S1 E1: Friendship is Magic, Part 1: Mare in the Moon (What If?)
Once upon a time, in the magical land known as Equestria: There lived two regal and royal sisters that ruled the great kingdom together. The two created harmony and balance throughout the land and were revered by all.
To achieve this harmony, the sisters had their own responsibilities that they tended to both day and night. The elder sister used her alicorn magic to raise the sun every dawn and lower it every evening. The younger sister did the same with the moon every night and every morning. Thus, the two sisters created a sense of calm and peace for them and for all their subjects, all the different types of ponies.
However, as time went by things changed. The younger sister began to grow resentful. She saw how the ponies relished and played in the day that her elder sister brought forth, yet many of them seemed to shun and sleep through her beautiful night. It didn't seem fair. And her elder sister failed to recognize the warning signs, convinced that it would pass and things would return to normal. Alas, they did not.
One fateful day, it all came to a head. The younger sister refused to lower the moon to make way for the coming dawn. Her elder sister pleaded with her, but alas it was too late. Other forces had worked their way into the younger sister's heart, feeding off her bitterness. And it was that bitterness in the young one's heart that transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon!
Nightmare Moon vowed to block out the sun until her subjects were starved into submission, made to appreciate the beauty of the night above all else. The elder sister knew she was no match for Nightmare Moon on her and could not bring herself to fight against her own sister, who she suspected resided somewhere deep within the wicked mare. So it was that, reluctantly, the elder sister turned to the one thing that could defeat this evil force: The Elements of Harmony.
Harnessing the elements and wielding their magical powers, the elder sister defeated Nightmare Moon and banished her permanently to and within the moon. Then the elder sister reluctantly took over her little sister's responsibilities, assuming control of both the sun and the moon. Thus, harmony has been maintained in Equestria ever since.
"Well, Twilight Sparkle? What do you think of the story? Have you learned something from it?" A voice inquired. Said voice belonged to a pony known as an alicorn, defined by having the wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. This alicorn had a coat of majestic white and she was known to tower over other ponies due to her size. This was reflected in her long, flowing mane and tail that had shades of light blue, light green and light pink. Her eyes were a pale, light grayish pink that sparkled with years of wisdom (and regret). And her cutie mark emblazoned on her flanks depicted the sun, the very sun she was responsible for raising every day.
In short, the pony who was speaking was the very ruler of the land of Equestria and the elder sister in the legend she had just been referring to: Princess Celestia. She smiled, looking down at a unicorn with a light purple coat, a dark blue and moderate purple mane and tail that were bushy and sported a pink, skunk-like stripe in the middle. Her eyes were a slightly darker violet shade of the same purple color as her mane and tail, and her cutie mark was a pink colored six pointed star. Surrounding said star were a series of five smaller stars all colored white. This was the "Twilight Sparkle" Princess Celestia was speaking to.
The young unicorn had been listening intently ever since she'd been summoned to meet with the princess. Despite the fact that she was the official student of Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle still rarely met with her teacher. This was the first time in ages she could recall being summoned for an audience of one with the alicorn. So it was that Twilight was deep in thought, thinking about something. "I think I have," She said at last while looking at a stained glass window depicting Princess Celestia's alleged battle with Nightmare Moon. "I've learned that your reign is not an easy one. Sometimes, tough choices have had to be made."
Princess Celestia seemed to nod ever so slowly. "That is a very important thing to have picked up, Twilight. But that is not the reason why I told you this story," She then stood up and trotted over to her student, putting a hoof around her. "You are a truly gifted student. But there's more to my story than meets the eye. Do you know what it is?"
Suddenly, while gazing at the stained glass display, something "sparked" within Twilight's mind as her eyes began to glow. "I...think I've heard of this before, somewhere. The Elements of Harmony, that term is familiar to me somehow. But why?" She turned to the alicorn. "Should I have been more prepared for this meeting? Should I have been taking notes?"
Celestia relaxed her gaze and appeared to smile ever so faintly. "No, Twilight," She said in what sounded almost like a giggle. "But you are on the right track. The Elements of Harmony are important to what I've told you before."
Twilight then declared. "Well, I'm sure I could find out where I heard that term before. I swear I read it about in a book once, but I've read so many books new and old alike that I can't remember which one it might be."
The sun princess simply turned away from the display. "I wish I had time to help you narrow down your search, Twilight," She let out a sigh of regret. "Alas, you know I'm going to be very busy these next few days."
Fortunately, Twilight immediately vowed! "Don't worry, Princess Celestia! As your faithful student, I will not let you down! I'll track down that book about the elements and report my findings to you as soon as I can!" And after saluting her mentor, the unicorn gathered her belongings into two saddlebags marked with her cutie mark and took off! All the while, the term "Elements of Harmony" continued to nag at her.
Little did Twilight Sparkle know where her search would lead her. Little did she suspect that she was about to embark on what would be a life changing experience for her, one that would teach her a lesson she would remember for the rest of her life.
It wasn't long before Twilight had left the castle grounds! She was rushing off to the first location she could think of to do some research. And as she was trotting along, she kept thinking aloud about that which nagged at her brain constantly, refusing to leave her alone. "Think, Twilight, think. Where have I heard those words before? Where did I read about them?"
But suddenly, the unicorn was stopped in her tracks as she saw a trio of three other unicorns in the path in front of her. She was struggling to remember their names despite the fact that she knew she had interacted with them several times before.
These three unicorns consisted of (in order from left to right from Twilight's point of view): A cornflower blue coated unicorn with a bushy blue and bluish-white mane and tail that looked like toothpaste, eyes a sparkling shade of blue and a cutie mark depicting an hourglass. A whitish-gray coated unicorn with a somewhat curly pink mane and tail, arctic blue eyes and a cutie mark depicting three light blue stars. And a lemon yellow coated unicorn with the same curly mane and tail but moderate to light shades of light blue in color, raspberry pink colored eyes and a cutie mark depicting three hearts (two were blue and one was green).
