The Seventh Element

by PaisleyPerson

Chapter 2: Nightmare Moon

Chapter 2
Nightmare Moon

I quickly fell into the regular routine of eating breakfast at Sugar Cube Corner before heading back to the Carousel Boutique to help with the decorations. Some days were longer than others, and sometimes we didn’t work on the Summer Sun Celebration decorations at all. Sometimes I helped her with a new line of dresses. I wasn’t much of a fashionista, but I toiled over the detailing until it was perfect. On these occasions, she paid me with a small gem despite my protests. I earned generous wages in such a manner, even though I was only supposed to be volunteering.

The money I earned was readily put to use in refurnishing my house. My evenings were spent fixing the place up. On a few occasions, Rainbow Dash even offered to come over and help. I was forced to accept her assistance in replacing the many missing shingles on the roof; even my ladder wouldn’t reach high enough. She also painted the highest points I couldn’t get to. Once the white basecoat was down, though, I rejected any offered assistance in working on the exterior designs. That was the fun part! It took me the entire weekend and then some, but I finally got the front outer wall finished. Then and only then did I bring Rainbow Dash back to help coat it in fixative to protect the paint from the elements.

The image it displayed the stunning colors of both dawn and dusk, with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna positioned at either end like in the old days. Between them lay the beautiful landscape of Equestria, with every type of pony I could think of positioned somewhere in between. The traditional earth pony, unicorn and pegasus were stationed dead center, standing dutifully in the middle of it all. Off in a river I added a hippocampus, or merpony, if you will, and a hippogryph out at the borders of gryphon territory. You could barely notice the mythical aponi amongst the flowery meadow. They were tiny ponies with butterfly wings only thought to exist in legends. Disguised back in the far reaches of the Everfree I even camouflaged a thestral, though I doubted anypony would notice. It was a risky move, but I couldn’t resist. Everypony marveled at the work, and my five new closest friends in particular offered praise that made me feel like I was flying.

Speaking of flying, I was developing a problem. My disguise kept trying to give out on me. Suddenly, I would get the sudden urge to grow my wings back out. It wasn’t voluntary, but occasionally, they just sprouted. I called it a wing spring. Whenever I got the sensation, I had to excuse myself and run to find a private spot to hide out until it had run its course. It typically occurred once or twice a day, and once at night while I was asleep. This made life particularly difficult for me. On top of that, I was feeling the effects of staying on the ground for so long. I missed the sky, and longed to jump back up to soar among the clouds. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. Maybe a quick night flight wouldn’t hurt every now and then.

Before I knew it, the Summer Sun Celebration was upon us. Rarity had postponed one too many decorating days, and we had to pull long hours the day before to move the banners from her boutique to the rest of Ponyville. Still, it was getting done, and we’d be on time. There hadn’t been much talking going on today, which was unusual for Rarity. She was too focused.

“No, no, no, goodness, no!” she said again and again. I heard hoofsteps, and noted that she had a new visitor. For once, she was paying her customers no mind as she sorted through the adornments for the banners.

“Good afternoon,” the purple unicorn began. She had a darker purple mane and tail, streaked with pink and both were currently frazzled as though she had just lived through a tornado. Her cutie mark displayed a pink six-pointed star surrounded by smaller pricks of light. Her purple eyes were kind but businesslike as she spoke. She was accompanied by a baby purple bipedal dragon with green spines.

“Oh, Acrylic, could you get that, please! I'm 'in the zone', as it were.”

“Sure thing, Rarity. How can I help you?” I turned my attention to her customer, doing my best not to stare at her wind-matted mane.

“I was actually hoping to speak with Rarity about the decorations,” she said.

“I see. She’ll be with you in a moment.” I set myself to work with another banner in an attempt to keep from staring.

“Oh, yes! Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why, Rarity, you are a talent. Now, um, how can I help y- OH!” She squealed upon looking her visitor over. “Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?!”

“Oh, you mean my mane? It’s a long story, but I’m just here to check on the decorations, and then I’ll be out of your hair.”

“My hair? But what about your hair?” Rarity instantly abandoned her work and dragged the newcomer out the door.

