Lessons in the Moonlight

by Harmony Split

Unknown Journey

Author's Note:

The two mares hunched over their individual papers, writing with mouth and wing in a fury of inspiration. Every few minutes, one of the two would crumple up the paper they were working on and then toss it off to the side of their table where a steadily growing pile of crumpled paper now took residence. They were writing relentlessly, no words passing between them save for the moments when inspiration would hit.

Minutes of this passed before the bat pony looked up from her paper and spat out her pen. Working her jaw from side to side for a moment, she spoke, “Okay, so we got the prologue done. Now what?”

The pegasus looked up from her finished paper and let her own pen drop before smiling, “How about a dream sequence? Oh! And how about a train?”

The bat pony deadpanned for a few moments, “What’s with you and trains?” she asked before giving a lighthearted scoff and leaning back in the booth, taking the moment to stretch.

Her companion chuckled in response, “They’re a classic setting.”

Shrugging in kind, the bat pony fiddled with the pages they had already written, thinking for a few moments. After a moment, a small grin came to her muzzle, “Alright, well how about a little bit of foreshadowing, along with a sprinkling of headache-inducing Pinkie Pie?”

The pegasus across from her gave a light laugh before picking up her pen and beginning once again.

Chapter one: Unknown Journey

The train station was only a short walk away, and you could barely call it that. It was only a small dirt path with some rails besides it. On that track, it was basically the last stop. Reaching it, I sat down and waited. For all I knew, it could be a long time until the train arrived.

Is this really what I want?

My mind had been working hard since the talk with Sugar Belle. I still didn’t really know what was missing, but I also doubted that it would be as simple as friendship. At least, I had all my friends at home, right?

Maybe this isn’t easy after all.

Lost in my thoughts, I jumped up at the whistle as the train approached. It stopped with shrieking brakes and one door opened, revealing the conductor.

“Destination?” he asked me.

“Ponyville, please.”

He grabbed a device on his side, tipping something in before pulling a lever, giving me the paper it spat out, “Here’s your ticket. That would be thirty bits, please.”

Nodding, I grabbed a few bits from my saddlebags and gave them to him, then he stepped aside to let me in. The train was almost empty, and I had no problem finding a quiet place. I sighed heavily as I sat upon the comfortable chair. Despite my jumbled thoughts, sleep soon took me, carrying me through unstable dreams.

***

As I opened my eyes, I realized that I wasn’t on the train anymore. Looking around, I noticed a small room, basked in moonlight. I also noticed that I couldn’t move. Out of the window, I could see the moon rising higher and higher, and as its light struck me, I got up, walking over to a closet. It wasn’t me that was in control, I was merely a watcher in a body.

There was a full bodied mirror within, showing little but my reflection in a blackened space devoid of the room behind me. However, it wasn’t my reflection that was startling, it was what the reflection of me was wearing.

I stood in a set of deep purple and midnight blue plate armor, which covered most of my barrel and neck in thick segmented plates. Each plate was decorative and looked ceremonial, with a trim around the edge of each plate engraved with crescent moons and six pointed stars. My hooves were covered in decorative hoof plates, reaching up my fetlocks and ending in simple leaf-patterned plates in the same deep purple as my chest plate. The front plates of my forehooves were decorated with a large crescent moon on the front of both, prominently displayed and reflecting the glow of some ethereal moonlight.

The reflection of me wore an angular and segmented helmet of the same style, with my mane pressed under the plate metal, and a fin of bat-like webbing decorated the top and trailed down the back of my neck. On the front of the helmet was a prominent crescent moon, silver and ornamental, separate from the helmet and turned onto its side so the edges of the moon were displayed almost like horns.

The reflection of me was terrifying, regal and commanding all in the same glance. I wanted to say something, asking how a dream could be so real. But still, I was only a watcher in a body. My reflection stared back at me for a few moments before smirking and turning, heading for a door.

Leaving the room, I stood in a long hallway. Without hesitation, I turned left and walked along. There were a lot of dark blue banners on the wall, all decorated with moons and stars. They weren’t helping me figure out where I was.