The whitish-gray coated unicorn in the middle was the first to speak up. "Oh, there you are, Twilight! We were just about to come looking for you," And without bothering to wait for a reply she added. "Moondancer's having a little get-together in the castle's west courtyard. Whaddya say? Interested? All our friends are gonna be there."
Whatever temptation Twilight might have had to go to such a gathering with her fellow unicorns, it was not strong enough to overcome her nagging question in the back of her mind. After looking to her books for but a second she said to the mares. "Oh, terribly sorry, girls. I'd love to come, really. But... you know me, I've got a lot of studying to catch up on. Er... tell Moondancer I said hello." And she rushed away without another thought.
The same mare who had just spoken to Twilight groaned, looking across to the ones on either side of her as she remarked. "I know she's the princess' student, but does that pony ever do anything but study? I think she's more interested in books than friends." And the other mares reluctantly nodded their heads in agreement, it seemed Twilight would be a no-show for Moondancer's party.
If Twilight heard what the others had said, she paid it no mind as she continued her headlong rush! Soon, her destination came into view: A huge tower where the door was all the way up beyond a winding staircase. This tower was the place the studious unicorn called home. Far removed from the hustle and bustle of Equestria's capital city.
Twilight lit up her horn, producing a light purple glow around the doors as soon as she reached them. She flung them open with ease and in dramatic fashion! Normally, she wasn't one to make a scene, but she had no time for pleasantrees if they were going to delay her search. "Spike?!" She called out as she came inside, only to receive no reply. "Spi-ike! Spike?! Where are you?!"
"I'm right here, Twilight! You don't have to yell!" Came a somewhat masculine voice. The owner of said voice soon revealed itself in the form of a small dragon that came up to roughly the same height as Twilight. Said dragon had a mulberry pinkish-purple coat, a light green colored underbelly, lime green ear fronds, green scales and matching green eyes.
"Sorry, Spike," Twilight apologized to the little dragon. "But this is urgent, I need your assistance," Then she noticed something behind Spike's back. It looked like a present, albeit a somewhat crumpled and dented one. "Hey, what have you got there?" She questioned, noticing a box with red wrapping paper and a yellow colored bow.
Spike produced the battered present as he explained. "I was working on this when you came barging in and shouting, I dropped it by accident," Looking a bit ashamed he added. "It was supposed to be a gift for Moondancer, but..." His lips morphed into a pronounced frown.
The unicorn frowned in reply. "Oh, Spike. You know we don't have time for that right now!"
"But we're on a break, the Summer Sun Celebration's coming up!" Spike protested. "We promised Princess Celestia we'd take it easy."
The mare could only shake her head as she knocked aside some books. "Well, things change. I'm doing a little bit of research, and I need your help. I'm trying to find a book about The Elements of Harmony," She put a hoof to her chin. "I swear I read about them somewhere once, but where could it have been?!"
The little dragon responded by going over to a ladder pressed up against several shelfs of books. "I think I know what you're looking for. You told me specifically to remember it so you could come back to it later, but later never came," He clambered up the ladder and pulled out a book with a somewhat worn brown covering. On the front was depicted a golden pony head not unlike that of Princess Celestia. "Predictions and Prophecies. That's the one, right?"
Twilight's eyes lit up like stars in the night sky as the realization struck her! "Yes! That's exactly it! Thank you, Spike!" And without waiting for him to climb down and give her the book, she used her magic to pull it over to her (though in the process she knocked Spike to the floor as he fell off the ladder. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt). She then placed the book on a small stand near a window, opening it up and scanning through the pages with the soft, light purple glow of her magic. "Alright, now where was it? Elements, Elements, E, E, E... Aha!" The mare quickly found what she'd been looking for and read aloud. "See Mare in the Moon?"
"What? That's just an old mare's tale," Spike retorted as he headed back to the ladder. "Isn't it?"
Twilight didn't answer, she was too busy flipping over to the corresponding page in the "M" section of the book. Soon, she had found the page that mentioned the "Mare in the Moon" and she read aloud: "Myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria in a state of unending night, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned within the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal," Upon reading this, the mare gasped in horror! "Spike, do you know what this means?!"
The little dragon reluctantly answered. "I'm guessing we aren't going to that party for Moondancer?" And he received confirmation in the form of a nod from the mare he'd been working alongside for years. He let out an unhappy sigh. "Why did I get my hopes up?" Then he grabbed a scroll and a quill, he knew what was coming.
"Ah, good, you're all ready," Twilight smiled and instructed. "Spike, take a letter, please! And send it to Princess Celestia, it's urgent!"
Spike gave a small salute. "Can do." And he readied himself to write down whatever Twilight dictated to him.
Twilight looked briefly to a huge hourglass nearby, before turning back to the book she'd just read as she began to prattle on about what she wanted her letter to mention: "My dearest teacher, Princess Celestia, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the very brink of disaster. If we do not act soon, something really bad will happen! For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact the evil Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response."
"Not so fast, Twilight!" Spike protested. "I can't write all that down so quickly! Give me a minute!"
"Well, just make sure the letter says something like that," Twilight firmly instructed. "And you know how to end it: Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
The little dragon obeyed, finishing up the letter after a bit of careful claw writing. "Okay, it's all done."
"Well?" Twilight asked him as she saw the finished letter resting in Spike's claws.
"What?" Spike blinked.
Holding back a groan, Twilight instructed. "Send it to Princess Celestia already!"
"Okay, but don't get your hopes up for a quick reply. You know how busy she is right now." The little dragon cautioned, before he took a deep breath. He encased the letter in sparkling green flames. But instead of burning the scroll to ash, it instead whisked the whole thing away in a swirl of light purple magic.
