“La-lala-lala... Some streamers here, balloons over there, more pink, a few silly hats... Perfect! And with a whole nine seconds to spare, too.”
From up atop the city hall's chandelier, Pinkie Pie looked down with approval on all her work. Everything was in place. The curtains were lowered, the lights were arranged, and the stage was set for the Princess' big entrance. And there were all sorts of other goodies and games for ponies to enjoy in the meantime! She was particularly proud of the intricate triple aileron cross-stitch that she had managed to incorporate into the welcome banner. It made the Princess' name a little hard to make out, but hey, everypony already knew what her name was, so what did it matter?
Now, if only those caterers would get here.
The doors slammed open, and a panting Applejack and Big McIntosh wheeled in several carts of baked goods, before collapsing on the ground. Pinkie hopped down, and made her way over to where Applejack was recovering. She gazed at the farmer sympathetically.
“You're just a teensy bit late,” she said, “but since you managed to get everything I asked for, and it was short notice, I think I'll let you off the hook this time.”
“This time?” Applejack frowned. She manged to force herself to a standing position. “Pinkie, if you ever give us a deadline like this again, you can just forget about it. Why, if the Princess herself hadn't been attending this here shindig, Ah wouldn't even have bothered doin' this much.”
Pinkie nodded. “But what if I ask next time, and there's a deadline, and the Princess is coming to that party too?”
“No.” Applejack shook her head. “Ah'm sorry, but we just can't be expected to provide a satisfactory product consistently with that kind of timeline.”
“And what if I've already asked the Cakes and they said they'd be happy to help?”
Applejack looked sick for a moment. But she was firm. “No, Pinkie,” she said. “Next time, you give us a lot more warning, understand? Or Ah'm afraid we just can't help you.”
“Okie dokie!” Pinkie grinned. “This was sort of a one-time deal, anyway. Next time I won't have to spend so much time meeting everypony because I'll already know everypony! Won't that be great?”
“Heh heh. Yeah,” Applejack laughed weakly.
The farmer fidgeted with her hat. “Is what we got you... Ah mean, is it really enough? We had a lot of leftovers from yesterday afternoon, a powerful lot, what with the family reunion bein' that day, but we didn't exactly have time to stop and check what we'd got...”
“Yup,” Pinkie said idly. “Everything's here. Right down to that one apple dumpling with the bite in it.”
Applejack frowned. “You asked for a dumpling with a bite in it?”
“Uh huh.”
“What're you gonna do with a half-eaten dumpling?”
“Oh, it's not half-eaten,” Pinkie said. “More like a quarter eaten. Or maybe a third? Hmm... Let's just call it: 'partially' eaten.”
“... What're you gonna do with a partially eaten dumpling?”
“Throw it away, of course,” Pinkie laughed. “I couldn't let anypony eat it. It's unsanitary.”
“... Right,” Applejack said, a look of confusion still on her face. “And how did you know that one item was in that big pile of stuff we dragged in here?”
“Oh look!” Pinkie pointed. “Rarity's here. Hi Rarity! Applejack, you can set up the food tables without me, right? 'Kaythanksbye!” And she ran off to greet the unicorn.
“... Huh,” Applejack muttered. “She's an odd one, that mare.”
“How in the hay did that mare manage to get everypony in town to show up to a party that would be too sugary for a six year old?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I mean, party balloons? Streamers? Pin the Tail on the Pony? Come on. This is Ponyville for crying out loud. We live on the edge of the deadliest place in Equestria and have to deal with massive, world ending abominations, like, once a week. Those of us who survive are warriors, with keen fighting instincts! We don't have time for stuff like this.”
“Actually,” Fluttershy whispered from her place under the table, “I think it's sort of... nice. Only, there are a lot of ponies here...”
“Look!” Dash pointed over at a sparser section of the crowd. “That purple unicorn, right over there. The one next to the royal guards. That's the librarian. How did she convince her to come to this? The only reason ponies know about her is because they talk about how she never talks to anyone.”
“... I don't normally talk to anyone, but I'm here.”