My steps fell harder the closer I came to the large double doors at the end of the hall. The closer I got, the more I noticed the two ponies standing beside it. They had similar armor to mine, but not as detailed, not as shimmering. They seemed more plain.

“Centurion!” they saluted as I approached them, “She is waiting for you.”

With a nod, I stepped forward as they opened the door. The light that flooded through the open doors blinded me before everything turned black as night.

***

“Miss? We are at Ponyville station,” a voice suddenly woke me from my slumber.

Blinking, I opened my eyes to look up at the face of the conductor, “Thanks, I’m up,” I mumbled, to which he nodded before continuing his way.

Giving a long yawn, I stretched my neck from side to side before standing up on unsteady legs. Certain I wasn’t about to fall over and fall asleep again, I turned and gathered my luggage before making my way towards the exit, wondering where exactly I’d be spending my first night.

The train station was nothing spectacular, kind of like the town behind it. It was small, to say the least, and very much of earth pony construction. The town itself was lined with buildings of similar construction to the train station, but with small variations that made each house unique in their own way. It was a small and seemed very simple, but it gave off a pleasant aura of homeliness.

Of course, the most impressive and imposing part of the town was the massive crystal tree that loomed in the distance. It looked painfully out of place, and was undoubtedly the location I could find Princess Twilight, considering just how regal the crystals managed to look.

The very sight of it made me gulp in anxiety. Seeing the imposing structure, even from a distance, was enough to set me on the tips of my hooves.

I should try and find a hotel first. Hmm, well the town is kinda small, I might have better luck with an inn.

Sighing, I made my way along what seemed to be the main road. It led towards a round building with a high roof. It seemed like a town center, or something similar. Maybe I would get the directions to an inn there.

Looking around, I noticed that some of the buildings seemed very different from each other. Most of the residences were old styled wooden buildings with woven roofs, but there were some that looked nothing like the residences. One such building I saw was a small, pale building with a long, green roof. The large letters spelling out ‘bowling’ made me gasp.

It’s such a small town, but it’s still got stuff to do like bowling? Nice!

Taking my attention away from the bowling alley, I started heading towards the circular building in the center of town again, making sure to glance around as I did so. As small as the town was, it seemed to offer a lot of activities and businesses that I wouldn’t have expected. I was eager to explore, whenever I had found somewhere to spend the night, of course.

It was just before I reached the building that a pink ‘something’ crashed into me.

“Oopsie daisy, sorry!” it called, jumping up and down in front of me.

“Ughh,” I tried to get back onto my hooves, but the bouncing pink pony in front of me was seriously distracting me.

“Ooooh, I’ve never seen you around before! Are you new in Ponyville? That’s so exciting, because I usually know everypony, so you have to be new! If you are new, I have to throw you a party to welcome you and invite everypony to get to know you. My name is Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”

The pink pony was speaking fast enough to make my head hurt. Really badly.

“Wait! You’re that cool pegasus from that town we went to! What are you doing here? Are you visiting us? Do you have a place to stay? Are you looking for something special? I can show you literally everything! Oh, I can help you get to know my friends! I… mpf mpf!” the pink pony was silenced by an orange hoof.

“Whiew, Pinkie! Let that pony breathe, will ya?” the orange mare said before chuckling towards me, “Never thought I would see ya again so soon, sugarcube.”

“Hey, Applejack. I might have missed it, but this is Pinkie Pie, right?” Though I had the feeling that the pink pony had introduced herself at some point during her excited rant, she had been speaking far too fast for me to pick up everything she had said.

“Yeah, she is. Pinkie, that’s Night Glider. She’s the pegasus from the small town we stumbled upon thanks to that map, ya remember?”

“Ohhhh, I know that, silly!” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up and down with renewed vigor.

“Pinkie, don’t ya have some muffins in the oven or something like that?” Applejack deadpanned.

Pinkie’s eyes widened as she let out a gasp, the pink monstrosity hovering into the air by a solid hoof for a second before she landed again, “My muffins! Bye, Night Glider!” she exclaimed. In the moments it took her to speak, she was already gone, replaced by empty space where she was before.

