Twilight stuck her tongue out between her lips as she studied the apple tree behind her. She was absolutely certain, 'This isn't going to work.' After all, she was a unicorn, not an earth pony. She didn't have the magic for this, and even though she sparred with Nightmare Moon, she still didn't have the raw strength. Just looking at the tree, she knew it wouldn't work. The trunk was thick and rigid; there was no way she could make the tree move. If anything, bucking it would only hurt her. And since she didn't have the same magic that Applejack had, the force wouldn't go up the tree and into the apples to dislodge them.
She bit her lip. 'Oh, why did I agree to try this,' ran through her mind. Helping Applejack on the farm was fine. Using her magic, at least. But she had agreed to at least try bucking the tree. She knew it wouldn't work. She was certain Applejack knew it wouldn't work.
"Come on, Twilight! You can do it!" Rainbow cheered.
Her eyes snapped onto the pegasus. Rainbow hovered in the air like normal, smiling encouragingly. On the ground at Rainbow's left stood Midnight and then Applejack. Midnight wore a mixture of a smile and a smirk, with her tongue out between her fangs, and a playful glint in her eyes. Applejack wore an encouraging smile that wasn't half as brash as Rainbow's smile.
"I don't see you trying to do this!" she grumbled.
Rainbow swooped down and landed in front of her. "Oh, you don't think I can, huh?"
Twilight straightened herself, then clarified, "I didn't say that. I'm simply pointing out that you're more physically inclined than I am and I've not seen you try to buck apple trees."
Rainbow scoffed. "Alright, then. I guess I'll just have to show you how it's done!"
Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes, only to suddenly stop and then smirk. "Yeah, I guess you'll have to, Rainbow..."
Twilight found herself smiling as well. 'I guess that's one way to get Rainbow to help.'
And Rainbow was entirely oblivious to it. The pegasus zipped over to another tree and landed, then kicked her hind legs out into the tree's trunk with a solid whack! followed by a tensed groan from the pegasus as her expression split with pain. "Oww..."
The tree's leaves rustled as the trunk shook, and she saw about three apples fall to the ground.
Rainbow smirked and strutted back beside Applejack. "I bet you can't beat that!"
"Of course I can't beat that," Twilight grumbled. She huffed, then turned back to the tree. 'Alright, how is the best way to do this? Just kick it, right?' Oh, who was she kidding? It really didn't matter what she did, she wasn't going to get anything out of the tree. She did her best imitation of Applejack, kicking her rear into the air and cocking her hind legs forward, then bucking against the tree.
The tree didn't move, and she felt the impact in her hooves and legs, making her cringe as the impact sent tingles up her legs. She dropped back to the ground and groaned. "I told you I couldn't do this..." she mumbled.
Applejack walked over to her. "That's alright, Twilight. I just wanted to see if you could."
She smiled sheepishly. "Now, I can do it with my magic, of course..." she offered.
"Eyup, nopony's doubting that," Applejack agreed. Twilight had more than proved such. Applejack nodded as she continued, "You've been a real big help, and I want to thank you again, Twilight."
"Oh, it's nothing," she dismissed. Smiling brightly, she offered, "What are friends for, right?"
To which Midnight giggled and teased, "Free labor, apparently!"
Twilight squinted at Midnight, then smiled boldly. "Oh, hey, Midnight! Why don't you try!"
"Nah," Midnight drawled, still smiling. "I'm good."
Applejack looked back at Midnight and asked, "How do batponies farm anyway?"
Midnight face Applejack and shrugged. "For the most part, we don't," was the guard's simple answer.
Applejack turned around. "Well, how do you keep yourselves fed, then? I thought you all kept to yourselves."
Midnight nodded. "We do." The batpony paused and leaned her head to the side as she emphasized, "For the most part." Twilight watched Midnight straighten her head again, and then the mare continued, "We can farm, but mostly its harvesting fruits, nuts, and berries. We're not good at the growing magic like earth ponies, so we'll harvest what we can find in the forests surrounding our cities, in addition to offering our help to earth ponies so that we harvest instead of them, so they can focus on growing. In exchange, we get some of their harvests. We also tend to export minerals and import food."
"Huh," Applejack muttered.
"I guess you would have to be good at a lot of things if you keep to yourselves. You'd need to be self-sufficient," Twilight commented thoughtfully.
Midnight nodded. "Yeah. We're not all explicitly soldiers. You've seen that. Though we all can be soldiers. There's more to being an army than just fighting and training, of course. Armies require lots of logistical support. Food, weapons, armor. Housing. You know. It's kind of like how not all earth ponies are farmers, but all earth ponies can be farmers," the batpony chirped.
"You normally use pegasi as your point of comparison," Twilight noted.
Midnight smiled innocently. "Mhm. Most of the time they're the best example, considering that we pretty much are descendants of pegasi. Well, you know, pegasi that Princess Luna converted into batponies."
"Ehh, no offense, but I don't see why anypony would want to trade pegasi wings for batpony wings," Rainbow said.
"It was a long time ago," Midnight said casually. Matter of factly, Midnight declared, "Besides, it's all we know. I'd never trade my wings for your wings." Midnight's face scrunched up and Twilight saw her shiver. "Feathers? Eugh! I can't imagine how horrible preening is! Or having your wings get wet, or having to feel feathers against your side constantly!"
Rainbow spun around to face Midnight, her face filled with indignation and shock. "Hey! It's not that bad! Preening is actually pretty nice," Rainbow rolled her head to the side, then quickly added, "and well, yeah, waterlogged wings aren't fun, but having feathers is awesome!"
Midnight rolled her eyes and turned her head to the left. "Mhm. Sure. Keep telling yourself that!"
