"Have the weather ponies been briefed, Miss Dash?"
Dash saluted Luna as she nodded. "Light clouds ready as ordered. Not enough to block the sky, but enough to get a nice layer of snow going. We're on it."
Luna nodded in return. "Good," she said before turning towards her next two assistants. "I trust everything is ready with you as well?"
Applejack nodded, while Pinkie Pie simply beamed with delight. "Yes'm," Applejack said, "got th' mulling spices and a warming kettle on for the cider, and Pinkie's been baking her heart out all day to make sure we've got food ready."
"Most excellent!" Luna's grin was almost bright enough to light the dying dusk as she responded. "Then all that is left-"
"Has been handled, your Highness." Twilight Sparkle stepped forward, a sheaf of papers held in her magic. "The events have all been prepped, and the ponies running them briefed on their duties. Everypony is waiting for you to get to the stage to begin the evening's festivities."
"Truly, thou art a marvel, Twilight Sparkle!" Luna's eyes gleamed as she started forward. "I thank you, all of you, for your assistance. And now, let the first Winter Moon Festival commence!"

The Prompt:
Winter Night
or
Moonlit Night
or
Light the Night

Special Rule: Stories must feature Princess Luna.

This is a thirty minute writing prompt, meaning you have thirty minutes to finish your story from the time you start writing. You may take as much time as you wish to think, plan, or outline before you begin, but once the first word is on the page, the timer begins. When you are finished, post your story to this thread, and, in the tradition of the TMP mods of yore, I will read and give it a comment when I can.

Traditionally, TMP prompts would have a six to eight-hour window in which to submit, but for these legacy prompts, there will be no limit after the prompt is up. Go ahead and post something a year from now, if you like. Just bear in mind that I'm less likely to respond with feedback to anything submitted more than a week or so after the prompt. Good luck!

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TMPL66 "Portents" (first of three) by KwirkyJ

Princess Luna,

I'm sorry to wake you and I don't mean to alarm you, but I need your help in Ponyville.

Last night, my friends and I decided to spend the night in the Everfree Castle. We thought it would be fun to make some hot cider and camp out overnight in the frosted ancient halls.

Rainbow Dash said she saw some ghost-like things, but we all dismissed it -- you know as well as anyone she likes her pranks. Of course Fluttershy got scared and Applejack told her off, but Rainbow maintained that she was telling the truth.

I'm writing you now because the sun's up and we can't find Fluttershy or Rarity anywhere. It's not like them to wander off. We searched the entire castle, and nopony has seen them in Ponyville so they haven't returned. None of us are as good with animal tracks as Fluttershy, but Applejack's pretty sure that they weren't carried off by anything. Well, there weren't any tracks... nor blood.

I'll be sending a letter to Celestia immediately after this one, but I think I need your help more. I checked in the library for anything -- even ghosts. I found one lead, about the winter solstice. It said that the barriers between this world and 'a spirit world' are their thinnest at the solstice, and that you (The Princess of the Night) were the guardian. It's over a thousand years old, though...

I'm getting scared. The solstice is tonight! Nopony knows where they went, and it's cold enough to be dangerous outside.

Please help,
Twilight

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TMPL66 "[Dis]Appearances" (second of three) by KwirkyJ

There was a crack through the air of Ponyville.

Twilight jerked, the quill drawing a ragged line across the parchment. "What in Equestria?"

As in an response, Luna's amplified voice sounded throughout the castle. "Twilight Sparkle, where are thou?"

Twilight gave a concerned glance towards Spike before answering, "I'm in the main hall!"

There was another sharp crack and a concussion of wind. Luna appeared instantly, hooves braced against a crystal chair and wings splayed as if to stop herself. "Twilight," she said, "you must take me to the Castle Everfree at once. I must see the room where your friends vanished."

Twilight gaped. "P-princess Luna? How did you get here so quickly?"

"There is no time! The night is upon us. Take us to the castle now!"

"Of course…" Twilight flexed her own wings in preparation.

"Time is of the essence. Take us Between."

Twilight blinked. "Between? Between what?"

"Thou must teleport us!"

"Oh. Right."

"We slept in this room, Princess."

