S4 CH 8. Old meets new
“You’re kidding, right?” Moondancer asked, cocking an eye.
“I-I know,” Twilight said sheepishly. “But it’s not like I’m that important or anything, I--”
“It’s just for a week,” Moondancer said. “They’ll need you.”
“I-I’m sure there’s plenty of ponies who can plan a wedding,” Twilight said. “And--”
“But there aren’t many ponies who can be your brother’s little sister or Princess Cadence’s favorite sister-in-law. In fact, there’s only one,” Moondancer said with a small smile. “Especially considering they want to make it a whole shindig.”
“But Pinkie Pie said she’d--” Twilight was silenced with a hoof over her mouth.
“I’ll be fine,” Moondancer said. “I’ll see you in a week.”
“B-but you only just got back,” Twilight said softly. “I can’t just leave you alone with her.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not going to, huh?” Bon Bon’s voice came from the door.
“Huh?” Twilight asked, looking at the earth pony. “Wait, when did you—”
“I’m doing a bit of work here in town,” Bon Bon said. “I got permission to stay in the castle this week. You know, with my old friend.”
“And then I think Lyra is staying for a week. After which Twinkleshine intends to,” Moondancer said in a flat, unamused tone. “You know, I SEE those residency requests. I know exactly what you ponies are up to.”
“Oh, I know,” Bon Bon said happily. “Doesn’t change anything, though. She’ll be fine, Twilight. I give my word. We don’t intend to let anything happen to Moondancer. Especially when we only just got our friend back.”
Twilight gave a small smile, though the trepidation was clear on her face. “Are you sure? I mean, Nightmare Moon can be a bit of a hoofful and--”
“It’s fine,” Moondancer said. “I’ll be fine. I promise. Just please, go. You need to pack for this trip and get Spike ready. You are taking him, aren’t you?”
“Of course, I--” Twilight stopped. “Wait, should I leave him? I mean, this is--”
“Just gooooo,” Moondancer said before giving her a light nudge with her hoof. “I’ll see you in a week. Then I’ll expect to see quite the event when the wedding does happen. I do hope I’ll be invited.”
“I think everypony is going to be invited,” Twilight said with a sigh. “I really need to talk with Pinkie about the guest list. I don’t even KNOW half these ponies. Apparently Cadence has been making friends with all the crystal ponies and THAT’S another bundle of, ugh. Right. Fine. Please, keep her safe?” she asked, looking to Bon Bon.
“I won’t let anything hurt her,” Bon Bon said with a small smile. “Go on. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can get back. Then we can panic about something else.”
“I’m not panicking, I’m excited!” Twilight said before giving a giddy hop and then galloping off. “Panic comes later!”
Bon Bon watched her go before shaking her head. “Oh, she is going to have three, possibly even four full meltdowns by the end of the week. Calling it now.”
Moondancer gave a light snicker. “Probably. I uhhhh… thanks. By the way. I mean, ummm…”
“Don’t,” Bon Bon said before giving her a light wither nudge. “You’re my friend, Moondancer. I’m… just sorry I haven’t been much of a friend lately. We all are. We shouldn’t… have let you do all this yourself. We should have stepped in. We just thought you were better if we… gave you space.”
“I would have been a lot worse off if anything else happened to any of you,” Moondancer said softly. “You were all there for me, every time I needed you. I failed, though. I… I let you all down. Once everything went, once this Nightmare started, I don’t think I could have kept going if not for you.”
“We’re not leaving you alone ever again,” Bon Bon said. “So… that thing Nightmare Moon gave you. Is uhhh… are you good? Errr…”
Moondancer blinked before, very softly, she gave a nod. “Yeah. I think… I’m good.” She’d slept by her teacher. It had been nice, but strange. It reminded her of all the times when she’d slept near the princess. When she’d been frightened and scared. When Celestia had scared away the nightmares. It hadn’t been long, but it had been nice.
But waking up to see Nightmare Moon watching the two of them with that strange, confused expression made it feel stranger still. The ruler didn’t seem mad. Just… confused. She hadn’t objected, in fact she’d merely told Moondancer to return to her room. She hadn’t even raised her voice.
She still had to process all of it, but then she’d gotten distracted by Bon Bon staying for a week, then Twilight dancing and squealing down the halls and telling everypony in the guard that her big brother best friend forever was getting married.