"You still owe me that race!" Rainbow declared. "What do you say!? Feathers versus-" Rainbow blanked for a moment, "- uh, leather?"
Midnight laughed. "Feathers versus leather? It's skin, silly!"
Rainbow grumbled something Twilight couldn't hear as she watched the pegasus fluff her wings. "Well, what do you say? Race?"
"Hmm..." Midnight drawled. "I dunno. I don't think I need to..." Midnight teased, trailing off and turning to look at Twilight.
"Go on," Twilight replied, rolling her eyes and trying in vain to stop herself from smiling. "You two have your race and I'll keep helping Applejack." 'Neither of you are helping anyway.'
"Aw yeah!" Rainbow bellowed happily. In an instant, the pegasus closed the distance and wrapped her forelegs around Twilight's neck. Twilight wheezed, unsure whether it was supposed to be a hug or attempted murder since the force of the hug almost knocked her over and stopped her from inhaling. "Thanks, Twilight!"
And Rainbow let go, making Twilight wobble as her head drooped to suck in a deep breath so that the burn in her lungs would go away.
Rainbow raced up into the sky and Midnight casually flapped her wings to join the pegasus.
"Come back here when you two finish!" Applejack called. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Twilight answered. A part of her wanted to scowl, and yet she found herself smiling. "Half the time when she's hugging me I think she's trying to kill me, though," she muttered.
Applejack laughed softly and shook her head. "Yep. That's Rainbow for ya."
Twilight nodded and turned to the apple tree Rainbow had bucked. After a quick run over with her magic, she levitated the three apples up and set them down in one of the buckets on the cart. "I'm glad we can hang out when we do this," she commented happily.
"Yeah," Applejack agreed. "Though I feel like I'm taking advantage of you, some times..." her friend drawled.
Twilight turned to Applejack and smiled softly. "It's fine, really. It's the least I can do to help you out since you've been so good to me. And, you know-" her smile turned sheepish, "-since you went to Hollow Shades with me."
"Still," Applejack replied thoughtfully.
Twilight turned her body around and watched Applejack buck the tree. The leaves shook, and a dozen apples fell from the tree. With a flourish of her magic, she caught each one and levitated them over to the buckets in the cart. She licked her lips and then drawled, "Out of curiosity..." Applejack turned to look at her. "Is this any harder for you now that, well, it's always night? Aside from being more dangerous."
Applejack grimaced and nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, a little. It's taking more effort to keep the trees producing now than when Celestia was around. And it's harder to see, too, but I'd think that was kind of obvious..." Her voice had a hint of regret and discomfort in it that made the air feel heavier around Twilight.
Maybe she didn't know much about earth pony magic and keeping the trees producing fruit, but it was harder to see for everypony. Except maybe the batponies. "Yeah..." Twilight agreed. A few seconds passed in silence, leaving her to think in peace, though the weight of Applejack's words hung in her mind. "I wonder if it's the same for everypony. Nightmare Moon said that her magic... or perhaps the moon, I'm not really sure what she meant now, would be able to suffice in place of the sun, but... it's colder than it should be."
Applejack nodded slowly. "Yeah... I miss the sun. I miss the warmth and I miss being able to enjoy seeing the trees... The red and green apples mixed in with the dark green leaves... I miss it, Twilight..." A few seconds passed and Twilight found herself watching Applejack's head droop lower.
'I miss the sun too, and I miss Princess Celestia.' But she couldn't let herself dwell on it.
Eventually, Applejack lifted her head back up to face her. "I guess Fall's coming, but still. Seems a mite colder than it ought to be."
Twilight nodded with a grimace. "It is. I hope it doesn't get any worse."
Applejack's grimace returned, more pronounced than before. "I reckon that'd be pretty bad..." Her voice was slightly higher pitched than normal, and Twilight frowned. A moment passed, then Applejack asked, "Do you think Nightmare Moon would bring the sun back if things got bad enough?"
Twilight broke eye contact and looked at the ground. 'She doesn't want to kill everypony. If it came down to it and she had to, she would.' She looked back at Applejack and nodded. "Yes. I don't think it'll come to that point, and I don't think she thinks it will come to that point, but if it did, I think she would."
Applejack frowned. "And if she doesn't?"
Twilight shifted her weight. It felt like all of the weight of the implication fell squarely on her withers. It felt like some duty had been thrust onto her back, almost like back when the rioting was happening in Manehattan. Maybe almost like Discord. And she knew why it felt that way. She could see the plea in Applejack's eyes and knew what it meant. She licked her lips, then carefully said, "Then... I'd talk to her." 'And you would listen to me. I know you would.' She knew Nightmare Moon well enough to know that she would be able to reason with her teacher. She would be able to convince her to bring back the sun if it was necessary because she had sway with the alicorn. And Nightmare Moon would bring it back because it would be in her best interests. Nightmare Moon wouldn't like it, but she would do it.
If it was necessary.
"You really think she'd listen to you, don't you?" Applejack mumbled, halfway surprised and almost disbelieving.
Twilight frowned and nodded. "Yes, I do."
Applejack shook her head. "Sometimes I don't understand you, Twilight," the mare sighed.
Twilight grimaced. "She's my friend," she emphasized.
Applejack stopped shaking her head to meet Twilight's eyes. "I know that, Twilight. We all know that. But you need to remember that Nightmare Moon killed somepony in cold blood. What's to stop her from doing that again?"
Twilight had no answer for Applejack. For a few more seconds, Applejack watched her. "I think you need to consider that maybe you're lying to yourself about something, Twilight. I don't know what, but... we're all worried."
