15. Nights and Letters
As the Cutie Mark Crusaders raced over to Fluttershy's cottage for their sleepover, Scootaloo pulled a small book from under her wing. Flipping it open, she turned to the first blank page and began to write with the pencil in her mouth.
'Evidence point number 96: Rarity had constructed a saddlebag attachment so that Sweetie Belle could act as a mobile tool bench. Sweetie Belle was instructed to follow Rarity and not bump into anything. Sweetie Belle is overjoyed, asserting that prior to "the event", the only way she was allowed to help was to sit in a corner out of the way.'
'Evidence point number 97: Rarity showed a lack of surprise when Sweetie Belle used the gold silk in the Crusader Capes. She also seemed unwilling to not be involved in the planned sleepover, rather than any concern whether or not Fluttershy could handle us.'
"What are you writing there, Scootaloo?" Fluttershy asked from behind her.
Scootaloo slammed the little booklet shut. "Nothing! Just...ideas for Crusading! Yeah, that's it!" She smiled, cursing her racing tongue.
Fluttershy blinked at her, then smiled. "Alright. Just try not to do anything too dangerous or energetic indoors, alright? Some of my animals get a little cranky."
Scootaloo nodded, racing ahead with her friends. Once they were inside, she raced around the cottage with the other two, examining everything, things they hadn't seen before. Pausing, she noticed Angel Bunny in the kitchen, helping Fluttershy with the food bowls for the other animals before nuzzling happily at her hoof. Out came the small notebook.
'Evidence point number 98: Angel is behaving for Fluttershy without complaint, even assisting with feeding the other animals before demanding his own food.' Looking up, she continued writing. 'He waits patiently for his own meal, and eats without complaint.'
Finishing her note, she flipped back to the first page of the notebook and read what was written there silently. 'Rainbow is not Rainbow.' Underneath had more recently been added 'Harmony Replaced?' On the opposite page were her first few points of evidence.
'Evidence point number 1: Rainbow attempted to be subtle about taking me into her home. Evidence point number 2: Rainbow did a good job being subtle.'
The first 'Evidence point number 3' was scratched out, as she wanted to believe that the real Rainbow Dash would have taken her in as well.
'Evidence point number 3: Pinkie Pie hasn't been singing.'
That had been her first clue that this wasn't limited to Rainbow, and she had begun watching the others as well. Glancing back at the first page, she went over the hypotheses she had come up with.
'Hypothesis 1: Alternate Dimension (Evil?) Clones'
'Hypothesis 2: Zomponies'
'Errors in Hypothesis 2: absence of brain eating, excess of cerebral activity, absence of rotting'
'Hypothesis 3: Elements of Harmony have been made metaphysically manifest, becoming quasi self-aware and taking the place of Rainbow and the others'
The last one was her working theory, as it seemed to account for most of the evidence, especially since it seemed to Scootaloo that each of the Element Bearers seemed to be trying too hard to be themselves...with the exception of Twilight, who Scootaloo didn't know enough about to judge. Turning halfway through her notebook, she got to the page she was looking for.
'Assuming hypothesis 3 is true, speculate:'
'All five known mares exhibited completely normal behavior until the Summer Sun Celebration, henceforth referred to as "the event." After the return of Luna, unusual behavior began to manifest.'
'Assumption 1: the change occurred when the Elements of Harmony were used, or shortly before.'
'Assumption 2: the change is directly related to the use of the Elements.'
'Evidence: when asked, all six assert that Princess Luna is a friend.'
'All six have attempted to act like everything is normal, despite unusually odd occurrences. However, certain points have revealed unexpected sides to them that do not coincide with normal behavior patterns. (Exe: Twilight's reaction to Fluttershy's wounding.) Also, all six have demonstrated abilities beyond what could be considered norm. (Pinkie Pie flying by use of 'Fairy Dust' is questionable, as it IS Pinkie Pie.) Conclusion: whatever is pretending to be Rainbow and the others is doing so out of necessity.'
'Assumption 3: Something has happened to the real Rainbow and the others.'
