> Camping can be Evil > by WolfoftheWaves Pony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Celestia gets an idea... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia woke up with a start, her heart pounding at the loud sound of the Royal Jester's trumpet. Wiping a strand of drool from the side of her face with her hoof, she adjusted herself on her regal throne of gold and sighed, waiting for the jester's next joke, which shall surely put her to sleep again. The Jester leaped into the air and came crashing down on his face, surely on purpose, but this did nothing to lighten Celestia's mood. Celestia's main royal guard, Blue Shield, noticed the princess's uninterested look upon her face. He had to admit that Squirting Flower's performance was rather dull, but some (as in very few) of the jokes he told were rather funny, so much so that Blue Shield chuckled under his breath, hoping that nopony would notice. But he was just boring Celestia to sleep. And probably making her rather unhappy, and if the controller of the sun is not happy, somepony gets fired. No, literally, FIRED. As in she will burn him for satisfaction. And The Jester himself seemed to notice Celestia's mood as well, as he was no longer putting as much energy into his acts of comedy. Blue Shield cleared his throat, making the jester stop in the middle of doing a split. "Uh, Squirting Flower, that is enough for today. I think the princess has had enough." Relief flashed across Squirting's face as he packed up all of his things in a tiny bag and exited the royal throne room. Celestia let out a breath that she was holding. Blue Shield glanced up at his employer. "Is there anything else you need, Princess?" He asked her. Celestia shook her head, her regal mane not even disturbed by the action. "No, I am fine, Blue Shield. But I must thank you for getting rid of that Stallion. What was his name?" She said, putting a hoof to her chin. "Uh, Squirting Flower, your highness." "Oh, well," She sat up a bit taller in her throne. "I hereby decree that Squirting Flower, Royal Jester, be fired from his job for being rather boring and unfunny." Nearby, the royal scribe scribbled down what Celestia had said on a piece of paper suspended by her unicorn magic. The scribe nodded to the regal princess, and then left the room in the same direction that Squirting Flower had gone in. "And use actual fire!" She called after the scribe. "Good, now that that little problem has been taken care of," Celestia said, daintily stepping down from her throne. "I think that I shall go to my quarters." "Whatever you wish, your highness. I shall escort you." "NO!" Celestia said a bit too harshly. "Uh, no thank you, Blue Shield," She corrected herself. "I want to go alone." "Whatever you wish, your highness," Blue Shield said, his voice shaking. Celestia clopped through the marble canterlot castle hallways, her golden shoes making audible her every location, which incessantly bugged her. It usually isn't like the princess to be so irritable, but today was no ordinary day. Today was single hoofedly the most boring, dull, and uninteresting day in Celestia's whole thousands of years existence. She thought today would be a happy day. She had a good breakfast, there where no storms scheduled for today, the sun was shining, it had given Celestia a warm and happy feeling throughout the morning. She was even happy when they first started court, which is her least favorite thing to see over. All the arguing usually made her head hurt. But there was nothing that could damper Celestia's mood, right? Wrong. Because there were no arguments. No pony came into court today. So that left Celestia just sitting there, looking high and mighty on the uncomfortable silver court chair, for hours, just staring at an empty room. Then came the time when she sat on her throne, hoping to catch up a little on her reading. But when she tried to levitate "How To Reconnect with your Sister after She Has Been Gone For a Really Long Time" up to her, it was knocked out of her hooves and instead replaced by a comically large pile of documents, all of which she had to read and sign. It was not the kind of reading Celestia had hoped for. Then came Squirting Flower's, performance. Celestia had had enough. She almost wished there in fact was a storm scheduled for that day. It would reflect her mood and at least be a little exciting. And so, she left the throne room to go to her quarters. But, she took a little detour through the hall of windows, showcasing all of the recent events in Equestria's history. As she was walking through the marble hall, being reminded of Equestria's history, she started to notice something. She noticed that she was spending a long time staring at the windows of all the ponies and other...beings...that had recently plagued Equestria. First there was Nightmare Moon, her sister. Then Discord. Then came Chrysalis, Sombra, and then... Tirek. All the beings which had single hoofedly, and some with hands, brought utter panic and chaos to Equestria. She had always wanted to get revenge, even on Nightmare Moon. And the thought of it put a small smile on Celestia's face, the first since this morning. But then that smile turned into a grin, which turned into a chuckle, which turned into a maniac laugh. Celestia had an idea on how not to be bored for a long time to come. Luna shifted in