in this town was inside the library, shouting "surprise!" The sounds of kazoos, music kicking up and Twilight prolonged groans filled the library. The universe obviously hated her and was kicking her in the teeth at every hurdle. Why couldn't the summer sun celebration have been in Manehattan? Nopony likes making friends there.
"Surprise!" was called again, but this time by a single pony. That pink pony. The pink pony that had sped away from Twilight upon her first arriving in Ponyville. She then blew a party whistle before continuing.
"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh?" the pink pony, Pinkie Pie said. She was the most child friendly and energetic pony Twilight had ever seen in all her days alive.
"Very surprised." Twilight admitted. "Libraries are supposed to be quiet."
"Well, that's silly! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, bo-ring! Y'see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all "hello" and I was all—" she made a deep gasping noise "—remember? Y'see I've never saw you before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville!"
Twilight only groaned as Pinkie Pie continued. "And if you're new, that meant you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, then I had an idea, and that's why I went—" she made the deep gasp noise again "—I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!"
Right now Twilight was wishing that Rainbow's cloud that'd rained down on her earlier was stuffed full of lightning, but alas she was stuck here in a library she could relax in while surrounded by ponies she didn't know and didn't care to know. She had a point to prove, the sun itself was at risk! Nightmare Moon wasn't going to dissolve into a puddle of rainbows just because Twilight made friends.
Seeing her opportunity, Twilight eyed the upstairs of the library and made a beeline before anypony could stop or even notice her escape this madness. She closed the door and found herself in a bedroom.
Finally, peace and quiet. Twilight sighed as she lay on the bed, looking up at the moon with craters shaping together a mares head. Princess Celestia didn't think Nightmare Moon was a problem, but what if she was wrong? As much as Twilight hated to think it, it was possible for Celestia to be wrong. What happened then?
Well, like Scales said, she'd have to rely on herself if Celestia would not see what was happening.
They were still partying. Twilight had officially come to the conclusion that this entire town was full of crazy ponies. She had tried to read up on Nightmare Moon or the ever mysterious elements of harmony but the music from the party kept making her loose focus. She was never going to accomplish anything with all this racket.
Scales then slithered through the door, a wide grin on his face as he emerged from Ponyville's party central for the night. "You know you're missing one good party, right. As grotesquely bright and colourful as these ponies are, that Pinkie Pie sure knows how to party." Scales said to Twilight.
"We didn't come here to party. I'm trying to prove that Nightmare Moon is going to return, and the ponies in this town are driving me crazy!" Twilight called to Scales.
"Well, can you really blame them? None of them have your intellect." Scales said to Twilight, slithering up to her position. "They don't understand dangers until they're staring them in the face."
"No, nopony ever does until it's too late. That's a common pattern with all the old stories of villainous creatures rising up and being struck down again." Twilight sighed as she looked to Scales.
"If only there was a way to change that." Scales thought aloud. "I mean, princess Celestia's way of rule is kind and loving, but it gives chance to the lowlifes of Equestria to take advantage."
"What else could she do? Go full blown dictator just to control the bad guys?" Twilight laughed at the idea.
"Technically she's only one step away from being a dictator." Scales pointed out, "all that power she holds, all she'd need to do is get rid of the nation representatives and poof! Dictatorship."
"Hmm, I never really thought about that before." Twilight said, curiosity in her tone before she shook her head slightly, "but princess Celestia would never do something like that, she values democracy more than anypony."
"Does she?" Scales questioned idly.
The words seemed to stick with Twilight for a good few moments. While he didn't despise her, Scales never seemed to fully like Celestia, but Twilight assumed it was just a primal instinct or something. Fear that which is totally different from you or something like that. But he didn't seem to have a problem with her, as much as he did her rule. Twilight could understand from an outsider perspective that one pony having the power of a nation as large as Equestria could be seen as a bad thing, but that didn't mean the rule itself was bad merely because someone said it was. Does it? She let the ponies of Equestria have their say, but she still had the final say on things.
Scales could see the thought in Twilight's eyes and lowered the smirk on his maw from her view. "How about we head down to town hall now? The ponies are starting to head down there so that they can watch the sun rise." Scales suggested.
"Yeah, okay, let's go." Twilight nodded in agreement, looking up at the moon one last time before she stood up to let Scales slithered onto her body.
please let me be wrong, Twilight hoped.
The ponies of Ponyville gathered together in preparation for the raising of the sun on this longest day of the year. The bright and beautiful decorations were hung around, showing off Rarity's impressive handiwork. The delicious foods were being eaten, showcasing the quality of Applejack's crops that had gone into making them. The skies were clear thanks to Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy was getting her birds into position ready for the princess's arrival. Drinks were drunk, friends were met up with, and everypony was relaxed and happy.
Almost everypony that is.