There was a certain weight in Applejack's voice that made her ears fold back and press against her mane. It lacked the normal warmth and reassurance that she could take comfort in, and because of it, a seed of doubt sprouted in her mind, making her chest twist with worry. "You... trust me, though, right?" she whispered.
Applejack turned around and slowly walked over to her, then stopped in front of her. "Of course we do, Twilight." Applejack smiled solemnly, then pressed her chest against Twilight's and wrapped her right foreleg around Twilight's neck. Twilight leaned into the hug and returned it. Applejack squeezed her, and the warmth helped push the fear away. Applejack nuzzled her, and she returned it, and for several seconds, they stayed like that. Eventually, Applejack pulled back and they parted. Her friend's smile grew warmer, and Applejack tilted her head slightly, looking at her knowingly. "But I do think you need to make it a point to spend time with the rest of the girls, rather than just helping me in your free time."
Twilight smiled sheepishly. "I suppose I could take Pinkie up on her offer for baking lessons..."
"And Fluttershy," Applejack stated.
Twilight shifted her weight on her hooves. 'Fluttershy is soft-spoken. I probably should take some time to get to know her better, one on one. She'd probably be more comfortable that way, and then maybe she'd be more comfortable around me with everypony else.' "I could enjoy lunch with her sometime. Her tea is nice..."
"And Rarity," Applejack said.
What was she supposed to do with Rarity, exactly? Help with dresses? She wasn't good at fashion. If anything, she'd probably give Rarity a heart attack if she tried helping with fashion. She winced. 'It's not fair to say that's all Rarity does.' "I guess I should see if I can help her or maybe just spend some time with her sometime. I... imagine she'd like to know more about Canterlot... and probably Princess Celestia..."
"I'm sure she'd appreciate that," Applejack said with a nod. "And don't forget about Rainbow."
Twilight cringed. 'Right. Rainbow Dash. Do we even have anything in common?' She thought about it for a few seconds and took the time to think of a list of things they had in common. About the only thing she could come up was, 'We're friends and we share the same friends.' How were they friends, exactly? She certainly didn't understand why, but she still, even with as much as the pegasus tried to kill her, felt a bond with the brash, reckless pegasus. Emphasis on brash and reckless. Completely opposite of her.
A moment passed. She jerked her head left and right, then met Applejack with a pleading gaze as she begged, "What am I supposed to do with her!? We're complete opposites! Half the time I think she's trying to kill me!"
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
Okay, maybe saying Rainbow was trying to kill her was unfair. Entirely unfair. Rainbow was just very affectionate. Too affectionate at times. And protective. That she could take comfort in. Twilight ducked her head and coughed into her hoof. "I mean, I'm sure I can find something to do with her!" she forced out awkwardly. Her smile felt just as forced. 'Although I'm not sure what. Oh no, she's going to want to run me ragged worse than Nightmare Moon, isn't she?' She felt her smile slipping back into a horrified cringe, and she couldn't stop it.
"I'm sure you two can figure something out," Applejack offered. "And you know she's not trying to kill you," her friend chastized. A moment passed and Applejack shifted her weight. "She just... gets excited. And carried away." A moment passed. "She can be affectionate."
Twilight turned her head to the right. "Yes..." she mumbled in agreement as quickly as she could.
"Maybe take a break from studying and practicing magic to hang out with them?" Applejack suggested.
Twilight whipped her head back to face the earth pony. "I do take breaks!" she defended. "Just... not often."
"Exactly. You still need to lighten up a bit, Twilight," Applejack said. "Live a little. I know Nightmare Moon is teaching you magic and all that, but you shouldn't live your life with your nose in books all the time."
"It's not... that bad..." she muttered. Her cheeks felt surprisingly warm.
Flatly, Applejack pointedly asked, "So if I was to go ask Spike what you do all night in the library, you're telling me he wouldn't answer 'read books' or 'study magic?'"
Twilight coughed into her hoof again. "Okay, but I swear it's not as bad as it used to be!"
Applejack quirked an eyebrow.
"I am sparring with Nightmare Moon, you know," she pointed out. "That does take a lot out of me."
"So does studying all the time help with your sparring?" Applejack asked.
Though her friend's voice was free from malice, she still took it like it had an edge to it, since it was a reminder that she would never be able to beat Nightmare Moon. But Applejack hadn't meant it that way. She carefully breathed in, then forced herself to say, "No... not really." Which wasn't really true, but it was effectively true. She was getting better.
In theory.
And then Applejack grimaced again. "Doesn't it feel off to you that you're sparring with her?"
Twilight could hear the worry in Applejack's voice, misplaced though it was. It still made her cautious, and her brow folded down. "What do you mean?"
"We tried to stop her," Applejack reminded her, "and now you're sparring with her. It seems suspicious to me."
Twilight grimaced. "What, do you think she's looking for an opportunity to kill me or something?" Her voice sounded defensive, even to her. She winced.
Applejack frowned and shook her head. "That's not what I said, Twilight! I just... I don't know! It seems suspicious. Rainbow and Rarity agree. It seems awfully odd to us."
Applejack's eyes darted back and forth across her face. Maybe looking for something, but Twilight couldn't tell. She felt distracted and unfocused and distant. "I don't know," she finally admitted.
Applejack sighed. "I'm sorry. It feels like this is all that we talk about whenever she comes up. Honestly, Twilight, it worries me that you speak highly of Nightmare Moon and that you defend her."
"I don't-"
"You do," Applejack stated solemnly. "And look, maybe you're right, but just because she was wronged doesn't make what she's doing now right."
Twilight waited a few seconds and then nodded. "I know," she softly whispered.
