> The Legendary Nightsong
>  by Darth Cookie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Forgotten Prince
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

				Written by: Darth Cookie & Darthvalgaav



“Long ago there were two sisters who ruled the world of Equestria, and maintained harmony among the ponies. The eldest sister, Princess Celestia, used her magic to raise the sun while her younger sister, Princess Luna, used her magic to raise the moon. With the night came dreams, which was the responsibility of Princess Luna’s son prince Nightsong, but when his mother was banished within the moon the young prince withdrew from the waking world and locked himself away in the Dream Realm.”

“Whoa,” said the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they were currently at Twilight Sparkle’s home listening to her read from one of her old books.

“Wait a minute,” said Scootaloo, a small orange Pegasus. “What does this have to do with cutie marks?”

“Because Nightsong is said to know every little fillies cutie mark,” replied Twilight, “And the dreams he gives helps us realize what we are meant to do.”

“That’s an old mare’s tale,” said Rainbow Dash as she entered Twilight’s library/home. “He’s not real!”

“Isn’t that what every pony said about Princess Luna when she was Nightmare Moon?” smirked Twilight. 

“Well…O.K. you were right about her,” confessed Rainbow, “But come on, a single pony that delivers dreams to every pony every single night sounds a little far-fetched to me. I mean if he was real then how come no one has seen him, even after his mother returned?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted, than she smiled proudly. “But I have done plenty of research on him. In fact I wrote a paper on him.” With that Twilight used her magic to summon a scroll from its place on a shelf. The scroll then opened in front of Rainbow so she could read it. Well she could have if she wanted. 

“Along with his personal history I was also able to figure out how to get to the dream realm!”

Rainbow ignored the scroll, “That’s all well and good but…” she was cut off by loud wail of soul spitting agony from outside. “Shoot, I forgot why I came here. Twilight Rarity needs your help big time.” Rainbow said with a shadow of humor in her eyes.

“I’m on my way,” said twilight as she her magic placed the scroll down on a small table. A moment later the only ponies occupying the library were the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Girls do you realize what this means?” Apple Bloom asked

“We wasted our time again,” complained scootaloo in defeated tone.

“Nooo,” replied Apple Bloom as she grabbed the scroll with her teeth and unrolled it on the floor. “We now know that there’s a pony who knows what our cutie marks are going to be. Maybe if we ask him nicely he’ll tell us what they are.”

“That’s a great idea!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

“But Rainbow Dash said that he’s fake,” said Scootaloo.

“But we should still try,” said Sweetie Belle as she turned to Apple Bloom, who was now reading the scroll, “So how do we find him?” she asked.

“Well,” began Apple Bloom, “According to this here scroll we have to be touching a statue of Nightsong’s mother during twilight.”

“That doesn’t sound hard,” said Sweetie Belle as she looked at Scootaloo. “We can go to the dream realm and back in no time.”

“I guess,” The little Pegasus reluctantly replied, “But when is twilight and where are we going to find a statue of Princess Luna?”

“There is the one in the forest that we go to on Nightmare Night,” said Apple Bloom as she walked over to the book case and started flipping through books. “And we can look-up when twilight begins.” 

Scootaloo was still hesitant. She trusted Rainbow Dash’s judgment but the chance of getting her cutie mark was very tempting. “Well, I guess we can give it a try,” she said. And with that all three fillies began to look for the definition of Twilight.

XXX

“I can’t thank you enough Twilight!” exclaimed Rarity, than added dramatically “If you hadn’t come along when you did I would never have been able to be seen in public ever again.”

“It was nothing, just a simple growth spell,” blushed Twilight. The big ‘emergency’ had turned out to be a lot more humorous then serious. Rarity had gone to a new mane stylist who thought she would have looked better with a buzz cut. Sadly for him she didn’t agree and her high pitched complaint left him slightly deaf. Luckily for Rarity Twilight’s growth-spell, the same one that gave Spike a mustache could also be used to regrow ones mane.

“I thought she looked good,” laughed Pinkie Pie as she skipped around Rarity.

“Can we please never mention it ever again. My reputation would be ruined!” Rarity insisted as she glared at Pinkie. 

Twilight had invited them back to her place for some herbal tea, but when they walked through the door the library looked like a hurricane had hit. Spike was in the center of the mess trying his best to clean it up. The baby dragon looked up at Twilight and sighed.

“Twilight could you try reading one book at a time?” he asked sounding frustrated.

“But I had nothing to do with this,” she insisted. That’s when she noticed her Night Song scroll. Several books were stacked in piles around the scroll. Slowly a creeping fear began to overtake her. Only a certain few ponies knew about her scroll. Not including the Princess there was Spike, Rainbow Dash, and the-

“Oh no! Apple Bloom and the other girls went to the Everfree Forest!”

XXX

“There it is!” yelled Sweetie Belle. Just ahead in a clearing within the Everfree Forest was a black statue of an amicorn. Her face had been crafted to inspire fear as it portrayed Nightmare Moon on her hind legs with her wings spread. While Princess Luna was no longer like this, it served as a reminder of what had happened a thousand years ago as well as a spot for fillies to offer there candy on Nightmare Night.

“Can we please just get this over with,” complained Scootaloo, she was still doubtful that this would work at all, “It’s starting to get dark.”

“Okay,” said Apple Bloom, “Every pony ready? One, two, two and a half, two and three quarters, three.” The three fillies touched the statue but nothing happened.”Well that’s odd,” said Sweetie Belle, “I thought we timed it right!”

“Well maybe we were too late,” Apple Bloom said with disappointment in her voice, “Or maybe to soooooon!” The Three fillies were suddenly falling. All around them was a sea of stars with nothing above and nothing below. Scootaloo tried her best to stop her friends from falling but her little filly wings weren’t strong enough to support them all, and then… they landed in the front seat of a roller coaster.

“Awesome!” exclaimed Scootaloo.

“What the hay is going on here?” demanded Apple Bloom as she looked over the side of the cart. Below her was empty, starry sky with no tracks or rails to hold that cart in place. Then just as she pulled her head back in, the cart began to move. It went forward for a few yards and then slowly climbed upwards. As it did, safety restraints magically appeared and latched onto the three fillies. Suddenly, without warning, the cart began to descend at alarming speed. The girls screamed as they twisted around small planets made of toys turned around asteroids made of marshmallows, and looped around a gigantic dog house. Scootaloo had her hooves in the air the entire time as she screamed in delight. The ride seemed to go on for hours until it took them to a small flat piece of land big enough to hold maybe thirty ponies. All it had on it was a small make shift hut, a single tree, and grass. The roller coaster cart slowed down and came to a stop at the hut.

“Thank goodness it’s over,” moaned Sweetie Belle as she and the others climbed out. Only Scootaloo looked disappointed when they departed the machine. As soon as they were all out, the cart seemed to melt into ground. “Looks like we’re walking back,” Sweetie Belle sighed with relief.

“Good, I had enough ups and downs to last me a life time,” replied Apple Bloom, “But why did it take us here? And where is this Nightsong fella?”

“Maybe he’s in there,” said Sweetie Belle as she pointed towards the hut. The three friends slowly walked over to it and opened the door. As soon as they did they began to cough as dust was kicked up into the air. Several inches of dust seemed to cover every surface of the hut.

“I can’t believe this,” Scootaloo said stomping her hoof. “We traveled all this way to meet Nightsong and he’s not here. Rainbow Dash was right, Nightsong isn’t real.”

“Funny, I feel real,” said an amused male voice from behind the girls. The fillies gasped in excitement and quickly turned around. But he was not what they had expected, like his mother and his aunt he had both wings and a unicorn horn. His coat was grey and his mane seemed to be made of mist, but he was also all skin and bones, like he hadn’t eaten anything in a long time and there were also massive dark circles around his eyes. On his side was his cutie mark which looked like a cresset moon with a night cap.

“Y-you’re Nightsong?” Stammered Scootaloo. Her checks were flushed with embarrassment.

