The Longest Night - Part 1
Nightmare Moon hovered in the air and cackled maniacally as everypony stared at her in shock, trying to comprehend what she told them.
The eternal night... The prophecy was correct after all. That was horrible! Endless darkness would no doubt spell doom to Equestria! No, to the entire World!
For her credit Mayor Mare was among the first one to regain her composure. “Seize her!” She shouted. “Only she knows where the Princess is!”
Hearing the order four present pegasi Royal Guards snapped out of their shock and jumped to the center of the hall, preparing to assault the alicorn on the stage. Tzana too stood on her hind legs and drew the dagger I saw earlier out of its sheath. However, as the guards leaped into the air and flew to Nightmare Moon, Tzana stood still, merely observing what was about to happen.
Nightmare saw the guards flying towards her, clearly intending to attack her, but didn’t even tried to move. “Stand back, you foals!” She commanded as her eyes began to glow with a bright white light. A moment later one of the lightnings, that were dancing inside her ethereal mane, flashed bright and struck her assailants. As the fell to the floor Nightmare let out another uproarious laugh, making her body dissolved into the night-sky-like mist once again, and flew out of the Town Hall, scaring the ponies near the door.
At that moment Rainbow finally managed to free her tail from Applejack’s jaw and she gave chase after Nightmare shouting, “Get back here!”
As everypony were screaming and panicking Tzana approached on of the fallen guards and looked him over. Her brows furrowed and she placed her hoof onto his neck, checking for pulse. “He is alive, simply knocked out.” Tzana said with a note of surprise in her voice. “So are the rest of them it seems.” She added, looking at the other guards.
It was a small relief, knowing that these ponies weren’t t gravely injured, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. Namely - actually doing what I was intending to do the whole previous day and finding the information on the Elements Of Harmony!
I levitated Spike, who blacked out during this whole commotion, onto my back and bolted back to the library.
After arriving at the Golden Oak I put Spike to bed despite him insisting on helping me, and as soon as his head touched the pillow he drifted into sleep. I tucked him in with a smile on my face. He was still a baby dragon and was up all night, but I knew that in any other situation he would be at my side, helping me. “Don’t worry, Spike. I’ll find a way out of this mess.” I said, leaving the bedroom and going to the main area of the library.
For the next ten minutes I frantically looked through one book after the other, trying to find anything that could help me with this predicament. “Elements, Elements, Elements.” I muttered flipping through the pages in hopes that my eyes will latch on that word. That technique helped me to quickly find information before, but this time it was to no avail. These books had nothing! “Ugh!” I tossed yet another book on the floor. Maybe I should’ve talked to Tzana? It looked like she knew something I didn’t. I even briefly considered going to find her. No, that could also be a waste of time, there’s no guarantees that she knew anything about the Elements. “How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?” I said out loud in frustration.
“And just what are the Elements of Harmony?” A sudden angry voice almost made me jump out of my skin! I turned around and found myself face to face with really pissed off looking Rainbow Dash. “And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh?” She pressed on, hovering in front of me and causing me to back away. “Are you a spy?!” She shouted in my face.
Before I could even think of a way to defend myself Rainbow was yanked back and I saw the mares I met yesterday walking towards me. What were they doing here?
“Simmer down, Sally. She ain't no spy.” Said Applejack, releasing Dash’s tail. “But she sure knows what's going on.” She said and looked me in the eyes. “Don't you, Twilight?”
There was a plea in her voice. Like me, these ponies were grasping at a straw, hoping that there was something that could help them. And in their eyes I was that straw, but I could offer hardly any help.
“I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon.” I began. “Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them.” I said, lowering my ears in shame. “I don't even know what they do!”
Now that I admitted my lack of knowledge, I felt how the light of hope in my started to fade. It was pointless. How could I stop Nightmare Moon if even Celestia couldn’t? How could...
“The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." Read Pinkie Pie, looking at one of the shelves.
“How did you find that?!” I was near that shelf even before she finished speaking. I also might have shoved Pinkie away.
But it looked like it didn’t bother her at all. “It was under ‘E’!” She said in a sing-song voice, hopping around.
“Oh...” I muttered, fighting the desire to give myself a concussion by the means of facehoof.
I levitated the red hardcover book from the shelf and flipped through its pages. That was It! The information I’ve been looking for! “There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery.” I summarized for everypony present. “It is said, the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now known as... The Everfree Forest.” I concluded, feeling a shiver running down my spine at the mention of the Forest.
