Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic
The Everfree Chronicles
“Good grief, you almost hit the ground! To save you from danger, I won’t always be around!” Zecora scolded them.
“We’re really sorry Miss Zecora,” Diamond Tiara said.
“It was a pretty dumb idea,” Silver Spoon grumbled.
“Oh, like your idea was any better!” Snails retorted. “All you had us do was sit and move flowers around!”
“It’s called flower arranging and I’ll have you know, floristry is a very respectable job,” Silver frowned at the two colts. “Where did you two even get the idea for pony zip lining?”
“Discord said it was really cool,” Snails shrugged.
“And you listened to him?!” she asked incredulously.
“Hey, Smog said it was fun too!” Snips retorted.
While the fillies and colts were arguing, Zecora was pulling out another pony from the tree he was stuck in. He was an earth colt with a brown coat and orange-brown mane and tail. He wore a green beanie cap with a propeller and he still had a cutie mark in the form of a video game controller.
“Are you okay Button Mash?” Silver asked once he was down.
“I’m fine,” Button mumbled. He looked up at the other kids and said, “Um, if it’s alright with you guys, I think I’m gonna head home.”
“What? Wait, don’t leave yet!” Diamond cried.
“Yeah! Zip lining didn’t work, but if we can just find a cannon then I’ve got the perfect plan to lose our marks!” Snips grinned.
“Um, that’s okay.” Button gave a weak smile. “I actually kinda like my mark.” He turned around and started walking home.
“What? Oh, get real Button Mash!” Silver shouted. “Don’t you want to be good at something other than your dumb games?”
“What’s wrong with video games?” Snips, Snails, and Diamond all said. Though, Diamond spoke a little quieter.
Button shrugged. “I never get hurt playing video games. Anyway, see you guys at school!” He waved and kept walking until he was out of sight.
“Darn it!” Silver screamed in frustration. “It’s no use! No matter how hard we try, we always end up with these stupid marks still glued to our flanks!”
“Look at the bright side!” Snails said as he tried to lick some of the gooey brown syrup off his back and hooves. “At least this time we got covered in maple syrup instead of plain tree sap. That’s gotta count for something, eh?”
There was a flash of light as Discord teleported next to them. “Well, pouring buckets of tree sap on you kids would get boring after a while. Glad to see you appreciate a little variety.” He spotted Zecora and waved. “And a good afternoon to you too Miss Zecora! What brings you here on this fun-filled, no-school, weekend day?”
Zecora smiled at Discord and said, “It doesn't have to be now but sometime soon, I would greatly appreciate your help in finding Nightmare Moon.”
“Nightie? I believe she and Smog made plans to have lunch with the others, but the more the merrier!” Discord smiled, then leaned in close to Zecora and wrapped his tail over her shoulder as if it were another arm. “Out of curiosity, what kind of help do you need from her?”
Zecora smiled even wider as she pulled out a potion from her bag. The potion was a bubbly, dark purple. “At long last, my greatest creation is nearly complete: a potion that makes the present and past, meet. Alicorn magic can turn this potion from purple to white. That is why I seek the alicorn of the night.”
Discord gasped. “You mean to tell me that your ‘Flashback in a Bottle’ is almost done? That calls for a celebration indeed!”
“Flashback in a Bottle?” Diamond, Silver, Snips, and Snails all asked.
While Zecora grumbled that it wasn’t what she called the potion, Discord explained. “Our dear teacher and friend here, has always been able to brew potions that could cure any ailment. But she always ran into a dead end when it came to helping someone recover a certain memory. Usually what they did on the day they meet their special somebody, or whatever. Anyway, this potion was created to give anyone drinking it remarkable visions!
“It can be their first birthday, how they lost their cutie mark, that time you let your pet freeze someone while they were swimming so that you could empty their fridge…”
“Wait! What was that last one?” Diamond asked with wide eyes.
Discord blinked. “I asked Polaris to freeze Golden Harvest while she was swimming in the pond whilst I ate all her food?”
“No, not that! Losing their cutie marks!” Diamond exclaimed. “This is perfect! Think about it guys!” she said, smiling at Silver, Snips, and Snails. “This town is full of ponies who lost their cutie marks. Why don't we ask them how they did it?”
“Oh! I get it!” Snails grinned. “And if Nightmare Moon can complete Miss Zecora’s potion, then we could actually see how it happened!”
“Hey, yeah!” Snips beamed. “We can hear all about how the Elements lost their cutie marks! I bet they’ve got awesome stories!”
Snails frowned in thought. “But aren’t only three of them ponies? Do griffons, or changelings, or…Discords even have cutie marks to begin with?” He gave Discord a confused glance.
Discord shrugged. “Are you really willing to risk not hearing about it if we did?”
“Then it’s settled!” Diamond declared. “Let’s go ask the Elements how they lost their cutie marks!”
“Oh, most excellent of ideas!” Discord grinned. “I’ll go find my friends and we’ll meet you at Nightie’s library! And please, feel free to invite anyone else who might be interested in hearing about Everfree was made!”
Snails blinked. “What was that last part?”
But Discord and Zecora were already gone.
“Well what are we waiting for?” Diamond beamed. “Cutie Mark Destroyers, move out!”
They were halfway to the library when-
“Scoots! Hit the brakes!”
Diamond, Silver, Snips, and Snails all looked to the left side of the road to see Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle crash into them on their famous scooter-wagon.
About a minute later, the groaning ponies had found a way to disentangle themselves.
“Scootaloo, do you think you can watch where you’re going next time?” Sweetie frowned.
Scootaloo glared at Sweetie, before a mischievous smile spread across her face. “Quiet!” Scootaloo barked. “By order of Princess Rarity, the fashion police orders you to shut up!”
“Okay Scoots, that joke’s getting old,” Apple Bloom said, even as she tried to hide a snicker.
Scootaloo was trying to restrain her laughter too as she sternly barked, “Don’t make me beat you with my fabulous baton!” She grabbed an item from the wagon and waved it threateningly.
Apple Bloom couldn’t keep it in anymore. “Scoots, that’s a rubber chicken!” she laughed. The other kids all joined her in a fit of chuckling.
“Ah,” Diamond breathed in, her giggles fading. “That felt good.” She took another deep breath to chase off any remaining giggles and declared, “Right! That’s enough goofing for today! Come on Destroyers, we still need to hear those stories!”
“What stories?” Scootaloo asked.
“We’re about to hear how the Elements lost their marks! Pretty sweet, eh?” Snails beamed.
“Ooh!” Apple Bloom grinned. “That sounds like fun! Can we tag along with y’all?”
"Sure!" Silver said, nodding eagerly.
With a quick teleport, Discord appeared next to all of them. “Oh, there you are! Okay kids, who’s ready for story time?”
“Me!” The Cutie Mark Destroyers, Apple Bloom, Sweetie, and Scootaloo, all cheered.
“Well then, let’s get this party started!” Discord snapped his fingers and teleported them all to the library.
They appeared in the Peaceville library to see the other Elements of Redemption, Smog, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Zecora waiting for them.
“All right! We’ve got our guests. We’ve got snacks,” Discord snapped his fingers and one of the tables in the library filled up with food and glasses of chocolate milk. “And we’ve got the potion.”
Zecora nodded and brought the purple potion out of her bag and gave it to Nightmare Moon.
“Okay. Any specific spell you need?” Nightmare asked.
“It can be any spell that you might choose. It merely needs to be one only an alicorn might use,” Zecora said.
Nightmare nodded and charged her horn before zapping the potion with a spell inspired by the kind of dark magic that King Sombra used. Within seconds the potion shifted from purple to white.
“Awesome! Ooh! Ooh, ooh, let Dash go first!” Scootaloo cheered.
“Really? Thanks squirt,” Rainbow smiled. “But I’m not one of the Elements here.”
Gilda wrapped a wing around Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “Hey come on Dash. You’re my friend so that makes you a Honourary Element.”
Rainbow chuckled. “It’s cool. Here, G. You drink it. I never would’ve lost that mark without ya.”
Nightmare levitated the potion over to Gilda who took a sip of the potion. Following the instructions that Zecora had given them, Gilda swirled the liquid around in her mouth before her eyes started to glow white and she spat the potion out.
But instead of liquid coming out, a bright cloud of energy was expelled from Gilda’s mouth. It engulfed the entire room as it began to show them a vision.