“What the…?” I started but Applejack just shook her head.

“Never question it. It’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.”

“And that’s… Normal?” I asked, raising a brow in curiosity.

“I don’t know what’s normal in your town, sugarcube. But here in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie belongs to the standard inventory, if ya wanna call it like that,” Applejack chuckled slightly.

I shook my head in surprise. Pinkie Pie was wild while she was in my town, but I didn’t expect that she would be even worse in her own town. Giving a nervous chuckle, I nodded, “I guess that’ll take some getting used to.”

“It sure does. So, what brings ya to our town?”

“Well, I’m on some kind of vacation and decided to come here. Besides that, I also wanted to ask Princess Twilight a few questions about friendship.”

“Ho, she’s definitely the right pony for those sorta questions. Where do ya plan on stayin’, sugarcube?”

“I don’t have a place yet. You know of one?”

“Sure do. C’mon, I’ll lead ya there,” Applejack smiled before turning and trotting off, making me have to pick up the pace to catch up to her.

The journey through town was uneventful, with no further incidents of pink disasters and headaches. Applejack was kind enough to gesture every time that we passed something she thought of as noteworthy, but I admit that I hadn’t been paying as much attention as I should have. I was busy thinking about what Applejack had said, how she had confirmed my suspicions that Twilight would be able to answer my questions about friendship.

Applejack had managed to get my hopes up about the endeavor I had set out in front of myself, but it hadn’t served to settle my unease, and to be honest it had made me even more nervous about it. Now I knew that I would get answers, but that just meant that I had to think of questions that she’d actually be able to answer. Questions that didn’t make me seem too stupid.

Why do I care if she thinks I’m stupid? She’s the Princess of Friendship, there’s no way she’d actually think that.

We stopped for a moment as a seemingly disoriented grey pegasus flew past a few hooves in front of our muzzles, disappearing into the distance. I barely recognized the sounds of a crash moments later.

But what if she does?

Applejack said something and motioned for me to follow along again. Shaking my head clear of my thoughts, I forced myself to snap out of my own mind and started following again. It wouldn’t do any good to worry about what might happen, I still had to make sure that there was a place for me to sleep at night.

I hadn’t noticed how far we had traveled, with my conscious thoughts blinding me so completely. However, it turned out that we were almost at the outskirts of town by the time I had really recovered from my anxious inner dialogue.

“Hey, Applejack? Where are we going? I thought you said you were taking me someplace I could spend the night?” I asked, turning my head to look at the farmer quizzically.

“Eeyup! And we’re just about there. Sweet Apple Acres; my home.”

We turned around one last corner to see a path towards giant fields of apple trees and wheat, all leading up to a big barn and a few other buildings.

“Uh, I’m staying at your place? Are you sure that’s alright?”

“Of course it’s okay. You’re a friend, so y’all can stay here,” Applejack chuckled as she continued her walk.

“What do I owe you for a few days?” I asked.

Applejack stopped and turned back, “Are ya tryin’ to insult me now? You ain’t gonna pay nothin’, sugarcube. But it would be nice if ya could help us around the farm if ya got the time.”

“I’m sorry,” I folded my ears back and Applejack sighed.

“C’mon. The day is nearly over, and I guess that y’all also wanna to talk to Twilight.”

Together, we walked up the laneway and towards the barn. Upon closer inspection, the barn seemed to serve an extra purpose as the farmhouse, which was likely where I was going to be staying for the next few days.

Taking a moment to stop at the front door and admire the building, a smile crossed my muzzle. It looked homey and welcoming, the sort of place that you’d expect a farmer to live. Of course, that meant that it fit the picture quite well.

Hefting my luggage into a more comfortable position on my back, I followed Applejack inside and through the halls. The farmhouse, though old and mostly made of wood, seemed very well cared for and kept tidy. It didn’t feel grungy and musty, and it smelt of fresh apple pies. I had to admit, this one building had more character than anything that was in my town before our cutie marks had been returned.