"And maybe you're right, and Nightmare Moon won't hurt you," Applejack continued. "But what about everypony else? We're not her friends like you are."
Applejack's words lingered in her mind. What was she to say? Applejack had a point. An irrefutable point. Perhaps her friends would be, by extension, safe because she was friends with Nightmare Moon, but what about everypony else? She eventually forced herself to nod. "Okay..." she relented quietly.
And then an awkward silence hung between them. Twilight didn't know what to say, and from what she could tell, Applejack felt the same way. "Maybe you should go ahead and head back into town," Applejack offered. "Drop by Rarity's or the bakery and say hi to Pinkie."
Twilight smiled weakly. "I guess I feel a bit hungry, and I wouldn't mind checking to see how Rarity's doing. Maybe she's made some progress on our dresses."
Applejack's warm smile returned. "Alright then, Twilight. Go on. I'll send Midnight your way when she gets back."
"Thank you," Twilight replied. For the opportunity, for making sure she didn't lose track of Midnight, and for the warmth having returned to her voice.
She turned around and glanced through the trees for a moment, then started trotting back to Ponyville.
Alone. At night.
She bit her lip once Applejack was out of sight. She could still hear the thunk of Applejack's bucks against the trees, but she missed the companionship. And the safety. Her eyes flicked left and right constantly, searching the dark shadows of the apple trees for any sign of movement.
But it seemed safe. She didn't see anything. She didn't hear anything. She sucked in a deep breath and then blew it out. It helped a little. After several minutes of trotting, she made it out of the orchard, and once the clear, moonlit night sky was overhead, she felt safer.
Out in the open, where nothing could hide in the shadows.
She still stayed alert and stared at every tree she walked by. Nightmare Moon wouldn't be there to keep her safe if something happened. Midnight wasn't there to intervene. Nopony would know if she was attacked.
'I'm being silly,' her mind reasoned. 'There's nothing out here to get me!'
She managed to smile for a few seconds. Pessimism kicked back in. 'Other than timberwolves, cockatrices, cragadiles, and who knows what else lives in the Everfree Forest.'
She sped up until she was back inside Ponyville. She embraced the first warm glows reaching into the street through windows, and let the light put her fears to rest: surely no monsters would come into town! And then even if they did, the batponies would take care of them.
She could be confident of that. Entirely confident in it. There was absolutely no reason to be afraid!
Though as she looked around, the thought, 'Why is everypony running inside?' came to mind.
Odd.
She turned her head left and then right, then checked back behind her, but there wasn't anything there. When she faced forward again, everypony was off the streets. She heard and watched window shutters slam closed, followed by the lights going dark as the candles were snuffed out.
She turned her ears about and listened, but other than shutters slamming closed, heard nothing. With caution, she lifted her right foreleg into the air and let her hoof limply bend at her chest. 'I'm being silly. Or they are.' One way or another, it would be fine.
And really, it probably was nothing to worry about given how skittish ponies were in Ponyville. 'They're skittish for a reason,' teased her mind. Her lips curled into a wince, then she nodded her head once, sucked in a deep breath, and then forced the air back out.
She stepped forward and continued along the dirt road through Ponyville. 'Surely if it was something bad somepony would tell me to take shelter.'
Of course, they might have been too panicked to notice her, too.
Her head leaned to the side as she carried herself forward. The thought, 'You know, I spar with Nightmare Moon. I can probably handle a timberwolf. Although Nightmare Moon is a pony, and a timberwolf isn't as intelligent. I may be able to predict Nightmare's actions but I'm not sure I could predict what a timberwolf would do.'
She could probably scare off a timberwolf with her magic if it came down to it, though. After a moment of thought, she channeled her magic into her horn and let the raspberry glow illuminate her surroundings. The good things were that she was more prepared and could see a little better. The bad things were that it'd play havoc with her night vision, made all of the shadows move, which in turn caused her eyes to flick back and forth to double-check to make sure she was just seeing things, and, of course, it made her very visible.
She caught somepony peeking out through a window, and when she turned to look, the curtains instantly snapped into place, hiding the pony from sight. She had to scowl. Irrational fear. Completely irrational. They were probably just afraid because it was dark.
Although they seemed to be getting better about that fear.
She let the thought, 'Maybe there is something wrong,' wander through her mind as she walked along. But what? She didn't hear anything, didn't see anything, and didn't feel anything off, other than the unease spurred on by everypony taking cover. 'Or are they just hiding because I'm back?'
She winced and stopped in her tracks. 'Oh come on! Surely they're not hiding because of me!?' She audibly groaned as her head rolled to the side. 'At one time, that would have been a perk. Everypony avoids you because you're Nightmare Moon's student. Oh, it would have been wonderful to have that perk when I was studying under Princess Celestia.'
She couldn't even begin to imagine how much further along her studies would be!
Then again, it might not have had much impact either.
The scowl on her lips lingered. She held her head low and sent glares left and right as she continued making sure nothing was about to get her. The bakery was closer, so she decided to head there first. Unsurprisingly, the trip to the bakery was uneventful. Surprisingly, she found the bakery in the same state of lockdown as everypony else's home. So she ended up staring at the door, blinking.
"Psst! Twilight!" Pinkie called out.
Her head jumped back up and her ears swiveled around. After a moment, she spotted a shadow at the window, and then it rushed to the door and threw it open. Pinkie stood on her hind legs somehow and motioned her over. "Hurry!"
'What are you doing?' her mind groaned. But no. 'Don't think about it,' she told herself.
Rarity ducked her head out above Pinkie's head. "Yes, Twilight, come! Quickly! Before it sees you!"
What? She turned to the left and looked around, but there was nothing to see.