her sleep, adjusting the thin blankets around her... thin? Luna never slept with thin blankets. She had always wanted as many blankets as possible on her, even when she was just a mere filly. And the mattress she was sleeping on was not quite as soft and luxurious as her usual one. Her eyes flew open, and was greeted by a bright light. No, not a bright light, it was just morning. She could tell as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. But this is another strange thing for her. She had never woken up during the day before. Her time is the night, when the moon comes out, spilling a soft glow across the land, and not in the harsh brightness of her sister's sun. She tried to blink away the light, but it was still directly in her face. She put a hoof up to block the luminous glow, but then her blood froze. On her hoof she was wearing a light blue armored horse shoe, the kind she wore as Nightmare Moon. And her hoof was black. Really, she should not be surprised. She sometimes changes into Nightmare Moon in her sleep when she dreams about her thousand year existence on the moon. But Luna did not dream about the moon last night, she knows that for sure. And as her eyes adjusted, she noticed that she was in a small enclosure made of some kind of flimsy fabric. And in the enclosure with her was a rather large back pack, bulging with items inside. And she was sleeping... on the floor!?!? In some kind of raggedy bag-thing? The very idea disgusted Luna. But curiosity won her over, and she did not rip the thing into shreds. Where was she? What had happened to her while she was asleep? She slowly dragged herself out of the bag-bed, pulling her hooves out one by one. She noticed that she could barley stand up in the enclosure. She poked the strange fabricated walls with her hoof, and it flexed, then came back into its original position. Luna had never seen anything like it before. Her eyes darted around, taking in everything about her new surroundings. Then, she locked eyes with what appeared to be a small zipper in front of her. She leaned down and looked at it. Yes, it was defiantly a zipper. Possibly a way out of this thing? Her horn lit up with a magical aura as she pulled on the piece of metal with her unicorn magic. When she had pulled it all the way up, she noticed that she could smell fresh air coming in from a tiny opening. She poked it with her hoof, and noticed that the opening became wider. Then, she poked her head through, and gasped. Trees rose from every direction except for a small patch of circular bare land in front of her with a wooden bench positioned at the very edge of the treeless area. And five logs sat around a pile of rocks with a stack of wood in the center, with a metal grate on the top. But that wasn't what surprised her. Because at the very edges of the bare patch where structures very much like her own, in different colors and with different symbols. One was brown with a tornado symbol. The other was a dark green with a lighter green heart with holes. And yet another was red with three black crystals, and another was black with chains as its symbol. She wiggled out of the enclosure a bit more and stared at it. Her symbol was her cutie mark. Her blood froze once more, because she knew what those symbols represented. > Day 1 part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "This must be all your fault!" The very angry Changling Queen Chrysalis yelled at Discord. "Who else would do something like this?" "Well, it wasn't me!" The Draconequus yelled back. "Why would I be a part of it as well? Why would I be here? Where is the fun in that?!?" "Well, I don't know of anyone else who could have done it!" Chrysalis yelled back, thrusting her face near Discord's, who was taken by surprise and fell backward on the bench. This surprised Tirek as well, who's frail body was sitting next to where Discord landed, and he jumped off of the wooden chair in shock, landing on his back. "MMM! Mhhm mmm!" Tirek mumbled through the muzzle that was on his mouth ever since everyone woke up. "Oh you shut up, monkey," Chrysalis glared at him. "YOU ALL SHUT UP!" Sombra yelled, his flowing black mane moving around widely. "I can't take this noise anymore!" He scrambled away from the three villains and into his tent with the three crystal symbol, and zipped it closed. "Good! Go cry to your mommy!" Discord called after him. Discord laughed to himself and fell onto the ground. "Go, HA HA! Go suck, HA HA HA! Go suck your hoof!" Tirek ran up to the mocking Lord of Chaos and grabbed his beard, pulling it up to his face. "MMMM!" Tirek yelled. Discord reached up with his eagle claw and pushed the magic-sucking demon away and stood up. "Oh, don't think I'm done with YOU, monkey!" "MMM!" "SHUT UP!" Sombra yelled from within his tent, where he was covering his ears with his hooves. "You shut up!" Chrysalis yelled back to the former King of the Crystal Empire. "Oh yeah, OOH! I'm so scared of the Changling Queen who lives with a fluffy pink pony!" Discord yelled. Chrysalis blushed. "How do you know about fluffy!?!?" "I am the Lord of Chaos. I know things." "Why you little-" "ENOUGH!" Luna yelled using the royal canterlot voice, and whom was also still in the body of the Nightmare. "STOP ALL OF YOUR FIGHTING RIGHT NOW AND LISTEN!" The three villains all rushed forward toward Nightmare Moon, and sat quietly