Project Re-Do

by akajulester

The Night Arrives

"Surprise!!! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh?"

Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly in front of Twilight.

"Yes, Pinkie, I was." Twilight looked around the library. "You really didn't have to go through all of this just for me. Thank you!" Twi spotted the rest of her future friends around the punch bowl, Rainbow placing an open bottle of a red liquid next to it. So THAT'S who put it near the punch bowl! Rrrggggggggg, Rainbow Dash! She trotted over to Rainbow, and cleared her throat. Rainbow jumped, making the other mares giggle at her expense.

"H-heya, Twi."

"Why were you putting that bottle of hot sauce so close to the punch bowl?" Twilight asked suspiciously.

"Nothing!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Let me guess: you were hoping that somepony would just blindly pour a random liquid into their glass of punch?" She shook her head. She picked up the bottle with her magic, and with a poof, it was gone. "Honestly, if you want the punch to be spiked, you should spike it yourself." The other four laughed as Rainbow groaned with embarrassment.

"Hey, at least I'm not an egghead living in a LIBRARY."

"What's wrong with livin' in a library?" AJ asked.

Rainbow stared at her. "Uhh, it means you're an egghead, obviously."

Rarity raised an eyebrow at that. "I was not aware that enjoying a good book or two was suddenly the worst possible thing."

"Ooo! I LOVE reading," exclaimed Pinkie excitedly. "Especially cook books and fantasy stories and howtoplanpartybooksand-"

"I actually like to read animal-care books," said Fluttershy softly, as Pinkie continued to ramble on, "and some ro-" she suddenly stopped and blushed somewhat "umm, I meant, uh, I like animal books." Rarity shot her a knowing look, which caused her to blush further. Rainbow dragged a hoof down her face.

"Ugh, whatever. Just know you'll never catch ME ever reading a book in the history of forever."

"Are you sure about that?" Twilight asked. "I'm sure I could find you a good adven-"

"La la la la la," sang Rainbow obnoxiously, "I can't hear youuuu!"

AJ rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Twi, but there's no use tryin' to talk some sense into her. Ah personally believe that the only thangs she's ever read and ever will read are weather reports, and even then, she barely glances at 'em."

Twilight giggled. "Oh, that's alright." She whispered in AJ's ear, "Besides, I bet I can get her into the Daring Do series at some point." When AJ looked at her uncomprehendingly, Twilight followed up with, "It's an adventure genre series by A. K. Yearling, and I think that she would like it, if she gave it a chance."

Rarity cleared her throat, regaining Twilight's and AJ's attention. "Regardless of Rainbow's opinions about reading, I would like to get to know you a bit more, Twilight." The other five mares turned to her interestedly.

"Yeah, me too!" Pinkie bounced excitedly. "All I know is thatyourefromCanterlotandyouliveinthislibrarybecauseyou OBVIOUSLY like books!" SHe suddenly gasped dramatically. "OH MY CELESTIA!!! I never asked you when your birthday is!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Actually, it's December 3rd."

"Thank ya, Twi-Twi!" Pinkie then preceded to grab a notepad and pen out of her mane. She held the notepad with the tip of her curly mane, and began writing with her mouth. Once finished, she inserted both items back into her mane, leaving everypony else completely confused.

"Ummm, Pinkie?" asked Rarity cautiously. "How exactly did you-"

"Do what?" Pinkie looked at her innocently, confusing them further.

"N-nevermind, it's not that important anyways." Rarity turned back to Twilight. "Do tell us about yourself, darling."

Twilight looked at the excited faces of her friends. Rainbow looked mildly interested, contrasting Pinkie's exited look. She began to tell them about her life; her life as the protegé of Celestia, her friends in Canterlot, etc. She then got to her cutie mark.

"...and I would have failed too, if it hadn't been for that sonic boom..." Twilight adopted a fake ponderous look, as the other five suddenly started.

"D-did you see a rainbow??" Rarity asked shakily.

Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I didn't see it at the same time, but there was a beautiful one when I looked out the window."

AJ gasped. "Ah saw a rainbow pointing back to home!!" When the others looked to her in confusion, she further explained herself. "Ah was livin' with mah Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehatten for a few days, an' Ah wanted tah go home, but Ah couldn't remember the way. Ah was looking out mah window when day when Ah saw the most beautiful rainbow Ah ever did see pointing back to Ponyville." She took off her Stetson hat and placed it over her heart. "Ah knew that Ah was meant to help run Sweet Apple Acres, and Ah got mah cutie mark soon as Ah got back."

Fluttershy tapped her chin. "Now that I think about it, I heard a giant explosion and saw a rainbow right before I got my cutie mark too."

"OOOH OOH OOOOOOH!" shouted Pinkie excitedly. "I saw one too!! And a sonic BOOM made my hair all poofy!!! I threw a party for my family, and I got my cutie mark!!!!!"

