The Princess of the Night
“So tell me again why I’m doing this,” Bon-Bon asked as she started winding another roll of gauze around Lyra’s body.
It was Nightmare Night, and the sun was just beginning to set. Soon Ponyville would be covered in darkness, and hardly anypony would be recognizable – all dressed in costumes of everything imaginable. To disguise themselves from Nightmare Moon, if you went by the traditional story. Not many ponies had believed that old legend until the last Summer Sun celebration, when it turned out there really was a Nightmare Moon after all.
“I’m going as a mummy. I thought it would make a cool Nightmare Night costume. It’s how the Egyptians buried their dead,” Lyra explained. Her legs were already covered with the bandages, and now Bon-Bon had moved up to her shoulder. “They were an ancient nation of – “
“Humans?” Bon-Bon said.
“You’ve heard of them?”
“Lucky guess.”
“It’s fascinating, really. According to what I’ve read, they had special chemicals and stuff they applied to the dead body, but first they’d take these special hooks to go into the body’s nose and mmmfff – “ Lyra’s mouth was suddenly covered with a strip of bandages.
“I don’t understand where anypony would come up with something like that,” Bon-Bon said. She finished up the last of it, covering up Lyra’s horn up to the very tip. Nothing but her eyes were exposed. Bon-Bon stepped away to examine her. “Though, at least this costume isn’t… too human-looking, I suppose.”
Lyra pulled down the wrapping to uncover her mouth. “I did have a few other costume ideas lined up, but with the time we had left this was the only thing that worked. I never did get those gloves made…”
“I’m not even going to ask what that means,” Bon-Bon replied. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to take a rest. These past few weeks have been exhausting, and you certainly haven’t been much help.”
With Bon-Bon’s new job at Sugarcube Corner came a heavy workload at this time of year. Not only was she making candy at the store, but their own kitchen had been commandeered to cover all of the orders. The house had been filled with the overpowering, tantalizing smell of chocolate for weeks.
“Have I ever mentioned that you’re the absolute best roommate to have at this time of year?” Lyra said. “You better have made some extra for me!”
As Lyra headed out the door, Bon-Bon felt like she could collapse at any minute. As glad as she was to have her new job, it really took a lot out of her. At least there hadn’t been any more incidents with hands. Never mind the ghosts and goblins, that had been a scarier experience than anything Nightmare Night could offer.
The Town Square had been completely transformed by the time the sun was down. A stage had set up, where a band was performing. Strings of lights stretched between clusters of tents, with paper cutouts of ghosts and stars hanging down.
Applejack, wearing some old burlap sacks that she’d fashioned into a scarecrow outfit, was in charge of games again this year – bobbing for apples, launching pumpkins, the works. A bit of a shame to see all those perfectly fine pumpkins getting splattered all over the targets, but what the hay? It was fun.
“Hey, Applejack. How’s it going?” She turned around to see a pony completely covered in bandages.
“Uh… just dandy,” Applejack said. She squinted at the strangely-dressed pony. “Who’s in there, anyhow?”
“It’s Lyra,” the pony said. Now Applejack was able to recognize the voice, and she smiled.
“Nice costume… No, wait, don’t tell me. You’re…” She thought for a moment. “A hospital patient who fell down a flight of stairs?”
“Actually, I’m a mummy,” Lyra replied.
“Ain’t nopony’s mother ever looked like that,” Applejack muttered under her breath. Just another of Lyra’s quirks, she figured. “Well, feel free to stick around a while and enjoy yourself.”
“Oh, I will be.” Lyra glanced around. “That’s weird. I don’t see any kids around here.”
“Pinkie Pie and Zecora took ‘em all into the forest to the Nightmare Moon statue. They’ll be back in a jiffy.”
“Then it’s all unguarded…” With her eyes searching for the nearest provider of candy, Lyra set off for the hunt.