Applejack came to a stop at the top of the stairs and opened one of the doors there, leading into a cozy looking bedroom. There was a single bed with a bedside table, and a dresser underneath a mirror opposite the bed. A few small paintings and pictures dotted the walls here and there, but it gave off the feel of a guest room, not a room that belonged to any of the family members.

It was perfect.

Giving Applejack a smile as I stepped inside, I set my luggage down against the far wall and took a moment to look around the room. It wasn’t impressively massive or elaborate, but it was simple and felt like I was welcome there any time. Not to mention the view of the orchards was beautiful.

Turning on the spot to face Applejack, the smile on my muzzle only served to grow, “Applejack, this is awesome! Thank you so much!” I exclaimed gratefully.

“Come on, sugarcube, it ain’t a big deal. Anypony ‘round here would do the same,” she said, a hearty smile gracing her muzzle as much as the blush that settled on her cheeks.

“Sorry, I guess I’m not used to this sorta thing after everything that happened in my town,” I admitted honestly.

“Like I said, no big deal, sugarcube. I think y’all should go see Twilight now. It’ll get dark soon, and I’m sure that y’all would like to talk with her as soon as possible.”

I nodded quickly, “Thanks, Applejack. I’ll go see Twilight, and I’ll come back whenever I’m done over there,” I said before walking past her and trotting out to the front door quickly, “Thanks again!” I called out over my shoulders as I trotted along the path we had taken from town.

It wasn’t a long journey back into Ponyville, the farm that Applejack lived at was just outside the town’s borders. Because of this, I found myself running through the town only a few minutes after I first left the farm, and the crystal monstrosity grew in front of me the closer I got.

As imposing as the building itself was, I was aiming for something that was even more imposing. Or, at least, someone who was even more imposing. I couldn’t imagine that it was every day that Princess Twilight got visits from ponies that she saved. And even fewer visits from ponies who wanted to actually learn about what friendship really was.

My nerves were silenced the moment I came to a halt in front of the stairs. All thoughts were wiped out as I took in the massive formation, eyes wide in shock and my ears back in worry. I stood in front of the stairs, but I just couldn’t bring myself to walk up them.

Okay, why is this so difficult? I just have to get up there, knock, and ask her if she could answer some questions. No… no, she’s a princess, that wouldn’t be right. What could I do? I could simply ask her for some help? No, that sounds like I would need help for something big, and make me look dumb in front of the princess. Ugh, why do I even care? Wait… she told me that she learned a lot as a student under Princess Celestia. Maybe I can ask her to be her student? I just don’t know how Princess Twilight would react. Sweet Luna, I’m bad at this… Argh, buck this!

Forcing myself to snap out of it, I hopped a few steps at once, finally standing in front of the colossal double doors of the crystal castle. Raising a hoof, I knocked and waited. I didn’t have to wait long before the doors were enveloped in a purple aura before pushing slightly open.

“Yes? How can I…” Princess Twilight stopped, eyeing me for a bit before her eyes widened, “Night Glider? What a surprise! What are you doing in Ponyville?”

I knew it was stupid, but I did it nonetheless. Kneeling down, I looked up to see a shocked expression on the princess’s face, “Princess Twilight, you showed me and my friends a part of friendship back in my town, but I don’t know much about it. I would like to be your student and learn more about what friendship really means.”

Minutes went by, and the expression of the Princess hadn’t changed. After a while, a small dragon came out of the castle and waved a claw in front of her muzzle.

“I think you broke her,” he said after a few seconds, chuckling slightly.

Comments

[ForgottenExistance]

Ahhh! Our Magnum Opus! XD Huzzah!

[Xelos]

FUCKING CHRIST!!!

A big ass spider just jumped on my face! IT FUCKING JUMPED! ON MY FACE!!

Anyway your story looks interesting. For now I shall put it on my read later list. Now if you would kindly excuses me. I have an eight legged bitch that needs to be put in it's place.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Theory, she's somehow from the Nightmare Moon timeline.

[Base-Delta-Zero]

"What's with you and trains?"

I like trains.