They opened their eyes to see Cloudsdale. Even though not all of them had wings, they all found that they were standing on the clouds without any problems. In the air, several pegasus ponies, changelings, and even a dragon or two were flying through the air, zipping through a cloud obstacle course.
“Wow!” Scootaloo stared in awe. “So this is Junior Speedsters flight camp used to look like!”
Gilda raised an eyebrow. “Is it really that different from what it looks like now?” Scootaloo shrugged.
“But dad! I don’t wanna learn with a bunch of pony dweebs!”
They turned around to see a much younger Gilda arguing with a huge griffon.
Gilda examined the other griffon and groaned. “Aw man! Even though I’ve grown, he’s still twice as big as me!”
Rainbow stared. “Wow. I forgot how freaking big your dad was.”
"Shush! I can't hear them!" Silver said.
“Come on Gilda,” The older griffon said. Even though he was smiling, his deep voice made it sound like he growled every word he spoke. “This here’s a great flight camp.”
“But everyone here’s just a namby-pamby pony!” Young Gilda whined.
“Not everyone. I see some changelings and dragons up there,” Gilda’s dad growled.
“Well, dragons are cool,” she admitted. “But why can’t I go to a griffon flight camp?”
Her dad snorted. “You know how Everfree works. They’re always on about harmony between all species and the rest of that lovey-dovey, sappy stuff. There’s no way they’d have an exclusive pegasus flight camp, or griffon camp, or whatever.”
“Can’t you train me?” Young Gilda whined.
“Why do ya think they’ve got more than one teacher in the schools? It’s ‘cause that way you can appreciate a different teaching style. Now listen here young cub,” he growled. “I went through this same camp when I was your age and I’ve never complained.” He gave his impressive wings a strong flap. “Come on Gilda. This place hasn’t seen a griffon student as awesome as me in years. Does that seem fair to you?”
Young Gilda looked thoughtful. “I guess it wouldn’t be cool if these lame-o ponies never got a chance to see Gilda the Glorious. Maybe they’ll get lucky and some of my awesomeness will rub off on them.”
“There ya go!” Her dad clapped Young Gilda on the back. “Now get in there, cub! I’ll see ya when you get back home. Heck, ya might even make a friend today.”
Young Gilda snorted. “As if.” She waved ‘see ya later’ to her dad and flew off to join the other junior fliers in a race.
Present Gilda cleared her throat and began narrating as they watched Young Gilda fly through cloud rings. “So that’s how I got enrolled at junior flight camp. A lot of the ponies kept asking me questions but I ignored a lot of them ‘cause they were annoying little dweebs.”
Scootaloo fiddled a little with her hooves and hesitantly said, “It sounds like you were sort of… mean back then.”
Gilda shrugged. “That's understating it kid. I was a grump and a brat when I was younger.”
“Anyway,” she continued narrating as they watched the vision speed up a little. “First couple of days, none of the other fliers bothered me. And I was cool with that, always liked being a lone wolf kinda gal.”
“Wouldn’t that be lone lion?” Snails asked. “Griffons being half lion, and all?”
"Whatever. That all changed when I met Dash.”
They watched as a younger Rainbow Dash flew over Young Gilda, a little higher in the air. She watched the griffon practice a few moves before touching down on a nearby cloud. Young Rainbow touched down on the same cloud and stared at Young Gilda.
She glared at Young Rainbow. “What are you looking at?”
“You,” Young Rainbow casually and shamelessly said.
“What? You’ve never seen a griffon before?” Young Gilda scoffed.
“Nope. What’s a griffon?”
“Half eagle and half lion. And all awesome!” Young Gilda smirked and flexed her wings.
“I like awesome,” Young Rainbow smiled. “Check this out!” She turned to the side to reveal a cutie mark shaped like a cloud with a red, yellow, and blue lightning bolt.
“What? Your weird butt tattoo?” Young Gilda tilted her head to the side. “Meh. Colour the lightning bolt black or something and I guess it’d be cool.”
“It’s not a butt tattoo!” Young Rainbow rolled her eyes. “It’s a cutie mark. See, most ponies have really lame cutie marks. But mine’s awesome! Wanna see the reason why?”
Young Gilda just rolled her eyes in response. Accepting the unsaid but implied challenge, Young Rainbow shot into the air with incredible speed. She rocketed higher into the air before shooting back down, going even faster. A Mach cone formed around Young Rainbow before an explosion of colour and sound formed behind her. Young Rainbow zipped around a bit, taking advantage of her successful Sonic Rainboom.
She finally touched back down on the cloud, next to the shocked Young Gilda.
“And that is…” Young Rainbow panted, trying to catch her breath. “What I call…”
But the poor filly was too busy panting and gasping for breath to finish her sentence. She collapsed on the cloud and continued gasping.
After about a minute, she stood back up. “Sorry ‘bout that. I can’t always do one of those, and every time I manage one it really takes a lot outta me.” She grinned. “But it’s so worth it.”
“Dude…that was awesome!” Young Gilda grinned. “I’ve never seen anyone fly so fast they make an explosion!”
Young Rainbow beamed, eating up the praise. “Glad ya liked the show.”
“Hey, ya wanna wrestle?” Young Gilda offered.
Young Rainbow frowned. “What, you mean fight you? Why would I wanna do that?”
“Back home, I gotta wrestle with someone before I can be friends with them,” Young Gilda explained with a shrug. “So, you in?”
“Can’t we be friends without the fight?”
“Oh hey, it’s cool,” Young Gilda said as she nonchalantly flew away. “I mean, if you’re too chicken to fight…”
The insult worked perfectly. Young Rainbow tackled her in midair and crashed the both of them in a cloud. They spent a good minute wrestling before Young Gilda had pinned her down.
“Ack! Argh, no fair! I’m still tired from earlier!” Young Rainbow whined.
“And yet you still put up a good fight.” Young Gilda smirked and hopped off Young Rainbow, helping her back up.
“Congratulations. You’ve passed my test. We’re friends now.”
“…Cool! I’m Rainbow Dash.”
“Gilda.” The two new friends high-fived and flew off together.
The present Rainbow took up the narration. “Since that day, Gilda and I were always hanging out together. We raced, we wrestled, and we joked about stuff. It was pretty sweet,” she said with a nostalgic smile. “I never managed to do another Sonic Rainboom until after some of my more extreme training, but that didn’t stop Gilda from helping me practice all our other moves.”
“And you were always there to help me out too,” Gilda added. “Remember that one time when-”
Gilda cut herself off as she glanced at the others. “But um, that’s a story for some other time.”
“Yeah. Ooh! It’s starting soon!"
They resumed watching the vision. Young Gilda was relaxing on a cloud when Young Rainbow touched down on the cloud, followed by two other pegasus ponies.
“‘Sup Dash. Who’re these two?” Young Gilda glanced the other ponies.
The first pegasus was a colt with a dark brown coat and light-ish gray mane and tail.
The second pegasus was a filly with a pink coat. Her hair was purple with a yellow streak. Her tail was very curly and her mane was pulled back into a ponytail with a blue bow. She still had a cutie mark in the shape of a crystal heart.
“Oh. yeah! Guys, this here is my griffon friend Gilda. Gilda, this here is Dumb-Bell.”
“Dumb-Bell? Yikes. Your parents must’ve hated you,” Young Gilda winced sympathetically.
The colt shrugged. “I prefer the term ‘dislike’. But yeah, just call me Bell.”
“And this here is…sorry, what was your name again?”
The pink filly smiled. “It’s Mi Amore Cadenza. It means My Love Song.”
“Do ponies always have weird names?” Young Gilda asked out loud.
The pink pegasus giggled. “Sorry. You can just call me Cadance.”
“Bell and Cadance are new here,” Young Rainbow explained. “Both of their parents are earth ponies, so they don’t have much experience flying yet. They asked if we could give them lessons. After all, we’re the best fliers in the whole camp, right Gilda?”
Gilda lazily smiled. “Hey if you think they’re cool Dash, they can hang with us.” She smirked at Bell. “You ever wrestle a griffon before, hot-shot?”
Bell grinned at the challenge. But before he could tackle her, he noticed something over Young Gilda’s shoulder.
“Ah dang it! Sorry, it’s gonna have to wait. My cousin’s picking on people again!”
Bell flapped his little wings and flew towards the disturbance. Curious, Cadance and the younger Rainbow and Gilda flew after him. The vision shifted to show two other pegasus ponies.