“Wait, where are we going? Help!” The young dragon followed them in a rather dazed state. I also put down my ribbons and joined them to see what I could catch of the conversation.

As it turned out, Rarity had brought the unicorn out to the boutique. Along the way, I’d managed to introduce myself, and learn that her name was Twilight Sparkle. Rarity’s usual chit chatter hadn’t allowed me to say much else, however. I was instantly put to work by Rarity to go fetch different clothing items for Twilight, as I had come to know the shop quite well. While I had procured everything she told me to, none of the outfits were accepted. Luckily, Rarity’s makeover had included hairstyling, and Twilight’s windblown mane returned to normal. It was kept straight, and cropped so perfectly that it looked recently cut, though by the split ends I could tell she needed one soon.

“No, no, uh-uh. Too green. Too yellow. Too poofy. Not poofy enough. Too frilly. Too... shiny. Now go on, my dear. You were telling me where you're from.” Rarity was putting poor Twilight through all of the costumes in an attempt to find her one that would suit her. I assumed she wanted to welcome Twilight with some accessory as she had me. Now she tried tightening a corset that barely allowed Twilight to breathe.

“I've… been sent… from Canterlot... to…”

“Huh? Canterlot? Oh, I am so envious! The glamor, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it! We are gonna be the best of friends, you and I. Well, you me and Acrylic of course.” Rarity had come to think of us as best friends, even closer than our group of six. She had scooted closer to Twilight, but then made the mistake of looking down on her work. “Emeralds?! What was I thinking? Let me get you some rubies!” Rarity dashed off in search of the desired outfit.

“You’ll have to forgive her. She likes dressing up models when she’s stressed. I’ll go make sure she doesn’t pick something too…extravagant.” I trotted off to find Rarity among the sea of clothes. I’d seen a dress I personally thought would look great on Twilight, so I took it off the rack and tried to talk Rarity out of the excessive ball gown dappled in the red gems. By the time we got back, we found her to have disappeared anyway.

“Oh, dear,” Rarity fretted. “Do you think it was something I said?”

“No, no,” I assured her. “She did say that she was sent to check up on the preparations for the entire Summer Sun Celebration. She’s probably busy, and needed to get back to it.”

“Yes, you’re quite right, Acrylic. Well, we’d better get back to Town Hall.”

“I think we’ve about finished there. If you do the last finishing touches, I’ll gather the remaining supplies and meet you back at the plaza.”

“Alright. We should start at Sugar Cube Corner and work down the street. All the shopkeepers want their stores to look fabulous for the Princess’s arrival.”

“HEY GUYS!” Pinkie Pie burst through the door, seeming to hover in the air as she screamed for us.

“What is it, Pinkie Pie? We’re quite busy.”

“There’s a new pony in town! We’ve got to plan a welcome party for her!”

“You mean Twilight Sparkle? Yes, we’ve just met her. A charming pony, and from Canterlot, no less!”

“Ooh, a city pony! Anyway, I’m planning a welcome party for her, but I don’t know where she’s staying.” Pinkie Pie pouted, drawing circles on the ground with her hoof.

“She’s staying at the Golden Oaks Library,” I offered, recalling the bit of information Rarity pried from her during our conversation. I wondered if that was how Pinkie found out where I was living.

“THANKS! Pinkie bounded back out the door, but returned momentarily. “Oh, and you’re both invited for a surprise party there at three o’ clock sharp. Don’t be late!”

“You think we’ll be finished by then?” I asked.

“Well, we can certainly try. Come on, then. We don’t want to be late for Twilight’s party.” Indeed, I didn’t. The ponies had been so kind to me at the time of my party that I wanted to be sure and return the favor.

