Frustrated with her sister's free spirit and new adventures, Luna resolves to find something new to live for, now that she is retired. The answer: A power metal band. And who better to join her on her quest than the Nightmare Knights?
Once they were called to restore Luna's power and rescue another princess trapped in another castle. Now, Luna needs the Nightmare Knights to assemble once again to restore something else. As Celestia travels the world on her many adventures and thrill-seeking journeys, Luna realizes she is bored by retirement. In just a few months she has done all that Silver Shoals has to offer. And when she's done looking outward for an answer, she's left to look inward.
She needs music. She needs to show Equestria who Luna is, not who a princess is expected to be. She needs her team to restore what it meant to just be a pony like her. And to do that, there is one place she needs to start. To find herself, Luna needs to restore a love for her darkness.
“You want to… what?” Celestia looked up from her travel brochure. Sitting in her bedroom with two bags fully packed, she was planning her next adventure abroad, even in the middle of the night. Silver Shoals was an excellent retirement community, of course, and the city of Seaward Shoals was a charming place to spend her downtime. Even so, there was always another location, another adventure, another sight to behold.
And Luna was fine with it. “I want to start a band.”
She had her own goals in her mind. Coming up to see her sister, letting herself see the bags that have already been packed to go away again, was all for a better cause. Her own cause. She wanted to try her hooves at music.
Celestia’s lips curled up, despite her best efforts to stifle her laughter. “You mean as a manager, right? I’m surprised music even interests-”
“I want to perform, sister,” Luna clarified.
“Mhm, I see.” Celestia set down her brochure and got out of her reading chair. “Excuse me, for a moment.”
Luna nodded and stepped aside while her sister left. She waited a moment, long enough to count the crystals hanging from the mini-chandelier in the room. And then a roar came from the kitchen downstairs.
“Ha! Oh that’s- Haha! I can’t even-!” The laughter echoed against all the walls of their house. Luna’s eyes twitched, annoyed once again at her sister’s judgemental attitude. She let the frustration grow, and then she released it in a single breath.
It couldn’t be helped. Ruling for a thousand years would change even some pony as steadfast as Celestia. Acting like the motherly ruler who held all the answers was just how she was. And ruling over Equestria alone only seeded and grew that personality of hers.
Luna clenched her teeth. She just wished it was easier to be looked down on by her sister.
“Sorry,” Celestia said as she walked back up the stairs, “I was thirsty so just needed a cup of water first.”
“Apologies are not necessary,” she told her, “you’ve been planning your trip so much, I was beginning to worry for your health. Oh, how terrible it would be if you fainted from dehydration all of a sudden.”
“Uh-huh. So what were you saying just now, what’s all this about a band?”
“Well, during your last adventure to Abyssinia, I started contemplating about myself. I thought about what I want to do now that Twilight has some of my power. With so much free time, I thought I could experience something new like you.”
“Aren’t you still guarding dreams?”
“Well, yes,” Luna lost her concentration, “but that’s only part-time! With Twilight’s help, I can finally know what it’s like to sleep every night. And that’s given me a lot of time to decide what I want to do with myself, at least for now.”
“Okay, it’s good that you’re getting more hobbies. I was getting worried that you were going to spend the rest of your retirement reading books at the beach.”
“Yes, well, perhaps I was a little hasty to rush into a calm retirement. It’s been, what, eight months since we left Canterlot? I’ve run out of things to do here in Seaward Shoals. But starting a band is one of those goals I have never had the chance to accomplish.”
“But why a band?” Celestia continued to crack a smile. “We haven’t imagined being in a band since we were kids. Oh!” She grabbed a scrapbook off the small bookshelf in the corner of her room and sat on her bed to look through them. In the middle were sections of old tapestries depicting the Two Sisters in their youth. “Remember when we’d act out the perfect concert? We used to love the sound the organs made in the music chapel.”
If Celestia meant to belittle Luna’s conviction, she didn’t show it. The older sister smiled reminiscently at their memories, even if the younger’s heart bore the weight of the insult.
“Back then we always played what you wanted,” Luna muttered. “I just wanted to hear what you thought about my band idea. I will not stand around and let you call it a child’s fantasy.”
“Luna,” Celestia pursed her lips, “you know I’ll support you no matter what you want to do. You’re my little sister.”
“Meaning if I wasn’t, you’d think a band was a bad idea?”
“I didn’t say that,” Celestia recoiled slowly, pulling her legs up into her bed. “You know that’s not what I mean. I just… I’m still not sure why you’re hung up on a band of all things.”
“Because of this!” Luna stuck her hooves out at Celestia’s luggage. “You found your next calling, travelling every part of the world you couldn’t see before. I still haven’t found my next stage. Ever since I returned from the moon and put the past behind me, I’ve been moving forward as a Princess. I want to know what it means to move forward as Luna.”
Celestia hung her head down, setting aside the scrapbook. “You never said… I didn’t-”
“You could not have known, dear sister,” Luna said. “But, that is why I am telling you now. Making music is something I have to do if I want to know what it means to be me. Every last one of my problems came from not being accepted as a Princess. You remember. If I want to discover myself then I must let Equestria know who I am.”
Celestia smiled gently at her sister this time, spreading her wing out to caress Luna’s side. “The ponies already accept you. Just think about Nightmare Night or all the dreams you help heal.”
Luna chuckled. “I wish I could stay as simple as that. But those were my duties as a princess. At the end of the day, I still don’t know if they accept me for me, all the bad mixed with the good.”
“You’re not bad, Luna.”
She shook her head firmly. “No, I am. I have a dark personality. I used to use the Tantabus to scare myself away from becoming Nightmare Moon, but I didn’t do it because I hated being her. I was worried because some part of me still likes it. I still like the nights, the shadows, and all the powers of the darkness.”
Through the hesitating breath that was half caught in Celestia’s throat and half dancing a tender tap on her lips, Luna’s smile cut like a razor through hair.
“And that’s alright,” she beamed at her older sister. “I can’t get over it if I don’t accept it. And I want the rest of Equestria to accept me this time too. I think once I’m done, I’ll finally be able to find out what it means to be me, and just me.”
Celestia nodded and finally freed the air that she didn’t know her lungs were holding. Memories of memories, faded images of old nightmares wracked with guilt. Images of being banished by Luna as revenge, or being forced to exile her sister repeatedly, irked at Celestia’s imagination.
“It sounds,” her voice cracked and shook before making a slow recovery, “like a great idea. I hope you find what you’re looking for. Have you, uh, thought of a band name yet?”
Luna looked at her sister with an oddly knowing grin. “I think I’ve had a good name for a while now.”
For a town that never changes, Luna found that Ponyville had gone through a considerable reformation from Twilight’s time as a princess. Always a friendly place however Twilight's presence had added something else. A reputation was the best way to describe it, perhaps. The castle was the first thing that stood out compared to the one and two-story houses and shops. The same road that cut through a farmer’s market wound its way around town to the Castle of Friendship.
Luna looked around as she followed the road. Eyes cast curious looks at her wherever she went. She may not have been a ruling princess anymore but that didn't change the reputation that she carried. On any other day, and any other given situation, Luna would have liked to speak with the common ponies. She wanted to ask about their day and share how hers was going.
However, today she had one goal, and she didn't want to get sidetracked from it. With Twilight now living in Canterlot, there was only one pony living in the Castle of Friendship that Luna knew well enough to see.
The last time she had assembled the Nightmare Knights, she had excluded Starlight because of how close she was to Twilight. But this was different, and Luna hoped Starlight Glimmer was still the kind of pony she guessed her to be.
“Who’s going to join your band?” Celestia had asked that morning after Luna gave her the night to think about their conversation. “I don’t think any pony would mind if you borrowed the royal marching troupe.”
“I’m not starting a marching band, sister,” she had to tell her.
Luna sauntered up to the castle steps, the massive crystal branches of its tree-like architecture reflected a lot of sunlight onto the grass around the road. The door, unwieldy and heavy, echoed through the inside of the castle with each knock. Not much more than a moment passed before the sound of hooves unlocking the entrance could be heard.
“Look, if this is another interview-” Starlight short as soon as Luna dropped her hood. “Princess Luna! This is a surprise.”
“Please, it’s just Luna,” she replied. “Apologies if I’m interrupting something, there’s simply a question that I must ask of you. Though, if now is not a good time, we could arrange a meeting.”
“Oh, not at all! You’re always welcome here,” Starlight motioned her to enter the castle. “I’m just swamped with communicating with a few construction contractors and evaluating applicants for three teaching positions next year.”
“Contractors?”
“I know, isn’t it crazy? Creatures from all over the world have been sending applications to the School of Friendship. I want to provide the same quality that Twilight wanted, but there are so many strong potential students that expanding the school might be the best option. I’m just comparing contractor rates to see if there’s any room in the budget for a new dorm hall.”
“I see,” Luna lowered eyes. “You must be incredibly busy. Then, perhaps my question is best left to some pony else.”
“Oh come on, it’s just a question.” Starlight guided Luna to the famous map table, where a young unicorn was arranging silverware and teacups at every seat.
“Princess Luna?” the young filly gasped, dropping a set of forks on the ground.
“It’s just Luna,” she corrected the child with a smile.
“Sunny, this is still detention for you,” Starlight frowned, levitating the forks back in their place. “Luna just has something to talk to me about. You can go finish your extra assignments in the library.”
“Yes, Headmare,” the filly said and scurried off, though not before stealing a second peek at Luna.
“I didn’t realize the School of Friendship accepted students at that age,” Luna mused. “She’s even younger than Sweetie Belle or Applebloom.”
“You know Rarity and Applejack’s sisters?” Starlight raised a brow as she poured them both cups of tea.
“Of course,” Luna said, “I get to know a lot of ponies when I help them with their dreams. That filly, however, I don’t think I’ve ever met. Why is she in detention?”
“She’s part of a youth program I’ve been testing at the school, something to help younger creatures from other countries get used to living in Equestria by making friends with ponies here. But Sunny’s been trying to get her cutie mark in magic, and ever since she learned how to blast magic, she’s been getting into fights whenever the young dragons call her names.”
“And the dragons don’t get the same punishment?”
Starlight laughed. “Oh no, they do. But friendship’s about knowing when to give space. I’ll have them work out their differences later. For now, I’m teaching Sunny how to control her emotions so she can control her magic. Tomorrow I’ll be teaching the dragons why teasing other students can be hurtful.”
Again, Luna felt like she lost the right to ask Starlight even before the question was given. Running a school was no small task, and Starlight was as ambitious as ever with the job. Why did she expect a response in the first place?
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Starlight asked. “Something not going well with your sister? Need a cutie mark swap again?”
Quickly, the bad memories snapped Luna back into focus. “No, never again,” she assured Starlight. “I wanted to ask, and well, it might seem like a trifling concern now, but, I had a curious thought that you might be interested in helping me with a project.”
“Well, sure,” Starlight poured two cups of tea out, preparing for a conversation, “whatever it is, I think I’m pretty capable.”
Luna nodded. Setting aside the five alicorns in Equestria, Luna didn’t doubt that Starlight could be ranked among the strongest of ponies, not just magically but emotionally too. Even if she was too busy to help, Luna felt a sense of ease just for being able to express herself to a pony like Starlight, some pony who could look past the princess and see the pony.
“I want to start a power metal band, and I want you to join it.”
The cup of tea shattered on the crystal floor. “S-sorry. I think I misheard you because it sounded to me like you said-”
Luna looked Starlight in the eyes. “I want to start a power metal band.”
“Oh okay, I see.”
Starlight stared at Luna. Luna stared at Starlight.
“So, w-why me?” Starlight’s voice began to tremble.
“Oh, well, I assumed you would enjoy the change of pace. After all, you always sleep well after you dream about listening to those old records your father keeps for you in your hometown. Who was your favourite, Shadow's Sabbath or-”
Starlight raised a hoof to Luna’s mouth, stuffing her words. In all her life, Luna had never had a pony silence her like that. Was this the level of interaction between two common citizens?
“Look, Luna, dreams are one thing but real life is another,” Starlight whispered. “Shadow's Sabbath might be the best band in Equestria, but I listened to them when I was still… confused about life. I’m glad you found your own goal to follow, but I’m not really into that anymore.”
“Too busy?” Luna asked.
“N-no, Starlight gathered up some napkins for the spilt tea. “I just don’t like them anymore, you know. It was just a phase.”
“Just a phase, but you still say Shadow's Sabbath is the best heavy metal band in Equestria?”
“Well, yeah, even if I don’t listen to them anymore I can’t deny that they’re still at the top of the charts after all these years.”
Luna kicked her hooves around idly. “Is that all it takes to be the best? It was my impression that popularity just meant they appealed to the more casual fans. I’ve always felt that Vanhoover Damned had a true talent of the musical arts.”
“Vanhoover…” Starlight chuckled, “Vanhoover Damned don’t play metal. They’re an okay electronic-dance band that borrows from heavy metal.”
“Mhm, I suppose you’re right,” Luna nodded, “for a casual fan.”
Starlight dropped the napkins to soak up the tea. “Excuse me, Luna?”
“Well, I meant nothing by it,” Luna put on a smug face, “it’s just that I was there the night Shadow's Sabbath debuted with their first concert. I had the pleasure to watch them from the moon. And I have to say, since that night, they’ve been stuck in the past decade while other bands change and improve. They hold onto the charts because they get over-hyped.”
“Over-hyped?” Starlight’s ears jumped up in surprise. “Luna, do you even know what you’re saying? Shadow's Sabbath hasn’t been hyped enough! They defined Equestrian thrash metal back when ponies actively resisted that style. I promise, point me to a Vanhoover Damned album and I just need one single from Shadow's Sabbath to get better riffs.”
“Huzzah!” Luna raised a hoof in victory, “I knew it! You do still have the passion within you!”
“What?”
“You admitted, Starlight Glimmer,” Luna smiled, “you admitted you still like them, which means you still like heavy metal whether you know it or not.”
“No! That’s not what that… I mean, you can’t just jump to conclusions…” Starlight babbled, caught up in retracing her own words. “Okay, fine, you win. Yeah, I do still like metal bands and I wish I could listen to them more often. But even though I like the music, I can’t get back into that headspace.”
Luna raised a brow. “Why is that?”
“What do you mean? I just don’t feel like it.” Starlight levitated the damp napkins and cracked cup, teleporting them away to the kitchen.
“I don’t understand, you seemed awfully happy in your dreams. Would you not find happiness in the waking world if you let yourself have that music again?”
Starlight sighed. “It’s not about the music, it’s about who I was when I listened to it. Back then, I let a lot of emotions build up into something toxic. I took one thing and let it define me. So, now I just want to put it in the past.”
Luna’s smile receded itself. “I see. That’s good, I suppose,” she kicked her hoof around on the floor. “It’s important to know one’s limits. I may have been overeager, then. For me, embracing the music from my past is not about going back to it. It’s about freedom, I think.”
Now it was Starlight’s brows that knitted inquisitively. “Freedom? From what?”
“Freedom from what every pony says I should be feeling. I want to be free to listen to the music that I have always liked while also moving forward to a better version of myself. My apologies, Starlight, but letting my past stop me from enjoying what I like doesn’t feel like putting it in the past. It makes me feel like it’s affecting me to this day.”
Luna bowed her head low. She held the posture of respect for some time, until it made Starlight a little uncomfortable, before turning around to leave.
“I understand you are busy, so then I’ll leave you to your work.”
“Hold on,” Starlight reached out. “I’ll help you.”
Luna perked up. “Truly, you do not jest?”
“You’re still wrong about Vanhoover Damned, but I guess you make a good point. There are a lot of different kinds of music out there. You want to play power metal, right?”
“Oh yes, most definitely,” Luna nodded.
“Subgenre still counts as something different, I guess,” Starlight conceded. “It’s worth a shot.”
“We’ll need a sound mixer, a drummer, and probably another guitarist.” Starlight’s advice was more than helpful. Even if it was just to goad her to admit what she truly liked, Luna felt bad for calling her a casual fan.
Starlight proved she understood what it took to make a band, at least the basics of one. And, with a few trips by teleportation, she had brought all her old equipment from her room to the castle. Next to the Map of Friendship, Starlight put together an old drum kit and propped up her two electric guitars. Both were in excellent condition still, and custom painted and shaped to fit a skull and horror aesthetic.
They still seemed to make Starlight uncomfortable, but Luna could not mistake the glimpses of affection in her actions. Starlight handled her instruments like she was a museum curator examining a decaying parchment.
“I will not force you to do this if you have reservations,” Luna reminded Starlight while gently strumming one of the guitars. “Just knowing I have your support fills me with great joy.”
Starlight fastened tight the last leg on her drum kit and stood up. “Sorry, do I seem nervous? That’s probably because I am. I sent my students home for the day and closed the castle, but you never know with kids. They might sneak in just to ask a question that can’t wait.”
“So, you’re ashamed to let ponies see all this then?” Luna held up Starlight’s skull-painted guitar.
“No,” Starlight levitated it away from her and set it on the map table. “Well, yes. Before I did my whole ‘villainy’ thing, I was a weird kid. In a small town like Shire’s Hollow, that kind of label just sticks.”
“I know the feeling well, but we have both grown beyond that.” Luna put a hoof over Starlight’s shoulder.
Before they could continue with their list of band necessities, a knock on the map room doors interrupted them.
Trixie’s voice called out. “Starlight? I wasn’t sure I was supposed to meet inside or outside the castle. I know you locked the doors but there was an open window so I let myself in. You haven’t forgotten about our picnic, have you?”
“Of course not, dearest friend of mine who I cherish more than kites! I’ll be right out.” Starlight squealed.
“Uh, okay? That’s a weird way to say it though.”
Luna looked over Starlight with a curious face. “You should have told me that you already had a date planned. We didn’t need to set all this up here so soon.”
“I know, but I forgot I told Trixie I was free this evening,” Starlight whispered. “Just help me teleport all these instruments to the castle storage room!”
“I’m afraid I haven’t spent much time in this castle, I can’t form an image of the storage room they need to go to.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of it. Just don’t let Trixie see you. She’s good at getting answers out of me, once she sees you she’ll ask questions until I snap.”
Starlight teleported herself and the drum kit first, leaving the guitars out on the map table. Luna stood over them, admiring the duality of a perfect crystal table holding up death-themed guitars.
“What’chya looking at?”
“Wagh!” Luna jumped at the sound of Trixie. She whipped around to find that the blue magician had somehow found her way into the map room.
“Trixie, what a… pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?”
“I thought I heard Starlight teleporting,” Trixie looked around. “What’s with the guitars? And what are you doing here?”
“I-I… well… it’s a long story,” Luna stammered, stepping back to make some distance.
Trixie nodded. “Oh, I see how it is. That must have been you teleporting, right? You waited for Starlight to get ready for our picnic so you could ask me to help you with another adventure, right? The Nightmare Knights are forming again?”
“I suppose that’s not entirely false,” Luna muttered, “and it is an adventure, of sorts.”
“Well, I’m not surprised you have need of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s services, but I’m afraid I have to decline. I’ve been working hard to make Starlight’s vision for the school come true. Students have so many problems that even I don’t know how to answer all their questions.”
Luna blinked. “That must be quite a shock.”
“I know!” Trixie threw up a hoof. “Never has the Wise and Conscientious Trixie ever had her wisdom challenged like this.”
“Well, in that case, I suppose I’ll have to ask some pony else. I’ll have to leave the guitars here if that’s alright. Just don’t make a big deal of it to Starlight. It is Nightmare Knight business, after all.”
“Trixie can be as tight-lipped as she is great, Princess.”
“It’s just Luna, now,” she replied. “An adventure can wait but friends should always be by each other’s side. Starlight is lucky to have you.”
“And I’m lucky to have her too.”
Luna let herself out of the castle, taking the same path out the front door that she came. Starlight would probably understand that she had to leave once she came back to find Trixie. And as long as Trixie believed the guitars belonged to her and not Starlight, no questions would be asked. Luna hesitated just outside the castle.
It felt a little rude to leave without notice, but she knew Starlight was the kind of pony who could play along fast and think on her hooves. Still, a short discussion later tonight in the dream realm would probably be for the best.
Luna watched the sky turn orange, shades of purple and pink fast on its heels. She imagined Twilight was used to the routine by now, managing the sun and moon and even the odd nightmare here and there. But Equestria was in a new time of peace. Even now, without ponies exposing their minds to their dreams, Luna’s heart felt lighter.
There was less fear.
“Maybe I shouldn’t,” she put her hood up as she walked into town. There were things she wanted to sing about so she could finally lift the last weights off her chest. But if they stirred the fears again, it would only mean more trouble.
Was it her fate to be hounded by fear? If not her own, then the responsibility to the fears of others? The night was something that should be loved. For all that had changed, Equestria was still much the same in that regard. And ponies like Starlight, like herself, would still be the weird ones.
Ponies one by one retired to their homes, readying supper and relaxing for another night with their friends and families. This night, like many others, was good. And if it were only her that knew what being shunned felt like, Luna believed she could accept it if it meant ponies could enjoy their nights in peace and security.
But where was the place for the blank flank who could not find the CMC? Where was the place for the misfits when Twilight could not find them? Where was the place to the filly too quiet to step out of her sister’s bigger shadow?
Among the retiring families, Luna spotted one house split from the rest, its lights turned on and doors flung open.
“Honestly, Vinyl. Half your equipment doesn’t work, just throw it out!”
Luna turned her head. Now there was a thought. It was well known that Ponyville did not lack in musical culture. Renowned cellist Octavia resided in Ponyville when not performing. The Ponytones, too, had a small cult following in major cities around Equestria. And since her debut as Rara, it was no secret that the Apple family farm had some connection to the pop-genre giant.
Electronically distorted wub-wub-wubbing slowly dissipated from the house. Perhaps, if she got enough members together, there could be a strong audio mixer waiting in Ponyville for her band.
But, that would be if she could find a few good players. Luna turned back to the main street and headed directly to the Sugar Cube Corner. She could teleport back to Silver Shoals for the night, but there was no chance she’d leave without a treat from the most famous bakery in town.
Luna pondered what flavours she felt like having. “Just a doughnut or two for tonight.”
Or three or four. Perhaps five.
No sooner than when she took the first bite did self-control leave Luna’s mind, body, and soul. It wasn’t just the doughnuts. The baker, Mrs Cake, was proving herself to be a most excellent confidant, Luna decided. With the store closed for the night, she made a special exception and they sat together at the counter, trading their thoughts.
“Sounds like you’re going through a lot, hun,” she said as she laid out a second platter of mini-doughnuts. “These should set you straight. The Sampler Platter’s a popular one around here.”
“So this is what ponies are eating these days?” Luna filled her devouring maw with no complaints. “I don’t mean to sound condescending, but the life of a commoner seems to have an endless list of joys.”
“Oh-ho, well,” Mrs Cake laughed, “I wouldn’t exactly call this one common. It’s one of our best sellers, but only because Pinkie Pie’s one of our biggest buyers. Sometimes I think the employee discount’s the only thing keeping her working here.”
“I know she works now as an advisor to Twilight,” Luna said, “does it make it busier around here?”
“You know, not really,” Mrs Cake answered. “Now, don’t get me wrong, it sure is a lot busier around here, but I think that’s just Ponyville getting bigger. That new school’s bringing in a lot more folks. Parents like to grab a bite before they see how their kids are doing. Usually, they buy something to-go, too.”
“Meet any musicians?” Luna asked.
She shook her head. “Not the kind you’re looking for, I’m afraid. Have you looked anywhere else? I’m sure you know how big Equestria can be.”
“Yes, but there still aren’t many to fit what I need. I know of one other pony who might be interested, but it will need a trip beyond the Crystal Empire to reach her. Then there’s some pony in Ponyville who can help with the sound mixing. That still leaves me short a drummer, plus I’d like a backup vocalist. I’m afraid my own range might not be enough for what I’m dreaming up.”
“Well, I don’t know if she can play any music, but I think I know some pony who shares some of what you’re feeling right now.”
Luna washed down her ninth doughnut with a mouthful of root beer. “Truly? Might you know where I can find her?”
“Sure do,” Mrs Cake nodded. “She said she’s staying with Rainbow Dash for a few nights. An old friend, apparently.”
“Then I’ll have to take the rest of these delightful deserts with me, Mrs Cake,” Luna stood up out of her seat.
“Don’t worry, I have just the thing.” Mrs Cake hurried to the kitchen and back, returning with a long folding cardboard box.
“Another one of Pinkie Pie’s favourites?” Luna asked, judging by the size of the box.
Mrs Cake laughed. “Your sister’s actually. It’s funny, she cannot get enough of our miniature sponge cakes. We used to have to ship one of these to Canterlot every week.”
Luna nodded gently in pondering thought. “For better or worse, that does not surprise me.”
Luna could sense the dreams circling Rainbow Dash’s house. There were two ponies, both deeply ambitious and fearless. No doubt the other was the friend Mrs Cake mentioned. She checked the height of the moon. Still far from its zenith, they weren’t asleep yet. But she needed to ask soon. The dream realm was tugging on their minds already.
A few minutes after ringing the doorbell, she met and greeted the young Wonderbolt.
“Luna? Wait, have I been dreaming?”
She clenched her jaws and seethed the frustration out. If she had one bit for very time ponies greeted her like that, she’d own half the royal treasury.
“No, you are very much awake. I came to ask a favour if you don’t mind.”
Rainbow shrugged, still shaking off the remnants of her dream. “Well, I’m not asleep yet. Shoot.”
As succinctly as she could, Luna explained her dreams of starting a band and what Mrs Cake had said about her guest. But, if her friend was tired from a long trip, she understood.
“She told Mrs Cake we’re friends?” Rainbow rubbed her eyes. “Not sure if I agree with that. There’s a lot of stuff between us, and not all of it’s awesome. I just felt bad for her, that’s why I let her stay, just for a few nights.”
“In that case, I would very much like to talk with her while I can,” Luna said, “I’d like to make as few trips as possible.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Sure, I got no problem with that. I was about to turn in for the night but Lightning’s a bit more of a night owl than me.”
For a cloud house, the inside was surprisingly comfortable. The floors were tiles of compressed cloud, no different from stone in texture. Despite all her time as a princess, Luna realized she didn’t pay much attention to the weather industry.
“Quite the place,” Luna quietly admired as they passed a few bags in the foyer.
“Thanks, made the pillars myself out of spare weather clouds,” Rainbow accepted the praise. “Hey, yo Lightning Dust! You still awake?”
“How could I not be with you yapping like that?” The light blue, yellow maned mare stuck her head down the stairs.
Dash’s wings ruffled up, annoyed. “That’s a whole lot of gratitude for some pony who lends you a spare room.”
“You offered, I didn’t ask.” As she trotted down Luna could tell Lightning had just been in the shower. Warm vapours wafted through the whole house, and she couldn’t help but wonder how exactly a showed worked when living in a cloud. “I can do just fine on my own- Princess Luna?” The mare stopped in the middle of the stairs, halfway through wrapping a towel around her soaked mane.
“Just Luna,” she replied.
“Don’t know why, but she wanted to talk to you,” Rainbow Dash grumbled.
Lightning Dust sneered. “Guess she needs a pony who knows how to take risks, instead of goody-goody Wonderbolt.”
Dash scoffed and rolled her eyes. “That’s it, I’m going to bed. Every time I think you’re getting better, you somehow remind me that you can’t make a good decision to save your own skin.”
She shoved her way up the stairs, the compressed clouds surprisingly soft enough to keep her hoof steps from shaking through the whole house. Lightning Dust shot a dirty eye at her as she went, but broke it off as soon as she was out of sight.
“Neither of you appears to enjoy this arrangement,” Luna noted. “What keeps you here?”
“Other than Rainbow’s self-righteous sense of morality? I was the leader of the Washouts until she got in the way. I got a new recruit on our team to try a new stunt, but she ruined it. After that, the other Washouts turned on me and kicked me out for messing up.”
Luna furrowed her brow. “I heard the news from Princess Twilight. You endangered a child with a rocket if I remember correctly.”
“I didn’t make that kid do anything I wouldn’t have done myself,” Lightning defended. “Plus, I had two of the best fliers I know by my side. If something did go wrong, we knew how to handle it. Rainbow Dash completely hijacked our rhythm.”
“I see.” She walked over to the living room, where Rainbow had laid out an assortment of flight paths and stunt plans for future Wonderbolt shows. Boasting her accomplishments in front of Lightning Dust was surely to make the mare frustrated.
“So why come here?”
“Thought I’d start by making Dash feel bad, let her know that all she did was ruin my life.” Lightning Dust folded her wings tightly. “I guess it worked, ‘cause she offered me her spare room for a few nights.”
“Any other pony would take that as a blessing,” Luna said, “but it doesn’t like it the way you’re speaking.”
“Of course not!” She stomped her hoof. “She ruined my life and now she’s helping me. She thinks she can pity me when it’s her fault. I can’t stand it!”
Luna tilted her head. “Lightning Dust, do you want to know why I’m here?”
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering that.”
“I came looking for a drummer for a band. My band, specifically,” Luna said. “I want to perform music because it’s how I can move on from my own past. I have to accept that it happened, and accept that some part of me will always have that darkness. That’s how I will control my future.”
“Yeah, cool story. I’m not really getting how that applies to me.”
“Do you play music?” Luna asked.
Lightning Dust bobbed her head around. “Yeah, a little bit. The Washouts mostly used remixed music from other artists, but I was the one who added our own drum tracks over them. Just to give the performance a personal rhythm.”
“Then you’re already halfway there. I think music can do even more to help you, if you let it,” Luna continued. “I think you’re blaming Rainbow Dash because you can’t accept what happened. You started the Washouts because you accepted that you weren’t meant for the Wonderbolts. Now that it’s gone, the only thing left for you to accept is that you made a mistake.”
“I don’t need to accept that,” Lightning Dust stepped away towards the foyer, grabbing something out of the bags laying there. It was a pair of headphones, like the kind Luna saw on one of the ponies in Ponyville. She had the wire wrapped up around a tape player. “Good luck with you’re band, Luna, but I have a long day of flight practice tomorrow. I gotta keep my form up if I want a shot at the next Equestria Games.”
“You listen to music when you go to sleep?”
“Yeah, so?” Lightning Dust held her player a little closer. “Any good athlete knows she has to relax as much as she trains. Overworking just breaks you down.”
“Trust me, I know all about overworking,” Luna chuckled. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to know what kind of music a pony like you listens to. It’ll help to think about my audience when I’m writing my own songs.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s late. I’m just going to turn in.” Lightning Dust quickly stuck the headphone jack into her tape player and started her music.
Well, not exactly music. Luna tilted her head at the tape playing device while Lightning Dust rummaged through her bag for a set of pyjamas. It seemed the point of the headphones were to direct the sound. So, Luna wondered, why in Equestria could she still hear the rain audio playing out of the device?
“Erm… Lightning Dust?” She tried telling her, but it seemed pointless. Something was definitely playing in those headphones. Luna walked out to the foyer and took a closer look. The headphones seemed fine, but when the problem became clear with a second pass of the tape player. The jack was not sticking fully into the player.
“What?” Lightning Dust leaned away from Luna’s staring.
Luna gently pulled the headphones down from her ears. “It seems even modern devices have their flaws.”
Lightning Dust’s gaze slowly turned in horror as she realized she could still hear her player, even without the headphones on. And in the rain sound, a gentle voice cut through the pitter-patter.
“Welcome back. I hope you have found a relaxing space,” a stallion’s voice whispered, followed by the sound of breath blowing on the microphone. “It’s time to forget about the other sounds in your life. We are the only ponies in this space. I am your voice, you are my ears. I need you. You are special. You are wanted.” The voice drifted away like pollen on a breeze, replaced by the sound of sand pouring.
Lightning Dust stood petrified while Luna listened on with the utmost curiosity. “This is normal for ponies to listen to?”
“Y-yes!” She slammed the stop button on the player and threw it back into her bags. “Rain can be calming, and the voice keeps it interesting. He talks about all kinds of stuff, so don’t assume.”
“I think I recognize the voice from ponies’ dreams. Ponies call him the ‘Affirmation Guru,’ right? I usually hear the tapes when I’m in lonely dreams.”
Lightning Dust gave no answer, but she couldn’t hide the redness of her face. “It’s not like that,” she mumbled.
“Huh?” Luna leaned in. “I couldn’t quite hear.”
“I said it’s not what you think!” Lightning Dust backed even further away. “He just has a very relaxing voice. It’s the perfect tool for recovering after a workout. I’m not the kind of pony who needs reminders like that. If there were any more relaxing sounds I’d listen to those instead!”
“Very well,” Luna conceded and stepped toward the door, “I would like to not have come here for nothing. You might be fine on your own, but as a favour to me, fly by the castle the day after tomorrow. The rest of the Nightmare Knights should be there by then.”
“Nightmare Knights?” Lightning raised a brow. “Isn’t that a bit… derivative?”
“If you can think of something better, swing by the castle.”
Compared to Ponyville, the Crystal Empire was massive and crowded with ponies and yaks. Though the Northern Wastes was the border between the lands of ponies and yaks, it hardly seemed like a barrier to international trade and travel. Farmers from Appleloosa to Vanhoover brought their produce to the capital of the Crystal Empire to fill the markets.
From the north, yaks brought their own goods too. The hardy timber of their land was especially strong, and perfect construction material for the homesteads out in the Wastes. Meanwhile, ice cream made from yak vanilla was famous in every major city. Just walking through the streets proved Princess Twilight’s postulation right: Equestria was safer building bridges between their neighbours, not walls. Luna understood better than most why her sister touted her student as being her greatest accomplishment.
Lost in thought, Luna passed from the marketplace to the city centre until she reached the doors of the palace.
“Princess sighted!” called out one of the guard ponies. “Unlock the gate and inform Princess Cadence!”
Luna blinked and brought her attention back from her thoughts. The sound of guards shuffling told her enough of what had happened.
“Oh no, it’s not a big deal,” she tried explaining to the guards, “you needn’t bother Cadence with my presence. I was actually planning to head north.”
“In that case,” Cadence’s voice rang through the opening doors, “I’m glad they did.”
“Are you sure?” Luna stepped forward and embraced her. “I wouldn’t want to impose. I saw how busy the marketplace is. Life here must be busy, now that more creatures beyond Equestria are coming into the Empire.”
“You’re right,” Cadence said as she led Luna into the palace, “and the yaks are the least of it. The Crystal Empire’s status as a Dominion State to Equestria is raising a lot of concern around the issue of the travel of dragons. A lot of citizens are apprehensive about gemstone eating dragons being free to enter Crystal Empire territory.”
“But the Crystal Empire has always deferred to Equestria in foreign affairs,” Luna said as they took a turn toward the palace library.
“It’s a tradition, yes,” Cadence nodded, “but it’s been made aware to me by certain protesters that by having the status of an autonomous dominion, there is a legal basis for passing legislation that differs from Equestria.”
“But, surely you can’t agree.”
“I don’t,” Cadence shook her head, “but the movement for larger independence and strict immigration policy on dragons is becoming a problem. And frankly, I don’t know how to stop it. Even with Twilight’s- I mean Starlight’s School of Friendship, and the agreements with the Dragonlord, there are some dragons who cause trouble in the city. They’re usually small infractions, like eating the crystal walls of a store or disorderly behaviour, but they’re adding up.”
“True, not all dragons who come to Equestria on business go through the School of Friendship. There’s a great deal of cultural difference.”
“I know, but I can’t put cultural differences above our laws. I’m really at an odds here, Luna. What do you think I should do?”
Luna paused just outside the library doors with a stunned look on her face. “I’m sorry, truly, but I’m retired. The importance of these matters cannot be overstated, I know, but I can’t bring myself to get involved. I am only just beginning to grow comfortable with a normal life.”
Cadence sighed. “I see, and I understand.” She gestured into the library. “Honestly, some nights I walk around the library looking for a spell to make Flurry Heart grow up faster so she can just take the Crystal Empire off my hooves.”
“That explains some of the dreams you’ve had lately,” Luna looked at her with some concern. They continued on and took a seat in some reading chairs in the library.
“Haha,” Cadence laughed, “sorry about that. I know you still have responsibilities beyond the moon. The amulet you gave Twilight, it has some of your power, right? Does that include any of your dream-walking?”
“Some, but not all,” Luna said. “Still, I find that I have a lot of free time now. That’s actually why I’m in the Crystal Empire.”
“Oh, doing some travelling like Celestia? I can recommend some places for breakfast.”
“Ehm, no. Actually, I want to start a power metal band. I came here because there’s some pony I wanted to ask about joining. If anything, she could probably add a lot of special effects to future performances.”
“That’s certainly… surprising to hear. My best wishes to you. Do you know where this pony is?”
“Roughly,” Luna said. “You might be able to help with that, actually. I’m looking for Tempest Shadow. I know she helps out in the Northern Wastes.”
Cadence raised a brow. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with that little escapade of yours a while back, would it?”
Luna’s jaw went slack. All the ponies she had first asked to join the Nightmare Knights swore secrecy, and she trusted them. And while her powers over the night let her learn many secrets. Did the magic of love have the power to uncover secrets as well? Luna mused that infidelity would be a thing of the past if that were the case.
“Oh come on, don’t stare,” Cadence smirked playfully. “I don’t know the details, but Tempest is very thorough with her patrol logs. Her partner Glitter Drops did her best to cover, but there’s a gap in her patrols. I had some suspicion, but your reaction confirms it.”
Luna found her composure and reasserted herself. “You have a calling as a detective if you ever retire. But no, it’s not about that. Tempest and I just have some shared interests, so I wanted to know if she’d be interested.”
“Fair enough,” Cadence leaned back in her seat. “I can’t be sure, but some yak merchants have made reports of dangerous beasts cutting off travel through the wastes. Knowing Tempest, she and Glitter Drops are probably on the roads looking for them.”
“Then that’s where I’ll start.” Luna rose from her seat and thanked Cadence, bowing with the same respect from any other citizen. “And, if you could do me one favour…”
“Don’t worry, I’ve suspected for a while now,” she quickly answered. “Celestia won’t find out about your secret adventures. I’m sure you have your reasons.”
Luna thanked the Crystal Princess once again before she made her way out of the palace and then out of the city. Teleporting to the Norther Wastes would be pointless, Tempest could be fighting beasts anywhere in the vast territory. The only way was by hoof.
The Northern Wastes hardly lived up to the name. Much of the land was rich with life. Granted, the things that lived in the constant cold and snow were undoubtedly hardy. Luna passed by bolting snow hares, far faster and larger than their temperate cousins. And of course, she noticed the tracks. Ursa tracks were hard to miss, major or minor.
She was thankful for the hiking outfit sold at the marketplace. The Northern Wastes was barren of one thing, and that was the touch of ponies. No roads or signposts marked the way through. The only major path was a narrow strip of padded dirt and ice that ran on for miles.
“Yaks take this path just to trade with Equestria?” Luna remarked astonishingly after over an hour into the Wastes. “Tough folk, those merchants.”
And then another empty hour passed by until she came across what looked like yak’s cart on the path. Beside it, a massive yak was wrapped tightly in bandages and in no condition to move.
“Who is there?” he shouted. “Snow is cold, and Baldrick is tired. Not see very well.”
“I am called Luna. What happened here?”
Baldrick squinted his eyes as she approached. “Ooh, you are big for a pony. Even taller than other pony who save Baldrick.”
“What other pony?”
“Scary eyes, dark coat, oh! And she had sparkling horn like yours! But shorter.”
“Was it broken?”
“Not know. Did not see. When jotun beast attacked, Baldrick too scared to see.”
“Hmph,” Luna grunted, opening her scarf a little to test the air. “You said you felt cold?”
Baldrick nodded. “Very surprised. Yaks say pony lands are warmer. Baldrick never come before, did not know his friends were playing tricks.”
Luna shook her head and immediately searched for extra blankets in his cart. Yaks had a stable textile industry too, it was almost a guarantee there’s be something else to warm him up. She levitated whole bundles of timber until she found a bolt of carpeting. It wasn’t a blanket, but it was thick and warm.
“Your friends didn’t lie,” she hurriedly tossed the carpet over Baldrick. She knelt down and checked his bandages. They were soaked black and crimson. “There isn’t a day of bad weather here than a yak can’t stand. Your body is in shock. The bleeding hasn’t stopped at all.”
“What?” The yak tried to look, but he cried out as his movements only worsened the wound. The large bones in his ribs were jutting into the muscle, tearing and expanding the hole even just by breathing. Luna immediately understood why Tempest had to leave him here. Moving him was a death sentence.
“I’m going to teleport with you to the Crystal Palace,” she told him. “It’ll be harder with your cart so I’ll have to leave it behind. Just be prepared, you might feel a slight jolt when we land, but it’ll be better than moving you physically.”
As soon as the yak nodded, Luna shot them both through a field of magic an in the next instant they were outside the palace’s library.
“Luna?” Cadence jumped out of her seat. “What’s going on?”
“No time. This yak needs a doctor, now. Take care of him, I have to teleport back now. I was near Tempest, and if she’s fighting a beast that can do this to a yak, then I have no choice but to help.”
Cadence nodded firmly. “I can have a doctor here in minutes. Just go.”
A burst of snow hit Luna in the face when she returned to the cart. The winds were freezing cold, but now that she was near, she could afford to fly and search for Tempest. She just hoped she was close enough. The air in the Northern Wastes was going to make her wings go frozen stiff if she took too long.
Luckily, after soaring north for a few minutes, Luna began to hear the sound of crackling lightning. The intensity of the magic was unmistakable. Tempest was whipping up a storm against whatever beast she had tracked down. She was up on the side of a mountain, her back pinned the cliffside while the monster paced side-to-side.
From the sky, it was plainly obvious what kind of disadvantage Tempest faced. The monster was massive. Clever too. It gripped a solid chunk of ice, using it to take the full force of Tempest’s attacks. Its two stumpy legs wobbled its massive body around. It had two main arms, but another set of four arms sprouted from its back as well.
It was a shadow. A memory of King Sombra’s reign over the Crystal Empire. Despite his absence, the dark magic he tapped into continued to leak all over the Empire. The monsters were supposed to hide far from the Crystal Heart.
“Tempest!” Luna called out as she landed nearby. “You can’t fight that. It’s too strong!”
“Princess Luna?” Tempest barely looked her way, she couldn’t afford not to dodge an attack. “You old geezer, I thought you retired.”
Luna formed a bubble around Tempest and dragged her away from the flailing arms of the shadow. “It’s just Luna. And I’m not that old.”
The shadow giant lumbered its overweight torso around and locked its little beady eyes on Luna. Its head almost did not exist, mostly sunken into its chest. The creature charged, and Tempest prepared another bolt of lightning.
“No, it’s a memory of the dark magic Sombra used. Your rage only fuels it.”
“If you tell me to make friends with it, I’m throwing myself off this mountain.”
Luna hopped in front of Tempest and pushed her back with a firm kick. There just wasn’t time to explain the nature of dark magic. It fed on fear and hatred and rage, and the only thing it respected was power.
She breathed. She kept a part of her dark self alive, if only for the sake of Nightmare Moon events. Turning into her own monster was excusable if it meant bringing joy to fillies and colts. Or so she used to think. If she wanted music to make her accept the past, she had to be willing to embrace the magic that came with her dark side.
The sparkling white light reflected on the snow vanished. Splotches of black popped and bubbled around Luna, filling her coat with ink-black stains, covering and devouring her body. Immediately, the shadow giant stopped.
“Cease thy fruitless rage, base beast!” She executed her royal court voice with absolute perfection. The timber of Nightmare Moon resonated into the icy bones of the mountain. “Thou art an offence upon the dark powers. Thy own shadows quiver under the pale light of the moon.”
The shadow’s stump-legs quivered, collapsing to the ground in awe of Nightmare Moon. “I am but a merciful ruler. The Princess of Darkness is a gentlemare. Thy suffering can now end. Let go your mortal coil and submit thyself to me!”
Like a child slurping for the last of their drink on the bottom of the cup, watching Nightmare Moon absorb the shadow was like waiting for the last drop to give up its fight. Piece by piece, the shadow drained into Nightmare Moon’s horn.
Tempest squinted. Even the sunlight that reflected blindingly off the snow seemed to shy away from Nightmare Moon’s presence. As Luna returned to herself, Tempest covered her eyes from the light finding the courage to return to its place.
“Apologies, such things should never have gotten this close to the Crystal Empire.”
Thud. Luna whipped her head around. The pony she saw holding her own against such an unnatural apparition lay collapsed in front of her. She rushed over to find the snow beneath her streaked in red.
“Where’s the bleeding?” She looked all over her, eventually finding a scrape on the back her Tempest’s leg. The wound was shallow, but the dark magic from the shadow beast was eating deeper and deeper. Luna took her scarf and bound it around the wound.
“That’s only temporary. You must get inside the magic of the Crystal Heart, it will drive the dark magic out.”
Tempest nodded weakly. “Patrol office… within the bounds. Glitter Drops can help.”
“I remember where it is,” Luna said. “Hold on. You won’t make it on hoof, I’ll have to teleport you.”
Glitter Drops didn’t even need to ask when Luna barged in, carrying Tempest on her back. The moment they entered the bounds of the Crystal Heart, Luna felt the dark magic in Tempest burn away. But it had done its damage already. The scrape had deepened into a major gash and no amount of gauze could stop the bleeding.
“Put her on the counter and hold her leg,” Glitter Drops directed Luna. She levitated a small packet made from foil from a first aid kit. It tore open and drops of watery paste trickled onto the counter. Immediately, crystals grew out from the paste and solidified.
Glitter Drops place a hoof firmly on Tempest’s shoulder. “Fizzy looks out of it now, but trust me, this won’t feel good. She’ll flinch for sure.”
Luna nodded. “I have her.”
Like ripping a bandage off, Glitter simply gave Tempest the full treatment, not wanting to draw it out. The paste sizzled against her skin, hardening into a reddish crystal that applied pressure onto the wound.
Tempest twitched first but quickly start jolting and bucking around on the counter. “Ack,” she cried out as the pain mounted. “Argh!”
“It’s okay Fizzy, I’m here!” Glitter Drops quickly consoled her friend. “We had to crystalize your wound before it bled out.”
“I know, but…” Tempest groaned, “the bleeding has slowed now, so can you get the morphine?”
With Luna’s help, Glitter Drops was able to stitch close Tempest’s leg. Once the painkillers kicked in, the mare was a lot less temperamental about her injury, and finally explained what had happened before Luna showed up.
Apparently, it was supposed to be a rescue patrol. Search for travellers on the road and keep them safe from the unknown threat. It was Baldrick that she found wrestling with the shadow beast, driving it back with his horns. Once she joined the fight, the beast knew it was outnumbered and ran for the mountains.
“So you thought chasing it down was a good idea?” Glitter Drops scolded. “I warned you that would happen. You should have let me come with you.”
“I thought you two did all your patrols together,” Luna remarked.
“We do,” Tempest replied, “except when one of us is still recovering from the flu.”
“Your case is a little different,” Luna warned. “It was a shadow of the past. Parts of the dark magic Sombra used was so powerful, it left scars on the very land around the Crystal Empire. They’re like memories of the magic itself, imprinted on ice and stone.”
Glitter Drops looked curiously at Luna. She didn’t question the information, but it was clearly news. “First time I’ve heard of them.”
“That’s because they shouldn’t be around anymore,” Luna said. “They may be able to manifest in strong physical forms, but magically, they’re weaker than a levitation spell. The Crystal Heart should be strong enough to suppress them from here to the furthest parts of Yakyakistan. The fact that they can manifest physically is a great concern. The Crystal Heart must be weakening.”
Glitter Drops and Tempest looked at each other worryingly. “I have noticed the Crystal Empire being a bit more…”
“Irate?” Glitter Drops finished.
“Actually, I was going to say comfortable. If I’m starting to like the Crystal Empire, something’s seriously wrong. This is why I can’t understand by ponies would rely on so much magic just to live in this city.”
Luna silently listened as the two unicorns listed off the odd occurrences they saw in the markets and business sectors. Most of them fit with Cadence’s rising problems. Crystal ponies were slow to trust foreign creatures. In their own hearts, fear was replacing love.
Perhaps retirement wasn’t an option. Luna wanted desperately to leave her princess duties behind, but if calming the fears in every pony’s dreams was necessary for peace, then she couldn’t refuse her destiny.
“Princess Luna?” Glitter Drops tapped her on the shoulder. “Got your head in the clouds?”
“Huh? I’m just Luna, now.” She wobbled around to face the two mares, a little dumbfounded. “Apologies, my worries drifted for a moment. Tempest, are you okay?”
“For now. We’ll see how well I run in a few days.”
Glitter Drops furrowed her brow. “You mean weeks. That dark magic took their toll. Don’t help it along by doing patrols before you’ve recovered.”
“Might not have a choice, if Princess Luna’s here,” Tempest said. “Is this about the Nightmare Knights? A different mission, or is it about Daybreaker again?”
“No, it’s not an adventure,” Luna informed her, and an immediate wave of disappointment washed over Tempest’s face.
“Then, how did you know we needed your help?” Glitter Drops asked while lightly pressing on Tempest’s stitches, a reminder that she shouldn’t get excited over adventures for a while.
“I didn’t, at first,” Luna said. “I first came looking for Tempest, but for entirely different reasons. I wanted to inquire if she would be able to join my power metal band.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Tempest recoiled, looking at Luna as if she had transformed into something unrecognizable.
Glitter Drops covered her friend’s mouth before any more could be said. “She’ll do it!” the mare beamed.
“Hold on, I do not consent to this,” Tempest said.
“You will,” Glitter Drops snapped back at her friend. “Just look at your condition. A few weeks of recovery is generous. We don't know yet but there's a huge chance that you might need more surgery. if that happens, you won't recover for months. I left you on your own the last time you were injured, I'm not doing it again.”
“Why join her band?”
“What else can you do while you recover? I have a good reputation with Cadence and other patrol teams. Every pony can cover a month or two for us. now's the perfect time to call in those favours so you can rest.”
“I’m not even a good musician,” Tempest said. “The only kind of music I made was for the Storm King's propaganda and marching music.”
Luna tilted her head. “Are you sure? Princess Twilight claims you have quite the vocal range.”
“You pick up a little bit when you’re the general of an expansionist army,” she replied. “And I learned enough to know that I’m not a professional.”
“Oh, I know. Neither am I, really. But I’m not starting a band to go big, I just want to what I love.”
“Well, I love being here at this patrol station,” Tempest said, putting her hoof around Glitter. “I have friendship right here.”
“Aw, you’re just a big softie Fizzy,” Glitter Drop beamed. “But you’re definitely joining Luna’s band. Your leg won’t heal for weeks, and full recovery might even take months. Don’t try and worm your way out, you know it’s true. I know you’ve seen a fair share of battle wounds, and I’ve recused countless of injured animals in the Wastes. We both know a bad injury when we see one.”
“I can’t just leave you.” Tempest protested.
Glitter Drops smiled. “Oh, you won’t. I don’t feel like working alone again, so I’m going to call in all the favours I have with the other patrol teams. Each of them can cover us for a few weeks at least. That way, wherever you end up performing, I’ll be free to go.”
Tempest stared at her friend. “Like a stalker?”
“Oh!” Luna hopped. “Like a VIP fan! I can envision it now, a backstage pass around your neck, envied by all the other commoners who wish they could get in.”
“What happened to not wanting to go big?”
“Oh come on, enough questions Fizzy,” Glitter nudged her friend. “We both already know you’re going to say yes.”
Tempest looked left and right to Luna and Glitter Drops. It seemed was choice was already made for her. And surprisingly, that felt okay.
“Power metal?” Octavia looked aghast at Luna’s request. “Vinyl, please, you bring your work home every night. I can tolerate it when it’s just dance music, but you’re going to drive me nuts if you accept Princess Luna’s offer.”
“If it’s space you’re worried about, you needn’t worry,” Luna assured. “My pension from the royal treasury is very substantial. I can afford a studio to keep all the equipment and recordings.”
Vinyl grinned eagerly. “Sounds good!” she seemed to say without even speaking.
“Well, concern for my tax money aside, that’s not the problem-” Octavia cut off as Vinyl Scratch signalled her roommate to talk privately. They seemed to have a special system of communication. Luna wasn’t sure if Vinyl actually spoke any words or not, but her hoof motions alone seemed expressive enough for Octavia to understand.
With Tempest arriving in the afternoon from the Crystal Empire, all that was left was some pony who knew how to operate sound equipment. Vinyl was a perfect choice, her stage moniker ‘DJ-PON3’ was popular among a lot of young Canterlot nobles. As a bonus, she wasn’t bad with the keyboard either and could do a lot to improve on the songs that were all jumbled up in Luna’s thoughts.
She couldn’t suppress forget about all of Cadence’s problems. Before she left the Crystal Empire, she warned her about the imprinted dark magic. She needed to know, but it only seemed to weigh the princess down even further. Luna knew she had no obligation to intervene, but she couldn’t help but feel her dreams were trivial compared to international relations.
It was another reason she remembered to come to this little house jutting from the Ponyville main road. Seeing two musician roommates bickering lightened Luna’s heart. Octavia’s concerns were definitely vital to her daily life. Just because it didn’t involve dragons and monsters didn’t make it any less important.
“Apologies, it’s just that Vinyl’s somewhat of a workaholic,” Octavia informed Luna. The remark brought an onslaught of flailing slaps from Vinyl in protest, but using her bow Octavia managed to keep her at bay. “She plays whatever she’s working on when she’s at home, and it can get very disturbing.”
Vinyl waved her hooves at Octavia. “It’s not your business,” she seemed to say. And she had a point. Roommates or not, Vinyl’s work was her own concern.
But Octavia disagreed. “It is my concern when you decide to ‘polish up’ your work at three o’clock in the morning.”
Vinyl shook her head. “It won’t be like that,” she meant.
“Oh yes it will,” Octavia challenged, gesturing with her hoof to the speakers and keyboards lying around on Vinyl’s side of the house. “Show me one time you’ve made anything remotely close to metal music. I know you can work twice as hard to do whatever Luna’s asking for, but I’m the one who has to pay for it with my sleep.”
“You know, lavender can-” Luna started.
Vinyl waved her hoof over her neck in a slicing motion, signalling with Luna to drop the advice. Octavia was clearly in no mood for it.
“Hmph,” Octavia sighed at Vinyl. “I can’t stop you if you really want to try this out, but at least give Luna another option. You and I both know that heavy metal isn’t your speciality.”
Vinyl waved Octavia’s complaint away. “I’m the best there is at this. Can you think of any pony who can help better than me?” There was a surprising amount of complexity to her gestures.
“A few names come to mind,” Octavia smirked.
“You know of some pony else who can help with audio mixing?” Luna asked.
“And more. If you’re thinking of making a real band and producing an album, you’ll want his help. Vinyl got his business card a while ago.”
Vinyl looked at Octavia with a concerned grimace. “Him? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You were my first choice,” Luna told Vinyl, “because frankly, I don’t know a lot of ponies in the music industry. But if there’s some pony who’d be better suited for this, I’d like your advice. I wouldn’t want to make you feel like you should perform with me just because I was a princess. There’s a lot I still don’t know about this stuff. ”
Octavia made the move to get the card when Vinyl hesitated. From a pile of old bills and receipts, she produced a small wallet filled with cards from realtors and banks. Among those, one card with dazzling borders printed on the front drew Luna’s eye.
“I heard he’s been in and out of the industry for a few years,” Octavia said.
Luna raised a brow. “But he’s still good?”
“So-so,” Vinyl motioned with a wobble of her hoof.
“He works as a producer and manager, mainly, but apparently he’s gotten into a lot of arguments with his past artists. He returned to making his own music because of it, but he’s nowhere near the level of the pop-idols he produced half a decade ago.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not looking for a pop-singer,” Luna mused as she read over the card. This “Svengallop” sounded familiar, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. The address line read “Chicoltgo.” It was a detour, but even if he turned out to be a poor performer, he’d probably have the experience to put together a good album.
Vinyl patted Luna on the back with a bittersweet smile. “I’m still free if it doesn’t work out with that guy.” At least, that’s what Luna understood from Vinyl’s silent words.
Outside the castle, Luna found Lightning Dust circling the branches of the tree-like architecture. Starlight sat on the steps by the front entrance, tuning her guitar as Tempest Shadow watched carefully. Glitter Drops wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but Luna was sure she was somewhere in Ponyville. She seemed excited to get away from the Crystal Empire with Tempest.
“You really didn’t waste any time, did you?” Starlight waved her over once she was noticed. “Tempest’s basics are pretty solid, I’m just trying to help her play less stiffly. On the other hoof, Lightning Dust could stand to be a little less fluid with her drumming.”
“Hey!” Lightning Dust protested, “I didn’t hear any complaints from fans of the Washouts.”
“Would ponies seeing a stunt show care about an off-beat drum track?” Tempest challenged. Unable to provide a retort, the pegasus returned to her flying.
“I spoke to some pony in town I thought could help with the sound mixing once we’re done. She seemed eager to help, but pointed me in a better direction.” Luna showed Svengallop’s business card to the other mares.
“Never heard of him,” Tempest and Lightning Dust reacted simultaneously, while Starlight recognized the name with some hesitation.
“If that’s the same stallion I’m thinking of, then you might want to go back to the other pony,” she suggested. “Applejack and Twilight talked about him once over breakfast. Apparently, he was a lousy manager for Countess Coloratura, one of Applejack’s fillyhood friends.”
“What kind of name is ‘Countess Coloratura?’” Tempest asked.
“Psht,” Lightning stuck her landing with a wolfish grin at Tempest, “same kind of name as ‘Fizzlepop Berrytwist.’”
A spark of magic arced from Tempest’s broken horn into the ground. “Say that again and Luna’s going to be down a drummer.”
“Relax,” she buzzed her off, “I don’t even know if I’m going to stick around or not.”
“You could at least help with the first song,” Luna said.
The three mares looked at her. They wore a little bit of apprehension on their face. But more than that, they just seemed surprised. It was late afternoon. Given the train schedule, Tempest had only been here a few hours. The whole band hadn’t been together for even a day and Luna was already thing about playing a song.
“Aight,” Lightning Dust agreed. “I think I have enough raw talent, this won’t take long.”
“Except for the fact that Starlight’s only gone over a few chords with me,” Tempest said.
“Well, we don’t need too many. Working with C-sharp, G-sharp, and B gives us a good starting point. But why the rush?”
Luna put the business card away. “Svengallop’s past mistakes have been directly linked to music. And from what I was told, it doesn’t seem like he has recovered well. I want to test how good he is by helping us mix a single before thinking about an album.”
“Weeding out the weak, huh?” Tempest grinned. Lightning Dust noticed and elected to take a few steps back.
“Hopefully we won’t have to weed him out,” Luna said. “But let’s focus on getting a song together first.”
In the back of the castle, in a storage room too big for any single pony to fill, Starlight set up their drums and guitar amps. Purchasing what they didn’t have was easy. Microphones, power cords, and extra speakers were plenty in Ponyville’s shops, though a little pricey.
“How does a magical castle grown from the ground get electricity?” Tempest asked as she plugged her guitar in.
“Uh,” Starlight hesitated. It was one of the few times she stopped to question the building she was living in. “Well, it’s a tree. I think the crystals are photoelectric. The top branches must gather power from the sun and store it.”
“You learn something new every day,” Lightning Dust remarked. “What does photoelectric mean?”
The band continued that way into the night, passing side conversations while they built up their song bar by bar. Here and there, Tempest proved her time selecting propaganda music for the Storm King was not a total waste. Starlight’s heart was in the right place, but her chord selection mimicked other heavy metal songs too closely.
Tempest’s fresh perspective added complexity where needed and simplified parts with excessive riffs. Lightning Dust, too, learned quickly. As they built up their song, the drums turned from simple beat keeping to taking the forefront of the music at times. The back and forth was a rhythm she was familiar with from both the Wonderbolts and the Washouts.
“Are you sure about these lyrics?” Starlight asked once they had completed a complete rehearsal of the first complete draft.
“It won’t fit perfectly with some of the guitar notes, so I expect I’ll be changing the words a little bit.” Luna handed out a revised music score she had hastily written out. “But, I think it’s good enough to begin editing.”
“Think you might scare Svengallop off with this,” Tempest mentioned.
Lightning Dust nodded. “Ya think? Hehe, I wanna see that. He sounds like a tool.”
“We can judge that when we meet him,” Luna asserted, “for now, I’d like to go through it one more time. If we can be a little more synchronous, this draft could be good enough to sell.”
“Here we go again,” Lightning Dust said, propping up the sheet music on the stand in front of her. She counted down, “One, two, three, four!” and music hit the air:
Svengallop unplugged the speakers. Luna’s song shook the walls of his studio apartment, a cramped and cluttered space with barely enough room for his keyboard and sound system. The tape recording wasn’t exactly what Luna expected. It sounded like the microphone was too far from her and too close to Starlight’s guitar, but she thought it still wasn’t bad for a first draft.
“Honey,” Svengallop took his reading glasses off and set down the lyrics for the song, “if this was your retirement plan, I suggest going back into government work.”
As expected, his words were harsh. Luna gathered that much about his personality after asking Starlight for all the details she could muster. According to what Applejack ranted about, he was the kind of manager who abused the trust of his artists and used half-truths to get his way. But if the Nightmare Knights could accept the Storm King’s former general and a rogue sorcerer who fractured the timeline for revenge, Luna wasn’t going to discount this stallion for his past mistakes.
But if working with past villains taught her one thing, it was that to convince some pony, you had to speak their language. If Svengallop was going to play it this way, she’d oblige him.
“And what are your retirement plans, Svengallop?” Luna ejected the tape from the cassette and returned it to her travel bag. “Chicoltgo’s not your usual spot for finding pop-artists to sponsor.”
“Like I need help from an eccentric aristocrat trying to find a way to pass time,” he scoffed. “Chicoltgo’s one of the most diverse cities in Equestria, second only to Manehattan. The world is changing and I will go with it. Non-pony music artists are going to be the next big thing, and I plan to make sure I’m part of it.”
“Hm, I see I stand corrected,” Luna kept her head postured up, “though, and forgive me if it’s an amateurish question, but how exactly are you going to be a part of it?” She produced two other tapes from her bag, both packaged and labelled with Svengallop’s name printed in them. “Found these on the discount shelf. Less than a thousand sales Equestria-wide. On top of that, your last long-term client, Coloratura, openly criticizes your work as a manager.”
Svengallop turned away and looked out of his window. “That fiasco has sailed. Ungrateful little ‘Rara’ can say whatever she wants. I’m beyond her now.”
“And coming to Chicoltgo has nothing to do with the fact Rara is performing out of Manehattan on Bridleway?”
“Not one bit,” he stomped his hoof down.
Luna absentmindedly inspected Svengallop’s tapes. “The polite thing would be to offer some words of advice. We are not rivals, after all. My music attracts a different set of fans.”
“As if I would be worried,” Svengallop rolled his eyes. “If you don’t even notice your drummer is slamming on his snare drum, then you’re going to need a lot more than a few tips.”
“Well, she was a stunt flier before,” Luna said, quickly producing a pencil and scroll from her bag to scribble down his notes. “A little aggressiveness can be expected.”
“Then stick to a rhythm she knows how to play,” he added. “Any passable drummer should be able to hold a simple beat.”
“Is that all?” Luna’s voice pitched up. “It seems so simple.”
Svengallop stared at her in disbelief. “Princess, please, you can’t be serious about this. I’m hardly the worst out there. Any other critic will tear you apart.”
“You almost sound like you care.”
“Who do you take me for?” He scowled. “Every pony I worked with might call me selfish, but even I have to draw the line somewhere. And frankly, the thought of you even trying to get onstage make my heart want to gag.”
Luna put her notebook away. There would be plenty of time to take notes if she could convince him to help the Nightmare Knights. Tempting him with her budget would’ve been easy. He was a middle-aged stallion with his career path completely abolished.
Across the street from his apartment was a bistro called the Grail. She could see it from his window. Luna had never heard of it before, but apparently it was locally famous for its wines, hence the name. Every cup tasted like it had been served in an enchanted grail from Starswirl’s own collection. Or at least that was the slogan. But Luna was more interested in their almost equally famous potatoes and egg breakfasts.
Luna glanced at the tied up trash bag by the door of the apartment. Cups of instant noodles and dried one-pony meals. Just add hot water. Living across from a restaurant with a reputation was just salt on the wound for Svengallop. If he could not bounce his career back, he’d never be able to see the world around him.
“If you’re convinced the Nightmare Knights are a lost cause, then I’m sure there’s no harm in offering more advice,” Luna suggested. “Perhaps we can talk over brunch?” She pointed to the Grail. “My treat.”
Luna could not decide whether to pity the stallion or to find his stubbornness charming. He was clearly hungry, and not the kind that could be sated by simple food. There was a desire in his eyes, like a greedy diamond dog reaching out for a polished ring. He muttered to himself about his choices.
Putting herself in his place wasn’t hard. Pride was so common in dreams that Luna was confident in saying she had seen all forms of it. On the one hoof, it was rude to order too much when some pony else was paying for it. But, she knew Svengallop believed he deserved more than a meagre portion.
Luna already knew what he’d choose. But, to speed things along, she made the first move. “I’m not really on a budget, but my appetite can be a little funny. I once ate a banana peel for breakfast.” Luna laughed off the memories of overworked nights. “I think I’ll just have the Avalon Platter. A little too much is better than not enough, right?”
It was the most expensive single item on the menu. She knew he would decide on it eventually, but picking it now just made him more comfortable with the choice. He would no look like he was taking advantage of her generosity.
“Hm, I actually have a very specific diet I need to stick to,” he grumbled a bit more, “I think I’ll just have the egg-whites on a spinach quiche.”
Luna twitched. Did he pick one of the lightest meals? What, you’re too good for my offerings? She scratched the back of her head, trying to drive away her other thoughts. There was only one thing she needed to focus on.
“You’re full of surprises, Princess,” Svengallop smirked. “Here I thought your sister was the one with the big appetite. What’s your secret to not getting fat?”
I will end his existence. The rage that was once Nightmare Moon pounded against Luna’s polite restraints. I am not a glutton!
“Please, just call me Luna,” she laughed lightheartedly at his remark. “And there’s no secret. The truth is, I’ve been so overworked for years that my diet hasn’t been very consistent. As I said, I once at a banana peel because it was the first thing I saw after a long night of dream monitoring.”
“That explains why you retired,” he said, “but I can’t understand why you’d leave that wonderful castle.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Svengallop closed up his menu and gestured to himself. “Listen, if it were me, I wouldn’t have left that castle for anything. You’re retired, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave. You ask me, every day would be a spa day, believe me.”
They gave their orders to a waitress and ordered tea and cream. Luna reconsidered her impression of him. She was used to the extravagance of Canterlot wealth. But truthfully, if he was like any of the aristocrats in the capital, he wouldn’t have lasted a day in Chicoltgo. The Grail was locally famous, but at the end of the day, it was not much different from any other slightly-pricey diner.
Across the street, Svengallop’s apartment building showed off its cracks and uncleaned bricks. No doubt the neighbourhood was rich in culture, but that didn’t change that the city’s businesses and economy had been irreversibly changed.
Once the centre of goods shipments by rail, it had become a shadow of its former self after the Crystal Empire rejoined Equestria. Luna remembered the dreams of hundreds of business owners that year. The national economy had changed, and it just so happened that Vanhoover became a geographically better centre for distribution. Without freight trains transitioning through the city, businesses and banks followed the goods and left Chicoltgo in the dust.
“Why come here?” Luna looked back at Svengallop. “I find it hard to believe you came here out of love for the community.”
Svengallop gasped disingenuously. “Princess! I’m shocked that you’d take me for some pony so shallow. Chicoltgo is the biggest scene for young musicians to start up in, full of dreams but no way to make them come true. But all of them want to play their way out of their neighbourhoods and make it to the big city. And I’m the pony who’ll get them there.”
Luna raised a brow. “How’s that any different from what you did to Rara? She was just unknown before you picked her up as her manager.”
“It’s not,” Svengallop held his head up, as if proud. “That’s the beauty of my plan. If I can work my way up to the top, I can do it again. And this time I won’t have any silly little conditions like helping school ponies or charity.”
“It won’t work,” Luna mocked him with a sly smile. “I give you five years. You’ll squeeze them until they don’t want to be squeezed anymore, and then they’ll leave you behind to try and prey on some pony else.”
“You’re just saying that because you want me for your pet project,” he frowned. “And as much as I love how much PR you’d get from the public, sweetheart, I just don’t it’ll work out for me. I was a manager for the biggest name in music since Sapphire Shores. I can’t be seen as a performer again.”
“I commanded an army and ruled over the night,” Luna countered. “But I’m willing to stand on stage because I want ponies to see who I am. Don’t you? Don’t you hate how all those Rolling Hooves magazines are calling you a washed-up has-been?
“No pony calls me that,” Svengallop face screwed up with frustration.
Huzzah! Insult him further and make him feel our dark fury! Luna took a sip of her tea to calm the nightmare inside her. Of course he was infuriating. But no pony was born that way. If she could pick him down to what drove him, then he would become more open to helping her. She didn’t need to change his mind completely. Just enough that he would open up.
“Well, some pony has to be,” she said, “how else would artists know to avoid you?”
“I’m just… in between a few choices, that’s all,” he insisted. “Ugh, why is my quiche taking so long?”
Luna would not let him deflect the conversation. “I think you’re letting your emotions cloud what you really want. I think you already know what it is, but your pride won’t let you accept that I’m here to give it to you. You still think you can take by yourself. But ponies like us can’t get far by ourselves.”
“Like us?” Svengallop’s frustration cracked into amusement. “I’m flattered, Princess. But flattery can only get you so far. What exactly are you here to give me?”
She shrugged nonchalantly and sat back in her seat. “It’s simple. Money. Fame. Success. You want to build up a super-star so badly that you won’t accept one already in front of you. How much easier can it be to make a former princess famous?” Luna remained leaned away from him, clenching her jaw and biting her tongue to keep from lashing out. How many times did she have to tell ponies? I am not “Princess” Luna anymore. It’s just me!
“It won’t be hard for me to turn any pony into a super-star,” he boasted, “but I still can’t commit to whatever it is you’re trying. One lousy recording can’t convince me how dedicated you are. If you want me to stake the next few years of my career on this, I need something more.”
“Then come to Ponyville with me and see how serious I am,” Luna offered.
Their plates finally came, freshly cooked and seasoned. Their waitress laid out everything on the table and cheerfully asked if they needed anything else, but the two were locked in death stares. Without any further requests, the waitress returned to the kitchen as fast as she could.
“That backwater town? The place of my downfall?” Svengallop turned his head away in disgust. “I don’t think so, sweetheart. Find some pony else.”
“Oh really?” Luna snickered. “And here I thought you wanted to stay in a castle.”
Svengallop stopped the recorder once again. Their recording studio, a storage room in the back of the Castle of Friendship, had become considerably smaller. Lunch boxes, now empty, brought by Glitter Drops rested on a table behind Lightning Dust’s drum kit. Meanwhile, all of Svengallop’s equipment that Luna could teleport from Chicoltgo was stacked against the side of the wall.
“What was wrong this time?” Luna asked.
“You need to use your stronger voice, Princess,” Svengallop rubbed his temples, “or else there’s no way you’re going to compete with the guitars chords. The words can’t come through clearly enough.”
He picked up a stack of tapes sitting on top of his keyboard. “Each of these is an individual recording. Sure, I can play them over each other and mix them into a good song, but that’s not going to pass. Kids these days want bigger and better: better audio quality, cleaner playback, the works.”
“That attitude won’t help anything,” Tempest rolled her eyes. “I can hear Luna just fine. You’re being dramatic.”
“Yeah!” Lightning Dust joined in protest. “No pony tells me how to play but me.”
“Ladies, I’m sure Luna picked Svengallop because he knows what he’s talking about,” Starlight calmed them down. “None of us are perfect, anyways. So let’s give him a chance. The sooner we stop arguing, the sooner we can finish up. I promised Trixie I’d go with her to a comedy show tonight to help get ideas for her next act.”
“Affirmative,” Tempest nodded, “Glitter Drops found us a place to rent while we’re taking our leave of absence from the Northern Patrol. I said I’d take a tour of the place with her.”
“Well then,” Svengalloped huffed, “aren’t we all just so very busy. Just focus on the music around you and keep the volume balanced.” He got on his keyboard and pointed to Starlight. If Luna won’t use her ‘royal voice,’ then you’ll have to pull back on your riffs. This isn’t an outdated Shadow’s Sabbath album.”
“I will try to ignore that you said that,” Starlight forced a cheerful smile.
Luna nodded with a grin, and after a minute to warm up again, the Nightmare Knights resumed their rehearsal. It was here. Her dream was at her hooves, ready to be taken. They could make their first single to get ponies’ eye on them and then follow up with an album. Or, take themselves straight to the stage and announce themselves with a performance.
She wondered if this was how Celestia felt about her theatre fantasies. To be part of a larger group who came together for the sake of art, art that could stell a story. Twice more they practised until Svengallop was confident that found a balance between themselves.
“The song’s not flawless,” he said, “but no pony’s out of sync or drowned out, so I guess I can’t fault it. I’m humble enough to admit I don’t know the taste of heavy metal fans.”
“Well, I think it sounds great, Luna,” Starlight said.
They packed their sound equipment and stowed their instruments safely away before returning for the night. In Svengallop’s case, Luna simply teleported him back to Chicoltgo, right outside his apartment building. She’d have to fetch him again for their next rehearsal, but with magic that was barely an inconvenience. And back in Ponyville, Luna wished the Nightmare Knights a good evening as they departed before allowing herself to show off her excitement.
“Haha!” she cried out, spreading her wings to go flying away from the castle. “Oh heaven, I cannot wait to see Celestia’s face when she sees us perform. I wonder where it’ll be. Somewhere here in Ponyville? Perhaps we can put on a show in Canterlot.” The possibilities filled Luna with new excitement. “Or even Madison Mare Garden? To go there as a performer instead of a guest would be…”
She reeled herself back a little bit. Madison Mare held the largest and most prestigious venues in all of Equestria. Some of the best musicians in the world had gone through their careers without ever getting a spot on its stage. And those who did fought hoof and horn for it. Even if she did get a chance to perform there, what would it mean?
When she was a princess, she had the power to add or remove performers from Madison Mare with her reputation and status alone. Ponies went to great lengths just to please royalty, even when it was uncalled for and undeserved.
“I’ll have to start somewhere small,” she conceded to herself. But since she had been in Silver Shoals these past months, Luna knew she was out of the loop upcoming festivals or events to perform at. It couldn’t hurt to ask Starlight, but she was so busy with the school lately, Luna doubted that she’d know anything more.
And Svengallop had only kept his eye on hip-hop or pop stars. A definite no-go for a metal band. If they were going to perform, it had to be in front of the right crowd. Well, perhaps a little shopping could jog her brain.
Any other city in Equestria would have had season changes to their party supply store. Nightmare Night, Hearth’s Warming, then Winter Wrap-up celebrations, the cycle of business was dependent on the cycle of parties. But no other place in Equestria was the home to a pink party pony named Pinkie Pie.
Luna could think of no other reason why a party supply store would be so overstocked during an offseason. No amount of local birthday parties could justify the rows of party hats, capes, confetti and poppers. Unless, of course, there was a pony who found every day to be a reason to celebrate.
Luna packed her cart with a few black cloaks, a suitable base for the costumes of the Nightmare Knights, and white and black face paint. Those were about the only things in the whole shop that could match her band’s theme.
“Perhaps I should hire Rarity to design us some costumes,” Luna pondered to herself. Like with every pony else, she had an awkward conversation with the pony at the checkout counter. She couldn’t tell if it was innate awkwardness or just the young stallion’s misplaced reverence, but either way, she was glad to be gone from his petrified mumbling.
She decided to enjoy the moon’s light and take a walk in peace through the streets of Ponyville. The shutters were closed on the houses around her and ponies were finishing their suppers. Luna blindfolds had been taken off from her eyes, and she could look freely around her without being interrupted by the “oohs” and “ahs” of other ponies.
Luna passed by the Sugar Cube Corner again. By the looks of it, the bakery had been closed for quite a while. There was no chance Mrs Cake would be free to chat again. And, in any case, Luna didn’t want to impose. She took a turn and headed for the town hall.
Despite the castle’s presence, it had maintained its place as the centre of daily activities throughout Ponyville. Twilight may have stocked her tree up with books, but the town hall was filled with records, all the way back to the founding of the town. Plus, it was still central to all the shop and local businesses. Luna noticed ads for furniture sales and pet walking services.
She smiled as she also passed a listing by the CMC. The fillies were continuing to offer their services by counselling their peers. Luna could still remember all their dreams and fears about their cutie marks. The uncertainty over their future and destiny must’ve terrified them. And in that regard, Luna could sympathise.
After circling around nearly half of the town hall, Luna was brought out of her deep focus by a scuffle and shuffle of papers. She continued to round the corner to find the most unusual sight so far: the EEA Chancellor, Neighsay, putting up flyers on the forum board of the town hall.
“What is it that you’re doing?” Luna asked, approaching the board.
“Huagh!” The Chancellor gasped. “In Celestia’s name, do not scare me like- oh, Luna. Sorry, I, um… wasn’t aware you were in the area.”
In my sister’s name, is that right? Luna leaned toward the board to read the pages Neighsay had just posted up. “EEA Music Festival,” she read, “all ticket sales go toward funding band and choir programs for the NPSF.”
Luna turned to the Chancellor. “NPSF? Is that new?”
“Yes, quite very,” Neighsay answered. “Princess Twilight recently proposed a bill which the EEA board has passed by a two-thirds majority. That is, to provide funds for the Non-Pony Scholarship Fund.”
“Looks like the royal treasury is running dry,” Luna commented, examining the paper closer.
“Quite the opposite,” Neighsay said. “Peace has brought a steady increase to average income. After reviewing the EEA budget I can assure you, the coffers are sturdy. It’s simply that international investing and construction projects to accommodate any and all foreign creatures are too ambitious, even for the current growth.”
“I see,” Luna nodded. “Is that why you’re putting these flyers up by yourself? No pony to run your errands?”
“Oh, haha,” Neighsay laughed dryly. “No, it’s simply a matter of efficiency. I’ve actually come to approve the School of Friendship as an EEA certified school. This was just on the way.”
“Certification? I thought Twilight voided the need for that.”
“By royal decree, yes,” Neighsay nodded, “but as you would know, such decrees are very conditional. Twilight is no longer Headmare there, and thus the school needs to be accredited. But I have seen the school once before, it needs only a basic inspection.”
“Chancellor, I have known you by reputation ever since my return from the moon,” Luna said with a bit of disbelief in her voice. “No inspection by you has ever been basic. I’ve seen the worst of it. Celestia used to have nightmares that her school wouldn’t pass your critical eye.”
“Well, thank you,” he accepted the remark graciously. “But I have no intention of failing Headmare Starlight. The inspection is more of a courtesy than anything else. I’ve seen the school under Twilight’s directorship and I’m certain Starlight Glimmer would be keeping the school up to the health and safety codes. If anything, I’ll only have an eye out of the fire safety protocols. Dealing with dragon students is still uncharted territory for the EEA. Better safe than sorry.”
Luna nodded with understanding, though she was surprised. She wondered if Twilight had anything to do with the board’s change in standards. Not even Celestia’s school seemed exempt from a full inspection, if the nightmares were anything to go by.
“But, I’m curious, why are you here, Luna?” Chancellor Neighsay asked as he levitated the rest of the flyers and stuck them along the walls of the town hall.
Luna lifted up her paper bag full of costume supplies. “I was just shopping for some cosmetic items for my band. I thought I’d take a walk, maybe get some ideas for where we could perform.”
“Colour me surprised. If I remember my history right, you and your sister had to learn to sing and play music to impress the old courts of the three pony kingdoms. But, I never would have thought that you’d have such a love for the art.”
“Seems many ponies don’t know what I enjoy,” Luna away to the moon.
“Well, no need to be shy. The School of Magic’s choir will be performing at the fundraiser, but you’d certainly bring in more sales. What kind of music do you plan on performing?”
“Heavy metal,” Luna admitted bluntly. “Specifically power metal.”
“Ah, I see,” Neighsay barely reacted. “Well, it’s a good thing the roster for the festival is so eclectic. Aside from the choir, many local rock and pop bands have signed up. I’d like to think they’re dedicated to helping our illustrious education system, but they’re probably more interested in Rara and Sapphire Shores being the guest judges with Princess Twilight.”
“There are judges?” Luna tilted her head.
“Well of course. Ponies these days are obsessed with talent competitions. The day we announced the format of the event, ticket sales tripled. Just imagine how many bits your presence could help raise.”
“Y-yes, of course,” Luna muttered, looking down at her hooves, “but would it be possible to remain anonymous? My band and my music are how I want to show Equestria who I am, behind the throne and crown. I just don’t want ponies to focus on me being a former princess.”
Chancellor Neighsay opened his mouth, about to say something, but held his thoughts for a moment. Luna noticed his face. He didn’t seem inconvenienced by her request, his look was equal parts concern and intrigue.
“I don’t understand, Luna,” he replied, “if separating yourself from your title is so important, then using it to draw a crowd is exactly what you want, isn’t it?”
She furrowed her brow. “How can it be? Ponies would no doubt flock just to the sound of my name. Though all they’d hear is ‘princess.’ I don’t want to build my fame on that alone.”
“Exactly,” he said. “Ponies can’t help but see you for what you’ve done, for better or worse. But gathering them in one place creates the perfect venue to prove yourself. If your audience shows up just because you were a princess, then, aren’t those ponies exactly the minds you want to change?”
He was right, or at the very least, he made sense. Once again, Luna came to realize she was still living in a shadow. She was letting her old title as princess control her present, just as she had let Nightmare Moon’s legacy weigh on her for so many years. Ponies would always see her as Princess Luna, just as they’d always know she was Nightmare Moon. If she wanted to be free of all her labels, she needed to accept what other ponies thought.
She took a look at the bottom of the flyer where the date was posted. One month from now. That was more than enough time to perfect their first performance.
“Could I have a few of those flyers?” she asked Nieghsay. “I have a feeling my bandmates will want to have a look at this.”
“Okay, explain it to me again,” Tempest scratched her head, “what’s so special about these ponies? Aren’t they just like that other singer… uh… Songbird Serenade?”
Glitter Drops laughed as they stepped off the train. Luna and Lightning Dust had gone ahead to pick up their equipment from the luggage car, leaving the rest of the Nightmare Knights to wait outside at the front of the station.
“You’re not wrong, if Serenade was judging, ponies would probably still be flocking to perform,” Glitter Drops explained as Starlight led them through the Canterlot station. “I guess the flyer just focuses a lot on them since Sapphire Shores and Rara are the two biggest names in the pop music industry.”
Starlight nodded. “I spent a lot of my formative years ruling over an egalitarian dystopia, and even I’ve heard of them. Sapphire’s songs are classics, but when Rara came out as Countess Coloratura, she took over the whole industry.”
“Thanks to my ingenious management skills,” Svengallop reminded her with a grumble.
“Well, Rara was still the songwriter and singer, so…” Glitter Drops left her implications for Svengallop to pick up.
Tempest shook her head in confusion and cut straight through the stallion’s rising tension. “So they were rivals. Why is performing for them so exciting? I thought ponies would want to see them have a competition, to finally settle who’s better.”
“Oh Fizzy!” Glitter Drop laughed hard. “That might be dramatic to watch but I don’t think a lot of ponies go for that kind of stuff.”
Starlight looked over her shoulder from the map of the train station. “I’ dunno,” she mumbled, “Tempest’s idea sounds pretty fun.”
While Glitter Drops continued to explain to Tempest what to expect from a pony music festival, Starlight paused to take a closer look at the station’s map. Canterlot was as packed for the music festival as it was for Twilight’s coronation. Looking at the map and looking through a dense crowd of ponies was nothing alike.
“Okay, just where is Princess Luna?” Svengallop brayed and tossed his head in the air. “I have just about had enough of all this Coloratura talk. There is a deluxe spa treatment waiting for me at our hotel and I cannot wait to get all of this…” he gestured to his clothes, “public transit dust off of me.”
“I don’t think Luna likes being called ‘princess’ anymore,” Starlight reminded him as she found the station exit on the map and walked ahead.
“Nonsense,” he spurted, “being a princess is the greatest privilege in Equestria. Who would want to give up all of that just for a boring normal life?”
Glitter Drop stared at him. “Dude, that’s literally what she did when she retired.”
“Besides,” Tempest smirked, “I turned three of the princesses to stone within minutes of showing up in Equestria. They’re not all that.”
“You… really don’t let your past bother you, do you?” Starlight looked at Tempest.
She shrugged. “Everybody makes mistakes.”
“Huh, I knew I liked you for a reason.”
Starlight returned to her map. “Okay every pony, I think I see the platform 2 exit. If we get split up just head for the ticket kiosk and the exit’s on the left.”
Luna found her Knights waiting outside the busy train station. She levitated her luggage high above the passing crowd, except for the guitar cases slung over her back. Lightning Dust groaned as she squeezed with her drum kit on a wagon through a long ticket line just to reach the exit door.
“Tell me again why I have to push this thing?” she grumbled.
“Because if I lost my concentration while levitating,” Luna explained, “there’s a good chance the drums will break and ponies might get hurt. That’s why I’m not lifting up the guitars.”
Lightning Dust released a tired and frustrated sigh. “Then ponies should get out of the way. Blocking me is just making this all harder!”
“Oh stop, we’re already here.” Luna pointed to Starlight, who was laughing with Glitter Drops and Tempest.
Tempest bobbed her head around. “Well… yeah… but I had my reasons. When I met her I couldn’t stand her.”
“You all look like you’re getting along,” Luna observed as she passed back every pony’s bags and instruments. She turned to Svengallop, who was wearing his displeasure clearly on his face.
“Don’t mind him, he just likes being grouchy,” Glitter Drops said.
Tempest nodded. “And he hates Sapphire- no, wait- he hates Countess Coloratura’s guts. Yeah, she’s the one, right?”
Glitter Drops gave Tempest a reassuring grin.
“Svengallop, are you sure you don’t need your own keyboard?” Luna tried to cheer him up. “I should be able to bring it to you later once we reach the hotel.”
“I don’t see why you didn’t just teleport us all in the first place,” he complained.
“Well, it’s simple,” Luna shrugged. “For one thing, on a day like today, I would be liable to crash into some pony by teleporting into their space. And then there’s no guarantee that the ground we land on is as flat as where we started. The instruments could get knocked around and damaged.”
“And I’m not risking my guitars,” Starlight added.
Luna nodded. “Teleporting as few times as possible is for the best. But if you need your equipment, it should be safe inside the hotel.”
“Ugh,” Svengallop rolled his eyes, “don’t spend your time on that. I’m a professional. Most sound equipment and keyboards now have the same basic layout, I can use the festival’s equipment just fine. You should be focusing on your vocal warm-ups instead. We only have two days to go through the soundcheck.”
“Ha-ha,” Lightning mocked and patted the boxes packed with her drums. “We’re the ones with our equipment. Quit with the attitude, you’re the one who should be warming up.”
“I will be operating an electronic system,” he looked at her with disdain, “while the Princess is using her voice. Singers need warming up, not keyboards. I’m honestly you didn’t know that.”
“That’s not what I meant-” Lightning Dust sparked up.
It took Luna physically standing between them to end their dispute. “I know, Svengallop. I remember the letter,” she said.
A week before the event, all participants were mailed a letter providing detailed instructions on how to go through the final step of registration. Soundchecks were required for all personal equipment, or else they’d be replaced by spares provided by the festival. There was also time to go through one rehearsal for each group, though not in front of the judges.
Oddly enough, Luna felt relieved. Twilight was her friend and she was proud to see the young princess succeed so much, but it was still a little embarrassing to think about performing in front of her.
Then again, if performing in front of Twilight was embarrassing, Luna wondered why she didn’t feel the same apprehension about inviting her sister. Celestia had confirmed that she’d be back from a tour around Griffonstone in time for the festival. Maybe it’s because Celestia already knew so much about her?
Luna held onto the thought, but she couldn’t focus on it. It thought it should bother her, but it didn’t. She just genuinely wanted Celestia to see her.
“Which way to the hotel?” Starlight asked.
Perhaps it was fine to leave it at that. Luna refocused herself. “Two streets over from Rarity’s boutique, actually. Once we get there we just have to cross the road a few times.”
Starlight chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve actually ever been to her Canterlot location. I have absolutely no idea where it is.”
“Hm, it’s actually a bit rusty for me as well,” Luna said. “We can start by heading to the business district, then onto the fashion row. We’ll probably-”
“Oh for the name of Celestia just follow me,” Svengallop cried out, stepping out in front of every pony. “I’ve had my suits custom-tailored at her shop many times before. I know exactly where it is.”
“So this means I can’t turn him to stone?” Tempest whispered to Starlight, who replied with a stifled chuckle. With little time on their hooves for sightseeing, the Nightmare Knights stepped off the station sidewalk and made their way towards their future.
Checking into their rooms was quick and easy and it took only a few hours to get settled in. Though she had come with them, Glitter Drops was only there as a fan. Apparently, she still knew some ponies from her old days as a student at the School of Magic, and they agreed to let her crash at their place for the festival.
“Guess it’s just you and me, hotshot,” Lightning Dust said to Tempest as she set her bag down and jumped onto one of the beds, claiming it for herself.
“Oh this’ll be fun for you,” Glitter Drops smirked, looking inward at the mess Lightning was beginning to accrue.
Tempest slouched her shoulders and flopped her ears. “If I can survive an ursa minor I can survive this. Just promise you’ll join us after the festival for dinner at restaurant row. There’s a barbeque place that recently opened. I heard all the cooks are dragons.”
“Can’t wait,” Glitter Drop cheered, waving goodbye to her best friend and all the other Knights.
Across the hall was Svengallop’s room, complete with a poolside view. He didn’t take the time to unpack, however. While Starlight helped carry the guitars into her room with Luna, he was in and out in an instant, a towel slung over his back.
“If any pony needs me I’ll be unwinding in the sauna before getting a deep-tissue back massage,” he said, hurrying off.
Lightning Dust cackled from her bed. “Dude, if you needed some pony to crush your back you could’ve asked me! More than happy to help.”
“You’d probably break him,” Tempest sneered at the stallion while he walked away, ignoring their comments.
While those two set their boundaries for their room, Starlight and Luna brought out an ironing board from the closet to take out the wrinkles from their costumes. The bag they stored it in had been crushed under the weight of neighbouring luggage on the train.
“Black cloaks and face paint,” Starlight mused, “never thought I’d be wearing them again. I just hope no pony recognizes me once it’s all on.”
“The School of Friendship is still in session, isn’t it?” Luna asked. “With Sunburst keeping an eye on things I doubt any of your students will see you.”
“Hey, you never know.” Starlight levitated the iron over the cloak, testing the heat. Once steam started coming out she started pressing out the wrinkles. “The festival starts on Saturday. If the students get on the Friday evening train, they can be in Canterlot by the time the sound checks are over. Sooner if they can fly.”
“I hope they do,” Luna said, hanging up the first cloak that was done. “This festival is for non-pony scholarships. A lot of creatures from outside Equestria will get to see who the Nightmare Knights are, before the legacy of Nightmare Moon leaves an impression.”
Starlight nodded quietly.
Luna spied her from the corner of her eye. Even silence had meaning. And she had a pretty good guess at what this silence meant.
“It doesn’t bother me, however,” Luna said, “that the School of Friendship teaches the history of Nightmare Moon. After all, that was when the power of the Elements of Harmony were returned to Equestria.”
Starlight’s ears stood up in surprise. “Oh! You, uh, you heard about that. Sorry, I thought about changing the curriculum after hearing you talk about wanting ponies to see you for yourself. But, that’s not something I can easily do in the middle of the school year.”
“Do not fret it,” Luna chuckled. “I want to be myself, yes, but I am not going to ignore history like it did not happen. It did. All the more reason why expressing my true self is so important.”
Starlight smiled as she passed another unwrinkled cloak to Luna. “That’s good to hear.”
Tempest tuned her guitar and played the riff again. The sound was still a little off. On the sides of the stage were technicians adjusting the speakers settings to match the effect they wanted. Starlight checked on Tempest’s guitar. She had given it to her to play for the band, but Starlight still had all her childhood memories of her spare guitar, and she knew how to make it sing.
“Think there’s a loose connection,” she said, jostling the wire plugged into the instrument. Tempest played her chords again with Starlight levitating the cable in place. And the guitar sang like a dove.
“There she is.” Starlight smiled and turned to one of the technicians. “The last group must’ve done something, this cable doesn’t have a good connection. You guys have a spare?”
One of them, a griffon, flashed a thumb’s up with his claws. Starlight hesitated for a moment before she realized what it was one of the popular gestures from creatures that had opposable digits.
“Uh, great!” she said as the griffon headed behind the stage to grab the cable. She wasn’t sure how to respond to a thumbs up.
Svengallop and Lightning Dust looked up from the game of cards they were playing on the stage floor. “Finally, can we get to the rehearsal now?” Lightning Dust gasped.
Svengallop stood up and got ready by the keyboard that had been given to him. “Now, now, pushing performers to get the best results is one thing, but sound checks are the most important part of the preparations.”
The griffon brought the cable to Starlight and once again Tempest tested her guitar. She played the first and last few chords of their songs, going across the whole volume range. It sounded good.
“Oh thank Celestia I was getting tired of waiting,” Svengallop gave a sigh of relief.
Lightning Dust made a twisted look at him. “You really don’t know how to read a room, do you?”
Luna interrupted Lightning’s bickering with Svengallop and gathered every pony to the centre of the stage. Each of her members had a strong personality that didn’t back down from anything. That made them great performers, but it was clear some parts of their teamwork needed improvement.
“I’m still not sure which of our songs to play,” she told them. They had prepared two performances, both pretty similar with their movements and choreography, but the songs were totally different.
“Flip a coin,” Lightning said, “we only have two to choose from.”
Svengallop scoffed. “Nonsense. I didn’t come here to bet success on chance. If we’re going to make a star out of Luna, then it has to be the second song.”
The themes of both songs were almost identical, but they told different stories. The first one they wrote, the one she had played for Svengallop, was supposed to be their song. It shared its title with their name. The second, well, was a lot more personal.
“I don’t know about stardom,” Starlight said, “but I think the second song fits better. I mean, this is your debut, right? The first song should leave an impression.”
Tempest nodded. “We’re all here because of you. Me especially. It makes sense to sing the second song. We can sing about ourselves next time.”
Luna looked at them. She was surprised. The second song was just to give themselves options for the festival, in case they were asked to perform more. But with so many bands signing up to take part in the festival, there was only time for one.
Next time. That was right. If they did this right, ponies would be listening to their songs for a while. Luna wanted that. But in order to do that, they needed to stay a band. She brought them together, but it was their willingness to work together that made them a band. She looked at Svengallop and Lightning Dust. The Nightmare Knights formed out of ponies who once had villainy, or at least malice, in their heart. It was about redemption for all of them, not just her.
