//------------------------------//
// Verse 18 
// Story: The Nightmare Knights Become A Band 
// by SwordTune 
//------------------------------//

Luna fell back into the soft embrace of the bean bag chair. In all her years of ruling, such soft luxuries had been unknown to her.
But perhaps the sensation was being amplified by the success of the concert. The last song from the night had been performed, but Luna could still hear the audience’s chanting from the band’s trailer. Lightning Dust and Svengallop were in the makeup trailer just behind her, and Starlight had to teleport back to Ponyville to give some parents a tour of the School of Friendship tomorrow morning.
That left Tempest, who was plucking the strings of her guitar as she leaned back into the trailer’s couch. Glitter Drops joined her. She managed to get backstage with a VIP ticket. 
“Now that was some performance,” she said, levitating a shot of cold cider from the trailer’s fridge. 
Tempest did the same, balancing the shot glass on her hoof. “Yeah, I didn’t think that minotaur would actually give us a good turnout. From what Starlight was saying, it sounded like he was more likely to scam the audience out of their tickets.”
Luna responded to their toast, pouring out her own glass of Sweet Apple Triple Brew. The cold cider burned down their throats as they drank. 
“Whew!” Luna set down her glass. “Applejack made this?” She inspected the label on the bottle. For certain, it was from Sweet Apple Acres. “I’ll need to pick up a bottle of this the next time I’m in Ponyville.” 
She focused back on Tempest and Glitter Drops.
“That reminds me, you two still have a place in Ponyville, right?”
Glitter Drops nodded. “Yeah, it’s amazing. We thought we’d stay down south for a few months, but with Starlight’s teleporting spell, we can actually live there and work in the northern patrol. I’ve been trying to learn how to use the spell myself. That way, Starlight won’t have to cast it for us whenever we want to travel.”
“It’s nice not sleeping in the cold,” Tempest nodded, “though I kind of miss the sound of a log on a fire. I never realized how loud it was up north, and now the silence of Ponyville keeps me up some nights. But, in a good way, I guess. It’s relaxing listening to crickets and watching fireflies.”
“How about the Crystal Empire? I haven’t been back in a while, actually.”
Glitter Drops and Tempest looked at each other. “Well, we kind of had to go back to work because more of those dark creatures were showing up. The ones Tempest got tangled up with when you came.”
“There are more? Certainly, there can’t be much dark magic left behind, can there?”
Tempest shrugged and drank another shot of the cider. “We don’t know the numbers for sure, but whenever there’s a sighting, we have to close off the area. We have to, there’s no chance of fighting them. But Princess Cadence says it’s hurting a lot of trade and travel with Yakyakistan.”
“That is worrying. I wonder if Twilight knows anything about this. She and her friends would find some way to solve the problem, I’m sure.”
The remainder of that night did not go as Luna had expected. Unlike their short performance in Canterlot, this was their first long concert, singing songs back to back and engaging with the audience. She thought there would be a party, but her eyes were tired from the stage lights and her voice needed a break.
Instead, the three of them talked among themselves. They talked about the news of the week. Tempest had apparently spent some time in Chicoltgo before moving to the Crystal Empire, and she was curious about the road development projects happening throughout the city.
Glitter Drops asked a lot of questions about Silver Shoals. Luna joked if she was planning for retirement, but the mare was more interested in exploring the seas on an antique sailboat.
And in the midst of their conversations, they did not wonder why Svengallop and Lightning Dust were taking so long in the makeup room. Not until they returned, faces dolled up in artfully layered makeup.





