//------------------------------//
// Friendship and Magic, part 1 
// Story: My Little Pony: Friendships and Magic [Season 1] 
// by Alpha Wolf 4500 
//------------------------------//

It was an early morning in Equestria. The sun was recently risen and the river was flowing peacefully. In the waters, a makeshift basket was floating down the river with a sniffling foal inside it.

Princess Celestia was taking some time to herself to go on a small walk near the river she visited often. However, something felt off about this particular time.

The basket with the foal inside got closer, and the foal inside progressed from sniffling, to feared crying. Hearing the crying, Princess Celestia looked in the direction of the basket. After seeing it, she used her magic to lift the basket and bring it to shore.

“Shh, sh sh. It’s okay.” Celestia said in a comforting tone, lightly rocking the basket, soothing the young foal. Upon closer inspection, the foal was revealed to be a changeling nymph with yellow scleras and bright red eyes. When the changeling looked at Celestia, he stopped crying. There was also a note next to him. The note looked like some of the ink was washed off thanks to the river.

“Bandit, give good home. Please. With Love.” It said. Celestia placed the basket down and picked the young nymph up and held him in her hoof.

“I will.” She said as she walked back to the castle. A few hours into the castle, Bandit was crawling around in the throne room, cooing at all the sights.

Eventually, Bandit began crawling to Luna’s throne and began starting to crawl onto it. Celestia giggled as she watched him and watched him.

Bandit slipped and landed on his flank, however, this didn't stop him from getting back up and trying again. Eventually, he managed to get up there.

“Good job Bandit.” Celestia said as she nuzzled him with a smile. Bandit smiles and nuzzles back.





9 years later, a nine year old Bandit was giggling as he was running from Celestia, playfully chasing him. He was wearing a red cape that looked a little too big for him. His mane also started growing in, it was a teal mane that was long on the right side. He also grew a carapace some time ago, a dark red one that covered his back with two gold-yellow wings on wings, the same color of his scleras.

“Come back here you!” Celestia said, playfully laughing.

“You’ll never catch me! Haha!” He said before hiding under Celestia’s throne. Celestia saw this, but pretended not to see him.

“~Oh Bandit.” She said in a singing tone. “Where aaaaare yooooooou?” 

Bandit giggled from under the seat and poked his head out.

“Come out come out wherever you are.” Celestia continued.

“Rawr!” Bandit exclaimed as he jumped out from his hiding spot and pounced on Celestia’s leg. Celestia squealed as he jumped out.

“There you are my little Lovebug.” She said with a smile.

“Did I scare you momma!? Did I!? Did I!? Did I!?” Bandit asked with a wagging tail.

“You were super scary dear.” Celestia said, nose nuzzling him.

“I heard that you were going to observe a pony’s spell today.” Bandit asked as he slid off her hoof.

“I am, yes. There is a young unicorn who is showing that she is very strong with her magic but I’m going to oversee her spell today.” Celestia said.

“Strong like me?” Bandit asked whilst wagging his tail.

“Yes sweetness, just like you.” 

“I hope I get to meet her at school.”

“I think you will, if all goes to plan.” Celestia said. Bandit plastered a wide smile.

“Yay! First friend!” Bandit cheered. Celestia smiled and walked to the door. She looked back at Bandit.

“Would you like to come?” She asked.

“Oh! Oh! Can I bring Chadwickson?” Bandit asked.

“Of course dear.” Celestia said. Bandit zipped off and returned with a red and purple egg. As soon as he got back, he climbed on her back and held on tight.

Celestia walked out of the castle and walked to the building. She enters the room and four unicorn ponies with clipboards bowed to her.

“Greetings everypony.” Celestia said as Bandit got off of her back and walked towards the front.

He walked past a light blue unicorn stallion, Night Light, and a grey unicorn mare with a purple and grey mane, Twilight Velvet.

Night Light looked at him and visibly flinched. This is when Celestia walked forward.

“Do not be alarmed, this is only my son.” Celestia smiled, ruffling Bandit’s mane.

“Oh, well then. Hi there fella, I’m Night Light.” Night Light introduced.

“Hi. I’m Bandit.” Bandit said with a smile. Night Light noticed the egg on Bandit’s back, strapped down.