So, there was really only one choice.
“Sorry, but since I brought us together, I guess I have the final say,” Luna said. “And I say it’s only right we start this together. We’re singing The Nightmare Knights.”
Tempest and Starlight looked at each other, shrugging. “Alright then,” Tempest said, getting into her position. “On your mark, Lightning.”
“Yeah, no problem,” the pegasus replied. She took her seat at her drums, but didn’t take her eyes off of Luna. There was a question behind her golden irises. And they’d be answered in due time.
Luna just gave her a smile for the time being, taking a lesson from her conversation with Vinyl Scratch and putting all her thoughts into one expression. “I’ll make you a part of a team once again,” her smile said.
Lightning Dust shook herself back to her drums, focusing on getting the beat down. “Ready?” she asked every pony. “One, two,” she pulled herself to the rhythm, “one, two, three, four!”
The ground shook with stomps and applause as the band before them closed out. Luna peeked through the curtains, and her eyes were blinded by the flashes of a thousand unicorn horns. The festival had gone perfectly so far, and every pony was in their party mode. Dragons brought the crowd alive in the night, even just by holding their fire in their mouths.
Pegasi and hippogriffs streaked across the sky, viewing the performances from their seats in the clouds. Up in front sat the three judges, sectioned off from the massive herd by metal gates that barely stood up against the weight of thousands of ponies. Twilight, Sapphire Shores, and Rara could be seen laughing and talking among themselves.
Luna wondered if they were even really judges. If so, they were keeping their scores subtle. Perhaps the prize would be announced behind the scenes. Still, ponies pressed up against the barriers around them tried to peek and steal glances at their notecards.
“I feel ridiculous,” Lightning Dust looked herself over once Starlight finished applying the white and black face paint. “If we ever make an album cover, keep me out of it. I’m happy to stay drumming in the back if I’m looking like this.”
“I think you look cool,” Tempest said, checking herself out with a mirror. “I wonder what Glitter Drops would say about it.”
“You know you can’t trust a friend to tell the truth,” Svengallop chortled. “They’ll always sugarcoat something to make you feel better.”
“Hey!” Tempest stomped and whipped her head around to face him. “You take that-”
He threw his hooves up in a defensive shrug.” Ah-ah, I’m just saying it’s going to matter more hearing it from a professional. You look good.”
“What?” She tilted her head in confusion.
“Of course I could have gotten us a custom designer if I knew this was the look we were going for,” he added before returning to finish his black eyeliner.
Tempest rolled her eyes. “Of course.” She stepped over to check on Luna, who was still staring through the curtain.
“Hey, you’re not getting cold hooves, are you?”
Luna chuckled. “Surprisingly, no. I’m actually surprised, I thought I would by now.”
Tempest followed her gaze out the crack through the curtains. She went slack jawed when she realized what Luna meant. Standing in the middle of the crowd, with a ponies giving her a respectful distance, was Celestia.
Her mane fluttered in the evening wind like a flag, the colours matching perfectly with the fire-red sky as it dimmed.
“You’re not even a little fazed?” Tempest gawked. Even in retirement, her presence was commanding.
“She was skeptical from the start about the band,” Luna smirked. “And I want to prove her wrong.”
“Get ready Nightmare Knights,” the griffon technician whispered to them, “you’re up in ten seconds.”
The hosts of the festival, two young mares from the School of Magic, stood up on the stage exchanging another one of their cheesy jokes to switch the audience’s focus to the next performance. Tempest and Starlight stood by Luna, clutching their guitars and with faces painted up.
“Hey Butter Brickle, have you picked out your Nightmare Night costume yet?” asked one of the hosts.
“What for, Teaberry? That’s not for another month,” the other responded.
“Are you sure? I saw some ponies that looked like they were straight out of a horror movie. Oh! They must be our next performers! Now I remember, silly me.”
“That’s right every creature, our next song is going to be performed by a very special guest. I’m sure at least some of you have gotten to know her. Please stomp your hooves and clap your claws, make some noise for Luna and her Nightmare Knights!”
All together they sucked in a chest full of air and pushed themselves out onto the stage. Starlight picked up immediately on the cue, playing the opening chords for their intro. Tempest skipped the first few notes, stumbling by the stage lights before picking up the pace. Their sound check was during the day, and she had no idea how blinding the lights would seem once the sun had set.
Rushing straight to the drums, Lightning Dust added the drum beat as they Svengallop took his spot by the keyboard and added the final grace notes to their opening track.
“Hello Equestria!” Luna shouted out on instinct. She had played this moment countless times in her head. “Who here is ready to make some noise?”
An uproar from the front of the crowd shocked Luna. It was Glitter Drops, accompanied by a whole herd of crystal ponies. Luna recognized the insignias on their outfits immediately, they were all from the Northern Patrol. Luna gave a quick look at Tempest, who had surprise and joy written across her wide grin.
“Who here is ready to join us in the night?” Luna called out again, bolstered by the crowd. Now more ponies whooped and shouted. She spotted, some distance away, the distinctive colours of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their older siblings. It seemed the EEA had advertised her participation after all. At least, Luna could think of no other way they could have found out. The three little fillies she had helped to navigate their fears were now helping navigate hers.
And then there was no more apprehension or doubt. There were ponies who already knew her, and how good the embrace of her night could be. If those few could learn, then so could every pony else.
“I wanted to do something very special tonight, and share a part of myself with all of you.” Luna held the microphone and stepped closer to the edge of the stage. “Even as a Princess, there have been parts of me I haven’t shown to Equestria. I haven’t shared the music I love with all of you. I want to change that now. And I thank every pony here tonight for making it possible.”
Her eyes passed to Twilight sitting at the judge’s table, and then to Celestia. Her sister’s eyes, nay, her whole face, was alight with pride.
“Now I’ll ask again, are you all ready?”
“Yeah!”
“Do you want to join me?”
“Yeah!”
Luna saw her sister’s mouth shout out with the crowd.
“Do you want to join…” Luna pointed her hoof to Lightning Dust, signalling her to begin the drum beat, “... the Nightmare Knights?”
Waves of uproars rocked the ground like a raging stampede. But Luna was going to make sure even their noise could not stand against the might of heavy metal. She filled her lungs with as much air as they would hold, and bellowed out her heart and soul.
The rush of excitement as the curtains closed hit Luna hard. Adrenaline pumped throughout her body. It was exhilarating. She felt like she could go on stage again. As the last guitar chord and drum beat echoed through the air, Luna felt a new sensation wash over her. Before she knew her dreams were possible, but now it was like she was actually living it. The surreal cheering of ponies was like a filly meeting their idol, only that idol was herself. Her better self.
“Whoo!” Starlight bellowed. “That was amazing!” her cloak flew off her back from her energy. “I felt like I was at a Shadow’s Sabbath concert again, but I was also the concert!”
“Yeah, was nice listening to music that isn’t the Storm King’s propaganda.” Tempest set her guitar down gently. “Though, I did trip up on one or two chords.”
“Heh, it’s not like any of them noticed,” Lightning Dust said. “Who cares?”
“We care,” Svengallop said. “We were lucky those trip-ups were small ones. If they were on her solo sections, every pony would have noticed.”
“Come on, dude, chill out a little,” Lightning snorted. “It happens. You heard us at rehearsal, Tempest can play fine. Mistakes are random and you just have to roll with them.”
“No,” Tempest shook her head, “Svengallop’s right. What matters are results. That might sound like the old me talking, but at least she wasn’t wrong on that front.”
“What matters is that we were awesome,” Luna told every pony with a big grin on her face. “We can store our stuff here until tomorrow for pick-up. So, I think for now all we have to is go celebrate.”
“I’ll go check if Dopsy can get to the backstage through the crowd. I promised she’d be able to join us.”
“Of course.” Luna wiped off her face paint and rolled up her cloak. The rest of the Knights did the same, stuffing the slightly paint-stained garments into a travel bag and storing it in their locker. While they cleaned up, the next performing group passed them, getting ready to go on stage.
They were three dragons. Brothers, by the look of their similar scale patterns. “Rock on, princess! I knew there were some cool ponies out here.”
Luna received similar words from the others backstage, some performers, others were just the festival staff. It seemed even from behind the curtains their song was heard. While Starlight put away her guitars, Lightning’s drums were wheeled in on a platform to make space for whatever the dragons had planned for their performance.
There was a place, according to the staff, for large equipment like drums. They gave Lightning a ticket with the storage number on it and warned her not to lose it.
“See Tempest yet?” She asked after talking with the technicians on how to get her drums when she came to pick them up. Svengallop nodded his head, squinting through the side entrance to the backstage. Even from there, the glow of fire effects from the dragons performing could be seen.
“Wading through a crowd like newborns in a kiddy pool,” he chuckled at the two mares struggling to push their way through a crowd of rowdy stallions. The sparks flying out of Tempest’s horn showed clearly what she wanted to do to them, but she restrained herself.
“Should I just teleport them?” Starlight asked, peeking out of the door.
Luna frowned. “I’ve been told you’re a prodigy at magic, Starlight, but in a crowd that dense--”
Pop! Glitter Drops and Tempest fell on the ground at Starlight’s hooves, her horn warm with magic. “Meh, I’ve done harder teleports before,” she shrugged.
“Thanks,” muttered Tempest with Glitter Drops lying on her face.
“Forget I said anything,” Luna rolled her eyes, unsurprised by Starlight’s quick action. “Come on, then. Once the festival’s over, Restaurant Row will be packed. Best to beat the rush.”
Dinner was delicious. Luna couldn’t remember the last time she ate what she wanted and not what was being served on the royal menu. The chefs in the Canterlot castle were excellent, but even their styles and flavours had a way of wearing out.
“Hurg…” Starling groaned, “I don’t think I want to go back to Ponyville for a while. I don’t need Trixie asking about my weight. I can’t believe I ate four triple-baked potatoes. Four!”
“Whatever happens to you won’t be as bad as the team glutton over here.” Tempest nodded towards Lightning Dust.
The pegasus was still nibbling on her double-cheese spicy chilli fries. Carried out in a paper cone, it was enough to be its own meal rather than a snack. Glitter Drops levitated a bundle and split some with Tempest.
“Hm,” Glitter said, “I don’t blame her though, these are good.”
“Hey! You’re not going to leave enough for me!” Lightning Dust protested.
The six of them walked down a row of shops, half of them closed for the festival. A few of those that were still open caught their eyes. Svengallop insisted they had to go to “Bath, Bed, & the Barn,” where customized and unheard-of brands of soap and other toiletries were sold. Tempest and Lightning Dust were the most reluctant, but even they conceded that the “oats and aloe” soap bars felt really soft on their coat.
Glitter Drops pounced on a candle kit titled “Pines and Everfree.” It came with custom candle holders etched with pine branches and flowering vines.
“Never knew that had this stuff here,” Lightning Dust said as they left the store with their purchases. “there aren’t any places here that sell flight training equipment, so I never had a reason to look through the shops here.”
They passed by a number of other shops, picking up new trinkets here and there as souvenirs for their first performance. They bought new clothes, bottled of spiced cider, and even some make-up kits. Svengallop’s complexion apparently needed a lot of work to maintain.
They were waiting for Glitter Drops to pick out a few suits for Tempest when Luna noticed a commotion forming down the street. A few ponies were gathered around some kind of argument just out a clothing retailer.
“What’s going on there?” Starlight asked Luna as she stared from the outside of the suit tailor.
“Whatever it is, I doubt it’s a good thing.” Luna checked inside. Svengallop was criticizing Lightning Dust’s taste while Glitter Drops brought two more outfits for Tempest to try on. They were busy and didn’t need more tho worry about. “Starlight, would you mind joining me? You’ll have to keep my patience in check if this drags out.”
“Uh, I don’t know if I’m the best for that,” Starlight hesitated, “but I’ll do my best.”
They walked over to the crowd, onlookers and bystanders giving them space at the sight of Luna. Whispers cast around between the ponies as they cleared and revealed an argument between a frail stallion and two other creatures, a dragon and a griffon.
“Sweet Celes… I-I mean oh my gosh!” Starlight stumbled on her words, immediately stepping back to shield herself with Luna. “That dragon’s one of my students. Her name’s Smolder.”
“You mean the young hero?” Luna whispered.
Before they could figure out a plan to address the situation, the shopkeeper bellowed out at Luna, breaking from his conversation with the griffon and Smolder.
“Finally! I thought the festival had all the royal guards caught up, but now you’re here!” He laughed and reached out to Luna, though she did back away. “Hehe, yeah. Come on, tell these two non-ponies they can’t go around trashing up my store.”
“Hey! Whatever he says I did is a lie!” Smolder burst.
The stallion scoffed and stomped his hooves. “This crazy dragon chick burned up a whole shelf of heavyset suits.”
“Uh, okay, except for that,” Smolder admitted. “That did happen, but for good reason! He was giving this griffon a hard time.” She rushed over to Luna’s side. “Princess, please, one of my best friends is a griffon, I couldn’t stand by and--” her eyes whipped over to Starlight, who was trying to tuck herself behind Luna’s tail.
Smolder gaped. “Headmare Starlight?”
“Hey, Smolder! How… uh… How ya doin’?” Starlight chuckled lightly.
“I don’t understand, what are you doing here? Sunburst said you had compound fractures in all your legs.”
Luna pupils bulged at Starlight. “What?”
“Okay, maybe I should’ve given him some lines,” Starlight sighed. “Note to self, Sunburst is terrible at making up alibis.”
“Wait did you come here for the festival?” Smolder asked.
Before Starlight could come up with an excuse, the shopkeeper stallion threw his hoof at the griffon. “Can we please back to this problem? This guy tried to haggle with me and was holding up the line for every pony.”
“Oh please, hundred-twenty bits for a suit is an outrageous price,” the griffon quarrelled back. “And I was the only one in the store at that time.”
“Because you told every pony that there was a sale on the same suits one street down from here!” The stallion erupted. “How am I supposed to stay in business with creatures like you around?”
“Okay, settle down. All bystanders can move along and mind their own business” Luna told them all before turning back to the shopkeeper. “If you want my council, you should start from the beginning. Why was there such a dispute over your pricing?”
The stallion pointed to the sign outside his shop. “I had a sale to make space for the winter season when out of nowhere this griffon walks into my store and starts asking why I’m charging so much. He says some two-bit knock-off chain store down the road has the same suits for cheap, but I know that can’t be true. For this quality, my suits have the most competitive prices.”
“A suit is a suit,” he snapped back, “and even if it’s all true, that doesn’t give you the right to bad mouth griffons because of me.”
“Yeah!” Smolder chimed in, “you called him a no-good greedy bird-brain.”
“I didn’t say it was all of his kind,” the shopkeeper defended himself to Luna. “The guy’s asking for a price I can’t afford to offer and then sends my customers to a crappy knock-off store. What else am I gonna say about him, he’s greedy and he hasn’t done me any good.”
“Big surprise,” Smolder rolled her eyes, “an old stallion who can’t admit he’s wrong.”
“I can see this is a hard situation,” Starlight came out from behind Luna, accepting that she had been revealed. With one of her students involved, her reputation had to wait. She had to offer her help, even if it meant raising questions later. “And I understand that you stood up for what you thought was right. Helping another creature in need is never wrong. But was burning his clothes necessary?”
“I couldn’t help it!” Smolder threw her arms up in exasperation. “This dumbass was the one who thought using dragon-sneeze flowers as wall decorations was a good idea. You didn’t see it, but I was hocking up fireballs like Spike whenever Twilight used to get spam mail.”
“Jeez,” Starlight’s face twisted with slight discomfort at just the thought. “Also, has Rainbow Dash been teaching her vocabulary lessons?”
Smolder shrugged. “Yeah. Why?”
“Oh, no reason,” Starlight waved the question away. “Though I will need to talk to her about the syllabus. Just don’t expect, erm, dumbass, to be on the next writing quiz.”
“Look, I can’t be responsible for every random creature who walks in,” the stallion argued back. “She’s a dragon, she should know about her own weird dragon allergies. But in the meantime, she still owes me two grand for all the suits she burned.”
Starlight noticed the look on Luna’s face. She was calm on the outside, but her blank stare was a sure sign that she had no idea what to do. Normally Starlight would’ve given the stallion his bits to end the argument and deal with the problem calmly. But, two thousand bits was a lot, and this was her student who was involved. Starlight wanted to set a good example as Headmare, and she didn’t want Smolder to think that helping other creatures just led to more problems.
“We just need a moment to figure out how to handle this,” Starlight tried calming the stallion down. “Just let Luna and I talk, and we’ll figure out our next step from here, okay?”
“Sure, as long as that next step ends with a check in my hooves.”
They stepped aside, leaving Smolder and the griffon staring daggers at the shopkeeper, who was shooting the same look back. Luna wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. It was, in a way, a sign that now was the best time for her to step away from the throne. Equestria was changing faster than ever, it seemed. All too likely she’d make the wrong choice eventually. Modern problems required a modern perspective to revolve.
“Alright, how do you think we should do this?” Starlight asked. “I mean, it’s his fault for not even telling Smolder about the flowers, right? She walked into his store, it’s his responsibility.”
“That does seem the fair decision,” Luna said, “but I doubt he’ll let it drop if he doesn’t get the price of his clothes.”
“I bet he has retailer’s insurance,” Starlight waved the thought away. “No creature here needs to spend a bit and he’ll still get his money. I just want Smolder out of here as quickly as possible. Any thoughts on the griffon?”
Luna shook her head. Twilight would be the pony to ask for this situation. Of course, her royal Canterlot voice would be enough to order the shopkeeper to resolve his grievances, but that wouldn’t be the right move. Even though he had the right to prevent his competitors from advertising on his property, she wasn’t convinced the stallion wouldn’t judge other griffons for the actions of this one.
This problem seemed like what Cadence had talked about in the Crystal Empire. The School of Friendship was a perfect place for all creatures to learn to live together, but one school couldn’t prepare every creature in Equestria.
“Clearly the griffon needs to understand that shopowners in Equestria don’t typically haggle. But the shop owner needs to know that his customers have the right to compare pricing. The griffon isn’t an advertiser for the competing store, and no laws can stop the citizens from conversing with one another.”
“You two done over there?” The stallion barked.
“He could also do with an attitude check,” Starlight scowled.
Luna nodded. “Oh yes, most definitely. Should I do the talking?”
“Actually, I’d like to. With my student here, it’s my responsibility.”
Starlight turned around and marched back over to the shopkeeper. “So, quick question, you have retailer’s insurance right?”
“Yeah, so what?” He said.
“So, you can talk to them if you want the bits for your suits.” Starlight stood firmly by Smolder’s side, putting an arm around her shoulder. “This is my student, and you’re not getting a bit out of her. Every store or restaurant uses food allergy warnings and wet floor signs. It’s your store, so it’s your responsibility to make your customers aware of what’s going on. My student is not to blame.”
“What?” He shot a look over to Luna. “Princess, is she serious? Look inside my store, there’s still smoke coming from the ashes!”
Luna shook her head. “You needn’t my opinion on this. I am no longer a princess, and Starlight is more than capable of giving her recommendation. You are free to bring this issue to a legal court, but I doubt you would win. Nothing states customers can’t compare the prices and quality between two competitors.”
“Yeah, well…” the stallion cast a dirty look onto Smolder and the griffon. “Well, I don’t have to do business with any of them. I have the right to deny my services, and these two have caused me enough trouble for one night.”
The shopkeeper returned inside, locking the door behind him and closing the blinds on his display windows. The griffon simply shook his head, thanked everyone for getting involved for his mess, and headed down the street to continue his shopping.
“I think new conflict resolution classes might have to be added to next semester’s syllabus,” Starlight muttered.
Smolder shrugged. “Whatever. Dude was a jerk. But, Headmare, I still don’t get why you’re here.”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Starlight said, “Dragonlord Ember asked us to supervise you as a student. What are you doing here? Are you with your friends?”
“What? Pfft, nah,” Smolder sputtered at such a ridiculous notion. “I snuck out all on my own. Music festivals aren’t my thing, but I knew the stores would be empty since every creature’s at the festival.”
“You snuck all the way out to Canterlot to do some shopping?” Starlight doubted her.
“Yep,” Smolder insisted. “All on my own.”
“Hey Smolder!” A familiar hippogriff’s chirping echoed from above them. “You totally missed it! The dragon band from earlier came out and made a ring of fire for a pegasus band to fly through. Yona got so excited she--wait, is that the Headmare?”
“Hey there Silverstream,” Starlight looked up before casting a smirk to Smolder. “So, what was this about coming alone?”
“Yo! Is that store smoking?” Lightning Dust cried from the other side of the street. “Starlight what the heck did you do?”
She cringed and closed her eyes, begging Lightning Dust to stay away. But, it seemed Tempest had picked the outfits that spoke to her. She looked to see Smolder wearing a wolfish grin and crossing her arms.
“Headmare, is there something you want to explain to us?”
Papers, letters, assignments, and plans piled up in front of Starlight and Sunburst. Luna sat at the map table in the Castle of Friendship across from the two school heads. Only a few days had passed since their performance in Canterlot, but Svengallop was already pushing to start on their first album. According to him, they needed to ride the wave of popularity and release something for their fans before something else grabbed their attention.
“So, uh, heavy metal’s your thing,” Sunburst tried bringing up with Starlight.
“Mhm,” she simply replied. “Guess there’s a lot about me you still don’t know.”
“Well… did you know I was once a game master for a Ogres and Oubliettes group when I was at Celestia’s school?”
“No, but that’s very on-brand for you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sunburst looked up from his draft of a new syllabus for the next semester.
Starlight shrugged. “Just means you seem like the type who’d be into that kind of stuff.”
“Oh yeah?” Sunburst’s face screwed up. “Well, heavy metal’s not that surprising either. You sound like you were pretty angsty if you decided to run away from home to start your own village.”
Luna had been trying to drone out their back and forth banter with the quiet sound of her humming, but she eventually hit her limit.
“I think I’ll just teleport back to Silver Shoals for now,” she told them. “I need my own space if I am to come up with some lyrics.”
Sunburst was the first to get out of his seat, the motion from his robes so rough that their papers nearly fluttered off the map table. Seeing him standing up clearly showed how much his work had taken a toll on his body. His tired neck slouched in a terrible posture from long days of working at a desk.
It wasn’t all that different from his old job, Luna came to think of it, but in the Crystal Empire, he had to look up and down bookshelves to find what he needed. Everything was so streamlined now that he probably didn’t walk more than the distance between the castle and the school.
“You don’t have to go, Prin--I mean, Luna. Starlight and I just like to talk about stuff when we’re working together.”
“It’s not the talking that bothers me,” she answered back. “I only feel as though your conversation is best left to private ears.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Starlight insisted, “I’m just paying him back for that ridiculous alibi that made me have to explain to our whole student body that I did not, in fact, break all four of my legs.”
“I panicked when Ocellus started asking questions!” Sunburst defended himself. “I just said the first thing that came to my mind!”
“Me breaking my legs was your first thought?” Starlight gawked.
Luna nodded and continued on her way. “Mhm. Just going to go home and let you two sort this out. I’ll come back tomorrow with some ideas for our next songs.”
Lightning Dust swooped overhead as Tempest and Svengallop awkwardly sat outside a cafe. A round of coffee was poured for everyone, but aside from terse greetings they hardly spoke at all.
“Hey!” Lightning landed back down for another drink from her cup. “I don’t normally drink coffee since I don’t like the crash that comes after but this stuff is good! Are--are you two feeling lightheaded or is it just me? Maybe I need to go back to flying to work it off.”
“Knock yourself out,” Tempest said. “The sooner you crash, the sooner we can go. I feel like there’s too much attention on us. I don’t like it.”
“Puh-lease, don’t get big-headed,” Svengallop shielded his eyes from the gust of Lighting’s wings as she took off. “Ponies have their eyes out for princesses. The only thing that might get you noticed is that horn of yours and I don’t think any pony can really notice at first glance.”
Tempest narrowed her eyes. “Mention my horn again and it’ll be the thing you ever say.”
“Well that would be disappointing, I just started looking for a new apartment.”
Lightning Dust landed again, this time dizzyingly finding her seat as her balance slowly restored from fifteen consecutive loops in the sky.
“You know, I agree,” Lightning Dust said. “It’s like some pony is watching us. It’s normal when Luna’s around, but without her, it feels weird.”
“Don’t even think about getting her,” Svengallop snapped. “She needs to focus on her songs. If you need to be around her so badly, show up to our band meeting tomorrow. It’s the only time Starlight has any space in her schedule.”
“Alright, but what are we supposed to do when it’s just us?” Tempest asked. “I don’t have anything to do today. Glitter Drops said she had to pick something up from the Crystal Empire. Starlight teleported her there this morning, so she’ll probably be back in the evening.”
“Is your schedule really based around how much time you can spend with Glitter Drops?” Svengallop looked at Tempest weirdly.
“Yes, yes it is. She is literally my only friend who didn’t have to fight me to save Equestria. Why would I not want to spend my free time with her? She’s even taking me to see something called an opera later this week. I don’t know what that is, but I know I burned down a lot of opera houses when I worked with the Storm King.”
“Hrm, sounds like you’re pretty close to being dependent on her. Like I always say, You can’t be let down if you don’t have anyone holding you up.”
“That’s… awful,” Lightning Dust screwed her face. “Though I get what you’re trying to say. Tempest’s best friend should compliment her, not fill a hole in her life.”
“I don’t need someone to fill my holes,” Tempest growled.
Both ponies cracked wolfish grins at her phrasing.
“Well not with that attitude,” Svengallop said. Lightning Dust tried responding, but she could only manage a cackling laugh.
“What are you, twelve?” Tempest glared. “I thought we’d do normal stuff like talk about our hobbies or something. I’ll just head back to my bed and read a book if you two are going to act crazy.”
Lightning shot out from her seat. “Oh come on, you can’t stick me with this stiff. Luna picked us because we’re the band’s cool ponies!”
“Cool ponies?” Tempest didn’t stop walking away, but Lightning Dust’s caffeinated mind decided following her around was the better idea. Svengallop followed too, though he trailed further behind.
“Yeah, every team needs to have at least one edgy or cool character who challenges the team leader from time to time.” Lightning Dust pointed to a furniture shop window where a bunch of old posters were stuck up, including a promotional poster of the Washouts. “Just look at this. I was the leader, of course. Short Fuse might’ve been a bit temperamental, but he was the heart of the team. And then Rolling Thunder was our resident ‘cool pony.’ Me and her used to fight over which stunts we’d do for our shows.”
Tempest turned back to Svengallop. “Think I’m the one who’s overly attached to my friends?”
“Fine, take the Princess and her group of friends,” Lighting snapped. “Twilight’s obviously the leader, the apple farming one’s the team muscle, the pink one’s the wild card, and then Rainbow Dash gets the role of ‘cool pony.’ That’s what makes her my rival.”
“Ha!” Tempest snorted an obnoxious laugh at Lightning Dust. “You, a rival for a full-time Wonderbolt? Please, I left Equestria as a kid but I still know that they’re the best fliers in the world. I remember they did a show near my home town once.”
“They just say they’re the best to make their little club exclusive,” Lightning Dust huffed, stepping away from the window. “I don’t want anything to do with them now. In fact, when the next Equestria Games come around, I’m going to show them exactly who’s the best flier.”
“Uh-huh, just make sure your dreams don’t get in the way of the band,” Svengallop added. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but for me, making it to the top of the music industry again is my dream.”
The three of them stepped away from the window when they noticed the store manager coming out to meet them. Tempest blew him off, insisting they weren’t interested, and they headed down the main street of Ponyville searching for something to do.
In the end, they ended up doing nothing.
Two hours past noon and they were stuck sitting on a bench, eating crepes and watching families fly kites in an open field. It seemed a mystery to them how three disparate characters with so little in common could be a team, much less a band. Certainly, they each thought, their situation was a contrived one.
“I guess the lesson here is that Luna must be a better leader than she lets on, if she’s able to keep us all together,” Tempest said.
Lightning Dust frowned. “You guys are just stubborn. Going to the gym together would’ve been the perfect team building exercise!”
“I don’t need or want to see either of you working up a sweat,” Svengallop replied.
Their conversations went on like that ad nauseum. One pony’s idea of fun was a total bore for the other, and nothing but insults could be thrown around. Tempest chewed on her crepe thoughtfully. This never happened with Glitter Drops, at least not since they worked out their childhood mistakes. Well, the reason was obvious. They were actually friends. Even if those childhood memories were old, they were still there as a good foundation. They had liked each other, at one point.
“I got it!” Tempest jumped up, coming to a realization. “We need to play a game.”
“Got one in mind that won’t get his trousers in a twist?” Lightning Dust remarked.
“That’s exactly the problem,” Tempest pointed. “If Twilight taught me one thing, it’s that any two ponies can get along. And if Luna taught me another thing, it’s that anyone can be redeemed if they try. If we can’t get along, it’s no one’s fault but our own. So we are going to play the ‘I like you’ game!”
Both ponies stared at Tempest. “The what now?”
“Come on, we have to find somewhere to play. And I know just the spot.” She got behind them both and zapped their backs to get them going. They galloped past the kites and the families, past the marketplace and spa, all the way back to the furniture store with a bunch of posters. Tempest glanced at all the advertisements until she found what she was looking for.
A fifteen-percent off deal on a session of karaoke. The karaoke club was just down the street from the store, and despite their complaints, it wasn’t hard to encourage Lightning and Svengallop to follow her lead. Magical spells were very persuasive.
In almost no time at all, Tempest had gotten them into a one-hour session of karaoke. A small crystal hanging from the ceiling projected an image onto a plain screen like a movie. A jukebox was put at one end of the sofa to select the songs, while the crystal synchronised with the music and displayed the lyrics on the screen.
“What exactly are we doing?” Svengallop demanded. “You haven’t told us anything about this game.”
“It’s the ‘I like you’ game,” Tempest said. “Glitter Drops and I play this all the time with some of the other patrol ponies back in the Crystal Empire. You just have to say something that you like about another pony, and if you can make them smile, you get a point. Pony with the least points has to sing a song.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Lightning Dust scoffed, heading for the door already.
Tempest stomped on her tail and dragged her back. “We agreed to meet up today to become a better band for Luna. So we can play Glitter’s game, or I can zap you out of the sky the next time I see you getting distracted during our practices.”
Lightning Dust bounced up and crashed onto the sofa. “Alright, yeesh, we’ll play. But don’t think I’m going to go easy just because it’s dumb game. No way in Equestria am I doing karaoke.”
“Of course. That’s what I like about you, you’re always so confident, Lightning Dust,” Tempest immediately said, “you’re the kind of pony who knows what she wants and actually works to get it.”
“Oh, uh, yeah thanks,” Lightning Dust chuckled awkwards. “I guess I am pretty--”
“Boom! One point!” Tempest cried out, pointing to the grin that automatically formed across Lightning Dust’s face. “I can’t believe you broke on the first go.”
The pegasus recoiled in horror, realizing what had happened. “You didn’t even say we were starting yet. What the heck? I thought you actually meant that!”
Tempest wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh come on, getting points for something doesn’t make it a lie. You really do seem like that to other ponies, which is probably why Luna saw your potential to be a Nightmare Knight.”
“Whew,” Lightning Dust let her sudden outburst leave her chest like a gust of wind, “I mean, that’s pretty obvious, the Wonderbolts can’t even kee--”
Tempest burst out again, pointing at the smirk across Lightning Dust’s face as she reminisced about her past accomplishments. “Point for me again! You suck as this, dude.”
“Aw what the-- I wasn’t even smiling at what you said, I was thinking about something else!”
Svengallop smirked. “You get a point if you smile after some pony compliments you. She never said the two had to be causal, only correlated.”
“Oh you want to play it like that, then?” Lightning Dust snapped her head around to meet Svengallop with a widened stare. “You better get ready, I’m going to compliment the crap out of you!”
“Okay.”
“Uh… I really like… your mane?.”
Svengallop raised a brow. “Thanks?”
“Dangit, okay it’s your turn. I’ll just have to think about something better.”
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, after all, it’s nice to be noticed for something you put work into.” he replied. “I think you just don’t sound convincing since you’re always getting put down by the Wonderbolts or whatever. You have just as much determination as the rest of them, and once ponies see that, you’ll know how to really make some pony feel as good as you do.”
“Huh, you really think so?” Lightning gave a hopeful smile.
“Yes, and also,” Svengallop jumped up in a victory pose, “point for me! Haha, who’s complimenting the crap out of who now, Lightning Dust?”
Tempest smirked and bumped hooves with Svengallop. “Nice.”
And try as she might, Lightning Dust couldn’t help herself. Ego or embarrassment ended up forcing smiles out of her, racking up points for the other two. End result: they managed to get Lightning Dust to sing karaoke.
The floor of the office building’s reception hall was polished clean like a mirror. Luna flipped through her script, a brief list of all her talking points. She wondered how the rest of the band was doing. They should have come with her to Manehattan, but each of them had their personal lives to think about as well.
Tempest and Starlight worked out a spell together that let them teleport from the Crystal Empire to Ponyville. She and Glitter Drops were still planning on taking their extended vacation, but it seemed there was something in the Northern Wastes that demanded all of the patrols attend to. Their new spell would have spelt the end of public trains if it wasn’t for the raw magical power it needed from Tempest and the magical aptitude from Starlight. Without those two, such a spell could be dangerous. Reaching that far away with a teleportation spell could grab the wrong pony or, as Starlight put it, drop a piece of a swamp over your head.
Luna didn’t ask why she had to be so specific.
Aside from helping Tempest commute to and from the Crystal Empire, Starlight didn’t have much free time either. It was exam week at the School of Friendship, and afterwards would be a one-week break before the second half of the semester began. Starlight said she needed to make sure students got home safely and finish the hiring process for a few substitute teachers.
It had been about a month since the Nightmare Knights performed in Canterlot. Since then, they had been working on completing an album and coordinating their performance. But with the first album finished and no tours scheduled yet, the Nightmare Knights all returned to their own lives.
Of course, Svengallop was still as focused as ever. When she announced her trip to Manehattan, he had quickly insisted that he reach out to some of his old friends in Fillydelphia who could help them sell their album. Though the rest of the band questioned if he even had other friends, Luna agreed. She figured he was still bitter over what happened with Countess Coloratura. He was adamant about not going to Manehattan.
At least Lightning Dust was able to join her on the trip, Luna thought, even if she was only in town to scope out Manehattan’s Equestria Games team. There was little doubt she had what it took to compete, but Luna felt bad that a part of her hoped Lightning’s abrasive attitude would make the Manehattan team second guess her. She had become a much better drummer since they began, giving the Nightmare Knights a lot more variety to play with.
Just one minute after eleven o’clock, Luna noticed a smartly dressed young mare in a suit and tie trot her way. “Princess Luna, sorry for the delay. Mister Newbrand is ready to see you now.”
“Thank you,” she replied, “and please, just call me Luna.”
“Of course,” the mare smiled.
Newbrand, CEO of Newbrand Records, had become a leading figure in the music industry since Countess Coloratura left the pop music stage. That, combined with rumours that Sapphire Shores was planning on retiring in a few years, left the market open for old and new musicians to lay claim to the top of the record boards.
Of course, Luna didn’t expect she’d ever reach those heights. Heavy metal, and power metal, were small crowds compared to the titans of hip-hop, pop, rock, and electronic dance mixes. Still, if there was a pony who could help her band publish their album, it was Newbrand.
Luna stood quietly with the young mare as the elevator ascended to the top floor. It was a massive office building, and Luna could scarcely believe it was all for Newbrand Records. But then she considered what it actually took to make a company work. Accounting, employee resources, management, technical experts, shipping and receiving, those all needed the labour of ponies.
“Is it nice, working here?” Luna asked.
She still travelled the Dream Realm, guarding half of Equestria while Twilight handled the other half. And out of that half, Manehattan dreams were some of the most uniform. Every pony seemed to have the same fears. Their job and their relationships. The market was tough in a city as dense as Manehattan, and often ponies ended up putting their work before their friends and family.
“Huh?” The mare looked up from her clipboard. “Oh, uh, yeah. Being a secretary’s a really big job now. I organize and take notes of all his meetings, file through communications sent directly to him, communicate between him and the project managers on the other floors, it’s all really hard work.”
“And that’s good, yes?”
She nodded. “You probably think I sound crazy, now that you’ve retired. But this job keeps me busy, and I’m learning a lot of management skills.”
They stepped out of the elevator and took a turn through some offices. Theses were not the little cubicles Luna had heard about ponies working in. There were spacious, glass-walled offices with a view of Manehattan’s skyline. In terms of corporate business, this must’ve been the equivalent of a royal court.
“Newbrand will see you right through here.”
And ahead was the throne. Closed behind solid mahogany doors with a sign that read “conference,” the seat of this musical empire waited.
Luna slapped herself mentally. Royal habits die hard, she supposed. This was just the conference room, and a lot less dramatic than she was making it out to be. She thanked the secretary and entered through the heavy doors.
But, perhaps sometimes things were exactly as dramatic as they seemed. The table was almost as long as the one in the dining hall back in the Canterlot Castle. It was glass, flanked on both sides by black chairs, and awfully intimidating.
At the end, a broad-shouldered stallion with a gelled-back black mane sat, reading through a thick binder. As soon as the doors closed, he peeked his eyes up and saw Luna.
“Ah-ha!! Oh, it’s so good to see you, Luna!” He cheered and reared up from his seat. “You have no idea how excited I am to have you here. I almost yelled at Legato Strings when I realized you were still waiting in the lobby. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Employee Resources said it was becoming a problem.”
Luna scrunched her nose and made a confused look. “Legato Strings? Is she your secretary?”
“One and only!” he laughed. “Honestly, it feels like she runs this company more than I do.”
Luna took a seat next to Newbrand. The conference table was so long, it seemed a little awkward with just the two of them and a dozen other empty chairs, but he didn’t seem to notice. He flipped through his binder and laid out two pages of information on the table.
“What’s all this?”
“Why, only a glimpse into the future,” he beamed. “When I got your letter I instantly had my teams pull up all the data on heavy metal. How many sales overall, popularity by each band, you, just the basic statistics.”
He swept the papers up with his hooves and tossed them aside. “But none of that matters! I saw your performance at the Canterlot Music Festival and I know you’re going to upset whatever statistic I can find.”
Luna gave a confused look. “That’s a good thing?”
“Haha,” Newbrand laughed, “only if we make money off of it. You have a copy of your album on you, right?”
Luna nodded. The tape was in a small satchel she had slung over her back. The inconspicuous black leather bag was barely noticeable, but it was surprisingly spacious for carrying day to day items.
Newbrand then shot out of his seat. “Perfect. Come on, then, I already prepped some trial runs for your music.”
Two floors down was a tightly packed floor of sound rooms. Each room was padded and separate from the next, and complete with sofas, projectors, and surround sound speakers. The first room Luna saw had a bunch of fillies watching some kind of music advertisement. One room over, a bunch of colts were viewing the same thing.
“Welcome to the simulation floor,” Newbrand said. “Here, we bring in test audiences for all our new music. We brainstorm music video ideas based on feedback we get from here, customizing all our productions to fit exactly what fans want.”
“Very impressive,” Luna swivelled her head around to each room.
“Let me see that album of yours, will ya?”
She produced the tape from her satchel and levitated it into Newbrand’s hoof. The stallion looked at it and made a curious smile as if he had just been given a puppy or kitten.
“Little old fashioned, huh?”
Luna wasn’t sure what he meant. “The tape? I… don’t know. That’s just how Svengallop records all our music.”
“Oh, I see!” Newbrand chuckled. “Working with that old-timer, no wonder you’re still carrying this thing around. His name still makes some waves in the industry, but you gotta keep your eyes ahead. Last year a hippogriff start-up in the Crystal Empire made this incredible thing.”
He pressed a button outside of one of the sound rooms. There was a narrow slot next to the controls where a thin disk popped out, cutting off the music being played to the test audience.
“CD’s, they call them, short for Crystal Disks. One of these babies can hold ten times as much music as a tape. Since last year they’ve been hitting the shelves of every music shop.”
“Now that looks old-fashioned,” Luna took a closer look, “it’s like a vinyl disk.”
“Maybe, CD players use some kind of magic crystal to read the disks. I’m not sure how they work, but they’ve been making a lot of money.”
Newbrand put the disk back into its slot for the music room and brought Luna to the end of the floor. Two rooms of young ponies, mares and stallions alike, sat waiting and chatting among themselves. They were all dressed in black, with studded bands on their hooves or spiked manes. Not the most eclectic bunch, but if Newbrand wanted fans of heavy metal, they definitely looked the part.
“Shouldn’t music be tested with a broader audience?” Luna asked. “I want every pony to enjoy my music.”
“We’ll get there.” Newbrand pointed to the two rooms. “But they’re here to make sure your music takes off strong. If a power metal album can’t draw in heavy metal fans, that’s something we need to consider.”
He stepped over to the second room. “This is our blind control. They’ve been told that they’re going to listen to some music, but not who made it. They’re testing the music for itself. The other ponies know they’re listening to your album, so the difference between these two reactions can give us a sense of your marketability as a performer.”
“Let’s start with the first one, then.” He took the tape and placed it in a player which was wired to both rooms. Despite both having multiple speakers, the walls seemed to perfectly isolate one group from the other.
“Alright, my little ponies,” Newbrand said into a microphone for both groups to hear, “I’m going to be playing the first song for today, then have a five-minute break for you to write down your thoughts.”
Luna stepped away from the windows. “Should I not stand somewhere else for the control group?”
Newbrand shut off the microphone and started the first song. “Don’t worry about it. One way windows. Just stand back and watch the music happen.”
Luna wasn’t sure if this was how all music business was done, but it seemed reasonable. In any case, she never expected she’d be able to see ponies listening to her music privately. Concerts were one thing, ponies went there to enjoy the performance. But listening to a song by yourself felt a lot more intimate. She could see what it looked like to touch others with her lyrics. And, once Newbrand turned up the external speakers, she could hear it for herself too:
Grimmer
Dreamer
Come, my children,
I’ll guide you away
To a world in the dark of the nightmare realm
Hidden deep alone
With memories stowed
We can play in my Garden of Shadows
By the end, both groups of ponies were singing the chorus in hushed breaths, trying to match the rhythm and melody of the song. Suffice to say, they enjoyed it. And Newbrand could tell as well.
“Well, well, that sure looked like it worked out fine,” he said, extending a hoof to Luna. “A couple more trials will be needed of course, plus the interviews to get their final thoughts, but I am happy to say that I look forward to working with you.”
Luna took it and shook happily. “Yes, how wonderful! I can see it now, how my sister will react once she hears I actually made an album!”
“I bet, though I wouldn’t know how it feels. Only child and all.”
“It’s a blessing and a curse,” Luna told him.
“Really? I would’ve thought Celestia would be a great sister--oh, shoot, right. I just remembered…”
“The whole moon thing?” Luna raised a brow. “Yeah. But it’s okay, I’m over it.”
“Calling your band the Nightmare Knights is ‘getting over it?’”
“We must accept who we are in order to change,” Luna put simply.
Newbrand smiled. “Huh, wise words. You know, I don’t want to lie, I was originally excited to work with you because of your princess reputation. But now that we’ve spoken, I’m guessing music’s kind of your escape from that label. Am I wrong?”
“Not at all,” Luna shifted back slightly, surprised that Newbrand caught on so quickly. Outside of her band, she hardly mentioned her motivations for fear of ponies trying too hard to appease her. “I must confess, you’re quite surprising yourself. All of this, it’s obvious you care about music and what the fans want.”
“Oh stop it,” Newbrand waved his hoof. “But, if you want to talk more about your plans for the future, I heard a restaurant downtown just earned three golden hooves. We could grab dinner, maybe talk more about the band.”
Luna scrunched her face, hesitant to accept the offer. “I’ve had enough three-hoof rated food, Canterlot is full of them and they’re honestly disappointing. But I’ve always wanted to try a place called the Bronco Brunch and Dinner. Have you heard of it?”
“That place is classic!” Newbrand beamed. “I’ll make a Manhattanite out you yet, just you wait. Don’t worry, I’ll set everything up. How’s tonight sound?”
Luna shrugged. “I’m not busy.”
“Perfect, it’s a date. Just meet me in the lobby at seven.” Newbrand turned around and sauntered back to the elevator.
Luna, on the other hoof, stood there a little stunned. The tape player put the next song on for the two rooms once their five-minute break was up. But Luna couldn’t focus on their excitement over the next song.
What did I just agree to? A date? She didn’t want to use her reputation as a princess to be the groundwork for her music career, but she didn’t want this either. Business was business, she understood that well enough. Far too many dreams of business ponies had become nightmares when they got too personal. I need to sort this out, now.
“Lightning Dust?” Luna rushed down the street to the Galloping Gale Gym, Manehattan’s premier fitness club for athletes. The inside smelled of cinnamon, and the showers came complete with saunas and massage therapies for sore muscles.
Even in her panic, Luna paused at the sight of the gym’s interior. “Woah. We need to get one of these in Silver Shoals.”
“Oh my! Princess Luna, what a surprise to see you here.” The receptionist trotted up to her. “Is there something I can-”
“Sorry, I’m in a bit of a hurry, have you seen Lightning Dust? Yellow mane, pegasus, bad attitude.”
“I don’t personally recall her, but I know security was called out to the racing track. I doubt your friend could be that bad thou-”
“Perfect, thanks for the help.”
There was no time to waste. Luna had her fair share of life experience, even on the moon, she could still walk the dream realm. There was little she hadn’t seen before. But no pony had ever had the thought to ask her on a date.
In the back of the gym was a racecourse for pegasi. Dozens of moving rings plotted out changing paths for fliers to test their speed and agility. But the spectacle at the moment seemed to be three security stallions trying to subdue an angry mare.
“Say that to my face again you sorry sack of roided-out yak lard! I’ll fly circles around you, got it? You’d be lucky to have me on your team!”
Luna recognized Lightning’s yelling immediately. Whatever was going on, she was fairly certain she was at fault. But frankly, there was enough time to care. Luna raised her voice to royal levels and boomed her commands at the guards.
“I demand you release her at once!”
Instantly, the guards backed away, blinded by Luna’s orders. They dropped Lightning Dust on the ground, next to two other stallions who had been taken out. They were clutching their guts in pain.
“Apologies, but she was here with me on business,” Luna told both the security guards and the Equestria Games fliers. “You can charge the royal treasury for any injuries or damages she might have caused. But right now I must ask that you leave her be. She and I have much to discuss.”
The athletes traded looks, clearly upset. However, they weren’t about to deny the Princess of the Night. They agreed to Luna’s offer and wrote down the mailing address to send their invoice to. Once that was settled, they let her take Lightning Dust out of the gym, provided she never returned again.
“Fair enough,” was all Luna had to say. She dragged Lightning Dust out of the gym and took her to a cider brewery two blocks away. They both seemed to need a drink. Lightning made no protest, though she demanded a shot of rye whiskey with her cider.
“I had it handled,” she scoffed into her glass.
“I’m sure you did,” Luna remarked, “but there’s something I don’t have handled. I was hoping you had advice.”
“You want advice from me?” Lightning dust put her cider down, almost choking on her own disbelief. “What could Luna, Princess of the Night and former Nightmare Moon possibly need to know from me?”
“How do you turn a stallion down when they ask you out on a date?” Luna blurted out.
Lightning Dust’s jaw hung slightly open. There was a lull in her voice before she croaked out unintelligible words. Slowly, the whiskey made its way to her mouth and down the hatch, bringing the life back to her head.
“Hoo-boy, didn’t go so well at the meeting?”
Luna shook her head. “Actually, it was almost perfect. I thought Newbrand was setting up a business lunch, something professional. Not a date. It was good until then.”
“Well, duh, you got asked out by a stallion,” Lightning gulped her cider. “If anything can ruin a day, it’s that.”
Luna picked up her drink and nearly emptied the cup. There was a disturbing magic to the alcohol. Once you drank it her problem seemed to vanish. Though, each time it came back, she knew she’d have to drink more. And Newbrand wasn’t something she could run away from.
“What do you propose, then?”
Lightning Dust shrugged. “Kick him in the ‘nads, that’s my policy.”
“I can’t do that,” Luna chortled, “he doesn’t seem indecent, I’m simply not interested. Which is why it’s even harder. Not only is he at the top of the music industry right now, but I would feel bad if I hurt his feelings.”
“Guys will get over it,” Lightning Dust waved Luna’s worries away. “Does he have a secretary?”
“Yes, why?”
“Problem solved. Secretaries are always the fall-back play for stallions like him.”
“I don’t think that matters--wait, are you assuming his secretary is a mare?”
Lightning Dust barely glanced from her cup. “Are you assuming that I think that makes a difference?”
“Well… n-no,” Luna flustered with such a quick reply. “We’re getting off topic. I just want to focus on the band and what I’m doing now. I have no interest in dating any pony.”
Lightning Dust chortled. “You hear that? I think that’s the sound of a million edge-lords crying in anguish.”
“Can you not make light of my situation, please?” Luna asked.
“Alright, fine,” Lightning raised her hooves off the table and stretched. “Just tell him what you told me, and if he’s not a jackhole, he’ll understand.”
“Is that really it? These things always seem so dramatic in dreams, I’m not really sure if I know how to just say it in real life.”
Lightning Dust rolled her eyes. “For the love of--just teleport us back to Ponyville really quick. I know a mare who’s used to turning down dudes.”
Rainbow Dash wiped the sweat off her brow from her warm-up yoga session before answering the door. The Wonderbolts were expecting more competition this time in the Equestria Games, since changelings, hippogriffs, and dragons were expected to compete as well. Even though the games weren’t for some time, getting to her maximum performance was going to take a few months of intense training.
“S’up dude,” Lightning Dust stood outside her house with Luna at her side. “How do you turn down a stallion when they ask you out?”
“What?” Dash’s face twisted up, confused.
“Maybe a better explanation is needed?” Luna suggested. She brought them down to The Hayburger to talk over some fries. She explained everything to Rainbow Dash, including her impression of Newbrand and how the interview went.
Dash took it all in stride, nodding as she began to better understand the predicament Luna found herself in. It reminded her of Fluttershy’s brother, and of the many times Zephyr Breeze just couldn’t take a hint.
“So, uh,” Dash hesitated with her advice. She looked down at her tray of fries, a little embarrassed to be talking to even an ex-princess.
But Luna insisted. “I know these topics aren’t what I usually contend with, but please, it is important.”
“You try kicking him in the ‘nads?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Lightning Dust just shook her head with a tired expression. “Been there, dude. She doesn’t want to try it.”
“I am not kicking any pony in the… I won’t do it.” Luna huffed. “I may not be a princess anymore, but leaving my station behind does not mean I can do whatever I want.”
“Then just tell him how you feel!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You didn’t ask for this. He should know better not to make business personal. Just because he’s interested in you, you don’t have to do him any favours. He might seem nice, but if he can’t realize how awkward he’s making this, then he’s as big of a jackhole as Zephyr.”
“Who?” Luna tilted her head.
“Uh, forget I said anything. It’s not important.”
“Well, if you say it’s alright, then I know what I have to do. I should go now before it gets dark.”
“Legato Strings?”
Newbrand’s secretary looked up from her desk as she sorted and filed away her work for the day. Luna wondered if any one of those files was for the Nightmare Knights.
“Is Newbrand in his office right now?”
“Um, no,” she replied. “He left early, said he had some personal business to take care of. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“Who me?” Luna gawked, surprised that Legato was even suspicious. “What makes you say that? Was it something Newbrand said?”
“It was what he didn’t say,” she replied. “I asked him how the interview went and he told me it went great. Nothing else. He usually tells me what he wants out of a band so I can let our marketing team know to start brainstorming. But he’s paying a lot of attention to the Nightmare Knights right now.”
Luna hung her head and sighed. “I cannot believe he’s taken it this far. Would you believe me if I told you he offered to take me on a date?”
“It would definitely explain a lot.” The lack of a reaction from her told Luna that she had already suspected something like this. Was it because she knew Newbrand well enough? Was this really what he was like?
“And… you’re planning to cancel, right?”
Luna nodded.
“Okay, I can get him on the phone for you right now, if you want.”
“Yes, that would be easiest.”
Legato dialed the phone on her desk, and it rang no more than once before Newbrand answered. “Yes, what is it?”
“Mr Newbrand, I have Luna here with me right now, she has something to say to you.”
“She’s there? Is it already seven?”
“No, she just has something to tell you,” Legato passed the phone over to Luna.
She took a deep breath and put on a gentle voice. “Hey, Newbrand. So, you’re getting ready this early?”
“Hehe, just excited is all,” he replied. “Guess you can’t wait for tonight either, huh?”
“Actually I’m going to have to cancel that date, Newbrand. You caught me off-guard during our meeting, which is why I didn’t respond then. But I’m not interested in going on a date with you.”
“But, I don’t understand, didn’t you want to talk more about the band and your music?”
“I did, but professionally. Not on a date.”
There was a very brief pause in Newbrand’s voice, a soft croak like the words were trying to find their way out of his throat.
“I mean, yeah, of course,” he chuckled. “D-did you think I meant something else-”
“You were clear with what you meant when you called it a date, Newbrand,” Luna lifted the gentleness from her voice. It sounded to her like he was trying to get their dinner to happen, no matter what, and she didn’t appreciate it.
“Alright, okay,” he slowed down. “I’m sorry, if that’s how you feel. I guess, uh, we’ll talk business in the morning then? We could get coffee, or whatever, you know.”
Luna rubbed her temple, thinking over if she really wanted to say her next words. She did. “Actually, I would rather work with a different company. We have yet to sign any agreements, and knowing you’re willing to get that personal does not sit right with me.”
“H-hold on, what? Where would you go?” Luna could hear him smiling with disbelief. “My company’s the biggest in the industry. Luna, whatever your feelings, sticking with the company is the right choice.”
“Where I go is my concern,” Luna replied and then passed the phone back to Legato Strings. One look on her face and the secretary knew to just hang up.
To her surprise, Luna didn’t feel any guilt. As a princess, when ponies felt bad it was always her responsibility to go into their dreams, see things from their perspective. It just confirmed what she already believed, that her role as princess was holding her back from living her own life, the way she wanted. When one always thinks about others, they don’t have time for themselves.
Legato Strings just looked at her with curious eyes. She had something to say, it seemed, but wasn’t sure.
“What is it?” Luna said, coming off a bit crass before she could catch herself.
“Oh, well, I was thinking about a friend of mine. She’s a record producer as well, and our company’s biggest competitor.”
“You’re friends with your competition?”
Legato shrugged. “I knew her before I got into the industry. Can’t really do anything about that. But anyway, I think you’ll like her. Newbrand’s great at picking out what fans like, but he puts the data first and art second. Not my friend, though.”
“Does she have a name?” Luna raised a brow.
“Poppin Mix. Here, let me write down her address for you. She doesn’t usually work with heavy metal, but it’s worth a shot. Just let her know what drives you to make music and she’ll hook you up with a deal.”
“Excellent. I look forward to… getting hooked up.”
Luna stared across a box of costumes. Poppin Mix was not the pony she expected. In between producing a new record, she was working on a new Bridleway show starring Rara. The pegasus was middle-aged but had vigour, lifting up a heavy box of chalk dust onto the stage for the dancers to coat their horseshoes.
“So… you’ll do it?” Luna asked after her lengthy story. She spared few details. Making Equestria understand what it meant to love the darkness that came with every night, not just Nightmare Night, was Luna’s biggest dream right now. Music was a means to that, sure, but her drive was stronger than a hobby or passion.
Poppin shook the sweat off her wings. “It’s part of who you are as a pony, ain’t it? That’s what your music is about, showing every side of you and being loved for it. And you can’t just go independent, else no pony’s gonna hear ya, right?”
Luna nodded heartily.
“Way I see it, after everything you’ve done, world’s got no right to ignore you. So you can bet your bottom bit that I’ll produce your album. Plus, I heard y’all at Canterlot ‘bout a month back and I was impressed.”
It sounded almost too easy. Luna wanted to kick herself for wasting her time with Newbrand. She was so eager to be heard, she didn’t even think about how she was doing it. Mass marketing and trial audiences were great tools, but Luna wondered how long it would take before all those things started telling her how to make music.
“Truly, I am grateful,” Luna bowed her head slightly. “I must admit, I think I’ve been sticking my heads in the clouds a little bit. Working in royal governance for so long, it makes it hard to understand life outside the castle.”
“Well, I’ll try my best to make sure that ain’t a problem,” Poppin assured her. “But I ought to talk to the rest of your band, too. I’m busy this week, but since it sounds like your band can’t come to Manehattan, I’ll have to book a train to Ponyville next week. That sound like a plan?”
Luna grinned. “I think they’d like that very much.”
“Just play this one back one more time,” Poppin Mix said from behind the recording equipment. The storage room in the back of the Castle of Friendship was becoming more and more like a dedicated studio. With some old clutter cleared out and sent to the many other closets in the castle, there was scant little that the band could need that they did not have.
Svengallop protested to letting her take over the recording, a lot. After Luna told them that she worked with Rara, he looked as if he was going to pop a blood vessel. But, their song Goddess needed a little reworking. Which made sense, it was the first song of the album, the song that Luna had chosen perform in Canterlot.
Compared to the other songs, the Nightmare Knights were the least experienced when they recorded this one. But Poppin wasn’t here to criticize. She heard and loved the rest of the album. In her own words, she knew the Knights could “pop it up” if they “locked it down” now that they had more experience and practice.
“Every pony still got it?” Luna asked.
Lightning tapped her drumsticks together. “Like you even have to ask. One, two, three-”
She counted off the beat and they began.
Grimmer
Dreamer
-
Come, my children,
I’ll guide you away
To a world in the dark of the nightmare realm
Hidden deep alone
With memories stowed
We can play in my Garden of Shadows
-
Master of your deepest fear, the queen by moonlight
Guardian of the dreamers, she will end your woes
The mistress of the night
With your sleep in her endless sight
When your wake is at its end
-
Goddess of the Nightmare Realm!
Who will claim
All the pain of the wicked?
Spellbound to her lonely ground
Only from daylight will she hide.
-
Grimmer
Dreamer
-
A traitor to just one
She was thrown by the sun
In her fight, she was crippled and broken
Creating a myth
It was easy enough
With your fear in control of the harness
-
Deceived by the fright
She was crowned in the night
As the queen of the wicked and unchosen
-
Master of your deepest fear, the queen by moonlight
Guardian of the dreamers, she will end your woes
The mistress of the night
With your sleep in her endless sight
When your wake is at its end
-
Goddess of the Nightmare Realm!
Who will claim
All the pain from the wicked?
Spellbound to her lonely ground
Only from daylight will she hide.
-
Rest now my children
For soon we will away
Go through the calm and quiet
And to the lordess of the dream
-
Grimmer
Dreamer
Grimmer
Dreamer
-
Goddess of the Nightmare Realm!
Who will claim
All the pain from the wicked?
Spellbound to her lonely ground
Only from daylight will she hide.
The final chord hung in the air.
Slowly, Poppin lifted the headphones off her head and set them down, nodding gently with a big grin on her face. “That one was it. I think we have an album on our hooves, every pony.”
“I must say, this time around it did sound a lot better,” Svengallop admitted.
“Better? That was great!” Starlight exclaimed. “Getting next semester planned out was a good idea. I wouldn’t want to miss this just because of a scheduling conflict.”
“But, you can teleport,” Tempest said. “How are you late for anything?”
Starlight shrugged. “When you can go anywhere instantly, you start forgetting to look at the time.”
Poppin removed the crystal disk from the studio recorder and packed it in a thin cardboard box. She was a busy mare and had to make it to the next train, but promised to get the disk to a CD maker as soon as she got back to Manehattan.
In the days since Luna had gone to the big city, she had asked Cadence if she could explain more about these new CD’s.
The name was enough to start: disks made from special crystals mined in the Northern Wastes that could be altered with a simple spell. Then, like light bending as it passed through a lens, magic could be channelled through the disk to produce a different effect. Sometimes, the disks could be used as the lens of a projector, creating an image when subjected to magic. Other times, it could directly produce sound.
But to amplify a sound on a speaker, or to play it through headphones, the magic that passed through a music disk needed to be converted into an electrical signal. It was much better than a tape, and it seemed to be revolutionizing every aspect of entertainment media. Major cinemas used crystal disks on their projectors, while CD’s and CD players were quickly filling the shelves of appliance stores.
Which reminded Luna. If they were going to sell their CD, they needed a cover for the box.
“That won’t be too hard,” Starlight said after Luna brought it up to the band. “I asked Photo Finish to come and take school photos. With class sizes expanding, we’ll need student IDs to keep track of every creature.”
“She’s open to doing a photo shoot for us?” Luna asked.
“Open? That’s her main goal. I knew we’d need some cover art eventually, so I told her ahead of time that the Nightmare Knights needed pictures. The letter she wrote back had a picture of her equipment crew celebrating. They’re all excited to work with you.”
“Well,” Luna blushed, “that’s very flattering. Ahem. When will arrive in Ponyville?”
Starlight checked the clock on the far side of the studio. “Tomorrow, early. The photo shoot’s going to be in the morning instead of first period classes, so Photo Finish will have to set up before that.”
“I’ll be guarding some dreams tonight,” Luna said. “I don’t think I’ll look my best first thing in the morning.”
“Same,” Lightning Dust said. “I gotta get my beauty sleep if I’m going to work hard.”
Svengallop made a face at her. “You get beauty sleep?”
“Shut your mouth,” she pointed back at him.
“You two really hate each other, huh?” Starlight commented, placing herself near the door if she had to make a hasty retreat.
“Hate’s too strong a word,” Tempest weighed in. “You can’t really hate someone unless you know them well enough. No, those two just don’t get along.”
Lightning Dust whipped her head around. “I get along just fine with others. Svengallop’s an ass, that’s all! And don’t talk about us like we’re not in the room.”
“Not convinced,” Tempest said.
Luna levitated the equipment back into their storage boxes while the three traded semantics over who was complaining more than the other. Starlight stepped aside, overpowered completely by the energy of the band.
“It’s like they like being mad at each other,” she said as she helped sweep up the crumbs left behind by their sandwiches from lunch.
Luna nodded. “I doubt team-building exercises will help. But I think they see each other’s value.”
“How so?”
“Take Tempest,” Luna pointed over her shoulder with her horn. “She clarified that they don’t hate each other. She doesn’t want those two being seen in the wrong way, even if the right way isn’t much better. Besides, how could she know they weren’t hateful unless she spent time with them?”
“Good point,” Starlight conceded. “Still, I can’t believe this is happening. We’re a real band. We can go on tours, perform skits, get a setlist!”
“A bit of Twilight rubbed off, didn’t it?” Luna smirked.
Starlight laughed. “Haha, I guess a good list can be exciting now and then. Do you have any ideas for what our photos should look like?”
Luna shrugged. “A few ideas. I’ll have to teleport around and see what better costumes we can get, though. Hopefully, I’ll have a look picked out before the photoshoot.”
From all the stories she had heard, there was only one place where Luna could expect to find the perfect look for the Nightmare Knights. Ponyville’s Carousel Boutique was as talked about as the town itself. With other establishments in two of the biggest cities in Equestria, the reputation of the name alone was almost tangible.
Of course, most ponies ignored the fact that Rarity was also an instructor at the School of Friendship. With school photos coming up tomorrow, the boutique was unsurprisingly overwhelmed with students.
Though this year still mostly had ponies attending the school, more creatures from outside Equestria had begun to join. A kirin and a few changelings dashed around the front of the store, swapping outfits with each other to try on. Two yak students seemed to have a harder time finding suits that could fit them.
Luna carefully shuffled her way through the boutique, trying to slip past wandering eyes, which wasn’t so hard since they seemed more concerned with their appearance than anything else. Finally, at the check-out teller, a familiar face came to Luna.
“Oh hey Princess,” a frazzled Sweetie Belle said. Strands of her mane were loose in many places. “What brings you here?”
“I could ask you the same,” Luna said. “Why aren’t you in class?”
“Miss Cheerilee had to go out of town for a family emergency,” she answered as she levitated a set of clothes onto an empty rack. Though they were only suits and pants, the young unicorn seemed to struggle to hold so many fabrics in place. The less rigid the material, the more it tended to sway around, and the harder it became to levitate.
Luna picked up the rest of the clothes and filled the racks for her. A few heads turned, and she thought for a moment that she had been noticed. But a group of young mares flocked only to the eye-catching glint of Rarity’s designs.
“It seems busy today,” Luna announced her observation.
Sweetie Belle nodded, not even hiding her exhaustion. “Since I don’t have class, I offered to help my sister get the students ready. She believes every creature should look their best in any picture.”
“She must feel blessed to have you for a sister,” Luna said.
“Well, I’m also a tutor at the School of Friendship, so I guess I would’ve helped anyway. But, is that why you’re here, did you want to help?”
“Eh, maybe once I figure out an outfit.” Luna couldn’t help but look away. As excited as she was to help her sister, Sweetie Belle looked spent. Her dreams had told Luna more than enough over the years. Fashion was, at best, a passing interest for her.
Luna scanned the boutique. “Actually, I was wondering where your sister is. I was thinking of asking her for some ideas. I want to get a costume together.”
“A costume?” Sweetie Belle’s voice squeaked up an octave. “It’s not Nightmare Night… so are you going on a masquerade ball? Or are you in a play? Or are you becoming a secret agent?”
“Wouldn’t I be unable to tell you if I was a secret agent?” Luna tilted her head.
Sweetie Belle pouted her lips. “I know, but I figured since we knew each other…”
“Alright, I’ll tell you,” Luna smiled. “Though I hope you won’t be disappointed, it’s hardly as exciting as being a secret agent. I simply started a band with a few friends, and I’m trying to find some outfits for our album cover.”
“A band!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, and it was almost audible in the chattering choir of children shopping. “And you’re taking band photos? You know, Photo Finish is coming to the school tomorrow to take all the students’ pictures. I bet if you asked her, she’d take the pictures for you.”
“Is that so?” Luna feigned ignorance. It was easier than coming up with a reason why she would know about Photo Finish. Thus far, Starlight had managed to keep her involvement relatively obscure. Luna intended to let that be the case until she was ready. Or until the secret could no longer be held.
“But, I’m guessing you’ll need to pick out a look before you think about that,” Sweetie Belle said. “Rarity’s teaching a class right now up in her workshop. All the students are supposed to be here for a field trip about fashion and friendship, but she can’t fit every creature upstairs so they’re taking the lessons in turns.”
“Ah, therein lies the rub,” Luna looked around again, understanding why so many students had decided to come shopping at the same time. “Well, I’m in a bit of a hurry, but teaching classes is critical. I suppose I can find some pony else-”
“Excuse me,” a hippogriff student interjected their conversation to ask Sweetie Belle a question. “Was this dress made by Coco Pommel?”
“Oh, not directly,” she answered, “but Rarity was inspired by her designs this season.”
Luna watched the young filly direct the student to a rack of skirts and dresses that could fit both her body type as a hippogriff and her interests.
“Whew,” Sweetie Belle felt relieved, “I don’t know if I can keep acting like I know what I’m doing. Rarity talked a lot about non-pony fashion, but I barely understand any of it. I mean, hippogriffs have pony-like bodies, can’t a dress just fit?”
Luna tapped her hoof on her chin. “Perhaps their transformations must be taken into consideration. But alas, it’s a topic for another day. This Coco Pommel, I believe I’ve heard of her. She is a fashion designer as well, yes?”
“Yep, Rarity says she’s one of the biggest names in Manehattan,” Sweetie Belle confirmed.
“Hm, should’ve gotten on the train with Poppin,” Luna muttered to herself before saying goodbye to Sweetie Belle. “I’d love to stay, but I don’t want to trouble you or your sister. I think I can teleport to Manehattan and find this Coco Pommel.”
“Okay, good luck with everything! I hope--no, Yona, please don’t stick horns through the hats!”
According to every pony she asked in Bridleway, including Rara and Poppin, Coco Pommel worked from home in Bronclyn. In terms of boroughs, it was one of the least developed due to a lack of funding in public works.
Yet, in Bronclyn, Coco Pommel had something of a local reputation. A notable hero of the Midsummer Theatre project, which revitalized the local park, she was not hard to find after asking a few ponies. It was a little disconcerting, the fact that she could ask around and Miss Pommel’s apartment could be given. But, Luna was all too aware that renown and privacy were often inversely related.
It was early evening by the time she knocked on Miss Pommel’s door. Early for Luna’s liking, but she wondered if it was already too late for a working mare like her.
It did not seem the case when she answered. “Oh my!” Coco stuttered back a step. “Well, you’re quite the surprise this evening, Luna.”
“Apologies, I was not sure if you were open to visitors, but your neighbourhood has been very forthcoming about how I might find you. I would recommend installing a security system when you have the chance.”
“Well, it is you,” she giggled. “I doubt they would’ve said anything to a total stranger. Bronclyn has grown into a pretty close-knit community again. Every pony knows who to trust around here.”
“A good thing to have,” Luna said. “Would I be imposing if I asked to come in? I was hoping to ask about some costume designs.”
Coco Pommel cheerfully obliged, offering to set out a plate of cheese with some wine. Tonight was a small celebration of sorts, Coco had finished sketching out the designs for the next fashion season.
“Already?” Luna’s jaw hung open. “I heard you had just finished your winter season.”
“That’s the pace of fashion,” Coco said. “Everything’s getting faster now too. The different seasons in other places like Yakyakistan and the Dragon Lands means traditional seasons don’t really mean much. Yaks need a second winter fashion line when Equestria transitions into spring, for example.”
“Then, I hope it’s not too much for you if I ask this,” Luna hesitated.
As they shared stories over cheese and wine, Luna took her time explaining how the Nightmare Knights were about to launch their first album. The visible pain in Coco’s face, when she said that their first outfits were just black cloaks with facepaint, made it apparent that the band needed a unique appearance.
But, it didn’t seem like an easy thing to ask for. New non-pony fashion was not the only concern for Coco. With more creatures in Equestria, there were more stores popping up on the streets of every major city.
Supplying the demand was fine, but Equestria’s traditional designers were simply unprepared to meet the varied and numerous needs of the world. That left room for stores to fill up the market, taking and adopting ideas from other designers to produce similar, but also different enough, clothes for all kinds of creatures.
“It’s not that we don’t want to make clothes for non-ponies,” Coco said while pouring her second glass of red wine. “But to meet all these new demands, it’s just too much. There’s a saying in the business: good, cheap, and fast, I can only do two.”
Luna thought back to Rarity’s boutique. How many of those students could actually find something that fit them? Was the happiness of a dragon when she found the one dress to fit her the same as the comfort a pony felt, knowing she could have her pick of anything at a store?
The apartment was cosy but stuffed. Coco Pommel had bolts of cloth for personal use stacked up around the living room, and a bookshelf of worn notebooks held on to her past ideas. Fluffy pillows made the workspace feel like a home, but there was a limit to the space as well. How much can she watch happen before she stepped in? Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, what had she done to make permanent change to the conflicts she witnessed? She wanted to change just as Equestria was changing, but was she moving along with it? Or were the Nightmare Knights merely an incidental occurrence?
“Then allow me to remove one of those constraints,” Luna said. “Good and fast are enough. My savings are substantial, and I can be very generous with it.”
Coco almost jumped back at the offer. “N-no! It’s not like that at all, I’m the kind of pony to charge high fees just because of the work. I’ll look at your request, of course, just give me a few days.”
Luna cracked a smile. “Perhaps I should brush up on my communication. I wasn’t suggesting I simply pay you more. I am no longer a princess, but there are things I can still do. If I contracted you as the Nightmare Knight’s exclusive designer, I could purchase a workshop and warehouse here in Manehattan for you to expand your designs. You could even bring your own interns, if you have them.”
“A warehouse?” Coco Pommel petrified her face with shock. The proposal came from nowhere and it was more than she could ever imagine having. A warehouse meant more storage for designs, it meant getting staff to handle the labour of storage and transport.
“I-I appreciate it, Luna, but I’m not like Rarity,” she sputtered, “I don’t know if I can make such a huge change to my workstyle.”
Luna shrugged. “I cannot force you to transition immediately. I only ask that you help me create an image for the Knights. Everything else is up to how you want to do it.”
Coco Pommel fiddled a piece of cheese with a toothpick absent-mindedly. “Well, I have been thinking about getting a shipment of Yakyakistan fabrics. And underwater silk from Mount Aris. Oh! And discarded dragon scales!”
“Naturally,” Luna said. “But, uh, before all that…”
Coco refocused on a sheet of folded paper Luna produced from her small travelling pouch. It was a loose sketch of the Nightmare Knights, shackled behind chains as they posed together in front of a large, omnipresent moon.
“I might make some recommendations,” Coco said, both amazed and bewildered to see what Luna envisioned her band to be like. “But, if you want to make fans love all the darkness of the night… I can’t think of a better theme than this.”
Luna raised her head up with confidence. “We’re taking the photos tomorrow morning. Is that enough time?”
“What?” Shock coursed through Coco’s nerves and she crumpled the corner of the paper reflexively. “Luna, of course that’s not enough time! What are you thinking?”
“I, Photo Finish, will be taking your picture soon!”
The Castle of Friendship was alive with the makeup and lighting crew. Backlights illuminated a black tarp behind the Knights. The thin fabric was just enough for a powerful lamp behind them to leak through, producing the illusion of a distant moon.
“Not enough atmosphere!” Photo Finish cried out to her crew. Fog machines placed on high stools reproduced clouds behind the band, further producing the illusion of a moonlit cloudy night.
From the sidelines, Coco Pommel had her coffee close and her sewing machine closer. Luna gave her a few extra hours by teleporting them back to Ponyville and purchased any extra fabric they needed from Rarity. The bloodshot eyes glaring out from her tired sockets told a story of a long night of rapid and stressful revisions and sewing.
Why was she this invested? She thought. It was like being in design school again where there were projects every week but she never started them until the day before. I’m not young enough for this, she told herself. Wait, does that make me too old? No, that can’t be right.
After a few test pictures and light adjustments, Lightning Dust came up to Coco with her outfit. “Photo Finish says the hood is too big on my head and she can’t see my eyes.”
“Your eyes?” she commented.
“Apparently her team has some contact lenses that make a cool effect in the photo, so she wants the eyes to be seen."
She took a pair of scissors to the outfit, removing the excess fabric and then quicking sewing the hood shut again. She took a thin piece of cardboard and cut it to the shape of the tip of the hood and fit it into the cloth, holding the new hood in place.
“There, trimmed down and held up. Your eyes should be in view now.”
And it went on like that for maybe thirty minutes. Photo Finish added and removed props, shifted the band around to have more or less of Luna in view. She was always in the centre of the picture, but the questions were whether to make her presence obvious to obscured in the back as a looming figure.
“We have to start setting up at the school in fifteen minutes or so,” Starlight reminded her.
The day to come would be busy, Coco understood. Night or day, it seemed that building up Luna’s band was hard work either way.
“And after that, we flew into a pirate airship!” Celestia was glowing from the excitement of her stories abroad.
With the album and photography done, Luna simply had to wait for the CD’s to be produced and sold. It was a little unnerving to have a stage of her new life be so out of sight, but she supposed that was part of being a normal pony. As a guardian of dreams, nothing escaped her sight. Every fear and anxiety could be confronted. In some ways, knowing the dangers that lied ahead was easier to handle than all the waiting that she had to do in the waking world.
“The pirates that Twilight met on her journey?”
Celestia waved her hoof. “No, no, these were savage, bloodthirsty pirates. Oh! Fighting them off was so fun!”
“Sister, of all the threats in the world, those that are of real danger to us number less than ten. I doubt those pirates were a challenge.”
Celestria looked away. “Well, sometimes you just need to stretch your legs a little.”
Their stroll on the outskirts of Silver Shoals brought them to the scenic docks where traditional sailboats could be rented out for excursions into the sea. But both sisters were looking for something else. They may have been as similar as night and day, but they both could not deny the allure of delicious crepes at a seaside cafe.
“The Nightmare Knights have done very well,” Luna said as they took their seat. “Yesterday we-”
“Oh hold on,” Celestia rested a hoof on Luna’s shoulder to pause her, “I want to hear all about it, but there’s one more thing that happened with the pirates. While we were just about to drive them off our airship, one of the remnants of the Storm King’s fleet found us. The pirates actually dropped our skirmish and started going after the other ship. Can you believe that? They must’ve hated him.”
“Uh-huh,” Luna nodded.
“And the craziest thing is that the ponies on my ship wanted to help the pirates!”
“Now that’s surprising.” Luna turned the menu on its back and spotted a sea-themed crepe, a savoury cheese blend with capers and seaweed for flavour.
Once Celestia had finished regaling her recent adventures to Luna, they took a short pause to place their orders and drink some iced tea.
“It is nice to relax again,” Luna leaned back into her chair. “Your adventures sound truly daring, sister, but with this view, I feel as if Equestria has given me my own kind of adventure.”
The air blowing in from the sea was cold against the warm sun. When she thought of the sea, she still imagined smelling the salt and feeling the cool spray of the water. But really there weren’t any specific sensations. The sea just felt refreshing.
“So, you mentioned an album,” Celestia made a snarky face at Luna. “I can’t believe my little sister’s going to be a music star. Based on Sapphire Shores’ approval ratings, I’d say this career’s a step up from being a princess.”
“Oh yeah? Why don’t you put yourself out there and direct your own plays? I know you’ve always wanted to.”
Celestia sputtered a laugh. “Maybe in a year or two. We’re not really short on time or anything. Which reminds me. Once your album’s done, what’s next for my dear sister?”
“We’ll probably go on tour, teleportation is really a wonderful tool for this day and age. I’m sure there will be time enough for Starlight and Tempest between their work and the band. After that, we’ll probably start on the next album.”
“That’s quite some time,” Celestia said. “Band tours can last months, you know. Isn’t there something else you want to do during that time?”
“I’ll probably find something interesting while I’m travelling,” Luna replied, “but right now I’m having a lot of fun. What are you going to do?”
Celestia looked off toward the shore. “Well… I was thinking I’d settle down and enjoy Silver Shoals for a while, at least until you were done with your band business. Then we could do something together.”
Luna cracked a smile. “Oh, Celestia, I’m busy but you don’t have to wait. I can always make time for days like this.”
“I don’t mean like ‘this,’ Luna,” Celestia said back, not realizing how much of a whine her voice sounded like. “You and I ruled Equestria, but we never really did it together. We took up different roles, but we didn’t work on it as a team. I was kind of hoping we could do something like that, once you were done with the Nightmare Knights.”
“What?” Luna scrunched up her face. “Wha-- I-- Now you want to do something together? Where was this five months ago when you were travelling outside of Equestria?”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Celestia leaned in with a sparkle of hope in her eyes. “But now I’m here, and we can do anything together. Oh! You know what, that playwright idea was great. We could work together, me writing the scripts and you directing them. With all the nightmare’s you’ve seen, you should have an eye for drama.”
“Sounds great,” Luna furrowed her brows, “But you don’t have to wait for me, you know. Being a director is a full-time commitment. I don’t know if I’d be a good director if I’m distracted with the Knights.”
“Starlight has a job and she’s in your band,” Celestia said. “From how it sounds in Twilight’s letters, the School of Friendship hasn’t noticed her divided responsibilities.”
“True, and I’m still occupied with guarding half of the dreams in Equestria. I can’t take on the responsibility of a third commitment for you, sister.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” Celestia assured her, waving Luna’s concerns away. “It wouldn’t be the same without you, and I’m sure I can wait a year or two.”
“Wait for what?” Luna’s voice grew increasingly irritated. “A year or two from now I’ll probably still be with the band. This isn’t some tryst with adventure beyond Equestria’s borders. I remember spending a day in your horseshoes. You’re always switching from one task to another. You might be retired, but you’re still going from one adventure to the next like they’re tasks on your to-do list.”
“Is that so wrong?”
Luna placed her hoof firmly on the table. “Not for you. But I like to take my time with things. Normal ponies can spend their whole lives making music. I want to at least say I put in the full effort.”
Before Celestia could rebut Luna, the cafe manager came out to interrupt them. “Apologies, princesses, but there’s some pony at the front desk asking if they could sit with you. She says she has a message for Princess Luna.”
“It’s just Luna,” she corrected him flatly. “And yes, that will be fine.”
Celestia spotted a sharply-dressed mare with her blonde mane done up in a bun. “Who’s this?” she asked.
“Poppin Mix,” Luna answered. “She’s helping me manage the business side of the band. We might’ve been rulers, but government work is a little different from the private sector.”
Luna smiled and greeted Poppin with a rare smile. She pulled up a seat and sat between the two sisters. The satchel at her waist was filled with papers.
“So sorry to bother you both, but I was just too excited.” She produced a packaged CD from her satchel and gave it to Luna, along with an opened letter. “The first batch of CDs just got through the production line. I contacted some folks who are trying to get into the concert organizing business, and as soon as I played your album for them they were hooked. They've already sold about 500 tickets, but one of their performers is sick so they need a replacement.”
Luna’s mood was uplifted instantly. “Are you serious? I can’t believe it… I must tell the other Knights!” She turned to Celestia, completely driving out their ongoing conversation. “This is absolutely wonderful, sister! You have to come when we perform. This is going to be awesome!”
“Heh, yeah,” Celestia smiled. She had never known Luna to be some pony to cheer out “awesome.” Nor did she realize how important this band was to her. It was enlightening to see her sister so happy, but Celestia simply wondered when she had grown so distant from her sister once again.
Manehattan was the city that never slept, but Ponyville was the town that always smiled. Anywhere Lightning Dust flew, she saw ponies playing in the park, playing in the street, or passing casual conversations about their day as they went shopping. Every pony seemed to have what they wanted.
Every creature, Lightning Dust corrected herself. It was still a bit weird to her. Tempest seemed fine with it, but she spent the latter half of her childhood outside Equestria and already said “anyone” or “everyone” when non-ponies were around. Honestly, it was kind of annoying.
She was supposed to be an ex-villain, a former invader of Equestria. How in the world was she so used to being around different creatures? Dragons and yaks and hippogriffs were all fine creatures. Even Changelings had proven they were good. It just took time to get used to, that was all.
As she started on her last lap around Ponyville’s skies, Lightning Dust flew over the main marketplace in town. It was near the spa, and a lot of the students from the School of Friendship spent their afternoons and weekends in the area just to hang out. This new school year had a lot of big changes, or so she heard from Starlight.
Apparently, more creatures were hearing about the young heroes from the schools, the student who were non-ponies but helped save Equestria. Two yaks walked out of the spa, their hair was done up in traditional yak braids but with pony-made hair dyes. Dragons played rough through the street, with some unicorn students putting a barrier around them to keep the action away from fruit stalls.
Everyone had the life they wanted. Except for her. Being the best competitive flier took more effort than anything else. Perfect form, perfect conditioning, perfect health, they all needed to be managed to have a shot at the Equestria Games. Lightning Dust came to a cloud ring she set up to mark her course and made a hard turn. She fought the force of lift acting on her wings, keeping delicate control as she flapped harder to pick up speed.
Most fliers slowed down on the turn, but that added seconds of time by the end of the race. She had to keep her speed up until the very last moment. The very last inch of space before the turn would come, and then she would turn. And then. And then...
And then Lightning’s wing cramped up, her back muscles felt like they were on fire and refused to listen. Suddenly all her forced turned against her and she went from flying to gliding, and then eventually to ungraceful falling. She only managed to angle herself towards a lake outside of Ponyville before she splashed down to the surface.
“Pfbleh!” she spat as she swam back to shore. She could tell her wing was too sore from the cramp to continue flying, but rather than take it as a sign that she needed rest, Lightning Dust only got madder.
“Stupid turn, I almost had it too.” She mumbled her way into some reclining seats by the lake and lied down. She wanted to get back up in the sky as soon as possible, but that meant having to sit still and let her wing recover.
She was so tired, she barely noticed the rustling in the bushes behind her.
“Woah! That was some crash--”
Lightning’s ears stuck up at a familiar voice. A young filly’s voice. She jumped out of her seat and stood on guard immediately, turning to face the source.
Scootaloo stood, her jaw hanging open and her brows upturned in a worried curve. “L-Lightning Dust? W-what are you doing in Ponyville?”
Seeing her face, Lightning Dust relaxed. “Nothing kid, just doing some flight practice, that’s all. What are you doing out here?”
“Oh, um,” Scootaloo hesitated, “I was just testing out some new wheels on my scooter.” She waved it around. The wooden base and handle were worn down, but the wheels were brand-new with off-road treading.
“That’s pretty cool,” Lightning said as she stretched out her wing.
“Really, you think so?” Her tail started flicking with excitement. But Lightning recognized a second look flash across her face. “Um… you’re not going to ask me to fly on a rocket again, are you? I still think your stunts are cool, but, I know you don’t care about safety, so I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”
“What?” Lightning’s face scrunched up.
“Rainbow Dash said you’re really desperate right now,” she explained, “so she told me not to go near you, in case you tried anything dangerous.”
“How responsible of her.” Lightning Dust muttered through gritted teeth. “What makes her think I’m desperate?”
Scootaloo looked around at the dirt. “Well, she said you were homeless for a while, you had to accept help and stay in your rival’s house, and that you have anger issues. Also, she didn’t say to me, but when we were hanging out at the Apple family farm I also heard her telling AJ she thinks you’re just mad you haven’t had sex in a while.”
“Se-” Lightning Dust recoiled. “I take back everything I said about Dash being responsible! Why is she talking about stuff like that around a kid your age?”
Scootaloo raised her brow. “I don’t get it. Isn’t it just something adult do when they’re married?”
“Well,” Lightning Dust looked away, “they don’t have to be married. But that doesn’t matter, you shouldn’t be hearing adults talk about that stuff.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Scootaloo frowned, “I mean, I know foals have to come from somewhere. Just because I’m a kid--”
Lightning Dust stood up. “I can’t believe this is where I’m at in my life. I’m not talking about this with you.”
She started trotting back to town along a hiking trail. Just because her wing was overworked didn’t mean she couldn’t work on her cardio. Trailing close behind her, Scootaloo followed on her scooter. Lightning tried keeping her pace faster than the filly, but her wing beats pushed her surprisingly fast.
“So, why would not having sex make you upset?” Scootaloo asked her once they passed through a copse of orange-leafed trees.
“Can you stop saying se--” Lightning Dust caught herself. It was just too awkward talking about it to a kid. “Look, if you’re gonna ask, just say ‘doing it’ instead, okay?”
“Okay…” Scootaloo stared at Lightning for a second, trying to guess what was going on in her head. If you just called it something else, what did that change? But, since it made her feel better, she listened. “Why would not ‘doing it’ upset you?”
“First of all, that’s none of Dash’s business,” Lightning sped up her pace. “Second of all, that’s just what Dash thinks. I’m only mad because she got in my way and ruined my career!”
They passed out of the trees where the edge of Ponyville could be seen not too far away. Lightning realized she was running harder than she wanted, and talking messed up her breathing rhythm. A breeze sweeping up the autumn leaves felt cool against her coat, and before she knew it, she was sitting down at the top of a short grassy hill.
“Rainbow Dash was just protecting her friends.” Scootaloo parked her scooter and sat down next to Lightning Dust. “After you left, she told me the whole story about what happened at the academy. I don’t think she did anything wrong. Wouldn’t you try to save one of the Washouts if their stunt went wrong?”
“Well, of course, but--” Lightning realized it was hard to pinpoint the words to say how she felt. “It’s… that’s… that’s not the problem. Okay, fine! I know I made a mistake. Happy? I said it. She was the hero and I messed up. But I didn’t even get a second chance. We were wing-ponies, she could’ve stuck up for me when the Wonderbolts kicked me out. But she didn’t even give me a chance to prove myself.”
“And that’s what you’re still angry about?”
Lightning Dust crossed her hooves. “No. That’s what taught me that you can’t count on any pony else. The best thing to do is to go it alone.”
“But the Washouts-”
“Oh, Dash didn’t mention it?” Lightning snapped. “I had to crash at her place because I washed out of the Washouts. That rocket stunt gave us a bad name, wherever we went. So they kicked me out and told every pony they were ‘under new management.’”
“No, Rainbow Dash didn’t tell me any of that. I’m sorry that happened to you.”
Lightning Dust hung her head. “Great, now the kid I strapped to a rocket is feeling sorry for me.”
“I do have one question, though,” Scootaloo said. “If every pony you knew left you behind, then aren’t you the common factor?”
“What are you trying to say?” Lightning snarled.
“Well, I think if you stopped blaming other ponies, the only pony you left to hate is yourself. I used to kind of be like that. I used to think my wings would eventually grow, like other pegasi. And when they didn’t, the only pony I thought I could blame was myself.”
There was nothing but honesty in those words. The kind of close-to-the-heart truth that you couldn’t ignore, because that pony’s entire being was laid bare. Lightning Dust, for once, didn’t have something she wanted to say back. She only wanted to listen.
“My friends supported me every time I tried flying, so I thought I was letting them down when I couldn’t. One time, we were trying out for the opening ceremony to represent Ponyville at the Equestria Games. I wanted to quit since I couldn’t fly, and when my friends let me, I started to get mad. I wanted to blame them for expecting me to do something I couldn’t.”
Scootaloo looked right into Lightning’s eyes. “That’s what you’re mad about, right? Whatever the problem, it has to be at some pony else’s fault. Well, for me, it passed pretty quickly. Once they came back for me, I knew the only pony with expectations for me was myself.”
She pawed at the dirt in the grass, drawing out the Wonderbolt symbol. “It’s good to have expectations, but you can’t let those dreams ruin your friendships when you trip a little on the way. Sure, maybe Rainbow Dash could’ve helped you. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but even she’s not perfect. But, you were the one who put her friends in danger. Like me. The Washouts wouldn’t have kicked you out if it wasn’t for what you did.”
The image replayed in Lightning’s head, this time from Scootaloo’s perspective. Damn, that rocket was pretty big. Lightning Dust counted the houses on one of the Ponyville streets. How many houses long was that jump? Not only could that rocket have ruined Scootaloo’s life, but just being on it must’ve been terrifying.
“Hey, you know I’m sorry for that, right?” She told Scootaloo. “I shouldn’t have let you do that. I think…” she drew in a deep breath, “I think I started putting all my insecurities on Dash again. Proving I could do what she thought was too dangerous was just my way of pushing away those feelings. I’m sorry you had to get caught up in that.”
“Aw, it’s no biggie,” Scootaloo said. “It was a cool stunt, though the multi-stage rocket was a bit overkill.”
Lightning Dust chuckled. “Yeah. Hey, you know what? Starlight was right, you’re pretty good at this stuff. No wonder you’re a tutor at that school of hers.”
As the sun peaked and the morning workout was officially over, Lightning Dust felt a moment of change fall upon her as the day shifted into its later half. The sign came in the form of Scootaloo’s wonder-filled pupils.
“You know Headmare Starlight?”
Even if she understood what was about to happen, it could not have been stopped. Lightning Dust’s mouth worked as if on autopilot.
“Of course, we’re in Luna’s band together.”
Scootaloo, as if witnessing Lightning Dust crash for a second time, went slack-jawed. “As in the Nightmare Knights? Headmare Starlight’s one of Luna’s Knights?”
“You mean you didn’t know?” Lightning Dust tilted her head, getting a feeling as if she was missing out on something. “She’s the lead guitarist, she was right next to Luna when we performed in Canterlot.”
“What?” Scootaloo jumped off the hill and snatched up her scooter. “I have to tell some pony. That’s just too awesome. I have to tell… who should I tell?” A moment of hesitation passed before she gasped and jumped right into Lightning’s face.
Scootaloo hopped about with a dumb grin. “I think I have to tell every pony.”
And then she rode off, the temperate autumn sun warming her as she blew through the nippy breeze. Lightning Dust stood and watched, though she was otherwise disoriented and confused. Why would Starlight not tell any of her… Lightning’s ears drooped as she finally remembered why it was like a well-kept secret.
The concert area was an empty lot in the suburbs just outside of Fillydelphia. The town ponies kept the land undeveloped for fairs and flea markets, so the dirt had already been padded down and worn. At one end the stage was nearly assembled, with a number of goat assistants assembling the last of the lightning equipment.
“This… doesn’t look like a good idea.”
Luna raised a brow at Starlight. “Come on, he can’t be that bad.”
“Can’t believe Poppin actually booked you with this guy.” Lightning Dust agreed. “He’s pretty bad news.”
Luna turned and made a face. “You’ve met him?”
“Yep, and now I have some questions for that mare.”
“Poppin’s still on the train from Manehattan.”
“Should’ve let me teleport her,” Starlight said.
“We have time to wait. By the way,” Luna looked to Lightning Dust, “what happened to you with this guy?”
“Tried to sell the Washouts used flamethrowers,” she replied, “almost bought them too until we read the fine print. Apparently they were used and broken.”
“Yikes.”
“Twilight said he’s pretty shady,” Starlight nodded. “His business always seems legit, but you gotta read between the lines.”
“I’ve never even heard of this guy before,” Svengallop shook the dirt from his hooves as he walked on the flattened dirt area in front of the stage. “I don’t like the idea of working with a nobody.”
“Well, we all have to start somewhere,” Luna said.
Tempest looked back to the entrance. Beyond the chain-link fences were tiny portable outhouses, barely large enough for one pony. “Yeah, but could we start somewhere… else? Literally anywhere else.”
Standing before them, a towering minotaur stared with a confused look on his face. “Are--are you talking about Iron Will, right in front of him?” He had a microphone and checklist with the names of a few other performers for the evening.
Lightning Dust sneered at him. “You want us to talk behind your back? ‘Cause I’ll do it. I don’t need a reason, and Svengallop loves to gossip.”
“Gaw, wha--me?” He gasped disingenuously. “No, I would never.”
“Look, Princess,” he got down from the stage to meet Luna head-on, “Iron Will knows there have been many complaints about his services in the past. But, Iron Will would also like to mention that they have been nothing but legitimate. If you read the terms of service for this concert and don’t like it, you are free to leave.”
“See?” Luna turned to her band. “This is perfectly fine, there’s nothing to--oh my gosh! How long is this?”
The terms of service were ten pages long, densely packed with sections and subsections of highly specific and convoluted definitions. There was a whole section simply defining what an “audience member” and “performer” was.
“This has to be some kind of scam, I can’t read through all this!” Luna shoved the papers back to Iron Will. But before he could explain himself, Tempest stepped forward and took the document back from his hands.
“Actually, this is pretty normal for a terms of service agreement,” she said, flipping through the pages. The rest of the Knights took a closer look for themselves and agreed.
“Luna,” Lightning Dust snickered, “have you really never seen one of these before?”
“So what if I haven’t?” Luna’s face flushed red with embarrassment. “In any case, if that’s the normal length, then I suppose I will have to read it.”
“Normally I just ignore these,” Tempest said, “but it sounds like you should probably take your time with this one.”