She made the rounds in the town square, hitting up any place that looked to have the best candy and a lot of it. With no swarms of kids to get in the way, it was smooth sailing. She continued for a few minutes, happily oblivious to anything except the pursuit of treats, until she was interrupted by a sudden lightning flash and the sounds of ponies screaming. She dropped to the ground instinctively.
“Citizens of Ponyville! We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real princess of the night!” Lyra glanced up. The booming voice was coming from a tall, navy blue alicorn with flowing hair… Princess Luna? She’d changed in the past year, that was for sure. She continued her speech. “A creature of nightmare is no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!”
Lyra stared up at her. This was the first autumn since Nightmare Moon had been defeated. It made sense that Princess Luna would want to attend their celebration, in honor of her, even if the entire tradition was based on fear.
Pinkie Pie, dressed as a chicken and leading a group of young colts and fillies, suddenly spoke up. “Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she's gonna feast on us all!”
A few of the ponies had jumped up, screamed, and run off with her. The rest were cowering on the ground. Lyra stayed down with the others. No, they wouldn’t actually be afraid of the Princess. Maybe they were bowing? It was normal to show this kind of respect to Celestia, but this was a little ridiculous.
Luna was speaking to the mayor now, who was just as speechless as everypony else. “What is the matter with you?” Her grandiose tone had changed to one of annoyance. “Very well then, be that way! We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell!” She walked away arrogantly. Lyra noticed Twilight head off to follow her.
Lyra glanced around once they were gone, and was one of the first to stand up. “Well, that was awkward...” she muttered.
No time for distractions, though. This was the biggest night for candy of the entire year, and she had hardly even begun.
She headed back over to the tubs of apples after everything had settled down again. Applejack was still there, standing at the ready in case anypony was willing to step up and play a game.
“Everythin’s fine now, we can just go on with our regular ol’ Nightmare Night…” she called out. She glanced around the now-silent square, and sighed. “First Nightmare Night we’ve ever actually had Nightmare Moon herself show up. Guess I coulda expected this.”
“She’s just Princess Luna, though… isn’t she?” Lyra said.
Applejack jumped. “Huh? Lyra? Gosh, I didn’t even see you. Don’t scare me like that.”
“You and the others defeated Nightmare Moon. That’s just Princess Luna,” Lyra repeated.
“Back then all of us just thought Nightmare Moon was an old legend. I just don’t know what I’m s’posed to think now,” Applejack said. “Heh. Makes you wonder what other old stories might start comin’ true, don’t it?”
Lyra’s eyes widened. “You know… you’ve got a point.”
“Now, when’s somepony gonna get the party started up again?” Applejack said. “Just look at all these apples that we got left.”
She pointed to one of the tubs of water, with apples floating on the surface. Lyra had always wondered about that game. Pegasi and earth ponies always picked things up in their mouth, and even unicorns would do that occasionally. What was the point of making a game out of it?
“You wouldn’t happen to know which way Luna went, would you?” Lyra asked.
“Huh? I think she was headed to the forest, but... Why would you want to know that?”
“She is one of the oldest ponies alive… It’s been a thousand years since she was even in Equestria. Who knows what kind of things she’d know about?”
“I… guess you got a point there…” Applejack said. “What do you want to talk to her about, though?”
“Nightmare Night might be older than we think, you know. I read about this old harvest festival, really similar to what we have here. It wasn’t exactly a pony holiday, though.” It was difficult to tell with most of her face covered, but she seemed to have a strange grin forming. Applejack found it unnerving.
“So you’re asking her about – “ Applejack’s question was cut short when Lyra suddenly took off. Applejack watched the white shape running through past all the tents and vanish into the Everfree forest. “I just don’t get that pony…”
The forest glade, where the statue of Nightmare Moon watched over the silent trees, was deserted. A pile of candy had been left in front of it, but whoever had put it there was long gone by now. Lyra picked up a piece of chocolate, unwrapped it, and ate it. Nobody would notice a missing piece... or twelve.
Still, there was the issue of where Princess Luna – the real Nightmare Moon – had gone. Lyra thought she had heard someone in this part of the forest, but whoever it was, they’d been gone by the time she had arrived.