in front of her. Luna's eyes searched over them, before darting to the red tent with the crystal symbol. "YOU TOO SOMBRA!" An audible zip sounded in the area and the gray unicorn rushed out and sat quietly with his fellow villains in front of the Nightmare. "Good," Luna said, her voice quieting. "We have to figure things out calmly and quietly, and not like some screaming foals!" "Hey!" Discord said. "I SAID QUIETLY!" Luna yelled at him. The Draconequus became quiet. "Now," She said. "First we need to look through the back packs in our enclosures." "Uh, you mean tents?" Discord asked, and with one glare he became quiet once more. "Yes, that is exactly what I meant," Luna said. "Now, go get them." All of the villains rushed to their tents and brought out their back packs, not wanting to feel the anger and wrath of a Nightmare with the power of the moon. So much so that Sombra went into Luna's tent and brought her back pack out as well. "Good," Luna said. "Now, let's see what are in these things." One by one, they opened them up and yelled out what was inside. "One canteen, three sandwiches, a knife, a pan, and a crystal growing kit," Sombra called out. "Uh, same, except I have a...Nintendo in mine!" Luna called out before swooning over the gaming device. "I have a canteen, FOUR sandwiches, a bag of marshmallows, and a big jar of cotton candy," Discord called. "I have eggs, a knife, a picture of..." Chrysalis blushed. "Of you-don't-wanna-know, and a jar of liquid love." "MMMMMMMMM!" Tirek shouted. "Oh shut up, monkey!" Discord said to him. Tirek lept forward and tackled the Draconequus, knocking him over. Discord pushed the demon off of him and punched Tirek repeatedly. Luna and Sombra both grabbed Discord with their magic and pulled him off of Tirek, and Chrysalis grabbed the monkey-demon with her magic and pulled him back as well. Discord fought against his restrainers. "Let me at em'! LET ME AT EM'!" Luna glanced at the gray unicorn beside her. "Sombra, do you think that you can hold Discord back without my help?" Sombra blushed. "Uh, uh, yeah, sure," He stammered. Luna let go of Discord and teleported in front of him. Then, she slapped him in the face with her hoof. "Calm down!" Luna yelled. Then, she leaned down and looked her friend in the eyes. "Please, Discord, calm down. We don't know where we are and we need to work together to figure out what happened, okay?" She whispered so that no one else could hear. Discord stared into Luna's eyes in return. In reality, he was staring into the nightmare's, but he knew that Luna was in there somewhere. He stopped struggling in defeat. "Okay." "Good. Sombra, you can let him go." Discord was released and landed in a heap on the ground. "Uh, can I let the monkey go too?" Chrysalis asked. Luna spun around to look at her. Tirek had passed out from his struggle. Luna had forgotten how weak he was without pony magic to fuel him. "Uh, yes, let him go." And Tirek hit the ground. Celestia watched the whole scene play out before her. She was right, this made her dull day more exciting. So much so that she was rolling on the floor laughing, spilling the cake she had been eating on the floor. She wiped a bit of icing off from the corner of her mouth and sat back up to continue watching through the small, floating rectangle. She got up just in time to see Discord punch Tirek, and then was back on the floor laughing. > Day 1 part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey... there's... there's a lake... there's a lake a little ways from here!" Sombra said, breathing heavily, having returned from the scouting mission Luna had assigned to them. "A lake?" Luna asked him. "Well, at least YOUR search was a success, OW!" Chrysalis screamed as Discord pulled out a porcupine spine from her flank. "Be careful!" The Changling Queen spat at him. "Well, sorry, miss "Queen of stupidity for walking right into a nest of porcupines,"" Discord said, making quotation marks with his hands. "You wanted me to get the spines out, so I am!" "Can't you just, I don't know, poof them away!?" "Yes, I can, but where is the fun in that?" "WHAT!?!? Why you little piece of-" "CHRYSALIS!" Luna yelled. "I said that we need to figure things out calmly!" "Oh, I'm sorry, miss Princess," Chrysalis said, rising to her hooves and then wincing with pain. "What did you just call me?" There was a flash of green, and suddenly there where two Nightmare Moons, though one had porcupine spines sticking out from their... everywhere. "What did you just call me?" Chrysalis said in a mocking tone. "Don't you dare, Chrysalis!" "Don't you dare, Chrysalis!" "CHRYSALIS!" "CHRYSALIS!" Discord tapped the imposter Nightmare Moon on the shoulder. "Uh, Chrysalis?" He whispered. "You really, really don't want to get on Luna's bad side." "But where is the fun in that?" The imposter smirked. "Hey, look! I'm Nightmare Moon!" Chrysalis crossed her eyes. "Hiya! I am the stuid princess of the night! I am so lonely and depressed! And I spent one thousand years on the-" Chrysalis could say no more because a swarm of bats erupted from around Luna and headed straight for her, binding the Changling and then flying her to a tree branch where they made her hang by her hooves. Luna flew up to the Queen her eyes glowing white. "YOU DARE INSULT THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT?!" She boomed. "REMEMBER THAT IT