“Ugh! Hoops. He was annoying back then too.” The present Rainbow Dash frowned at the brown pegasus colt.
The younger Hoops was laughing at a pegasus filly with a yellow coat and long pink hair. She still had a cutie mark in the form of three butterflies.
“Nice going Clumsy-Shy! My baby brother could fly better than you!” Young Hoops laughed.
Young Rainbow, Bell, and even Cadance all snorted angrily. But before any of them could confront Hoops, someone else beat them to it.
Young Gilda landed in front of Young Hoops, her wings spread out to shield the yellow pegasus as she growled at him. “Leave her alone!”
Hoops gulped and took a step back, eyeing her beak and talons. “Y-yeah? O-or what?”
“Or how ‘bout I break your wings?” Young Gilda threatened. “Then we’ll see who can fly better!”
“Whoa, whoa! Easy there!” Cadance spoke quickly yet in a calming tone. Young Rainbow and Bell both flew over to pull Young Gilda and Hoops away from each other.
“I’m sure that Gilda didn’t mean that. Right Miss Gilda?” At the look Cadance gave her, Young Gilda nodded. “Good. So how about we settle this a different way?” Cadance suggested hopefully.
“Yeah! How about a race?” Young Rainbow smiled. “If I win, you stop picking on…what’s your name again?”
She turned to look at the yellow pegasus. But the other filly just cringed and hid herself behind Cadance.
“What if I win?” Hoops asked.
“Instead of your wings, I cut off your tail,” Young Gilda said with an evil grin. She held up her sharp talons to emphasize.
“I was joking,” Present Gilda told them. “Mostly. The point is, we all set up a big race for Dash and Hoops to go through so that he’d leave that other pegasus alone.”
The vision showed Young Rainbow and Hoops at the starting line. The yellow pegasus was holding the checkered flag in her mouth. All the other Junior Speedster fliers were finding spots in the clouds to watch the race.
The yellow pegasus waved the flag and the race began. Young Rainbow instantly bolted forward, flying far faster than her opponent. She dashed off so fast; she accidentally knocked the yellow pegasus off the cloud. The poor filly plummeted towards the ground like a rock.
Cadance gasped and stared at the screaming filly. “Shouldn’t someone catch her?” she asked, her voice filled with concern.
“Well…she’s a pegasus too. She’ll be fine,” Bell said. The farther the yellow filly fell, the less convinced he sounded.
Young Gilda stared at the filly a little longer before shaking her head. “Her wings aren’t opening. She’s gonna fall! Get Dash!” she barked as she flapped her wings and rocketed toward the helpless filly.
“I have to help!” Cadance cried as she spread her wings too. “Bell, get Rainbow Dash’s attention! Hurry!” She dived into the air too.
“Stop the race! Dash! RAINBOW DASH!” Bell shouted.
Young Rainbow braked in the middle of the race and glared at him in confusion and annoyance. Noticing that he was frantically pointing downwards, Young Rainbow looked down to see Young Gilda and Cadance desperately trying to catch the falling pegasus before she went splat.
As Young Gilda flew faster, she noticed a swarm of butterflies gathering just off the ground directly below them. As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, if the yellow filly hit the ground she’d end up crashing into all those butterflies too.
Young Rainbow’s eyes widened and she rapidly descended, flying towards them as fast as she could. Another Mach cone formed around and she put on enough speed to manage another Sonic Rainboom.
With an incredible burst of speed, Young Rainbow was able to catch the filly and pull her back up into Cloudsdale. Seeing that they were safe, Young Gilda and Cadance breathed sighs of relief and flew back up to join them.
As Young Gilda and Rainbow were trying to comfort the yellow pegasus, who was shaking with uncontrollable fear, a sudden cloud of smoke deposited another pony onto the clouds. Cadance was the first to notice her.
The filly had a shaggy rainbow-coloured mane and tail, similar to Rainbow’s. Unlike Rainbow, she had a stormy black coat…and a unicorn horn.
Cadance stared at the unicorn. “What? I…what? Who are you? Where’d you come from? How are you doing that?” she stammered, completely flabbergasted.
The unicorn smiled. “Teleportation and a cloud-walking spell. Sorry to startle you, but I just had to see this up close!”
Cadance blinked. “See what?”
“I just saw you, that rainbow pegasus, and that griffon save that other girl! That Sonic Rainboom of hers was impressive!”
“Sonic what?”
“Rainboom. That’s what the last one in recorded history was called. Sorry, you might not remember me, but I live on the same street as you.”
“You do?”
“Sure. You’re Cadance, right? Pink pegasus, earth pony parents, 31 Canter Street in Clouds-Edge. Did I get all that right?”
“Um, yeah.” Cadance blushed. “I don’t think we’ve met before though. I’m sorry.”
“It’s no problem. I’m Prismia.”
As the two of them talked, Young Rainbow was still trying to comfort the terrified filly. There was a tiny flash of light on her flank, and Rainbow’s cutie mark vanished.
The vision around them faded, and they were all back in the library.
“And that’s how I lost my cutie mark!” Rainbow grinned. “The cloud and rainbow-lightning bolt meant I had a need for speed and a need to win! Honestly, before that race I was actually afraid of losing my cutie mark.
“But I realized that there was something more important than winning. I might have lost that race, but I saved that other pony’s life!” she proudly exclaimed.
“Wow!” a wide-eyed Scootaloo beamed. “What an amazing story!” Everyone else in the room agreed with her.
“Huh. A little different from what Ah was expecting. What happened to Flutter…um, I uh, I mean…” Apple Bloom fidgeted a bit and said, “What happened to that yellow pegasus?”
Gilda shrugged. “Dunno. Whoever she was, we never saw much of her after that. Actually, I think she left around the same time Cadance did. Right?”
“Sounds about right,” Rainbow agreed, nodding.
“What happened with Hoops?” Smog asked. “Did he stop picking on the other students?”
Rainbow sighed. “Yeah. He left the other kids alone and started picking on me exclusively. He didn’t know that I stopped the race to help Gilda, so he thought he won. Always bragging about how he’d become a Shadowbolt before I would.”
Rainbow’s expression darkened. She glared at the floor as her teeth clenched, growling at a distant memory. Concerned, Gilda patted Rainbow on the back with a wing. The presence of her friend calmed Rainbow down and brought her mind back into the present.
“My turn,” Sunset announced. Nightmare levitated the potion over to her and Sunset took a sip. She swirled the liquid around in her mouth before her eyes turned white and she spat out a vision.
The vision formed to show Crystal Clear Caverns. A younger Sunset Shimmer was dragging a crystal across the ground with her magic. Her cutie mark was in the form of a blazing fireball.
“Neat mark,” Rainbow said as they watched the vision. “So you were great at fire spells?”
The present Sunset sighed. “Yes, but that wasn’t what my mark represented.”
“What did it mean then?” Sweetie asked.
“It meant I was ambitious and power-hungry,” she admitted.
Chrysalis stared at her. “...What?”
“For as long as I could remember, I craved magic and power. I spent every moment of my free time reading spell book after spell book. I got frustrated whenever I didn’t get a spell perfect the first time. Eventually, I started snapping at ponies whenever I was in a bad mood. I got greedy. I was compelled by power. Consumed by the idea of it. Before I stopped myself at least,” Sunset sighed.
“That’s why my mark was a fireball. It meant that my desire for power was so great, it was burning my mind apart.”
“Well…that was dark,” Discord commented.
Sunset shrugged. “Yeah. Honestly, I almost became the next Eternal Twilight. But I got better, as you’re about to see.”
They watched Young Sunset drop off the crystal in a bucket. She then eagerly grabbed a book that was lying on the ground and began reading.
“Hey look!” Sweetie shouted. “Rarity’s here too!”
A younger Rarity appeared in the vision, carrying tons of gems in her magic and looking very unhappy. Her cutie mark was in the form of three diamonds.
She dumped the gems and crystals off in the same spot that Sunset had, then went over to join her. “Good afternoon Sunset Shimmer.”
Young Sunset grunted in response, still reading.
“Goodness,” the present Rarity said. “It completely slipped my mind that you and I used to work in the same crystal farm.”
“That’s okay,” the present Sunset smiled. “I didn’t remember until today either. I wasn't great at memorizing anyone’s names.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt, but may I borrow that book you were reading yesterday?” Young Rarity pleaded.