“Whatcha got there Bandit?” He asked.

“This is Kama Ezio Clyde Armasta Laska Chadwickson IV.” Bandit said with a smile. Seeing Night Light’s face, he scratched his head. “But, Mom and I call him Chad.” 

“Well, it’s real nice to meet you both.” Twilight Velvet said with a warm smile. Bandit walked towards the young filly talking with  the princess.

Bandit leaned into her line of sight and waved at her. She smiled and waved back. Celestia looked at this, placed her hoof behind Bandit and pushed him forward.

“This is my son, Bandit.” Celestia introduced.

“Hi!” Bandit said warmly. The young filly looked up at him, Bandit was bigger and taller than her.

“H-hi! I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She introduced. Bandit looked at the egg on a cart and walked towards it.

“Aww, who’s this?” He asked.

“It’s a dragon egg, I named him Spike. I’m gonna help this little guy wake up.” Twilight said with a look of determination.

“I can’t wait to see it. This is gonna be awesome.” 

“Hopefully I can do it.” 

“I know you can.” Bandit said. He walked back to give him some room. Twilight takes in a deep breath and attempted to charge his horn. Nothing happened. She tried again, only for the same thing to happen. She began to get nervous. She kept trying, straining as she did so. Although this had no effect, Bandit was encouraging her.

“Come on Twilight, you can do it.” He encouraged. This is when Bandit felt the egg vibrating on his back. He looked back at it to see the egg cracking.

This is when a loud sonic boom was heard. Twilight gasped and her horn lit up. She shot a beam of magic at the dragon egg.

Both eggs hatched at the same moment, revealing a lavender dragon with a light green underbelly and green spikes, and a changeling nymph with purple eyes and white iriuses.

Then Twilight’s magic went haywire. Her magic made the four unicorns levitate, turning her parents into plants and turning Spike into a gigantic dragon.

Celestia places a hoof on Twilight, which managed to calm her down. The judges were dropped and landed on Bandit’s magic, who did so to let them have a soft landing. Twilight’s parents turned back to normal, and Spike turned back into a baby and began to suck on his tail. Chad crawled to Bandit’s chest and fell asleep. Bandit held him with an excited smile.

"Momma! Did you see that?! Did you see it?" Bandit asked her with excited hops.

"He's an excitable little fella isn't he?" Night Light said to Twilight Velvet.

“He sure is.” Twilight Velvet said.

“I sure did.” Celestia said with a smile. Twilight jumped around happily before she stumbled onto the floor, giggling softly.

“Does this mean she can get into the school?” Bandit asked with a tail wag.

"That's not the only thing she's got" She pointed toward the young unicorn's flank. 

Twilight gasped and looked seeing her own cutie mark "Oh my gosh oh my gosh Oh my gosh I've got my cutie mark. Mom! Dad! Look!"

"Cutie mark?" Bandit asked with a head tilt.

“That, my dear Bandit, is when a pony realises their special talent.” Celestia explained. This prompted Bandit to look at his own flank. It was in fact, blank.

“Will I get mine?” Bandit asked her.

“You never know. There hasn’t been a changeling with a cutie mark before.” She started to say. “But, I’m sure you will be the first. You’re known for being the first to do things.” 

Bandit smiles at that and the two share a light nuzzling.

(10 years later, the start of mlp season one episode one)

Bandit was inside of Twilight's house, sleeping on the couch, and snoring rather loudly. He had grown a lot over the past ten years. He was bigger than the couch he was sleeping on. His mane was also light grey and put in a long ponytail.

Chad, Bandit's younger brother, was searching the library for books to read out of boredom.

Twilight was walking back towards her house after doing some studying "I've gotta get back home and get all this studying done."

“Twilight!? Is their anything interesting to read?!” Chad called.

She rolled her eyes hearing him from outside "Everything is interesting if you give it a chance!" She called back.

"I read every book three times!" He said. He huffed with boredom before looking at Spike.

Chad started to sneak up on him. Upon being close enough he bites down on the tip of his tail.

Spike jerked out of shock. "Hey," he said as he looked at Chad

Chad hisses and pounced on him, playfully wrestling with him.

"Aah, oh you wanna tussle huh?" He asked as they wrestled. 

