Scootaloo sighed as she watched the two adults accompanying her move out from underneath a tree. It was all really strange to her. One moment they were all walking towards town then, without warning, the two began to freak out while pointed at the sky. Something about the sun setting and the sky changing colors. It wasn’t until the sky became full of stars that they calmed down and left the safety of the tree.
“Are you two going to be alright?” asked Scootaloo with some concern.
“Well I feel fine,” said Twilight as the three continued to walk. “If memory serves me right, I believe that was called a sunset.”
“Will we be alright?” asked Shadow as he checked his wings.
“How can you two not know what a sunset is?” asked Scootaloo as she rolled her eyes. “It’s almost like you’re from another planet.” Twilight and Shadow exchanged a look.
“Actually our home country doesn’t have sunsets,” said Twilight. ‘Well, technically we do but the sky doesn’t change colors like that. Also the moon isn’t a planet.’
Scootaloo opened her mouth to speak, but Shadow made a sudden dash towards the town. The two girls watched him as he paused in front of some decorations. Hanging from building to building were brightly colored streamers. On each lamppost were multicolored balloons with big, happy smiles on them. Further down they noticed that tables had been set up full of sweets. A crowd had already gathered in the streets as they began to party.
“Don’t tell me you don’t have parties were your from!” exclaimed Scootaloo as she and Twilight caught up to Shadow.
“We do,” said Shadow as he stared at the decorations. “We just don’t pull out things like this for just any old party. Usually they are reserved for the big three.”
“You see Scootaloo,” began Twilight as she went to lecture mode. “Our homeland has very little resources so we can’t just go around wasting them on a common everyday party. So we save them for Hearts and Hooves Day, Founders Landing, and Dreamers Eve.”
“What’s Dreamers Eve?” asked Scootaloo. She knew what Hearts and Hooves Day was and had a pretty good idea what Founders Landing, going just by the name. It sounded something like Hearth's Warming Eve where ponies celebrate the founding of Equestria. However, Dreamers Eve was something she couldn’t figure out right away.
“It’s just the best holiday EVER!” exclaimed Shadow as he broke out into a grin. “It’s really awesome. Ponies dress up in costumes and go door to door and then get treats and…” Shadow suddenly got a faraway look as he licked his lips as he remembered all the sweets he used to get on that one night.
“There is a legend that goes with the holiday,” said Twilight, deciding to pick up where Shadow had left off. “A long time ago, there was a sick little filly who sent every day in bed, dreaming of all the things she would do when she got better. Princess Luna, who ruled over the night as well as dreams, one night walked into her dreams to discover her secret desires. Feeling sorry for her, she used her magic to make it come true. As the moon came up, the foal awoke to find herself a jester. All night long she danced around her village as she did what jesters do, make ponies laugh. The townsfolk, in return, gave her candy for her performance. And as night began to fade, as well as the magic, the foal gave some of her candy to the Princess who made one of her dreams come true. A year later, Princess Luna decided to grant every foal the same wish allowing them to run around as whatever they wanted to be for one night. And to thank her for her gift, the children gave her a small portion of their candy as thanks. A few years later, the day became known as Dreamers Eve.”
“Of course we use customs to dress ourselves up as, well, whatever,” said Shadow. “Like this one year a certain purple mare I know dressed up like-” His mouth was suddenly surrounded by purple magic that silenced him. He looked over to his marefriend whose face had turned a bright red.
“I thought we agreed that you would never bring up that costume again,” she all but growled. Shadow, in return, just gave her an apologetic smile.
“We kind of have a holiday like that,” said Scootaloo as she began to scratch her mane with her hoof. “I mean with the dressing up and the candy. Except we call it Nightmare Night because-”
“Hi everypony!” said Pinkie Pie as she appeared out of nowhere. Twilight and company jumped into the air, startled by her sudden appearance. “I really hope you all enjoy the party. If you do I’m sure you’ll be able to make lots of friends!”
“I’m surprised you were able to set this all up so quickly,” said Twilight.
“Please, all I need is my party cannon and I’m all set to go,” said Pinkie as she pulled out said cannon. Shadow moved in front of Twilight, thinking that it might go off at any moment, thus hurting the girls. Instead Pinkie pointed it towards the sky before firing it. A sparkling blast shot up into the sky only to later explode in a bright flash of colored lights.