This part of the Everfree Forest was quiet. Nothing but the rustle of the wind through the trees. And it was already starting to get chilly, too.
Somewhere in the distance, there was the sound of shouting. Lyra couldn’t make out the words. That kind of volume, though… There was only one pony it could be. After that display in the town square there wasn’t a doubt.
She took off into the woods, heading towards the voice. This was the path out of the forest. If Lyra was right, then it led to Fluttershy’s cottage. That was odd. Fluttershy never celebrated Nightmare Night; she was too scared of the dark. Everybody usually let her wait it out alone.
The trees thinned out as she reached the edge of the woods, and she was almost to the cottage when she was nearly run over by a stampede of tiny colts and fillies led by a giant chicken.
“Lyra?” Pinkie Pie said. “You have to run! Nightmare Moon’s going to eat Fluttershy!”
“Pinkie, you’re being ridiculous,” Lyra said, shaking her head. “That’s Princess Luna, she’s not going to eat anyone, and I really need to find her and ask her something. It’s important.”
Pinkie’s terrified expression changed into a smile. She spoke in a low voice, so that the younger ponies wouldn’t hear. “Silly Lyra, I know she’s not going to eat us. Just play along, okay? It’s fun!”
Lyra couldn’t help but smile as well. “Well, you go ahead… But this could finally be my chance to learn something about humans, so I’m still going to go find her.”
“Humans?!” Pinkie Pie said, her eyes bugging out. “Oh my gosh, my grandma told me about those! They’re even worse!” The fear seemed almost genuine this time.
“Huh?”
Pinkie spoke in a louder, more dramatic voice so that everypony could hear her. “Humans are these awful creatures who eat meat! Cows, and pigs, and chickens – “ she punctuated the last one with a high-pitched squawk, then dropped her voice lower “ – and maybe even ponies!”
The entire crowd of young ponies screamed, and they dashed off towards the lights in Ponyville. Lyra stood there alone, frowning. “This is exactly the problem!” she yelled, but they were too far away to hear her.
There was so little information on humans that ponies – those few who had heard of humans, anyway - would make up anything about them. Even ridiculous things like humans eating other animals. Lyra had looked at enough drawings to know that humans just weren’t built to be carnivores. They had no claws or fangs or anything like that.
With stories like that going around, it was no wonder her mother had been so panicked back when Lyra had brought those books home from the library. Her dad had tried to reassure her that there was no real harm in their daughter reading about humans, but her mother had always vehemently discouraged it. She’d probably heard the same lies Pinkie believed in.
Lyra sighed, and plodded over to Fluttershy’s cottage. The windows were dark, but she’d lived in Ponyville long enough to know that Fluttershy was still home. Not even free candy could lure that pony out of her house on Nightmare Night. Lyra stepped up to the door, and knocked a few times.
“Please, no more visitors!” a small voice said from inside. “Just go away…”
“Fluttershy?” Lyra called. “Was Princess Luna here? Where’d she go?”
“They’re, um…” Fluttershy’s voice was barely audible, and Lyra pressed her ear up to the door to hear. “She went back into town with Twilight… Please leave me alone…” Her voice faded into a squeak.
“They’re back in Ponyville? Thanks!” Lyra said.
There was another squeak in response, but Lyra was already running off to Ponyville. She wasn’t going to be late this time.
Her sugar rush must have worn off. Lyra’s pace was slowing down, and she had to stop to catch her breath. She looked down at a strip of gauze that was coming unwound from all the running, and her horn glowed as she tied it back around her leg.
It was going to be impossible to keep up this pace. She had to slow down, but it was getting late, and if Princess Luna decided to head back to Canterlot... Who knew when Lyra would get another chance to talk to somebody who was over a thousand years old?
She passed by Big Macintosh, pulling a wagon back towards Sweet Apple Acres. He was wearing a particularly impressive costume complete with top hat. Lyra stared at the image on his cape - she hadn’t noticed it before. It was a skull, stylized to look like an apple, but she couldn’t help but think it looked somewhat like a human. She shook her head. No time to focus on the small things. Where was Luna?