'Evidence: Twilight spends an excessive amount of time in the library. However, she does not announce new spells developed or any other results of excessive research.'
'Conclusion: the ones pretending to be Rainbow and the others are attempting to find out what happened to them, while attempting to conceal the fact that anything is wrong.'
'Chosen course of action: discretely assist in the deception. Pretend nothing is different, but keep records of discrepancies. Above all, protect Apple Bloom and especially Sweetie Belle from learning something is wrong.'
Closing the notebook, Scootaloo sighed to herself. 'Harder some days than others,' she thought to herself before rejoining the other Crusaders in investigating the cottage. 'That's enough detectoring for tonight. Time for fun.'
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Later that night, Scootaloo stared at what they had stumbled across in the Everfree Forest in fear. 'Well,' she thought to herself, 'I think that's Evidence point number 99: Fluttershy's been turned to stone.'
"What do we do? What do we do?" Sweetie Belle raced back and forth in fear. "Fluttershy's a statue!"
"Maybe it's not Fluttershy," Apple Bloom said quietly, shivering. "Maybe it's just...a very life-like statue..." The certainty drained out of her voice even as she spoke.
"Come on!" Scootaloo said suddenly. "Zecora might know what to do. She's this way!" She set off into the forest, hoping she knew which way she was going. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed.
When they came across another statue, Scootaloo felt fear beginning to overtake her. "Twilight's a statue, too?" she said in shock.
"Look!" Apple Bloom called out, pointing at a nearby tree. Across it, burned into the wood, were letters spelling out 'cockat'. Another letter had been started, but unfinished.
"A cockatoo?" Sweetie Belle asked, confused. "How could a cockatoo-"
"Not a cockatoo," Scootaloo said quietly. "A cockatrice."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared at her. "A cockawhatnow?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Cockatrice. Head of a chicken, body of a snake, turns creatures to stone with its gaze. Highly territorial, generally only one found within a hundred mile radius. They congregate to Stone Mountains to breed, then spread to find territories. Eats rock that used to be flesh."
Sweetie Belle stared at her, her mouth slack. "How do you...know so much?"
"Rainbow Dash was going to GM a game of T&T with Twilight-"
"GM? T&T?" Apple Bloom looked at her confused.
"Game Master. Trials & Tribulations. Anyway, she was researching magical creatures for realism in the campaign."
'Evidence points number 56 and 57,' Scootaloo thought idly to herself.
"Don't suppose you know how to undo it, do ya?" Apple Bloom asked hopefully.
"Well," Scootaloo began, "there are five known ways of breaking the effects of a cockatrice's gaze. First is the classic cure for petrification of any sort, true love's kiss."
Sweetie Belle glanced towards Apple Bloom. "I don't suppose you know if Fluttershy's dating anypony?"
"Not last I checked. Don't think Twilight is either."
Scootaloo nodded. "The second is an anti-petrification spell." They all glanced towards Twilight's petrified body. "So much for that. Third is a theoretical potion."
"We'd need Zecora for that," Apple Bloom said quietly, "but we're lost!"
Scootaloo opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted as a reptilian squawk split the air. Turning, she saw the creature approaching on leathery wings. She faced it down, spreading her own small wings. She narrowed her eyes to slits, to block out as much of the cockatrice as she could while still tracking its movements. "Keep your eyes closed, girls," she whispered, hoping her friends heard her.
She felt Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom pressed up against her, shivering in fear. She recognized fear. The streets at night - especially away from towns - hadn't been friendly to a filly on the run. There had been few helping hooves, and those few that had extended before Ponyville had strings attached, demanding prices she wouldn't pay. She'd learned after the first one how to deal with such things, though, and those skills had kept her safe. It had been...fun, teaching stallions to be wary of one who didn't need to bend down to use their balls for a punching bag, if somewhat lonely and frightening. She also learned how to shelve her fear.