“That’s right,” came the reply. “Sorry I can’t stay and chat but I have to start gathering dreams for tomorrow night.” With that he began to walk away.

“Wait!” cried Sweetie Belle. “We really need to ask you something important. It’s about our cutie marks!” At that Nightsong stopped and turned around. He looked at them for a moment before he rubbed his eyes with his hoof.  

“Look, I’m sure you three came a long way,” he said gently, “But I am really, really busy and I am now really behind.” Then he yawned as his legs began to wobble a bit.

The girls looked at him with concern, “When was the last time you slept?” asked Scootaloo.

“What day is it?” 

“Saturday” the trio answered in unison.

“It’s been 94 years,” he said in a dead panned voice. The crusaders stood with their jaws wide open. No sleep for 94 years?! Night Song then turned to walk away. 

“Wait a minute,” cried Apple Bloom, “Maybe we can help you.” With a sigh, Nightsong turned back towards them, clearly annoyed.

“I appreciate the offer,” he said calmly. “But I am the only one who can implant the dream. Now, if you will kindly excuse me, I have to gather dream sprites.”

“Well maybe we can do that,” said Scootaloo, at that, Nightsong sat and got into a thinking pose. 

“I guess you could,” he muttered. “And I could really use the rest.” He then shook his head. “What am I thinking? There is no way I can let three little fillies do that. It’s simply too much work, and the nightmares are dangerous.”

“But there will be three of us,” said Sweetie Belle. Then in unison, the three fillies said “Pleeease,” as they gave him their best puppy dog eyes and pouts. Nightsong sighed in defeat. No one could resist filly cuteness.

“Very well,” he said. He then lifted his right wing and three glowing creatures came out. They were no bigger than fireflies and they made a humming sound. Two of them were blue but the third was red. “These are dream sprites, I was supposed to put them in you girls tonight but, instead, you showed up here. The blue ones are pleasant dreams while the red ones are nightmares. Now I must warn you, never get bitten by a nightmare.

“The job itself is simple. All you three have to do is gather the dream sprites and bring them back here. They inhabit this entire realm so just pick a place and grab their attention. Personally, I find that humming or light singing to be the best way. The real problem, however, is the amount that we have to collect. I need nineteen billion dreams and thirty-two million nightmares. And I need them tonight.”

Three sets of jaws hit the ground. They needed to collect that many in one day? No wonder Nightsong looked the way he did. He must spend all day running himself ragged just to collect enough dreams for a single day and then he had to do the same thing the next day. He probably didn’t even have time to eat or anything like that.

“I-I think we can manage,” laughed Apple Bloom nervously. The other two gave an uncomfortable chuckle. “But, how are we gonna get around. That rollercoaster is gone and two of us can’t fly!”

“This is the place all dreams come from,” said Nightsong as he got up. “It follows the same rules as dreams do. So if you want to fly then you can.” With that said he began to walk over to his hut and then fell onto his dust covered bed. And as soon as he did he was out cold.

“Ok,” said Apple Bloom. “Sweetie Belle, you can help lure out the dreams with your singing while me and Scootaloo round them up.”

“Actually, I would rather not,” said Sweetie Belle shyly. “How about I help you round them up. I’m sure that Scootaloo would rather do the singing.”

“Alright!” yelled Scootaloo who was clearly excited to have the chance to show off what she believed would be an amazing musical number she had been thinking of since Nightsong told them about how to gather the dreams. The other two quickly ‘shushed’ her as they glanced at the hut. Scootaloo gave an embarrassed laugh. “Sorry, forgot.”

“Well I don’t see a problem with that,” said Apple Bloom. She then walked over to the edge of the land and looked down. The space like scenery seemed to go on forever. “But now we just need to figure out how to get around.”

“Well, Nightsong said that if we want to fly we can,” said Sweetie Belle. She then closed her eyes and began to think of flying. She imagined herself soaring through the clouds like the other Pegasus ponies, but without wing. At first nothing seemed to happen. Then, all of a sudden, she could no longer feel the ground beneath her hooves. Quickly she opened her eyes to see her friends staring at her as she floated several feet in the air.

A short while later the three fillies found themselves at the base of a giant apple tree that was just floating around in space. It was so large that it made the castle in Canterlot seem tiny. But it did seem odd that it grew giant pink apples.

“I wonder if this is where apple or fruit dreams comes from,” wondered Apple Bloom.

“Who cares,” said Scootaloo. “Let’s get to work.” With that, Scootaloo began to sing. Sadly, she was horribly out of tune. Yet as she sang hundreds of red lights began to come out of the giant apple tree. As they did, they began to make a horrible buzzing sound that sounded like a swarm of angry hornets. For a few moments, they did nothing accept circle around the tree until they all stopped.

“I think we should run,” said Apple Bloom after a moment. As soon as she said that the nightmares began to descend upon the three friends.

XXX

“Hurry up y’all,” said Apple Jack. “I’m worried about my little sis.”

“You’re not the only one,” said Rarity as she thought of Sweetie Belle.

Nearly a full day had passed since the Cutie Mark Crusaders had vanished. Naturally as soon as they figured out where the trio had gone they headed out for the statue of Nightmare Moon. But by the time they had gotten there, twilight was over. Hoping that the princess might be of some help, Twilight wrote her a letter explaining the situation and asking for any form of help. She quickly got a reply but it told her not to worry and that the girls would be safe. Now they were all heading towards the statue so they could try again.

“It’s all Twilight’s fault,” continued Rarity.

“What?” said a surprised Twilight. Rarity turned around, walked right up to her, and stared her in the eye.

“If you hadn’t told them that story about Nightsong or shown them that scroll then none of this would have happened,” ragged Rarity. “You should have kept you’re big mouth and dusty old books shut!”

“Hey,” said Rainbow Dash as she got in between the two. “It’s not her fault. I mean, she didn’t tell them to do it or anything like that. They did it all on their own. Besides, up until yesterday you thought Nightsong was fake just like me. If they had told you what they were going to do you would have just laughed it off and told Sweetie Belle to be back in time for bed!”

“I might have believed he was fake,” admitted Rarity, “but I would never have allowed Sweetie Belle or her friends to enter the Everfree Forest at night!”

“Please stop yelling,” added Fluttershy softly. “Arguing won’t help anyone now and I’m sure Twilight didn’t intend for this to happen.”

“Hush y’all,” barked Apple Jack. They all fell silent at the harshness of her tone. Twilight lowered her head. Since Apple Bloom had gone missing the normally cheerful Apple Jack had become slightly short tempered and growled out most of her words. It was clear that she also blamed Twilight as much as Rarity did. Maybe even more. And the fact that she had barely said a word to her made it all the worse. “The faster we get to the statue the faster we can get our girls home!” she said firmly. 

“Hey lookie,” said Pinkie Pie as she began to bounce up and down. It was obvious that the current situation had done nothing to dampen her mood. “There’s the statue! There’s the statue!”

“Alright girls,” said Twilight as they all gathered around the statue. “Now all we have to do is touch the statue.” One by one they did as they were told. And after several long moments, nothing happened.

“Come on you stupid statue,” said Rainbow Dash impatiently. “Work alreaaaady!” She had nearly finished her sentence when she and the other ponies began to fall. Almost all of them were screaming except for Pinkie Pie who, for reasons known only to her, was giggling. They seemed to fall for a long time until the landed on…surfboards? In the middle of space?

“Ah Twilight, what in tarnation is going on here?” demanded Apple Jack.

“I’m not sure,” admitted a confused Twilight.

“Cowabunga!” cheered Rainbow Dash as her surf board began to move. She quickly put on some sunglasses and then stood upright. “This is AWESOME!” The other surf boards began to follow Rainbow’s and copy its every move. When she went left they all went left. When she did a nose dive they all did a nose dive.

Fluttershy had her rump in the air with her hooves covering her head and eyes, “Please tell me when it’s over,” she whimpered as she trembled.

