//------------------------------// // The Worst Night Ever Part 1 // Story: The Tale of the Second Alpha // by Bergen //------------------------------// The alicorns stared awkwardly at each other for a couple minutes, until the elder one coughed and began to speak. "What... what can I help you with, little sister?" Celestia said to her little sister, placing the magic mirror on her bed. "We wast just wond'ring how thou was doing." Luna said, speaking in the third person. Still not adjusted to the speech patterns of modern times. "I'm not doing that much sister." Celestia said standing up from her feather bed, and walking over to her little sister. "That's good to hear..." Luna said, looking down at her hoofs. "Are you sure you don't want to ask me about anything else my dear sister." Celestia said putting a reassuring hoof on her little sister's shoulder. "Sist'r, we hast notic'd that thou hath spent moon, and moon timeth with this unic'rn by the nameth of. . . Moon Danc'r is it." Luna said, still not looking directly at her sister. "Yes... what about her little sister." Celestia said to her little sister, with a confused look on her face. "Well... we heard that thou made her the headeth scientist on..." Luna said to her sister, pausing half way as she looked around to make sure no pony could hear them. "a c'rtain corky cater-cousin of ours." Luna said to her sister, in a whispering tone, talking about the Alpha. "You are correct, my sister." Celestia said, still trying to understand where her sister was going with this conversation. "We're just conc'rn'd that ye are putting too much trusteth into a pony that thou barely knows." Luna said to her sister, a little concern in her voice. "Relax Luna, I wouldn't have made Moon Dancer the head scientist, or even showed her him. If I was one hundred percent certain that she was the best pony for the job." "Then wherefore didn't thou telleth thy star student, Twilight Sparkle about this?" Luna asked her older sister. "Twilight might be more qualified then Moon Dancer, but Twilight is prone to overreacting, and neither of us can risk our citizens learning about the Alpha." Celestia said to her little sister. "Or at least, until he reawakens." Luna said to her sister, looking down at her hoofs. "Hey, chin up little sister, I know it must have been hard to put your only true friend under that spell. But you got to stop beating yourself up about it." Celestia said, putting a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "It's not that sist'r. It's just that we believe that our subjects still seeth us as... while Nightmare Moon." The princess of the night said, looking into her older sister's pink eyes. There were a few moments of awkward silence until Celestia finally found her words. "Luna, I can promise you that none of our subjects still see you as Nightmare Moon. In fact, I doubt that, which many of our subjects even know that you had come back as Nightmare Moon." Celestia said to her little sister, making her give her older sister a slight smile. "Thanketh thou sist'r, we thinketh that we really need'd to hear that." Luna said to her elder sister, turning to leave her quarters. Celestia watched her sister leave, and then called out to her as a thought popped into her mind. "Luna!" "Aye, what is it, eld'r sist'r" Luna said, turning back, slightly surprised by her sister's outburst. "I was just wondering if you would like to join me at the Gala this weekend?" Celestia asked her sister, awkwardly rubbing her left foreleg as she did. The Princess of the Night's eyes widened as she heard her older sister. "We … I wouldst be hon'r'd to assisteth thou in the gala." Luna said, making Celestia smile. "That's great little sister. I will handle all of the greetings and all that other boring stuff, while you can go build some relationships." Celestia said happily, while not wanting her sister to fall right back into the darkness that turned her into Nightmare Moon all those years ago. "Thanketh thou sist'r i guesseth that we, shouldst geteth all of our things ready f'r the gala." Luna said to her sister, before quickly removing herself to avoid having any more awkward conversations. "I hope to see you there, dear sister." Celestia called out to her little sister, as the blue alicorn trotted away. Luna only looked back at her older sister and gave a half-hearty smile, before looking back down at the floor of the castle. "We sure hopeth so, sist'r, we sure hopeth so." Luna said to herself. A week has passed since the two alicorn princesses had their first real