//------------------------------// // Celebration... Cut Short // Story: My Little Background Pony: Friendship is Magic // by comicfan616 //------------------------------// The Doctor spent the next few hours getting acquainted with the town. His main points of interests were the businesses and establishments. By the time dusk was approaching, he had found several prospective places of employment. The ones that seemed the most intriguing to him were a library, whose librarian was looking for some assistance, and a clock repair shop that would be in need of new management, as the elder pony currently running the place was looking to retire soon. The Doctor realized what time it was and began to make his way to that party Lyra had told him about. He quickly realized, however, that he hadn’t yet encountered Sweet Apple Acres. Luckily, he saw a small group of ponies heading to the outskirts of town. He followed them and soon found himself looking at a barn surrounded by an apple orchard. This combined with the strung lights and a small town’s worth of ponies around the farm assured the Doctor that he had found the right place. He looked around at the large variety of attractions; whoever set up this party seemed to want nopony left out of the festivities. There were several party games: pin the tail of the pony, bobbing for apples, seven-legged racing, etc. He also saw several tables with food laid out. Having not eaten since that afternoon, the Doctor decided to make that his first stop. He took a small plate and filled it with a slice of cake, cookies, and some banana slices. He was about to look for someplace to sit down and eat when he was met by a pair of golden-yellow eyes next to his muzzle. The Doctor yelped in surprise, almost causing him to drop his plate. He shifted his body so the plate stayed in his hoof with the contents intact. He turned back to the eyes and their owner: a gray pegasus mare with a light-blonde mane and tail. The Doctor could see her cutie mark in the shape of bubbles. “It’s the eyes, isn’t it?” she asked. Strange way to greet somepony, the Doctor thought. Then he realized that the mare’s eyes were shifted in different directions from each other. He now understood what she meant. “Oh, no, it’s just that, well, you startled me,” he explained. “I mean, you were practically touching my snout.” “Oh, sorry,” the mare said. “I guess I was staring because I’ve never seen you around here before. And as a mailmare, that’s saying a lot.” “Well, unless you’re one of four other mares I’ve met today, you’re not alone. The name’s Time Turner.” “Derpy Hooves. So you’re from out of town?” “Well, that’s the simplest way of putting it. Anyway, it was very nice to meet you, Miss Hooves, but I’ll just run along now.” The Doctor started to walk away. “Wait!” Derpy shouted, stopping him in his tracks. “Don’t you wanna hang out? I mean, this is a party after all. What kind of party would it be if we just stayed alone the whole time?” The Doctor noticed there was something in Derpy’s voice that made her request more than what it sounded like. He couldn’t quite put his hoof on it, however. He wasn’t looking forward to making yet another friend, but he had to admit Derpy had a point; social interaction was pretty much inevitable at this point. “I suppose, since I am going to be here a while,” he said, “I might as well get to know whom I can.” Derpy smiled as she followed him to one the seating areas. The two talked and got to know each other better. The Doctor, of course, told Derpy the same thing he had told the others about being a traveler ready to take it easy for the foreseeable future. “So, if you don’t mind my asking,” he said in the middle of their conversation, “why are your eyes the way they are?” “Oh, these?” she replied, lifting a hoof to her face. “They’ve been like that since I was born.” “Do they cause you any trouble?” “Actually, I have had a few depth perception issues. Let’s just say that more than a few mailboxes fell over when I was on the job. Other than that, no real problems. Well, except for the ponies who don’t know how to be polite about my, uh, ‘nonconformity.’” He held her hooves up and waved them vertically as she said the last word. “It doesn’t happen that often, though, and really only with ponies who never met me before.” “If you ask me, I don’t think it looks that bad,” the Doctor said. Derpy gave him a confused look. “I mean, aside from the fact that your eyes can’t agree on where to look, what’s the big problem? When I first met you, I barely noticed it until you pointed it out.” “Hey, Turner!” a voice called out. The Doctor and Derpy turned and saw Bon Bon and Lyra walking toward them. “Oh, hello, ladies,” the Doctor returned. “I see you’ve made quite a few friends since this afternoon,” Bon Bon said. “Between me, Octavia, Vinyl, Lyra, and her,” she pointed at Derpy, “you’re really getting to know everypony in Ponyville.” “Personally,” the Doctor replied, “I like to think of it as everypony getting to know me, since, aside from Vinyl and Lyra, I wasn’t actively seeking anyone out.” “Yeah, Lyra was telling me about what happened today,” Bon Bon said. She turned to Derpy. “You look familiar. Have I seen you around town before?” “Well, I do fly around town delivering mail,” Derpy replied. “Name’s Derpy Hooves.” “Nice to meet you Derpy,” Bon Bon said. “Come on, Bon Bon,” Lyra said, pulling the earth pony by the hoof. “We better hurry before the cake’s all gone.” “Right, sorry,” Bon Bon apologized. “It was nice seeing you again, Turner,” she said before she and Lyra walked off together. Once again, the Doctor was left alone with Derpy. “So what are you gonna do first?” she asked. “Beg pardon?” he replied with his mouth filled with cake. “The party, silly. What are you gonna do first? Bobbing for apples? Seven-legged racing?” “Oh, um,” he started, “I guess I might try horseshoes. It’s been a while.” The Doctor did manage to partake of pretty much everything the party had to offer. But he noticed that no matter where he went, Derpy was never far behind. Something about Derpy’s behavior struck him as suspicious, but he couldn’t find any other motive than merely being friendly. He decided