“Oh my stars,” cried Rarity as she saw what was coming up on her left. It was a diamond the size of Jupiter or maybe Saturn. And, like Saturn, it had rings as well. But these rings were made of solid gold. Rarity felt a great desire to leave the herd and land on that giant diamond. ‘Sweetie Belle, giant diamond, Sweetie Belle, giant diamond,’ her mind battled with her desires. But she quickly shook her head to get rid of the idea. Sure it looked sooo perfect but how in the world would she be able to move it. Also, she had to find her sister and that took priority.

“Lookie, lookie!”yelled Pinkie as she pointed with her hoof. “A planet made of chocolate chip cookie dough!” And with that her surf board began to move towards what looked like a giant scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough the size of the moon.

“We don’t have time for this,” grumbled Apple Jack as she took off after Pinkie Pie. The pink pony had a good lead on her friend so she landed first. Then, after getting off her surf board, she took a big bite out of the ground…and then spat it out!

“What’s going on here?” cried Pinkie Pie. “It looks like chocolate chip cookie dough. It smells like chocolate chip cookie dough. It feels like chocolate chip cookie dough. But it tastes like mud!” she sniffed with disappointment.

“Pinkie Pie” yelled Apple Jack. “I’ll buy you entire tub chocolate chip cookie dough if you concentrate and help me find Apple Bloom and the others.” She pleaded.

At this, Pinkie jumped back on her board, “What are we waiting for!”

XXX

“I think we really messed up,” said Apple Bloom as she, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all looked out the only window in Nightsong’s hut. Outside, the area was filled with countless red nightmare sprites, all of them bussing angrily. After the giant apple tree the fillies had gone from object to object in this strange place only to get more nightmares. And all of them seemed to be upset by Scootaloo’s singing. Now they were in the only safe place they knew of: Nightsong’s hut.

“This looks like the end,” said Sweetie Belle.

“NOOO!” yelled Apple Bloom. “We’re too young to die. Plus, we haven’t gotten our cutie marks yet!” Just then the window began to crack.

“We’re all gonna die!” wailed Scootaloo. All the girls hug each other tight and began to scream but stopped when they heard a yawn. They turned around and saw that Nightsong was awake and stretching his wings.

“Wow,” he said slowly as he stretched out his back. “That was a nice nap.” He then calmly walked to the door while completely ignoring the three fillies. But when he opened the door and saw all the nightmares he quickly turned his head to look at them. “Who sang to them?”

“I-I did,” stammered Scootaloo. At that, Nightsong raised an eyebrow in confusion. He looked at her, then at Sweetie Belle, and then back to Scootaloo. He looked like he wanted to say something but stopped himself and returned his focus to the problem at hand. Nightsong opened his wings and all the red dream sprites began to swarm into them for several minutes. When it was over, Nightsong’s wings looked like they were glittering red.

“Well at least you got enough,” he said. “Could have gotten some dreams but I guess that’s a decent first try. I just hope Auntie won’t be mad with me.” He then gave them a small smile. “Thanks for the help. After I’m done delivering all of these nightmares I’ll make sure you three get home safely.” With that Nightsong walked out of his hut to the edge of his land. He opened his wings again and flew downwards into the empty space. The three fillies ran over to the edge and saw that Nightsong was nowhere to be seen.

“Apple Bloom!” came a loud voice. The Cutie Mark Crusader’s looked up and saw Apple Jack and the others flying towards them on the surfboards. As soon as they landed Apple Jack galloped straight towards her sister and began to hug her while tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again. I was so worried about you.”

“The same goes to you young lady,” said Rarity as she hugged Sweetie Belle. “I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you.”Then an embarrassed flush came across Rarity’s face as she turned her head to look at Twilight. “I owe you an apology. I never should have blamed you for what happened.” 

“You mean we never should have blamed you,” said Apple Jack as she hung her head. “I’m really sorry Twilight.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” said Twilight with a smile, relieved that her friends were no longer mad at her. “I was at least partly to blame. I’m just glad every pony is safe.”

“Alright, enough of this mushy stuff,” said Rainbow Dash. “Let’s get out of here.” She turned around and saw that someone was right behind her. She jumped back, ready to fight.

“It’s ok Rainbow Dash,” said Scootaloo as she and the other two Crusaders walked over to the figure. “This is Nightsong.”

“You’re Prince Nightsong?” asked a shocked Rainbow Dash. When the figure nodded Rainbow fell down laughing. Nightsong’s eye began to twitch as Rainbow rolled on the ground while pointing and laughing at him. Apparently she had been expecting something else.

“Ah, sorry about her,” said Twilight as she stepped around Rainbow. “My name is-”

“Twilight Sparkle,” interrupted Nightsong with a small smile. “Auntie’s most prized pupil whose special talent is magic itself.” 

Twilight blinked. “You know who I am?” she asked. Nightsong nodded.

“You have had some of the most amazing dreams,” said Nightsong. “The beautiful libraries in them are simply amazing. I wish I could start the remodeling on mine, but I just haven’t found the time.”

“Hehe, even in her dreams she’s studying,” said Rainbow as she finally calmed down and got up.

“Well it’s nice to meet you and all,” said Rarity as she stepped forward. “But you should have sent the girls home as soon as you realized that they were here. We have been worried sick.”

“But he was tired,” said Sweetie Belle. “All he ever does here is work with no time to sleep. We just wanted to help him out, that’s all.”

“Well it looks like he isn’t eating so well either,” added Apple Jack. She then turned her head to look at Nightsong. “When was the last time you ate anything?”

“It’s been about 85 years,” he said. “Give or take.” Everyone stared at him.

“Ohh you poor dear,” Fluttershy cooed gently.

“How have you stayed alive?” asked Twilight.

“It’s this place,” said Nightsong. “Here, the rules are different. You can’t die here so no matter how long I go without food I will continue to live. The same goes for sleep. Also, as long as you are here you won’t age.”

“Well that just won’t do,” said Apple Jack. “We need to put some food in that belly of yours. Like some nice fresh apples.”

“Or some carrots,” Fluttershy said softly.

“Or chocolate,” said Pinkie Pie.

“What’s chocolate?” asked Nightsong. Pinkie Pie gapped and stared at him in disbelief.

Pinkie’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head “W-what’s chocolate?” she repeated. “Why it’s only the greatest, yummiest thing ever to hit a ponies tongue. It goes great in cakes, pies, and cookies!”

“Ah, what are cakes and cookies?” asked Nightsong. Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes and turned her head to look at the others.

“We have to help this guy,” she said in a very serious tune.

“Look,” said Nightsong, “it’s nice that you’re all worried about me but I’m fine.” Just then his stomach rumbled. “And I don’t have the time. I can’t have two days in a row of completely random dreams or nightmares. Today I’ll have to work twice as hard to get every pony their specific dreams.”

“Well then just leave that to us,” said Rainbow Dash. “We can handle anything!”

“I wouldn’t mind helping, if that’s alright,” said Fluttershy.

“We have to get you to Sugarcube Corner,” said Pinkie Pie as she began to jump up and down.

“What he needs are some delicious and nutritious apples from Sweet Apple Acres,” said Apple Jack. “Not junk food.”

“I would like to help as well,” said Rarity. “It might inspire me with this new design I’m working on.”

Nightsong argued with them for awhile but they wouldn’t give in. They said that if he was willing to allow three young fillies to do this then he should have no problems with six mature ponies doing it. In the end Nightsong realized that they wouldn’t change their minds and simply gave in. Besides, all this arguing was putting him farther and farther behind. So he quickly explained to them what he had told the Crusaders. He also produced a check list, a large book, several hundred notebooks, a quill, and a magnifying glass.

“First the book,” he said as he checked his list. “This tome lists the names of every creature in the waking world and what dreams they get. To get a better idea about what the dream is about just put it up to your ear and you’ll get a glimpse of what the dream is about. Once you have done that please write it down in the note book with the ponies name at the very top. Make sure you only write down one pony and one dream per page. There is a map of the Dream Realm in the back of my library. If you need it just keep going until you reach the back.” He paused as he looked at his check list. “Hmm, would it be possible for one of you too freed my fishies while you’re at it?” Fluttershy’s face lit up with joy.