“Of course. Where else would they be?” Came a voice from behind. “Wouldn’t be interesting otherwise, would it?”
We all turned around and saw Tzana in the door. She stepped inside the library and closed the door behind herself.
“You!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash and rushed forward. “You knew Nightmare under some different name! What else do you know? Are you a spy!?” Dash questioned her in the same aggressive manner she did with me.
“Oh, fer lands sake...” Applejack facehoofed.
“I can be, if payment is good, but usually I am more of a reconnaissance and open combat kind of mare.” Answered the mercenary with an absolutely straight face and pushed the cyan pegasus away from her.
“What did Ah just tell you, Rainbow?” Applejack held Dash by the waist and forced her to land on the floor. “Stop accusing ponies out of the blue!” She then glanced at Tzana. “Please excuse her, Sugarcube. We’re all a bit on edge. Right, Rainbow?” She asked, nudging the pegasus with her elbow.
“Yeah, yeah... It’s not my fault that you look kinda suspicious. Err... no offense.” Pouted Rainbow, crossing her forelegs.
“None taken.” Tzana shrugged.
I agreed that she really looked out of place, but that did not mean that she was a spy for Nightmare Moon, besides, the surprise in her voice sounded very sincere to me. However, there was that name...
“Actually, Tzana, I was wondering why did you call her Luna?” I asked, feeling my curiosity rising.
“That was her name in the version of the legend that I’ve heard.” Tzana looked up and rubbed her chin. “‘The Lonely Princess’ it was called, if memory serves. And judging by Nightmare’s reaction it was correct.”
Another version? The version that went into more details? That could be helpful.
“Does this version tell anything else about the Elements Of Harmony?” I asked, hoping to learn something new about the Artifacts, the sixth Element maybe?
"No, nothing." Tzana shook her head. "Only that Celestia used them."
“Oh...” I hung my ears in disappointment. But then my brain finally processed what she just said. “Wait, WHAT!? Princess Celestia used the Elements against Nightmare Moon!?” I exclaimed, hearing the surprised gasps from the other ponies.
“Umm, yes?” Tzana raised an eyebrow at our reaction. “Or is there another immortal alicorn princess, governing over the Sun and the Moon for the last thousand years, that I am not aware of?”
We all just started at her.
It sounded so obvious when she put it that way, and yet the possibility that Princess Celestia is one of the sisters in the legend didn’t even occurred to me...
“Wait. But that means...” I began, not knowing how to put in words the thought that was bouncing in my head.
“That they are sisters, yes.” Concluded Tzana.
I facehoofed.
Well that’s official! Twilight Sparkle, the number one student of Princess Celestia and the star pupil of her school, can’t put two and two together!
“Well Ah’ll be...” Applejack was the first who managed to regain her composure. “Oh, Ah see you got yer stuff from the Acres.” She pointed at the hilt of a sword that was once again sticking out from behind the mercenary’s back. “How’s Mah folks doing?”
“Fortifying the farm by the looks of it.” She answered and cocked her head, looking at the farmer. “But why aren’t you with them?”
“Well... Ah know that mah farm is in good hooves, they know how to keep each other safe. And Ah just... Well...” Applejack scratched the back of her head. “Ah don’t know. It felt right. To come here Ah mean.”
“I see. And what about you?” Tzana looked at the rest of the mares in the library, lingering particularly long on Rarity and Fluttershy, especially Fluttershy. “Why are you all here?”
That was a good question actually, but to be honest, it didn’t bother me much by that point. We were in the middle of a crisis and the more minds we could put to solving it the better. Besides, Pinkie already proved herself useful.
Rainbow flapped her wings and proudly hovered in the air. She puffed out her chest and opened her mouth to speak.
Only to be interrupted by Tzana. “Don’t bother.” She said, walking past her, much to pegasus’ dismay. “It’s rather obvious in your case.”
Looking for somepony to blame, it seemed.
“Applejack is right, darling. It did feel right.” Nodded Rarity. “And what kind of a lady would I be, if I let some dreadful alicorn threaten our Princess?”
“I-I... um... w-well...” Fluttershy pawed the floor. “I just followed everypony. I was scared to be alone.” She admitted, lowering her head.
Rainbow landed beside her and threw her hoof over Fluttershy’s shoulders. “That’s okay, Flutters. We are here with you.” She said to the approving nods from other mare.
