• Published 24th Feb 2022
  • 4,665 Views, 256 Comments

I Woke Up In My Favorite TV Show, But Before I Could Do Anything, I Was Recruited By The Villainess! - Leafdoggy



A human girl finds herself in a strange new world, with a strange new body, and makes some strange new friends

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Chapter 12

“Ouch!”

Rarity sighed and pulled her needle away as I yelped yet again. “Really, dear, you need to relax. All this fidgeting is just untenable!”

“I’m sorry, Rarity,” I said. “My nerves are just getting to me.”

“Yes, well I can see that!” Rarity walked up beside me and rubbed my back gingerly. She frowned and lowered her voice empathetically. “What has you so tense, Starfall?”

“It’s… It’s nothing, really,” I said. “I think I might just be tired. Maybe I should go home and lie down…”

“Oh, hush,” Rarity said. “I hate to break it to you, Starfall, but you’re far from the most adept of my friends at hiding your troubles. You may as well give up the charade. Now, come.” With a flourish of magic, Rarity whipped the half-constructed suit away, hung it up neatly, and waved for me to follow her. She didn’t seem to be giving me a choice, so I gave in and trotted along after her.

She led me into a cozy little lounge that was hidden away in a side room. In stark contrast to the bright whites of the storefront, this room was warm and comfy. The walls were painted a soft brown, and dim light flooded the room from a corner lamp. A low glass table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded on three sides by deep, soft sofas. There was a bookcase at the far wall, but rather than being stuffed with books, it was filled with decorations and tchotchkies. There were souvenirs from cities all over Equestria, alongside family photos and hoof-made arts and crafts that looked like they were probably made by Sweetie Belle, or perhaps a younger Rarity. The rest of the walls were decorated with simple landscape paintings, and a grandfather clock ticked away quietly behind one of the sofas. Finally, a large cabinet sat against the wall right beside the door, locked shut by a simple combination lock that was built into the doors.

She directed me towards one of the sofas, so I went and got comfortable as she made for the cabinet. By the time I had sat down and looked back over to her, she was already closing it and locking it back up—it was clear she had a lot of practice getting in and out of it quickly. From inside, she’d produced a fancy tray lined with tea and light snacks. She served me with practiced poise before sitting down across the table from me and taking her own.

I must’ve been looking at the cabinet strangely, because after following my gaze, she chuckled and smiled wryly. “Oh, don’t you worry yourself about all that,” Rarity said. “It’s nothing untoward, I assure you. I live with my little sister, you see, so there are certain amenities a proper hostess stocks which need to be kept safe from prying hooves.”

I nodded silently and sipped my tea.

After settling in, Rarity gave a contented sigh and smiled. “So, Starfall, why don’t you tell me what it is that has you so worked up?”

“It’s… It’s nothing important, really,” I told her.

“I beg to differ,” Rarity said. “My friends being upset is very important, no matter the source.”

“But—”

“No buts. Bottling up our feelings is unacceptable. Everypony needs a confidant, lest we tear ourselves apart.”

“I can always talk to Trixie,” I told her. “Really, I’m okay.”

Rarity sighed. “Well, if you truly do have somepony else to turn to, I suppose I needn’t hound you. I am always here for you, though, darling, if you need to talk.”

“Thank you,” I said genuinely. “That’s very kind of you. Especially since we barely know each other, really. You really are a generous pony, huh?”

Rarity laughed and waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, you flatterer. It’s nothing, really, I’m simply being a proper—”

Knock Knock Knock

“Oh! That must be Twilight,” Rarity said, rising from her seat at the sound of somepony at the door. “You just wait here, and I’ll be right back with her, alright?”

“O-Okay.”

Rarity trotted away, and a moment later I heard her open the door. “Good evening, Twilight, dar—Oh! My, I apologize, I was expecting somepony and just assumed it would be her at the door.”

My ears perked up at this, and I listened closer. I could just barely make out the other voice, which was low and had a commanding air about it.

“Oh, it’s quite alright, I understand the tendency to get caught up in one’s plans all too well. I hope I am not interrupting you too terribly, my dear…”

“Rarity, and no, not at all! Please, come in, come in. Are you here on business, madam?”