“Let’s see what we have here,” Luna sighed. “Page one. For the purposes of these terms of service, ‘User’ shall mean you as an individual or the entity you are representing which is accepting these terms of service. “Services” shall mean…”
“...Article Sixteen. Failure to comply to the terms set by this agreement shall render the user liable to termination with Iron Will’s Events and Hosting Co. and--” Luna shut the pile of papers as soon as she scanned the rest of the page. “That’s it, I’ve had enough.”
Svengallop stuck his hoof out at Tempest. “Told you,” he said dryly, sticking out his hoof.
Tempest fished two bits from her travelling bag and tossed them over. “I can’t believe you actually read it all, Luna.”
“Well, you all were scaring me with your stories about Iron Will!”
Luna got out of her seat and paced around the trailer car they had been given. Three other performers were parked next to them, each trailer provided as compliments from Iron Will. Despite their warnings, there didn’t seem to be any of the dangerous fine print that the Knights were worried about.
“Poppin trusts him,” Luna said, “and that’s enough for me. The ticket sales have gone up since two weeks ago, hitting almost a thousand ponies.”
“I still say we keep an eye on him,” Starlight said, skimming through a few pages of the terms, “but he does seem legit. Some pony almost always gets a bad deal when they work with Iron Will, but whoever that is, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be us.”
“So he might screw some pony else over?” Svengallop asked to clarify. “Is it bad that I’m very much okay with that?”
Lightning Dust shrugged. “I’m pretty sure it should be, but honestly, I don’t mind.”
“I’ll give this over to Iron Will and let him know we’re agreed,” Luna said. Just as she was about to leave the trailer, however, a knock came at the door. She opened, expecting Iron Will to be impatiently waiting for her response.
But there in front of her stood six kids from Starlight’s school.
“Hey, hey!” Smolder barged in. “Headmare Starlight, is that you?”
“Smolder!” Starlight jumped and fell back in her seat. “I-I’m just here supporting my friends! What are you doing here?”
Silverstream pushed her way in behind Smolder. “We just heard the craziest rumour from Scootaloo during her tutoring session!”
Smolder shimmied up to Starlight and flashed a smug grin. “You wouldn’t happen to be part of the Nightmare Knights, would you?”
Starlight whipped her head around, looking for help from the other Knights. Sweat suddenly began beading on her forehead. “Pfft, no. That’s crazy, where would I find the time for that? Luna’s just a friend, and I’m helping her out by showing my support for her creative endeavour.”
“More importantly,” Tempest interrupted, “how did a bunch of kids manage to track us down all the way from Ponyville?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Silverstream pointed to Ocellus, who was waiting by the door outside the trailer with the others. “She turned into a bugbear and we all hitched a ride.”
Gallus stuck his head in. “And finding you wasn’t hard, either.” All the kids flashed tickets to the concert. “Luna’s name is listed.”
“Okay, I get that you’re all fans, but seriously, why would Scootaloo think I’m part of a band? I’m pretty sure she was just joking.’”
Altogether the six students pointed to Lightning Dust. “Scootaloo said she heard it from her,” they revealed in unison.
An air of silence fell on the trailer as Starlight’s head slowly turned around towards Lightning Dust. The rest of the Knights decided it was best to leave the two of them to sort out whatever was to come. Luna neatly stacked up the terms of service as Tempest and Svengallop stood next to her.
“Hehe, good luck with all of… this,” Svengallop waved at Lightning Dust as they teleported to safety.
“What do you mean you didn’t know?”
“I just didn’t know!”
“How could you not know?”
The six young students stood watching their Headmare arguing back and forth with her bandmate. The two were at each other’s throats, each blaming the other. Lightning claimed Starlight’s secret was never officially stated to be a secret the whole band had to keep. Starlight claimed Lightning should have had the sense to realize that it was.
Standing furthest back was Yona, looking more uncertain than the rest. Smolder and the others, once they had heard about Starlight’s involvement, gathered up what bits they could and bought tickets to see if it was true. But, sure if Starlight wanted to be found, she would have told her students.
Yona was not sure if this was the best way of discovering the truth.
“Just admit it, Headmare Starlight’s just too good for the rest of us. That’s why you don’t want ponies to find out you’re involved. You’re ashamed of us.”
Starlight gawked, her head darting around as if looking for words to say. “I have never claimed to be better than any pony or creature.”
Lightning’s wings stuck out in frustration. Even if Starlight never said she was better, she lived as if she was. Her second chances, her privileges, not every pony had those. What she was afraid of losing were things other ponies, other villains, did not have.
“But you get treated like it. I made a mistake and I still can’t rejoin the Wonderbolts. But you nearly destroyed the world for revenge, and Princess Twilight ended up giving you a job. You don’t want to be seen with us because you think if ponies found out you’re part of the Knights, they’d think you’re back to where you started, is that it?”
“If you can actually say that, then you don’t understand what I’m dealing with at all,” Starlight snapped.
“You’re right, I don’t. I would never hide something I like to do. And even after both my teams left me behind, I still wouldn’t betray my friends.”
Starlight turned away. She couldn’t believe Lightning Dust was making it look like her fault! Being in a band, that was fine, but she didn’t want her interests to affect her students. If her students saw her on tour with a band, they’d think she wasn’t devoting her time to the school. And then Twilight would hear about it, maybe even question if she was really right for the job!
And of course there was Sunburst. Who could know what kind of stress would be put on him if he thought he had to pick up for her slack?
“Yona told friends this was a bad idea!” The young yak’s voice and stomping hooves shook the trailer. “Friends should not try to expose Headmare Starlight’s secrets.”
“Yeah, but doesn’t Applejack teach us that honesty is what keeps away trouble?” Gallus said. He looked at Starlight. “We weren’t trying to bother you, we just wanted to know the truth.”
She looked at them all. Lightning Dust was, if nothing else, prideful. What ponies thought of her meant very little. But these six young students were everything that the School of Friendship stood for. What they thought was what Starlight cared about the most.
“Gallus, I know you only had good intentions,” she replied to him, “but lying and keeping secrets aren’t always the same. Sometimes, it just means that there are things other creatures don’t need to know about. I really like being in a band, but this kind of music, it’s not something I can separate from my past. I’ll talk to Scootaloo when I get back to Ponyville, but can you six promise me you won’t tell any creature?”
They traded guilty looks at each other. Certainly, none of them wanted to upset Starlight, or get her into a fight with her band. They were simply excited.
“Headmare Starlight,” Sandbar raised his hoof, “I promise we won’t tell any creature, but, why do you want to keep it a secret anyway? Like you said, you’re having fun. And band members are like friends, right? Don’t you want Equestria to see how cool you guys are?”
She gave those words a thought. A band was like friends? They were a little dysfunctional, but she supposed that was true.
“It’s just about keeping my personal and professional lives apart,” Starlight answered, though she herself wasn’t satisfied with how that sounded.
She definitely didn’t need to go around telling everyone she was in a band, but was hiding her involvement necessary? Luna obliged her wishes and kept her name out of any documents regarding the band, so not even Twilight knew about her involvement when they performed in Canterlot.
But now that some of her students knew the truth, what message did it send? That sometimes it’s alright not to stand with your friends? Music was supposed to be more than just business, but she wasn’t treating it as anything else.
“I guess that’s fair,” Smolder nodded, stepping to leave the trailer. “I, uh, guess we’ll see you after the concert, then.”
Starlight snapped out of her own head. “Wait, you’re actually staying to watch us?”
“Heck yeah! It’s Princess Luna, who wouldn’t want to see that?”
They filed out and shut the door behind them, leaving Starlight to come to terms with Lightning Dust. Maybe, she was right. Starlight wanted to keep her lives separate, but she didn’t want the rest of the band to think she wasn’t as invested.
“Lightning Dust, I--”
“Save it,” she got up and stretched. “You wanna talk? Find me when I’m not pissed off.”
“Iron Will assures he has learned his lesson. No funny business.”
Once he had taken the paperwork, Luna began walking through the setlist with his assistants and giving them instructions for the sound and lighting. Normally, the rehearsals and equipment checks would be done in advance, but being replacements for a performer left them short on time.
Iron Will watched with a smile as the Knights worked with his crew.
Luna was surprised at how skilled the goats were. In the two weeks leading up to the concert, the band had focused their time into preparing their performance. Placement, movement, and presentation were planned out and re-planned. But in a few short hours, the goats learned it all. Of course, with such short notice, they had to keep things simple.
And being their first concert with more than one song to play, Luna was thankful for the simplicity.
Tempest and Starlight talked with two goats as they ran through their movements across the stage. They wanted to cross the stage and switch places throughout the performance to keep the audience tracking them. For that, they needed the cords on their guitars untangled at all times.
Further back, even Svengallop seemed satisfied as the goats got him everything he asked of them, from carrot shakes to a better chair to sit on while he tested his keyboard. He was not all fun and games, though. As the band’s sound expert, he checked the speakers and ran through the sound sequence with the goat in charge of audio.
Luna took a look at the stage and swivelled her head around to Iron Will. “You could have asked for any band as a replacement, why mine?”
“Huh?” Iron Will looked at Luna, a little confused.
“Sorry, perhaps I should rephrase. What do the Nightmare Knights bring to your concert, beyond marketing with my name.”
“Oh, haha!” Iron Will laughed nervously. “Do not worry, Princess Luna. Iron Will knows music is more than just good marketing! Iron Will’s Assertiveness Training Program had a lot of music to express its goals and message. Music is about expression, right?”
“Alright, I believe you, but that doesn’t answer my question. Why us?” Luna asked. “Also, just call me Luna.”
Iron Will laughed again. “Well, ah, it’s embarrassing. Iron Will heard your album and felt what you were trying to say. You see, Princess--ah, Luna--you might be surprised to know that Iron Will doesn’t have… the best reputation.”
“So my band tells me. Go on.”
“Well, Iron Will knows that the one called Tempest was part of the Storm King’s army. You were once Nightmare Moon. And your drummer, well, Iron Will read that the Washouts lost a member recently.”
“Well, not too recent,” Luna said. “It was, what, half a year ago? A year maybe? Actually, I’m not too sure myself.”
“Iron Will saw their show in August, so a few months at least,” he nodded. “But we’re getting ourselves off track. Iron Will knows the Nightmare Knights are about acceptance, accepting our flaws. And Iron Will plans to remake his image so that all ponies will stop questioning the validity of his business practices!”
“Well,” Luna stared oddly at how he was posing. Minotaurs were large, and it was almost as if he couldn’t stop himself from flexing around. It was almost disturbing. “That’s certainly one way to interpret our music. Though I guess expecting anything less materialistic from you was too much.”
Iron Will shrugged. “What can Iron Will say? He is a creature of business. And habit. A lot of habits, actually. How old were you when you stopped sucking your thumb?”
Luna looked down at her hooves. “Uh… zero years old?”
“Wow,” he gawked. “That’s amazing.”
The concert was set to start just after sunset. That left the evening lit by the fading sun, but dark enough for the stage lights to show their full power.
Celestia and Twilight made their way through the thickening crowd. Most of the guests were ponies, but Fillydelphia had a growing population of dragons and hippogriffs, being closer to Equestria’s southern border. Quite a few of them showed themselves that evening, the dragons even offering light and warmth on that cool night with low fires in their mouths.
Even this late, there was enough light in the sky to clearly see the two alicorns’ faces. But they hid under hooded cloaks, intent on watching the concert unharassed by overeager ponies.
“I wish I could’ve had time to talk to Luna,” Twilight said. “After Canterlot, I had so many questions about her band. I almost gave the prize to the Nightmare Knights after that, but Rara and Sapphire Shores overruled me. Haha!”
“I’m sure Luna prefers it that way,” Celestia replied. “She seems intent on her own success, free from her reputation as a princess.”
“Well, even if I don’t know what she’s thinking, I’m glad for her,” Twilight said. “She went through a lot just to come back from the moon. When I think about all the dreams she guarded, even as Nightmare Moon, I’m honestly amazed.”
Celestia turned her head to Twilight. “As Nightmare Moon? Since when did she say that?”
“Oh, that was when she was teaching me how to raise the moon and protect dreams,” Twilight explained. “She said even from the moon she was connected to the Dream Realm. When she was Nightmare Moon, she thought she’d return as Equestria’s favourite princess if she kept redirecting nightmares.”
“Did she, now?”
Twilight shrugged. “I guess it makes sense. If she wasn’t guarding nightmares for a thousand years, where would they have gone? It’s not as if you or Cadence could have done it.”
“I-I guess… but she never told me about that.” Celestia directed her words to Twilight, but she murmured so softly that the young princess couldn’t have possibly heard her.
The empty lot was becoming a lot less empty now. Ponies crowded in behind Twilight and Celestia, packing them deep into the middle of the audience. Shoulders bumped against Celestia, hooves stepped on hooves. There was barely room enough to breathe. But Twilight seemed to have an even harder time with it.
Being a head taller than every pony else was an advantage Twilight did not yet have. The Princess of Friendship was in many ways still an introvert by nature. She preferred quiet nights and long sunny days over raves and loud parties. Twilight held her hood down with some magic, keeping her face hidden.
“Woo!” an energetic stallion a few rows back called out to Celestia, motioning to her cloak. “Getting into the spirit, nice!”
She feigned a smile, as she was so used to doing, but she really didn’t understand what was so exciting. She had seen Luna’s performance at Canterlot, but if she wanted to listen to music, she didn’t have to pack herself into what felt like a can of tuna.
Twilight shuffled and pulled a leg out from between two dragons who were already humming together. Perhaps it was a bad idea inviting her. She just wanted someone she could confide in and admit she was scared of losing her sister. But, perhaps coming alone would have sent a better message to Luna. At the end of the day, she just wanted them to be together.
The stage was hot like before.
Those lights were no joke. Despite the evening’s cool air, Luna could feel their heat on her face. The cheering crowd managed to take her mind off the brightness, however. Poppin said the sales of CDs were going up, but she wondered how many in the audience actually knew her songs. That left the crowd interactions a little limited. Singing along was up in the air.
But that was neither here nor there. The Nightmare Knights were the opening act for the night. So, they had to get right on with it.
“How are we doing this evening, everyone?” Luna cried out. Every pony, dragon, and hippogriff in the crowd called back a different answer. A wave of stomps and applause hung in the air.
Tempest and Starlight took their places next to Luna, and behind her, she could hear Lightning Dust and Svengallop ready and waiting.
“Alright Fillydelphia!” Luna called out into her microphone. “For those of you new to what we have in store, we are the Nightmare Knights! And I am your humble...” She signalled to the others by spreading her wings.
And they answered in unison. “Domina Matrum!”
The drums started up, precluding the song’s beat, but their voices of four knights was not enough. “Come on and hear you say it!” Luna told the crowd. Some ponies, and all the hippogriffs, responded in turn.
“That’s good. It’s the language of a bygone age, and old-griff diact. I hate to admit it, but I’m getting a little bit on the old side too, hehe.” A rumble of chuckles and laughter rolled through the crowd.
“Domina!” Luna said clearly. “A little history to get us all started, yeah? Let me hear you say it. Domina!”
In one loud push, the voice oF hundreds replied, “Domina!”
“Yes! Good.” She fluttered her wings and passed over to the other side of the stage. “I think this side was a little better though. Let’s see if they can do the next part. After Domina it’s Matrum. Let me hear it!”
“Matrum!” they all answered.
Luna scrunched her face. “Maybe I was wrong,” she grinned, going back to the opposite side of the stage. “Alright, your turn! Maybe this was where I heard those strong voices. Repeat after me, Matrum!”
And again, they replied with equal power.
Luna laughed. “Aw, what the heck. I can’t tell, you’re all perfect.” She turned her face and shot a quick wink to Lightning Dust. Now the drums started picking, ridden by the growing power of the guitars.
“This is for all you lovely creatures here tonight! Tonight, I will be your…”
And the Knights answered with their mics. “Domina Matrum!”
Late at night, the pony city was hard to navigate. The six young students kept close together as they got off the bus near the train station. The fliers in their group were too tired to finish the journey, so they decided to head back to Ponyville by rail.
“The last train for the night should be here soon,” Ocellus said, checking on the schedule posted outside the station.
“Trains run even at midnight?” Gallus looked around. He had never been to another Equestrian city before, and Fillydelphia was one of the largest and most populated. It was nothing like Ponyville.
Sandbar, on the other hoof, was a lot more comfortable. “Yeah, some ponies work or travel at night, so there are a few rail lines that run late.”
“Pony city not like Ponyville,” Yona noted the number of taxi carriages still passing through the street. “So much still going on.”
“This place is wonderful!” Silverstream gazed around at the stairs of the train station. This was no rail-side stop like Ponyville’s. The Fillydelphia Rail Hub was the centre of rail transit throughout all of Equestria’s southeast coast.
The station was thus built to fit thousands of ponies entering and leaving every day. On the second floor, coffee shops, book stores, and banks handled the needs of new arrivals or departing residents. And thusly, the stairs of the Hub were the largest Silverstream had ever seen.
She wiped a lone tear from her eye. “I didn’t know they could be this huge.”
“Yeah, it’s a real marvel,” Smolder pat her friend on the back. “I don’t think it’s for me, though.”
There was just one problem for the students waiting, one that dawned on them slowly as five minutes turned to ten, and then fifteen, until the watches they had brought ticked to the half-past midnight mark with signalled the supposed coming of the next train.
Ocellus and Sandbar traded glances, as they both quickly realized.
With Ponyville being halfway across the country, Fillydelphia was not in the same timezone as their watches.
“Every creature,” Ocellus mumbled as she realized they were an hour late for the train. “I just had a small-brain moment.”
“Time zone?” Smolder clutched her dorsal scales. “What does that mean? How is it one-thirty already here?”
“I’m sorry I totally forgot to check!” Ocellus whimpered.
Sandbar rested his hoof on her shoulder. “It’s alright, I kinda forgot too.”
“So, train not coming until morning?” Yona asked. “What friends do now?”
“Hey, I know,” Silverstream rejoined the group, content with her sightseeing of the stairs, “why don’t we find a hotel for the night and just catch the train tomorrow?”
“With what money?” Gallus asked.
“I know!” Sandbar hopped over to Smolder. “Dragons like to hoard gemstones, right? Smolder, you must be loaded--”
Smolder punched him in the face. “I don’t have it on me! And also, don’t generalize, dude.”
“Argh,” he rubbed his jaw, “sorry, yeah. I just freaked out a little and wasn’t thinking.”
“Yona always carry spare change.” She lifted the back-dress that yaks often wore and revealed a very small satchel for bits slung over her back. “Is five bits enough?”
Ocellus motioned to Yona to keep her money. “Haha, I’ve never been to a pony hotel, but I don’t think they’re that cheap.”
“If that the only problem and we’re all okay with staying at a hotel,” Silverstream spread one wing and unveiled a thin black card tucked inside her feathers, “we could always just use my black card.”
The other five stared at her.
“Uh, what is that supposed to be?”
“Oh, it’s like a crystal disc, but for money,” Silverstream explained. “It was made as part of the Mount Aris tourism project. My aunt knew ponies wouldn’t be able to bring a ton of bits with them if they visited Mount Aris, so she had some sea pony alchemists create these cards out of magic pearls.”
“Like the ones that let you transform?” Gallus pointed to the fragment of the Pearl of Transformation, the relic that had once saved the hippogriff kingdom from the Storm King.
“Yeah, something like that. I don’t know all the details, but I think a magic pearl gets ground into powder. Half goes into making the card, the other half gets turned into something like a ledger. Since they came from the same pearl, the card and ledger are linked, so as long as the ledger says I have money, I can pay with the card.”
“Woah.” They all stared at the miraculous trinket.
“Beats carrying around a sack of bits,” Sandbar joked. “But, I thought pearls are white. Why’s your card black?”
“Oh, that’s an easy one,” Silverstream laughed. “I’m the Queen’s niece, so just by attending the School of Friendship, I’m considered a diplomatic dignitary. Diplomats and some members of the royal family get black cards made to access funds from the royal treasury. Plus, since it’s usually used for international travel and business, I think there’s a bunch of other benefits that I don’t really know about.”
Gallus tenderly pointed at the card, afraid to even look at it from the awe of its power. “Sooo… what you’re saying is that you’re basically holding the keys to the Mount Aris royal treasury, right there in your wing?”
Silverstream nodded contently.
He chuckled nervously and turned away, unable to withstand the presence of such a powerful item. “I don’t know if I should be relieved or utterly intimidated. But, at least we can get a hotel for the night.”
As a new implement in Equestrian business, the young students had a hard time finding a hotel that actually had a pearl card reader. However, after trying a few front desks around the city, they finally got tipped off that there was a “Bitz-Colton” hotel on the coastal side of the city.
The downtown blocks of Fillydelphia were just like any other highly-urbanized city, but, to the young kids from Ponyville, it was a messy jungle of concrete, glass, and steel. The only reason they were able to find the Bitz-Colton hotel was because, within an array of monolithic skyscrapers, the hotel was the most monolithic of them all.
“Whew,” Gallus whistled at the blinding array of lights, the golden lettering over the entrance, and the water fountains by the driveway which were lit up by a rainbow of lamps.
“So maybe ponies best at building hotels,” Yona conceded.
Even Silverstream was dumbstruck. “Wow! I didn’t know pony hotels were like this!”
“They’re usually not,” Sandbar told her, “I think this one’s special.”
A door pony held the entrance open for them, and as they walked in a blast of heated air sheltered them from the cool autumn night outside. From within, one would never know the sun had set. The lobby was lit by hundreds of lights, both decorative and practical. On the furthest side from the entrance, there was a small casino. A bar was in the centre of the lobby for serving ponies who needed to wait around, though, in the middle of the night, it was kind of empty.
The floor was made from polished stone, eggshell white with gold trim between the tiles. Yona tiptoed onto a section of carpet further in the lobby. The floor had such a mirror polish that she felt bad even walking on it.
Two convenience stores offered the basic necessities for ponies on the go, though at an exorbitantly upscaled price, no doubt. Gallus spotted with his griffon eyes the price tag for a bottle of water.
“Five bits…?” He murmured in shock.
“I don’t even know what to look at anymore!” Ocellus clutched her head.
But while they swivelled their heads around, Silverstream had gone to the front desk to ask about open rooms. And sure enough, the unicorn at the front had a crystal scanner for her black pearl card. The mare cast a spell through the crystal, shining a light over the card.
“Welcome, madame!” She greeted Silverstream with a cheerful smile. “Do you have a reservation?”
“Actually, no,” she laughed at herself, “it’s a funny story actually. My friends and I lost track of time for the train. We just need a few rooms for the night.”
“Of course! Would you like the ambassador suites?”
“Uh…” Silverstream had never had to use her card for much, before, so she didn’t know all the rewards and benefits that came with it. The “ambassador” suites definitely sounded special. But she knew she couldn’t overspend. Her black card wasn’t a toy, it was for emergencies only.
“I’m sorry, remind me again, how much are the ambassador suites?”
“Mhm, let me just check the exact rate,” the unicorn flipped through a few files in front of her. “Ah, it looks like one night will be six hundred and ninety-nine per suite. Oh, and just to let you know, there are only two suites available right now.”
“Oh, that’s not so much. But only two?” Silverstream looked over to her friends, who seemed to be debating something by the bar. “Well, I guess we can split it up, boys and girls. Those two rooms will be great.”
The clerk cheerfully placed four room keys, two per suite, on the counter for Silverstream. “And, will you be needing any luggage help tonight?”
“Nope, we’re alright.” Silverstream thanked the clerk for her help and rushed back over to her friends. “Hey, guys, we’re in luck! Guess what I got us?”
The room numbers were listed on the keychains. Luckily for them, both suites were on the same floor. The six of them wrapped up the discussion of whether it was right for Gallus to get a martini from the bar, since Griffonstone didn’t have a formal governing body, and thus no drinking laws. Even when the bartender informed them that Silverstream’s black card got her drinks on the house, the rest of them decided that following Equestria’s laws was probably the best choice and headed up to their rooms. If the suites could even be called “rooms.”
The girls took the second room, just a few doors down the hall from the boys. It was pretty late, and they all just wanted to sleep.
But. And it was a pretty important “but.”
The suites were just too overwhelming. The suite was the size of an apartment. There were two small bedrooms, two beds each, complete with projectors to play crystal discs in both rooms. The seaside-facing wall was made almost entirely of glass, and stepping out to the balcony gave an unobstructed hundred and eighty-degree view of the ocean.
Their wonder surpassed their exhaustion.
“Yona can’t sleep.”
“Yeah, no, me neither,” Ocellus called out from her bed.
“I’m not even gonna try!” Smolder yelled from the kitchen. “Do the sodas in the fridge cost extra or are they complementary?”
Silverstream stepped out of the bathroom, wrapping up her mane after a quick shower. “I don’t know, actually.”
“Welp,” Smolder walked into the bedroom, drinking, “Mount Aris is going to get charged for a bottle of cider.”
“Silverstream, is it really okay for us to be using so much money?” Ocellus jumped out of bed for her turn in the shower.
“Of course! I don’t buy much anyways since school usually has whatever I need, so I guess it’s like I’ve been saving up for an occasion like this.”
“Occasion?” Yona got out and went to the living room. “But this an emergency, right?”
“Sure, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun,” Silverstream said. “We almost never leave school. How are we supposed to learn about Equestria if we don’t explore Equestria? Think about it, we’ve already seen more stuff in one night than we have in a month!”
“She’s got a point,” Smolder said to Yona. She burped as she finished the last drop of her cider and tossed the bottle across the room to the trash bin in the kitchen. It landed with a clean swoosh into the trash bag.
“Yeet.” Smolder grinned. “I want to learn more about ponies, not read about them. Plus, I kinda want to see what they have for room service.”
Smolder and Silverstream sat on the sofa out in the living area, flipping through a special menu of dinners and desserts, while Yona sat back in her bed and looked at a list of movies that could be played on the projector.
“Yo, they have fire cake?” Smolder held up a picture of a four-layered cake lit by a torch. “Can we get one? I heard they pour alcohol over it and let it burn away, so it’s totally fine for kids!”
“Uh--”
Smolder jumped up on the sofa. “Silverstream, please?”
“Meh, why not.”
Ocellus stepped out, already dried since her changeling carapace was as waterproof as a raincoat. She glanced at a dinner menu on the coffee table and flipped to the pizza’s section. And from then on, there was no stopping the four girls from unwinding and living their life in Equestria to the fullest.
Even Yona, reserved at first, made the greatest discovery of the night. When the cake had been devoured and the pizza sliced up, Yona brought the crystal disc out for every creature to see.
“Yona found karaoke.”
One by one their heads turned.
Normally each one of them had their inhibition. Smolder had a hard time admitting to the things she liked to do. Ocellus’s anxieties were numerous and often dealt with her inner identity. And Silverstream… well, she had few inhibitions, actually.
But tonight they were gripped by something greater than those inhibitions. And Smolder, who had always wanted to sing like the pop-stars ponies raved about, was the first to volunteer.
“Oh, this one’s good! Countess Coloratura just released it.”
“I didn’t know you listened to her too,” Ocellus said as Yona selected the song for her.
“This one’s special. I dunno why she wrote it, but it’s basically the only song about dragons in Equestria.” Smolder sat herself on the bed right in front of the projector screen so she could read the words as they came up.
Luckily for them, although they were completely oblivious to the fact, the walls of the suites were designed to be soundproof for important guests with important information. Energetic instruments, distorted by some of magic, reverberated through the room. The beat was faster than expected, and even if with her renewed energy she tripped on some words as they scrolled across the screen.
Let's get a little bit burnt up,
A little bit beat up,
A little bit hurt
-
Come on, I’m feeling it lately,
I need the kick badly,
I'm ready to go
-
Can't fight it, guess it's a habit,
Guess it's for fun,
It's just what I do
-
Come on now, don't you get nervous
All the ponies,
All the ponies,
Say,
-
Unbelievable
It'll hit ya before you know it baby,
All the ponies know,
All the ponies know,
-
I am not afraid to cause a blaze tonight,
I'll show ya
By now you should know I do it all the time
Smolder may have started the singing, but in no time the other three got a hold of the rhythm and joined in. One by one their voices compounded, and no creature could be certain who was leading who in their chanting.
And it's gonna be dangerous,
If you get in my way,
Cause I never stop,
Till I get my way yeah,
-
I am on top now,
Killing non-stop yeah,
When I claw through like,
Claw through like,
Claw through like a,
-
a dragon
-
SKRRA RRA KA TA RRA TTA TA TTA TA, (x4)
-
Baby, we're just getting started,
Turn this shit up and,
Burn up the place
-
Come on now, don't try to hide,
Cause you can run,
But no pony survives
-
Unbelievable
It'll hit ya before you know it baby,
All the ponies know,
All the ponies know,
-
I am not afraid to cause a scene tonight,
I'll show ya
By now you should know I do it all the time
-
And it's gonna be dangerous,
If you get in my way,
Cause I never stop,
Till I get my way yeah,
-
I am on top now,
Killing non-stop yeah,
When I claw through like,
Claw through like,
Claw through like a,
-
a dragon
-
SKRRA RRA KA TA RRA TTA TA TTA TA, (x4)
(I'm coming for ya,
Co-coming for ya,)
SKRRA RRA KA TA RRA TTA TA TTA TA,
(I'm coming for ya,
Co-coming for ya,)
SKRRA RRA KA TA RRA TTA TA TTA TA
-
Baby, I told ya,
I am the best,
I'll show ya, I'm crazy,
A monster,
And when i'm done you'll need a doctor,
-
It's D to theR to the A-G-O-N,
No one's gonna wanna hear your end,
Any last words? Just say goodbye,
I'm gonna go-go off tonight
-
SKRRA RRA KA TA RRA TTA TA TTA TA, (x4)
(I'm coming for ya,
Co-coming for ya,)
SKRRA RRA KA TA RRA TTA TA TTA TA,
(I'm coming for ya,
Co-coming for ya,)
SKRRA RRA KA TA RRA TTA TA TTA TA
-
A dragon
Meanwhile, in the boys’ suite…
Gallus and Sandbar felt bad having Silverstream pay on their behalf, even if it was with her pearl card. So, they decided the best thing to do was just go to bed.
“What do you think the girls are doing?” Gallus asked before they split off into their rooms.
Sandbar shrugged. “Meh, probably talking about some lame girl stuff like the guys they like or whatever.”
“Do girls really do that?”
“Totally, dude,” Sandbar nodded. “I mean, you read about it all the time in books. There has to be some truth to it, right?”
“Huh, I guess,” Gallus took his word for it, but he wasn’t so sure. “Well, goodnight dude.”
Luna fell back into the soft embrace of the bean bag chair. In all her years of ruling, such soft luxuries had been unknown to her.
But perhaps the sensation was being amplified by the success of the concert. The last song from the night had been performed, but Luna could still hear the audience’s chanting from the band’s trailer. Lightning Dust and Svengallop were in the makeup trailer just behind her, and Starlight had to teleport back to Ponyville to give some parents a tour of the School of Friendship tomorrow morning.
That left Tempest, who was plucking the strings of her guitar as she leaned back into the trailer’s couch. Glitter Drops joined her. She managed to get backstage with a VIP ticket.
“Now that was some performance,” she said, levitating a shot of cold cider from the trailer’s fridge.
Tempest did the same, balancing the shot glass on her hoof. “Yeah, I didn’t think that minotaur would actually give us a good turnout. From what Starlight was saying, it sounded like he was more likely to scam the audience out of their tickets.”
Luna responded to their toast, pouring out her own glass of Sweet Apple Triple Brew. The cold cider burned down their throats as they drank.
“Whew!” Luna set down her glass. “Applejack made this?” She inspected the label on the bottle. For certain, it was from Sweet Apple Acres. “I’ll need to pick up a bottle of this the next time I’m in Ponyville.”
She focused back on Tempest and Glitter Drops.
“That reminds me, you two still have a place in Ponyville, right?”
Glitter Drops nodded. “Yeah, it’s amazing. We thought we’d stay down south for a few months, but with Starlight’s teleporting spell, we can actually live there and work in the northern patrol. I’ve been trying to learn how to use the spell myself. That way, Starlight won’t have to cast it for us whenever we want to travel.”
“It’s nice not sleeping in the cold,” Tempest nodded, “though I kind of miss the sound of a log on a fire. I never realized how loud it was up north, and now the silence of Ponyville keeps me up some nights. But, in a good way, I guess. It’s relaxing listening to crickets and watching fireflies.”
“How about the Crystal Empire? I haven’t been back in a while, actually.”
Glitter Drops and Tempest looked at each other. “Well, we kind of had to go back to work because more of those dark creatures were showing up. The ones Tempest got tangled up with when you came.”
“There are more? Certainly, there can’t be much dark magic left behind, can there?”
Tempest shrugged and drank another shot of the cider. “We don’t know the numbers for sure, but whenever there’s a sighting, we have to close off the area. We have to, there’s no chance of fighting them. But Princess Cadence says it’s hurting a lot of trade and travel with Yakyakistan.”
“That is worrying. I wonder if Twilight knows anything about this. She and her friends would find some way to solve the problem, I’m sure.”
The remainder of that night did not go as Luna had expected. Unlike their short performance in Canterlot, this was their first long concert, singing songs back to back and engaging with the audience. She thought there would be a party, but her eyes were tired from the stage lights and her voice needed a break.
Instead, the three of them talked among themselves. They talked about the news of the week. Tempest had apparently spent some time in Chicoltgo before moving to the Crystal Empire, and she was curious about the road development projects happening throughout the city.
Glitter Drops asked a lot of questions about Silver Shoals. Luna joked if she was planning for retirement, but the mare was more interested in exploring the seas on an antique sailboat.
And in the midst of their conversations, they did not wonder why Svengallop and Lightning Dust were taking so long in the makeup room. Not until they returned, faces dolled up in artfully layered makeup.
“I never knew goats could be such talented assistants.” The makeup room was packed with costumes and heavy-smelling bottles of products. Svengallop selected a coat conditioner and skin cream from the assortment before he wiped his face clean of their ghost-white facepaint. “I’m used to doing everything myself during a concert, it’s nice to take a load off for once.”
Lightning Dust scoffed in the seat next to him. She grabbed a wet towel and scrubbed off the paint. “Yeah, you’re a star of the show.”
Svengallop turned a stink eye towards her, though his disdain quickly turned to pity as he watched Lightning Dust trying to clean her face off. The facepaint they used wasn’t the cheap store-bought variety like before. Iron Will, to his surprise, had spared no expense and provided smudge-proof paint. The substance was thick and oily, and very much resistant to washing. It was perfect for long performances because sweat would not wash it off, but it made cleaning a much more arduous task.
“How did Luna and Tempest get this off so fast?” Lightning grunted.
“Because I told them how,” Svengallop reached over to her mirror and grabbed a bottle of soap from the clutter of beauty products. “It’s oil-based, dummy. You need soap.”
“Pfft, yeah, I knew that.” She forced a dollop of foamy soap onto her hooves, grumbling to herself. “You don’t always have to be such an ass about it.”
“I’m sorry, do you have a problem with me? Because I thought we were past this.”
Lightning Dust scrubbed off the paint without saying a word to him at first. Not until she finished half of her face did she finally answer.
“Yeah, but it’s kinda hard to be chill with a guy who always has to focus on himself. It’s like you don’t even know what it means to be on a team.”
Svengallop upturned his nose and inspected himself in the mirror as he worked on his own face. “I don’t need to take that, especially not from you.”
“Now you’re starting to sound like Starlight.”
Svengallop opened his mouth to ask, but he stopped. He didn’t mention Starlight. And they seemed to work together just fine during the concert. What did they talk about after those students showed up?
“Is that what this is about?” he asked. “Damn, she must be pissed at you. What did you two even say?”
“None of your business, so stay out of it.”
“Bitch, get over yourself,” Svengallop said, “Starlight’s part of the band, so that makes it my business. Now spill the tea or I’m going to splash paint more on your face.”
Lightning Dust cast a stink eye at him. “We didn’t say much. We got mad at each other and then I stormed off to help set-up for the concert. I didn’t want to listen to her excuses. She just wants to keep us a secret because she thinks we’ll ruin her reputation. We can’t trust her!”
“Yeah, so? It’s not like she’s wrong.” Svengallop chuckled as he removed the last spot of paint from his face and started applying a coat of foundation. “Look at us. Do you really think we’re upstanding members of Equestria?”
“Whatever.” Lightning Dust crossed her hooves and floated herself over to the exit. “No pony ever takes my side.”
“You know, if you can’t find a single pony who agrees with you, maybe they’re not the problem. Maybe it’s you.”
Lightning stopped at the door. There was something uncomfortably familiar with those words. Svengallop was nothing like Scootaloo, but yet he saw the same problem in her as the filly. She couldn’t understand how that could happen.
“Why do ponies always say that about me?” she groaned.
“Because it’s true!” Svengallop swapped to applying a second coat of makeup, the purpose of which Lightning Dust was not clear on. But it did lighten up his complexion. “I read the news. The Washouts said you strapped a kid to a rocket. Who in Equestria’s going to be on your side after that?”
Lightning threw her hooves out in the air. “It’s not like I’d do it again!”
“Oh my gosh, you crazy bitch,” Svengallop laughed. “You still did it though! I don’t get along with a lot of ponies, but even I know that’s messed up.”
“Yeah, well,” Lightning paused. She was at a loss for words to say to Svengallop. He was such an annoying, self-centred, and entitled jerk. He criticized ponies without even think about his own faults, and he did it so casually while putting on makeup!
It was starting to piss her off. Just like Starlight. Just like everything else. Her thoughts raced to try to come up with something witty, something to save face. She couldn’t stand some pony talking about her like a mess-up. But it was hard to find the words without tripping over her own frustration. Svengallop was just so annoying. He was so… much like her.
Lightning Dust dropped it. “Can you hurry up? We don’t have forever, the next band’s going to kick us out soon.”
“I haven’t been able to get a new makeup set yet, so I’m making the most of this,” he said as he curled up his eyelashes. And then suddenly, as if a thought had shot itself through his head, Svengallop turned around with a predator’s glare at Lightning Dust.
She made a half-turn away from him. “What are you thinking…?”
“I know what you need,” he grinned and got out of his chair. “A new attitude needs a new look. I’m going to make you pretty.”
“What the fu- no! Hey, get off! I look amazing already. Stop!”
It was too late for her. With the moxy of a sleep-deprived college student slurping up their first cup of coffee, Svengallop wrapped his hooves around Lightning Dust in a surprisingly tight body lock. Pegasi were lighter than most ponies, and without space to fully spread her wings, she could not use her strength to fight back.
He dragged her to the makeup chair. “Oh shut up and sit still.”
Luna, Tempest, and Glitter Drops stared at them as Lightning Dust finished the story.
“And then he threatened to smear my face with more paint so I just let it all happen.”
They looked almost identical, with how much makeup they had on. The powder and blush had taken away the different colours of their coats, and Svengallop had applied the eyeliner and lipstick perfectly on both of them.
Tempest coughed, unable to contain herself. “It fits,” she pointed to Lightning, “you kinda look like a circus clown.”
“Wagh! What do you mean?” Lightning’s wing shot up.
“Lightning Dust,” Luna said, “Tempest’s just teasing. No need to get so worked up.”
She took a deep breath and relaxed, her wings folding back down. Lightning moved to the opposite end of the trailer, almost hiding in a corner seat, and grabbed a Cider Lite from the fridge. Glitter Drops made a face at Tempest as if scolding her for being rude. But Lightning Dust didn’t notice. She was too embarrassed to.
“But,” Luna tried covering up her smile by drinking from her glass, “she’s right though. For you, this looks kind of weird.”
“Argh!” Lightning covered her face. “Damn it! Why do I have to be stuck with all of you?”
In the end, she was still annoyed with all of them. But she couldn’t just run away. Because, as much as she wanted otherwise, they were the only ones in the whole world who’d overlook the things she had done.
“Sounds like it was a little rough at the start, but we got through it.”
A server placed three espressos on their table as Luna finished explaining how business went with Iron Will.
Though Luna wasn’t aware of it, Poppin had arranged with Iron Will to sell the Nightmare Knight’s CDs at a few souvenir stalls. In the morning after the concert, their album sales spiked by twenty per cent. It was an extra boon that she would have completely overlooked if not for Poppin’s intervention.
The coffee shop bustled like any other, but as they talked about plans for taking the band on their first tour, Luna noticed the atmosphere change around them. Ponies gave their table a wide berth, while eyes further away stared from behind coffee cups.
She wondered if it had anything to do with her, or if it was because Rara had decided to tag along with Poppin to Fillydelphia.
Bridleway was a huge success for her, but it seemed she needed a break away from her work now that her big musical production was done. Plus, when they met up, Rara admitted she missed the pop music industry a little bit.
“I say, avoid Las Pegasus if you can,” she gave her advice when Luna asked about good cities to perform at.
“Why?” Luna asked.
“Don’t get me wrong, the place and the ponies are wonderful,” she said, “but, well, you’ll be travelling with Svengallop. I know, you say he’s getting better, but you should probably make sure he doesn’t come within earshot of a slot machine.”
“Svengallop, a gambler?” Luna cracked a smile. “Well, he does seem to have a problem with accepting his losses. Maybe I should keep on Lightning Dust too, in that case.”
“Alright, so Las Pegasus is off the list. I can still contact a few ponies I know in Vanhoover and Cloudsdale. After that, I think the Rainbow Falls Exchange will be open, we might be able to grab a special gig with the organizers.”
“That’ll be interesting,” Luna sipped her coffee. “Since it sounds like we’ll need to hear back from a lot of ponies before we make a decision, would it be alright if we met for lunch later?”
“Of course,” Poppin grinned. “You and the band going out for a celebration?”
“Actually, Tempest wanted to pick out some new guitars, ones that match our new costumes better.” Luna motioned with her horn down the street. “The city map said there would be an instrument shop which could serve this need, but she wants my input before we order anything customized.”
“Well, I’ll make a reservation for lunch, then,” Poppin said. Rara gave Luna a quick hug and wished her the best before returning to her bagel and coffee.
Popping and Rara took their time to talk about all the things that got brushed aside because of their work in Manehattan. Most of all, Rara talked about her friend Applejack, who she had not seen in over a year. Producing plays and musicals in Bridleway was a dream come true, sure, but travelling and meeting fans all over Equestria was something Rara really cherished.
“Just might be about the only thing I miss from that guy,” she said into her coffee.
“Who? Svengallop?”
Rara nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I put it behind me, but I still can’t believe I let myself follow along with his ego. Sometimes I ask how much of my life I wasted because of it.”
“Well, no pony ever said you can’t do two things at once,” Poppin said. “I won’t have a new show for you to rehearse for quite some time. You could go on a short little nostalgia tour, you know.”
“Maybe,” Rara fiddled, “but not yet. If I’m going to get back into performing, I want to do it seriously. Luna has something she wants to sing about. I think I need to find something for me.”
“Well, when you find it, just let me know,” Poppin reached a wing out and rubbed her back assuringly.
As they finished up their dinner, six kids they had never met before slowly dragged themselves to the counter. A pony, dragon, yak, hippogriff, changeling, and griffon, they were young, but they look like they got along much better than any adults Rara had met before.
“You know, now that I think about it,” she said, turning back to Poppin. “Do you remember that single I released a few months ago?”
The students grabbed two booths by the windows. Gallus smirked as the girls laid their heads on the table, hiding their exhaustion from the sun’s powerful rays.
“Dude, I can’t believe you girls didn’t sleep at all,” he laughed. “What was the point of getting hotel rooms?”
“You don’t understand!” Ocellus groaned. “The cake was so good. It was so sweet, I thought I was going to die.”
“It’s a long train ride back to Ponyville,” Sandbar added, “it’d be a good time to take a nap.” He took a whiff of his coffee and gave the brown mixture a sip. And then he put it down.
“Ha,” Smolder laughed at his scrunched-up face, “I told ya you couldn’t handle it.”
But after a few sips, she put her cup down too, admitting defeat to the bitter drink.
“You know you can just add creamer, right?” Ocellus told them.
Silverstream squinted in her cup. “I think there’s something wrong with mine. I got the same as Sandbar, but it tastes fine.”
“Yeah, maybe they just made yours wrong,” Gallus echoed, drinking happily from his.
Yona eyed his cup closely, reading Gallus’s face to see if he was just putting up a front. But he drank and drank without so much as a twitch in his face.
“Give Yona a try,” she said, reaching across the booth. Gallus handed the cup over, but as soon as she tried his coffee she choked. “It’s more bitter than Yonas!”
“Yeah I just got black coffee, I don’t really like creamer,” he said.
Smolder did the same with Silverstream’s coffee, coming to the same result. Their friends looked at them like they were magicians or escape artists, performing the impossible.
“How are you doing that?” Sandbar said.
Gallus traded looks with Silverstream, neither really knowing the answer.
“Hippogriffs and griffons are part bird, so maybe we have different tastes,” he guessed.
Sandbar shook his head as he reached for some packets of sugar on the table. “That’s not fair, dude.”
Luna found Tempest holding up two different guitars for Glitter Drops to give a good comparison. From the sound of things, they had narrowed it down to those two and a couple of other designs.
They wanted custom guitars, not just in looks but with the highest sound quality, so the ones on the shelves were really only for comparison.
“Looks good,” Luna said, “but do they have it in white?” The guitars were both painted dark blue with silver accents. “If the guitars were white like the moon, they’d show up better against the black backgrounds we usually use, right?”
The store manager, working from behind a set of glass doors at the back, suddenly rushed out to meet them before Tempest could explain her top picks.
“Princess Luna?” The earth pony reached out his hoof and shook Luna’s, laughing and speaking in a garbled mess. “I’m so sorry if I didn’t see you before. Uh… h-have your friends here already been helped?”
“It’s just Luna. And actually, we were looking for something custom,” Luna pointed to the few that Tempest and Glitter had looked at. “Is it possible to get some of these designs modified when we place our order?”
“Yes, of course!” he nodded and gave a wide grin. “We have the workshop on the second floor, so I can just down one of the guys who handle the custom orders and he’ll go through all the details that you want.”
The three of them asked a few more questions of the manager, what colours the store had and how long it usually took for an order to be completed. But eventually, they settled on what they wanted: two guitars made from an exceptionally dark wood from the Everfree, painted with a silky white pearl coating and then lacquered and polished. Black accents would come from the wood itself, where it had not been painted.
“And you want the Auroral pickups, right?” asked the workshop pony once they had almost finished their order.
Electric guitars used magnetic pickups to sense the motion of the strings and produce sound. But to improve the quality, the magnets were mounted on special crystals from the Crystal Empire to boost their power, and Auroral was one of the few companies that made professional-quality crystal mounts. Their prices were far from competitive, however, letting the quality of their work be enough to attract buyers.
“That’s the best one, right?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I mean, there are tons of other good pickups, but Auroral’s the best.”
Of course, that was just his perspective on it. And Luna realized that despite her questions, she had no way to compare his answers. It was time to call in an expert.
“I’ll be right back.”
Seeing the train station again in the busy, broad daylight was a different experience entirely. Signs were put up prohibiting flying, but the attempt to make the station more orderly only served to cramp up the entrance area even more.
The students thought they could simply walk back to the station like last night, but with hundreds of ponies blocking every line of site, it was difficult to retrace their steps.
“Can you see the route to Ponyville?” Sandbar asked Silverstream.
She was taller than the rest of them, and tried stretching her head up above the crowd. “I can’t even see the big stairs anymore. It’s covered in ponies.”
“Ow!” Gallus jumped and tucked himself tightly against Smolder. “Some pony just stepped on my tail!”
“Alright, that’s it.” Smolder climbed on Gallus and breathed a jet of fire up into the air. There was nothing to burn, but the sudden heat was enough to scare off the ponies crowding around them.
“There, I see it!” Ocellus pointed to a sign that read “Ponyville Platform.”
Being the most cramped of them all, Yona gathered up her friends and pushed on through the crowd, eager to make it to the platform before ponies began filling up the space again.
“Coming through!” They all laughed as they went.
Stallions in business suits and mares travelling with heavy suitcases jumped out of their way of the yak barging through with a dragon on her head, spewing embers from a little too much excitement.
With little time and a lot of collateral damage, they made it to the Ponyville-bound train, just minutes before their departure. They may have gotten sour looks, but none of them really cared. Gallus chuckled as he checked to make sure his feathers weren’t ruffled.
“Heh. Let’s do that again.”
“The ebony wood is fine,” Starlight said, “but we’re performing live, not recording, so the sound quality between the Auroral brand and the standard mounts aren’t going to sound too different.”
Starlight teleported them back to Fillydelphia, a few streets away from the music store so they could talk in private.
“Really?” Luna cocked her head.
“Yeah, a recording studio might pick up the difference because a generic pickup and a branded one, but in a live performance the difference won’t be noticed. Auroral’s a good brand, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just not worth the price.”
Luna nodded. “I suppose it would be irresponsible of me to continue draining the royal treasury.”
“Haha, yeah,” Starlight cracked a nervous smile and glanced around, “you should really stop telling ponies you can still do that.”
“Well, since you’re already here, why don’t you come check out the guitars we’re getting?”
Starlight shrugged. “Sure, that’d be fun.”
Between them and the music store were a few blocks, but for an alicorn and a talented unicorn, being able to travel through the skies made the distance trivial. They crossed over streets, not even having to wait for the walking signs to show.
But one thing did stop them, however. Between them and the music store was also the south-facing exit for the Fillydelphia Rail Hub. Tunnels running under the city eventually led back to the main station, but the distance was so long they generally felt like long empty caverns.
Not today. The station was so backed up that Luna and Starlight had to pause.
“What is going on there?” Luna wondered.
“No idea,” Starlight said.
“A short detour, then? It might be important.”
Starlight quickly agreed, curious herself to see why the largest train station in the southern coast of Equestria was suddenly overpacked. They flew together to the Rail Hub entrance, where the crowd increased in size and irritation.
There were stallions shouting and jeering at the conductors, and police ponies trying to contain the crowd so the streets could stay open.
“Tell them to just push them off!” Starlight could hear one voice shouting. Others around it burst in agreement.
“Princess Luna!” someone shouted as they neared the front door.
In a wave, heads started turning towards them both. “It’s Princess Luna,” more started to cheer. “Finally, she’s here to fix all this!”
Luna turned to Starlight. “Stay up here and keep an eye on the crowd. If it gets out of control, I think you know what to do.”
“Yeah, if there’s one kind of magic I know how to do,” Starlight frowned at the crowd, wondering the possibility that she’d actually have to use a spell, “it’s control spells.”
The crowd surrounding the conductors were not confined to the outside of the station. Ponies cleared the way for Luna as she landed, but inside the station there were more train workers trying to calm down the upset ponies.
Luna found the one pony with a different uniform, a gold-trimmed vest that signified its wearer as a Canterlot-approved Rail Coordinator.
“What is happening?” she asked the moment she could get through the crowd.
“Princess Luna!” the coordinator rushed over to her. “Thank goodness. Any news from the Crystal Empire?”
Luna gave the short mare a puzzled expression. “I’ve been out of the loop since my retirement. I’m not here on royal business, but I’m happy to help if I can. Tell me what’s going on.”
The coordinator’s face seemed to deepen upon hearing Luna was not the bearer of good news. Or any news, for that matter. But, she obliged and told her the summary of their problem.
“It’s the trains going in and out of the Crystal Empire. They’ve been blocked by protests.”
Luna shook her head, stunned by what she heard. “Protests? What kind of protests?”
She shrugged. “A dragon protest, apparently. Not sure what it’s about, but a telegram from the Crystal Empire station said there’s a dozen dragons blocking the rail lines in and out.”
“But, how can that back up so many passengers?” Luna gestured around to the hundreds of ponies packing the station.
“We have a system, Princess,” she said, “I don’t have time to get into the details. But the system’s broken right now, and we need help settling down the crowd so we can fix it. Can you do something about it or not?”
Luna thought about what she could do. The ponies wanted to go about their day. Would they be satisfied with a half-hearted answer? The truth was she was in no position to get the trains from the Crystal Empire running again.
But she knew who was.
“Not now,” Luna told the coordinator, “and definitely not here. I’m sorry but you must deal with this front on your own. I’m going to tackle the problem at its source, see if I can’t put an end to it from there.”
“Oh alright,” the short mare spun around and gestured at all the ponies harassing her workers for answers. “Guess I’ll just deal with this then.”
“I’m glad you understand,” Luna smiled and took off.
When Starlight found her and asked about the situation, Luna simply promised to explain on the way. She simply let her know that the Knights needed to go, and fast. The guitar orders could wait. There was something happening in the Crystal Empire, and this time Luna wasn’t going to let it slip by her.
The Nightmare Knights rode into the Crystal Empire on the wheels of a long carriage bus. Eight draft ponies hauled them down a road that ran parallel to the rail lines. The trip would have taken hours had they taken the full trip from Vanhoover, but Luna cut it short by teleporting them half an hour from the outskirts of the city.
“This thing has a fridge?” Lightning Dust popped open a compartment in the floor of the carriage.
“This isn’t a vacation,” Luna lifted the curtain on the carriage window. Outside, signs were posted notifying that the rails ahead were still closed. Each sign looked completely different from the other in design, size, even shape.
“There are protests happening here,” Luna said. “I may have retired, but I have to accept that my past carries a reputation, and it comes with responsibility whether I like it or not.”
“Are you sure?” Starlight asked. “You’ve done a lot to make a life for yourself in retirement.”
Luna shook her head. “This won’t be permanent.”
“Oh, take your time,” Poppin said, penning the last of her letters to potential concert hosts. “Setting up a tour’s not going to happen overnight, so the band should be free until I can get some responses.”
“Plus, it’d be nice to get back to work, right Fizzy?” Glitter Drops, as their number one fan, rode with them, sitting next to Tempest.
“Never thought I’d miss being so cold that I can’t feel my ears,” Tempest replied in agreement.
But Luna’s attention was focused forward at the crowd they were passing by. A row of dragons raised signs and stomped at yaks and ponies, the two sides being separated by a magical barrier. Luna recognized the spell immediately and scanned her eyes across the royal guards. She couldn’t pick him out, but she was certain Shining Armour was out there keeping the peace. Was it taking a toll on Candence, Luna wondered.
“Drivers!” She stuck her head out the window and called to the stallions pulling the carriage. “This will be fine!”
“What?” Svengallop perked up. “We’re at the edge of the city, you don’t expect us to walk the whole--woah.”
Their carriage screeched to a halt just past the barrier, on the pony side of the protests. Every single one of the Nightmare Knights stared out at what they saw. Even talkative Svengallop had no remarks.
Ponies argue.
It was just a fact of life that not everyone could get along.
Lightning Dust thought she was some pony who could thrive when things got hard.
And Tempest had seen a lot of strife in her time.
So they all thought they had seen enough of the world that anything short of a magical disaster would not surprise them. But they all wondered, if some pony were to look in their eyes, what would be seen in the reflection?
Svengallop’s voice trailed off completely. Even if he had something to say, his voice would have been a drop of water inside a hurricane. They were chaotic and separated, but every one of them had a claw or sign raised in solidarity as they chanted.
“Let us in.”
If the ponies pushed, the dragons pushed right back. Whatever was throw or said to counter the rage coming from the dragons was met was the same words.
Let us in.
“It’s like a war,” Starlight murmured. And indeed, it was. Faces twisted in anger from both sides were the least of the concerns. Dragons blew smoke and fire against the barrier as yaks crushed crystals and stones as a show of strength.
“I have to do something,” Luna stepped out of the carriage as soon as it stopped.
Starlight stopped her with a hoof. “Hold on, shouldn’t we talk to Cadence first? I want to help too, but I don’t think jumping in is the right move here.”
Luna shook her head. “The fuse is lit, Starlight. Do you not see that a single breeze will send it to its inevitable end? I have to stop it.”
“Or, you could end up being the breeze that sets it off,” Starlight replied. “I know your duty as a princess meant that you had to get involved with every pony’s nightmares. But this isn’t the same kind of nightmare. It doesn’t end when you wake up.”
Luna looked out to the crowd. It seemed impossible to reach the guards in the middle, a wall of crystal ponies and yaks had their backs to the road they had parked on. Still, she was certain that her presence alone was enough to clear the way. And if anything, she could teleport straight to the middle and find out more from Shining Armor.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “head to the palace if you must, I will have to catch up later.”
“We will not be treated like animals!”
“Tell that to the next house that burns down!” A crystal pony kicked a bottle at the barrier between them and the dragons. It was more symbolic than a real attack, as the glass bounced off and clunked around on the ground.
Standing above the yaks and ponies on a large wooden crate was a young yak carrying an oversized horn on his back. Though, this was no instrument.
“Will let one more scorched street?” He asked the crowd.
“No!”
“Will we let greed eat our very land?”
Again, they chanted. “No!”
The protesters didn’t say anything as Luna walked into their numbers, but each one who saw her knew who she was. Even the yaks, who were not all as informed, followed the lead of their pony comrades. They stepped out of the way silently, giving her a path to the barrier, before they resumed their jeering and bellowing.
She passed one pony that explained some of what she was hearing from both sides. The crystal mare held up a sign reading “protect us,” and below was a crudely painted image of a fire, encased by what looked like a muzzle.
Closer to the barrier, a yak held up another sign sporting an equal symbol placed between the phrases “Crystal Empire” and “crystal ponies.”
Shattered glass and crystals crunched under Luna’s hooves when she reached the edge of the barrier. The royal guards, having had seen her through the parting crowd, had already brought the stallion she expected to find.
“Luna, what are you doing here?” Shining Armor asked.
She flicked her eyes around at the chaos. “I could ask you the same thing. I never expected this to happen, not here within the bounds of the Crystal Heart.”
“I’m trying to stop this situation from exploding,” he gestured to his horn, “but it’s all I can do to stop the dragons and yaks from tearing the street apart.”
Very quickly he popped an opening through the barrier for Luna and shut it tight before any others could squeeze through. Once inside, the sounds of shouting were muffled, and if she didn’t look out, Luna could almost forget she was in the middle of a protest.
“Any po-- uh, has any creature been hurt?” Luna asked.
She let out a heavy breath she didn’t know she had been holding once Shining shook his head. “Luckily, no. We were able to get here before the worst of it started.”
“Okay, that’s good,” she said. “So how did this all happen?”
“Apparently, it was an argument,” Shining said. “Ask the yaks, and they’ll say the dragon started insulting one of them. Ask the dragons, and it’ll be the opposite. I haven’t been able to question any creature to get to the truth.”
There were a lot more than just a few yaks and dragons having a showdown. “How did that turn into this?”
Shining pointed to the side of the ponies. “They started showing up from the CNP office. That’s the, uh, Crystal Nation Party. They’re a group that’s been pushing Cadence this last month to put a fire-hazard tax on dragons.”
He turned around to the dragons. “Once they were here, dragons started coming off the street to support the first guy. Once a dozen or so were here, a whole group of them marched down from the Dragonland Consulate. We’ve been here all day since then.”
Just one argument? Luna couldn’t believe tensions had gotten so bad since she last visited. It had only been a few months, but the Crystal Empire seemed completely different. Part of her wanted to blame herself. She let this happen because of her inaction. But she had learned before that she couldn’t let her dark personality weigh her down.
“Right now,” she said, both to herself and Shining, “we need to break them up. I want to talk to Cadence to get the whole story, but I can’t just let this go on.”
A dragon spat out a ball of fire, which soared up and ricocheted off of Shining’s barrier, sizzling when it hit the ground.
“Don’t need to tell me twice,” he winced, focusing on strengthening his spell. “I’m all out of ideas, so whatever you’re going to do, I’ll trust it.”
Luna rose up on the air beneath her wings, passing through the barrier as Shining opened it for her. Once again, voices began filling the air, but this time they were dragons. She descended until she was hovering just above them.
“Dragons!” Only her royal Canterlot voice would cut through their chanting. “Heed me now! You have been heard and must disperse. Change will not come in times of disharmony. All will be right, I personally promise--”
“We’re not going anywhere!” A few dragons blew smoke up at her.
Other dragons shot into the air. “You go tell that prissy pink princess that if the yaks can stay, so can we!”
Luna’s voice broke immediately. “I will, but you all have to calm down first.”
“Calm down?” Dozens of them huffed a cloud of smoke into the air. “Don’t tell us to calm down when you’re trying to take our fire away!”
Luna argued back. “Hey, I have done nothing of the sort. I--”
She gasped, trying to catch her breath. But with a pony on their side of the barrier, the dragons only grew more agitated. A blanket of smoke grew out of the mouths of the protesters. She was sure they could still hear her, but every breath she tried to take burned her throat with bitter-tasting soot.
A yank snagged her wings back and pulled her through the barrier. Two royal guards, no doubt ordered by Shining, pulled Luna out of the mess before it got worse.
“I’m fine,” she said once they had her back on the ground. “I just-- I don’t know what happened.”
“Sorry, I guess I should’ve mentioned it sooner,” Shining apologized, passing a bottle of water to her to wash out the smoke from her face and mouth. “On any normal day, the Canterlot voice might get them to listen, but staying here is a symbol of dragons staying in the Empire.”
“But as long as they stay, it’ll be impossible to get both sides to calm down,” she said. “Let me try again. I’ll just tell them to calm down, and maybe then the yaks and ponies will do the same too.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” he said. “Look, I can hold the fort here. I think Cadence will want to talk to you, maybe you two can figure out a better way to fix all this.”
He opened a hole back to the pony side of the barrier. Her heart stirred at the thought of just walking away. But they shut her down so quickly, just by talking to Shining some of the dragons saw her as an enemy.
She looked out the barrier to the yaks and ponies. She wondered if she could still fix it by asking them to leave. The dragons were furious, to be sure. But the ponies and yaks, what were they thinking? The possibility of peace lingered in her head until she stepped out of the barrier.
The yaks and ponies around her glared with suspicion. They had seen what she tried to do, and now looked at her as if she was about to force them to disperse as well. If she did try, Luna wondered, would she just be boiling everything up to another level?
Probably.
Rushing in seemed like a good idea if she was up to date with the thoughts of the current generation. But Luna realized she still had a lot to catch up on. Gone were the days when a princess could command and be heard. Luna sighed. Of course those days were gone. She wasn’t a princess any more.
Luna expected the palace to be somewhat less hectic than the protests at the railway. On her way through the city, once she was a few streets away from the protests, business seemed completely normal. A few guards were posted at the corners of the street as markers to warn the other citizens about what was happening, but all in all most of the crystal ponies seemed happy going about their business.
“I want answers!”
But it was not so within the palace.
The Nightmare Knights were all waiting for her in the foyer of the palace, but even from the entrance, Cadence could be heard arguing with another voice.
“So, how did it go with the protesters?” Lightning Dust asked Luna.
She sighed. “Both sides do not trust me. The dragons see me as just another pony princess. And I think the ponies expect I stand back and let them drive out the unwanted dragons. They’ll only listen if what I say is what they want to do.”
“And that surprises you?” Svengallop snickered. “Most ponies think in herds. No way one princess is going to change the minds of a whole crowd. What did you do, go up and just ask them to stop?”
“I’d rather not answer that right now,” Luna said and headed into the castle to find Cadence.
Svengallop followed, dumbfounded. “No way, you really tried that?”
The rest of the Knights did the same, keeping close to their lead singer until they entered the palace library. Inside, at the single largest table, the Dragonlord and Crystal Princess traded blows. Not physical ones, no. But the ones that cut the deepest. Verbal attacks.
“I bet it’s easy for you to sit here and talk about doing things,” Ember said through gritted teeth. “My people moved here to do business. The Dragonlands have a trade agreement with Equestria that you can’t overrule with just a signature.”
“Technically I can,” Cadence shot back, “the Crystal Empire is a Dominion State, deferring to Equestrian foreign policy only when it does not conflict with our own laws. If the ponies in my Empire want to limit dragons, it’ll be hard to say no to them, not if I want to keep them happy.”
“For the love of lava!” Ember threw her arms up. “Just tell them to deal with it. Aren’t you the leader for a reason?”
“Ahem,” Svengallop coughed, echoing his voice through the empty walls of the library. Both world leaders stopped their discussion and turned to Luna and her band.
“I didn’t realize you had guests,” Ember crossed her arms. “Is that Princess Luna?”
“No longer princess,” she replied, “I’m now only Luna.”
“So I heard,” Ember gestured with one claw to her and her friends. “Is this a social visit? Because we’re kind of in the middle of something.”
Cadence gave a sharp look to the Dragonlord. “She may have retired from her office, but I respect her experience and wisdom. Perhaps Luna has come to us with a solution.” She looked over Luna’s shoulder and saw Starlight. “And I’m sure the Headmare of the School of Friendship would have some input as well.”
“Oh, haha,” Starlight combed back her mane with her hoof, “actually I think this one’s a bit above my pay grade.” Luna, however, wound her head around and gave her a pleading look through the eyes.
“Oh alright,” she gave in, “I guess I can stay.”
Aside from Starlight, the rest of the Knights left the library. Glitter Drops and Tempest returned to their post in the Northern Wastes as quickly as they could. According to Cadence, dozens of ponies have been fighting back the shadow creatures, baiting them into crevices or caves to trap them inside.
Of course, they always seemed to return, but it was the only way that seemed to actually slow down the threat.
Poppin left with Lightning and Svengallop to the dining hall. Cadence had been taking her meals in the library ever since tensions started to rise, so the palace cooks were eager to serve any guest of the palace.
“Now, can we please get back to the problem?”
Luna understood where her frustration was coming from and quickly agreed. “I too would like to know more details. I only know the hearsay from the protesters, plus some details from Shining Armor.”
“Is he doing alright?” Cadence asked instantly.
“I don’t know, but he seemed confident that he could control the crowds.”
Those words seemed enough to lift a weight off of Cadence’s shoulders. Luna admitted, she didn’t know how it felt to worry as a wife, but she imagined it was not an easy feeling to work with.
“This group, the CNP, what do they want?”
Ember waved her claw. “To blame us for everything. I mean, how can dragons be burning down buildings when everything is made of crystals?”
“Well, a lot of shops and restaurants have gas lines for heating,” Cadence answered bluntly, “and we have heard of plants, you know. We grow normal trees and bushes here just like everywhere else in Equestria.”
“Fine,” Ember huffed, “but that doesn’t mean their demands aren’t ridiculous.”
“I can’t say I disagree on that front,” Cadence said, pushing a stack of letters across the table to Luna and Starlight. “They’ve made three basic demands. One, to add a fifteen per cent fire-hazard tax on dragons. Second, they want to deny residency to most dragons coming into the Crystal Empire for business. And finally, they want to make it mandatory for dragons to wear fireproof muzzles that restrict the accidental discharge of smoke or fire.”
“See what I said? Crazy!” Ember’s claws dug into the crystal table.
“I do see,” Luna nodded, “but the Crystal Empire was a fair and loving place less than a year ago. How do they justify their stance against dragons exclusively? The yaks come here as well.”
“Yaks don’t come to become residents. Yakyakistan is so near that they can stay for as long as their business or travel permits allow, return home, and then just come back again. They basically come and go for a few months at a time, so they’re okay with not being permanent residents.”
“Which isn’t an option for my people,” Ember reminded both alicorns. “The Dragonlands is on the opposite side of Equestria. Since dragons have stopped raiding ponies for gems, we rely on the Crystal Empire’s exports. My people are because we have to be.”
Starlight raised a brow. “So if dragons are kicked out of the Crystal Empire, they’d return to raiding?”
“Maybe,” Ember shrugged. “Dragons need gemstones to keep our scales healthy. Without our scales, we get skin infections, sun burns, and a bunch of other health problems. Losing a source of gems would be enough for the dragons to rebel against my right to rule.”
“You can add that to the list of reasons why we can’t give in to these demands,” Cadence nervously chewed on the end of her mane.
“Sounds like you have a short list if you’re even considering those demands,” Ember hissed.
Cadence stopped her hoof. “I do not want to be unfair to your dragons, Dragonlord! But these are my people, and I have to listen to them. Instead of blaming me, why don’t you tell your dragons to learn to live with ponies? Because I do not enjoy having to see burned buildings and trees on a weekly basis.”
Ember huffed a cloud of smoke. “Dragons can’t control their fire all the time. Laugh fire and sneezing are things that just happen.”
“Okay enough!” Starlight raised her horn and formed two bubbles of silence around the Dragonlord and the Princess. “You two are at each other’s throats even when you’re on the same side. The way I see it, we all want to stop the riots, get rid of the CNP’s demands, and make the ponies agree that dragons have a place in Equestria.”
She turned to Luna. “Why don’t we listen to some pony with a little more experience with resolving the unresolvable?”
“Heh,” Luna chortled back, “All I have learned is that when I was at my lowest points, I had friends to help me. And my relationship with my sister, well, you’ve seen it for yourself. It can be tenuous sometimes. I don’t know that I’ve resolved any unresolvable problems yet.”
“Well, this is the Crystal Empire’s lowest point,” Starlight said, “now might be your chance. Whatever your friends have done for you, maybe that’s what we can do for the city.”
Luna thought on Starlight’s words. Though their bubbles of silence had dissipated, both Ember and Cadence listened intently to what Luna said, and waited for her decision.
As tough as it had been, despair and fear and doubt had always been a part of Luna’s life. Even now, she knew a deep part of her looked up to, and at the same time resented, her sister for how easily she resolved these problems. What would Celestia do right now? A simple show of power with raising the sun would send the protests away. And then…
And then…
Luna paused. As of late, it seemed her sister’s only solution was just to send Princess Twilight into the problem. But the ponies of the Empire explicitly wanted to break away from Equestria’s policies. They likely wouldn’t fully accept the verdict of an Equestrian ruler.
She paced the library, looking at the backs of the thousands of books on the shelves behind her, just idly passing her eyes around as she thought about her own past. Fear and jealousy and loathing once clouded her mind. Was there anything to learn from it, looking back on it now?
Luna laughed at herself and shook her head. She knew she had an insecure personality. Nightmare Moon or the Tantibus, either way, she used to lash out, at others or herself, just to feel in control. She was saved because her friends and allies made her feel safe and secure.
That was right. She may have been responsible for her actions, but her own sister had part of the blame to share. At her lowest point, Celestia chose to exile her instead of meeting her halfway. A swelling in Luna’s heart took her breath away for a moment, and then she refocused.
At once, she turned back to Cadence and Ember. “I know how we’re going to do it. We need to change the hearts of both sides to make the Crystal Empire place for all creatures.”
“Both sides?” Ember growled.
Luna let the Dragonlord’s irritation wash over her. “Yes. Accidents may be blameless, but they still can cause damage and harm. The ponies are to blame for their harsh and unfair demands, but the dragons also need to be more careful with what they can do. Who else knows the power of a dragon better than a dragon?”
“What are you proposing?” Cadence asked.
“We are going,” Luna took a deep breath, “to throw a party.”
“With all due respect, I think this is a bad idea.”
Luna and Starlight walked together, Poppin treading just ahead of them and writing down ideas for Luna’s “party.”
“I know,” Luna admitted to Starlight, “but I think this will succeed. Bringing the city together, dragons included, will be the first step. Dragons just need a chance to show that they can coexist with ponies.”
“I thought that’s what the School of Friendship was for,” Starlight dragged her hooves. “I’m all for equality, just ask Twilight, but one party isn’t going to change their minds. Ponies need time to get used to dragons.”
“Then how are you handling it at your school?”
Starlight thought about it for a moment. “I guess, I haven’t. There haven’t been any incidents. A few small fires, sure, but nothing that would scare the other students.”
“But you would bring them together, right?” Luna’s question turned into more of a statement. “You would make sure all students understood the position of their peers?”
“Of course!” Starlight’s tongue twisted, trying to find the words for her concerns. “But a party? How will a party make them understand each other?”
“It won’t. It will help them make new friends. And that will help them understand each other.”
Despite her reservations, Starlight was in complete agreement as far as Cadence and Ember were concerned. A plan was better than none, and Starlight didn’t want to undermine Luna just because her plan wasn’t the perfect one.
Dragons were already staying away from ponies, keeping close to the Dragonland Consulate. It had been only a week since they arrived, and the situation was worsening. The winter weather outside the bounds of the Crystal Heart was growing colder and fiercer.
So dragons who wanted to leave would have to make the trip by rail, the very same rails they continued to camp out on as a protest against the CNP’s demands.
The only break away from it all was that Poppin had gotten replies from a few of her contacts in other cities. It seemed some pony in Vanhoover was happy to organize a concert for them, in three to four weeks at the earliest.
“Oh, maybe here,” she stopped Starlight and Luna by a city park, a large open area situated in the middle of a neighbourhood near the edge of the city.
“Are these trees, you know,” Starlight pointed to the clearly non-crystal bark of the oaks and willows around them, “normal?”
Poppin nodded. “Of course, not everything’s made out of crystal here. Crystal ponies like regular flowers and trees just like the rest of us.”
“Yeah, I don’t know if this is the best place for a concert with dragons,” Starlight said.
“Noted,” Poppin said, “and maybe that’s a precaution I should add for the tour. Any creature could be watching us.”
Again, they circled back toward the palace, taking the long route in order to find a suitable, non-flammable place to host a party.
Teleporting back and forth from the Crystal Empire to Ponyville was easy if it was once or twice, but doing it every day while trying to balance the school and the Crystal Empire was draining her focus.
There was still work to do, but she couldn’t even bring herself to make the walk. Starlight popped into the air and dropped herself on her desk.
“You know, I could help lighten your load,” Sunburst said.
“What the--!” Starlight shot her head up, stunned. “What are you doing in my office?”
Sunburst checked the clock on her wall. “Uh, you scheduled a meeting with at six?”
Starlight followed his eyes. It was half-past six o’clock at night. Winter had turned the days incredibly short, and the sky outside had already turned black.
“Oh,” Starlight pulled her mane, “sorry for making you wait.”
“It’s alright, Trixie just went out to grab our coffee and pizza delivery.”
Starlight paused, processing what meeting she was actually late for. With final exams have done and winter break just around the corner, that meant the only meeting she needed to have was the end-of-semester report.
Her horn thumped against her desk, leaving get another dent in the wood. “Oh no! I left my notes in my room! Aargh!”
“Starlight, are you okay?”
“I got this,” she gasped, teleporting out and then back, a thick file of notes on in her mouth. She tumbled out of her teleportation field, crashing into her bookcases.
Sunburst jumped from his seat. “Starlight, what the heck is going on?”
“Alright, pizza time!” Trixie’s voice cut through the door as she entered, spotting Starlight collapsed on the floor and Sunburst standing over her. “Um, okay then.”
Starlight got up and pushed Sunburst back. “I am fine. Okay? I just need some pizza and a cup of--”
As she stood up, Starlight’s legs began to wobble. Again she stumbled forward, and it was due to Trixie’s fast and accurate reflexes that she was able to levitate the pizza and catch her best friend at the same time.
“Starlight?” she gently slapped her in the face. “Starlight, what’s going on?”
A soft padding, like the warm and conditioned fur of a fluffy rabbit, wrapped Starlight up in a gentle hug. Her vision cleared and focused to see a blanket wrapped around her and pillows under her head. Sunburst and Trixie quietly passed papers back and forth, drinking coffee as they worked.
“What happened?”
“You’re awake!” Trixie leapt from her seat and pounced on Starlight with a hug. “You really scared me there for a moment. We didn’t want to wake you up, so we called a doctor from the Ponyville hospital to take a look at you.”
“We told him what you’ve been up to the past few days,” Sunburst adjusted his glasses. “And he said it’s probably just fatigue. The mental and physical stress just got too much.”
“I know you said you’re fine,” Trixie looked her best friend in the eye, “but even the Great and Powerful Trixie needs her rest in order to stay great and powerful.”
Starlight rubbed her shoulder at the place where she fell. She felt good enough to stand, but took it easy and leaned against her desk as she sat in her chair. Above her, the clock ticked away, creeping toward midnight.
“Six hours?” she gawked. “I was out for six hours?” Starlight scanned around for her papers, grabbing at her quill and inkwell to get ready to take notes.
“Hold on,” Sunburst placed a small folder in front of Starlight. “It’s all done. A hundred pages of the semester report condensed into ten. Most of it was raw numbers and data, so I went through and put them all into graphs on the last two pages.”
“The budget?”
“Reviewed and revised,” Trixie said. “I recommended increasing the gym funding by ten per cent, a lot of students have been asking for more sports-related friendship lessons.”
“What about the teachers’ performances?”
Sunburst opened up to the third page. “I sorted those into their own files and put them in the library. The reference numbers for those are all here, along with short summaries for each instructor.”
“And the student reflections? That was thirty pages, at least!”
Sunburst shrugged. “Trixie’s system for organizing the students was a little messy, but she already planned out the categories after all the questions the students have been asking her.”
Trixie tapped her magician’s hat. “Students ask a lot of the same questions, so I was able to split them up all in here.”
Starlight made a funny face. “In your hat?”
“Huh? No!” she fussed. “In my head. I am a brilliant and categorical performer, after all.”
The whole semester was compressed down to just those ten pages. Starlight could not believe her eyes. But she could believe that she had the best friends in the world. With relief, the desk met her head again, leaving yet another mark, but this time for a good reason.
“So, um,” Trixie twiddled her hooves, “what’s this thing you’re doing with the Nightmare Knights?”
“It’s nothing, I’ve just been so busy being the lead guitarist, and now this whole thing with the Crystal Empire is driving me,” Starlight shot her head up. “Oh no. Wait, how did you know? I didn’t tell you!”
Starlight glared at Sunburst. He shrugged. “What did you want me to do? You passed out from stress, she had the right to know.”
“Don’t worry about it, I already heard from Scootaloo.”
“You did?” Starlight coughed. “But, that was over a week ago.”
Sunburst tapped his chin. “Wait, then why’d you let me keep explaining the band for twenty minutes?”
“Half the school already knows, Starlight,” Trixie said, and then turned to Sunburst. “Meh, I just wanted to see if you knew something I hadn’t heard about. Didn’t know you were going to the Crystal Empire, that was a surprise.”
“And you’re not mad I kept it a secret?” Starlight asked.
“Oh, I am, but we can talk about it later. Right now, you need to rest.”
“No,” Starlight shook her head, “this isn’t right, I should’ve told you from the start. Or at least apologized sooner. I didn’t keep it a secret because I wanted to exclude you. Honestly, I was just embarrassed of the music. I was really into metal when I was a kid, so playing it is kind of like looking back at my awkward phase.”
“Really?” Trixie gave a wolfish grin. “Trixie has become the Intrigued and Curious.”
“Oh-ho, no,” Starlight stood up from her chair. “I really like listening and playing metal, but you are not seeing that side of me.”
Sunburst flicked his eyes to Trixie and snickered. “She asked me to cover for her next week. I bet it’s a concert.”
“Who’s side are you on?” Starlight shouted.
Her office’s door burst open. Smolder, Silverstream, Gallus, Sandbar, Ocellus, and Yona all crammed into the room.
“You’re having another concert?” Silverstream squealed.
Smolder smacked her lips. “In the Crystal Empire?”
“It’s going to be after exams, right?” Ocellus asked, pulling her head up from under Yona, who had tripped over her as they all piled into my office.
“Wha--” Starlight gawked at all of them. “No-no-no. Enough questions! Go back to your rooms. I am your Headmare and we are not talking about this on school grounds!”
Frostbitten hooves would be the least of their worries in a few minutes if they did not win. The shadow was growing stronger. Even with help from volunteers, Tempest and Glitter could not contain the lumbering monstrosity. Every shadow was a different form, making it difficult to predict how to fight each one.
A lightless tail whipped through the snow and crackled against Glitter Drops’ illusions of Tempest. The intangible copies of her best friend were the only things keeping them in the fight. The shadow was, fortunately, as single-minded as it was powerful. It didn’t seem to learn, simply lashing out at images without realizing they were illusions.
Tempest took her chance and found an opening, piercing the shadow’s darkness with a burst of her magic. Its hulking body trembled, struggling with three uneven legs and a dozen stumpy arms, each ending with rough, serrated hooks.
Every shot Tempest took only briefly slowed the creature down. In seconds it regenerated from the damage and resumed its assault.
“You not touch pony friend!” One volunteer, a yak, threw himself at the shadow. He grunted as a chunk of his fur was torn by the shadow’s hooks, but it did not seem to cut the skin. “Ruargh! Torchfire, now!”
Another volunteer, wrapped up in a yak-sewn blanket to ward off the cold, blew circle of his dragon fire around the shadow. The light held back the beast long enough for the yak to recover, but the snow and winds surrounding them snuffed out the fire before long.
“Captain!” Glitter Drops distracted the shadow with illusions of Tempest while she rushed to a crystal stallion guarding a hole in the snow. “We can’t keep holding it off. Is the pit ready?”
The stallion shook his head and pointed down. “We need to remove a little more ice, or else that thing will come back too quickly.”
“Boff!” Both the yak and dragon flew back, struck by the shadow’s whipping tail.
Glitter Drops looked down to where ponies were bucking buckets of water out of the pit, while three dragons used their flames to carve deeper into their glacier.
“We’ll give you all the time you need, but please pick up the pace!” Glitter focused on her spell again, adding more duplicates to her illusion. But it didn’t matter how many she added, the frenzied and sweeping arcs of the shadow’s tail always seem to find Tempest.
She was only saved by their volunteers. “Only yaks best as smashing! And Brundi is strongest yak!” The dragon climbed on top of him, spewing fire and warding back the shadow.
“Yeah, what he said!” The dragon pumped his fist at the shadow. But the black stumpy arms lashed their hooks out, snagging and wrenching the dragon. Even with his natural armour, his scream curdled Tempests’ blood.
Two pops struck the shadow and erupted in a burst of light, throwing it back. “That pit better be ready because it’s coming now!” She blasted it relentlessly, not giving a second for the shadow to move forward.
“Wait, no!” the captain shouted, but he couldn’t be heard over the bursts. The dragons took flight and lifted the ponies out from the pit. Tempest pinned the shadow down with a stream of magic, pressuring it into the hole.
The captain rushed to her side, trying to pull her off. “You can’t. There’s something under us, we spotted it through the ice!”
“What?” Tempest turned, but the shadow already slipped on the snow and tumbled down into the pit. A moment later and crackling could be heard, followed by a shudder throughout the glacier as the ice below the shadow shattered.
“The glacier is hollow,” the captain said, “The diggers saw something under there, they said it looked like--”
“Shadows!” the dragons shouted from above, pointing down into the cavernous pit they just opened up. More beasts crawled out. Long, snake-like shadows and floppy slimes with spider legs pulled themselves up and out.
Glitter Drops cast her illusions around the pit, distracting the incoming threats before they escaped to quickly. One by one the Northern Watch retreated. One shadow was already a challenge to trap. Now there was no telling how many of them would come out.
Tempest rushed to her friend’s side. “Dropsy, remember Starlight’s lessons? Can you teleport everyone on the ground?”
“Uh, maybe?” Glitter shouted between panicked breaths. “But the shadows will just keep coming if we don’t stop them now.”
Tempest stomped her hooves into the show and spun around. “Just get the spell ready!” She sucked up a lung full of cold air and snowflakes. Her body shivered in the brutal northern storm, but with the pain of the cold came a certain clarity and focus.
At the tip of her horn, a blinding light grew. Even distant mountains seemed to light up from her spell. On the glacier, even in the thickest storm, it looked as if the sun had descended on them.
“Fizzy, what’re you doing?”
Tempest half-turned her head back gave her friend an excited stare. “Something I’ve always wanted to do.” The ball of magic was no larger than the head of a pin, but its density of energy was so great, it launched through the sky like the sun itself. The shadows shrieked as it flew over their heads, flying higher and higher still to the mountain above the glacier.
“I’ve always wanted to say this,” Tempest couldn’t contain her smile as she caught up with Glitter.
“What?” her friend groaned, too focused on her teleportation spell. Tempest pointed up to the rolling wave of ice and snow with a big dumb grin on her face.
“Avalanche!”
Cadence paced back and forth in the library as the patrol finished their report of the battle on the glacier. Luna presided over the meeting. As the only one who had ever warded off a shadow on her own, they sought her counsel on how to combat the shadow’s dark magic.
“This is a disaster,” Cadence brayed, “why do these monsters have to show up now of all times?”
“I believe,” Luna offered, “they are showing up because of these unique times. These shadows are the remains of the dark magic used by Sombra. They are raw and without direction, now that their old master has gone. But they are still attracted to the same forces.”
“You mean the distrust between ponies and dragons?” Cadence looked up from her panicked thoughts.
“Indeed,” Luna nodded. “The Crystal Heart is powered by love, and while those emotions might still exist, there’s no denying that fear and anger, the emotions that dark magic feed on, are increasing within the Empire.”
“But, I don’t get it,” the captain of the Northern Patrol interjected, “we’ve been outside the city for a while, so maybe I’m missing something, but dragons and ponies can get along just fine. I have all kinds of creatures on my team, and I’ve never seen better teamwork.”
“Unfortunately, not every pony in the Crystal Empire feels that way anymore,” Cadence told the captain.
“Fighting the shadows is a temporary solution,” Luna concluded. “We have to starve the shadows of dark emotions. They only approach the Crystal Empire because they can sense the anger building up.”
“And you’re working on the solution, right?” Tempest asked. “A few days ago, Poppin caught me in town. She asked me how I felt about an outdoor venue in the night market. She’s talking about the party, right?”
“Well, we planned it out and it’s going to be more akin to a festival,” Luna answered, “but yes, preparations are nearly complete. This weekend we shall have the market reserved for only fun and amicable relations for all creatures!”
“I am not teleporting any of you to the Crystal Empire!” Starlight stormed out of the school with the six young students behind her. “You should all be on the train to home by now.”
“Not a problem,” Smolder flew up in front of her and flashed six signed permission slips. “Our parents and guardians said we could go.”
Starlight pushed the papers out of her face. “This isn’t a field trip. It’s nice that your adults trust you, but I still say it’s a bad idea.”
“But Starlight!” They all whined in unison and crowded around the unicorn.
“Yona had so much fun with friends after concert!”
Silverstream whipped her black pearl card out from her feathers. “Besides, you don’t have to worry about taking care of us.” She wiggled it around. “We can handle ourselves.”
“Yeah, no.” Starlight poofed the card with some magic and it popped into her hooves. “First of all, money doesn’t fix everything. And secondly, be careful not to fly too close to the sun. Pride comes before the fall. I would know.”
She tossed the card back to Silverstream. “Besides, wouldn’t your parents be worried about you overspending?”
The young hippogriff gave a naive shrug. “The royal financier barely noticed the hotel charges. Actually, I think these cards are causing an economic boom for my country right now because the royal treasury has never been bigger.”
“Exactly why you shouldn’t be going!” Starlight pressed. “You’re my students. I’m supposed to be teaching you about responsibility and stuff. I can’t just bring you all to the Crystal Empire.”
She might have refused them strongly, but her students were as persistent as she was stubborn. They pursued her from the edge of the school to the front doors of the Castle of Friendship.
“For the last time,” Starlight turned around, massaging her temple, “just go home. Trains haven’t been running in or out of the Crystal Empire for weeks now. Any route to the city will take days and a bunch of alternate transportation. Just go home and enjoy your winter break, kids.” She shut and locked the door before they could raise their voices in protest.
They sighed and turned themselves around, walking a slow path of defeat back to the school.
“So,” Smolder shrugged, “plan B?”
Gallus shook his head. “We’re not asking Trixie.”
“Why not?” Sandbar asked. “We’ve seen her teleport stuff before, right?”
“That’s exactly why I’m worried,” Gallus waved his talon in front of his face. “Do you want your head teleported into a wall? Because I heard that can happen, you know.”
“Maybe friends try plan C,” Yona suggested. “Train to Vanhoover still open.”
“Yeah, and then we can get a luxury carriage all the way to the Crystal Empire!” Silverstream glided up into the air enthusiastically.
“Won’t that take a long time?” Ocellus cautioned them. “Vanhoover is still pretty far from the Crystal Empire.”
“I might have an idea.” Silverstream flashed a cheeky smile and flicked her eyes at her perplexed friends. They traded looks as if guessing whether she was going to spout out an insane fantasy or brilliant plan.
“I know the hippogriff consul general in Vanhoover,” she said. “I could pull a couple of royal strings and maybe get us an airship to the Crystal Empire.”
Beaks and mouths all dropped and gawked at her. “A what? You can just… do that?”
Luna held her head up as she walked around, the night market’s fresh air and glowing crystal lamps rejuvenating her spirit. In the past two weeks, despite the tension between dragons and ponies still being high, conflict around the city seemed to have stabilized. Arguments and brawls still broke out. From Shining’s own assessment, there were enough fights in a day to keep him busy and strung out on coffee.
But the Dragonlord had spent the passing days in the dragons’ consulate, speaking with her consuls. She gave Cadence assurance that dragons would be on their best behaviour throughout the night market.
Short lines of dragons crowded the street at stalls, each selling particular jewels. Lapis, jade, rubies, and diamonds, every dragon seemed to have their own taste.
“Well, where’s the nearest bank that will take it?” A voice in the crowd caught her attention.
“I don’t know, I’ve never been here before.” Luna turned and scanned the crowd with confidence that she wouldn’t have to look for long. In the middle of the street, she recognized two of Starlight’s students, the very same ones who had visited them in Fillydelphia. The hippogriff and dragon nudged a few yaks and ponies out of the way and spread their wings, flying higher to get a better view.
“Ugh, everything looks the same,” Smolder said, “but a bank has to be nearby, right? I mean, this is a market!”
Luna decided, with Starlight still retrieving her guitar, it was best she kept an eye on them. “Having trouble?” She asked as she flew up to the both of them.
“Luna!” Smolder regained herself before losing balance with her wings. “What are you doing here?”
The alicorn shot a cheeky look from the corner of her eye. “This is a night market after all. Huh? Get it? Night market? Me?”
“Yeah, hehe,” Smolder folded her arms. “That’s cool and all. But, we’re not lost, we know exactly where we are.”
“Yeah, we just don’t know where we’re going, that’s all,” Silverstream nodded.
Luna tilted her head. “I think that’s one definition of being lost. How are your two even here? The railways from Ponyville haven’t been opened yet.”
“We came with our friends on an airship from Vanhoover,” Smolder answered. “But, just don’t tell Headmare Starlight, okay? She really didn’t want us coming for some reason.”
Luna nodded and kept her own mouth shut. “I will keep your presence here discrete.” They didn’t need to know why their Headmare was so concerned. So long as they stayed for the night market, and only the night market, they wouldn’t have to see what the Crystal Empire had become.
The first band came on to bring some ambient music to the market. They were local, just a few crystal ponies layering a slow beat over everyone from the heart of the marketplace. A few ponies and dragons stopped around the market centre, a raised circle which could put just about anything on display, from hearth’s warming trees to art shows.
And tonight, it would be music.
Lightning Dust smiled. It was nice having another band be the opening act this time. With a few hours before they were up to perform, she had been taking the chance to actually enjoy the night market instead of doing stage prep.
“Hey, buddy,” she flagged down a yak at a crystal disc stall, “what do you have that’s relaxing?”
“Pony needs to be more specific,” he scratched his head. “Many songs relaxing.”
Lightning Dust lowered her head. “I’m not exactly looking for songs. More like… sounds. You know what I mean? The kind of stuff you can fall asleep to.”
“Yes, Harold has those.” The yak pushed a rack of CDs up to the front of the stall.
There were all sorts of river sounds, raindrops, even urban white noise. Seated at the bottom, however, was a stack of discs labelled Affirming Whispers.
“Yeah, I’ll just, um,” Lightning Dust grabbed a “forest sounds” disc and place it on top of a copy of Affirming Whispers. “Just these two, thanks.” The yak shrugged and bagged the discs, taking Lightning’s bits into his shop till.
She turned and headed down the street, rounding the corner to the food section of the market. It surprised her how much food in the Crystal Empire wasn’t actually made out of crystals. Rich, salty sauces sizzled on grills and massive pots of stir-fried food.
Halfway down, waiting at the back of a line and staring at the menu, Lightning noticed two familiar faces.
“Do you think Yona would like… fried milk dough?”
“Dude, I don’t even know. If it’s a yak dessert she’d probably eat it.”
“No way, yaks have a huge variety of dishes and some of them are really acquired tastes.”
Lightning Dust squinted. It was definitely the griffon and earth pony student from Starlight’s school.
Gallus’s wings popped up. “Then why are you asking me? Shouldn’t you, I dunno, be asking your girlfriend what she likes?”
“Okay, first of all, she’s not my girlfriend,” Sandbar said, “we’re talking it easy, feeling things out, you know. Second of all, she’s shopping with Ocellus, so no, I can’t ask her right now.”
“Alright, why don’t I just fly over and--” Gallus’s head whipped around like an owl on a swivel chair. “Is that Lightning Dust?”
“Oh, bucket of fudge.” Lightning rolled her eyes and sunk her shoulders low. Running away was pointless, the ponies around her were all crystal ponies, there weren’t any pegasi to blend in with. She decided facing them was the only way.
“Oh, hurray!” She put zero effort into her fake enthusiasm. “Hello there, impressionable youths.”
“Wait, shouldn’t you be getting ready with the band?” Sandbar asked as she walked up to their line. Lightning Dust looked at the sign above the stall. Fried doughnuts, shaved ice with fruit and syrup, it was an entire stall dedicated to yak desserts.
“We’re not on for a few more hours,” she mumbled, more focused on picking out something delicious to order.
The two students looked at each other.
“So, uh, Lightning Dust, since you’re here, do you think you could help us with something?”
Gallus pushed Sandbar back. “What are you doing?”
“Well it’s not like we know any other creature to ask,” he said.
Lightning rolled her eyes. “If I answer your questions will you two quit bickering like foals?”
“Yes!” Sandbar bounced. “Okay, so, say I was trying to buy a gift for a girl. I need something that says ‘we’re more than friends’ but also says ‘I’m not trying to rush into things.’ What’s the best gift for that?”
Lightning sputtered. “Pfft, how should I know?”
“But you’re a girl, so I thought, erm…” Sandbar stuttered. “That you’d know?”
“Haha!” she laughed in his face. “Is that what you learn in that friendship school? Ha! Figures Dash would be a teacher there.”
Gallus’s feathers ruffled up. “Hey, a little quieter, okay? We’re just asking for some recommendations, not the end-all-be-all.” He spotted the paper bag under her wing. “Like something you’d like to buy.”
Lightning followed his eyes. She tightened her grip and crushed the bag around the two discs, stuffing it further under her feathers. “It’s nothing. Absolutely nothing, just an empty bag.”
“Oookay,” Gallus backed up. “Then just tell us what normally works. You gotta know something, right?”
“Heh. Nope.”
“Not even--”
“Nope.”
“So when you offered to answer our questions, you really meant you had no answers?”
“Ugh, how does Starlight deal with you?” Lightning groaned. “Look, a relationship is all about caring, whoever it is. Don’t get a gift to impress, just show who you like that you’re listening to them. And if you’re not sure, ask. Great way to start a conversation.”
“That’s funny,” Gallus raised a brow, “Professor Rainbow Dash says you don’t care about any creature but yourself. Is that why you don’t have a boyfriend?”
