Twilight stood with Spike off to the side, letting the shadow of the curtains hide her large form. The last thing she wanted was to distract the crowd from the Celebration. Now that Twilight could finally see the fully decorated Hall, she was not disappointed in the least.
The curtains lining the wall were a gradient of dark blue to a beautiful orange. Silver glitter dusted the dark blue part and the effect made it look like dawn was breaking over the cloth. Magical yellow lights flashed lazily along the ceiling almost like fireflies.
The previously empty tables were laden with sweets and pastries. Pies, cakes, cupcakes, everything was there. Spike was right about the fritters. They were fried to perfection and quite literally melted in her mouth.
By now, everyone in town had heard about the dragon from Canterlot. Ponies stared only a little at the beginning of the celebration. A few talked to her and Twilight found it a nice change from Canterlot where she constantly had to watch her words to make sure the pony in question wasn’t about to twist her words or double-cross her. Here it was all genuine, whether it be compliments, gratitude, or just plain small talk.
Trumpets blared suddenly, harmonizing beautifully with the songbirds. The spotlight angled downward, showing the mayor.
“Fillies and gentle-colts, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!”
All the ponies present cheered and stamped their hooves.
“In a few short moments, our town will witness the beautiful sunrise that will begin the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce the ruler of our land, Princess Celestia!”
Twilight glanced at the moon, hopefully in a subtle way, only to jolt in shock when the moon was bright, not a mare to be seen. Her spines bristled and her hackle plates raised when the spotlights dramatically swung to reveal an empty balcony. She should’ve known that Celestia would’ve left her to her devices.
Her brain flew through the most logical explanations she could think of, but the more she thought, the more and more ludicrous her ideas became. This couldn’t be happening, could it? Her tail fur tingled in anticipation.
The crowd gasped and Spike coward beneath Twilight’s forelegs. Then someone screamed and Twilight’s hair stood on end as her eyes snapped back to the balcony. There was a surge of magic so powerful that the nearest leyline winked out of existence for a moment. Twilight gulped nervously.
Shadows pooled along the floor and slithered up the walls before condensing into a large specter on the balcony. Due to her temperature-sensitive blood, Twilight could tell how the air literally dropped a few degrees in the presence of the Mare.
Nightmare Moon flapped her pitch-black wings and blinked her strange blue reptilian eyes. She let out a shuddering breath that seemed to leech the color around her. Her mane and tail were pure shadows and her coat a starless night sky. Muscles rippled across the alicorn’s coat and her metal shoes scraped unpleasantly against the stone balcony. Even from the distance Twilight was at, she could see the unnaturally sharp teeth glinting in the alicorn’s mouth. Her tail fur prickled uncomfortably.
“Oh my beloved subjects,” she breathed eerily, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious sun-loving faces.”
Twilight watched in horror as Rainbow Dash flew up above the rest of the crowd and demanded, “What did you do to our Princess?”
Applejack had to restrain the foolhardy pegasus from flying to her death. Twilight mentally amended her previous assessment. Rainbow Dash was plain stupid. Nightmare Moon let out a deep chilling laugh.
“What? Am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?” she asked with a faux-sweet tone, “Does my crown no longer count since I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?” The menacing timbre sent chills down every pony’s spine and the birds scattered before her, “Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?”
“I did!” Twilight forced out, growling, “And I know who you are. You’re the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon!”
Immediately, Twilight regretted her outburst. She was in no way shape or form ready to take on a half-powered alicorn in a fair fight. Curse her morals for not wanting to have innocents as collateral damage.
“Well well well, some pony remembers me,” her eyes speared any of those who were foolish enough to meet hers, trying to find the pony that spoke, “Then you know why I am here?”
Maybe if Twilight was allowed to cut loose she could have a chance at beating Nightmare Moon. But cutting loose meant that there wasn’t an innocent soul in a mile radius and she could break whatever the heck she wanted.
“You’re here to… to bring eternal night,” Twilight answered, quickly cloaking herself with a transparency spell, not wanting to draw attention with a powerful invisibility spell.
Nightmare Moon let out another dark chuckle, “Remember this day little ponies. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!”
Evidently, she gave up attempting to find the one that spoke. Every shadow in the room elongated toward her as she maniacally laughed. The torches slowly sputtered out and lightning cracked across the clear skies. Only the lazy lights near the ceiling were unaffected. Twilight shuddered at the amount of magic swirling through the air.
“Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!” The mayor shrieked toward the royal guards.