to move these thoughts aside for the time being. The night seemed to go by quickly for the Doctor; he hadn’t even started to feel sleepy yet, although this might have been due to the sodas. When the party was over, all the ponies were heading to town hall to officially begin the Summer Sun Celebration. The Doctor was looking forward to this: within the first 24 hours since arriving in this world, he was going to see the princess of Equestria with his own eyes. Things could definitely have turned out worse, he repeated to himself. The town hall had been spectacularly decorated; there were several banners depicting the Equestrian royal seal or a sun, and the colors of pretty much everything were either bright or sparkling. There were also a few royal guards in front of the stage, no doubt to keep the ponies from stepping too close to the princess. The Doctor looked toward the left and saw Octavia, Vinyl, and Lyra setting up for their upcoming performance. “I can’t believe it’s finally happening!” Derpy said, trying very hard not to shout. Just like at the party, she was never too far from the Doctor as they entered the town hall. “You’re excited, aren’t you?” he asked. “Who wouldn’t be?” she replied. “How many ponies can say that they’ve seen Princess Celestia with their own eyes? And on the Summer Sun Celebration, no less.” “Fair point.” Suddenly, a fanfare began playing from Vinyl’s stereos accompanied by Lyra’s lyre. When it was over, an aged earth pony mare came out on the main stage. “Fillies and gentlecolts!” she greeted. “As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning the Summer Sun Celebration!” Almost all the ponies in the room cheered. “In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!” As the mayor continued, the Doctor caught a slight twinkle out of the corner of his eye. He turned to the window and saw the moon in the sky. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it appeared as though a pony’s head was imprinted in the craters. But what really intrigued him were four bright stars surrounding the moon; they appeared to be moving towards it. At first, the Doctor thought this was a nighttime illusion, but he soon saw that he was wrong; the stars not only crept closer to the moon, but when they touched its surface, the craters that made up the pony’s head flashed and disappeared, leaving the moon almost completely white. “And now,” the mayor continued, unaware of the events the Doctor noticed, “it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria…” she raised a hoof to the balcony above her, “Princess Celestia!” The Doctor momentarily forgot the strange event that had occurred, and his emotions returned to anticipation at seeing the princess. Vinyl and Lyra played their fanfare once again, this time with Octavia joining in. A spotlight fell on the balcony, and a white unicorn pulled the drapes aside. But when they opened, the platform was empty: no sign of the princess anywhere. Almost everpony was talking amongst themselves about this strange occurrence. Most of the voices were a mix of nervousness, confusion, and fear. I think things just got worse, the Doctor thought. “Keep calm, everypony,” the mayor said, although she sounded far from calm herself. “There must be a reasonable explanation.” “Turner,” Derpy said, “what’s going on?” “I wish I could say, Derpy,” the Doctor replied. The white unicorn went to check behind the stage area. When she came back, she could only say, “She’s gone!” This caused more murmuring from the crowd. “This just doesn’t seem like the princess,” Derpy said. “Why would she not show up for the biggest event of the year?” The Doctor also found it odd that the ruler of an entire planet was not present at a place and time she herself likely appointed. Suddenly, somepony screamed. Everyone looked up and saw a blue mist flowing from the balcony. “Um, Derpy,” the Doctor asked, “is that normal?” “Who in Equestria can look at that,” she thrust a hoof at the mist, “and honestly ask ‘is that normal?’” Somepony who’s not from Equestria, for one, he responded, though not out loud. He watched as the mist began to rise and form a coherent shape. The resulting form looked like a pony, taller than most, with a coat as black as space itself. It looked like a mare, but the Doctor was more interested in the fact that it had both wings and a horn. An alicorn. The horn was poking through a light blue helmet; she also wore a large chest plate and knee-high footwear of the same color. Her cutie mark was a white crescent moon over a field of purple. The mare surveyed the crowd below her and began to speak. “Oh, my beloved subjects. It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious, little sun-loving faces.” Her voice was calm, but not at all gentle. In fact, she had spoken the last few words almost as though they were venomous to her. The Doctor could tell that, even though she referred to the crowd as “subjects,” this could not have been the famed Princess Celestia. “What did you do to the princess?!” Vinyl shouted. Octavia quickly stepped in front of her, trying to calm her down. The dark mare simply chuckled at this display of defiance. “Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?” The Doctor thought back to what he had seen with the stars and the moon. That and the appearance of this mare couldn’t have been a coincidence. “Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?” One thousand years? the Doctor thought out. “Do you not recall the legends? Did you not see the signs?” “Nightmare Moon,” the Doctor finally said softly. “What?” Derpy asked. The Doctor looked up at the alicorn. “You’re Nightmare Moon,” he said to her. “The Mare in the Moon. Imprisoned within the moon itself for trying to bring about everlasting night.” The other ponies gasped at this. “Well, well, well,” the mare said. “Somepony who does know the old legends. It’s so good to hear that I am not completely forgotten.” She looked across the room again at the ponies, who were now shaking even more visibly than before. “Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last… FOREVER!” She laughed as though she were victorious. Yep, things are worse, the Doctor thought.