Now that she thought about it, she had a whole lot to process. She glanced at the windows before sighing. “It’s late, I need some sleep,” Moondancer said.
“You look like you need a drink,” Bon Bon said.
“I don’t think there’s enough in all of Canterlot,” Moondancer said.
“Would somepony mind telling me why our bard is running around squealing like a school filly?” Nightmare Moon asked before she came trotting down the hall.
“Her brother’s getting married and she’s got a wedding to help plan,” Bon Bon said. “I’m taking Moondancer out to have some drinks! Wanna cooooo--” The earth pony froze in mid sentence, staring at the annoyed looking alicorn.
“… It has been a very, very long night and the sun will rise soon,” Nightmare Moon said. “Have you forgotten who it is that you now speak with?”
“N-nope,” Bon Bon said sheepishly. She then sighed. “Well, too late now, huh? Wanna come get drinks with us your highness? But only if you pay.”
“W-what?” Nightmare Moon asked. “We wouldn’t, why would we, we aren’t—”
“Bon Bon!” Moondancer said, glaring at her. “Have you had some already? What is wrong with you?”
“Honestly I’m so scared right now I can’t feel my face,” Bon Bon said with a weak smile. “But, you know. It might be fun?”
Nightmare Moon just stared at the pair of them before taking a slow, deep breath. “We have no patience for this. Do as you will. Student, do not stay up too late, you have tasks when the sunsets. You… Bon Bon. Try not to take advantage of your current… allowances within our castle lest you lose them.” She then walked past the two of them, shaking her head with annoyance.
“Of, of course your majesty,” Bon Bon said with as innocent a smile as she could, her eyes never leaving the alicorn until she walked out of sight. “Okay, yeah. She just kind of sneaks up on you, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah, she does,” Moondancer said. “I’m going to go get some sleep. You should too. Before you get me arrested or worse.”
“Eh, it’d be worth it,” Bon Bon said with a small smirk. “You know why?”
“Why?” Moondancer asked.
“You’re smiling,” Bon Bon said in a playful, teasing tone.
Moondancer squeaked and lifted a hoof over her mouth, trying to hide it. The laugh her friend made only cemented her fears.
She was accidentally encouraging her. Oh, this week was going to be horrible.
------
“This week is going to be AMAZING!” Twilight said with a happy, giddy squeal.
“So you DID decide to go?” Spike asked, cocking an eye and glaring at her.
“S-sorry,” Twilight said sheepishly.
“Are you sure this time? Because you said you had to go at least ten times, then you can’t go twenty times, then maybe if you brought Moondancer seventeen times, then--”
“I know, I know,” Twilight said.
“Then you ran around everywhere, yelling about it,” Spike said.
“Sorry,” Twilight said.
“So, does this mean we can go to bed now?” Spike asked.
“Welllllll…” Twilight said sheepishly.
“… I take it that’s a no?” Spike asked.
“You can, I can’t!” Twilight said. “I need to paaaack!” she said before galloping around the room. She tossed the rest of her mail into the desk drawer. She’d deal with all of that after she got back. Eeeee! The drawer didn’t even close with so much in it but that didn’t matter! She had to get ready to go! “Oh my gosh this whole telekinetic magic thing is going to make this SO much easier!”
“Sure it will,” Spike said before rolling his eyes.
“Come on, Spike, it’ll be great! Rarity will be there,” Twilight said with a small smile.
Spike sat up. “W-what? I mean, err, not that I, uhhh… fine. Fine. Let’s pack,” he grumbled before giving a small sigh. Hopefully he could sleep on the train. How could she not be tired? She was up as late as he was.
------
Moondancer wondered if it would be rude to turn the droning pony’s suit into woven lilies. Or maybe a slime monster of some kind. Or just light it on fire.
Why was it the most boring, tedious ponies demanded they take every. Single. Second of time allotted to them? How was Nightmare Moon managing to NOT fall asleep right now? All she was doing was sitting there, staring intently at the mare. Unblinking.
Wait.
Unblinking. When was the last time she’d blinked? Moondancer glanced to Bon Bon. Her friend had managed to actually fall asleep standing up, her head resting against the wall and partially obscured by one of the guards. She then glanced back to Nightmare Moon. There was no possible way.