IS I WHO BRINGS YOU THE MOON! IT IS I WHO BRINGS YOU THE STARS! AND IT IS I WHO CAN MAKE YOU REGRET THOSE WORDS, FOREVER!" Chrysalis only nodded, for her mouth was covered by a bat. Luna descended to the ground, leaving Chrysalis hanging. When Luna's eyes had stopped glowing, she turned to Sombra, who was cowering in the bushes. "Now," She said. "You were telling us about a lake?" The lake was at the very edge of the forest, where the old trees towered high. The water reflected the sun's light, giving the lake an almost soothing, spiritual look. Up ahead, a great blue heron flew across the brilliant sky. And then a soft breeze carried with it a smell of sweet flowers from the meadow beyond. The birds chirped, and on the other end of the lake, a family of geese waded into the water. Chrysalis stepped forward, shaking off a bat that was stuck on her left hoof. "It's just so... peaceful," She said. Luna nodded. "Mmm..." Tirek whispered. "It reminds me of the fountain I used to have in my suit at the Crystal Castle," Sombra sighed. "Hey, wait a minute..." Chrysalis said, looking around. "Where's the feather brain?" Just then, swinging from a vine and wearing a leopard skin, Discord flew into the scene and let out a wild, "Oooh wah OOOOH! Awa OOOH!" And then let go of the vine and landed in the water, creating a splash that wet all of the villains standing on the bank. The Draconequus' head popped up from the clear blue water, squirting the liquid in a fountain from his mouth. "Well," Chrysalis said. "I'm not swimming in that water now." She turned around and left, heading in the direction of the camp. "Mmm mmm m," Tirek said, and left as well. Sombra cleared his throat. Luna looked down at him. "Well, you know, we could always swim... together. I, I'm just saying," Sombra said, taking a step closure to the Nightmare. Luna took a step away, causing the former king to fall to the ground. "Uh, I think I would prefer to go see what Chrysalis and Tirek are up to," She unfurled her wings. "Why don't you swim with Discord?" And then she flew off. Sombra rose from the ground and glanced at the Lord of Chaos, who gave him a thumbs up. "Celestia!" A pony called. The sun princess jumped, sending her new pile of cake to the ground once more. She silently cursed under her breath. She might have just missed a good part. Luna had Chrysalis in a bat trap. Who knows what those two could be doing now? Straightening up her Quarters a bit and hiding the magic rectangle, she called out, "Yes?" A frantic pegasus mare entered the room. "So sorry to bother you, Princess, but it is time to raise the moon, and Luna is missing!" Sweat started to from on Celestia's forehead. "I, is she now?" "Yes, your highness! We have all of the night guards searching for her right now." "G, good!" Celestia flustered, afraid of being discovered. "I, I want to know of their progress soon." The mare bowed. "Yes your highness. But..." "But what?" Celestia asked, now starting to get annoyed for this mare was keeping her from her fun. "But now you have to raise the moon?" Celestia face-hoofed herself. Of course! Turn your sister, who controls the moon, into her evil self and send her on a camping trip? Duh! That would mean that she would have to take responsibility for raising the moon until Luna returns. "Yes, yes, I will be right there." Celestia made a mental note. She must have this mare fired. > Day 1 part 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna stuck her head through the opening in Chrysalis' tent. "Hey Chrysa-" Luna stopped short when she noticed that the Changeling Queen was staring down at something. "Uh, Chrysalis?" She asked, leaning in a bit further. What she saw nearly made her throw up the lunch they had recently eaten. The changeling was staring down at a hoof-drawn crayon picture of her laying on a couch with hearts around her head. "CHRYSALIS! WHAT THEY HAY ARE YOU STARING AT!?!?" Chrysalis nearly jumped out of her own skin. She whipped around, dropping the picture on the ground. "L, Luna!" She stammered. "Why are you in my tent?" Luna sighed. "Because I need your help." The changling raised one eyebrow. "With what?" "Sombra got his horn stuck in a tree and I need you to help us pull him out." Chrysalis sighed. "Fine." But once she walked out of her tent, Chrysalis could not help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. It was honestly the funniest sight she had ever seen, well, the funniest since she saw Fluffle Puff playing with a cat toy. But there was Sombra, former king of the Crystal Empire and controller of dark magic, horn, stuck deep within a tree, and Discord and Tirek using all of their might to pull him out. "Harder! Pull Harder!" Sombra yelled at them. "MMM!" "I'm trying!" Discord struggled. "Can't you poof me out of here?!" "Yes," Discord said, about to pull again. "But where... is the fun... in that?" "How did this *chuckle* even happen?" Chrysalis asked the Nightmare beside her, who was looking at the scene with an annoyed expression. Luna sighed. "Sombra was getting on my nerves, so I kicked him. And he went flying through the air and, well... here is the outcome." "What did he do?" "Kept asking me if I wanted to down to the lake with him for a swim... again." "Humph. That stallion's got it bad." "Wait, what?" Luna asked her. "Oh, nothing. It's just now I have a new source of food, that's