"I had lost all hope until that sonic boom and rainbow happened..." Rarity added. "It burst open this giant rock, and inside there were hundreds of beautiful gems! I just knew that I had to add them to the outfits I had made for the school play, and voilà! My cutie mark appeared!"

Rainbow tossed her mane proudly. "Weeellllllll, I was losing a race - crazy, amirite? - and then I suddenly got this HUGE burst of speed and performed a SONIC RAINBOOM!!!"

Twilight gasped. "But that move hasn't been done in over a thousand years! The last pegasus to actually do it was Commander Hurricane!"

"Heh-" Rainbow spread her wings and put a hoof to her chest - "I'm just that awesome."

Pinkie gasped, and threw herself onto Rainbow. "We all owe our cutie marks to you!"

"Do you realize what this means?" Fluttershy smiled warmly at the whole group. "All of us had a special connection before we even met."

Rarity giggled. "I guess we've been fated to become friends!"

Pinkie grabbed all of them into a large group hug, Rainbow blushing and Rarity grumbling about her mane. Twilight looked over to Spike, who was awkwardly standing off to the side. She smiled at him, and motioned for him (as best as she could while in a Pinkie Hug) to join in. He blushed heavily as Rarity scratched his head spines affectionately.

The rest of the party was spent chatting about themselves, and playing all sorts of fun games. Pinkie pretty much destroyed them all during Pin the Tail on the Pony. After her 10th win, Rainbow threw her blindfold onto the floor with an aggravated yell (and there was much rejoicing). However, it was soon 4:30 am, about half an hour before Celestia would raise the sun. The mares, now becoming fast friends, all made their way towards the Town Center, as Spike slept lightly on Twilight's back. Once they had got into the building, Rarity and Fluttershy departed for their posts for the ceremony, and AJ headed over to the snack area to look after it, Rainbow, Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie following her.

Pinkie bounced around, giddy with excitement. "Isn't this EXCITING?! Are youexcited'causeImexcitedIveneverbeensoexcited-- well, except for the timethatIsawyouwalkingintotownandIwent-" she gasped very loudly - "but I mean really, who can top that?"

Pinkie was cut off by Fluttershy leading her bird chorus into a fanfare. The mayor stepped onto the platform on the floor, and began her short speech.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" The ponies gathered let out an excited cheering at this statement, stamping their hooves. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!" Twilight looked nervously up at a window, and witnessed the Mare in the Moon suddenly vanish from her place in the moon.

Okay, I can do this. It'll be easy, much easier than the first time...

"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..."

She's not that great, Twilight thought irritatedly.

Fluttershy turned to her birds. "Ready?" she whispered.

"...Princess Celestia!"

Rarity pulled back the curtains to a burst of bird fanfare, revealing the empty balcony that was inevitable. She did a double-take on the empty area, letting out a "huh?" of confusion. The ponies in the throng began murmuring nervously to each other, but Twilight remained silent, staring at the balcony, waiting.

The mayor looked nervously around the room. "Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!"

Pinkie, however, was quite unperturbed by this sudden change in events. "Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games! Is she hiding?"

Rarity, who had gone further back, behind the balcony, came back into view. "She's gone!" Everypony let out a shocked gasp. Pinkie turned back to Twilight.

"Ooh, she's good." However, Pinkie's happy-go-lucky attitude quickly evaporated as soon as she saw a blue mist climbing onto the balcony. She let out a startled yelp. The ponies gasped again, this time with more fear.

Here we go... Twilight thought, bracing herself.

The blue mist suddenly grouped together, forming a black alicorn with the blue mist acting as her hair, and with silver-blue armor upon her. She spread her draconic wings, and looked down upon the gathering of ponies.

"Nightmare Moon," Twilight whispered to herself. She felt Spike suddenly leave her back with a fainting sound.

"Oh, my beloved subjects," said Nightmare with a mocking tone to her voice. "It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces."

"What did you do with our Princess?!" Rainbow went to fly up to her, AJ just barely grabbing her tail.

"Whoa there, Nelly..." she said, muffled by Rainbow's tail.

Nightmare let out a chuckle. "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"

"Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, BLACK SNOOTY-" Pinkie was cut off by AJ shoving a cupcake into her mouth, her muffled voice still proclaiming this phrase.

Nightmare went over to Fluttershy, her mane scaring off the birds. "Does my crown no longer count now that I've been imprisoned for a thousand years?" Fluttershy cowered. She then turned to Rarity, the tip of her mane brushing Rarity's chin. "Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"

"I did!"

Nightmare was startled by Twilight's sudden outburst, and turned toward her. Everypony else stared at her as well.

"And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon! Nightmare Moon!"

Author's Note:

I made Twilight's birthday the air date of Sweet and Elite. I don't know what the calendar is in Equestria, or how it works (don't get me started on the moons business. I assume it means a full moon cycle, which is about a month, so there's no way for the Apple Family Reunion - nevermind, that's an issue for a blog post lol), but I'm just going to use our normal human one.