//------------------------------// // Reunion // Story: Plan B // by SpongeOfManyColours //------------------------------// For Zecora, the loneliest times were when she was in Ponyville itself, though at least at night she could somewhat understand it. Even though she was on the main street, and she could hear the clop clop clop of hooves and the ruckus of idle chatter, there was not a soul in sight. The main road was basked in shadow, the houses becoming blocks of black and the grass a dull grey. Only a few of the houses had the lights on, and all of them were silent. There was only one building that they could all be in, the one building with enough space and lights to accommodate them all, the one building that made any sound; the town hall, towering and imposing in comparison to the simple cottages around it. In a major city like Zecora’s own Timbucktoo or one of Equestria’s metropolises, this hall would be dwarfed entirely, but in this town it was a giant standing proud and mighty in a world of little children. Impossible not to notice. Like Zecora herself, she reflected, though not in one very important aspect. She knew that her presence was cause of fear among these ponies, the reason unexplained to her, and the town streets parted and emptied whenever she ventured here. She stuck out like a sore thumb, and was impossible not to notice. But the town hall was a welcoming place. It was accepted as part of the landscape by the residents of the town. And Zecora? A zebra? An outcast. An anomaly. A creature to be feared. She had come into town, hoping that the chemist that she acquired her rarer materials hadn’t closed, though they had simply, as always, left the items she needed on the doorstep and took her money when she was gone. At least this time she didn’t hear the pony whimpering on the other side of the door. And why, she thought, did she always come anyway? She could get it delivered to her doorstep and save herself the humiliation and the ponies the embarrassment. “It is because thou ventures here in hope. Are we not correct?” Zecora wheeled around. The voice was not in her head, so it was not her mind responding to its own train of thought. There stood a pony, taller than any Zecora had seen her travels. Her form was obscured by a mass of grey rags, though the coat of her legs was visible. Just barely though; they were the same dark blue as the night sky behind her. The voice itself was soft, though there was an antiquated edge to it. Zecora felt uneasy but chose not to antagonise; though there was an undoubtable sense of danger, there was just something about this pony that almost wanted to make Zecora bow. She was regal and exuded importance and grace. “A perceptive pony you must be, to so quickly gain a read on me,” Zecora said. “Thou art far from home, zebra. Loneliness recognises loneliness,” the pony explained, before tilting her head curiously. “What is thy name?” “My tall companion, my name is Zecora. Timbucktoo is my original home,” the zebra replied, looking up. “And, if I may be bold, what do I call you? Is Ponyville your home?” “No, it is not,” the pony said calmly. “And thou shalt address me as Princess Luna.” Zecora’s eyes widened upon hearing the name. “Zecora, we know thou art well-versed in magics. Thoughts, dreams and imagination are our domain. We know you are familiar with our unfortunate legend.” “I… I…” The zebra backed away slowly, fearing freezing over her heart. The pony removed her hood, and Zecora stopped. Luna’s expression was impossible to read, though it was powerful and compelling. Her brow furrowed, but not in anger, and her lips tightly locked together. It was the face of authority, but a calming one. “No harm shall come to you, Zecora. Or indeed to any of our subjects.” “… forgive me for my surprise, Princess Luna,” the zebra hesitantly explained. “It is taught as myth in zebra culture.” “And doth the zebras refer to ourselves as Nightmare Moon, like the ponies do?” Luna asked. Zecora’s answer was enough. “Luna and Nightmare Moon are part of the same whole, it is true. She aids me, I aid her.” She looked to the town hall. “Heed our lesson well, Zecora of Zebrabwe; ponies are fearful and judgmental. They are not welcoming to what they do not understand. You cannot simply languish behind and hope they cast their gaze to you; you must help them understand.” “You cannot not bring eternal night,” Zecora pointed out, her voice becoming lower and more confrontational. Luna looked to her, seeming disappointed. “Even you know none can survive without light. The ponies, the crops, the animals, all will weep; is that really the harvest you wish to reap?” “The night will only last until they understand,” Luna said testily, before marching towards the town hall. “Do not attempt to stop me. I will be confronting a very powerful pony, and this could be dangerous.” Zecora continued to back away, glaring at Luna’s coat as it began to blacken. The zebra snarled, but did indeed turn and flee. Luna turned to watch her go, only stopping when the zebra had