Luna swept into the room quickly, eyes and ears darting. "You are certain?"

"Applejack," Twilight said, pointing, "me, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike."

Looking up, Luna asked, "And this spectre your friend Rainbow Dash spoke of?"

"Uh... she didn't say. One of the halls, I think."

"One of the decayed walls? Were there gaps in the the masonry?"

"I…" Twilight frowned in thought. "I just don't know, Princess."

Luna paced, agitated, then lit her horn and froze.

"Princess?" Twilight ventured.

"Silence." Luna's voice was ice. She stood immobile for several breaths. Scarcely a whisper, she said, "Such malice…"

Abruptly, Luna turned. "Twilight, take us—" she stopped herself. "Twilight, did you have trouble in the journey here?"

Twilight again messed up her face in thought. "Maybe a little? I've never had to teleport an alicorn with me before."

"That was not me hindering you, Twilight." Luna quickly made for the exit, her wing scooping Twilight and pushing her alongside. "I fear you were correct. The barriers between this realm and… another… are most thin. Your friends Rarity and Fluttershy have been taken."

"Princess, why are we running?"

"It is the light, Twilight. The sun is setting. Stay out of the light Twilight, whatever happens."

As Luna spoke, the last rays of the sun disappeared.

"The hour has come—the night of the solstice has arrived. I must do my duty…" Luna's horn lit "The moon must rise, Twilight Sparkle, and I pity what will follow. Stay out of the light."

The pale disk of the moon cleared the horizon, its glow all but smothering the stars that had begun to glitter behind the few clouds in the sky.

"Now we run."

Their breaths were ragged. They glided between trees, their wings aiding them when able, but the path through the Everfree was long and twisting.

"The trees and clouds shelter the land yet," Luna said. "Their shadow protects us from what has become of them. Ponyville must be warned."

"Princess," Twilight said, "Who is them? Warned about what? You're much faster than me, why don't you go ahead?"

"The Nethe. The… spirits, as your fable described. They have changed. This night is not safe." She paused, helping Twilight through a hairpin turn. "And I would never leave you behind, Twilight Sparkle."

Something brushed Twilights' face, causing her to gasp. She stumbled, trying to see what it had been. A bug or spider, perhaps? Luna skidded in the snow to stop as well.

There, floating behind them in their wake was a strange creature, perhaps twice the size of a parasprite. It has a small dot for a head with what appeared to be puiplless eyes, its body a small stem flaring towards the ground. Twilight took a step forward for inspection, but Luna held her back.

"No closer, Twilight."

"Is it… dangerous?"

Luna watched it closely. "Perhaps. In this form, it is most innocuous, though the scratch on your cheek suggests wariness is to be taken. However, in the light of the moon…"

Twilight pointed to a spot of light on Luna's neck. "Like, there?"

Time stood still as a glowing filament appeared in the ray of moonlight, inches from Luna's withers, hovering like a wisp of silk. The creature's head twisted slightly to the side, as if puzzling. Luna's mouth opened as if to speak.

Then, with a sound like a sharp exhale, Luna vanished.

Twilight gawped, staring where Luna had stood. The gossamer tendril continued to hang, almost careless. The small mote of a creature drifted closer. Around Twilight, several more curls of light flowed into being, like smoke being blown into a projector's beam.

With a sharp yelp, Twilight turned and ran, not looking back.

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TMLP66 "Nethe" (third of three) by KwirkyJ

The air above Ponyville was filled with phantoms.

Twilight stood panting at the edge of the everfree, shaded from the bright low moon by the trees, peering out at the town. Hovering in the sky, the faintly glowing gossamer nebulae of the Nethe drifted as if on a breeze. Her own castle glowed with a magical radiance, filling her with hope. The light filled the immediate area, the glow reducing the wisps of the spirits into nonexistence.

"Celesta," Twilight breathed.

No sooner had the word left her lips than a flare of light blinded her from the castle spire.

"TWILIGHT," Celestia's voice boomed, "RUN TO THE CASTLE NOW!"

