Twilight Sparkle was quite content.
"I am quite content." Announced Princess Luna through mouthfuls of assorted candy treats. "I quite enjoyed this Nightmare Night. I thank you Twilight Sparkle; for helping me to make ... friends."
"It was my pleasure Princess!" the lavender unicorn replied happily. Resplendent in her StarSwirl the Bearded costume, she was in the process of rereading a friendship report to her royal guest's older sister and co-ruler of Equstria: Princess Celestia. Though normally it would have been sent by then; the baby dragon that was her assistant, Spike, had already fallen asleep, still in his dragon costume. Twilight chuckled at his sweet slumbering form, then used her horn's magic to remove his costume without waking him. She felt like keeping her own costume on for a bit longer. Although she had already removed the itchy and ill-fitting beard.
Princess Luna picked a particularly colorful piece of candy, admired it for moment, then began levitating it towards her mouth via magic. Suddenly, a pink earth pony broke the surface of a mountainous pile of treats a few feet away; surprising the alicorn, and causing her to drop the piece of candy. Reflexively, the pink pony spun in midair then slid on her back toward the princess; perfectly positioning her open maw under the descending kickshaw. The sweet landed square in the center of her tongue and she consumed it, licking her lips with a satisfied "Mmmmm..."
"Not to mention all the super duper yummy tummy candy we collected! You gonna eat that!?" the pink pony practically shouted as she started pecking at the relatively small pile of goodies in front of the princess.
"Pinkie Pie!" cried Twilight Sparkle in a scandalized tone. "That's rude! Princess Luna collected that candy for herself! Eat from you're own pile!"
"Sorry Twilight..." she said bashfully, looking apologetically at the princess. Luna however giggled softly.
"Worry not my friend," she said to Pinkie Pie; tentatively testing out the word as if she was wielding something extremely delicate. "The candy means nothing to me compared to your camaraderie. Please help yourself." Barely had the words escaped her lips before Pinkie Pie gave a cheerful *cluck* and began pecking away at the candy again; her costume's beak moving up and down so fast that it imitated a jackhammer. Appropriate, as she was quite literally demolishing the sweets before her.
"Ah'm plum sorry princess." said an orange earth pony; her flaxen mane peeking a few strands out of her scarecrow costume's facial opening. "Y'all can have a few more of mah caramel apples to make up for Pinkie's thievin'."
"Thank you AppleJack." replied Princess Luna, smiling warmly at the farmer. "But your caramel apples taste positively bitter compared to the sweet taste of your friendship!" A moment passed before the princess's eyes flew open, realizing how insulting the compliment must have sounded. "I ... I'm sorry! I meant..."
"It's alright princess." grinned AppleJack; sparing the princess her stammering. "Ah know what y'all meant. Thank yah kindly!"
"Yes, yes, of course!" recovered the princess. She accepted the caramel apple from the earth pony's extended hoof and took a large bite out of it.
One of the princess's escorts slipped up to her and whispered something in her ear. Twilight was a bit disturbed by the royal escorts. They were both pegasi, but unlike most, they had leathery bat-like wings and snake-like eyes; with slits for pupils. What bothered her most however, were their fangs. She had been told that only those of their particular breed of pegasus were allowed to be an agent under the personal command of Luna. Inquisitors they were called. She had heard rumors that the reason their teeth were so sharp was because they were actually carnivorous. The closest most ponies had ever gotten to the consumption of meat was in those tofu-dogs that Pinkie Pie was so fond of. But seeing as how Twilight didn't know what flesh tasted like, she could't tell whether they were accurate representations or not.
"I must go." said Princess Luna in a disappointed tone. "My sister insists that I adjust the moon ever so slightly so as to forego the flooding of a place called Stallion Springs. Twilight, would you mind telling me where that is? It must have been founded after my imprisonment."
"Actually Stallion Springs has been around longer than 1000 years. It's at the meeting of the Manessissipi river and Equestria's oceanic border." Twilight answered.
"Ah," said Luna, "I see, that town was called Echo Hollow back then."
"Really?" Inquired Twilight. "I had't read that in any of my books! Did I skip over it!? Or forget!? Maybe a page got torn out! Or ... Or..." The princess interrupted Twilight's hysterics.