“Thanks.” Fluttershy raised her head to look at us. “A-and I too want to help too! Only I don’t know how...” she trailed off quietly.
“And I follow the script!” Pinkie Pie announced happily earning confused looks from everypony present.
I shook my head at her antics. It seemed like I began to understand why “It’s just Pinkie” is a suitable answer in this town. I looked at the mercenary mare, who was still given the pink smiling pony a suspicious eye, and asked her, “What about you, Tzana? Why are you here?”
“For the same reason as everyone else, I guess. I wanted to know what’s going on.” She shrugged. “Besides, I am a merc and getting involved in all sorts of coups is literally a part of my job.” She added looking me in the eyes. “If you know what I mean.”
“Wait. What are you saying?” I shook my head in disbelief. She couldn’t be serious, could she? “Are you expecting me to hire you?”
“I heard what you read about those Elements and where they are.” She stepped closer, looking down at me. “So you clearly need someone, who has experience with that Forest and has her way with the blade. Plus, I even come with a recommendation. Isn’t that right AJ?” She looked back at the farmer.
“Well, yup, but...” Applejack nodded. She clearly wanted to say something else, but Tzana interrupted her.
“Thank you, AJ.”
She was right, I couldn’t argue with that. I barely ever come out of my study or library, and know next to nothing about hiking through the deadly environments, so I did need all the help I could get. But there was one problem however. “I don’t have any bits.” I admitted. “I was supposed to stay here for a day, so I only took some change with me.” Maybe if I could convince these mares to loan me some, I would be able to pay for Tzana’s service?
I looked at the other ponies in the room. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were frowning, but kept quiet. Fluttershy once again hid behind her mane and was observing everything with just one eye. Pinkie... was humming a happy tune and looked completely oblivious to the goings-on around her. And Rarity was practically fuming.
“Darling, I can’t believe my ears!” She said with a dramatic toss of her hair. “The fate of Equestria might be at stake here, but instead of offering your help, you are trying to bargain for it?” The indignation in her voice was rather evident.
“Hey, this mare’s gotta eat you know.” Tzana shrugged. “But you are right. The stakes are high here and all the gold in the world will be useless if everything will become a frozen wasteland. That’s why I don’t ask for anything upfront.” She raised her hoof to her chin and thought for a moment. “That and I don’t know a price for something of this scale. But I am sure that we’ll be able to figure something out. Besides, with you being Celestia’s personal protégé and her current representative, you are practically hiring me on her behalf.” The mercenary raised her hoof and offered it to me for a shake.
However, before I could make a decision, my vision was assaulted by the white and purple colors as Rarity appeared right in front of my face. “You personally know the Princess? You are her protégé? Why didn’t you tell me that!?” She questioned me.
“Exactly because of the reactions like this.” I said, backing away from the seamstress. “And how do you know about that?” I asked, looking at Tzana. “I never told that to anypony in this town.” Maybe Rainbow was onto something after all?
“You maybe didn’t, but Spike sure did. Or do you think I wasn’t listening to what he was saying?”
“He ... um ... did mentioned that, yes.” Fluttershy chimed in.
“Oh.” I nodded at that. I wonder what else Spike told them? Anyway, now that the payment problem has been dealt with, or rather conveniently postponed, I raised my hoof and gave the mercenary a firm hoofshake. “Alright, Tzana, I accept your service.”
As we shook hooves, Rainbow made a somersault around us. “One more to the team! Awesome!” She cheered and landed in front of me with a smile on her face. “So, when are we heading out?” She asked with enthusiasm.
Dash either already forgot where we were supposed to go, or she was the only pony in existence, who was seemingly eager to go to the Everfree Forest.
“None of you are going anywhere.” Tzana said in a stern voice.
“WHAT!?” Was everypony’s reaction, except Fluttershy, she actually looked relieved for a moment.
“The Everfree is dangerous even on the better days, but now, with this endless night, who knows what kinds of nocturnal beasts will crawl out of their nests? It’s just too dangerous for a bunch of civies.”
She raised a good point, and I was sure that none of us truly wanted to go to the Forest, but what choices did we have? We needed those Elements if we wanted to stand a chance against Nightmare Moon and rescue the Princess. “In that case, what do you suggest?” I asked the mercenary.
“Ideally, I’d just go there by myself and retrieve the Elements for you, but...” Tzana put a hoof to her chin, “Those are some powerful artifacts, so they probably have some magical means of protection.” Then her gaze shifted towards me and she sized me up and down. “That falls under your expertise, right?”
