The Stars of Nightmare Moon

by Mysterious Stranger

Chapter 4: The gift

After a while Night Mist's crying died down to sniffles. He didn’t want to think anymore. All he wanted was to see his parents again. The ones he knew. Naturally, he would not be able to find them if he didn’t keep moving. So on he walked. After several hours of travel there wasn’t anything on his tired mind except the placement of his hooves on the ground. He didn’t have the mental energy for anything else.

Night Mist was so unaware of his surroundings that he didn't even realize he had traveled out of the forest until he nearly walked into a cottage made of stone and wood. As he went around the corner of the structure to keep walking, he spotted a white stallion in golden armor talking to a tall white mare with a multicolored mane that moved as if there was a breeze, despite the fact there was none.

"The fire destroyed a lot of property," the armored stallion was saying, "but with the proper amount of supplies we should- oh!"

The armored stallion cut himself as he spotted Night Mist. Before Night Mist could think of what he should do, the tall mare turned around and saw him as well.

"Oh my," said the mare in surprise. "Where did you come from, little one?"

Night Mist tried to respond, but found he was too exhausted to speak.

"It looks like he just walked out of the Everfree forest," the stallion observed.

"Is that right? Did you just come out of the forest?" the mare asked with concern.

Night Mist nodded.

"You poor thing," the mare said sympathetically. "Did you get lost?"

Not knowing where to start, Night Mist merely nodded again.

"Do you know where your parents are?"

"Ponyville," Night Mist managed to reply automatically. Right away he realized his response was inaccurate, which caused him to tear up and sniffle again.

"Its okay, little one," the mare said soothingly. "You're safe now. I'll see to it that we get you home alright?"

Night Mist was hesitant to agree. Given all that he had been through, the mare's kindness seemed too good to be true.

"Shall I arrange for some of my troops to take the colt to Ponyville, your majesty?" the stallion offered.

"No, it would best for them to assist with the reconstruction," the mare decided. "I'll take him home myself."

At that point the tall figure and drifting mane slowly reminded him of another pony he had once seen from a distance while on vacation. Then it clicked. The mare in front of him was none other than Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. For a moment he considered telling her about the Stars, but decided against it. He had no idea how she would react, and Night Mist didn't want to make any more enemies.

"Shall I prepare your chariot for departure then, your highness?" asked the stallion.

"I could just use a quick travel spell," Princess Celestia pointed out.

"Beg your pardon, your majesty, but won't you be raising the moon soon?"

"Oh, that. Yes, I should probably save my energy then," Princess Celestia said disdainfully.
"Chariot it is then."

The stallion saluted and departed at a brisk pace, presumably to prepare the chariot. Princess Celestia glanced down at Night Mist and gave him a reassuring smile. Within moments two pegasi guards swooped in pulling a golden chariot. Both Princess Celestia and Night Mist got on board and the chariot pulled off and soared up into the air. Night Mist silently peered over the edge of the chariot down at the Everfree forest, half expecting something to launch out of it and blow the chariot out of the sky.

"I don't believe I caught your name," Princess Celestia said after a minute or so of silent flying.

"I'm Night Mist. Night Mist Mystery," replied the little black colt, thinking it proper to give the princess his full name.

"Pleasure to meet you, Night Mist. I imagine you’ve been told my name is Princess Celestia, but you can call me Tia alright?”

Night Mist wasn’t sure how to respond to such an informal introduction from royalty, so he said nothing.

“How did you wind up in the Everefree forest?" Princess Celestia prompted, undeterred by Night Mist’s silence.

The question sounded innocent enough, but it made Night Mist wary all the same.

"There was a storm," he said carefully. "It came out of nowhere. It picked me up and dropped me off in the forest. There were two other ponies with me when the storm appeared, but I don't know where they are."

"How strange," Princess Celestia mused. "I've heard that the clouds above the Everfree forest move without pegasi assistance sometimes, but I've never heard of storms abducting ponies and taking them there."

Night Mist had a theory on why those clouds might move on their own, but didn't dare voice it.

"It's lucky that you found me, Night Mist. If this storm of yours is the start of a new threat, it will need to be dealt with swiftly."

