//------------------------------//
// A Long Night 
// Story: The Princess that Equestria Never Had 
// by rillegas08 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle opened the door to the library, and she padded slowly in. Her head was lowered, her fur and feathers ruffled, her skin scratched. Spike, who had been putting the stray books away while she and the other ponies where having an adventure, watched her step on some books and kick others aside. He set the books down on the ground and walked with her.

"What's wrong, Twilight?"

"Ugh, everything went wrong today, Spike. Rarity needed help organizing her fabrics. It's such a mess in there, but she claims to know where everything is."

Spike's eyes shimmered and he smiled. "Rarity?"

Not hearing him, Twilight continued. "I helped Applejack buck apples, and then Rainbow Dash challenged me to a race across Equestria. She was leading most of the race, and we saw a lot of places I'd never had the chance to see before, but I think she let me win. So I guess not everything went wrong, but everything was tiring. Then Discord decided to play a little prank on Ponyville involving the thorns from the Everfree Forest and making one of the trees get really tall and sentient."

"I wondered why the books kept falling down. How did you and the others stop him?"

"The usual way we stop Discord since we set him free again: Fluttershy." She struggled on the stairwell up before slumping down to rest. "Can you give me a push? I've had a long day."

"Of course, Twilight," Spike replied and started pushing her up the stairs to her bed.

Twilight sighed. "It's days like this that makes me wish sometimes that I'd never been born." Seeing her horn start to glow, he stopped her, bringing her blankets up.

"Twilight, I'll take care of everything else tonight. You just get your rest."

She smiled. "Thanks, Spike. I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes." She closed her eyes, and with a yawn, quickly fell asleep.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The first thing Twilight noticed when she woke up was that she was cold. The second was that it was still night outside, although she was sure it had to have been morning already. She tried lighting the candle on her side table, but found it wasn't there. "Spike? Did you take my candle?" Yet there was no response from the little dragon. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she got up and looked around the library.

The bedsheets were rumpled and on the floor. Several boards were broken or cracked, and there weren't nearly as many books on the shelves as there were the night before. She brushed off a thick layer of dust on the table she had seen Spike place the books on the night before, and sneezed. "Spike, where are you?" she wondered. Finding the door locked, she went back upstairs and jumped out the window in her room, only to find that she no longer had her wings. In a panic, she quickly made herself hover using her magic and began walking around Ponyville, trying to find anypony who had their lights on. "Hello? Is anypony here?"

As she walked around Ponyville, she noticed the shadows of heads of other mares and stallions peeking from their windows. She called out to them, but they hid quickly, obviously in fear of something. "What's going on? Why is everypony afraid?"

"Psst!" came a voice.

Twilight looked around, sure she'd heard a familiar voice. "Hello?"

"Psst!" came the voice again, from the slightly opened door of the bakery. Twilight made her way towards the bakery but was interrupted by a loud, somewhat demonic voice.

"WHAT IS THIS? SOMEPONY WHO IS NOT AFRAID OF US?"

This was a voice Twilight recognized almost immediately: it was the voice of Nightmare Moon, the form of Princess Celestia's sister whom had let jealousy rule her. But they'd stopped Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony, bringing her back to her Princess Luna form. But that was years ago; why was Nightmare Moon still active so long after they'd defeated her?

"Princess Luna, what's going on? Why is everypony afraid?"

"PRINCESS LUNA IS NOT A NAME I HAVE HEARD IN MANY CENTURIES. I AM NIGHTMARE MOON! FEAR MY NIGHT!"

"Uh oh." Now somewhat afraid, Twilight started galloping toward the bakery, hoping to outrun Nightmare Moon long enough to get past the slightly open door. As Twilight passed, a pink hoof reached out and pulled her inside, quickly closing and locking the door behind them.

"What were you thinking, going outside when Nightmare Moon is most active?" asked the pink-maned pony with balloons on her flank.

"Pinkie, do you know what's going on? We stopped Nightmare Moon years ago. Why is she back?"

"What are you talking about? Nightmare Moon has reigned over Equestria for years!"

"But that doesn't make any sense. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, you and I used the Elements of Harmony to turn her back into Princess Luna!"

"What are the Elements of Harmony? And how does a stranger like you know our names?" Then Pinkie's eyes glittered and she smiled big with realization. "Oh wait, you're new here. I know everypony in Ponyville but I don't know yours! Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle. And never mind about the Elements and how I know your names. Hopefully I can explain later." Twilight couldn't believe her ears. Here was one of her best friends, with whom she'd spent so many adventures, not even knowing who she was. In fact, Pinkie had introduced herself almost the same way when they first met. Nightmare Moon hadn't been defeated, her wings were gone, and one of her closest friends was acting like they'd never met. Thoughts raced through Twilight's head, and soon came to a realization.

"Do you know where I can find Princess Celestia? I need to speak with her about a very powerful magic that I think only she can help with."

Pinkie's face darkened, her eyes sad. "Twilight, no pony's heard from Princess Celestia since Nightmare Moon came back. That's why everypony's afraid; anypony who can defeat Princess Celestia is too powerful for just anypony to fight. Shh, she's coming!"

Pinkie and Twilight hid under the windows, hoping Nightmare Moon wouldn't see them as she passed. Their hearts beat loudly with fear and caution, but Twilight managed to spend the time waiting to try and figure out where Princess Celestia could be. They held their positions until they were sure Nightmare Moon had finished her patrol.

"Pinkie, I'm going to try to find the princess. It'll take a while to explain, but she's the only one who can help fix this."

"I want to come with you. If there's any way to stop Nightmare Moon, it's gotta be better than this."

Twilight started to object, but stopped herself. Hadn't Pinkie helped defeat Nightmare Moon, along with the others? Then again, she'd have to keep explaining what was going on to the others as they joined the group. Not to mention that one pony can hide better than six ponies in a group. However, if gaining their trust was the only obstacle, then she knew what the most important stop was: Sweet Apple Acres to pick up Applejack, who embodied the element of honesty. If she said something, anypony knew they could trust her.

"All right, Pinkie, you can come." Pinkie started to say hooray, but covered her mouth, remembering just in time that Nightmare Moon could hear it and find them. "We're going across town to pick up Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, assuming they're all in their houses. You're here where you work, after all. After we gather them, we'll head to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack's barn will be big enough for us to find good hiding spots if Nightmare Moon finds us. And stay as quiet and as hidden as you can, okay?" Pinkie moved her hoof across her lips, a closed zipper appearing in their place and Twilight turned to the door. "Good. Nightmare Moon watches from the moon, so our best chance is to stay out of the moon's glow and off the roads as much as possible. Let's go."

Twilight slowly opened the door and peeked out, looking to both sides, but seeing no trace of Nightmare Moon. Before she exited the bakery, however, she went back in and grabbed one of the tablecloths, intending to use it as protection so that Nightmare Moon couldn't see them from above. They crept outside and started making their way across Ponyville, hiding in the shadows of buildings created by the light of the full moon.