Young Sunset grunted and levitated over a different book to Young Rarity.
“Thank you darling,” Young Rarity smiled and began reading. “Ooh, Sunset you simply must see this! This chapter is all about how to best use your magic to work with a needle and thread. Perhaps there’s a section on stitching that-”
“Pathetic,” Young Sunset growled.
“I…I b-beg your pardon?” Young Rarity nervously asked.
Young Sunset lowered her book and frowned at Young Rarity. “I sympathize with you. I want off of this crystal farm too. It’s pathetic how these grown-ups see your amazing gem-locater spell and all they do is send you to work in the mines, as the expression goes.”
“W-well…”
“It’s pathetic how you fail to stand up for yourself,” Young Sunset continued relentlessly. “It’s pathetic that all you care about is fashion. And it’s pathetic how almost every unicorn only bothers to learn a few spells, when entire libraries of arcane-knowledge are within our grasp. Why do unicorns limit themselves like that? Why do you?”
“I-I,” Young Rarity stammered, backing away.
“If you want to study fashion, that’s your business. But do yourself a favor and set your goals higher than that.”
Young Sunset looked like she was going to continue, but a pegasus mail carrier flew by and dropped a letter at her hooves before flying away. With mad glee, Young Sunset instantly ripped the letter open and read it.
“It appears that I was successful in my attempt to get into King Sombra’s School for the Gifted,” she grinned. “I just have to pass a measly entrance exam.”
She turned to Young Rarity and said, “Inform my parents that I am leaving for the Crystal Empire. I will pack my belongings and take the first train out of here. I’ll be sure to remember you little people when I’m famous and powerful. Farewell Gemstone.”
“It’s Rarity!” The other unicorn cried as Young Sunset left.
“Whatever,” Sunset snorted as she gathered the other books in her magic.
The vision shifted to show Young Sunset riding on the train to the Crystal Empire. She was reading and preparing herself for the exam, relaxed in her seat. Surprisingly, Cadance and Prismia were sitting on the seat next to her.
“Um…Prismia,” Cadance hesitantly started. “Have you given any thought to what I said before?”
Prismia fidgeted. “Um, are you sure you want to talk about this now? We’re on the train and I, uh…”
“You haven’t said anything about it since I told you,” Cadance whispered. She looked very sad. “You…you don’t like me, do you?”
“No!” Prismia gasped, eyes wide. “Of course I like you! We’re friends. I just…I didn’t know you wanted to be…more.”
Cadance stared her in the eyes. “I can’t help how I feel about you.”
“But…but what before? Whenever we talk, you’re always so eager to talk about which boys you find cute! What changed?”
Cadance blushed. “My parents always told me I was the most loving filly they’ve ever known.”
“So…you like both?” Prismia asked. “I…I guess that makes sense.”
“But you only like colts,” Cadance guessed. She looked like she was about to cry. “You don’t feel that way about me.”
Prismia hesitated. “Cadance, it’s true that I don’t feel that way about you. But…maybe I could, some day. Maybe…we can try it out and see how things go.”
Cadance perked up immediately. “Oh thank you Prismia!” She eagerly leaned in to kiss her friend.
“Whoa, whoa!” Prismia backed away. “Moving a little fast there, Cady!”
Cadance and Prismia both blushed and settled for holding hooves. Young Sunset glanced over at them and rolled her eyes before resuming her reading.
Present Sunset stared at the vision. “Um, Zecora? Why are we seeing this part? Nothing exciting happened on the train.”
Discord shrugged. “I find it interesting that those two appeared in both your vision and Gilda’s.”
Nightmare frowned at him. “Did you mess with the potion somehow?”
“I’ve done nothing of the sort!” Discord protested. It was difficult to tell if he was lying or not.
The vision shifted to show Young Sunset during her entrance exam. Three unicorn instructors, two stallions and one mare, were judging her.
“Now Sunset Shimmer, for your final test we have a dragon egg that we would like you to hatch,” the mare said.
A red dragon egg was brought before Young Sunset. She immediately fired a strong blast of magic, but the egg was proving to be very resistant. Increasing the amount of power she was channeling into the spell, she gave it a final push and the egg hatched.
Smog started chuckling as they watched the newborn dragon suck his tail. “Baby Garble. Man, I wish I had a camera.”
As Discord happily conjured up a camera and handed it to him, Nightmare looked at Present Sunset in surprise. “I didn’t know you hatched Garble.”
Sunset shrugged. “Well I did. I was really looking forward to having a dragon minion, but King Sombra said that he would raise Garble and then it would be my turn once Garble grew up a bit. But by that time I’d lost interest.”
In the vision, a shadow floated into the room before turning into King Sombra. He congratulated Young Sunset on her performance and offered to make her his personal protégé.
“Over the next few weeks, King Sombra taught me many different spells,” Present Sunset explained to them. “But I was insatiable. Everything had to go my way or I’d get mad. Whenever I wasn't studying, I was being rude and condescending to all the other students. Eventually, he had a talk with me about it.”
The vision showed King Sombra and Young Sunset walking down the hall.
“Sunset Shimmer, I have heard that you’re not getting along with the other students,” King Sombra said, frowning at her.
Young Sunset frowned. “King Sombra, we go to a school to learn, don’t we? If I spent all my time socializing with other students, I’d never have time for my studies.”
Sombra sighed. “You make a good point. But it doesn’t hurt to have friends Sunset Shimmer. It would certainly stop the other students from thinking you’re evil,” he muttered the last sentence. “Perhaps we should take a different approach.” He led Young Sunset to a large mirror, with a crystal arch around it. “Look into this mirror and tell me what you see.”
Young Sunset smiled and admired her reflection. “A beautiful pony with power and potential.”
King Sombra grimaced and rolled his eyes. “Care to try that again with our talk of humility taken into account?”
Young Sunset snorted and looked again. “I see a pony who isn’t powerful enough yet.” Her reflection in the mirror changed even though she didn’t. The mirror Sunset Shimmer sprouted powerful wings, as fire blazed behind her. “Someone who could rule Everfree.” Young Sunset stared at her reflection hungrily.
“Okay, I think that’s enough for today,” a nervous King Sombra said as he magically dragged Young Sunset away from the mirror. “We’ll continue our lessons tomorrow, when you’ve stopped creeping me out.”
“Wait!” Young Sunset cried. “I thought I saw something!”
“No you didn’t!” King Sombra said.
Present Sunset continued her narration. “Over the next few weeks after that I kept asking him about the mirror, but he never told me what I wanted. Eventually I got tired of waiting.”
The vision shifted again. It was nighttime and the crystal mirror stood alone. Young Sunset crept toward it, a greedy grin on her face. She looked into the mirror and saw her reflection turn into an alicorn, just like before.
She continued to stare until her reflection changed. Her reflection’s form shifted into a strange bipedal version of herself. Her reflection wore a black jacket, black boots, a pink shirt, and an orange skirt.
“Looks like one of those humans that Lyra was talking about,” Chrysalis commented.
Then the reflection changed again. The mirror Sunset morphed into a demonic creature with red skin, pointed ears, black wings, a fiery tail, and flaming hair.
Young Sunset leaned closer toward the mirror until her head blocked the rest of them from seeing what was going on. After a minute of watching, she suddenly gasped and scrambled away from the mirror, shivering with horror.
She galloped out of the room as fast as she could and accidentally ran right into King Sombra. “Sunset Shimmer? What are you doing here?”
Young Sunset backed away and flinched at the king’s suspicious glare. She bowed to him and said, “I’m sorry King Sombra. You were right. I should have listened to you.”
She hesitated, but kept talking. “I was curious about the mirror and I went looking for it, even though you asked me not to. I…I’ve also been studying other spell books. Specifically the ones about…dark magic.
King Sombra frowned at her. But rather than scolding her for her misbehavior he waited for her to finish.
“What I’ve been doing is dangerous. Because of that I think it would be best if you removed me from my position as your student. My studies end here. I’ll be taking the next train back home tomorrow.”
Young Sunset finished her announcement with another bow. King Sombra stared at her skeptically.
“If I may ask, what brought this sudden change in you Sunset Shimmer?”
“I saw another version of myself in that mirror. I became powerful…but I also became a monster. Even though I still want to be powerful, I don’t want to hurt anyone because of it.”