Night Mist wasn't sure how to respond to that comment either, so he kept quiet. Before too long the forest below gave way to a village of light tan cottages and other structures. It was Ponyville. From his vantage point Night Mist could see that a large crowd of ponies were gathered in front of the town hall.

"The best part about surprise visits," Princess Celestia remarked with a faint smile, "Is catching everyone off guard and seeing what the place actually looks like ninety nine percent of the time."
As the chariot descended towards the crowd, Night Mist saw that everyone was indeed caught off guard. Sounds of surprise rose from the crowd and many pointed at the chariot, as if there was a remote possibility that it would otherwise go unnoticed.

"Night Mist!" someone in the crowd called out.

Night Mist turned his head and saw that it was Sharp Wing who had voiced his name. Besides him was Frazzle Spark, and they both weaved around and under many legs to reach the chariot.

"Hey! You got yours too!" Frazzle Spark exclaimed.

For a moment Night Mist didn't know what Frazzle Spark was talking about, until he realized that the unicorn was looking at the cutie mark on his flank.

"We all got our cutie marks on the same day!?" Sharp Wing said in disbelief.

Night Mist studied the two colts and saw that, sure enough, each now had a cutie mark on their flanks. Sharp Wing's was a image of two crossed swords, while Frazzle Spark's was a firecracker in mid-explosion. Just as Night Mist opened his mouth to ask how they had discovered their special talents his parents burst through the crowd and embraced him. Or rather, the ponies he had always assumed to be his real parents until recently embraced him. But for a few blissful seconds Night Mist was able to forget this fact and hugged them back with equal passion. Night Mist's "mother" looked up at Princess Celestia with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you so much," she whispered.

"Glad to help," Princess Celestia said courteously. "Night Mist, were these two colts here the ones with you when the storm appeared?"

In response Night Mist simply nodded. Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark both glanced at Princess Celestia in surprise at their becoming the focus of the alicorn's attention.

"Could you describe what happened for me?" she asked.

"Well," Sharp Wing began. "Fraz and I were teaching Night Mist how to play hoofball when the sky got really dark and the wind got really, um, windy. First the winds picked up Fraz, then me. I think I passed out after that."

"And then you woke up in the Everfree Forest?" Princess Celestia prompted.

"What? No, I woke up in a big rocky, sandy area," Sharp Wing clarified as he pointed a hoof to the south. "Its really far from here, in that direction."

"It had mountains and volcanoes too," Frazzle Spark chimed in.

"So you both woke up in the Bad lands?"

"If that bad lands are that way, then yeah," figured Sharp Wing. "I was falling when I woke up, but I used my wings and landed in a giant crack in the ground."

"I landed in a river," Frazzle Spark said.

"So a storm picks up all three of you, takes two of you all the way to the Bad lands, one of you to the Everfree forest, and all three of you earn your cutie marks as a result." Princess Celestia mused. "How strange. What happened after you landed?"

"Some funny creatures with green heads and pointy ears appeared above the hole and seemed really excited," Sharp Wing continued. "Said something about making delicious paste, but I have no idea what they meant by that."

Princess Celestia's brows raised slightly as if alarmed, but she didn't say anything.

"I was about to ask what they were talking about, but they jumped down into the hole and they had swords and- and-"

Sharp Wing paused for a moment before he was able to keep going.

"And they tried to hit me. But I knocked one of them down and I grabbed its sword with my wing. Next thing I know they were all running away, and I had two swords. Then my cutie mark appeared. After that I just started walking until I met somepony who teleported me home.

"What happened to your swords?" Princess Celestia questioned.

"My mom took them," the light gray colt scowled.

"And you didn't see the storm again?"

"No," Sharp Wing replied, and after a nudge from a mare that must have been his mother added, "Your highness."

"I see. Did you see the storm again, little one?" Princess Celestia asked Frazzle Spark.

Frazzle Spark shook his head. "I got my cutie mark after some dragons started chasing me up a volcano. Then my horn started glowing a whole lot, and the volcano started shooting rocks and stuff at them and... and... it was really cool! Cool as in awesome, not... you know..."