Finally being given an order, the guards took flight and charged Nightmare Moon. Her eyes blazed with crazed power and she cackled harder. Twilight could tell it was all theatrics, but that small solstice flipped to icy terror when the alicorn latched onto the nearest leyline and slowly drew power from it.
Twilight uttered a small, “No!”
She could only watch as the guards charged.
“Stand back, you fools!” Nightmare Moon howled maniacally.
Lightning slashed across the ceiling and struck the guards, knocking them out of the air. Her mane expanded, shrouding Nightmare Moon into shadows. The doors magically burst open and the shadow escaped out into the rapidly darkening landscape. Twilight’s wings stiffened slightly when she realized the alicorn fled to gain more time. She knew the next time she laid eyes on Nightmare Moon, her power would be twofold greater.
Rainbow Dash finally broke free of Applejack and zipped after it with a distant shout of “Get back here!”
“Come on!” Twilight didn’t give Spike the time to clamber on.
Gently, she picked him up by the scruff of his vest and raced outside. Her wings were tucked close as she jumped up and flew as fast and low to the ground as her half-stiff wings could take her. She didn’t even care about the torn-up clots of grass she left behind or the way her tail kept hitting things as she blasted through the air.
She would risk as little magic as possible. An alicorn’s sensitivity to magic rivaled hers so that meant no magic that had to draw upon the power of a leyline. Anytime some being drew power from a nearby leyline, Twilight would usually be able to pinpoint the approximate location of the being. The absolute last thing she wanted was Nightmare Moon teleporting into the library.
Twilight didn’t even bother to close the library doors after bursting through them. The already battered door loudly protested as it swung inward and gained several more scratches on the surface as Twilight brushed past it. At the rate she was going, she would need a new door soon. Enchanting everything could wait until the Mare in the Moon was dealt with.
As gently as her adrenaline-fueled body could, she put Spike on the ground and hurried over to the shelves. She unshelved several bookcases in her magic and started looking for the Elements of Harmony. Books would circulate near her snout only to be flung to the floor when it wasn’t the one she was looking for. Her paws would snatch haphazardly at the shelves to do the same as she multitasked.
“Elements, Elements. How can I defeat Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony!” Twilight hysterically shouted in panic, “What even is this organization!? Comic books next to reference books?! Really?!”
Spike began to throw books around, trying to help.
Just as Twilight unshelved another bookcase, Rainbow Dash headbutted her, having flown through the open door, “And just what are the Elements of Harmony?! And how did you know about Nightmare Moon huh?! Are you a spy?!”
The pegasus was yanked away by the tail by Applejack, “Simmer down Sally,” she admonished, “She ain’t no spy, but she sure knows what’s going on, don’t you Miss Twilight?”
It went completely unsaid that Twilight could easily hurt anyone foolish enough to challenge her, but everyone knew it. That didn’t stop the four ponies. Pinky Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash surrounded Twilight along with Applejack, backing her up against another bookcase. The tallest of the lot was Applejack and she only reached mid-chest. Slowly, all the books in the air lowered to the ground.
Fluttershy hung back, fear shining in her eyes, but just as determined as the rest of them. Now that Twilight saw her up close, she was surprised to note that Fluttershy was taller than the average pegasus. The tips of her ears were at the same height as Rarity’s.
Her long pink mane nearly brushed the ground. Her tail was completely on the ground and looked a bit dusty. At the moment, all of her feathers were puffed out in fear and the thick fur that all pegasi had was even poofier than Pinkie’s mane.
“I read about the prediction of Nightmare Moon,” Twilight admitted quietly, coming out of her observations quickly, “Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her. But I don’t know what they do, where to find them, I don't even know what they are!”
“The Elements of Harmony: a Reference Guide,” Spike read aloud, “Found it!”
Her breath left her in a loud whoosh. Of course, Spike wouldn’t stop looking.
“Great job Spike!” Twilight expertly jumped over the ponies to land with a thump next to Spike. Fluttershy’s hooves clopped awkwardly against the wood in her haste to back away.
Rainbow Dash distinctly grumbled, “So much for surrounding her,” and Applejack thwacked the pegasus with her hat so hard, Rainbow Dash’s knees buckled slightly.
Spike opened the book, “There are six Elements of Harmony but only five are known. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said the last known location of the elements was in the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. It is located in what is now called the Everfree Forest,”
A collective shudder went through the native Ponyville ponies. The grim mood was broken when Twilight grumbled, “Oh wonderful, let’s traipse through Celestia’s childhood home. Sounds like a brilliant idea,”