Twilight walked in, seeing them wrestling.

“Watch for fragile objects.” Bandit said as his ears twitched. Chad continued to try and pin Spike. Spike was having none of it, and maneuvered around.

Chad bit down on Spike’s neck, with no intentions of harm of course.

“Any news Twily?” Bandit asked her.

Spike struggled to get out of the grip.

“I’ve found a book that talks of the two sisters, and to be honest… I’m kinda scared.”

“The two sisters?” Bandit asked as he sat up. “The mare in the moon story?” Spike made an attempt to flip Chad, which worked.

“Yes, exactly. How do you know about that?” Twilight asked.

“Mom talks about it from time to time.” Bandit said. Chad hits the ground, but held onto Spike. He hisses and pounces again.

“A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal!” Twilight recited from the book. Bandit sat up and Chad got distracted from the word’s ‘eternal night’.

“That means the Eternal Night could happen tonight.” Bandit said as he got off the couch. Spike pushed Chad off of him. Spike attempts to perform an elbow drop on him, but Twilight caught him.

“Spike, get ready to take a note.” Twilight said. Chad got up, and got a quill for Spike.

“Dear Mother, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster.” Bandit started.

“Hold on.” Spike said. He made an attempt to spell it. “Preci-- Preci--”

“P-R-E-C-I-P-I-C-E.” Chad spelled for him.

“Thank you, continue.” Spike said. 

“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 Son, Bandit." Bandit said. Spike finished writing and got ready to send it. Chad snatched it right as he blew the fire.

“Hey!” Spike said. Chad placed it on his horn and transported it that way. “Grr! Spike smash!” Spike tackles him and the two started wrestling.

“Do you thing she’ll respond right away?” Twilight asked.

“I dunno, Twilight, Princess Celestia's a little busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. And it's like, the day after tomorrow.” Bandit said.

“That's just it, Bandit. The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration! It's imperative that the Princess is told right away!” Twilight said. Spike and Chad stopped wrestling for a second and looked at them.

“What does imperative mean?” Spike asked.

“Very important.” Chad answered. Chad’s horn sparked and a letter was transported to him. Chad tried to grab it, but Spike got it first.

“Hey!” Chad exclaimed, reaching for it, only for Spike to use his claw to hold him back by the face.

“My, loving son and dearest pupil. I am aware of said prophecy and I can ensure you that I have accounted for everything. On a separate note, I have a task for you both. I will be sending you to Ponyville to oversee preparations for the summer sun celebration with an extra goal... make some friends" Spike said looking at them both. Bandit and Twilight gasped.





Twilight, Chad, and Spike were on a carriage in the air being pulled by two royal guard pegasi. Bandit was flying along side them. Chad had a stuffed panda on his back.

“Look on the bright side Twilight. Mom arranged for us to stay in a library. That’s a lot of books for me- I mean, us to read. Doesn’t that make you happy?” Chad asked.

Twilight smiled. “Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return.”

“And what about making friends?” Spike asked.

“That all depends on how much they do or don’t like Changelings. And besides, the main goal is to check the preparations.” Bandit said.

“They’re gonna love you Bandit, you’re the nicest Changeling I know.” Chad said with a tailwag.

“Chad, I’m the only changeling you know besides yourself.” Bandit said.

“Nuh uh, I know Tiger Shade.” Chad said.

“That’s a fictional Daring Do Character.” Bandit said as the carriage began to land. Bandit landed beside them.

“Thank you sirs.” Bandit told them. The two guards look up at him and nod with a satisfied whinny. The first thing bandit took to notice was how much taller and bigger Bandit was compared to the ponies walking around.

“Maybe the ponies in ponyville will have some interesting things to talk about.” Spike said as they saw a pink pony trotting their way.

“Well, I guess it’s worth a shot.” Bandit said before moving Twilight in front of him to talk to the pink pony.

Twilight glares at him before letting out a sigh and looking at the pink pony.

“Um... hello?” Twilight greeted. The pony lets out a prolonged gasp before zipping off. The four looked at her in shock. The stuffed panda fell off of Chad’s back.

“Well, that was interesting all right.” Bandit said as he turned to start moving. “Maybe I should’ve went to Moondancer’s get-together.”