discussion in weeks, and the Mane Six were busy preparing for the Grand Galloping Gala. "Ah! I... can't... believe... the Grand... Galloping... Gala... is... tonight!" Pinkie exclaimed, jumping up and down on a trampoline. "Pinkie! Please stop shouting, I'm trying to concentrate." Twilight said to her pink friend, reading a spell book. "Pinkie Pie! Stop that right now. It's time to prepare for the Gala, and I refuse to let you put on your new dress when you're all sweaty." Rarity said scolding the hyperactive pony. "What's Twilight doing?" Pinkie more asked all the ponies and dragon present. "She's got an awesome magic spell she's been working on for the Gala." Spike said to the pink earth pony, being intentionally vague when answering. "Where are the others? It's getting late." Rarity said, at the exact moment that Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy arrived. "Hold your horses, girl. We're here." AJ said using a bad horse pun. "Perfect! I'm ready." Twilight said closing her spell book. "For what?" Rainbow Dash asked the purple unicorn. "All right, Spike." Twilight said to her dragon assistant. "An apple! Are we having pie?" Pinkie said as Applejack put in front of Twilight. "Shh, just watch." Spike said to the pink pony. Twilight's horn then glowed magenta as she cast a spell on the red apple. After the spell was finished the apple was turned into a red horse-drawn carriage, obviously trying to reference Cinderella. The rest of the Mane Six stood in awe of the pure beauty of the magic that Twilight created. "Thanks. But that's just the start." Twilight said, awe from her friends as a complement. "Fluttershy, did you bring your friends?" Twilight continued, asking the yellow Pegasus. "Yes. Will they be safe, Twilight?" The yellow Pegasus asked the purple unicorn, with a few of her animal friends. "You have my word." Twilight said to Fluttershy, with a smile. Twilight's horn then glowed again with her magenta magic as she cast a spell on the mice Fluttershy had brought. "Ta-da!" Twilight said as she transformed the four mice into weird mouse horses. There was a less excited. "Oh. Uh. Ah. That's a choice. Interesting." Said by the five other ponies. "Neat, huh? And don't worry. They'll be mice again at midnight." Twilight said to her friends. "Opalescence, no!" Fluttershy said as Rarity's white jumped on one of the mouse-horses making them bolt. "Wait! Come back!" Twilight called out to the mice-horses. "Those horses were supposed to pull our carriage. How will we get to the Gala?" "Whatever shall we do?" Rarity said in an intentionally over the top tone. "Uh... ahem. Excuse me. Uh, would you boys mind pulling our carriage to the Gala?" Rarity and asking two stallions (one a light brown the other gray) to pull their red apple carriage thing. "Oh. Yeah. Right." Twilight said sheepishly as the two stallions pushed the apple carriage. "My Little Pony, My Little Pony. Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh..." A song sings as Twilight and Spike rode in a pink hot air balloon through the clouds to Ponyville. "Wait, why I'm I doing the intro. This isn't an actual episode of MLP, this is just a fanfiction I'm writing that just happens to take place at the time, and in the same universe." A white dragon with green eyes that looks a lot like a white panther, says while typing a few words on a keyboard of a laptop. "All while fuck it." The white dragon said while creating a horizontal line and starting a few paragraph as if nothing happened. Anyway, the Mane Six were busy getting dressed for the Grand Galloping Gala, with Spike waiting outside the door to the dressing room. "Come on, you guys. Let me in!" The purple dragon said knocking on the door. "Sure thing, Spike." Rainbow said with a pink towel on her head, going to open the door for Spike, only for Rarity to stop her. "Heavens no! We're getting dressed." The white unicorn said standing in front of the door. "Dressed? Uh, beg pardon, Rarity, but, uh... we don't normally wear clothes." Applejack said, using logic against the fashion pony. "moan... I'm sorry, Spike. Some of us do have standards." Rarity grunted, opening the door for the baby dragon. "I still can't believe we're gonna be at Canterlot tonight. Our hometown, Twilight! And the best part is that we all get to hang out together all night long!" Spike said happily as the six ponies were busying getting their manes finished. "Uh... I-I don't know, Spike." Rainbow said to the young dragon while sitting on an orange bed. "We'll just have to see." Rarity said to