//------------------------------//
// Verse 10 
// Story: The Nightmare Knights Become A Band 
// by SwordTune 
//------------------------------//

The rush of excitement as the curtains closed hit Luna hard. Adrenaline pumped throughout her body. It was exhilarating. She felt like she could go on stage again. As the last guitar chord and drum beat echoed through the air, Luna felt a new sensation wash over her. Before she knew her dreams were possible, but now it was like she was actually living it. The surreal cheering of ponies was like a filly meeting their idol, only that idol was herself. Her better self.
“Whoo!” Starlight bellowed. “That was amazing!” her cloak flew off her back from her energy. “I felt like I was at a Shadow’s Sabbath concert again, but I was also the concert!”
“Yeah, was nice listening to music that isn’t the Storm King’s propaganda.” Tempest set her guitar down gently. “Though, I did trip up on one or two chords.”
“Heh, it’s not like any of them noticed,” Lightning Dust said. “Who cares?” 
“We care,” Svengallop said. “We were lucky those trip-ups were small ones. If they were on her solo sections, every pony would have noticed.”
“Come on, dude, chill out a little,” Lightning snorted. “It happens. You heard us at rehearsal, Tempest can play fine. Mistakes are random and you just have to roll with them.”
“No,” Tempest shook her head, “Svengallop’s right. What matters are results. That might sound like the old me talking, but at least she wasn’t wrong on that front.”
“What matters is that we were awesome,” Luna told every pony with a big grin on her face. “We can store our stuff here until tomorrow for pick-up. So, I think for now all we have to is go celebrate.”
“I’ll go check if Dopsy can get to the backstage through the crowd. I promised she’d be able to join us.”
“Of course.” Luna wiped off her face paint and rolled up her cloak. The rest of the Knights did the same, stuffing the slightly paint-stained garments into a travel bag and storing it in their locker. While they cleaned up, the next performing group passed them, getting ready to go on stage.
They were three dragons. Brothers, by the look of their similar scale patterns. “Rock on, princess! I knew there were some cool ponies out here.”
Luna received similar words from the others backstage, some performers, others were just the festival staff. It seemed even from behind the curtains their song was heard. While Starlight put away her guitars, Lightning’s drums were wheeled in on a platform to make space for whatever the dragons had planned for their performance. 
There was a place, according to the staff, for large equipment like drums. They gave Lightning a ticket with the storage number on it and warned her not to lose it.
“See Tempest yet?” She asked after talking with the technicians on how to get her drums when she came to pick them up. Svengallop nodded his head, squinting through the side entrance to the backstage. Even from there, the glow of fire effects from the dragons performing could be seen. 
“Wading through a crowd like newborns in a kiddy pool,” he chuckled at the two mares struggling to push their way through a crowd of rowdy stallions. The sparks flying out of Tempest’s horn showed clearly what she wanted to do to them, but she restrained herself.
“Should I just teleport them?” Starlight asked, peeking out of the door.
Luna frowned. “I’ve been told you’re a prodigy at magic, Starlight, but in a crowd that dense--”
Pop! Glitter Drops and Tempest fell on the ground at Starlight’s hooves, her horn warm with magic. “Meh, I’ve done harder teleports before,” she shrugged.
“Thanks,” muttered Tempest with Glitter Drops lying on her face.
“Forget I said anything,” Luna rolled her eyes, unsurprised by Starlight’s quick action. “Come on, then. Once the festival’s over, Restaurant Row will be packed. Best to beat the rush.”





Dinner was delicious. Luna couldn’t remember the last time she ate what she wanted and not what was being served on the royal menu. The chefs in the Canterlot castle were excellent, but even their styles and flavours had a way of wearing out.
“Hurg…” Starling groaned, “I don’t think I want to go back to Ponyville for a while. I don’t need Trixie asking about my weight. I can’t believe I ate four triple-baked potatoes. Four!”
“Whatever happens to you won’t be as bad as the team glutton over here.” Tempest nodded towards Lightning Dust.
The pegasus was still nibbling on her double-cheese spicy chilli fries. Carried out in a paper cone, it was enough to be its own meal rather than a snack. Glitter Drops levitated a bundle and split some with Tempest.
“Hm,” Glitter said, “I don’t blame her though, these are good.”
“Hey! You’re not going to leave enough for me!” Lightning Dust protested.
The six of them walked down a row of shops, half of them closed for the festival. A few of those that were still open caught their eyes. Svengallop insisted they had to go to “Bath, Bed, & the Barn,” where customized and unheard-of brands of soap and other toiletries were sold. Tempest and Lightning Dust were the most reluctant, but even they conceded that the “oats and aloe” soap bars felt really soft on their coat.
Glitter Drops pounced on a candle kit titled “Pines and Everfree.” It came with custom candle holders etched with pine branches and flowering vines.
“Never knew that had this stuff here,” Lightning Dust said as they left the store with their purchases. “there aren’t any places here that sell flight training equipment, so I never had a reason to look through the shops here.”
They passed by a number of other shops, picking up new trinkets here and there as souvenirs for their first performance. They bought new clothes, bottled of spiced cider, and even some make-up kits. Svengallop’s complexion apparently needed a lot of work to maintain.