all." "What? Oh, never mind. Just, help us pull him out." "Fine." "One, two, three, PULL!" Luna yelled. The four villains pulled with all their might, grasping Sombra's legs with their hooves. Except Discord of course, who had hands. And Tirek had passed out from exhaustion. "One, two, three, PULL! One, two, three, PULL!" "It's not working!" Sombra shouted. "Discord!" Chrysalis yelled. "I don't *huff* care about fun! Just poof him out of the tree!" "No! Where is the *huff* fun in that?" Both Luna and Chrysalis groaned. Luna had to admit that this was one of the hardest challenges that she had ever faced. Taking on Discord? Scary, but pretty easy with the elements. Fighting the nightmare? Also easy until, well, it wasn't. And then with Sombra, it was also pretty easy. Even when he turned into a mist- hey, wait a second! Luna dropped the leg she was holding in both anger and surprise. "Sombra!" She yelled, enraged. "Can't you just turn into a mist of dark magic and just, I don't know, FLY out of that tree!?!?" The blush on Sombra's face was so red, it was noticeable from space. "Oh, uh, oops." Then the former king's legs started to disappear and turn into a black haze, and it crept along his body before reaching his head, where he could finally dislodge his horn. When he turned around to face the group of villains, he was met with angry eyes. Sombra quickly flew into his tent, and zipped it closed. From somewhere, faintly, Luna heard the sound of laughter. Celestia was rolling on the floor laughing, so loud that perhaps even the villains on the camping trip could have heard her. "S, Sombra!" She giggled. "Got, got his horn, his horn, STUCK IN A TREE! HA HA HA!!!" Luna sat on a rock overlooking the lake. Her black wings were relaxed, hanging down by her sides, just barley skimming the water's surface. The sky was a rosy pink color as she watched the sun go down. She had tried, but she could no longer feel the moon with her magic. It was as if it had disappeared. But it didn't, because she could see it rising in the distance. The place she had spent one thousand years upon. The place that had been her jail. And yet, she still looks to it as one of her dearest friends. But what is it now, if she can longer feel the connection? Whoever put her here severed that bond. And that pony, or any other sort of being, will pay. "Hey, Luna?" Luna quickly opened her eyes, not aware of them being closed. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and noticed the gray unicorn standing beside her. "Uh, yes?" "S, sorry, about earlier today. With the tree-" "It's okay, Sombra. Just drop it." "Yeah. Hey, do you mind if I sit beside you?" Luna raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure, I guess." She made room for him. They sat there for a while. "Hey, Luna?" Sombra asked. Luna opened her eyes once more. "Yes?" "Remember when you first defeated me at the Crystal Empire?' Luna's face grew dark. "Yes." "Remember when you first changed into, into the nightmare?" "Yes. And I also remember stabbing you in the neck." Luna unfurled her wings and flew off. "Wait! But, when you became the, that's when I first..." Sombra grew quiet. Then, he stepped off the rock, and left. Nearby, Chrysalis watched the whole scene. "Hmm," She said to herself. "Lover colt is having trouble admitting his love for the moon princess. I can take care of that." Then, she disappeared back into the foliage. Then she cried out in pain. "Stupid porcupines!" > Day 1 part 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All of the villains sat around the campfire, late at night, with the stars twinkling above them. Luna looked at the darkened sky with longing. Discord, who sat beside her, noticed the moon princesses' desire. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Luna?" He whispered. Luna glanced down at him. "It will be okay. Once we are out of here, you can kick whosoever fault this is' flank." Then he glanced at Tirek, who was staring into the flames. "And I will too." Luna chuckled. "I think I will do that." Sombra noticed the scene between Discord and Luna, and a fierce jealousy rose up withing him. What was he doing? He thought. He is the former king of the Crystal Empire! He enslaved thousands of ponies to work in his crystal mines. He hid the crystal heart and trapped that purple unicorn. And here he was, doing exactly what Luna did not want. Acting like a little foal. Chrysalis noticed Sombra's jealousy. As a love-eater, she can sense all sorts of emotions. So now, it was time to set her plan in action. Raising a hoof to her head, she cried out, "Oh! The pain!" "Uh, Chrysalis, are you okay?" Discord asked. "No!" She cried out. "I have no more love! The canteen is empty! I think that I am slowly going to... wither away!" Skeptical looks appeared on Tirek's, Discord's, and Luna's faces. Sombra, whoever, looked concerned. He obviously believed bad acting. "Chrysalis!" Luna said. "You told me that you had found a new food source this afternoon!" "Well, uh, um, it is GONE! I need, love, to feed on, or I might die!" She slumped to the ground, groaning about, "The pain, THE PAIN!" She sighed when she wasn't getting what she wanted. "THE PAIN!" She yelled once more. This was starting to annoy Sombra. He had figured out a short while ago that Chrysalis was faking. "Oh, give it a rest, Chrysalis," He said, now instituting