"What?"
Spike shrugged, averting his eyes from the glares of the six friends. "I'm just saying." He mumbled, absentmindedly popping the ruby into his waiting jaws. With a loud crunch, the dragon chewed the gemstone fragments slowly, measuring their taste. Hmm. Something was wrong. The ruby needed...
...Oh yeah. Less salt.
"Twilight." Rarity spoke up, turning to the bewildered mare in question. Her tone of voice was almost accusing. "I demand an explanation this instant! I have a very important client waiting for her order and I can't see my hooves in front of my face! I can't create a masterpiece like this!" The small candle she held in her magic shook angrily in the morning (night?) breeze.
Twilight recoiled, taken off guard by the aggression in Rarity's tone. "Wha- I didn't do it! How should I know how it happened?!"
Applejack stepped forward, her hat held to her chest in a gesture of peace. "Mmmph, mmm mmm..." Frowning in annoyance, the farmer spit the torch out of her mouth. "Well, sugarcube," she began, "Ah hate to say it, but whenever something weird and magical happens round' these parts, you're are usually involved."
"I bet you it was Nightmare Moon!" Rainbow Dash sprung off the ground, her wings buzzing threateningly. "But just keeping the sun down wasn't enough for her this time! She must of gotten rid of it!"
Fluttershy squeaked in terror.
"No way!" Pinkie Pie cried, jumping nearly five feet off the ground in order to look Dash in the eye. "Luna would never, ever, ever do something that mean! She's not a bad pony!" Twilight nodded gravely.
"Pinkie's right. There has to be another explanation for this!" The librarian bowed her head, mind racing. What in Equestria could possibly cause the sun to just disappear? Even during the (albeit short) reign of Nightmare Moon, there was always at least the moon in the sky. To have neither present was unheard of.
"Uh, Twi, Ah hate ta interrupt your little brain storm thingy, but my family has ta start the harvest soon or we won't have the time ta finish before the Cider Festival!" Applejack said urgently, shifting on her hooves uncomfortably.
"Oh please, it's not like you have the only deadline you know. My life will be ruined if I can't get these dresses done before tomorrow!" Rarity retorted, sending a glare the orange pony's way.
Applejack was unimpressed. "Ya'll could break a nail and say your life was ruined! Some of us have our priorities straight."
"And some of us are cultured, sophisticated ponies. Unlike a certain orange brute!"
"And some of us have actual work ta do instead of playin' with pretty ribbons all day!"
"Um, girls... let's stop fighting now please...?"
"Hold on girls, Fluttershy's right! We need to stop fighting and focus on the real enemy! Nightmare Moon!"
"Oh, it's my turn! Uh, guys! Gummy totally didn't lick the frosting on those cupcakes I gave you yesterday!"
"Quiet!!" Twilight yelled, causing the cacophony of agitated voices to stop suddenly. Silenced, the five other ponies all looked at Twilight expectantly as she continued to think.
Some kind of force field? No... nopony has enough power to cover the entire sky. An illusion? Impossible, Twilight was too familiar with illusion magic to be fooled by it on such a massive scale. What could it be? She had to be missing something. Something big.
"I'm telling you," Rainbow Dash grumbled under her breath, "It's gotta be Nightmare Moon."
No, that... that was impossible. Twilight knew it, but so far, it was the only semi-viable explanation. The princesses were the only beings capable of moving the sun and the moon, after all, and if anypony had some sort of grudge against the sun, it would have been Luna.
'No.' Twilight repeated to herself. 'No, Luna's not that kind of pony anymore.' The lavender unicorn looked up into the endless void above, deep in thought.
'Besides, Nightmare Moon would never stand for a night like this. There aren't even any stars.' Twilight imagined the dread princess descending from a star lit sky, her dark mane swirling around her like a hurricane. She could see it now. The gasps of the townsponies. The howl of the wind. The crash of-
Craaash!
Thunder?
"Hahahahaha!"
Oh no.
