Infinite Ponygram

by Fullmetal Pony

The Summer Sun Celebration

The door to Carousel Boutique flung open. Twilight rushed inside, choking down air. In truth, the distance from Ponyville’s save point to the boutique was minimal. Even at a full sprint, one would have to be severely out of shape to be as winded as Twilight.

Her current state was not related to her health but rather a quirk of Infinite Dendrogram. While things such as disease and injury would not carry over from reality, things such as exhaustion and intoxication could.

“I am so sorry!” Twilight gasped, spotting Rarity’s tail first and lowering her head in embarrassment. “I… I got too focused on some work and I…”

“Easy, darling.” The tip of Rarity’s tail pressed against Twilight’s cheek and was cool to the touch. “Breath.”

Twilight did as asked. With her breathing and brain calming, she realized stammering about rushing back home and up the flights of stairs to her apartment would have revealed too much personal information. Collecting herself, she took in Rarity.

While Rarity’s tail, long as it was, had helped straighten Twilight up and her words had calmed her down, Rarity’s upper body had not moved from a raised platform. A trio of mirrors encircled half the platform. Rarity and the duplicate images all scintillated, and not just from her ivory scales. A pair of golden hoop earrings adorned the sides of her face. Her hair was formed into a magnificent curl that spiraled down the length of her back. It was matched by a similar style in the front that covered part of her face at certain angles, adding a mysterious allure.

Fine lavender gloves went up the length of her arms, with space on the back of Rarity’s right hand to show off the trio of shining diamonds that trailed and wove together at the ends into a fine line etched into her skin. There was a gap to show off some skin (scales?) between her biceps and her clavicle. Twilight noted there was good definition there and wondered if Rarity had chosen that or, like Twilight, she had used her real body as a model. Straps, partially covered by a shawl, held up the dress that flowed to where Rarity’s ankles would probably be if she had legs. At first, Twilight thought it was a deep purple, but then perhaps maroon. It was only after staring for a second did she realize both answers were correct as the dress changed colors ever so faintly before her eyes to reflect the hues one would see only in the last light of day or in the early dawn.

“I see my choice for this year has made a good impression.” Rarity cinched some stitching near her waist and cut the remaining thread with her fingers. “Now, between the timing of your arrival and your name, I did follow a bit of a theme. Nothing too awkward as showing up wearing the same thing, I can assure you that much.”

“It’s no problem, Rarity.” Twilight managed to smile a little. “I’m just glad I made it in time.”

“Oh, don’t fret too much, dear.” Having put the final touches on her own dress, Rarity slid off the platform while her tail fetched a hangar draped with a clothing cover, hiding its contents. She moved it over to Twilight.

When Twilight opened it, her eyes glistened.

~~~

A final fitting was needed, so now Twilight stood on the dressing platform. Starting from the bottom, fine dark leather boots came up to a little below the knee. Their laces were cut in such a way to resemble rays of light either from the sun or the moon. Further up was a deep blue, nearly black skirt that felt quite flexible. A belt adorned with sapphires and amethysts ran along the waist, and cast reflections on the additional pockets and loops for storage. A blouse the same color covered Twilight’s torso and a dark purple vest the color of part of Twilight’s hair rested atop it. The vest had a few pockets as well.

When Twilight had asked about that and the space in her skirt for storing things, since this was a world with storage bags that ignored mass, Rarity answered, “It can be quite a hassle finding some things on the fly, no?”

Recalling that Fluttershy was with them yesterday and an explanation had been provided for Twilight's mud-soaked appearance, Twilight agreed.

The final piece was what had made Twilight’s eyes glisten, even though the entire outfit was stunning. It was a hooded cloak that contained the night sky. It wasn’t just that there were constatations sewn into it. The stars twinkled and galaxies swirled across its fibers. When Rarity asked her to raise it and Twilight saw it shimmer from three different angles, she murmured, “Incredible.”

“Such a fine complement. Oh, what I would give to see its inspiration up close.”

“Inspiration?”

Rarity snipped some thread while running another hand along the side of Twilight’s vest. “Oh, it’s quite a story, but we’re a bit short on time, so suffice to say I took inspiration from a gallant upcomer and the UBM he beat. Now… if only his fashion sense were a bit less… teenager-ry.”

Twilight glanced at the cloak. “UBMs can become clothing?”

“Quite often, in fact.”

“Huh, I was thinking if you fight them, they’d more often become weapons.”

The discussion prompted Twilight to think about the stats she had watched change whenever Rarity took off a piece to modify. It was common in games for clothes to affect stats, but given the realism of Infinite Dendrogram, it interested Twilight to think how all her clothes actually did make it easier to endure an attack. While the clothes increased her END by a few points, what caught her eye was that when worn all together, her MP increased by 50 points.

Taking that all into account, as Rarity finished up, Twilight asked, “Why am I able to wear this?”

Rarity grinned. “Ah, I was wondering what Pinkie meant when she came by earlier, but now I see that you do have an eye for things. Of course, I had to take your level into account in crafting your outfit.”

“You’re sure you don’t already have a Superior Job?” Given her experience earlier with the merchant in Amneal, Twilight knew that crafting items for new Masters like herself could prove even more difficult than crafting for higher level Masters.

Rarity tilted her head back. “Oh-ho-ho! You spoil me, Twilight. But the flattery will have to wait, we do have places to be, after all.”

“Right.” Twilight bowed her head while Rarity moved over to the door. Twilight followed. “Sorry if we’re late.”

“No worries. You might have an ear problem on that end, dear.” Rarity opened the door, letting Twilight out before closing up the shop. “There are more concerning things than this game. Now, let us be off.”