vanished from sight, before she began her march to the town hall again. Mayor Mare stepped aside, a beaming smile on her face, and the curtains fell away. Then, there was a gasp; no one was there. All of the eyes in the room snapped to the space Princess Celestia was meant to be in. A silent panic began to set in, though it was broken swiftly. “Ok, sorry. I couldn’t resist.” With that, Princess Celestia emerged from the second set of curtains behind, to a cheer of both relief and joy. She had a serene smile on her face, one of a calm elated. She looked on every pony in the room like she was a proud mother. To all in the crowd, she seemed to be nurturing, patient and overjoyed to be here. Though behind the smile, there was a wide-eyed terror. She gave a polite wave of her hoof, twisting it a few times regally and softly, the applause yet to die down, but all the while she was waiting for a crack of thunder, and for a beam of magic to swoop in and destroy all the proceedings. And every second the attack didn’t come, the worse she felt. What was Nightmare Moon waiting for? What could she be planning? No sooner did the claps and cheers begin to dim, however, that she heard it. The slow, repeated beats of a very sarcastic clap. Soon, as the applause ended from one pony at a time, there was only one pony still bringing hoof to hoof. One that soon had the attention of the entire room, as she stood at the now open door like a late arrival at a wedding. “Sorry I’m late, Celie,” Nightmare Moon said, her voice booming across the town hall. “About 1,000 years late. Still, good to see that the rightful ruler of Equestria is greeted with such enthusiasm.” All of the ponies in the room immediately backed away, trying to get towards the door. “Nightmare Moon,” Celestia said, barely restrained anger in every syllable. The black alicorn nodded back. “You will not threaten the lives of my subjects. Now release your control over Luna, or you will…” “In good time, Celie, in good time,” Nightmare Moon interrupted, waving her hoof and casting an eye across the room. There were a few ponies that popped out in particular. Two ponies, huddled together in the corner and looking into each other’s eyes, had only just now noticed her. Another couple just stood, slackjawed, while a third consisted of a rainbow-maned Pegasus being restrained by the tail. Under a nearby table, two sets of small eyes, the eyes of mere foals, stared back at her. However, one face was conspicuously missing. “So, where’s this student of yours? I’ve never seen her before, could you help point her out, or did you just decide to go with plan B?” Princess Celestia was completely silent, but there was a small hum emanating from her horn. “Plan B it is,” Nightmare Moon commented, a smirk coming to her face. “Just as well, throwing children at me wasn’t a stellar battle plan.” She then turned back to her sister, and grinned at the glowing horn. “Really? You’re going to start blasting, in a room full of your precious subjects? You really don’t have much concern for their safety, do you?” “That’s what the first spell is for.” The moment she heard it, Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes, intentionally appearing nonchalant as Celestia’s magic snapped around her hooves and shoved her back at a speed unlike the wingbeats of a hummingbird. The town hall was only just visible, but Nightmare Moon looked straight forward, to the white speck in the doorframe. A speck that was quickly growing, approaching. “Ok, I take it back, your student might have started with something more impressive,” she said spitefully, before weaving out of the way of the oncoming Celestia, her horn pointed outwards like a lance. The eyes of the princess widened in shock as her tail was illuminated with a blue magic. She tried to wriggle free of Nightmare Moon’s control, but she was quickly shot through the air like she was on a centrifuge, and connected to the hard ground with an almighty SMACK! Nightmare Moon had a wide grin on her face. “Well, this was easier than –” Kaaaaa-POW! Nightmare Moon was flung into the air, letting out a loud grunt of pain. Her teeth gritted, she had to use her wings to steady herself. Celestia charged upward, her wings beating furiously. Nightmare Moon fired a series of small bolts of off-white lightning from her horn, all of which were easily dodged by Celestia. Celestia, teeth bared in a spiteful snarl, continued to fly upward, but was suddenly struck from behind as the missed bolts turned around and slammed into her back. She was thrown up rather than flying up, and Nightmare Moon easily caught her with a single hoof and flung her to the ground. There was a tremendous THUD when the white alicorn met mud and stone, and Nightmare Moon flew down, firing more bolts at the besieged Celestia. Celestia was hit by one as she rose, then dodged the rest. She watched Nightmare Moon get close, and her horn lit up fantastically. A ball of flame was suddenly catapulted towards Nightmare Moon, but the dark alicorn grinned. She very quickly gave a