"And don't let it see your magic!" Pinkie whispered hoarsely.
She looked back at them and saw Fluttershy's head sticking out of the door, ducked low. She let her magic go, then turned and trotted over to the bakery. Fluttershy and Rarity disappeared inside, and Pinkie grabbed her.
The next thing she knew, she was sitting on her haunches against the wall, listening to the door slam shut.
"Phew, I thought you were a goner!" Pinkie squealed.
Twilight closed her eyes. "What?" She opened her eyes and found Pinkie standing over her. She glanced left and found Rarity and Fluttershy, who trembled in fear, looking out the window. "What's going on?"
"It's coming!" Fluttershy whimpered and dropped below the window seal, covering her face with her forehooves. Even Rarity lowered herself to where her eyes and the top of her head were all that was above the window seal.
Twilight bit her lip. Was something happening? Had she just missed something!? Was Ponyville being attacked by something!? Her heart beat harder in her chest, and she found her legs starting to shake. She swiveled around and pressed up against Rarity to look outside.
Something was out there in the night, wearing a cloak of some kind that hid the its entire body and cast the muzzle in shadow. She couldn't make out anything for the lack of light and because of the cloak, but she did see the pony's hooves pad at the ground. But the hooves looked off. Not quite like pony hooves: just above where the pony's hooves started was a lighter colored coat, and the hooves were darker, almost black. Most ponies' hooves were the same color as their coat. She frowned.
The pony turned its head left and then right, and as its gaze swept over the window, Rarity squeaked and dropped to the floor. "Hide!" Pinkie whispered and tugged her down to the floor.
Twilight's chin clipped the window seal and she grunted. "Pinkie!"
"Don't let it see you!" Pinkie croaked.
"Why not? Who is it?" Twilight asked.
"Nopony knows," Rarity drawled, shivering. "This isn't the first time we've seen it, either. Fortunately, nopony has been hurt yet."
Twilight squinted. "What? I don't-"
"I-I've seen it come fr-from the E-Everfree Forest," Fluttershy whimpered. "M-My animals a-are afraid of it, e-even Hank the bear!"
Well, if a bear was afraid of it, then there had to be a good reason for it, and that made her nervous. Sure, bears didn't have magic like ponies did, but bears were still a force not to underestimate, stronger than all but the strongest earth ponies, and of course, better armed with teeth and claws.
But still, Discord was infinitely more dangerous than a bear. Nightmare Moon was, surely, infinitely more dangerous than a bear.
What then, she had to wonder, was the cloaked creature, and why was it so threatening? It didn't look like some monster, rather, it looked like a pony!
From where she sat, there were only three solutions. One, they had seen her do something- and if that were the case, why was she only learning that now? And why would they be worried!? Surely it was impossible that whoever it was could be more of a threat than Nightmare Moon or Discord! Two, they were afraid of what they didn't know, and those fears spiraled out of control, feeding on itself and growing bigger and bigger. Which was something she had personal, first-hoof experience with. And three, something she couldn't understand.
All things considered? She had to get them to calm down and think about it rationally. Panicking, she had found out, didn't really help anything, even if it was hard to avoid at times.
"Has anypony ever tried to talk to it?" she asked.
"What!? Of course not! It's some horrible monster from the Everfree!" Rarity hissed.
Trying to avoid letting her annoyance show, Twilight asked, "How do you know that for sure? It looks like a pony to me!"
"If it's a pony why is it coming from the Everfree Forest! The forest is far too dangerous for anypony!" Rarity countered, frowning pointedly.
"We've gone in there twice without too many problems!" Twilight argued.
Rarity winced. "Yes, well, I suppose that's a fair point but there were six of us! And there's only one of them!"
"Look, I don't think it's a monster," she groaned. "It looks like somepony whose lost to me." A moment passed with more cowering from her friends. 'And they're the adults!'
Did the world really just have it out for her or something!?
She stood up as she said, "I'm going out there to talk to it."
All three heads snapped to face her. "What!? No! You can't do that!" was their general agreement.
"We can all wait in here or I can go out there and talk to her. It might be scared since everypony is hiding and with the eternal night!" Twilight countered. "Besides! We faced Nightmare Moon together-" she winced and added, "albeit we lost," under her breath, then perked up and continued, "-went into the Everfree Forest twice together, and we defeated Discord!"
She started to turn, only for Fluttershy to lunge at her and grab onto her hind leg. The pegasus trembled as she held onto Twilight's leg, looking up at her pleadingly, crying and whimpering. Twilight felt her ears fold back. Even if it was entirely misplaced, she didn't like seeing Fluttershy so sad and scared. "P-please don't go, Twilight!"
Twilight slowly lifted her hoof up, and eventually, Fluttershy let go. "I'll be fine," she murmured. "If anything bad happens, I can teleport away."
She could also probably fight it off, too, if she had to, not that she wanted to.
"She's gone!" Pinkie gasped.
Twilight turned back and looked out the window. Sure enough, it was missing. She scowled. "Great..." she muttered. 'This is utterly ridiculous.'
"Wait, she's back!" Pinkie cried, ducking back down and pulling Twilight to the floor too.
Twilight took the opportunity to jump in front of the window and look outside. The pony walked out from behind a building, looking left and right, then lifted a forehoof up and pulled the cowl back- 'That's not a pony, that's a zebra!'
Maybe that explained everything. She looked at her three cowering friends and grimaced. "It's not a pony, she's a zebra."
"A what?" Pinkie asked.
"Zebra. They live far to the south. They're like ponies, but, well, different," Twilight replied.
Pinkie tilted her head and blinked obliviously. "Different how? Like cursing different?"