“Yeah. Because I made you come.”
“Well,” Fluttershy said, “maybe it was something like that. Maybe someone else convinced her to come.”
“'Doesn't talk to anyone,' Fluttershy. There's no one to convince her.” Dash sighed. “What is this 'Summer Sun' thingy about, anyway? I've never heard about anything like it around here.”
A new voice spoke up. “That's because it's not from around here, Rainbow Dash.”
Upon recognizing the newcomer, Rainbow scowled for a moment, before she was able to force her expression into one resembling civility.
“Hello, Rarity,” she said coolly.
The unicorn nodded in reply. “The Summer Sun Celebration is an opportunity to thank Princess Celestia for her role in maintaining Equestria. As such, it's usually held in Canterlot, or one of the other major cities, so that the Princess can be in attendance. This is the first time I've heard of the celebration being held in a town like ours; it's a great honor.”
Dash sneered. “Yeah, great. A big hoity-toity production. Sure makes us hard-working ponies feel honored, having a rich, fancy party and everything.”
“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said. “Just because ponies with more money than you choose to spend some of it enjoying themselves doesn't justify looking down on them.”
“You would say that,” Rainbow Dash glared. “You've always wanted to be one of them.”
Fluttershy flinched at the overt display of hostility on her friend's face, but Rarity stayed calm.
“Considering you are my best customer, Rainbow Dash, I should assume you know that I put more than a bit of effort into every one of my products. Making feasible armor out of chimera hide is a lot of work. If I ever achieve my dream of entering the Canterlot elite, it will be because I worked at it, and for no other reason.”
Rainbow Dash was quiet, but didn't back down. With a sigh, Rarity looked away.
“Also, I don't believe anypony would call something like this 'hoity-toity,' exactly. Too much... pink.”
Dash chuckled in spite of herself. “I know, right? That's just what I was saying. And what's with all the balloons?”
“Now, if I were Princess Celestia's student, where would I be?” Twilight asked herself.
The little baby dragon on her back shrugged. “Asleep, maybe? It's six in the morning, Twilight.”
“Don't be ridiculous, Spike,” Twilight said. “This is the Summer Sun Celebration. If I was Celestia's student, I think I would at least show up for her party, especially if I was running the thing. Now, do you see a pink mare anywhere?”
Spike's eyes narrowed as he glanced around. “There's too much pink around here. Pink tablecloths, pink balloons, pink streamers. Bleh. This is a party for the Princess? What is she, five?”
“So much pink,” Twilight muttered. “Of course! It's like camouflage. This must be Pinkie Pie's natural habitat. Now, working on that assumption, I just need to set up a stakeout somewhere she's likely to visit. What do you think Pinkie eats?”
“There's only one snack table, Twilight.”
“True,” Twilight nodded. “That makes things a lot easier than out in the woods. Now, what would be a good position to watch from...”
A flash of golden metal caught Spike's eye.
“Hey...” Spike started. “Hey that's – Twilight! Isn't that Shining Armor?”
“Shining Armor? Here?” The thought was enough to snap Twilight out of planning her ambush. “Oh my gosh, that is him! Spike, Shiny's here! You know what that means, right?”
“Uh... you get to see your brother again for the first time in years?” Spike guessed.
“No! Well, yes,” Twilight admitted, “but more importantly, Shining Armor is the Captain of the Royal Guard. If he's here, that means Princess Celestia is here too! In the flesh!”
“Twilight...” Spike groaned. “Don't go all fanfilly and get us arrested again.”
“Oh, Spike, don't be silly. They can't possibly charge us with trespassing this time; we were invited to this party, and it's on public property, so I have every right to be here.”
“Sure, not trespassing,” Spike admitted, “but we could still get in trouble for harassing royalty if you start taking snippets of the Princess' mane.”
Twilight grinned. “Do you really think I'll get that close? Oh, I can't wait! Eee!”
“... Not the point I was trying to make,” Spike muttered.
The dragon looked up. “Twilight, look! Shining is leaving.”
