"Well, its no wonder you didn't know the exact date of Nightmare Moon's return," Night Mist remarked as he searched the shelves of the library. "You don't have a copy of Predictions and Prophecies."
Eclipse, who was flying near the higher shelves as he browsed, glanced down at Night Mist.
"I guess it was for the best that we didn't," he shrugged. "If a previous generation had discovered that Nightmare Moon wouldn't come during their lifetime, they wouldn't have bothered to support the cause."
"Lucky us," Night Mist agreed. "We get to reap the rewards our ancestors sowed."
"Ah, here we go," Eclipse said proudly. "I found a book on the Elements of Harmony."
"Really? Where was it?"
"In the "E" section."
"In the "E" section?" Night Mist frowned. "That's not how the Dewey Decimal system works."
"Indeed it’s not,” Eclipse scowled. “I should fire the librarian. Only a crappy library doesn't use the Dewey Decimal system."
"This library is better than Ponyville's. We, um, they don't even have a librarian."
"That's a shame," Eclipse remarked as he flew down with the book so Night Mist could read over his shoulder.
"Let's see..." the white maned pegasus muttered as he leafed through the book. "Oh look, Princess Celestia is the Spirit of Kindness. I wonder which one Nightmare Moon is."
"Let’s worry about that some other time and keep looking," Night Mist urged.
Eclipse skimmed a few more pages before he stopped again. Both stallions read the passage.
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 that 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 the Everfree Forest.
"How can one become a mystery while the other five remain known?" Eclipse wondered rhetorically.
"The only conceivable way that could happen is intentional suppression of the information," Night Mist figured. "But why would someone do that? Or leave the Elements of Harmony in the Everfree Forest for that matter?"
"It almost feels like a game that somepony set up," Eclipse said thoughtfully. "Like a treasure hunt."
"Or like a trap for ponies looking for the Elements of Harmony," Night Mist said suspiciously. "This is way too easy."
"Well, trap or no, we still have to rule out the possibility. The old castle of the royal pony sisters isn't too far from here. Between the two of us, it shouldn't take long," Eclipse decided as he turned about and motioned for Night Mist to follow him.
The two ponies departed from the library and made for the exit in a quick but dignified manner. Once above ground, paranoia caused professionalism to be sacrificed for speed as the two stallions raced through the Everfree Forest.
"There it is," Eclipse observed as the old stone castle came into sight.
The structure was a sorry sight, with crumbling walls and not much protection against rain. A large central section had openings in the wall where glass windows might have been. But from these openings a light shined painfully bright, spilling its while glow out into the forest. Night Mist and Eclipse exchanged a glance before they charged forward. But even as they did so, they heard a voice from inside.
"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are united by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element, the Element of Magic!" the voice proclaimed.
The light from the windows grew even brighter as a hum of magical power filled the air. Then the light shrank to a small glow, and Night Mist got a clear look at what was going on. Six mares were standing before Nightmare Moon, who was to the right of them from his point of view. Night Mist recognized five of the mares on the left as fellow residents of Ponyville. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. The sixth was a unicorn he didn't recognize. All of them wore golden necklaces except for the unicorn, was wearing a crown. The small glow was coming from the six mares, and it grew brighter again as two crisscrossing beams of rainbow colored light emitted from the mares and shot up into the air, made an arc, and then surged downward and formed a whirlwind of magical energy around Nightmare Moon.
"Noooooooooo!" Nightmare Moon cried as she was hidden from sight by the rainbow colored lights.
Even as lightning crackled around Eclipse's fore leg to make an attack, a shock wave blew out from the castle. Night Mist frantically glanced around for shelter, but before he could find some, the concussive wind struck he and Eclipse both. The two Stars were sent flying back and slammed into something hard, knocking both of them unconscious.
Night Mist woke up with a throbbing head in front of a tree. Wearily he opened his eyes and was alarmed to notice two things. First, it was morning. Morning meant day time, and day time meant not eternal night. The second thing he noticed was Princess Celestia. The white alicorn stood inside the castle, and seemed to be speaking to the six mares. Night Mist was too far away to hear what she was saying. He considering getting closer to eavesdrop, but decided it wasn't worth the risk. Even with his gift, Night Mist knew that he was nowhere near as powerful as Princess Celestia, and the Spirits of Harmony could very likely do to him whatever they had done to Nightmare Moon.
"Keep your head down," Eclipse suddenly whispered harshly from behind a large rock. "They'll see you."
Night Mist got low and better concealed himself behind a fallen tree.
"Did you see Princess Celestia?" he quietly asked Eclipse.
"I did," Eclipse grimaced. "You were right. Those six mares must be the new Spirits of Harmony. I'll bet Twilight Sparkle is one of them."
"Twilight Sparkle must be the lavender unicorn," Night Mist deduced. "I know the other five from Ponyville."
"Friends of yours?"
"More like acquaintances really."
"Can you see Nightmare Moon from where you are?"
"No," said Night Mist as he risked a glance over the fallen tree. "Wait, yes, but she looks different. She... seems to be reconciling with Princess Celestia."
"What? Are you sure?"
"Yes, and Pinkie Pie is crying."
"Is Pinkie Pie the pink one?"
"What do you think?"
"I had to ask."
"Oh, wait, they're leaving now," Night Mist reported as they all departed through a doorway and left his sight. “And now I’ve lost track of them.”
