"Elements of Harmony...Come on, there has to be SOMETHING!" Twilight searched through book after book at a frantic pace, only interrupted when Rainbow Dash nearly bowled her over.
"And just what ARE the 'Elements of Harmony'?" She glared at Twilight, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon?"
"Perhaps if you give her some space, she could enlighten all of us." Snape droned, eyeing Rainbow with thinly-veiled contempt. The sky-blue pegasus turned on him, magenta eyes glaring daggers at the lanky man.
"And you! You're even more suspicious than Twilight. The day before the Bogeymare comes back, you pop up out of nowhere! If anypony's a spy here, I'm betting on you."
"Ah reckon' she's got a point..." Applejack's glare matched Rainbow's in intensity, which Snape dutifully ignored. "Ya definitely don't act like no decent pony. An' yer covered in all black, jes' like Nightmare."
"See? Even Applejack says he's got 'lackey' written all over him!" Rainbow crowed. Both of Snape's eyes twitch.
"Girls!" Twilight shouted. "He looks strange, yes...And he's a bit mean...and smells funny..." Snape scowled. I will not curse the unicorn. I will not curse the unicorn. "But the fact remains he hasn't actually DONE anything to hurt anypony."
"Yet." Rainbow muttered.
"Actually..." Rarity started, looking a bit uncomfortable. "He saved me from a nasty fall earlier today. If he hadn't intervened, I could've been seriously injured."
"I don't think he's so bad..." Fluttershy nearly whispered from behind her mane.
"He's really good at Hide n' Seek!" Pinkie added, a wide grin on her muzzle and a large book balanced on her head. The book was levitated to Twilight, her eyes widening.
"Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide...Pinkie, where did you find this?"
"It was under 'E'!"
Snape and Twilight's eyes twitched simultaneously, identical thoughts running through their heads. That's NOT how books are organized...
Neither noticed the other's discomfort. Opening the book, Twilight cleared her throat. "The Elements of Harmony are six incredibly powerful magical artefacts, used by Princess Celestia to banish her mad sister to the moon. Only five of the Elements are known: Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. The last known location of the Elements is the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters in..." Twilight gulped, the words stuck in her throat. "...The Everfree Forest."
"Then I suggest we alert the authorities and have these Elements secured, so we can figure out how to use them." Snape declared, looking over the assembled ponies.
"There's no time for that! I need to get them as soon as possible!" Twilight galloped away, leaving the library door hanging open. Snape tried to speak, but the other five had followed before he could get a word out.
Snape had a flashback of a young trio of Gryffindors wandering repeatedly into mortal peril. It's like Potter, Weasley, and Granger...but there's SIX of them. Snape refused to cry. But he really, really wanted to.
"Insufferable, aren't they? My sister," Nightmare's voice spat the word like a poison as she materialized from a shadow, "did them no favors by coddling them for the past thousand years."
Snape refused to turn and face her. "I didn't hear you come in."
"It's amazing how easy it is to move unnoticed when nopony is paying attention." Nightmare nearly purred, a predatory smirk adorning her face. Snape narrowed his eyes at hearing his own words thrown back at him.
"You've been in my mind." It was a statement, not a question. "I'd prefer you didn't." He was somewhat unnerved. He hadn't felt anything break through his Occlumency barriers.
"The mind has always been my domain, Severus Snape. You'd do well to remember that." She slowly walked a half-circle around him, until she could see his face. Snape gave an internal smirk at that. If she was accommodating him, that meant he could gain control of the conversation.
"What are you after?" He asked.
"Did you not hear me speaking about the 'Eternal Night'?" She raised an eyebrow, almost daring Snape to say something stupid.
"You're not an idiot, so you know plants need sunlight to grow. Seeing as ponies are herbivores, their food-source dying out would present...immense complications. Somehow, I doubt you would be content to rule over a massive graveyard."
Nightmare looked mildly surprised. "Clever colt..."
On a roll, Snape continued with, "If the day and night cycle has continued uninterrupted since you've been banished," Nightmare hissed lightly in warning, "that means Celestia can exert some control over both the sun and the moon. Assuming you two are roughly equal in power, it would be easy to say you can control the sun as well."
"And?"
"If you're playing up the Evil Queen act now, the most logical course of action to cement your rule would be to 'suddenly' show mercy and bring the sun out yourself. At that point, releasing Celestia would redeem you in the eyes of the populace while simultaneously proving yourself stronger and kinder than your sister, with the argument that you could have easily left her to rot for a thousand years like she did you...but you're better than that."
"...You are an interesting creature, Severus Snape. Don't move. I'll be right back." And with that, Nightmare dissolved into a wisp of purple smoke and darted off towards the forest.
Snape let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Bloody ponies...