“Well, I am a generalist when it comes to the magical studies...” I said, rubbing the back of my head. The possibility of an enchanted security system did occur to me, and although I knew a few alarm and trigger spells, I wouldn’t call my knowledge extensive. But what I did know was spellcraft. “I might not know the correct spells to dispel some advanced enchantments, but if I’ll be able to study their thaumic matrices, I might be able to find a workaround.”
“Good.” Tzana nodded to me. “Then get ready, we should go as soon as possible.”
I was about to say that I am ready to go as is, but Rainbow Dash beat me to. She flew to be almost snout to snout with Tzana and glared at her. “If Twilight is going then we’re all going too!” She said and both Applejack and Rarity nodded at that.
Tzana glared back at her for a moment before shifting her gaze to the rest of the girls. “Does anyone of you know how to fight?” She asked.
“Ha! I am no stranger to brawls!” Rainbow announced, puffing out her chest.
“The beasts are not going to try and punch your face in, they will try to bite your head off.” Tzana pulled down the collar of her coat, revealing an old ragged scar on the right side of her neck.
The sight made Rainbow gulp quietly, but she did her best not to loose the self confident expression on her face.
“Well, Ah had to protect mah farm from them monsters before.” Applejack lifted her hat and pulled out some sort of a rope. “It ain’t easy, Ah tell you.”
“That’s why you should be with your folks. I don’t suppose they have that kind of experience.” Tzana pointed out, causing Applejack to rub the back of her head in thought, and looked at Rarity.
“Well, darling, I would have you know that I am quiet proficient in fencing.” The white unicorn said with the a dramatic toss of her mane and pride evident in her voice. “Plus I know Hoof Fu.”
“Fencing? You mean a sport, right?” Clarified Tzana, sizing the seamstress up and down.
“Of course!” Exclaimed Rarity with enthusiasm. “A noble and sophisticated sport of fencing was all the rage a few years back!”
“And you just happened to have an actual combat worthy rapier?” Tzana asked, squinting at her.
“Well, no...” Rarity admitted and lowered her head.
Tzana just nodded and looked at the next girl.
“Eep!” Was all Fluttershy could say as she hid behind her mane.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” The mercenary rolled her eyes and turned to Pinkie Pie. “What about you?”
“Well, I never fought anypony before. I mean, why would I? I’m friends with everypony!” Said Pinkie, rubbing her chin in contemplation. “But I have this cannon!” She announced and produced the said cannon seemingly out of nowhere.
Both Tzana and I stared at her in stunned silence. I think I heard Rainbow snicker, but that was irrelevant at the moment. The important question was...
Where did it come from!? How did she get it here without me noticing!?
“I... I don’t think we’ll need an artillery support for this...” Tzana muttered, staring at the cannon in front of her. “Where did you even get that!?”
“Oh, I have a few these beauties stashed around the town just in case.” Pinkie waived her hoof dismissively.
More silence.
“What in the blazes happens in this town, if you need a whole damn artillery regiment stashed around just in case!?” Tzana asked dumbfounded.
“Oh! I can demonstrate!” Pinkie Pie announced happily and...
Yanked the cord.
While her cannon was facing us!
“Shit!” Tzana swore and leaped to the side almost instantly, I didn’t even notice when she grabbed me during her dive to safety. I only heard a loud booming noise and the next thing I knew I was pinned down underneath the earth pony mare, as she covered my head with her hooves.
That crazy pink pony shot at us! With a cannon no less!
As I picked out from underneath Tzana’s hooves I was fully expecting to see the library completely wrecked, but to my absolute shock it was... decorated? Streamers, confetti and glitter were all over the place, and there was no any visible damage whatsoever, only Rainbow Dash was rolling around on the floor, clutching her stomach for some reason. At first I was afraid that she was injured but as my ears stopped ringing I could hear her uproarious laughter.
“Wut?” Muttered Tzana and got off of me.
“You can’t even imagine how many parties I have to organize in Ponyville!” Said Pinkie, bouncing in place as if nothing happened. “And it is incredibly tedious to decorate everything by hoof, so that where my party cannons come in! One BOOM and place is ready for a party!” She announced beaming with a smile.
Tzana silently glared at the pink pony for a few moments, causing her smile to wilt a little. “You are not coming.” The mercenary said and headed towards the door, “Let’s go, Twilight.”