Defender of the Night

by DayDrifter75

Beginning of the Night

Wind swirled around Twilight as she trotted carefully through the dark and threatening forest. It whispered, moving swiftly between branches and what few leaves were left. A worried expression creeped across her now sweating face. A crunch sounded off in the distance, to which Twilight swiveled her head to see. Another sound, this time closer and on her right. Her head snapped to search that side for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing but a few shrubs and bushes. Twilight continued walking along the dirt path that stretched out in front of her.

The wind began to pick up, it's whistle growing steadily into a howl, and then into an ear drum-bursting screech. A whirlwind of scattered leaves and branches began to pick up, swirling around her, building up until the winds became a destructive tornado, tearing up everything around Twilight and soon enough, lifting her up off the ground. Twilight rose slowly upwards through the eye of the storm, her terrified shriek drowned out by the sound of the wind. And then, it stopped.

Twilight floated in the air, still screaming, though the whirlwind had ceased. The moon, shining silver, hung in the sky behind her, basking her in its tender glow. Soon enough, Twilight ran out of breath and she stopped. Feeling nothing under her hooves, she looked down. As soon as she took notice that there was no longer earth beneath her, she began screaming once again, but not before being cut off by a voice that boomed out from behind.

"Twilight Sparkle!" it echoed. The unicorn turned her head, her body following suit. The powerful female voice had come from the moon itself. A shadow creeped its way up the side of the space-rock's surface, bringing forth the image of a mare, which in turn seemingly leaped off the side of the moon and into the air in the form of black smoke. The cloud's form twisted and writhed, changing into a shape similar to that of a pony, and soon enough, became instantly recogniseable.

"Princess... Luna?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle, I have come to ask a favour of you." Luna flapped her wings, slowly descending to the ground along with Twilight Sparkle.

As the two touched down, Twilight remarked, "This is a really weird dream I'm having. Why are you here?"

"I assure you, I am no figment of imagination. I have recently acquired the ability to enter the dreams of ponies through the use of a magical artifact called the mirror pool. With it, I can-"

Twilight promptly interrupted the moon princess, sending the discussion in the opposite direction. "You can enter ponies' dreams? Where did you get it? How does it work? That must be very powerful magic if-"

"Twilight!" said Luna. "Focus. I am in need of your help."

"Of course, Princess, anything you need." Twilight turned around and began trotting, the world around the two of them morphing into a large room resembling Twilight's library home in Ponyville. The difference being that this room alone was the size of the entirety Canterlot. Rows of wooden bookcases shot up from the rocky earth, towering above the two ponies and even reaching past the clouds. Book after book lined the shelves detailing various subjects such as cooking, or fighting, or dancing. The section that they were currently walking down was seemingly endless.

Luna, following Twilight, began with a leading question. "You know, of course, of the hero known as the Mysterious Mare-do-Well?"

Unseen, Twilight's eyes widened, but she continued to trot at a steady pace. Magic emanated from her horn and plucked a book from high above, bringing it down to in front of Luna, who used her own magic to pluck the book out of the air.

"Mare-do-Well, the result of plan to teach Rainbow Dash a lesson. After that, we got rid of Mare-do-Well." Twilight sighed. "But your asking means you caught news of her reappearance." Twilight turned around and faced Luna. "I know it's one of my friends, but I don't know who it could be, Princess. Other than them, it couldn't be anypony else."

Luna cringed. How interesting her visit was becoming. She stared and the pages of the book in front of her, examining the detailed snapshots from Twilight's thoughts and memories. Rainbow Dash, Mare-do-Well, the four costumes, everything that Twilight remembered, she could see. Five pieces of paper floated in from every side. Each of them showed an image of each of Twilight's friends along with some information on their whereabouts the night before.

"I have done an amount of searching to satisfy your curiosity," Luna said, still trotting forward into infinity. "I can tell you with absolute certainty that none of your friends are the Mare-do-Well."

Twilight perked up instantly. "What? How do you know?" she asked before being stopped in her tracks by a black and white image that seemed to be cut out from a newspaper that floated directly in front of her. It was a picture of the Mysterious Mare-do-Well standing atop a moving cart, though it was merely the silhouette.