Chad picked his stuffed panda up and began following him.





The four made their way to a farm nearing Ponyville.

“Summer Sun Celebration official overseer's checklist. Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres.” Bandit said as he was looking at the checklist.

“Yeehaw!” An orange mare was heard yelling. The quadro see her run to a tree, buck it, and knock all of the apples into the buckets under the trees. 

“Let’s get this over with.” Twilight sighed.

“I got this.” Bandit said as he walked forward. “Good afternoon, My name is Bandit.”

“Well golly, ain’t you a biggin’!” The orange mare said looking up at Bandit. “You’re a straight up bonified work horse if I’ve ever seen one.”

The mare walked around him to get a good look at his physique.

“You probably got the strength of a thousand stallions in your left hoof. I'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends!” The orange mare introduced.

“Friends? Oh no, I’m not here for-” Bandit tried to say.

“So, what can I do you for?” Applejack asked with a wink. Chad, Spike and Twilight walked over.

“Well, I’m here with my friend Twilight to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. And you're in charge of the food?” Bandit asked.

“We sure as sugar are! Would you care to sample some?” Applejack offered.

“We got time. Sure.” Bandit said. Applejack zipped off, and started ringing a triangle. 

“Soup's on, everypony!” She said. Ponies started to file in. Pushing Twilight, Chad and Spike to a table. Bandit walked over to the table to join them.

“Now, why don't I introduce y'all to the Apple family?” Applejack offered.

“Thanks, but we really need to hurry—” Twilight said in an attempt to get out of it. Quickly, ponies were stacking food onto the table.

“This here's Apple Fritter. Apple Bumpkin. Red Gala. Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp…” She listed as the family members before taking a deep breath. “Big Macintosh [points to a large red stallion, holding a green cupcake with an apple slice on top of the icing]. Apple Bloom [points to a vanilla colored filly with a red mane and pink bow]. Aaaand-” She shoves an apple in Twilights mouth before pointing to a light green, elderly mare, sleeping in a rocking chair. “Granny Smith.”

“Up'n'attem, Granny Smith, we got guests.” Applejack said. She snorts as she woke up.

“Wha..? Soup's on? I'm up, here I come, ahm comin'...” Granny smith said as she walked over to them.

“Why, I'd say you're already part of the family!” Applejack said. Twilight spat out the apple and laughed nervously.

“Okay, well, I can see the food situation is handled, so we'll be on our way.” Twilight said. The ponies started to look sad.

“Aren't you gonna stay for brunch?” Apple Bloom asked with puppy eyes and a quivering lip. Bandit gave a remorseful look.

“I’m really sorry, but we have a lot to do and not a lot of time.” Bandit said in a gentle tone. The apple family let out a disappointed ‘Aww’. Bandit looked at them and felt bad.

“I’m sure we have some time.” Bandit said. The apple family’s frowns flipped as they cheered.





Some time later, Bandit was walking back to Ponyville, wiping his mouth with a napkin that he places in his bandana after he finished. Chad and Spike were slumped over on his back, having eaten a lot of food.

“Food's all taken care of, next is weather.” Bandit said before looking back at Twilight who trotted up to catch up.

“Are Spike and Chad okay?” She asked.

“They’re fine, just ate too much trying to out eat each other.” Bandit said.

“I won by the way.” Spike strained out.

“You got lucky.” Chad strained in replied, following with a burp. “Excuse me.”

“Okay, the weather. It says here that two pegasus ponies, named Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint, should have cleared the clouds already but that hasn't been done yet" Twilight groaned. Bandit looked off to the side and Chad's shell shook.

"Well I don't know about pegasi, but I do see two Lightning fast beams of color flying towards us." Bandit said as he ducked down.

"Huh?" She looked up at the sky and wasn't fast enough to duck, as they both crashed into her and fell into a mud puddle.

"Mud puddle!" Chad cheered as he tried to jump in. Bandit grabbed him by the back of his neck like a mother cat to prevent it.

"No you don't." He said. 

"Aww." Chad said saddened. The two pegasi, one blue with a dark blue and white mane, with a cutie mark of a sword with two lightning bolts and a pair of wings behind it. And the other a light blue pony with a rainbow mane and tail looked at Twilight. 