With an obedience Twilight wasn't aware she had ever known, she sprinted for all she was worth. Only after a hundred meters did her brain catch up to what Celestia was doing. With the beam of light, Twilight's path was being cleared. Spurred on by Celestia's urgency, however, Twilight did not lessen her pace until she was within the confines of her castle gates and shut the doors behind her.

She skittered to a stop in the main chamber, where Celestia hovered in the air, her horn brilliant with gold magic, light pouring from her body.

"Princess Celestia?"

"Twilight!" Spike, and Pinky Pie cried instantly, running over to hug her.

"Thank goodness you're here!"

"Thanks, everypony," Twilight answered. "What's going on? Why is Celestia here?"

"Celestia's keeping the castle safe from the... whatever they're called," Spike explained. "Everypony's been told to stay inside and out of the moonlight, but..."

"But what, Spike?"

"Not everypony was told in time," Pinkie Pie said, her voice shaking.

"What?" Twilight said. "Were more ponies taken? Who—" She stopped. "Where are Rainbow Dash and Applejack?"

The three just shook their heads.

"They have been taken, Twilight," Celestia said. Her voice was strained and airy with distant preoccupation. "They have been taken, and I am powerless to help them." When Twilight didn't answer immediately, Celestia spoke again. "Twilight, where is… Where is Luna? She was with you, was she not? Did she find something in the Everfree?"

"Princess…" Twilight started, caught her breath. "It was unexpected, Celestia. She was taken, too."

It was a long moment before anyone said anything. The glow from Celestia's horn flickered only once.

"I see."

"I'm sorry, Princess."

"I am certain you did your best, my faithful student…"

Twilight shook her head as her friends hugged her.

"No. Not yet…" Twilight got to her hooves again and began pacing. "Luna said to stay out of the light. That there was 'malice' about them… Celestia, what changed? Why have the Nethe only appeared now after over a thousand years?"

"Maybe because the moon is different," Pinkie Pie offered.

"That's impossible—" Twilight began, but was interrupted by Celestia.

"—Quite possible. The moon has not been cratered since my sister's return."

"But if that's true, why now? Luna's been back for years."

"I do not know, Twilight."

Twilight paced three circuits before Spike brightened. "The solstice!" he said. "It's always been cloudy this time of year!"

"Spike, you're a genius! They've been here, but they've been kept above the clouds! I remember Fluttershy saying something about a strange bug in the winter, that must have been them!"

"But that doesn't answer the question of why they're ponynapping, though," Pinkie Pie said. She shuddered, remembering how Rarity and Fluttershy had been taken. "Not a good pun."

"Celestia," Twilight said, "what are the Nethe? All Luna said was that the solstice was a time when the barrier between this world and another were at its thinnest."

"They are… spirits, Twilight. Ponies once believed that they were the souls of the dead, but even my sister and I do not know the truth. They are an enigma. Over many many years, all we can say is that they were alive and has as unique personalities as any other aware being."

Twilight paced some more and began listing the facts. "They are alive. They are probably knowing. They can be thought of as a pony's soul. They're angry, according to Luna. What's there to be angry about?"

"You mean aside from being locked away for a thousand years?" Pinkie Pie said.

Twilight stopped instantly. "What did you say?"

"Hey," Spike chimed in. "She has a point. Maybe they're just lonely? Jealous or something?"

Twilight stared at nothing for a long moment.

"Twilight?" Pinkie Pie said, waving a hoof in front of her. "Equestria to Twilight."

"I… I think I know what I need to do." She quickly hugged her friends and looked up to Celestia. "I just hope I'm right."

"Twilight," Celestia said, voice hardening, "What are you going to do?"

"Luna said teleporting would be unsafe tonight… I think I know why."

"Twi—"

There was a flash of light and the rest of her name was swallowed by the between.

Around her the sky was a sickly white fog. Black motes floated far, far overhead, like an inversion of stars. The ground-if that is what it was—stretched on like rolling sand dunes as far as she could see. She noticed that her wings were gone, and the horn on her head felt thick, like stuffed sinuses.

Not far above the horizon, visible above the strange twisting shapes that might have been trees, a hole in the sky gaped at her. Instinctively she took a step backward, as a phantom force pulled at her. She felt that if she were to jump, it would suck her up and away into oblivion. She pointedly turned away and walked quickly to the tallest landmark she could find, careful to always have one hoof touching the ground.