Her horn glimmered for a moment before her eyes glowed and, sure enough, Nightmare Moon was using an illusion. A subtle one, mind. Simple. But her eyes were closed and she wasn’t staring intently at the mare, her head was hanging and she looked like she might fall asleep at any moment.
“Now, as can clearly be seen,” she said before pointing towards her fourth chart. “This years parade is using cherry red on the uniforms. This clashes horribly with--”
Moondancer gave a soft sigh before willing herself to stay awake. Ohhhhh, she would have given almost anything to have it be one of Twilight’s presentations. Those were fun, informative and exciting. This was just a pony tap dancing around the fact she didn’t like the particular shade of red being used in a drummer pony’s leotards. Or did like them and didn’t think they were professional enough. Or something. Honestly, she’d lost the lead on it around the eighth minute.
Moondancer glanced towards her timer. Just. A little bit. More. She willed it to speed up, alas time was not under her control. She counted the seconds until, finally, it was time. “Ahem, I am sorry to interrupt, Nagging Nelly--”
“It’s Napping Nettles,” the mare said with a huff.
“Right, that,” Moondancer said. “But your time is drawing to a close.”
“Oh thank the stars,” Nightmare Moon muttered under her breath and Moondancer had to suppress the urge to chuckle.
“Could you please say what it is, exactly, you wish for her highness to do about this?” Moondancer asked.
“Hm?” Nettles asked. “We merely want all of this to be taken under advisement for next year’s parade.”
“But of course,” Nightmare Moon said. “We assure you, our dear little pony. We will take this entire… detailed… report under advisement when next we plan such… festivities. Your valuable information is most insightful.”
The mare preened under the compliment, standing a little straighter. “Why thank you, your highness.” She finally turned and trotted away, the door slamming shut behind her.
“I’m awake!” Bon Bon said, her head shooting up.
“Please do not lie,” Nightmare Moon said softly before giving a light yawn. “We are the Princess of the Night and even we longed to sleep through that.”
“I-I stayed awake,” Moondancer said sheepishly.
“Yes, but you and our bard are both quite twisted in that way,” Nightmare Moon muttered before lifting a hoof to her mouth. “We believe it is time for a short recess. We desire a cupcake or five to revitalize ourselves. Moondancer, you may…” She trailed off before glancing towards Bon Bon. She shook her head. “You are dismissed for the rest of the evening. You two should try and enjoy yourselves.”
“What?” Moondancer asked. “But what about--” Before she could finish the sentence a hoof covered her mouth.
“Thank you, your highness,” Bon Bon said. “We’ll try to keep out of your mane for a little bit. Come on, Moondancer.”
Moondancer blinked before, very slowly, she gave in to her friend’s demands and made her way towards the door. Once they were out Bon Bon made a light yawn before shaking her head.
“Is it always this boring?” Bon Bon asked.
“If we’re lucky,” Moondancer said, stretching out her neck a little while they walked down the hall. She wished she could figure out how to sleep standing up.
“If we’re not?” Bon Bon asked.
“Somepony does something dumb, she gets mad, tries to burn the place down,” Moondancer said. “She’s actually been relatively tame the last few days. Actually… incredibly.”
“I noticed,” Bon Bon said. “I really expected her to be more… well…”
“Snapping at me?” Moondancer asked. “Insulting? Rubbing every mistake I made in my face? She usually is. This is actually rather… nice for her. Aside from that ‘twisted’ comment, I don’t think she has insulted me at all.”
“I once saw you giggle with glee when you were told to make a two hour presentation on the medicinal uses of zap apples,” Bon Bon said in a flat, unamused tone. “Twisted sounds accurate.”
“T-that’s different, that’s learning!” Moondancer said. “Zap apples are also fascinating!”
“Fine. Let’s go learn something,” Bon Bon said. “Anything. Please. The night is young and while I feel like I just aged three decades in the last hour, so am I. Why don’t we go investigate the dungeons? I hear there’s all kinds of terrifying creatures there.”
“I’d really rather not,” Moondancer said. “I… really, really don’t like Chrysalis. And Tirek and I, well… it’s… awkward. Very awkward.”
“Come on, let’s go do something exciting,” Bon Bon said. “You’ve lived here for years, you have to know where something fun is.”
“Oh, I could show you around the library!” Moondancer said.
Bon Bon gave a light snicker before shaking her head. “Oh, I forgot how adorable you are. I uhhhh, still don’t really like going there. After that tongue-twister book tried to contort me into a pretzel, just… no.”
