Scootaloo turned over in bed, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. The room was completely dark, though it had been midafternoon when Twilight had given her a relaxation potion and let her lie down. She must have been asleep for a few hours then. She yawned, feeling a bit guilty about taking Twilight’s bed, but enjoying the feeling of a good night’s rest too much to really care.
Her ears perked up as she noticed a tapping noise coming from across the room. Something or somepony was rapping lightly on the window.
She considered running for help, in case the tapping was coming from a changeling, but dismissed the idea with a shake of her head. If somepony meant to harm her, they wouldn’t be knocking.
Reaching up to be sure she still wore the sun shaped charm, Scootaloo crossed the room and opened the window. She’d had several ideas of who might be outside, mainly Thistleroot or Applebloom. Dash would have been a close third.
Scootaloo blinked stupidly for a few seconds before asking, “Princess Luna?”
The Princess of the Night hovered just outside her window, smiling gently. “Good evening, Scootaloo.”
“Uh, hi. You know they have a door, right?”
Luna laughed softly, “I didn’t want to wake Twilight or Spike. I would like to talk to you and you alone. Perhaps you would join me for a flight?”
Scootaloo almost agreed immediately. Turning down the princesses wasn’t something a pony did lightly, out of respect if nothing else.
“No offense, but how do I know you’re the real Princess Luna? The changelings are back in town, and not wanting to wake anypony else seems kinda suspicious.”
Luna nodded in approval. “No offense taken, my little pony. It is better to be cautious in troubled times.” The princess leaned forward, resting her hooves on the window sill, and with a small effort of will, lifted one of Twilight’s books from her nightstand. The book floated across the room, wrapped in a cocoon of blue energy.
“If you recall, changeling magic is green.”
Scootaloo nodded and said, “I’ll have to remember that test.”
“We all should,” Luna agreed. “My sister and Twilight Sparkle are working to get information like that out into the public. It would have saved us much trouble at Cadence’s wedding.”
Scootaloo stretched her wings as Luna backed away from the open window. Seconds later, they were gliding through the silent night.
It had been weeks since Scootaloo had flown just for the sake of flying. After a few minutes, she started on some simple maneuvers, taxing her entire body with the workout.
Not to be outdone, the princess showed her own aerial acrobatics, spinning through the air gracefully, trailing starlight and shadows in her wake. Soon they were in an unspoken contest, one-upping each other with each trick.
It went on for the better part of an hour before they evened out, giggling quietly. Luna slowed to a more leisurely pace, and Scootaloo mimicked her.
“So, you wanted to talk, princess?”
“Yes. I heard some of what you’ve been going through lately.”
“Oh?” Scootaloo asked without inflection.
The princess nodded, turning to fly backwards so she could face Scootaloo. Scootaloo felt a twinge of jealousy at how easy the princess made it look.
“I understand you’ve brought your concerns up with Tia and Twilight Sparkle, but I thought maybe you’d like to talk to me as well. As two ponies who have actually been through similar situations.”
“You mean when you stole the elements?” Scootaloo asked. Luna had been manipulated like the rest of them, given dreams and thoughts of how the Elements of Harmony could be used to imprison her. It wasn’t the same though, she didn’t know about Discord. She had no way of knowing her actions would hurt anypony.
“Actually, no. I was talking about Nightmare Moon.”
“Oh,” Scootaloo said again.
The princess stared past Scootaloo, eyes taking on a familiar look. Celestia looked that way sometimes, when thinking about the past. It may have been nostalgia, or sadness, or maybe just concentration as they sifted through lifetimes worth of memories.
“It was Discord’s doing,” Luna started.
Scootaloo arched an eyebrow. “I thought he’d already been imprisoned. Like, for real, where he couldn’t reach out to talk to anypony.”
“Yes, that is so,” Luna confirmed. “But Discord’s words can take root long after he is gone. When we worked against him, he was the first to suggest that I was beneath my sister. After we defeated him, the words continued to haunt me.
“I heard him for years, though not as literally as you seem to. The ideas he planted grew, feeding on my fears and doubts. I felt guilty about such petty thoughts, but of course that meant one more emotion to play on.”
Luna sighed, eyes closing for a minute. “Finally, I decided to do something about it. There’s a crossing of ley lines beneath Canterlot Mountain, and a cave high above where they all converge. I went there in the dead of night, knowing my sister had used the power during her first sunrise.
“The cave was almost exactly as my sister had described it, with a bare stone table and several odd engravings. The only difference was that the largest engraving, at the center of the back wall was written in an old language from our home, and said “Lost are those who would dwell”.” Luna shook her head. “I don’t know why the words had changed, or if the message was meant for me in particular. It didn’t mean anything to me at the time.
“I took it slow, knowing that Celestia’s first test of the ley lines had ended badly. By morning, I had gathered enough energy to challenge my sister, and I refused to make room for the sun.
“You know the story from there,” Luna said. “Celestia had no choice but to turn the elements upon me, casting me to the moon.”
“Wow,” Scootaloo said, staring at the princess. She’d never really thought of Nightmare Moon and Luna as one pony, at least not seriously. Nightmare Night was more of a game, with Luna pretending to be the villain for all the foals.
The truth was, the original Nightmare Night was no game. Discord had nearly orchestrated the fall of Equestria with a few well timed whispers. Not only that, but Luna had nearly destroyed all of Equestria by letting him play on her jealousy and insecurity.
Suddenly, Scootaloo didn’t feel quite so alone.
*****
Twilight yawned loudly as she shuffled down the road toward the outskirts of town. In the distance, a white unicorn waved his hoof at her.
“Twily!” he called, just in case she’d missed him.
“I’m coming,” she mumbled. Another half minute of slowly trudging along and she’d reached the her brother, Shining Armor.
“Now what in the wide world of Equestria was so important that I had to get out of bed and come do your job?” she asked.
“Over here,” he said, leading her just a bit further, and off to the side of the road. Several paper bags lay torn, groceries spilled on the dirt path. One of the bags had been scorched, but had long since cooled.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Take a look, come up with your own theory first.”
Twilight nodded and took a closer look. Just past the edge of the road, heavy vegetation grew wildly. Most of it had been cared for, trimmed and kept out of the way. One section stood out. Vines reached out in every direction, stretching several feet into the otherwise clear path. Roots had been torn violently from the earth, and trees bent in toward the spilled groceries.
“There was some kind of magical burst,” Twilight said. “It was directed at the vegetation, meant to change them. They grew rapidly, and moved with a violent energy. The spilled groceries are at the center of it.”
She leaned in closer to study the plants and found a few striped of leaves, splintered and frayed, and several burnt to a brittle husk.
“More fire. Something this controlled had to be magic, a natural fire wouldn’t be this contained. It wasn’t the same magic that moved the plants. Most ponies don’t have an affinity for fire magic.” Twilight glanced at her brother, eyes widening. “Changelings?”
Shining Armor nodded. “That’s what I guessed too. Somepony tried to fight them. There’s a few more disturbances farther in. We don't know if the pony escaped.”
The pit of Twilight’s stomach went cold. She’d known the changelings were moving again, but this changed things. Changeling magic was dampened within Canterlot, but they could still keep a disguise for several hours. If they were taking ponies, it meant they were infiltrating the city. Everypony was in danger. Not to mention the poor soul they may have taken.
If they were even still alive.