Lightning Dust clenched her whole face. “Yep, that’s why. No other reason.”
Sandbar stepped up. “But how do you know if what she says is the whole story?”
“Oh, look at the time! It’s ‘I don’t care o’clock.’ Stay out of trouble kids, and never mention this to Starlight.” She crouched down and launched herself up into the air. As fast as, well, lightning, she burst through the night’s cold sky, leaving them to figure the rest out on their own.
“Aw,” Sandbar sank his head. “But I still don’t know what to buy.”
“I think her point was not to worry about it, dude.”
Sandbar shivered. “Like how I’m worrying about it now?”
“Yes.” Gallus pat his friend on the back. “You should just stop.”
Svengallop buttoned up his jacket. Despite the Heart’s protection against the winter storm beyond the Empire’s boundaries, the air was still cold. Inside the black leather button was a soft layer of fur from Yakyakistan.
He wondered what kind of fur, sincerely hoping that jackets weren’t the main product of yak haircuts.
“Typical,” he said, looking around the supply closet below the stage. “I’m the sound guy, so I have to double check everything before we play.”
Cadence had the market centre transformed into a stage, but it was still a minimal set-up. There was hidden space below the raised pavilion, so the band above could be viewed from every angle. No curtains or fancy banners. They were passing entertainment only. The market where all creatures could be together was the real star of the show tonight. It was a good idea. Svengallop had to admit, he doubted a few songs by themselves could change what he saw when they first came to the city.
But it still would have been nice if they could have a real backstage, one that wasn’t crammed with barely enough space to breathe.
“Oh jeez,” he coughed. The fog machine was working fine, even if it did sputter in his face. As soon as he was sure the lights and sounds would be exactly as he planned them, he took the stairs up. The exit opened behind the market management centre and led directly to the main street.
An hour until showtime. He flipped up his coat’s collar to block off the breeze and took a walk around the market centre. A few ponies stopped to take photos of the performers. They were just locals, but they weren’t bad.
“Friends might be waiting for us,” he heard a young yak behind speak. “We should go back to them, then look for hotel.” They were so close behind, Svengallop couldn’t help but turn around. They seemed oddly familiar.
“Silverstream and Smolder are still looking for a bank so they can withdraw some bits,” the changeling replied. “It’ll be quicker if we found the hotel instead of distracting them.”
“Why Crystal Empire so confusing? All buildings just look like crystals.”
A changeling in the Crystal Empire. Svengallop snorted. Of all the things, he didn’t think he’d see the day when a changeling could walk around in the Crystal Empire without drawing strange glances. But there was more to them than that.
Starlight. “Svengallop hissed. Why the heck are her students here?”
The city was bad enough without more trouble to distract them. Did she bring them on purpose, or were they here like last time, without permission? Based on how Starlight reacted in Fillydelphia, he guessed it was the latter. But, either way it was, he didn’t want them causing a distraction for Starlight.
But a growing concern scratched the back of his head. Some little detail. He tried remembering the students who showed up before. Besides those two, there was an earth pony, a griffon, and a hippogriff.
And a dragon.
If they were just in the market it’d be fine, but there was no hotel anywhere near the night market. All the hotels he knew of were pony-owned. Some of them probably agreed with the CNP’s stance.
Svengallop checked his watch. Fifty-five minutes until the Knights were expected on stage. He looked down the streets that converged on the market centre. No sign of Luna or the others. This close to a show, he didn’t like to get distracted. But if those kids brought their friend to the wrong hotel, there could be more than just trouble.
Svengallop knocked his forehead. “Come on, get a grip. They’re Starlight’s students, not yours. Focus on your job.” What was the worst that could happen? They were kids. Even crystal ponies wouldn’t treat kids like a threat.
But he also never imagined that dragons could one day become friendly, and that the city of love would one day reject them out of fear. There were a lot of unknowns in their little new world. Out of all those unknowns, Svengallop was sure of one thing.
A kid didn’t need to see what he saw at the rails two weeks ago.
He gathered up his thoughts and hurried up to the two students. “Excuse me, but did I hear you two were looking for a hotel?”
The yak turned around with a funny look on her face. “Yes? Why pony want to know?”
“Yona!” The changeling chided her. “He’s one of Luna’s band members. Sven-something, I think.”
His eyes twitched. To be forgotten to the background by a couple of kids, nothing could humble a once-great pony like himself more than that. But he shook it off.
“Svengallop,” he put a hoof to his chest and raised his head, “the ex-manager responsible for the greatest pop-singer in Equestrian history, and yes, sound mixer and keyboardist for the Nightmare Knights. And you are?”
“Ocellus,” the changeling gave a courteous nod, “and my friend Yona. We’re just a little turned around, that’s all. We’re looking for a hotel we could spend the night at.”
“Funny that Starlight brought you all here without providing the hotels herself,” he tapped his chin.
“Oh, no, we came on our own,” Ocellus laughed nervously, “please don’t tell our Headmare.”
Svengallop smirked. “Don’t worry dear, I’m not one to spill tea.”
“What tea?” Yona asked.
“It’s nothing,” he waved the comment away. “If you two are hunting for a place to stay, you could try the palace.” He gestured a hoof toward the towering structure off in the distance. In the night, even with the glow of the Crystal Heart, its size was more imposing and ominous than it was comforting.
“Us? At a palace?” Ocellus’s voice pitched up. “W-we couldn’t possibly deserve that kind of honour. We’re just a couple of students.”
Svengallop shrugged. “The Knights are staying there, since Luna is helping with the princess with some city matters. You’re students of one of the Knights, Cadence won’t turn you all away. Besides, Starlight always teleports to Ponyville at the end of the day, so you and your friends probably won’t see her.”
Ocellus and Yona traded glances. The palace did sound like an option, and best of all, if they were treated as guests of the Crystal Princess, they wouldn’t have to use Silverstream’s card. They thanked him for the tip.
“I see why Luna wanted you to be in her band,” Ocellus smiled. “You’re really helpful!”
“Heh, yeah,” Svengallop waved goodbye to them. “Helpful. Definitely me.”
He turned around and headed back to the underground storage. They had a lot less than an hour until they went on stage now. Where were they? Trying to find Luna in the middle of the night might’ve been like trying to find a drop of dark blue paint in the middle of a bunch of even darker blue paint, but he expected to have found Lightning Dust already.
Starlight was only ever just barely on time thanks to her teleportation, so he didn’t count on seeing her yet. But Tempest was definitely around as well.
He stomped his hooves and pouted. “Where in Equestria is the rest of my band?”
Dropsy put down her binoculars.
“You should get to the market,” she told Tempest.
“But,” Tempest hovered her eyes at the border between the Crystal Empire and the freezing storm. For hours, a massive black shadow could be seen stalking around the boundaries between the wild and tamed lands.
“The market can’t hold everyone in the city, Fizzy,” Glitter Drops said. “I bet half the city is still up in arms over the dragon issue.”
“I know,” Tempest dug her hoof at the ground, “but you’re my best friend. I can’t leave you here guarding the city.”
“I won’t be alone. The whole Northern Patrol’s on high alert tonight.” She stuck her tongue out and taunted the shadow. It was dozens of times larger than the average house, but even it couldn’t pass the Crystal Heart’s magic.
But it could still roar. The very shriek of its voice seemed to thicken the snow storm whirling outside the Empire.
“Alright,” Tempest sighed. “Think you can teleport me back to the city?” She turned to look behind them. There were miles of countryside before she could reach what could be considered the capital of the Crystal Empire.
“Just be sure to buy me some of those fried milk-dough balls. Mmm, the yaks really know their desserts.”
Tempest laughed softly. “I will. If Svengallop doesn’t kill me for showing up on time. Half an hour early is half an hour late for that stallion.”
Glitter Drops giggled and teleported her friend away to the night market. As soon as she was gone, her stomach started rumbling, thinking of those milk-dough balls. Delicious.
“What about you, huh big guy?” she taunted the shadow. “Think I should save a bite for you? Lookin’ kind of hungry, out there in the cold.”
She laughed at it as it riled and seethed from behind the veil of the storm. But her laughter ran cold as it pushed its head forward, daring the boundary between them. Its black skin burned against the limits of the Crystal Heart, the magic forcing it back. For a second, however, Glitter Drops swore she saw the edge of its body leak in.
“What are you up to?” she mumbled.
The shadow reared up, exposing its full height. “Yes. Hungry.”
Luna tested the makeup on her face. The oil-based paint stuck like glue. Though, she suspected sweating the paint off wouldn’t be a problem. Even with the Crystal Heart, winter was still winter. The wild storms in the north pounded down hard, making the air inside the Heart’s magic chilly. She might actually welcome the warmth of the stage lights this time.
Svengallop finished the touch-ups on Starlight, the last of the Knights to show. She was helping grade final exams and nearly lost track of time.
“Just barely,” Svengallop said, looking Starlight up and down. “Wish I could do something about her mane, but she’s presentable.”
“Excuse me?” Starlight stuck her tongue out at him. “Rude.”
Lightning Dust came down from the street to the storage room where they waited. “Well, the fog’s starting to cover the pavilion, so we gotta head out soon.”
Luna nodded. “Come on, then.”
Together they stepped up into the market and walked the short stretch of street to the pavilion stage. More citizens crowded around the centre now. Some looked eager, some confused.
The night market itself was already an attraction. Luna was certain that their performance was news to those who just wanted to go shopping. It relieved her to see an array of creatures mingling together. Dragons and yaks could stand side by side, and neither seemed agitated.
Luna’s voice bounced with excitement. She leaned over and shook Starlight by the shoulder. “It’s already working! Ooh, I can’t wait.”
They each smiled and waved to the crowd, Lightning Dust taking a seat at the drums that had already been set up for the band before them. Svengallop carried his keyboard and plugged it into the speakers.
Luna turned her head and flashed him a smile. Thanks to him, they didn’t need to do any preparation while on stage. He had checked and double-checked, and all Tempest and Starlight needed to do was plug in their guitars.
“Alright, alright!” Luna shouted out to the crowd, testing her microphone. Her royal voice was plenty loud, but modern technology let her words be projected with a lot less effort. “Pretty cold night tonight, huh?”
She tightened up her own cloak and leather jacket to mime a chill. “Well, I hope you all have a friend, buddy, or a pal with you. I hear the market’s going to be up all night, so find someone to stick close to and stay warm.”
The crowd ruffled with chuckles as groups of friends followed the suggestion and huddled together.
“Honestly, I’m really glad to be here with you all tonight,” Luna continued. “Singing out here, on stage, I never thought I’d be able to do it. For most of my life, actually, I thought I’d never get out of the moon, hehe.”
Mostly the dragons laughed at that joke, but the crowd’s spirits were up nonetheless. Under hoods of their own, Luna spotted Cadence and the Dragonlord standing side by side, watching the performance. Both of them wanted the market festival to improve the city’s morale, and both of them were staking their hopes on a power metal band, of all things. A little surveillance was to be expected.
“But here I am, and the Equestria I once knew has become a place with even more friendships than I could have ever dreamed. So we’re going to start off with a little song celebrating what makes Equestria special.”
Luna signalled Lightning Dust and Starlight, kicking off the song with the strong beats and chords of their instruments, breaking abruptly for Luna’s voice to take control.
I have returned from my prison of darkness and evil
Divisions across the land that I once called my home
Locked in the moon by an ancient and powerful ruler
Now I must quest to take back the crystalline home
-
Legends speak of a land
Where peace and friendship still reign
-
Friends far away, welcomed by the Night and Day
From the mountain and to the beyond
Follow your dreams, let your friendship reign supreme
In the Land of Unicorns
-
Follow the path laid down by the forces of friendship
Travel the road, go up to the mountain of gold
Fight against fear and wrongful agents of chaos
Onwards I fly in search of the peace I desire
-
Returned, down from the moon
To teach the lessons unknown
-
Friends far away, welcomed by the Night and Day
From the mountain and to the beyond
Follow your dreams, let your friendship reign supreme
In the Land of Unicorns
-
The past is leaving now
I see this realm before my eyes
Gather now and sing with me, bring me back to my homeland
The Land of Unicorns
-
Friends far away, welcomed by the Night and Day
From the mountain and to the beyond
Follow your dreams, let your friendship reign supreme
In the Land of Unicorns
-
Friends far away, welcomed by the Night and Day
From the mountain and to the beyond
Follow your dreams, let your friendship reign supreme
In the Land of Unicorns
In the Land of Unicorns
They drew in a larger and larger crowd, playing more songs from their albums, and even adding their first song from their performance in Canterlot. Some citizens came and went, still more interested in the market than the music, but by their third song, the crowd had filled up the market centre, almost spreading to the streets leading in.
Yet even as full as the crowd was, the pavilion was just high enough to give Luna view of the audience. She saw them coming. More ponies added into the crowd, some armed with signs, others simply raising their hooves.
A herd of crystal ponies trotted through the night market and stopped just short of the centre. Tempest moved away from her microphone and whispered to Luna as she performed a choreographed swap with Starlight.
“That part of the plan?”
Luna gave Tempest a look that said everything she needed to know. They were not. Down in the audience, Cadence and Ember had their heads turned toward the coming crowd, along with many other yaks and dragons.
“Excuse me,” Luna pointed a hoof out to the pony in the front of the herd, “On behalf of the night market and everyone in it, I’d like to ask you not to start any trouble with the creatures here. We’re all here for a fun night, correct?”
One of the ponies gave their leader a long cone to speak through. “Don’t mind us, we have just as much right to be here as those dragons.”
“Except they don’t look like they’re having fun anymore,” Luna gestured to the ponies and yaks in the back of the audience who were being pushed further into the crowd to make room for the new herd.
“Is this really what princesses are doing now?” The leader laughed. “Giving space to dragons who can burn down our homes when ponies just want to walk around the market?”
Luna’s nostrils flared. “Hey! This is a--”
Her microphone cut out.
Tempest and Starlight tapped on their mics as well and strummed their guitars. The speakers were completely silent.
Svengallop whipped his head around to where their equipment was plugged in. “What are you doing? That pony’s pulling out the power cords!” He pointed to a stallion in a hood, yanking the last wire between the keyboard and the sound equipment.
“You need to get our microphones working again,” Luna told him quickly.
But there was not enough time to get it done before more words lashed out. Some yaks standing by the CNP crowd scuffled with a dragon, holding him back from getting too close to the leader.
“I’ve never burned anything down. I live here too!” His voice lost its power in the open space of the market, but even from the stage, Luna could make out his words. More dragons in the audience riled themselves up. They shouted for the CNP to get out and leave them alone.
And it was only the dragons.
The crystal ponies, and even some of the yaks, simply stood around awkwardly. Those who could, left, returning to their shopping and browsing.
“Alright, the sound should be back on!” Svengallop shouted, climbing back up on the pavilion. He rushed to his keyboard, but his face drooped when he saw how sparse their audience had become.
Dragons who were happily next to ponies looked back with sour faces at the ones leaving. A single-file wall formed in front of the CNP, some shouting at them to leave, others daring the ponies to try and enter the market centre.
“We will not be moved!” One dragon started yelling, and quickly the two dozen or so dragons who had united followed until a scant few words sounded like a powerful chant.
Cadence flew over to the stage. “I’ll get Shining. He can make them leave, but we’ll have to shut down the market for tonight.”
“What? No!” Luna pitched up in a whimper. “This was working, you saw how everyone was together.”
Ember huffed and stomped onto the pavilion. “You need to stop this now! Do you know how hard it was to get my people to give this festival a chance? Every dragon is here because I told them to trust it. If you let this go on, they’re going to question my power as Dragonlord!”
“I’m sorry, but we have to try!” Luna begged them.
“Luna,” Starlight placed a hoof on her shoulder, “I think they’re right. We lost the battle but we were close. That means next time we can make it work.”
Luna’s jaw tightened. She shook her head and forced herself to focus. She pointed to the chanting dragons. They stood firm against the CNP, yelling with every ounce of breath they had back at the ponies. But she noticed. Luna could not have missed such a detail, given what she saw when she came to the city.
“Look,” she told them.
Not a single spark, not even a puff of smoke. The dragons were standing for their right to remain in the Empire, but they were not using their fire. In their moment of darkness, the dragons chose to not use their light.
Luna stared at the market, where so many ponies had left that she could see the pavement again. The centre was half-empty, filled mostly with dragons. And the CNP, they were coming closer. Much closer.
“Hold on,” Luna squinted her eyes at something coming from beyond the market. While the front of the CNP herd traded words with the dragons, something further back seemed to be gathering a crowd. She twisted her head and looked down another street.
The same.
From the shops and stalls, ponies started breaking out of their lines. Vendors jumped out of their stalls.
“What is happening now?” She gestured to what she saw.
A tendril, frantic and black, whipped through the street. They could hear the screaming now as ponies hurried back down the street to the centre. Only, it wasn’t a simple audience this time. Every creature in the market fled in panic.
Shadows chased them, bounding on their hooves.
“Tempest!” Luna snapped, suddenly forgetting the clashing protest on the other side of the market centre. “Can you direct the crowd? I need the area cleared to fight them all.”
“You can count on it,” she said, and then turned to Starlight. “Lend a horn?”
Starlight nodded. “Didn’t even need to ask.” The two teleported away.
“We can help them two,” Cadence said. Both princess and Dragonlord spread their wings, soaring over the mass panic to try and direct every creature as far from the shadows as possible.
Lightning Dust was already in the air, too. “I can get to Shining Armour the quickest,” she said, barely waiting for a nod from Luna to give the go-ahead.
Luna levitated Svengallop up. “Sorry, you’ll have to get somewhere safe,” she told him. But he struggled out of her field of magic.
“The kids,” he huffed, “the kids are in the market!”
“What?”
“The, uh-- the weird ones. From Fillydelphia! Starlight’s nosy students, those kids! They're in the market, I saw them.”
Luna stiffened. “Oh shit!” She was so focused on the shadows that she completely forgot.
Fortunately, Svengallop was hot on his hooves. “I can’t fight or fly, but I’ll go with the crowd. I’ll make sure they’re safe.”
“Really?” Even in their current state, Luna’s brows tipped up in surprise that Svengallop could muster a selfless act. A burst of screams echoed down a street, the shadows thrashing shops and throwing blocks of pavement at the fleeing mob.
“No guarantees,” he gasped nervously. “Just end this quickly before I need to start worrying about myself.”
He galloped away from the nearest sounds, following the signals from Cadence as she led the fleeing citizens from the attack. The protesters had fled as well, subsumed by the chaos and madness.
It was a very small consolation, as Luna empowered her horn and stood her ground in wait for the coming shadows. At least she could tackle one problem at a time.
“Everyone, make space for other creatures and head for the palace.”
Cadence glided low, watching for any yaks or ponies who fell over. The whole city was up in a panic over the shadows. One fall and someone could be trampled without another creature to notice. Meanwhile, the Dragonlord gathered her subjects, many of whom were still outside the market.
“I thought you said the pony market would be peaceful,” said an older dragon. Not ancient, but he was a tad larger than Ember and seemed to have a few dragons following his lead.
Ember flared her nostrils. “Back off, Broil. If any of us want to get out of this, we have to head for the Crystal Heart where the magic is strongest.”
Cadence broke up the dragons and pointed to a young limping yak on the street. “If you don’t mind, I could use some help here.”
Ember nodded and folded her wings, dropping down into the middle of the stampede. “Watch it, hairball!” Ember shoved away a distracted yak who was about to trample over his fellow yak-kin. “Hey! You too, half-wits, move it!”
Ember barked at a bundle of stallions clumping together, bumbling and stumping over everything in their path.
“Yona lost friends!” the limping yak tugged at Ember’s arm.
“Yeah, well,” Ember looked around, “that’s rough, buddy. But you’ll just have to find them later.” She hoisted the yak up and flew her over to Broil.
“W-what are you doing?” the dragon stammered as she handed the yak over to him.
“As Dragonlord, I am commanding you to fly this yak to the palace. Fail and I will have you dragged by to the Dragon Lands in a cage.”
“Ugh, you’re such an annoying Dragonlord,” he scoffed. But no dragon, no matter how reluctant, could refuse an order from their lord. The dragon and the friends backing him took their leave, taking the young yak with them.
“Got a few more!” Cadence called out, raising a small barrier around a group of ponies trying to get their friend up off the ground. “Come on, Luna,” she murmured to herself, “we’re barely keeping up.”
“Keep it up!” Tempest blasted a street clear of shadows for a ponies trapped in their shops to escape. But in seconds the creatures returned, reformed from their scattered pieces. Starlight erected barriers behind them, sealing the monsters into buildings or cutting off empty streets in an attempt to slow them down.
What felt like a battle of attrition had only been a few minutes, and already both unicorns had spent most of their magic. The shadows did not stop coming. One shadow shaped something like a stretched lobster scampered along the roof of a shop and jumped over Starlight’s barrier, tearing down a row of street food stalls.
Hot cooking oil and fried pastries sizzled the cold dew on the pavement. The shadow’s pincers dug up the ground, sending stones flying towards Tempest and Starlight.
“They don’t stop,” Starlight ducked out of the way. She swung her horn in an arc that cast an animating aura over the rubble. Piece by piece the scattered bits of stone and wood assembled themselves in a cage around the lobster shadow.
Tempest blasted apart the pavement, pushing the stones into a stack to block off the shadows. The misshapen ones, shadows with tiny legs or floppy bodies, clamoured uselessly against the wall, but the other half of the horde were coordinated like the lobster beast, effortlessly taking to the roofs.
A shadow in the shape of a mosquito led the charge, it wings replaced with drooping-jawed snakes, large enough to swallow a pony whole. “We don’t have a choice! We have to keep them off the main roads.” Tempest shot bolts of raw power into the shadow.
“Then we need to keep moving,” Starlight pushed herself up close to Tempest and teleported them further down the street. “There are shadows everywhere, we have to stick to the crowd.”
“Yeah, but-- look out!” Tempest shoved Starlight aside when a shadow rolled towards them. It was like a ball, three times their height, with dozens of legs poking out, desperately writhing to find some ground to stand on.
“Why do they have to look like that,” Starlight winced in disgust. She cast a circle of symbols around it as Tempest pinned the monster in place with a stream of her magic. The two unicorns backed off, leaving the shadow to trigger Starlight’s trap. Magic ropes sprouted from the symbols, forming a net around the shadow without it being destroyed and reformed.
Tempest gasped and caught her breath, clutching her scrapes. “We need to do that one more often.”
“As long we don’t get surrounded,” Starlight said, pointing behind them. Already the shadows they escaped from were closing in, tearing up the streets as they went. Exhausted, they still readied their spells.
“We fight until Luna is done,” Tempest said. Without a word, Starlight nodded and started casting circles of magic symbols on the ground.
The line of creatures trying to get into the barrier was moving fast enough. Every street was closed off, save for the city’s main road. Twenty yaks could stand shoulder to shoulder on the road, but it was not enough to bring in the entire city.
“Keep it civil, everyone,” Shining Armour told them. He had his sight in the sky, watching the flying shadows circling around them. Dozens of dragons had already been hit and taken down, left to recover their broken wings in the palace infirmary. But, if it wasn’t for Lightning Dust’s warning, they never would have reacted in time.
In the middle of the line, a commotion stirred up.
“Out of the way! I got a kid here.” Shining recognized the rasping voice as a dragon’s. To his surprise, the yaks ahead of him parted, and when they entered his barrier, he saw why. The steel-scaled dragon and a young yak limped toward the palace, using their weight to support each other.
“Monster attacked from the sky,” the young yak said, “Yona sprained ankle from falling, but dragon got hit worse.”
I’m fine!” The dragon grumbled. “And I have a name! It’s Broil. Those little shadows can’t hurt a dragon.”
Shining bunched up his brows, looking intensely at the dragon with doubt. “You don’t look fine, dude.” He reached out to inspect the dragon’s wings.
“Ghrahh!” he whimpered. “Why does that hurt so much?”
“We’ve been able to get dragons treatment pretty fast,” Shining said, “this is the longest we’ve seen an injury progress without treatment. Your wing, the skin looks like it’s dying.”
Broil shoved Shining’s hoof away. “What would you know, huh? You don’t look like a doctor.”
“Okay,” Shining stood back, “since you’re fine, head inside and up the stairs on the left, keep going until you see the infirmary. The nurse will give you painkillers and treat your wings if they can.”
Broil huffed, but he made no complaints and followed Shining’s advice.
Yona watched him leave, still standing by Shining’s side. “Have you seen griffon or hippogriff passing through here?”
“Sorry, kid,” Shining knelt down to look her in the eyes, “I don’t know if I did. I’m too busy trying to keep up this shield. But hey, if you want, you can wait out here and look for your friends.”
Scores of yaks and ponies continued to flood into the castle. The flash of magic outside told Shining Armour that his guards were still fighting to keep the shadows away from the main street. It was risky, keeping every creature in one spot, but it meant they had fewer places to defend.
Behind him, the Crystal Heart hummed as if nothing had changed. Watching it helped him focus, strengthening his barrier, but he knew that extra strength wasn’t coming for the Heart’s magic. The Crystal Heart didn’t simply create a bubble around the Crystal Empire, it expelled wild and dark magics out from the land, wherever they were. Shining didn’t understand how the shadows could even be standing in his city.
“All because of dragons…” he heard two ponies murmuring.
The line was tense, but not all problems had been forgotten. There were ponies and yaks and dragons in the same line to get to safety, but they each moved in their own crowds. Shoulder to shoulder, other tensions were tentatively pushed aside, not magically evaporated.
A wave of voices washed over the crowd after a row of houses was broken through. Five royal guards wrangled a six-headed shadow with enchanted chains. It seemed like they were outnumbered, though. Shining’s heart ached to see his ponies facing the danger without him, but he was the only one who could create a barrier strong enough to defend the entire palace.
But there were more shadows. So many more. Some had indescribable shapes, others more like animals. Those which could fly snatched and grabbed up ponies, pulling them back towards the horde of monsters further away.
“Let us in!” the ponies started shouting. “Prince Shining, open the barrier!”
He knew could not. The shadows came closer to the palace now, directly attacking the ponies outside and scattering them into smaller groups. Opening more space would leave more openings for the shadows to come in.
In the spreading chaos, Shining witnessed an orange glow against the backdrop of the attacking monsters. Dragonfire lit up the night, driving back one shadow for brief moments.
“Stay away from my friend!” A young orange-scaled dragon flew above the heads of the yaks and ponies. Beside Shining, Yona bounced up in hope.
“Smolder?” she cried out, though she didn’t seem to hear.
Crashing from above came as more shadows threw themselves forward, finally attacking the barrier directly. Shining Armour winced and buckled, but held the shield up.
“Everyone, get in now!” he shouted. In his focus, he hardly noticed the growing fires. But slowly they added onto each other, becoming a light he could not ignore. Shining saw a wall of dragons forming around the scattered ponies. Each dragon added to the other’s fire, creating a torch so bright even the shadows could not abide by the light.
They hardly covered a tenth of the street, but they gave the scattered time to regroup. And more and more again and again. With shadows bearing down from every corner, the dragons did not back down from the fight.
Luna’s presence reduced the smaller shadows to smoke and ash.
Dark magic responded to power, and in the night, none was more powerful than her. Still, the largest of the monsters had enough strength to resist her commands. She beat them down, forcing them into corners of the market before they relented. But in the time it took to overpower one strong shadow, another one pulled itself from the weaker masses to challenge her.
“Sombra is gone!” she reminded the shadow, wrapping it in a web of her own magic. “And now instead of a dark lord, you shall have a queen! As terrible as the night and just as beautiful. Obey me and despair!”
The lightless deformity deflated and caved in, becoming overwhelmed by Luna’s own aura. Every shadow was not purely destroyed. The ashes left behind were their physical manifestations, but the dark magic needed to go somewhere.
In its weakened state, the destroyed energies could not remain near the Crystal Heart. Even now, with hordes of shadows consuming the city, the Heart’s power was still working. Luna could feel it herself. Commanding the shadows to disperse themselves required her to tap into magic she would have preferred to forget.
It wasn’t a pushing force, like a magical barrier. Luna could feel the Crystal Heart’s power breaking down her own inner magic. Like layers of leaves being eaten away on the Everfree’s forest floor, dark magic decayed and disintegrated under the influence of the Heart. Luna stumbled. Her own body was instinctively trying to hide the darkness to save itself.
But the Crystal Heart’s magic was dangerously weak. Luna knew deep down what the Heart could do to Nightmare Moon. The fact that she only felt slight dizziness was a bad sign.
“Hungry.”
She turned her head to the voice. The shadow in front of her lengthened, stretching the length of a market street and becoming just as wide. Its body rose up from the blackened ground, forming a coherent shape, the form of an earth pony.
“We have risen. You have fallen. We are doom, the true children of the dark.”
“Are you guiding them?” Luna looked around. Shadows surrounded the market centre, linked in a circle and swaying with disturbing unity. They moved like a single wriggling wall. She didn’t need to wait for an answer. This shadow was the source, a piece of Sombra’s dark magic which managed to grow until it gained some semblance of a will.
“There is no destination. Only hunger. Order is a lie. Only power.”
“I will assume your answer is a ‘yes.’” Luna traced a square of magic and shot it below the shadow’s hooves.
The pavement turned wet, then watery, transforming into a pit of mud. The shadow collapsed halfway, but its last two hooves seemed to learn before it was fully submerged. A barrier of dark magic formed at its hooves, hovering just above the mud.
It shot out of the pit without effort, whipping its tail around to strike Luna from the side. She rolled away, pouring more magic into the ground, raising spikes to pierce the shadow’s legs. Despite its wispy appearance, it had to act solid in order to destroy physical material.
“You only slow us. The castle falls even without us.”
“Castle?” The palace, and the Crystal Heart. Luna flew up and looked to the centre of the city. A swirl of black smoke surrounded the palace, almost completely obscuring the light of Shining’s barrier.
The talking shadow pulled its leg, but the stone spikes trapped it tight.
“This city is stronger than you think,” Luna told it. “I will save them, and they will empower the Heart to banish you for good.”
Luna flew over the palace. Though Shining’s barrier was up, a mass of dragons and yaks and ponies were fighting the shadows outside. Fire was enough to hold back the smaller shadows, but she could see many dragons being carried into the palace, injured. They would not hold out for long.
“Luna?” she heard Tempest call out. “What are you doing here?”
Behind her, Starlight was busy roping two shadows together, attaching them to an enchanted hot air balloon that lifted them away indefinitely. Lightning Dust blitz through the air, crashing into, and through, any of the shadows that tried to knock down the dragons fighting below.
“Did you stop it yet?” Lightning said, fly beside Luna. “Because we can’t-- agh!”
A shadow of a giant spider with bat wings lunged at Lightning Dust. But it was small and vaporized immediately just from Luna’s glare.
“They’re targeting the palace,” Luna told her, “I had to come, or they’d overwhelm you.”
“In that case,” Lightning pointed to a black cloud approaching the palace, “I could use the help taking care of their air support. Starlight and Tempest seem to have it controlled on the ground.”
“Yeah!” Tempest yelled at a shadow the shape of a dragon’s head, and only the head, tried biting at her. “Totally got this. Don’t worry!” The shadow dispersed from a burst of magic, quickly reforming to strike again.
“They will have to make do,” Luna said. The cloud approaching was no storm. Snow and wind did not descend, only more shadows.
“I gotta get back out there!” Smolder flailed her arms and legs against the ground, clawing for freedom.
“No!” Svengallop snapped, pulling her tail harder. “I made a promise to Luna. Besides, your friends are here. Isn’t that what you want?”
He pulled her to the dining hall where dozens of ponies and yaks were searching through the crowd for their friends and family. The kitchens provided warm water and hot towels to help ease those in shock, or juice and biscuits for the children.
In the corner of the hall, Smolder’s friends waited together, waiting quietly. When they saw her, their eyes lit up. Yona was the first to rush the young dragon, picking her up on her helmet.
“Yona saw Smolder breathe fire on big bad monster,” she said. “It looked so cool!”
Silverstream snatched her up in one big hug. “I was all like ‘Wagh!’ when that big shadow came to get me, but you were like ‘Rawr!’ with your fire and stuff.”
“Aw, thanks guys,” Smolder squeezed her way out of Silverstream’s suffocating hug. “But there are others fighting those things right now. I can’t sit here and watch.”
“Starlight told us not to come here for a reason,” Ocellus said, “maybe she knew something like this could happen. I think you should stay here and let them figure it out.”
Smolder turned around. “I can’t walk away from this fight.”
Svengallop wanted to think of something to say, but it felt awkward being the adult in a group of kids when he didn’t know a single one of them. But from out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a couple of crystal ponies staring at them.
Six different creatures, all together as friends it must have looked weird.
Weird enough for the pony to start walking up to them.
Svengallop shifted his eyes to the sign the pony had slung over his back. The letters CNP revealed themselves as the stallion walked closer.
“Excuse me,” the stallion injected himself, “are you actually arguing at a time like this?”
All the kids gave him a weird look.
“What’s it to you?” Smolder snarled.
“It’s my city, that’s what,” the stallion stomped his hoof, “and it was fine until freaks and weirdos started coming in here. Now the Crystal Heart doesn’t even work because of dragons like you.”
“What?” Ocellus flared her wings. “How dare you! My friend has been helping this city. What have you done?”
The stallion sputtered a scoff. “Helping? More like she’s hurting it. Fighting won’t stop beasts like that. The Crystal Heart is powered by love, something you wouldn’t understand, being a changeling and all.”
“Woah, okay,” Svengallop stepped in. “Let’s calm down that bull horn and talk with our inside voices, like adults. I thought the Crystal Empire’s biggest hero was a dragon. You’ve got that big honking statue of him, right?”
“Easy, pal. You’re not from here.” The stallion looked him up and down. “Don’t act like you know us. Spike was a real hero, raised by ponies. As long as they love the city, they’re fine by me. But dragons from the Dragonlands want to turn it into their home.”
“Are you serious right now?” Gallus burst past Svengallop and wrapped his talons around the pony’s neck. “Look outside! Is this some kind of joke, huh? You need to back off now because you are the problem. You!” He shoved the stallion so hard he fell back on his flank, snapping the sign on the fall.
“Pft,” the pony spat a loose feather stuck to his face. “Just you wait. After this is over, troublemakers are leaving the Crystal Empire. Better watch your behaviour then.” He picked up his sign and stood up, returning to his friends.
Svengallop looked around, thinking he’d have to deal with a curious crowd, but every pony he looked at broke eye contact with him immediately.
“What was that guy’s deal?” Sandbar asked.
Gallus huffed, his nostrils still seething from his sudden outburst. Svengallop could tell from the look on the student’s faces that his anger wasn’t normal. But, it scared off the stallion for the time being. That was enough for him.
“Alright, who wants to listen to some music--”
Smolder ran right at him, her face buried deep in her claws. The young dragon shoved him aside and kept running, through the crowd of other survivors. The other kids murmured, wondering if they needed to give their friend space or go after her.
Svengallop knew he had never been to a friendship school or whatever, but he had enough life experience to know that ponies, or any creature, did not run off if they wanted friends around them. Maybe that wasn’t something you learned from a book.
He checked on them, hoping they’d come to the right decision.
“You’re right, Ocellus,” Silverstream said. “We’re her friends and she needs us.”
A twitch came to Svengallop’s eye. These are your students, Starlight? He took a deep breath and knew what he had to do. It was the easiest way. He didn’t want to deal with even more grade-school drama.
“She’s probably taking it out on the shadows,” he said. A blatant lie. He did not see a dragon prepared to fight charging past him. “Let me handle this. I’ll reunite your little team or whatever. Luna asked me to, anyway.”
He followed her to the library section of the palace. In a time of crisis, reading was the last thing on creatures’ minds. The whole section was empty and silent, except for the soft sniffling of a dragon.
Svengallop checked between the bookshelves until he found Smolder in the fiction section of the library. Opened up around her were children’s stories, stories about castles and princesses and knights. Knights who slew dragons.
“Are you just trying to make yourself feel bad?” he asked, walking up behind her.
Smolder looked over her shoulder. “Go away.”
“Oh, believe me, I’d love to,” he tried to fake a haughty laugh, but he didn’t have it in him. “But, I figured if the rest of the Knights are fighting shadowy, monstery things, then this is the least I can do.”
Smolder wiped away her tears. “What, you’re going to give a speech about how everything will be alright?”
“Hell no.” Svengallop sat down. He pulled a CD and a disc player from the pocket of his jacket. It was on the small side for a player, but still bulky. “But I do have music. And I know that there will always be ponies who are selfish and annoying and get on your nerves. Just look at me!”
Smolder cracked a smile. “You don’t seem that bad.”
“You say that, but,” he couldn’t help but grin, “I, uh, ‘borrowed’ this disc off of Lightning Dust. Found it in her stuff while we were changing into our costumes.”
“You stole from your friend?”
“I never said I wasn’t a work in progress,” he muttered, popping the disc in. “The cover says it’s supposed to be some relaxing sounds.” The disc popped into the player and whirled up as a small stream of magic from a crystal activated the sounds stored inside the disc.
“Welcome. Wow, you look beautiful today. Has the day been stressful? I’m sure it has. But you pulled through it. Every pony loves a hard worker like that.”
The soft but supple baritone voice was coupled with a rhythmic tip-tapping noise, like a hoof scratching across a hardwood floor. Svengallop immediately hit the “stop” button on the player.
“I feel like I’ve crossed a line that can never be uncrossed,” he admitted.
Svengallop hastily removed the disc and reached into his pocket again. “Good thing I have my own CDs.” He swapped the discs.
Pop.
The disc slotted into place in the player. Pop.
“That’s a funny sound,” Svengallop took a closer look at the device. “Huh, it’s never done that before.”
Smolder tugged at his jacket. “I don’t think it’s us making that sound.” She pointed out a stained window to the raging storm outside. A black mass crawled along the wall of the palace, testing the windows.
Crack.
The monster screeched, shattering the glass to pieces, penetrating into the palace. Neither of them could hold back their screams.
“Go! Now!” Svengallop tried to rush to his hooves, but the books on the floor slid and tripped him up. His back hit the shelves and brought books tumbling down on him.
Smolder yanked up his leg. “Come on, dude! We gotta get out of here.”
The shadow sunk to the floor with spike-tipped legs, cracking through the crystal as it walked. Svengallop flopped backwards, scrambling away from the shadow, but his hooves kept slipping and tripping over the scattered books on the floor until he finally hit his CD player.
A guitar riff ripped through the air. Drums put out a steady beat.
And the shadow paused.
“What noise?” Its spiked leg tapped the player’s buttons, turning up the music louder and louder. The riffs seemed to ripple through its body.
“That thing can talk?” Smolder shouted in disbelief. Svengallop gave a shallow nod. He was more fixated on what his music player was doing. He pushed it across the floor, sliding until it reached below the shadow.
It jumped back, crashing against the shelves along the wall of the library. “Noise! We are your doom. Noise will not stop us.”
Smolder and Svengallop traded beady-eyed looks of amazement.
“No way,” Smolder smirked, walking up and grabbing the CD player. “You’re afraid of a little music?”
“Not music, noise! Once, our music was of screams and suffering. Noise will not stop us. We hunger for your doom.”
Smolder stared blankly at the shadow, “Okay, doomer.”
She put the CD player to its loudest and threw it into the jaws of the shadow. It recoiled instantly, jumping back in a fit of convulsions. It retreated back out the library, taking the whole it came through. They could see outside where Luna was fighting back a giant moth shadow while Starlight repaired a gaping wound in Shining’s barrier.
“Did you just feed my music player to a shadow monster?” Svengallop ran up to the breach in the library.
“Sorry,” Smolder rubbed her shoulder. “It was the first thing I could think of.”
Svengallop breathed. “No, no. It’s fine. No, it’s brilliant. Music is the greatest thing in the world, of course shadowy fragments of an ancient evil dark lord would hate it.”
“You think it’s enough to stop them?”
He smiled and combed his hoof over his frazzled curly mane. “Sweetheart, I didn’t get to the top of the music industry doing just ‘enough.’ We’re going to give those monsters the greatest concert they’ve ever seen!”
The barrier would not hold for long, Svengallop could tell much as he rushed out to find Luna. It was on Smolder’s shoulders to find a place they could perform where all the shadows could hear them. But without Luna and their instruments, there’d be no performance.
“Woah!” Shining Armour stopped him. “The shadows are getting through Svengallop, you need to--”
“They don’t like music,” he told him. “I need to tell Luna.”
The prince’s eyes blinked at the news, but seeing the truth in Svengallop’s urgency, he opened a hole through the barrier for him. Tempest and Starlight were at each other’s backs, holding down the shadows with exhausted spells.
“Svengallop?” Starlight saw him running by. “Wait, where are you going?”
“Head inside and find Smolder,” he yelled as he passed, “she’ll explain!”
“Smolder? Wait, how is she in the city? Svengallop, don’t just run away--and he’s gone.”
Tempest gasped as she forced a shadow back into Starlight’s traps. “I’ve never seen him like that. Come on, he wouldn’t be serious if it wasn’t important.”
Above them, Lightning Dust danced a dangerous tango around the bites and thrashes of the flying shadows. She kept them at bay, only letting one through at a time for Luna to destroy. Svengallop followed her trail in the sky until he spotted the flaring light of Luna’s magic.
“Luna!” he yelled. “We need the equipment! Luna!”
His voice was deafened by the rip-roaring of Lightning’s wings. But on the ground were scattered pieces of crystal rubble. He lifted the biggest chunk he could carry and gave it a hearty earth-pony kick. Ponies were naturally strong kicks, so even for a pony of his size, it was easy to send a rock flying.
Plink.
Or it would have been if his lack of exercise such a disadvantage.
“Oh for the love of Celestia,” he grumbled. “Lightning Dust! I stole that CD you bought from the market!”
The pegasi whipped her head around. “You what?” The air cracked as she forced a sharp angle down to the ground. “Svengallop! Who said you could take my stuff? Wait, what are you doing here?”
“The creatures don’t like music,” he pointed up to Luna. “Tell her to teleport all our band equipment to the palace and come find me.”
“Music, huh?” Lightning raised a brow. “You sure know what you’re doing?”
“You know me,” he said, “when it comes to music, I don’t make mistakes.”
Cadence paced behind Svengallop and Smolder, watching them drag bundles of cables to the palace balcony. There, the band would have a clear view of any shadows approaching them, and the most open space to project their music.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “We can’t stop fighting these monsters. Shining’s shield won’t hold forever.”
“Trust me,” Svengallop dragged the power cords and plugged them into an array of speakers, “this is going to rock the shadows’ minds.”
Luna teleported back with the drum kit and their two guitars stacked on top. She quickly passed them over to Starlight and Tempest, then helped Lightning position the drums at the perfect position on the balcony.
“Recalled every pony just to play a song?” Cadence’s voice pitched higher. “Shining is risking himself right now!”
The Dragonlord staggered up the stairs from the infirmary, wobbling from exhaustion. Her scales were unscratched, but it was her duty to check in on the wounded dragons, and the mental toll of caring for each of them was clearly weighing on her.
“Please tell me this is some kind of pony super-weapon,” she leaned against the wall.
“It is,” Svengallop said with a smile, “in the library, one of those things got through, but yours truly had a brilliant idea and drove it off with a CD player and some music. If we play loud enough, I don’t see why the same thing won’t happen to all of them.”
“A shadow got in?” Cadence gasped. “When?”
Starlight winced. “Oooh, there might have been a few holes here and there in Shining’s barrier. We didn’t want to alarm anyone so I tried to fix it up as quickly as I could.”
Smolder jumped up in the middle of the adults. “Done! I just plugged in the last speaker.”
Svengallop turned to Cadence. “There’s not much time left. You have to get as many as you can outside behind the barrier. The audience is the most important part of a performance. We might not be loud enough, but if they start chanting along, there’s no way those shadows will be able to come close to us.”
“We just finished getting all of them in here!” Ember gave a sharp gasp. “Do you know what you’re asking for?”
Both leaders seemed to agree, it sounded like a bad idea.
Having set up the drums, Luna interjected. “I know, but I have learned to trust my Knights. Even if it doesn’t work, we’re out of options. Starlight and Tempest, they can’t keep fighting. And frankly, I don’t know if I can either. Fighting these shadows uses the dark powers I’ve buried for a long time. Being this close to the Crystal Heart, I can feel it rejecting me.”
Cadence opened her mouth to give an excuse, but there really wasn’t one. They were surrounded on all sides, and she could feel in her heart that Shining Armour was on his last legs. The barrier would not hold.
So what was there to lose?
“I’ll get who I can to follow me outside. Even if this doesn’t work, we will fight them together. The Heart’s magic isn’t the only power we get from acting united.”
“I’ll get the dragons, too,” Ember said. “The ones who can move still want to fight. Maybe it’ll show those CNP jerks what we bring to this city.”
“Then let’s get moving, everyone!” Svengallop clapped his hooves. “Chop-chop, Knights, we have a song to pick. Come on, pick up the pace, the show must go on!”
“That can’t be it, can it?”
The Knights looked at each other.
“Come on, Luna, the lyrics are almost perfect,” Starlight said.
“I mean, it is a huge coincidence, isn’t it?” she asked.
Lighting beat on her snare drum. “Who cares? As long as it’s music it’ll work, right?”
Luna scratched her head. “If I change ‘the Holy Pony Empire’ part of the lyrics, it’s pretty much perfect.”
Smolder stuck her head over the edge of the balcony. Below them, a few hundred ponies and yaks made their way up to Shining. He was crouched on his knees. Smolder couldn’t see the sweat beading down his forehead, or the bags of fatigue under his eyes, but the flickering light of his barrier was enough to show that he had given all he could give.
“It’s now or never, Luna,” Smolder warned.
“Alright, alright!” Luna threw her hooves up. “We’re singing Rise from the Dead. I just never imagined it’d be like this.”
She flapped her wings and pushed a gust of wind down to the audience. “Citizens of the Crystal Empire. I speak to you, not as a performer or a ruler. I speak now as your kin. This city has faced the greatest of hardships. Once lost to history, as I was, it returned and made its mark on Equestria. And today, we shall do so again. Who among you will stand for the Crystal Empire?”
The Dragonlord and her dragons raised their claws first and shouted. They were fast followed by the yaks and ponies, emboldened. Dozens flinched as the shadows struck Shining’s barrier, however. He bit his lip, stifling a groan as his magic drained. Another shadow struck, and for his barrier flickered away completely.
Gasps of fear started to pop up from the crowd, but before it could take hold and turn the morale, Luna boomed her royal Canterlot voice to the city.
“If you stand, then let hear you!” She raised her microphone. “Will you rise? Will you make up from this nightmare. Come on everyone: Say will you wake up and rise from the dead?”
Ride, defend the Kingdom Reborn
Arise for the conquest of ponies
Soared across, Equestria’s skies
We storm and strike before the fall
Gone ahead, this army went on
Arrived on the storm clouds of winter
Brave ‘till dawn, the fierce and the sworn
And one-by-one the righteous fall
-
So for the glory of Luna
Your fears all lying to rot
And underneath blood and iron
Lies the promise of Nightmare reborn
-
Say will you wake up and rise from the dead?
Will you fight like a monster, all covered in red?
Say will you wake up and rise from the dead?
Will you sanctify the dark?
-
Kill and pray, you’re fearless at heart
In shadow’s dark magic it started
Lost the way the land split apart
The Holy Crystal Empire
The Nightmare Knights prepared an attack
To honour the princess departed
On they fought with no turning back
The kingdom rise forevermore
-
So for the glory of Luna
Their bodies lying to rot
And underneath blood and iron
Lies the promise of Nightmare reborn
-
Fight off the darkness and rise from the dead
Give your life for the nightmares that you never had
One thousand years then she rose from the dead
Come to sanctify the dark
The palace, the creatures, everything in the Crystal Empire was exposed to the shadows. But, as the guitars beat out their chords to the beat of the drums, taking over in the instrumental, the shadows crawled further and further back.
Luna flew out and over the crowd, her projecting her voice not only to the shadows but for the whole city to listen and follow along. After the first line, every pony, yak, and dragon caught onto the rhythm.
Rise, rise from the dead
Rise from the dead
Rise for the nightmares we are
Rise, rise from the dead
Rise from the dead
Rise for the nightmares we are
Rise, rise from the dead
Rise from the dead
Rise for the nightmares we are
Rise, rise from the dead
Rise from the dead
Rise from the dead
-
One thousand years just to rise from the dead
Come a mighty dark princess, the princess of dread
Descend from heavens and rise from the dead
In remembrance of the dark
Say will you wake up and rise from the dead?
The shadows did not merely shrink as the song went on. By the apex of the chant, only the largest of the shadows could stand the power of the music. They hissed and spat guttural insults and threats. Some of them, Luna did not know how many, but some of them could speak full words. She spotted the pony shaped shadow at the head of the pack, muttering its words while being completely drowned out by the sounds of wonderful power metal.
This is power. She thought, mocking it from her own mind.
They were all gone by the last line. Not just the living shadows, but the black clouds and ashes of the ones Luna had destroyed. From the core of the palace, light and magic flared up once again. The Crystal Heart revived itself.
She felt its magic wash over the city. The dark magic she had dredged up through the long fight writhed and sizzled, nearly ripped apart by the power of the Heart if Luna did not suppress it immediately.
From scattered shadows, smoke rose up from the damaged buildings. The market, and dozens of other neighbourhoods, were tattered and broken. But the city still stood. Together.
A warm cup of chocolate milk, with marshmallows, of course, was the perfect remedy. Lightning Dust leaned back in her seat.
The past two weeks had been nothing but hard work. Rebuilding the Crystal Empire after the destruction of the shadow attack was not easy. Not that she didn’t enjoy it, of course. Flying building supplies around the city was the perfect weight training to help her endurance. She carried water, mortar, and bricks from one end of the capital city to the other.
Most of the supplies came in from Vanhoover by freight. Cadence declared that the trains had to stay open, regardless of how the ponies or dragons felt. Repairing the city came first. So there wasn’t an end to the repairs.
But, everything needed to come in moderation. Poppin got a bunch of responses back from her contacts when the first trains rolled into the Empire heavy with overdue mail. But, their first concert wouldn’t be until the new year began. So, that gave the Knights time to themselves.
Starlight had already returned to Ponyville to prepare for the holidays, and Tempest was out with the Northern Patrol, spending her holiday beating the daylights out of any stray shadows on the edge of the Empire. The Crystal Heart was, allegedly, keeping them weak, so if they were destroyed they wouldn’t reform anymore.
At least that meant less fighting for her. Lightning Dust popped on some headphones and drowned out the sound of repairs being done in the palace library. The sound of rain dripping onto leaves, pitter-pattering down and down until they plopped in puddles on the forest floor, helped her breathe.
“Tick, tock. Tick… tock…”
The stallion’s voice on the CD was soft and friendly, very casual, but at the same time, intimate. “Do you know what that sound is? Tick. It’s time. We think we never have enough of it. Tock. But maybe that’s just because we’re greedy. Tick. And now we’re going to wash all those thoughts we think we know and be free from the rush of time. Tock.”
Lightning Dust stretched her wings out and exhaled. Sometimes life didn’t need to have big moments or surprising jokes. Just being totally ingrained in the moment of existing was enough.
Knock knock.
Gallus leaned out of his bed. The past two weeks was not how he imagined he’d spend his winter break. Volunteering at emergency shelters, rebuilding homes so ponies could go back to what they had before the shadows tore through.
The official count was that nearly a quarter of the city’s homes had been demolished, either partially or completely. And as much as he wanted some fun, it didn’t feel right just leaving the Crystal Empire behind to handle their own problems.
He was glad his friends felt the same way, too.
He opened the door to his hotel room to find Silverstream standing with a small paper bag in her talon. “Got you something,” she giggled, popping a fishball into his mouth.
Gallus coughed, nearly choking, but fishballs were almost impossible to find in Equestria, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. He shut beak and breathed through his nose, slowly chewing and savouring the flavour.
“Where’d you--ack,” he coughed the last of the fishball until he could swallow it. “Where’d you find actual seafood? Mmm.” He snatched a second ball from the air as Silverstream tossed it, this time eating it properly.
“It was a gift. I’ve been helping the stores in the night market,” she said. “You should’ve seen Headmare Starlight. She fixed two whole streets by herself just by using magic! The place almost looks like a horde of horrifying monsters didn’t rampage through it.”
“No kidding. I saw Princess Cadence doing the same thing with the houses we were working on. She held an entire house in place and just teleported the nails into their places. It was crazy.”
Silverstream placed her bag of fishballs on the small table by the window and looked out at the repaired city. Cranes still worked on the larger buildings, and long stretches of torn-up roads were still being paved, but the city was almost back on its legs.
In the distance, she could see the palace. Cadence had offered to let them stay since they were Starlight’s students, but they all agreed that there was something special about living within the city, among the citizens and the construction.
“Did you see Starlight’s letter?”
Gallus sneaked a third fishball from the bag. “You mean the one about extending winter break into the new year? Yeah.”
“One extra week.” Silverstream grinned. “With Cadence and Luna helping, the city’s going to be fixed in another day or two. What should we do with our extra time?”
Gallus sat down on his bed. “Get out of here, for one thing,” he said. “Seeing Headmare Starlight perform was great, but, I think I want to forget about the Crystal Empire for a while.”
“Well, it wasn’t all bad.” Silverstream jumped onto Gallus’s bed, tossing up the covers as she bounced on the mattress. She spread her wings out, arching her back in a long, back-popping stretch. “Yona’s been in a pretty good mood after Sandbar started showing her all the places that sell yak foods. Though I don’t think gourd-root buns should count as food.”
“Heh, I bet Yona would think the same thing about fish,” Gallus said.
“Ooh! I just had an idea!” Silverstream sat up. “Why don’t we go find someplace that sells griffon cuisine!”
“Not hippogriff food?”
“They’re basically the same,” Silverstream dismissed the question and reached for a fish ball. “See? The same!”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense.” Gallus leaned back on his bed. “But, I’ve been all around town helping construction, and I’m pretty sure there isn’t a place like that in the Crystal Empire.”
“Vanhoover’s a bigger city,” Silverstream answered, “with the trains open again, we can spend a day there on our way back to Ponyville and look.”
Svengallop exhaled as his masseuse leaned onto his back, the pressure stacking on to relieve the knots he had built up from stress and overworking. Ponies looked at him and thought he wasn’t suited to manual labour.
And they were right.
But organizing volunteer efforts was still a lot of work, so he the moment he heard the spa had been fixed and was open for business, he immediately took the day off for himself. And with the holidays coming close, the spa was offering special rates on their services.
Ding ding. His ear twitched at the sound of the bell hanging over the front door. Despite the reopening, the day had been slow at the spa. Most creatures living in the Crystal Empire were still putting the pieces of their city back together.
“I wish Silverstream could’ve joined us.” Svengallop recognized the changeling’s voice. Everywhere he went, these kids showed up. He wondered if he had bad luck, or if this was just his fate for knowing Starlight.
“Can’t be girls’ night without her,” Yona said.
“It wouldn’t be a girls’ night with her,” Smolder replied, “it’s the middle of the day.”
They chattered on for a little while until a pony at the front desk helped them. The massage lounge was right at the front, but as Svengallop listened, their voices trailed off to the sauna. He chortled to himself. A changeling, yak and dragon going to a pony spa. He wondered how that would work. A dragon probably couldn’t feel a deep tissue massage through their scales, and a changeling would feel too much since they were insects without bones.
Differences, he wondered, now that’s something to write a song about.
“You two warm up, I’m going to check something out, first.” Smolder’s voice came back, now closer. Svengallop started to raise his head, but he could already hear the young dragon taking the bed next to him as the masseuse got ready.
“You know,” Svengallop mumbled across the gap between their beds, “most ponies go to the spa to get away from caring about stuff. This doesn’t look like getting away.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Smolder shrugged him off, “I’ll be quick. My friends and I are taking a train out to Ponyville tomorrow. We wanted to get back in time for Hearth’s Warming. I figured since I found you here, I could thank you.”
“Thank me?” Svengallop’s ears twitched.
“Yeah, for the stuff you did in the library. You were right about not being a princess with big speeches, but sometimes that sort of thing gets old. I think you said just the right thing.”
Svengallop laid his head back down. “About time someone appreciates everything I do.”
“I’m just glad you did anything,” she said. “My friends always have my back, which is great, but it just means more when someone else sticks up for you. I know most ponies are fine around dragons, but,” Smolder paused.
“The worst part wasn’t that guy who was saying those things. It was every pony else who didn’t say anything at all.”
“Well, that’s just typical. Most ponies only look out for themselves,” Svengallop reacted, “friends are nice to have, but only if they offer something you need.”
Smolder laughed. “Just don’t let Starlight hear you. I think she’s starting to become more like Twilight. She might give you a lecture if she catches you with that tone.”
He didn’t know how to reply. Most ponies thought his advice was harsh.
But Smolder seemed okay with it. From time to time he lifted his head and saw the young dragon enjoying her spa treatment. Or pretending to, anyway. He could tell a good massage from bad, and her scales just made it too hard to get into the muscles.
But when the pony finished and she got up to return to her friends, there was still a look of satisfaction painted across her face. He guessed she said all she needed to say.
Winter’s winds blew clouds in from Cloudsdale.
Grey giants stormed the sky, swirling wheels rolled them downwind with the changes in pressure. The view of a storm was beautiful from the moon. Luna wished the start of winter didn’t have to look so gloomy from the ground.
Going to the Crystal Empire was not what she thought it would be. She expected it would be hard, no doubt, but in just a few weeks the idle peace of Ponyville seemed alien. The kind of conflict she saw was unlike anything else, and she needed to take her mind off everything.
“Oh, Luna!” Mrs Cake was in the middle of packing a tray of cupcakes into a box. “Now isn’t this a surprise. I thought you were travelling with the band and whatnot. All the kids from the school have been talking about your music.”
“Have they?” Luna smiled and grabbed a seat at the counter. “That’s good to hear. We’ve been a little distracted from planning our tour recently.”
Mrs Cake’s face softened and she pulled out a cupcake from the tray. “Starlight came by a week ago and mentioned it with her friends. I didn’t hear all the details but it sounded like trouble.”
Luna nodded as she thoughtfully licked off the icing from the cupcake.
“How’s every creature’s holiday cravings?” Luna asked. “Students from all over Equestria and beyond are coming here to study. You must have ponies flocking for after-school treats.”
Mrs Cake laughed. “Oh! You bet. I can barely keep up with it. If they’re not buying boxes of cupcakes for themselves, they’re getting them for parties and gifts. And with Pinkie working at the school, she hasn't been around to help as much.”
“You seem happy to be so busy,” Luna noted.
“Oh goodness yes,” Mrs Cake picked up a cookie displayed on a rack on the front desk and started nibbling on it. “Sure, there are some days where I’m too tired to think, but every student likes something different, especially the international ones. I love experimenting with new flavours I’ve never even considered! Hippogriffs love seafood, for example. Can you imagine dried kelp and seaweed on a cake?”
“Not at all,” Luna scrunched her face, imagining the flavour, “but I suppose I can’t judge. I’ve probably eaten weirder things.”
It was late and the sky was stormy, but the two of them talked casually about the going-ons of their daily lives, and the news passing around Equestria. Pinkie’s sister had opened a rock-farm shop on the edge of town. Mrs Cake recounted the array of custom CDs and projector crystals, all made from Ponyville’s own gemstones.
In return, Luna vented her ideas for new songs. Her album had only been out for about a month, but she already had themes burning in her mind. No clear melodies or lyrics yet, just a few phrases or subjects she desperately wanted to share.
“Maybe one of these days I’ll go see your concerts,” Mrs Cake said after Luna had gone on for minutes about her plans for a performance at Rainbow Falls. “Mr Cake and I are overdue for a vacation, and we have been talking about trying new things. Change has been a big theme in the house, now that the kids are starting to get older.”
Luna laughed, thinking to the times she had helped soothe the nightmares of fillies and foals. She raised another cupcake up, mimicking a toast. “It seems we’re both looking to the future. So, here’s to trying new things.”
Mrs Cake picked a strawberry cream tart up from the counter. “To trying new things.”
Celestia believed she would be happy, living away from the pomp and eccentricities of a Canterlot Hearth’s Warming. In a city where one’s status said more than one’s face, words, or actions, little else mattered more than gold-laced banners, gifts wrapped with embroidered ribbons, or rhinestones on every corner adorning every ornament.
But there was nothing left to do, Celestia was left to stew on the absence of her sister in the many months of this year. From summer through fall she waited and waited until she hated the waiting and wanted to speak up to her sister.
Until that look in her eye, like small glints in the sky bright enough to be called stars, which shone in the early bright moments of dawn whenever she played songs, paralyzed Celestia from righting her wrongs.
So she was thankful, oh-so more than that, she could barely stay quiet, that Twilight had invited all the princesses for a Hearth’s Warming banquet.
Cadence had declined, of course. The news of the Crystal Empire’s internal affairs and dark shadows reached from Vanhoover to Appleloosa, and it drove ponies to make this Hearth’s Warming the best one for years to come. Celestia refocused herself as a pair of sisters walked past her in their new holiday dresses. She mused that if money could scare off Equestria’s demons, she would’ve built Canterlot’s walls out of gold.
Those thoughts that weighed her head down were chased away as she neared the palace. Canterlot ponies had their hearts in the right place, as snobbish as they were. At the very least, she could always count on them to set aside their difference for tea and a few rounds of golf.
“Sister.”
And then a voice comes from inside. No, it comes from the side, a side street with restaurants from every corner and tribe of Equestria.
“What a coincidence. Well, maybe not, Twilight did invite us here, after all.”
She imagined moments like this but she couldn’t face the sound of her. Standing there, separate but together.
Celestia put on a smile. “Yes. Well, now that we’re here, why don’t we walk together to the banquet? It’s been so long.”
Tempest rounded the corner behind Luna. “Is there a place that doesn’t sell overpriced ribbons? Oh, hey Pri-- Celestia.”
“Tempest Shadow?” Celestia looked to Luna. “You brought your band with you?”
“Just Tempest and her friend,” Luna shrugged.
Tempest rubbed her neck. “Yeah, after what happened in the Crystal Empire, it’s starting to feel a little less like homes. Dropsy thought it’d be good for us to get some space from it for the holidays, maybe go back after things settle.”
Luna’s eyes glanced to the clock hanging on the door of a nearby shop. “Didn’t Glitter Drops say she was going to meet us at the palace? You head on, my sister and I haven’t spoken for a while.”
Tempest nodded and trotted down the main road to the palace. On her back, she had a small bag of gifts wrapped up with modest silk ribbons. Luna gestured the other way with her horn, asking Celestia to follow.
She might’ve spent less time in the city, but exploring the dreams of Canterlot’s residents gave her a strong sense of the streets. One thing most ponies didn’t realize was that dreams were the mind’s way of storing memories. The neurons which were activated during the day to a stimulus repeated their actions, firing signals in the same pattern to solidify their connections.
“You know,” Luna giggled, “we’ve had a lot of time to repeat our mistakes. Doing the same thing, succeeding and failing. Even so, it’s funny that with all our wisdom, Equestria only ever seems to narrowly escape from destruction. I wonder why the memory of peace is so hard to stick.”
“That’s funny?” Celestia raised a brow. “I’ve lost years of sleep this past millennium from all the nightmares of what could happen.”
Luna bobbed her head, revealing she was caught between two thoughts. “Hm. Sorry for those, by the way.”
Celestia gave her a suspicious look, unsure if her sister was serious or not. Together they brought up memories, new and old. They talked about the roads around the palace walls and moat, about how hard it was to build and how it looked from high above.
Luna talked about the Crystal Empire and how it felt to fight, admitting to her sister how right it felt to use the night. Dark magic, forbidden teachings lost to time, were ironically the only thing that gave them time.
“Twilight might get worried,” Celestia laughed when Luna started comparing it to fighting off the vines in the Everfree Forest after the Tree of Harmony was destroyed. “She might think we’re going to meddle with adventures again.”
“Haha, no.” Luna laughed flatly. “After what happened, I’m happy to sit in my room and write music.”
They took a small street that led up to the stables for the royal carriages and carriage pullers. It was a small extension of the palace, but an inner road for carriage led directly to the front gates. The sisters talked all the way up to the entrance where ushers where directing ponies to the banquet.
The palace was buzzing with activity beyond the banquet table. With the seating assigned, ponies knew where they would be, and so they were free to mingle in the ballrooms before the hors d’oeuvre were brought out.
“Oh dear,” Luna tugged on her sister’s tail. “I think we may have to part ways for a moment.”
Celestia turned around. “What’s the matter?”
She followed Luna’s eyes to a sharply dressed stallion with a black mane slicked back with enough grease to lubricate a carriage axle. Hanging from his wide shoulders were two mares, giggling with martinis hovering just inches from their crimson lips.
“Oh-ho,” Celestia smirked. “Does my little sister have a special-”
Luna shot a death stare before she could finish the sentence. “No,” she made it very clear. “I simply want to make sure Newbrand will cause no problems on this night. I will see you when the food is brought out.”
Celestia watched a mix of emotion wash over the stallion as Luna approached him. Something somewhere between relief, regret, terror, and excitement. He was a veritable axis of tangled feelings.
And, as amusing as it was to wonder what her younger sister had been up to with such a stallion, she didn’t have a choice. It was her sister, after all, and she needed privacy. This “Newbrand” fellow was some pony she could hear about afterwards.
Celestia recalled her tenure as a princess while she headed for the only place Twilight could be. It was not as large as the Galloping Gala, but the Hearth’s Warming Eve Invitational Banquet was just as important. Perhaps, even more so. Simply having status or fame was enough to be invited to the Gala. But the key link between the guests tonight was something far more valuable to Equestria. Influence.
Each of the guests could whisper, and the contents of their words could be heard halfway across Equestria. Where to ship the grain and apples. Which businesses to invest in and which banks to open deposits with. Unlike the Gala, this banquet was one Celestia had to take seriously. Trading favours was one of the only ways she could coordinate Equestria from coast to coast without going mad.
“I’m glad you’ve gotten used to events like this,” Celestia marvelled at the ceiling decorations as she approached the princess’s greeting spot.
“Well I hope so, I’ve helped you plan so many.”
Celestia blinked. In front of her was a pale-coated unicorn with thick-rimmed spectacles. Her dark-brown mane was done up in an intricate bun for the occasion, but no amount of dressing up could make Celestia mistake her personal aide.
“Raven?” she gawked. “Raven Inkwell, where is Twilight?”
“Oh, Celestia! Didn’t you hear?” Inkwell nudged her glasses up. “To speed up the guest check-in, Princess Twilight has forgone the greeting tradition. I’m simply supervising, in case there are any concerns the guests had.”
“She changed the procedure? I wasn’t aware that was something a princess could do.” Celestia looked around. “And, to be sure, there’s no pony around who seems to have a problem with that?”
Inkwell shook her head. “So far, we’ve gotten positive responses. We started earlier this year, so a lot of guests have been saying they skipped lunch just to save space for the feast. It seems they’re all excited to eat sooner than later.”
“I see, well then, is there some way I can speak with Twilight?”
Raven Inkwell happily obliged the former princess. Twilight was, surprisingly, not tucked away in the library, but taste-testing in the kitchen before it all went out to the guests. After a brief promise to catch up with her former aide, Celestia hurried to the banquet hall to find the kitchen entrance.
“Mhm. This sauce is good, use this one.” Twilight dabbed a napkin on her mouth as the chef brought the final recipes to her for sampling. As she passed on her requests to the chef, the sous chefs paced from corner to corner, observing their cooks.
This, at least, was no different from how Celestia remembered. Ordered and organized like a military camp, the chef ran his kitchen like a drill sergeant. Peels went in their own bowls, cutting boards were clean and clear of anything but the onions in question. The dish pit was running, soaking used pots and pans to keep the cooks from cluttering their space.
“Sorry if this was a surprise,” Twilight said in between taste-tests. “I promise, we’ll talk after the banquet.”
Celestia waved the apology aside. “No, no, it’s fine. You’ve stepped up even more than I expected. And I’m sure Luna is impressed, too.”
“How is she? I meant to write to her sooner, especially after what happened in the Crystal Empire, but it happened so close to Hearth’s Warming, I just haven’t had the time.”
“She’s good,” Celestia smiled widely. “We met on our way to here and had a chance to catch up. I’m relieved, actually.”
“Because of the disagreement you two had?” Twilight asked. Celestia had mentioned in her letters how she upset Luna when she spoke about her band and music as if it were a short and simple phase.
“Yes. It seems she’s put it behind her. Perhaps now I can finally get her to step away from her band for a vacation.” They were in the kitchen full of clutter and delicate recipes, but Celestia could barely contain her excitement.
“Si vous plait,” the chef interjected the two alicorns, “do not distract the Princess… uh… princess.”
“Just Celestia will do, Gustav.”
“Yes, Celestia. As you know, every course must be perfect, but the main course even more so. We are so close to finishing--”
Celestia raised her hoof. “Say no more. Besides, you’re about to bring out the hors d’oeuvre, are you not? I wouldn’t want to miss the first course of the banquet. I’ll leave you to it.”
Tink tink tink.
Twilight clinked her glass to draw attention from the table. The guests had already been seated by the waiters, and as the Princess gave her welcome speech, the hors d’oeuvre, squash blossoms stuffed with toasted ricotta cheese served on grilled bread, was passed around.
The speech was eloquent and thoughtful, touching on themes of unity and harmony and all the other things like that. Of course, the Crystal Empire was mentioned, and Twilight spoke at length to call every guest to preserve peace and the new diversity of Equestria.
There was a lot to pay attention to, but Celestia had, she was embarrassed to admit, learned how to drown out the flowery flavours of her pupil’s speeches and condense her words to the poignant points. The other half of her attention was focused on the flavour of the squash blossoms.
The crunch of the toasted bread filled the banquet and mixed with the idle conversations of the guests. Those who sat furthest from the Princess were usually the ones who were just happy to have even been invited. Further up in the middle, tensions were the highest. Guests spoke with veiled boasts and insults, trying to prove themselves in hopes of getting a better seat next year.
Celestia and Luna sat at either side of Twilight. As they lifted spoonfuls of soup to their lips, they spoke softly and with great reservation to the ponies around them. The ones seated closest to the Princess knew what their influence meant. They held their cards close and set an example with their polite smiles and quiet voices.
“Luna,” one mare, who happened to own over half the banks in Equestria, leaned slightly into the conversation, “is it true the Crystal Empire is considering seceding from Equestria?”
She flustered. “What? Of course not.”
Chancellor Neighsay, who sat directly next to Celestia, set down his spoon. “But they have begun proposing laws which differ from our foreign policies.”
“But Princess Cadence would never let those pass,” Luna asserted.
“But don’t you think it could be a sign of a future division--oof.”
He looked to his side where Celestia carefully, but firmly, nudged into him. “My apologies,” she laughed it off, “these long legs of mine, oh, I just don’t know what to do with them.” Her eyes flicked rapidly to Luna and back as her brows knit into a fierce warning.
“Oh, but I am just an educator,” he quickly steered. “I trust Luna’s first-hoof experience far more than our speculation.” He rubbed his sore side and checked back to Celestia, who wore a satisfied look on her face.
Luna mouthed the words “thank you” to her sister as Twilight rose to pour the wine which had been paired with the next course of the dinner. This way, even when she was at one end of the table, she had the chance to converse and meet every pony.
After dessert, light pastries with lemon, strawberry, or sweet carrot filling were passed around the table. Cider and wine had worked their way into every pony, and the conversations became a lot more casual.
“Are you serious?” Luna laughed as Neighsay recounted how he was once captured and bound by Cosy Glow. “You could have teleported before they grabbed you. Your medallion was still working, wasn’t it?”
The ponies as far down as the middle of the table leaned in to hear the story, and they all laughed at his expense. Neighsay sat back in a pout, crossing his hooves.
“Well, what about you?” he inquired.
Luna wiped a tear of laughter. “What about me?”
“You’ve been rather active since we last spoke in Ponyville,” he said, “how did you go from performing music to saving the Crystal Empire?”
“Oh, well that place needs saving every other week, doesn’t it?” joked a white-haired stallion, the president of Equestria’s Workers’ Union.
“This wasn’t an ordinary snow storm,” Luna waggled her brow. “There was a horde of creatures, made purely of dark magic. Quite a few of them looked like…”
She stared intensely into his eyes. “... lobsters.”
The stallion swallowed. “Oh, haha. Yes, I see.”
Luna shot a wink to her sister and she immediately understood. The only question Celestia wondered was what kind of nightmare could cause such an immediate fear response.
But the other guests were intrigued at the mention of shadow monsters. So far removed from the action, they stared at her like she was the star of a Bridleway show. Luna told the story from start to end, mostly unabridged. She told them how dragons and ponies clashed until it brought the shadows to the city. And then she told them how she could not have won without her band.
“Music?” Celestia looked at her curiously at the end of the retelling. “You mean to say you banished spectres of ancient magical evil with a song?”
Luna shrugged and gestured to the head of the table. “Why not? Princess Twilight has done more with five friends and six rocks. I would know, I was there.”
“Oh, that’s right,” said the union president, “I heard about your album, Luna. I didn’t believe it at first. You’re really becoming a musician?”
“No offence,” the banker cracked a smile at the stallion, “but can you call that ‘heavy metal’ stuff music?”
The stallion beside the mare, Fancy Pants, leaned towards Neighsay. “If it were music, it’d be taught in schools, wouldn’t it? You’re not allowing music schools to teach that kind of racket, are you?”
The chancellor quickly glanced at Luna. “Well, the EEA supervises classical and early modern music training. Modern styles like rock and rap are simply not within our purview, and the same goes for any kind metal.”
Celestia cast a look over the ponies jesting. Though Luna seemed to be the topic of the conversation, she had removed herself. Despite her onstage presence, her sister had always been more on the quiet side. She leaned over to Twilight and hatched a plan, one which the Princess quickly agreed to with just one look at the table.
“Perhaps, then,” Celestia intervened, “this would be an opportunity for some education?”
All heads at the table turned to Celestia. None could believe their ears, not even Luna. Down the way to the end of the table, Tempest and Glitter Drops looked forward to what was going on.
“Really? Now?” Luna searched for an excuse. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea. I mean, I haven’t done my vocal exercises, and the rest of the band isn’t here.”
“I have your instrumentals,” Twilight blurted out, catching her lips with her hoof only moments too late. Luna gave her a funny look. But the Princess recomposed herself. “Ahem. What I mean is there is a copy of your album and the instrumental soundtrack in the royal archives.”
Celestia gestured to Tempest. “And we even have one of the Nightmare Knights’ guitarists!”
“Oh, shi-” Tempest darted her head around the room as the ponies she had been talking to the whole night fixed themselves in a surprised stare. She leaned back and lifted a silver cup to block her face.
“Well, I for one think it would be excellent,” Fancy Pants wiped his mouth and set down his napkin. “And since I am now at liberty to say it to you,” he looked directly at Celestia, “frankly I’m a little dismayed it took this long for a change up to the banquet entertainment.”
Celestia’s face melted to a pout. “What?”
“No offence, but if I had to watch another Hearth’s Warming play after dinner I think I’d rather take a cyanide pill and be done with it.”
“Well, that’s morbidly rude.” She curled up and crossed her hooves. “I like plays.”
Gathered around the Hearth’s Warming tree in the palace’s main ballroom, the guests sat on the floor on velvet carpet and satin sheets, padded and decorated with embroidered pillows from Saddle Arabia and Mount Aris.
Tempest nervously strummed an old guitar Twilight found lying around in the back of the royal theatre. She looked to Glitter Drops for help, but her best friend seemed equally lost as she plugged a cord into the speakers from Songbird Seranade’s last performance in Canterlot.
“Are you sure about this?” Tempest whispered to Luna.
“No,” she replied, looking at her sister’s encouraging grin, “but it would be a wasted opportunity. Besides, we can’t just let them question whether or not heavy metal is music.”
“I wasn’t there for that part, but okay,” Tempest mumbled as she pretended to adjust the guitar. “Can’t imagine a weirder place to perform, though.”
Twilight rejoined the guests with a CD player and an extra speaker. Despite claiming that it was tucked away in the archives, Luna noticed it took her a very short time to come back with the disk.
“So, what song are you going to sing tonight?” Twilight asked.
Luna eyed her. “Two Sisters.”
Celesta knit her brows together in a curious look at Luna and mouthed “Two Sisters?” inquisitively. Luna simply smiled and gave her sister a wink.
Without being told the song’s place in the album, the Princess tracked straight to the start of the song. Tempest coughed and cleared her chest, preparing to offer backup vocals as the music crept closer. Luna recognized the sound of cello strings emulated from Svengallop’s keyboard. The slow crescendo seemed to surprise the other guests.
“In honour of Hearth’s Warming,” Luna stretched a cheeky grin, “this song’s about how Equestria’s long peace came to be.”
A time of chaos and unrest
Legends tell the tale of two sisters
The power to conquer and stand
And a dream to rule sea and land
-
And all those who stand in their way
Fall by dawn and the rising full moon
And the righteous had followed their path
Peace, the adornment to war
-
Legends have taught, battles fought
The sisters have no fear at heart
Sisters of might come with their light
Come with their light
-
Celestia ond Luna
Freogend ond laedera
Beorhtnian bi lihtan
þunrian þurh þeostrum
-
A storm over ‘Questria unleashed
Dawn of war against Discord’s chaos
The power of mischief will fall
The draconequus shivers and shakes
-
The grace of two sisters unveiled
Showed the way that we still walk today
Der Swusters aef Daeg ond Niht comes
Before they were here for war
-
Stories of old truth unfold
Control over ‘Questria they hold
Freedom they’ll bring
The light and peace, the light and peace
-
Celestia ond Luna
Freogend ond laedera
Beorhtnian bi lihtan
þunrian þurh þeostrum
-
Celestia ond Luna go forth, freogend, laedera
(Celestia ond Luna freogend ond laedera)
Beorhtnian bi lihtan go forth freogend, laedera
(Beorhtnian bi lihtan þunrian þurh Þeostrum)
-
Bright princesses rule alone
Liberators claim the throne
Sisters from forgotten sands
Claim the elements, rule this land (x4)
(Oh oh oh you sisters of the skies
Ooh you sisters of the skies)
Tempest churned like a storm over the strings of her guitar, the edge of her hoove strumming against the strings as pulses from her horn pressed on the chords. Her whole body in the performance, she moved with stance and form, voice and instrument captivating the guests in equal measure beside Luna.
Legends have taught, battles fought
The sisters have no fear at heart
Sisters of might come with their light
Come with their light
-
Celestia ond Luna
Freogend ond laedera
Beorhtnian bi lihtan
þunrian þurh þeostrum
-
Celestia ond Luna go forth, freogend, laedera
(Celestia ond Luna freogend ond laedera)
Beorhtnian bi lihtan go forth freogend, laedera
(Beorhtnian bi lihtan þunrian þurh Þeostrum)
The floor rattled under Celestia’s hooves as she pranced around the royal library. “Did you see their faces? Ha! They couldn’t believe how good Luna was!”
Twilight sunk into a bundle of blankets and pillows, snuggling up close to a fresh cup of hot chocolate and a good book. Luna performed five more songs from her album before the night was over and the guests had been ushered out with letters of thanks written personally by the Princess.
“Her music can be very persuasive. If I wasn’t there for her first performance, I never would have thought of myself as a fan,” Twilight said. “Do you think this means you two are past your differences?”
Celestia grinned sheepishly, as if afraid to let herself hope for too much. “Maybe. But, haven’t you noticed something strange about her songs?”
“Like what?”
“She says the Nightmare Knights are her way of moving forward. But all her songs talk about the past.”
Twilight looked up from her hot chocolate. “Is that a bad thing? You wanted her to sing, right?”
“I do!” Celestia insisted. “But all her songs are about fighting for nightmares or praising the night. I want to let her express herself, but it worries me.”
Twilight laughed. “I think it’s just a gimmick, Celestia. They are the Nightmare Knights, after all.”
Celestia nodded. “I know, I know. But it makes me worry. What if there’s some other underlying problem? All the dark themes in her songs, maybe it’s secretly a cry for help. Maybe Luna doesn’t know what else to be other than the Princess of the Moon.”
“I’m pretty sure she does, Celestia,” Twilight said. “Right now, she just wants to be a singer.”
“That’s what she says she wants,” she tapped her chin in thought, “but maybe what she needs is a change of pace. Look at what she did in the Crystal Empire. A singer wouldn’t do that, right? I know! Maybe I can help her find her inner peace in Yakyakistan, there’s a yak guru who lives up on one of their highest mountains.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Twilight cautioned. “I mean, isn’t it much to assume she needs to find her ‘inner peace?’”
Celestia chuckled. “Oh, Twilight. I know my sister. She’s a wonderful singer, and I really do admire that she’s trying to remake herself. But she just needs some help to see that the world isn’t filled with bleak darkness.”
Twilight’s eyes shifted to the library doors with concern. “Maybe you should let Luna know first,” she pointed.
Celestia turned and saw Luna leaning against the door of the library, the look written on her face saying she had heard plenty of their conversation. “Sister! What a surprise, I thought you would have left by now.”
“Yes, to brood or mope or whatever else you think it is that I do,” Luna’s face soured. “I waited because I wanted to go home with my sister, to thank you for finally understanding me. I see I was overeager.”
Twilight closed her book and slid out from her barrier of warm blankets. “Well, it has been a long night, I think I’m going to turn in. You two, uh, try not to break anything.” She teleported away.
The two sisters stared at each other, the air was so tense between them it was almost tangible. Celestia tried to step forward and make the first move, but Luna turned away.
“So, your plan was to make me feel like we were finally connecting so you could convince me to do what you want?”
“What? No!” Celestia insisted. “I was only sharing my concerns with Twilight.”
“You were sharing your assumptions,” Luna hissed. “You always think you know what’s best. Did it even dawn on you to ask me how I was feeling?”
“I know you want to be in a band,” Celestia said, “I have the same desires with theatre. But did you think your songs wouldn’t worry me? They’re all about nightmares and darkness and all that stuff that drove us apart centuries ago.”
“I thought you’d be okay with it.” Luna lowered her head. “Now I see it was wrong of me to expect so much. That ‘darkness stuff’ is a part of who I am. I thought you’d understand, but you never have. You’ve always been loved, you’ve never had to know what it’s like to be ignored and afraid.”
“That’s what I mean,” Celestia reached out to her sister, “You don’t have to hold onto those feelings. We can be happy together. I just don’t want you slipping back to the way you were before.”
Luna shook her head with disappointment. “You want us to be happy together? Why don’t you start by apologizing for taking away a thousand years of my life? I returned as Nightmare Moon because I was afraid. I had a sister who threw me away for a millennium, and I didn’t know what would happen when I returned.”
Her eyes lowered, unable to face Celestia as the truth unfolded itself. “Nightmare Moon was the only way I’d have enough power to stay, in case you still wanted me gone.”
“I-I…” Celestia choked.
“So why don’t we start there?” Luna picked herself back up. “My songs are how I will show Equestria that not all things that are dark are evil. But it’s not the only unfinished business I have. If you truly want to move forward, you’re going to have to face the past, sister.”
She stepped back and turned, swift on her hooves and quick to leave. In the endless quiet shelves with books to escape to a thousand worlds, Celestia stood frozen in her own with only herself to reflect.
Luna tapped her horn against the side of the carriage taking them to the Vanhoover Consortium for Music and Performance. While most popular for its orchestras and musical ballets, the other half of the campus was almost as popular as a site for jazz, rock, and the occasional electronic rave.
“So, I got the final confirmation for Rainbow Falls in spring.” Poppin reviewed their tour plans as they travelled. “But for our next concert, Starlight says she can teleport us to Fillydelphia safely, and from there it’s just a two-hour express train to Baltimare.”
She looked up to make sure Luna was listening, but she already knew it was hopeless. Luna had been scribbling away on a shrinking stack of paper since they started. Each page usually started off quickly until she slowed to a halt in the middle. She’d crumple each failed song and teleport it out the back of the carriage.
Poppin offered to roll down the window, but with one crack the icy rain and wind threatened to blast into their cosy, insulated cabin.
“Alright, I think I’ve been fair enough,” she said, crossing her hooves, “what’re you trying to write?”
The back of her quill crumpled within Luna’s telekinetic aura. “Sorry, I’m just getting stuck in frustration. We were talking about Baltimare, right?”
“Oh no,” Poppin waggled her hoof, “you need to be focused before a concert. So lay it on me. What’s bothering you?”
Luna looked down at her draft. “I’ve been wondering about how my songs are being understood. What if they don’t get my meaning? I want to make sure they know that things don’t have to be so serious all the time.”
Poppin raised a brow. “You gonna throw sunshine and rainbows into songs about the night?”
“Ha,” Luna laughed, “no, but power metal is fun in its own way. It’s explosive, exciting, bombastic. I want to write something that captures those feelings.”
A small grin slipped across Poppin’s face. “Well, I’m tired of management work anyway. Go ahead, sing me what you got so far. A singer and a Bridleway producer could probably figure something out.”
Luna scratched her head. “If you say so. But, you should heed my warning. It does not sound good.” She cleared her throat and sang out the first lines. “A glorious shadow appears in the sky, a Nightmare all armoured from tail to teeth…”
Starlight was the last to join the band backstage.
“Sorry I’m late, every pony,” she said, quickly changing into her costume. “The conference went longer than I planned.”
Svengallop scooped a dollop of facepaint and slapped it onto Starlight. “Just calm down and quit fidgeting, I don’t want to smear your makeup.”
She sat down in a fold-out chair and looked around. The backstage was organized and spacious. There were closets for costumes and lockers marked for extra instruments or sound equipment. She could clearly see Luna discussing with Poppin as Tempest and Lightning watched nervously.
“There, good enough,” Svengallop smoothed out the last streak of paint on Starlight’s face. “Feel free to thank me whenever you want.”
“Uh-huh,” the discussion distracted Starlight. “What’s going on with them?”
Svengalloped followed her gesture. “Oh. Luna just wanted to change the first song on the setlist.”
“What? Is that even possible?”
He checked his watch. “With an hour before showtime? Yeah, if the stage techs agree with it. But she is going to have to make a decision.”
Intercepting the conversation, it seemed it was not a question of if to do it, but how. Luna had sketched out on a piece of paper the choreography changes for the opening song. They weren’t complex, but some minor tweaks had to be made.
Starlight recognized the layout of Luna’s plan, it was for a part of a performance they had planned to do later on in their tour. The song was left off the setlist because it was reportedly less popular than the others in the album, and Luna had wanted the tour to start off with the strongest songs. The name itself was a dead giveaway. “Passion of Dawn” was written with a very specific feeling in mind, and was noticeably different from the rest of the album for the shift in themes.
Poppin shrugged, relenting to Luna’s persistence. “It would’ve been nice if you came up with the idea to change it a few weeks ago. But, it shouldn’t be impossible. Personally, I advise against it, but this is your show.”
“My sister and I had a small disagreement just two weeks ago,” Luna defended her choice. “Please understand if I have been indecisive about it during that time.”
“Wait, you had another argument with Celestia?” Starlight raised a brow. “I thought you two understood each other now.”
Luna cracked a smile. “You were a single child, yes? Trust me, this is not unusual for siblings. And you are right, we were getting along, or so I thought. But Celestia said some things, and I need some space from her right now.”
Tempest looked back again at the change of plans. “I don’t have siblings either, so tell me again how ‘Passion of Dawn’ is supposed to create distance between you two?”
“How do I put it,” Luna scratched her head. “I’m almost certain she’s going to be here tonight, My sister is a lot more headstrong than she lets on. I want her to know what it means to be a Nightmare Knight, that we are more than her assumptions.”
The other band members looked around. Svengallop seemed the least interested, while Lightning and Starlight traded looks of surprise. Despite many of their songs resonating with darker themes, they had never seen Luna act so subtly vindictive.
Sympathy found purchase only within Tempest’s eyes. “Let’s go for it. It’s not like this song’s new to us. We were going to perform this anyway, right? I say we do it. I don’t have any siblings, but I get it.” She pointed to her broken horn. “I know a grudge when I see one.”
Luna scanned the crowd as best she could. The stage crew had only just finished getting the lighting and effects ready for the sudden change, and to mask the stallions still reeling back wires, a heavy fog was pumped onto the stage. It was impossible to clearly spot any creature in the crowd.
Through the fog, she wondered how big the crowd actually was. She certainly couldn’t tell from just the front rows. Vanhoover was surrounded by vast farmlands for pear plantations and other crops, and it was the center of folk and classical music on the west coast. There was a general culture against styles like heavy metal.
But what a crowd it was.
Unicorn horns from the back began to trickle small flickers of magic, and from where she stood, Luna could not see the horizon, only the sea of fans dressed in black jackets, chains, and ghostly face paint.
Through the sightless fog, Luna let her voice carry a slow-growing melody.
Hear the call for all by the morning sun
Far away, but we are one
Come together, our fight’s begun
Chant till we have all won
Chanting till we have all won
Tempest and Starlight split the stage, each taking a side and synchronizing the chords of their guitars. Starlight took firmly her microphone, lending her signature growling to Luna’s vocals.
All ride
Onto the final battle
Can you hear the crushing drums?
Let's fight
Through the darkness and
There’s a light to lead us all
But every Knight, even Svengallop and Lightning Dust, threw their voices in. The song forgoed some melody and harmony for the sheer force of a strong chant.
Charging into my destiny
Hear the thunder of our horde
By fighting strong I will be free
Defenders heeding my call
-
Come with me, Nightmare Choir
Our fate comes soon
And tonight, we rise higher
Sworn to the moon
As the light breaks free
In the darkest of night
Just keep on
Fighting 'til the break of dawn
‘Til we have all won
-
Moonlight
Out on the battlefield
There's a hunger in your jaws
Respite
Gather up your life
As pariahs of our cause
-
Charging into my destiny
hear the thunder of our horde
By fighting strong I will be free
Defenders heeding my call
Tempest leaned into the music, hammering hard on the strings as she excited the crowd with a fierce look through her facepaint. Lightning’s drums rolled in a repetition of beats, keeping time and measure even at higher tempos. With Tempest leading the guitar, Starlight ran across the stage, left to right, riling up the crowd by pumping her hoof into the air.
Luna peered over the crowd. She had hoped to see her sister, but the mass of fans blew her away. The fog had lessened and she could see clearly, but she was engulfed by their cheers. So when it came time for her to rejoin the song, she brought a renewed vigour.
Come with me, Nightmare Choir
Our fate comes soon
And tonight, we rise higher
Sworn to the moon
See the light break free
In the darkest of night
Just keep on
Fighting 'til the break of dawn
-
Come with me, Nightmare Choir
Our fate comes soon
And tonight, we rise higher
Sworn to the moon
As the light breaks free
In the darkest of night
Just keep on
Riding 'til the break of dawn, fighting on
The Knights were given their own hotel rooms after the concert, save for Starlight, who opted to teleport back to Ponyville instead. Luna retired to hers with a tired but satisfied gait. At her request, the room’s main windows faced the horizon with a view of the moonrise.
Vanhoover was a good city for sightseeing. Near the western coast, there were a lot of scenic waterways and bridges. With magic, travelling on tour didn’t feel any different from living at home. Every amenity not found in Vanhoover could be teleported from Silver Shoals.
She put on her swimsuit and took the elevator down to the hotel’s pool and hot tub. Luna laughed to herself all the way there. Silver Shoals. At first, retiring made her feel old. She imagined relaxing days with books, long hours sitting on the beach, just staring at ships coming into port.
Truly, it was as if she found a new purpose when she started the Knights. Perhaps this is the difference, she thought to herself as she sank into the hot water, between existing and living.
“Looks good.” Luna turned around to see Tempest with Glitter Drops, setting down their towels on the benches. “Mind if we join?”
“Of course not” Luna replied, inviting them in with a wave of her hoof, “the vapours help relax the body and voice.”
Glitter Drops stepped in, while Tempest detoured around to the pool. “I’m just going to get a few laps first.”
“Even when we’re away,” Glitter laughed, “she can’t help herself. Honestly, it’s all I can do to keep up with her energy.” She leaned back against the edge of the hot tub and let out a big sigh. “But I can’t complain. She’s a thorn in my side, but she’s stuck deep.”
“Don’t act like you hate it!” Tempest surfaced from a dive and shouted from the pool. She dipped back down and then popped her head up on the closer side. “You love having me around.”
Luna smiled, enjoying simply being in the presence of their bond. She never got the full story, but it was surely a miracle that Tempest could be reunited with a lifelong friend after so long, especially after the loss of her horn.
As Tempest passed them by and looped around the pool, Glitter Drops leaned a little closer to Luna, offering a gentle, candid grin. “Hey, I just wanted to thank you, for everything.”
Luna made a funny face. “Thank me? For what?”
“For this,” Glitter Drops pointed to Tempest. “The Crystal Empire’s our home, and we love patrolling the Wastes. Tracking dangerous creatures, it’s like solving living puzzles. The rush of adrenaline that comes when the creature threatens you, it makes us feel alive.”
“But?” Luna raised a brow, wondering what Glitter was getting at.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. We didn’t realize it at the time, but the Crystal Empire was already changing before Fizzy joined you. It was easy to ignore at first, but now that I look back at it, we really needed to get out and live a little. Fizzy spent so much time travelling outside of Equestria that she always needs that next exciting thing, you know.
“I understand that feeling,” Luna nodded.
“I knew you would. I’m just happy you could give her that.”
Luna looked sceptically at Glitter Drops. “Is that so? Half the time she’s around the other Knights, all she talks about is you. I’m pretty sure you gave her that. Actually, I’m pretty sure you are her ‘next thing.’”
“M-me?” Dropsy flustered, her face reddening even through her blue-ish coat. “Well, that’s… We go everywhere so I guess that’s also true.”
Luna read her face. Ponies usually think they know how to hide their emotions, but Luna peeled that veneer back easily. No face was ever perfectly stiff and neutral. Forcing something to stay hidden spoke just as much as letting the feeling out.
“Just make sure you find what comes next for you,” Luna said. “Seize it, if you have to. Don’t be like my sister and watch everything from afar.”
Glitter Drops blinked. A twitch changed her expression to slight confusion. “What do you mean by that?”
“Haha, funny story actually,” Luna said. Quickly, she covered the short panic over changing the first song, simply because she knew her sister would be watching. “She told me she thought that playing songs with dark themes only fostered bad emotions. I wanted to show her that even a metal band could play something different.”
“Actually,” Glitter Drops hesitated, but decided to speak the truth, “she wasn’t watching the concert.”
Luna smiled. “I know my own sister. It might be annoying, but I know she says what she says out of love. She was probably hiding in the crowd somewhere. But I just want her to understand me better, so even if no pony saw her, that’s fine. I know she couldn’t have stayed away.”
Glitter Drops furrowed her brow. “But she did. I know because when I was looking for Bridleway tickets for when your tour reaches Manehattan, I saw an article in the news about Celestia starting her own Bridleway production. She’s been there for weeks, she must be swamped with work right now.”