~~~

The Summer Sun Celebration. Since Professor Dominguez had only provided the name and time the celebration took place in Ponyville, it had fallen on Pinkie Pie to explain it. Coincidentally, it tied into the story Twilight had read about The Sun and The Moon. The Celebration was said to align with the historic date The Sun defeated Nightmare Moon. Looking over the dates, Twilight had noticed it aligned with the summer solstice as well. This matched up with how several cultures on Earth observed solstices as well, but Twilight did think it was well-developed lore for what boiled down to a minor annual event.

What made Ponyville special was that the current holder of The Sun job appeared every year. This was because it was said that Ponyville was founded by survivors of Nightmare Moon’s attack, which had devastated the castle and surrounding town they had lived in before. Its name even came from Nightmare Moon’s form: that of some ghoulish equine monster.

The Sun would make her appearance and use the job’s ultimate skill to briefly turn night into day. Seeing such a thing tickled Twilight’s curiosity. She also wanted to know a little more about The Sun given a key piece of info Pinkie had provided: the current holder of The Sun job was a Master. In fact, she had been the one to help Pinkie set up the party for royalty that had netted her the Master of Ceremonies job. Yet, The Sun had not added Pinkie as a friend and did not make many public appearances. Pinkie described her as very nice and regal but distant. The only other knowledge Pinkie had on her was a username: Princess_Celestia.

~~~

All of Ponyville appeared to have gathered at the spacious town hall. Many eyes were directed up to a balcony. A bright banner depicting a stylized sun hung from above it.

“Hi, Twilight and Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed upon spotting them. She looked Twilight up and down. “Oooooh! Another good one, Rarity!”

Rainbow Dash swooped over. She had traded in her gym clothes for a blue jumpsuit that resembled something between military fatigues and a NASA uniform. “So, Rarity got you decked out, eh?”

“And I wouldn’t mind giving you something as well,” Rarity offered.

“Eh, I’m good with what I’ve got.”

Rarity shook her head.

“G-good to see you back,” came a voice from behind Twilight. She turned and was met with Fluttershy. “I… I was a little worried the incident with Angel might have scared you off.”

“Well, there are advantages to not feeling pain when your arm gets broken.” Twilight let out a forced laugh but a heavy silence fell on her and Fluttershy.

Some clops broke the tension, and Applejack approached. “Mighty fine to see you again, Twilight. Hope you’re ready for some good eatin’ once we’re wrapped up here. We’ve got pies to eat for days!”

“And cake!” Pinkie proclaimed. “Oh, and soda! And croissants! And berries! An—”

A parade of trumpets cut Pinkie off. The crowd grew quiet and a middle-aged woman with graying hair stepped onto the balcony. “Masters and Tians alike, as Mayor of Ponyville, I welcome you to the Summer Sun Celebration!”

A round of applause went up. While the crowd cheered and the Mayor continued with introductions, Twilight could not help but notice a quartet of stars around the moon. Maybe it was the scale of things but it appeared like they were moving. Then, perhaps a trick of the light, the surface of the moon appeared to shift. The moon did appear similar to Earth’s, a gray-white sphere pockmarked with craters, but to Twilight the craters seemed to form the pattern of a horned horse. At least, it had, but in the last few seconds, she could no longer make out that shape and only saw craters.

“… and without further ado, I welcome the current The Sun, Princess_Celestia!”

With a flourish, the Mayor waved her arm over to some curtains. The curtains pulled back, but there was no one there. The Mayor blinked, stared at the empty space, and then blinked again. She rushed over and peered further back. Some at certain angles could see her calling out, but could not hear her since she was trying her best to whisper. Taking a breath, she turned back around.

“Well, um, The Sun is a Master after all, so she may have, uh, logged out.”

Twilight, despite her unfamiliarity with Infinite Dendrogram, felt something cold form in her gut.