“What?” Twilight's head snapped up. “Is something wrong? Is the Princess leaving too? What's happening?”
“He just went into that door over there,” Spike said. “Where does that go to, anyway?”
Twilight stared for a moment. Then she smiled knowingly. “Ah,” she said. “That room leads around to the back of the stage. And look; they've set up all those curtains and lights over there. That'll be where the Princess shows up. She must be in that room right now.” She nodded. “Now there's only one question in my mind.”
“What's that, Twilight?” Spike asked.
“Do I get the best seat for when the Princess makes her big entrance now, or do I try to find her student first? Oh, I can't decide!” Twilight groaned. “What do you think, Spike?”
Spike sighed.
“I think this is going to be a long night...”
As the party guests milled about below, enjoying the music and the delectable goodies, Pinkie Pie hopped up onto the town hall's big stage and grabbed the microphone. She tapped on it once or twice to make sure it was working, and the crowd quieted in anticipation.
“Ladies and gentlecolts!” Pinkie grinned. “Thank you all so much for coming here this morning to help us host this, Ponyville's first Summer Sun Celebration! I've only spent a short time here, but in that time I've gotten to know quite a few of you, and I've got to say I've never met a more welcoming bunch of ponies. Give yourselves a round of applause!”
After a polite round of clapping, Pinkie continued. “Now, I know a lot of you had no idea what this party was going to be about when you got your invitation. I guess nopony around here has actually heard about it before, but that's okay. I probably should have put it on the invitation, actually.” Pinkie giggled. “That's one of the things invitations are for!
“But anyway, you don't need to know a whole lot about the Summer Sun Celebration in order to enjoy it, so I'll just give you the basics. Number one: this is Ponyville's first ever Summer Sun Celebration. Number two: The is the one thousandth anniversary of the original Summer Sun Celebration. And number last-est but not least-ish: Princess Celestia is here to visit!”
There was a squeal from somewhere in the audience as a certain purple librarian lapsed into full-on fanfilly glee, followed up by a more ordinary round of enthusiastic cheering.
Pinkie grinned as she stepped over to the rope connected to the stage's curtains. “Everypony, and/or bear, please give a big welcome to Princess Celestia!”
With a pull on the rope, the curtains lifted. The excitement was palpable. The smiles on the crowd's faces, the anticipation in their eyes; everything was exactly like Pinkie had pictured it would be.
And then the cheers faded.
The crowd started whispering among themselves, in a tone that was... worried? Pinkie blinked. That wasn't supposed to happen. She glanced back at where she had just raised the curtain.
There was nopony there.
“Hey!” came an angry voice from the crowd. “What is this? Did the Princess really send you here?”
The murmuring grew darker, as the whispers became more pointed. “Would the Princess' messenger really wake us up in the middle of the night, to invite us to a party, minutes before the event?” “She never did show any proof that she knew her or anything, did she?” “Doesn't something about this seem a little weird to you?”
“Ah... Um... Heh heh. We're experiencing, uh, technical difficulties right now,” Pinkie said awkwardly. “I'm sure there's some sort of explanation for this –”
And then the room went black.
There was the sound of thunder, mixed with the peal of rich, feminine, ominous laughter.
“An explanation?” asked a voice. “You want an explanation? Very well, my dear subjects. I can give you an explanation.”
There was a thud, as something hit the stage floor.
“Princess Celestia is finished.”
As the light slowly filtered back into the room, everyone could see the striking figure there on the stage: a pony of midnight black, tall as a horse, with wings and horn both.
“Princess Celestia is no longer in charge.”
Her starry mane had turned into a vortex of blackness, towering above her. In it hung the motionless figures of several royal guards.
“Princess Celestia, my darling sister, has lost to me this day.”
At her hooves lay a pale, limp form. A large form, with a horn, and two wings, and glazed over eyes, which betrayed no hint of the intelligence so familiar to them. Its strained, unsteady breathing was the only hint that life still remained.
“I am Nightmare Moon,” the dark mare declared. “I am the Princess of the Night. And this night, my beautiful night, will last forever!”