Twilight gave Pinkie a flat look. "No, not curses. Curses aren't real. Just..." she trailed off and looked back out the window to watch the zebra. Unlike the zebra she had seen before, the one outside was less formally adorned, but like the other zebra, she didn't look afraid. "Right. Well, they're good at potions and enchanting, and they have their own magic that's sort of like earth ponies and unicorns. They're a lot like us, but they look slightly different. They're somewhat less developed than Equestria. More tribal. We don't have much contact with them outside of trade, and most of that is by sea since the alternative is crossing the badlands. They keep to themselves a lot, kind of like we do."
"I guess that might explain why I've never heard of them," Rarity muttered.
"Maybe," Twilight replied, doing her best to avoid snapping in frustration. "Now can I go out there and talk to her?"
The three of her friends looked at her cautiously. "I'll take that as a yes," Twilight said. She walked over to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. "Hello!" she called out.
The zebra turned to face her and smiled warmly. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is this a pony I see?"
Twilight took a few steps away from the door. "Yes," she answered. The zebra took a few steps towards her, then looked behind her. Twilight turned back to see her three friends all halfway hiding in the doorway, with only their heads exposed. She turned back to the zebra and rolled her eyes.
"I have come before, but every time I am here, ponies hide in fear," the zebra said.
Twilight smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. We're all just, uh, a little shaken up I guess." 'And you'd think after defeating Discord together, seeing batponies often, having gone to the Everfree Forest, and facing Nightmare Moon that we wouldn't be afraid of somepony wearing a cloak.'
But no, of course not.
The zebra nodded understandingly. "Nightmare Moon's return, I presume?"
Twilight forced back a wince. "Yes," she answered.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the zebra said, "my name is Zecora."
"Zecora?" Twilight asked. The zebra- Zecora- nodded. "My name is Twilight Sparkle," she replied.
And for a moment, she saw a glint of something, perhaps recognition, in Zecora's eyes. "Twilight Sparkle?" Twilight nodded. Zecora looked back behind her again. "And who are these?"
Twilight turned back and nodded at each of her still-halfway-hiding friends as she named, "Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy." She turned back to face Zecora and specified, "Some of my friends."
"I hope you will come to see there is nothing to fear from me," Zecora said to them, smiling warmly.
Twilight heard some indistinct mumbling from behind her, punctuated with Rarity coughing into her hoof. "Yes, well, er, forgive us for... that." One set of tentative hoofsteps drew near, and then Rarity was at her left side. "It's just that, well, you came out of the Everfree Forest, and most things in the Everfree Forest aren't exactly friendly."
Zecora nodded once in understanding.
Somepony pressed up against her right side, and with a quick glance, she saw Fluttershy. The pegasus was still timid and leery, but she seemed to relax slightly with the contact.
Twilight smiled at Fluttershy, who looked at her and returned a much softer smile, then she turned back to Zecora. Out of everypony, she could forgive Fluttershy's worry and hesitation.
Pinkie crept up beside Rarity, humming suspiciously. "Hmmm..." The earth pony stopped and squinted at Zecora, scrutinizing her suspiciously. And then the suspicion dropped in an instant, and her friend lit up with her usual happy smile. "So why are you here in Ponyville?"
"I have come to barter for supplies. I reside in the Everfree, so Ponyville is close to home for me," Zecora answered.
Twilight cringed at the idea of living in the Everfree Forest. Sure, maybe the castle or another castle could be safe, but outside of that, it was simply too dangerous for anypony! Unless the danger wasn't as bad as everypony seemed to think. That might have been the case, to an extent. She had traveled the Everfree Forest twice before with her friends and they had lived to tell the tale.
Although, it might have just been the situation in which they were in the Everfree Forest. Had Nightmare Moon's return scared everything off? Had Discord kept their path clear?
She did her best not to think about either topic.
Twilight opened her eyes and checked on her friends. Sure enough, they looked about how she expected. She turned back to Zecora. "You've not lived in the Everfree Forest long, have you?" she asked. Because if Zecora had, well, then the entire time the town was avoiding her, which would make her groan.
Surely, Zecora was a new resident.
Zecora shook her head. "I have not resided here long, but for one month."
Twilight closed her eyes in relief and let out a soft sigh. It wasn't that long, so she felt slightly relieved. 'I've still not seen you before.' Maybe it shouldn't have surprised her. She looked at Zecora again. "Er, right." She pursed her lips. "You know that the Everfree Forest is dangerous, right?"
Zecora nodded. "Ah, indeed it is, but it is not so different from my homeland, so I can handle it."
Twilight blinked. The Everfree Forest was similar to Zecora's homeland!? The thought both fascinated and horrified her. Was the Zebra homeland that dangerous!? "I guess you wouldn't have ponies down there to take care of everything, would you?"
Zecora shook her head. "Though there are some ponies in my homeland, it is not many, and as such, our lands are wild and unfriendly. Equestria is very different, yet the Everfree reminds me of home. Parts of home, at least. Though the forest, I must admit, is far wilder."
"Huh..." Twilight mumbled. She studied Zecora's cloak for a moment. It didn't look tattered, but it wasn't new either. She could make out lumps on her sides underneath the cloak, and if she had to guess, they were saddlebags. "You said you came here to barter?"
Zecora nodded. "Indeed I have. There are many things I need which I can find in the Everfree, but not all of them, so I have journeyed to-"
"Twiligh!" Rainbow cried out, "look out!"