“Hmmmm.” It helped Twilight a little that Pinkie did not appear concerned. “She did things like normal last year, but maybe she wants to spice things up a bit.”

As if responding to Pinkie, the lights flickered. Twilight’s skin prickled and she saw others experiencing a chill as well. A frigid air tugged at cloak, it almost felt like something snaked by her. She tensed when she saw there was somehow a purple mist now flowing through the room.

Before Twilight could yelp, the mist rose and gathered on the balcony. As it did, the lights of the room were snuffed out, but the mist had a pale glow. In the darkened room, all eyes fell upon it. The way it writhed turned stomachs in the crowd.

It then burst apart. Everyone felt as if something with claws made of ice seized their hearts.

What had appeared in the mist’s place resembled a woman, but something screamed at Twilight that this thing was something far far worse. She had a dark complexion from where her skin showed, but most of her body was covered in either silver armor or something that could only be described as a liquid shadow. It oozed between her gauntlets and greaves, running up her legs and arms. Her chest-plate was engraved with a sickle-like moon. Part of the mist had remained and now formed a sort of dress below her waist. Although, it could have been mistaken for a death shroud. Another portion of the mist flowed into a wavy spectral mass that connected to her helm. Beneath her helm were hellish pupils that scanned over the crowd. Her fangs curled into a grin.

“Oh, my beloved subjects, it’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious little sunlit faces.”

Her words made Twilight’s skin crawl.

A burst of lightning, a serpent of flame, a beam of bright light, spears, arrows, axes, and several other attacks rained down on the armored entity. Dust blew around the spot where she had stood for a second. Not a soul made a sound. Then the dust was cleaved away with the swipe of a massive screen of mist. Twilight was knocked back and saw others thrown off their feet, but Dash swooped in front of her, Pinkie and Fluttershy. Applejack and Rarity rushed to their sides and used their larger bodies as windbreakers. Yet, before Dash, smaller even than Twilight, the brunt of the gale seems to break apart.

With the others protecting her, Twilight was able to see the balcony. The woman was there. In fact, she was rooted. A spear ran through her chest and into the balcony. Arrows pieced her in several spots. An ax had buried itself above her nose, splitting her face in two. Yet, her sneer was even bigger than before. It was the look of a predator about to devour its prey.

She stepped to her right and her body parted around the spear. The arrows clattered to the ground. She grasped the ax and dislodged it from her head. With the same grin still plastered on her face, she looked down on the crowd, giving them a full view of the gapping hole in her chest and the wound to her face. None of her injuries bled and instead writhed. It reminded Twilight of a mass of maggots and she felt nausea welling up.

It was only thanks to the wounds closing up in just a few seconds that she managed to keep from getting sick.

A scream also distracted her.

“N-no!” a young woman with a flower in her hair wailed. “It can’t be!”

“The horror!” said another.

“Th-the Nightmare!”

“Oh hell,” Applejack cursed.

Twilight could not stop shaking, but part of her brain grasped for an escape. This is just a game. I’m not facing an actual ancient monster. I… I can just…

Her brain latched onto years of scientific pursuit and that observation was a key to understanding. With that, almost on instinct, Twilight rushed to use a skill she had acquired thanks to Pinkie’s help. Reveal!

The Nightmare, Nightmare Moon That was all that was displayed to Twilight. No stats. Only a name that confirmed her worst fears.

“That was quite a nice little welcome.” Nightmare Moon brushed off her armor. “Really lit up the place. I suppose you’d better enjoy that.”

Nightmare Moon held aloft something. It was a golden tiara with a purple stone inset in the middle. Gasps went up throughout the hall. Nightmare Moon crushed it like it was brittle clay. “Remember this day, for it was your last! The Sun is mine! And now, the night will last forever! Ah ha ha ha!”

Comments

[Freewing Alchemist P]

Still, love The Nightmare's description. Get to see an up date, like this story.
You've done a good job Hope you keep going.