“I never knew goats could be such talented assistants.” The makeup room was packed with costumes and heavy-smelling bottles of products. Svengallop selected a coat conditioner and skin cream from the assortment before he wiped his face clean of their ghost-white facepaint. “I’m used to doing everything myself during a concert, it’s nice to take a load off for once.”
Lightning Dust scoffed in the seat next to him. She grabbed a wet towel and scrubbed off the paint. “Yeah, you’re a star of the show.”
Svengallop turned a stink eye towards her, though his disdain quickly turned to pity as he watched Lightning Dust trying to clean her face off. The facepaint they used wasn’t the cheap store-bought variety like before. Iron Will, to his surprise, had spared no expense and provided smudge-proof paint. The substance was thick and oily, and very much resistant to washing. It was perfect for long performances because sweat would not wash it off, but it made cleaning a much more arduous task.
“How did Luna and Tempest get this off so fast?” Lightning grunted. 
“Because I told them how,” Svengallop reached over to her mirror and grabbed a bottle of soap from the clutter of beauty products. “It’s oil-based, dummy. You need soap.”
“Pfft, yeah, I knew that.” She forced a dollop of foamy soap onto her hooves, grumbling to herself. “You don’t always have to be such an ass about it.” 
“I’m sorry, do you have a problem with me? Because I thought we were past this.”
Lightning Dust scrubbed off the paint without saying a word to him at first. Not until she finished half of her face did she finally answer.
“Yeah, but it’s kinda hard to be chill with a guy who always has to focus on himself. It’s like you don’t even know what it means to be on a team.”
Svengallop upturned his nose and inspected himself in the mirror as he worked on his own face. “I don’t need to take that, especially not from you.”
“Now you’re starting to sound like Starlight.”
Svengallop opened his mouth to ask, but he stopped. He didn’t mention Starlight. And they seemed to work together just fine during the concert. What did they talk about after those students showed up?
“Is that what this is about?” he asked. “Damn, she must be pissed at you. What did you two even say?”
“None of your business, so stay out of it.” 
“Bitch, get over yourself,” Svengallop said, “Starlight’s part of the band, so that makes it my business. Now spill the tea or I’m going to splash paint more on your face.”
Lightning Dust cast a stink eye at him. “We didn’t say much. We got mad at each other and then I stormed off to help set-up for the concert. I didn’t want to listen to her excuses. She just wants to keep us a secret because she thinks we’ll ruin her reputation. We can’t trust her!”
“Yeah, so? It’s not like she’s wrong.” Svengallop chuckled as he removed the last spot of paint from his face and started applying a coat of foundation. “Look at us. Do you really think we’re upstanding members of Equestria?”
“Whatever.” Lightning Dust crossed her hooves and floated herself over to the exit. “No pony ever takes my side.”
“You know, if you can’t find a single pony who agrees with you, maybe they’re not the problem. Maybe it’s you.”
Lightning stopped at the door. There was something uncomfortably familiar with those words. Svengallop was nothing like Scootaloo, but yet he saw the same problem in her as the filly. She couldn’t understand how that could happen. 
“Why do ponies always say that about me?” she groaned.
“Because it’s true!” Svengallop swapped to applying a second coat of makeup, the purpose of which Lightning Dust was not clear on. But it did lighten up his complexion. “I read the news. The Washouts said you strapped a kid to a rocket. Who in Equestria’s going to be on your side after that?”
Lightning threw her hooves out in the air. “It’s not like I’d do it again!”
“Oh my gosh, you crazy bitch,” Svengallop laughed. “You still did it though! I don’t get along with a lot of ponies, but even I know that’s messed up.”
“Yeah, well,” Lightning paused. She was at a loss for words to say to Svengallop. He was such an annoying, self-centred, and entitled jerk. He criticized ponies without even think about his own faults, and he did it so casually while putting on makeup!
It was starting to piss her off. Just like Starlight. Just like everything else. Her thoughts raced to try to come up with something witty, something to save face. She couldn’t stand some pony talking about her like a mess-up. But it was hard to find the words without tripping over her own frustration. Svengallop was just so annoying. He was so… much like her.
Lightning Dust dropped it. “Can you hurry up? We don’t have forever, the next band’s going to kick us out soon.”
“I haven’t been able to get a new makeup set yet, so I’m making the most of this,” he said as he curled up his eyelashes. And then suddenly, as if a thought had shot itself through his head, Svengallop turned around with a predator’s glare at Lightning Dust.
She made a half-turn away from him. “What are you thinking…?”
“I know what you need,” he grinned and got out of his chair. “A new attitude needs a new look. I’m going to make you pretty.”
“What the fu- no! Hey, get off! I look amazing already. Stop!”
It was too late for her. With the moxy of a sleep-deprived college student slurping up their first cup of coffee, Svengallop wrapped his hooves around Lightning Dust in a surprisingly tight body lock. Pegasi were lighter than most ponies, and without space to fully spread her wings, she could not use her strength to fight back. 
He dragged her to the makeup chair. “Oh shut up and sit still.”



Luna, Tempest, and Glitter Drops stared at them as Lightning Dust finished the story.
“And then he threatened to smear my face with more paint so I just let it all happen.”
They looked almost identical, with how much makeup they had on. The powder and blush had taken away the different colours of their coats, and Svengallop had applied the eyeliner and lipstick perfectly on both of them.
Tempest coughed, unable to contain herself. “It fits,” she pointed to Lightning, “you kinda look like a circus clown.”
“Wagh! What do you mean?” Lightning’s wing shot up.
“Lightning Dust,” Luna said, “Tempest’s just teasing. No need to get so worked up.”
She took a deep breath and relaxed, her wings folding back down. Lightning moved to the opposite end of the trailer, almost hiding in a corner seat, and grabbed a Cider Lite from the fridge. Glitter Drops made a face at Tempest as if scolding her for being rude. But Lightning Dust didn’t notice. She was too embarrassed to.
“But,” Luna tried covering up her smile by drinking from her glass, “she’s right though. For you, this looks kind of weird.”
“Argh!” Lightning covered her face. “Damn it! Why do I have to be stuck with all of you?”
In the end, she was still annoyed with all of them. But she couldn’t just run away. Because, as much as she wanted otherwise, they were the only ones in the whole world who’d overlook the things she had done.