“Oh, I can do that,” said Fluttershy. “What kind are they? Gold fish?”

“They’re my fishies,” said Nightsong who had no idea what kind they were. He had wanted to look them up in one of his books, but had never had the time. He then pulled out a can of fish food and gave it to Fluttershy. “The instructions are on the back.”

“Oh, thank you,” said Fluttershy. “Now what about you? Will you be able to find your way around Ponyville?” Nightsong blinked.

“Ah, where is Ponyville?” he asked. The girls sighed.

“Wow, you really don’t get out much do you,” exclaimed Apple Jack with a light chuckle.

“He’ll never find his way around,” said Rainbow Dash. “Hey, I got an idea. Why don’t you show him around Twilight?”

“Ah, are you sure?” asked Twilight nervously. She had never been a guide before, but she had read on the subject. Also, she was a bit worried about letting the other’s do something this big without her organizational skills.

“Don’t worry about us sugar cube,” said Apple Jack with a reassuring smile. “We can handle this.”

“Alright,” said Twilight. “But how do we get back?” Everyone turned and stared at Nightsong.

“With a leap of faith,” he said. With that his horn began to glow a light grey which surround him, Twilight, and the Crusaders. The four of them began to float and hover over the edge of his land. “It’s really simple. Whenever some pony is falling in their dreams they wake up before they hit the ground. Same basic thing. All you have to do is allow yourself to fall and you’ll be sent back to the real world.” With that, Nightsong ended his magic and the four of them fell.

> Best Day Off?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight had no idea how long she fell. She had no idea what she was passing or what was going on. It wasn’t because it was too much for her mind to take in or anything like that. It wasn’t because the Dream Realm was blocking anything or that there simply wasn’t anything there. No, the reason was much simpler than that: she had her eyes closed. Well, until she felt the ground beneath her hooves.


Slowly Twilight opened her eyes and saw that they we back in the waking world. The Crusaders were right next to her, a little shaken but safe and sound. And next to them was Nightsong, who had a very calm look on his tired face. But it was odd that they were at the edge of the Everfree Forest and that the sun was just starting to rise in the distance.


“That’s odd,” said Twilight as she squinted into the distance. “I was sure we were only gone for an hour. Two tops!”


“Yes, that seems about right,” said Nightsong with a nod. The then began to look around, staring at the buildings, the trees, the grass, everything. It had been so long since he stood on real land and had seen the waking world. He closed his eyes as the birds began to sing. It had been a little under a thousand years since the last time he had heard them and wanted to take in the noise.


“But that can’t be,” said Twilight. “I mean, we entered the Dream Realm at around twilight so how can it be morning?”


“Time difference,” said Nightsong as he opened his eyes. “The days in the Dream Realm are only six hours long.”


“S-Six hours?” stammered Twilight. “But if that’s the case then why don’t you come out here to eat and sleep? Wouldn’t you have more time?”


“Well, back when I first got my cutie mark I did,” said Nightsong as he began to help the Cutie Mark Crusaders up. “But once my mother was banished I really didn’t feel like coming back here for a while. And when I did feel like it, I was simply too busy to leave.”


“Well, I got to get home,” said Scootaloo. “My mom is going to kill me for being gone so long.” And with that the little orange Pegasus flew off while waving a hoof at the group.


“Well, we better get going as well,” said Twilight. “We first have to stop at the library, so I can pick up a few things, and then we can head to Sweat Apple Acres. Does that sound alright?”


“I have no problem with that. How about you two?” Nightsong asked the remaining crusaders. The fillies agreed and with that settled the group began to move out.


XXX


“Alright now,” said Rarity to the other ponies. Once the others gathered around her she continued to speak. “I think I know a way we can finish our work load quickly and efficiently. Now, for starters, Rainbow Dash would you be a dear and get that map? We’ll need it to find our way around here. After that you can help Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie gather the dreams.”


“I’m on it,” said Rainbow Dash as she gave Rarity a salute.


“And what pray tell will you be doing?” asked Apple Jack.


“Both Fluttershy and I will be organizing and recording the dreams,” said Rarity. Apple Jack gave her a look that said she didn’t like what she was hearing so Rarity decided to explain. “Neither Fluttershy nor I are as fast as you three are. I also happen to know that our penmanship is much better than yours. Besides, what would you rather be doing? Going out in the wide unknown and seeing what few ponies ever get to see or staying here and doing nit picking work?” Apple Jacks reaction was just as Rarity expected. The orange earth pony at first looked embarrassed at the mention on her writing skills. Truth was that Apple Bloom was much better at that kind of stuff than her. Apple Jack did brighten up; however, when Rarity mentioned all the things she would get to see and not have to bunk down with the boring work.


“All righty then,” said Apple Jack.


“Ah, excuse me,” cooed Fluttershy. “But I was wondering if I could first feed Nightsong’s fishies. Those poor dears must be so hunger.”


“Of course Fluttershy,” said Rarity with a smile. “I’m sure we have time for you to do that while the other begin to collect the dreams.”


And with that they all began to head out.


Rainbow Dash headed straight towards Nightsong’s hunt as Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie took off. As she watched them, Rainbow couldn’t help but think that maybe she and Apple Jack could have a little competition. Maybe see which pony could collect the most dreams. But she shook her head and sighed. First there was simply too much work to do and they might get carried away like at the Running of the Leaves. And second, it would kill her if Pinkie Pie somehow won.


Opening the door she did a double take at the amount of dust. Bringing a hoof up to cover her face she began to search the hut for anything that could be considered a library. All she saw was a bed with nightstand next to it, a small table, and a dresser. There was also another door near the back. Seeing no books, or anything that even resembled a library, she decided to check out what was behind the door. Personally Rainbow Dash thought it might just be a back door seeing that this was a one-room hut. But when she opened the door her jaw hit the floor. On the other side was a long hallway lit with torches. Books lined the shelves as far as her eyes could see going into the darkness. Rainbow then looked to her right and then her left to see a similar sight.


She shook her head to clear it. She didn’t have time to stair, she had a job to do, Rainbow took flight and began to fly straight. But as she went the scenery didn’t change. Sure she could see that she was passing lots of torches and books but it didn’t look like she was making any progress. She looked behind her to see that she could no longer see the door that brought her to this place. This began to panic the little Pegasus so she began to speed up in a desperate attempt to reach the other side. Faster and faster she went but still no change. No longer was she worried or scared, now she was getting upset. Her pride as the fastest flier was being tainted by this place so, with that thought, she used her Sonic Rainboom. The shockwave she created put out many of the torches and threw books off their shelves but she didn’t care. She was going to reach the other side.


For several long minutes she continued at this speed leaving a rainbow colored trail behind her. But she couldn’t keep up this pace forever. Eventually she had to stop and rest. Sadly, while going at the speed she had caused many of the books to be caught in her tail wing and when she stopped they all crashed into her. Luckily for her she wasn’t hurt except for her pride.


“He better have Darning Doo in here,” mumbled Rainbow as she began to pull herself out of the pile.


Outside the hut, Fluttershy was standing at the edge of Nightsong’s land while holding the can of fish food he had given her. On the can were the instructions to stand at the edge and just call out for them and to only feed them one cap full. It seemed strange to Fluttershy, but then again most thing about this place were rather odd. She was glad that there was some normal things in here that would help calm her down a bit. And nothing calmed her down like helping animals.


“Here fishies, fishies,” she cooed as she shook the can. The yellow Pegasus waited for a minute or two until several large shadows fell upon her. Slowly she looked up and she saw Nightsong’s four ‘fishies’. The first, and largest, was about 67 feet long. Its head was almost square shaped and took up nearly a third of its body. Its color looked kind of grayish. The next two were black and white creatures. They were not nearly as large as the first, but they were still big with large dorsal fins. The last one was the smallest. It was just a little longer than her with a pointy nose and it was a sleek silver color. But what she noticed from all four of them was that they all had flat tails.