As soon as she said that, Sunset Shimmer’s cutie mark vanished.
The vision shifted to show the following morning. Young Sunset was making her way back to the train station. She passed by Cadance and Prismia again. Cadance was desperately clinging to Prismia’s hooves.
“Wait! Prismia, please just tell me what I did wrong! I’m sorry!” Cadance cried.
Prismia grimaced. “Look Cadance, it’s not you it’s me. I wasn’t sure that this would work and I was right. You want something different than I do.”
“Please Prismia!” Cadance pleaded. “I can change! Give me another chance!”
Prismia brushed her off. “I need my space Cadance. You’re too clingy! I still want to be your friend, but…I just need to be alone for a while.”
Cadance burst into tears as Prismia made her way to the train station.
Along the way, Sunset accidentally bumped into another pony. The teenage mare had an orange coat and a blond tail. Though, the large Stetson hat she was wearing concealed her face and her mane.
“Sorry,” Young Sunset mumbled.
“That’s alright. Beg yer pardon, but can you tell me where I can find King Sombra?” the orange pony asked.
“Sure. Just go to the Crystal Castle and ask around. You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks.”
The ponies parted ways and the vision dissolved.
Sunset sighed. “Well there you have it.”
“What did you see in that mirror that freaked you out so much?” Sweetie asked.
“You don’t wanna know.”
Chrysalis frowned. “It’s sad to hear that Prismia broke up with Cadance. What do you guys think happened to them?”
Silver Spoon glanced at her. “Who cares? It wasn’t part of Sunset’s story.”
“I care!” Chrysalis cried. “I always hate it when a couple breaks up. It’s like letting food go to waste.”
Nightmare frowned at Discord. “Again I ask, were you messing with the vision at the end there? Why did we need to see that?” Instead of answering her, Discord became very interested with the snacks he had conjured up.
Apple Bloom fidgeted. “Um, who was that pony you ran into at the end there?” Sunset shrugged and gazed at the ceiling, lost in thought.
...
“Well, thank you for sharing your past with us dear friends. And now, prepare yourselves for a true cutie mark removal story! The Great and Powerful Trixie is onstage now!” Trixie eagerly chugged down the potion next and spat out her flashback.
The vision formed to show them a younger Trixie performing in front of a big crowd of creatures. Her cutie mark was in the form of a silvery crescent moon wrapped around a silver wand.
Trixie began narrating too. “Trixie is like Rainbow Dash in that she was not ashamed of her cutie mark either. Even from an early age, magic was easy for the Great and Powerful Trixie! Most ponies rightfully considered Trixie a genius magician. Trixie dreamed of taking her magic act to other cities. But at the time, Trixie was still inexperienced and needed to remain with her parents. So Trixie continued to perform in Manehattan.”
“Manehattan?” Smog frowned in confusion. “Where's that?”
“Oh, right! Manehattan is what the city used to be called. You might know it better as the Big Apple,” Trixie explained.
“Anyway, Trixie performed her magic nonstop. The fans loved me and I loved them back. After every act, Trixie would stay behind to give advice to anyone who had questions. Trixie wanted to see if she was good at fortune telling, you see. Oh, Rarity! Trixie forgot that you came to her too.”
The vision showed the younger Trixie talking with the younger Rarity inside a tent. “Approach seeker and ask! For the Great and Powerful Trixie knows all! …Sorta.”
“Thank you Miss Trixie,” Young Rarity said. “To business then. For a long time, I’ve been interested in fashion. But before I left my home of Peaceville and came here to the beautiful and fabulous city, a…an acquaintance of mine told me that I should set my goals higher. What would you suggest?”
Young Trixie grinned. “Easy! If you’re interested in fashion, why not take an interest in other forms of art as well? Take up painting, or sculpting, or singing! Take up magic!”
Young Trixie conjured up a beautiful crystal and gave it to Young Rarity. “Though you may never be as Great or Powerful as Trixie, you too could be a wonderful magician. Trixie believes in you! Now, does that answer your question?”
Young Rarity stared at her reflection in the crystal. A sneaky smile formed on her face as her cutie mark vanished. “Thank you Miss Trixie. You’ve given me a wonderful idea.”
Young Rarity walked out and another pony came into the tent that Trixie had set up.
“Approach seeker and ask! For the Great and Powerful Trixie knows all! …Kinda.”
“Thank you Miss Trixie,” Cadance said. She looked a little disheveled and nervous. “I was hoping that you could use your powers of divination to help me find my friend. I need to see Prismia!”
"Huh. That pegasus must travel quite frequently to show up this often," Present Trixie said.
“Prismia, Prismia…” Young Trixie frowned in thought. She smiled and shouted, “Aha! Trixie knows whom you refer to! The black unicorn with the rainbow mane! She came to Trixie searching for a rare object known as Cosmic Spectrum Stone!”
She conjured up an illusion of a glowing object that strongly resembled Cadance’s cutie mark, for some reason.
“Cosmic Spectrum is a strange, alien material,” Young Trixie explained. “It amplifies all magic that it comes into contact with. Much like the crystals we use everyday, but more powerful. However it also amplifies emotions. If the person wearing it is happy, they will feel even happier. If a person is filled with anger…things could get messy. It can be very dangerous if misused.”
Cadance stared at the illusion. “Prismia went looking for that?” She glanced at her own flank. “It looks like my cutie mark. It's a sign! Please, I need to know where I can find that!”
“The last known sighting of a fragment of Cosmic Spectrum Stone was in the Badlands!” Young Trixie warned. “As the name suggests, it is a dangerous place to venture to. But fear not! Trixie knows that the Kingdom of Changelings possess this Cosmic Spectrum fragment!”
She hesitated. “However…Trixie does not know how friendly those changelings are. They differ greatly from city or country changelings.”
“If it means finding Prismia, it’s worth the risk. Thank you Miss Trixie,” Cadance said. She ran out of the tent, twitching a little.
The last person to enter the tent was a young unicorn colt. His coat, mane, and tail were all white.
“Approach-”
“Wow!” the colt interrupted with a huge smile. “Your hat is so cool! It’s the hattiest hat I’ve ever seen!”
“Thank you!” Young Trixie beamed. “You have excellent taste.”
“But you know what would make it really amazing? Bells!”
Young Trixie blinked in confusion before giving him a chuckle. “Come now. As much as the Great and Powerful Trixie deserves your praise, this is your time. What can Trixie do for you?”
The colt’s smile faded. He fidgeted nervously before saying, “Could I be your apprentice? Please?” He smiled hopefully.
“Apprentice? Trixie’s career has only begun. It’s too early for her to take an apprentice. May I ask why you wish Trixie to teach you?”
“Well, you’re one of the most amazing unicorns I’ve ever seen!” The colt grinned.
“This is true. But Trixie is sure that you are a great unicorn as well.”
The colt fidgeted. “Um, yeah. Sure.”
Young Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Do you feel that your magic isn’t strong enough?”
The colt managed a weak nod. His smile was gone, and he was avoiding eye contact. He hesitantly whispered, “Um…I have a question. When you were a kid…were you ever called…stuff?”
“Stuff?”
He nodded. “Stuff like nerd, egghead…scaredy-cat…goofy…gross…weak…” he whispered.
Young Trixie gazed at the colt. His eyes had begun to water a little. “There, there,” she soothed shakily. He wiped his eyes dry.
Young Trixie hesitantly asked, “Has someone been calling you these things?”
The colt shuffled a little. “I’ve got six sisters. Three of them are unicorns. They’re all so much better at magic, compared to me. A-and the kids at my school keep calling me names because I don’t wanna play with them. It’s just that I don’t like sports. But nobody else likes reading the way I do. And I just…I just…”
Young Trixie stared at the colt. She slowly approached and gave him a small hug before breaking away.
“Trixie…understands your pain. When Trixie was a kid, she was also called…stuff. Sometimes, others insulted Trixie because they did not see how Great and Powerful she would be. They too called Trixie names.”
“But do not listen to them. Listen to what Trixie tells you now. Something I think kids like you need to hear more often.” He stared at her, waiting for what she had to say.
She looked him in the eye and said, “You are the most talented, most intelligent, and most extraordinary person in the world. And you are capable of amazing things.”
He stared at her, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. “Miss Trixie! Y-you don’t…”
“Trixie means what she said,” she said firmly. “And to prove that Trixie believes in you, Trixie will give you the one thing you need most. A chance.”
