//------------------------------// // The Last Day - part 2 // Story: A Friend Not Met // by Legioner8 //------------------------------// “Wasn't she wonderful?” Spike mumbled with a wishful sigh. It took him a couple of minutes to snap out of his trance after we left the boutique. I’d ask him if he even noticed anything that happened after we entered the Town Hall, but I thought that I already knew the answer. “Focus, Casanova.” I nudged him. “What's next on the list?” “Music.” He said after looking through the list. “Hey! It’s the last one!” Oh, thanks Celestia! I didn’t know how much more of this town I could bear. Now I only needed to find out where the rehearsal was taking place, but with my luck I’d probably have to snoop all around the town to find it. However, after only a few steps we heard the birds singing in a distant, and the way they were singing was really reminiscent of the official royal fanfare that I heard so many times back in Canterlot! That could be it! So, not loosing any more time, I bolted in the direction of the sound. We were near the town park and apparently the townsfolk of Ponyville really liked their bushes. I couldn’t find any way around the plant wall that was several meters thick, so I simply resorted to the shortest one - the way through the bushes. As I crawled through the branches and leaves I once again reminded myself that I need to practice my teleportation spell, especially the blind teleportation. It would’ve been really useful back then. About halfway through the bushes I poked my head over the leaves and saw a yellow pegasus mare with a long pink mane, she was hovering in front of a tree and all its branches were covered by the birds. And they were singing. The birdsong was beautiful, but as I finally made my way out of the living wall, I noticed that one bird was singing out of sync with the rest. It almost sounded like it was doing that on purpose. “Oh my. Um, stop please, everyone.” The pegasus, who apparently conducted the fanfare, flew over to the blue jay. “Umm. Excuse me, sir? I mean no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny-tiny bit off.” I couldn’t really be sure, but it looked like the bird listened to her and actually nodded in response. “Now, follow me, please.” The pegasus returned back to her previous position in front of the tree and raised her hoof. “And one, and two, and one two three...” It was obvious that she knew what she was doing. I didn’t really want to interrupt the rehearsal, but I already heard the birdsong and was sure that there would be no problems with it during the event. I only needed for her to confirm that, and I could be on my way. “Hello!” I started. The yellow pegasus yelp in surprise and the birds scattered around. “Oh my, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten your birds.” I began to apologize as the mare slowly landed in front of me. “I'm just here to check up on the music and it's sounding beautiful.” I gave her my best smile but she just stood there. She turned her head in a way that allowed her mane to cover most of her face, so I could see only one third of it. Plus she was looking at anything but me. As the silence dragged on, I was sure that my smile became visibly strained. “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” I introduced myself, in an attempt to ease the tension. She looked away and started to slowly paw the ground with one hoof. That was getting more and more awkward by the second. “What’s your name?” I asked, hoping to get at least a single word from her. She glanced at me and said something, but she spoke so quietly that I heard only, “Um...” “I'm sorry, what was that?” I leaned a bit closer to her. She leaned back, away from me, and mumbled something unintelligible. “Didn't quite catch that.” I admitted and took a step towards her. She didn’t have any speech impediment, did she? I could hear her just fine, when she was talking to the birds. The mare lowered herself a bit and completely averted her gaze. The sounds she made resembled a frightened squeaking more than anything else. It sounded like she was on a verge of crying. Yes, I know that my social skills are rather lacking, but never before I managed to frighten somepony by my sheer presence. I needed to find a way to get out of this awkward situation. “Hey.” Sounded a familiar voice to my right. The yellow mare jumped a little with an audible “Eep!” sound and, lowering herself even further, looked to the direction of the voice. The poor thing looked like a cornered animal. I too turned and saw Tzana. She walked to us and looked at the pegasus on the ground with a mixture of surprise and amusement on her face. Mostly amusement. “Are you following me?” I asked her, squinting and looking her in the eyes. Because it really looked like she was. If something happens just once it’s a random chance, twice is a coincidence, but three times and more is clearly a pattern! Tzana raised her eyes and looked at me. “No. But I do find it exceedingly suspicious that I keep running into you wherever I go.” She said matter-of-factly without missing a bit. “Excuse me?