"Calm yourself my little pony," cooed the princess. "That fact is actually fairly unknown; even by Ech-errr Stallion Springs' denizens. Only a very few ponies know it apart from the alicorns."
"Oh? Are there other alicorns besides you and your sister? And how does that relate to the changing of the town's name?" asked the unicorn, genuinely innocently curious. The princess however, didn't answer; giving off the aura of one who has said more than appropriate.
"I'm unsure as to whether I should..."
It was at this point that her inquisitor gave an impatient though not entirely impolite cough. The princess nodded at him and he exited the library to prepare the chariot.
"Thank you again Twilight Sparke, AppleJack, Pinkie Pie. I enjoyed this night very much, and look forward to spending many more like it with you; my friends."
Twilight and AppleJack nodded their goodbyes, Pinkie pie however was too obsessed with her obliteration of the Princess' candy collection. Luna made to exit, but paused right before crossing under the threshold. With a backwards glance towards Pinkie Pie and a sly look in her eye, she swiped a few pieces of candy from the chicken-costumed baker's now-neglected towering treat pile. "Farewell." she said before closing the door softly behind her.
"Well-a," yawned AppleJack, turning to Twilight, "Ah've got an early mornin' tomorrow, Ah've gotta get the apple stand set up in the square before the early-morning shoppers arrive. So Ah'll seeya later Twilight!"
She and her host said they're goodbyes; then the orange colored pony made her way out. The sound of the door closing a second time caused the other earth pony to look up. With Luna's treats now effectively erased from existence, Pinkie Pie too felt the urge to go home and get some sleep.
"Is it okay if I keep my haul here for the night Twilight?" she asked as she walked towards the door. "It's just a lot to carry and I don't want to lose anything in the dark." genuine concern for the well-being of her candy crossing her face.
"Sure Pinkie Pie. That's fine!" smiled Twilight.
"Ooh thank you Twilight! I really appreciate it! I ... I ..." Pinkie Pie's sentence faded off as she apparently noticed something very attention grabbing. Her eyes narrowed dangerously and she turned slowly and menacingly toward her unicorn friend. "Twilight? ... Who touched my pile?"
Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes as she shooed her friend out the door. She watched as the chicken-pony trotted down the path towards Sugar Cube Corner. Looking up towards the starry night sky, she noticed the cyan hoof of a still costumed Pegasus. Further inspection revealed it to be none other than Rainbow Dash: who was busily snoring away on a limb of the great tree that housed the Ponyville Library; one hoof dangling down.
"Hi there Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said loudly.
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash woke with a snore still halfway out. She blearily tried to rub her eyes; but was impeded by the goggles she wore as part of her costume. She had to think for a moment why access to her eyes were blocked before realizing what she wore and where she was.
"Oh, hey Twilight. How's it going?" she asked groggily. Looking past Twilight into the library, she went on to ask, "Did everypony leave already?"
"Yes," answered Twilight. Why didn't you come in to join us Rainbow? We would have enjoyed your company."
"Oh ... No reason." the Pegasus said distractedly; looking around.
"Would you like to come in now?" asked the unicorn slowly, looking up into her friend's eyes; still darting back and forth.
"What's that? No thanks Twilight, I've got an early morning tomorrow; you know lots of weather jobs and stuff."
"That's right!" said Twilight brightly. "Tomorrow's the first day of winter right?"
"Yep," replied Rainbow Dash, stretching her wings, "we've got a lot of work to do for the first snow tomorrow, so I ought to get to sleep; you know how I need a solid sixteen."
"Goodnight then!" said Twilight cheerfully, chuckling at the truth in her friends words. She watched as the Pegasus leaped up and soared into the air; and into the direction quite opposite her cloud house. Twilight didn't give it much thought though. Instead, she leaned back on her haunches and rested on her home's front stoop. Looking up at the starry sky, she spotted one of the constellations that the subject of her costume had discovered. Her eyes slid along the beautiful sky to Luna's brilliant moon. It's beauty struck awe into her every time. But something else caught her eye too.
A lone snowflake drifted down in the cold autumn night. It floated serenely towards Twilight's face. It was at this point that several things happened at once; the snowflake landed on the tip of Twilight's nose, the clock tower chimed midnight: signifying the first seconds of the first day of winter, and a mysterious figure appeared from the mist at the entrance to the EverFree Forest.
It is here our story begins. Shall we ... ?