“Sorry,” Moondancer said sheepishly. “Maybe we could—”
Bon Bon suddenly put a hoof over her mouth. “Did you see that?”
“Huh?” Moondancer asked, glancing down the hallway. She didn’t see anything. “There’s nothing there.”
“I just saw a weird, dark figure go down that hall,” Bon Bon said.
Moondancer rolled her eyes. “I think your mind is playing tricks on you. Are you that bored?”
Bon Bon gave a sigh and cocked her head to the side. “I didn’t imagine it.”
Moondancer sighed and started lightly trotting towards the passageway. She froze when she saw somepony disappear around the corner.
“Told you,” Bon Bon whispered. “Let’s go.”
Moondancer nodded before racing down the hall after the figure. This time she got a good view of the pony when they walked up some stairs. The stairs towards Nightmare Moon’s room. Oh no. Whoever the pony was, they were wearing a cloak, hiding themselves entirely. It couldn’t be good. An assassination attempt? If they were after Nightmare Moon then they all stood to lose if the ruler was angered.
Moondancer’s horn glowed for a moment before they started ascending the stairs, the spell washing over and muffling their hoofsteps.
“Good thinking,” Bon Bon whispered.
The pair galloped up the steps…
Before running into the cloaked pony. She had been standing in front of Twilight’s door, her ear against it. Now she was buried under the two ponies, giving a light groan before yelping. A moment later the pony disappeared, though, appearing a bit higher up the steps from them and leaving her cloak behind. An orange unicorn wearing a pair of saddlebags with a blazing red and yellow mane stared down at them.
Moondancer couldn’t move, her eyes locked onto the mare. Sunset Shimmer. It was Celestia’s old student. What in Equestria was SHE doing here? How? WHY? WHAT?! Why was she skulking around the castle for?
“Sorry it had to be this way,” Sunset said before her horn glowed.
Bon Bon yanked the cloak out from under them and tossed it in Sunset’s face, making her spell explode into it. She then lunged forward, wrapping her hooves around the unicorn and putting her in a headlock before driving her face down on the steps.
Sunset let out a low, pained whimper.
“Who in Equestria are you? Do you have any idea who you just tried to attack?” Bon Bon said. “Moondancer? A little help?”
“W-what? Oh, right!” Moondancer said before blinking. What was she even supposed to DO here? Call the guards?
“Wait, Moondancer?!” Sunset asked before trying to lift her head, only to have Bon Bon tighten her hold. “W-wait, please, there’s a huge misunderstanding.”
“Well?” Bon Bon asked. “Get Nightmare Moon, she--”
“Wait, Nightmare Moon is still HERE?” Sunset asked, struggling to pull free from the grip. “Haven’t you, wait, please! Wait wait wait! Moondancer, please! Ow ow ow ow! I need Twilight! Spar-- Glow! Twilight Glow! Please, she’ll vouch for me! I’m--”
“Sunset Shimmer, I know,” Moondancer said. “We’ve met.”
“We’ve me-- oh no,” Sunset said softly, going limp in Bon Bon’s grip. “Please, you need to listen. I-- ow! Can you please STOP that?!”
“If you try casting anything I’ll twist harder,” Bon Bon said.
“Why were you trying to break into Twilight’s room?” Moondancer asked.
“Because I need her help!” Sunset said, her voice rising. “Can you please just let me know so I can explain?”
“You tried to zap us with something,” Bon Bon said.
“I thought you were guards!” Sunset snapped before cringing. “Okay, that sounded better in my head. I swear, Moondancer, if I had known it was you I wouldn’t have tried that. Twilight told me about you.”
“She did?” Moondancer asked.
“Yes. Granted, I’ll admit I was a little dazed at the time because she slapped me nearly as hard as your friend is DRIVING MY HEAD INTO THE STEPS!” Sunset yelled.
“You know, if you keep yelling some guards will come,” Bon Bon said. “So go right ahead.”
Sunset gave a whimper before going entirely still again. “Please. I’m sorry, but please. Moondancer, you need to listen to me. Twilight told me that you were kind, compassionate, caring. That you were sacrificing everything in order to save Equestria. She told me you were a much, much better student to Celestia than I could ever be. She was right.”