She charged her horn and fired a huge blast of magic into the air. The magic swirled and formed into a ball of energy, which slowly lowered itself toward the colt. Unbeknownst to the colt, his horn glowed and absorbed the ball of magic.
The colt quickly sat up; unaware of why he had been on the ground a few seconds ago. He staggered to his hooves and felt his head. Energy crackled and arched around his horn.
He stared at Young Trixie, who was slowly sitting back up too. “D-did…did you just give me your magic?” he gasped, completely shocked at this act of generosity.
The exhausted Trixie weakly chuckled. “No, only about half. I’d be crazy to give up all of my magic.”
“But still!” He stared at her. “This…this is too generous of you! I can’t-”
“You can and you will accept Trixie’s gift!” she said firmly. “Do not worry for Trixie’s sake. Trixie should be able to find something to regain her powers. Purple crystals shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
“Well…in that case…thank you so much!” He beamed and ran up to give Trixie a big hug. He excitedly leapt away from her and charged his horn with power. He cheered at the sight of his magic extending out and lifting several objects with his telekinesis. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise I won’t let you down Miss Trixie!”
“Trixie thanks you, dear fan. She looks forward to seeing what you accomplish.” Before the colt ran home to tell his parents the good news, she stopped him.
“Hold! Please, the Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to remember you. What is your name young magician?”
He turned back to her and smiled. “I’m Star Swirl.”
The vision faded away. The group took a few seconds to process what they had heard before turning to face Trixie.
“Did he say…Star Swirl?” Nightmare asked with wide eyes.
Trixie nodded. “Time travel spells are very difficult for most ponies to use. But Star Swirl was not most ponies. Perhaps he still exists within our time, hiding out of sight. But Trixie knows that one day he will travel back in time, hundreds of years before any of us were born. And he will indeed become a most important magician. The most important conjurer of the pre-classical era.”
Trixie smirked at them. “He inspired me in my youth, and I inspired him in his youth. Haven’t you ever wondered why his hat and cape looks so similar to mine?”
“But…but…but how do you know?!” Nightmare stared at her in shock. “How do you know for sure that you met the real Star Swirl the Bearded?”
Trixie smirked. There was a small flash of light as she summoned a book with three stars on its cover. “He said so in the journal I mysteriously received in the mail one day.”
“GIMME!” Nightmare, Sunset, Discord, and Sweetie all cried as they lunged at the book. Trixie teleported it away before they could reach it, and they collided in a tangled heap.
Discord immediately snapped his fingers and summoned the book back. He flipped through the pages. “…It’s real alright.”
They stared at Trixie. “Trixie, this is incredible! By giving Star Swirl encouragement AND half of your power back then, you helped shape one of the most powerful unicorns ever known into the legend he was destined to be! I mean he created more than 200 spells! He was friends with Sombra and Sparkle before they came into power!” Nightmare gushed out excitedly. “Why haven’t you told anyone this?”
Trixie smiled. “Trixie prefers to brag about her own spell work. It wouldn’t be noble of Trixie if she bragged about Star Swirl’s accomplishments as if they were her own. That’s why Trixie lost her cutie mark. She found that it was more important to inspire others to be powerful instead of being the only Great and Powerful unicorn.”
Trixie sighed and took a sip of her chocolate milk. She then turned to Nightmare with a triumphant smirk. “Top that!” she challenged.
“Hold on!” Discord interrupted. “What about Chrysalis and I?”
Chrysalis frowned. “But changelings don’t get cutie marks.”
“Come now Chrysalis! You must have something to share!” Discord said.
Chrysalis glanced at the younger ponies. “No thanks. Your stories are much better than mine. Besides, my nymph-hood wasn’t always…pleasant.”
Discord tilted his head in thought. “Did you at least see Cadance once? That seems to be a recurring theme here.”
Chrysalis fidgeted. “The name sounds familiar. One day I heard about a Cadance and a Prismia who visited my old home. But I never saw them.”
“Fine then. My turn!” Discord drank the potion and showed them his vision.
“You made that all up!” Nightmare snarled at Discord.
“I’m offended by your accusation!”
“You expect us to believe that those… incomprehensible, unnatural creatures were your parents? Who one day snapped their tentacles to create you? And then they created Everfree for you to play with?”
“What part of ‘and that's how Everfree was made’ did you not understand?”
“Wha…huh?!” Scootaloo managed. Everyone else had similar reactions. Discord’s vision was just too weird to put into words.
“You made that up!” Nightmare growled, signaling that she was done discussing the matter. She brought the potion over to herself.
“Fair enough.” Discord laughed. “If I must have a past, I’d prefer it to be multiple choice anyway!”
Nightmare rolled her eyes but hesitated as she brought the potion to her lips. All of the other stories her friends had shared had been incredible. She wasn’t sure if her story would measure up.
Then again, her mom was in the story. Nightmare smiled and drank the potion before releasing the vision.
In her flashback, they saw an exhausted but very happy Luna, lying in bed. King Sombra was standing beside the bed, smiling. And there was another pony held in Luna’s hooves.
“You are so beautiful…my little moon.”
They were looking at baby Nightmare Moon. She was so tiny, from her fluffy little wings to her small horn. Her coat was a darker black while her mane and tail were both a plain purple, since back then Nightmare obviously didn’t know the spell that would make her hair flow magically without any wind. Her draconic blue-green eyes darted all over the place. Her cutie mark was in the shape of a crescent moon.
King Sombra smiled. “Congratulations Luna. You must be so happy.”
“The happiest I’ve been in over a century,” Luna whispered. Her eyes watered with tears of joy as she kissed baby Nightmare.
“Have you picked a name yet?” King Sombra asked. Luna shook her head.
Baby Nightmare blinked at King Sombra in confusion. A wicked (if fangless) grin spread across her face as her tiny horn unexpectedly charged with power and blasted him across the room. Baby Nightmare giggled.
“...Wipe that grin off your face Smog,” Present Nightmare muttered.
“Make me,” he replied, smirking.
“Why are we starting here? I wanna see cutie mark removal!” Diamond impatiently demanded. The other kids agreed, even as Sweetie smiled at the adorableness of baby Nightmare.
“I’ll fast forward a bit, but this is all important to the story,” Present Nightmare promised.
The vision shifted to show Luna dressed in her guard uniform, talking with King Sombra in the throne room.
Their conversation was interrupted when a young unicorn colt with a white coat, amber hair, and a compass cutie mark came running into the room. “Aunty Luna! Aunty Luna!”
“Oh, hello Blueblood!” Luna smiled. “What’s new?”
“Nightmare Moon is breaking all my stuff!” he whined.
“Like she said, what’s new?” King Sombra chuckled. “It appears the little nightmare is at it again. Just this morning I sensed her trying to raise the moon and block out the sun again, but I kept them out of her hold.”
“I better calm her down,” Luna sighed. She followed Blueblood into the room where he had previously been babysitting Nightmare.
Most of the room was completely trashed. Desks and chairs broken, dirt dishes flung everywhere, complete chaos. The only organized part of the room was a large book fort, where the still very young Nightmare was playing.
“PUNY PEASANTS! I AM NIGHMTARE MOON! QUEEN AND EMPRESS OF THE NIGHT! DARKNESS INCARNATE! COWER BEFORE ME!” Young Nightmare roared.
“Moony, are you misbehaving?” Luna asked sternly, but with a small smile at Nightmare’s antics.
“No Mommy!” Young Nightmare smiled. “Look! I made a book fort so the evil sun can’t burn me!” She then frowned at Blueblood.
“WORSHIP ME FOAL! WORSHIP ME! SURRENDER YOUR MAGIC TO NIGHTMARE MOON, SUPREME MISTRESS OF FEAR!” she roared.
Blueblood ran out of the room in fright. King Sombra strolled in to see what the fuss was about and smiled fondly at Young Nightmare.
“Aww, look. She’s already planning to conquer the world. Reminds me of myself, when I was her age.”
Luna sighed. “Your Majesty, she is uncontrollable. Every babysitter I get her, she throws a tantrum. I'm the only one she respects.”
“Understandable for a foal with the name Nightmare Moon. What shall you do?” he inquired.
Luna sighed. “Your Majesty…I’m afraid I can no longer be your guard at this time. I have a responsibility as a mother. I can't leave Moony to a babysitter. She's too important to me for me to continue this.”