Fluttershy looked at the tiny can in her hoof and then back at the four large creators that seemed to be swimming in space above her. Only one thing came to mind.


“I’m going to need a bigger can of fish food,” she said.


XXX


The town of Ponyville was just waking up as Twilight, Nightsong, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom entered the business district. All around them the pony folk were setting up their shops and getting ready for another day of business. Yet despite how busy they were some couldn’t help but notice Nightsong. Never before had they seen a stallion alicorn before and never had they seen any creature who was that starved before. Many of them began to whisper amongst themselves, but Nightsong seemed to be able to tune them out. Truth be told, he was simply fascinated by how much things had changed. The pony’s homes were far superior compared to the ones a thousand years ago. And he could already smell many of the foods from the stands and the homes, which caused his mouth to water.


Twilight watched the long lost prince in amazement. She had expected him to act in fear or in shock by how much things had changed. She also thought that he might go running around, try to examine everything he saw. However, he acted calmly and behaved himself. From time to time he would pause to get a better look at something but that’s all he did was look. And he didn’t look frightened in the least, just curious.


“I wonder in Princess Luna had the same reaction,” Twilight said to herself. Her eyes widened as she realized that she said that out loud. She talked about Nightsong’s mother and she was sure it must be a sore subject to him. She turned to face him as they continued to walk. “Prince Nightsong, I’m so sorry.”


“Don’t worry about,” he said calmly. “I’ve known she’s been back for awhile. Actually, the night after you defeated her I gave her the first dream she had in over a thousand years.”


“Wow, I bet you two had a lot to talk about,” said Sweetie Belle. But Nightsong shook his head.


“We still haven’t spoken yet,” he said as he lowered his head a bit.


“But why not?” asked Twilight. “I’m sure you could take some time off work to see her. And I’m sure that the princesses would understand if the dreams weren’t delivered for just one day.” She paused for a moment as she thought about a possible reason. “Or do you hate her?” Nightsong stopped dead in his tracks.


“No!” he said fiercely. “How could I hate her!? She’s my mother!” His eyes widened in shock from how he had reacted and he took a deep breath as he began to walk again. “The truth is that I’m afraid to see both auntie and my mother again. I understand why they both did what they did. My mother only wanted ponies to play more at night and appreciate all the hard work she done. But they only paid attention to auntie and the daytime she created. Every day I saw how hurt she was, when auntie was showered in the love that mother craved. But I can understand why auntie had to seal my mother in the moon. It was just part of her job to protect her subjects.” Nightsong closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again there was a look of regret in them. “I guess, the truth is that I feel like I caused it to happen. Before I got my cutie mark, there were no dreams. But afterwards, many ponies began to go to sleep sooner and sooner so they could experience the dreams I gave them. I…I just made things worse.”


Twilight felt sorry for the stallion. He had probably lived with this guilt for a thousand years all by himself. These thoughts must have been plaguing him for a very long time. She could also see the differences between him and Blueblood. Nightsong was such a hard worker and took on so much reasonability that it was tearing him apart both physically and emotionally. Blueblood, from what she had heard from Rarity, was a self-centered jerk.


“Don’t worry Nightsong,” said Apple Bloom. “I bet when your momma see’s ya again she’ll be mighty happy.” Nightsong gave the filly a small smile as they reached their first destination.


Nightsong took one step into the library and all the composure he had vanished. He began to race around looking at all the books, sometimes using his magic to get a closer look. And the look on his face was of pure joy. It was like he had forgotten how tired and hungry he was.


“Morning Twi,” said Spike as he walked down the steps. “Glad to see that you’re…ah, who’s your friend?”


“Good morning Spike,” said Twilight. “This is Prince Nightsong, Princess Luna’s son.” Spike stared at him for a moment and Nightsong, well, ignored him.


“If you say so,” said Spike with a shrug. “I’m going out to get some gems for breakfast.” He began to walk out but then stopped. “Before I forget, you got a message last night.” Twilight’s eyes widened and raced up the stairs. It must be from Princess Celestia!


Once she was up the stairs and in her room she began to look for the usual scroll. However, all she found was a small golden egg on her bed. Using her magic, she picked it up and brought it closer. Written on it were the words ‘break me’. Twilight was confused seeing that the princess had never done anything like this before. Not knowing what else to do, Twilight stopped her magic which caused the egg to fall to the ground and break. Once broken, the shell turned to dust, which began to spread around into an oval in front of Twilight. Once it had done that, an image appeared in its center and soon Twilight was staring at the image of Princess Luna.


“Ah, Twilight Sparkle,” said Luna who at first had looked worried but then relieved. “I’m glad to see that you got my message.”


“I just got back Princess,” said Twilight. She couldn’t help but marvel at the magic that Luna was using which her older sister had yet to use. “Is everything alright?”


“Everything is fine now,” said Luna with a smile. “I only just heard last night from my sister what was going on. There were also the reports of the high levels of nightmares all over the world. I thought that something was going wrong in the Dream Realm. I had hoped to help you in some way using this as a means of communication. I guess Celestia was right, you are perfectly capable of handling yourselves.” She then stopped and then began to talk very quietly. “So, how is he?”


“Tired,” replied Twilight who knew whom the princess was referring to. “We managed to convince him to take the day off while my friends are helping him gather the dreams.” Luna let out a sigh of relief.


“That’s good to hear,” she said. “When I heard that he hadn’t left the Dream Realm at all during these last thousand years I so worried.”


“Well, we’re heading to Sweet Apple Acres,” said Twilight with a smile. “If you want, you could meet up with us later.”


“I can’t” Luna almost screamed. Twilight looked shocked and confused.


“But he’s your son! Don’t you want to see him again?”


“I do,” insisted Luna as she regained control of herself. “But…I’m afraid to.” Twilight sat down, still very confused and waited for Luna to continue. “You see, Twilight Sparkle, I abandoned him. I gave into my own darkness without even thinking about my own son.” Tears began to form in the princess’s eyes. “He was the only one who ever really appreciated my night skies. When he was little, we would sit on the grass as we watched shooting stars. He would always beg me to let him see the moon raising ceremony. Oh, why couldn’t I have been content with his praise?”


“But he’s here right now princess,” said Twilight. “I’m sure that if you two spoke for a-“


“But what if he won’t forgive me?” interrupted Luna. “I wanted to see him the moment I got back, but that one fear has kept me from seeing him. I hope that he will forgive me, but if I go to him and he doesn’t…what then? That hope will be gone forever.” Luna then jerked her head to the side. She nodded several times before saying that she would be there in a moment. Then she returned her attention to Twilight. “I’m sorry but I must go. Royal duties and all.” And with that, the image of Luna vanished and the golden dust fell to the floor.


Twilight got up and began to slowly make her way down the stairs. It was just so sad. Both mother and son wanted to see each other again, but their fears and guilt was what kept them apart. Was there any way she could help them?


“What is this thing?” Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts as she turned her attention to Nightsong.


“That’s a globe of our world,” she said simply. Nightsong’s eyes widened.


“You mean the world isn’t flat?” he asked in amazement.


XXX


“Here you go Rarity,” said Apple Jack as she and Pinkie Pie brought over the first batch of dreams. It amazed Rarity that even while flying in the air, Pinkie Pie could still be bouncing up and down as if she was on solid ground. Behind the two were hundreds of thousands of blue dream sprites all making a pleasant humming sound.


“Boy that was a lot of fun,” said Pinkie Pie. “Did you see that thing with the thing? Didn’t it look so funny?”


“Oh my,” cried Rarity before Apple Jack could answer the pink pony. “Apple Jack that must have taken a lot of work to bring them all here.”