Moondancer cringed, but didn’t say a word. She remembered the stories about Sunset. She’d seen some of the magic she performed in classes. She was amazing. So much better than Moondancer had ever been. Yet whenever they had met, the mare had always snubbed them at best, borderline antagonistic at worst. Now she was all but begging.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life,” Sunset said. “A whole lot of mistakes. More than I can count. I was a terrible pony. But right now, a lot of people are depending on me to come back and save them. To do that, I need Twilight’s help. Just tell her I’m here and--”
“Twilight won’t be back for at least five more days,” Moondancer said. “She left two days ago to Manehatten.”
“W-what?” Sunset asked.
Moondancer couldn’t look away. She knew that look. That was a look that had appeared on her own face far, far too often. The wide eyes. The starting of tears. That stunned, slightly mouth agape stare. The moment that all of her hope was snatched up before her and hopelessness began to sink in. “Let her go,” Moondancer said softly.
“You sure?” Bon Bon asked. “Lyra told me a few stories about ‘Sunset’, not sure we want her running around.”
“I’m sure,” Moondancer said, hoping she was right. Slowly Bon Bon got off her, leaving the unicorn on the ground. She wasn’t moving, though. “Sunset?”
“Twilight has to be here,” Sunset said softly. “I-I need her. She’s the… the only person who can… make heads or tails of herself.”
“Huh?” Bon Bon asked.
“Twilight has to be here,” Sunset said before glancing towards the door again. “Everything is… everybody is depending on…” She slowly got to her hooves, but didn’t take a single step. “P-please. She has to be here.”
“She’s not,” Moondancer said. “I’m so—”
“NO!” Sunset yelled before rushing at the door. She slammed into it, the knob cracking before she blasted it with magic, the door bursting inward. “She had to leave me something, anything!”
“S-stop!” Moondancer yelled, but it was too late.
Sunset yanked the drawer out of the desk, spilling the contents across the floor. Letters spilling everywhere before she finally went entirely still. She picked up a small, wrapped book-shaped package. “She hadn’t… even… opened it…”
“Ummmm, what’s that?” Bon Bon asked. “Should we be worried?”
Moondancer didn’t answer, she couldn’t. But she knew exactly what Bon Bon was asking about. She barely even saw the unicorn standing in the middle of the room, holding the bundled up book while tears went down her face. Because her eyes were locked on the Elements of Harmony, the tailring having tumbled out when the contents were spilled across the ground.
The orange Element now glowing brighter than she’d ever imagined, ever since Sunset had touched it.
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Helping Fluttershy massage the bears?
Great chapter!
I guess I was off base about Honesty when I made my guesses back in S3 CH24. I'm not quite seeing the connection to Sunset as clearly as the other two's cases, but I'm sure it will become clearer as the story progresses.
Bon Bon...? Do you, by chance, mean, Special Agent Sweetie Drops
What could happen in the human world for Sunset to need Twilight's advice?
I’m guessing this is because Sunset is honey with herself and her past actions.
Man I REALLY need to go back and reread some chapters, I have blanked on what happened previously with Sunset and why she would be calling Twilight "Sparkle", dangit! I'm so intrigued! The Element of Honesty reacting to her definitely should vouch for her. (Also I'm very excited to see the final lineup, because Sunet and Tirek on the same team is already DELIGHTFUL XD)
I hope Sunset doesn't take Twilight not opening her present too poorly, considering everything that's happened it's pretty understandable to forget to open a package. My guess is the catastrophe in the human world involves Human!Twilight obtaining the magic that turns her into an overwhelmed magical being.
Also, I love seeing Nightmare Moon/Luna getting a bit "tamer"; it's nice for Moondancer and her friends, of course, but it's also nice to see Luna coming back out a little and actually being able to appreciate a JOKE. She's been so horrendously miserable in her own bitterness and anger (and to be fair, a lot of that she did bring on herself), and it's nice seeing how making the effort to be calmer and more patient is also helping her be a little less miserable as she tries to be better for her ponies.
Oh gawd, I had completely forgotten we had the EqG side of this story in the past. I definitely need a re-read of ... 330k words? Sheesh, this is a full 4 book trilogy now, isn't it :-).
Glad to see Nightmare showing some growth as a character.
It feels weird seeing this since Sunset wasn't all that reformed that last time we saw her, but I guess all will be revealed in due time.