Twilight felt her face go tight as her head whipped to the left. Rainbow's eyes were wide open, darting between her and Zecora. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity all jumped away from her. And of course, Rainbow Dash was diving towards her at what she assumed was top speed, forelegs outstretched and-
-and Twilight yelped as Rainbow smacked into her. The impact threw her to the ground and then Rainbow dropped her body on top of Twilight's. Though dazed, Twilight could make out Rainbow facing the Zecora with a determined, protective expression. If it wasn't entirely misplaced and if her body and head didn't hurt, she would have been thankful.
But as it was? She had half the mind to try to teleport Rainbow Dash over the river. Which, she realized, would have been rude and misplaced.
"You're gonna have to get through me first!" Rainbow boldly declared, still keeping her body low and wings outstretched to shield Twilight.
Twilight groaned, lifted her head, then let it go limp. Repeatedly. "Rainbow," she grunted. The pegasus glanced at her but refused to look away from Zecora. The glance ended and Rainbow went back to watching Zecora like a hawk. Ignoring the frustration, ignoring the pain, and ignoring the desire to hit her head against the wall, Twilight forced herself to say, "This is Zecora. Zecora, Rainbow Dash."
Her annoyance and ire were plain for all to see.
Rainbow looked back down at Twilight and shifted her weight. "Uh, hi?"
Zecora chuckled disarmingly. "I presume you are another of Twilight's friends by how protective of her you are? You have nothing to fear from me."
"Yeah!" Rainbow declared. A few seconds passed with Rainbow glancing between Twilight and Zecora, then Rainbow jumped back off of Twilight and folded her wings.
Twilight cut the pegasus off with a pointed groan. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the ground. 'Why? Just why?' her mind demanded. 'Maybe I do need to spend more time with Rainbow...' Getting to know the pegasus better, or getting Rainbow to know her better would probably be a good idea. Maybe then Rainbow would stop being so overly protective.
Or at least less overly protective when it wasn't necessary. She did appreciate the protection when it was necessary. At least a little bit.
She still cringed at the idea. When she opened her eyes, Zecora stood over her. She glanced down and saw the zebra's outreached hoof, then took it with her own forehoof and pulled herself back up. She could still feel dirt and maybe even some pebbles stuck in her mane and coat, so she shook herself and managed to keep herself from glaring at Rainbow Dash.
Midnight casually strolled by and came to a stop beside Rainbow, smiling and panting. Rainbow looked away from Midnight and huffed, fluffing her wings.
"So..." Twilight ventured as she turned back to face Zecora, "what exactly are you here to get?"
"There are some flowers and herbs that I need to make potions with that I cannot find in the Everfree, and more bottles for my potions would not hurt. I can make the bottles myself, but it is a difficult and time-consuming task," Zecora answered.
Twilight's lips pulled into a smile. "Oh, you make potions?"
Zecora nodded and shared her smile. "That I do. I may be bragging-" Zecora leaned her head to the side and her smile grew, "-but I can make quite the brew."
Pinkie giggled.
Zecora stood straight again and sighed. "But as with before when I have ventured here, it seems everypony has locked themselves away. I suppose I shall have to come again some other-" in a moment of hesitation, Twilight saw Zecora's lips twitch, "-night."
Twilight turned back to look at her friends, then faced Zecora again. 'Considering that everypony seems to be hiding from you, I don't think that would work.' She licked her lips, then offered, "Well, maybe we can help you? I'm sure we can convince everypony to, well, yeah..."
Because everypony was being irrational. Maybe they would eventually get over their fears. At the very least, she hoped they would.
Zecora smiled softly and bowed her head. "If you would do this for me, you would have my gratitude."
Was she still the de facto leader? Her friends looked at her, so she took that as a yes. "Then it's settled," Twilight said with a nod. "We'll help you!"
"Then come," Zecora called, "travel with me. We will visit the market and then, if you are willing, you shall accompany me back to my abode in the Everfree."
Her friends were a little more leery about that, but she nodded. They looked to her for leadership, and so they agreed. Reluctantly. As they turned to make their way to the market, Twilight looked aside at Rainbow and Midnight. "So, who won the race?"
Rainbow scowled and her ears folded back. "She cheated," the pegasus grumbled.
Midnight stopped and spun around to face Rainbow, a look of shock and indignation having overtaken her normal carefree look. "Did not!" the batpony whined. And immediately following that, Midnight smiled smugly, tilting her head up with pride. "You're just jealous."
Rainbow stopped and faced Midnight, squinting at her while her cheeks were held tight. "I won and you-!"
Midnight cried out, "Bats!"
Flabberghasted, Rainbow shouted, "You-!"
"BATS!" Midnight called out louder.
Risking a glance aside, Twilight found everypony, including Zecora, had stopped and was now looking back at the pegasus and batpony.
Rainbow puffed out her chest. "I can't see-"
"BATS!" Midnight emphasized, then giggled.
Rainbow huffed and flared her wings out, then let them drop as she grumbled, "Would you-!?"
"Eeee!" Midnight squealed happily.
Rainbow winced and turned away from Midnight, then beat her wings and flew ahead, purposefully putting distance between her and Midnight. Twilight watched Rainbow fly by and thought the pegasus was grumbling something, but she couldn't make out what. When she looked back at Midnight, the batpony was prancing in place, eyes closed, still letting out an excited, "Eeee!"
Twilight rolled her head to the side and started walking again. After a few seconds, Midnight went silent and then came up beside her, giggling jubilantly. "So I take it you won?" Twilight asked.
"Mhm!" Midnight happily agreed.
"No she didn't! She cheated!" Rainbow declared from her spot at the head of the group.
"It's not cheating if you never specified it was against the rules!" Midnight eagerly declared.
Twilight heard Rainbow huff and watched the pegasus fold her forehooves over her chest before turning back around.
