Twilight flipped through the next book. She glanced over at the calendar and quickly looked back, hoping she would find something about Nightmare Moon or the Elements of Harmony before the Summer Sun Celebration in two days.
And then she stopped. There was a drawing of Nightmare Moon, with bats around her.
Twilight paused and reread it. There wasn’t much description. Just that it was said she was attended by bats.
She’d flipped a few pages before something else occurred to her. Could that mean bat ponies? Everlasting night would fit right in with a nocturnal species. She needed to ask.
She glanced outside, and her first Birthday Pony hypothesis came floating back into her mind. Normally, she wouldn’t think much about it. But she was running out of time, and desperate times called for desperate measures. Even if Celestia didn’t believe her, she knew she was right.
Twilight knocked on the door of Sugarcube Corner.
“I hope you’re right about this,” Spike mumbled, clearly concerned about offending the ponies who ran the only bakery in town.
“Honestly, me too,” Twilight murmured back.
The door eventually opened. “Oh, Twilight,” Mrs. Cake said, surprised. “It’s… rather late.”
“I know. I was hoping you could tell me a little more about the Birthday Pony.”
“There’s not much to tell,” Mrs. Cake said with a little chuckle. “If you’re new in town or it’s your birthday, she’ll leave you a cake.”
“But why a cake?” Twilight asked.
Mrs. Cake shrugged. “Ponies like cake,” she said simply. “But then again, I am a little biased,” she added, gesturing towards her cutie mark, the trio of cupcakes.
“I’m sure there’s more to it,” Twilight pressed.
“Maybe,” Mrs. Cake said evasively. “I’m sure we could discuss this more later. Or earlier, I suppose.” She made to shut the door.
Twilight teleported past her and inside the bakery. “Mrs. Cake, please,” she said, hoping she sounded completely sure of herself. “You don’t need to be so evasive when we both know she’s here now.”
Mrs. Cake laughed, and this time it sounded confident enough that Twilight felt a slight twitch of hesitation. “She certainly is not,” she said.
Twilight inhaled, trying to think of some way she could salvage this, but the next thing she knew, she’d been tackled to the ground.
And the pony they’d just been discussing was on top of her. “Eee!” she cheered, rubbing the top of her head against Twilight’s cheek.
“Well, now she is,” Mrs. Cake amended.
The Birthday Pony nearly dragged her over to the table and pushed a cupcake from somewhere into her hoof. Spike got one as well, which he gleefully bit into.
“She must really like you,” Mrs. Cake said, a little amused. “She’s not usually one for letting anypony else know she exists. She must think you’re a good friend.”
Twilight felt a slight pang of guilt, because she was mostly hoping for information tonight. Friendship hadn’t really occurred to her. “So, uh, how did you meet her?” she asked, hoping for a distraction.
“We found Pinkie outside one night,” she explained. “We think she came through the Everfree Forest, because she was injured, exhausted, and starving. We nursed her back to health.” She smiled a pained smile. “Apparently, pink isn't a popular color for bat ponies.”
Pinkie shook her head, a wry smile flitting across her face.
“She limped down the stairs the first night. She shouldn't have been up…” here she gave Pinkie a motherly look, and she grinned innocently. Now her fangs were really visible, and they looked cute, somehow. “…but she smelled our baking and she got curious. She watched for those first two nights, and then she wanted to help. She seemed to have a nose for it.”
Pinkie nodded happily.
“She adapted quickly, and became a big help in the kitchen. She was very quiet. She didn’t seem to understand money, but she liked fruit. She helped test that new fruit tart.
“And then one day, I slipped and sprained a hoof. There was no way I could make a cake on time, let alone do a delivery across town, so I had to turn down an order.
“That didn’t sit too well with her. So she baked a cake herself, on her own, I might add, and delivered it. She didn’t want to be seen. How a bright pink pony made it across town while holding a cake I’ll never know.”
Twilight glanced over.
Pinkie put on an innocent smile and looked up. If there was an explanation, she wasn’t going to give it.
“That’s where the rumors started. Cakes appearing, mysteriously. She thought it was fun and did it again, and again. They kept spreading over time, and we just never said anything.”
“Doesn’t that get a little costly?” Twilight asked.
Spike glared at her, feeling like she was missing the point here.
“A little,” Mrs. Cake conceded, “but I noticed we're selling more sheet cakes and cupcakes since she’s started doing it. I think ponies like sharing something good.”
“And this is good,” Spike said, licking the frosting off his claw.
Pinkie beamed.
“So,” Twilight said, looking for an escape. “Do you want to come over and play a game or something?”
Pinkie nodded eagerly. She glanced over at Mrs. Cake, as if asking for permission.
She shrugged easily and smiled. “Have fun,” she said.
Pinkie gave Mrs. Cake an affectionate nuzzle as well, and with a cheerful “Eee!”, disappeared into the night.
“So, what game do you want to play?” Spike asked.
Twilight paused. “I didn’t think that far ahead,” she admitted. She paused. “And she’s right behind me, isn’t she?”
Spike nodded.
Sure enough, Pinkie stood there, smiling expectantly.
Twilight smiled sheepishly.
Thankfully, Spike had an idea. “How about Go fish?” he suggested, retrieving an old deck of cards from a library desk.
Pinkie cocked her head. “Ee?” she asked.
Spike tapped on the table three times. “Any threes?”
Her ears pricked and she sat down excitedly. She could play!
Twilight tried not to look too impatient as Spike dealt the cards. When it was her turn, she looked at Pinkie. “Actually, I was hoping I could ask you something else. What do you know about Nightmare Moon?”
Pinkie flinched. She closed the distance between them almost instantly, placed her hoof on Twilight’s mouth, and shook her head slowly, looking uncharacteristically serious.
Twilight hesitated. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but it hadn’t been this. She didn’t know Pinkie very well, but this seemed unlike her.
And then, as soon as it had happened, it was over. Pinkie was all smiles again. She looked at Spike and tapped five times hopefully, to which he scoffed and slid the card over.
Twilight felt there was more to this, and faked a large yawn. “I think this is our last game,” she said, even though they had barely started their first game. “Gotta get enough sleep for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow.”
Pinkie scrunched up her face like she’d just eaten a lemon. Apparently, she didn’t care much for the sun.
Spike narrowed his eyes, knowing Twilight was just trying to get rid of her, but he didn’t say anything.
The game soon finished, and as Twilight climbed into bed, she looked up at the sky. “’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’,” she repeated. “I hope it really is just an old pony tale.”
Twilight burst into the library, her heart pounding in her chest. Nightmare Moon had returned, just like she knew she would! And she still had no idea how to stop her because she didn’t know what the Elements of Harmony were!
She paused just long enough to make sure Spike was safe in bed before rushing back out. Desperately, she pulled books off the shelves, hoping to find something she’d missed.
Then, the door burst open. “How did you know who she was?” Rainbow Dash demanded, getting up into Twilight’s face. “Are you a spy?”
Applejack yanked her back. “Simmer down, Rainbow,” she said. “I don’t think she’s a spy.” She looked over at Twilight. “But I do think she knows what’s going on,” she said pointedly.
“I read about her. Nightmare Moon. The legends said she would return after a thousand years, attended by bats, but I think that could mean bat ponies.”
“What’s a bat pony?” Rainbow asked.
Thump!
Pinkie landed on the table next to the bust statue, her leathery wings spread. She was clearly apprehensive, her tail flicked nervously and her fluffy ears were almost vibrating, but she was here and clearly determined to be a part of this.
For a moment, nopony moved.
“That,” Twilight finally said. “That is a bat pony.”
Fluttershy fainted.