“ I did a double take. Now I am the suspicious one!? “Why would I ever want to ambush you or something? I am just trying to get over with the assignment I’ve been given!” I was beginning to get angry! Not only everypony in this town went out of their way to get in the way of my schedule, now a clearly suspicious and out of place mare tells me that I am acting suspiciously! “Whow there.” Tzana raised one hoof in a defensive manner. “It was a joke. And no, I don’t follow you. It’s merely a coincidence.” “Too much of a coincidence.” I muttered. I know that I was being stubborn but it felt somewhat good to vent out some of my frustration. “Then call it fate.” She shrugged. “Or maybe a Devine Providence, or whatever. Or simply believe that I do follow you around. Whatever rocks your boat. I don’t care either way.” “Then why you are here?” I kept pushing and stomped my hoof. “Because of her.” She pointed at the frightened pegasus mare, who was trying to slowly and quietly back away from us. As soon as we looked at her she flinched and stopped moving. I felt a pang of guilt when I saw her, my outburst probably frightened her even more. “I think. I am not sure yet.” Added Tzana and turned towards the mare. “Hey, what’s your name?” She wasn’t even looking at us at that point! She lowered her head, letting her mane fall and almost completely obscure her face and squeaked something. “Fluttershy? Good. I’ve been looking for you.” Tzana nodded and reached into her trench coat. How? How did she hear her? I’m sure that I stood closer to her and I didn’t hear anything even remotely resembling a name! “I saw your note on a note board near the town hall. The one about the healing herbs.” Tzana said, rummaging in her inner pocket, and pulled out a small cloth bag. “O-oh!” The pegasus, apparently Fluttershy, immediately perked up and looked at the small bundle on the earth pony’s hoof. “I-I didn’t think anypony ever saw my note. I left it there so long ago.” She said in a quiet but actually audible voice. So she can talk normally. Good, I was beginning to think that I imagined her talking to those birds. “Yeah, it was rather weathered down.” Tzana nodded. “And since I was going to the Everfree anyway, I decided to gather those herbs you wanted. I figured that not many locals go to the forest.” “W-wait, you went to the... the E-everfree Forest?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “But it’s so dangerous! And scary!” She was right. The Everfree Forest is a huge anomaly that is still poorly understood by ponies due to the very dangerous nature of its flora and fauna. However the unique magic of that anomaly has produced many powerful and extremely useful magical and medicinal herbs among the myriad other interesting things. “I needed to go there.” Tzana shrugged. “Why are you so surprised though? You wanted herbs that grow there.” “Some ponies grow them.” Fluttershy looked to the side and pawed the ground with her hoof. “I hoped that... that somepony in Ponyville has them. Mr Badger got sick and really needed a healing decoction. But I had to make do without it.” It’s probably really hard to grow those herbs at home in a small town. Even in the Royal Greenhouse, it is quite troublesome to create suitable conditions for the growth of magical plants that are usually found in any anomalous areas. Not to mention that the homegrown herbs are most definitely not as potent as their wild counterparts. Wait, did she say Mr Badger? “B-but I am grateful for your help! I’ll definitely need them for some other poor sick animal.” Fluttershy said with a smile and reached for the bag, but Tzana pulled her hoof back. “Not so fast, cutie. What about the payment?” She looked at Fluttershy expectingly, raising an eyebrow. “O-oh.” Fluttershy jerked her hoof back and looked down. “You went to the Everfree to get them, of course you want bits, sorry.” She lowered her head and looked to the side. “B-but I don’t have any with me right now...” Tzana sized her up with and thought for a moment. “You don’t look like a girl who would try to weasel her way out of paying.” She said and when Fluttershy looked up Tzana tossed her the bag, which the pegasus managed to catch with a bit of fumbling. “I’ll be staying in the town for the celebration, I am sure will run into each other again. Be sure to have some bits on you then.” That last part sounded a bit like a threat. During this time Spike finally managed to find his way through the bushes and walked to stand beside me. “Oh, hey, it’s that mare again” He whispered. “She isn’t trying to pick another fight, is she?” “Nah, don’t think so.” I shook my head. The very idea that Fluttershy could be involved in a fight with anypony, let alone with a mare like