spin in the middle of the air, and the fireball was thrown back towards Celestia. Her heart leapt to her throat and she was forced to deflect it with her magic, but it gave Nightmare Moon the perfect opening. Her hoof crashed into Celestia’s cheek as she dropped, before she turned and booted Celestia in the chest. The white alicorn was thrown back, rolling onto her back and almost digging her head into the ground. Nightmare Moon smiled; even though Celestia was not knocked out, and the two were trading blows, she could always tell that Celestia was tired and out of practise. When she was Princess Luna, she could remember the many battles Celestia had with her, but now she appeared like an aging brawler; out of practise, out of shape and out of their league. Pathetic, really. “So, it turns out that excessive cake eating DOES affect magic,” she cruelly sniped. Celestia just looked up, something that made Nightmare Moon hesitate. It was a miserable look, her eyes wide and welling with tears. A small part of Nightmare Moon, the part she recognised that Luna’s consciousness, wanted to reach out. To apologise, and to aid what she saw as a tyrant. “No. This time, I win, and Equestria falls to me,” she thought, her eyes narrowed and her horn glowing. Her sister, the fur of her chest singed and still smoking from the fireball, looked down. BLAM BLAM BLAM! Nightmare Moon felt three objects bounce off her skin, but the force! They threatened to rip her head off, they were that fierce. Any normal pony took a shot like that, and they could be dead. She looked over to see a creamy pony, half of the first of the three couples she saw, with an unfamiliar weapon in hand, the barrel smoking. “Want more, ugly?!” Bon-Bon asked, twirling the gun in her hand. Bon-Bon didn’t know when she managed to pull herself away from the bottomless pit that were Lyra’s eyes, but when she did she found Princess Celestia in trouble. Whatever the circumstances, watching her employer being attacked was a guaranteed way to lose her position, so she attacked fearlessly and doggedly. However, she was forced to pause when she saw the bullets bounce off. With the way Nightmare Moon had weaved away from the bullets, it wasn’t not painful, but it was certainly concerning. Then, over her shoulder, there came a green beam of magic from Lyra. Nightmare Moon deflected this as well, but was looking somewhat surprised. “Stay away from the princess!” Nightmare Moon was now forced to watch as two little foals, a boy and a girl respectively, suddenly charged out of the door, screaming a number of different battle cries as they made their approach. Their tiny legs carried them like they were being chased by demons, but Nightmare Moon just smirked. In the corner of her eye, she could see a rock begin to float in the air, thanks to her magic. She threw the door, but a great grey blur obscured the two children, and suddenly the space was empty of life. The rock slammed harmlessly into the ground, and above it was a grey Pegasus. Though the pegasus’ eyes were pointing in two different directions, she looked for all the world incredibly fierce. Then Nightmare Moon was flung back by another bullet, this one to her snout. “Gyaaaah! That almost went in!” She shouted in irritation, before looking to her five assailants. She gave a cold cackle. “Wow! So, Celie, you do have supporters!” She looked to the fallen princess, who was watching with a grim look on her face. Nightmare Moon let out a small chuckle, sadistic in the curl of her lips. “Heh heh heh! Well, I think this is a mere distraction from the main event.” The white princess’ eyes widened as her entire body began to be lifted off of the floor. Bon-Bon leapt forward, loading her pistol as she did. “Off of her! Now!” She shouted, but she was ignored. Nightmare Moon simply grinned to the princess. “Let’s go home.” Bon-Bon was still flying through the air when there was a loud “ZIP” sound, and both Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon were gone. Before she could control herself, Bon-Bon landed straight onto the ground, head first as she collapsed into a tangled mess of her own limbs. Immediately, a green aura surrounded her, and she was put on the ground. “Bon-Bon!” Lyra shouted urgently. Something about that voice melted every bone in Bon-Bon’s body, as she suddenly found herself staring at the mint unicorn. “Are you ok?!” “Only when you’re here,” she said, before correcting herself. She forced herself to be far more stern. “I mean, yeah. Thanks for the assist.” “Who… who was that?” The grey Pegasus asked. Bon-Bon was about to give the answer of “I don’t know,” but stopped herself before she opened her mouth. A light bulb went off in her head, and she looked over her shoulder to where the black alicorn once was. A determined grimace slowly came to her face. “Come with me to the library,” she said enigmatically. She then looked to Lyra. “You too. This is a long story, and no matter what, if I’m going to have a chance of fixing this, I need as many ponies as possible to hear this…”