"Bow down, insolent foals! Hahahaha!" The booming voice, dripping in arrogance and malevolence, echoed across Ponyville. A form cloaked in darkness descended towards the clearing in front of the library, the scene a mirror image of the one Twilight had imagined. The stars had come back. Able to see now thanks to the sudden appearance of the night sky (minus the moon), the book mare observed ponies of all shapes and sizes begin to congregate around the area the dark princess was poised to land.
Rainbow Dash bristled in fury. "I knew it!" She growled, baring her teeth. The looks of astonishment and horror on the rest of the ponies' faces, especially Pinkie's, mirrored Twilight's state of mind exactly.
Speechless, the townsponies could only watch as Nightmare Moon landed gracefully in the middle of the clearing. Chin held high, the princess looked haughtily at the ponies present, like a shepherd at her sheep. Or a butcher at her cattle.
"What's the matter, you little worms?" She sneered, curling her upper lip in sadistic glee. Twilight could vaguely sense the fear in the mob of townsponies, but their anger was almost palpable. The princess they had given their trust to had betrayed them again. Nopony bowed. The alicorn's sneer faded.
"I... said... kneel!!" The command ended with a clap of thunder, a howling gale sweeping across the clearing. The ponies of Ponyville quickly let their instinct of self-preservation take over in the wake of Nightmare Moon's power, bowing low. Fluttershy squeaked again.
Applejack inched over next to Twilight, the look on her face conflicted- as if she didn't want to believe what she was seeing but knew she had to. "Twi," she whispered, "Ah hate to say this, but it looks like Rainbow was right. We need to get to the Elements and fast."
Pinkie Pie was crying, tears falling off her face like an adorable pink waterfall. "L-L-Lunnaaa..." She blubbered, clinging to a quavering Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash scraped at the air like a bull at the dirt; she couldn't take this anymore.
"Hey!! You leave those ponies alone!" She roared, flaring her wings to the side in preparation for a charge. Nightmare Moon turned towards the disturbance as Rarity grabbed Rainbow's tail in her magic, probably saving the technicolor mare from a horrible night-themed demise. As soon as the dark alicorn saw the six mares, her malicious grin returned.
"Ah, if it isn't Celestia's pet and her gang of brain-dead peasants. Nice night to take over Equestria, is it not?" She laughed maniacally as another raging windstorm rushed across the ponies, causing their manes and tails to thrash and twist.
"I can't believe this!" Rainbow Dash growled in fury as she struggled against Rarity's surprisingly powerful magical grip. "Let me go, let me go!"
The fashion mare shook her head vigorously, letting a few tears streak past her mascara and down her face. She hiccuped once, levitating a handkerchief to her muzzle, wiping away the unruly makeup. "No, Rainbow...! She'll kill you!"
The mares hardly registered the flash of dark magic. Before any of them could react, Nightmare Moon stood inches from the fashionista's face, grinning widely. "Make no mistake, white one." She chuckled sinisterly, enjoying the surprise and fear on Rarity's face. "When I'm done here, I'll kill you anyway."
Stunned and afraid, Rarity released her grip on Rainbow Dash, freeing the enraged pegasus. "Don't mess with my friends!!" Rainbow Dash screamed in fury, barreling head-first towards a bored looking Nightmare Moon. This time Applejack saved the day, jumping to grab the rainbow-maned mare right before she hit the almost invisible force field surrounding the dark princess. Even confused and terrified, Twilight could identify the shield Nightmare Moon was using: a vaporization shield. In case the name didn't give it away, one touch of that thing and Rainbow Dash would've been Rainbow Dust.
Smiling in wicked amusement, the Night Princess teleported back to her place in the center of the still-terrified crowd, laughing loudly. "Hahahahaha! Give up hope, my little ponies. You will never see the sun again!" The alicorn began rising into the air as a maelstrom of midnight black mane, blinding lightning, and screaming wind whipped up the dust around her.
"That's right, my little ponies."
"The night..."
"Will last..."
"Fore-" Stopping suddenly, the wicked princess looked around confusedly, as if just realizing something. Turning towards the sky laid out above her, her evil smile twitched in annoyance. The corrupted princess' horn glowed as she lifted the moon above the horizon, finally completing the night sky. Her task done, she turned back to the stock-still crowd, a triumphant grin plastered on her face.