Tzana, seemed preposterous to me. “Actually, regarding the celebration.” I said, remembering the reason I was there in the first place. “Fluttershy, do you think that your birds are ready to perform next morning?” “Oh, yes! They’ve been practicing really hard ever since I got the...” She began answering as she turned to me, but as soon as Fluttershy saw Spike, her eyes widened. “A baby dragon!” With a loud gasp she bolted towards us and just shoved me aside and into Tzana. “Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before. He's sooo cute!” The mercenary caught me and we exchanged a surprised glance. None of us expected this kind of a sudden change in the behavior of this shy and quiet mare. Spike, for his part, had a smug smile on his face. “Well, well, well.” He said, crossing his arms, and gave me a smirk. “Oh my, he talks! I didn't know that dragons could talk!” Fluttershy said, practically prancing in place, and hovered in the air. “Seriously?” Tzana muttered. But the yellow pegasus didn’t hear her. “That's just so incredibly wonderful! I-I just don't even know what to say!” I rolled my eyes at her over enthusiastic babbling. “Well, in that case we'd better be going.” I said and levitated Spike on my back. She confirmed that the fanfares are ready for the celebration and that’s all I needed from her. Now I finally could go to the library and find information on the Elements Of Harmony. I began to walk but Fluttershy followed me. “Wait, wait! What's his name?” She landed behind me and stared at Spike, who was simply delighted to be the center of attention. “I’m Spike!” He introduced himself. “Hi Spike, I'm Fluttershy. Wow, a talking dragon!” Oh, now she had no problem introducing herself. And seriously, how can somepony not know that the dragons are sentient beings? “And what do dragons talk about?” Fluttershy continued to question Spike. “Well, what do you want to know?” I felt how he leaned closer to the pegasus. “Absolutely everything!” She answered not knowing what she was getting herself into. But I did! If there was one topic Spike could talk about literally forever, it was himself. Couldn’t suppress a groan as I realized that I’d have to listen to them talk all the way to the library. The path to which I didn’t know. When Spike began talking about his time as an egg, Tzana walked past me, heading towards the park exit. What happened next was a spontaneous decision born of my desperate desire to preserve my sanity and not be subjected to Spike’s entire life story, so I called out to her. “Ahh, Tzana...” When she turned to look at me, I blurred the first thing that came to mind. “Nice weather, huh?” She looked up at the bright clear sky, it looked like Rainbow actually took her work seriously, then she looked back at me with a raised eyebrow. “Yes?” She said with a shrug. I just laughed like an idiot not knowing what to say next, idle talk has never been my forte. I gave her what was probably the fakest smile in the history of smiling, as I desperately tried to think of something I could talk about with a mercenary, but my brain refused to cooperate. So after a few more moments of awkward silence I let out a sigh and hung my head. “Sorry.” I mumbled. “I just wanted... nevermind. Do you know how to get to the library?” I wasn’t looking at her but I could practically feel how her gaze shifted from me to happily babbling Spike, then to Fluttershy, who was following me just one step behind, then back to me. “As a matter of fact I do.” Tzana said after a brief consideration. “C’mon, I’ll show you the way, I need to return a book anyway.” She said and started walking again. My ears immediately perked up. I looked up at her with a renewed interest. “Oh, what book that might be?” I asked with a genuine interest. Instead of answering Tzana once again reached into her coat and pulled out a rather sizable hardcover book. Seriously, how did she keep it there? Her coat didn’t bulge at all. “The Everfree Bestiary by Daring Quill.” I read on the cover. “Oh, I know this one! Quite an interesting read and a good insight into the chaotic nature of the Forest. Did you take it to prepare for your incursion into the Everfree?” “Yeah.” She answered and put the book back behind the bosom of her coat. “I needed to know what to expect.” “Well, it’s good to see the you are doing your homework!” I joked, trying to keep the conversation going. “In my line of work, that ‘homework’ well done might be the difference between life and death.” Tzana said with a serious tone. “So yeah, I do my homework.” I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded. She was right, of course. And not to mention I had my own ‘homework’ that I really needed to attend to, and the consequences of not being prepared might also be a difference between life and death, but for Equestria as a whole. And instead of preparing and researching I’ve been running around the town doing some