his decision to NOT be a little foal. "Or I might blast a hole through you." "What!?" She shouted. "You will do no such thing!" He glanced at her. "Try me." He felt the dark magic course through him once more. It was turning him bitter. "Just admit it!" "Admit what?" Luna asked. "ADMIT THAT YOUR IN LOVE WITH LUNA!" "WHAT!?!?" Luna and Sombra shouted at the same time. Sombra's eyes turned green, and a purple smoke started to pour out of them. "You will regret that." He lunged for her,bringing the Changling down to her knees. Then he grew crystals around her, encasing her in a trap. For his next part, he enacted his fear spell on the Queen. And she started to scream. Sombra then whipped around and saw Tirek, Discord, and Luna staring at him. He locked eyes with Luna. Then, he turned himself into a mist, and flew off. "He, he likes me?" Luna whispered under her breath, a definite blush appearing on her cheeks. Celestia choked on the breath she had sucked in just before Chrysalis told everypony of the news. "Sombra and... LUNA!??" She whispered under her breath. She just could not see it happening. Her little Woona and an evil overlord? The two don't mix! And what if they start getting... Celestia banished the thought to the moon. No, that wouldn't happen. But maybe she should send somepony there to keep them in check. She didn't really like it, but she knew just the pony to send. And she better do it quick. Luna stared into the fire, her mind racing. Tirek hopped up from his log, and left to his tent. This left Discord, Luna, and fearful Chrysalis. "Uh," Discord said. "Shouldn't we take Chrysalis out of there?" "Let her stay in," Luna responded. "Oh. Okay. Fine by me. This is fun!" He noticed that this did nothing to lighten his friend's mood. He grew concerned. "Luna, are you okay?" "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just... distracted." "Well, if you need me," Discord said, stretching. "I will be in my tent." Then, he left the nightmare sitting there, staring into the flames. "He likes me," She whispered. "He, he likes me." Then, she blushed once more. > Day 2 part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna awoke once again with a light shining in her eyes. "No," She reminded herself. "Just the sun." Groggily, she removed herself from what she now knows is a sleeping bag, and rubbed her hooves with her eyes. She glanced at the nightmare's armor cluttered in a pile in one corner of the tent and sighed. No, she was NOT going to wear those today. Of course, a naked nightmare will look rather silly, but the thought of wearing those uncomfortable shoes drove her to just ignore them. Unzipping the tent with her magic, she stepped outside, stretching. She glanced around the area. Discord was starting a fire, using flint and steel that he must have found around the campsite. Luna rolled her eyes. She knew that Discord could just snap his talons together and MAKE a fire instantly, but she guessed that it wouldn't be "fun." God, if she heard Discord say that he wouldn't do something simply because it wouldn't be FUN, she was going to send him to the moon. Chrysalis was sprawled out on the bench, staring into the sky. Somehow she must have escaped Sombra's trap, but the memory of her fears must still reside within her. But... where was Sombra? "Hey, Discord?" She asked. "Where is..." "He didn't return last night. And the monkey is still asleep." Discord looked up at the nightmare. A wicked grin appeared on his face. "You wouldn't mind waking him up, would you, my dear?" He batted his eyelashes that had somehow appeared on his face. Luna returned his smile. Walking up to the tent with the chains symbol, she zipped it open, and sent an icy blast inside. "WAKE UP, TIREK!" She shouted. Soon, the demon came running out, icicles hanging off of his frail body, screaming at the top of his lungs and running into the forest. Discord and Luna rolled on the ground laughing. But they stopped when they heard Chrysalis chuckle as well. They both glanced at her. She turned her head to look at them, a small, tired smile on her face. "He shouldn't have gone that way," She whispered softly. "That's where the porcupines are." "MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" They heard Tirek shout. And both Discord and Luna were back on the ground laughing. Celestia spit out her glass of water all over her bed. A smile played on her lips, which then turned into maniacal laughter. Still chuckling and using her magic, she made a quill and a piece of paper appear in front of her. Levitating the items over to her, she quickly scribbled down, "Note to self: Add more porcupines." She poofed the note away. Then, she brought a hoof to her lips. She started to wonder where the pony she sent into the world even was. Hopefully the unicorn would find them soon, if she had ended up in the wrong place. "Eggs are not my most favorite," Luna sighed as Discord cracked one over the pot resting in the open flame. "Well, tough luck. It's all we have. Now, scrambled, over-easy, or sunny-side up?" Discord asked, smiling. "Sunny side up, huh? Nice one, seeing as you are speaking to the nightmare." Discord chuckled. "Luna, sunny-side up is an actual form of egg." Discord glanced at Chrysalis and Tirek sitting on the bench. He smiled, as Tirek screamed. "Having fun over there, Chrysalis?" The changling queen spun around to look at the Draconequus, revealing Tirek's porcupine-spine covered body. She nodded. "You were right, Discord! This is fun!' And without turning around, Chrysalis used her magic to rip another spine out, causing Tirek to scream again. Chrysalis smiled. "Well," Discord said, turning his attention back to the pan. "While we wait for the eggs to cook, why don't we sing the campfire song?" Luna raised an eyebrow. "The what?" "The campfire song! It will help if you just sing along!" "Discord, your not making any sense." Suddenly, with a flash of light, a guitar appeared in front of the Lord of Chaos. Luna gasped. "Oh, Discord, your not going to-" Then, he started to sing. "Lets gather around the campfire And sing our campfire song. Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song! And if you don't think that we can sing it faster then you're wrong! But it'll help if you just sing along! C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song! C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song! And if you don't think that we can sing it faster then you're wrong! But it'll help if you just sing along! C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song! Chrysalis!" Discord pointed to the Changling. "Go away," She sneered. "Luna!' He pointed towards the nightmare. She said nothing. "Good! It'll help It'll help If you just sing along! O Yea!!" "Ugh! That is the most annoying sound I have EVER heard! What, is a cat dying?" All the villains looked around in surprise when they heard the unfamiliar voice. "Who is there?!" Luna asked, getting to her hooves. The mysterious voice gasped. "How dare you not know about THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!!!!" Then, a blue unicorn mare stepped into view. > Day 2 part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The four villains that were left sat at the farthest end of the bench, preferring to allow the strange new pony to munch on her eggs quietly. But THAT quiet didn't last for long. "Ugh. Trixie hates this. Bring Trixie something else!" "You think that I am your slave?" Discord asked. "Don't you know who I am?" "Yes yes," Trixie said. "You are the Draconequus Lord of Chaos that is friends with a shy pony. Yes, I am so scared." She took another dainty bite of her eggs. "Well, how about me?" Chrysalis asked. "Do you know of me?" "Yes, of course I know of Chrysalis who was banished by the power of LOVE. Ugh. So pathetic." Chrysalis grew angry. There was a flash of green, and then two Trixies appeared. The real Trixie glanced at the imposter who started to mock her, and her face lit up. "OOOOH!" She giggled. "There are TWO of Trixie now! The world has been made better!" She took another dainty bite, her face showing disgust for the thing she kept going back to eat. "Ah yes, Trixie," Luna said quietly, as Chrysalis changed back. The unicorn looked up from her dish. "I have heard of you before. Twilight has told me much about you." Trixie spit out a mouthful of eggs. "You, you have? From Twilight!?" "Oh yes," Discord said, stroking his beard. "I think Fluttershy mentioned something of you as well." Trixie waved her hoof in the Draconequus' direction. "Ho hum. I don't care about, Fluttershy." She looked back at the nightmare. "But how do you know of Twilight Sparkle?" She spat out. "Oh, so you must not of heard of me, or know who I am." "Well, you are Nightmare Moon," Trixie stated, tapping her chin with her hoof. "And you are also..." Trixie's eyes grew wide. She rushed over to the nightmare, getting down on her knees and bowing. "Oh great and powerful LUNA! Oh great and powerful LUNA!" "Trixie! Stop this at once!" Luna shouted, teetering on the edge of using the royal Canterlot voice. The blue unicorn stood up, then glanced around nervously. "Where is... Sombra?" She asked. "Missing," Chrysalis said. "MMMM!" Tirek shouted, the only indication that he was still alive, as he was slumped over. Trixie's eyes grew wide again. "Wait, is that...?!" "That is Tirek, the monkey," Discord said, a smile on his face. Trixie started to panic. "The, the TIREK!? The Centaur that stole my magic!?" "MM mm," Tirek nodded. Trixie screamed. "I have to get out of here!" She turned to run, obviously not noticing the muzzle that had been place on the demon's mouth. But as she ran, she uttered words that made Luna's heart boil. "Why did I agree to let Celestia send me here!?!?" Celestia gulped. "Oh no," She thought. Now they know. They know that SHE put them there. Yes, Discord will be angry. Chrysalis will probably stage another changling attack, one that she could easily stand against none the less but it would be another attack. And Tirek will try to escape Tartarus again. But all of that combined would pale in comparison to what Luna would do. Luna was the embodiment of the moon itself, as Celestia is of the sun, but the moon also represents Darkness. Fear. Power. That is how she was able to become the nightmare in the first place. And an angry Luna makes for an unhappy Celestia. Unhappy? No, how about broken. No, shattered. Torn into little bits. Or even worse, Luna could send Celestia to the sun for one thousand years! The sun princess couldn't even began to imagine that torture. Though, shouldn't she have thought of this before? Luna would have found out eventually. Celestia raised her hooves to her face, muttering over and over, "This