“What?” Luna’s face twisted in disbelief. She expected, and even kind of looked forward to, her sister’s reaction to her music.
“It’s in its early stages now, but the news about the play is pretty much in every paper and magazine since it’s Princess Celestia’s first play.”
Luna shook her head, trying to focus. “W-what is it called?”
“Ooh…” Glitter Drops hesitantly sucked air through her clenched teeth. “It’s… ah. Um, how do I put it nicely?”
Luna gave her a puzzled look. “I have faced ancient shadows of evil magic, I can handle it.”
She sighed. “It’s titled Wicked Moon.”
Luna shot out of the water. “That selfish, passive-aggressive bitc--!”
“Heeey!” Svengallop waltzed in from the hallway, head held high. “Did I hear some pony talking about me?”
Luna seethed as he interrupted her outburst. As he dipped his hooves in the hot water, she calmed down. There was no reason to drag her band members into more of her personal life. Everything she had was perfect already. She didn’t need to bother with whatever her sister was trying.
“If you want to keep the pace moderately fast, it should be doot doot, dee-doot doot.”
Luna shook her head and scratched out some notes she had on the lyrics for her new song. It was hard to focus on just one melody or theme. Every few lines, Luna would come up with a great rhyming scheme, but it wouldn’t fit into the rest of the song. It happened so much that if she saved up all her drafts, she could probably write a second album.
Luna set her quill down on the Friendship Map. I’m my own boss. I totally could write my second album. She looked around. The irony was not lost on her that in her pursuit to break away from her princesshood, the Castle of Friendship became the place for her band to meet.
“Hey.” Svengallop clapped his hooves. “You listening, Princess? I asked you what you thought of this beat for the trumpets.” He played a short rhythm on his keyboard with the settings to imitate the blaring of trumpets.
Luna furrowed her brows. “You know I don’t like that name.”
Svengalloped shrugged. “If you stopped spacing out, I wouldn’t have to use it, Princess.”
“Ugh, okay, fine,” Luna scoffed and postured up. She wrote out the notes Svengallop played as she listened to it for a second and third time. It was good, but a little stifled.
“No, go a little higher,” she said, “Imagine trumpets you can march to, something exciting and energetic. It sounds like you’re playing for a funeral.”
Svengallop sputtered his lips in frustration, but together they worked on the song.
Splitting her attention between rehearsals and songwriting was tough. Luna was used pouring all her attention into one task, same as how she worked with dreams. But the first few concerts of the tour were all exhilarating, and she couldn’t do anything but think about music.
After Vanhoover, they went across Equestria to Baltimare and performed at another massive music stadium. Then they snaked their way back up to Fillydelphia for a smaller concert. Even though there were fewer tickets sold to accommodate the smaller concert space, Luna was surprised to find a hardcore following in the city.
Apparently, the performance they did last year impressed a lot of ponies. After the concert, Poppin oversaw the photography and autograph session with the fans. For about an hour, Luna stood outside their makeup trailer smiling, signing shirts, and smiling while signing shirts. It was exhausting.
“Yo.” Lightning Dust blew open the doors to the map room. “There’s a letter for you, Luna.”
Luna slammed her notes back down on the map table. “A letter? You went to the post office without me?”
“Uh, yeah… it was in the middle of my flying route.”
“At nyght was to come the pegasus without fail, for to deliver owre mail. Were it kowthe that it resten in that place, we would have made forward erly to take owre wey there ere sonen ryse.”
“What the hell?” Svengallop broke his concentration and looked up at Luna.
She brushed her hair forward, covering her face. “I’m very passionate about the logistics of post offices. But that’s not important, let me see the letter.”
She took it off Lightning’s hooves and unfolded the message. It was from Coco Pommel, congratulating her on her successful concerts, and thanking her for helping her set up her own workshop. Included was a photo of her new designs, hung up in long racks and stacked on spacious shelves.
Behind it all was a letter. Poppin and Luna had talked about improving the look of the band on-stage. Their costumes and instruments looked the part, but they were lacking stage props. Coco Pommel was Luna’s first thought for a solution. The young mare was not just a fashion designer, but an enthusiast when it came to plays, and definitely knew how to dress up a stage.
After their concert in Baltimare, Poppin wrote to Coco asking for her help with upgrading the Nightmare Knights. The answer was an affirmative “yes.”
“Looks like Coco is available this week for designs and consultation,” Luna checked the list of availabilities at the bottom of the letter. “We should go soon if we want any props done before Rainbow Falls.”
“And remember, don’t let your insecurities hold you back.” Mrs Cake waved her spatula around, splattering sweet and gooey batter across the front seats of the lecture room. “If I let mine stop me, I might never have discovered my true calling as a baker!”
Guest lectures.
With a growing student body, the School of Friendship could no longer rely on just five instructors. Since Sunburst handled a lot of the logistics involved in running the school, such as making offers to textbook publishers and responding to letters, that left Starlight free to run interviews and trial lectures.
Half of the work had been completed last year. She had planned and hired a number of substitute teachers from around Ponyville, and they were all eager to show that they could take the next step forward. Octavia was another prime candidate. Originally, the mare was hesitant about teaching, favouring her music career above everything else. But after substituting for a few of Rarity’s classes on etiquette, she decided that teaching music might be equally as rewarding as performing it.
For her and the other substitute teachers, giving lectures expanded their interests in ways they never thought they would like.
And the enthusiasm was more than welcomed. The second semester would be interjected with a two-week Spring Vacation, coinciding with the Rainbow Falls Trader Exchange this year. Starlight hoped to have a roster of new professors selected by the time spring came, long before she’d have to focus on rehearsing with the Knights. But, with winter in its last half, time was running a little short.
“You were wonderful Mrs Cake,” Starlight said. “I think I could hire you right now as a lecturer right now.”
“Oh, thank you, dearie. It was nice to pass down a little bit of what I know. I guess, with the little ones growing up, it’s nice to practice teaching. Who knows, I might need it one day.”
As with all the other guests, Starlight invited Mrs Cake to the faculty lounge for lunch and a short tour of the campus. Though it was the newest jewel of Ponyville, a lot of local ponies still didn’t know their way around the classrooms and dorms.
She let Mrs Cake take her leave and enjoy some coffee and cakes in the lounge before heading off to pick up her last guest lecturer for the day.
The low, monotonous stream of fascinatingly bland facts echoed from the open door like a lighthouse guiding a ship.
“In conclusion, I not only identified the primary crystal structures responsible for the magic-diffracting properties of interlocking igneous rocks in the North Luna Ocean, I learned how to share those results with my colleagues. And that’s just like sharing with your friends.”
Maud’s presentation style was unmistakable, but it was one of her strong suits. With nearly all the other professors, “fun” was the keyword. And while Starlight believed learning should always be fun, the School of Friendship needed some seriousness intertwined with lessons about parties and games.
As the students left their lecture more confused than when they entered, Starlight approached her friend and patted her on the back.
“Nice work, I’m surprised no one fell asleep.”
Maud turned her head. Curiously. “Are you patronizing me?”
“Uh, what? No! I really think you did a good job lecturing.”
“That was a joke.” The corner of her lips twitched upward. “I am surprised how thrilling it is to have students listen to you. It’s like stand up comedy. But I don’t have to be funny all the time.”
“Yup,” Starlight beamed, “I knew you’d be perfect for the job.”
“I just have one question. This isn’t nepotism, right?” Maud blinked. Suspiciously.
Starlight spurted a laugh. “What? I’m just hiring a few supplementary teachers. The school’s expanding, and before spring break, I want to have all the supplementary classes organized. Friendship happens in aspects of life, that’s why it’s important for us to give our students new skills as well as new relationships.”
Maud pointed outside to the hallway, where the pictures of the faculty, which were displayed proudly in the gaps between windows and classrooms. “I’m just saying, you were hired because you were friends with Twilight. Twilight also hired her friends. Then you hired your friends. And now I am here.”
“Well… it’s networking!” Starlight laughed again, though a little more unsure of herself this time. “Anyways, let’s not focus on that. You still want to be an associate professor, right?”
“Can I involve students in my research on rock-based magic capacitors?”
“If you think they can learn something about friendship,” Starlight said, “then I don’t see why not.”
“Excellent, we will make great strides in rockology,” Maud said as she gazed out at the picture of Trixie that could just barely be seen through the door from the podium. “I have no friends who are not already working here. Maybe now the cycle of corruption will end.”
Starlight tensed. “It’s not nepotism!”
Smolder tapped her chin with the tip of quill, letting the ink stain her face. Just when she thought she was becoming an expert in friendship lessons, the Headmare had to throw a curveball at the students. After a week of special lectures, they had to write an essay that synthesized the lessons from at least two guests.
Ocellus sat next to her, already editing her rough draft. Somehow, she had managed to understand the lecture with the pony who only talked about rocks. And apparently, Maud’s lesson worked really well with Octavia’s lesson about coordination and harmony in orchestras. Smolder couldn’t figure it out, so she just took Ocellus’s word for it.
They worked diligently together in the school’s library. But, they were not alone. Over the swoosh of pages flipping, soft whispers could be heard. Smolder looked to the table next to them, where Silverstream and Gallus were working on a group project for another class. Since winter break, they had been pairing up for everything. Studying, group projects, if it involved more than one student, those two made sure to be paired together.
“Hey,” Smolder whispered to Ocellus, “am I missing something? Gallus and Silverstream seem… different.”
Ocellus looked up from her notes and scanned the two. “Different in what way?”
“You know, sometimes we hang out and they act like they’re in their own world.”
Ocellus cracked a smile. “I think that’s pretty normal when two creatures are dating, Smolder.”
Crick. Smolder’s quill snapped under her tensed grasp. “What? When did that happen? Am I the only one who does know?”
“I thought you did.” Ocellus shrugged. “They haven’t said anything, but Silverstream’s always an open book. I noticed right after winter break.”
“Well… now I feel weird about it.” Smolder combed her claws over her dorsal scales. “I can’t remember, but I feel like I’ve definitely jumped in when it was just the two of them. Arh!” She covered her face. “Why didn’t they just say something?”
Ocellus shrugged. “You know, sometimes that’s just how couples like to be. It’s personal. Even with friends, there are things they don’t always share.”
Smolder huffed. “Still, I feel like I’ve been betrayed.” She looked over to Gallus as he held up a one-sixthteenth scale model of Canterlot. Beads of sweat weighed down his feathers as Silverstream painted the finishing touches.
“What did they get up to?” she mumbled.
Special Chapter: What Happened in the Winter Nights?
“Students have gone home, papers are graded, and all the lesson plans have been reviewed.” Starlight whispered to herself, just to hear the good news for herself. She twirled around the Hearth’s Warming tree, erected in the main hall of the Castle of Friendship. “It is good to be home.”
The Hearth’s Warming Eve celebrations brought most of Ponyville to the steps of the castle. Rainbow Dash swerved above, helping pass fresh, hot cider to guests while taking a few cups for herself. Starlight originally wanted to have a small celebration and only invite friends, but it was hard to limit the guest list. Applejack had a huge family, Pinkie knew the Cakes, Rainbow Dash wanted her fan club to join in, and so on. In a town like Ponyville, total strangers could be linked together by just one or two connections through friends.
“So many ponies,” Svengallop arrived with a bag slung over his back. “How quaint. Remind me again how you talked me into coming here?”
Lightning Dust chortled above him. “You live alone in a studio apartment with no pony else to spend the holidays with. Kinda didn’t have a choice, my dude.”
He tossed up his nose with indignation. “I will have you know I have since moved out of there. I have a rather comfortable place in Fillydelphia, thank you very much.”
“Great,” Lightning rolled her eyes, “at least you can be comfortable while you’re alone.”
Starlight broke her attention away from the holiday cheer and joined her bandmates. “Are you two going to be like this all night?” she asked them, and they both gave a hearty nod in return. She rubbed her forehead. “It’s a Hearth’s Warming Eve. I don’t want any snide remarks or cynicism.”
Svengallop slumped his shoulders and flipped his curled mane. “I suppose I can keep my drama in check. But I had better get some good gifts in return.”
Starlight looked hopefully to Lightning Dust, who just deposited her sack of presents by the tree and scanned the hall. “Just keep the drinks flowing, that’s all I’m here for.”
Rainbow Dash scratched her head at the image in front of her. Starlight’s eager smile was comforting, but she still wasn’t sure about what the plan actually was.
“I reckon it’s a great idea,” Applejack interjected. “But I ain’t so sure I get what any of this actually is.”
“Thank Celestia!” Rainbow Dash gasped. “I thought I was the only one.”
The three of them sat around Twilight’s favourite reading room, surrounding a small contraption set out between them on a tea table. Starlight introduced the device, the gift idea, and the plans to prepare it all.
In hindsight, she should’ve gotten it ready sooner. But, since so many students at the School of Friendship were minors and lived outside of Ponyville, Starlight had been busy after finals week organizing chaperones and transport for every student who needed it.
“It’s called a CD. Short for crystal disk. Most music is recorded on—”
“I know what it is,” Rainbow Dash interrupted her, “but I think the better question would be why. Why would Twilight want to listen to a bunch of random sounds instead of music?”
“Because it’s hard to fall asleep to music sometimes,” Starlight said. “And I heard Luna talking to Lightning Dust about this once. Close-up, stereo-recorded sounds can be soothing, even outside of sleep. Like for meditation and de-stressing.”
The chance that it was a weird gift did come to Starlight. The gift was going to be an assortment of disks with multiple daily sounds, recorded by Twilight’s friends. From a small CD pouch, the idea was to let Twilight select the disk she wanted, and listen to a set of sounds themed after each of her friends.
The back and forth clitter clatter, of sewing machines, and the rough scratching of fabric, those would be from Rarity. The rush and swoosh of high-speed flying would be Rainbow Dash’s. And so on.
“Maybe I should’ve gone to Pinkie first. She’d know how to make a good Hearth’s Warming gift.”
“I don’t know,” Rainbow said cautiously. “I give her a fifty-fifty chance of not coming up with something totally insane.”
While the three of them thought more about how to make the perfect present for their friend far away, Svengallop and Lightning Dust could be heard wandering up from the party in the main hall.
“Starlight?” Lightning Dust yelled out. “You got any bottles of the good stuff? I wanna spike the punch bowl.”
Svengallop sounded close behind. “I don’t agree with that sentiment, but I do want a martini!”
Applejack and Rainbow looked at each othe, as if sharing the same uncomfortable feeling, as Starlight covered her ears. “This has to be a nightmare.”
“Was that who I think it is?” Applejack got up and leaned her head out the door. She spotted the two of them popping their heads into every room along the hallway.
The two of them did nothing to hide their intentions. “Do you think we should just raid the kitchen?” Lightning Dust’s voice passed through the rooms so loudly, Applejack wondered how no pony else heard her.
“Nah, Starlight probably wouldn’t make it that easy,” Svengallop said. “Plus, her pink friend’s here, she’d probably want to hide anything harder than a beer, just in case.”
“Y’all probably should quit while you’re ahead,” Applejack called their attention before they invaded another room.
Svengallop’s head swivelled around first, followed by Lightning Dust stepping back out of a cleaning supply closet.
“Oh, it’s you,” he said, turning his nose up. “Thought I smelled some countryside dirt, but I thought it was those three young tutors tracking mud all over the castle.”
Applejack stepped out and got in his face. He stood a slight bit taller than her, but his body was long and stringy compared to hers, so she didn’t hesitate to stare down the length of his muzzle.
“Gonna be smelling a lot more of that dirt after I kick you outta here, you puffed up pompous… parasite!”
“Ooh, ouch,” Svengallop put a hoof on his chest, feigning a gasp. “What a crippling insult! It’s a good thing I don’t actually care what you think.”
“Woah! Okay!” Starlight thumped her way out of the reading room. “How about we don’t fight in the nice castle Princess Twilight just gave to me, and instead we sit together in this warm and cosy room full of books and cushions and positive thoughts?”
Lightning Dust was sweating bullets as Starlight shared the idea for the present she wanted to give Twilight.
“Again, it sounds wonderful, sugar cube,” Applejack said, doing her best to ignore Svengallop, “but I don’t know if it’s something we can do. Reckon any sounds we make would be more disturbing than anything else.”
“Pfft.”
Svengallop covered his mouth with his hoof, clearly stifling a laugh that every pony could see.
“What’s the matter with him?” Rainbow asked.
“Nothing!” Lightning grabbed him by the neck, cranking her hoof across his face until he had no choice but to keep quiet. “He has nothing to say about it!”
“Alright…” Applejack said with a wide-eyed and concerned stare. “As I was saying, no pony wants to hear farm animals or hay shovelling. And what can Rainbow do? It’s winter, we’re all listening to rain once a week.”
“Gah!” Svengallop choked, scrambling to get out of Lightning Dust’s grip. “Too tight! Jeez, are you trying to-ack!”
Rainbow Dash ignored whatever the other two were doing. “And Fluttershy’s would probably sound silent.”
“But quiet whispers at the best!” Lightning Dust cried out.
Every pony stared at her. “What?”
Lightning Dust shrugged and leaned back into her cushiony seat. “Nothing, I didn’t say anything.”
In the heat of the moment, Svengallop slipped his thin neck from her grasp and slumped down to the floor. He spat and sputtered, catching his breath before blurting out the truth.
“You got the perfect pony for the job,” he chortled, pointing to Lightning Dust. “Find one of her CD’s and you’ll hear weird whispers or fake mane cutting sounds. Oh! Sometimes she even- oamf!”
Lightning quieted him down with a pillow to his face. But the words once spoken, could not be unheard. Applejack’s face was twisted up in confusion, but it was Rainbow’s half-smirk that was really hard to stomach.
“It’s not like that!” Lightning insisted. “I don’t just listen to weird noises. Sometimes I just need to destress, and positive affirmations in a calm voice really help. That’s all. It’s perfectly normal to want to listen to something soothing.”
“Sure, whatever you say.” Rainbow Dash covered her mouth, holding back her laughter.
“Is he being serious?” Applejack eyed Svengallop with a deep stare as long as a country mile. “Y’all like listening to… mane cutting?” Now even Starlight was curious, leaning closer to her bandmate without saying a word.
“No,” Lightning buried her face in her hooves, “I’m not a weirdo! Mane cutting sounds just make you think of a barbershop. Don’t you like it when you’re getting your mane cut? It’s like having some pony whose whole purpose is to focus only on you.”
“Lightning,” Starlight put a hoof on her shoulder, “I don’t think Rainbow’s laughing because your hobbies are weird. She’d never do that, right?”
It took just a glance for Rainbow to swallow her mischief. “No, never, ahem,” she coughed. “I was just… uh…”
“Surprised,” Applejack suggested. “Reckon it’s cause you always put up that mean attitude. Kinda funny, seeing a side that’s so different.”
Lightning Dust peaked out from the pillow, sullen-eyed and wary of all of them. “You’re just saying that so I’ll help with this gift thing that you’re doing, right?”
Starlight took a look back at her gift idea for Twilight, a set of crystal disks and a music player, sitting alone in the middle of the tea table. “Well, now that you mention it, there is something you can help us do. But I’d never try to manipulate you into it.”
“I knew it,” Lightning Dust sighed. “Well, spill. What is it?”
“Hahaha!” Svengallop cackled. “My vengeance is at hoof!”
Lightning Dust wriggled and writhed against Applejack’s knotwork, but it was a useless endeavour. The experienced farmer had spent her whole life mastering the lasso. Lightning Dust was caught.
“I’m telling Luna about this,” she growled to Starlight. “This is imprisonment. Help! I’m being held against my will!”
“Just relax, Lightning,” Rainbow Dash chortled.
“Plus, you need to be still for the spell to work,” Starlight said. “Even a good microphone doesn’t have the quality we need, so we’re going to have to make you listen to some sounds and then use the Sonus Memoria spell to copy the real sensation and store it on the CD. But if you move, I might end up copying some other memories.”
Lightning Dust eyed her with great suspicion. “What kind of other memories?”
“Only your deepest, darkest, and most sacred secrets,” Starlight answered frankly.
Svengallop produced a folded kerchief from his suit pocket and quickly tied it around Lightning’s eyes. “There, this way we won’t be put off by her glares.”
“Shut up. I’m going to punch you in the face once I’m out.”
“Quiet,” Starlight hushed every pony in the room. “I have the spell locked on her audial cortex.” Glowing softly, her horn formed a thin web around Lightning Dust’s ears, like two large earmuffs made from magic threads.
“Sound one,” Svengallop whispered into her ears. “Knife sharpening.”
Sshheeth, sshrriiithh. Sshheeth, sshrriiithh. Borrowing a whetstone and vegetable knife from the castle kitchen, Svengallop ran the length of the blade against the rough stone, carrying the blade closer and closer to her ear with each draw.
“Woah, hold on,” Lightning Dust whispered, “isn’t that a bit close? Don’t cut my ear off, okay? Svengallop?”
It persisted for about five minutes. During that time, he switched from side to side, sometimes even actually touching the tip of the knife against the soft fleshy skin at the base of her ear. Lightning Dust couldn’t help but shift and wriggle from the sounds, and the threat of a knife so close to her head. Eventually, she was the one who called for the next sound.
“You’re taking too long!” she barked at him. “Just move onto the next one already so we can get this over with.”
Applejack gave her head a pat. “See, sugarcube? You’re helping us already. We wouldn’t have known how long to use a sound for.”
Every pony, save for Svengallop who was eager to administer the next sound, stepped further back to avoid adding background noise to Lightning’s memory. He took a makeup brush and feathered it against her ears.
“If I were you, I’d try to keep quiet,” he whispered. “Wasn’t it Rainbow Dash the one who let you crash in her house? How embarrassing would it be if a friend who helped you when you were at your most desperate found how much you really enjoy this?”
“It’s not like that—” Lightning Dust stammered insistently.
And so it went on. For nearly twenty minutes she was forced to listen to books opening and closing, quills writing on exceptionally rough paper, Applejack eating a crispy apple, and meaningless whispers. With each one she struggled to hide the embarrassment of having other ponies make sounds in her ears. But more than that, she struggled to hide the fact that these random sounds were actually relaxing and therapeutic to her.
“A-are you done?” Lightning Dust exasperated gasp cut through the sound of Svengallop flipping through one of Twilight’s favourite books.
“Reckon so,” Applejack said. “I’m plumb out of ideas. How ‘bout you, Sven? You seem to be good at upsetting your friends. Got anything else for Lighting Dust?”
“You just will not drop it, will you?”
Applejack tipped her hat. “Nope.”
“Well, I’m out of ideas as well, so I guess you’re off the hook, Lightning.”
“Actually,” Starlight interjected as she stored Lightning’s memories onto the disk. She had a pair of headphones connected to a CD player to review the memories on the spot. “You were squirming and complaining so much for some of those recordings that they’re completely unusable. We’ll have to redo almost all of those.”
Lightning tensed against her bindings and thrashed her legs. “No, no! Sweet mother of Celestia, please, no!”
“Did you hear that?”
Gallus and Silverstream dropped small party gifts at the Hearth’s Warming tree and walked around the Castle of Friendship. On one end of the main hall, lined up from end to end of a long table, were trays of tiny fruit cakes, sugar cookies, and festive brownies oozing chocolate goo.
Silverstream tilted her head and listened for the sound Gallus mentioned. “No, it just sounds like a party to me.”
“I could’ve sworn I heard cries of desperation, like a lonely balloon slowly deflating into a void.”
Silverstream covered her beak, trying hard not to laugh with a mouth full of brownie fudge. “You come up with the funniest things. When we met, I never would have guessed you were a comedian. Life’s full of surprises that way, I suppose.”
“I think that’s just Pinkie Pie’s joke writing lessons rubbing off on me,” Gallus replied, but it was hard for him to conceal the big dumb grin on his face. But before they joined the rest of Ponyville for the party, he gently tugged Silverstream back by the wing.
She looked back at him. “Is something wrong?”
“N-no,” he stammered, “but are you sure you don’t want to head back to Mount Aris? Headmare Starlight might’ve extended our winter break, but this’ll be the second year you’ll miss the holidays at your home.”
The serious tone in his voice didn’t slow Silverstream down. “Sure, I miss home,” she rolled her eyes, looking around the castle, “but I like hanging out with you. Plus, Hearth’s Warming is pretty fun, too. My parents won’t mind if I go home after the holidays, and since we have a longer break, I’ll still get to spend time with my family.”
“I know, but the holidays are—”
Silverstream placed a talon on his head, and ruffled his feathers a little. “Don’t worry about it, ‘kay? Right here is where I want to be.”
Gallus’s beak hung slightly ajar while he tried to find the words for his feelings. After everything that happened in the Crystal Empire, their friends wanted to go home and share their stories. He was happy they had their adventure, happy enough that he was fine with going back to Griffonstone by himself. But this was so much better.
“Wait, I think I just heard it.” Silverstream tilted her ears up now to the sound. “It sounds more like a sad tomato being slowly juiced.”
Gallus stared at her. “I don’t even— what does that sound like?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s coming from one of the reading rooms upstairs. Wanna check it out?”
They both flapped their wings and swooped up the stairs. Twilight had put a lot of reading rooms in the castle, but once they were away from the centre of the party, the screaming became clearer.
“I’m not doing it again!” a voice shouted out. “Let me go, damn it!”
Inside the furthest room they found their Headmare, and professors Applejack and Rainbow Dash, tightening the bonds around a yellow-maned pegasus. The struggle froze as the two kids looked on with more questions than there were answers.
“Hey, kids,” Starlight lightened the mood with a wheezing laugh. “W-when did you get here? I thought you went back home for the holidays.”
“We, uh, stopped by for the party,” Silverstream said, inspecting the pegasus a little closer. “Is that Lightning Dust?”
All the ponies traded silent faces. Rainbow Dash seemed to be struggling to contain a fit of laughter, while Applejack’s dumbfounded look had no answer for the question. It was finally Lightning Dust who spoke up.
“One word of this to any creature,” she hissed, “and I will find you.”
Gallus put an arm around Silverstream and gently pulled her away, backing off towards the stairs. “We’ll just be drinking some fruit punch,” he called out as they left. “Very quietly drinking.”
The workshop was both exactly what Luna expected and surprising to the senses. In return designing the Knight’s costume and aesthetics, Luna was willing to write a blank cheque for Coco Pommel’s business. She trusted a fashion designer’s judgement. If it were any other pony, Luna would have been apprehensive about paying funds so freely, but Miss Pommel was trusted by Twilight’s friends, and that was good enough for her.
There were much larger places to choose from in Manehattan, but Coco’s new workshop was close to her home in Bronclyn. She had rented a small warehouse, but it was plain to see the previous occupants had renovated it for other purposes.
There was an empty row of drywall dividers, creating multiple workspaces. Whatever they were for before, Coco turned them into three neatly divided stations for sewing, modelling and accessorising.
Luna had imagined warehouses to be bleak, cold empty spaces collecting dust alongside boxes simply waiting to be moved. But Coco’s truly made the place come alive as a workshop. With metres of dyed cotton and seemingly more colours than a rainbow, every part of the workshop had become alive with fabric. The rest of the Knights, save for Starlight, who was busy with her school, walked around the workshop like children in a candy store.
While they perused, Luna explained some of her ideas for what kind of props they were looking for.
“I think I might have you covered for some of those.” Coco gestured her hoof to the third worktable, which was completely covered in a white sheet, although the props could still be seen sticking out from underneath.
“I hope they’re not bothering you,” Luna said, glancing at the rest of the band before she took a look at Coco’s work.
Coco Pommel waved her hoof. “No, no. I normally have two fashion students who intern with me, but I gave them the day off so we could talk about what you wanted for the band.” She pulled the sheet to reveal dozens of nearly finished designs.
“I might have gotten ahead of myself,” she giggled. “Most Bridleway musicals have so many bright and energetic designs, so I guess I wanted to try something else for a change.
Luna looked over four microphone stands, each with a unique design that was still keeping with the Nightmare Knights’ theme. On the worktable, there were coloured sketches of simple logos that could be added to backdrops or Lightning Dust’s drums.
“Are those what I think they are?”
Luna turned to see Tempest by a dressed-up mannequin, whose attention had been turned away from the clothes and back to the unveiled props. Her gaze led right up to the side of the table, where two guitars waited in silence.
“You like them?” Coco asked, a little shyly. “I don’t know much about instruments, so I asked a colleague if he could make some custom guitars with my designs on them.”
Tempest picked up both and plucked the strings. “I love them.”
“These are just models, though,” Coco took them off her hooves. “They won’t actually play. I wanted to run the final design by you all before I put the order in.”
“This is all really impressive,” Luna said, picking up one of the microphone stands. It was shaped much thicker than a thin metal limb, imitating a stone tower, with a gargoyle moulded from foam at the top. “And much better than I could have thought of.”
Coco blushed and pushed her mane back behind her ears. “Oh, thank you. But these are just some starting ideas. I definitely want to add more of your vision into them before I make the final adjustments.”
“Well, if I had to start somewhere, maybe we can talk about background props. If we’re the Nightmare Knight then we’ll need a Nightmare Castle, right?”
Besides taxis and private carriages, the routine appearance of buses drawn by teams of earth ponies dotted the Manehattan landscape. The band grabbed lunch at the Cantering Cook with Coco, treating her to whatever she wanted as thanks for her hard work.
It was late evening before they decided to head back to their homes.
“Hey, Luna,” Lightning Dust asked as they walked by Bridleway Street. “If things aren’t cool between you and your sister, do you still go back to the same house? Silver Shoals, or wherever.”
“But of course, we are still sisters. Arguing is a part of the job description, and we’ve learned to live with it.”
“Then, do you think you could get us a couple of tickets for a show?” Down the street, Lightning pointed to posters put up beside every shop for Celestia’s play. Tall, neon-lit displays erected at various points along the street housed board-sized advertisements taller than a stallion. In the foreground, the silhouette of a character stood with its back to the viewer, staring to a distant red moon in the distance. Attractive reds and pinks were sharply contrasted, forming two halves of the poster, one bright and the other dark.
“That’s… a lot,” Tempest whistled. The band took a detour, inspecting the infamously packed Bridleway theatre. Above the entrance, a bright incandescent sign. The old lightbulbs hummed with their orange glow, and there were so many that they easily warmed the ponies waiting in line. Windows on either side of the front door listed the upcoming shows, along with the same bold posters that dotted the street.
The overwhelming flood of promotional material knitted Luna’s brows together, forming ridges of discomfort and disgust. Her face was like that of a child taking a bitter medicine for the first time. “I will never understand the modern need to put advertisements everywhere.”
Svengallop looked on the posters with a distant sense of familiarity. “It’s all based on the material’s ignorance factor.”
“Ignorance factor? You’re making that up.”
“Think about it, doesn’t it make sense?” he said. “Producers want their product to be seen, so they advertise it everywhere. But then, it gets too familiar, so ponies start ignoring it. The easier it is to ignore, the more marketing the producer has to do to get attention.”
“It sounds like a vicious cycle,” Tempest said.
He nodded. “Oh, it is. And there’s nothing any pony can do to stop it. Mark my words, in the future, everything will have ads.”
Luna shuddered and stuck her tongue out, retching at the thought of constantly seeing brightly coloured and loud marketing campaigns.
“So… are tickets a no-go?” Lightning Dust tapped on the glass covering one of the poster boards. “It looks pretty dramatic. I dunno, I might want to see it.”
“You want to see a play called Wicked Moon?”
“I think it’s a musical. Pretty sure Bridleway only does musicals. And anyway, it’s not like it’s about you or anything.” Lightning tapped her chin and looked at the poster a little longer. “Even though it was written by Celestia, who had to fight you as your alternate self, which could be described as a wicked moon. Yeah okay, I see it. It’s definitely about you. But, it could still be fun, right?”
“It would be nice seeing other ponies perform for once,” Tempest weighed in, after inspecting the other poster boards hung up outside the theatre. “It doesn’t even have to be Celestia’s play. There’s Spectre of the Theatre, Dogs, even Manespray. Ooh, Dropsy said that one’s a classic.”
“Yeah, but those ones aren’t sold out,” Lightning Dust replied. “If I’m going to see something on Bridleway, it has to be the best one, right?”
Svengallop nodded. “That’s true. There’s something special about seeing a performance when it first comes out.”
“If you want to see a play, you’re free to go,” Luna told Lightning Dust. “I can’t pull strings for you. Besides, I’ve heard some ponies buy tickets just to sell them at higher prices. There must be some tickets you can buy.”
“Wow, that’s cold, Princess,” she smirked back, “but fair enough. No pony would want to go with me anyway.”
“Yeah, probably,” Svengallop said. “Who’d want to waste an evening with you?”
Lightning Dust punched him on the shoulder. “What the heck, dude? That’s the part where you’re supposed to say, ‘No, you’re a valued member of the team, Lightning Dust.’”
He winced and stumbled, the force of her hoof pushing him into Tempest. “Ow! If you weren’t such a massive pain in my ass maybe I would’ve said that.”
Dearest Sister, we write to you with a hopeful heart. You have wished us to express our joy earnestly. We thank you for that. We hope we have the correct understanding of what it means to be happy. But you have sent us no letters, and have taken to producing a play which slanders our good name. It is certainly true our understanding of joy does not align with yours, but your actions cross a line. We regard you as one of the false courtiers which we had become cautious of when we first acquired the trust and thrones of all Equestria. A Starswirl said, “Guard yourselves against ponies who come in the form of advisors but are raving fools.” Therefore you have also come with many good words and wanted to lead us astray from our songs and performances. You should not think that we are so foolish that we cannot distinguish our music from our reality.
The letter sat in Luna’s hoof, gathering droplets of faint drizzle as they waited for their passenger blimp to finish expanding with gas. Cloudsdale would be the site of the Knight’s next few concerts, as well as their ferry to Rainbow Falls for the Trader’s Exchange. And thus, the need for a blimp. The floating city moved across the skies, going wherever the change of weather needed to be the strongest. This year, it would be borrowing from the ample reserves from the Rainbow Falls in order to create the spring showers across Equestria.
Svengallop complained about having to move his own luggage as he pushed a wagon filled with heavy, overstuffed bags. Tempest followed behind him—more modestly packed—but still weighed down by two bags ready to burst. Starlight helped, levitating Tempest’s third piece of luggage along with her own. As attendants brought their bags to their cabins, a chill blew through the landing platform. Not a speck of blue could be spotted through the spectres of winter, the rolling clusters of grey giants blanketing the sky. Fortunately, the rain was so light it was barely stronger than a sinking fog.
“You were mumbling at that piece of paper ever since the train, Luna,” Lightning Dust nudged Luna tentatively as if checking to see if she was still alive. They rode together, gathering up their luggage and equipment, from Ponyville by train to Canterlot, one of the few cities with an airport and landing pads capable of accommodating large passenger blimps. And while Tempest and Svengallop were preoccupied with their travel preparations, like most non-pegasi who visited Cloudsdale, Lightning Dust stood by Luna.
“It’s a letter,” she explained, “I have been wanting to write to my sister since she seems intent on distancing herself from me after our last disagreement.”
“I thought you wanted distance. Isn’t this good?”
Luna wobbled her head, half a nod, half a refusing shake. “But we’re still sisters. I never set out to create this band to spite her. I want my own life, but I also want my sister to be proud of what I’m doing. How do ponies normally handle this, Lightning? How did you reconcile with Rainbow Dash?”
“Woah, hold on,” Lightning slowed her down, “I am not the right pony to ask for that. Talk to Tempest or Starlight, maybe. Me and Dashie aren’t good yet, and I don’t think we’ll ever be.”
“Truly? Starlight said you two got along well at her Hearth’s Warming party. She mentioned something about making Princess Twilight a present.”
“I—” Lightning Dust flustered and clutched her luggage tightly. “No, that wasn’t a good time. Please don’t mention it ever again.”
“Oh, okay.” Luna looked at her with great concern but left the topic alone.
“You should probably put that away, though.” Lightning Dust covered her eyes with one hoof and looked up to the sky. “The drizzle’s starting to come down a little harder. That letter’s going to get more than damp.”
She was right. Luna could see in the distance, although they were incredibly faint, the silhouettes of pegasi moving more clouds into place. The weather report said the day would hold only cloudy skies and light showers. But the dense and dark lumbering giants didn’t seem to agree. Suddenly, the blimp workers slowed the rhythm of their work down to a halt. They crowded around the conductor, speaking in closed circles as if ponies would not catch on.
“The weather should be manageable,” Luna muttered.
“I’m not a weather specialist, but it doesn’t look like light showers to me.”
Luna folded her letter and tucked it away in her saddlebag, focusing her attention back onto the trip ahead of her. “Weather reports are never wrong. Why are they changing their plans so suddenly?” She put up a barrier above their heads as an umbrella from the rain and rejoined the rest of the band. Starlight combined her magic with Luna’s, creating a larger shelter around themselves. Most of the other ponies waiting to board, in classic Canterlot fashion, opened their colourfully printed umbrellas and complained about the unexpected weather.
Though they were not alone. “Any reason why we’re not waiting in a warm and cosy cabin for take-off?” Svengallop drew his coat tighter around his body, covering up his neck. Though rain could not pass through their barrier, air could, and the cold winds that carried the clouds heralded the coming storm.
“There’s not going to be a take-off,” Starlight said, looking up at a sudden flash that lit up the grey sky. Seconds later, the rumbling of a thunderclap confirmed what everyone feared. “If it wasn’t getting in the way, the irony would be pretty funny. A storm from Cloudsdale stopping all the air traffic to Cloudsdale.”
“Well, you don’t see me laughing,” Svengallop huffed. “Why don’t you just teleport us there?”
“Are you crazy?” Starlight gawked. “I wouldn’t do it even if I knew where it was! Cloudsdale is a moving city. You’re more likely to teleport into thin air, thousands of meters above the ground.”
Luna searched the distant sky absentmindedly. “Plus, even if we knew where it was, Cloudsdale is especially dangerous. Enchanting every pony to walk on clouds wouldn’t help much if we teleported just below the city.”
“Whatever we do, can we find somewhere drier and warmer?” Tempest asked. “I can handle snow, snow is fun. Rain just sucks.”
They, along with everyone else waiting on the landing pads, fled the storm as the rain pounded harder on top of them. Once they had tied the blimps in place, even the workers retreated inside the airport with the rest of the passengers.
Luna noticed a changeling stepping out from the crowd of ponies and approaching the blimp conductor. The first words of the exchange were hard to hear, but she hushed her band and listened in for any ideas that might help them move along.
“I’m sorry, but we just got word from the pegasi,” the conductor explained cautiously, “they’re even going to turn it up to a hailstorm soon. We can’t fly under these conditions. So please, just calm down and head back inside the airport.”
“I need to be in Cloudsdale by tomorrow,” the changeling insisted. “There has to be some other flight, a sturdier blimp that can take the storm.”
“Ma’am, the best I can think of is asking for a refund on your ticket. I just conduct the blimps, and taking off is just not happening right now.”
The changeling grumbled and stomped around, thinking impatiently. Luna wondered what she could be considering, there weren’t any options beyond waiting for the storm to pass. But while she shamelessly eavesdropped, she also noticed the ponies around her. Unicorns levitated umbrellas, preparing to open them and brave the outside again as they exited for the streets. One by one, more ponies left. Unicorns were Canterlot’s largest demographic, but even earth ponies with no levitation to help with their luggage desperately dashed out the airport doors and through the rain.
“Where is every pony going?” Luna asked.
“Ma’am,” the conductor said as he directed the changeling to follow the crowd slowly leaving for the street. “My best guess is to try the train station. You can rent a carriage if you need help getting through the rain.”
“The station?” Tempest sneered. “Never heard of a flying train.”
Lightning Dust shrugged. “We could check it out, instead of waiting around doing nothing.”
A chrome and neon purple sign read “TELEPORTATION SERVICES” in bold, blue lettering while flashing an arrow towards a new extension of the Canterlot train station. Or rather, a renovated extension. Luna recalled it was once a fairly large cafe, though the space had since been stripped down and refurbished with two office long desks, each beside a small crystal platform that was slightly curved inward like a plate, or a very shallow bowl. A short line formed outside the glass doors, and looking inside, Luna could see creatures stepping onto one platform and vanishing, while others suddenly appeared on the other. The population of the customers was surprisingly varied. As expected, the largest group were ponies, but they probably didn’t make up half of all the customers. Yaks, hippogriffs, and the odd kirin here and there were eagerly waiting in line or appearing on the second platform.
Outside the room were a flat white screen and a crystal projector. It listed the names of cities, both within and without Equestria, accompanied with either a green or red alert that read “ready” and “teleporting” respectively. Starlight and Luna both looked at the sign curiously. There was Manehattan, Yakyakistan, the Crystal Empire, among others. Among those names, there was even Cloudsdale.
“How are they safely teleporting at this time of the year?” Starlight scratched her head. “Winter’s the busiest time for Cloudsdale. It moves more now than it does during the whole year.”
“Perhaps we can ask,” Luna said. “This is the first time I’ve heard of teleportation services. It is not an easily learned spell.”
Despite how quickly someone could be teleported, the platforms were only large enough for two or three ponies at the maximum. Most of the customers went one by one, which made the line go much slower than expected. Even so, the line shortened at a steady rate until they stood right up against the glass door.
“A flyer?” Tempest picked up a small square sheet of paper from a stack by the front door. Printed on the front was an image of a unicorn reading from a book and casting streams of magic from her horn. On the back, the words “travel the world” were written in bold letters.
“Join Equestria’s first and only travel company that operates on teleportation,” she read the finer description. “If you think you have the aptitude, head on over to our training centre in Canterlot to take your teleportation aptitude test. Who knows? One day, maybe you can be paid to travel the world.”
Starlight made a funny face at the flyer as Tempest read it. “A training centre for teleporting? It's hard, but it’s just one spell. If you’re going to get some training you might as well go to a school for magic.”
“Well, not every pony has that chance,” Tempest said. “Besides, aren’t you self-taught?”
“Yeah, but if they’re that good at magic, they wouldn’t need a training centre to learn how to teleport.”
“I can help the next customer.” At the front desk, a unicorn receptionist waved Luna and the other Knights into the room. She had a light green coat and a pastel-bluish mane. Though it didn’t seem like she worked on the teleportation platforms, she was smartly dressed in a suit and her mane was cut down until it was just above the height of her chin.
“Princess Luna!” She twitched, nearly jumping out of her seat as the Knights walked into the teleportation service. “Wow! I never thought I’d see a princess here. How can we help you?”
“My friends and I actually had some questions. We were wondering how it is that you’re able to teleport to Cloudsdale. During a storm in the middle of winter, the city should be nearly impossible to pinpoint with magic.”
“Well, I’d be happy to give any of our customers a quick run-down of our establishment.” She spun around on her swivel chair and gestured to another unicorn behind her to take the front desk. There were two long tables further back in the station, one faced the sending platform, the other faced the receiving. “We teleport all our customers safely and reliably using crystal pads like these. Not only are they sensitive to magic and help direct spells, but their exact positional data is recorded and copied to all our stations around the world.”
Starlight looked at the reception platform sceptically. “What happens when two stations want to send a pony to the same place at the same time? You could end up teleporting two ponies into each other.”
“That’s not a problem here,” the receptionist assured her. “Before a pony is teleported, every station has to send a request to the destination. We let them know when they’re free to do so.”
“How do you do that?”
“Well, I’m afraid that’s proprietary.” The receptionist deflected the question with a pearly-white smile. “But rest assured, the message gets there. Now, if you’d like, we can get all of you to Cloudsdale in a jiffy.”
Starlight gave Luna a look of distrust. “I’ve had my share of bad experiences when it comes to improper teleportation. I’m not so sure I trust this.”
“Teleportation is a very hard spell,” Luna agreed and addressed the receptionist. “I am in charge of my band, including their safety. You understand my position, surely.”
“Of course!” the mare exclaimed. “Don’t you worry your royal head. All unicorns who work as teleporters go through a rigorous crash course in the company’s patented teleportation spell. We use an improved version of the traditional spell, one that relies on knowing coordinate data of the destination instead of using vague or inaccurate mental images.”
“What?” Now Starlight was on the brink of fuming. “Coordinates are just numbers, they don’t mean anything. A teleportation spell needs some kind of mental tether.”
“That’s what makes our patent unique!” Her cheerful demeanour was like a bulwark against brash action. She didn’t even blink as Starlight leaned in closer as if to initiate an argument. “All our coordinates are recorded in a standardized system. That allows the spell to have a constant frame of reference for what all the numbers mean.”
“It seems safe, or else someone would have reported issues already.” Tempest put a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. “The future is now, Starlight. No need to get worked up about it. This is just what it feels like to be old.”
“What? No,” Starlight protested. “I’m a few years younger than Twilight, I can’t be old.”
“She’s an alicorn, that doesn’t count,” Lightning Dust said. “Just look at Luna. A thousand years and she doesn’t a day over—”
“I don’t need that sentence finished,” Luna cut her off before turning her attention back to the receptionist, who seemed anxious to get their response. “We have a flight set for Cloudsdale, so our luggage is still on the blimp. Since you’re sure it’s safe, we’ll go get our bags and return for your services.”
The receptionist thanked them and wished them a dry trip back to the airport, where Luna spoke to the customer service representatives and got their flight cancelled. And she wasn’t the only one. As the band rolled their luggage through the airport, a line was forming at the customer service desk.
For the time being, most ponies seemed to trust the security of the blimp, even if it was delayed by the storm. But one day, perhaps, that would change as well. “What a time to be retired,” she mumbled to herself, wondering whether or not she would have gotten a chance to see the world-changing if she had stayed a princess.
Luna stamped the envelope and eagerly slipped it into the mail. She knew that sending a letter by postage may have seemed mundane, the odd looks from the other pegasi suggested as such, but the idea that there could be a system of ponies working in perfect synchronization to bring her letter from the Cloudsdale postal office to somewhere far away was thrilling enough on it own.
“Well, that’s that.” Cloudsdale was having a fine day, despite the storms it was bringing to the rest of Equestria. That was one of the perks of the cloud city, they had no use for rainstorms. Luna blew her mane out of her mouth as she stepped out of the post office. The wind was another story, however. Pegasi typically loved the wind, when it was favourable. It made gliding and flying much easier if you knew how to use the currents. But it was a disaster on long manes everywhere.
“Great, and I left my hair ties in the hotel.”
Luna put up a tight magical shield by her face, one dense enough to block out the wind, and headed down the cloudy street. The band was going to practice after lunch to do a run-through of their performance. Their first Cloudsdale concert would come in a week, meaning this was Luna’s last chance to adjust the performance. There was about a month and a half until Cloudsdale flew over Rainbow Falls in the spring. That meant their first concert would set expectations for the duration of their time in Cloudsdale. No more last-minute changes. Poppin mix made it clear: those were putting too many early grey hairs on her head.
But, it was still early, and after successfully mailing a letter to her sister, Luna was feeling like a morning pony. She would take a walk, get a cup of tea, and watch the clouds roll by. Maybe one day those clouds would become storms, but today they were fluffy cotton balls.
“Fizzy, you are going to love it!”
“Uh-huh.” Tempest flipped through the pamphlet of Don Geo-Pony in her hooves. A quiet night with her best friend was exactly what she needed after four hours of practice with the Nightmare Knights. It would have been shorter, but Luna insisted on moving up a song on the setlist, which made Svengallop insist on doing a second run-through with the changes.
But as confusing as her day was, she wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing.“I thought we were going to watch a play. Why am I reading this?”
“It’s an opera. The pamphlet tells you the story so you won’t get lost during the songs.” Glitter Drops dipped oven-baked cauliflower nuggets into a dish of hot sauce. Their original plan was to eat out, but Tempest was too tired for the walk. It was fine. Glitter Drops insisted she’d be happy anywhere, so long as they did it together. Besides, the only downside to the hotel’s food was that it was a little overpriced.
The upside was that they didn’t have to wear the enchanted horseshoes Starlight made for them. The Mareiott was the first of its kind in Cloudsdale, where the clouds, not the guests, were enchanted to be walked on.
“I thought the point of an opera was to watch it. Won’t this just ruin the story?”
Glitter Drops shrugged. “I think of opera the same way I think of movie adaptations for books, except in this case the performance is the original and the stuff you’re reading is the adaptation. Look, just trust me on this, okay? I read this opera when I was at Celestia’s school, and I’ve wanted to see it ever since.”
“Well, when you put it like that, I think I can put up with it.” Tempest said as she flipped back to the front of the pamphlet to read it thoroughly, “I never could say no to you.”
Once they finished their dinner and Tempest was feeling ready to go, they each put on four enchanted horseshoes. These were enchanted to walk on clouds and had crystals inside of them to hold the spell for a longer time. A useful trick, one which Starlight said she learned from a friend.
They both trod carefully as they approached the theatre, and not just because both mares were still unfamiliar with clouds and feared they’d fall through at a moment’s notice. The Cloud Theatre was old. Massive pillars of ultra-dense clouds, modelled after the marble pillars of ancient cities on the ground, surrounded the outside. It had been built upon and modernized, but the core architecture of the theatre sang a tale much older than they were.
Tempest had seen a lot travelling outside of Equestria and experienced many different cultures and histories which demanded respect. Some of them, she helped the Storm King destroy. She didn’t feel worthy of it, but that was exactly why she walked with reverence for a culture that was separated from the world by the sky itself.
“I could stare at this for hours.” She looked up quietly at the carvings in the clouds. These were made of stone but of storms. Inside, the old architecture ran thin streaks from lightning across the cloud walls and pillars. Like lines of neon lights, the lightning crackled and formed facades of constellations, depicting great battles and iconic performances.
It was a world captured inside a dome, brought right up to Tempest’s hoof tips. To preserve its authenticity, the Cloud Theatre had barely expanded beyond its old roots, which meant it could only accommodate about as many audience members now as it could in the past. She looked around, wondering to herself whether the pegasi that lived a thousand years ago felt the same way she did. Now there were hippogriffs and griffons rubbing shoulders with pegasi and a few unicorns. The theatre had not grown. The world was getting smaller.
“When’s it supposed to start?” Tempest asked.
“I don’t know,” Glitter Drops answered. “I should really buy a watch. I think the pony at the door said they’d start in ten minutes.”
Her guess was pretty close. Once the last seat was filled, a distant thoom could be heard from heavy doors shutting them in. Tempest sat as quiet as a mouse, a task made all the more difficult with Glitter Drops bouncing in her seat.
“You need to pee or something?” Tempest teased her, just when the curtains began to pull open.
“Sshh, no,” she clung tightly onto Tempest, “this is where the fun begins.”
Don Geopony! At last, I’ve come,
I shall dine with you, just as you want.
Lightning hid her face behind the rim of a cider mug. Inside the hotel’s bar, the cider was fresh, brewed for sixteen hours in a slow-cooker. The smell of eight different flavours of apple, stewed in a broth of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, wafted into her nose and around her face, chasing away the cold air.
It was enough to make her forget how dumb Svengallop could be. Band practice went over time, all because he wanted to “double-check” their performance after Luna shifted one song around. Just one. Luna moved one song! We didn’t need to repeat the whole rehearsal. Those and many more thoughts bumped around her head, but she found it harder and harder to fault him. Their playing was smoother by the end of their practice session, even if they were exhausted. On top of that, at least he was willing to call it quits in time for happy hour.
Lightning had her CD player tucked away in a small traveller’s bag, and all she wanted was to take it out and retreat to her own world of sound. There was just one problem. Of all the ponies Lightning Dust expected to see at the Mareiott, she didn’t expect her old rival would ever show up. Why would she? A pegasus could fly anywhere in the city, she didn’t need the hotel.
Rainbow Dash had her Wonderbolt uniform on. Of course. The Wonderbolts were always called on to help with the weather quotas. Lightning Dust watched her from the corner of her eye. Should she risk it? Rainbow Dash knew exactly what was on there. She’d laugh at her for sure.
After all, who wouldn’t laugh? As much as Lightning hated to admit it, Rainbow was everything she wasn’t. She was a true Wonderbolt, a hero to Equestria that every pony had heard of. She was friends with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Heck, she actually had friends. Plus, she saved ponies from danger instead of putting them in it.
Whenever she was around Dash, she had to clench her jaw and swallow her pride. She was just too cool. How could she hold a candle to that? Lightning put the mug up to her face, glancing to the side to see if Dash had noticed her.
Dash was staring right at her.
Lightning’s entire body flushed with heat as her heart pumped like a steam train. Don’t you dare, don’t come over here! Ahh! No!
“Lightning? What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash caught her as she was tensing up to jump out of her chair. “You’re not leaving yet, are you? Come on, it’s still early!”
“Hey, Dashie.” Lightning sat back down. “No, I was just— nevermind. Doesn’t matter. I’m just here on business with Luna.”
“Oh, right,” Rainbow laughed. “Dude, I still can’t believe you know how to play the drums. You should totally stop by the School of Friendship. Starlight hired this musician as a lecturer, but she plays the violin or something and I can barely stay awake through any of it.”
Lightning chuckled, though not at the idea of Rainbow Dash sleeping through a lecture. Imagining herself at a school dedicated to friendship and the power of social normativity, that made her laugh. She’d look ridiculous.
“Yeah, well, better bring a pillow. I don’t think ‘friendship school’ is my thing.” She raised a brow, looking at Rainbow curiously. “Anyways, how’re the storms going? Looks like the Wonderbolts aren’t having a hard time this year.”
“What?” She looked at herself and her uniform, and then her face turned from confusion to a laugh as she realized what she meant. “Haha, yeah it’s been easy. This year the reservists get to do all the fun. The other full-timers and I had to moderate a boring weather conference all day.”
A weather conference in the middle of winter. Something like that was pretty much unheard of. Changing from winter to spring was pretty much a routine procedure.
“What’s the conference about?”
Rainbow waved her hoof nonchalantly. “It’s this big international discussion on where Cloudsdale should direct its weather efforts. The hippogriffs, changelings and dragons are all fighting over who gets to use Cloudsdale’s surplus weather..”
“Doesn’t sound boring.”
Rainbow threw her hooves up. “I know, right? That’s what I thought! But they’ve done nothing but talking about crop yield and ecosystems. I wish Applejack or Fluttershy could switch spots with me, they’d probably like this stuff.”
“At least it’s over.”
“Eh, probably not,” Rainbow Dash slumped over, calling over the bartender for two mugs of cider. She drank the first one completely before she could explain the rest of her problem. “Cloudsdale can do a lot, but we can’t help every kingdom. Twilight wants to divide the weather efforts evenly, but the other kingdoms keep trying to demand more than the others. No one’s willing to compromise.”
“Jeez, how long do you think it’ll take?”
“I dunno,” Rainbow shrugged. “I just hope I’ll get time off to see your band perform. I have to get back to teaching classes after this, so this is my only chance until spring.”
In the middle finishing the last of her cider, Lightning Dust choked from shock and surprise. “Y—you’re coming to our show?” A Wonderbolt, a teacher, and a friend of the Princess of Friendship, she didn’t seem like the type to listen to any kind of heavy metal.
“Of course, dude! The Nightmare Knights are so popular at the School of Friendship. As soon as Starlight mentioned it, most of the faculty bought tickets for the Rainbow Falls concert. But I want to be ahead of the herd and catch you all playing now.”
“Starlight?” Lightning scoffed. “No. No way. She actually talked about the band at school?”
“More like mentioned it passing, but yeah. Why do you ask?”
Lightning Dust blinked, slowly staring down to the bottom of her mug. Somehow, along with everything else they talked about, that was the craziest thing she heard that night.
“Nothing,” she mumbled. “I’m just a little surprised, that’s all. I think I’ll need a couple more ciders.”
If she had known there were teleporting services, Poppin would’ve just come with the rest of the band instead of flying two hours through an overworked weather team. Although she was a pegasus, the convenience of teleporting right to the hotel was too attractive to pass up. The Mareiott had nearly everything a pony needed. Designed for non-pegasi, a guest didn’t necessarily have to leave the hotel to get something essential. And nothing was all that more expensive than normal. It was just the enchanted cloud-walking horseshoes that dented all the vacation budgets. It kind of surprised her how many hotel guests came to Cloudsdale unprepared with their own cloud-walkers. Then again, it wasn’t as if powerful unicorns were walking all around Equestria selling their magic.
Speaking of powerful unicorns, the one who had asked to talk was on her way back with their orders of decaf coffee. Starlight levitated the cups onto the table, along with a dish of sugar cubes and a tiny pitcher of creamer. The lobby’s cafe was, to Poppin’s surprise, actually cheaper and better than the stores around town. The Mareiott got its beans shipped by teleportation, cutting down on time and cost while keeping everything as fresh as on the ground.
“Sure you decaf’s enough?” Poppin lifted her quill from her notebook, pointing to her frazzled mane. Starlight felt her head and patted down the stubborn strands, although they were too uncooperative to fully fix without a comb and an hour of good brushing.
“Ugh,” she tutted, giving up on her hair. “Svengallop owes me a spa treatment after today. He told us to run through it again just because Luna shifted a song around. It wasn’t even that big of a change.”
Poppin quickly made a note about that with a few strokes of her quill. “Tell that to the lighting team.”
“I think that’s what Luna’s doing right now.”
She set everything aside to let the ink dry and cupped her coffee close to her face. It smelled freshly brewed and the aroma of the steam chased away the cold air that rushed into the hotel every time a guess walked through the doors.
“So, something on your mind?” she sipped her coffee slowly while eying Starlight. The Nightmare Knights didn’t have the numbers of a Bridleway production, but in some ways that made it even harder to talk to everyone. For a musical, she’d have to check on every team and all the actors to make sure each part came together. But with the Knights, she only really needed to talk to Luna most of the time.
She liked them all, of course. She knew Svengallop by reputation alone before she met him face-to-face. Tempest and Lightning Dust were both strangers to the music industry, so working with them was a breath of fresh air. Even so, they were like a group of friends that revolved around a single mutual friend.
When they were all together, conversations happened naturally. But without Luna, it was as if each member came from a completely different world. There was just nothing they could normally talk about.
Starlight played with her mane, twirling and tangling the ends of her hair with a small bubble of telekinesis. “Sorry if this is a bit sudden. I just—I never wanted it to come to this. But I think you should start looking for another guitarist. I don’t know how long I can be a Nightmare Knight.”
Slowly Poppin felt her forehead pull and stretch as her brows rose when the words began to sink in. All she could muster was a single, “Oh.”
“Yeah.” Starlight looked directly into her coffee. “I tried not to show it, but I’m so tired, Poppin. And as much as I’d like to be a part of the band, I’m just not. I don’t have time to hang out with them outside of practice and I’m always the last one to show up for our concerts.”
“But, you can teleport anywhere you want, right? If this is a problem with scheduling, I can move future concerts around.”
“No, it’s not that,” Starlight shook her head. “The schedule is fine. But for how long? The School of Friendship is getting bigger, and the work I have to do to manage it all keeps growing with it.” She slumped her head down on the table, forming an impression with the tip of her horn. “I already learned the hard way that I have to manage my time between my job and my friends. Repeating that problem all over again is not something I want to put the band through.”
“Have you talked to Luna about this?”
“No.” Starlight covered her ears. “Just thinking about it makes me cringe. I was the first one she asked to join the band! How can I just tell her I changed my mind? She’s trying to make the best of her second chance, just like me.” She flailed her hooves back and forth, as if they were possessed by her emotions. “Sure, she’ll say she understands my decision, but what if in the back of her mind she’s thinking ‘Wow, I thought I could trust Starlight but she turned out to be a disappointment.’ And then the whole band’s gonna think it too! Lightning already does, probably.”
“Come on, that’s a bit much. She’ll understand why you have to put the school first.” Poppin reassured. “Look, I can try to reach out to the ponies I know, but it’s up to Luna to accept them. The band has some pretty steep membership requirements.”
Starlight fidgeted and bobbed her head around on the tip of her horn. “I know. But I don’t have to do it now, right? I want to at least see the tour through the end.”
“You’ll be pulling the bandage off slow, you know,” Poppin warned her.
“But it’ll be worth it. If I’m going to leave the band, Luna should at least get to do the rest of the tour without worrying about me. Same goes for every pony else.”
“I’m guessing that means I’m sworn to secrecy too,” Poppin sighed.
“Yes!” Starlight pounded on the table. “Luna can’t know we talked about this, not until I’ve told her.”
Poppin put her hooves up and leaned back. “Hey, it’s not my problem to speak on. If any pony asks, we never had this conversation.”
Starlight relaxed. “Thanks.” She put her coffee just below her mouth and loudly slurped it up. With the band topic out of the way, it seemed they really didn’t have much to talk about. Although, Poppin did have one question.
“Starlight, are you okay?” She pointed with her wing at her horn. “Because you haven’t moved from there for a while. It kind of looks like—”
“I’m stuck,” Starlight admitted. She tugged with her neck, but her horn refused to budge and the whole table wobbled with her. “Um, can you also not mention this to the band?”
“I’m confused.” Starlight looked carefully at Luna’s storyboard. It was ambitious, to say the least. And definitely unusual. Their concert at Rainbow Falls wouldn’t be until spring, but this was more than just a new song.
Even Svengallop looked concerned. They had never tried a performance with as many props and stage effects as the storyboard suggested. But Luna’s excitement radiated so much, she was like a cat who had just found a new toy to play around with. It felt wrong to trot over her ideas.
Luna the time to think it over. They had all day. Since Cloudsdale in some of its busiest days of winter, they couldn’t practice out on stage when the pegasi were sending electrified storm clouds all over Equestria. Luckily, Poppin had arranged with the organizers to make sure they had access to a music studio, conveniently just down the street from where they were going to perform. Or maybe “street” wasn’t the best way to describe it. The flying city was made for pegasi, and the urban planning felt as if new clouds and buildings were added on until the city became an amalgam of floating islands. For pegasi, it was probably the easiest thing to fly in a straight line to wherever they wanted to go.
In any case, if Starlight walked out of the recording room, she could see from the front of the studio the cloud their concert was going to be. It floated off the edge of Cloudsdale’s main body, tethered by some kind of invisible force.
“That’s fine, this is just a rough draft,” Luna said when neither of them could give their reply. She hopped into the middle of the storyboard. “I’m still working out the story I want the song to tell, so this part right here can change.”
On scratched-up pieces of paper, a sketch of the Everfree forest showed Twilight and her friends battling a hoard of shadows on their way to the Castle of the Two Sisters. It felt like looking in a cracked mirror, with everything distorted but still resembling the true image. In this version, Nightmare Moon fights the Elements of Harmony with an army of living shadows led by the Tantabus. In the epic final struggle, Luna is freed from her evil form but falls in battle. As her final act of redemption, she ascends Twilight to an alicorn to take her place.
“But all of that didn’t happen.” Starlight scratched her head. “What exactly is this song supposed to mean?”
“Oh, well there isn’t really a meaning,” Luna said bluntly while wearing a big grin on her face. “I just want a song that could get ponies excited. What’s more exciting than an alternate universe battle against the forces of evil?”
“Kites are cool.” Her tone was matter of fact, and Luna couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not. “But maybe that’s just me. I think saving Equestria sounds like a Monday morning instead of an epic adventure at this point.”
“Not all of us can be as cool as you, Starlight,” Svengallop remarked wryly. “Though a song about kites would be a first for me. We should collab on it someday.”
Starlight gave him a stink-eye. “You’re messing with me.”
He shrugged. “Write some lyrics and we’ll see.”
The doors to the studio swung open just then before Luna could return her attention to the plans for their Rainbow Falls concert. Lightning Dust blew in with the wind outside. It sounded like the pegasi were kicking up a powerful storm.
Behind her, a few unexpected faces followed. Unexpected for a music studio, at least. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were both at her side, with Twilight being the one to shelter them all from the storm in a magic bubble.
Starlight sat up at the sight of her mentor. “What is Twilight doing here?”
But Luna knew better. Before her waltzed what seemed like arbiters of a tedious doom. “Mhm.” She pressed her lips into a sceptical pout. “This definitely looks like a social visit.”
“Please help us!”
It must’ve been quite the sight, a Wonderbolt and the Princess of Equestria asking for advice in a music studio. They were lucky they were in a small studio. A crowd would come together just from seeing them all in one spot.
“It’s the Cloudsdale Weather Conference, isn’t it?” Twilight’s involvement dramatically narrowed down the possibilities. “Whatever your problem is, I shan’t be getting involved.” Luna sternly turned her head, sitting back down to align the storyboard to her new lyrics.
It was Rainbow Dash who pushed harder. “You don’t understand, this isn’t a normal weather conference. The changeling and dragon delegates refuse to get along, and the hippogriffs aren’t helping either.”
“I have been made fully aware of your predicament, Miss Dash. My sister and I used to flip a coin to decide who facilitated these conferences. But if any pony can mediate this conference, it is Princess Twilight.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Luna, but mediating the conference isn’t the only problem.” Twilight had a three-ring binder packed with notes inside a satchel. She opened it to the middle, where she had summarized the proposals of each nation. It seemed the Dragonlord wanted to develop an agricultural sector in the Dragon Lands, something that could not be done without rain to fill their reservoirs. According to Twilight’s notes, centuries of ash from volcanoes and dragon fire made their soil more fertile than anything in Equestria, despite being as dry as a desert.
Alone, the choice would have been clear, but Twilight’s meticulous notes slowly shifted into more frantic scribbles as it compared and contrasted the needs of the dragons to the changelings. Little symbols and arrows and shortened paragraphs crisscrossed across the pages.
The changelings needed Cloudsdale’s rain to expand into maulwurf territories. The massive creatures were desert-dwelling and naturally preferred dry areas. Bringing rain would not only keep the changeling kingdom safe but provide more arable land as well.
Twilight’s indecision was understandable. Dragons had lived for generations without crops. To begin with they were geophagous. Gemstones made up most of a dragon’s diet. But since the Dragonlord had agreed to leave Equestria in peace, dragons could no longer hoard gemstones by raiding Equestrian rock farms. Growing crops could be one of the surest ways to join the Equestrian economy, even if it was only to get the bits needed to buy gemstones.
On the other hoof, the changelings had a direct need for farmland. Young changelings could not grow strong and healthy bodies from love and magic alone, they needed to eat just like any other pony.
“What have you proposed so far,” Luna asked, “in terms of offering a compromise?”
“Not much,” Twilight sighed. “I offered to invest royal funds into steel refineries for the dragons. With their natural fire breathing and the Dragon Lands’ lava, I thought they’d actually prefer it.”
“And what did the delegation say?”
“Nothing that I didn’t know already.” She took the notebook back from Luna and flipped to a later page which had a spreadsheet for the major suppliers and buyers of metal in Equestria. “Urban development has been slowing since the start of the decade, so there’s not as much demand for industrial steel. Meanwhile, magical devices like projectors and CDs are expanding the market for crystals and gems, which also raises the gem prices for dragons. Between those extremes, the only thing that’s constantly growing is the produce sector. With Equestria being more open to the world, there are a lot of mouths to feed.”
“And the dragons don’t want to be given a dying industry when they could instead become a necessity to the growing population.” Luna rubbed her temples. “I hate thinking about these things. I take my time with individual dreams, I’m not used to looking at the nation like they’re numbers. Can’t you just ask my sister?”
“Getting ahold of Celestia in Manehattan is going to take too long!” Rainbow squirmed. “We need a solution now. If this conference goes on I won’t be able to see your concert!”
“What? You’re asking me to help you rush Equestria’s future just so you can see a concert? For shame, Rainbow Dash.” Luna didn’t know whether to be flattered or appalled. She only knew Rainbow Dash through Twilight, but she liked to think she was familiar with the pegasus’ personality. It seemed, however, that she could still be surprised by exactly how brazen she could act.
“I know.” She twiddled her hooves around on the floor, looking a little sheepish. “But I just thought, since it was your band, that you’d be okay with it.”
Luna shook her head. And even though Lightning Dust had come with them, she noticed her drummer had been suspiciously quiet since the start. “Lightning Dust?” She met Luna’s eyes but kept her lips tight.
Sternly, Luna stepped forward. “Lightning.”
“Y—yes?”
“Lightning Dust.”
“What?”
“Lightning. Dust.”
“If you have a question just ask already!”
Luna eyed her with raised brows, not saying another word. The drummer flicked her eyes to Twilight with a plea for help written on her face. But neither Twilight nor Rainbow Dash had words to save her.
Eventually, she caved. “Alright, fine! I gave them the idea to ask for help. But Dash said she wanted to see us perform so I thought, ‘Hey, Luna must have some experience with this, right?’ I just wanted to give Dash a chance to see us perform because I thought it might make up for that one time I almost shot that kid over twenty-two flaming carriages.”
Starlight popped her head out from the studio’s recording room. “What? There’s something seriously wrong with you if you still think you can make-up a mistake like that. All we can do is move forward, the past can’t be fixed—”
“Well, I don’t know what I’m doing anymore!” Lightning blew her off. “Can’t I just try my best?”
“Alright,” Starlight retreated. “Forget I said anything.”
Twilight stretched a wing out and covered Lightning Dust before she said anything else. "We’re getting off-track. Luna, I know you’re retired. But I want this to end quickly before the changelings and dragons get mad at each other. If you can help, just for one day, that’s all I ask for.”
Luna eased off her stern look and filled her lungs with a refreshing breath of air. One of the benefits of Cloudsdale was that the clouds made everywhere feel like a room pumped up with a humidifier. The cold dew hanging in the air smelled like a nice dream, pulling Luna back to her centre.
Finally, she agreed to help. “But on no condition,” she warned them. “I’m not going to the conference.”
She wanted to stay in her dorm and keep reading all the comics Spike had left behind when he moved. They were actually pretty good. But, there were only so many hours.
Smolder picked up her books off her desk. Even if classes were over for the day, the worst part about school was that the work followed them back to their free time. Spring vacation was just a few weeks away, but before the hallowed time of sleeping in and lazing around could come, there were midterm exams to contend with. The weight of each test was measured in textbooks, and there were a great many of them. As if six subjects for the six Elements of Harmony were not enough, a five-page “further studies” paper had been assigned to every student, connecting lessons from their guest lectures to at least one of the six core topics.
With her heavy bag of books, quills, paper, and ink, she flew over the heads of the other students and followed the halls to the library. She wondered if Ocellus was still in there. She went straight to the library after their classes were over. It was a little intimidating, studying with a creature and neurotic as Ocellus, but she was definitely a strong motivator.
Of course, the scene in front of her was the other side of the hard-working coin: Ocellus was passed out, sitting on a cushion with her head slumped on a textbook. A student's pillow. At least she wasn’t alone. Yona and Sandbar were studying together, pulling up a bunch of cushions to sit on and trading notes with each other for their upcoming tests.
“You two got here early,” Smolder folded her wings and flopped down on a pile of pillows.
Sandbar looked up from his book. “No, I think you just got here late.” He leaned back and looked outside the window. It was bright out still, but the sharp angle of the sunlight stretched out every shadow between the school and the horizon. “It’s like six o’clock. Where have you been?”
“That’s not important.” Smolder turned away and quickly settled her eyes on the slumbering Ocellus. “When did she finally clock out?”
“Yona not sure Ocellus did.” The young yak demonstrated her meaning by nudging the table a few times, shaking Ocellus back and forth. The changeling tilted about in an unconscious stupor before clutching onto her textbook and muttering half-formed garbled sentences regarding rocks and generosity.
Smolder patted her friend on her head. “Guess we can’t fault her. Honestly, I should be studying more for the tests.”
“Yeah,” Sandbar chuckled, “I thought I knew Equestrian history, but there’s so much about the Wonderbolts that I didn’t even know! It’s all stuff I never thought about before.”
“And Professor Fluttershy’s class hard too.” Yona produced a glass jar with a beetle inside from her backpack. “Easy to keep bug alive. But not sure what test will be about.”
“You brought yours?” Sandbar inspected the jar lid closely. He tapped the glass, and after a few shakes, the beetle shuddered and skittered around on the glass. “Aren’t you worried it’ll get crushed under your books?”
“Nope,” Yona laughed, patting him on the back. “That’s why Yona keeps Sandbar around. Boyfriend good for carrying textbooks.”
Smolder looked away from the two of them for a moment. Even as the sun dimmed, she noticed the light from the windows was brighter than usual. Ponyville’s pegasi had been pouring down snow the past few days, and now they were scheduled to leave the skies clear to let the snowmelt into the ground. What resulted were scintillating white patches all across Ponyville that were turning orange and pinkish as the day rolled away.
It had been cold all day, but sunny. Perfect for snowball fights or skipping homework. She didn’t think it was a coincidence that the two students missing from their group were Silverstream and Gallus. Perfect days led to perfect evenings, after all. Who’d want to spend a perfect evening studying?
“Hey, lovebirds,” Smolder leaned into Yona’s teasing of Sandbar, “know what happened to our actual lovebirds? I thought they’d be here by now.”
Sandbar shrugged. “Gallus left campus right after class. But I haven’t seen Silverstream all day. I thought she took a sick day or something.” He turned to Yona. “How ‘bout you?”
“Yona not notice anything but Professor Fluttershy’s lecture notes,” she admitted.
“Midterms are in a few weeks,” Smolder said, thrumming her claws against the table. “What could they be up to?”
Luna could almost peek inside the dragon’s nostrils as they glowed as hot as embers, puffing out smoke like a locomotive. “Princess Twilight, even considering their offer is ridiculous.” He directed his ire towards the changeling delegate sitting across from him. “The changelings don’t need more rain, they already have swaths of farmland. They’re just being greedy.”
The changeling snarled. “Bold of a dragon to call another creature greedy.”
“Spira, that’s enough,” Twilight put her voice between the two delegates. She gave the changeling a warning glance before turning to the dragon. “Ashwind, you’re being unfair. The data is clear, at the rate the changeling kingdom is growing, they will have food shortages in four or five years. The benefit the Dragonlands will get from Equestria’s rain is purely economical.”
As Twilight simmered down the conference, Luna projected a whisper towards Rainbow Dash, the two of them sitting to the right of the Princess. “How did you talk me into coming?”
She opened her mouth to respond, but she doubted she could say anything without being heard, so she elected not to disrupt the ongoing debate. Just to be sure, the Wonderbolt seated next to her, Spitfire, gave Rainbow Dash a firm kick to the leg to remind her to keep to herself.
As Twilight tried to balance the three nations’ delegates, Luna entertained herself with a sharp focus on the hippogriffs. Tall, alert, and regal, the general sent by Queen Novo as a delegate kept to himself for most of the conference. Just behind him, he was accompanied by a younger girl. Luna quickly recognized her as one of Starlight’s students. Yet, if her memory served her well, the girl was completely different from her usual self.
Quiet, demure, and restrained, Silverstream might as well have not been a part of the delegation at all. She merely observed, even going so far as to lower her head when the hippogriff general was addressed as to not draw attention to herself.
“Princess,” the general spoke up amid the spat between the dragon and changeling, “I feel I should remind every creature present that Mount Aris will face tropical storms come this spring, which will disrupt our pearl farming sector.”
“Your concern is noted, General Seaspray,” Twilight said. “And I know Equestria’s businesses have been expanding because of Mount Aris’s bank cards. We will try our best to provide support to your kingdom when the storms come.”
“I’m sorry, Princess Twilight,” the dragon delegate, Ashwind, hissed his words with a sharp forked tongue. “Aren’t such cards a ‘purely economical’ interest?” He reached out with an open claw towards Luna. “Princess, you know what the dragons are facing, don’t you?”
“Excuse me?” Luna quickly sat up and corrected her posture.
“I was in the Crystal Empire when the shadows attacked,” he said. “Princess Luna, you stood for unity between dragons and ponies during that time, don’t let it go to waste. You know why so many dragons have started business in the Empire. We need a source of crystals as much as changelings need their crops.”
“That’s right, and it’s why the Princess would like to resolve this in every creature’s benefit.” Luna gave a slight nod to Twilight to take the reins back on speaking. However, the Princess simply raised her brow and jerked her head towards the delegates, pushing Luna to keep speaking.
She let go a silent sigh before looking the dragon back in the eyes. “Why is the Dragonlord so interested in building farms in the Dragonlands? The world is growing, and other industries are growing with it.”
“Looking at the world as a whole,” the delegate replied, “dragons are still outcasts. You’ve seen it. The Dragonlands is different from the rest of the world because we have no exports. Equestria’s rain will change that and put more food into the world’s market.”
The changeling, Spira, knocked her hooves against the table and waved around a ledger in protest. “Princess Luna, that’s simply not true! Annual reports from major Equestria companies prove that the dragons already have means of purchasing crystals. Dragons are five times more likely to be hired for construction, cooking, catering, and cosmetics. They don’t need the rain at all!”
“Cosmetics? Dragons get treated like lab rats in those jobs.” The dragon delegate stood up from his seat and roared across the table. “We’re not an extra body you just can throw at the jobs no other creature wants to do!”
Twilight stepped up and put a magical barrier between them. Neither delegate backed down, however. In fact, they simply began shouting even louder, pushing their voices through the veil. The dragon’s face changed from one sentence to another, becoming angry and appalled at every word the changeling said.
“Oh jeez,” Twilight wiped the sweat from her forehead. She gave Luna a look of deep apology. “I think this is going to take a while.”
Starlight wrapped a magic bubble around a kernel of popcorn and floated it up into the air. An accurate, pin-point bolt of magic blasted down mid-flight, scattering sparks of magic and buttery goodness all over the studio’s carpet.
Svengallop shoved Tempest, although he moved himself a lot more than he did her. “Quit encouraging. I’m almost done making a list of lighting equipment we’d need for the performance Luna wants to do at the Rainbow Falls. I need absolute, undisturbed focus.”
“Right, because you always stop annoying us when we ask for it,” Tempest retorted. Svengallop shot her a dirty look.
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “We’ll stop.”
But she immediately looked at Starlight with a grin, pointing to the bag of popcorn. Both unicorns stifled their laughs and popped one more kernel before Svengallop began pulling hairs from his mane.
“Sorry, Sven,” Starlight poured a cluster of the soft and savoury kernel into her mouth. “But Luna’s not here right now, what do you expect us to do?”
He pointed through the window to a simple piece of evidence outside the recording room. “Lightning Dust’s doing a good job.”
On a beanbag chair, the bright-maned pegasus was wrapped in a fleece blanket with headphones in her ears. Tempest and Starlight both set their guitars down and faintly shuffled their way out of the recording room. They couldn’t make out what she was listening to, but they could hear something playing out of her headphones.
“I think she’s asleep.” Starlight prodded with her horn.
“Aw, look at her. You’d never know she was just a loudmouth if you only saw her sleeping.” Tempest sat down on the floor and leaned up against the beanbag.
“You sure you don’t want one for yourself?” Starlight pushed another chair over and nestled her way into its squishy confines.
Tempest simply shook her head. “Too soft. I learned how to sleep pretty much anywhere after I ran away from home. It’s useful when you’re camping in a cave twenty miles away from the Crystal Empire in the middle of a blizzard. But I can’t stand the beds. Especially here, they make everything out of clouds and it’s just too soft. I feel like I’m going to fall through.”
“You know what, you and I don’t get to hang out a lot,” Starlight said after a while, “but you should swing by the school when you have time. I think you could teach my students a thing or two. There are a lot of international students who’d love to hear what it’s like of a pony to live outside Equestria.”
Tempest raised a brow. “I’m not that good at sharing feelings and stuff. But I can give a pretty good lecture on why ponies keep getting nearly destroyed by monsters and villains.”
Starlight smirked. “Hey, learning’s all about seeing different perspectives. I think it’ll be a nice change of pace.”
“Wait, seriously? I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. But don’t expect me to work a friendship lesson into my stories, okay?”
They whispered back and forth, Tempest trying again and again to test Starlight’s resolve. But the School of Friendship prided itself on being open to all creatures, and that included being a space for all sorts of views and opinions. Starlight assured Tempest she had no problems with her particular brand of teaching, as long as the students stayed safe, of course.
Ding.
The bell hanging just above the studio’s door chimed. Tempest and Starlight turned to find Luna shuffling her hooves in.
Being asleep just a few minutes ago didn’t slow Lightning Dust down. After Tempest had zapped her awake with a spark of magic, the pegasus was flustering and fluttering around the studio from Luna’s news.
“Is it that hard of a decision?” Tempest wondered. “Just give it to the Changelings.”
“Twilight is weighing both options, and doing so with heart and mind.” Luna absentmindedly stress-ate from Starlight’s bag of popcorn. “The dragons are Equestria’s allies as well. Giving them nothing jeopardizes that relationship.”
“But the Changelings are actually, you know, different now. With the dragons, the Bloodstone Sceptre can compel them to do almost anything. If another dragon became the Dragonlord, we’ll be back to square one.”
Lightning Dust paused her back-and-forth hovering and planted her hooves on the cloud carpeting. “You could try to have a little optimism. I don’t think the Dragonlord’s giving up her job anytime soon.”
Tempest shrugged. “Sure, but you never know.”
Luna shook her head. “No, Lightning’s right. Dragons are long-lived, and Dragonlords don’t change for hundreds of years at the least.” She looked at Lightning and her frayed mane. “I have done everything I can. Twilight is an excellent scholar and mediator. I can’t come up with a compromise that she hasn’t suggested. If the delegates continue to filibuster, Rainbow Dash will have to put up with skipping the concert.”
“Rainbow Dash?” Tempest looked at Lightning for a moment. “One of Twilight’s friends, right? The fast one.” She paused, waiting for some pony to correct her in case she was wrong. “I thought you hated her guts. Are you two friends now?”
Lightning lowered her gaze, turning away from the band. “So what if I’m doing Dash a favour? We’re awesome, it’s only natural she’d want to see us perform.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“Nothing happened,” Lightning protested. “I just think it’s good publicity if a Wonderbolt was at our show.”
Starlight smirked at her. “Face it, you’re just being a simp.”
“A what?” Tempest demanded.
“A simp.” She shrugged, hesitating before she tried to explain it. “Just something I heard my students saying to each other. Not sure what it means though.”
“Then don’t use it!” Lightning complained. “Because I’m not a simp.”
“Oh just drop it,” Luna muttered.
She walked around them and dropped onto one of the chairs. Even in retirement, she kept up her composure most of the time. It was unusual, for any of the Knights, to see their lead member spread out in an unflattering sprawl. Her legs and wings stretched out like a ragdoll’s, and for a moment Luna simply laid motionless on the orange beanbag.
“I thought I could come up with something if I went with Twilight.” Luna let her exhaustion become evident as she rubbed her temple. “It’s funny, they still called me a princess and acted almost as if I wasn’t retired. The dragon even expected me to side with them, after our actions in the Crystal Empire. I couldn’t. I wanted to, but I couldn’t.”
“If you wanted to, there must’ve been a reason,” Lightning said. “Maybe listening to your gut is the way to go.”
Luna shook her head. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t deny my reputation, but is it right for me to accept responsibility? Today wasn’t anything like the Crystal Empire. No heroics, no fighting, just governance. It was just work.”
She combed her hooves through her flowing mane, pushing the loose strands off her face. “And I don’t think I can do it well.”
The others stared at her, unsure of what to do next. Every pony was present, but it was clear to all of them that they weren’t going to get more practice tonight. Lightning picked up her drumsticks and spun them on her hoof. They spiralled off, and she paid so little attention that she let them bounce on the floor before picking them back up again.
“It’s fine,” she said, not taking her eyes off of her sticks. “Playing princess is probably super boring anyway. Let’s just put on a good show and make Dash wish she was there.”
Tempest leaned in and inspected Lightning’s expression. “You really are obsessed with her, aren’t you?” She might’ve been slow to make friends, but that didn’t mean she lacked the skills to read ponies. Tempest’s attention was sharp and alert, only becoming sharper after all her time in the northern wastes of the Crystal Empire. And as she spoke, Lightning’s agitated snarl told her more than enough.
“You’re one to talk.” Lightning Dust clutched her drumsticks between her hooves. “I see you spending all your time with Glitter Drops, if anyone’s a simp it’s you!”
Suddenly a beaked face shot peaked through the studio’s front door. Silverstream spoked her head through, scanning around to see if she was in the right building. “Luna?” she asked when she spotted her crashed out on the beanbag. “Oh thank goodness! You’ve got to help me get General Seaspray to propose my idea to the conference.”
Luna lifted her head, seeing the young hippogriff shaking off the flakes of snow clinging to the tips of her feathers, which melted the moment she stepped into the studio. Her face screwed up in pained frustration, knowing already that she’d accept, despite the words that were leaving her mouth.
“But I don't wanna!”
Smolder spent the evening with her friends studying, but she eventually closed up her textbook and called it a night. She was at her limit with theories of kindness and Wonderbolt history. And the paper she had to submit was barely beyond an outline.
Ocellus had woken up halfway through their study session, but the changeling was too drowsy to comment with her usual trove of memorized facts. Instead, she lounged around the library for the last hour, nodding her head whenever Smolder asked if a sentence in her essay sounded good or not.
They were young, but far from home, and that made them their own students. They were responsible for their success and their failure. And they were also responsible for their own balance between work and life, a balance that was wildly thrown off by impending tests.
At her wits’ end, Smolder gathered up her friends. Yona and Sandbar were less exhausted, they had managed to distract each other as much as they had studied. Even so, they were just as willing to take the rest of the night away from books and notes.
“Seriously,” Smolder said, flapping her wings around the library, looking behind every crack, crevice, nook, and cranny. “ Where in Equestria are those two? If we have to sit here and study our butts off, they should too!”
“We could check around Ponyville,” Sandbar suggested. “Like I said, I saw Gallus leaving school after class. Even if they’re not hanging out, we’ll at least have one of two, right?”
She doubted there was much to see or do around Ponyville, but it was worth a try anyway. They packed up their books and swung by the dorms, dropping off their bags and checking if Silverstream or Gallus were just hiding out in their rooms. But both were empty.
“Hey, looks like I was right!” Sandbar came out of Gallus’s room with a hoof full of paper scraps. “He’s over by the Sugar Cube Corner.”
“How can you tell from those?” Ocellus picked up and unfolded one of the crumpled snippets. They were receipts, each one marked at the top by the Sugar Cube Corner. “Oh, I see.”
“Is this invasion of privacy?” Yona asked as they looked.
The others paused. Sandbar quickly gathered up the receipts and shoved them back onto Gallus’s desk, shutting the door behind him as rushed out. “Yeah. Let’s not tell him we went through his stuff.”
Ponyville at least had its fair share of spectacles in the night. Pegasi teams had prepared light snow for the evening, and a few loose snowflakes were still trickling down from the clouds. But on the whole, the winds were silent and the sky was clear. The students could all see the Ponyville sky.
“I never thought about it,” Sandbar said, “but when we went to Fillydelphia, the sky wasn’t nearly as bright as it is in Ponyville.”
“Should see night sky in Yakyakistan,” Yona retorted. “Yaks have best night sky.”
The streets as well were bright and lively. Houses and shops clashed with the weather, the lanterns hanging by the doors casting orange glows that were reflected by the snow. A few stores were still sporting their Hearth’s Warming decorations, although most had replaced them with posters and banners for winter sales.
They didn’t really have a plan. Ocellus stuck close to Smolder, who lit a small blaze in her mouth to keep the changeling warm. For the most part, their insect-like physiology did not hinder changelings very much. Winter jackets were enough to stave off the chill, but Ocellus underestimated how much snow the weather teams had poured down onto Ponyville, and so had just a light scarf and beanie.
“Wanna check out the arcade?” Sandbar pointed down the street to a building with bright video game titles blinking through its windows. While the brick and wood foundations were old, the sign fixtures hanging above the windows were clean and brand-new. Even the door had been replaced with an automatic slider. It almost looked like a building ripped right out of Manehattan.
“Was that always there?” Smolder scratched her head. “Damn, we need to get out more.”
“You’re not seriously thinking of playing arcade games, are you?” Ocellus asked.
Smolder shook her head and gave Sandbar a disappointed glare. “As much as I’d like to crush your high score, we’re looking for our friends, remember?”
He shrugged. “They might be inside. The arcade’s where I would go if I was trying to avoid studying. Just look at it. Is there anywhere else they’d be?”
“Sounds fun,” Yona stomped. “Want to forget about Wonderbolt history. And friends can still check for Gallus and Silverstream.”
“Why don’t we split up?” Ocellus suggested. “You two start with the arcade and cover this side of town, and Smolder and I will check out the other half.”
“Yes!” Yona cheered. She hooked Sandbar up off his hooves with her horns and charged for the arcade, the young stallion clinging onto her back. “Yaks best at games!”
The thump and wub of music could be heard as Yona rushed through the door. The arcade’s colourful flashing and electronic music filled their senses, even from afar. Sandbar was at least right about it being an attraction.
“We’re not getting Yona and Sandbar back,” Ocellus concluded, “are we?”
“Nope,” Smolder replied.
A flutter of wing flaps passed above them. Neither noticed it at first, plenty of birds flocked around the town at night, picking up dropped fruits and bread crumbs from throughout the day.
But this one paused and hovered above them. “Back from what?” Gallus called down to them.
“Gah!” Smolder, startled from his sudden voice, nearly jumped out of her scales. She slipped on the icy slick road, falling to her back. Facing up at the sky she just barely made out the silhouette of a young griffon. His feathers, bright blue in the day, convincingly matched the muted dark hue of the night’s sky.
“Wha— I don’t— Have you out here this whole time?” She leaned on Ocellus, standing up slowly so she didn’t slip again.
“She means we just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” the young changeling clarified. “You weren’t at the library today.”
“Oh, that,” Gallus chuckled. “Sorry, I meant to tell you all but I was in a bit of a rush.” He landed on a clear patch in the road, and visible on his back was a bright pink pastry box, wrapped and packaged with Hearth’s Warming ribbons. “I gotta drop this off, but we can catch up back at the Sugar Cube Corner when I’m done.”
Smolder and Ocellus didn’t have to wait long to get their answers.
The late hours of the night brought few customers to Sugar Cube Corner, although that didn’t seem to stop the flow of work. Boxes of doughnuts, cookies, cakes, and muffins were stacked up on the front counter. It was never slow in the bakery, it was the only one of its kind in Ponyville, or at least the only one worth mentioning. Still, it was rare to see it as packed as it was.
Gallus made his way in through the back door, coming through the kitchen to meet his friends. “Sorry for the wait,” he chuckled. “Turns out it’s hard to read addresses late at night.”
“So, you’re working here now?” Ocellus sounded aghast, although she tried her hardest to hide it. “How do you have time to work and study?”
He simply laughed. “It’s only part-time. After Mrs Cake started giving her guest lectures, I figured she must be a little short on time at work, especially since Professor Pinkie Pie is at the school half the time.” While he spoke, he picked out a set of stamps from behind the counter and began labelling the other boxes. “I thought helping her out would be a good way to earn some bits and get some new experiences. We can’t stay in school forever.”
“Still, this close to exams?” Ocellus muttered.
“There’s still like a month left before we go on break,” he replied. “I’m not in a rush to study.”
“One month to review half a semester!” She buzzed her wings in protest, although Gallus didn’t seem to share the concern she had.
They both continued to pick his brain on the idea, Ocellus more than Smolder. They asked about his hours, his workload, what he was expected to do. But not every question had an answer. He had just started, after all. It was why he was so quick to leave after school. Even for a part-time job, showing up a little early on the first day made a good impression.
Although it wasn’t as if he was in the dark about his job. In just a day he made deliveries, prepared doughs for baking, and took orders. And even if he couldn’t say for sure what the future held, he had a work schedule, which he showed to them both when they asked to see it.
“Four hours a day?” Ocellus looked as if she was going to faint. “I can understand wanting to have other experiences, but isn’t that a little too much for a student?”
“Honestly, I wanted more,” Gallus said. “But Mrs Cake wouldn’t allow it. She said it’d be irresponsible of her to let me spend too much time working.”
“But why baking?” Smolder crossed her arms. “I’m having a hard time imagining you decorating flowery cakes.”
“Right, because that kind of stuff is just too girly.” Gallus eyed her wryly. Their eyes matched each other and Smolder read the look on his face for meaning. Her nostrils widened and flared red-hot as the memory of their first year at the school came back. Powdered scales and a silken dress, Smolder had sincerely hoped he had forgotten about what she had to do to complete the Tree’s puzzles. It was an embarrassing memory, kept under a lock and key of promises.
“What happens with the Tree of Harmony, stays with the Tree of Harmony,” she hissed. Ocellus simply stared at her, wondering where the sudden tension between them came from.
Gallus cracked a smile and laughed, finally answering Smolder’s question. “I feel bad admitting it, but I wasn’t thinking that hard about it when I picked this job. I just need to earn some bits. Not like I can do anything in Griffonstone to get paid.”
“Oh, right,” Smolder pulled back on her temper.
“But you’re with Silverstream,” Ocellus said, although her tone made her sound as if she was asking a question.
“Yeah, what about it?” Gallus scowled.
“N-nothing!” She stammered. “I just thought, if you ever needed anything… Wouldn’t she pitch in?”
“I don’t need to buy anything,” he said, suddenly fussing around with the boxes. He stacked them up, organizing them by matching stamps. Yet, his eyes slowly drifted from the task. “And it’s not about the bits either. When you’re with someone, you should be able to stand with them, not just beside them. I can’t do that if I don’t have anything to support myself.”
“But the school pays for our meals and dorms,” Smolder said.
“I’m just thinking about the future, okay?” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do after school. But I know that if I’m with Silverstream, it’s not fair for her if I’m not working for myself.”
Ocellus fell silent, seriously considering what he said. She, none of them in fact, had ever talked about what they wanted to do after they were done studying at the School of Friendship. Graduating seemed like it was so far off, but years could pass by quickly when you looked at them with hindsight.
“Oh, speaking of Silverstream,” Smolder said. “If you’ve been working since class ended, then do you have any idea where she could be? We didn’t see her at the library either.”
“You mean she didn’t tell you?” Gallus raised a brow. “I guess that makes sense. She was in a rush. Someone from Mount Aris checked her out of school for a few days. We talked just before she left. She said her parents wanted her to help with some family business in Cloudsdale.”
“Family?” Smolder mumbled. “But she’s related to Queen Novo. Doesn’t make it royal business?”
“Probably.” Gallus shrugged. “I’ve been wracking my brain all day wondering what could be going on in Cloudsdale.”
The rest of the band had left for the night. Only Starlight and Luna stayed behind to hear what Silverstream had to say. They took a walk down the city’s winding streets, through the wind and snow. Even the central was tough to navigate on hoof. Roads forked off to parallel how pegasi flew, not where a pony would walk. But the storm that the weather teams were moving across Equestria made the skies too turbulent to safely cross.
They counted their blessings when they came across a cafe one block over. And although she still looked anxious while sipping her hot chocolate when their orders came, Silverstream was already much better than when she stepped into the music studio. That was good. Panicking wasn’t useful when you’re trying to pitch a plan for a trade deal with dragons. And it was a lot to unpack.
Starlight didn’t know a lot about what happened during the conference, but Silverstream gave a good enough summary to make her problem clear. Even though she was in attendance, General Seaspray wouldn’t let her make any suggestions. Or rather, he couldn’t let her. Being Queen Novo’s niece, her words could have strong implications with the other kingdoms. So, he was under orders to allow her to observe only. Even if she believed she had the solution to Twilight’s problem.