menial, although royal ordained, tasks! “What’s wrong?” Tzana asked, noticing the somber expression on my face. “Did I struck a nerve or something?” “In a way, yes. Sorry, I have a lot on my mind right now. I was hoping to get over with everything by now and do some very important studies, but... ” I hanged my head as we walked, I really didn’t want to think of what could happen if I was correct in my assumptions about Nightmare Moon’s return. But soon I’ll be at the library and will finally be able to get to my research. However, I needed to distract myself from the dark thoughts, otherwise I’d get all worked up and would not be able to focus as much later. “So, was there anything else interesting in the library?” I asked. “The place itself is rather interesting.” Tzana said after a brief consideration. Turned out that the library was carved inside of a living oak tree, and she was absolutely sure that it was bigger on the inside! Of course I was skeptical about the dimensional magic being used in a small town in the middle of nowhere, but if somepony got through the troubles of enchanting the tree in the first place, they might have had a required skills to go all out with their magic. Besides, Tzana said that she actually did some measuring and the tree should have been at least one-and-a-half meters wider on the outside. In all honesty it sounded really intriguing, I even thought that it was a shame that I would only stay there for one night. Maybe when this is over, I’ll return here for a bit and study the tree’s enchantments more closely. As we walked side by side, I noticed something about the mercenary that had eluded me before. Only when I realized that I was craning my neck to look her in the face, I finally noticed it. She was tall! Probably as tall as Cadance or maybe just a little bit shorter. How didn’t I notice that sooner? Well, in my defense, I spent so much time around Princess Celestia and Cadance, or even my brother, that simply got used to some ponies being taller than me so it just didn’t registered at first. “Also, I don’t think that there’s any staff there.” She concluded. “What!?” I did a double take. A library without a librarian? Preposterous! What kind of sacrilege was that!? “Are you sure about that?” “Positive.” Tzana nodded, observing my reaction with a mild amusement. “At first I thought that maybe the librarian was on a break or something, but... Remember those measurements I did? I did it while waiting for someone to show up cause I got that bored while waiting, and, well, to make sure that I didn’t go crazy and simply imagined it. Eventually I just had to rummage through the shelves myself.” “But... But...” I opened and closed my mouth several times. “But who manages the contents of the library? Who catalogs and organizes the books?” That was a disaster! How was I supposed to find the reference materials if there was no pony to make sure that the books are all in their rightful places and not just thrown around haphazardly! “I don’t know.” She shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Maybe it’s a community thing? I did manage to find what I was looking for, so it works.” Then she stopped and nodded her head to the side. "You can see for yourself." We stood in front of a huge oak tree, that had several round windows and a door in its trunk. The sign in front of the door read “The Golden Oak Library”. Up above a small balcony was attached to the side of a tree and its canopy created a natural and cozy looking roof over it. I could easily imagine myself sitting there with a book on a warm summer day, or maybe even stargazing with my telescope! Ponyville is a small town and the light pollution should be minimal here, unlike in Canterlot, so... I shook my head. I needed to focus at the task at hoof! “And that’s the story of my whole entire life!” Spike concluded his life story. It seemed like he decided to go with the abridged version this time. “Well, up until today. Do you wanna hear about today?” He asked eagerly. Fluttershy already opened her mouth to say something, probably agree for more stories, but thankfully Tzana chimed in. “I think that this was enough of info for now. Besides, Twi here said that she’ll return this book for me.” She said and held the bestiary in front of me. “I did?” I asked dumbfounded, but a moment later I understood what she was doing, so I immediately grabbed the book. “Oh right! Of course I did! Silly me, got lost in thoughts and almost forgot about it.” I said, slapping myself on the forehead. “And of course I can’t do it without my number one assistant!” I levitated Spike to the door I just opened and shoved him inside with the book, then I turned around and started to back into the library. “That was delightful meeting you and the story was just great, but you know how it is! The librarian’s work is never done. Bye!” I said to Fluttershy and gave a quick nod to Tzana before shutting