When the cockatrice was close enough, she lunged, delivering a strong right cross to its chin, knocking it to the ground. One hoof pinned its head down, its eyes pointing away from her. Remembering the anatomy sketches Rainbow had been looking at, Scootaloo found to her advantage that the cockatrice was male, and placed another hoof on the creature's sexual organ, applying pressure. He froze. Leaning down, she found his ear hole.
"I see I have your attention. Do I have your understanding?" she whispered. The cockatrice nodded. "Good. Now, am I correct that you are the one who turned the yellow pegasus and purple unicorn to stone?" Another nod. "Good. Now here's the matter at hoof. I want them changed back. Of the five ways that can happen, I only have option four and five available."
The cockatrice released a quiet, curious squawk. "The options? Well, option four is that I...convince you to release them willingly. You can do that from here, can't you?" The cockatrice nodded, grinning smugly. "Good. Because if you don't...option five is to kill the cockatrice who petrified them. Your death knell will shatter their stone prison. So...you release them willingly, or I kill you. You have five seconds."
She noticed the cockatrice smirking. "I know what you're thinking," she whispered. "You're thinking she's a pony, a filly. She won't kill. You think I'm bluffing, because I wouldn't be able to live with the blood on my hooves. Well, there's the difference between you and me." Leaning in closer, she smirked. "I would have to live with it. You would be dead." She shifted till she could look it in the eyes, still smirking. "Can you turn me to stone faster than I can crush your skull? It won't be your first blood...but it won't be mine either. So...feeling lucky? Well, are you?"
The cockatrice stared at her in fear. Closing its eyes, it let out a terrified squawk. From nearby and a great distance, there was the sound of shattering stone. Turning, Scootaloo saw Twilight standing up slowly, looking groggy. Turning back, she pushed the cockatrice away. "Go on, then. Get out of here!"
The cockatrice fled.
Turning, Scootaloo saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle staring at her in awe. She also heard Twilight mumbling something about the Historical Inflexibility Principle, whatever that meant. "What did you say to it?" Apple Bloom asked, her eyes wide.
Scootaloo grinned. "Just that if he didn't change them back, he'd regret it. I guess he believed me."
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'...and that is why I am truly glad you are back, Princess Luna. I...haven't told anypony else about what I went through on my way to Ponyville. It's a part of my life I prefer to forget. Equestria needs its Princess of the Night, to make the Night safe for everypony...like me.'
'Your friend, Scootaloo.'
Luna sighed sadly as she rolled up the scroll. Scootaloo was right, she had much work to do for the sake of Equestria once her power returned. It wasn't just watching over everypony's dreams - which she felt she would be up to a week after the Gala - that she did as Princess of the Night. It wasn't well known, but Celestia had almost no night vision to speak of. In darkness, she was practically blind. It's why they were supposed to rule together, as her own vision was absolute in darkness, sharper than the keenest eyed owl and more accurate than the sonar of the sharpest eared bat.
Scootaloo's story of her journey from Phillydelphia to Ponyville - and the terrors the night had held for her - had sorrowed Luna when she first read the letter. However, seeing that Scootaloo had taken it as a reason to be pleased for her return had given Luna a bit of hope. With such devoted subjects, she would surely be welcomed with open wings. ...was that the right colloquialism nowadays? She wasn't sure, and the Canterlot library lacked a copy of 'Modern Colloquialisms and their Ancient Equivalents', assuming such a book even existed.
Turning, she picked up another scroll and unrolled it. She saw this was a letter from Apple Bloom, a filly also of Ponyville. "I wonder why nearly all of my letters are from foals or the Element Bearers," she thought aloud. "Have adult ponies forgotten how to write letters, perhaps?" She read the letter, which was dated shortly after the Summer Sun Celebration. She was still catching up, as she had to spend much of each night in deep meditation to recover her magic power just so that she could continue raising the moon each night until she was fully recovered.
'Dear Princess Luna,
I'm so glad yer happy to be back. It musta been real lonely on the moon for all those years. I just want you to know that you have lotsa friends here in Ponyville, and I'm one of them. Now, I admit I was a little scared of Nightmare Moon when she first showed up, but not anymore since I heard the whole story.'