Luna turned around and began to retell her tale of the night previous. "You see, there is a reason I know that the Mare-do-Well that appeared last night was not one of your friends." As if by magic, the image in front of Twilight began to waver and change. Soon enough, the image of Princess Luna was imprinted on the paper. "I am the Mysterious Mare-do-Well."

"B-but how? How did you-? What?" Twilight stammered out.

"I did not actually know who this Mare-do-Well was until only recently. Today, in fact." Luna turned back around and continued walking, book cases sliding back into the earth from where they came, large square displays appearing in their place, the images matching up with whatever Luna said. "The only reason I knew to inquire you is because I happened to come across your friendship letter to my sister. Everything that happened was a complete accident.

"In case you were not aware, my birthday was one night ago." Twilight stood up straight upon hearing this.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Princess, I didn't know-"

Luna held a hoof up in such a way that Twilight recognized Luna wanted her to keep quiet. "There is no need to apologise, Twilight Sparkle. My sister and I deemed it best not to publicize the birth date of 'Nightmare Moon', as it were." A frown spread across Luna's deep blue face. "We celebrated the occasion in private, my sister giving me a gift of great power." An image appeared on one of the floating panels of magic, showing Luna inspecting her gift and proceeding to activate it. "The Night Pool. A device of powerful magic that allows me to watch over the night and to enter the dreams of ponies, as I am currently doing with you. I caught a pair of criminals and made an attempt to stop them."

Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof, pondering on the explanation. "That makes sense," she said. "But I still don't understand how or why you dressed up as Mare-do-Well to stop them. Why would you need to keep your safekeeping of the city a secret?"

"Yes, I shall explain that." Luna nodded and directed Twilight to one of the floating images. "I... was not exactly paying attention at the time and ended of becoming entangled in a box of discarded clothes. My silhouette being similar to that of you and your friends' Mare-do-Well is purely a coincidence. What you are right to question is my ambiguity. You see, Twilight Sparkle, what I did was right, but it was against proper protocol. If what I did was to be leaked to the public, I fear my reputation may be at risk."

"Wait, you think everpony will think less of you?" Twilight asked, confused. "You did your job as a princess, nothing bad would happen."

"Yes, but what if I were to do it more than once?" Luna inquired.

Twilight raised her brow. "Well, I don't think there would be any problems, but I think that would be dangerous. A princess shouldn't be out dealing with danger at every waking moment." She realized what Princess Luna was getting at. "And you think that you'll be forced to stay in for your own good."

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle. It is the guards' job to deal with such seemingly trivial issues, but I find that they are not as good at their job as they are made out to be. They are not keeping the city safe as properly as they should. I know that I can do this more efficiently. I can be an example, and being a princess would restrict me from doing that."

"But that's not true! You can still help ponies as a princess, it wouldn't change a thing."

"If it makes no difference, then I should at least try to keep my identity hidden. This is what I have come to you for. I require your original disguise. If it does not work out the way I expect, and if it truly makes no difference, I will reveal myself.

"You don't need to be doing this, Princess," Twilight pleaded, stomping one of her front hooves lightly. "You're not thinking logically! What is there to gain from pretending to be a superhero that should no longer exist!?"

Princess Luna held a hoof up, silencing Twilight. Twilight tried once again to speak, but for some reason, she could not bring herself to do so. "This is my decision, Twilight Sparkle. You shall help me, and that will be the end of it."

Twilight sighed heavily and lowered her head in defeat. She was frustrated with Princess Luna, but if this was her final decision, then who was Twilight to question the decision of a princess. "If you really want to do this, then I'll go along with it, but when I say I'm done, I mean it." The world around the two mares began to shatter, dematerialising into a pitch blackness, Luna along with it.

"I understand, Twilight Sparkle. I shall return tomorrow night and we shall begin our preparations." Luna's voice faded out, echoing until it sounded no longer like her voice, but the whispering of a faint wind. Twilight was left to return to her slumber, too worried of the princess of the night to dream peacefully.

Of course, this was only the beginning.

Comments

[Wolfen Spirit]

awesome!

[FloydienSlip]

Ooh, Twilight doesn't like this. At all. This will not end well...