the door. “Sheesh. Rude much?” Spike deadpanned, clearly not amused by what just happened. “Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time!” I said looking around. Why was it so dark in this place? “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?” I was about to spread my magic across the wall to try and find the light switch, but the moment I stopped talking, the lights turned on and my ears were assaulted by the sounds of party blowers, popping confetti and dozens of ponies shouting “SURPRISE!” at the top of their lungs! I was surprised alright. But apparently not as surprised as Tzana, who somehow ended up right beside me, despite clearly not entering the library a moment ago. “W-what the!?” She sprung to stand on her hind legs, effectively doubling her already impressive height and literally towered over everypony present. Her right front hoof darted under her coat and she grasped the handle of a big dagger that was attached to her belt. My eyes widened when I saw the glint of steel as she drew her weapon halfway out of its sheath, but thankfully she stopped as she finally managed to take in her surroundings. When Tzana pushed the dagger back, I let out a sigh of relief I didn’t know I was holding. And judging by the reaction of everypony in the room, or rather by the lack of it, I was the only one who noticed the weapon in the first place, the ponies were just looking at us with smiles on their faces, some even laughed at Tzana’s reaction. Suddenly a pink mare, whom I saw when I just arrived in Ponyville, hopped in front of us. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie and I threw this ‘Welcome To Ponyville’ party for the two of you! Were you surprised? Were you? Huh? Huh? Huh!?” She blurred out hopping up and down to look at our faces. Tzana, still standing on her hind legs, reached out and grabbed Pinkie mid jump, causing her to hang above ground like a rag doll. “How did I get here?” She demanded, looking the pink mare right in the eyes. “Oh! I simply pulled you in through the window!” She answered nonchalantly and waved her hoof. “You see, I wanted to throw you ‘Welcome To Ponyville’ party yesterday, but you spent a lot of time in here all alone and brooding, so I thought if you are all alone that means that you don’t have any friends here, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, so I was preparing the party when you just up and left to the Everfree Forest, and I thought about throwing a party in the Everfree, but it wouldn’t be fun, and trust me I tried doing that before, and I was so sad that I couldn’t make you feel happy, but today I saw another pony and I've never saw her before and if I've never saw her before that means she’s also new, cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville, and if she’s new, that meant she too hasn’t met anypony yet and does not have any friends, and then you came back to town I got simply THE BEST idea to throw a double party, so you two can meet everypony and make a many friends as possible, cause I invited everypony in Ponyville, but then Twilight came inside the library and you didn’t, and I was like, nope, she’s not getting away this time, so I grabbed you a brought you here, and now the two you have lots and lots of friends!” Pinkie blurred this out so fast that my head began to spin, I wasn’t even sure if she ever paused for a quick breath! “Huh?” Tzana just blinked a few times with a dumbfounded look on her face but released her grip on the pink pony, who proceeded to bounce in place as if nothing happened, and stood back on all fours. “Alright everypony!” Pinkie shouted. “Let’s get this party started!” And like that the music started playing and everypony began to talk and dance. Tzana and I sheared a glance and she shrugged. “Dibs on booze.” She said and went to one of the tables. As for me, I went to search for any relevant information about the Elements Of Harmony or the legend about Nightmare Moon, however it was next to impossible to concentrate as ponies were constantly getting in my way, trying to strike a conversation or pull me into a dance or a game I didn’t want to participate in. It seemed that Pinkie wasn’t exaggerating, when she said that everypony in town came to this place, I even met all the mares from earlier, and for some reason they were particularly insistent on hanging out with me, especially Rarity. After a few minutes of fruitless search I only managed to find one book about an ancient history and some sort of an artifact compendium guide, that looked more like a shopping advertisement than anything else. Hanging my head I decided to try my luck on the second floor of the library. I circled the crowd of ponies, keeping close to a wall, and was on my way to the stairs when I saw Tzana. She sat alone and was glaring at the bookcase. Somewhat intrigued I came closer to her and looked it over, trying to figure out what was so