//------------------------------//
// 1 - It Begins 
// Story: Six Two Six Two 
// by lunabrony 
//------------------------------//

	The moon was rising.
Well, that was certainly an underwhelming start to the story, wasn't it? Yes, the moon was rising, just as it had every night of every week of every year for longer than anypony cared to count. And with only the exceptional event or two, the moon was really nothing all that special or dangerous. Princess Luna emerged onto her balcony as she always did, and shortly after the moon began to rise, gently guided on its nightly trajectory across the cosmos. 
On this particular night, the moon was full, and cast its warming glow across Canterlot to light the way for those who happened to have night shifts, or even perhaps just to touch the hearts of the couples who happened to be out late together. Either way, it was a spectacular moon, yet sadly one that nopony really paid much attention to. Princess Luna, out on her tower  balcony, smiled in satisfaction and disappeared into the depths of the castle to catch up on some overdue reading. 
It was a quiet night, gentle and still. The young ones were all asleep, preparing for another day of school which would begin in the morning hours. The adults were mostly asleep, at least those were who had to get up even earlier and ensure that the aforementioned children actually got up in time to make it to school in the first place.
The night was perfect. Which made what was about to happen all the more unfortunate.
As the moon rose, its light spread across an increasingly large distance. What was once dark was gradually illuminated by the glow of the full moon, which, save for the elusive were-ponies of the Everfree forest who operated under a very strict and very complicated peace agreement, was a fairly magical and calming event.
This moon, however, just so happened to be the one thousandth full moon following a particular event that had happened quite some ago while Nightmare Moon was still trapped in her Lunar prison. The event had nothing to do with Nightmare Moon, really, nor anything to do with Luna, who hadn't been there for obvious reasons. And in part due to Luna's condition, Celestia had never spoken of it so as not to cause any worry. The event had climaxed in a battle,from which Celestia had emerged magically drained, but victorious . And, as so often happened when Celestia won, the threat had been sealed away and forgotten, fading into legend. Time moved on, and Celestia forgot.
But he didn't.
The light of the moon spread slowly, he could feel it. It was infuriating, knowing he was so close to his revenge, yet so helpless to speed up the process. He'd waited this long, he could wait a little bit more. He remained in a deep, unused section of the Everfree Forest, where Celestia had once ensured that he would never be found. A threat, she had called him. Banished him from society.
A disgrace.
The moonlight fell upon his prison, and the effect was immediate. He felt his bonds weakening, magical energies snapping like frayed ropes. He wasted no time in bursting forth from his prison the very second he was able to, stretching his limbs and snarling. There was no time for coherent words, not now. For he had waited so very long, and planned so very carefully. There was no time for mistakes.
He was returning to finish what he started all that time ago.
***
Princess Celestia should have been in bed five hours ago. She was tired, and slightly irritable, and technically she was off the clock. The night was not her domain anymore, a burden which she was thankful to have lifted after a thousand years of raising the moon. But despite her reservations, and despite her fatigue, she simply didn't have it in her to say no to a friend.
Especially one who had helped her out so many times before.
She was in her study, a room with many tables and even more scrolls. She stood across the table from an orange earth pony who for some time now had been studying a map of zoning ordinances and expansion regulations. Her brow was furrowed in concentration.
"Are you sure you are not exerting yourself in this late hour?" Celestia asked kindly. "It has been quite a while since we started." She said this in a very gentle way, not wanting to give the impression that she would rather be somewhere else. Such as in bed.
"There's jes' so much tah go over," the mare sighed. Yes, it was one of those meetings. "Rules say ah gotta go through the proper channels if ah'm gonna expand mah land, and ah surely do appreciate yer seein' me on such short notice like this. Buckin' season comin' up an' all."
"Of course," Celestia said. "The problem is that you're bordered by the Everfree here, and here," she said, gesturing. "I'm afraid even I can't do anything about that. The forest cannot be moved or claimed."
"Well then ah'll jes' have to expand to th' east if ah want to plant more crops, but that would invade Melon Sprout's melon farm."
Celestia frowned. "There is an open patch of land to the south of Melon's farm, perhaps we can ask her permission to grant her more land to the south so you can move to the east. I'll make a few arrangements, and-"
There was no warning, he came on the wings of absolute silence. None could have anticipated his presence, nor known that he would appear in the open window. No alarms, no screams, only a wicked grin. Celestia saw him first, and felt her heart momentarily stop. No, it couldn't have been a thousand full moons already. It was impossible, could she really have overlooked it?!
Applejack, not knowing anything about what was going on, instinctively took a fighting stance in front of Princess Celestia. A swift kick of her back legs knocked over a table, creating a barrier between herself and the princess. 
"Celestia! Out!" She demanded.
Celestia didn't move, only flared her wings in a gesture of intimidation. "No, this is not your battle to fight. Although I appreciate your enthusiasm." Turning her gaze to the newcomer, she glared at him. "You are committing an act of aggression against Canterlot. Tell me what you want, or leave immediately."
Another wicked grin, and a deep laugh. 
"What I want? I want to play a game, pretty princess." He snarled, and swooped forward. Celestia's horn flared, but was unprepared, and strong magic took a few seconds to warm up. A few seconds that they didn't have.
A blinding white light enveloped both Celestia and Applejack, and nopony heard a thing.
***
The first sign of trouble came when the moon began to lower in the sky. Normally, around this point, the sun would make its appearance and signal the beginning of sunrise. But no such things happened on this morning. Celestia had never missed a day before, so it was quite awkwardly that a Royal Guard pounded on her study door. Having already tried the bedroom, and finding it empty, the study was the next most logical place.
"Your... Highness..." His voice caught in his throat, what exactly was the protocol for telling a princess she had made a mistake? He pushed the door open a bit wider, daring to enter. At first glance he saw Princess Celestia standing by the window, and a sigh of relief came over him. She was already up.
"Thank goodness, we were beginning to worry. We-" he paused. He'd gotten close enough to see that something was not quite right. And when he saw exactly what that something was, he stumbled backwards in fear. 
To hell with protocol. 
He burst out of the room as if his tail was on fire, the door slamming behind him. He grabbed the nearest Guard he could find, and looked straight into his eyes.
"Wake Princess Luna,"  He demanded.
The other guard looked annoyed. "I'm a rank higher than you." He did not appreciate being ordered about, especially by an inferior position.
"Do it!"
The second guard frowned. The fear and urgency in the voice of the first guard led him to trot to the cracked door, and peered into the room from which the first had just ran. It took only a moment to decide that waking Princess Luna would be a wise move indeed, and both guards magically sealed the door before galloping down the hallway.
This was going to be a very long day. 
And the sun wasn't even up yet.