"This is bad," Eclipse muttered. "This wasn't supposed to happen."
"Why did Nightmare Moon come here instead of coming to the cave?" Night Mist wondered.
"I don't know."
"What do we do now?"
"Give me a moment, I'm thinking," Eclipse replied a little angrily. "If Nightmare Moon looks different, it's probably safe to say the the Elements of Harmony did something to her right?"
"Probably."
"Did Nightmare Moon leave willingly or was she resisting?"
"It looked like she went willingly, but I can't be sure."
"She's been defeated by the Elements of Harmony again, but she wasn't sent to the moon this time," Eclipse mused. "We don't have nearly enough information to act properly. We need to learn more."
Abruptly the Nightmare turned to Night Mist.
"You're going back to Ponyville," he ordered. "Came back to the throne room tonight and report your findings."
The command felt like a blow to Night Mist. Just this morning he had decided his old life was finished, and now Eclipse was telling him to walk right back into it.
"But I don't want to go back to Ponyville," he protested. "Can't somepony else do it?"
"You're the most qualified for the assignment," Eclipse reasoned. "For starters, you live in Ponyville, so you already have the perfect cover. Second, you also know five out of the six Spirits of Harmony, so it won't be hard for you to talk to them. Third, you're a detective by trade, so this should be a lot easier for you than anypony else. Need I go on?"
"No, I understand," Night Mist said sullenly. "It's just that... I wasn't expecting..."
"For the citizens of Ponyville to see you as a neighbor and not an enemy?" Eclipse guessed.
"Yes."
Eclipse placed a reassuring hoof on Night Mist's shoulder.
"Look, Night Mist, I'd be lying to you if I said I knew everything will work out," the pegasus said bluntly. "But I can tell you that no matter what happens, you will always have a home with the Stars. A cold, dirty, and dark home maybe, but a home nonetheless."
"Thanks," Night Mist said gratefully, "That really means alot to me."
"I thought it would. Good luck, Night Mist."
Night Mist acknowledged the dismissal with a nod and departed for Ponyville. Before too long he arrived, and was surprised to find that the town was in the middle of a celebration. Large amounts of confetti filled the air and ponies cheered for a golden chariot, in which Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon sat as it was pulled through the streets. Night Mist studied the face of Nightmare Moon. She was smaller now, but she still looked like royalty, and she seemed genuinely happy to be seated next to her sister. Then her head turned. Night Mist was now making eye contact with her, and the dark blue alicorn suddenly looked alarmed. The expression vanished as quickly as it had appeared as the chariot rolled by. Night Mist barely had time to reflect on what had just happened before he heard a voice in his mind.
"Do not give any signs that we art speaking to thee telepathically," the mental voice instructed.
"Nightmare Moon? is that you?" Night Mist thought back as he cheered along with the rest of the crowd.
"Yes, we art Nightmare Moon. Or at least we were. Thou see, we have had a epiphany recently, and we've realized that we've made some grave mistakes. We owe thee an apology, Night Mist."
"What for?"
"For creating the Stars. It was out of petty jealousy that we became Nightmare Moon, and we never should have gotten other ponies involved. But we have, and now we need your help. It isn't fair of us to ask thee to do this, so we will understand if thou refuses."
Night Mist couldn't answer right away, for his mind was a whirlwind of emotions. It seemed that Nightmare Moon no longer wanted eternal night, which meant that the Stars were finished. Instead of having his secret revealed but still having friends, his secret would be revealed and he would most likely end up behind bars.
"I gave up everything to follow you," he thought back.
"We know, and we art truly sorry for what we have done. But now we beg for thy assistance. Wilt thou help us?"
Nightmare Moon's voice was starting to grow fainter, so Night Mist started walking through the crowd after the chariot to keep within range.
"What do you want me to do?"
"We want you to give Eclipse a message from us. Tell him that we want him to disband the Stars."
"Wouldn't it be better if you told him yourself?"
"It would be, but we could not go to him without our sister knowing."
"Are you saying you haven't told Princess Celestia about us? Why on earth wouldn't you tell her that?"
"Our sister has been very kind to us. She has forgiven us for our jealous actions. But despite the vast amount of power we gave the Stars recently, she did not detect you, and is still unaware of your existence."
"So tell her. Then she'll let you go take care of it."
"Thou does not understand. Our sister is very found of her subjects. If she finds out that we've corrupted some, she may take back her forgiveness."
"So you seek to quietly disband the Stars and hope she never finds out?"
"Precisely."
"That is a terrible plan," Night Mist thought with blunt honesty.
"Perhaps... but wilt thou help us all the same? If thou succeeds, no one will ever know, and thou can resume thy old life as normal."
Night Mist was torn. The act of keeping a secret was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place, and now he was being asked to keep another. But the idea of having everything go back to normal and never having to worry about his secret being revealed had a lot of appeal. Night Mist decided It was worth a shot.
"I'll do it. But I highly doubt it will work."
"Thou has our gratitude all the same."
Night Mist felt the presence leave his mind. The conversation was clearly over. Night Mist suddenly noticed that everyone else was starting to bow to Nightmare Moon, and he did it as well just in time to avoid standing out. A few pegasi placed a wreath of of flowers around Nightmare Moon's neck as everyone stood up again to resume the celebrations.