The studious unicorn wasn't bothered at all by what Spike had just told her. "She needs to know about this, Spike! The Summer Sun Celebration is the longest day of the year, and that's practically tomorrow! Besides, the princess trusts me completely. I am her faithful student after all. In all my years of studying under her, never once has she dismissed anything I've had to say. I'm sure she'll agree that we need to take action right away!"
Just then, Spike happened to belch up a scroll with his flame breath. He unfurled it and examined it carefully with his green eyes, before he started reading aloud: "My dearest and most faithful student Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely. I'm glad to see you found the answer to your earlier question. But..."
Twilight spun around, she didn't like the sound of that at all. "But what, Spike?"
Spike simply continued to read aloud: "But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books! They're not good for you!"
Twilight Sparkle was speechless! Her mentor had just told her that her research was wrong, that she had been wasting her time! It couldn't be true!
Alas, it was. There was no denying the words that were written on the scroll. And as if things didn't already seem bad enough for her, worse was to come.
Mere hours later, pony and dragon were being flown through the sky in a yellow colored chariot pulled by two white coated pegasi with blue eyes, both of them clad in shining golden armor. All the while, Spike was reading through the rest of the scroll even though Twilight had long since stopped caring about what else there was to say: "My dear Twilight, there is far more to a young pony's life than just studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville."
"Just great." Twilight mumbled to herself.
Spike just read on: "And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete, my faithful student: Make some friends! Real friends!" Then he put down the scroll and looked across to Twilight. "Cheer up, Twilight. The good news is, Princess Celestia's made arrangements. You'll be staying in the Golden Oak Library. Isn't that nice?"
The disgruntled unicorn just snorted. "It would be, if it weren't for the fact that I know I'm right! So why doesn't the princess believe me? Why does she think I'm worrying about nothing?" She then decided. "I'll check on the preparations as quick as I can, then I'll go to that library and look for proof of Nightmare Moon's existence! That's the only mistake I made in all of this, I need actual proof besides just a legend in an old book."
"But what about the other thing? Making friends?" Spike inquired as the town of Ponyville came into view. It was quite a lovely place, surrounded by lush, green hills on either side. There was also a windmill whose blades rotated in a gentle breeze, a gazebo like building in the center of town, and all sorts of charming little houses. To say nothing of what appeared to be an old barn and a farmhouse next to it, or a bakery whose roof seemed to resemble gingerbread.
Twilight flicked her tail in response. "That's one task I'm not gonna be able to complete, I don't see how she expects me to make friends at a time like this," She proceeded to groan and sigh. "Still, I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty as best I can. But I will say this: The fate of Equestria does NOT rest on me making friends. I swear it," Mere seconds later, the chariot descended into town and came to a halt. Twilight and Spike jumped out as Twilight thanked the guards for their service. "Thank you, sirs. You're dismissed."
"Yes, ma'am." The guards saluted and took off with the chariot.
Spike wasn't about to let Twilight weasel out of her assignment so easily. "Maybe the ponies of Ponyville have interesting things to talk about," He suggested, right before he spotted a pink colored earth pony mare with a poofy mane and tail approaching. She had light blue eyes and a cutie mark depicting three balloons. "Ah, here comes one now," And he readily encouraged. "Come on, just try, okay?"
The unicorn eyed the earth pony, trying her best to look "friendly" for lack of a better term. "Um..." She struggled to think of what to say and finally settled on "Hello?"
The response was not what Twilight or Spike had been expecting. The earth pony let out a gasp and took off without saying a word, she didn't even identify herself!
"Well, that was...something all right," Twilight grumbled. "See what I mean, Spike?" And she began to trot off.
"That was a bad example!" Spike tried to protest. But Twilight had already made up her mind, friend making was not on her list of priorities.
A short time later, the two newcomers had made their way across town to the old barn and adjoining farmhouse, both of which had clearly seen better days. Still, they were surrounded by lush fields and apple trees that seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon.
Spike read from the scroll he was dragging along behind him. "Summer Sun Celebration official overseer's checklist. Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres. This must be the place."
"Good," Twilight smiled. "We'll just make sure the food hasn't been poisoned and then we'll be on our way."
But just then, a sharp cry of "Yeehaw!" split the air! And who should come running out from what appeared to be nowhere but an earth pony mare of the same build as the one Twilight and Spike had seen earlier? This mare was different, though. She had a lovely orange coat, a blonde mane and tail that almost looked like a rope, sap green eyes filled with energy and a cutie mark depicting three red apples. Upon her head rested a brown stetson hat. And her face was full of white freckles.
The mare rushed forward, kicking a nearby apple tree and knocking the apples on it off the branches. They fell into some buckets that had been placed nearby, and the earth pony smiled as she admired her work. Then she happened to take notice of the two newcomers at the barn yard gate, and trotted over to them. "Well howdy-doo, folks. Pleasure to meet ya," She flashed a toothy smile. "My name's Applejack, though someponies call me A. J.," She gave a chuckle. "Sounds kind of silly, but I don't mind it. Now, you mind tellin' me who you two are? We don't tend to get a lot of visitors."
"Well, I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight greeted as she extended a hoof. "And this is Spike, my baby dragon and trusted assistant. We're here to-"
But Applejack wouldn't give Twilight a chance to explain herself, instead opting to shake the unicorn's hoof quite firmly. "Pleasure makin' your acquaintance, Twilight. And you too, Spike. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do love makin' new friends."
Somehow, Twilight found the words to speak even as her hoof was being shaken so hard she thought it would fall off. "A-actually, we're just here to check on the food for the Summer Sun Celebration. You know, just to make sure it's not poisoned or anything."
Applejack ceased the hoofshake at that very minute, and her entire expression changed as she seemed to take offense to what had just been said. "Beg your pardon? You accusin' my family and I of tryin' to poison the princess or somethin'? I don't take kindly to folks questionin' my family's devotion, 'specially when they got no reason to think we'd try anythin'."