I heard the door shut, and the two ponies walked inside as they continued to talk.

“Please, call me Bloom. Moonlight Bloom, and no, I’m afraid not. Although, seeing your work for myself now, I can certainly say I’ll be back. Today, however, I’m merely looking for an acquaintance of mine. She was meant to be home today, and seems to have vanished on me.”

Rarity gasped. “Don’t tell me you mean Starfall?

“Ah, yes, that would be her. Have you two met? I must say, I am impressed at how quickly she seems to have grown on the lovely ponies of Ponyville.”

This shocked me. I didn’t know anypony named Moonlight Bloom, but I did have some idea who this could be… Unable to sit idly by, I jumped to my hooves and rushed out into the lobby, only to be greeted by a very strange sight.

Rarity was there, talking to another unicorn who I hadn’t seen before. She was rather short, but carried herself with a practiced elegance. Her light blue mane and tail seemed to almost flow in a nonexistent wind, and stood out brilliantly against the dark blue of her coat. Her cutie mark was of a simple rose against a bright white moon.

As I walked in, she met me with a piercing gaze that I knew all too well. Of course, even having never seen this unicorn before, I recognized her easily. Even if I couldn’t tell by her eyes, or her voice, or the commanding pressure she filled the air with, it would’ve been impossible not to recognize the golden bands that adorned one of her legs.

Nightmare Moon was here.

“N-Night—”

She stuck a hoof out to stop me. “No, it’s not night yet, don’t worry,” she said quickly. “You haven’t been here that long. I’m merely being proactive.”

“Right…”

“Now, before it gets too late,” she said, and gestured towards the door.

“Oh, wait a moment, please, Miss Bloom!” Rarity cut in. “I’m terribly sorry to be a bother, but my friend Twilight was actually on her way here to speak with Starfall.”

“Is that so?” Nightmare Moon glanced at me. I grimaced, and she thought for a moment. “Well,” she finally said, “I suppose we have a bit of time to spare. We cannot stay too long, though. We’ve a trek through the Everfree ahjead of us, and I would hate for Starfall to need to make such a journey after dark.”

“The Everfree!?” Rarity gasped and looked to me. “Starfall, why didn’t you say something? Why, if I’d sent you off on your own, who knows what could have happened?”

I shook my head. “Please, don’t worry about it. Ni—Er, Bloom wouldn’t let anything happen to me in the forest.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Rarity said. “She does appear quite capable… Ah, well, no matter. Let’s go have a seat, shall we? There’s no need for us to stand around like this.

She led us back to the lounge, and served us more tea. Nightmare Moon sat right next to me, which was… Strange, to say the least, so I couldn’t quite relax, but if Rarity noticed, she didn’t say anything.

After about ten minutes of idle chatter, there was another knock at the door, and Rarity finally led Twilight and Spike into the room to meet us. They were clearly shocked to see another pony here, but Twilight smiled politely and took a seat on the third couch with Spike while Rarity served them.

“So, you’re the famous Twilight Sparkle.” Nightmare Moon wasted no time getting down to business. “I’m Moonlight Bloom, an associate of Starfall. We came to Ponyville together, in fact.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, shocked. “Strange that we’re only now hearing this… Well, it’s good to meet you, Moonlight Bloom. As you apparently already know, I am Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike. We live in the local library. Actually, we were sent here by Princess Celestia herself!” She smiled at this, and though I could’ve been imagining it, I could swear I saw a glint of malice in that smile.

“The Princess? My, how impressive,” Nightmare Moon said. “Why, I remember the first time Celestia tasked me with something… Such a formative opportunity in the life of a young unicorn. Although,” she chuckled, “I must say, it’s quite embarrassing to think of how highly I thought of myself then. Why, if you’d asked me at the time, I likely would have assumed I was her favorite, but today I doubt she even remembers me!”

This clearly struck a blow, as Twilight’s jaw dropped, and she was unable to respond.

Rarity, unaware of her friend’s plight, was merely impressed. “You know Princess Celestia, Bloom? Talk about friends in high places.” She chuckled softly.

“Oh, it’s nothing special,” Nightmare Moon said, “especially when you’ve been around as long as I have. I’m sure you’ll meet her yourself some day. She does so love for her subjects to feel seen, after all.”