is not good, this is not good." And what if her little sister teams up the rest of the villains? What if they become a mega force, plotting against her? The G.R.O.C.A.M.H.P! That is what they will call it! The Get Rid Of Celestia And Make Her Pay! NOOOOOOOOOOO! Celestia will not let it happen! No! What if she sends out somepony else? No! that wouldn't work either! Celestia's fun has turned scary. Luna sat there for a moment, dazed. She just stared at the spot in which Trixie had disappeared. Could, could she have heard the unicorn right? That this was, CELESTIA'S fault? Discord put his hand on her shoulder. "Luna, are you alri-" Luna started to laugh. Discord pulled his hand away. "Uh, Luna?" But she just kept on laughing. She turned around to face the other villains, still giggling. "Oh, look at that!" She mused. "Trixie said that Celestia put her here. That means, she put us here as well!" Her laughs started to turn maniac-tic. She moved off the bench, rising to her hooves. The other villains looked at her with concern. "Isn't that just... FUNNY!" Luna shot a beam of magic out from her horn that disintegrated the bench, and all the trees behind it. Her eyes started to glow white. From underneath her hooves, the land started to shake and split open, and a deep canyon started to open up underneath her. Discord poofed himself and the other villains out of the way of Luna's wrath. "ISN'T THIS FUNNY CELESTIA!?!?!?!?" She screamed to sky as a cold, arctic wind blew that froze the surrounding area. The snow piled up, making tall towers of frozen water around the nightmare. Her mane swirled around her widely. "THIS IS FUNNY!" Shadows poured out from behind the nightmare, chasing each other around the burnt trees and laughing evilly. Discord had enough. This had to stop. "Luna!' He called out, daring to take a step towards her. "I know you are angry. I am too! But please stop destroying our only means of survival!" The nightmare turned it's head to stare at the Draconequus that stood before it. "BUT WHERE IS THE FUN IN THAT, DISCORD!!?!?!" She screamed. "Please, Luna!" Then, something snapped within the nightmare, and her magic was cut off and the canyon below her sealed up as she fell to the ground. Before she passed out, the nightmare wondered what could have broken. And just before everything went black, she knew what it was. It was what ever spell Celestia had cast on her to keep her as the nightmare. And she watched as her hooves turned back to normal, and then she saw nothing. > Day 2 part 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "WAKE UP SLEEPING BEAUTY!" "AH!' Luna screamed, having a real light this time being flashed in her eyes. Her eyes flew open, revealing a Draconequus holding a flashlight. "Discord! What are you-" Luna's eyes flickered to something before her and watched in fascination as her hooves slowly turned from blue to black. "Discord, what in the name of-" "There will be time for that later," Discord said, waving his lion paw about. "Right now, you have to help us." Luna sat a bit taller up in her sleeping bag. "Help you with what?" "We found Sombra. But he's..." "He's what?" Luna asked. "He's kinda delusional. Probably heat stroke. Oh, and we hope that his lover can snap him out of it long enough to get him into something cool," Discord snickered. Luna crossed her hooves over her chest. "Why don't you do it yourself?" "Because he won't cooperate." "No. I won't go. Not until you tell me what's happening to me." "What?" Discord said, his face falling. "But where is the fun in-" Luna cut him off, leaping forward and covering his mouth with her hoof. "Discord, if you say "where is the fun in that" one more time, so help me I will throw one of Chrysalis' porcupines at your face!" The Draconequus reared back. "Fine, fine. You went god-mode, somehow the spell that kept you as the nightmare got severed but not completely, and now you juts randomly switch back and forth." "What?' "Enough stalling!" Discord said, grabbing Luna's hoof. "Time to see your boyfriend!" Discord dragged the struggling Luna out into the campsite. Luna gasped. Close by, hanging from a tree branch, was the blue unicorn Trixie, bound and gagged. usually, this would make Luna want to kill Discord. But this time around, she found pleasure in it. "Like my little prank?' Discord asked. "Uh... yeah. I actually kind of do. Seeing as CELESTIA sent her here!" The gag around Trixies mouth loosened and fell to the ground. "Why you little piece of- I mean, princess. Why must you like what is happening to Trixie?" "She made me mad. So I tied her up. End of story." Discord said. "Now, let's go see your boyfriend." Suddenly there was a flash of light, and Luna and Discord were standing on the banks of the lake. "Wait, he's... here?" She asked him. "Yep," Discord said, and then started to walking along the bank. Luna followed. "And he is completely delirious." "Yeah. you told me." "And I mean it. And you have to fix him." "Why me? All of this is feeling a bit.. rushed. I just woke up not even TWO minutes ago." "Yeah, but Sombra's craziness is not only it," He said as he stopped next to a bush with large leaves. "What's not only it?" Luna asked him. "Celestia must have a sick sense of humor. Didn't Sombra blow up the last time he was defeated?" "Uh, yeah." "Well, then..." Discord reached out and pulled down the large leaf.