interesting about this bookcase in particular. I could see nothing out of place, nor any books I needed, so I turned to the mercenary and asked, “What are you looking at?” “That’s where I was.” She said, pointing forward. “When I left, I walked around the tree, then I blinked and I was here. I don’t remember being pulled anywhere, and I definitely don’t see any windows on this side of the library.” I looked around and she was right, the closest window was the one near the entrance. And I admit, I too was really surprised when the lights turned on and she was near me. My mind raced trying to find an explanation. Logically there could be just one way Pinkie could pull this off. I opened my mouth to voice my thoughts. “And there are no hidden passages or holes behind this bookcase, I already checked.” Tzana interrupted me, anticipating my theory. Well, I had nothing. “Yer better not think about it too hard, sugarcube.” Said Applejack as she and Rainbow Dash came to us. “Pinkie does... stuff. We’re all kinda used to it, but the newcomers are always baffled by her antics.” “Yeah, it’s just Pinkie.” Rainbow nodded and gave us two cups. “Here, on the house.” She said with a grin. We took the cups and began drinking all the while thinking about that nonexplanation that we were given. How can I ‘not think’ about something like that? Or how can‘it’s just Pinkie’ be a suitable explanation for anything? “Ha, ha, Rainbow, really funny.” Said Tzana in a dry tone as she put her cup on the table and pushed it away. Applejack leaned forward and sniffed its contents and gave Rainbow, who continued to grin at us, an unamused look. Then all three of them turned to look at me. I already made two gulps when I finally noticed what I was drinking. It was a hot souse. And now my mouth was burning! I let out a scream of pain and it felt like I was breathing fire! I bolted out of the main hall of the library and to the second floor in search of water. Thankfully the second floor was used as the living area so I managed to find a bathroom really easily. After a few gulps of cold water the burning sensation finally subsided and I breathed a sigh of relief. The second floor was surprisingly cozy. It had a big study complete with writing table, a sofa and a couple of chairs. The stairs led to a small area that was still connected with the main room and it had a double bed next to a big window. And, most importantly, the walls were lined with lots and lots of bookshelves filled with all sorts of books. Hoping for the best I went to the nearest bookshelf and looked over its contents. *** Several hours passed by and I had little to no progress in my research. All I managed to find was the same old book of legends that I found in back in Canterlot and it touched the topic of the Elements Of Harmony only briefly, not detailing anything important about them. Further inspection of the bookshelves led to discovery of many interesting books many of which, on any other day, I would’ve been delighted to read, but at that time they were completely useless to me. Feeling completely and utterly defeated I crawled into the bed and tried to organize my thoughts and weight my options, but that infernal disco music from the first floor made it almost impossible to concentrate, so I grabbed the pillow and put it over my head to muffle that noise. The door slammed open and Spike entered the room. “Hey Twilight! Pinkie Pie's starting pin the tail on the pony game!” He announced enthusiastically. “Wanna play?” “No!” I shouted. “All the ponies in this town are crazy! Do you know what time it is?!” “It's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration.” He answered. “Everypony has to stay up, or they'll miss the Princess raise the sun!” He then turned back to the door. “You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party.” Spike added in a disapproving voice before leaving. I gritted my teeth in frustration and fell back onto the bed. “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!” I looked at the Moon in the sky and levitated the book of legends towards me. "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 read out loud and looked at the stars surrounding the Moon. “I hope the Princess was right... I hope it really is just an old pony tale...” I whispered, hanging my ears. Suddenly the door opened again and Spike called to me. “Come on, Twilight, it's time to watch the sunrise!” I looked at the clock on the wall. Already? Oh, Celestia, I had a bad feeling about this. *** I shuffled along with the crowd of ponies, going to the Town Hall. Everypony was smiling and chatting among themselves, completely oblivious to the looming threat. At that moment I really regretted even finding that stupid old prophecy in the first place. “Heh, you look cheerful.” Sounded the already familiar voice of the mercenary as she caught up with me. “Your studying didn’t go as planned?” “No.” I admitted. “It