"We just need to sample some of the food, just to be safe," Twilight insisted. "I wasn't suggesting or questioning anything."
"You sure got a funny way of doin' that," Applejack said with a huff. "But I reckon you can see for yourself just how good our food is. Somethin' tells me you ain't ever tasted real down home cookin' like we Apples make. And you're in luck, the whole family's here for the celebration," She then trotted over to a triangle and tapped on it rather audibly with a small metal rod. "Soup's on, everypony!" She hollered at the top of her lungs!
Before either Twilight or Spike could react, an almost literal stampede of ponies came rushing up! And the two "guests" (for lack of a better term) were brought before a small table by a tree as a picnic blanket was thrown over it.
Applejack proudly declared. "Now, why don't I introduce y'all to the whole Apple family?" And without waiting for a reply, she started to rattle off names as ponies of all sorts of colored coats came by one by one, each presenting a treat similar to what they were apparently named after. "This here's Apple Fritter. Apple Bumpkin. Red Gala. Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp," The farm mare paused and took a deep breath, these next three ponies were extremely important. "My big brother, Big Macintosh," She gestured to a huge, red coated stallion who had some kind of harness around his neck. "My little sister, Apple Bloom," She gestured to a yellowish-green coated filly who had a pink ribbon in her mane. "And Granny Smith, my granny of course." She gestured to a green coated earth pony mare sitting in a rocking chair.
"Granny Smith" was snoring away, but stumbled awake after Applejack gave a whistle. "What?" She took a moment to get her bearings. "Oh, guests. What do they want?"
"Apparently, they wanna make sure the food ain't poisoned or anythin' like that," Applejack huffed again. "But I think they can clearly see that's not the case. Right?"
Twilight nodded. "Indeed it isn't. Everything seems to be under control, Applejack."
Applejack smiled and couldn't resist chuckling. "See? I told ya that ain't how we do things. And if there's one thing you gotta know about me, it's that I ain't a liar! Least, I try not to be," She puffed out her chest before smiling. "So, I'd say you're already part of the family, Twilight. And you too, Spike. We're always happy to make new friends here in Ponyville, or anywhere we Apples may dwell."
The unicorn then insisted. "That's... lovely, but everything seems to be in order here. So I think Spike and I will just be on our way now, thank you."
However, it was at that moment that little Apple Bloom happened to gaze right up at Twilight, her brilliant orange eyes (the same color as her big sister's coat, except slightly darker) locking onto the unicorn's own. "Aren't ya gonna stay for brunch?" And she shot off a rather sad look, even down to the pouty puppy dog eyes.
Try as she might, Twilight couldn't bring herself to say no to a face such as that. "Oh, alright." She reluctantly agreed, much to the delight of everyone around her.
After a hearty brunch with the Apple family, Spike and Twilight were on their way. But this time, Spike was leading the way while Twilight followed behind rather slowly. "Okay, food's done. Next is weather."
Twilight groaned. "Oh, I ate too much pie!" And she looked down at her belly that seemed to be rather pudgy.
Spike chuckled, he couldn't resist getting in a slight tease. "It's your own fault. And after all the times you lectured me about eating too many sweets."
Twilight was too full to think of a good retort, so she just lit up her horn to return her belly to normal more or less. "That's better." She said with a content sigh.
Spike said nothing further on the matter, the little dragon instead just looked up to the sky as he commented. "It says here that there's supposed to be a pegasus mare named Rainbow Dash who's in charge of keeping the sky clear."
The studious unicorn mare looked up and saw several fluffy white clouds dotting the blue skies. "Well, she's not doing a very good job, is she?" She remarked. "If she were here now, I'd give her a piece of my mind for slacking off." But just after she had said that, she was unexpectedly tackled into a mud puddle before she had a chance to react!
The perpetrator soon revealed itself in the form of a pegasus mare with the same blue coat color as the sky above. She had moderate purple eyes, and a somewhat messy mane and tail in all the colors of the rainbow. "Uh, 'scuse me," She sheepishly giggled. "Didn't see you there, honest," And appearing to sense how unhappy the victim of her collision was, she offered. "Here, lemme help you get cleaned up. Just hold still."
The pegasus promptly retrieved another cloud, this one a dark gray in color. Then she hopped up and down on it a few times, causing it to pour forth a shower of rain which fell on Twilight, getting the mare thoroughly soaked. The pegasus seemed to realize her mistake even as she looked down from above. "Oops, I guess I overdid it," She chuckled and seemed to be struggling not to laugh. "Hold on, lemme fix that!" And her idea of a "fix" was to surround Twilight in a swirl of rainbow colored light, so as to blow every drop of water off her body. "My very own patented Rain-Blow Dry! No no no. No need to thank me, it's my pleasure."
But when the pegasus landed and got a good look at the end result, she saw that Twilight's mane and tail were all poofed up (making the unicorn look absolutely ridiculous). The pegasus mare couldn't stop herself from laughing so hard that she began to cry, and Spike followed soon afterward when he too saw what Twilight looked like.
Twilight groaned and stood up. She took one look at the pegasus and quickly deduced who the mare was. "Let me guess. You're Rainbow Dash."
"Rainbow Dash" readily confirmed Twilight's hunch. "Yup! The one and only! You've heard of me?"
"Sort of," Twilight replied with narrowed eyes. "I've heard you're supposed to be keeping the skies clear. And you should know that I happen to be Princess Celestia's student, Twilight Sparkle. She sent me here specifically to check on the preparations."
If Rainbow Dash was at all worried by this comment, she didn't show it outwardly as she just declared. "Oh, the weather? Yeah, sorry about that. But I'll have that cleared up in a jiffy, the celebration's still a ways away. Right now, I'm taking some time off to work on something."
"Work on what?" Twilight questioned.