Luna listened closely, happy to do so now that she didn’t have to put up with the back-and-forth debating between the dragon and changeling.
“It’s a simple solution,” Silverstream advised. “Instead of just stopping the storms that come to Mount Aris, the pegasi can move them towards the Dragonlands. By the time it crosses the sea, it would have died down to regular rain. The dragons won’t need to take water from Equestria if they’re getting it from us.”
“Move the storms?” Starlight murmured, tapping her chin as she thought about the possibility. It was exactly what the pegasi were doing in Cloudsdale, so she didn’t see why not.
However, Luna’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. “I’m no expert on weather control, but I’m not ignorant either. Starting a storm is easy enough. Freshly made clouds don’t run off on their own, and weather teams never let storms pick up too much strength. But we’re talking about wild hurricanes.”
“But the Wonderbolts already said it’s possible to stop the storms,” Silverstream said. “Shouldn’t moving it be easier?”
Luna shook her head. “Busting a cloud apart is simple. It’s just a matter of force. Moving a storm is another matter. You have to counter its momentum without destroying it, while also keeping the winds from sweeping you away. It’s not impossible but it’s riskier for the pegasi involved.”
“But, isn’t it worth the risk? Dragons and changelings won’t have to be upset at each other if it works.”
Luna stirred her coffee, lapsing into silence to think. Realizing she was leaning over the table now, Silverstream pulled back and decided to give her the time to consider. The price she was weighing against the other plans didn’t need to be stated. There wasn’t enough rain to send to everyone. Dragon or changeling, each had a price to pay. To make everyone happy, Silverstream knew she was asking pegasi to put their health on the line.
Hippogriffs weren’t too different, at least where their wings were concerned. Turbulent winds were stressful on the body, even just hovering in a storm was like flying in a race. A torn muscle or a sprained joint, those were acceptable costs, a pittance compared to the benefits of peace and teamwork between the other kingdoms. But if something worse happened. A crash. A life deducted as the price for peace?
Starlight noticed her student’s face. General Seaspray’s orders to hold her back wasn’t the only thing holding back Silverstream’s plan. She had seen self-doubt plenty of times in the mirror before to know her student wasn’t as confident in her plan as she wanted.
“It is worth it,” Luna eventually nodded. “‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ I believe is the saying nowadays.”
Silverstream perked up, her face swelling with pride.
“But it’s not my call. It’s not even Twilight’s.”
The hippogriff’s face deflated back down to her anxious state. “What do you mean?”
“She can order the Wonderbolts to help, I’m sure they won’t back down from a challenge, but it will be weather ponies who do most of the moving. If you propose this plan to Twilight, she’ll have to consider what the pegasi will say about it. She might just say no.”
“But…” Silverstream choked up on her words. “The dragons and changelings can’t start hating each other. They just can’t!” Her talons clenched around her cup, putting scratches on the painted porcelain. “I love travelling with my friends. I want us all to visit our homes. If the dragons and changelings start fighting—”
Starlight reached out and placed her hoof over Silverstream’s grip. She relaxed, just a little bit, and looked at her teacher with watery eyes.
“It’s a good plan, and your heart’s in the right place,” she informed her. “You should share it at the conference. If there’s a chance Twilight will say no, that means there’s a chance she’ll say yes, right? Just don’t be worried if it doesn’t work out. Two kingdoms aren’t going to hate each other just because of one bad deal.”
Luna waggled a wry eyebrow at Starlight, although she kept herself in a doubtful silence. Dragons could fight over pretty much anything.
“Alright,” Silverstream finally breathed, for the first time it seemed since the conference. “But General Seapray won’t let me speak at the conference, and he hasn’t been open to listening, either. Someone else is going to have to present the plan.”
“Luna, do you think…” Starlight began.
“Yeah, yeah, I can do it,” Luna moaned, muttering into her coffee. “Honestly, it’s like every pony forgot the meaning of retired.”
There was something about speaking in front of a crowd that she did not like. Luna wasn’t sure if it was just a personal preference, built up from years of working with personal dreams and memories, or some deeper part of herself. Either way, returning to the weather conference and gathering the attention of every creature in attendance was not easy work.
She thought there was just one delegate from each kingdom, key representatives who would speak for their kind with a single voice. Of course, conferences such as this one were too important to leave to just one creature. Now, the auxiliary delegates which accompanied their speakers came out in force to show that they would not be pushed aside. Sitting beside Ashwind, two other dragons listened with stern faces. The changelings had returned to the conference with their full numbers as well. Six in total, double what the Dragonlord sent. With their position in the conference somewhat secure, only the hippogriffs returned to the conference with their single delegate.
Silverstream sat by the general, quietly encouraging Luna from the sidelines. For the sake of her responsibility, Luna spoke, halfway between a casual and royal voice. She commanded their attention with every word and used it to cover every detail of Silverstream’s plan that could be questioned.
The tropical storms that flew over Mount Aris in the spring were nothing like the light spring showers in Equestria. Luna explained their wildness and strength, details that Silverstream had given her after their talk at the cafe. She didn’t try to hide the dangers. The biggest risks were the hurricanes which swept over Mount Aris in the spring, accompanied by thunderstorms in-between.
None of the Wonderbolts dared to show fear at the prospect of directing such powerful storms, however, all their faces paled by the time Luna finished presenting the plan. On the other hoof, the changelings seemed ecstatic. They would get exactly what they wanted through Silverstream’s plan, Equestrian rain, with no extra risk.
The dragons, inversely, were apprehensive. Ashwing crossed his arms and leaned into the conference table. “You said it yourself, Princess, these storms are wild. How can we be guaranteed the right amount of rain to fill our lakes and rivers?”
Luna looked to the Wonderbolts for some of their expertise.
“With Equestrian rain, we’d have to fly our clouds that same distance anyway,” Spitfire said. “Trust me, we can definitely do it with a storm that’s already in motion.”
“Dragons don’t put too much stock in trust,” he growled quietly, “but I can’t argue with the pros who manage all of Equestria’s weather.”
The Wonderbolts unanimously agreed with their leader, on that and every other concern the dragons drafted up. Numbers were where they struck the hardest, questioning if Cloudsdales had the horsepower to turn a storm’s path. Each question was met with a terse answer. Spitfire, it seemed to Luna, didn’t like dragons trying to stick their noses into the weather.
Despite their apprehension, the conference was moving along. By the morning’s end, there was little left for the dragons to criticize. The delegates cast dirty looks to the changelings, who tried to hide their jeering smiles while Twilight was too occupied signing the final paperwork to notice.
By the early afternoon, the agreements had been sealed in ink and carried off by Rainbow Dash to be copied and filed in Canterlot.
“That was amazing. Almost went a too well,” Twilight said to Luna as they exited the conference room. Situated in the building just adjacent to the Mareiott, Luna could smell the fried cauliflowers from the hotel’s lunch menu. It almost took her attention off what she had just helped accomplish.
Luna turned back to Twilight. “You needn’t be amazed. Simply thank your student.” She pointed ahead to Silverstream, who was following General Seaspray through the hotel doors. “It was all her idea.”
“It was?” Twilight raised a brow. “Why’d she tell you about it and not me?” She caught Luna curiously looking at her and quickly doubled back on her words. “N-not that talking to me about it as opposed to you would be the better choice, of course.”
Luna laughed. “So princesshood hasn’t changed you at all. Good.”
“Maybe it has a little, but I’m still me.” Twilight smiled back. She paused. “It’s true I still think of myself as Silverstream’s headmare. I’m proud that she found a way to help the dragons and changelings get what they want. That really makes me want to thank her, but…”
“But?”
She shook her head like she was chasing the thought away. “I probably shouldn’t. Maybe she just never got the chance to talk to me. I don’t think I want to draw attention to her getting involved, the hippogriffs probably have their own royal protocol, like we do.”
Luna nodded. “I have to wonder, though. Does that mean she’s leaving immediately? The Nightmare Knights are playing in a few days.”
The last days of preparation melted together for the band as they fell into their usual routine. Poppin Mix, who usually would teleport back and forth from Manehattan, stayed in Cloudsdale to take over for Luna. Not to alleviate the work, of course, but to ensure the alicorn’s indecisions didn’t throw their setlist and backstage crew into a twist.
Sound checks and maintenance took up the bulk of their time when they practised on-stage. Everything being made of clouds in Cloudsdale, the speakers and instruments were constantly exposed to more cold and humidity than usual. So, each day started and ended with Svengallop inspecting every pony’s instruments.
“What would we do without you?” Luna remarked one morning, a day before their concert.
“You’d give Poppin way too much work,” he muttered, putting the screws back onto one of their subwoofers. “I’m already making it harder on myself already.”
“What do you mean?”
Svengallop pointed his screwdriver to all their equipment. “I thought bringing our own stuff would keep down rental costs,” he said. “No point paying for what we already have. But these aren’t suited for Cloudsdale. The cones inside are paper, not crystal or metal. Makes them soak up some water from the air.”
“Will they work for tomorrow?” Luna asked.
“Yep.” He patted the top of the subwoofer. “The storage backstage isn’t great at keeping out the cold and humidity. I’ll get Starlight to help me teleport all the speakers to my hotel room.”
“The hotel? Isn’t that going to be annoying?”
“It’s just one night,” he said, shrugging. “The Mareiott’s not meant for pegasi, so it has better insulation and heating. Anyway, it wouldn’t be my first time sleeping with my music equipment. At this rate, I should be buying them dinner first.”
“Haha,” Luna gave a small, but genuine, laugh. “Still, you shouldn’t have to do that.”
“Exactly why I looked into rental speakers,” he said. “Unless they’re totally incompetent, pegasi providers should have the right speakers.”
Svengallop wiped down his hooves with one of the many towels they had lying around for make-up removal. Dust wasn’t the issue, just the thin layer of moisture that formed now and then on cold surfaces. Luna looked around the backstage. Hoof marks from where he worked were left behind on everything, from Lightning’s drums to the case of Starlight’s guitar. “Checking equipment” was much easier said than done.
Luna checked outside, peering through the thick curtains to find Starlight and Tempest walking through their performance. They had a few movements back and forth on the stage to keep the audience engaged, and it seemed they were in-tune with each other’s movements pretty well. They didn’t need checking on, at least. And compared to the others, she didn’t know Svengallop as well.
“You ever think about what comes next?” she eventually asked. “As in, what happens when the Nightmare Knights aren’t popular anymore.”
Svengallop huffed. “We’re barely popular now. You should’ve seen the crowds that came for Countess Coloratura’s concerts.”
She scrunched her nose up, puzzled at whether he was boasting about his old job, or belittling his current one. Either way, he continued to inspect the next speaker without catching his own words, so Luna decided to let it go.
“You know what I mean.” She grabbed a stray fold-out chair and sat down, crossing her hooves. “We will have moments to cherish, ups and downs, as all things do, but eventually we will be done. You got any plans for what to do next?”
“We do things right,” he said, not taking his eyes off of the speaker, “my retirement’s what’s next. I want to move to an island, get a beachside bungalow and drink martinis every day.” He looked up, snickering at Luna. “Although, I guess we all can’t just wait for the sweet release of death, right?”
“That… That shouldn’t be funny. ” Luna chortled. “And is that it, just you? Or is there some pony special on this island of yours?”
“Ha!” he laughed, almost cackling. “As if I need one.”
“We all need ponies we can lean on,” Luna told him, “take it from me, after a thousand years, it’s better to have some pony around.”
“Never thought an ex-princess would be picking my brain for a crush like a school pony,” he said, straining as he tightened the screws and closed up the speaker once he was done. “I didn’t make Coloratura the biggest pop idol in Equestria by obsessing over things like finding a partner. I understand it, at least conceptually. I just don’t care about it myself.”
“Fair enough,” Luna said.
“You never asked about that before. Something else on your mind?”
“Maybe. My sister kept talking about how we’d spend our retirement together. She seemed to want to go on a trip around the world with me or something. I said no.”
Svengallop’s ear twitched, noticing a drop in her tone. “Sound like you said more than just ‘no.’”
“I did,” Luna looked down at her hooves. “But she said some things too. She doesn’t understand that I need more time to figure out who I am without a royal title. I never got a thousand years to see all that Equestria has to offer. Right now I suppose I’m worried if we’ll be on good terms once I’m happy.”
“Celestia does seem like the pushy type,” he said. “But if she doesn’t get that you need time, then I think it’s on her to be worried. I mean, if you just gave in and did what she wanted, wouldn’t you be miserable?”
“Thanks,” Luna smiled. “Nice to know you’ve got my back.”
Svengallop turned his attention to the speaker again. “Hm? What? I just need you focused on the band, that’s all. It’s not as if you pulled me out of a bad spot and became my friend or anything.”
Luna chuckled. “Of course. Can’t have us developing any semblance of working personalities. We’d lose our charm.”
When the crowds started gathering up, Lightning Dust couldn’t help but sneak a peek. It was like seeing a stadium fill up just before a race. She looked out along the sky. The torrent of scheduled storms, one after the other, had finally broken. However, the light still flickering down on the main clouds of the city, where the weather factories churned away, promised more rain and snow after today.
Starlight was the first one to notice and pull her back. She was early, for once, and had her makeup already finished. Same as always, the oil-based paint stuck to their skin and coat, waterproof in case the performers started sweating. Although, performing this high in the sky, and in the middle of winter no less, made the warmth of the stage lights sound like a blessing.
“Looking for someone?” Starlight asked.
Lightning Dust narrowed her eyes at her. “You really gonna ask? You know what I mean, I dragged Luna into Rainbow’s mess just to help her out. I want it to mean something.”
“You mean you want her to see us on stage.”
“Maybe I do. But what about you? Thought we were your dirty little secret,” she taunted, going so far as to lean into Starlight’s face. “Are you gonna be alright with a teacher seeing you on stage?”
But Starlight dodged whatever she was implying. “Most of the school knows by now. And actually, I think the kids respect me more for it.” She patted Lightning on the back, smiling. “Guess I should’ve just told everyone right from the start.”
Further backstage, they could hear Luna teleporting in with Tempest and Glitter Drops in tow. Svengallop scolded them, clicked his tongue at them for showing up “late” to their first Cloudsdale concert. Tempest had some kind of excuse, but whatever it was, he didn’t give her the chance to say it. The jar of facepaint was out and being pressed onto her face in seconds.
Lightning scoffed. There was still plenty of time, half of the cloud was still waiting to be filled by the line of pegasi streaming in from the city. Still, it didn’t seem like it was enough. The cloud was small, fractions smaller than Cloudsdale’s core. The city was one of the smallest in Equestria since only pegasi could live there. But even with the smaller crowd, fans would start bringing their own clouds once the concert cloud filled up.
“I’ll keep an eye out for Dash,” Starlight said. “You better get painted now before Svengallop notices. Unless you want him to turn you into a clown again.”
“I wish you wouldn’t mention that,” Lightning groaned at the memory of their first concert, back before she had learned how to deal with his quirks.
Starlight took over as the pegasus dragged her hooves, sticking her head out to watch the white cloud below them slowly become replaced by a few hundred warm bodies. The sun was coming down deceptively fast. Sunset turned to twilight after a few minutes. The moon’s rise still made her think of Luna, even though she knew somewhere in Canterlot was Twilight carefully using the former princesses’ talent. She wondered if, on some small level, she had influenced their decision. After all, she had switched their talents between them. It couldn’t be too hard to switch it into an enchanted clock or some other device.
The crowd cheered preemptively as the lights on the stage flickered on, the soft hum of their incandescent filaments overflowing the stage with lights. It was just a warm-up for the stage crew. Pegasi dressed in full-body black suits turned and aimed the beams from their lights all across the stage and onto the crowd. The stage, a real stage built on top of the cloud, sparked and spat small bursts of fire just like anything on the ground. It was a testament to pegasi engineering that the ultra-dense clouds floated around, unfazed by the rising heat.
“That’s our queue, Starlight,” Svengallop stomped out from his corner of the stage. “How’s it looking out there?”
“Same as always. Can’t pick anyone out from a crowd like that.”
“Good. Come on, get on stage. We already filled our quota for distractions.”
When the music came on, the herd of pegasi clamouring just a few meters from the stage murmured and waved and screamed out for the Knights. When Luna’s voice entered, a crescendo slowly overtook the crowd. Luna carried the melody with her “royal Canterlot voice,” muting her higher notes and almost humming the words with low reverence.
Ge-le-a-fa in-de-mo-na
Rec-can-out-en ond-fin-dan-me
Ere-fe-oh-tan na-fo-go-ten
Ge-le-a-fa in-de-mo-na
A-ri-san-mo-na an-li-fe-oh-tan
Ge-le-a-fa
Short cymbal beats kept the slow pace of the chant, giving weight to the words. Not that the opening lyrics were meant to be understood. The Old Ponish words, chopped up for their sounds, were almost meaningless. And although they could not stomp the clouds, pegasi started beating their wings to the beat fo Lightning’s hi-hats.
An, twa, thrie, feor!
At the crash of the snares, Starlight and Tempest joined their guitars with the beat, picking up the melody. Luna spread her wings and stood centre stage, right on the edge. She could feel the gust coming up from their wings as they beat, but it was a slow gust, nothing like the pulse of the guitar chords warbling from the speakers. She raised her wings, pumping them up in the air. The simple gesture of feathers riled the crowd, and quickly they caught onto the rhythm, producing bursts that roared back at the stage as the speakers blared through the crowd. Finally satisfied by their fans, Luna brought the microphone up and peeled back the gates of her voice.
Hail our ruler when the moon is high (Hu, ha!)
We are nightmares, restless sleep is nigh (Hu, ha!)
Say a prayer, for your hope is lost (Hu, ha!)
Heed this warning, fear is what we want!
-
Eall singan, niht haes feallen
We are the nightmares of Equestria
We are the army of your fright
-
All beware when lunatics enrage (Hu, ha!)
Run or cower, flee the night till day (Hu, ha!)
Deep within your mind, we’ll have our feast (Hu, ha!)
Never trust a nightmare in your dreams
-
Eall singan, niht haes feallen
We are the nightmares of Equestria
We are the army of your fright
-
Ege af heofon, Gastlic Wæccan
We are the nightmares of Equestria
We are the army of your fright
-
Luna willan clipain eall the niht, for wyrre af Equestria
Even with clear skies, the breeze of a distant storm lifted Starlight’s mane, showing off her face and makeup as the lights focused on her and Tempest. Every kick, snare, or cymbal crash from Lightning seemed to control the flash of light as fog, made from a few busted clouds, caught the beams the lamps threw and shrouded the Knights in a soft, moon-like glow. But in the swarm of effects, the stage crew made sure the guitarists were always visible as they worked their strings.
Eall singan, niht haes feallen
We are the nightmares of Equestria
We are the army of your fright
-
Ege af heofon, Gastlic Wæccan
We are the nightmares of Equestria
We are the army of your fright
Luna breathed in the voices as they chanted the name “Nightmare Knights” over and over. The worst thing about going on tour was the wait between performances. She wanted this, and only this. She had her next line prepared and rehearsed so that it would carry the strength of her lungs throughout the crowd, but now she was certain she wanted to say it.
“Good evening Cloudsdale!” She smiled, hinting at the joke to come as her wings spread open wide to welcome them all. “And thank you, my loyal subjects.”
There were a number of laughs from the crowd, but the majority responded much the same as before, with more cheering.
“Tonight will be a great night, yes?” Luna continued. “For tonight, we will celebrate the night!” She paused to breathe, the air feeling like power as she filled her lungs. Each time the crowd responded, it felt as if it was pushing closer to her dreams. “But, there are nightmares in the night, are there not? Are we scared of the nightmares, Cloudsdale?”
A unanimous “No!” echoed from around the stage.
“Everyone! Will you join my Knights and chase away the nightmares?”
A “yes” would have been too literal an answer for a concert. Instead, some pegasi jumped and unfurled their wings, while others yawped with hearty voices to the sky. A few even howled to the moon rising above the lights of the stage.
“Some of you might be ready,” Luna pointed a tentative hoof at the crowd, “but we will see. We will see. For this next song, show me your dedication! We are the Nightmare Knights!”
The hotel may have been a ten-minute flight away from the concert cloud, but Luna was happy sitting right where she was. Although there would be no storms for a few more hours, the winds picked up almost immediately after the autograph session ended. It took time to move the clouds and the weather ponies seemed keen to stick to their schedule.
Svengallop raised some concerns over what would happen to their equipment. Being on a cloud in the middle of strong winds didn’t seem like a good idea to him. But, the pegasi knew how to construct their city. The ultradense clouds used to build the streets and buildings almost ignore the wind completely. They had to. Cloudsdale would have annual integrity issues if their storms tore apart their own city. Even so, Luna and Starlight had to explain the principles of pegasi magic twice before he stopped packing their equipment for more secure storage.
While the other band members removed their facepaint in the makeup room, Luna sat on a sofa in the common lounge, drinking a warm glass of fresh cider.
“You look happier than usual,” Poppin said, approaching behind her. “Could that have anything to do with that weather conference I’ve been hearing about?”
“Ha, did Svengallop mention it?”
“Starlight, actually,” Poppin corrected. “I had some, ah, scheduling questions for her earlier today. She brought it up.”
“Did she mention how much of a pain in the flank it was?” Luna groaned from the mere memory of the conference. “I feel like I needed this concert just for my own sanity. Ponies often underestimate how stress affects our sleep.”
Poppin looked at her curiously.
“Of course, I couldn’t say no to Twilight when she told me about the conference. It’s hard to put away old responsibilities. And I think that’s what worried me the most. I keep telling myself that I have to break away from my princess reputation. But can I ever truly do that?”
“Meh,” Poppin shrugged. “Not really.”
“Ouch,” Luna clutched her chest as if she had been wounded. “You could at least pretend I’m in a tougher predicament.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Poppin hopped over the sofa and sat down by Luna. “You keep doin’ whatcha gotta do, you know? It’s an easy answer, but that’s why it’s a tough problem. We give ourselves a hard time because we think we’ll learn something by the end of it, yeah? That’s why we’re never happy with the easy answers, and then we keep doing what we do until we are.”
“That’s true, I suppose.” Luna tapped her chin thoughtfully. “This was a special case, after all. It’s not as if I keep coming across common problems to solve. And if I’m needed for emergencies, that can’t exactly be helped.”
“Oh, while I got your attention,” Poppin unfolded an envelope from under her wing. “Rara reached out to me a few days ago. She wanted me to make sure you got her letter.”
“Know what it’s about?” Luna tenderly held the envelope and inspected every corner, from the stamp to the smear-proof ink used to write the address. Receiving a letter truly was a special experience.
Poppin nodded. “Sure do. But it’s probably best to let the letter do the talking. I’m not clear on all the details yet.”
“This is a nice envelope, I’d hate to just tear it open.” Luna tucked it between her wing feathers. “I have a letter opening in my luggage back at the hotel. I’ll read it then.”
The makeup room finally opened again, and from it Lightning Dust walked out with a washcloth in one hoof, vigorously rubbing the paint off her face. Once she was done, she bunched it up and threw it back into the room. Luna and Poppin observed as Svengallop chased after her with a fresh towel in hoof.
“For the love of Equestria, staahp!” He yanked her tail and scrubbed the sides of her face. There was paint everywhere. Under her ears, in her eyebrows, even some stuck in her mane. “I’m telling you, it’s going to itch tomorrow if you don’t get it all out now.”
“Quit— stop rubbing. You’re just like my mom.”
Svengallop scoffed. “Sweetie, if I was your mother, you wouldn’t be the way you are now, let me tell you.”
“Was that a diss on me, or my mother?” Lightning’s face darkened as her face flared red with temper, but Svengallop simply covered her up with the towel and continued scrubbing.
“Uh, you good there?” Poppin called out.
“You know how it is,” he replied. “Artists never appreciate what their managers do for them.”
Lightning Dust pushed him off of her. “It’s not that, I just know how long you take with makeup and I don’t want to be late.”
“That’s why you need my help,” Svengallop insisted, stomping his hoof down firmly. “You can’t go on a date looking like that.”
Luna’s ears perked up. “Oh-ho, a date? Do tell.”
“No,” Lightning seethed, holding Svengallop back at a hoof’s length. “It’s not a date, anyways. Turns out Rainbow Dash showed up. When you were giving autographs she flew by and asked to hang out with some of the other Wonderbolts.”
“During autographs? When? I didn’t see her.”
“You just signed your name two-hundred times. I don’t think you saw anything during the autographs.”
“So she came up and asked you directly? Sounds like a date to me.” Poppin teased.
“Hey, I’m just going for the cider. She offered me a drink to thank me for getting you to help her out.”
“You get a drink for that?” Luna folded her hooves. “I deserve a whole keg, then. Where’s my date?”
Svengallop gave up on cleaning Lightning with brute force and retreated, throwing the towel at her face in defeat. “Fine, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Just don’t forget to use rubbing alcohol once it dries on your coat.” He walked back to the makeup room, but paused at the door. “Also, don’t drink so much that you forget to use protection.”
“What was that?” Tempest asked from within the room.
“Nothing!” Lighting yelled and pulled at her hair. She took a good look at the towel, thinking about Svengallop’s warning, and then scowled as she resumed removing the last of the paint from her face. “She invited me to drink with the Wonderbolts, so it’s not like we’re going alone.”
“No way,” Poppin clapped her hooves together, “that means it’s definitely a date! Everything starts out so casual now. Watch, the other Wonderbolts are gonna have to take off because they have laundry to do or some shit like that, and they’re gonna leave you two together and it’s going to turn into a date!”
“That’s crazy,” Lightning turned to Luna. “Come on, this is just a joke, right? You can’t actually think I’d go on a date with Rainbow Dash.”
Luna held up her hooves in surrender and backed herself away from the debate. “I am not the one to ask about this. I haven’t had a date since…” she paused. “I haven’t had a date.”
“I’m telling you,” Poppin looked her in the eyes. “She’s going on a date. One hundred per cent.”
Seeing that it was a losing fight, Lightning quickly wiped the last of the paint off of her face, grabbed her scarf and travel pouch off of her guitar case, and bolted out the back. They were done for the night and the concert organizers had already started taking apart the front of the stage. Although the Knights usually hung out after a concert, Luna didn’t stop her. Date or not, she was happy for Lightning.
When they met each other, Lightning still had nowhere to go after being kicked from the Washouts. She was crashing with Rainbow Dash, but only as a last resort. Luna couldn’t have imagined this is where their relationship would end up now.
“It kinda fits, doesn’t it?” she asked Poppin. “The Nightmare Knights, as a team, has always been made up of second-chances like me. Now Lightning gets to have a second chance with a friend. Even if they’re not on a date, I really want them to be happy. Lightning needs some pony who can bring out her good side.”
“Mhm,” Poppin nodded. “So what I’m hearing is that you’re sailing on the Lightning-Dash ship.”
“I’ve been back in Equestria for years, how am I still behind on slang?” Luna sighed, throwing her hooves up in dejection. “I don’t know what a ‘ship’ means in this context, but it sounds right, so I’m going with it. Let the Lightning-Dash ship sail.”
The sky had been clear all day. Gallus welcomed the change. After weeks of on and off snow and rain, Ponyville’s streets would have disappeared if not for the lamp posts that still marked them. Snow washed away from last night’s rain, but that hardly helped. The water gathered and formed sheets of ice that covered the pavement and collected more snow when the pegasi changed their storm. Fillies and colts made snow ponies, forts, and fought snowball wars, a charming reminder of the life that went on beneath the frozen layers of winter.
Chimneys still smoked, and houses breathed warm life as their windows opened, trading warmth for a quick taste of snow-scented air. The earthen smell that tickled noses every time it rained danced on the breeze, following the winds of winter through the town. Life returned to the streets as the morning sun warmed tired bodies through their windows. As the day passed by, one could almost forget how barren Ponyville had been in the dead of winter.
It had been almost a week since Silverstream’s sudden family trip. Gallus kept himself busy, hopping between studying and his part-time job. Deliveries took up the bulk of it. Since the icy roads were risky to walk on, the Sugar Cube Corner came to rely entirely on his help. It took up a lot of time, cutting into lessons on baking so that he could start helping in the kitchen as well as with deliveries, however, Gallus didn’t mind. Getting out and flying around town gave him some much-needed exercise after hours of classes.
He was just on his way back into the Sugar Cube Corner when Silverstream returned, gliding through a wispy cloud from the corner of his eye. Stuffed into a light mail-carrying bag were pre-orders from ponies around town, which all scattered as Silverstream crashed into Gallus. He fell and felt his chest tighten as she squeezed him in a vice-like hug, pinning him on the roof of the bakery.
“Ach! Silverstream! You’re finally back!” He choked with a half-smile as she squeezed him, relieved to see his girlfriend but desperate to survive the encounter. “Please let me go so I can live to ask you about your trip.”
She laughed, letting him go. He immediately dove down and picked up the orders dropped in the snow. “Ah, shoot,” he clicked his tongue, inspecting the receipts.
“Something wrong?” she asked, landing beside him. “Are those… cake requests?” Suddenly, Silverstream gasped with excitement. “Are you working here now?”
“Yep.” Gallus tucked the receipts back in his bag. “I started the same day you left for Cloudsdale. How was that, by the way? You didn’t have the chance to tell me about it before.”
“Oh, right.” Silverstream bounced up and down. “This is perfect. There’s so much to talk about!” She grabbed his talon and pulled him with her. “Let’s get some doughnuts first. Oh, and maybe some coffee.”
Frost turned to water and wiped clean off from Gallus’s mailbag. He hung it to dry by the door and grabbed a spare apron folded up on the counter. While he got ready to start baking, Silverstream did her best to recount everything that happened to her a Cloudsdale.
“And then Luna showed up, which was weird because she’s not doing princess stuff anymore but I guess this was the exception so that’s why she was there, but even then even she couldn’t get the delegates to agree and that’s why I decided I should ask her for help with my idea because I couldn’t tell General Seaspray. So then I did. And then she did.”
Gallus knitted his brow as he squinted at the soaked order slips. “And then she did… what exactly?”
“Sorry,” Silverstream paused her story to breathe. “Should I come back? I don’t want to interrupt your work.”
“No, it’s fine. Really!” Gallus insisted. He picked a box of doughnuts out from the display case and set it on the counter. “Help yourself. I just need to help Mrs Cake whip up some brownies and then leave them to bake.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” Silverstream said. “I mostly just wanted to talk to you, so if you’re busy right now we can catch up back at school.”
“It’s almost the end of my shift, don’t worry. I want to fly back with you. We haven’t talked all week.”
He walked over to the front window and flipped the sign over so that the side that read “closed” faced out. The end of the day for the shop didn’t mean work was done. Each shifted ended with him baking with Mrs Cake, or Sugar Belle when she was around. Pinkie Pie stopped by once, but it seemed writing exams and grading homework took a lot more time out of her day than he expected. She still worked with Mrs Cake, but their shifts never seemed to line up.
“Gallus, sweetie.” Mrs Cake came out of the kitchen, her apron already coated in a layer of powdered sugar and flour. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear you two. I’m just a sucker for romance.” She laughed, and then took a look at the orders on the counter.
Gallus looked down. “They kind of slipped out of the bag.”
“Oh, it’s no big deal. You’ve done more than enough work for today. These orders aren’t too much, I can handle them. You just go on and enjoy the rest of your day, okay?”
“Really?” His feathers stood up. “Are you sure?”
Mrs Cake nodded. “You know, you two kind of remind me of my friend Buttercup. She taught that nothing’s more important than life and love. You never know how much you’ll get. You’re young, Gallus. Don’t let this old bakery take up your time.”
He smiled and quickly gave Mrs Cake a grateful hug before taking off his apron and taking Silverstream by the talon.
“Have a nice evening Mrs Cake,” they both chimed on their way out.
This time around, as they glided across the length of Ponyville, Silverstream took her time explaining everything to Gallus. And not just what happened in Cloudsdale, but why. She told him about her parents, how Queen Novo had urged them to become more involved with Mount Aris’s reconstruction. And, in a way, the Queen had pushed that responsibility onto her as well.
Silverstream described what her parents normally did for Mount Aris. They were both prominent in Mount Aris, not just for being the extended royal family, but for managing the internal and cultural affairs of the kingdom. It was busywork, most of the time. Since some hippogriffs elected to live as seaponies instead, everything doubled. And despite how skilled they were at handling their jobs, they simply weren’t familiar with creatures and places outside Mount Aris.
“They made you go to Cloudsdale just because they didn’t know a lot about Equestria?” Gallus tried to clarify. “Shouldn’t that be their job?”
“Well,” Silverstream said, stretching out her neck and looking bashfully away, “it’s not like I could say no. They’re my parents. Plus, studying friendship has to be useful for something, right?”
“But it sounds like you couldn’t even do anything when you were there.”
She shrugged. “My parents said it’s all about experience, that I need to learn more about being a royal representative. My aunt can be pretty strict when she wants, so they wanted to be sure I could handle the responsibility.”
As the school came into view, Gallus caught Silverstream up on what had happened in class. None of it sounded as interesting, however. Silverstream had all the notes and assignments for the week given to her ahead of time, so she was already caught up with classwork. He mostly talked about the stuff their friends did whenever they got distracted while studying.
Silverstream glided down to the window of her dorm, and Gallus followed close behind. Once they climbed in, they saw books stacked up in a tower teetered precariously against the wall. Yona’s desk was covered in papers, many of them crumpled up and with titles scratched out. But, Gallus knew the young yak herself had left the room empty for quite some time. By now, she and the rest of the group would be reviewing their lecture notes, trying to come up with questions that could appear on a test, or answers to questions they didn’t understand.
Gallus felt bad for showing up late to their study group every evening, but it couldn’t be helped now that he had a part-time job. Smolder said it was fine, and Ocellus’s notes were always so neat that could catch up by the end of the day.
Silverstream quickly shuffled the stack of books into a more stable pyramid, pouting when one of the books Rarity had assigned, Biography of Giorgio Aromatic, slipped off the top of the pile and fell in her talons. “I just wish I didn’t have to miss out on all the fun.”
“We just studied.” Gallus gawked at his girlfriend. “You just came back from a conference that directed the future of multiple kingdoms.”
“Yeah, but my family does all the time,” she sighed. “Oh well. At least there are a few weeks before midterms.”
Gallus gave her a funny look. Sitting at her desk, he crossed his talons and laughed. “Is this what you wanted to talk about? Studying?”
It sounded like the responsible thing to do. They could grab their books, join their friends, and do what they always did when tests started to get too close. But Gallus wanted to be a little selfish and keep their time private. Silverstream had only just gotten back in town, after all. Unlike Yona’s, her desk wasn’t covered in notes and books. There was one quill beside a thin stack of scratch paper. Silverstream had left in such a hurry last week that she had to drop what she was doing. Even the inkwell waited patiently by the quill, although its contents had completely dried out.
On the top page, a few lines had been written. They were song lyrics. Gallus picked them up and scanned over the short pieces that had been written.
“Oh please, no,” Silverstream said, blushing. “I picked the songwriting option for Professor Pinkie’s class.”
“We had a songwriting option?” Gallus paused, trying to think back to their classes. “Was I asleep for that part?”
She shrugged. “Maybe you just forgot. Everyone else seemed to pick the essay prompt.”
Gallus pressed his temple, trying to remember the prompts they were given for their winter assignments. He could recall there being other options, but every time he played his memory in his head, he could only clearly see the essay prompt. The others just seemed like too much work.
“So, what was the music prompt about?”
“Professor Pinkie wanted us to combine laughter with the elements of music that Octavia talked about in her guest lectures. I think that just means we have to write a song that’s good for parties.”
“Oh shoot, that sounds better than an essay,” Gallus said. “But do you have to record an original song yourself?”
“No,” Silverstream laughed, “I don’t even know how to play an instrument. Woodwinds and strings don’t work that well underwater.” She opened her desk’s drawer and rummaged out a CD case. “That’s why I’m making a mixtape. Well,” she waggled the case around, “not exactly a tape. I just have to record short pieces of instrumentals and edit them together.”
“Woah, that’s so cool.” Gallus reached out and took the disc, looking closer with interest. “Got anything on here? I’d like to hear it.”
“It’s just the songs I’ve been sampling,” she said, her talons fiddling with the ends of her mane. “You really want to hear it? Because that’d be great! I’m not sure if I picked the right songs.”
He smiled. “I’m all ears.”
Silverstream had the top bunk, it was easier for her to reach it than Yona, and the young griffs dangled their feet off the edge and shared a pair of earbuds from her CD player.
A few passing minutes turned to hours. They started listening to just the songs Silverstream had picked out, mostly the popular works from albums by Songbird Serenade, Sapphire Shores and Countess Coloratura. But, there were songs by new up-and-coming bands as well, including a band of griffons called “Griff City” and a seapony band, “Marine Five.”
After they were through with the selected songs, Silverstream brought out the rest of her CDs, which had the full original albums. Gallus suggested that listening to the rest could give her new ideas, and they did. But eventually, when the music finished, they just laid in the bed and talked.
“I guess it wasn’t all bad.” Gallus stared up at the ceiling as he thought about Griffonstone. Though it was a blank white canvas, he stretched his talons out and traced the shapes of stars. “I didn’t have to share a room with any griff, and when I climbed on my roof and looked up, I felt like I owned the whole sky.”
“For most of my life, I had never even seen the stars,” Silverstream whispered in awe. “I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of them.”
“You never even poked your head out of the water? Not even once?”
“Sometimes, but only during the day. It was easier to spot the Storm King’s ships and dive back. Like I said, my aunt can be strict. Queen Novo barely let her daughter go to the surface. So, my childhood was mostly filled with underwater caverns.”
A memory of the tunnels beneath the school, the space in which the roots of the Tree of Harmony had once trapped Gallus in a test of friendship, surfaced for a moment. “So, what does everything taste like when you’re underwater?” he quickly asked. “Soggy?”
“Not really,” Silverstream shook her head. “Fish and kelp are already wet no matter where you eat them, so it doesn’t matter that much. Although, drinking water wasn’t a concept until we returned to the surface.”
“Makes sense, since water’s also wet.”
Silverstream suddenly turned to face her boyfriend. She looked at him wryly, trying to read his face under the moonlight shining through the window.
“What?” he asked.
She cracked a funny grin at him. “Gallus. Water isn’t wet. It makes other things wet.”
“But…” he paused and gave himself a moment to follow her logic. “But water feels wet when you touch it. That makes it wet.”
“That’s your talons being wet, not the water.”
Gallus puffed out his lungs in a meandering sigh, combing the feathers on his head back. “I see your point, but it just doesn’t feel right.”
Silverstream shuffled closer to him, lowering her head until the crest of her beak fit into the bend of Gallus’s neck. “You’re when you’re stubborn.”
“I’m not—” his chest heaved with a sharp gasp, but deflated just as quickly. He leaned into Silverstream, his cheek hugging the top of her head. Hippogriffs were, on average, slightly taller than griffons. Silverstream herself had a solid inch or so over him. Not that size mattered to him, but there was a certain comfort in being able to caress her.
He traced his talon gently along her beak. Although it was hard, a bird’s beak could be sensitive, like a unicorn’s horn or how ponies felt cold though their teeth. Running gentle taps along her beak made Silverstream giggle, but she made no protest.
“Don’t fall asleep, okay?” Silverstream mumbled, her words already melting together.
“Mhm,” Gallus murmured back. “Don’t worry about it.”
Smolder stretched. After two hours of studying, the bean bags and pillows lying around the school library felt more tempting than walking back to her room. Exams wait for them less than a month away, which would have been enough time if it weren’t for the other homework assignments they had to keep track of. Reading quizzes and small group projects were the professors’ way of keeping the students on top of their lessons, but it was such a hassle to finish everything each week.
She stuffed her papers into her textbooks and stacked them into her bag. It was late, and she was the last one to leave the library. Ocellus had just left, but long before that Yona already dozed off in the middle of the assigned readings and Sandbar had to walk her back to the dorms.
Must be nice, she thought to herself. Being escorted late at night sounded like something out of a fairy tale book, ones about fancy ladies who wore dresses and went to tea parties every day. Smolder stopped packing up her books for a moment when she realized what she was thinking.
“Ugh, I sound so alone,” she mocked herself.
Even in the middle of the night, the school’s halls were well lit. The moon showed its full face tonight, the curtains were left open to let the white light shine in, and candles filled out the shadowed corners the moon could not touch.
In such an atmospheric dark, Smolder didn’t expect to see anyone awake. But in the dorm hallways, she found Ocellus standing outside one of the doors, staring inside.
“What are you doing?”
Ocellus tensed and whipped her head around, grabbing Smolder and pulling her away from the door. “Don’t scare me like that!” she said in a sharpened whisper.
Smolder looked at Ocellus, then to the door, and then back to her again. “Why were you staring at Yona’s room?”
Ocellus shook her head. “Yona went with Sandbar I think.” She pointed carefully through the cracked door. They could see only a sliver of the bunk, but it was enough to spot two pairs of legs, cat paws and hooves, hanging off the edge.
“When did Silverstream get back?”
“Today, I guess,” Ocellus said.
“She could’ve at least said ‘Hi.’” Smolder frowned and then pulled Ocellus away. “Why are you spying on them?” She looked back in through the door. “Wait, you don’t think they’re doing it, do you?”
“I’m not spying, the door was open and I happened to see through it.” Ocellus backed up, taking Smolder with her. “Besides, I don’t think they would. It’s too soon, isn’t it?”
“Maybe, but that’s not our business.”
“Sure, but,” Ocellus twiddled a hoof on the carpet. “They’re just so cute together. Gallus x Silverstream is my OTP.”
Smolder blinked, and then placed the back of her claw on Ocellus’s forehead. No fever. “Are you feeling alright?” she asked.
Ocellus moved her arm away. “I just want my friends to be happy.”
“Sure, but no more spying, alright?”
“I wasn’t!” Ocellus hissed. “If they’re gonna do… whatever, they should close the door.”
Smolder threw her claws up in surrender. “Alright, fine,” she whispered. “Let’s just go to sleep before they catch us.”
The sun cast its light through the window and blinded Gallus before he even opened his eyes. What felt like a dream became reality once again as he turned to find Silverstream softly whistling in her sleep. With their beaks, griffons and hippogriffs didn’t snore, at least not in a way that other species did. The result was a quiet whistle or whir. Looking at her now, if he didn’t know her, he never would have guessed she was an explosive ball of positive energy. He started to wonder what other things he didn’t know about his friends, but those quickly halted as they reminded him of the bunk below.
He bolted up. His head struck the ceiling, producing a thud that rang his ears and shook down through his neck. He ignored the pain, leaning over the edge of the to check around the room. It was morning, and Yona should have been in her bed already. But the room was exactly as they left it last night.
He rubbed his eyes, trying to remember the date. Yesterday there was a short reading quiz for Rarity’s class, which were always on Fridays. He couldn’t be sure if Yona was an early riser, but she definitely liked breakfast. It was possible she was already awake. Whatever the case was, she wasn’t in the room, so Gallus flopped back into bed and stared aimlessly toward the ceiling.
Every weekend felt like it would never come, and when it finally did, it left an overwhelming sense of nothingness. They were free to do whatever they wanted, but as students, they didn’t know how to do anything else but school work. Such was the cruelty of public education. Gallus sucked in the morning air, which was chilling despite the clear skies, and slowly let his senses catch up with him.
Like looking at the silhouette of a tree at night and knowing what it was, but not seeing the colours of its flowers until the dawn, Gallus had understood his position but only just realized the full implications as he watched Silverstream instinctively turn her face away from the window.
“Holy crap,” he whispered to himself. He didn’t know why he was surprised. After how late he had stayed over, it was bound to happen. “Does this count as the next stage of our relationship?” They didn’t do anything besides sleep, but this was the closest they had ever gotten.
The sun shone straight through the window, the sun just coming up past the horizon. It was early, too early to have a good reason to wake up if it wasn’t for breakfast. The idea was Professor Pinkie Pie’s. To get every creature to wake up on time, the dining hall had a special brunch menu on the weekends that lasted until noon. There was even a chocolate fountain. That alone was enough to bring students out in the halls. Gallus pressed his head against the wall, listening for movement. If someone saw him leaving Silverstream’s dorm in the morning, he knew exactly what kind of rumours the other students would spread.
Would that be so bad? They didn’t announce it or anything, and only their friends figured out they were dating. But it wasn’t necessary. Ponies had a whole day dedicated to being with a “special some pony,” and it was for kids as much as it was for adults. Still, even with dating being a normal thing, Gallus got the feeling that being found out after spending a night together was not ideal. It might even look like they just hooked up for the fun of it.
He sighed. That was something to think about later. The morning was not going to last forever, and brunch would come soon.
“Silverstream,” Gallus said, nudging her on the shoulder and whispering in her ear. “Looks like we fell asleep. The sun’s up.”
“I know.” She scrunched her face and pulled her pillow over her head. “But sleep is good.”
“Breakfast is going to start soon,” he said. “I should probably head out now, before the whole wakes up.”
Silverstream stuck her head out and smiled slyly at him. “Embarrassed?”
“N-no,” he stammered, “but I’m pretty sure only our friends have realized we’re a couple now. It’s probably easier if I got back to my room without being seen. I don’t want the rest of the school on our backs if they get the wrong idea.”
“Alright,” she said sleepily, stretching her legs out and around him, giving Gallus a firm, warm hug before letting him go.
As he left her dorm, he checked both ends of the hallway. He could hear showers running from the bathrooms, a few early risers had already begun to get ready for the day, but they were too focused on their own routines to notice him creeping through the hallway back into his room.
He thanked his luck that Sandbar was a heavy sleeper. He was probably up late doing homework with the rest of their friends, so there was no way Sandbar would wake up to something as quiet as slowly closing a door. It was unlikely. Absolutely inconceivable. Although, that word might not have meant what Gallus assumed it meant.
“There you are,” Sandbar said.
“Oh, fu—!” Gallus jumped and fell back on the door. “Why are you awake?”
The colt sat happily on his bunk, the lower bed, and simply smiled at the question. Gallus shot a narrowed look of suspicion, but he didn’t stick around for long to add more fuel to the fire. After a moment of silence, and a sly grin from Sandbar, Gallus tentatively fell into his morning routine. He reached for the top shelf of his closet and produced a toothbrush, clenched tightly in his talons.
“Checked the showers,” he said. “Seems pretty busy today. Everyone was crowding around the sinks too. I thought I’d just wait out the morning rush.”
Sandbar laughed and pointed out the window to a red horizon giving way to clear blue and white cotton-ball clouds. “Dude, it’s like six-thirty in the morning, there’s no way the bathrooms are crowded now.” He slung his hoof around Gallus’s neck and pulled him close. “Come on, you can be straight with me.”
“Then again, if I squeeze in now I’ll probably get to the dining hall when everything’s fresh,” Gallus said, pushing his hoof off and going back to his closet.
Sandbar nodded slowly. “So you’re playing that game, huh? You know ignoring me is just gonna make me more curious.”
“I hear since some kirin students are transferring in the spring, Professor Pinkie was trying out new international recipes. Like rice balls. You ever tried rice balls? We don’t have those in Griffonstone, I’m thinking of just stuffing my face full of them.”
“Fine, but Yona knows too. We saw you two when we came back from the library. You should really close the door if you want privacy.”
“Mhm,” Gallus muttered. He hung his towel and washcloth around his neck. “I feel like skipping the waffles and muffins. I get enough of those just taste testing for Mrs Cake.”
“You’re as stubborn as Professor Applejack.” Sandbar threw his hooves up in defeat and slouched back onto his bed. “See you at breakfast, I guess.”
Not all of the Nightmare Knights’ concerts in Cloudsdale had blown-out stages and endless crowds. Throughout the month the band moved from one venue to another. Not all were properly within Cloudsdale. The jewel of the pegasi was a flying city and migrated with the turning of the season, so while new faces came and went, so too did the landscape below.
Poppin had set up small concerts with public music houses and heavy metal clubs in the villages that waited along Cloudsdale’s route. They were true small towns, just barely more than quaint collections of cottages. With no space or money for teleportation pads, the band carried their own equipment.
Nothing about the clubs seemed to impress Svengallop, who made it a point to mention the venue’s size or accommodations, at least until Lightning Dust wondered if he was trying to compensate for something. But Luna found them charming. The small experience was exactly how she imagined her music career going. Large concerts were exhilarating, but on a music club’s low stage, she could reach her hoof out to the fans and even talk to them over drinks afterwards.
From week to week, either in the sky or flying down to the towns, the Nightmare Knights worked tirelessly. Perhaps tireless was not accurate. They were exhausted by the end of the time in Cloudsale. But with each performance, they seemed to find their energy.
“It’s the music,” Starlight said after one performance. The “power” in power metal was there in the name for a reason.
“Nah,” Lightning disagreed, “it’s the sound of the fans.” She played her hardest, knowing that if the beat was off, a hundred ears would be there to catch it.
Tempest had a simpler answer when asked. “Playing the guitar is fun.”
Whatever their reasons, the exhaustion came with the fun, and none of them would give up the former if it meant losing the latter. So, though Luna was leading at their helm, they each resolved to do their best for their final performance in Cloudsdale. Starlight swallowed her worries. Rainbow Falls, the end of their tour, was next, and a strong finish would be her parting gift to Luna.
In a scarcely known heavy metal music club, called “The Workshop” even though ponies hardly knew of it, the Nightmare Knights played:
Follow your dread to the dark of temptation
Lay down your head, let the nightmare consume
Sworn to the night, an equestrian nation, born
Under the light of the moon
-
Gather the wild, form a herd from this madness
Villains allied, fight the storm of this curse
Hold your head high as we rise like a legion sworn
By the moon’s light, we inverse
-
Combat ahead and the night calls for heroes
Ready for fire command
Revel in dread, come and wake up to bring no remorse
Stand up as force
-
Rise over your dread bring us ahead
Midnight and Madness
Fight all of your fright
Banners up high to the top of the land
-
Right into the dread all you can get
Midnight and Madness
Stand, gallop and fight all through the night
As we come to defend
-
Hollow the damned in the art of redemption
Fallen and banned and the heroes die first
Servant in life and elated in dreaming cursed
Slaves in the night and beyond
-
Bury the fright in impetuous hunger
Do or die, you are sleepless with fear
Cannot deny all the wonders are sacred, crawl
Into the grave of the guilt
-
Remedy sent, let the sun rise in treason
Born by the liar's intent
Terror in bed, come and wake up
And bring out the sword
-
Stand up as horde
-
Rise over the dread bring us ahead
Midnight and Madness
Fight all of your fright
Banners up high to the top of the land
-
Right into the dread, all you can get
Midnight and Madness
Stand, gallop and fight all through the night
As we come to defend
-
When we all stand together
-
Rise over the dead bring us ahead
Midnight and Madness
Fight all of your fright
Banners up high to the top of the land
-
Ride into the dread all you can get
Midnight and Madness
Stand, gallop and fight all through the night
As we come to defend
-
The night will last forever
“That was so awesome!”
Rainbow Dash waited outside the club after the Knights cleaned themselves up and packed their equipment and costumes.
“Is this going to be a normal thing with you two?” Svengallop whispered to Lightning as they waved to her. “You can give her a backstage pass, you know.”
“No,” Lightning hissed. “She’s been acting like we’re friends ever since I had some drink with her and the Wonderbolts. Ten bits says she’s just trying to embarrass me or something.”
Svengallop smirked. “Oh. In that case, I can give her a backstage pass.”
Lightning’s nostrils flared, but she kept silent as Rainbow slung a hoof around her. “Probably just another day’s work for you though, huh pal?”
“What are you doing here?” Lightning dropped her sour face and put on a smile for Rainbow. “It’s a school night.”
“Soarin’s giving a guest lecture tomorrow for my class,” she answered. “So I get the day off.”
“You still have to write the midterm exam for your students,” Starlight pointed out.
Rainbow dodged behind Lightning Dust. “Yeah, but we have two weeks until midterms. I can come up with those writing prompts in ten minutes flat!”
“Please don’t.”
“Don’t worry, Starlight, I’m here on business, I swear!”
She walked with the Knights along Neighagra Avenue, the only main road that connected the sparse cottages and hamlets to call a village. Every pony always imagined the waterfalls, but the river that cut through the northern grassland and fed the falls was just as scenic. Street lamps formed shimmering reflections in the water, wisps of light that wildly danced and taunted those on land.
“I seriously think you could do it,” Rainbow Dash told Lightning Dust. “The students would love to hear your story.”
“In your dreams,” Lightning replied. “I’m not good with kids.”
“Really? They seemed to like you when you were a Washout doing tricks through death contraptions.”
Lightning covered her face and trotted ahead of the rest. “For the love of the night, don’t bring that up.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Tempest said. That caught Lightning’s ear. She expected Svengallop to say something and put her in a deeper hole, that or Starlight, who probably would have backed Rainbow Dash up just to be a good Headmare.
Lightning turned back to Tempest. “Why?”
Tempest flicked a glance over to Starlight. “Just thought I might like to stop by that school one day, say a few things. We can go together. And Svengallop—”
“Nope.” The earth pony rejected her offer.
“—refuses to go through character development.” Tempest finished. “Come on Dusty, it’ll be fun.”
“Dusty?” Lightning scrunched her nose at the nickname. “I don’t remember agreeing to that. Should I start calling you Fizzle?”
Tempest laughed. “Only if you feel like dying.”
“Woah, easy there,” Rainbow started to interject, but the Knight barely acknowledged the remark. They carried on trotting as if nothing was wrong. Tempest and Lightning talked back and forth and insulted each other just as much as they talked seriously.
“Why does it matter if I don’t go?” Lightning Dust eventually asked.
Tempest frowned. “Because I think you can do it. Because the worst thing you’ve done is create dangerous workplaces. And because if some pony like you can’t face a class of student and say she’s changed for the better, then what in Equestria am I going to say to them?”
Lightning opened her mouth to reply, but instead, she slowed her trot to a halt. The rest of the band did the same, listening closely.
“Hold up a minute. I never said I can’t do it,” Lightning replied. “I just don’t want to. But if you’re going to be so mopey about it, I guess I could.” She turned to Rainbow. “Looks like you win again, Dashie.”
“Yeah, though not how I imagined,” she replied, looking over to Starlight and Luna. “Honestly, the way you all talk, I can’t believe you’re friends.”
Luna shrugged. “We make it work.”
The Cloudsdale post office was a marvel. In any other town, the post office would be closed for the night. But in the city of pegasi, hundreds of mail couriers from all corners of Equestria carried parcels, letters, and packages back and forth. Hundreds of moving parts from every city, town, village, or farm, worked together, connected only by post officers. She understood mail could sometimes be lost in the piles and paper, but it was a miracle the system could work at all.
Luna waited off to the side of the line while the clerk searched the storeroom for any letters for her. Namely, from her sister. The other Nightmare Knights had returned to the hotel, all except for Starlight. Luna appreciated the company. There was no telling what Celestia was thinking, what she might have written. And after a month, Luna was feeling concerned she had not heard a peep or sound from her.
“What if she hates me now,” she whispered to herself. “My letter was harsh, perhaps more than it needed to be. I was angry. Plus, she started it! But I don’t want us to be on bad terms. I just want my own life.”
Starlight smiled. “And how has it been, so far?”
Luna sounded off a light, airy laugh, one filled with simple glee. “It has been wonderful. The band is everything I’ve wanted and more. A year ago when I was starting my retirement with Celestia, I couldn’t have imagined so many fans liking the things in our songs.”
“A year ago I was terrified of heavy metal. The thought of my friends knowing what I like back then was too embarrassing.” Starlight laughed. “I had skulls in my bedroom and wore black makeup around the house.”
Luna snorted, suppressing a much louder laugh. “Apologies,” she struggled, “even now, it’s hard to imagine you going so far.”
“I wonder where we are now, in the music world.”
“Svengallop says we’re still small-time, compared to the ponies at the top.”
Starlight waved the thought away. “Nah, he’s such a pessimist. We gotta be in the top ten, at least.”
“Eh,” Luna cringed, “even I must say, that’s pushing it.”
The clerk returned from the storeroom with a single letter between the feathers of her wing. “Yep, here it is, Princess. Sorry for the wait, it got lost in our sorting pile because the address isn’t written properly.”
Starlight raised a brow and then checked Luna’s reaction, but she didn’t even flinch at her old title.
“Sounds like my sister,” Luna smirked, looking at the envelope. “Used magic letters for so long, you can’t even send a single letter, huh Sis?” She thanked the clerk and left.
Starlight followed. “You’re not going to say anything?”
“I realized it’s too hard to undo a thousand years of reputation,” Luna said. “One of these days ponies might stop calling me ‘Princess.’ If not today, maybe tomorrow.” Without warning, she paused under a street lamp, the lightbulb softly crackling from the thunder cloud locked within its glass confines, and peel open the letter.
“You’re reading it now?” Starlight turned away.
“It’s a nice night for reading. And I don’t mind if you see. This would not be the first time you’ve been involved with Celestia and me.”
Luna let the letter slip from her hoof before Starlight could even turn back. “Woah!” The page flew past her as a gust of wind passed by, though Starlight managed to trap it within a field of magic. “Still got the moves,” she lauded herself. “Would’ve been pretty bad if— oh.”
Starlight stared in disbelief. The letter was a single line.
Please don’t talk to me, Luna. —Signed, Celestia
“Heh,” Luna chuckled, rubbing her eyes. “Guess she is mad. I don’t know what I expected.”
“This can’t be it.” Starlight flipped the page over, trying to search for more. “I mean, even if she’s upset, this is taking it too far! Bet she wouldn’t say this to your face, you should go find her.”
Luna did not answer immediately. She sat down on the street, though it felt no different from weightlessly floating in a cloud. “I have the Nightmare Knights. And Poppin. And more fans than I thought possible. I’m happy like this.”
“Luna,” Starlight gently reached out a hoof.
“I should be happy like this,” Luna wiped her face. “This is what I asked for, isn’t it? I have my life, and all it cost was my sister.”
Starlight wobbled on her hooves, deciding between hugging her or backing up for some space. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I suppose this is what I should have expected after my letter. No point dwelling on what cannot be altered.” Luna chuckled in spite of herself. “I can only do what I can.”
“And what is that?”
Luna stood up back up, her eyes still slightly puggy but otherwise unchanged. “That depends on you. Right now, all I can do is ask for your help.”
“Anything,” Starlight stood stiff, the determination on her face worn like a badge.
“That mirror in Friendship Castle, it still works, does it not? There’s an alternate dimension I’d like to visit.”
The portal mirror hummed with magical energy flowing through it. Fixed within the library of the Friendship Castle, it drew on the same force that permeated the castle’s walls and powered the Map. It was not the same one, however, that Luna needed.
“What is this about?” Starlight asked, poking a hoof into the portal.
Luna sighed. “I forget, how much have you heard of the Nightmare Knights before I came to you?”
“I remember something about a bird-headed monster and… Stygian? Oh yeah, and Tempest was there too.” Starlight rubbed her chin, deep in thought. “Trixie talks in her sleep but it’s all kind of incoherent.”
“Hm, well part of the secret’s out of the bag, then,” Luna sighed. “Yes, Trixie and a few others first formed the Nightmare Knights. We used another mirror portal to cross to an alternate version of our reality, one ruled by its version of the Lord of Chaos.”
“Discord?”
“Same title, different creature,” Luna clarified. “Eris was her name, and she oversaw a hive of scum and villainy collected from across multiple realities. In her world, I had died as Nightmare Moon. Enslaved, my sister was turned into her enforcer, going by the name Daybreaker and knowing only how to use her power for destruction.”
“You mean the fire-hair version of Celestia?” Starlight recalled her nightmares from the last time she had worked with both princesses, after her impulsive idea to swap their cutie marks. “She’s real?”
“Yes, and after we defeated Eris, she was free to take over that world.” Luna gazed into the portal, imagining what her alternate sister could be up to at the very moment. “In return, she let us leave. Though if I recall, she promised to destroy me if I returned. Or something like that.”
“And that’s why you should probably think this through a little bit more. I’d love to help, but I’m a little allergic to death.”
“It’ll be fine,” Luna said. “I think.”
“Still, I’m not sure if this is going to work,” Starlight gave the mirror a quick check on all its magical components. “You said you used a different mirror to go to Daybreaker’s reality. Portals can’t be swapped around like that. Why can’t you just use the same mirror that you used before?”
“It might be broken,” Luna answered sheepishly. “And by that I mean it is definitely broken. We did not want anything crossing between our realms, so Stygian took a piece from the mirror for safekeeping. I could ask him for it, but he would want to get involved, and he has already been through enough.”
“I remember,” Starlight nodded. “I still don’t think we can open a new portal from here, but we can give it a shot. Twilight already managed to enhance the portal once, so maybe we can do it again.”
Luna beamed. “Yes! I like that plan. What would we need?”
“Another piece of the original mirror, for a start,” Starlight said. “Stygian only took one piece from it, right?”
“Another fragment? Shouldn’t be a problem.”
The knocking on the throne room door startled Princess Twilight awake.
She was so familiar to her throne that falling asleep in it was now effortless. It had to be. Naps throughout the day kept her schedule manageable. After nearly a year, she had gotten used to the rhythm of ponies coming to the palace and asking her to pass down judgement. Most of the requests were for immediate solutions. When town councils were slow to create a budget to repair dams, a royal decree provided the funds. When ponies could not decide where to place a new school for a village’s growing population, a royal decree granted the land.
At first, she expected to deal with issues of friendship on a national scale. And sometimes, she did. But those interesting adventures were packed between long lulls of legislation.
She looked down at the request placed in her hooves. Spike had left for the Dragon Lands as soon as she had settled the weather conference. Twilight wished she could keep him by her side, but his mission was too important to pass up. He needed to help the Dragonlord oversee the construction of new reservoirs and canals for the rain that would arrive later in the year.
His absence only made her appreciate the rest of her staff more, especially Raven Inkwell. There was no doubt in Twilight’s mind that the white-coated brunette was more experienced with royal affairs than her. She had been Celestia’s aide, and more than once protected Equestria’s future with nothing more than correct paperwork.
The request she had left at Twilight’s throne was part of the reason she had to take a nap in the first place. The Equestrian Integration Act, or EIA, was being pushed back by a great number of ponies in Canterlot.
“Princess?” Raven poked her head through the throne room door. “Are you ready to receive more guests?”
Twilight quickly rubbed her face and pressed down her mane. Without a mirror, she could only hope she looked presentable enough. “Yes, always,” she told Raven.
She slumped in her throne as soon as the doors were closed again. It would take a few minutes for the ponies to come in, and in that time she needed to figure out what she wanted to say. On paper, the EIA sounded perfect. The law would grant Equestrian citizenship to foreign residents if they wanted.
But once Canterlot’s residents arrived in the throne room, the concerns flooded in. Most of them were there simply to complain, repeating the same words previous petitioners had said. But among this group were a few prominent figures of Canterlot society, including Celestia’s ward, Blueblood.
“The law is too lax!” one stallion said. “Griffonstone is little more than a garbage heap. I guarantee countless griffons are going to abuse this law if you pass it.”
An older mare, dressed in a wide-brimmed sun hat and silk gown, stomped and brayed louder. “I don’t care how strict you make it. Now, I have nothing against the other kingdoms, but Equestria’s culture has to be protected. We risk losing our identity if any creature can be called Equestrian.”
And those were the easy ones. Twilight simply reminded them that Equestria’s founding principles were of unity over divisions. There was a time when unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi were considered too different to live together. Now a single word, “pony,” described all of them at once.
“The law will invite more foreign residents,” complained a recognizable voice. Twilight only knew Blueblood from hearing his passing conversations around the palace, but he carried an unmistakable arrogance with him.
“Non-Equestrians currently make up two per cent of our population,” he continued. “It’s a fine number, and a few more talented hippogriffs certainly wouldn’t hurt the banks. But open our lands up to every creature, and soon every griffon and their family will be looking to plant their nests in our trees. The housing market cannot sustain that many new creatures.”
“Why Blueblood,” Twilight flashed a sharp smile, “how kind of you to begin taking an interest in Equestria’s affairs. Between impulsive tuxedo purchasing and perfume testing, it’s certainly a surprise to see you here.”
“I grew up as a ward of the crown,” he retorted. “I have always had an interest in our great nation. Although, until Celestia stepped down, I assumed all was in good hooves.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and muttered to herself. “You can do this. Just be strong.”
She rose from her throne, her wings spread far apart to impose her authority over the rest of the ponies. “Then we will have more homes built. Trading with the other kingdoms has made Equestria stronger. But if money is so important, remember that more creatures will mean more customers, and more bits added into our economy.”
That settled a number of the plaintiffs, Blueblood included. However, they were not all impressed. Twilight recognized another face, a white-maned stallion she had hosted during the last royal Hearth’s Warming dinner. The stallion was the president of a worker’s union, and he was no less influential than the old noble families in Canterlot.
“Griffons don’t come to Equestria to spend bits, Princess,” he called out. “My guys think this is coming too soon, Princess. You have a new citizenship law for the modern era, but what about immigration? Our policies haven’t changed since Celestia wrote them one thousand years ago.”
“Those policies continue to work fine,” Twilight explained. “Why would your union have a problem with them?”
“Because there are no limitations,” he argued. “Sure, a thousand years ago not a lot of creatures were coming to Equestria, but now that’s different. If you can’t put limits, I can’t support this citizenship law knowing that griffons and dragons are going to be taking honest jobs from hard-working ponies.”
“Would you prefer if they took dishonest jobs?” Twilight tilted her head, her eyes narrowing on the stallion. “I’ll say this once, so all of you listen and tell your friends. I am not going to stop creatures who want to come to Equestria. Don’t you remember the last time we faced a magical threat?”
“Oh yes, Princess,” Blueblood rolled his eyes, “once again the day was saved from three sinister villains thanks to the ‘power of friendship.’”
Twilight frowned. “I was talking about the Crystal Empire. Shadows of an ancient evil rose to test the strength of our borders. It was the division between yaks, ponies, and dragons that weakened the Crystal Heart. Do you want to repeat that mistake?”
The throne room fell silent. Saying “yes” was not an option, but none of the plaintiffs was willing to back down by saying no.
“Peace,” Blueblood said, taking the lead, “is all well and good. But not every pony wants to be a champion for the world. How much will other ponies have to pay or a responsibility they did not ask for?”
Raven Inkwell interjected with a ring of a small bell and a blank smile. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that’s all the time for this appointment. Please exit the throne room.”
The halls’ echoes were quiet compared to the throne room. It was a welcomed quiet as she followed the shortest path to her bedroom. A nap would not be enough. Raven followed closely behind the Princess, writing something quickly in her notebook.
“Unfortunately this is going to cut into your schedule,” she told the Princess. “Although I’m sure it’s worth it. You’ll have to reschedule your photoshoot for the Canterlot Gazette.”
“That’s fine,” she replied. “I don’t think I’m ready to have my picture taken anyway. Can you walk with me, Raven?”
“Of course. Something on your mind?”
“What isn’t?” The Princess laughed. “When did Blueblood become… whatever it is we saw back there? As far as I knew, all he cared about was what he saw in the nearest mirror.”
“You’ve changed the world quite a bit,” Raven said. “I think a lot of ponies are just trying to figure out how they fit in it now that Equestria’s not the centre of the world anymore. Being raised as a ward of the Crown, Blueblood does have some influence in Canterlot. After your coronation, he used his status to become an entrepreneur.”
“In what?”
“Real estate.”
Twilight paused. “So that’s why he brought up… ugh!” She took a deep breath, letting the frustration come in, and then wash its way out. “I bet he doesn’t even have a problem with the law. He just wants to get something out of it.”
“Him and the others,” Raven nodded solemnly. “Ponies might not have an issue with you on the throne, but you’re not Celestia. I think they see you as a weaker leader, which creates opportunity in their eyes.”
“We’ll just have to prove them wrong, then,” Twilight said.
“Your Highness?” Raven raised a brow.
Twilight smiled. “Oh, don’t be so humble. Equestria would fall apart if I didn’t have you to help me.”
“That’s very kind of you, Princess. I’d like to think that this is more than a job— wait, do you hear that?”
Raven turned her ear to the end of the hall, to Twilight’s bedroom. Both mares held the breath, waiting for any sound. And there was one, rattling through the room’s double doors with heavy thuds.
“Where could it have gone?” A muffled voice cried out. “It wasn’t in the basement, it wasn’t in the vaults. It wasn’t even in the library, and she loves putting things there!”
“S-should I call the guards?” Raven’s voice quivered.
Twilight ignited her horn with a glowing magical aura. “No. I’m sure I can handle this.” She stormed up to her bedroom. “I don’t know who you think you are, but I have had a very long day, so consider this your final warning!”
She burst through, horn lowered with a spell charged and prepared to fire, while Raven followed closely behind and covered her head with her notebook. Both mares charged straight into a barrier of floating pillows and bookcases, tumbling forward as they popped through a levitation field.
“Ah!” Luna jumped and dropped everything she was doing. Or rather, everything she was searching through. “Twilight! What are you doing here?”
“Luna?” Twilight’s face twisted in confusion. “This is my bedroom! What are you doing here?”
The books and papers strewn across the floor made the scene look nothing more than a break-in. Even the fuzzy velvet rug in the middle of the room had been pulled up in search of some item that could be hidden underneath. There was, of course, a perfectly reasonable explanation.
And whatever it was, Luna didn’t have it.
She shrugged her hooves up in an uncertain surrender. “Would you believe me if I said I wanted to go to an alternate universe?”
Luna levitated the last book back into its shelf. The bedroom, once Celestia’s, had long since been refurbished to better suit the new princess, and it surprised Luna a little bit to see how different the student was from the mentor. Celestia could be more stubborn and head-strong than she let on, and that part of her showed itself the most whenever she spoke to other creatures. An extrovert at heart, it wasn’t merely that she enjoyed speaking to other ponies, or that she was good at it. She seemed to need it. Canterlot itself was proof. The old castle in the Everfree Forest was a small court, a perfect place to rule with privacy. But matters of government was free and open to all in Canterlot, allowing Celestia to fill her hours and days with conversation.
In contrast, Luna saw a bit of herself in Twilight. Although she was strong-willed, the new princess did not flaunt it or even call attention to it. She had a very small taste for the pomp and fanfare of royalty. That had its own perks and drawbacks. Royalty was not always about extravagance. In the end, however much they wanted to sugar coat it, a ruler needed to be controlling. And Celestia believed a show of luxury was the surest way to reinforce the strength of a regime and convince others to follow. Every pony wanted to be successful, and if obeying the Princess was the way to do it, they would.
Celestia’s comfortable, but relatively modest compared to the rest of the palace, bedroom had been stripped further down to make space for utility. Pictures and notecards were connected by pinned strings of yarn to long line graphs and then posted up on a cork bulletin board. Twilight’s introversion had clearly given her more time to alone than Celestia. The notes were personally written by Twilight, not an assistant. Every word curved and rolled with her noticeable script. Every letter was carefully shaped and consistently spaced. It was one thing she had in common with her mentor. Both Twilight and Celestia made writing an art form.
“Here it is.” Twilight returned with Raven Inkwell, levitating the mirror shard wrapped in a kerchief. “You could have just asked in the first place.”
Luna chuckled sheepishly. “I thought I could just grab a piece. I had not realized that Starswirl already dismantled them.”
Months ago, shortly after Twilight had been crowned, the old wizard had visited the palace to finally clean up his dangerous and unfinished works. In the process, all of the mirror portals which he had collected were to be dismantled and stored in separate places across Equestria. Meanwhile, the room which Luna thought would contain the mirror had become an office for student interns from the School of Magic.
She took the crystal from Twilight. “When Starswirl cam by, did he happen to mention anything about what lies behind this mirror’s portal?”
Twilight shook her head. “He didn’t want to talk about it.”
“If you knew, you’d understand why I could not ask,” Luna replied. “Starswirl was right to seal them away.”
“Then why are you asking for it?” Raven asked, already flipping to a new page in her notebook.
“It’s not a happy story.” Luna smiled sadly. “Not yet, at least. Perhaps I will tell it if it turns out better this time.”
“But why were you looking through my room?” Twilight asked.
“It wasn’t anywhere else,” Luna shrugged. “How many other places in the palace would have a powerful mirror portal shard? I thought you might’ve taken it to study it.”
“And even though that thought crossed your mind, you would’ve just come in and taken it?” Twilight eyed her fellow alicorn with a mix of bewilderment and disappointment.
“I would have given it back,” Luna defended.
“Yeah, okay,” Twilight sighed and put her head in her hoof. “But just ask next time. You’re still welcome here in the palace after all. No need to be a stranger.”
“That is very kind of you to say. You should find some time to come to our Rainbow Falls concert, we have a new song lined up for the event. I think you’ll like it. You’re in it.”
“I’m sure I can find some time— wait, come again? I am?”
Luna spun around and peered her head out of the window down to the palace entrance. “Oh, look at that, are those reporters from the Canterlot Gazette?” She pushed open the window as wide as it would go and stretched out her wings. “It would appear that you have another appointment and I’d hate the ruin the surprise. Guess you’ll just have to come to our concert. Bye!”
Twilight watched helplessly as Luna spurred up a gust of wind and shot through the air, climbing high above the clouds before any pony could spot her from below. Even if she wanted to catch up and beg her to help ease some royal responsibilities, Twilight wasn’t sure if she was fast enough in the sky. Working in the palace all day gave her very little time to practice her flying.
“S-should I tell the Canterlot Gazette that we want to reschedule?” Raven tentatively asked.
Again, although much heavier this time, Twilight sighed. “No, no. Just have the staff prepare a deep-tissue massage after the photoshoot. And find where Nightmare Knights tickets are being sold.”
Starlight held her breath and squinted through tinted safety goggles as she worked her magic on a piece of an extremely rare gemstone. The column of tourmaline liked a rainbow given solid form, gradually changing from red to green, then to neon blue and fiery orange. Certain gemstones could take on unique properties when exposed to magic. However, the diverse colours were caused by the stone’s diverse composition. More elements, more magical effects. Getting the right property took time and patience. Two things that were difficult to come by with her impromptu assistant.
“Aqua-rose tourmaline is incredibly rare,” Mudbriar reminded Starlight for the fifth time that hour. “It’s a boro-silicate crystal with high magnesium, lithium, and copper contents.”
“I know, I also read Maud’s notes,” Starlight grumbled. “Look, cutting a gem with magic is harder than it looks, so just let me concentrate.”
“Are you sure you’re doing it right?” Mudbriar closed one eye, holding up a hoof as he measured the beam. “The angle of incidence where the magic hits the stone isn’t how Maud described it.”
“Well, if Maud were here she’d know she’s an expert at rocks, not magic, so her calculations aren’t going to be perfect.” Starlight lifted her goggles and stepped away from the gemstone. Dust and fine flakes of the crystal had fallen around her hooves on the floor, and she had to be careful to sweep them up. It was a good thing that she got a dustpan ahead of time.
There couldn’t have been a worse time to experiment on the mirror portal. The faculty had reserved their final lectures before cram week for guest speakers. The topics wouldn’t be on the tests, but they would definitely help give the students some new ideas. Naturally, Pinkie Pie asked her sister to guest-speak for her lecture.
Maud was, of course, interested when Starlight had asked her about a gemstone that could take on portal manipulation properties, but her sister came first. Starlight considered herself lucky that Luna had already left for Canterlot when Maud arrived at the school. Sisterhood seemed like a sore topic.
Any other time, Starlight would have waited rather than reading off of Maud’s notes and listening to her boyfriend. But the School of Friendship would be on its break in two weeks, just in time for the trade fair at Rainbow Falls. Luna had to prepare for their concert, Starlight would have to focus on her role as Headmare once midterms were over. Even Sunburst could not grade every assignment, despite how much he wanted to.
Neither of them could spare much time working on the portal. Starlight wiped the sweat from her forehead. Starlight didn’t hate him, and Maud genuinely seemed to care for the stallion, but the time crunch simply made Mudbriar seem all the more annoying.
“It doesn’t look finished,” he muttered.
“I know!” Starlight snapped. “But magic takes focus, and right now I need a moment of silence to think.”
“Calming down first should help. Maybe you could try breathing exercises—”
Starlight stormed up to him, levitating his lanky body inches off the by the scruff of his neck. “I will hurt you, Mudbriar. Don’t doubt that.”
“What?” Mudbriar’s faced paled and his blood ran cold.
She let him down, but her horn still blazed with magic even as she paced around the library. She stopped when the door swung open and Luna walked through it, cheerfully carrying a small pouch on her head.
“Look what I have!” she chimed.
Starlight gasped with relief. “Great, now we can start.”
Mudbriar’s eyes widened as Luna unwrapped the mirror shard and passed it over to Starlight. He eyed the long, jagged, and sharp piece of glass warily. “Princess Luna? W-what’s that for?”His voice softened, abandoning the usual assurance he had in being correct. “Starlight’s not going to anything to me, right?”
Luna turned around, her feathers ruffling up as if she had only just noticed him.“You can call me Luna. I’m not a princess anymore.”
“Ahem,” he cleared his throat. “Well, technically the title of Princess refers both to a government station and a social class. Simply because you’re retired doesn’t mean you’re not a princess.”
Luna rolled her eyes gave a short snarl. “Starlight?” she asked, though still staring at Mudbriar. “What’s with the stallion? He doesn’t look like your type.”
“Heugh,” Starlight gagged as Luna’s remark planted an unwanted image in her mind. “Blegh, that’s disgusting.”
“Rude,” he frowned.
She levitated the mirror shard and scurried away from Mudbriar as quickly as she could. “Just ignore that, it’s Maud’s boyfriend.”
“This Maud,” Luna said, “I don’t think we’re acquainted.”
“She had a gemstone we could use on the portal,” Starlight explained. “But I needed her notes on how to cut it, so her boyfriend brought them over.”
“Oh? And how’s it coming along?”
“I was hoping you could help me out,” Starlight replied. “Maud’s probably one of the smartest ponies in Equestria, but even her calculations aren’t perfect. I’m close to fixing it, but I need a second pair of eyes to check my work.”
“I could’ve checked it,” Mudbriar stomped his hoof, “and though I’m not a rock expert, I would consider myself quite the intellectual as well.”
Starlight laughed. “I’ve worked with Starswirl the Bearded and Princess Twilight before. Sorry, but you’re a little low on my list.”
“I thought you said one of the Wonderbolts was guest lecturing.” Lightning Dust couldn’t take her eyes off the decorated halls of the School of Friendship. Small wooden yak carvings and etched pieces of coral from Mount Aris hung from the walls or were mounted on shelves beside portraits of world leaders and Equestrian paintings. On the outside, the school was built like any other school in Equestria. But the small additions from beyond Equestria were like tiny windows looking out to the other kingdoms.
Lightning broke her focus for a moment and looked beside her, at Rainbow Dash. “Why do you need me?”
“I don’t need you guest lecture,” Dash replied, “but I do want you to. Soarin’s topic on translating flight coordination skills to leadership skills is awesome, of course. But it’s not stunt flying.” She stopped and put a hoof on Lightning’s shoulder. “Besides, it’d be a favour to me.”
Lightning smiled. “Yeah, I guess I can’t let you Wonderbolts bore kids with synchronized flying manoeuvres.” She gestured to the decorations around the hall. “Plus, this place does look kinda cool.”
“That the spirit!” Rainbow gently nudged her back.
They passed empty classrooms as they walked through the school. It was a little eerie, though there was a good reason. The guest speakers had their own schedules, and if they gave their presentations one class at a time they would have been there all day. Already the guest lectures were planned to carry over for another day.
The students had all gathered and listened to their lessons in the school’s main lecture hall. And the two pegasi passed by the door to the hall, Lightning recognized the voice of the speaker.
“No way,” she said peering in and dropping her jaw. Countess Coloratura, or Rara as she preferred, was standing behind the podium. Upon the projector screen, the slide titled Art Deco Movement in Stage and Music Performance showed a close-up photo of one of her recent performances on Bridleway, with an emphasis on the design choices of the stage and props.
Lightning pulled her head out of the lecture hall and chased after Rainbow, who had continued on the path to the faculty lounge.
“How did you get Coloratura to come here?”
“She’s Applejack’s friend from when they were fillies,” Rainbow answered. “Didn’t you know that?”
“I don’t think I did.”
“Besides, she like inspiring kids. She practically begged us to let her help, even if there was no way we could say no.”
“Well, shit.” Lightning hung her head down and stared at her hooves. “I’m not going to share my stories if I’m going after the Coloratura.”
Rainbow laughed. “Ha! Now that would be pretty funny to watch. But don’t worry about it. Your lecture time’s tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow?” Lightning held a hoof out to one of the windows that looked out to Ponyville. As bright as it was, hardly a shadow was cast. “It’s only noon. Who’s going after Rara?”
“Soarin, actually,” Rainbow Dash said, before pausing and breaking out into laughter. “Oh-ho! We gotta find him, I wanna see the look on his face. I don’t even know if he knows that Rara’s here.”
“Your students are interesting.” Maud stayed focused on her work as she talked to her sister and Applejack. “After my lecture, the changeling one asked me about these rocks. But I don’t know anything about them.” In front of her, a half dozen stone flakes from Chrysalis’s throne warped and shifted their composition under the glare of a table lamp and a magnifying glass. A small wall of homework folders separated her workspace from a field of empty chip bags. She hadn’t moved from her seat all morning.
“You mean Ocellus?” Applejack clarified. “Now, that ain’t a surprise, she’s one of our best students.”
“Is that her name?” Maud lifted her eyes up for just a second.
Pinkie clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Oh, Maud. You’re so good at memorizing rocks, you should be able to get to know the students.”
“Sorry.” Maud retreated to her magnifying glass, placing a second smaller lens beneath her main one. The two lenses exposed the grain of the broken pieces, but they only managed to make her grumble to herself. Her composed demeanour dipped into noticeable frustration as she flipped the stones around.
“These rocks don’t make sense,” she eventually said with monotonous seething. “They keep changing their grain.”
“And I reckon that’s supposed to be bad?” Applejack asked. “It’s a changeling rock, right? Ain’t supposed to, you know, change?”
“Rocks don’t normally change, ” Maud answered, pausing and picking up the largest piece to scrape at its surface with the tip of a needle. She opening her mouth as if to explain more, but she was stuck in the middle of her thoughts.
And also Rainbow Dash butted in. “Is Soarin here?”
“Good morning to you too, Dashie,” Applejack turned around and stared so hard at Rainbow that Lightning Dust swore she saw actual death rays beaming across the room. “Funny you mention him, Dash. Did you bother to tell Soarin the lecture schedule ahead of time?”
Rainbow Dash covered her mouth snickering as she tried to hold back her laughter. “No.
“For the love of—” Applejack pressed her hoof to her temple. “Poor thing ran off for the bathroom after Maud’s lecture. Heard Rara’s name started hurling up this morning’s apple pie. Reckon the sugar cube’s still doing it now.”
“Probably dry hurling,” Maud corrected. “It’s been an hour. That’s too long for one pie.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” Rainbow waved Applejack’s accusation away. “Soarin can handle it. Just some pre-flight jitters, that’s all.”
Lightning Dust scanned around the faculty lounge until she spotted the rest of the pie Applejack mentioned. It had cooled, but the gooey cinnamon-scented apples inside the crust still smelled delicious. She instinctively grabbed a slice and ate as she sat down beside Maud.
“Please don’t get any crust in my work area,” Maud cautioned her.
“You’re working on rocks?” Lightning smirked. “What, they come from a gold mine or something?”
Maud shook her head. “Equestria mines almost fifty metric tons of gold a year. Gold ores are common compared to the rare gemstones I study.”
“Okay…” Lighting’s voice trailed off before she switched topics. She turned to Applejack. “So, how are the classes? Do you always just talk about your lives and stuff?”
“Kind of,” she replied. “It’s more like we share our professional experiences. Though I guess stories are the student’s favourite part.” Applejack suddenly smiled and looked over Lightning’s shoulder. “Ain’t that right, Rara?”
Lightning tensed up and whipped her head around. Sure enough, the former pop star trotted into the lounge and immediately reached for the water cooler.
“Didn’t think it’d be this hard though,” Rara said, vanishing two cups of water before joining the other ponies. “I’m surprised, I’m almost as thirsty as when I sing.”
“Oh wow,” Lightning Dust said, quickly swallowing the rest of her pie. “This sure tasty.” She got up and move out of Rara’s way. “Y-you can have my seat, I’m going to get more pie.”
“Uh, thanks?” Rara accepted.
But Lightning Dust did not go immediately for the pie. Not at all. She grabbed Rainbow Dash and pulled her away to the mini kitchen, pretending to pick out a slice of pie.
“What’s going on with you?” Rainbow asked.
“Shh!” Lightning hissed. “I didn’t think I’d be in the same room as her! Shouldn’t she still be teaching?”
“It’s lunch. Class restarts in an hour.” Rainbow whispered back. “Seriously, what are you freaking out about?”
Lightning ignored her. Instead, she turned her attention to rearranging her hair. “Ugh, I barely combed my mane today. I look totally shitty.”
“Wait,” Rainbow smirked, “are you worried about what Rara thinks about you?”
“You’ve saved the world before,” Lightning snapped under her hushed breath. “We can’t all have that kind of reputation.” She closed her eyes and took deep breaths to steady herself, breathing so hard the fresh air burned its way through her nose.
“She’s not going to care,” Rainbow said. “She’s as down-to-earth as Applejack.”
“That’s not the point.” Lightning balanced a plate on her wing and picked a slice of pie. “She’s so freakin’ hot, dude. You can’t go up to some pony who looks that good when you look like you just got out of bed. It’s just too embarrassing!”
“Either you go back and start acting normal,” Rainbow threatened, “or I tell Rara exactly what kind of calming ‘music’ you like to listen to.”
Lightning Dust paled. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“You know I would,” Rainbow flashed a toothy smile. “And don’t stuff up on the pie. We’re going out for a faculty lunch if you want to join.”
“Oh, now I remember!” Rara’s jingled like a windchime, cutting through the faculty lounge. “I almost didn’t recognize you without the face paint.”
Lightning Dust’s face paled as she turned around to face the pop star.
“You’re the drummer for the Nightmare Knights, right? I have so many questions. I hope I’m not bothering you but I’d love it if we could talk over lunch.”
“Uh-huh,” Lightning nodded, fighting against her body as she choked on her own words. The snarky, muffled snickering from Rainbow Dash barely registered in her mind. “Lunch is cool.”
Svengallop dusted himself off as he walked off Ponyville’s brand-new teleportation pad, making sure to keep his eyes open for any ponies walking through the train station. There were some odd sorts of ponies in Ponyville, and he preferred it if he could avoid them entirely.
Teleportation stations were quickly becoming a booming business, trickling out from metropolitan areas and into more remote towns. Anywhere with a train station, shipyard, or airship port had, or was planning to have, brand-new teleportation pads.
Svengallop walked off the rickety wooden platform of Ponyville’s train station. He wondered why it had to be so public. With an invention as convenient as widespread teleportation, it could go anywhere. Why the train stations?
But the day seemed slow. The pegasi had cleared the sky of most clouds, save for the wispy white strands that flowed high above all the rest, and the sun’s touch warmed the skin even as winter’s cold breeze hung in the air. Ponies seemed more concerned with flying kites and enjoying the weather than they were with travelling.
“One day,” Svengallop whispered to himself, watching two pegasi playing catch while gliding. “One day I’ll get to relax.”
But for now, there was work to do.
At the centre of Ponyville, where flyers for Mayor Mare’s unopposed election campaign were posted around the town hall’s forum board, Svengallop found Coco Pommel, who was deep in a conversation with Rarity.
“Oh, Svengallop!” Rarity made a small gasp as she noticed him walking closer. “When Coco mentioned she was meeting a friend, I never imagined she meant you.”
“Why?” Svengallop tilted his head. “Because I’m so unlikeable?”
He let out a short laugh. “Sorry. Self-deprecation is pretty much a staple food among the Knights. Forget I said anything.”
“Very well,” Rarity said, and then turned to Coco. “If you two are busy, you don’t have to come to the luncheon.”
“It’s fine,” Coco assured her, “Svengallop and I are just touching base to make sure everything’s ready for the Rainbow Falls concert. We were planning on talking over lunch anyway.”
“Although I’m guessing it’s not going to be the two of us,” Svengallop added cautiously. “What’s this luncheon about?”
“Rarity asked me to give a special lecture on diversity, equity, and inclusion as they relate to international fashion trends,” Coco explained. “We were just about to meet up with the rest of the teachers. But it’s not exclusive, so you’re welcome to join.”
“I’m already here,” Svengallop said. “And I suppose this is the perfect weather for a cocktail.”
Rarity frowned and looked up at the clock atop the town hall. “It’s only a quarter past noon, darling.”
“I know,” Svengallop clicked his tongue. “I should have a white rabbit by now.”
“Let’s see what they’re serving, first,” Coco said. “I’m kind of excited, this is the first time I’ve been to a small-town diner.”
Pushing through the portal felt like swimming in a sea of gelatin. The portal stretched and contorted as if it knew Luna was trying to go where she did not belong. It was unnatural, forcing open a portal to another world. But it was also necessary. She had to speak to her sister, one way or another.
She reached her hoof out, feeling for some grass or dirt or anything on the other side where she could find her footing. Suddenly, she felt a tug, and her body started moving again.
Starlight grasped her hoof with a field of magic and pulled. The portal gave her a good fight, sucking Luna back to their own Equestria, but it eventually gave way. The alicorn tumbled out, rolling over Starlight as her face dragged through the ground.
“Bleh,” Luna spat out the grass as she picked herself up and dusted herself off. “The portal was much friendlier previously.”
“Well, we’re not using the original portal.” Starlight stretched her neck out. “The gemstone Maud gave me takes the mirror’s magic and refracts it into the component spell elements, but there’s bound to be a little imperfection. Even if we shine the exact spell onto your mirror fragment, the gemstone’s also sending some background interference.”
“Will it be stable?” Luna asked.
Starlight nodded. “Should be, as long as nothing changes.”
A garbled voice from the portal interrupted them. “Hello? I think I need a little assistance. The portal isn’t working correctly.”
Starlight sighed and rolled her eyes. She reached out with her magic and yanked Mudbriar through to their side of the portal, pulling as hard as she had with Luna. But Mudbriar’s twig-like frame was light, and he slipped easily through the portal even with two heavily packed travel bags on his back.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “You were supposed to wait until we said it was safe!”
Mudbriar rubbed his head. “When Luna when through it looked safe.”
Starlight clicked her tongue at him and picked up their bags, giving one to Luna. “Or, we could’ve both vanished into limbo and you’d be the only one who could warn some pony.”
“Technically, I’m not to blame. If you were more certain of your work we wouldn’t need a test run.”
Starlight clenched her jaw, but the issue slide. She reached into her bag and pulled out a diagram of the portal they had constructed in the castle. “Take this to Sunburst. If the portal becomes unstable and closes, he’ll be able to open it again.”
Mudbriar frowned and looked at the sheet. “I thought… I mean, I think I should come along to double-check your work.”
Starlight’s pupils narrowed on him as her eyes widened. “Mudbriar! Do you see three travel bags? This is a Luna and Starlight mission. If you come and something happens, what am I going to say to Maud?” Starlight waved her hooves around, miming a conversation. “‘Oh, sorry Maud, but your idiot boyfriend got shanked in the kidneys by an evil version of Trixie.’”
“Why the kidneys?” Mudbriar asked.
Starlight furrowed her brow, levitating him and the diagram. “Go home, Mudbriar.” She tossed him back through the portal with twice as much force as when she pulled him out, just to make sure the portal did not slow him down on the way.
“That was rather harsh,” Luna remarked as Starlight began to walk away from the portal. “He’s just being… himself. Surely he would have understood.”
“Nah, he’s my friend’s boyfriend,” Starlight shrugged it off casually. “By the transitive property of friendship, I get to be mean to him.”
“Is that a lesson you teach at school?”
“Ha!” Starlight laughed. “I wish.”
Resting on the horizon, they could both spot the tower, half-lit by a rose-red sky. It had grown to twice its size, by Luna’s estimation. Daybreaker’s hive of villainy was much the same as it had always been, though now it was more of itself. More buildings cropped up around it, their shadows stretching far along the grass from their corner of the horizon.
“I’m guessing that’s the place?” Starlight looked at it intensely, trying to make out the details of the creatures that walked out and about the tower. “Well, I’m ready when you are, Luna.”
Daybreaker’s city was guarded at every entrance by device, a scanner of some kind. Luna had no answer as to how it worked, but she knew it consistently responded to one thing. As long as the creature it scanned had committed an act of evil, it would recognize them and allow them to pass. The needle on its scale wavered between good and bad, but with the reputation that Daybreaker had cultivated, it seemed no one approached the gates of her city unless they were confident they could pass its test.
And that included them.
Luna had worried how Starlight would respond to the city. A monolithic tower cast a shadow over all else in the centre, wherefrom its zenith Daybreaker no doubt watched everything that happened. It was unlike any city in Equestria. Small casinos lined the streets, divided by loud and rowdy bars and pubs. The smell of drinks far stronger than hard cider washed through the street whenever they passed by a bar, and Luna had to hold her breath to restrain her nausea. Bodyguards and bouncers replaced police, and every club seemed as deadly as it was entertaining.
“Honestly, after how you described it,” Starlight said, “I expected worse.”
“Every living thing in this city is a villain. Worse how?”
“Daybreaker is just an alternate version of Celestia, right? With all the same powers?”
“Frankly, I think she’s stronger than my sister. At least when it comes to fighting and violence.”
“Exactly. I thought there’d be slaves everywhere, maybe a splash of torture chambers here and there to spice things up. The worst things I can see here are… exploitative business practices. Evil in its own right, but it’s not the worst.”
“Still, I would recommend we keep our defences up. I’m still not sure how I’m going to get an audience with Daybreaker.”
They did not have to wander the city much longer before the solution presented itself. Four unicorn guards, dressed in white and orange-painted armour, approached them from all sides. Luna saw them coming, but even so, she couldn’t keep track of them all at once. She motioned to Starlight, and they picked up their pace, cutting across the streets and dodging in and out of over-priced markets. But every time they thought they dodged the guards, Luna saw a flash of their bright uniforms. The guards used the bustle of the city to their advantage, moving through the crowd and street corners invisibly despite their colours. And eventually, they surrounded them both.
“Well this went bad really quick,” Starlight said, keeping her on two of the four. “What’s the plan?”
Before Luna could find an answer, one of the guards stepped forward, levitating a letter. “Her Majesty wishes to speak to you, Princess Luna. Nothing enters or leaves the Sun City without her knowing.”
“Is that what she’s calling this place now?” Luna took the invitation and smirked as she read it. “Looks like we get to live, Starlight. At least for now.”
“I don’t know if I should be worried or relieved,” Starlight replied. Invitation or not, she kept her defence up, her horn still bristling with energy.
“Good,” Luna nodded. “Stay alert. Talking to my sister doesn’t always end well, no matter what dimension I’m in.”