It was a little odd, since even with as late as it was, there didn’t seem to be as much noise coming from Ponyville. The lights still seemed to be on. But a lot of things were weird tonight.
Lyra happened to glance up and noticed a figure standing out by the bridge on the outskirts of town. She did a double-take, almost certain that she was mistaken, but it was actually her. Princess Luna was standing all alone, staring out at the sky.
Taking a deep breath, Lyra prepared herself. She just needed a moment. She had to get right to the point. She might not even get an answer, but... if Luna didn’t know about humans, who would?
“Princess?” Lyra approached her slowly, her heart pounding.
Luna turned around to face her, and Lyra could have fainted. “We have no interest in thy foalish celebrations.” She turned her face up.
“Um, y-yes… It’s not about that,” Lyra stammered. She tried to compose herself. “I… actually wanted to ask you something, since you’ve been around for so long, I figured you would know…”
“Thou... wishest to speak with us? Thou art not afraid?” Luna’s voice was much quieter now, and she gave a small smile. “Certainly. We would be most happy to grant thee an audience.”
No reason to waste time. Lyra asked her straight out. “Well… What do you know about… humans?”
At the mention of the word, Luna’s expression changed, becoming significantly less good-natured and much more fearsome. “Speak not of the foul beings!”
Lyra jumped back. “Huh? What’s wrong with – “
“Tell me, how doth thou knowest of such things?”
“Just a few books, nothing much,” Lyra said. “But please, if they’re real, you have to tell me about - “
“Away with you! No more talk of the beasts!” Lightning flashed behind the Princess, emphasizing her words. “Our kingdom shall remain peaceful without their influence!”
In spite of everything, Lyra was grinning – actually smiling, just to know that humans were more than just legends, and she had heard this directly from one of Equestria’s princesses, no less. “Um... thank you so much!”
“Now begone!” Her voice actually seemed to create a strong blast of wind.
Lyra did just that. She was running straight home, and hardly even noticed when she passed by Twilight Sparkle on the way there. This was the development she’d been waiting for.
“Bon-Bon? Bon-Bon! Wake up!”
As Bon-Bon opened her eyes she gave a start at the huge gold eyes staring right into hers. She didn’t remember falling asleep on the couch, but the past few hectic days of finishing all these candy orders were a haze in her memory.
“Lyra…? Let me go back to sleep…” Bon-Bon moaned.
“No, this is too important,” Lyra said. She backed away from the couch, but she couldn’t stop bouncing. “You kept on telling me that humans didn’t exist. Just like everyone else has always said.”
“I’m really not in the mood for this.”Bon-Bon stretched out, wondering if she could make the effort to go back to her bedroom where it was more comfortable.
“Princess Luna said they’re real.”
Bon-Bon sat up. “The Princess? When did you meet her?”
“She came to Ponyville for Nightmare Night. Long story. Anyway, she knows about humans.”
“Princess Luna was here?” Bon-Bon rubbed her eyes. “Why would you ask her about humans?”
“Luna’s thousands of years old! If anyone knew about humans, I knew it would be her, and I was right!” Lyra clapped her hooves together. Then she stopped, and frowned. “Except she wouldn’t tell me much… To be honest, she seemed kind of mad.”
“You dragged Princess Luna into your insane theories, and you got her mad at you,” Bon-Bon said in a flat voice.
“You know, I definitely think she was mad…” Lyra repeated, stroking her chin. “But they’re not 'insane theories!' Luna said that humans existed a long time ago in Equestria.”
“Princess Luna...” Bon-Bon repeated. “She actually comes to Ponyville for a visit - royalty, in Ponyville! - and all you care about are these humans and...” She shook her head. “Exactly how angry did you make her? In that costume, at least she wouldn’t be able to identify you, but do I need to worry about the royal guards coming to our door?”