Rainbow pointed a hoof to a nearby poster depicting a trio of pegasi clad in navy blue flight suits and wearing goggles to cover their eyes. "On my moves to impress the Wonderbolts! They're Cloudsdale's finest, and I've heard they're gonna perform at the celebration tomorrow. It's my dream to fly with them, so I'm working on my moves so I can show 'em what I got!"
Twilight Sparkle let out a laugh as she rolled her eyes. "The most elite flyers in all of Equestria? Please, they'll never accept the likes of you when you can't even keep the sky clear for one measly afternoon."
The brash pegasus mare immediately protested. "Hey, for your information I could have this sky cleared up in ten seconds flat!" And then she got an idea. "In fact, I'll prove it to you right now! Just watch!" She took off and was as good as her word, getting rid of every last cloud in exactly ten seconds, not a second more. "See? Just like I said: Ten seconds flat! As the head of weather management for Ponyville, my job's to maintain the skies. I may slack off now and then, but there's a reason I was put in charge for the celebration. I'd never leave Ponyville hanging, you can be sure of that!"
"So I can see," Twilight remarked. "I guess you Ponyville ponies are as good as your word on these things. Definitely not like the ponies I'm used to seeing."
Rainbow Dash smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment," And then she suggested. "I can't wait to hang out with you some more, Twilight! You look like you'll be lots of fun, once you learn to lighten up anyways. See ya 'round!" And with a flap of her wings she took off at lightning speed!
Twilight didn't have the time or patience to re-style her mane and tail back to their original flat and organized state after what happened with Rainbow Dash. Besides, it would've taken away time that could be spent on looking for proof of Nightmare Moon's existence, and that was something the studious unicorn would never accept. So she just made her way to town hall alongside Spike.
"Decorations are next," Spike said while looking up from the scroll for a moment. And when he did his eyes beheld a truly splendid sight. "Whoa, beautiful!"
Twilight looked up to see that ribbons of varying colors and matching drapes and barriers had been hung all over the interior of town hall. "Yes, they are quite beautiful." She agreed with her dragon.
But the little dragon's thoughts were pre-occupied with something else. "Not the decorations, her!" And he gestured to a claw to the pony he was speaking of.
Said pony was a unicorn mare who sported a lovely snow white coat. Her mane and tail were done in a lovely set of curls that were a purplish-blue in color. Her blue eyes sparkled like diamonds (fittingly, her cutie mark was three diamonds), and strangely enough she had eyelashes to compliment them. She was currently fussing over some ribbons held aloft in the soft, blue glow of her horn. "No, no, no, oh! Goodness no." She remarked in a strangely more "fancy" tone of voice than had been the case for Applejack, Rainbow Dash and that pink earth pony from earlier.
To Spike, this unicorn was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and he immediately found himself smitten with her. "H-how are my spines?" He frantically asked Twilight as he tried to adjust himself accordingly. "Are they straight?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "They're fine, Romeo," And she trotted forward, hoping to make this encounter far quicker than her previous two. She cleared her throat in order to speak to her fellow unicorn. "Good afternoon, Miss-"
But the unicorn with a pristine white coat was too preoccupied to pay any attention to what Twilight Sparkle was trying to say. "Just a moment, please," She delicately responded. "I am currently 'In The Zone' as it were, very busy," And she didn't bother to turn around, instead focusing on a new ribbon that had a bit of a sparkle to its otherwise plain yellow color. "Oh, yes! Sparkle always does the trick, does it not?" She remarked to herself, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was being overheard. "Ah, Rarity, you've outdone yourself this time. You really are a talent."
The studious unicorn cleared her throat, she was getting tired of being ignored.
"Rarity" seemed to acknowledge the throat clearing as she began to turn around. "So sorry, dearies. My name is Rarity, how may I help yo-" But as soon as she got a good look at the state of Twilight's mane and tail she let out a gasp, jumping back a bit in surprise! "Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?! How did you let it get so bad?!"
Not familiar with "fancy talk", it took Twilight a moment to realize what her fellow unicorn was referring to. "Oh, my mane?" She commented with seemingly no concern. "It's a long story, really. Don't have time to share it. Spike and I are just here to check up on the decorations, which seem to be coming along just nicely. So we'll gladly get out of your hair now."
The unicorn with sparkling blue eyes didn't seem to care about such a statement, instead almost frowning. "Out of my hair? What about your hair?! You can't go around looking like that! Come with me to Carousel Boutique, we'll rectify this fashion emergency immediately! And don't worry, it won't cost you a thing."
Twilight Sparkle suddenly found herself being pushed along by "Rarity", and try as she might she couldn't stop the "escort". Still, she cried out, naturally quite worried about what was going to happen to her. "Hey, what are you doing?! Where are we going?! Help!" Alas, the only one who could hear her desperate scream was Spike (who was too busy oogling "Rarity" to pay attention to Twilight's concerns).
Carousel Boutique was (as the name would imply) a boutique modeled in the form of a carousel, albeit one that did not move. And it was within this boutique that Twilight was not only having her mane and tail restyled, but was also receiving a free dress to compliment her new look. Make that dresses, seeing as "Rarity" was struggling to find an outfit that she would approve of.
The unicorn tried all kinds of looks, cycling through various dresses one after the other: "Too green, too yellow, too poofy, not poofy enough, too frilly, too shiny," At last, however, this fashion loving mare seemed to settle on something that met her seemingly high standards. It wasn't really much of a dress, it consisted of a white shoulder patch with a little bit of blue, complete with two white corsets that flowed from behind. On the collar was what looked like an emerald, to match the gem patterns throughout the whole outfit. "Ah, there we go!"
"Am I done yet?" Twilight frowned. "I have places I need to be."
The unicorn with a pristine white coat smiled, blinking her beautiful blue eyes and showing off a smile. "Oh but of course, darling. That is, once you tell me your name. I am Rarity, as you've probably guessed," She chuckled. "And this happens to be my boutique. I always make it a habit to give newcomers a free makeover. That may not be how others do it, but I'll make it in the fashion world on my own merits."