(TIME)

As she neared the visible crest, Twilight noticed another shape moving against the terrain, bearing towards her. At first it was indistinct but for an irregular motion, but in a matter of minutes it was undeniable. She decided against her compulsion to run or change her pace, and instead took to watching it carefully.

She paused at the top of the hill, taking in the bleak desolation beneath the sticky, radioactive light surrounding her. It was not long before her visitor arrived.

The shape was vaguely equiform. A head lifted up over a longer body, a shape suggesting a muzzle and a slope in shadow where eyes might have been. Instead of any discernable features, it, like the spectres from the Everfree, appeared as if a rumpled blanket had been draped over its entire body, the legs lost to filaments and plays of light and darkness. It would have been comedic where it not so disturbing.

"Are… Are you one of the Nethe?" she asked.

Its head tilted and gave a sound like breathing. A wisp of fabric lifted and the whole being shifted closer.

"Stay away!" Her horn lit, but the magic felt twisted up in her own head, fighting to answer her will. She gritted her teeth as the being continued to approach.

"I'm looking for my friends!"

The creature paused. Its form rippled slightly in an unfelt breeze.

"I'm looking for ponies like me that have been taken here."

The thing swelled. Two more limbs appeared, and in them two small colored figures emerged. Twilight realized it was the first pieces of color she had seen in this realm; this realization was underplayed by the colors themselves. One was a pale yellow and pink; the other had stripes of purple.

Twilight's face tightened in a scowl. "That's two of them. Did you take them?"

The thing gave another breath, shorter than the last. A laugh?

"I want them all back."

Several more limbs unfolded from beneath the figure, each carrying a small dot of color. One, larger than the others, was a deep indigo. It throbbed, as if fighting the creature that held it, and the being looked down upon it.

"That one's called Luna," Twilight said. "She told me about you. Said you were angry. It's because you're alone, isn't it?"

The creature's head canted to the side again.

"Alone. Trapped here for a thousand years. You want the company of us ponies, even if it's only for one day out of the year. Is that right?"

It shifted a few feet closer, and Twilight's horn intensified. To do what, she didn't know, but she did so all the same.

"Well, I'm here to tell you that you can, now. You don't have to take them away. They'll be there, waiting for you, if you let us return and tell them what you are. That you aren't something to be afraid of." She pointed at the indigo shape that was Luna. "Luna learned this when she came to Ponyville for Nightmare Night. I learned it when I helped save her from Nightmare Moon. Let us go, and we will be your friends!"

The creature turned to the hole in the glowing sky. It was almost directly overhead.

"The night isn't over, yet. Take us back. Take us all back, and we'll play with you in Luna's night."

The creature surged forward, and Twilight barely flinched.

"You can have what you want without stealing it. All I'm asking for is my friends."

She bowed her head and her horn flared. Glowing wings erupted from her back and her mark burned against the sickliness of the world.

A shaft of moonlight shone straight down into the Element Chamber of Castle Everfree.

Around the empty pedestal stood several ponies and a glowing shape.

"I'm telling you Applejack, I'm fine!" Rainbow protested. "I wasn't even scared!"

"I know they're not exactly a woodland creature, darling," Rarity said to Fluttershy, "but you can't say you aren't fascinated?"

Twilight and Luna stood aside one another. They shared a glance and a nod before turning to the Nethe. "So," Luna said, a smile forming, "we have a deal."

Author's Note:
This was a bit of an experiment on my part: to tell a story with a greater arc while still doing somewhat stand-alone microfics to comprise it, yet at the same time answering each of the three prompts. I think it's a bit rough, but it could be expanded into an interesting adventure tale with some attention. The premise is actually one I had given some thought to back in October, and finally putting it to use here was quite fun.

4927585

This didn't work like I thought it would, but it's not terrible I guess. I looked up and it was Wednesday, I feel awfully late!

The glow around her horn faded, and the moon began its ascent again.

It was the beginning of a new night for Equestria. For her Equestria.