"Sorry about that." Rainbow Dash said. 

“You okay Twily?” Bandit asked, still holding Chad like a kitten.

“I’m fine.” She said, slightly ticked off.

“We can fix this.” Lightning said. She pushes a cloud over Twilight and Rainbow Dash jumped on top of the cloud, coating Twilight in rain.

“Um, girls. You’re overdoing it.” Chad said as Bandit placed him on his back. Rainbow Dash giggled as she looked at them.

“Whoops. Yeah, you’re right. Lightning, care to take care of that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Got it.” She said. She flew around Twilight to dry her off, making her mane fluff up, much to Bandit’s amusement.

"Aww! Look at you Twily, you're so fluffy!" Bandit teased a little with a snicker, patting her mane.

“I assume that the two of you are Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint?” Twilight asked.

“That’s us.” Rainbow Dash said.

“The coolest pegasi in Ponyville. I see you’ve heard of us.” Lightning Sprint added.

“I heard you two were supposed to be keeping the sky clear. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess sent Bandit and I to check on the weather.” Twilight said.

“Yeah, yeah, that'll be a snap.” Lightning said with a proud smile.

“Just gotta get done practicing.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Practicing for what?” Chad asked, standing on Bandit’s head.

“The Wonderbolts! They're gonna perform at the Celebration tomorrow.” Rainbow Dash explained.

“And we are gonna show them everything we got.” Lightning said with a smug smile. Bandit got an idea. 

“I’m really sure the wonderbolts wouldn’t accept a couple of Pegasi who can’t keep the sky clear for a couple of hours.” Bandit said with a smirk. Chad added a snicker.

“Hey, the two of us clear this sky in ten seconds flat.” Rainbow Dash said. 

“All I hear is talk, I’m seeing nothing.” Bandit said. Chad pulled out a stopwatch. Lightning Sprint and Rainbow Dash nodded and zipped off. Chad started the timer. The two speedy pegasi began clearing the clouds.

Bandit and Twilight followed their movements. Both were amazed at what they were seeing.

“Loop-de-loop around, and wham! What'd we say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. We'd never leave Ponyville hanging!” Lightning said. Twilight’s mouth was agape.

“Well, it was actually about 8.9 seconds.” Chad whispered to Bandit. Bandit rolled his eyes.

“You should see the look on your face. Ha! You're a laugh, Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to hang out some more. You too Big guy.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Catch ya later.” Lightning said as she flew off. Rainbow Dash followed suit.

“Those two were amazing.” Chad said. He looked at Twilight and started laughing at her mane. Twilight rolled her eyes and walked off. Bandit stuffed him into his bandana, which had a builtin pouch.

“Wait. It's kinda pretty once you get used to it!” Spike said as he walked after her.

“Twily, I’m gonna go check on the music arrangements.” Bandit said as he walked off in the opposite direction.

“Okay, see you at the library.” Twilight said as she walked to town hall.





Once inside the town hall, Spike checked the next set of preparations to check up on. ''Next up...Decorations.'' He said before taking one look at the beautiful decorations. ''Beautiful...'' He then sighed dreamily.

''Yes, looks like the decor is coming along just nicely. This ought to be quick, I'll be at the library in no time. You're right about one thing, they're beautiful indeed.'' Twilight agreed from where they were placed and how beautiful they all looked. ''No...not the decor, her.'' Spike said as he shook his head and pointed to another unicorn pony.

This pony's coat was white, she had a purple mane and tail which were wavy, a pair of dark blue eyes, light blue eye-shadow and a cutie mark consisting of three blue lozenge diamonds. But what caught Spike's attention the most, was that she was very gorgeous. The unicorn was currently going through the different ribbons to see which one would be best to have.

''No, no, no, oh! Goodness no.'' She said to herself. All the while, Spike had the looks of someone who just fell in love instantly. ''How are my spines? Are they straight?'' He asked Twilight with excitement, trying to make himself look good.

Twilight rolled her eyes while laughing in her mind before going over to greet the white unicorn. ''Good afternoon...'' Twilight began, the unicorn then spoke before Twilight could even say anything else. ''Just a moment please! I'm in the zone.'' She said while looking through a couple more ribbons.