"The whole story left her unafraid?" Luna asked aloud. "How can that be?" She continued to read.
'After all, I've had my own moments where I felt I wasn't being appreciated, and thrown my share of tizzy fits-'
"TIZZY FIT!" Luna shouted in shock. "She compares trying to plunge the world into eternal night and being banished to the moon to a foalish tantrum?"
'-when I made a mess of the house and got sent to my room for a time out, sometimes even having to go to bed without dessert.'
Luna blinked for a moment. "Why, that is nothing like...trying to wreck the country and...being...sent to the symbol of my power..." She hung her head. "Father, somehow, I know you are laughing at me right now," she said to the room at large, before turning back to the letter.
'But now you and your sister have made up, so everything's alright! Anyhow, hope to see you back in Ponyville soon!
'Your friend, Apple Bloom'
Luna smiled despite herself. "Out of the mouths of foals," she mumbled under her breath. She pulled out another scroll, this one Fluttershy's most recent letter to her.
'My dear friend Luna,
'Recently, my friend Rarity asked me to model some of her clothes for her during a photo shoot. I was happy to help, since I like spending time with my friends. However, the photographer, a mare named Photo Finish, said that I would make an excellent model, and wanted me to go professional. I told her no, since I didn't really like being in front of the camera, and I don't do well with crowds.
'However, Photo Finish seemed determined to recruit me, hounding me for the next several days. Finally, I told her she would have to discuss it with my agent, and gave her his address. Last I heard, Photo Finish had gone back to Canterlot...very rapidly.
'Oh, you don't know who my agent is, do you? His name's Fluffy, and he lives in front of the gates of Tartarus. I visit sometimes to give him belly scratches and play fetch.'
Luna dropped the scroll in shock. Somehow, she could not comprehend the mental image of Cerberus, guardian of the infernal gates, rolled over on his back so a pony could scratch his belly. She also couldn't picture his name being Fluffy. She picked up Twilight's most recent letter.
'Dear Luna,
'Today we went with Applejack as she delivered a tree to Appleoosa. There was a bit of a minor problem there, as apparently the Appleoosans had planted their orchard in the only fertile ground near the town, which happened to be the local buffalo tribe's traditional stampeding grounds. From the looks of things, events were rapidly devolving towards open conflict. However, I was able to convince everyone to wait while I wrote Princess Celestia for all pertinent information regarding the situation so a peaceful solution could be worked out. Apparently, Celestia is well respected in The Wilds, as well.
'She sent me a copy of an old treaty and all pertinent paperwork. Apparently, while both Appleoosa and the buffalo have been making use of the land, the land officially belongs to neither Equestria nor The Wilds, meaning neither group could officially lay claim. In this situation, either one group must withdraw their claim or they must find a way to share the land. Celestia empowered me to act as mediator.
'I offered both groups three options.
'Option one: they work out a way to share the land. My own suggestion was that an empty strip be left in the middle for the buffalo to stampede through, and the product of the trees - apples and apple related foodstuffs - be shared between the two groups.
'Option two: a joint ownership through combining the two groups into one. Since Appleoosa was founded by the Apple family, I thought to accomplish this by marrying Applejack's cousin Braeburn to Little Strongeheart, daughter of the buffalo chieftain. It may have been my imagination, but the two in question seemed much less averse to the idea than their fathers - the sheriff and the chief - did.
'Option three: I cast Starswirl's Accelerated Obliterator in the center of the land in question, destroying the entire area and rendering it unusable to both groups.
'I told them they had three hours to work out a solution, or I would act on option three. I then proceeded to the center of the orchard.
'They went with option one, and my suggestion. Pinkie Pie complained that she didn't get to sing, but at least the situation was resolved without fighting or any bad blood. I think the buffalo discovering how good apple pie tasted may have had something to do with it.
'Your friend, Twilight.'
Luna struggled to suppress her laughter. 'Do it my way or I blow you up' was the Night Princess' favorite form of diplomacy, as well. "Well done, Twilight Sparkle," she said quietly, lifting another letter out of the bin.