“Nah, these little critters just followed me here,” said Apple Jack. “This is much easier than apple bucking.” Sensing that some pony was missing she began to look around. “Say, where is Fluttershy? And for that matter, where is Rainbow?”


“I have no idea,” said Rarity with a sigh. “She came over here all in a panic and said something about needing more fish food. Then she just took off. As for Rainbow, I bet she decided to take a nap somewhere.” Rarity let out another sigh. “Well it can’t be helped. We’ll just have to work a little harder until they get back.”


“That’s no problem at all,” said Apple Jack. “Yee-haw!” And with that Apple Jack, followed by a bouncing Pinkie Pie, flew off.


Once they were gone, Rarity got to work. She opened up the large tome to find that the print was super tiny. Using her magic she picked up the magnifying glass that Nightsong had left and found it much easier to read. The first dream went to a young Pegasus colt named Artie Cumulous whose special talent was cloud sculpting. Rarity opened up the first notebook and wrote down his name and then went to pick up a dream sprite. She picked one at random, brought it to her ear, and then closed her eyes. All she saw was mud, filth, and children playing in it. Shrieking, she tossed the dream over to the side and allowed it to float away. She then proceeded to the next one.


Meanwhile, Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie were heading over to another spot. Personally she wished Rainbow would hurry up with that map. This place was crazy and she had no idea where she was heading or where she should go next. Also, she was worried about Rainbow.  Despite what Rarity had said, Apple Jack knew that Rainbow was too proud for her speed not to get the map for them and then brag about how easy it was. Deep in her hooves, Apple Jack had a feeling that something was wrong.


Suddenly something went rushing past Apple Jack from behind. She turned around and it was gone and so was Pinkie Pie. She turned her head and gapped at what it was. At first it looked like a comet, but at second glance she realized it was ice cream in a waffle cone. And Pinkie Pie was the new cherry on top. Apple Jack began to run after her pink friend with all her might while said friend began to lick the ice cream.


“It tastes like salsaaaa!” wailed Pinkie Pie as she got further and further away. Soon, she was out of Apple Jacks vision.


With a sigh, Apple Jack began to head in the direction of her crazy pink friend. There was no way she could just up and abandon a friend when she was in trouble. And as Apple Jack traveled at her top speed she soon came across the most frightening thing in this crazy world. It was a large door the size of the princess’s castle. That’s all it was, a large blood red door not connected to any building. But it was chained up tightly and it gave off an eerie feeling to it. Apple Jack was going to ignore it when she heard something.


“Apple Jack,” said a strange, childlike voice. The farmer pony stopped in her tracks and stared at the door.


“Is someone there?” she asked.


“Apple Jack, won’t you please let us out,” said the voice again. “We’ve been locked away in here for so very long.”


“Well, I don’t know,” replied Apple Jack as she took a step back. She could feel a chill going down her spine each time the voice spoke. “I’d have to talk to Nightsong.”


“You shouldn’t trust him,” said the voice. “He’s the one who locked us away in here. And besides, he’s not here right now.”


“How’d you know that?” demanded Apple Jack. The voice giggled and Apple Jack turned around. “I’m not opening no door as creepy as this one.” She was about to leave when another voice spoke.


“LET US OUT!” demanded a darker voice. It was like nothing she had ever heard before and it filled her with more dread than she had ever felt in her life. As it spoke the door shook and the chains rattled. “WE WILL BE FREE! NIGHTSONG WILL PAY!” Now Apple Jack was fleeing from that door with all her might. Whoever that voice belonged to she hoped she would never find out.


Back in the library, Rainbow Dash had finally made it to the other end. She was panting heavily, but she had made it. Now she stood before a mural of three young colts. The one in middle had to be a young Nightsong. To his left was a red Pegasus with a white mane and scarlet eyes. But the weird thing was that he had an X drawn over his face and several rude comments were written around it. On the young Nightsong’s right was a unicorn colt, whom had a dark blue coat and his mane was an electric blue. He also wore an odd hat like the one Twilight wore on Nightmare Night. And below the three of them was a single piece of paper.


Rainbow’s heart leaped for joy. It had taken her longer than expected but she had finally gotten the map. She took several steps before she realized that this wasn’t the map. It was a note. It read: ‘Note to self, the map is in the dresser next to bed. Please don’t forget!’ Rainbow’s eye began to twitch before she let out a scream of frustration and rage. She had wasn’t so much time, gone so far, and for what? She grabbed the note with her teeth and began to tear it up while growling like a dog.


After she was finished she decided to get out of there and help her friends. But as she turned to head back in the direction she came, she noticed that there were paintings of other ponies on the walls. Curiosity getting the best of her, Rainbow turned back and walked over to take a closer look. The walls were painted to resemble outside at night while colts and fillies did nighttime activities. In one spot she saw two having a campfire. In another Rainbow saw a young filly collecting fireflies. And further down was a group of ponies playing torch light tag. Picking up a torch for herself, Rainbow began to fly upwards. She saw that the libraries ceiling was dome shaped, which was painted to look like the night sky. As she flew, from time to time she would see Pegasus ponies sitting on clouds as they watched shooting stars. And there, in the center of the ceiling was the moon with Luna’s image inside of it.


“Was all this done for you?” asked Rainbow aloud as she looked at the picture of Luna. Then, all of a sudden, Rainbow remembered her friends. “Oh no, I got to get out of here!” And with that she sped down as fast as she could.


XXX


Twilight was reading a book she had brought from her home as Nightsong slept next to her. After they left the library, the four of them made their way to Sweet Apple Acres to get Nightsong some good food. Once there, Twilight explain the situation to Granny Smith and Big Mac. Both of them felt sorry for Nightsong and brought out as many apples as they could spare at the moment. As soon as they placed the two large barrels of apples in front of him Nightsong dove right in, literally. He ate them whole, core and all. Tears of joy flowed as he took each bite. And when he was done he fell asleep right there.


“Poor deary,” Granny Smith had said. “Must still be tired.”


“Eeyup,” said Big Mac with a nod.


So, Twilight had used her magic to move Nightsong beneath a tree so that he could rest more peacefully. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had decided to go off and play. While she waited for him to wake up she pulled out her book. Hey, you never know when you’ll need a book to pass the time! Hours later, Nightsong began to stir. When he first woke up he seemed startled.


“Wh-where am I?” he asked in a slight panic.


“Sweet Apple Acres,” said Twilight gently. “You passed out after you ate every apple that the Apple family gave you.”


“Oh, right,” said Nightsong as he calmed down a bit. Twilight gave him a smile. He was looking better, but not by much. It would take time for him to get back to one hundred percent, much longer than a day. But she knew that this time off was all he would allow himself so she would make sure he enjoyed every minute.


“So, did you have a nice dream?” she asked. Nightsong returned her simple question with a glare as he stood up. This confused Twilight. Up until now he had seemed calm and patient, but now there was anger in his eyes.


“Is that supposed to be funny?” he demanded.


“What?” asked Twilight as she got up. “It was just a question.”


“I can’t believe this,” said Nightsong as he began to walk away from her. “I would have thought some pony like you would know not to bring up a sore subject like that, but it seems I was wrong.” Twilight used her magic to teleport her in front of Nightsong so he could look her in the face. And what he saw was the face of a very hurt pony.


“Look,” she said seriously. “I don’t know what’s wrong. All I asked was a simple question. If you don’t want to tell me then fine. Just say so and I’ll drop it. But don’t go acting like some kind of a jerk.” Nightsong’s anger vanished as he looked away. He now seemed ashamed.


“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I just thought that some pony as smart as you would have known.”


“Known what?” asked Twilight.


“I can’t dream,” he said. “Before I got my cutie mark, no pony had dreams. But, after I began to deliver them I realized I could never have one. I must willingly give them to a sleeping pony, you see. So when I go to sleep I am unable to put the dream inside of me.”


“Nightsong, I had no idea,” said Twilight. Nightsong gave a sad laugh.


“I was teased about it for years,” he said. “You can imagine the irony of it all. The master of dreams is unable to dream himself. What I would give for just one dream.”