''Oh, yes. A touch of sparkle always does the trick does it not? Why, Rarity, you really are a talent.'' The mare called Rarity said after finding the perfect red ribbon. She then turned towards Twilight before speaking.

''Now, um, how can I help yo...'' But before she could continue to speak, Rarity took notice of Twilight's messy mane and yelped in surprise. ''Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?!'' She asked as if she was afraid of Twilight's messy mane. ''Oh, you mean my mane? Well, it's a long story. Anyways, I'm just here to check up on the decorations and then I'll be out of your hair.'' Twilight said after taking notice to why Rarity was frightened.

''Out of my hair? What about your hair?'' Rarity said before trotting over to Twilight. She then started pushing Twilight somewhere. ''Wait! Where are we going?! Help!'' Twilight called out, but Rarity still insisted that she come with her to fix her mane and tail. The situation to Twilight was bad enough when Spike was following Rarity and being completely oblivious to the situation at hand.

At the place known as Carousel Boutique

Rarity was busy trying to find the best outfit which suited Twilight best, but unfortunately for the purple unicorn, the white mare was taking ages to find the best one. ''No, no, uh-uh. Too green. Too yellow. Too poofy. Not poofy enough. To frilly. Too...shiny.'' She said as she got Twilight to try on several outfits, eventually she found a perfect outfit for Twilight.

''Now go on, my dear. You were telling me about where you're from.'' Rarity asked Twilight as she was tightening the outfit that she had on her. ''I've...been sent...from Canterlot...to...'' Twilight managed to say, it was hard to speak because of Rarity tightening the outfit. After hearing the word Canterlot however, Rarity stopped tightening and let go, causing Twilight to crash on the other side of boutique.

''Canterlot?! Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living up there! I can't wait hear all about it! We are going to be the best of friends, you and I...'' Rarity said with absolute delighted to know that Twilight was from Canterlot...until she noticed that there was something off about the outfit Twilight was wearing. ''Emeralds?! What was I thinking? Let me get you some rubies!'' She said with glee as she ran off to find some rubies.

But to Twilight, she knew this was bad. ''Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new colour!'' Twilight said before running off. Spike on the other hand was just too distracted to run.





“So Bandit, what do you think of this place so far?” Chad asked from the pouch.

“Well….. Not too bad. I wouldn’t exactly say I would like to stay here, but we’ll see.” Bandit said.

“Do you think this place has lemon trees?” Chad asked.

“Chad, no lemons for you.” Bandit scolded, resulting in an aww from his little brother. Suddenly, the two hear chirping from birds. 

“Shh.” Bandit says before hiding into a bush. He looks out to see the source of the music; it was a flock of different birds all singing together.

However, they weren't doing this by themselves, they were actually taught how to sing like that by another female pegasus pony. Unlike the last pegasus, this one was different. Her coat was light yellow, her mane and tail were pink and her eyes were teal coloured. She also had a cutie mark consisting of three butterflies with cyan bodies and pink wings.

She was currently working on the birds' singing and then noticed that one of the birds was singing out of key. ''Oh my. Um, stop please, everyone, um.'' The yellow pegasus said politely, one thing that was noted about her, she was really shy. The pegasus then flew up to the blue bird who was singing off key. ''Excuse me, sir? I mean, no offence, but your rhythm is just a teeny-tiny bit off.'' She said in the nicest possible way.

After speaking nice, the yellow pegasus then prepared to hear her bird friends sing gain. ''Alright now, follow me, please. A-one, a-two, a-one two three...'' She said, preparing to teach her birds to sing again until another voice spoke up.

“Hello?” Bandit’s voice spoke, startling the birds, and the yellow pegasus. She turned to see the changeling giant behind her.

“Oh, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to scare your birds away.” Bandit said. “I’m just here to check on the music.”

Fluttershy seemingly started to shrink, intimidated by the much larger Changeling. Seeing this, Bandit lowered himself, loafing onto the ground.

“I’m Bandit, what’s your name?” Bandit asked.

“I’m Fluttershy.” She answered quietly.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Bandit asked.

“Um…..I’m Fluttershy.” She repeated, speaking very shyly.

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t catch that.” Bandit said. Then, like a joey in a flyer’s pouch, Chad popped his head out of the bandana pouch.