"Oh, my name, of course," Twilight commented, before noticing that Rarity was starting to tighten her new clothes and found it difficult to breath. "My name is... Twilight Sparkle..." She groaned, straining against the tightening sensation. "... The little dragon... with me... is Spike... We've been... sent by... the princess... from Canterlot... to..."
Upon hearing the word "Canterlot" something seemed to click with Rarity, as she ceased her tightening (in the process letting go of one of the corsets and sending Twilight flying, or rather crashing into a wall). "Did you say Canterlot?" And upon receiving a confirming nod, her eyes began to twinkle like stars. "Oh, I've always dreamed of making it big there! Opening my own boutique and leaving my mark on the fashion scene there! I truly believe I could bring out the best of that city and its ponies. Just need to build up my reputation a little more," She proceeded to say to Twilight. "You and I will be the best of friends. You are going to tell me everything about what it's like to live in Canterlot."
But Twilight simply used her magic to undo the dress. "Sorry, I've got no time for chit chat," And she then used her magic to scoop Spike up and carry him out of the boutique. "Thank you for the make-over. Goodbye and good luck."
Rarity could only stand there, wondering where she'd gone wrong. Nopony had ever reacted to her "free" fashion favor like that before.
"What was your problem, Twilight?" Spike grumpily declared when the two had left the boutique. "How can you repay a free favor with such cruelty?"
Twilight only replied. "I could've gotten us out of there at any point, but at least I let Rarity turn my mane back to how it should be," Then with a snort and a swish of her tail she proclaimed. "Come on, Casanova, focus! What's next? We've wasted enough time trying to make friends we'll never see again after the celebration. Let's get the rest of the list taken care of so we can get to the library."
Hastily, the green scaled dragon turned his attention back to the scroll he'd been dragging along this whole time. "Oh, uh," He hurriedly looked over it, taking notice of what already been checked off. "Music!" He declared at last. "And it's the last one on the list."
"Good!" Twilight eagerly declared. "Let's hurry up and get it over with!"
Pony and dragon then made their way forward, slowly but surely hearing the sound of song birds singing in a choir. The melody they were performing sounded so lovely, it was the most beautiful sound they had ever heard.
But as the two drew closer, they heard the music stop as they happened to see a pegasus mare with a butter yellow coat speak up. This pegasus sported a light pink mane and tail that looked like they could hide her face, including her cyan blue eyes (almost the same color as Rainbow Dash's coat). But they didn't obscure her cutie mark that depicted three pink butterflies. "Oh my," The mare spoke in a soft tone of voice, barely above a whisper. "Um, stop please, everyone," She instructed, before turning her attention to one of the red feathered birds on a branch. "Excuse me, sir?" She spoke to the bird. "Your singing is just a little off-key."
The bird chirped something in response but seemed to understand what was being asked of it.
The pegasus mare smiled, still speaking in that soft tone of hers. "Okay. Now, follow me, please. Let's take it from the top," And she instructed. "A-one, a-two, a-one two three-"
It was at precisely this moment that Twilight opted to speak up and make herself heard. "Hello!" She greeted, perhaps a bit louder than she had intended since it not only startled the pegasus (who let out a yelp), but also caused the song birds to scatter.
"Oh, sorry," Twilight sheepishly apologized and stepped back. "Didn't mean to frighten you, or your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music and it's sounding beautiful," When she didn't receive a reply after a long and uncomfortable pause, she asked the pegasus mare. "Uh, what's your name? You do have a name, right?"
The pegasus seemed to mumble something in reply, but if so Twilight couldn't hear her because of how quietly she said it.
"I'm sorry, didn't quite catch that," Twilight commented. "Let's try again. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and you are?"
Still, the pegasus mare mumbled and whispered, making it impossible to hear what she was trying to say.
Twilight tried to press for an answer. "Could you maybe speak up a little? I can't hear you."
All the pegasus could do in reply was whimper and shrink from Twilight's gaze.
Fortunately for the unicorn, she could see a development that the pegasus in front of her wasn't aware of yet. "Well, your birds are back," She happily declared. "So I guess everything's in order. I'll just... let you get back to practicing. Keep up the good work!" And she then trotted over to Spike, telling the little dragon. "That was easy, why couldn't every meeting have been like this?"
However, when the pegasus' cyan blue eyes happened to see Spike approaching Twilight, something inside her began to stir. Almost like a switch had been flipped on her personality, she almost shrieked in joyous exclamation! "A baby dragon!" Without bothering to say anything more, she ran up and pushed Twilight aside. "Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before. He's sooo cute!"
Spike normally would've detested anyone calling him cute. But given the current circumstance he was all too happy to take advantage of the attention he was getting. "Well, well, well...!" He chuckled while glancing across to Twilight. "You spoke too soon, Twilight. Just needed to find the right subject to get her to 'come out of her shell' as it were."
The pegasus mare squeaked in joy! "You talk?! Oh, this is so incredible! I don't even know what to say, I didn't think dragons could talk like ponies."
Twilight just groaned while lifting Spike onto her back. "Yeah, life's full of surprises isn't it?"
"Wait!" The pegasus protested and pleaded! "What's his name?! Does he have a name?!"
Spike nodded and smiled. "I'm Spike."
The pegasus mare smiled as she trotted up behind Twilight, keeping her eyes locked on Spike. "Hi, Spike. Nice to meet you. I'm Fluttershy." And she started to strike up a conversation with him, much to the annoyance of Twilight, who couldn't pick up her pace with Spike riding on her back.
Spike and Fluttershy went on talking for a long time. Even as the sun was beginning to set, the two were still chatting, with Spike mostly doing the talking and Fluttershy just listening to everything the little dragon had to say.