Twilight looked around the room, on edge as she was expecting Nightmare Moon to smash through the ceiling at any moment. But everything looked fine, like Scales had told her it would be on the way here. He seemed to believe her about the possibility of Nightmare Moon returning, but he was more focused on keeping Twilight relaxed. There were six royal guards here as well, the princess's escort, but six guards wouldn't do much against an alicorn now would they?
Then that pink pony, Pinkie, starting talking again though Twilight wasn't really listening properly. "Isn't this exciting? Are you excited, 'cause I'm excited, I've never been so excited— well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went—" she inhaled deeply "—but I mean really, who can top that?"
Twilight looked ahead and saw a pony trot up into a small stage. By the looks of her, Twilight assumed she was the mayor of the town. "Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" the mayor announced, earning cheers from most of the ponies in the room. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria..."
"Ready?" Fluttershy whispered, readying her birds to start singing.
"...Princess Celestia!" the mayor gestured to a curtain that had been drawn open.
No pony was there.
Ponies began chattering nervously and looking to one another as though one of them held the answer of where the princess was. "This can't be good." Twilight concluded. Then she looked up to the moon as though it were responsible. She prayed the mare would still be there, the mare in the moon. But the mare was nowhere to be seen.
The mare, Nightmare Moon, had escaped.
"Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!" the mayor attempted to calm the crowds.
But the crowd's shocked gasps only increased as a mass of dark purple, swirling and churning about, appeared in the spot that princess Celestia should have been in. The mass took shape as a pony, an alicorn roughly the same size as Celestia give or take a few inches. The shock and horror only increased amongst the crowd.
"Oh no... Nightmare Moon!" Twilight said frightfully, too focused on the threat before them to even notice Scales' look of intrigue at the demon alicorn.
"Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces." said Nightmare Moon, pride and envy and hate all in her commanding voice at once.
"What did you do with our Princess?!" shouted Rainbow as she went to take flight and charge the dark alicorn, only for Applejack to snag Rainbow's tail in her mouth.
"Whoa there, Nelly..." Applejack said, voice muffled by rainbow hair.
Nightmare Moon chuckled darkly. "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"
"Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty—" Pinkie said before finding Applejack's hoof covering her mouth.
"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?" Nightmare Moon queried to the crowds.
"I did. And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!" Twilight declared, earning shocked gasps from the crowd.
"Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here." Nightmare Moon stated, lowering herself down from her elevated platform, the crowds scattered away from the alicorn as she lowered to their level.
"You're here to... to..." Twilight found herself growing more afraid by the second.
"Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" Nightmare Moon boomed with laughter, her horn beginning to glow as the guards in the hall charged her with weapons drawn.
The guards charged with spiked tipped weapons aimed at Nightmare Moon, but with all their bravery came nothing as Nightmare Moon outmanoeuvred them with complete ease. Twilight and the other ponies in the hall could only watch in horror as flesh and metal were torn by the sheer brutal strength of Nightmare Moon's telekinetic energy. The red and pink insides of two guards were paved across the halls before any could react, screams of horror emerging from ponies who made to flee.
Twilight was frozen still with fear, unable to move from the spot she was on as she saw the blood of ponies spill and stain. Eyes widen and only things she could hear was screams and that alicorn's laughter, not even Scales' attempts at getting her to move were able to get through.
"Twilight! Come on!" Scales slithered down to the floor and considered slapping Twilight around the face with her tail, but got another idea when he saw Nightmare Moon growing closer to them.
Nightmare Moon moved toward the remaining guards as they now shifted their focus onto keeping ponies safe. Nightmare Moon trotted forward, destroying any decorations depicting the sun or anything including the day at all. At this point Twilight had finally built up the courage to begin moving back away from the dark alicorn.
"If you wish to see my everlasting night for even another hour, then bow before your que—argh!"
Nightmare Moon wailed out in agonising pain, breaking Twilight from her fear induced trance. She looked on ahead to find Scales, sinking his fangs deep into Nightmare Moon's leg just above the base of the armoured boot she was wearing on that leg. Twilight had never seen Scales bite a pony before, but she was glad he had done it now even if a small part of her felt pity toward Nightmare Moon as she wailed out. The alicorn was acting like her leg had been set on fire, raising it off the ground before Scales finally pulled away and slithered back to Twilight's side with enough speed to avoid the screeching alicorn currently in pain.
"You foul creature! You dare—argh!" Nightmare Moon wailed again when she tried to walk on the leg Scales had bitten.
Nightmare Moon's horn glowed as she broke down into a purple mass once again and escaped through the opened window in the roof.
"Did your snake just bite the mare in the moon?" Applejack asked, scared of what consequences would come about by this.
Twilight didn't answer, instead she shot around on the spot and began running out of the town hall. Scales caught up in a matter of seconds and leaped onto Twilight's back, holding on as she ran towards the library. Her mind raced as she attempted to come up with a plan, any plan. She had spent so much time trying to prove Nightmare Moon's return but she hadn't spent any time planning in case her return actually happened.
What was she going to do?