Although it took a bit of work, of which Pinkie Pie did most of it, they managed to find, and convince, the ponies they needed to in order to get Zecora the flowers and herbs she needed, along with potion bottles. In exchange, Zecora offered them her services. Overall, while it took an hour, Twilight had to agree that it went well enough.
She even managed to halfway enjoy it, most likely because her friends were there. "Fluttershy, would you mind if I stopped by for tea sometime?" she had asked.
"Oh, um, okay," Fluttershy had softly and meekly agreed.
Although Twilight wasn't really sure if Fluttershy was agreeing so much as afraid to disagree. Which was exactly why she needed to spend more time with Fluttershy.
Of course, working up the courage to ask Rainbow Dash if they could hang out sometime took more effort than finding everypony they needed to find. She only managed to ask, "Hey Rainbow? Would you mind if we... uh, did something together sometime?" when they reached the edge of the Everfree Forest.
"Sure!" Rainbow readily agreed. And then all that readiness dropped like a rock in a pond. "Like what?"
"I have no idea," Twilight admitted. Did they even share anything that they could bond over!? Well, maybe she could get Rainbow to teach her more about pegasus magic and the weather! But then what did she have to offer Rainbow?
"Well, I'll be practicing my flying routine tomorrow, so I can come and get you and you can watch that! How's that sound?" Rainbow offered.
It was, possibly, better than nothing. "Sure," she agreed.
And it was probably better than bringing up the idea of Rainbow trying to help her beat Nightmare Moon in a sparring match by making her run or something.
She still didn't like the Everfree Forest, of course. But it felt tolerable as they walked onto the path past Fluttershy's cottage. In honesty, it surprised her that the same path that they took before was the one Zecora took. Though the forest pressed down on her from all sides, she felt safer with her friends there. Midnight helped too, of course. Her having traveled to the Castle of the Two Sisters several times before probably helped too.
"Oh! Twilight, while I'm thinking about it, would you come by next week so I can make certain your gala dress is perfect?" Rarity asked.
Twilight nodded, though found herself wondering, 'Why are you thinking about that now, when we're in the Everfree Forest?'
"Can I see Nightmare Moon's dress?" she asked.
The whole party hesitated at that. Zecora even turned to look back at her for a moment, then looked back ahead and continued leading them on.
"I'd rather not have that seen just yet, dear. I'm still working on it," Rarity said curtly.
"Oh, okay," Twilight relented. A feeling a disappointment settled in, but she mostly managed to ignore it. Maybe she wouldn't see the dress yet, but she would eventually get to see it.
She hoped she would eventually get to see it. And she had to wonder what it looked like, and what it would look like if Nightmare Moon was wearing it. She tried to picture Nightmare Moon in a dress but couldn't. She couldn't picture her friend with the dress on over her armor, nor under the armor. She didn't even bother trying to picture Nightmare Moon without her armor on and the dress in its place.
Yet the thought of Princess Luna wearing a dress slipped through into her mind, and before she knew it, she found herself walking along with her head tilted to the right as she pondered it. What sort of dress would Luna have worn? What would it have looked like? Would Luna have worn dresses, or, like Nightmare Moon, would Luna have considered it pointless?
Why did Nightmare Moon want a dress? Her teacher wasn't planning on attending the gala.
She almost missed it when Zecora led them off the main path. To her surprise, there was still a path for them to follow, but it was hard to make out in the darkness. It was also much less traveled and smaller, but still tended to and maintained, possibly by the zebra herself. They had to walk in a single file line, and more than once, what she hoped were branches from underbrush scraped against her coat.
Both Rarity and her used the glow of their horns to help light the 'path' they walked.
"This doesn't seem safe," Rarity acknowledged, her voice annoyed and flat.
"We will be fine," Zecora offered. "Monsters do not venture near my abode, as I know how to deal with them. The path is likewise protected."
"Enchantments?" Twilight asked. She leaned her head to the right and felt more branches scrape against her muzzle as she walked on, but she managed to see Zecora shake her head.
"Not enchantments, but potions I have mixed," Zecora answered. "It is safe to travel to and from my abode, and if you desire, you may come and visit in the future. Most of the more dangerous creatures reside deeper in the Everfree."
Without any problems, they eventually reached a dark clearing. Yet somehow, the clearing had an almost homely feel to it. Cozy, even, despite how dark it was. At the back of the clearing was a large oak tree that reminded her of her library, except distinctly less pony-styled. From the few windows set in the tree's massive trunk, she could see the flickering light of fire dancing across the ground. A few tribal masks hung above the doorway, and ropes ran between the large, hollow tree at the end of the clearing and other nearby trees. Corked bottles hung from the ropes, with some glowing with the same concoction that the deer had used for light, while others were filled with liquids of other colors. A few bottles were empty.
They all walked to the tree and Zecora opened the door. The inside was like the Golden Oaks Library, except more cluttered. Rather than bookshelves, there were shelves and alcoves filled with potions, empty bottles, ingredients of varying kinds, and masks. The room was centered around a cauldron sitting over a fire put, and there were several doorways that led to other rooms, but none of them had doors. She didn't see any stairs that led to a second level, but it may have been hidden.
"Well, this is... quaint," Rarity said.
She looked at Rarity, who didn't quite halfway cringe as she took in the decor.
"They are from my homeland. A little piece to take with me," Zecora commented. "Please, come in, make yourselves at home. I will fix us some tea."
Gradually, they all filed into the room and sat down together. Rainbow and Fluttershy sat on her left, with Rarity, Pinkie, and Midnight on her right. Rainbow leaned forward to squint at Midnight, though when she looked at Midnight, the batpony was ignoring Rainbow in favor of looking around the room.