“So what happens when you go to sleep?” asked Twilight.


“I go to a dark place,” said Nightsong. “All around me is an infinite darkness. There’s just nothing there. It…scares me sometimes.” Twilight, wanting to change to subject, she looked up at the sky and saw that it was getting late.


“Why don’t we head to Sugarcube Corner?” suggested Twilight. “I don’t know how Pinkie Pie will react if we don’t at least stop there.”


“I don’t mind,” said Nightsong with a smile, which Twilight returned. And with that the two of them set off.


XXX


Back in the Dream Realm, Pinkie Pie was still on the ice cream comet. At first it was exciting and fun, but it got boring real soon. All it did was fly around fast. At least she was getting to see a lot of funny looking stuff in the Dream Realm. But the worst part was that the cone didn’t even taste sweet!


Then, after a couple of hours riding on it, something happened. A strange fish like creature began to swim/fly next to her. It was so fast and sleek that Pinkie Pie laughed which caused the creature to laugh to. Then it began to swim/fly backwards as it laughed.


“Oh, oh do you know any other tricks? Do ya?” asked Pinkie Pie. The creature gave a laugh and began to do back flips in the air. After doing a couple it gave a daring look at Pinkie Pie as if it were challenging her to do the same. Pinkie Pie decided to take on this unspoken challenge and make a game out of it. After doing a couple of back flips the creature suddenly moved under her as she was in the air so that she was now on top of it when she landed. Once she did the creature began to fly away from the ice cream comet.


Pinkie laughed as the creature swam/flew, bouncing all the way. After a while the creature met up with three others that were much bigger than it. And on the biggest, Pinkie could see a familiar yellow Pegasus. Smiling, well, when isn’t Pinkie smiling, Pinkie Pie charged over to her friend.


“Fluttershy!” yelled the pink pony so loudly that it caused Fluttershy to shove her head in the creature’s blowhole. “Is that a new game you’re playing? Can I play too? Can I?” A moment later, after she calmed down, Fluttershy removed her head from the blowhole.


“Oh no,” she said softly. “You see, I’ve been looking for something to feed these poor dears. But so far I haven’t had much luck.” The creature they were both standing on gave out a whimpering sound. “There, there. It’ll be alright.” But the creature continued to whimper as it turned and began to swim/fly in a different direction.


“Where’s he going?” asked Pinkie.


“I’m not sure,” admitted Fluttershy. “It looks like we’ll find out soon.”


XXX


“Wow, I never knew that picking the dreams was so difficult,” said Twilight. Both she and Nightsong were now at a table in Sugarcube Corner. Once they got there she ordered two cupcakes. And while they waited for their order, Twilight began to ask Nightsong about how he decides who gets what dreams.


“Well, it does get tricky,” said Nightsong with a blush. “I remember this one time with your friend Apple Jack. All the previous dreams I have given her didn’t seem to have any effect. Not surprising seeing that they were apple-based dreams and she lived on an apple farm. So I tried a different approach. I began to give her dreams about city life to hint that she needed to go there. I believed that if she went away she would be able to see where her heart truly was.”


“I see,” said Twilight. “So sometimes you have to get a pony to do something else in order for them to understand what they truly love.” Nightsong nodded.


“That’s why I keep detailed notes on every dream I give out and who gets them,” he explained. “I also list when they get their cutie mark, what it is, and various other information. It helps more than you think.”


“Here you go you two,” said Mrs. Cake as she brought out two fresh cupcakes. Both of them had green frosting and an apple slice on top. As she set them down on the table she gave Twilight a small wink that caused Twilight to blush. Sitting alone like this must have given the Cake’s the impression that they were on a date or something.


“What’s this green stuff?” asked Nightsong.


“It’s frosting,” said Twilight. “Try it. It’s really sweet.” Looking a little unsure, Nightsong closed his eyes, picked up the treat with his magic, and then took a bite. As soon as he did his eyes opened wide and he began to eat the rest quickly.


“I have never tasted anything like this in my life,” exclaimed Nightsong. “Back in my day the sweetest thing we had were rock candy crystals.” He then looked outside to see it was getting dark. “Oh, I’m so sorry Twilight. It looks like my nap took up most of the day.”


“It’s no problem,” replied Twilight. “But we’d better hurry if we want to make it to the Dream Realm in time.” Nightsong let a smirk slip out.


“Please,” he said. “Have you forgotten who I am? I can enter and leave the Dream Realm any time I want. I’ll have us there in no time flat.”


XXX


“Rarity, we have a problem,” said Apple Jack. She had been looking for Pinkie Pie for hours with no luck and there was too much ground to cover for just one pony. So she headed back for Nightsong’s home to see if the others could help. But all she found there was Rarity.


“I’ll say,” said Rarity. “We don’t have any dreams at all.”


“What do you mean we don’t have any dreams?” demanded Apple Jack as she looked around. Sure enough, there were no blue dream sprites anywhere.


“Well, the dreams you and Pinkie Pie brought back had nothing to do with the first pony on the list so I let the all go,” said Rarity. “Besides, they were all so filthy.”


“So you just let them go!?” yelled Apple Jack. “But we could have used them for other ponies. You should have put them to the side for later instead of just tossing them out.”


“But they were just so…unclean,” complained Rarity. Apple Jack was about to make a comment when the door to Nightsong’s hut opened. Slowly, Rainbow Dash began to crawl out of the hut and she was covered in sweat.


“And where have you been?” demanded Apple Jack.


“It’s (gasp) a big (gasp) library,” wheezed Rainbow.


“Oh this is just great,” exclaimed Apple Jack. “We got no dreams, Pinkie Pie’s missing, and Rainbow’s too tired to help look for her. And where is Fluttershy?”


“I’m over here,” said Fluttershy softly.


“I’m here too,” said Pinkie. Every pony turned around and gasped at the sight of the two ponies standing on such a large creature. Apple Jack was about to say something when a bright flash of light appeared behind them. They all turned to see Twilight standing next to Nightsong.


“Those are…” began Twilight as she pointed to the creatures but the words became lost to her.


“They’re my fishies,” said Nightsong with a hint of pride.


“Ah, Nightsong, they’re not fish,” said Twilight. “They’re mammals. That small one is a bottlenose dolphin. Those two black and white ones are orcas or killer whales. And that big one is a sperm whale.”


“Really?” asked Nightsong. “Back in my day we just called them fish. Really big fish.”


“Trust me on this,” said Twilight. “I have read several books on them.”


“Ah, excuse me,” said Fluttershy as she flew over to Nightsong. “I tried my best but I was unable to feed them.” With that said she gave Nightsong back the can and hung her head in shame.


“It’s fine,” he said calmly. He then used his magic to open the can and pour some of the flakes into the cap. Once he had done that he threw the flakes at his pets. And as they sailed in the air they began to turn into real live fish that began to swim around. Nightsong’s pets let out cries of joy as they began to case the fish around.


“Oh wow,” cooed Fluttershy whose reaction was similar to all the others.


“See, it wasn’t so hard. I guess I should have explained more,” said Nightsong as he put the cap back on. “Now, I’d better get back to work. So, where are all the dreams?”


“Well, the truth is,” began Rarity but stopped.


“Well,” said Apple Jack as she stepped in for Rarity. “The truth is a lot of stuff happened, ya see. And, well, we weren’t able to get any dreams.”


Nightsong’s eyes widened in shock and horror when he heard those words. He looked around, hoping it was a joke of some kind but he soon realized it was true. He then began to run around in circles.


“I can fix this, I can fix this,” he cried as his eye twitched. “I haven’t been late in a thousand years. No way am I going to start now. I just need to get billions of dreams in the next couple of seconds. No problem? Oh why did I let them talk me into this? I knew it was a bad idea. Why? Why? WHY?” And with that, Nightsong just fell to the ground and began to sob as the stress from his job had finally gotten to him. He just couldn’t take it anymore. It was just too much for him to handle on his own.