“Beautiful,” whispered Twilight as she stared at the sky.
“And we have more than that,” said Pinkie as a hundred cannon just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “We also have lots of goodies from Sugar Cube Corner. There is a karaoke stand over near town hall if you feel like jamming. We also have a jamming station in cause you want to jam some jars! And to drink I made my special strawberry kiwi punch!” Shadow’s eyes widened when he heard this. Opening his wing the bat pony took to the sky in search for his prize.
A few moments later Shadow found what he was looking for. Silently he landed right in front of the punch bowl, scaring a few of the nearby ponies. As he filled his glass he felt somepony tap his side. The stallion turned to see Applejack who was looking slightly nervous.
“H-Howdy,” she stammered.
“Hey,” replied Shadow as he took a sip of his drink. Thinking that she wanted something to drink, Shadow began to move to the side. However the earth mare kept her eyes on him. “Ah, can I help you?”
Applejack let out a sigh. What she was about to do was difficult for her. She had thought that she was ready to do this, had thought about all the things she would say. All the ways she could defend her actions and feelings. But now, her mind was almost completely blank. So, as she took off her, hat, she would just be as honest as she could.
“Look, ah’m sorry about earlier,” said Applejack as she lowered her head. “You’re the first bat pony around these parts an I should’ve treated ya better. Ah was just so afraid of ya an, well, ah hope ya can forgive me.” She waited a moment in silence. The only sound she heard was Shadow going through his bags. Then a few moments later she was looking at the bottom of his hoof. And on it were four bits. Applejack looked up to see Shadow with a grin on his face.
“You said those apples were four bits, right?” he said as he continued to hold out the coins.
“But ah said they were on the house,” said Applejack quickly. Shadow shook his head.
“Sorry, but I don’t really like charity all that much,” he said. Applejack opened her mouth to argue, but Shadow interrupted her. “Look, how about this: you take the bits and we start over with a clean slate. Deal?” Applejack looked down at the coins once more before looking back at Shadow Blade and grinned.
“Deal,” she said as she accepted the coins.
For a while, the two just began to talk. It was nothing major really, Applejack just wanted to know what was true and false with bat ponies. Shadow did his best to answer each question while doing his best not get offended by some of the more ridiculous rumors. No, he didn’t hang upside down when he slept. He didn’t drink the blood of ponies or other animals. He didn’t have any mind control powers or anything to that effect.
“Seriously, who would think a bat pony could do that,” groaned Shadow. “I mean, our eyes are like this so that we can see at night. That’s all! No ‘super natural’ powers or anything like that.”
“Sorry,” said Applejack through a thin smile. “Now that ah think about it, it doesn’t make a lick of sense. If ya could control me, ya could have just order me ta give ya the apples then make me forget the whole thing.”
“Shadow, you have to see this,” said Twilight who was now walking towards him. Shadow looked over to his side to see his marefriend surrounded by small creatures. Next to her was Fluttershy who seemed to be worried that being around all these ponies might scare them. However, all the ponies in the area seemed to flock to them which the creatures didn’t seem to mind.
“Ah, what are they?” asked Shadow. Twilight said nothing. Instead she held out a small white animal with eyes similar to his, but green.
“Just pet it,” said Twilight. With a sigh, Shadow did as his marefriend asked. When his hoof touched the fur he was amazed by how soft it was. Slowly he began to stroke the creatures fur causing it to make a strange sound. “Interesting, isn’t it? According to Fluttershy it’s called a kitten.”
“Wow,” was all Shadow could say as he continued to pet the kitten. After a while he moved on to the other animals which Fluttershy introduced.
When they got to the birds, the air was suddenly filled with horrible music. To be fair, whoever was singing was trying but really needed to work on it. Twilight turned her head towards the source, seeing a stage with a small band next to it. On top of the stage was Scootaloo who was trying her best to rock the crowd only to fail horribly.
As the music ended, Twilight made her way to the stage. As she did, she noticed that a few of the ponies were clapping politely. Most, however, looked relieved that she was done.
“Not bad,” said Twilight as she stopped in front of Scootaloo.
“It was horrible,” muttered the orange Pegasus. “I guess singing isn’t my special talent.”
“That’s no reason to give up,” said Twilight as she walked onto the stage. “You just need a little practice.” Twilight then magically produced some music sheet before handing them to the musicians. A few minutes later they motioned to Twilight they were ready and the purple unicorn began to sing into the night air.