Spike, putting on of her artificial eyelashes on. "We're gonna be a mite busy." Applejack said, busy polishing Fluttershy's hoofs. "Busy having fun!" Pinkie said taking her head her out of one of the hair dryers. Her hair was flat and wet for an only a few seconds, before popping back to it almost bubblegum like appearance. "Oh. Okay." Spike said both bored and disappointed. "Don't worry, Spike. We'll all get to spend some time together." Twilight said trying to cheer up her number one assistant. "Great!" Spike, exclaimed as the setting shifted to Canterlot as a certain yellow unicorn and her friends were also getting ready for the Gala. "Are you sure this isn't a little too much?" Moon Dancer asked the pink fashion pony, Orchid Jewel. As the fashion pony put silver crescent moon shaped earrings that look a lot like her cutie mark, on the young unicorn. "Of course my dear, you and your friends are going to the most prestigious celebration in all of Equestria, and you need to look your best." Orchid Jewel said to Moon Dancer as she put final touches on all the ponies' dresses. "You look beautiful Moon Dancer." Twinkleshine said as the yellow unicorn walked out of the dressing room wearing her gala dress. "Thanks Twinkle, I guess we should get going." Moon Dancer said looking up at the clock which read, 6:15. "Yeah, I have to be there by at least 7:30, just to make sure that the Gala goes smoothly." Lemon Hearts said, a little frustration in her voice. "You ok Lemon, you seem on edge." Minuette asked Lemon Hearts, as she put the last pieces of makeup on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that every party the castle has hosted has been sabotaged in some way by Princess Celestia." Lemon said burying her head in hooves out of frustration and lack of sleep. "Why would she do that?" Twinkleshine asked Lemon. "I don't know, I guess she just gets bored from all the formalities." Lemon said to the ivory unicorn. "So I guess we better get going." Minuette said after a few moments of silence. The three ponies left the dress shop, with Moon Dancer still inside talking to the fashion pony. "Moon Dancer, ya coming." Minuette asked the yellow unicorn, poking her head in the door. "Yeah, I'll be right behind you guys." Moon Dancer said to her friend. The blue unicorn then left the store completely as the yellow turned back to the fashion pony and asked her. "This dress is beautiful, but how did you make it." Moon Dancer asked the pink fashion pony. "I actually got inspiration for the design after I saw a similar dress made by another fashion pony from Ponyville, Rarity I think that was her name." The fashion pony said, tapping her chin with her hoof. "Well, I better get going." Moon Dancer said looking out the window to see her friend waiting outside impatiently. "I hope to see you again, Miss Dancer." The fashion said as the yellow unicorn began to leave her store. "As do I, Miss Jewel." Moon Dancer said back leaving the store. "So can we get going?" Minuette said, and the four gathered into a white horse drawn carriage as they rode to the castle that towered over Canterlot, all them excited for attending their first Grand Galloping Gala. The four ponies arrived at the castle, and there wasn't that many ponies there. The only ponies there being the servant and party planners of the Gala. "Thanks for dropping me off girls, you all can go back to the café the Gala doesn't start for another few hours." Lemon said to her friends, hopping out of the Gala. "Ok, we'll see you later tonight Lemon." Minuette said from inside the carriage. "Thanks, Minuette, but I think I'll be too busy to mingle. But I will hope to see you guys. Lemon said before trotting off toward the towering castle. The three ponies then road to the café in town and spent the next few hours drinking hay smoothies, and for the first time that week Moon Dancer actually was part of the conservation. A collective thought popped into both Minuette and Twinkleshine's minds as they heard Moon Dancer ramble on about some of the weird things Princess Celestia does in her spare time. "Maybe she is giving this whole friendship thing a try." And Moon Dancer was smiling the whole time throughout it, and not a forced smile, a genuine smile filled with happiness. A few hours passed and the Mane Six were on their way to Canterlot for the Grand Galloping Gala. "'Cause I planned out my insider's tour of Canterlot. I've gotta show Rarity the crown jewels, and Applejack the Princess's golden apple tree. And Pinkie, we gotta go to my favorite donut shop." Spike