This was from another Ponyville foal. She frowned. "I was certain that the kingdom contained more than Ponyville and Canterlot. Should I not at least be getting letters from Appleoosa?" She shrugged. "Then again, from the sound of it, that township was recently settled. Perhaps they lack the time." Perusing the letter, she discovered that this young colt - a pegasus named Featherweight - thought that when she was Nightmare Moon, she had been scary but fun...not unlike a holiday that was - apparently - celebrated in her honor called 'Nightmare Night'. Searching through several other letters, she found that a common theme on the part of the fillies and colts was that she had been scary but fun. Checking a calendar, she noticed that Nightmare Night was marked as several weeks after the Gala. She would have her full strength then. Grabbing a quill, she began to pen a letter.
'To the fillies and colts of Ponyville...'
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"'...thank you for all your kind words, and for welcoming me so happily.'" Cheerilee smiled as she read the letter aloud to her class. "'It warms my heart to be loved so by my subjects. I have noticed many of you have thought that the events of the Summer Sun Celebration were 'scary but fun'. You have also mentioned Nightmare Night, which is celebrated in my honor. As such, I have decided to visit Ponyville during Nightmare Night this year.'" Cheerilee smiled at the class. "Isn't that wonderful?"
The class smiled. Cheerilee was confused by the absence of cheers. She returned to the letter. "'Your grateful Princess of the Night, Luna. P.S. I have enchanted this letter so that any pony over the age of 20 who reads this will forget its contents as soon as they look away, so it won't spoil the surprise for the grownups.'" Cheerilee blinked. "Oh I'm sure she's kidding-" She raised her head from the letter and her eyes unfocused for a moment. She blinked. "I'm sorry class, I think I must have zoned out for a moment, now where was I..." She glanced down at her desk. "Oh, that's right, I was about to read you Princess Luna's letter." The bell suddenly rang. "The day's over? How did that happen so fast?"
The fillies and colts raced out of class. A brown earth pony stallion with an hourglass Cutie Mark entered, followed by two ponies Cheerilee recognized. "Oh, Derpy, Lyra, what brings you here? And who's your friend?"
"This is Time Turner," Lyra said happily. "He makes things better."
"Well, I try," Time Turner said. "So, what appears to be the problem?"
"Problem?" Cheerilee asked, confused. "There isn't a problem." She turned to the desk. I was about to read this letter to the class when-" She turned back to Time Turner and her eyes unfocused for a moment. "I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"
Time Turner frowned. "We'll take care of this. You just head on home." As Cheerilee nodded and left, Time Turner examined the letter carefully. "I recognize these symptoms...is the parchment made from Silence skin or something? No, parchment normal..."
Derpy floated over his shoulder, smiling happily. "Any ideas?"
Lyra examined it with her magic. She smiled. "Amnesia runes. The letters on the letter are enchanted to cause forgetfulness."
"Huh," Time Turner said with a smile. "Wasn't expecting that." He folded the letter up, unaffected by the magic.
"What were you expecting, Doctor?" Derpy asked, smiling happily.
"The Equestrian Inquisition, actually," Time Turner replied, chuckling.
Suddenly, two windows shattered as two stallions leapt into the room, their features completely covered in bright pink robes. A mare similarly attired leapt out of the closet, while a second dropped from the ceiling. They arranged themselves, assuming what those familiar with such things would recognize as a classic sentai formation pose.
"NOPONY EXPECTS THE EQUESTRIAN INQUISITION!" they shouted together.
"I did," Time Turner said happily, smiling.
One of the stallions looked shocked. "We have been anticipated! Abort enquiry!"
The four turned towards the audience. "In the name of the Diarchs, for the Sacred Wall!" They threw down pellets that released bright pink smoke, clouds of confetti, and the sound of party horns. When the smoke cleared, all that was left was...
"MUFFINS!" Derpy shouted happily, flying forward to devour the baked goods.
Time Turner walked forward, staring at the wall the Inquisitors had addressed. "What's so sacred about it?" he asked, tapping it.