Lyra turned her back. “You’re ignoring the most important part of this. Humans are real, or... were... and there’s something that the government doesn’t want us to know about them.”
“No. Don’t pull the government into this. I’d rather not have either of us get arrested.”
Already heading off to her study, Lyra just said, “I need to write down exactly what Luna said before I forget. There could be clues. This is a huge development!”
Bon-Bon sighed, and collapsed on the sofa again. No... There would have to be limits on how far Lyra would actually go with this. For tonight, there was no way Bon-Bon was going to argue with her, so she’d leave that for later. Within minutes she was asleep again and snoring.
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Bravo!
I wonder what Lyra's costume with the gloves would have been though.
The conspiracy begins...
everyone knows that humans dont eat meat, btw.
But, ponies do eat meat. What did Rarity make for breakfast? Eggs! Eggs are technically meat.
102213
The chicken sits upon a throne of lies.
ahh I love it, you must write moar, and I think that it would be awesome if lyra starts like a school for Humanology or something similar
Curse of the Lyra: Lyra's revenge!
"After spending thousands of years trapped within a sarcophagus, the evil Egyptian Pharaoh LYRA has returned to feast upon the flesh of the innocent! Can our heroes stop her before her evil plans are put into motion? Find out this Spring in a theater near you~"
That was the first thing I thought of, I swear to god.
Awesome, can't wait to see how this progresses.
Yay, Lyra now knows Humans are real. The turth is out there Lyra find it, FIND IT!
Huh, so my humans were turned into ponies idea was false... Hah, now I'm doubly excited to see where this goes! *plays the x-files theme*
Huzzah! The anticipation has been doubled!
d37nnnqwv9amwr.cloudfront.net/photos/images/newsfeed/000/208/205/ancient_humans_by_equestria_prevails-d4h7rms.jpg
NOT BUILT TO EAT MEAT!?
HAS THE DAFT MARE NEVER HEARD OF THE GREAT APES?
Should I meet her I will give her a good thrashing. Harummph.
Rule #1 of Conspiracy Discovery: Keep out of the government's sight.
Way to blow that rule, Lyra
Almost forgot!
ghosts and goblins
OH I SEE WUT YOU DID THAR.
By the way, I fucking love this story, you have all my props
102308
a pattern of posts, because why the hell not?
Little did she know, we are watching them right now.
Guessing Time! The theory behind Equestria's history for this story is that the humans were the predecessors of the land, but Luna and Celestia completely extinguished them from the face of the Earth and then built a new pony-filled civilization covered up with lies to protect the past from being found... However, you cannot completely erase history, and Lyra is on the track of uncovering it! GO LYRA!!!
Hrm, I'm a little dissapointed Luna was so dismissive. I'm also pretty curious how Lyra knows so much. It's like she's channeling information from somewhere with magic.
Well done! I can't believe how well you tied that nightmare night episode into this chapter! and how many human-influenced things you found in ponyville! can't wait for the next chapter
Wait what? UHHHHGGGG. That chapter felt WAY TOO FAST.
I neeeeeeeeed my fix!
102215
Technically speaking, an egg isn't considered meat unless it's been fertilized. No egg you buy at the store would be fertilized. That's why Jewish people can eat eggs with anything. They're not technically meat, but they're not technically dairy. Even vegetarians (not vegans) will eat meat, just as vegetarians and ponies drink and cook with milk.
Anyway, love the story, keep it coming, why isn't there a Luna emoticon (the work of
), and all the rest of the cliche comments on a good story!
I... I ate hamburgers for dinner tonight... ;_;
PROOF! >8D HAHA! ...What's next? O_o
THANK YOU FOR UPDATING WHEN YOU SAY YOU WILL!! :D (that is a problem with other fics) This is really fun to read, keep it up!
I thought Pinkie would've known a lot more about humans, I mean she does break the fourth wall a lot.
Bobbing for... BWAHAHA!
That's great. Gold.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get the ghosts and goblins theme outta my head.
Keep on it Lyra, you will uncover the truth about humans.