said rambling on as he drove the carriage. The rest of the mane six were busy talking in the carriage to hear Spike. "Then let's get moving! Hyah!" Spike said snapping the reins on the carriage. "Excuse me!?" The light brown stallion said to Spike. "Um... I..." Spike responded sheepishly. "If you weren't friends with our neighbor Rarity... Hmph." The gray stallion grunted as the ponies arrived at the Gala a few minutes later. The carriage arrived at the Gala and Spike jumped off the carriage the door for the six ponies to walk out. "Wow! You all look amazing." Spike exclaimed as he saw the six ponies in their respective dresses. Fluttershy was wearing a lime green dress with light blue highlights. The dress' collar was in the shape of a light blue butterfly that matched her cutie mark almost perfectly. She wore earrings that look identical to the light blue butterfly on her collar. She wore shoes on her hooves that were the same lime green color, and seemed to resemble vines. She also had small flowers in her pink mane, to slam home her connection to nature and animals. Applejack wore a green dress that showed her rustic background while still being fashionable enough for the Gala. She wore a green cowgirl-like dress that included a saddle. Apples riddled the dress, with the collar being a red apple. AJ also wore green cowboy boots in the same style as the dress. Even her hat was fashioned up for the Gala. Rarity's dress was up-the-top in every which way. She wore a magenta dress with gold highlights. "Hell why am I even doing this you people know what they look like." To sum it up as quickly as possible; Rarity's dress makes her look like the princess trying to get her prince charming, Rainbow's looks like a warrior from Greece, Pinkie's is an over-the-top party dress with candy details all over it. And Twilight was wearing a blue dress with five stared details of a lighter color of blue. She wore light blue shoes with star details on them, along with light blue star earrings. "I can't believe we're finally here. With all that we've imagined, the reality of this night is sure to make this... The Best Night Ever!" Twilight exclaimed as fireworks exploded over Canterlot. "At the Gala" Twilight sang as music seemed to appear out of nowhere. "At the Gala" Background ponies sang in unison. "At the Gala In the garden I'm going to see them all, All the creatures I'll befriend them at the Gala" Fluttershy sang as she night dreamed about what the gala would be like. "At the Gala" Background ponies sang in unison. "All the birdies And the critters They will love me big and small We'll become good friends forever Right here at the Gala!" Fluttershy sang as she night dreamed about spending time with the many creatures of the Canterlot Gardens. All our dreams will come true Right here at the Gala, At the Gala. Backgrounds ponies sang in unison as the song switched to Applejack. "At the Gala (It's amazing) I will sell them (Better hurry) All my appletastic treats (Yummy yummy) Hungry ponies (They'll be snacking) They will buy them (Bring your money) Caramel apples, apple sweets (Gimme some) And I'll earn a lot of money for the Apple family!" Applejack sang, with background ponies singing during the same time. All our dreams and our hopes from now until hereafter, All that we've been wishing for will happen at the Gala At the Gala" Background stallion unicorns sang in unison. "Seriously I'm been writing that a lot." A white dragon thought to himself before he continued writing. "At the Gala All the royals, They will meet fair Rarity They will see I'm just as regal at the Gala." Rarity sang as she also night-dreamed about the Gala. "At the Gala" Fashionably dressed background ponies sang in Rarity's night-dream. "I will find him, My Prince Charming, And how gallant he will be, He will treat me like a lady, Tonight at the Gala!" Rarity sang as she dreamed about meeting Princess Celestia's nephew, Prince Blueblood. "This is what we've waited for to have the best night ever Each of us will live our dreams Tonight at the Gala At the Gala." More background ponies sang, now at the size of a small choir. "Been dreamin' I've been waitin', To fly with those great ponies. The Wonderbolts, their daring tricks Spinning round and having kicks. Perform for crowds of thousands. They'll shower us with diamonds, The Wonderbolts will see me right here at the Gala!" Rainbow Dash sang as the Wonderbolts flew overhead. "All we've longed for All we've dreamed Our happy ever after Finally will all come true Right here at the Grand