King Sombra nodded. “I understand, but you don't need to quit. Take as many years as you need. You may resume your guard duties whenever you please.”
The vision shifted again. It was nighttime, and Young Nightmare and Luna were lying on the bed together in Nightmare’s old bedroom.
“Are you ready Moony?”
“Ready Loony!”
The two smiled and closed their eyes. The vision altered slightly, until a world unlike anything the other ponies had seen appeared.
"So...awesome..." Scootaloo whispered. The others silently nodded in agreement.
Luna smiled. “Welcome Moony, to the Dream World. A collective unconscious where the dreams of everyone in Everfree can be visited. But only by you and I.”
They all marvelled at the vision, watching different dream worlds float by them in an endless parade of shimmering bubbles across a night sky. Of course, the present Nightmare could see things in the dream world that the rest of them couldn’t.
Luna led Young Nightmare to the edge of a cliff. Below them, a thousand more dream bubbles flew by. “Look Moony. Everything the moonlight touches is our kingdom.”
“Wow,” Young Nightmare breathed in, awestruck.
“As rulers of the night, our most sacred of duties is to protect others from their nightmares,” Luna explained. “But as the Everfree Kingdom grows, the dreams multiply. One day Moony, I may not be have enough time to help everyone. I ask that when you are old enough, you join me as a guardian of dreams. A true princess of the night.”
Young Nightmare smiled. “So this will all be mine somenight?”
Luna nodded. “Everything.”
“Everything the moonlight touches,” Young Nightmare looked around with joy. She noticed darker bubbles float by and frowned. “What about those ones?”
“Those dreams belong to some of the crueler creatures of our kingdom. You must never walk in those dreams without me, or encounter those creatures in the waking world,” Luna warned.
“But I thought a queen could do whatever she wants!” Young Nightmare protested.
“Oh, there’s more to being a king or queen than getting your way all the time,” Luna said as she walked ahead.
Young Nightmare followed her, eyes and mouth wide. “There’s more?”
Luna chuckled. “Moony…”
The vision changed again. It was daytime, and Luna was leading an uneasy Young Nightmare around the castle gardens.
“Everything you see exists together in perfect harmony,” Luna explained. “You need to understand this harmony, and respect all creatures. From dragons, to zebras, to all three races of ponies, and beyond.”
Young Nightmare frowned. “But the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies aren’t as strong as us.”
“All the more reason to protect them and respect them. A ruler serves his or her kingdom just as much as the kingdom serves their ruler.”
Luna continued explaining. “Everything in nature has a purpose. From the changing of the seasons, to the cycles of the sun and moon.”
“But Loony, the sun burns me!” Young Nightmare whined. “Why can’t the night last forever? The air would always be cool and the stars would shine forever bright! Our beautiful moon would hang in the sky for everyone to see!”
“Moony, let me explain. Without the moon, the sun would beat down mercilessly, and the land would turn into a burning desert. But without the sun, no food would grow and the moon would freeze everything. Our planet can’t survive without them both. And so…we are all connected by the power of harmony and freedom.”
Young Nightmare managed a smile for her as she joined Luna in appreciating the beautiful day. She was about to ask another question, before shivers unexpectedly ran down both their spines.
Luna stared at Young Nightmare. “You felt that too?”
She nodded. “Loony, what was that?”
“Something I’m afraid I need to see to immediately.” Luna’s horn glowed as she gently levitated her daughter onto her back. Her horn flashed again as they teleported away.
The vision shifted again to show Luna speaking with King Sombra.
“Are you sure?” King Sombra asked, his expression a mix of surprise, hope, and fear.
“I know what I sensed,” Luna said firmly. “Someone has ascended. I don’t know who but I do know where.” She stared out the window. “It’s coming from the Badlands.”
“We’ll have to move fast,” King Sombra said. “We’ll need every on-duty guard available to us, especially our changeling guards. I’m afraid I’ll need you on this mission as well. Don’t worry about Nightmare Moon, I’ll have Garble and Blueblood look after her.”
“Then we have no time to lose,” Luna said as she followed him out of the room.
“You’re going to the Badlands? Can I come?” Young Nightmare asked with a hopeful smile.
“No, Moony! Stay here,” Luna said as she left to rally the guards.
Young Nightmare sat down, frowning at the floor. A minute later, Blueblood came in through the door.
“Ah, there you are Nightmare. King Sombra informed me that I am to look after you again,” he said importantly as he trotted towards her.
“They won’t let me go to the Badlands!” she whined. “I never get to go anywhere fun.”
Blueblood shuddered. “Why would you want to go to that dreadful place? Only the really brave or really stupid would venture there! Oh no, you’ll be much safer here.
“Besides, the only place of interest in the Badlands are the changeling hives. Now if you would like to appreciate changeling culture in a safer environment, I have something that might interest you,” Blueblood offered. He walked out of the room with a smile.
Young Nightmare glared at his retreating form. “…I’ll prove I’m brave,” she hissed.
With difficulty, Young Nightmare turned herself into magical mist and floated out the window.
The vision shifted again to show King Sombra, Luna, and dozens of guards. The area around them was bleak; the houses around them a dark green, while the skies above them were a dark red.
Chrysalis shivered. “Home sweet home,” she muttered.
While Luna and King Sombra were talking, Young Nightmare peaked around a corner. After making sure that they hadn't seen her and they were preoccupied, she excitedly flapped her little wings and flew off to explore the area.
Following the shiver that was going down her spine, Young Nightmare flew onward until she reached her destination. There she saw a large piece of Cosmic Spectrum Stone in the shape of a heart. Lying next to the stone was an unconscious Cadance. Except that she had lost her cutie mark…and gained a horn.
Young Nightmare gasped. “Another alicorn? …And she’s pink?” She touched down beside Cadance and began shaking her, trying to wake her up.
But while she was preoccupied, a trio of changelings had spotted the filly and were stalking towards her. These changelings didn’t look as healthy as Chrysalis or any of her friends; their legs riddled with more holes than usual.
Young Nightmare finally noticed the hissing changelings and jumped back, her horn starting to glow.
“Well, well, well,” the larger changeling hissed, circling the alicorns. “What have we here?”
“I know!” the second changeling hissed. “Two little trespassers!”
Young Nightmare glared at them. “STAND BACK, YOU FOOLS! BEHOLD THE GLORIOUS NIGHTMARE MOON, QUEEN OF EVERFREE! YOU CANNOT FRIGHTEN ME, FOR I AM TERROR INCARNATE!”
The changelings uncovered their ears and hissed at her. “Ooh. Little queenie here has a nice set of lungs. Except that you’re no queen of ours!”
“Speaking of queens, should we tell Princess Chrysalis?” the third changeling asked. The other two ignored him.
“We’re not like the little changeling traitors living in your kingdom!” the second changeling hissed. “This is our land! No ponies allowed!”
“Oh, I think we can make an exception this time,” the first changeling hissed, grinning hungrily at Cadance. “I bet alicorns have a lot more energy! The pink one smells especially delicious. So much love…” the changeling trailed off, a little drool sliding down her mouth.
Young Nightmare growled and blasted the drooling changeling with her most powerful hex. But because of her still developing powers, the spell didn’t do much damage.
The other two changelings instantly fired twin beams of green magic at Young Nightmare, sending her crashing into a wall. She cried out as pain shot across her body, far worse than the pain she received from any sunburn.
“Let’s take out the little troublemaker first! Then…dinnertime!” the first changeling hissed, horn glowing as they stalked closer to her.
“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Luna’s voice blasted out at them. A beam of darkness shot down at the three changelings away. A dark blue aura wrapped around the dazed changelings and smashed their bodies together. Luna swooped down and landed on top of the changelings, her hooves pinning them down.
“If I EVER see you come near my daughter EVER again…” Luna threatened them.
“Oh, this is your daughter?” the first changeling asked, smiling nervously. "Oh, we didn't know that! Did you guys know that?" The other changelings were too terrified to respond.
Young Nightmare smiled and boldly walked up to her mom. “Loony! You got here just in time! They…”
She trailed off as Luna shot a furious glare at her. Young Nightmare cringed and shrunk away from her mom’s anger. It was the first time she had ever seen Luna angry with her.
King Sombra and a dozen guards galloped into the area. “Luna! What happened here?!” the king asked.