“I think she said her name was Fluttershy.” Chad said. Fluttershy lets out a gasp as she zipped over to Chad.

“Oh my goodness!” She happily said, scaring off the birds that just came back. “Aren’t you just the cutest thing!”

Chad blushes happily.

“Hehe, thank you.” He said bashfully.

“What’s your name?” Fluttershy asked.

“Kama Ezio Clyde Armasta Laska Chadwickson IV.” Chad said with a large smile, seeing Fluttershy’s confused face he let out a bashful chuckle. “But, you can call me Chad.”

“Well Chad, you are such a cutie pie. [She looks at Bandit] Is this your little brother?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yep. Well it was nice meeting you Fluttershy.” Bandit said as he started walking off. Fluttershy trotted around to look at Chad.

“I’ve never seen a baby changeling before. Or even a full grown one for that matter.” Fluttershy said. “Could you tell me about changelings? Yourself specifically?”

“Well, what do you want to know?” Chad asked.

“Absolutely everything!” Fluttershy said. Bandit took Chad out of the pouch and placed him on his back next to his stuffed panda.

“Well, from what Bandit told me, my egg was laid in-”





Fluttershy and Chad were still talking about Chad by the time the sun was setting into the mountains. ''...and that's the story of my whole entire life...well up until today that is." Chad said, finally finishing his story. 

“That is all very fascinating.” Fluttershy said with a smile. Bandit looked ahead and saw Twilight running to the library and sliding to a stop. She still had on the outfit Rarity put her in.

“Oh, hi Twilight. Is that a new-” Bandit tried to ask, but Twilight ran inside the library. Bandit looked back at Fluttershy. “Nice meeting you Flutter-” Twilight opened the door, grabbed Bandit and pulled him inside. Bandit ducked his head so not to hit his head on the top of the door. “-shy.”





Inside the dark library, the four walked to the middle of the room.

“That was a little rude. She was pretty nice.” Bandit said as Twilight took the outfit off and threw it across the room.

“Sorry, Bandy, but we 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?” Twilight said.

“Can one of you get the light?” Bandit asked, seemingly to no one.

“Who are you talking to?” Spike asked. The lights came on, revealing the library to be full of ponies. Twilight and Spike jumped out of surprise.

“Surprise!” The ponies exclaimed. A kazoo blows next to them. Twilight lets out an annoyed groan. 

“Surprise!” The pink pony from earlier exclaimed. “Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh?” 

“Very. For many reasons, the number one being how did you get in here?” Bandit asked.

“I thought libraries are supposed to be quiet.” Twilight said.

“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 [deep gasp], 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!” Pinkie pie said in a jolly tone. Bandit gave an unamused look and walked to the table. Twilight walked beside him.

“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 [deep gasp]! 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!” Pinkie explained. As she was talking, Bandit poured hot sauce into one drink and coconut juice into the other. Twilight put a straw in the wrong drink and started drinking. Bandit picked up the other one and began drinking as well.

He quickly performed a spit take into a napkin. 

“Twily, I think we mixed up our drinks.” He said. Right on cue, Twilight got red in the face and began tearing up.

“Are you all right, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“She doesn’t look too good.” Lightning said. Twilight ran off upstairs.

“Aww, she's so happy she's crying!” Pinkie said. Chad picked up the hot sauce.

“Hot sauce.” He read. He poured some onto a cupcake and ate it. “Hmm…. could use some sprinkles.” 

Bandit walked through the crowd to grab a couple of books and walked upstairs.





As the party was going on downstairs, Twilight was one her bed, looking out of the window, as well as at the clock.

Bandit was reading on a couch that was down th stairs, lined up with the bed.

Spike and Chad came back into the room.

“Hey Twilight, Bandit! Pinkie Pie's starting "pin the tail on the pony"! Wanna play?” Chad asked.

“It’s gonna be fun!” Spike added.

“That sounds like a dangerous game in a room full of ponies.” Bandit commented.

“No!” Twilight said, immediately after Bandit. “All the ponies in this town are crazy! Do you know what time it is?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“It's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Everypony has to stay up, or they'll miss the Princess raise the sun.” Bandit said from the couch. Flipping the pages as he read.