Twilight, meanwhile, was relieved to see a huge oak tree with a beehive resting on one of its branches. The sign she saw confirmed the obvious, this was the Golden Oak Library she would be staying in for the duration of her time in Ponyville. "I am so sorry, how did we get here so fast?" She spoke up in an impatient tone of voice. "This is where we'll be staying for the time being. And right now, my poor baby dragon needs his sleep."
"What? No I don't!" Spike protested, before Twilight bumped him off her back without warning!
Twilight proceeded to speak like she was talking to an actual baby, despite knowing Spike wasn't really a "baby" anymore. "Aww, wook at dat, he's so sweepy that he can't even keep his widdle bawance!"
"Oh, poor thing," Fluttershy seemed to coo as she scooped him up. "You should get to bed."
But Twilight just used her magic to pull Spike close to her and said to Fluttershy. "Yes, I'll get right on that, thank you. Good day." And then she slammed the library door shut.
Spike was, needless to say, not happy about what had just transpired. "Did you really need to do that?" He complained with a small snort.
"Sorry, Spike," Twilight apologized while the two were huddled in the dark inside the library. "But I need to find proof that Nightmare Moon does exist! We're running out of time, and I need to be able to get some studying done without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends with us all the time. Now, where's the light switch?"
But there was no need. The lights flickered on at that very moment, revealing that ponies from all three species had already gathered in the library somehow. All of them shouted at once "Surprise!" and the library was soon filled with confetti and the sound of party blowers and kazoos.
"Surprise!" A strangely familiar energetic voice shouted, soon revealing itself to be an all too familiar pink coated earth pony. It was the very same mare who had run off without a word earlier in the day. And without even being asked, this mare went about introducing herself, talking a mile a minute as she did so. "Hi there, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh? Tell me you were surprised!"
Twilight sincerely answered. "Yes, very surprised, actually," And she then grumbled. "Libraries are supposed to be quiet."
Pinkie Pie just snorted and laughed. "Well that's silly! A party's a party no matter where it is!" And she continued to talk at length, seemingly without realizing that the pony to whom she was talking had little interest in the conversation. "What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, bo-ring!"
Twilight quickly tried to tune Pinkie out, finding herself fast growing annoyed with this chatterbox mare. "It's like she has no off switch," She thought to herself. "What did I do to deserve this?"
Pinkie, meanwhile, was continuing to explain her actions. "You remember, don't you? We met earlier today and I went-" She proceeded to perfectly imitate the gasp she had given off during that previous encounter, almost like she'd done it all before. "That's because I knew I'd never seen you before, because I make it my job to get to know everypony who's anypony around here. So I knew if I'd never seen you before, that must mean you were new in town. And that meant there was only one thing to do. Everypony who comes here deserves a big old Ponyville welcome, and that's what yours truly does best."
Spike (who was nowhere near as bothered by Pinkie's blabber mouth as Twilight was) commented in amazement. "How did you know we were staying here? You ran off before Twilight could say anything."
The pink party pony giggled. "I have my ways," She gave off a wink before proceeding to talk even more. "So I realized that if you two were new, you must not have any friends around here. And not having friends is like... the worst thing ever!" For a brief second it sounded almost like her tone had changed to something less cheerful, but it faded so quickly you'd be forgiven for thinking you hadn't heard it. "So I knew I had to fix that. And what better way to meet new friends than to bring everypony over here for a big old 'Welcome to Ponyville' party?! See, aren't I amazing?!" Then she looked to Twilight and smiled brightly. "And now, thanks to me, you have lots and lots of friends!"
Twilight hadn't been paying attention to anything Pinkie Pie had said, she had simply helped herself to the refreshments table and to a drink poured into a brown colored chalice. But suddenly, right around the part where she heard Pinkie mention "friends", her cheeks turned dark red and sweat started to work its way down her face!
"Twilight, are you alright?!" Spike nervously asked.
Twilight didn't answer, she just ran away while screaming "HOT!" at the top of her lungs!
Spike quickly discovered what had caused that outburst and subsequent mad dash. The label on the bottle Twilight had poured made it easily identifiable: "Hot sauce".
"Oh, silly me," Pinkie Pie giggled. "Meant to put that with the desserts," Then she helped herself to a cupcake and poured nearly half the bottle of hot sauce on top of said cupcake. She downed it without a problem even as someponies gave her weird looks. "What? It's good." She innocently insisted.
A frustrated Twilight Sparkle had retreated upstairs to the bedroom, trying in vain to drown out the loud noises of the party going on downstairs. The only other thing she could was stare up at a clock mounted on a wall nearby. She let out a groan of frustration, research would be impossible in these conditions.
Just then, the door to the bedroom swung open as Spike emerged with what looked like a party hat made to resemble a cake. "Hey, Twilight!" He called, either not knowing or not caring about the pronounced frown on the unicorn's face. "Why don't you come downstairs? Pinkie Pie's just about to start 'Pin The Tail on The Pony'."
But Twilight was in no mood for games as she shouted back! "No! I want nothing to do with this silly party! I swear, all the ponies in this town are crazy! And Pinkie Pie is the craziest of them all!"
"Y-you don't mean that," Spike insisted, surprised by Twilight's bitter response. "You're just cranky because you're not used to being up all night. Look, I know you wanted to get some research done, but has today really been so bad? Everypony here is friendly, they don't seem to care that you're from Canterlot or the student of Princess Celestia. This could be the only chance you'll get to make some true friends."
Twilight just sighed, looking longingly out the window while murmuring to herself. "The stars will aid in her escape." As she spoke this, she swore she saw stars begin to circle the moon and close in on it.
The little dragon quickly sought to reassure the unicorn. "I'm sure Princess Celestia wouldn't have dismissed your concerns if she thought she had anything to worry about. She must know that the legend is just that, a legend. It's not actually true," Then he turned to go back downstairs, though not without suggesting. "You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party! Haven't you always secretly wished you could go to one?"