Lyra, remember that the La Li Lu Le Lo are behind this!
I can´t wait for my next fix of this!
i only eat meat...oh no am i a carnivore. ohnononononononononono
One small mistake: Luna refers to Lyra with "you" instead of "thou". "You" implies that the object (Lyra) is plural. Aside from the typographical errors, that was the only problem.
Awaiting more chapters.
Unfortunately, Luna does have a point. We humans do have a tendency to monsters, not fit for pony society.
l
though, we do have a lot of good qualities too.
You are getting closer Lyra, you are getting closer.
102215 That's what I thought:!raritystarry:
102508 I ate chicken.
Still an amazing story with another great chapter.
Luna's line "Our kingdom shall remain peaceful without their influence!" could be taken as evidence that Humans are still around to influence pony society more than it has already.
102658
YOU SEXY GENIUS YOU.
102702
IT'S PARTS OF THE CONSPIRACY I TELLS YA!
*You will re-read that in Popeye's voice*
Well, it's not our fault that animals taste so good. They should just stop being so delicious
102292
Indeed, good sir! I say, that equine surely rustled my jimmies.
You actually refer to everypony as everybody at one point.
i bet you luna and celestia stole the planet from the humans and put them all to sleep somewhere underground so they could creat there image of a perfect world even if the world was technically stolen
So ponies DID rule over us! <_< >_> *looks left and right and runs to a horse* OH MIGHTY! OH MIGHTY! OH MI-
Why are you worshiping a horse?
SO EPIC!
The world needs to learn the truth about humans. Also Lyra needs to learn that humans are omnivores.
SO EPIC!
The world needs to learn the truth about humans. Also Lyra needs to learn that humans are omnivores.
I would also like it if humans still existed even if very few.
Its a conspiracy! Our government is lying about humans!
Going by the globe shown in "Secret of My Excess," the world Equestria sits on doesn't look anything like Earth. Which leaves the explanation of humans being them either being extra-terrestrial or extra-dimensional in some way. Of course, that makes it a lot easier to cover-up their existence, 'cause if there was a human nation or three sitting around somewhere on the planet then the government would have to be out of their flipping minds to try and deny contact with them.
(I mean, unless you're going for the "Equestria is pony!North Korea" angle here.)
Though, I have to wonder, just why the frak Pinkie is freaking out so much about humans eating meat -- I mean, besides it being Nightmare Night and it being her job to freak out unnecessarily. She has an alligator for a pet, an animal which literally can't eat any but meat; Applejack has a dog for a pet, and dogs are inherently carnivorous too; and Fluttershy has been shown on screen carrying dead fish in her mouth to feed to some ferrets, among other things. Those aren't exactly the hallmarks of a society of people who are terrified of meat-eaters.
Actually, now that I think about it, Lyra wasn't all that freaked out at the idea of ponies thinking humans were war-like, was she? Oh, she objected to the idea that humans ate meat, for some reason, (hasn't she seen our teeth? We're pretty clearly omnivores) but she didn't flinch at the accusation that humans weren't peaceful.
Wait, does that mean . . . Oh, of course it does! 
War is intrinsic to human cultures. Whether we be seeking it or avoiding it, war and conflict permeate everything that humans are. She has to know about it . . .. and she doesn't care. She knows about all our talent for destruction, all the tragedy and loss, all the dark depths of villainy and bright summits of heroism, and she doesn't care. Oh, Lyra! 
You really do love us just the way we are.
Nice to finally know that I exist.
102667 No, you're an omnivore. Or possibly a biovore, since there are things in Equestria that eat rocks.
103117 And IIRC horses in RL have been seen eating animals for protein and to accelerate healing. Maybe not in Equestria, per say...
And there's a Royal Guard around. I've always cottoned to the idea there's a bit more conflict than what's shown in the show. Very interesting here...
Is this going to turn into the plot from Gurren Lagann? You know, someone who has lived for a thousand years forceing humans under ground.
103174
As ridiculously awesome as that would be I highly doubt it.