was nothing but a waste of time. I couldn’t find anything useful and I couldn’t concentrate because of all the noise.” “Well, if it makes you feel better, at least you didn’t have to suffer through this ‘party’.” Tzana said with indignation. “Seriously, it felt like it was aimed at the five-year-olds. The overabundance of sweets, stupid games and not a single drop of alcohol in sight to make it bearable.” She shook her head with a sigh. “And with one guest of honor already gone, the pink one and the others wouldn’t let me leave as well. And I think that seamstress was stalking me. Seriously, the ponies in this town are crazy.” “By Celestia, I met at least somepony sane today!” I said, feeling a small smile creeping onto my face. At least somepony saw it my way! “Heh, you must’ve seen some really fucked up stuff in this place if it makes me look sane by comparison.” Tzana said with a smirk. During our talk, we entered the Town Hall and the celebration was about to begin. The place was filled to the brim with ponies both locals and the tourists coming from all over Equestria to look at the Princess. Noticing our arrival, Pinkie Pie hopped over to us and nudged my side. “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 the two of you walking into town and I went *gasp!* but I mean really, who can top that?” She blubbered, causing both Tzana and I to roll our eyes. The sound of birds singing the royal fanfare swept over the crowd shushing everypony. I looked up and saw Fluttershy conducting the song in the same manner she did yesterday. Well, at least some things went according to plan. “Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!” Said the mare in the collar and the ponies all around us cheered. “In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!” I looked up at the sky through one of the windows and saw the stars moving! They flew towards the Moon and with a flash the image of the Mare In The Moon vanished! The shock on my face must’ve been obvious, because Tzana followed my gaze and also looked at the Moon. “What in the...” She whispered in disbelief. Meanwhile the mayor continued her speech, oblivious to what has transpired in the night sky. “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! Princess Celestia!” She announced happily. Rarity, who stood on a small balcony that doubled as a stage, pulled the rope and opened the curtains, only to reveal the empty space behind them. With a loud gasp she ran behind the stage to look for the Princess. “This can’t be good.” I muttered, filling the pit forming in my stomach. The ponies all around us began to whisper to earth other as the mayor tried to keep everypony calm. “Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games! Is she hiding?” Ask Pinkie, showing the self awareness of a foal. Meanwhile Rarity returned to the stage. “She’s gone!” She said visibly shocked. Everypony gasped. “Ooh, she’s good!” Said Pinkie. A moment later a strange blue mist, that looked like a piece of the night sky, began to gather on the stage. It coalesced into a tight ball and erupted outwards revealing a pitch black Alicorn. She stood on the stage clad in the blue armor plates with the mist acting as her mane and tail. Nightmare Moon was real, and she stood right in front of us! “Oh, my beloved subjects.” She looked around with a smirk on her face. “It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces.” “What did you do with our Princess?!” Shouted Rainbow Dash and tried to rush at the dark Alicorn, but Applejack managed to bite onto her tail at the last moment, stopping her. Nightmare Moon chuckled in response. “Why, am I not royal enough for you?” She asked in a mocking tone. “Don't you know who I am?” “Ooh, ooh, more guessing games!” Pinkie Pie chimed in, hopping at place. “Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty...” She began but thankfully somepony shut her up. “Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?” Nightmare Moon looked at Fluttershy, causing her to flinch away in fear, she then turned towards Rarity, who still stood on the stage right next to her. “Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?” “I did!” I said. I don’t know what I was thinking, catching the attention of the ancient evil Alicorn, but at least she wouldn't threaten the two mares beside her any longer. “And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon. You’re...” “Luna?” Asked Tzana, stepping in front of me. What? Luna? Who’s Luna? “Well, well, well.” Nightmare cooed, sizing up the mercenary. “That name is still remembered? No matter, that pathetic weakling, Luna, is gone! Now there’s only I - Nightmare Moon!” Her voice boomed over the crowd as she spread her wings and began to hover over the stage with her misty mane and tail growing in size. “Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!” She let out an uproarious laughter as lightnings thundered behind her.