The street decorations didn’t take so long because of how spread out it all was. After we dashed back to the boutique to put things away (and by put away I mean pile in a corner for later), we headed straight for the Golden Oaks Library. Rarity had to lead the way because I didn’t know where it was. According to her, it hadn’t been open for years. We were the last ones in, and accidentally triggered a false alarm. Everypony jumped out and confetti spewed everywhere. When the lights came on, though, there was a painfully loud “Aww,” throughout the audience. Pinkie Pie was perhaps the most disappointed by our appearance instead of Twilight. I flattened my ears.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“Oh, that’s okay,” Pinkie bounced right back up. “Okay, everypony! R-r-r-r-reset!” She rolled her R’s dramatically, as if she were directing a show. She even had the loudspeaker for it. I took part in sweeping up the confetti and stuffing it back into the cannons. The lights were turned back off, and everypony huddled in the shadows. I’d taken a spot between Rainbow Dash and Rarity, and though we were supposed to be quiet, the white unicorn kept whispering the whole time we waited. It wasn’t until the door opened that she shut up. This time, we waited to make sure we had the right pony before jumping back out.

“Huh. Rude much?” I heard Spike the dragon mutter. Their voices were muffled, as I was all the way at the back.

“Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time! I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now, where's the light?” Perfectly on cue, Applejack hit the switch and we all jumped up.

“SURPRISE!” As per the norm, Pinkie was the first to greet the party guest.

“Surprise! Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“Very surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet.”

“Well, that's silly! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, bo-ring! You see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all ‘Hello’ and I was all,” she inflated her lungs to their fullest extent, “remember? Ya see I never saw you before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville!” Twilight only let out a barely audible groan. My guess was that Pinkie’s mile-a-minute speech was getting to her. “And if you're new, that meant you haven't met anypony yet, and if you haven't met anypony yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, then I had an idea, and that's why I went,” she sucked in another of her famous deep gasps. “I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everypony in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!” Our little clique had gathered behind her, and Pinkie bounded over. Twilight had just finished pouring herself a drink, and took a big sip. When she turned around, her face was becoming flush and her eyes watered.

“Are you all right, sugar cube?” Applejack asked. Without answering, Twilight took off, storming up the stairs.

“Aww, she’s so happy she’s crying!” Pinkie Pie beamed. Spike picked up the jar Twilight had taken a drink from.

“Hot sauce?” he read. “Ooh.” Pinkie Pie tipped the bottle over to dump the stuff until it completely coated a cupcake. She then proceeded to stuff the whole thing in her mouth.

“What? It’s good!” We all rolled our eyes at her.

I waited for Twilight to come back down for a good ten minutes before giving up and returning to the games. I hadn’t really gotten a chance to actually socialize with her. Rarity had kind of taken over the whole operation. Her dragon Spike, on the other hand, I found to be extremely fun, and he took part in all the activities Pinkie Pie had planned. There was no shortage of those, because we were staying up all night in order to be ready for the Celebration early in the morning. Pinkie Pie had saved her favorite for last: pin the tail on the pony.

“I wonder where that Twilight’s gotten off to,” Applejack wondered as the blindfold was tied around her eyes.

“Yeah. She’s missing out on all the fun!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I’ll go see if she wants to play,” Spike dutifully offered, marching off. He looked rather comical with an excessively oversized hat he’d won as a prize seated over his head. He kept bumping into ponies’ legs along the way with the cover over his eyes.

Spike returned just as we were all filing out the door.

“Twilight didn’t want to play. Hey! Where’s everypony going?” he asked disappointedly.

“It’s time for the Summer Sun Celebration. We’re going to Town Hall to watch the Princess raise the sun!” I gleefully offered. Rarity had me worked up over the event. This was my first Summer Sun Celebration. I wanted it to be the best ever!

“Oh, okay! I’ll get Twilight!” he dashed off faster than the first time; partly because his hat flew off in his haste. Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and I all waited for the new girl by the door, and we headed out together.

We found a good spot in the center of the crowd, where it wasn’t quite so packed. Rarity was not with us on the floor; as head of decorations, she had the honor of lifting the curtain for none other than the Princess herself. Fluttershy had gone to conduct her birds for the opening ceremony, but even Rainbow Dash took to the air to conserve floor space. Pinkie didn’t seem at all concerned about saving space, and earned herself a wide bubble of open floor by her erratic bouncing.

“Isn't this exciting? Are you excited, 'cause I'm excited, I've never been so excited-- well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went,” she swallowed about as much air as I had seen her do yet. “But I mean really, who can top that?” I giggled out of excitement, though Twilight groaned. I tried to ignore her. I wasn’t going to let her negativity spoil my first celebration. Fluttershy started her birds, and the spotlight shifted to the center of the stage. All went quiet as we waited for the ceremony to begin.