I winced, seeing that this was going nowhere good, and cleared my throat. “Well, um, anyway,” I said, “Twilight, you had something you wanted to talk about?”

“What? I, uh… Oh, yeah! Right!” Twilight found her train of thought again and refocused on me. “Yes, well, Starfall, after you left on your trip, I just so happened to meet Zecora. You know, the zebra who lives near the Everfree?” She laughed in an obviously forced way. “Strangely enough, when I mentioned you, she’d never even heard of you! Isn’t that weird? I was sure you’d said you were staying with her. Isn’t that right, Rarity?”

“Hmm…” Rarity thought for a moment. “Yes, I do recall Starfall mentioning that. How odd.”

“Ah, yeah, about that, uh…” I thought frantically for an excuse. “Well, you see, I was, um… Wrong.”

“You were wrong?” Twilight echoed.

I nodded. “Yup.”

“Care to elaborate?” Twilight asked.

“Um…”

Beside me, Nightmare Moon chuckled. “Oh, Starfall, there’s no need to be so nervous.” She turned to Twilight. “See, I had told Starfall that I planned to petition this ‘Zecora’ for living space, as she was nearest to the forest. Before I could do that, though, I found out about someplace we could stay that was actually inside the forest, and, well, I couldn’t possibly pass that up.”

Twilight seemed to be deep in thought as she listened to the explanation.

Rarity was shocked, though. “Wait, why would you ever want to live in the forest? That place is a nightmare!”

Nightmare Moon frowned. “Well, perhaps, but what nightmare doesn’t have something within it to learn? We are researchers, after all, and no self respecting researcher would write off an entire locale as unworthy of study.”

“Wait,” Twilight said, “you’re researchers?

“Well, naturally,” Nightmare Moon said. “Did you not recognize our insignia?” She gestured to the Elements that we both wore. “Well, I suppose this town is rather secluded. It isn’t too surprising to have not heard of our academy, as illustrious as it is.”

Twilight looked affronted. “I-I’m sorry, but what academy are you from? I should know every academy in Equestria, and none that I’m aware of have an insignia like that.”

“It’s known as Penumbra Academy,” Nightmare Moon said.

“Wh—Penumbra Academy closed its doors a thousand years ago!” Twilight was barely holding herself back from shouting. “You can’t be from there!”

Nightmare Moon shook her head. “I’m afraid your information is inaccurate, dear. The academy may have closed to students, but we’ve kept up a prestigious staff, and continued research to this very day. Also…” She hesitated, as though considering something. “We shouldn’t really disclose this, but part of our reason for being here is to consider Ponyville’s viability as the site of a new school.”

“Really?” Twilight asked.

Rarity’s eyes shone. “Ooh, how exciting! Our Ponyville, a university town. Just imagine all the different ponies we’d have coming and going!”

Nightmare Moon chuckled. “Well, Ponyville is only one consideration of many. Nothing is set in stone, yet.”

“Yes, of course, of course,” Rarity said. “Although, I must ask… Have you sourced uniforms yet? I’ve got some designs I could show you, and of course they could be reworked to conform to the school’s colors. We’d just need to…”

From there, the conversation devolved to idle chatter, and it wasn’t long until Nightmare Moon was declaring our need to leave. Twilight watched us carefully the entire time, hardly uttering a word, suspicion glinting in her eyes, but she couldn’t find any holes to poke in our story—at least, not yet—so she had no choice but to watch in silence as we left.

We walked along in silence until we reached the edge of town, at which point I spoke up.

“Uh… Thanks for bailing me out back there,” I said.

“Oh, but of course!” Nightmare Moon said. “I must be there for my friends, mustn’t I? And besides, it was such fun playing with Sparkle, and exercising my social skills after a millennium was just phenomenal. I must say, that Rarity shows a level of class I had not expected to see again in my lifetime. The other ponies I’ve met have not been promising along those lines.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, okay, glad you had fun with my suffering. Really, though, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up.”

“I’m thrilled to have helped.”

“There is one issue, though.”

“And what would that be?”

“Well, you might have to open up a school to keep Twilight from seeing through your lie.”

“Ah.”