Gala At the Gala." The same background ponies sang as the Mane Six got closer to the party. "I am here at the Grand Gala For it is the best party. But the one thing it was missing was a pony named Pinkie. For I am the best at parties, all the ponies will agree Ponies playing Ponies dancing With me at the Grand Gala!" Pinkie sang as she bounced up and down in excitement. "Happiness and laughter at the Gala, At the Gala" The background ponies sang, as Pinkie hopped passed. "At the Gala (At the Gala) With the Princess (With the Princess) Is where I'm going to be (She will be) We will talk all about magic and what I've learned and seen (She will see) It is going to be so special As she takes time just for me (This will be the best night ever!)" Twilight sang about meeting the princess, as the choir of background ponies sang in unison. "Into the Gala we must go We're ready now, we're all aglow Into the Gala, let's go in and have the best night ever Into the Gala, now's the time We're ready and we look divine!" The choir of background ponies sang as they marched in unison toward the castle. "Into the Gala." Fluttershy and choir sang at the same time. "Meet new friends." Fluttershy sang. "Into the Gala." Applejack and the choir sang at the same time. "Sell some apples." Applejack sang. "Into the Gala." Rarity and the choir sang at the same time. "Find my Prince." Rarity sang. "Prove I'm great. Pinkie, Rainbow, and the choir sang at the same time. "As a Wonderbolt is." Rainbow sang. "To meet!" Fluttershy sang. "To sell!" Applejack sang. "To find!" Rarity sang. "To prove!" Rainbow Dash sang. "To whoop!" Pinkie Pie sang. "To talk!" Twilight Sparkle sang. "Into the Gala, Into the Gala, And we'll have the best night ever! At the Gala!" They all sang in unison, as fireworks exploded over Canterlot. "Yeah! This is gonna be the best night ever. You know why? Cause we're all gonna spend time at the Gala to... gather. Or not." Spike said happily hoping that he would spend most of the night with the six ponies. Only for them to ditch him, to follow their dreams for the night. "We're almost there, we're almost there!" Minuette exclaimed, barely being able to contain her emotions as their white carriage got closer to the gala, as more fireworks exploded overhead. "We heard you the first time Minuette." Twinkleshine said to the blue unicorn. "Sorry, this is just my first Gala and I want to make the most of it." Minuette said as she tried to calm herself back down. "This is our first Gala..." Twinkleshine began to respond when a gray stallion opened the door to their carriage as they arrived at the Gala. "Watch your step maladies" The stallion said as the three unicorns trotted out of the carriage. "Wow!" Minuette said in awe as she looked onto the massive castle that towered over the city. The three ponies trotted toward the Gala and entered the ballroom. The three ponies were greeted by the castle's announcer. "Announcing the ponies of Canterlot, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Moon Dancer." The announcer said as the ponies entered the ballroom. "Hey, isn't that Lemon." Twinkleshine said seeing a yellow unicorn across the ballroom. "I think it is. Come on lets go catch up." Minuette said, and the two ponies trotted off in the yellow pony's direction. "Hey, Moon Dancer are you coming with." Twinkleshine asked the studious pony. "No, you guys can go hang out. I just hang around here for now." Moon Dancer responded back, making the face of Twinkleshine fall. "Well ok, have fun Moon Dancer, I guess." Twinkleshine said back before she trotted off to catch up to Lemon Hearts. Moon Dancer didn't want to abandon her friends, but she needed to discuss important matters about the Alpha with Celestia, and the Gala had distracted her from telling the princess. Moon Dancer trotted toward the Princess, who standing at the top of the mane staircase in the castle greeting the more important guests. Moon Dancer stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the pony standing next to the princess. The pony was a pony she hadn't seen in over three months. The pony was purple unicorn wearing a dress very similar to the one that Moon Dancer was currently wearing. The unicorn was currently doing her best to chat with the princess, always getting interrupted by her having to greet more ponies. She stared at the unicorn for who knows how long. She only managing to say one word as she stared at the purple unicorn with a darker purple mane (with two small streaks in her mane, one purple, and another pink). "Twilight."