With a faint trace of alarm Night Mist noticed that Frazzle Spark's eyes had lit up during the part about the volcano. The colt seemed a lot more excited about the ordeal than he should have been.

"Describe to me the exact moment you earned your cutie mark," Princess Celestia suddenly requested of Night Mist.

Night Mist studied the alicorn's eyes, trying to discern some sort of clue about what she was thinking. If he told her he was a Star, would she lock him up, or do something worse to him? A slight frown appeared on her face, and Night Mist realized he was taking too long to answer.

"Like I told you earlier, I got lost," he lied. "But once I figured out how to leave to forest, I got my cutie mark."
"That's it?" Princess Celestia asked.

A small portion of Night Mist's mind began yelling at him to tell Princess Celestia what had caused the storm. But the rest of his mind fiercely resisted. What if she did something to him after she found out what he was? How would everyone else react?

"That's it," he said evenly.

Princess Celestia studied him for a minute as Night Mist held her gaze. Apparently satisfied, she looked up again.

"I'll have to arrange for further investigations later," Princess Celestia announced to the crowd as she got into her chariot. "I must return Canterlot to raise the moon. But rest assured that I will find who, or what, is responsible for this."

---

Night Mist stared at the ceiling of his bedroom from his bed. His "parents" had insisted on taking him home before he could talk to Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark and sent him to bed immediately after dinner. He was still putting all of the pieces together, but he was pretty sure that all three of them earning their cutie marks on the same day was nothing but a fluke. The Dark Storm had been sent for him, and had simply tossed the other two colts away. The issue that weighed the most on his mind now was the Stars. What if they kidnapped him again? What if they brought Nightmare Moon back to Equestria?

Without any warning a hoof pressed up against his mouth, eliciting a muffled scream from the young colt. Beside the bed stood Nightmare Umbra, his black star medallion hanging inches from Night Mist's face.

"I'm only going to say this once, so you better listen," the dark blue unicorn whispered harshly. "I don't claim to understand why you ran back to your old life instead of fulfilling your destiny, but I can see that you did."

A faint hope took root in Night Mist's terror. Was Umbra saying he wasn't going to take him back?

"Believe me, I would love nothing more than to take you back and open your eyes to the future you're missing," Umbra said as if reading Night Mist's mind. "But thanks to you, Celestia is now aware of the Dark Storm. Having you vanish from Ponyville twice in a row wouldn't help us to avoid detection. So instead I'm here to give you advice and make the most out of the decision you've made. The reason, the only reason, society accepts you is because they think you're normal. They don't know that your destiny is bring back Nightmare Moon. Your adopted parents love you because they don't know. Your friends like you because they don't know. And if you had told Celestia what you are, she would have killed you on the spot. So if you ever tell anyone about the Stars, you will lose everything, understand!?"

Night Mist nodded, eyes wide. He believed every word. Umbra removed his hoof from Night Mist's mouth and smiled coyly. Then, before Night Mist's eyes, Umbra's eyes glowed white. Dark mist began to rise up from the unicorn's body like steam from a boiling pot of water.

"However," the half solid, half gas, stallion added. "If you ever wish to join the Stars... to join your destiny, I've left you a little present under your bed. If I were you I would find a better hiding place for it though, least you have to explain it."

And with that he fully dissolved into a dark cloud that seeped under the door to Night Mist's bedroom. Night Mist sat up in his bed and didn't move for several minutes. Once he was sure Umbra had left, he slipped out of his bed and peeked underneath it. Lying on the floor was a single piece of paper. Night Mist snagged it with his teeth and withdrew to the window so that he could see it in the moonlight.

It was a map. But not just any map. It was a map of the entire Everfree forest. It was divided up by landmarks, rocks of a particular shape or trees that were uncharacteristically large, among other things. In the lower left region of the map was the symbol of the Nightmare Stars. Dotted lines formed a path using the landmarks all the way back to Ponyville, which was at the top of the map. Night Mist stared at it for a while before he frantically took a book out of his bookcase, set the map between the pages and replaced on the shelf. Once the dark deed was complete, he slipped back into bed. No one could ever know about the map. No one could ever know what he was. It wasn't until Night Mist assured himself that his secret was safe that he was able to fall asleep.