“The ponies you requested have been located and are on their way, Your Highness.”
Daybreaker dismissed her guard with a terse nod.
The massive tower, formerly belonging to the chaos goddess Eris, had been rebranded to fit her image. And not just in name. The city outside was much the same as ever, its characteristic wealth, opulence, gambling, scamming, and rowdy fighting.
But not her tower. Not the Dawn Spire. She had no desire to let the lesser villains stake their claim on what she had earned. Daybreaker rubbed her neck. Even after years, the phantom weight of the shock collar remained. Every corner of the tower continued to remind her of the Lady of Chaos and the millennium she had spent as nothing more than a living weapon.
The Dawn Spire was hers by right.
Eris had been too greedy for her own. She had pawned off her tower to tricksters and petty thieves, charlatans when compared to true power. Casinos and scam booths had been demolished to make way for laboratories and workshops. Test subjects replaced customers. Research replaced rip-offs. Results replaced money. Power was the only commodity at the end of the day.
It was a haven for the skilled and motivated individualist. Where the artist could work free from controversy, and the scientist could be freed from obstructive ethics. Such so-called villains were the only ones she could expect results from. Trust was for fools, but mutual self-interest was a stock she was willing to bet on.
Daybreaker imagined what Princess Luna would say the new look. Brutal? Savage? Her world had made her soft, but even Nightmare Moon’s alternate self could be surprising. Perhaps she would see sense and accept true results. Every unicorn in her Spire was perfected with medicines and potions, a concoction designed to purge weakness from the body. Individually, they could stand against any pony or beast. Collectively, they defended the Spire from potential usurpers.
Like Luna, perhaps? Daybreaker pushed that thought out of her head. If she was Nightmare Moon, perhaps. But this version of her sister could hardly hold a candle to the everyday rabble-rousing villains that flooded her city’s streets.
Finally, the clip-clopping of hooves echoed from the stairwell. Luna entered, along with her unicorn companion, accompanied by four of her guards. Even if, by some chance, they were here to overthrow her in the name of petty justice, her guards would eliminate them both and she wouldn’t have to move a muscle.
“I love what you’ve done with the place.”
Daybreaker blinked at Luna. “Excuse me?”
“The whole Las Pegasus rip-off theme wasn’t a good look for a villain’s tower,” Luna continued. “But you’ve really made it your own. I think we walked past a chemistry lab on the way? I’m not sure what they were doing but something was on fire. Hope that’s not a problem.”
The other unicorn looked back and forth between them. “Uh, Luna? I don’t think this is fixing anything.” She snapped her head back to Daybreaker. “Oh, I’m Starlight, by the way. Don’t worry about me, I’m just here to help Luna.”
Daybreaker raised a brow at her.
“N-not that I think you’re any less important, oh Great and Flaming One,” Starlight laughed nervously. “Huge fan, actually. Fighting for your freedom, sticking it to the man, so to speak. I love that.”
“What in Equestria is ‘the man?’” Daybreaker’s brows pressed and creased together in frustration. “What are the two of you even doing in my world?” Her sharp voice shot a biting tone at Luna. “I told you I would destroy you if you ever returned. Are you here to challenge me, or are you as forgetful as you are weak?”
To her surprise, Luna laughed.
“I see,” Daybreaker frowned, looking to Starlight. “So she has lost her mind, then?”
“No, no,” Luna said, catching her breath. “It’s just that, when we first met, I thought you were as different from Celestia as anyone could be. But now you sound just like her when you’re being condescending.”
“I have a city to rule and lands to conquer.” Daybreaker turned away from them and continued gazing from the tower’s high balcony. “The guard will dispose of you now.”
The room shuddered as the unicorns stomped, dropping their heads into a recognizable wide stance. The position was instinctive for unicorns, relying on their natural weapon rather than rearing and kicking like most ponies. Starlight responded with the same stance, but she couldn’t face all directions at once. The guards levelled their horns, charging the ends with brilliant white energy.
Luna rolled her eyes and gave a tired, knowing glance over to Starlight.
Daybreaker gently tapped her hoof to the ground, grabbing the attention of the guard. “Fire when ready.”
They obeyed. “Yes, my lord!”
The tip of the Dawn Spire must have seemed like a lighthouse to the ponies and creatures living beneath its light. Even Daybreaker’s shadow was quickly engulfed from the power of her guards.
“Now that they’re taken care of—” she froze as she looked back at her room. Dust and smoke from cracked tiles and scorched wood slowly settled around a perfectly untouched circle around Starlight and Luna.
One of the guards fired again, but with no time to recover, the shot was smaller. Starlight responded instantly, growing a small disk of magic in the middle of the air and reflecting the blast out through the balcony like a mirror would with light.
“That was dramatic,” Luna looked around them.
Starlight stood up, relaxing her stance and pulling back on her magic. “Honestly, I expected more.”
Daybreaker paced around the circle, inspecting where Starlight’s barrier had deflected her guards’ magic and scowled. “So, you brought your secret weapon. I don’t mind. It has been a while since I’ve had a good fight.”
“Or you can shut up and just listen to me for once,” Luna scoffed at her alternate sister. “I’m not here to challenge you. I figured you’re pretty lonely up here so I wanted to swing by, maybe have some ciders and play a few rounds of pool.”
“You came all this way… to talk?” Daybreaker glared at Luna. “I threatened to destroy you if you ever returned.”
Luna gestured to the ashes around them. “Well, obviously that’s not going to plan. So what’s next? Seriously, what would you be doing right now if I weren’t here.”
“Enjoying the quiet.”
Luna continued as if Daybreaker hadn’t said anything at all. “It looks like you never leave your tower, you’re surrounded by like-minded creatures but you never meet any of them. I mean, when was the last time you’ve ever gone on a date?”
Daybreaker’s eye bulged and she shot Luna an incredulous glare. “Well, I’m busy! When have you?”
“I’ve been approached before,” Luna shifted back defensively. “But I chose to turn him down. You don’t even give yourself a choice. And besides, what are you busy doing? Conquering the world doesn’t take all day. And what would be the point? You’ve got nothing to do if all you think about is where to expand.”
“Oh it’s that easy, is it?” Daybreaker huffed and stomped her hoof. The impact wasn’t hard, but her horn bristled with so much energy that the slightest jolt sent dust and ash flying up around her. Even her guards, firmly planted in their positions and ready to engage with Starlight again, flinched.
“Your pet unicorn doesn’t give you the right to lecture me. I would burn myself to ashes before I waste time dancing around nightmares singing songs about rainbows and friendship. Because I enjoy my work. I don’t need time off.”
“What about songs of midnight and madness?”
“What about them?”
Luna unclasped a buckle on her travel back and reached into one of its pouches. As she rummaged the guards crouched again in a ready stance, but Starlight easily stunted their attack, pulling down on their spines with magic until they collapsed to the ground. Daybreaker barely reacted, focusing solely on the papers Luna was giving her. It was a dark blue fold-open pamphlet, with images of Luna and other ponies dressed in black decorating the front and back. In white print, the inside read a short description of the Nightmare Knights and their concerts, with the upcoming dates and locations listed along the margin.
“What is this?” Daybreaker flipped around and around, searching for something that clearly was not there. Tucked inside the pamphlet, she barely noticed the small stub of paper before it began to slip out. It had a big date printed in its centre, and on the back, it read:
ADMIT ONE.
“A ticket?” Luna said. “You have those here, right?”
“What is it for?”
“For a concert.” Luna beamed a great big smile. “You’re lucky, you get backstage access to my next big concert. Pretty cool, huh? So, do you want to come?”
Daybreaker tossed the pamphlet back at her. “I’ll pass.”
The Maple and Oak stood out in the crowd of Ponyville’s thatched roofs and cottage-like houses. Half its design was modern, with a large sliding glass door and concrete walls painted over with mosaics to hides the lifeless grey. Meanwhile, freshly polished wooden panels mimicked the window shutters used on Ponyville’s traditional houses.
Inside, Svengallop felt more of that rustic Ponyville charm clashing with modern design. A fireplace near the front desk, which looked as if it had been carved from a tree stump, warmed the cold spring air. But along the ceiling, long stretches of oak had been carved into slender slithering waves, intertwining and overlapping as if they were pony-made tree branches.
Svengallop recognized the School of Friendship’s teachers sitting at a long table, extra seats already reserved for Coco and Rarity. He counted off the few that he knew. After showing up to their concert, Rainbow Dash was immediately recognizable, though she wasn’t very hard to spot in a crowd. Beside her was another face he could never forget, Applejack, the one who threw a wrench at his last concert in Ponyville. The two of them barely noticed the three ponies joining the table, they were too busy talking with Lightning Dust.
He was a little surprised to see her there. If there was a bet, he would have put money on Lightning Dust skipping out on Rainbow’s offer.
“There they are!” Pinkie Pie jolted up from her seat and waved the three of them over, nearly toppling the pitcher of maple syrup from their table. Svengallop recognized her too, though barely. She did event planning, or something like that, as far as he could remember.
“Yes, Pinkie,” Rarity bemoaned, “every pony can see us, no need to announce it so dramatically.”
“Aw, I thought you liked being dramatic.”
“At the appropriate time, yes,” Rarity said, taking her seat at one end of the table.
Svengallop looked around. There was no way they knew to expect him, but he was surprised to find an extra seat and their reserved table.
“Sven?” Lightning Dust said, finally noticing him as he sat down. “What are you doing here?”
“Business,” he told her. “Miss Pommel is here, so I tagged along.”
Another familiar voice caught his ears. “It’s always business with you, isn’t it?” Though her mane and outfit was a far cry from her glory days, that record-setting voice was unmistakable.
Svengallop looked down the table to Rara. “That’s just how I do.”
Pinkie Pie swung in before an awkward tension could begin to linger. With a bark, she called a waitress over to take every pony’s orders. Every pony who had time to read the menu ordered first, and with such a large menu that gave the others plenty of time to look over the menu.
“I’ll have the Fried Top Maple Doughnuts.” Svengallop couldn’t help but overhear what Rara ordered. A force of habit, he supposed. He flipped through the menu instinctively and found it listed under House Specialities. The picture showed had three large doughnuts arranged in a line on a plate, covered in battered and fried potatoes, zucchinis, and onions, all topped with gooey maple syrup.
Fried vegetables on doughnuts? Sweet and savoury could make great combinations, but Svengallop couldn’t even stomach the thought. He was surprised Rara could. She didn’t like deep-fried food that much, as far as he knew. Or, he at least never saw her eat any. For a moment, he wondered why that was.
But his mind was too sharp for it to take long. “Hold on,” he held out his menu to the waitress, “what kind of batter do you use on the vegetables?”
The mare looked at him a little funny. “It’s just batter.”
“Most batters are seasoned,” he pressed, “what’s in it, just salt and pepper or something else?”
“I’ll have to check with the cooks, but I think there’s garlic powder and cayenne. Is that a problem?”
Coloratura pressed her hoof to her temples. “No, please, just ignore him.” She shot a glare sharp enough to cut through mountains at Svengallop. “He’s like a foal. He’s just too picky when it comes to his food.”
But Svengallop ignored her. “Cayenne, but what about paprika?” he asked.
“For the love of—” Rara clenched her jaw. “Why does it matter what they put in the batter?”
“Because batters have spices and you’re allergic to paprika,” Svengallop shot back. “Don’t you remember what happened on your first tour?”
Rara was prepared to shoot her frustration at him, but she fumbled over her words after he quizzed her. “Y-yeah, of course I remember. A plate of artichokes sent me to the hospital.”
“Grilled jackfruit and artichoke,” he corrected. “And it wasn’t the artichokes that did it. The doctor said it was the paprika in ‘Baltimare’s famous Horseshoe Bay Seasoning’ that you reacted to. Barely a pinch of that stuff and you were down.”
Rara fell silent and then sat back in her seat, hooves folded. She stared sourly at Svengallop, and then finally to the waitress. “Do you use paprika in the batter?”
“I’ll have to check,” the waitress scribbled a reminder on her notepad, “but if there is, I can ask the cooks to leave it out for you.”
“Yeah, do that,” Rara nodded.
“Okay,” the waitress quickly moved on to Coco and Rarity, putting up a big friendly smile. “And uh, what would you two like?”
Even though the luncheon was supposed to bring all the teachers and their speakers together, it was hard to talk across the table. It was exactly like when different groups of friends joined together because some members from each group knew each other, but when they got together each party was so distinct from the other that it was hard to cross the social boundary lines. Pinkie Pie and her sister were, of course, an inseparable pair, and Maud and Fluttershy were both content to sit and listen as Pinkie regaled stories of party planning in Canterlot.
Even the two Nightmare Knights spoke few words together. Lightning Dust was there because of Rainbow Dash, who was close to Applejack, who was close to Coloratura. By the commutative property of friendship, talking to Lightning Dust could eventually lead to talking to Rara.
So Svengallop focused on doing what he came to do, even if going over the items list for the concert took very little time. Miss Pommel was the kind of pony Svengallop liked to work with: detailed, attentive, and diligent. She even had photographs of their order, organized in a folder. The set pieces and costumes they had ordered for their opening act were finished and looked exactly to their specifications. The final fitting would be needed before the concert, but it was a small matter.
Meanwhile, Lightning Dust was so entrenched in talking about what she liked about the Nightmare Knights to the others, that there was little space to let him get a word in. Svengallop decided it was better to listen to Coco and Rarity’s conversation, even if he didn’t have much else to add once they were done. The ins and outs of next year’s fashion trends were more interesting, anyway. Yaks were apparently making large hats in style again.
“Where’s Tempest?” he finally asked Lightning Dust when both conversations seemed to run dry, and their plates were beginning to clear. “Didn’t she say she was going to speak at the school too?”
“She skipped out on the luncheon, though she did swing by with Glitter Drops to say ‘hi.’” Lightning Dust told him.
“Skipped out on lunch? What else is there to do in this backw—” he caught himself and quickly glanced at Applejack’s stare. “Did she say where they’re going?” he rephrased.
“Timberwolf hunting,” Applejack filled him in. “A small pack’s been sniffing the edge of the forest near the farm. Glitter Drops said she ain’t ever seen a timberwolf up in the Crystal Empire, so they wanted to find the varmints.”
“Guess you can take the mare out of the adventure, but you can’t take the adventure out of the mare,” Svengallop said.
“Speaking of adventure,” Applejack added, “did Luna say anything about where she was going with Starlight? Our Headmare’s been gone all day.”
“No, but as long as they have each other they’re probably fine,” Svengallop said.
Maud, in the middle of sitting through her sister’s overly descriptive tale of the thirty-seven brand-new cake recipes she had to taste check for one of Canterlot’s many celebrations, spoke out from the other end of the table.
“They went to another dimension,” she told them, “using the mirror in the Friendship Castle.”
Svengallop’s face turned pale. “What for? How long are they going to be gone? The tour’s grand finale is in two weeks, they can’t just run off on an adventure like that.”
Applejack paid no mind to his panicking, shifting her focus to Maud. “So, we should take her order to go?”
Maud nodded. “Probably.”
“I’m sorry, how are you not worried right now?” Svengallop looked at the calm faces all around the table. The guest lecturers had some uncertainty in their confused faces, but the five teachers could have looked as if they just read an interesting newspaper.
“Sorry,” Applejack chuckled at him. “World-shattering magic is kind of normal for us. If Starlight didn’t say anything about it, I’m sure it’s not a big deal. It probably ain’t as bad as it sounds.”
Svengallop folded his hooves and pouted. “It had better be.”
“This turned out a lot worse than I thought it would.” Starlight grumbled, walking a few cautious paces behind Luna and Daybreaker.
“You’re one to talk,” Daybreaker snapped. “You don’t have to deal with two strangers showing up in your home out of nowhere.”
A squad of eight unicorn guards marched around them, clearing creatures off the main thoroughfare that cut from the eastern gate of the city to the west. Shouts and cries of the disgruntled came from an eclectic crowd, Starlight noticed. Ponies were not the only villains who sought their glory and fortune in Daybreaker’s city. Ponies were the minority. Young, overeager dragons and bulky minotaurs watched out in the front of the streets, some standing over beaten-down ponies and only stopping their assault to size up Daybreaker’s guard. Shiftier creatures lurked within the shadowed alleys, like the Abyssinian cats with their pointed ears sticking out from behind awestruck crowds.
“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy the company,” Luna teased. “You want us around, or else you would have used more guards to take us away.”
“I wouldn’t just take you away…” Daybreaker dropped her head with a heavy sigh. “And it’s much better to use you than to waste my guards on you.”
Starlight leaned over and whispered, trying to hide her reservations about their plan, if they even had one at all. “Luna, I’m all for giving villains a second chance, but should we be helping her?” Starlight asked. “Trying to start over it one thing. But this place is a literal hub of evil.”
Daybreaker scowled. “I can still hear you.”
“Huh, what? I didn’t say anything.” Starlight looked away and started whistling as she resumed her sightseeing.
“There is a problem that must be solved,” she said, glaring back at Starlight briefly, “and you are going to do it because a price must be paid for trespassing in my city.”
“And because you’ll be so thankful that you’ll come to see our concert?” Luna smiled and cosied up next to her alternate sister.
“I can still kill you if you prefer,” Daybreaker growled.
“You won’t,” Luna shrugged her off. “What’s this thing you need us to do?”
Starlight swore she could see the vein in Daybreaker’s neck throbbing as Luna tested her. But the tyrant could do little to them while she still needed their help.
“Most of the decrepit creatures who come to my city are useless villains. They might be selfish, power-hungry, driven by madness or revenge, but they’re also stupid. Yet, from time to time, there are a select few who have the wits about them to threaten my rule, and the power to avoid my guards.” She pointed through the western gate, where the orange dim of the setting sun hid behind distant mountains. “I have driven them out of the city walls, but they are even harder to catch in the forests. So I want you to hunt them down.”
Luna looked at Daybreaker with an inquisitive smirk. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but you have an army at your side. How are we going to track them when you have the numbers to form multiple search parties.”
“The forest is as vast as it is treacherous,” Daybreaker said. “And besides, my guards cannot look into the minds of others through their dreams. You can. So find them.”
“And when I do, then are you going to come to the concert?”
Daybreaker tur pursed her lips so tightly her chin wrinkled as her lips pressed up. She turned to Starlight, searching with her eyes for any clue as to how to handle Luna, but Starlight simply shrugged.
“Just,” Daybreaker finally said through her clenched jaw, “hunt them down.”
Though the world changed, the dream stayed the same. More or less. Luna reached out with her horn, testing the currents of magic which ran through all dreaming creatures, from ponies to dragons, and felt the same familiar pull she felt on every night. Dream magic was entirely different from anything else in the waking world. Without a unicorn, a spell would not cast itself.
But dreams were manifestations of will. They were the product of the natural magic in nearly all living things, directed and controlled by the fired signals of millions of brain cells in a single body, all convulsing and pulsing at an unimaginable pace. And they directed those energies into uncontrolled lines of power. For Luna, reaching out through the dreams was like dipping her hoof in a stream to test its current, or raising her head to the wind to feel its gust in her mane. She could feel the pull of the magic. It bound to her, recognizing its own, and beckoned her to follow its path.
The realm of dreams was itself an empty void, filled only by thoughts, or images of thoughts. Luna could see them, every fear and hope and memory that was being played through the minds of the sleeping was at the tip of her hooves. But she needed only a few of them.
Their names were familiar, but not their minds. They were different creatures altogether, new villains with their own goals and motivations.
“The first one is a gargoyle named Scorpan,” Daybreaker had told her before she set out for the dream. “Then, there’s a clever little filly among them, Cosy Glow.”
“I am familiar,” Luna had replied.
“They are both dangerous, but still not the biggest threat. Beware of Queen Chrysalis. We’ve fought before, back when I was still under the control of Eris. She’s the most unhinged of them all.”
Luna wondered what she would find in the mind of Queen Chrysalis. Even if she was a different version, it was impossible not to imagine what kind of dreams a crazy hive queen had.
“Brother!”
A cry echoed through the dreams, cutting through the dozens of others that pulled on Luna. Its power was incredible, the kind that only a genuine night terror could produce. The draw of other dreams were streams and creeks, gently nudging her along like a lazy river raft. The echoed voice was a raging torrent.
“Where is Daybreaker?” Luna looked around. The tyrant had insisted on linking to the dream to make sure there was no betrayal. Luna didn’t mind, but now her alternate sister was nowhere to be found in the dream. “She’s going to have to take my word for it.” Because there was no time to wait. The dreaming void melted into dirt, grass, trees, and crumbled stone bricks in an instant.
“Take my hand, Tirek, before she comes back!”
Luna spun her head around, searching for the voice. It was closer now, calling from above. A tall castle loomed high above the forest’s trees, casting a wide shadow by moonlight that seemed to swallow up the earth. At its highest tower, she could barely make out the silhouettes of the villain.
She recognized Scorpan, he was no different from the version in her world. And on his perch atop the tower, he reached out to his centaur brother dangling off a ledge.
“We came to accomplish a mission, Scorpan,” Tirek yelled, struggling. “We had planned to take this land together.”
“I know, this is my fault, so let me make it right!”
The brothers nearly clasped their hands, before an orange flame banished the shadows and blinded them both. It swept up from behind the tower, like a comet given wings and sent down from the heavens. Luna didn’t need to guess what it was.
Daybreaker, or the dream version of her, crashed into Tirek, knocking the burly red centaur from his final hold on life.
“Brother!” Scorpan throat tore as he screamed. After a moment of shock, his head spun on a swivel.
Luna followed his red, wet glare down to the base of the tower where Daybreaker stood. Behind her, the Lady of Chaos, the one who enslaved the sun itself, stepped from behind the shadows of a tree.
Eris sneered up at the enraged Scorpan. “I told you both that Equestria was mine. Its ponies are mine. Their magic is mine. Go home, you stupid beast. Not even your brother could stand against my weapon. But you? You’re not even worth the time.”
As the final word left Eris’s mouth, the dream began to warp, the ground shifting around as Tirek’s corpse tumbled and rolled back up through the air. The nightmare was beginning all over again.
“Take my hand, Tirek, before she comes back!” Scorpan shouted all over again.
Luna stared, transfixed by the scene, and almost missed the feeling of someone else entering the dream.
“Oh, I remember this one,” Daybreaker said, walking up behind Luna. “So he’s still mad about this?”
Luna scrunched her face at Daybreaker. “Where have you been?”
“Lost,” Daybreaker snarled at her. “You said you’d link me to the dream, you didn’t say I’d have to find the way on my own.”
“Aw, do you need a map?”
“Shut up.” Daybreaker gestured to Scorpan. “There are bigger problems.”
“I don’t know why you sound surprised that he’s mad. You killed his brother. If it were me, wouldn’t you be…” she paused, realizing she forgot who she was talking to.
“No, I wouldn’t,” Daybreaker answered anyway. “And I don’t see what I had to do with this. I killed Tirek eight or nine hundred years ago. I was still under the control of that damned collar. Eris used me as a weapon. She is responsible for Tirek’s death. Scorpan should be grateful I overthrew that monster.”
“Anger doesn’t work like that,” Luna said.
“We’re getting off-topic,” Daybreaker snapped. “Can you find out where they’re hiding?”
“Not this one, no,” Luna shook her head and pointed to the trees around them. The branches began to twist and bend in impossible arcs as the dream reset again.”
Again, Scorpan’s dry scream echoed through the forest. “Take my hand, Tirek, before she comes back!”
Daybreaker covered her ears. “Why does he keep saying that?”
“It’s a night terror, formed out of a traumatic memory. He’s locked in, and even I can’t change the dream until the trauma subsides.”
“How long will that take?”
Luna shrugged. “Most likely a few days. My guess is he’s probably having this dream every night.”
“I’m not waiting around that long.”
“Neither am I. The concert’s in a couple of weeks, I gotta get back home or else my producer is going to be very cross.”
Daybreaker again flared her temper at Luna’s obsession, her fiery mane brightening as she pumped magic through her body as fuel. But she could sense no fear in Luna. Indeed, she had tolerated much from the Princess of the Night. And so long as she had something to offer, she could tolerate much more.
And Luna knew it.
“Get us out of here, then,” Daybreaker said, and then looked up to Scorpan. “This snivelling wretch is starting to make me sick.”
It was a brightly lit dream that Luna walked into this time. A chandelier dangled in the air, slowly growing the walls and ceiling around it. The empty void space of the dream realm slowly melted into a soft carpet reached up and tickled her hooves. The bedroom had that new house smell, along with the aroma of hot tea and fresh cookies. Colourful pink pillows and blankets were tossed about the room.
“I want to go back to the other dream,” Daybreaker hissed, recoiling from the teddy bears watching from the bedside drawer. Though she had no power over dreams themselves, she was linked to Luna and could still decide how far she wanted to step in or out of it. Slowly, Daybreaker retreated from the dream until her presence could only faintly be felt watching from the sidelines.
Luna veiled herself in the corner of the bedroom as she let Cosy Glow’s dream play out. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo played her simultaneously in chess, yet each game was over in a few minutes. Luna wondered if it was just the girl’s pride, or was Cosy Glow that calculating? If this filly was anything like the version in her world, Luna considered it could be a mix of both.
“How long are you going to stand there?” Cosy finally asked. As if possessed by a spell, her three friends paused their game of chess and went limp, their heads and limbs hanging down like ragdolls propped up against a wall and barely standing.
“You can see me?” Luna stepped forward, and the three fillies melted down into the carpet, vanishing from the dream, just to make space for her at the table. Cosy Glow waved her hoof and the three chess boards in front of her folded together into one, and all the pieces rearranged themselves into their neat rows.
“I figured out lucid dreaming when I was four years old,” she told Luna. “Learned how to sense other sources of magic when I got this.” She pointed to her horn with one of her wings.
“You found Grogar’s bell?”
Cosy nodded, her eyes already inspecting the chessboard. “And Nightmare Moon is dead in this world, meaning you must have come from another one. One where a version of myself tried and failed to take over the world.”
“How do you know you failed?” Luna asked.
Cosy raised a curious brow. “Would you be here if I had succeeded?” She looked back to the board and started with the King’s Pawn opening.
“I suppose not,” Luna replied, moving her king’s pawn up one square. The last time chess was in fashion in Equestria, she hadn’t been sent to the moon yet. Though, that hardly mattered. She wasn’t interested in playing, she only needed to keep Cosy Glow talking.
“Really? The Griffonstone Defence?” She moved the pawn on her rook’s side up to King’s Rook Four, signalling more pressure on Luna’s king’s side.
Their game had no timer, so after a few more moves when Luna was out of ideas on what to do next, she stood up and began pacing around the dream, inspecting the four corners of the bedroom. Everything in a dream came from something in the physical world, and usually, it was all jumbled together. A different picture in a picture frame, an unusual drawing on the wall, she looked for those kinds of subtle hints. Villains were, generally, prideful. And Cosy Glow was winning the game. Luna hoped that was enough to make her feel safer and lower her mental guard.
“When was the last time you played?” Cosy said, her smirk transferring into the tone of her voice.
“Used to play a lot with my sister,” Luna answered. “Until she took a millennium of my life away by trapping me in the moon.”
“So a long time, then.” The clack of a chess piece told Luna that Cosy Glow had made her move. “And you’ve changed, haven’t you? You’ve become good, or else you’d be back on the moon right now.” Luna said nothing, waiting instead to see where Cosy Glow was going with her point. “You know how evil Daybreaker is, so why are you helping her?”
“Who says I am?” Luna asked.
“Every cat, rat, and scum-dwelling villain in the city saw you two marching together, and news like that travels fast. But what I don’t know yet is why. What do you get out of it?”
“Don’t bother acting like you’re any better,” Luna smirked. “I’ve seen what you can do in my world. With enough time and resources, you could rule the world no differently than Daybreaker. So I side with the demon I know. Besides, you won’t win. Not against her.”
“I think we will,” Cosy said, “we have to.”
“You have to?” Luna returned to the board and finally responded to Cosy Glow’s move by moving her rook forward, trying to get it out onto the board. “Why?”
“Because that’s what I do.” Cosy Glow attacked across the board with her queen to take the knight Luna had just exposed. “I take things. I’m the adorable little filly that everyone underestimates because I’m just so loveable. I had everything a girl could want in Ponyville. My friends played all the games I liked and the adults gave me everything I ever asked for.”
“Ah, so you’re just a pampered princess who’s mad she lost her toys,” Luna mocked as she developed her knight, trying to put more threat into the middle of the board.
“A princess?” she hissed back. “Please, I’m a fucking queen. I protect my pieces. I win the game. That’s what I do. What does Daybreaker do? She turned every unicorn in Ponyville into her mindless guards, sending them out to hunt down every last problem. They’re nothing but pawns.” Cosy Glow slammed her hooves on the table, knocking over the board and its pieces. “This world doesn’t need more pawns, it needs bishops and knights. And I am going to be their Queen.”
“You talk about protecting pieces, but you’re hiding out in the forest with no one but yourselves. Even if you win, who’s going to follow you? You’ll be nothing more than the same tyrant with a different name.”
Cosy Glow smirked and finally rose from her cushioned seat of pillows. She stared down at the scattered chess pieces and sneered. “I’m a steel trap up in here, Princess,” she said and tapped her forehead. “You can stall all you want.”
Her horn started to glow, and suddenly she spun her head around and aimed her magic at the wall. “But you are not getting a word out of me!” The pastel blue and pink wallpaper melted as rope-like tendrils unfurled and reached through them. Like pulling out a hoof stuck in deep mud, Daybreaker’s head popped into the dream, her neck entangled by the tendrils.
Luna jumped immediately and dispelled the ropes, but not before Cosy tossed Daybreaker on the ground with a jerking pull.
“You won’t do that again,” Daybreaker coughed and struggled to her hooves.
“I will if I want to. I am the future Queen of Equestria,” Cosy Glow yelled at them as they both sank through the floors. “And I want you out of my head!”
The dream lurched and they both stumbled, feeling the floor of the bedroom breaking into splinters as Cosy began to eject them. Daybreaker teetered from side to side, clutching onto Luna as she tripped over pillows and stuffed animals.
“Luna!” she barked. “What’s going on? Use your magic already!”
But Luna didn’t even try. They were caught in the current of magic again. Whoever this version of Cosy Glow was, whatever life she had gone through under Daybreaker’s rule, it really had sharpened her will. Luna could enter and leave dreams at will, but a mind that refused to dream was as closed off to her as it was for any other pony.
“If you want answers, try Chrysalis,” Cosy said, smirking at both of them as they fell. “That is, if you can that psycho’s nightmares.”
Luna slowed her descent once the current of magic had slowed enough for her to regain control. Her stomach churned from spinning through the air as she fell, but this was not the first bad dream she had to deal with. She spread her wings and glided to a gentle hover over a pool of water.
Daybreaker, however, did not have the same luxury. Luna looked down to her sister’s alternate self and couldn’t help but laugh as the tyrant pulled herself out of the pool, her fiery mane doused and dull like a smouldering campfire.
“What are you laughing at,” Daybreaker grumbled as she swam to the edge and pulled herself out. As soon as she wrung her mane dry, the hair enveloped itself in flames once again, becoming the only light under the starry sky above them. “It’s your fault we got kicked out of her dream. We didn’t even learn anything new.”
“Not true,” Luna said. “We learned what motivates her, and what her goals are.”
“What use is that? They all want the same thing. Power.”
Luna shook her head, landing beside Daybreaker. “Not true. I’m almost certain Scorpan is out for revenge. That nightmare of his, it’s not the kind of thing you just forget when you wake up.”
“Scorpan was always weak,” Daybreaker said as she dried the rest of the water off of her coat using the heat from her fiery mane. “That child, surprisingly, has more brains and ambition than Scorpan ever did.”
“But she didn’t do anything until you got in her way,” Luna reminded. “Now she thinks the only way she’s going to get back the life she had is if she takes everything away from you, as you did to her.”
“So this is all my fault, then?”
“Yeah, it is,” Luna answered matter-of-factly. “You done messed up, Sis.”
Daybreaker shot a look at Luna, her lips pursed so tightly they seemed as if they were ready to fold back into her face. “Don’t call me that.”
Daybreak stood up and walked away from the pool, started to assess her surroundings. Little could be seen beyond the light of her mane. Trees of all kinds loomed around them, picking up moonlight on the leaves and shading the rose bushes below. Luna watched, slightly amused. For all her posturing and threats, Daybreaker was just as lost in the realm of dreams as Celestia.
“Where are we?” she finally asked.
“Chrysalis’s dream,” Luna answered, looking around with her. “At least, I think it is. It’s quieter than I expected.” She looked across the pool, at the moon reflected in the gentle rippling of the water’s surface.
“Then where is that maniac?”
Luna shrugged. “She doesn’t feel as active as the others, meaning her mind is simply replaying and processing old memories into dreams. We’ll have to do some searching, or wait for the dream to bring her to us.”
“I’m done waiting,” Daybreaker said without hesitation. She picked a direction at random and started to storm off. “Let’s go.”
After about fifteen minutes of aimless wandering, the two alicorns found themselves at the entrance to a palace. Being the world that it was, there was no city of Canterlot, and no Canterlot Palace, yet Luna immediately recognized the style of royal architecture. The trees around them began to shrivel and shrink as they saw two ponies exiting the palace. What was once a dense forest was receding into a nicely trimmed and maintained garden.
Luna felt the rush of feathers fly by her head as a pair of doves flew over her head and circled around the canopy of the trees. They almost seemed to follow the pair of ponies, watching over them as they entered the garden.
Her eyes widened once she recognized their faces. Though his armour was different, the stallion was clearly Twilight’s brother, Shining Armour. His mane, no matter how neat he tried to make it, still splayed out in the shape of his helmet. His armour was darker, pine green with accents of orchid-purple, and bore no royal insignia. And at his side, the pink alicorn princess was the spitting image of Cadence.
“You know him?” Daybreaker asked, seeing Luna’s face as the ponies walked through the garden.
Luna nodded. “A royal guard, and Cadence’s husband. Brother to the ruler of Equestria in my world.”
Daybreaker stared at her, even more perplexed. “My counterpart has a brother in your world?”
“What?” Luna broke her focus, taking a moment to understand what Daybreaker was implying. “Oh, ha!” she snorted a laugh. “You’re not the ruler of Equestria anymore. Or, I guess your alternate self isn’t. Celestia passed the role on to her former student.”
“She just gave up the throne?” Daybreaker gawked in disgust. “I wasn’t aware that was something some pony could do.” She quickly turned back to Shining Armour. “Anyway, what’s next? Why would he be escorting Chrysalis?”
“What are you, blind?” Luna mocked her. “That’s Cadence. That looks nothing like Chrysalis. Not her normal form, at least.”
“The pink one?” Daybreaker pointed through the trees. “No, that’s definitely her. I told you, we’ve fought before. She’s crazy.”
“So, Chrysalis in your world has been undercover in Cadence’s form this whole time?” Luna paused. “That kind of makes sense, actually.”
“I don’t know what you mean. What other form could she have?” Daybreaker said. Then, her eyes lit up like a bonfire. “Are you telling me she’s a changeling?”
“What? Yes! How could you not know?”
Daybreaker’s mane flared, threatening to catch the trees on fire as she snapped back at Luna. “Do you think I would allow changelings in my city if I knew their queen was my enemy? I’ve fought her for years, long before you showed up and broke my collar. I’ve never seen her transform. How would I know she’s a changeling?”
“Never knew her to be good at what she does,” Luna answered, “didn’t think she could go so deep undercover. Are you sure it’s her?”
“Yes, now shut up. I think I recognize this memory. It didn’t look exactly like this, but it’s close.”
A ball of flaring light, not from Daybreaker’s mane, lit up in the night sky. The two alicorns shielded their eyes as a familiar figure stepped out of the light, the spurs of her talons barely touching the grass as if she couldn’t bring herself to step on the dirt beneath her.
Eris, Luna recognized the bird-headed draconequus even before the light faded, stepped and approached Cadence and Shining Armour.
“Ah, just the two ponies I was hoping to find. Wasn’t sure if I’d land in the right spot. Teleportation is more of an art than an exact science, you know.”
Immediately, a bubble of magic projected out from Shining, pushing back Eris into the branches of a tree. “What are you doing here?” he snarled at her.
“My dear boy,” Eris laughed, then tapped her claws against his barrier. Her claws drew a crack across Shining’s magic and shattered the shield like paper-thin glass. “The fact that you are still here is proof that I have no intention to kill you and your lovely wife.”
The horizon of the dream flashed with an orange glow as if the sun were rising. But the smoke and fire and distant screams told Luna another story. Squinting, she could just about make out a ball of fire hurling itself through the sky before crashing back down and destroying something else in the distance.
“You sure do know how to make an entrance?” Luna told Daybreaker. The fiery alicorn said nothing, continuing to watch Eris speak to Shining.
“Oh, speaking of your wife, a little birdy told me the most curious thing.” Eris waved her claw and created a portal between them. Shining Armour stared wide-eyed, mouth ajar, as a ragged copy of Cadence rose up, bound in chains around her hooves and neck.
Luna could feel the air getting hotter, and turned to find Daybreaker clenching her jaw. Just seeing the same kind of chains which enslaved her for a thousand years seemed to well up a torrent of anger.
But she was undercut by a sharp laugh from Eris. “My pet was raiding a changeling hive when she found this little thing wrapped up in one of their prisons. Looks like your wife isn’t who she says she is.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Cadence, or rather Queen Chrysalis, shouted. “Your tricks won’t work here, Eris.”
“Tell that to her.” The lord of chaos smirked and snapped her claws, releasing Cadence’s chains. The pink alicorn’s eyes opened, slowly at first, and then fixated on the copy before her.
Luna covered her ears as the whole dream shuddered from Cadence’s scream. She wailed and raged, shambling across the garden’s grass in a wild crawl and tackling Chrysalis. They tumbled against the ground, beating each other with hooves and biting each other’s ears and manes.
“Give me back my body you bitch!” Cadence, the original one, Luna believed, screamed. “You stole my life! I’ll kill you!”
“You’re crazy!” Chrysalis answered, not dropping her form. Magic blasted from both horns, splitting the trees apart.
Shining stood, stunned, trying to put up a barrier between the two of them. Telling them apart was surprisingly simple. The Cadence who Eris had discovered was frail and thin. Even from behind the trees where Luna and Daybreaker watched, they could still see how paper-thin her skin was, with her ribs and spine pushing out as if they would fall out of her if she was hit too hard. Still, the original put up a relentless fight, not letting go of Chrysalis for a second.
Amidst the chaos, Eris laughed. “Aw, maybe they should get married instead. Look at them, they’re inseparable!” And then she fell silent. “Hey, you know what…”
As the two Cadences fought, the flames in the distance still burned. In fact, they grew closer. The rippling sound of fire flying through the air came to a halt when the Daybreaker entered the scene, crashing through the castle behind Shining Armour.
“Shining!” Chrysalis cried out, but the stallion was too shaken to react. By the time he turned to raise a barrier, a wall of burning bricks crashed down on top of him. Chrysalis kicked Cadence away, rushing to clear the rubble away. The dream’s Daybreaker broke out from the pile, her mane ablaze and her horn charged with magic.
But her power immediately shut off as her collar strangled her magic and shocked her. Daybreaker writhed until she collapsed, and then looked up at Eris with confusion across her face.
“Master, I was just— argh!” Eris clenched her claws and activated Daybreaker’s collar again, the shock growing in intensity.
“You stupid animal!” Eris hissed. “I told you to keep the destruction to the city. I wasn’t done with these ponies and now you ruined my fun!” She opened a portal beneath Daybreaker and pushed her though, leaving the collar to continue shocking wherever she went.
“And you two.” Eris teleported both Cadences into her claws, gripping them by the necks. “I was going to drive your beloved Shining Armour mad, but I guess this will have to do. I don’t have time to deal with you both, so I hope you enjoy each other’s company.”
As if they were both made of clay, Eris twisted the two Cadences together, pulling and pushing their flesh into a single body. Her chaos magic, even in the memory, seemed to bend and distort everything around her.
Luna clutched her stomach, feeling sick as if the dream itself struggled to make sense of the magic. Even Daybreaker shrunk away, retreating slightly behind the tree.
“What is she doing to them?”
They merged. Chrysalis, no longer in control of her own body, melted away her outer guise. Beneath the fur and hair of a pony, her skin turned to a shiny black chitin and her eyelids peeled back to expose the unblinking bug-eyes of a changeling.
“What is this?” Chrysalis screamed. “What did you do to me?”
There was little time for an answer. Her legs and Cadence’s interlocked, and the true alicorn’s skin folded itself around the two of them, gift wrapping them together. When Eris was done, there was only one body. One Cadence.
“Get out of me!”
Luna and Daybreaker backed away from the memory and Cadence’s anguished crying. The dream was beginning to fall apart now that it arrived at the core reason for the nightmare. But Daybreaker was not willing to simply leave the dream altogether. She had learned something about Chrysalis, but not where to find her.
“If we stay here too long, the dream will consume us,” Luna told Daybreaker. “It’ll be easier to leave now while it still doesn’t have a grip.” She decided not to mention that it was just a complete guess. In one thousand years, Luna had never been in a dream controlled by two minds.
Connecting dreams between two ponies was one thing. It was a simple task of being a mediator for both of their thoughts. But Cadence, or Chrysalis, whoever she was now, was not as simple as bridging two minds. They were two minds fused to the same body, different and yet the same straight down the subconscious. There was no predicting what would happen.
“I am not leaving until I know where to find them!” Daybreaker roared and kicked a tree in frustration. “This would all have been for nothing.”
“Well, we would’ve learned that you’re good at destroying lives,” Luna replied. “And that they’re in the forest. You said it yourself, the memory was a little bit different from what really happened.” She waved her hoof to the tree around them. “Just a guess, but this entire forest probably wasn’t part of their castle gardens, right?”
“I was ordered to attack the city to add some chaos. And the castle gardens weren’t this big, we should be running through streets right now,noy throug a forest.” She huffed and slowed down, finally stopping to talk. “But I already knew they were in the forest. I just don’t know where.”
“Well, let’s think about the dreams we were in,” Luna said. “Scorpan’s dream was in a forest too, at an old castle ruin. This dream combined a castle from Chrysalis’s memories and a forest. Perhaps there’s a connection there.”
“What about the kid’s dream?”
Luna shook her head. “Cosy had a good grip on lucid dreaming. We can’t know what was intentional and what wasn’t. However, Scorpan and Chrysalis, they are not as stable as her, mentally speaking.”
“Well, castles were the first thing I looked for,” Daybreaker said. “There are a few ruins in the forest, but they were untouched when my soldiers found them. I posted guards to watch them, but turned up nothing.”
“I still think that’s the best clue we have. The forest is huge, there has to be places you haven’t explored yet.”
“It’s hard to miss a whole castle, even the ruined ones. I’ve flown over the forest a dozen times, I know I would have seen a—” Daybreaker paused. “Wait, the pool of water we landed in. There was no pool of water in the gardens when I attacked. There couldn’t have been, it was too small. But the forest has a few ponds and small lakes.”
Luna smiled. “See? We learned something after all.”
“It’s still not a guarantee.”
“Only clue we have, though.”
Daybreaker grunted. “I’m not going to that concert if it doesn’t work out.”
“Oh? So if we do find them, that means you’re coming, right?”
“No,” she snapped back. “I’m just saying it for emphasis. I’m not going to your concert at all.”
“Well, maybe I should just pull us out of the dream then,” Luna shrugged.
Before Daybreaker could remind Luna that she could still hold her prisoner if she didn’t help, the dream lurched around them. It felt like being on a ship on the open sea, in the middle of a storm. The whole world churned and twisted around them, and Luna could see the sky itself stretching closer and farther from the ground.
Behind them, Cadence’s cries began to become louder once again. The pink alicorn and changeling fusion shot up into the sky.
“Daybreaker!” she screamed. “I’ll kill you for Shining!”
“Ah,” Luna laughed nervously, “so that’s why she hates you.”
“Well? Do something about her. Change the dream or something.”
“Yeah, no.” Luna instead tugged at the dream until a portal split open in front of them. “This is the dream of two insane alicorns. Well, an alicorn and a changeling queen. Kill me if you want when we wake up, but I’m not going to risk losing my mind in this place.”
“Hey, I didn’t say we were done,” Daybreaker barked, but already Luna was already stepping out of the dream. “Luna! Get your butt back in here. Don’t—” The cracking of trees came closer as she protested. Through the branches, she could barely see Cadence’s eyes reflecting the light from her fiery mane.
“I’m coming for you!” she shrieked, and for once in the entire dream, it sounded as if she was talking directly to Daybreaker.
“Luna! Luna!” she shouted through the portal. “Luna, get back here, don’t just leave me!”
“I’m going to wear your flesh!” Cadence yelled, her voice inching closer. For a moment, Daybreaker wondered if creatures were stronger in their own dreams. In the waking world, she had no doubt she could defeat Chrysalis. But the dream was not the real world, and she quickly abandoned the thought.
Without waiting to test the answer to her question, Daybreaker jumped after Luna through the portal.
Returning to the waking world drained Luna. She had not felt so exhausted since the time she confronted her own demons and destroyed the Tantabus. And it did not seem any easier for Daybreaker. The fiery alicorn jostled and wriggled about in her sleeping bag, struggling to wake.
It was still night, and once her eyes had adjusted to the dim light of the campfire, Luna spotted a pair of eyes looking at her intently.
“How’d it go?” Starlight said, reaching out a hoof and helping her stand up.
“Rough. We only have a few sparse guesses on where the villains may be. But I also learned more about their motivations. They all seem to hate Daybreaker.”
Luna recounted the three dreams to Starlight, telling her about how Daybreaker had killed Scorpan’s brother, how she had conscripted unicorns to turn into her obedient guards, and how she and Eris drove Chrysalis insane by fusing her and Cadence together.
Starlight took all the stories with surprising grace. “I can’t see Chrysalis going so undercover she’d forget about being a changeling. But maybe this version is different.”
“She’s definitely different now,” Luna remarked. “Her mind and body are split with this world’s Cadence. From the sound of it, she might not even be able to transform anymore. Daybreaker didn’t even know Chrysalis was a changeling.”
“Even with a name like Chrysalis?”
Luna shrugged.
Just then, Daybreaker rose up from her sleeping bag. They were camped at the edge of the forest with a dozen guards circling the perimeter. Starlight kept a bubble of magic above them, trying to catch and disperse the smoke from the campfire so the other villains wouldn’t know where they were.
Daybreaker dusted herself off. “All that for a few blind guesses. Nightmare Moon wouldn’t have been so easy on them.”
“Be nice,” Luna replied. “You forget, I was Nightmare Moon once upon a time. But the dream realm works the same way, no matter who is at the helm. It’s your fault for traumatizing your enemies so much.”
“Tsk, we have a lot of ground to cover. If you want to get back to your world alive, you better help the search.”
Since they were not pegasi, Daybreaker’s unicorn guards returned to their lord’s city to prepare for their next attack. Meanwhile, Luna and Starlight, who moved with levitation alone, flew in a line behind Daybreaker, scanning each pond they came across for signs of the villains.
The forest reminded Luna very much of the Everfree, although the wildness seemed somewhat subdued. Below, a few timberwolves chased fast-running rabbits while the sheen from the coat of a black jungle cat danced along the branches.
They came to a clearing that looked very much like the one they had seen in Chrysalis’s dream.
“See?” Luna pointed with her horn. “Told you it was a clue.”
“We haven’t found them yet.”
“Still, it’s something.”
Though she would soon wish she wasn’t right. Luna landed just after Daybreaker, but before either of them could take the chance to look around and survey their surroundings, a tree trunk flew through the air and knocked them both over. Jumping out from the underbrush of the forest, Scorpan attacked.
Luna and Starlight found out too late what abilities Scorpan had.
While his brother, Tirek, had wrought havoc and mayhem on an unprecedented scale in their world by draining and consuming magic from Equestrians, Scorpan seemed completely immune. Levitating above, Starlight rained down a storm of magic like billowing sheets of rain. But the gargoyle’s skin hardened at where her spells struck, turning stone-like and deflecting every shot.
Luna lifted the tree off herself and Daybreaker and immediately began harassing Scorpan by trapping him within a circle of magic. His skin even reacted to her barrier. He turned to stone and smashed through the spell as if it were glass.
“I would have killed him already if it were that easy.” Daybreaker roared and launched the fallen tree back at Scorpan. His skin returned to its fleshy form, but he was still a hulking brute of fur and muscle.
“Nightmare Moon,” he snarled, pointing a gnarled finger at Luna, “stay out of this! Blood must be paid for her transgressions.”
Luna shot the tree out of his hand before he could swing it down like a hammer on Daybreaker. “Yeah, I know the feeling. But I can’t let you kill my sister.” She then lunged, striking with the point of her horn into his leg.
Scorpan buckled, if only for a moment. He grabbed her by the neck, and Luna gagged from the fierce grip, but he was stopped short by a stone dropped from the sky. Starlight sent two more before the gargoyle grew frustrated and threw Luna at her. The two tumbled into the trees.
Seeing her support fail so quickly sent Daybreaker into a fury. Ducking her head low, she charged and skewered him in the leg where Luna had struck, piercing fully through his knee and sending the tip of her horn to the other side. Quickly, she retreated before Scorpan’s claws hit their mark.
As he stumbled forward, she lit a fire on the grass and stretched her spell out until it encircled him. His skin may have turned to stone against magic, but against mundane fire, his fur scorched as easily as any other creature.
“It will not be enough,” he sneered through the flames. The pond was not far, and both of them knew he would tolerate a few burns if it meant winning the fight. “My brother will be avenged. You will die.”
“Leap for the water and we’ll find out. I’ll cover you in so much magic you turn to solid stone and sink to the bottom.”
“The filly was right when she said you’d come. Now your city burns while you burn me.” He turned away as Daybreaker shot a beam of magic at his face. The strike hit lightly, bouncing off into dozens of rays when the skin of his cheek turned to stone and struck the trees around them.
Luna and Starlight, recovered from their tumble, trotted out to see the standoff between Daybreaker and Scorpan. It was a fight she’d pay to see, Luna thought to herself, though the immunity to magic seemed like a lopsided advantage. She didn’t get her answer, however, as a pegasus came flying fast from the direction of the city.
“My lord,” she gasped, out of breath. “Your tower is in flames. There’s fighting and rioting in the streets of the city. They mean to overthrow you.”
Scorpan laughed. “That little pony of ours has a better head than you and your sister combined.” He lunged out of the flames and snatched Daybreaker up by the neck, squeezing so hard her eyes almost seemed to pop. “Let her have her little kingdom. This is all I need.”
“Don’t touch her!” Luna dug deep with her magic and lifted the tree roots beneath them up from the ground to entangle the gargoyle. But, his skin hardened and repelled magic as naturally as oil repelled water. The roots soon went limp and dropped back down to their place in the earth.
Scorpan flashed his claws, raising them up high for the final blow.
So high up that Scorpan’s eyes, flushed with excitement, were clearly exposed.
So exposed that Daybreaker simply had to lower her horn.
So much blood burst from his sockets that Luna swore it was enough to fill the pond once more.
He clutched his face and stumbled back. The ring of fire licked at his fur, his tail, and his leathery wings. Daybreaker tripped the beast over while he was still blinded, dropping him on his back. His exposed chest exploded with blood as she thrust her horn through his body. And so died the brother of Tirek, Scorpan.
Daybreaker wiped her horn clean on the grass and then faced Luna. “If there is fighting in the streets, my guards will be able to handle the rabble. But we must fight Chrysalis and Cosy Glow.”
“No complaints here,” Luna said. “I can’t trust either of them to control this side of the portal. I much prefer you.”
The fight for the city escalated quickly.
As soon as they entered the walls, the three of them found themselves in a thick clashing of bodies as the guards attempted to keep control of the main road. Every lesser villain joined in the fight and it was impossible to be sure who was fighting for whom. Some factions seemed to help Daybreaker’s army maintain control, like the bodyguards Luna had seen outside the many casinos. Others, however, fought frantically among themselves, pushing and shoving in an attempt to raid the tower.
Luna and Starlight did their best to maintain control of the crowd, using their magic to contain the changelings and dragons bearing down on the unicorn guards. Daybreaker, however, cared little for mercy. Fire and light spewed from her horn, and for a brief few seconds, the city was illuminated under a blinding aura, as if she were the sun itself, descended from the heavens. She left the road scorched, and the armours of a few of her soldiers could be counted among the piles of charred corpses. But Luna couldn’t deny that the rioters were greatly reduced.
“Are you sure you want to keep helping her?” Starlight asked while she conjured a pit in the ground to trap a manticore someone had let loose.
“We’ve come all this way,” Luna replied. “Plus, I was serious about what I told her. Do you think our world would be safe if Chrysalis and Cosy Glow gained control here?”
Starlight sighed. “Of course not. I just hope I’ll be able to sleep at night without dreaming of burnt bodies.”
They continued fighting for what felt like hours, but it could have been just a few minutes. At some point, Chrysalis had joined the fight. Luna wasn’t sure when, she only knew that she saw the pink alicorn flying through the air and tackling Daybreaker to the ground. A great burst of magic shook the buildings as they landed, followed by smaller aftershocks as they fought through the city.
Without the devastating fire from Daybreaker, the battle slowly turned against them. The unicorn guards were relentless fighters, their shots of magic creating burning potholes in the streets, but they could not overcome the uneven numbers. They found themselves slowly pushed towards the city walls. On the crest of a short distant hill, Luna could see the faint glow of the portal they had come through.
She paused her fighting for a moment and soared up to find where Daybreaker had gone. She got her answer quickly, as a brilliant flash of light erupted on the opposite side of the city. From it, Luna spotted a dot hurling through the air. The dot grew bigger. And pinker. Chrysalis spun uncontrollably in the air, crashing into Luna. She would have fallen out the sky if not for a supporting field of levitation from Starlight.
“Get out of my way, Nightmare!” Chrysalis shoved Luna aside, spread her wings, and flew back to her fight with Daybreaker.
First Scorpan, now Chrysalis. Do I really still look like Nightmare Moon? Luna wondered to herself. The only one left was Cosy Glow. Of course.
Luna flew back down to the battle, where the unicorns were being swarmed by a mass of rioters.“Starlight,” she called out, “we have to get to the tower. This is Cosy Glow’s doing. We need to take her out to show the city who has control over it.”
“You go on ahead,” Starlight grunted, using her magic to reinforce a barrier projected by the other soldiers. “These guys are useless without me. If I go now, the rioters will have the city anyway.”
Luna nodded. There was a small concern in the back of her head that she was leaving her behind, but she was quickly reminded of what Starlight could do. Before a pride of Abyssinian cats could leap over the guards’ barrier, she teleported out into the rioting crowd and released a torrent of blue light. Magic flared from her horn, and the concrete on the street turned liquid, pulling down at least a hundred rioters in a single burst. A few pulled themselves out, but many remained trapped as Starlight shifted the concrete back to its solid state, trapping dozens by their legs.
Luna didn’t need any more convincing that Starlight would be fine without her. That simply left Cosy Glow to deal with.
The tower was as Daybreaker had left it. As Luna ascended its imposing steps, she passed by all the same rooms the guards had so hurriedly escorted her away from. The lower floors were as common as they could be: barracks, hospitals, pharmacies, even a small convenience store. For whom, Luna wasn’t sure. Daybreaker’s guards didn’t seem to need much in ways of convenience.
But past the middle levels, she crossed into the seat of Daybreaker’s power. Though now abandoned, Luna could see the beds where unicorns would be strapped down for experiments. Surgery rooms hung rows of strange devices, small stubs of crystal and metal that were wrapped together in wires. If she was reading the schematics left behind, each augmentation was to be surgically implanted inside a unicorn’s horn, presumably to enhance their potency with magic.
The other experiments were not so pleasant. Luna came across massive syringes for hormone treatments, overdosing timid weak or timid unicorns on testosterone and an assortment of steroids. There were surgical rooms for lobotomies and electroshock “retraining.” Luna didn’t know how the procedures worked, but she understood what they could do to the mind, how dramatically they could change a pony and make them docile. Or in this case, obedient to a fault.
For the first time, she genuinely felt sick. Everything she had seen Daybreaker do was ordered by Eris and done against villains who could be just as cruel. But in this world, there were still innocent ponies. Eris had simply created a capital city for all villainy, concentrating evil into one place. Beyond, ponies still led lives with families and love. And Daybreaker was destroying that, just as Cosy Glow described.
“It’s repulsive, isn’t it?”
Luna didn’t need to turn around to know who spoke behind her. Cosy’s voice had fallen to a sad whisper, but there was a recognizable sharpness on her tongue.
“Scorpan’s dead,” she told the young filly just to see if it would faze her.
It didn’t. “He made his peace,” Cosy said. “I never expected him to beat you and Daybreaker, but I had hoped he’d do more damage. You look almost unscathed. And from the sound of things…”
By chance, as if to prove her point, a thunder crack echoed in from outside. It sounded like one of the casinos being brought down, most likely from Chrysalis and Daybreaker’s duel.
“It seems Daybreaker is doing just fine as well,” Cosy Glow finished.
“Which is why you should surrender now, while you have the chance.”
“Why would I want to do that? I can see the fighting from the top of the tower. There’s chaos in the streets and the guards are outnumbered. This time tomorrow, I’ll be the one standing victorious.”
“Daybreaker might kill you before then,” Luna said. “Unless I capture you first and end this peacefully.”
Cosy Glow turned her back to Luna at that point, a bold decision given that she had just threatened her. But, she continued talking as she walked up the stairs to the top of the tower, evidently wanting Luna to follow. When they both reached the top, Cosy pointed out the window, down to the rioting villains who were swarming Starlight and Daybreaker’s forces.
“You’re not going to stop me, Luna. Not because I’m strong enough to win, but because you’re smart enough to back down. You’ve seen it with your own eyes, how she keeps her fragile kingdom alive. With brute strength and threats. Her experiments advance knowledge just to make a new weapon to conquer new lands. That’s all she ever does, ever wants. To conquer. I am a true queen. I don’t need to conquer, only control. The whole world could be mine in a few years if I just had this city’s resources, and I’d do it peacefully.”
“Really?” Luna snorted. “Forgive me if the riots don’t convince me.”
“Don’t play coy. You know those riots happened because Daybreaker is useless. She can’t make ponies loyal to her unless they have circuits jacked into their heads. As soon as I showed up, half the city was ready to fight for me just because I sat in the tower and they believed they could get something from me. Why? Because the only thing that matters right now is who has more power.”
“That will always matter, you can’t change that.”
Cosy Glow laughed, much the same way a parent laughed when their child made a mistake just because they didn’t know any better. “This city could be made to obey if they had more things to care about. Control over the food, the coal, the building materials, the information and knowledge, the medicine, the ponies and labour, all those things matter and she’s letting it run wild outside this tower. If I make those villains depend on my leadership rather than fearing my might, then they’ll obey. They’ll want to obey, beg for it, even.”
“So you’re saying there’ll be peace, as long as every pony listens to you?” Luna chuckled and shook her head with amused disappointment. “You’re partly right, I suppose. But you’re thinking like a pony, not like a villain. It could never happen here.” She gestured to the tiny little villains fighting, so far down on the streets.
“So, you’re still going to throw away your life for her?”
Luna lowered her horn, getting into a proper fighting stance. “I’m going to capture you.”
“You will try, at least.” With her tiny body and enlarged alicorn wings, Cosy Glow shot through the air, glowing like a comet.
Luna raised a barrier, but suddenly, it was unnecessary. A blinding flare of light flooded through the windows, and in the next moment, Daybreaker crashed through the glass using Chrysalis's body and landed on top of Cosy Glow.
When Daybreaker was done and the villains who thought they could rise up against a pony who commanded the sun itself were strung on poles outside the tower, there was hardly anything left to display. The experiments which Daybreaker had done to her unicorns were applied quickly to Cosy and Chrysalis. The circuits of crystal and metal did not simply enhance magical ability, it could control it. And, in the event Daybreaker needed to subdue a disobedient fighter, the circuit could also shut off one’s magic completely.
Cosy Glow, despite the magic she had absorbed to make her as strong as an alicorn, was still a child. Under the weight of two grown ponies, she struck her head with so much force she was unconscious immediately. Inserting the circuit into her took all of ten minutes, once she was under a surgeon’s knife.
Chrysalis had a rougher time. Luna stood silently outside the tower with Starlight, watching a few unicorn guards hoist up the body. Her face, Cadence’s face, was beaten into an unrecognizable pulp. The last minutes of the fight, after they had crashed into the tower, was filled with nothing more than Daybreaker trying to put her hooves as deep into Chrysalis’s face as possible. It was almost too easy to install a circuit into her; someone just had to push one through the crack in her horn.
She was still alive, but just barely. Blood splattered on the street every time she exhaled, and she sometimes writhed from the pain when she found the energy to move.
“Can they recover?” Luna wondered out loud. Even in their world, some villains were stoned for eternity or shattered into a million pieces. But this wasn’t the same. It wasn’t the killing that bothered her so much, it was the suffering.
“You can’t put up with this,” Starlight said, choking on her words. “It’s… it’s unforgivable, that’s what it is.”
“Daybreaker is still—”
“A monster.”
“My sister.”
“Who is a monster.”
“Who is a victim,” Luna refuted. “Eris ordered her to kill Tirek and attack Shining’s palace. She kept Daybreaker as a slave for a thousand years, as a weapon she could grind and sharpen whenever it dulled. Of course she created an army of engineered soldiers, she never learned how to be a leader, only how to be a tyrant.”
“You’re not suggesting she can be reformed, are you?”
“Isn’t that what the Nightmare Knights do?” Luna turned to Starlight to look her in the eyes.
“Yes. But shouldn’t there be a limit? Can anything be forgiven?”
Luna shook her head. “Forgiveness is something we can’t control. We can’t make others see us differently. But that doesn’t mean we stop trying. And I don’t want Daybreaker to stop improving. She just needs someone to show her the way.”
“But she beat Cade— I mean Chrysalis’s face in.”
“She did. And now I have to make sure she knows there are other options.”
Starlight finally lowered her head, conceding the debate to Luna. The only consolation was that whatever Daybreaker did, she’d keep it to her world. That didn’t make the acts of evil any less terrible, but Starlight seemed to put it out of her mind for the moment.
Luna flew up to find Daybreaker, who raised the sun and watched her city through shattered window frames. The glass had been swept away, but blood still stained the walls where Chrysalis had landed.
“I thought you would have left after I had their bodies tied up,” she said to Luna. “I’ll be taking them down for experiments soon enough, once the remaining revolters realize who truly runs this city.”
“Well, I haven’t given you your ticket yet,” Luna said nervously, flashing a small smile to ease the tension between them.
Daybreaker simply muttered back. “I don’t have time. A third of the city still thinks they can take this tower from me, which they will do if I go to your stupid little show. Leave.”
“So, that’s a no,” Luna said, “but not because you don’t want to. If you had the time, you would come?”
“Too bad we’ll never know.”
“Don’t be so sure. The lesser villains think they can win because they don’t respect you now. They think they have more to gain by fighting than going back to your system. I think I know how to prove them wrong.”
Daybreaker nodded. “Murder. The solution is murder.”
“What? No! You don’t always have to destroy something to get rid of a problem. You just need to make them understand who you are, and what they get if they join you again.”
“That just gives them the chance to betray me,” Daybreaker snarled.
“Or, the chance for you to make them reliant. They can’t fight you if they need you. Just like your unicorns, however unethical they may be.”
“Changing the minds of lesser villains sounds like a magic spell that neither of us has,” Daybreaker said. “They’re dull and short-sighted. How could you possibly make them understand the power I wield?”
Luna had been waiting to hear that question since she had spoken to Cosy Glow. With a big smile, she gave her earnest and confident answer. “I’m going to sing a song about you.”
Daybreaker froze her candid stare across the cityscape and slowly turned around to read Luna’s face. Her eyes narrowed in discomfort and frustration and she could hardly mutter her thoughts. “Whaaat?”
Rara and Applejack walked back to the school together after the luncheon. There was a slight shift in the tone of their table after their orders all arrived. With food in their bellies, every pony became a little more friendly and a little more chatty, even with ponies they didn’t know very well.
“It never really came up, even after I found out. Whenever I was touring, Svengallop always handled the catering, the reservations, everything. I could just tell him what I wanted and he’d make it happen.”
“I remember. Had a lot of interesting demands, like sorting red and yellow cherries into separate bowls.”
“I just don’t like the colours mixing around, you know,” Rara laughed, “it’s silly, but, is that too much to ask?”
“Suppose we all have our quirks.” Applejack chuckled as well.
They walked up to the school but didn’t enter, instead they hung out by the fountain in the courtyard and watched as droves of students flocked to their next class. Rara’s expression slowly grew more sullen and thoughtful.
“He was a total jerk, but there are some things I miss about having him around.”
Applejack looked at her friend with a raised brow. “He lied to you and used your reputation for himself.”
“Yeah, but you know what I mean, AJ. He has his faults, a lot of them, but he’s not a bad guy. I couldn’t have gotten my career without him.”
“I dunno, Ra,” Applejack shook her head disapprovingly, “he put Pinkie through a ringer just to make himself happy. Nightmare Moon, Starlight, Stygian, a lot of villains did what they did because some old mistake put them on the wrong path. Even Discord, when you think about it, was kinda like a lonely puppy just looking for someone to play with. I don’t see that with Svengallop. He was manipulative for years, he chose to do that instead of being honest.”
“But isn’t he working with Luna now?”
Applejack paused, already jumping to Rara’s next point. It was no secret what the Nightmare Knights were to each other: outcasts, exiles, renegades. Their music expressed as much, and their fans, many of whom were students at the school, often talked about how “relatable” their struggle for acceptance and self-identity was. Applejack wasn’t sure exactly how, seeing as none of the students had ever gone through what Luna or Starlight had. Still, they were popular.
“I’ve been thinking of a project I want to do with the Knights,” Rara continued. “For a while now. But I’ve been hesitant about it because of Sven. I thought it’d be a nightmare working with him again. Pun intended. But seeing how he is now, I think I need to take that chance. I’ve worked with him for years. When I went to Manehattan for the first time, he was like some kind of music… dad during my first year as a singer. I know what he’s like, so I can also tell that he’s changing. The Nightmare Knights are changing him for real.”
“Starlight’ll do that,” Applejack nodded, though she was still wracking her head to come up with some kind of counterpoint. “What’s this project you wanna do, anyhow? Can’t you do it with another band?” She caught herself, realizing exactly what she was saying. Did she really hate Svengallop so much that she wanted to take away the Knights’ chance of working with Rara?
Even if she did, Starlight and Luna were part of the band too. Denying Svengallop would also end up denying her own friends.
“I want to collaborate with a bunch of bands,” Rara said. “Do you remember the news about the Crystal Empire a few months ago?”
“Shadow attacks. Hard to forget.”
“Yes, but it wasn’t just that. Those Crystal Nationalists or whatever they called themselves, I read about them in the papers. They wanted to kick the dragons out of the Crystal Empire. The official statement says that’s why the Crystal Heart was too weak to stop the shadows.”
“Sure, but what’s that got to do with your project?”
“I want to explore more than just pop music. I want to travel the world and get inspiration from all kinds of creatures: yaks, kirin, dragons, and all the others. And I think the Nightmare Knights have a good style that can help me do it in a fun way. I want to make music that can mix all our cultures so what happened at the Crystal Empire won’t happen again.”
Applejack held off on answering. It was an ambitious task. But not a surprising one. Rara had always been one to want to inspire others, and she was always successful with it. For a cause that noble, she couldn’t find a reason not to take a second chance on Svengallop. At least not a good reason.
Amidst the trickling of the fountain, they heard a set of hooves trotting behind them. Both of them turned, thinking it was the rest of the teachers and speakers returning at their own leisurely pace. It was not.
They were both surprised to see Luna and Starlight.
“What in tarnation?” Applejack noticed the wear on Starlight’s face, looking as exhausted Big Mac hauling uphill on the last full day of apple-bucking season. “Where have you been all morning?”
“It’s only been half a day?” Starlight rubbed her forehead as if a headache just overwhelmed her. “Ugh! Hope Sunburst doesn’t have any plans today, I’m going to need his help finishing school work.”
“No time,” Luna hurriedly said to Applejack. “Have you seen the rest of my band? I need them for something. Just a quick twenty-two-minute trip, that’s all.”
“Lies,” Starlight muttered.
Two days later, Luna returned to the base of Daybreaker’s tower with the full force of her band beside her. Lightning Dust and Tempest chatted away, both still riding the excitement of their presentations at the School of Friendship.
To say they captured the students' interests was an understatement. Tempest’s adventures, Lightning admitted, kept students on the edge of their seats the most, but even Lightning’s stories about the Washouts and Wonderbolts attracted many beady-eyed griffons and pegasi.
As they waited, taking in the sights of the world that was so different from theirs, yet still oddly familiar. Tempest swore she saw at least one evil version of Starlight enter a casino, and the band all had a good laugh as Starlight protested that she would never risk her bits on gambling, no matter what version of herself it was.
Daybreaker, arriving just as they had agreed, flew down from the top of her tower to meet the band.
“I remember you,” she said, sizing up Tempest as if they were about to fight. “I never imagined a pony as powerful as you would be involved in this ridiculous thing.”
“You know how it goes,” Tempest shrugged, “destroying ancient magical shadows got boring after a while.”
Daybreaker nodded, surprising Luna that she seemed to sympathize, before returning to business. “This ploy had better work in my favour,” she told Luna, “I had to dedicate a sizable portion of my forces collecting the equipment for this… game of yours.”
“It’s just a small concert,” Luna said, “and as my sister I expect you to be a little more supportive of my career choices.”
“Isn’t that something you should be telling your actual sister?”
“Maybe one day.”
Daybreaker grumbled throughout the whole set-up, but she did nothing to impede the Nightmare Knights from setting up their concert. In fact, she seemed eager to get to the end and see the results. Four squads of six unicorn soldiers worked alongside the band, following whatever orders Svengallop barked, to assemble the stage, speakers, lights, and a giant projector screen to show the stage to the back of tonight’s crowd. And a crowd there would be.
Though her city was not in her full control, those who remained within the walls feared Daybreaker’s power enough to agree to attend the city concert, which had apparently been announced as a mandatory event while Luna was away.
Lording over her subjects and forcing them to attend probably wasn’t a good start to becoming a better leader, Luna knew that. But at least no one was imprisoned or dead yet, so perhaps it was better than it seemed.
And then Daybreaker asked something Luna did not expect. “How long have you been doing this concert stuff?”
The question itself was not so unusual, but that Daybreaker seemed to have the slightest interest in the band caught Luna unaware. “Uh…” she fumbled her words, “a few months short of a year, perhaps. Why do you ask?”
“That scrawny stallion of yours barks orders like he’s preparing for war. He even pushed my unicorns ahead of even my demanding schedule. It’s a pity he focuses his talents on games and music. With a few modifications, he could be a valuable commander.”
“Well, he can be privileged and annoying sometimes,” Luna remarked. “‘I’ll send him through the portal if I ever get tired of dealing with him.”
Daybreaker looked at Luna. “You jest.”
“Of course. If you think you can get something out of him, it’s probably for the best if I keep him close.”
“Why?”
“Frankly, I can’t afford to lose him. Svengallop keeps my whole band together.”
Daybreaker shook her head. “No, I mean how can you stand there and jest with me? I pay good money to have eyes and ears everywhere, I know what that unicorn said about me. Starlight, that’s the one. You should listen to her more, she’s right about me.”
“What, that you can’t be changed?” Luna laughed. “If that were true, you’d still be a mindless weapon. But here you are, letting your little sister put on a concert in your city.”
“Stop saying that,” Daybreaker growled. “You’re still not Nightmare Moon.”
“Ah, yes.” Luna spied the look in her eyes. She wasn’t so sure before, but after going through the dreams of three different villains, she was certain of what that look meant. She saw it in Scorpan after his brother was killed. In Chrysalis after Shining was crushed. And in Cosy Glow, when she mentioned the life once had. That was the look of a villain hiding the pain of loss.
She decided to leave the matter alone. There were other immediate issues. Like the song they were going to play.
“We should talk to Daybreaker about hiring some of her unicorns.”
Svengallop smiled confidently in the middle of the stage. All its bells and whistles were up and running, so to speak. There was a twinge of fear when Luna showed up at the school, suddenly asking for a concert out of nowhere. He was in the middle of a conversation with Coco and Rarity, prompting them about next year’s projected fashion trends. It seemed griffon feathers and dragon scales were making their way into high fashion, lately.
And then Luna showed up, and he was once again thrust into one of her adventures. Though, he was happy to be at the tail-end of this one. He thought it’d be impossible to be performance-ready in a day, but Daybreaker’s soldiers were remarkable workers. Whatever their bodies couldn’t do, their magic could. And they did everything asked of them without a single complaint.
Starlight paced around the stage beside him, tuning her guitar. “Yeah… no. We’re not doing that. Pieces of their brain are replaced by crystal circuits. Maud and Sunburst asked me to bring a sample, but I don’t even want to touch them. Whatever they do to ponies, it’s not natural.”
“Oh, stop being such a worrywart. Think of all the ‘pushing the boundaries of magic and understanding’ stuff that wizards always talk about.”
“Hm, you’re right,” Starlight mused. “Maybe I’ll stick one in your head and see if being a loud-mouth can be magically modulated.”
“You want to shut some pony up? Start with Lightning Dust,” he replied.
The two of them spoke freely, Starlight describing in more detail what she had faced in the few long hours that she had spent in the city. While the unicorn guards would probably annihilate the more aggressive elements in the crowd, Starlight warned Svengallop to watch his pockets if the crowd ever got too close.
He took the advice to heart, and in turn, he listed the songs they were prepared to perform on such short notice. Of course, everything on the setlist for their concert at the Rainbow Falls was on the table, except for the opening act. That one would have to wait. Luna’s new single was too complex to pull off without a properly prepared stage.
The rest of the band joined them on the stage at this point, fully dressed in their usual tour outfit.
“Oh, if only Coco could ship our costumes to another dimension,” Svengallop remarked as he looked at them. “This stuff is already too old.”
“I still like it,” Lighting flapped her wings, ruffling her long leather coat and hooded cloak. “It’s soft and comfy.”
“It will serve its purpose,” Luna added. “The important thing is for the city to be in awe of Daybreaker, not us. If they can learn to admire her instead of fear her, hopefully, she’ll learn to stop using the same violent methods that Eris used on her.”
“Bleh,” Tempest stuck out her tongue like a child who had just been fed a spoonful of bitter medicine. “Just thinking about her makes me sick.
Lightning smirked at her. “Really? I heard Eris used the same staff you used to steal Luna’s magic, the same way you stole the magic of all the princesses. Doesn’t that make Eris a bit like the old you?”
“A bit too much,” Tempest grumbled. “That’s why it makes me sick.”
Luna suddenly laughed. The rest of the band looked at her, taken back by the odd cheerful sound from their typically sombre leader. Luna wheezed, sucking in air and trying to control her outburst.
“Sorry, I’ve just been thinking about how strange it must seem,” she explained, “for the Nightmare Knights to return to where it all started, except to perform a song.”
“Hey, some of us weren’t there for that,” Svengallop said, taking a stand by Lightning Dust.
“No, I suppose things have changed a bit since then. Well, it’s for the best. I’m sure Daybreaker would have incinerated you in seconds if you were there at the start, Svengallop.”
They did not get much further along in their preparations before Daybreaker joined them to inspect their progress.
“Even after the chaos and scattering of the villains in my city, I still have hundreds of creatures coming to witness this ‘show’ of yours,” she said in her usual angry manner as they played through a quick soundcheck. “If nothing else, it had better be entertaining.”
Luna scoffed, more focused on adjusting the placement of her microphone. “What would you know about entertainment?”
“I’ve seen plays,” Daybreaker quickly defended. “Shakespony and the like.”
“Plays. Really?” Luna looked at her with disbelief and then rolled her eyes. “No matter what dimension I’m in, my sister loves plays.”
“Hardly something to complain about,” Daybreaker turned her nose up. “What are you getting at?”
Lightning Dust cackled a sharp laugh from her seat behind the drums. “Hah! She’s just upset because Celestia made a play roasting Luna, and then showed it at the biggest theatre in Equestria.”
“That’s not it,” Luna started, but she was quickly cut off.
“Wait, did you ever watch it?” Starlight asked.
“Once,” Lightning Dust said. “Never mentioned it since it bothers Luna so much. It was good. Tickets were pricey though.”
“What? When did you go?” Svengallop’s keyboard creaked and sputtered as he leaned forward onto the keys. “I wanted to watch it so bad! I heard it actually got really good reviews from critics.”
Tempest strummed her guitar and turned to look at them both. “Hey, stop it. You’re upsetting Luna.”
By then, Luna was seething at her band.
“No— I mean I am, but because of that!” Luna pouted, fussing harder with her microphone.
Daybreaker crept up to the edge of the stage where Luna stood and sneered up at her. “And I guess no matter where my sister goes, she’s still insecure.”
“I’m just sensitive, okay?” Luna snapped. She almost shouted more, but she abruptly paused and stared at Daybreaker. “Wait, did you call me your sister?”
“No, you just misheard.” Daybreaker spun around and pushed a gust of wind in front of her with her wings, dusting the street in front of her so she could walk without getting her hooves dirty. “Just get this juvenile display over with so I can send you back to where you came from.”
Villains or not, a performance was a performance. In the end, the opening song they picked was an obvious choice. It wasn’t the most popular piece, most of their fans didn’t know what the song actually meant. How could they?
When Luna first wrote it, all that was on her mind was paying homage to the Nightmare Knights’ beginnings. She never imagined she’d perform the song for its titular subject. But no other piece seemed more fitting.
Luna didn’t bother with a call out or greeting to rile up the crowd. The disgruntled faces told her enough: many of them had been forced or threatened to come. Of course they did, most of them probably believed a concert was beneath them. Well, she’d show them.
She walked centre stage, planted her hooves in front of the microphone, and started to speak.
“Well, well, well,” she chided them all, sending an echoing boom with her royal Canterlot voice, though modified to be a little deeper and raspier. “Looks like we all brought our game faces tonight. Villains, each and every one of you, yeah?”
“Tough? Brutal? Cunning?” She pointed to an assortment of minotaurs, dragons, and changelings in the crowd. “Well, I’m here to tell you about someone who’s all of that and more. Someone you all might think you know, but you really don’t.”
Starlight and Tempest started a very slow, low strumming of their guitars.
“So whether you want to or not, here it is everyone. Are you ready for: Daybreaker?”
Dark and ancient whispers
Echoes through the night
Tales of desolation
As the dawning light is drawing nigh
-
Bringer of destruction
Horizon glowing bright
She was locked in magic binds
That wouldn't last all night
-
The leash could not domesticate
Her fire stowed inside
And when the bane of Eris howls
The eternal dawn will rise
-
When the twines that hold her start to yield before her light
The day will come when Sun and Moon can conquer all in sight
-
Daybreaker
She ends the darkest night
Daybreaker
Brings havoc with her might
Daybreaker
Inferno bringing light
Daybreaker (x2)
-
Chaos offered help and aid
To forge a mighty bind
Created out of mysteries
Too great for normal minds
-
She started with the mists of
Every shadow she could find
The wit of words, and breath of lies
With lightning bolts entwined
-
They thought they were so clever
But they made an enemy
So when her vengeance is in reach
She's going to break free
-
When the twines that hold her start to yield before her light
The day will come when Sun and Moon can conquer all in sight
The rest of the band had returned through the portal, except for Starlight, who still distrusted Daybreaker enough to wait in case any emergency might happen at the final moment. However, she did give the sisters enough space to speak privately.
Daybreaker personally escorted the Nightmare Knights to the portal outside the city after the concert, leaving her guards to clean up the streets afterwards. Most of the villains, petty as they were, simply use the opportunity to rip some extra cash from the audience by picking pockets or, more likely, selling over-priced sweets and confections. At least someone got something out of the event. Luna could not say for sure if her sister felt the same.
“Just trust the process,” she told Daybreaker. “A few songs aren’t going to change their minds overnight. The ball’s in your field now. You just have to keep making them respect you out of love and awe instead of fear and terror. Or else someone like Cosy Glow is going to pop up again.”
“Trust is expensive here, you know.”
“Maybe. But you know what’s not expensive?” Luna unfolded a small ticket she had tucked away inside her mane. “Free tickets to my next concert. We’re playing a week and a half from now.”
“I’m not taking—”
“Are you turning back on your word now?” Luna asked, levitating the laminated ticket up against Daybreaker’s coat so much that it rubbed against her and clung to her by the power of static. “Remember, you asked me to help you take care of Scorpan, Cosy, and Chrysalis. One’s dead and the other two are bound in chains, I think that upholds my side of our deal.”
Daybreaker grumbled, but she said nothing.
“Don’t be so grouchy. Think about how I feel,” Luna continued. “You were backstage the whole time tonight. You were the one pony I wanted to see listening to my music, and you were hiding backstage. Uh-uh, don’t make that face, you were definitely hiding. Did you like it? They were some pretty good songs, right?”
Daybreaker gave her a moody sigh. “They were fine, as long as they served their purpose.”
“Really?” Luna raised a brow. “Jeez, I need to take you out to a club or something one of these days.”
Rather than fire back some retort or remark, Daybreaker just gave her sister a tired look and then pointed to the portal. “Just go. I can’t be a replacement for your own sister. Go home and fix your own problems.”
“I’m not replacing her with you,” Luna said. “You may be her counterpart, but you’re not Celestia. But, since Celestia doesn’t approve of my current life choices, I figured that gives me time to get to know my other, much cooler, sister.”
“Your sister who has a city of thieves and con artists to control,” Daybreaker replied.
“Alright, you’re busy, I get it,” Luna backed off towards the portal. “But just remember, the concert’s in a week and a half. I expect you to be there or I’m coming back. You can’t get rid of me!”
“Wait, no—”
But it was too late for Daybreaker. Luna and Starlight slipped away through the portal as quickly and abruptly as they had appeared.
What had she done?
A week ago, she had guards tearing floorboards out of hotels and casinos, searching for any and all creatures who’d help her enemies. Now it was over, for the moment, replaced by… what? She felt as if she had been dragged into the B-plot of a Shakesponian comedy after living through a tragedy.
Cognitive dissonance. There was a word for it.
As she stood by the empty field where magic warped grass into twisted, unnatural tendrils, one of her unicorn guards approached her, breathing hard from a fierce gallop from the city.
“My lord! You’re needed back at the tower.” And back to her tragedy again.
“What now?” Daybreaker asked. A sudden surge of exhaustion washed over her. She had been freed from the day-to-day struggle of worrying about enemies, and just a taste of that absurd, easy life was enough to make her brutalist tower, with all its machinations, seem more harrowing than ever.
“The prisoners, Cosy Glow and Chrysalis, they’re gone. Scorpan broke them out of the dungeons.”
“Say that again!” she snapped, her mane flaring up into an inferno. “I killed Scorpan, stabbed him through the heart. He is dead.”
The unicorn lowered her head. “H-he was injured. Very badly. But our magic still couldn’t pierce his stone skin. We think he snuck in during the concert, no one found him until we returned to our posts, but by then, he was halfway out of the city.”
Daybreaker wanted to scream. Scorpan was, if nothing else, durable. She thought she had broken the limits of his endurance after lancing his heart, but clearly, she had missed the vital point.
A dozen thoughts ran through her mind. Perhaps Scorpan was aided by some villains in the city. Her guards would have to burn them out in addition to sifting through the forests for Scorpan once again. Would she lose what little respect and loyalty she had just recovered? How many needed to exile? Killed? Interrogated? Imprisoned?
She felt the laminated ticket on her chest roll off, its tentative static cling losing its grip and floating down to the grass.
The hunt for those three villains could take months. Years, even. And she realized that it all sounded far too tedious for her to lead alone. What was the point of having power if she was just grasping for it desperately?
“What would you have us do, My Lord?” the guard asked.
Daybreaker quickly inspected the mare. An impressive specimen. Even after coming from a fight with Scorpan, she looked healthy and strong. The magic aura flowing out of her, while not as strong as that Starlight’s, was still a force to behold. Granted, she was young and short, but the size and strength difference between mares and stallions mattered little in the face of magic.
Yes, this one seemed trustworthy. Trustworthy enough, anyways.
“Let them run, for now,” Daybreaker told her. “I’m going on a trip soon, and hunting them down will take too much time. Right now we must reorganize the city, turn it into something too strong for three battered and broken villains to overthrow in a day. Do you think you can do that?”
She searched for the guard’s cutie mark, but there was none. She must’ve been young when she received the operation to become one of her soldiers. It annoyed Daybreaker, she had a hard enough time with names as it was. How was she supposed to promote a guard she couldn’t even recognize?
“M-me?” the guard stammered, flustering and pitter-pattering her hooves about in the grass. “I’m not sure what you mean. I live to serve you, Lord Daybreaker.”
She sighed. A procedure would have to be done to reduce the mindless obedience in this one, just enough to bring back the cleverness chained up in a prison of crystal circuitry.
“What is your name, soldier?”
“Sweetie Belle,” the guard answered.
“Well then, Sweetie Belle, you’re in luck. Some pony just convinced me to try an easier approach to ruling. I think it’ll do my mind some good. And I’ll need to serve as my Secretary-General. Can you do that?”
“Yes! Of course!” The guard saluted. “If that is what you wish, My Lord, it will be done.”
“Good. First order of business, Sweetie Belle: I’ll need a stronger fighting force if those three villains ever come back. See if you can grow our ranks to replace the ones we’ve lost. But try willing volunteers this time. It might be quicker than breaking the minds of our prisoners.”
Luna shook herself off, regaining her balance as the portal abruptly closed behind her and Starlight. The new portal that enveloped the mirror had receded, leaving only the deceptive innocence of one’s reflection in the original device.
A portal to a magicless, non-pony world. She wondered if adventures there would be even stranger than the one she just had.
“Luna, please,” Starlight slumped on the floor, not even willing to crawl a few paces over to a reading chair in the library. “Please tell me we are done.”
Luna giggled.”Yes, I am satisfied.”
“Do you think she’ll show up?”
“Who knows? She’s her own pony, but she’s still as obstinate as Celestia. All I can do is hope.”
“Next time, can your hopes and dreams be a little less convoluted? Some of us want to live to retirement.” Svengallop said. He was still stretching his neck out from the awkward sensation of portal travel.
Starlight shot him a stink-eye as if she was trying to figure out what kind of bodily hard he had to go through in all of this.
“Less convoluted. So more like, I dunno, starting a power metal band just to fulfil my thousand-year-old dream of making Equestria enjoy and love the night and its darkness as much as I do?”
“Yeah, I’d say that’s a pretty reasonable goal.”
Lightning Dust snorted a short laugh. “It’s better than strapping a kid to a rocket for shits and giggles.”
“Oh, by the way,” Starlight said. “While we’re on the topic of hopes and dreams, I have an announcement I need to make.”
“You’re finally tying the knot with Sunburst?” Lightning teased.
“First of all, gross,” Starlight said, pointing at Lightning to quiet down. “He’s just a friend, thank you very much. Secondly, my announcement is that I’d like to quit the Nightmare Knights.” She turned her head towards the mirror portal. “And actually, this adventure gave me an idea for who might be my replacement.”
“Mhm, I see.” Luna blinked, letting her brain catch up with Starlight’s words.
Suddenly, the Princess of the Night threw herself beneath Starlight, her hooves clasped tightly together in desperate prayer and plea.
“I don’t know what I did to upset you but I promise to make it up! Please please please don’t go, this band needs you!”
The young mare’s voice—were kirin genders called mares and stallions?—cut through the library like a pegasus through a storm cloud. The soft but high-pitched voice took his attention off his deck of flashcards. With Silverstream catching up with Yona, Smolder, and Ocellus, he had been mindlessly memorizing for the past few hours.
She was one of the new students who were supposed to transfer in after spring break. But, in the interest of reducing the kirin’s culture shock, the students had been given the choice to settle in early and get used to the school.
She looked a little older than the normal first-years, but maybe that was a kirin thing. Her fluffed mane and coat were covered in earth tones, shades of light brown and yellow, save for the red horn that all kirin had. What stood out were her eyes, sparkling blue like a clear stream of water, they were much brighter than most kirins’, who usually had amber or darker blue irises.
“Yeah?” he finally asked her. “You know me?”
“Of course!” Her voice pitched up almost as high as a newly hatched griffon’s chirping. “You’re one of the students who saved the school when the teachers were stuck in Tartarus, right?”
“One of six,” he answered. “Really did your homework, huh? Most of the other students barely mention it.” He paused. Come to think of it, how often did he talk to other students? Outside of class, he really only had five friends. Was that normal, for a second-year student of friendship? He felt as if it should’ve been more.
“Just a little. We heard the story during our welcome tour with counsellor Lulamoon.”
Gallus leaked a short laugh. “You can just call her Trixie. She’s not exactly… the formal type.”
“But she’s our counsellor, isn’t she?” the kirin tilted her head.
“Sure, but trust me, the rest of the students just call her Trixie. We’ve kinda seen her at her worst, so it’s hard to act formal. We still respect her, of course. Heck, me more than most, she’s stood up for me in a way that only my friends have. She definitely cares about students. She’s just… well, you’ll find out soon enough, I guess.”
“Hehe, I guess so,” the kirin giggled, but she didn’t say anything else. For a moment, Gallus worried he might have scared her away from talking to Trixie if she ever needed to. But she didn’t seem too concerned.
He then tried to return to his studying, but the kirin stayed beside his table, awkwardly making a little tip-toeing motion as if she wasn’t sure if she should leave or stay. Gallus wondered what was up with her for a moment before he realised he hadn’t actually found out why she approached him.
“Oh, sorry!” He put down his cards again. “Did you need something?”
The kirin’s face perked up immediately and a wide, white smile spread across her face. Gallus swore his table glowed brighter from the sunlight bouncing off her nearly perfect teeth. She seemed excited but still spoke softly. They were in a library, after all.
“Yes! My name’s Petal Blitz, and a couple of friends and I were wondering if you’d be able to give us a tour of Ponyville. We heard it’s an amazing town, but our tour never left the school grounds.”
Gallus suddenly remembered that feeling of his first day. The excitement to finally be somewhere that wasn’t Griffonstone still lingered inside him from time to time. It was just harder to remember between working and being bombarded with homework and tests.
“I wouldn’t mind helping you and your friends out,” he said, but then waved his flashcards in the air. “Except, it’s a really busy time right now for students. Midterms are three days away.”
“Oh! That’s right!” Petal knocked her hoof against her horn as if she was clearing her head out. “That explains why we can’t find your friends. We asked all over the school, but others weren't around.”
That made sense. Sandbar lived in Ponyville, so he could easily go home and eat a home-cooked meal while he studied. Lucky. The girls were out too, but just for the day. A little calm tea time before the storm of midterms.
Should he also take a break? Their teachers were always saying they had to keep a healthy work-life balance.
“Well, I guess I can spare an hour,” he quickly blurted out before Petal turned away from him. “Normally I’d be at work right now, but I got fired a few days ago.”
“That’s too bad, what happened?”
“Nothing. I worked part-time at the bakery, but the owner, Mrs Cake, teaches at the school sometimes. She knew I had tests coming up and refused to let me work until I was done with them.”
“That’s nice of her.”
“Yeah, I didn’t realize how behind I was on reviewing.”
“So, are you sure it’s okay to give us a tour?”
Gallus nodded. “I was starting to lose focus anyway. So, like I said, you got me for an hour. Let’s go.”
They sat around a round mushroom-shaped table at Cafe Hay. The spring sun was bright but the pegasi had still blown in cold air in the morning. The breeze made you forget about the heat while the sun made you forget about the cold.
Cups all around were filled with tea mixed with milk and sweetened with sugar, except for Ocellus who took hers with honey. Silverstream didn’t take tea, but she was fine with a stiff cup of black coffee.
“It’s been so long since it was just us,” Smolder said smiling, sipping her cup. “Though, it’s not like we have much to talk about. Just school, and then more school. I feel like my brain is melting.”
“Yona just need sleep. Should at least be awake for midterms.”
Silverstream nodded. “I can’t believe I only just finished mixing my songs together for my project. I swear, it is not as easy as it looks.”
“I guess that’s why everyone took the essay option,” Ocellus replied, “still, being able to listen to music for a project sounds like a nice change of pace. That said, won’t the grading scale be harder?”
“I dunno. Why would it?”
“Well, if only a few students do the music option, there’s less to compare. With a few hundred essays, the bad ones aren’t going to look as bad when there’s a dozen like them. But with only a few music projects…”
Silverstream pulled her mane over her face. “Actually, I don’t think I want to talk about that right now. How about spring vacation? The Nightmare Knights are playing at Rainbow Falls. Have any of you ever been there?”
“Sandbar has been there,” Yona said. “Sandbar says Rainbow Falls has best trade fair in Equestria. Fancy jewellery, old antiques, that kind of stuff.”
Smolder raised a brow. “To be fair, are there any other trade fairs in Equestria? I don’t think there’s a lot of competition for that title. Does sound cool though. Think they have any tea sets?”
Shopping talk!
The girls fell into a rhythm of discussing what they’d buy, or rather trade for, at the Rainbow Falls trade fair. Terrestrial jewellery was becoming popular at Mount Aris, according to Silverstream. No more pearls or bits of polished coral. And yaks loved adding Equestrian colours to their style of fashion.
“Yak weaving best, of course,” Yona reminded her friends, “but even Yona have to admit ponies have more colours.”
A passerby would never have looked twice at a group of girls tittering away about their wants and desires. It seemed stereotypical, but the truth was, these four kids were simply fulfilling their most natural desires as living beings. A desire for things!
All beings have it. Boys, girls, every creature in between. Even animals acted on a simple desire for the material goods that give them pleasure. In a school of friendship, luxuries had taken a backseat in their curriculum. But the scent of freedom from the day-to-day lessons was in the air. Spring break was approaching.
“I guess I’ll need to actually have stuff to trade,” Silverstream said. “I don’t suppose the trade fair can charge my bank card, right?”
The mention of the bank card, a tool created from enchanted pearls found in Mount Aris waters, brought back memories to Ocellus. Months ago Silverstream had to blow what most would have considered a small fortune just to pay for hotel rooms for the night.
“Are your parents going to be okay with it?” Ocellus said. “I thought you said you carried that around for emergencies.”
“Oh, it was,” Silverstream nodded, “but after I went to Cloudsdale with General Seaspray, I’m technically a trainee diplomat in Queen Novo’s court. I get a monthly stipend from the royal treasury, so now I don’t have to use my parents’ account.”
“I don’t know whether I should be impressed or terrified by your kingdom’s, let’s say liberal use, of its government spending.”
Silverstream shrugged. “Eh, it’s not like I can spend as much as I want. Besides, as long as no one looks too closely at what their taxes pay for I’m sure it’s fine.”