"Forever!! Hahahahahaha!!!"
'No. This can't be happening. This shouldn't be happening!' Twilight continued to gape at the scene laid out before her. 'Where's Celestia? What could have caused this? This is... completely out of the blue!'
Luna couldn't be evil again, not after what they've been through. Making friends, repairing the ponies' trust in her, forgiving her sister- it couldn't have all been for nothing, right? Even though it was clearly Nightmare Moon that stood laughing in front of her, she refused to believe her eyes. Nightmare Moon was dead. This couldn't be her... this was...
...Luna!
"Hahahahahaha... ha... ha...?" The maniacal laughter trailed off slowly, petering down to a few confused chuckles every few seconds.
"Where... Where am I...?" Luna, bereft of her evil guise and of seemingly sane mind, drifted gently back to earth. The extreme look of confusion on her face would be comical- if the same exact look wasn't plastered on Twilight's. Like a rusty machine suddenly forced into motion, her bewildered brain began to put together the pieces.
An errant thought about salt caused an avalanche of the stuff. A short reflection about Nightmare Moon seemed to summon her. And now, after wishing with all her heart for Luna to come back, Twilight witnessed with her own eyes an almost instantaneous transformation. The odds of such a correlation were astronomical.
...Was she responsible for this?
Frowning deeply, the lavender unicorn raised her front hoof.
Squeak.
"Twilight!" Spike rushed forward and shook Twilight's back leg, causing her to drop the mysteriously summoned Smarty Pants. "Twilight, this is no time to be playing with dolls! Luna's in trouble!" It was all the purple pony could do to just stand there, gaping at her only childhood friend as it fell to the ground with a pathetic squeak.
The mob had clearly sensed the change in atmosphere. At the drop of a hat, their mood went from mortally terrified to out for blood. "I-... P-Ponies of Ponyville, your Princess means you no harm! Why do you advance?" Luna, positively alarmed (and still really confused), began to back up, even though angry ponies surrounded her on all sides.
"We trusted you, Princess! And you stole the sun!" Rainbow Dash seemed to be the de-facto leader of the assembled townsponies, and murmurs of 'yeah!' and 'she's evil!' rippled through the crowd. Luna's confusion and alarm turned to fear.
"No! I-I didn't! I'm not the Nightmare anymore!" The Night Princess watched in misery as the progress she had made building the trust of the ponies crumbled around her. Pinkie Pie rushed to her side, furious.
"Everyone!" She yelled, looking scornfully at the crowd. "Luna isn't evil anymore! Leave her alone!"
"Move, Pinkie! She'll get what's coming to her!"
"No! Dashie, please..."
Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy watched as the whole situation unfolded. Conflicted and befuddled, they found themselves unable to join either side.
'This... is this my fault...?' Shell-shocked, Twilight Sparkle stared at the situation she had no doubt created. But why? How? What she did with the salt and Smarty Pants wasn't any kind of magic she knew of. And even if it was some unknown branch of wizardry the librarian had no clue how to use, it didn't explain how she could bring the stars into the sky, or summon the dreaded Nightmare Moon. I doesn't explain the Nightmare's transformation back into Luna. It doesn't explain anything!
What the buck was happening???
The crowd took a menacing step forward. Pinkie hugged Luna tightly as the latter spread her wings in preparation to flee, her face twisted into an expression of deep sadness.
This was ridiculous! Twilight's mind remembered the time Rainbow Dash had forced her to watch all those old horror movies. An angry mob like this was usually bent on slaying some evil monster, not on hurting an innocent Princess! Treating their own leader like some kind of... some kind of horrible creature! There were much worse things in this world than a lost alicorn who simply wanted friendship...
Much... worse... things...
A deep, menacing cry of fury echoed through the small town.
You've got to be kidding.
The Ursa Major towered over the mob, slashing it's terrible claws through the air, roaring a battle cry. Twilight seemed to have developed a habit of thinking of the worst possible situations at the worst possible times.
There was simply no time to question how a 500 ton transparent purple bear creature had managed to sneak up on an entire town. Luna sprang into action, leaving Pinkie on the ground to fly up and meet the Major face to face. "Ponies! Flee from this place! Quickly!" She didn't have to tell them twice.