Nightmare Moon looked up at her moon, and at the craters in the shape of her dear Sister's face. So it had been for two centuries now, and none remained that challenged her rule or even remembered the sunlight at all.

So it should be.

Her guards knew better than to disturb her work, and would not open the door of her chambers. So for now, she could stare up at the white globe above, and remember.

She had been there for a thousand years. Her Sister's two hundred years were only the start for the other alicorn. Nightmare Moon knew her sister, she knew Celestia would never repent or apologize. It would not matter now if she did. She made her own fate when she had sealed Nightmare Moon away.

The moon shone pale in the sky, providing the light for what may as well be 'day' for her subjects.

Even now, in her way, Celestia helped them.

However, instead of the usual seething hatred, Nightmare Moon felt... nothing.

The moon was as it had been, for twelve hundred years now.

The Princess... Queen, really, that was in command of Equestria had changed. The ponies had changed, becoming more batlike as time moved on. The culture had changed, the foliage was changing.... But the moon was still there, unchanged.

Princess Luna stared upward at the moon.

She could still remember her Sister's face when she had returned. The shock, the fear... Nightmare Moon had been certain that there was some trap, or some ploy that Celestia had planned, but none had ever materialized. After banishing Celestia, there had been scattered resistance, a few rebellions held together by powerful or charismatic leaders, but they had all failed. Nightmare Moon had spent centuries planning her return, and yet there was no true fight. No battle to overcome.

Luna stared still at the white, cold light of the moon.

Was it the same for Celestia as it had been for her?

The anger, the resentment, the solitary misery, watching from inside the moon at a world you could never touch?

The guilt?

Princess Luna could almost feel her power waning at the very idea. Had she been guilty? Did Celestia regret her actions?

She wished she could ask her. She wanted to know. She wanted to speak with her Sister, she wanted to hear...

What?

An apology? For a thousand years of imprisonment?

Recriminations? To see her Sister angry and give her an excuse to banish her elder Sister to the moon again?

Just... to see her sister again? Not as Princesses, not as rivals to the throne, not as enemies, but just... as they had been, before?

Princess Luna shook her head to clear it of such thoughts.

Nightmare Moon took one last, long look at the moon in the sky, and then turned to open her chamber doors and make her way to her throne.

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4937418
4939425
I'm not the actual reviewer this week but I did want to say that I enjoyed this little story. It had a good mix of horror and action, and a bit of pony-style friendmaking, too. It was a fun read!

4934988
Short but sweet - Twilight's letter contains just enough information to whet the appetite. Although I do wonder - given that Flutters and Rarara appear to have been 'spirited away' before the Solstice itself, just how thick does the barrier have to be in order to separate the two worlds properly?

4937418
Action time begins. Luna's apparent panic fits with the previous scenario nicely, and her insistence on Twilight's moving rapidly makes sense if she's trying to get there before the long night begins. (Side note: 'Between'? Is this Dragonriders of Pone, or am I just showing my ignorance of other usages?)
I would question something - given the apparent danger, what binds Luna (in-verse) to exact timing on her moonrise? I would think she could delay it for a bit, but her statements in the story indicate otherwise. If that's the case, then who's really in charge of the rising and setting of the sun and moon?

4939425
And Twilight takes the friendship battle to the enemy, tearing straight into the spirit world to face down the creature(s?) that stole her friends from her, and talks it into giving them back. I'm kind of confused; are the Nethe individual beings (implied by Celestia), or are they outcroppings of a single being? I got the feeling Twilight was speaking less to a representative (ruler or ambassador), and more to a collective consciousness, which leaves that a bit uncertain.

Overall:
An interesting tale, and woven well together.

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Vengance loses its savor fairly quickly. I'm not surprised that Nightmare Moon is past the point of feeling anything when contemplating Celestia's imprisonment. It is interesting, though, that the Nightmare part seems to be wavering - I'm assuming this version is entirely Luna's personal darkness, rather than the external thing some make of it. But the anger that drove that darkness has started to run dry... how much longer will it be before the last flickers die, taking Nightmare Moon with it, and leaving only Princess Luna behind, either to guilt and grief, or, trying to avoid them, to madness?