“You two should really lighten up.” Spike said as he and Chad walked away. Twilight mocked his words as they walked off. Bandit looked at Twilight.

“Spike is right you know.” Bandit said as he continued reading.

“Ugh, here I thought I'd have time to learn about the Elements of Harmony but, silly me, all this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it! "Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night." I hope the Princess was right... I hope it really is just an old pony tale…” Twilight said. Bandit tilted his head at one of the pages and observed it.

“Eight elements of harmony.” He muttered to himself.

Chad hopped into the room with a wide smile.

“Bandit! Twilight, it's time to watch the sunrise!” Chad said with a wagging tail.

Bandit stood up, and placed Chad on his back and walked out the door. Twilight sighed and followed him.





The four walked to town hall. Everypony from Ponyville had gathered to watch their beloved Princess raise the sun. It was the building where Twilight had met Rarity before. Pinkie hopped beside them.

“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-” Pinkie performed a deep gasp. “-but I mean really, who can top that?” As Pinkie spot, Chad giggled at Pinkie.

At that moment, a fanfare done by Fluttershy and her birds was heard and a spot light was pointed onto the stage where the town's mayor was. "Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" Mayor Mare spoke as everypony cheered, even Pinkie and Chad too. Bandit leaned to Twilight.

“I got a bad feeling about this.” He said to her.

“I do too, this suddenly feels like something is gonna go wrong here.” Twilight replied.

"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..." The Mayor continued, getting everypony excited.

"Ready?" Fluttershy asked her birds who were all prepared to sing. "...Princess Celestia!" The Mayor announced, allowing the spotlight to be pointed to the balcony for her appearence. When that happened the fanfare started up again and Rarity drew back the curtains to reveal...

Nopony…

"Huh?" Rarity said as she and many other ponies chatted quietly but nervously about this. 
"Ohh, this can't be good." Twilight said.

“Mom?” Chad said with confusion.

"Remain calm everypony. There must be a reasonable explanation for this!" The Mayor said, feeling nervous herself.

"Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games! Is she hiding?" Pinkie asked with excitement. 

"She's gone!" Rarity exclaimed. Speaking this had caused everypony to gasp in horror.

"Ooh, she's good!" Pinkie said, but suddenly yelped when a dark blue mist appeared on the platform, making everypony very frightened. "Oh no...it's..." Twilight started, but the sentence was finished by Bandit who stepped beside her. "Nightmare Moon!" He said as the mist formed a tall black mare with terrifying wings, a sharp horn, dragon shaped pupils, a cutie mark of a luminous moon and a flowing mane and tail made from the same mist.

The mare was the terrifying Nightmare Moon, and seeing that Twilight and Bandit was right, Spike fainted off her back, Chad hopped off of Bandit’s and picked up Spike. "Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces." Nightmare Moon spoke as everyone cowered in fear...well, apart from one pony.

"What did you do with our Princess?!" Rainbow Dash asked angrily before trying to take on Nightmare Moon, only to be stopped by Applejack. "Woah there Nelly..." She said with a muffled voice as Nightmare Moon chuckled evilly. "Why, am I not royal enough for any of you? Don't any of you know who I am?" The wicked mare asked with everypony too afraid to answer.

"Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Hokey Smokes! How about...Queen Meanie! No Black Snooty, Black Snooty..." Pinkie said before Applejack shoved a cupcake into her mouth. "Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for 1000 years?" Nightmare Moon asked angrily towards Fluttershy. "Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?" She continued while taunting Rarity.

“We did.” Bandit said. The ponies in the room turned their eyes to the large changeling and lavender mare.

“You're the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon!" Twilight continued, causing Ponies to gasp in realisation. "Well, well, well...Somepony remembers me, not that I knew. Then you two also know why I am here." Nightmare Moon spoke as everypony looked towards Twilight and Bandit.

"You're here to...to..." Twilight said nervously before gulping. "Typical...nevermind." Nightmare Moon chuckled before continuing. "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last day ever. So from this moment forth, the night, will last FOREVER!" Nightmare Moon said as she laughed wickedly with thunder appearing.

Both Bandit and Twilight were really frightened about this, but the question was, would they be able to prevent the night from lasting before it was too late?

TO BE CONTINUED...