Luna scowled and levitated the changeling trio and the unconscious Cadance to him. “If you’ll excuse me, Sombra, I need to teach my daughter a lesson.”
With a flash of light, Luna teleported herself and Young Nightmare back to the Crystal Castle.
Once there, Luna glared at the fearful Young Nightmare. Turning away, Luna walked out onto the balcony she had teleported them to. With her magic, she reached out to lower the sun and raise the moon. With the setting sun gone the bright moonlight shone on Luna, casting a large shadow behind her. With the day changed to night, Luna sternly called her. “NIGHTMARE MOON!”
Young Nightmare cringed, but slowly walked toward Luna. As she walked, Luna stretched her wings out for a few seconds, her shadow growing larger across the balcony. Young Nightmare looked down at the floor and at her mom’s shadow, realizing just how much her mom easily overshadowed her. Both literally and figuratively.
As Young Nightmare approached Luna and stood by her side, her whole body shook with fear.
Luna stared at the moon for several seconds, before turning to face her daughter. “Nightmare Moon, I’m VERY disappointed in you,” she scolded. “I warned you to stay at the castle but you didn’t listen! You could have been killed! What were you thinking?!”
Young Nightmare cringed. “I,” her voice cracked. "I-I just wanted to be brave like you! I t-thought the changelings had something I could use to block out the sun a-and then we…”
“Hiding from the sun does NOT prove your bravery!” Luna shouted.
Young Nightmare was really weeping now. The pain she was feeling was excruciating. No physical injury could ever hurt as much as what she was feeling then. She had never felt so sad and so scared in her life. “I…I j-just wanted to b-be strong like you!” she cried.
Luna’s frown softened a little. “I’m only strong when I have to be. Moony, being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble.”
“But you’re stronger than everyone!” Young Nightmare cried. Luna snorted in disbelief at that. “You’re not scared of anything!”
Luna’s frown completely faded as she stared at her daughter, lowering her head until they were both at eyelevel. “I was today. I feared I might lose you.”
Young Nightmare stared at her. “Oh.” A tiny smile slowly spread across her face. “I guess even alicorns get scared, huh?” Luna nodded. Her smile widened as she whispered, “But you know what? I think those changelings were even more afraid!”
Luna chuckled. “Because nobody messes with Loony Luna!” Her magic wrapped around her daughter and brought her forward. Luna bent down and blew a raspberry into Young Nightmare’s soft belly.
“Ah! No, no! Release me!” Young Nightmare squeaked between giggles. She turned into mist and squeezed out of her mom’s hooves before changing back and tackling Luna.
Luna laughed and flapped her wings, flying toward the palace gardens. Young Nightmare flew after and tackled her mom into the grass, wrestling her to the ground. They tussled until the fear and pain inside both of them was gone.
“Mom? Loony?” Young Nightmare asked, perched on Luna’s head.
“Yes Moony?”
“We’re best friends, right?”
Luna chuckled. “Right.”
“And we’ll always be together, right?”
Luna sat up, Young Nightmare sliding onto her back. “Moony…let me tell you a story,” she said, looking at the night sky.
“Long before King Sombra came into power, I was the ruler of this kingdom. While I ruled the night my sister, your aunt, ruled the day.”
“My aunt?” Young Nightmare asked with wide eyes. “I never knew I had an aunt.”
“Her name was Celestia. She was the wisest, nicest, most wonderful pony I’ve ever known. She ruled with kindness and compassion and she treated everyone with respect. Except for those occasions when she would play pranks on everyone she saw,” Luna giggled. “You would have loved her. I certainly loved her, even if I was a teensy bit jealous of her.”
“What happened?” Young Nightmare asked.
Luna’s smile faded. “She became corrupted by the most malicious of majiks. She was cursed into becoming a tyrant, instead of the sister I loved. Reluctantly, Sombra and I were forced to put her in…let’s say a very long timeout.
“Among the many things her corrupted form desired, she wanted to always keep the sun up…just as you desire to always keep the moon up,” Luna said, looking at her daughter. “Because of all this, my sister and I were forced apart. Moony, I want us to be friends forever. But that can’t happen if your behaviour doesn’t improve.”
Young Nightmare stared at her, with wide eyes. “I don’t want to leave! I’ll be good! I promise, I’ll never try to make the night last forever, ever again!” she cried.
Luna smiled and gave her mane a reassuring pat. “I know.” She looked back up at the stars. “Did you know that our sun is a star Moony? During the day, our sun is the only star we can see. But at night we can see thousands of stars. Some of them, the suns of distant worlds, so very far away. This is my favourite time of the day. When I can see the night sky, my little moon, and the far away suns. It feels…like the loving sister I remember is with us.”
Young Nightmare shuffled. “Loony? Do you think Aunt Celestia will ever come out of her timeout?”
“Only if she is nice again,” Luna whispered to her.
“…If she’s as nice as you say she is…I think I’d like to meet her.”
Present Nightmare smiled as the vision shifted one last time. “I was grounded for about a week as punishment. But after that, I had my twelfth birthday. The day I lost my mark.”
King Sombra waited patiently on his bedroom balcony. Ahead of him was Luna, Young Nightmare, and a baby Smog with a blue bow on his head.
“Are you ready?” Luna asked.
Young Nightmare nodded. Her horn glowed with power as her body floated off the ground. Luna’s and Sombra’s horns glowed too as they added to Nightmare’s power.
The moon lowered and the sun shakily rose into the sky. Young Nightmare grinned. With a little help, she had done it. She had controlled the sun.
Luna’s eyes widened. “Moony.” She pointed at Young Nightmare’s flank. Young Nightmare turned around to see her cutie mark had vanished.
Young Nightmare instantly beamed and began jumping up and down, chanting “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”
The vision finally faded and they were all back in the library. Nightmare Moon smiled. “And that’s how I lost my cutie mark. Ever since that day, I don’t fear the sun anymore.”
Everyone was silent after that. Finally, Snails managed to speak up. “Wow. You and your mom must have been really close.”
Nightmare smiled. “More than you can imagine. Loony has always been special to me. That was the only time she was angry with me. She never told me to clean up my messes, do my homework, or anything. She asked nicely, and I did it. She never talked down to me; she listened to me, she treated me like everything I said was important. Whenever we played together, she’d always do what I wanted even if it was silly.
Nightmare smiled as her eyes watered a little. “My mom means the world to me. I…I love her,” she whispered.
“Awwww...” Diamond, Apple Bloom, Sweetie, Snails, and Chrysalis chorused.
Silver smiled too, before looking at her flank and frowning. “Well, those were all really good stories. But unfortunately, it didn’t make our cutie marks go away.”
Snips shrugged. “We can always try again tomorrow.”
Apple Bloom raised her hoof. “Wait, what happened with Cadance? She was an alicorn when we last saw her. And if Luna is your mom, who’s your dad? We didn’t see him. And what about Prismia? Or Celestia?! What about…”
Before she could keep asking questions, Mayor Derpy swung open the door and stomped into the library. “Discord, what’s this I hear about you emptying Golden Harvest’s fridge? And don’t blame my clone on this one, she’s been with me all day!”
A Derpy clone poked her head into the door and grinned goofily at them. “Yep! I emptied her fridge instead!” she said, pointing at Mayor Derpy.
“…Wow! Would you look at the time! Pardon me, but…I regret nothing!” Discord sang as he teleported out of the library.
As the others left to find Discord, Nightmare smiled and turned to Smog. “Smog, take a letter please.”
Princess Twilight sat at her desk, reading the latest letter from Nightmare Moon. Someone knocked at her door, and she opened it with her magic.
A grown-up Cadance walked into the room and bowed before her. “Good evening Princess Twilight.”
Princess Twilight smiled. It was a soft, almost sad kind of smile. “Hi Cadance. How are you?”
Cadance sighed. “Better. I heard that Prismia found someone else. And you know what…I think I can move on now.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
Cadance fidgeted. “Um, Princess Twilight? I’ve been meaning to ask…your brother, Prince Shining Armor…is he seeing anyone?”
Princess Twilight titled her head to one side. “Seeing anyone? As in, is he courting someone? I don’t think so.”
Cadance blushed and smiled. “Oh. Really. Thank you Princess Twilight. I’ve uh…gotta get something.” She trotted out of the room, twitching a little.
Princess Twilight went back to reading the letter. Once she finished, she turned around and looked at her blank flank in thought.