The four of them then sat there quietly under the blinding spring sun, stunned in a slow-looming fog of existential horror. What great powers pulled at the world’s string behind the curtains? Were their lives truly free, or were they mere products of some pony else’s machinations? How could their future ever be certai—
“Hey,” Yona’s attention burst out from the sudden wave of fiscal dread, “is that Gallus?” She pointed to the far end of the street at a group of young kirins, whose sharp, bell-like laughter jingled faintly in the wind as they trailed behind a blue-feathered griffon.
Silverstream held her talons over her eyes to block the sunlight. “I mean, maybe? I can’t tell from here. It could be any griff.”
“Any griff whose name is Gallus,” Smolder said. “How many blue griffons are there in Ponyville?”
“Looks like they just came from school,” Ocellus suggested. “They’re probably those new transfer students the professors said were coming. I thought they were coming after spring vacation though.”
“New students?” Silverstream gasped. “Let’s go! We have to welcome them!”
Petal Blitz and her friends were a breath of fresh air. Even the littlest things, like Sugar Cube Corner to the Ponyville town centre, seemed to fascinate them. Maybe it was growing up with no words or emotions that made them so excitable. Or perhaps it was just that Ponyville charm, its idyllic rustic architecture that made city-dwellers forget the brutalist sublimity of endless neon nights and towering forests of steel, or reminded distant rural farmers of the social closeness they had been missing.
Gallus and the kirin students followed the main road until they reached the Carousel Boutique. One of a few places that stood out, the choice of whites and purples emanated the aesthetic of a dollhouse more than anything else.
“One of our teachers actually owns this place,” Gallus told the students. “If you ever need a new outfit, this is the place for it. Careful though, Rarity might drag you into one of her new projects.”
“Oh, Petal, this place is so cool!” One of the other kirin, Sprinkle Bright, ran up to the glass where mannequins were on display, still wearing the knitted caps and scarfs from the winter season. “I saw in an old magazine once a singer who performed with a studded leather jacket, do you think this place has any of those?”
“That’s not really her style,” Gallus said, “but if she can’t make it, she probably knows some pony who can.”
It was the pride of any experienced student to know something about their teachers and to share it with the new ones. After all, such information could never be found in a book, but hard-fought after long hours of lectures and quizzes. Gallus didn’t want to say that it felt good to finally know more than others, but he could certainly think it.
“You know, if you like fashion, I’m pretty sure Rarity also runs an independent study program. Socializing in Fashion Retail, you’ll get school credit by working here for a few weeks.”
“Really?” Sprinkle’s eyes sparkled, unable to control her excitement. She grabbed Petal by the scruff of her mane and pulled her friend to the next window of outfits while making her friend swear to take that class together.
Suddenly, a voice from behind called out. “You sure know how to get around.”
Gallus turned around and saw Smolder smirking at him. “Didn’t you say you were behind on review?” she pointed out. “Or was leading around the new kids too hard to ignore?”
“Smolder? I thought you were with—”
“Surprise!” An unbelievable force struck him from above, and in an instant, Gallus was being crushed by his hippogriff girlfriend. “Sorry,” she giggled, “I wanted to make an impression on the new students.”
“Yeah, well,” Gallus groaned, stretching his back to work the pain out from the muscles, “I don’t think you’ll have to try hard for that. I think they heard about that one time we saved Equestria.”
The friends took their attention off Gallus and turned to greet the four young kirin, but instead, they were met with excited greetings themselves. They surrounded Smolder, fawning over her orange-tinted scales and leathery wings. They complimented Yona’s braids and ogled the vascular patterns on Ocellus’s wings. Even the mere volume and length of Silverstream’s hair captured their attention as the kirin compared it to their own curled manes.
What transpired could be described in many ways. While Gallus followed the new combined group as two or three conversations ran in parallel, he recalled something from their lessons on the development of identity and friendships: the Erikson Theory of Psychosocial Development, that was it, developed by Griff Erikson, a developmental psychologist from Griffonstone.
In their adolescence ponies, or creatures who developed like ponies, experience the conflict between their identity and role confusion. As one’s interests developed and became more clear, they either coalesced into an identity that was secure or fluctuated into something unstable or amorphous. Alleviating the conflict was, according to Griff, responsible for the adolescent desire to form cliques and tight friend groups, for sharing interests with one’s friends and close peers helped solidify one’s identity.
Or perhaps this was more according to the thinking of Vigor Sky, a pegasus psychologist who modelled learning through the zone of proximal development. Young pegasi mastered flying by watching their parents or older peers and often sought such role models to master skills they could not learn alone. Such was the zone of proximal development, and in some sense, the kirin were very much in the same boat.
A new school, new land, surrounded by new creatures, they probably desired mentors to guide them through those. Griff or Vigor, or perhaps it was a little bit of both, whatever the case was, Gallus quickly realized he could never have the same perspective of a girl.
“Hey,” Silverstream whispered, nudging him out of his thoughts, “you’ve been quiet. What’s on your mind?”
Gallus blinked and suddenly they were standing in the school courtyard again, between the dorms and the classrooms.
“Holy crap how long did I zone out for?”
“Twenty minutes or so.”
It was just the two of them now. Silverstream told him that while he was in his head, Ocellus and the others helped the kirins find their way around the school to the dining hall for lunch.
“So, back to studying?”
“Might as well,” he said, rubbing his head. “I was just thinking about some of the stuff we learned in class. I can’t even keep the information out of my head while I’m relaxing.”
“We’re days away from exams. That’s probably a good thing. Come on, I’ll join you. I have to look through my flashcards anyway.”
For all her quirks and extroversion, Silverstream was exceptionally adorable when she was focused and quiet. At least Gallus thought so.
She chewed the end of her pencil when she was frustrated, the tip of her beak making deep punctures along the length of the wood. When she got stuck or was trying to recite some vocabulary words to herself, she’d fall into a rhythm of twirling strands of hair around a talon until it was wound up tightly, before slowly letting her mane loosen and return to normal.
Noon turned to afternoon, though the lengthening days meant that Princess Twilight had to leave the sun in the sky for nearly an hour longer. As the orange rays of a lazily setting sun cast themselves through the windows, Gallus heard a trill of tapping along the edge of the table. Silverstream’s talons quickly ran along his shoulder and danced up to his neck like a line of ants.
“Hey!” he said, unable to hide his smile. “What was that for?”
“I just wanted to do that.” Silverstream laid her head on top of a stack of textbooks. “I think I’m burnt out without Ocellus reminding me of how much I don’t know.”
“Oh please, you’ll do fine.”
“Yeah? I guess I’m just worried, I want to have a great spring vacation without having to worry about how I did on the tests. Speaking of which, the girls and I talked about doing something together during our break.”
“Like what?”
“Mostly girl stuff, like shopping.”
“Shopping? You mean like buying clothes that fit one body proportion so that overly tall or short mares will have pants with waists that are too big or too tight?”
“And pants with no pockets,” Silverstream nodded. “So we’re forced to buy purses.”
“Are we sure griffons don’t run the fashion industry?” Gallus asked. “We should be careful, Rarity might hear us.”
They shared a soft laugh, trying to be considerate of the other students tirelessly working in the library.
“But seriously, we’re thinking about going to the trade fair at Rainbow Falls. The Nightmare Knights are playing, so we can support Headmare Starlight too while we’re there. You wanna join?”
“You really have to ask? Of course I do.”
Silverstream smiled and the feathers along the crest of her head stood up slightly, just as they did for birds when they were excited. She locked talons with Gallus, gently scratching at his wrist.
“You know, it’s funny. This might sound selfish so I kept it to myself, but when I saw you walking with those kirins, I felt funny. You were just helping them out, but still, I wanted to swoop in and keep you to myself.”
“Yeah, my back’s still feeling that tackle.”
“The trade fair only lasts the first new days of spring break, do you know what you’re going to do after?”
Gallus shook his head. It wasn’t something he thought about that much. Going back to Griffonstone didn’t feel like going home. Equestria and the school, Ponyville itself, that’s where he felt like he belonged.
“Gruff will probably make me clean up his nest or something. Or maybe I’ll run into Gabby and she’ll dump all her delivery stories on me.”
“Or,” Silverstream let her voice linger on the air for a second as she looked up at Gallus with sleepy eyes, “you could meet my parents. Queen Novo’s holding a big society bash back home. It’s totally going to be boring, but I have to show up. It’d be nice if you could be there too.”
“Y-your parents?” Gallus blinked, stunned.
Was it too soon? Too late? He didn’t even have his own family, he had no idea what to expect from his girlfriend’s family. But he took one look at Silverstream and he knew it didn’t matter. Maybe he didn’t know what to expect, but he knew that her happiness meant everything.
“I’ll be there,” Gallus agreed without hesitation.
“Once we’re in, you can’t use your fire. At all. Not a spark. Understood?”
Ember held the Bloodstone Scepter above her head, its reddish light bathing the mouth of the cave so that the stone appeared like flesh. The maw of stone, though immobile and waiting, threatened to swallow the two dragons whole.
“Are you sure this is the right cave?” Spike stepped back. “When you said it had historical importance, I was thinking it’d be more like a museum. The small and manageable kind.”
“You’re an ambassador, aren’t you?” Ember quizzed him. “I thought it was your job to go on crazy adventures like these.”
“I prefer quiet meetings and reviewing reports.”
But he was still here to do a job. Spike eventually swallowed his fear and followed Ember through the mouth of the cave. He thought it would be a simple mission to go to the Dragonlands and help Ember prepare reservoirs to collect rainwater. He blamed himself for forgetting what dragons were like. Nothing came easily.
The volcanic soil in the Dragonlands made the perfect farmland. The catch was that they had nowhere to store their water. There were plenty of lakes and rivers of lava, but that was also the problem. The land itself was in constant motion. Bubbling gasses trapped under the surface constantly cracked through the rocky surface. And a single fight over a horde of gemstones was enough to send stone pillars crumbling down.
The land was flat, barren, and cracked apart. As Ember put it when Spike arrived, the choices she had left felt like picking a number between one and two. According to her, the cave they were entering was the only place big enough, and more importantly stable enough, to become a reservoir.
“Spike, can I ask you a question?” Ember turned to him as they flew deeper into the cave.
“Sure, anything to forget about how dark and deep this cave is.”
“Have you heard of the Six World Eaters? Are there books about them in Equestria?”
“World Eaters?” Spike quivered, staying close to Ember and relying on the Bloodstone Scepter’s light. “I don’t think so. And I’d remember something like that.”
Ember clicked her tongue with disappointment. “That’s what Twilight said too in her letters.”
“Why do you ask?” Spike checked over his shoulder. “They wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with this cave, would they?”
“Well…” Ember said, dragging out her voice. “Maybe? Do you remember the story of Dragonlord Scintilla?”
Spike nodded and recounted what he still knew. “She led dragons to the Dragonlands after signing a peace treaty with Prince Ulysses and the yaks. And she was the first creature ever to be an Honorary Yak.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Ember said. She stretched out the sceptre, following the faint light it cast on the cave walls until they reached a bend in the tunnel. It curved but luckily did not fork. “But it might not be the whole story.”
“Twilight made me read a lot of history books,” Spike said, “and that’s usually the case with history.”
“Dragons don’t have a good record of our history, not the way ponies do for theirs,” she admitted. “Dragons live for a long time. My father was already an adult by the time Equestria united into a single kingdom. Writing history down seems a lot less important when you were there for it a thousand years ago.”
“Twilight would have a heart attack if she heard that kind of thinking,” Spike chuckled.
Ember somberly continued gliding. “The story of Scintilla was one of the oldest ones we remember. For the longest time, we thought it answered all our questions of how we got here. But after all the questions Twilight keeps sending me to learn more about dragons, I’m starting to think that’s not true anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“She sent me books about comparative mythology. She wanted to know if dragons have any myths. And we do.”
“The Six World Eaters?”
Ember nodded. “They’re named after the first of their kind, Djormunsormir, the Great Serpent that surrounds all of Equestria. Each of the World Eaters has their own stories, but in the end, they all make their resting place in a far off land. And in each story, that land is prophesied to become the homeland of dragons.”
She paused, stretching her wings out to catch more air and flapping hard to stay in one place. “Before we go on, I should be clear about this. I need to know if this cave is one of those resting places.”
Spike was stunned. “Like a grave? We’re searching for a dragon grave?”
“Not exactly.” She waved the sceptre above their heads, pointing to the walls of the cave. Spike couldn’t see what she was showing him at first, but as his eyes adapted to the darkness, he saw the pattern of dragon scales embedded in the sediment and the shadows of impressions left by bone. “According to the myths, we’re inside a dragon grave.”
“The World Eaters are part of old myths that predate everything about dragons, even Scintilla. For the longest time, dragons believed it was Scintilla that discovered the Dragonlands, along with Prince Ulysses. But based on the books Twilight sent me, creatures in Equestria knew about the Dragonlands thousands of years before Scintilla is even mentioned.”
“That’s all very interesting. I’m sure Twilight would love to hear more.” Spike was flying around in panicked circles. “But I’m not Twilight! Why are we in the fossilized remains of a mythical dragon?”
“Is it mythical?” Ember asked, her tone growing frustrated. “Because I’m stuck on a big question. This grave has been a beacon for our people. We used to believe she made this land our home because she realized it was the land from the prophecies. But if ancient history has known about this place before Scintilla did, then how can we be sure the myths aren’t just stories about big dragons who happened to move here before Scintilla did?”
She sighed and pressed her claws up to her temples. “Do you even know the name of this cave?”
“Twenty minutes ago, I didn’t even know this place was important!” Spike threw his claws up, giving up in trying to rationalize his position.
“We call it Nithogir’s Rest,” Ember crossed her arms. “I’ll cut out the details. The gist of Nithogir’s myth is that he laid himself to rest as a sacrifice, using his blood to release all magic into the earth. Eventually, the prophecy said a powerful magical tree would sprout from his blood, accumulating power and feeding Nithogir until he could rise again and conquer the world.”
“So he sacrificed himself… to himself?” Spike gawked. “Hold on, the magical tree, that almost sounds like—”
“I know what it sounds like,” Ember snapped. “That’s not the point. Nithogir’s story is important to our people, Spike. Dragons can’t use magic like unicorns, but we knew it existed and Nithogir was how we explained it.”
She pointed her claw to the cave’s ceiling. “What I need to know is if this is really him. If that story is wrong, then this mythical cave might just be a cave. One big enough to hold all the water we’d ever need.”
Ember breathed heavily, both from getting so worked up and being so deep underground. She slowed her wings and descended down to a ledge on the cave walls, setting her sceptre down. She cupped her face in her claws and released a long, croaking sigh into them. Spike thought she almost sounded like a boiling teapot with too much pressure built up inside.
“Are you okay?” He sat down beside her.
Ember nodded. “You’re the only one I can say all this to. Twilight wouldn’t understand, ponies don’t know what the World Eaters represent to us. And dragons can’t even agree over it. Conservationists want to protect our culture, but the Progressives want to forget about our past and build something new.”
“So, we’re just looking for something that will tell you if this cave was made by Nithogir’s…” he paused and shuddered. “Something made by Nithogir’s remains, right?”
Spike steeled his nerves, flapped his wings, and hovered before Ember, wearing a big grin on his face. “I might not be good at being a dragon, but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s finding things. Books, gemstones, you name it.”
Ember lifted her head and smiled, picking up her sceptre and slowly flying ahead of Spike again. “I don’t know what I’ll do if it turns out this thing is the real deal. But I have to try, at least. I have to know its true value before I decide. Come on, we gotta pick up the pace if we want to find any clues.” She waved the sceptre around. “By the looks of it, I’m pretty sure we haven’t made it out of the throat yet.”
“Seriously?” Spike gawked. “Just how big was this dragon?”
Nithogir’s Rest, whether or not it could be called mythical, was definitely marvellous. Spike still recoiled at the sight of the impression it had left behind, but he couldn’t help but be impressed at the same time. Where the ribcage would have pressed into the ground, deep gutters had formed. The scales had long decayed and crumbled into dust, but not before leaving their pattern in the pumice and obsidian.
“What are we looking for, exactly?” he asked. “How are we going to find anything that will tell us if this is really Nithogir?”
Ember waved the sceptre around her, holding it inches from the cavern walls. “It’s called the Bloodstone Sceptre for a reason. Legends say the first Dragonlord captured a unicorn magician and forced him to perform his alchemy, transmuting a powerful gemstone using the blood of the World Eaters. I’m not a magic expert, but I think the sceptre should react to the blood it was made from.”
“I thought it got its name from the colour.” Spike stared at the sceptre with a great deal of disgust and a little awe mixed in.
“There are many versions of the legend,” Ember said. “Who knows? Maybe it is just a red rock.”
Spike did his best to look for signs in the stone walls. Not all of the cave was made from the body of the dragon. Stalactites dangled from the ceiling, while puddles of naturally formed acid had gradually eroded divets and holes in the bottom of the cavern. Despite the sunless depths, there was still life in the cave. Small insects, nearly unnoticeable because of their pale forms, skittered across the stone walls. They gathered around acrid-smelling slimes, festering on the bacteria moulds that managed to survive without sun or fresh air.
The grand and the decrepit, the marvellous and the putrid, their clashing made Spike unsure what to think about the landmark. For Ember’s sake, he didn’t want to find anything. It would be easy for a few big dragons to start smashing in the top of the cave, collapsing it and using the remaining space as one giant lake. But the possibility of uncovering a true dragon legend was just as exciting. What that would mean for dragons and dragon heritage, he had no idea. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to find out.
They finally stopped once they reached about where the lungs would have been. Below them, the cave sunk even deeper, the stomach of the dragon seeming to double the cavern’s size.
“No fire,” Ember reminded him. She held out the sceptre, but wherever the bottom of the cavern was, it wasn’t remotely close enough to catch the red glow from the gemstone.
Spike nodded. He had been around Twilight long enough to guess why. Nithogir or not, the dragon’s body had been around for thousands of years. Countless centuries of decomposition by bacteria, gradually building up more and more natural gas. They had no way of knowing how much, or how violent the reaction could be. But at the worst, a single spark could rupture the entire cavern and bring hundreds of tonnes of volcanic stone crumbling down on them.
With no other source of light, Spike followed Ember down into the bowels of the cavern.
“Tell me more about our myths. Who were the other World Eaters?”
“Interested? Guess you’re still a dragon at heart.” Ember smiled. “Well, my favourite story is the one about Gandr. Her true name isn’t known, so ‘Gandr’ is more like a title or a nickname, and it meant ‘monster’ during the time of the ancient yaks.”
“She was a monster? That’s not very inspiring.”
Ember shrugged. “Maybe to a yak or pony. But dragons tell her story so much we even have other names for her. She’s the Pale Dragon, the Trickster Queen, or the Iron Gatekeeper.”
“Of course,” Spike sighed, but he let her continue.
“She was actually the smallest of all the World Eaters, somewhere between you and me, in terms of height. Worse still, she was born disfigured. Her scales were thin and nearly colourless, her tail was crooked and her bony wings were like paper. The legends say she looked like a frosted glass window and was just as fragile.”
“If she was so weak, what did she do to get a myth?”
“At first, not much. Even as an adult, she was treated like a child among the other dragons. She was an outcast for being born weak, but at least no one paid attention to her. That was until the dragons realized they weren’t winning their wars. In the story, after a long string of losses, one of the dragons got the idea that Gandr was a curse, like a bad luck charm or something, and they needed to get rid of her.”
The Dragonlord paused her searching, holding the sceptre up to Spike so that they could see each other clearly in the cavern. “The other dragons were desperate, so they agreed,” she said. She spoke quickly now, caught up in her retelling. “They put her in a cage, but she melted the locks. Then they trapped her in a cave with a boulder, but she was so small she slipped through the cracks. On the third try, they were so frustrated that they just threw her into the deepest hole they could find.”
“I don’t think I’m going to like the next part,” Spike leaned back, bracing himself.
“Probably not.” Ember chuckled. She grabbed a pebble off the ground and tossed it into a puddle of acrid water to illustrate the tale. “After escaping their prisons, the dragons became convinced Gandr was a curse. They feared and hated her just for how she was born and so they imprisoned her in a hole so deep she could never fly out no matter how hard she tried.”
“What kind of hole is that deep?”
Ember looked at Spike with a funny expression.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing, I just thought you’d figure it out since it’s in Equestria,” she told him. “That hole was Tartarus.”
Spike’s face turned pale. “Oh.”
“But Gandr refused to die. Hated by her kind, treated like a monster by every living thing, her madness and anger manifested into something impossible. In the depths of Tartarus, she learned the secrets of harnessing the spirits of the damned. Whenever an earthquake happens, that’s Gandr trying to claw her way out. Whenever a child thinks they see a ghost, that’s Gandr’s will taking form, sent to the surface to collect the dead for her army of revenge.”
Spike eyed the Dragonlord with mild concern. He didn’t know what to expect, but he never imagined that dragons would have a myth for death itself. “Wait, you said the World Eaters all ended up in the Dragonlands in their stories,” he noted. “Tartarus is in Equestria.”
“Well, the entrance to Tartarus is in Equestria,” Ember said, “but doesn’t it stretch all the way down?”
Spike shrugged. “No one really knows much about the place. Celestia just used it to put away monsters and villains.”
“Well, most dragons believe Tartarus is underneath the whole world, so by being in Tartarus, she’s also under the Dragonlands. Every volcano eruption is her rage, every earthquake is her getting closer to the surface to reclaim what is hers.” She probably did not realize it, but Ember’s eyes were wide and gleaming from the light of the sceptre, with an excited grin from horn to horn. “Gandr might have been born with nothing, but in her hollow home she swore that eventually, everything would belong to her.”
Spike took a deep breath, which was hard to do so deep in the cave, trying to process everything he had heard. It seemed like every time he visited the Dragonlands, he was reminded of how unlike a dragon he was. He had no clue what dragon culture was like. Like a pony, he thought that most dragons had a one-track mind. Eat gems, fight, and sleep.
But myths made up a culture. His people’s beliefs and views of how the world worked were completely alien to him. Spike kicked around a loose stone, lost in thought now and barely searching for any trace of Nithogir. Did it even matter? He touched the rough pattern on the cave floor. Even with sediment deposits building up, he could still see the impression left by the leathery belly of the dragon. Whoever it was, World Eater or not, it was an important place. Was it worth it, to replace a place of heritage with a reservoir just so the Dragonlands could be more like Equestria?
“What is it, did you find something?” Ember raised the sceptre over Spike’s head and looked around. The red glow reflected off the rocks, where water had condensed against the cold surface, but there was no real reaction to the sceptre’s magic.
“It’s nothing,” Spike said. “I just realized that I might want to be more like a dragon.”
Spike grunted as Ember pulled him up, back to the surface. His wings were totally spent after hours of searching, and he realized he had forgotten what fresh air smelled like. Even the Dragonlands’ air, choked with volcanic fumes and ash, smelled better than the acrid, stagnant chambers.
He felt as though he’d never be clean. He had just combed over every crack and crevice of a dragon’s grave, and worse still, they had nothing to show for it. Ember seemed lighter, however. The Bloodstone Sceptre never reacted to anything in the caves, let alone some supposed piece of a legendary World Eater.
Still, Spike couldn’t shake the feeling that it was still an impressive resting place. He imagined the former Dragonlord standing beside them. Ember’s father was a behemoth of a dragon, but he was still dwarfed by Nithogir’s Rest.
“Ember,” he started, “I was wondering—”
A roar cut off Spike as a pair of wings blocked out the sun, violently kicking up a gust of ash from the rocks around the cave. A brown-scaled dragon, a fully grown adult and at least ten times bigger than Ember glided down and perched on a crag of obsidian. A small host of smaller dragons, younger adults, followed suit and stood beside him.
“Dragonlord!” the brown one boomed. “What are you doing here?”
“My job, Stoneplitter.” Ember stepped forward, facing the dragon’s challenge with the Bloodstone Sceptre tightly clenched in her claws. “You should be doing yours, back in the Ash Citadel. I’ve already heard all about your complaints, but I still need to survey Nithogir’s Rest in the event we do bring it down.”
“That option is not on the table, whelp.” The dragon’s voice dimmed from a roar to a hiss as his head, affixed to a serpentine neck, lowered down to glare at Ember in the eyes. “Your father respected our traditions. He should have taught you better.”
“I know the stories, but they’re just that,” Ember responded immediately. “If Nithogir was ever real, he lived too long ago to even matter. No dragon alive can even remember a shred of the truth.”
“The Bloodstone Sceptre...” Stoneplitter began.
“Did nothing,” Ember said. “If Nithogir’s Rest was so important, the Bloodstone should have reacted to something that he left behind. But there’s no magic here. No legendary artefact. It’s just a sad, empty hole in the ground. The Progressives are right, this place is a monument to nothing but our own stagnation.”
“You snivelling brat! The Progressive are a collection of upstart whelps. They think they have the respect of the world, but the ponies have us in their pockets. You’ve neutered us by banning our raids for gemstones. We pawn off our scales and our labour, doing business like common ponies toiling in the mud. And now you’re destroying our heritage to appeal to a bunch of ponies! A dragon doesn’t get given respect, he takes it for himself.”
“It’s a good thing this dragon is in charge, then,” Ember replied, flying higher to establish her position over Stonesplitter. “And she says it is time to move on and become a part of the world. We won’t survive on might alone.”
“You won’t,” the brown dragon growled.
Spike decided the snarling of the two dragons was a good sign that it was time for him to step in. He jumped between them, his claws outstretched to push them apart, though he was barely larger than a pebble compared to the adult.
“What is this?” Stonesplitter smirked. “That pony-loving whelp? This is a matter of dragon heritage, boy. You do not get a say.”
“I’m a dragon too,” Spike said, ignoring the insult, “and I agree with you.”
“You… what?” Both Ember and Stoneplitter flashed their fangs at Spike, more out of surprise than anything else.
“I know I wasn’t born here, but hearing the stories about the World Eaters, and then seeing how big Nithogir’s Rest is, I can’t help but feel connected to it. This place might not have the magic powers from the legends, but it does have a power. I can’t explain it, but it calls to me like it’s telling me this is what it means to be a dragon whenever I look at it.”
He gestured to Ember. “But the Dragonlord is also right. Being able to grow crops and export them to Mount Aris and Equestria during their winter seasons will make the Dragonlands an essential part of the world. You’ll actually have an economy and be able to buy all the gems you want from the Crystal Empire.”
“Spike, what are you trying to say?” Ember asked. “We can’t grow crops without a reservoir for rain.”
“But it does just have to be a reservoir, does it?” Spike suggested. “What I’m saying is that Nithogir’s Rest doesn’t have to be destroyed, it can be transformed. You can make it a reservoir, but you can also make it a national monument at the same time. It’ll be something creatures all over the world will come to see to learn about dragon culture and history. I can’t think of anything more respectful than making Nithogir’s story more well-known.”
The Dragonlord and Stonesplitter both fell silent, and then looked at each other. There was still tension between them, but it seemed diminished now.
“You want to make this place into some kind of museum?” Ember asked.
“That sounds like what a pony would do,” Stonesplitter said. “And it can go wrong in a dozen ways. There’s no telling what might happen to the caves if you mess with it. It could all come down and be destroyed anyway.”
“Enough,” Ember said and raised her Sceptre. “If this is what Spike thinks is best, I will take his advice and consider the new option. For now, this discussion is settled.”
“Settled? Ha!” The brown dragon barked a fierce laugh. “I’m not the only Conservationist in the Dragonlands. I hope Caldera gives you an earful when she hears about you sniffing around here.”
“That’s for me to deal with, Stonesplitter. For now, go back to the Ash Citadel and do your job.” The Bloodstone Sceptre glowed, and suddenly the grown dragon, confident in his stance and power, shrunk away.
“As you will it, Dragonlord,” he grumbled disgruntledly.
The dragon took off, the confident beating of his wings now reduced to a humble fluttering. The other younger adults looked at their leader, and then among themselves as if questioning whether they should follow or stay and try to make their own arguments. Eventually, they all flew off, trailing behind Stonesplitter.
“Do you think we can do it in time?” Ember asked Spike. “Can we really transform Nithogir’s Rest into a monument and a reservoir?”
“If enough dragons agree to work on it, I don’t see why not,” Spike said. “We can keep part of the caves intact, maybe the head and neck, and have kiosks by the entrance with information pamphlets. Oh! And maybe we can have boat rides down the tail once it turns into a river. ”
Ember chuckled at his enthusiasm. Even though he was sent just as an advisor, she felt reassured seeing Spike take such an interest in his heritage. She was glad he found a compromise. Pushing for the reservoir made sense to Ember, but she still couldn’t deny that feeling Spike described, as if just by looking at the imprint left behind by a dragon made her feel like she belonged in the Dragonlands.
Like a dog leaving its mark on its territory. Ember fought to control a snicker. It sounded so basic, but it was powerful. Dragons didn’t have many symbols to call their own.
“I have a question, though,” Spike asked, his voice pulling Ember out of her thoughts. “That thing you mentioned, what’s the Ash Citadel?”
“That? Oh, it’s nothing special,” she answered. “Just a small dragon colony I’m trying to build out in that desert south of Equestria.”
“A dragon colony?” Spike stood stiff, eyes wide at Ember. “Since when did dragons have a colony?”
“Months ago? Maybe a year?” Ember shrugged. “I don’t know and I’m tired, Spike. I’m just going to have to explain it another time.”
“I can’t talk right now, Svengallop. Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”
Rainbow Dash trod through the school as fast as her hooves could take her. She would’ve galloped or flown out of there as soon as possible, but on account of a little accident a few weeks ago, which she still insisted was not her fault, Starlight had banned running and flying in the hallways.
Could the rules be bent just this once? She hoped so. Svengallop was relentless, following her from the school’s entrance through to the classrooms and teacher’s lounge.
“Yeah, on the road to Rainbow Falls, but I can’t find any of my band members, so you better cough up what you know.”
“That’s kind of not my problem,” Rainbow said as she swerved around two students frantically going over their notes as they walked to their next test. “I’m proctoring for Starlight right now. I don’t know where she went, she didn’t tell me anything, and I don’t know anything about the rest of your band either. Now leave me alone.”
She took one quick look down the hallway, making sure the way was clear, and then bolted through the air as fast as she could without blowing out the windows.
“That’s just great,” Svengallop said, pressing a hoof up to his temple, “now how the fuck am I going find them?”
“Svengallop?”
He jumped and whirled around, finding a young orange-scaled dragon standing behind him and clutching a binder full of papers.
“Oh hey... you,” he said.
“Smolder. You remember, right? From the—”
“Crystal Empire, yeah. By the way, Smolder, you wouldn’t happen to know where Starlight is, would you?”
Smolder shook her head. “Can’t help, sorry. I gotta get to my next test, but if you’re still looking for her when I’m done, I can help.”
“I’m perfectly capable on my own, thank you,” Svengallop said, waving her away. “You just do your friendship test or whatever.”
“Hey, unless you have the school memorized and wings to fly, I’m pretty sure you need me. But if you’re so sure, fine. See ya around.” She hurried past him to her next classroom.
If her own teachers and students didn’t know where she was, Svengallop realized he probably wasn’t going to find her. That was fine. She was usually late, anyway. He looked through a window, out to the Castle of Friendship overlooking Ponyville. Starlight might’ve been lost to him, but he knew for a fact Lightning Dust and Tempest were still around.
The words flashed boldly in the bright evening sun. Nights were getting shorter, but still, the arcade lights flashed their vibrant colours in the dimmed orange sun. Bakeries, nature trails, spas and saunas, Svengallop checked every corner of what scant attractions, if you could call them that, Ponyville offered. Worse still, he couldn’t shake his new tail.
Smolder caught up with him an hour ago when he was asking shop owners if they had seen Tempest or Lightning, or as he put it, an “edge-lord unicorn” or a “crazy pegasus.” He was thankful she cut the time in half by flying through the shops but wondered why she was still hanging around him.
“If we don’t find them here, can I still kick your ass at air hockey?” she asked, looking through the window at the games the arcade offered.
“I’m telling Starlight you said that.”
“Yeah, if you can find her.”
“You’re not even a little worried about where she might be?” he asked.
“Nope.” Smolder shook her head as they entered. “I’ve seen her banish Discord’s physical form, I’m sure she can handle her own problems. I’m more worried about you, dude. You look like you didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Worried about me?” Svengallop let off an exasperated sigh. “Look, kid, I know we almost died to shadow monsters or whatever, but I’ve never been good with kids. I won’t be a good friend, just saying.”
A blaring bell rang through the arcade as some colts hit the high score in one of the games. Big yellow letters lit up like stars over the arcade machine, reading out TEST YOUR BUCK followed by a small red score on the crystal screen below.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re a piece of shit or something like that, I’ve heard all about it from professor Applejack. Hey, do you think I can try that strength machine? Dragon’s don’t really kick like ponies, but I could give it a good punch.”
“I don’t think any pony’s going to stop you,” Svengallop commented before realizing he was getting sidetracked.
He watched silently in the sticky muck of the arcade, where drippings of cotton candy and other confections crept and crawled and clung onto joysticks and ticket dispensers, all the while warm air from the street outside crashed with the cool touch of air conditioning. He wanted to return to the spa, even if Tempest and Lightning Dust would never be found there.
And then came the ding-dong bells ringing in the air. Smolder gave an impressive hit on the buck strength game, but quit once it became clear that a kick from the hind legs of a pony was nothing to laugh at. She carried on without breaking her stride and began chucking tiny balls through a miniature buckball hoop. She scored dead-centre once. Then again. And again until a pile of tickets spewed out at her feet.
She gathered them up and played again, pulling another gilded coin from her coin pouch, a small little bag with a drawstring that circled the waist that would scarcely be noticed unless looked at directly. Kla-chink rolled the coin into the buckball machine, and Smolder resumed her raid of the machine’s supply of tickets.
Svengallop walked up beside her. “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to do it like that. It’s called buckball. I think you kick it.”
“Meh,” Smolder shrugged, “every creature has their own way of doing things.”
“Y-yeah, but that’s not the point of the game.” He looked at the growing bundle of tickets in her claws. “But I can’t deny the results.”
“You wanna try?” Smolder passed a ball to him. “You just have to yeet it as hard as you can.”
“No thanks, I don’t do… yeeting,” he said. “Besides, I still have a few ponies to find, remember?”
And then, with no warning or proper transition, Tempest and Rara entered the arcade. Svengallop stopped and stared, his silence grabbing Smolder’s attention for a moment.
“Huh, will you look at that,” she sneered at him. “Told you I could help.”
“Hrrm…” Svengallop said, clenching his jaw. “Shut up. This doesn’t mean you were right.”
Svengallop dragged Tempest out of the arcade and planted her hoofs on the side of the road. “I have been searching for you all day. Where have you been?”
Tempest shrugged. “Well, Dropsy went back to the Crystal Empire to get stuff to trade at Rainbow Fall, so I’ve just been waiting for Starlight. She’s supposed to teleport us there, right?”
“Okay, well there are other things we could have done, like practising our opening song or tuning the guitars a little.”
“I tuned mine last week. Jeez, you need to relax, old man.”
“I am not— what the hell even is a ‘man?’”
“We heard some ponies saying it at the bowling alley,” Rara said, giggling along with Tempest. “Does it matter what it is? It fits you.”
“Har-har, guess that’s what I get for not teaching you how to respect your elders.” Svengallop looked away, raising his chin up at their indignity.
“Not like there’s much going here to respect,” Rara continued, waving him off.
Svengallop gasped. “How dare— after all that I’ve—” he flustered over his words before locking himself up in a grimace. “You know what? Fine.” He peered at Tempest. “It’s not like any pony,” he paused and looked at Smolder, “anyone listens to me anyways. Since we’re all waiting on Starlight, I’m just going to go find her instead.”
“What? Come on Sven!” Rara smiled and tugged at his hoof. “We’re just pulling your hoof. Look, Applejack asked me to help her pick up some extra school supplies Starlight stored in her castle, and while I was there, I saw that her mirror portal thing was turned on. Wherever she is, you’re not finding her.”
“I’ve been to other worlds,” he replied. “You don’t know me, you don’t know what I can do.”
“Uh-huh, like that time we were passing through Appleloosa and you said you knew how to fix a carriage wheel but you didn’t, you just didn’t want to go to a repair shop? Rara rolled her eyes. “I know exactly what you can do, Sven, you’re not fooling anyone.”
“Their service was twice the normal price, of course I didn’t want to go to them!” Svengallop defended himself. “Anyway, since when were you friends with Tempest?”
“Actually,” Tempest said, “she wanted to talk to you. She found me at the bar while she was trying to look for you.”
Svengallop glared at Rara. “You tried looking for me at a bar? How much do you think I drink?
“On a normal day or when a concert is coming up? Because those are two wildly different things for you.” Rara paused and then dropped her smirk. “Look, I’m not trying to dig up the past, okay? I found you, and you found Tempest. We all have what we want, now can we just talk? I’ll buy you a dirty martini if that makes it better.”
Svengallop seethed, tapping his hoof on the street and shaking his head with disbelief. “Can I at least get a bottle of cider on the side?”
Rara scoffed and laughed. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
None of them had seen Lightning Dust anywhere, and since the sun was beginning to give the sky over to the moon, Svengallop decided he should count his blessings that he even managed to run into Tempest. He admitted Ponyville was growing bigger than he expected, and it was getting harder to find every pony. Most of it was because of the school. The new businesses starting up—the arcade, restaurants, and party venues—were geared towards adventurous youths ready to explore the new freedom that came with studying away from home. He looked over his shoulder to Smolder, who was sharing a drink of cider with Tempest.
“So, you’re good with kids now?” Rara asked, passing him a bottle of cider while the bartender made his martini.
“As if,” Svengallop replied. “Kids are sticky, dirty, dumb little things. I don’t know why you care so much. Let them help themselves! I didn’t get ahead by waiting for someone to come and give me a pep-talk.”
“Okay, well before we get off-topic and I remember why we don’t work together anymore, I’m just going to say it. I wanted to talk about collaborating with Luna on a song.”
“Why talk to me about it?” Svengallop said as he put down his cider and carefully inspected the martini the bartender had placed before him. “I’m just the keyboard and sound guy. Poppin’s the manager.”
“Yeah, I tried getting a hold of her. Poppin is back in Manehattan handling sales for that new single you released, plus ticket sales for Rainbow Falls. Then there are the new plays coming out on Bridleway that she has to help out with. I don’t want to put another thing on her plate.”
“And so you come to me.”
“Oh, I’m fine with inconveniencing you,” Rara said, laughing. “That was basically my job for years as Coloratura, wasn’t it?”
“Eh, I’ve managed worse,” Svengallop shrugged. He took a sip of his drink and immediately scrunched up his face. “Ugh, this stallion does not know how to make a proper martini.”
“Free drink and you still complain?” Rara took the glass from him and sampled it just to prove him wrong. As soon as her lips touched the drink, she quickly put it back down. “What the hell? That’s way too salty. How much olive did he use?”
“So, that perfect mask of yours is gone, huh? Well, if you’re swearing again, that means I can finally enjoy myself.” Svengallop waved to the bartender. He waved to the bartender. “Two shots of whiskey for both of us, and keep the cider coming, okay?”
They needed two more bottles of cider to wash out the unbalanced taste of the martini before Rara could get back to business.
From the sound of things, it was clear to Svengallop that she was serious. A lot of the details had been planned already. The collaboration was going to be with her and one other band from Mount Aris. The goal was fusing the music styles of each band, mixing the Knights’ metal instrumentation with the tropical style and genre that was developing from the close contact between hippogriff and pony musicians.
And then there was the music video. Gone were the days of the radio star, apparently. According to Rara, fillies and colts in the Crystal Empire could watch music videos on crystalline screens.
“Music should be watched live, that’s what concerts are for,” Svengallop reacted when she explained the idea.
“You’re old, get used to it,” she teased him. “It’s called multimedia for a reason. Multiple media, like music and video. Sound and sight. It’s selling huge up north.”
“This isn’t another one of your charity projects is it? Because it kind of sounds like one.”
Rara cast a frown at him. “And what’s wrong with that?”
“Just wondering why you want the Knights to be a part of it. You’re perfectly capable of making music without help, and if any pony represents Equestrian music, it would be the number one pop-star of this generation. Why us?”
“Mostly it’s because of Luna and Starlight. AJ says a lot of good things about Starlight, and Luna’s a princess, so I’m pretty sure they’d both like to help out. And to answer your first question, it’s not a charity. More like a project. The world’s mixing up together, and I think some ponies are having a hard time not being at the centre of the world. If our music can help bring different cultures together, even just a little bit, shouldn’t we do it?”
Svengallop looked over his shoulder again. Tempest and Smolder were in a hoof wrestling contest, or rather hoof-and-claw wrestling. Nearly six months ago now, those two were in the Crystal Empire just trying to survive the onslaught of shadow beasts.
The chill of the winds that night was still fresh in his mind sometimes. Most didn’t like to think about Equestria’s dormant magics, the dark and mysterious powers locked away behind prisons of time, simply waiting to be released. And even when it was fixed, it wasn’t gone. Because the problem wasn’t the magic.
Svengallop looked at Smolder. The problem was the ponies who were so scared of dragons raining fire or griffons scamming for money that they couldn’t listen when perfectly normal kids just wanted to live in Equestria.
“Yeah, we should do something about it,” Svengallop finally said.
“So, you’ll talk to Luna about it?”
“No,” he shook his head, “but you can. If I remember correctly, there’s a funnel cake stall at the Rainbow Falls Trade Fair that you could never resist. Are you going this year?”
“Miss the fair? Not a chance. But is Luna going to have time?”
“I do everything for that princess anyway. Don’t get in a tizzy about it, Countess. I’ll make sure she has time.”
Rara smirked. “Thanks, Sven.”
“Yeah, don’t mention it, kid.”
They called it a night before they got too full on cider and whisky. Rara had her own work to do and needed to take a teleportation station back to Manehattan before they closed for the night, and it was never a good idea to be drunk during a teleport. Ponies, apparently, had been finding that out the hard way.
Tempest offered to walk Smolder back to the school, leaving the two of them as they passed by the Ponyville train station.
“Hey, Rara,” Svengallop placed a hoof on her shoulder, holding her back for a moment. “I, uh, guess I should probably thank you. I mean, the Knights aren’t doing too bad, but a collaboration would really put us up on the charts. So, thanks.”
“I’m not doing it to help your ratings,” she frowned. “Is that really what you took away from everything we talked about?”
“N-no, that’s not what I mean. I just… I think I’m trying to apologize. Even if I didn’t do anything wrong, I shouldn’t have made you feel like I was ignoring what you wanted.”
“Sweet Celestia, that wasn’t an apology, Sven!” Rara’s brows knitted closer together, a face he hadn’t seen since their last big argument. “You lied to me and went behind my back, that’s what you did wrong.”
“Shit, give me a break, you know I’m bad with this—”
She stomped her hoof down. “Just stop it. You don’t even know how much it took for me to talk to you today. Ever since I found out who you really are, I have spent way too much time and energy doing everything I can to forget about you. Do you get that? I hated you, Sven. Not just disliked. I hated you.”
He hung his head down, not out of surprise, but from confirmation. Of course she hated him. That’s how he joined the Knights in the first place, he was just another stray who dug his own grave. He looked at his hooves, imagining himself on stage, playing the keys next to Lightning Dust’s drums.
Lightning Dust. Even she made amends with her past. “Rivals for life” was such bullshit. Rainbow Dash was her best friend at this point. But where was he? Still on that stage, living for that stage, living for the lights and the crowds and the music. Because every pony cheered for the music. Who the hell else would cheer for him? No pony was waiting for him afterwards.
“I know,” he whispered.
“No, you don’t,” Rara laughed. “Because the only reason I can hate you so much is that I know you. And I know that sometimes when we were on tour, you’d strangle the backstage staff if it meant I’d get my favourite ice cream flavour. Or you’d stay up the whole night with me to work through a new song whenever I had writer’s block. Or you’d check every meal I ate so I’d never get another allergic reaction.”
She sighed and pressed her hoof to her head. “I don’t know what to think about you anymore, Sven. I left home to make my music career real, and for years you were the one who was always by my side. But what you were doing with all the lies just makes every good memory so bitter.”
And then, while wearing his good shirt too, Svengallop sat on the train station’s dirty, dusty, rickety wooden floor. Leaning against a supporting pillar, he looked out to the moon sailing its light across a clear spring sky.
“Oh look, it’s raining,” he said.
Rara raised a brow and followed his gaze. “It’s completely cloudless, Sven.”
He shook his head, and then wiped the water from his face. “No, it’s wet, see? That means it’s raining. It has to be.”
Rara blinked, trying to clear her eyes and make sure she was seeing clearly. It was as if the image before her was unbelievable. Absolutely inconceivable.
“Holy fucking shit, Sven,” she said in a gasping laugh. “Are you crying? Did I seriously make you cry?”
“Shut up, ‘kay? It’s not funny!”
“I’m sorry, I know.” Rara bit her tongue, her stifling giggles still managing to slip out. “I just never thought that you could actually feel emotions. Gosh, I didn’t realize you were a liar and a little bitch.”
He wiped his face and laughed. “Fuck you. What would that apple friend say if she heard you right now.”
“She’d probably kick your ass for turning me into some pony who swears.”
Svengallop smiled and stood back up. He almost hopped up with how light he was feeling. “Well, this probably isn’t the best time to mention it, but,” he pointed to the door to the teleportation services, “I’m pretty sure that unicorn’s about to lock up for the night.”
Rara’s eyes went wide and she whipped around so fast Svengallop swore he could hear her back crack. “Wait, no! Oh fuck, oh shit, please be open. Don’t leave me here with him!”
Lightning Dust dropped the dense pile of hastily scribbled essays on Rainbow Dash’s couch. Nearly a year ago she was still performing with the Washouts, dodging the reporters and newspapers that kept mentioning her fiasco in Ponyville. Nearly a year ago, she tripped up and some happy-go-lucky reporter from a radio station got the story of how she put a flightless filly on a rocket. Nearly a year ago, she had to stoop so low as to ask Rainbow Dash for a place to stay.
She just had to open her big mouth. When she begged Rainbow she’d do anything just to get out of talking to Svengallop, she didn’t think she’d be saddled with school work. She looked at the first essay at the top of the stack. It read:
Socialization Between Equestrian Youths Within Competitive Sports.
Lightning Dust made a face of disgust at the thing, she couldn’t remember the last time she had to write an essay. Why exactly did Rainbow ask her to help grade papers? Just by looking at the front page, she bet she didn’t know about half the words the kids had written about.
But, if it meant not putting up with Svengallop’s annoying voice, it was worth the trouble. Anything would be better than listening to him nag on about something she was already going to do. Rehearse this, practice that, double-check equipment, triple check equipment, even alone she could still hear him swirling around in her head.
“Such a jackass,” Lightning Dust muttered, blowing her mane off her face.
She checked the Wonderbolt-themed clock hanging on the wall. There were three more hours of tests before school was over. Rainbow had asked her to take the first set of essays back for grading, but what now? They were supposed to do the grading together.
Lightning looked around Rainbow’s home. There was a bookshelf stocked with Daring Do books, along with encyclopedias of sports history and textbooks from the school. Meanwhile, the kitchen was stocked full with cider. It was a lot. Maybe even too much.
She grabbed a bottle and sat back down by the stack of essays. She might as well get a head start on reading and figure out what in the world those kids were learning.
Rainbow Dash was back right on time, clutching a fresh new bundle of essays in her hooves as she flew through the front door.
“Yo Lightning, you still around?” she asked.
Lightning Dust shot up from the couch with a page stuck to her face. “Huh? Whossat?”
“Whoa, dude,” Rainbow chuckled, “have you been reading those all this time?”
Lightning Dust peeled the page off her face and scanned it over. It was the concluding remarks to one student’s essay about pressure and social anxiety in sports teams that emphasized success over improvement.
“Uh... yeah.” She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear the grogginess from her head. “I don’t know half the stuff they’re talking about, so I figured I’d need extra time.” Around her were Rainbow Dash’s copies of the school’s textbooks, the corners of their pages folded to mark the places she had used to even understand the essays.
She piled up the essays she had finished and compared them to the original stack. “Looks like I got about a third of the way through.”
“I didn’t think you’d actually do it,” Rainbow mused, plopping her pile of essays down across from Lightning before flying to her kitchen. “Wait, did you drink my cider?”
“Yeah, just two bottles though, you have like fifty in there.”
“And they were for me!” Rainbow came back carrying two bottles, with a third already held in her mouth as she siphoned its contents. She spat the emptied bottle out and it bounced off the magically dense walls of clouds and dropped into a trash bin.
“How do you think I get through all this grading?” Somehow, she finished her second cider before Lightning had a chance to answer.
“I-I think you have a problem,” Lighting muttered in a mix of awe and horror as Rainbow finished the third bottle of cider.
“Yeah yeah, whine about it later. Starlight’s going to ride my flank if I don’t get my tests graded before this weekend.”
“Oh really?” Lightning gave a sly smile. “Didn’t know she was into that.”
Rainbow Dash snickered. “Yeah? Who knows? Maybe I am too.”
Lightning opened her mouth, flustered as she tried to think of something to say to that. Thinking of nothing, she decided to try and change the subject.
She started by asking Rainbow about her class, trying to get tips on how she wanted the essays graded. But as she got further and further into the papers, Lightning realized she had less and less to ask about. They were all about sports. And she realized that even if she didn’t understand all the arguments that the students were writing about, she knew enough about athletes to get the picture.
Still, that didn’t mean she could finish grading the papers on her own. “I don’t even know what ‘social reproduction means,” she said, putting another essay into her quickly growing pile for Rainbow Dash to double-check.
“I’ll worry about those parts. Just keep doing a good job so I don’t have to spend as much time on them.”
Rainbow Dash got up and stretched her legs, gliding off to her fridge for a refill of ciders. The pile of empty bottles was rising even faster than the finished papers.
“Hey, why don’t we put on some music? You seem pretty focused, a little tunes won’t distract you, right?”
“Nothing distracts me,” Lightning mumbled, her mind occupied by some of the ideas in the students’ essays. “My mind is a steel trap.”
A sneer spread its way across Rainbow’s face and she quietly glided up behind her, suddenly pinching her hooves around Lightning’s waist, who recoiled immediately and retreated to the opposite end of the couch.
“What are you doing?” Lightning yelled.
“Ha! I knew it,” Rainbow puffed up her chest, “didn’t want to say anything, but I noticed you were looking a bit… how do I put it?” She motioned to her sides, making a puffed gesture. “Guess touring around doesn’t give you time to work out as much, huh?”
“What? I’m not,” Lightning paused and looked at herself. “Alright, maybe a couple pounds, but I could still fly circles around you! I’ll do it right now!”
“Oh, not this again,” Rainbow snickered and turned away, deflecting the challenge and instead taking a CD player off a bookshelf and swapping the discs out. “I’m just pulling your tail,” she said as she hit the play button and the CD began to whir around in its receptacle. “Isn’t it boring going around in circles trying to be rivals? I mean, if you really hated my guts you wouldn’t be helping me out.”
“Anything to get away from Svengallop.”
“Yeah, sure.”
The CD player crackled as the first song in the album, “Wild” by Neon Bees, began to play.
“Here we go again, we’re getting closer now, we’re more than friends,
So take it easy on me, I’m aware you’re never satisfied.
Here you go again, you’re getting wild while we play pretend,
More like an animal and I’m afraid of what will come tonight...”
Rainbow kept the volume low, enough that the two of them could continue to read. But Lightning’s focus was gone now. She flicked her eyes back and forth between the essays and Rainbow. She had that same smug look on her face a year ago after the Washouts dropped her to save their flanks from a PR scandal.
Going to Rainbow for help was just about the most humiliating thing back then. So what was she doing now? And why did it feel so normal? Lightning looked around as if trying to see through an illusion, but it was all really there. And then a slow fog of surrealness floated around her as she imagined where she’d be in another year. And the year after that.
Rainbow’s words struck a chord in her. The Washouts were supposed to be different, her chance at a new start, but everything repeated itself back then. Now she had a real fresh start with new friends, plus Svengallop, doing something completely different. What was going to stop it from being like the Washouts?
“I do want to be friends,” Lightning eventually whispered, burying her gaze into her pile of essays. “I just don’t know why you want to be. I figured you’ve just been messing with me for shits and giggles.”
Rainbow turned her head and, for a moment, held her eyes wide open in a frozen, stunned expression. “Do I really seem like the kind of pony who’d— actually, never mind. I don’t want that question answered.” But she smiled and reached across the couch and pulled Lightning’s head up. “We were friends before. I just want to go back to that.”
“Go back?” Lightning stared and then shook her head. “No, I don’t want that. I wasn’t a good pony back then. I wasn’t good to you, and I definitely can’t reverse all my mistakes.”
Rainbow’s smile faded. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“But I would like to move on and have something new,” Lightning finished her thought. She reached her hoof out and pressed it against Rainbow’s. “Not rivals for life?”
“Hehe,” Rainbow giggled. “That’s a start. Not rivals for life.”
A knock at the door interrupted them.
“Huh, I’m not expecting any pony,” Rainbow mumbled as she flew over to answer. Standing outside under the just-risen light of the pale moon was Luna and Starlight.
“Hey, is Lightning Dust around?” Starlight asked. “We’re looking for Svengallop and I wanted to ask her if she saw him today.”
“Yeah, she’s just inside.” Rainbow let them both inside but paused as a third pony followed closely behind them. Even under the dim light of the moon, her fiery red and yellow mane shined like a blaze.
“Woah there, who’s this?”
The mare turned and looked at her weirdly. “Huh, this feels weirder than I thought. Sorry for just showing up out of nowhere, but trust me, it’s much stranger for me than it is for you.”
Rainbow looked to Starlight and Luna for an answer.
Luna simply sighed and shrugged. “What can say that won’t sound crazy? Rainbow, Lightning, meet Sunset Shimmer. She plays the guitar, going to be Starlight’s replacement, and I took her from another dimension. She’s here now, don’t make a big deal out of it.”
Lightning Dust simply blinked blankly at Luna. “I’m sorry what?”
“Like she said,” Starlight replied. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll explain everything to the band later. It’ll be fun.”
Magic shed off Starlight’s skin the way water dripped off when one leapt from a swimming pool. Without her modifications to the mirror portal, travelling between realms was quick and natural. She was following the flow of magic meant for the mirror, not projecting another portal over it.
But this world was not like Daybreaker’s. Magic leaked from Equestria into it, but even so, Starlight felt like she left a piece of herself in the castle as her body changed and adapted to a world devoid of its own magic. She felt sick to her stomach. The portal spat her out on the ground.
Her limbs were shaky, her palms were sweaty. Her stomach gurgled so much it felt like throwing up a bunch of spaghetti.
Beside her, Luna took a tentative step, treading carefully, testing out the new gravity with her new legs. Two long poles atop tiny soft feet and bony nubs called “toes.” But to Starlight’s surprise, Luna didn’t stumble like most ponies did in the new world. She was uneasy in her new body, but not unfamiliar.
Luna noticed Starlight staring and then gave a shrug. “I’ve been in Twilight’s dreams. I know how this world works, more or less.”
“Well, that’s gonna save me a lot of exposition,” Starlight said, wiping the dust off her knees. She checked her ripped jeans and adjusted the beanie on her head. “Still don’t know where these clothes come from though.”
“It’s better not to ask.”
The first step when crossing into the human world: find a phone. Starlight spun quickly around, taking a good account of her surroundings. It was midday, and there were students crouched over desks on the other side of the windows of the school that sat just beside the portal.
“How will I explain myself to these students?” Luna wondered. “Their vice-principal is an alternate version of me, is she not?”
“Luckily, we’re not going into the school,” Starlight said, turning the other way around and walking across the parking lot to a bus stop just across the street. On a short metal pole at the stop, a sun-faded map showed the entirety of Canterlot City, at least as far as the bus routes were concerned. She pointed Luna to their next destination. “Here, this is where you’ll find your new guitarist.”
Luna squinted at the small map and read out the point of interest. “Canterlot City Community College? What, is it some kind of place of learning?”
“Yeah, it’s a community college. Solid foundations for higher-level education, but without the exorbitant university fees. But we’re gonna need to get a few things on our way there.”
“Such as?”
Starlight felt around her pockets and pulled out a small wallet that the portal had conveniently added during the transformation. “For starters, we’ll need enough cash for two bus passes and a flip phone so I can text Sunset Shimmer once we get there.”
“Text? Can we not just find her ourselves?”
“In this world?” Starlight looked at Luna as if she was crazy. “I know I’m not an expert, but humans can’t seem to operate without their trinity of technology: cell phones, the internet, and a perfectly blended mocha cappuccino. Coffee is very important to them.”
“It seems Twilight’s dreams of this world are incomplete,” Luna said.
“Yeah, well, how much could she possibly know? She went through two weeks of human high school, I wouldn’t call that the full tour. Oh hey, our bus is coming. Check your pockets, see if the portal gave you enough for the fare.”
Luna tapped on the screen of the electronic portable communication device, “cell phone,” as Starlight referred to it, with the tip of her pointing finger. So dexterous human hands were, no wonder they could survive without the use of levitation and magic. But as useful as the device was, it did not come cheap.
Fortunately, it seemed the human world was decades ahead of Equestria when it came to commerce. While trade with Mount Aris was only just allowing the use of magically linked bank cards in place of hard currency, the “credit card” that sat safely in Luna’s wallet seemed so commonplace it was expected. As to what it drew money out of, Starlight assured her not to worry. She guessed that the portal had made a perfect duplicate of the things that belonged to this world’s Luna.
“It’s just one phone. Well, a phone and a pre-charged phone plan.” Starlight had said when they left the electronics shop and boarded their next bus. “She probably won’t even notice. She’s a vice principal, after all.”
“Does that position pay well?” Luna asked.
Starlight simply shrugged. “Should be good enough, if it’s anything like being a Headmaster.”
Luna frowned and immediately began tapping the digital keys on the phone screen. The speed and function of the device was astounding. With just a five-gigabyte prepaid plan and a short span of a fifteen-minute bus ride, her search history was filled with a library’s worth of results.
What is credit card fraud? Coffee shops near me. Average price of a phone. How much is a vice-principal’s salary? Median income per household. Housing market crash? Government financial cover-ups. Conspiracies. Are vaccines safe?
“Starlight,” Luna murmured, “maybe we shouldn’t use my credit card. Or the other me’s credit card.”
If she heard, Starlight didn’t seem to show it. “Hey, we’re here!” She pulled Luna by the shoulder as she buzzed a button on the side of the bus, signalling for the next stop. Just across the street were two square buildings, five floors high, judging by the windows. A large sign on the corner of the road read “Canterlot City Community College.”
“So this is where humans go to achieve higher scholarship?” Luna gazed at the concrete campus.
“That’s what Sunset says.” Starlight reached out and pulled the phone from Luna’s hands. “Lemme give her a call and figure out which building she’s in—what the heck?” Starlight opened to the fifteen web browsers Luna had open on the device.
“Ten signs your child has been affected by radio frequencies?” Starlight read out loud. “Luna, what is this?”
“Oh, it’s really interesting,” she replied. “That blogger says that vaccines have been engineered by someone named ‘Big Pharma’ and have tiny machines that can control people using radio towers.”
“Okay then,” Starlight took a sharp breath, slowly releasing it, and then very urgently closed all the browser tabs. “We’re gonna need to have a talk after this.” She switched to the phone’s calling feature and tapped in a series of numbers before pressing the screen and letting out a loud ring from the speaker.
“Hello?” a voice answered after a few seconds.
“Yo! Sunset, it’s Starlight. Where you at right now? We’re just outside your school.”
“Oh, was that today?” Sunset’s voice echoed distantly. “I’m actually on my way to a class right now. I’ll be done at about four, but I can meet you at my place later. Sorry for making you wait.”
“Nah it’s aight, Luna and I are just chillin’ right now. We’ll grab some boba at the mall and meet you later. Want us to get you something?”
“Uh, if you’re getting boba I’ll have a jasmine tea with grass jelly. Okay, I gotta go, class is about to start.”
“Right, see ya soon.” Starlight tapped the phone off.
Luna looked oddly at Starlight as she took it back. “So, we’re chilling?”
“Yeah, I forgot Sunset’s schedule. But the good news is she only has one more class. Shouldn’t take too long. Think of it as a chance to experience the wonders of a human shopping mall.”
“Is it any different from an Equestrian shopping mall?”
“Well, for one thing, humans don’t eat hayburgers.”
The city seemed to come alive as the day faded. The spring days had not yet fully lengthened and the purplish five o’clock sky was inviting out the streetlights and neon signs. Luna passed the time playing around in her cup of ice, shovelling a thick straw around for the little black tapioca orbs that had been put into her ice tea.
Human food seemed like an enigma to her. With their small jaws and limited set of teeth, chewing was exhaustive work. And yet the favoured drink of young humans seemed to be those flavourless starchy balls that stuck to the teeth and gummed up the mouth.
“Wheth isth zee comig?” Luna asked, siphoning up her boba as they waited near the bus stop by Sunset’s apartment complex.
Starlight turned to her. “What?”
She pulled the straw out of her mouth, effortfully swallowing the boba that had turned soggy from melted ice. “I asked when is Sunset Shimmer coming? Did she not say she would be here at four?”
“She said her class ends at four. But the buses are always packed around this time.” Starlight checked the clock on her phone. “I don’t think it should be that much longer.”
Another bus teetered past their stop before Sunset’s bus finally arrived. The overloaded bus lurched to a crawl, and inside, Luna could see young humans packed and crowding near the exits of the vehicle, rubbing shoulder to shoulder as they clutched their book bags and groceries tightly. Sunset was pressed up against a window, her backpack bumping into seated passengers as she pushed her way to freedom.
The supposedly banal ordeal seemed unnecessary. And if the internet was to be trusted, human cities were sprawling and massive, each one as complex and metropolitan as Manehattan or Fillydelphia. All other aspects of the city must’ve been quite orderly, Luna reasoned, if so much effort could be wasted on a public commute.
“Sorry for taking longer,” Sunset gasped when she finally made her way from the bus stop. “I had a few questions about an assignment and then I ended way at the back of the bus line.”
“No problem. Need to get your things?” Starlight said, following behind Sunset.
They entered a refurbished brick building five stories tall, one of a few buildings of an apartment complex so that Sunset could change into a warmer outfit. Even with a change of seasons, the spring nights were still as cold as ever. Luna noticed the small differences in human’s buildings; the halls and door frames were slightly narrower to accommodate their vertical bodies and the doors themselves had knobs, which needed to be gripped, rather than levers or handles which could be turned by a push.
Sunset asked Starlight and Luna to wait outside as she grabbed her stuff. A moment passed, hardly enough time for Luna to inspect a sign nailed to the corner of the hallway which read “no smoking,” before Sunset returned. She had on a black leather jacket, its cuffs and collar lined with white faux fur, and a guitar case slung on her back.
“So you do play the guitar,” Luna noted. “Must be easy with these.” She held up her hand, awkwardly wiggling the bony appendages that jutted out from a fleshy palm. “Think you can do it with a horn?”
“Won’t be a problem,” Sunset said, locking her apartment. “I kinda got the hang of switching bodies. Wow, not something I ever imagined admitting. Sounds kinda weird out loud.”
The two of them spoke as they walked, with Starlight leading them down the street to their destination. Luna was lost in the winding streets of the city, though Starlight assured her it was worth it to find a music club for Sunset to show how well she could play for the Knights. Her talent wasn’t the only problem on Luna’s mind, however. Working around a student’s schedule was difficult, but working with a schedule from another realm was another set of difficulties.
Sunset, however, assured Luna she had been balancing her own schedule to be able to visit Equestria. “Of course, after Twilight was crowned I just had to swing by and give my best wishes. After that, I’ve been making quick trips through the portal to hang out and stuff. Luckily, time between our worlds are synced up, so I just have to keep an eye on my watch.”
“This is going to be a job, you know,” Luna reminded her, “how exactly are you expecting to get paid?” She patted her pocket where she kept her wallet. “I don’t think credit scores take Equestrian money into account.”
“Maybe, but this world doesn’t have a lot of gemstones,” Sunset answered quickly again as if she had thought up the answer already. “I’m pretty sure I can stick a hand in Ponyville and pull up enough jewels to cover my rent. There are a few brokers in this city who buy supplies for jewellers. I spoke to a few of them, and once I start showing them some goods, I’ll be set.”
Luna raised a brow and then looked over to Starlight, who was fixated on the street signs and finding the right path. “That’s quite the workaround. You’ve been preparing for this, haven’t you?”
“I mean, not really,” Sunset sputtered, “it was just an idea Starlight mentioned a few months ago. I was actually surprised when she said she was going through with it. Not that I mind the chance to play in a power metal band.”
They turned the corner of the street and walked not much further until they arrived at a flashing sign that read “The Under Den.” An unmistakable strumming of guitars echoed against the acid-rained concrete steps. The familiar smell of bourbon and whiskey hit Luna’s nose as they entered the music club, and she was immediately reminded of Svengallop.
“You play here?” she guessed, turning to Sunset, who shook her head.
“Sometimes. I just help out when I can. Fluttershy’s working at the zoo most days, and AJ’s out of town getting an agricultural degree. The band isn’t what it used to be, so Rainbow usually needs an extra guitar to fill out her songs.”
They stepped inside and grabbed seats along the bar, though none of them bothered to order anything to drink, afraid of what it might do to them on the way back through the portal. The band playing were a set of three, two guitarists and a lead singer, all of them still young students dressed in the formal uniform of the Crystal Prep High School.
Waving from the other side of the bar, Luna spotted the person who could only have been Rainbow Dash’s human counterpart. The hair gave it away. She signalled to Sunset with her wrist and then held up two fingers. Two minutes, Luna guessed. She checked the clock on her smartphone as well. Fifteen minutes past five o’clock, they had been in the human world for almost half a day.
“Starlight, if you wanted me to hear Sunset play, we could have done this in a studio,” Luna said.
“Yeah, but touring another world is more fun,” Starlight replied.
“We’re going to get an earful from Svengallop when we get back. He’s probably packing up to go to Rainbow Falls right now.” She smirked. “That or pulling his hair out trying to find us.”
“He needs to loosen up,” Starlight waved Luna’s concerns away. “I can teleport all of us to Rainbow Falls instantly. I actually know how to do magic instead of relying on a teleportation platform.”
“You have to admit, it’s pretty clever to have preset locations for teleporting,” Luna murmured under her breath, catching the odd stares from the other humans around the club.
A round of applause stirred the attention back to the small stage, lit by a small ring of spotlights from the rafters above. Sunset walked up, plugging her guitar in while Rainbow Dash adjusted the microphone. Other versions of Twilight’s friends emerged on the stage. They may have looked different, but Pinkie Pie and Rarity, taking their places behind the drums and keyboard respectively, were unmistakable even in their human forms.
“Alright, alright,” Rainbow called out through the mic, “while we’re finishing our set up, I just wanted to give a shoutout to our friend Fluttershy, who’s too busy to be here with us tonight. Strap in for a treat, ‘cause we have a new song for you all tonight thanks to her.”
“Fluttershy’s their songwriter?” Luna leaned over and whispered to Starlight under the gentle applause of the audience. “I thought the Rainbooms were a rock band.”
Starlight simply grinned and nodded. “Yeah, well, it’s always the quiet ones that end up surprising you, isn’t it?.”
Luna looked back over to the Rainbooms and noticed Sunset’s guitar, sporting eight strings as opposed to the usual six. She admitted to in her own mind her technical knowledge was lacking compared to Starlight or Svengallop, though she understood it would deepen the range of the guitar. She imagined it was the best substitution they could manage; Applejack, their bass player, was unavailable.
Of course, the tone of a bass could never be replaced, but as soon as Pinkie picked up the pace on her drums, Luna figured nobody in the club would even notice, so she sat back in her seat and enjoyed it as well:
A rainbow fast as she is bright Like cosmic fire, awesomeness Is shining with the light Born from the magic sorcery Too fast for human eyes to see A hero dressed in jewelry Enchant to beat the enemy
At any hour She's ready to fight Can you feel her ire, See the anger in her burning eyes
She's the Super Sonic Rainbow Dash With magic power she's ready to fly She's the Super Sonic Rainbow Dash Laser beams firing high up to the sky For the Super! Super! Sonic Rainbow Dash!
The bifrost streaking through the sky Booming rainbows comes Rushing with a blade of light Ascend from the burning seas Assassinate your enemies From the forest she will come Before the end she will return
At any hour She's ready to fight Can you feel her ire, See the anger in her crimsoned eyes
She's the Super Sonic Rainbow Dash With magic power she's ready to fly She's the Super Sonic Rainbow Dash Laser beams firing high up to the sky For the Super! Super! Sonic Rainbow Dash!
She's the Super Sonic Rainbow Dash With magic power she's ready to fly She's the Super Sonic Rainbow Dash Laser beams firing high up to the sky For the Super! Super! Sonic Rainbow Dash!
“And that’s why Sunset’s here.”
Inside the Castle of Friendship, the band sat around the library where the portal had been left activated, its hum of magic filling the room’s silence. Tempest sat back, more interested in the guitar Sunset had brought with her through the portal than the story Luna had just shared.
“All that, just for a new guitarist?” The same could not be said for Svengallop, who was pacing around the centre of the library, shuffling his hooves along the rugs.
“Why’d you have to do it now?” He threw his head around indignantly as he sputtered, his frantic eyes darting around the room as if he was simply yelling into a void. “You know what? I’m done asking questions! We’re all here now, we’re behind schedule, but that’s fine as long as we can get to Rainbow Falls before noon tomorrow to check in and put our equipment away. So everything is fine now!”
“Lightning’s not here,” Tempest reminded him. “She’s still hanging out with her new best friend Rainbow Dash. Or are they old best friends since they knew each other already?”
“That’s going to take some time to get used to,” Sunset chuckled to herself, “I forgot you were talking about a different Rainbow Dash for a moment.”
Svengallop combed his hoof through his hair, pulling at his frayed ends and hissing. “Well, Miss Fizzlepop Berrytwist, I don’t care anymore. We are all here. Starlight is going to teleport us. Lightning Dust can fly her own damn self to Rainbow Falls.”
“Alright homie, chill,” Tempest held up her hooves in surrender, “I was just saying.”
“And I’m under a lot of stress right now! So I would appreciate a little less banter from the peanut gallery!” He gasped, allowing himself the first real breath of air in the last few minutes.
“Hey, if this is a bad time,” Sunset started but stopped when Svengallop came up to her and put his hoof on her shoulder.
“Are you old enough to drink?” he asked.
“As a human or a pony?”
He shut his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “I—I don’t even know what a human is. Whichever one works best for you.”
“Yeah, I’m a little older than Twilight so I should be good.”
“Perfect, welcome to the Nightmare Knights. You’re buying me whiskey the next chance you get.”
Rainbow Falls. A confluence of streams, both physical and cultural. Where the rivers met to give breath to endless fine mists and streaking rainbows, the plateaus which reached high up once narrowed the gap between the pegasi and earth pony cultures. In the valleys below, the swinging open of doors and clatter of hooves along paved streets sung louder than they ever had that year, signalling to every living soul, from the field mice scattering with the rattle of incoming trains to the ravens and crows following the sizzling scent of food carts, that the trade fair had begun.
At the base of the Rainbow Falls, small hamlets aggregating into a town opened their eateries and their meagre banks to the influx of traders and travellers. More than ever, the trade fair was booming. For every pony visiting, a griffon, hippogriff, changeling, dragon, kirin, or yak wandered afield, staring at the droves of other creatures. For one day, Rainbow Falls seemed to be the most populated place in the world.
And even it phased Daybreaker. She blinked at the cloudless sky, the glaring sun shining brightly. How could the sun itself feel more cheerful? In the midst of her confusion and disorientation from the tide of ponies behind her, she kept up her best effort to remain concealed, suppressing the flames of her mane and hiding her face beneath her jacket’s heavy hood.
Ponies and yaks pushed past her to line up for the tram running to the plateau, while others shuffled slowly up a traditional path etched into the side of the mountains. All other creatures who could fly brushed wingtips with one another as they took off on more direct routes.
Daybreaker pushed her clouded memory to recognize the natural landmark, yet the roads and buildings had nothing in common with her world. With each step further, she felt the ticket in her jacket pocket weigh heavier until she had to pause on the side of the sidewalk and clutch it as if it would fly out and escape. A massive yak shoved past her, barreling through the crowd before him as he struggled to see through the thicket of fur over his face. She snarled, immediately feeling the air beneath her hood rushing out as her magic fueled her flames.
Daybreaker pulled her hood down and suffocated the flames, waiting until the faint smell of breakfast grabbed her attention. She took a moment from her frustration and turned her head up to a sign above to read, in fat, red lettering: THE REIGN INN.
Whatever could be said about this world of ceaseless peace and comfort, Daybreaker couldn’t deny the fresh scent of sweet grilled onions on hearty omelettes. The stench of sulfur from the dragons living in her city often hung in the air and polluted the taste of the food. But even in this world, among what few dragons there were, most were polite enough to withhold their fires when inside wooden buildings.
She looked back to the train, following the crowd of creatures walking their way up to the plateau of the falls. The wait for the tram stalled as more queued up than it could carry, and the narrow steps carved into the stone choked with the herds of ponies coming off the train. Daybreaker looked at the shrinking shadows from the town’s buildings. Luna’s performance began in the evening, but it wasn’t even noon. Breakfast first, then the trade fair, Daybreaker decided.
She pulled down her hood further and made her way into the diner before the doors suddenly swung open, knocking her horn aside. A flash of anger sparked in her, but she stuttered as two bright-coloured mares pushed past her.
“I’m just saying, this is the best time to get an apology gift for him,” said the mare with a rainbow-coloured mane. That one, Daybreaker barely noticed. It was the yellow-maned pegasus who caught her eye. Had they met before, she wondered.
“I am not getting him any kind of gift,” the yellow-maned mare replied.
“Oh come on, he’s literally the only reason you have a job right now.”
“I can get employed wherever and whenever I want.”
The rainbow-maned pegasus snorted. “That’s fake news, but whatever. You better get something, or I’m gifting him something stupid and saying it was from you.”
Daybreaker watched them as they found a clear spot in the street to spread their wings, carrying their conversation with them. One of Luna’s? She dismissed the thought as she entered the Reign Inn. It couldn’t be, she thought to herself. What are the odds?
Luna used her magic to levitate their stage props and equipment into place, lining up the false trees with the markers Poppin had placed with chalk. The Knights’ manager had been busy, it seemed, while they were away in other realms. Her blonde mane streaked across the sky, moving back and forth between questions from the Trade Exchange’s event coordinators and the ponies setting up their merchandise stall.
“Svengallop’s rubbing off on her,” Tempest noted, plucking the strings of her new v-guitar, courtesy of Coco Pommel. The ebony had been further darkened with pitch-black paint, and iodized metal inlays produced the illusion of a starry night sky captured beneath its polished resin finish.
Luna chuckled. “She works on Bridleway productions. I have no doubt this is not the busiest she can get. That said, I appreciate not having to worry about ordering and selling merchandise. That isn't why I wanted to play music.”
“Yeah, but the extra bits never hurt any pony,” Tempest said, scanning around the set. “Speaking of orders, where are the outfits Coco made? I haven’t had a chance to try mine on yet.”
“She placed them in the closet backstage before she left for the fair.”
“She left already? Shame, I wanted to thank her for all this gear.” She ran her hoof over the guitar once more. “It’s crazy how she can make all this stuff, even when she works with dresses and theatre costumes.”
“Theatre can be anything, so I’m not terribly surprised,” Luna replied. “That guitar of yours is doing well. Do you like it?”
“Why’s that? I would have thought Cadence provided well for her Northern Watch.”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that. I’m just not used to buying a lot of things.”
“Hey!” Svengallop’s voice cut into their conversation as he came from backstage with his keyboard in tow. “Are the trees in place? I want to make sure they’re not blocking how the sound projects off the stage.”
“Sure thing, go ahead and rush the former sovereign of the night as she handles all the menial labour.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine, you don’t have to be so whiny. Lightning’s late anyway. She just got here with Rainbow Dash. How are those two late to anything, anyway? They’re two of the fastest flyers in Equestria.”
“I was wondering what was taking her so long. Lightning?” Tempest called out. “Are you there?”
A distant response echoed from the dressing room.“Yo, waddup?”
“Haul your lazy ass out here, Svengallop’s talking and I need you to drown him out.”
“Can’t, I’m looking for my drumsticks!” She shouted back. “Did Starlight teleport the wrong set?”
Svengallop furrowed his brows, groaned, and then yelled through the backstage door. “She teleported all of them! Just use one of the other pairs we have.”
“No, mine is special.” Something clattered in the back, and they all listened as Lightning stormed onto the stage with a pair of drumsticks in her hooves. “These are all 5A’s!” She tossed them at Svengallop’s hooves. “And the tapers aren’t short enough.”
“Girl, chill,” Tempest tried calming her down, “Coco brought the new gear Luna ordered. They’re probably lost among all the props.”
“Okay, but I’m not playing without my sticks.”
“They can’t be that special. They’re just sticks.”
“And guitar strings are just strings,” Lightning retorted. “My sticks are 2B with a short taper, which means they’re thicker and heavier. The arrow-head tips give a really sharp sound and they’re the only ones that let me hit as hard as I want. I have to use them!”
“Alright already, stop yelling at us,” Tempest said, standing up and putting her guitar down. “I’ll help you find your drumsticks. Sven, you coming?”
Svengallop turned to Luna while his eyes followed Poppin through the air. “Everything good out here?”
“Show’s not on for another seven hours. I believe we can handle it.”
“Sure, whatever.” Svengallop sighed, putting down his keyboard and followed behind Tempest.
“A-are you sure, Princess? I don’t believe I’m qualified to—”
Twilight turned away from her mirror after levitating a clip into the back of her mane, securing a few stray hairs that had begun to grow out. She faced her aide, Raven Inkwell, and her overburdened clipboard that threatened to burst from the sheer mass of papers she carried.
“You might be more qualified than me,” Twilight said, motioning her to come in. “I always do my mane the same way. I never really learned another style.”
“Y-yes, well, I’m not exactly a hairdresser either,” Raven said as she put her clipboard on Twilight’s desk and tentatively levitated a lock of her hair, twisting it around the others as she began a braid. “I can have the royal stylist here in minutes if you’d like.”
“Oh, relax a little. I can’t expect you to do paperwork all day. Besides, friends are supposed to do each other’s hair.”
Raven furrowed her brow slightly. “Pardon me, Princess, but isn’t just something you read in a book? In fact, I think I recall Celestia receiving a certain letter about a slumber party.”
Twilight blushed, embarrassed. “Well, that’s how I used to do things. But I’ve had Rarity do my hair a few times, and it’s always been a good way to catch up and chat. I think it’s nice.” She paused and then turned slightly to look back at Raven. “But you don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“Oh!” Raven tightly wound up the first braid. “No, not at all, Princess. I just thought you’d want me to get a head start on your agenda today. There’s a lot to do in the palace while you oversee the Trade Exchange.”
“A lot of petitioners to talk to, you mean,” Twilight said, sighing. She levitated Raven’s clipboard and flipped to the first unfinished task on the docket. Unsurprisingly, she recognized more names than she would have liked.
The royal court was supposed to be an open forum, where any pony could speak their mind. But most ponies didn’t know what to say to a princess even if they could. And among them, a lot simply didn’t have the time. Ask a construction worker if they’d like to petition the Princess or work overtime, and the answer would explain why the list of names included the same bankers and aristocrats that had been visiting the palace for the past year.
Twilight’s eyes settled on one name. “What’s Blueblood doing on here? I thought he already had an audience.”
“He pulled strings to get another reservation. He’ll be joining the meeting with the railway committee.”
“Since when did he care about trains?”
“Probably ever since he found out the net worth of the Friendship Express’ CEO is quadruple his own. But I wouldn’t worry about him. I managed his activities for Celestia, I can certainly do it now.”
“I feel bad for leaving you here,” Twilight said.
“Nonsense. You are an icon of the state. With so many creatures travelling this year from beyond Equestria, it is imperative that you make your appearance at the Exchange.”
“Maybe I should suspend all palace affairs for the day.”
“And set back your schedule?” Raven scoffed incredulously. “You know as much as I do how much chaos that will cause. We’d be cutting corners by the next Summer Sun Festival.”
“I know. But a mare can dream.” Twilight kept her attention on the list, inspecting the other names listed alongside Blueblood’s.
On the backside of the list were the notes in preparation for the meeting. Half of them were submitted by the committee members themselves, stating what they planned to discuss with the throne. The other half were penned by Raven herself. Pertinent details and fact-checks were all listed next to each topic.
Chief among them seemed to be the issue of teleportation pads cutting into the business of passenger trains and light freight. According to Raven’s notes, teleportation travel reduced luxury and passenger business by a third during the winter months. And yet, Raven had noted, based on the tax records of the treasury, businesses that relied on travel and trade had only flourished in that time.
Twilight furrowed her brow at the final notes on the page. To support their businesses, the committee wanted to propose a plan for royal funds from the treasury. A financial “safety net” they called it, to maintain Equestria’s railroads. She didn’t have to look at Raven’s notes to know what that entailed, she had outlined half of the royal budget herself.
Supporting the railroads would mean stripping funds from infrastructure and repair projects, including funds to new campuses across Equestria that were planning to teach the School of Friendship’s curriculum next year.
Twilight flipped Raven’s clipboard over, placing it face-down on her desk. Heavy freight was completely untouched by the teleportation industry. In fact, with more businesses being able to travel and make deals, investments in bulk goods were booming. She didn’t believe for one second the rail companies needed any more help.
“They won’t play the system to their advantage,” Raven reassured her, reading the frustration on her face as easily as one might hear a foal crying when it was upset. “Celestia rarely caved to the whims of so-called elites. But they’ll soon discover that while the world has changed, the Crown still rules fairly.”
“I have no doubt,” Twilight said, smiling as Raven finished pinning her hair up in a braided bun. “Well then, that looks quite nice. At this rate we can fire the royal stylist and save a few bits.”
Raven picked up the clipboard and turned to the final page, jotting down a quick note. “Lay off Miss Estile. I’ll be sure to inform the head of staff, Princess.”
“Wait… Are you pulling my tail?”
“I suppose both you and Miss Estile will have find out next week at the royal baking contest.”
“Har-har, good one,” Twilight laughed gave her a dry laugh. “Hey, while your at it, have we set up a safety commission to look into the teleportation companies yet?”
“We have not.”
“Well, remind me to set up a meeting with Neighsay about it. I’d be surprised if any of the fearmongering from the railways are true, but they’re not wrong about there being no oversight. I know magic, especially teleportation spells, but there hasn’t been a need for official magic safety until now.”
“I will add it to the docket,” Raven said, scribbling it down. “By the by, as an accomplished magician, do you think it’s safe? It would cut down a lot of travel time if we could have one in the palace.”
Twilight rubbed her chin, mulling the thought over for a moment. “Well, in principle, it’s not impossible. Traditionally, teleportation spells have to be done with a focused, clear image of the place you want to go. Even then, it can be easy to send yourself too high or too low. The main risk is sending two teleportations at the same time, but by sending request and availability notices by teleportation, the companies claim they avoid that issue.”
“And the spell itself is fine? Not every unicorn who provides teleportation is a trained wizard.”
“Well, they use a modified version that relies on fixed coordinates, and it doesn’t take as much skill as free teleportation. Like I said, in principle you should end up on the other side without any issue, as long as they have a way of inputting accurate position data into the spell.”
“Well, no pony has reported missing limbs, so that’s a good sign.”
“Sure is. We can talk more about it later, right now I should get going. It’d look pretty bad if the Princess of Equestria was late to the Trader’s Exchange.”
“Want me to have the pegasi carriage prepared?” Raven asked, waving the clipboard around. “You haven’t bee out of the palace in a while. Are you sure you have the right ‘positional data?’”
Twilight rolled her eyes as she stood up from her chair. “Okay, so we’re being a little funny today, I see how it is.”
“Just keeping things lively,” Raven winked.
“Well, if I teleport into a mountain, at least I know you can keep Equestria from collapsing in on its own bureaucracy.” And just then, with a flash of light from her horn, she was gone.
“And it turned out it was never with the band’s equipment. Lightning Dust put her drumsticks in her luggage for ‘safekeeping’ and forgot all about it.”
Glitter Drops giggled at her best friend. “At least she’s happy now. Come on, don’t fret over the Knights so much. We haven’t had a lot of time to ourselves since you started touring Equestria.”
Tempest gave her a funny look. “We hang out multiple times a week, sometimes every day.”
“Hah, I guess that’s true. Maybe I’m still used to seeing you every day in the Northern Watch. Everything was so easy and simple then.”
“Simple, maybe. But easy? We had to track down loose ursa minors and fight the remains of ancient shadow magic.”
Glitter Drops smirked. “What, you going soft on me, Fizzy?”
“Not in your dreams.”
They walked down a wide path of packed soil that cut through the central plateau of the Rainbow Falls’ Trader’s Exchange. Looking up, Tempest could just barely see their stage overlooking the fair from a higher part of the mountain range. Surrounding them and bumping shoulders were creatures of all kinds, dragons and yaks and changelings, among others.
“You know, seeing all this,” Glitter Drops said, “makes me wonder about how things are back in the Crystal Empire. Do you think everything has settled down again?”
“It’s only been one season since the city almost tore itself apart,” Tempest said, giving her honest opinion. “What I realized about Equestria when I came back is that things don’t change as quickly as they seem. The parties, the celebrations, it makes us imagine the world to be a perfect place. And perfect doesn’t need adjusting.”
“When I was grabbing some stuff from our old lodge, I talked with some of the other ponies on the Watch,” Glitter added. “They said dragons started moving out of the Crystal Empire over the winter. Not a lot of them, but that means this is the first time that the dragon community is actually shrinking.”
“Princess Cadence has to be doing something about it, right?”
“She is, but it’s not like she can stop ponies from having opinions. A lot of crystal ponies say they don’t have a problem with dragons, but they also think it’s too soon to let them become full residents. Less than a decade ago the Crystal Empire didn’t even exist.”
“Less than five years ago the dragons weren’t organized enough to be a kingdom,” Tempest added. “What’s their point? That they need more time to be a part of the world?”
Glitter Drops sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know, Fizzy. Taking time off work and just spending it with you has been so fun, but I feel like I’m running away from it. When your tour ends, I think I want to go back to working in the Northern Watch.”
Tempest paused her walk, shifting to the side of the road before overeager traders began pushing them out of the way. “Are you telling me you want to go back to work, or are you asking me to go with you?”
“Oh! I’m sorry, I wasn’t even thinking about that,” Glitter Drops said, her voice pitching up as she reeled in her own words. “Playing for the Knights seem fun, I’d never want you to give it up if you don’t want to. That said, now that you’ve mentioned it, it’s not like you can’t have two jobs, right? And it would be nice to be Watch partners again, right?”
“Yeah,” Tempest gave her a bittersweet grin. “I won’t lie, I’ve thought about it too. But Starlight has two jobs and she’s leaving the band after this concert to focus on her career as Headmare. I don’t know if I want to try splitting up my time like that.”
“Woah, really? She’s quitting the Knights?”
Tempest nodded. “We still have a few songs to record together, since our new guitarist is still getting used to playing with us. But this’ll be her last live performance.”
“Okay, but she’s a Headmare with hundreds of students to look after. Compared to that, remember how many days we spent just staring at melting ice?”
“Yeah, okay, you got me there,” Tempest chuckled. “I guess I can talk to Luna about it. I won’t lie, it’ll be nice just relaxing in our lodge again. You’re right about it seeming so… simple.”
Sunset Shimmer flittered around the trader’s exchange, excitedly waving around a polaroid camera she had gotten by trading just a pair of human gloves to a dragon. It was hard to find anything with fingers to match the claws that dragons had, and the young drake was happy to exchange what he thought was a frivolous toy for some practical hand warmers.
“You really like taking pictures, huh?” Starlight mused as they walked through the footpaths, pausing occasionally at a stall to take pictures beside hippogriff and kirin stalls.
“‘You pick up the habit when you have a smartphone,” she answered. “And this is the first time I’ve seen so many different creatures in Rainbow Falls. I came here a few times with Celestia, but back then the yaks were still isolationists, and I thought the kirin were just legends. Half the time I look around and I feel like I’ve jumped into a brand new world.”
“Yeah, that’s partly the reason why I needed you with the Knights. With more students coming from outside Equestria, the school’s going to need more dorms and classrooms, not to mention more teachers and tutors.”
“I can’t believe Ponyville’s growing so fast,” Sunset said, taking a picture of a songbird that had perched on top of a dragon’s gemstone stall. “A castle and a school, it’ll be like a mini Canterlot in no time.”
Starlight nodded. “I know you’re still in college back in your world, but if you ever need a more permanent place in Equestria, there are a few new neighbourhoods being built outside the White Tail Woods. It’s not too far from Ponyville, I could move the portal to a house there and you can use it whenever you’re in Equestria.”
“Thought that place was a nature reserve for the Running of the Leaves?”
“Sure, that’s why it’s not in the White Tail Woods. It’s just outside.”
“Huh. Well, I’ll give it a thought. I mean, it can’t be worse than Canterlot City rent. I didn’t even get a marble countertop.”
They stopped mid-conversation, the two mares miming each other in their shared shocked expressions as one particular stall came into the periphery of their vision. Hanging on racks behind a grey-feathered, falcon-headed griffon, were an arrangement of electric guitars and basses.
V-shaped guitars, Stratocasters and Super Strats, and a few with custom body shapes, such as one which resembled a warped skull, or a few that looked like thick cartoonish lightning bolts.
Sunset whistled. “What’s a girl gotta do to get her hands on one of those?”
“Woah, easy there. Coco already got us new guitars for the concert tonight. Once I’m done with the tour, it’ll be yours. I’m kind of attached to my own guitars anyway.”
“Yeah,” Sunset whined, “but I want a new one now.”
Starlight rolled her eyes. “Fine, we’ll take a look. But don’t cry when he wants to trade something we don’t have. There’s no way he’s going to part with those guitars for nothing.”
Silverstream gave the pearl earrings a close inspection. “It’s authentic,” she finally said, giving Smolder the go ahead to trade a polished agate from the Dragonlands for it.
The young dragon eagerly grabbed the box from the seller, an aged hippogriff fisher, and stashed it away in her backpack.
“Thanks for the help,” Smolder said, “gemstones I can handle, but I’m totally lost when it comes to pearls.”
“You know, you could have just gone to Mount Aris to get these. We have more pearls than we know what to do with.”
“Sure, but this way I can get rid of random rocks from my family’s gem horde. Don’t tell anyone, but that stone might’ve looked nice, but it’s super common in the Dragonlands.”
Silverstream’s brows raised with surprise. “Fair point. What’s next on the list?”
Smolder checked her claw where she had scribbled the descriptions of accessories she wanted. A polished red coral necklace, spider-woven silk, and a set of pearl earrings. They were all crossed off.
“That was the last thing,” she said.
“What’re you planning to make, anyway?”
“A dress,” Smolder said, confiding with a moment’s hesitation. “It’s not really something I can do back home, smoke and lava aren’t that great for fabrics, and I wanted to try mixing in something different. Ponies and dragons both use gemstones for their accessories, so I figured I could try a sea-theme instead. How about you? Didn’t you bring anything to trade?”
“Oh, I did!” Silverstream opened her bag. “I didn’t have any books growing up because paper and seawater don’t mix, but we did carve stories on stone tablets and whale bones.” She produced what looked like a piece of a whale’s spine, the cylindrical vertebrae roughed over with etchings.
“My room’s full of these bones, I figured I should probably get rid of them.” Silverstream chuckled. “Gallus might get freaked out if he saw I had a bookshelf full of carved bones.”
“Yeah, I can see how that might concern him,” Smolder said. “But who’s going to want whale bones?”
Silverstream shrugged. “Anything can happen in Equestria. Maybe I’ll find a historian. Or a paleontologist.”
The bickering and bartering between dragons and ponies and yaks and changelings bewildered Daybreaker almost as much as what they were trading for. Antiques, relics, nick knacks and trinkets, most of them could simply be purchased with money.
She saw some blonde-haired farm pony debating with a seller over the value of a rusted pitchfork, claiming it was an heirloom. Of course no one wants your garbage, Daybreaker had thought to herself as she passed the mare. Another stall, she noticed, was trying to pawn off coins minted in the first year of Celestia’s reign. The tarnished gold pieces seemed to stare back at her, and Daybreaker noticed a familiar looking face stamped on them.
Forgotten and irrelevant. The Daybreaker of this world, Celestia, was no longer in power. Why would anyone trade for such an old coin? Of course, some pony wanted them. A scraggly-bearded stallion with a fiery orange mane had beheld them as if they were priceless works of art, and nearly gave over a collection of tattered books for a set of old coins.
Daybreaker scoffed as she trotted away, pulling her hood even further over her face. She couldn’t bear to look at him. Learn to barter, nerd. Gold could be melted down and recycled easily. The knowledge printed on ancient pages, not so much.
At a crossroads where the paths through the trade fair converged, Daybreaker’s wandering came up to a notice board which had posted the itinerary for the weekend, along with directions. Today was dedicated to specialty crafts and collectable items, there even was a whole row of stalls dedicated to trading cards. Tomorrow would be little more than a yard sale, and give sellers a chance to be rid of their own unused goods. And in the night between them, the trade fair had a festival planned.
Daybreaker ignored the street food and party favors. She had no desire for face paintings and caricatures. Not that they were options for her anyway. Her eyes settled on the music performances, a long list of singers and bands from all over the world, not just Equestria.
They were all inconsequential. Nightmare Moon is performing first. No, not Nightmare Moon. Daybreaker caught herself, shaking the confusion from her head. Nightmare Knights they may have called themselves, but Luna was still only a shadow of her sister.
Still, a shadow was better than a dead memory. Daybreak shifted her eyes to the timetable. The performance was set for 6:30 PM. A slow sigh left her lungs as she looked down to the short shadows on the ground. It had barely passed noon. Six hours of watching mindless drones waste their day away was going to drive her mad.
Rolling her eyes, Daybreaker dragged her hooves towards the food stalls, the only places which accepted real money. She’d find some food to enjoy, the only worthwhile thing this world seemed to offer, and then curl up in some corner until it was time to see her “sister.”
Or so Daybreaker expected the rest of her day would go. An alien, yet unnervingly recognisable laughter rang her ears as she joined a line for hamburgers and fried potatoes.
It cannot be.Why are you here?
Standing at twice the height of anyone else in the line, a white-coated alicorn with a pastel mane laughed, passing jokes and casual conversation with the cook as he wrapped up her lunch.
Celestia balanced the plastic tray on one hoof, though she could have easily levitated it. Her smile, her laughter, her meandering strut alongside ponies as if they were equals, was everything Daybreaker had lost to time.
She wouldn’t have asked for me if she had you around, Daybreaker thought as she left the line. Don’t walk around with that stupid grin. You must know our sister is about to go on stage. Why come now?