They were waiting for Glitter Drops to pick out a few suits for Tempest when Luna noticed a commotion forming down the street. A few ponies were gathered around some kind of argument just out a clothing retailer. 
“What’s going on there?” Starlight asked Luna as she stared from the outside of the suit tailor.
“Whatever it is, I doubt it’s a good thing.” Luna checked inside. Svengallop was criticizing Lightning Dust’s taste while Glitter Drops brought two more outfits for Tempest to try on. They were busy and didn’t need more tho worry about. “Starlight, would you mind joining me? You’ll have to keep my patience in check if this drags out.”
“Uh, I don’t know if I’m the best for that,” Starlight hesitated, “but I’ll do my best.”
They walked over to the crowd, onlookers and bystanders giving them space at the sight of Luna. Whispers cast around between the ponies as they cleared and revealed an argument between a frail stallion and two other creatures, a dragon and a griffon. 
“Sweet Celes… I-I mean oh my gosh!” Starlight stumbled on her words, immediately stepping back to shield herself with Luna. “That dragon’s one of my students. Her name’s Smolder.”
“You mean the young hero?” Luna whispered.
Before they could figure out a plan to address the situation, the shopkeeper bellowed out at Luna, breaking from his conversation with the griffon and Smolder.
“Finally! I thought the festival had all the royal guards caught up, but now you’re here!” He laughed and reached out to Luna, though she did back away. “Hehe, yeah. Come on, tell these two non-ponies they can’t go around trashing up my store.”
“Hey! Whatever he says I did is a lie!” Smolder burst. 
The stallion scoffed and stomped his hooves. “This crazy dragon chick burned up a whole shelf of heavyset suits.”
“Uh, okay, except for that,” Smolder admitted. “That did happen, but for good reason! He was giving this griffon a hard time.” She rushed over to Luna’s side. “Princess, please, one of my best friends is a griffon, I couldn’t stand by and--” her eyes whipped over to Starlight, who was trying to tuck herself behind Luna’s tail. 
Smolder gaped. “Headmare Starlight?”
“Hey, Smolder! How… uh… How ya doin’?” Starlight chuckled lightly.
“I don’t understand, what are you doing here? Sunburst said you had compound fractures in all your legs.”
Luna pupils bulged at Starlight. “What?”
“Okay, maybe I should’ve given him some lines,” Starlight sighed. “Note to self, Sunburst is terrible at making up alibis.”
“Wait did you come here for the festival?” Smolder asked.
Before Starlight could come up with an excuse, the shopkeeper stallion threw his hoof at the griffon. “Can we please back to this problem? This guy tried to haggle with me and was holding up the line for every pony.”
“Oh please, hundred-twenty bits for a suit is an outrageous price,” the griffon quarrelled back. “And I was the only one in the store at that time.”
“Because you told every pony that there was a sale on the same suits one street down from here!” The stallion erupted. “How am I supposed to stay in business with creatures like you around?”
“Okay, settle down. All bystanders can move along and mind their own business” Luna told them all before turning back to the shopkeeper. “If you want my council, you should start from the beginning. Why was there such a dispute over your pricing?”
The stallion pointed to the sign outside his shop. “I had a sale to make space for the winter season when out of nowhere this griffon walks into my store and starts asking why I’m charging so much. He says some two-bit knock-off chain store down the road has the same suits for cheap, but I know that can’t be true. For this quality, my suits have the most competitive prices.”
“A suit is a suit,” he snapped back, “and even if it’s all true, that doesn’t give you the right to bad mouth griffons because of me.”
“Yeah!” Smolder chimed in, “you called him a no-good greedy bird-brain.”
“I didn’t say it was all of his kind,” the shopkeeper defended himself to Luna. “The guy’s asking for a price I can’t afford to offer and then sends my customers to a crappy knock-off store. What else am I gonna say about him, he’s greedy and he hasn’t done me any good.”
“Big surprise,” Smolder rolled her eyes, “an old stallion who can’t admit he’s wrong.”
“I can see this is a hard situation,” Starlight came out from behind Luna, accepting that she had been revealed. With one of her students involved, her reputation had to wait. She had to offer her help, even if it meant raising questions later. “And I understand that you stood up for what you thought was right. Helping another creature in need is never wrong. But was burning his clothes necessary?”
“I couldn’t help it!” Smolder threw her arms up in exasperation. “This dumbass was the one who thought using dragon-sneeze flowers as wall decorations was a good idea. You didn’t see it, but I was hocking up fireballs like Spike whenever Twilight used to get spam mail.”
“Jeez,” Starlight’s face twisted with slight discomfort at just the thought. “Also, has Rainbow Dash been teaching her vocabulary lessons?”
Smolder shrugged. “Yeah. Why?” 
“Oh, no reason,” Starlight waved the question away. “Though I will need to talk to her about the syllabus. Just don’t expect, erm, dumbass, to be on the next writing quiz.”
“Look, I can’t be responsible for every random creature who walks in,” the stallion argued back. “She’s a dragon, she should know about her own weird dragon allergies. But in the meantime, she still owes me two grand for all the suits she burned.”