Pandemonium broke loose. Pegasi gathered their families and fled to the clouds, while the unicorns and earth ponies were left to bump into each other and navigate the crowded streets in their frenzy to escape. Twilight's friends found themselves swept up in the flood of bodies, pushed away from each other and separated.
The sarcastic part of Twilight's mind seemed to function perfectly despite the circumstances. 'Well,' it quipped, 'It could be worse. At least there's no-'
Five simultaneous roars could be heard over the panicked din of the crowds.
Oh. Sure. Yeah. Cool. Why not?
The Hydra sprinted into the fray, full-on tackling the Ursa Major and probably scaring the stars off of Luna's mane.
"What in tarnation is going on?!" Applejack's terrified voice rose above the din once, before being pushed back below the rising tide of screams and 'Oh god we're all going to die's.
Twilight screamed and fell to the ground, wrapping herself up into a fetal position. Spike desperately tried to get her to move, but soon all the noise and the sounds of battle as the three titans clashed faded into the background. All the lavender unicorn could hear was the sound of blood rushing in her ears, the sound of her frantic heartbeat. She squeezed her eyes shut.
'This is a dream. This has to be a dream.' Her brain tried desperately to rationalize the crazy situation she found herself in. 'I'm going to wake up in my nice bed this morning, eat my non-salty salad, read a book, and go about my business like its a nice-'
---
'-normal day. This isn't happening, I'm just-... huh?'
Sunlight. Covers. No hideous monsters. She was... back in her bed.
"Twilight!" Spike's voice came from downstairs. "Hurry and wake up, I've got your breakfast ready!" It took a few seconds to register, but Twilight found herself grinning stupidly in relief.
That was some dream. It was so realistic...
Yawning loudly, the book mare rose from her bed and stretched. 'Mmm... it's too bad I can't tell Celestia or Luna about it though. I wish I didn't have to go so far to talk to them...'
---
"Princesses, please, follow me." Knight Vice-Captain Lugged Spear lead the two regal alicorns at a brisk pace through the marble halls of Canterlot Castle, occasionally nodding at the various guards posted at regular intervals.
"You said it's in the throne room, yes?" Celestia asked, her long prismatic mane rippling in the invisible solar breeze. Her face was serious, and she walked with grim determination. The Vice-Captain nodded curtly, conversation was not his forte.
"Sister, is the situation really so serious...?" Luna walked grudgingly behind her sister, having been woken up from her rest after a particularly long and tedious session of the Night Court. The bags under her eyes were evidence of her drowsiness, as was the sleepy way her mane flopped around- a sharp contrast to the smoothly flowing rainbow that was Celestia's.
The older sister's face softened at the sight of her sister so put out. "You truly are one of the deepest of sleepers, Luna. You didn't hear the loud crash? Or feel the small earthquake?" Luna shook her head, barely managing to stifle a very unprincess-like yawn. An earth pony maid walked briskly to Celestia and offered her some tea. The Sun Princess graciously accepted, smiling warmly. "Well," Celestia continued, taking a sip of her tea, "It would seem some kind of foreign metal object has crash landed in the castle. None of the scientists can make any sense of it, and our magicians claim it isn't the least bit magical."
Luna raised an eyebrow skeptically, then smiled. "I see. I'm glad you woke me. It sounds like quite the mystery."
Lugged Spear continued to march forward. A few minutes later, he stopped in front of the great doors of the throne room. The hurried sounds of bustling ponies and special equipment could be heard through the thick wood. Turning, Spear began to speak: "M'Ladies, we have arri-"
The burly pegasus's jaw dropped.
The princesses were gone.
---
"Egads!!"
Pfffffftt!
Small droplets of tea continued to leak out of Celestia's mouth after she had sprayed the rest of her mouthful into the small room. Soon, the only sound in the modest bedroom was the dripping of tea off of Twilight's now-soaked body. The three mare's present all stared at each other, uncomprehending, for several seconds.
Twilight was the first to speak, eyes big and afraid.
"Help me."