But all Twilight could think about was the fast approaching deadline. The Summer Sun Celebration itself was going to begin shortly, and she hadn't found any more information on either Nightmare Moon or on the Elements of Harmony that had been used to defeat her in the past. Mentally, she began to hope. "For once, I'd actually like to be wrong. But I can't shake the feeling I'm right. Why doesn't Princess Celestia believe me? Why isn't anypony else worried about this?"
Soon afterward, the door to the bedroom opened again and Spike came in with a cheerful call. "Come on, Twilight! It's time to watch the sunrise! You don't wanna miss that!"
Everypony in town had gathered at town hall, Princess Celestia was expected to appear at any minute.
Pinkie Pie happened to be standing next to Twilight and without even being asked she sought to question the unicorn. "Isn't this exciting? Are you excited, 'cause I'm excited, I've never been so excited!"
But all Twilight could think about was the legend, especially as she swore she could see the stars closing in on the moon and the image of a mare disappear from the moon's surface. "That can't be good!" She thought to herself.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Ponyville was speaking as a spotlight shone upon her. She was an earth pony mare of medium build, sporting a light amber brownish coat. She had moderate dark blue eyes hidden behind yellow glasses balanced perfectly on her snout, a mane and tail sporting gray locks, and a cutie mark which depicted a tan scroll tied with a blue ribbon. "Mares and gentlestallions, colts and fillies of all ages, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of The Summer Sun Celebration!"
The crowd began to cheer audibly, and the mayor waited for the applause to die down before continuing. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!" After a bit more applause, she cleared her throat and declared with great enthusiasm. "And now, it's the moment you'll all been waiting for! It is my great pleasure to introduce 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 paused, giving a cue to others to make ready for the princess' appearance.
"Ready?" Fluttershy asked her song bird choir, receiving several chirps in confirmation. She then looked back to the mayor and gave a confirming nod.
The spotlight moved to a balcony high above as the mayor proudly announced! "Princess Celestia!"
But when the spotlight shone down on the balcony, Princess Celestia was nowhere to be seen. Several ponies started to chatter nervously among themselves.
The mayor was quick to try to calm things down before a panic could break out. "N-now, now," She nervously insisted. "I'm... sure there's a perfectly good explanation for this. Princess Celestia must still be getting ready, o-or taking care of her... 'other royal duties' as it were."
However, it was at that very moment that Rarity came rushing out onto the balcony to exclaim! "She's gone! I can't find her anywhere!"
"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, not realizing the gravity of the situation. "She's good! I didn't even know we were playing hide and go seek."
Mere seconds later, however, a dark blue mist appeared on the balcony. Twilight was certain this could only mean one thing. And her worst fears were realized when the mist parted to reveal a tall alicorn mare with a coat as black as a starless night, only a few traces of dark blue across her face, chest, wings and legs broke up the black. Her mane and tail were the same shade of dark blue and flowed just like Princess Celestia's did. Her eyes were a cold shade of moderate cyan, complimented by moderate blue violet eyebrows. Her cutie mark was a crescent moon.
"Oh no!" Twilight whispered to herself and shrunk from the gaze of the alicorn. "Nightmare Moon!" Her worst fears had been realized, she'd been right all along and no one had believed her.
"Expecting somepony else?" Nightmare Moon spoke up, her voice sound cold and ominously calm, almost like she was holding back how she really felt. "Well I'm afraid to be the bearer of bad news, but Princess Celestia won't be here tonight. In fact, I don't think she'll be making any more appearances anywhere. But perhaps, I could take her place. After all, it's been so long since I've seen your sun loving faces." The last line was delivered with an audible hiss.
Rainbow Dash wasn't frightened for a second as she gazed up at the evil alicorn, boldly demanding! "What did you do with our princess, you fiend?!"
Nightmare Moon only cackled as she threw back her head. "Why? Why do you want her?" It sounded almost as if she were an entirely different pony now, sounding far more jealous than she had a mere moment ago. "Art we not regal enough for thou? Does thou not knowth who we are?"
Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion, as did several other ponies who had previously been cowering in fright. "What are you talking about? I don't understand a word you just said."
At that Nightmare Moon's eyes narrowed and her eyebrows became slanted, it seemed Rainbow's statement had stirred something deep inside the evil alicorn. "Does thou mean to tell us that our crown no longer counts now that we hast been imprisoned?! Banished and trapped within and on the moon for a thousand years?!"
There was no reply and Nightmare Moon seemed to be absolutely enraged by such a reaction. "Really? None of thou remembers us?!" But then she strangely took a moment to compose herself, and a bit more calmly she went on to say. "Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"
"I did!" Twilight boldly spoke up, prompting several more gasps as ponies began to look upon her with suspicion. "And I know who you are! You're the Mare in the Moon of legend, the evil Nightmare Moon!"
The mare of darkness flashed a creepy looking smile as she spoke in that ominously reserved tone of hers. "Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here."
"You're here to... to..." Twilight gulped, she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
The evil alicorn laughed. "That's right!" And then she proclaimed. "Remember this day, my little ponies. For it was your last. From this moment onward: The night, will last, forever!" She began to laugh as lightning flashed and crackled all around her!
Twilight Sparkle didn't know what she was going to do. She hadn't learned about how to defeat Nightmare Moon, and on her own she doubted she had the power to stand up to the mare of darkness. If only Princess Celestia hadn't dismissed her concerns, but now it was too late!
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Thanks very much for getting this started. Definitely appreciate the work that is going into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-ups in all the right places. And, yeah, your points in the author's notes are pretty valid too. Anway, definitely appreciated how Twilight already shows Spike a bit more appreciation here as well as the explanation that Spike only had trouble keeping up because Twilight was dictating too fast. Plus, the subtle alterations to first meetings with each of the rest of the Mane Six make sense as well.
On to the next chapter.