“Fly me to the moon
Let me swing among those stars
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hoof
In other words, baby, kiss me
Fill my heart with song
Let me sing forever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words, I love you
Why don't you fill my heart with song?
Let me swing forever more
Because you are all I long for
All I worship and I adore
In other words, please be true
In other words
I love you, I, I love you”
By the time the song was done, the crowd was clapping their hooves against the ground and cheering. Even Scootaloo was impressed. Sure, it wasn’t the kind of music that she normally listened to but Twilight had a beautiful voice and sung it well. She watched as Twilight walked down the stage, Shadow walked up to her and gave her a big hug. The purple unicorn returned it then whispered into the stallion’s ear. Once they release, Twilight gave the musicians more music sheets while Shadow got on stage. As he did, the crowd grew silent and cold. Scootaloo got a chill just by being near them.
Then the music started as Shadow began to show that he could sing as well.
“Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's time a to change, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey
Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there
Now that she's back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey
She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that there's room to grow, hey, hey
Now that she's back in the atmosphere
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol Jane
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back to the milky way
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind
Was it everything you wanted to find
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried hay
Your best friend always sticking up for you... even when I know you're wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone
Conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had... And me
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the milky way”
Shadow continued to sing another chorus and the crowd couldn’t help but get swept away by the music. When it was over the crowd let out another cheer.
-x-
As the night carried on, Twilight went over her check list one more time in her mind. The technology issue was still a big thing. There were also some major racial issues. However, there were only a hoof full of bat ponies living in the Republic. In time, with the help of the Republic, they could help the ponies of Equestria see that the bat ponies were nothing to be afraid of. Also, the planet ponies had amazing food!
Twilight was broken from her thoughts as she was suddenly splashed by a red, alcoholic liquid. She turned her head to yell at however did it but stopped when she saw Trixie. The bright blue mare was red in the cheeks and looked like she was having trouble standing.
“Trixie is *hic* sorry about that,” said Trixie as she stumbled over to Twilight. The purple unicorn got a good whiff of Trixie’s breath which caused her face to scrunch up.
“Trixie, you’re drunk!” declared Twilight.
“Well that won’t do,” said Pinkie as she came out of a potted plant. She then reached over and somehow grabbed Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. “We got to help her! She can’t enjoy a party like this!”
“How did she-” began Twilight, but Applejack just shook her head.
“Best to stop right there sugarcube,” said Applejack as she helped Trixie lie down on the ground. “No pony can explain Pinkie Pie.”
“Darling, you look like a wreck,” said Rarity. “Is there anything we can do to help you? Anything you need at all? Like maybe a less tacky cape?” Trixie grinned at them.
“Such *hic* nice ponies,” said Trixie as she tried to stand up. “Don’t know why the princess *hic* wants to destroy Equestria.”
“Hey,” growled Rainbow Dash. “What do you mean by that?! There’s no why Princess Celestia would ever let anything bad happen to Equestria!” Trixie looked confused for a moment before she nodded.
“Oh that’s *hic* right,” said Trixie as she sat back down. “You all don’t know. Well *hic* Princess Celestia would be mad at me for *hic* telling you this, but she’s going to be allowing the *hic* Lunar ponies into Equestria.” Once Trixie had finished that sentence, all noise stopped. Twilight looked a bit uneasy as she felt a chill go down her spine.
“Y-You mean ponies from the m-moon are coming here?” asked Fluttershy. When Trixie nodded, Fluttershy made a mad dash under one of the tables.
“She’s just fibbin,” said Applejack. “No way Princess Celestia would ever let a bunch of murderers into Equestria.” Twilight’s eyes widened when she heard this while she wondered what was going on.
“I hear they’re all cannibal ponies,” said Rainbow Dash. “Eating each other when the others aren’t looking and laughing while they do it.”
“And that awful ruler of theirs,” said Rarity. “Nightmare Moon is nothing but a beast. I mean, really, what else can you call a pony who watches over such a murderous land. I hear she enjoys eating foals.”
“Princess Celestia *hic* calls her by a different name,” said Trixie. “A prettier name, but I knew who she was talking about.” As the crowd began to talk, no pony seemed to notice that Twilight, Shadow, and Scootaloo had left.
Fly me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra
Drops of Jupiter by Train