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” Ivory Scroll began, “as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!” I stomped my hooves as loudly as I could along with every other pony in the Town Hall. “In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria...” Fluttershy prepared her birds and Rarity yanked on the curtain. As the spotlight moved to the balcony platform, though, nothing but empty space was brought to light. I nickered in confusion. Everypony else was letting out frightened murmurs and gasps. The mayor was worried, so I was worried.

“This can’t be good.” Twilight flattened her ears and sank to the floor.

“Please remain calm, everypony,” Ivory Scroll attempted to soothe. “There must be a reasonable explanation.”

“Ooh, ooh! I love guessing games! Is she hiding?” Pinkie bounced.

“She’s gone!” Rarity reported, returning to the balcony from checking the back.

“Ooh, she’s good,” Pinkie declared, brows furrowed in a determined, mischievous manner. Her expression changed to one of fright as her baby blue eyes returned to the balcony. She led us in squealing in terror as the swirling, writhing mass of a blue shadowy entity began to form. From it soon burst a dark black alicorn with slightly bat-shaped wings. Purple eye shadow lined her turquoise dragon-like eyes. She wore menacing, cold blue armor that left no space for her mane and tail, though that did nothing to dissuade the blue masses from sticking to her. The blue entities were formless, but gave the impression of constantly blowing hair. Her cutie mark was that of the crescent moon behind a swatch of night sky that looked suspiciously like my purple blob of paint. Even more conspicuous was how closely the mark as a whole resembled that of Princess Luna’s of old. I tried desperately to remember the old pony tales my parents told me, but failed to recall anything helpful.

“Oh no! Nightmare Moon,” Twilight gasped. Spike promptly fainted and toppled off of her back.

“Oh, my beloved subjects,” the alicorn, hissed in an attempted sickeningly sweet voice. “It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces.”

“What did you do with our princess?” Rainbow Dash instantly accused.

“Whoa, there, Nelly,” Applejack got a grip on her tail before the pegasus charged off to do something she’d regret. The alicorn only chuckled with dry amusement.

“Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?”

“Ooh! Ooh! More guessing games!” Pinkie elatedly cried. “Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty!” Applejack promptly shoved an apple in her mouth in a successful attempt to get her to be quiet. The alicorn shoved her face almost up against Fluttershy’s, scaring off the birds and making the young pegasus wish she could turn invisible.

“Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?” She switched over to Rarity; coddling her chin with the incredibly malleable mass of energy she called a mane. “Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?”

“I did.” Twilight stepped up, and all eyes turned to her. “And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon- Nightmare Moon!” We all gasped. I’d heard her say that, but I thought it was just some kind of Canterlot outburst. I didn’t think she really meant it was Nightmare Moon in front of us! Even I knew she was bad news.

“Well, well, well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here.”

“You’re here to… to…” She couldn’t seem to be able to bring herself to finish the sentence. She let out a loud gulp instead. Nightmare Moon only laughed.

“Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!” Maniacal laughter then ensued, and thunder crashed from above. Lightning ripped across the sky for emphasis as a swirling vortex of wind surrounded Nightmare Moon and made her look more terrifying than ever. I shrank back, shuddering in the alicorn’s commanding presence.

Comments

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

FOR THE FREAKING RECORD. Nightmare Moon DOES NOT, REPEAT DOES NOT HAVE BAT WINGS! Her's are a standard alicorns. WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP SCREWING THAT UP!?

[NightFlower]

5244324 they are idiots thats why

[Truthseeker]

5244324 You are quite right, her wings have feathers.

[PaulAsaran]

While a rehash of what we already know is... well, y'know... I must applaud you for working so hard to merge Acrylic into the episodes so perfectly. I know from experience how hard that can be.

[Lord_01010000]

5244324
To be fair, the story said bat-shaped wings.

From it soon burst a dark black alicorn with slightly bat-shaped wings.

And they are, somewhat, pointed and curved like a bat's towards the tips.
fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/144/e/d/nightmare_moon_by_90sigma-d50wufj.png

[shadowstar618]

6005779
and it looks like she has some membrane at the tips.