Starlight noticed the look on Luna’s face. She was calm on the outside, but her blank stare was a sure sign that she had no idea what to do. Normally Starlight would’ve given the stallion his bits to end the argument and deal with the problem calmly. But, two thousand bits was a lot, and this was her student who was involved. Starlight wanted to set a good example as Headmare, and she didn’t want Smolder to think that helping other creatures just led to more problems.
“We just need a moment to figure out how to handle this,” Starlight tried calming the stallion down. “Just let Luna and I talk, and we’ll figure out our next step from here, okay?”
“Sure, as long as that next step ends with a check in my hooves.”
They stepped aside, leaving Smolder and the griffon staring daggers at the shopkeeper, who was shooting the same look back. Luna wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. It was, in a way, a sign that now was the best time for her to step away from the throne. Equestria was changing faster than ever, it seemed. All too likely she’d make the wrong choice eventually. Modern problems required a modern perspective to revolve.
“Alright, how do you think we should do this?” Starlight asked. “I mean, it’s his fault for not even telling Smolder about the flowers, right? She walked into his store, it’s his responsibility.”
“That does seem the fair decision,” Luna said, “but I doubt he’ll let it drop if he doesn’t get the price of his clothes.”
“I bet he has retailer’s insurance,” Starlight waved the thought away. “No creature here needs to spend a bit and he’ll still get his money. I just want Smolder out of here as quickly as possible. Any thoughts on the griffon?”
Luna shook her head. Twilight would be the pony to ask for this situation. Of course, her royal Canterlot voice would be enough to order the shopkeeper to resolve his grievances, but that wouldn’t be the right move. Even though he had the right to prevent his competitors from advertising on his property, she wasn’t convinced the stallion wouldn’t judge other griffons for the actions of this one. 
This problem seemed like what Cadence had talked about in the Crystal Empire. The School of Friendship was a perfect place for all creatures to learn to live together, but one school couldn’t prepare every creature in Equestria. 
“Clearly the griffon needs to understand that shopowners in Equestria don’t typically haggle. But the shop owner needs to know that his customers have the right to compare pricing.  The griffon isn’t an advertiser for the competing store, and no laws can stop the citizens from conversing with one another.”
“You two done over there?” The stallion barked.
“He could also do with an attitude check,” Starlight scowled.
Luna nodded. “Oh yes, most definitely. Should I do the talking?”
“Actually, I’d like to. With my student here, it’s my responsibility.”
Starlight turned around and marched back over to the shopkeeper. “So, quick question, you have retailer’s insurance right?”
“Yeah, so what?” He said.
“So, you can talk to them if you want the bits for your suits.” Starlight stood firmly by Smolder’s side, putting an arm around her shoulder. “This is my student, and you’re not getting a bit out of her. Every store or restaurant uses food allergy warnings and wet floor signs. It’s your store, so it’s your responsibility to make your customers aware of what’s going on. My student is not to blame.”
“What?” He shot a look over to Luna. “Princess, is she serious? Look inside my store, there’s still smoke coming from the ashes!”
Luna shook her head. “You needn’t my opinion on this. I am no longer a princess, and Starlight is more than capable of giving her recommendation. You are free to bring this issue to a legal court, but I doubt you would win. Nothing states customers can’t compare the prices and quality between two competitors.” 
“Yeah, well…” the stallion cast a dirty look onto Smolder and the griffon. “Well, I don’t have to do business with any of them. I have the right to deny my services, and these two have caused me enough trouble for one night.”
The shopkeeper returned inside, locking the door behind him and closing the blinds on his display windows. The griffon simply shook his head, thanked everyone for getting involved for his mess, and headed down the street to continue his shopping.
“I think new conflict resolution classes might have to be added to next semester’s syllabus,” Starlight muttered.
Smolder shrugged. “Whatever. Dude was a jerk. But, Headmare, I still don’t get why you’re here.”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Starlight said, “Dragonlord Ember asked us to supervise you as a student. What are you doing here? Are you with your friends?”
“What? Pfft, nah,” Smolder sputtered at such a ridiculous notion. “I snuck out all on my own. Music festivals aren’t my thing, but I knew the stores would be empty since every creature’s at the festival.”
“You snuck all the way out to Canterlot to do some shopping?” Starlight doubted her.
“Yep,” Smolder insisted. “All on my own.”
“Hey Smolder!” A familiar hippogriff’s chirping echoed from above them. “You totally missed it! The dragon band from earlier came out and made a ring of fire for a pegasus band to fly through. Yona got so excited she--wait, is that the Headmare?”
“Hey there Silverstream,” Starlight looked up before casting a smirk to Smolder. “So, what was this about coming alone?”
“Yo! Is that store smoking?” Lightning Dust cried from the other side of the street. “Starlight what the heck did you do?”
She cringed and closed her eyes, begging Lightning Dust to stay away. But, it seemed Tempest had picked the outfits that spoke to her. She looked to see Smolder wearing a wolfish grin and crossing her arms.
“Headmare, is there something you want to explain to us?”