Moments later there was another flash of light. The girls turned around and saw both princesses standing before them. They all bowed down to show their respect.


“Twilight,” said Celestia. “What is going on here? No pony has gotten any dreams and…”


“Nightsong,” cried out Luna as she saw her son. She raced to him with Celestia right behind her. Both were shocked to see the state that he was in. When Nightsong saw his mother he began to cry even harder. “Nightsong, my handsome son, what has happened to you?”


“I tried,” he cried. “I tried so hard. I really did. But I failed. I just couldn’t keep going. There are just too many dreams I have to give out. I had to cut out eating and sleeping just to make it by the end of the day and then start all over.”


“But then why didn’t you tell me?” asked Celestia out of concern. “I would have sent you some ponies to help had I known.”


“A-at first everything was fine,” cried Nightsong. “But each year the population grew and when I realized I needed help I couldn’t leave.” He sobbed harder than ever. “I’m a failure! You must be ashamed of me mother.”


“No,” said Luna as she lay down in front of her son. “I could never be ashamed of you. I love you with all my heart and it pains me to see you like this.” Nightsong said nothing but continued to sob.


XXX


It was two weeks later. Twilight and her friends as well as the Crusaders were now at their favorite café as Twilight told them about a letter she had gotten from Princess Celestia.


“I got it this morning,” she explained as she took a sip of her tea. “It seems that Nightsong is doing better.”


“Well, he might not be for long,” said Apple Jack. “You saw what that job of his did to him.”


“Not to worry,” said Twilight. “While he’s been resting and getting his strength back, he’s been training his new helpers. He now has forty ponies working under him to help him gather the dreams, document them, and so forth. He’s even having his home rebuilt.”


“Thank heavens for that,” said Rarity. She then looked at Rainbow Dash who was looking a little sullen. “What’s wrong Rainbow? Aren’t you happy for Nightsong?”


“I just don’t get it,” said Rainbow. “How did three fillies do a better job than us?”


“I have been wondering that as well,” said Nightsong from behind Rainbow, which caused said Pegasus to jump in the air.


“Why do you always sneak up on ponies like that?!” yelled Rainbow. Nightsong just laughed. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see the change in him. The dark circles around his eyes were gone and he looked fuller. Even his mist like mane seemed to be livelier.


“Prince Nightsong, what are you doing here?” asked Twilight.


“Please drop the ‘prince’,” said Nightsong. “I never asked my friends to call me that a thousand years ago and I’m not going to have them start doing it now. Well, to answer your question, I wanted to thank you all. If you hadn’t done such an awful job I would never have gotten all this help. And all it costs me is that now I have to have Sunday brunch with the family.”


“Ah, thanks,” said Fluttershy who was not sure if it was a compliant.


“I also wanted Twilight to have this,” said Nightsong as his horn glowed. A moment later a necklace with a small black stone in it appeared in front of Twilight. As it landed gently on the table Nightsong looked away. “I, ah, had this made for you so that you can come to the Dream Realm whenever you want.”


“I’d love to,” said Twilight, which caused Nightsong to smile in delight. He then looked at the Crusaders.


“I also owe you three a lot,” he said. “If there is anything you need just let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Well, until next time.” With that he turned and walked away.


“Wait, next time?” said a confused Fluttershy.


“What’s that supposed to mean?” demanded Rainbow Dash.


“Let’s just say that you might be seeing more of me,” said Nightsong with a laugh. He then vanished in a bright blinding light. For a moment, no pony spoke. Then…


“Oh no,” cried Apple Bloom. “We forgot the reason we went to see him in the first place! Our cutie marks!”

> Nightsong's Past part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Crusaders gasped at the changes to Nightsong’s land. The first major change was that his hut had been replaced. Now it was a fine tree house like the ones that Fluttershy and Twilight live in. Despite it being summer in the waking world, the leaves on this tree house were a mix of reds and gold’s. The second change was that it was a bit more crowded than before. Pegasus ponies were flying all over the place bringing with them loads of dreams to the unicorn and earth ponies who recorded them.


Their arrival did not go unnoticed. As soon as they got to Nightsong’s land, on a sailboat this time, nearly every pony looked up for a second before getting back to work. Well, all but one. A single pony walked over to them with a scowl on her face. She was a lime green unicorn with her blond mane tied into a bun. On her flank was a checklist cutie mark and she wore round shaped glasses.


“Excuse me, but what are you three doing here?” she demanded. “This isn’t a place for fillies.”


“We’re here ta see Nightsong,” said Apple Bloom as the three girls gave her angelic smiles. Sadly it didn’t seem to faze her.


“That is Prince Nightsong to you young lady,” she said with her nose in the air. Never the less, she turned around and motioned the three to follower her. As they walked she would stop at a pony who was recording a dream to glare at him or her, which resulted in faster, and more panicked work. When they got to the other side of the piece of land they found Nightsong sitting on a cushion with hundreds of dream sprites circling around him. His eyes were closed and his horn glowed as fifty pens were writing in fifty notebooks at the same time. Clearly, he was the king of multitasking. They waited a second for him to notice them but when he didn’t the uptight pony gave a little cough.


“Yes Snooty, what is it?” asked Nightsong without opening his eyes.


“You have three fillies who want to see you my prince,” she said. “I would also like to ask that you not refer to me just by my first name. Please call me Snooty Wooty or Ms. Wooty.” Nightsong opened his eyes and saw the three young girls behind Ms. Wooty. He instantly dropped what he was doing using his magic to put away the pens and notebooks then rose and walked over to them.


“I shall do that as soon as you stop insisting that everyone here call me Prince,” he said gently. Snooty gave a bow before she left. As she did, Nightsong shook his head with a small smile before turning to the three. “So sorry about her. Her special talent happens to be organization, which lets me lend a hoof with this work. Sadly, she is a little uptight. So tell me, what do you think of the changes?”


“Well it’s a bit livelier here,” stated Apple Bloom as Nightsong beamed at her.


“It sure is,” he said with pride. “And this is just what I have been doing in the Dream Realm. I don’t know if you know this but I’m having a second home built in Ponyville for sleeping and breakfast. I had thought about moving there completely, but there is not enough room for my library. Plus, what would I do with my fishies?”


“But why Ponyville?” asked Scootaloo. “I mean, why not stay at the palace? Wouldn’t that be easier?”


“Let’s just say that Ponyville has something that the palace doesn’t and leave it at that,” said Nightsong as he tried to hide a blush. “Now then, what can I do for you three?”


“Well, it’s about that promise that you made us,” said Scootaloo. “You know, if we ever needed anything and all that.”


“Yes,” he said with a nod. “I do remember that. So what do you need? If it’s in my power I’ll have it done in no time flat!” The Crusader’s eyes went wide with joy when they heard that.


“Will you tell us what our cutie marks are?” they asked in unison.


“No,” said Nightsong immediately. This caused the girls to deflate for a moment before jumping right back up.


“But you promised us that if we ever needed anything you would help us,” said Sweetie Belle.


“That’s right you promised,” said Pinkie Pie as her head came out of the ground. She looked around, grinned at everyone, and pulled her head back into the ground. Nightsong’s jaw was half open as he looked at the hole and then back to the girls.


“How?” he asked. “How did she do that?”


“She’s just being Pinkie Pie,” said Apple Bloom. Nightsong continued to look confused for a bit before he sighed it off.


“Look, I know I owe you three,” he began. “But that’s simply not the way I do things. I communicate what your cutie marks are through dreams. I can’t just tell you.”


“Well why not?” asked Sweetie Belle.


“It’s not fair,” exclaimed Apple Bloom.


“I’ll say it’s not,” said Scootaloo. “I mean, you probably saw your own cutie mark and knew what it was right away, didn’t you?” Nightsong sighed as he shook his head.


“Looks like I’ll have to explain this a bit. But it’ll take some time,” he said. “Snooty, would you come here please?” A moment later Snooty Wooty approached the group. “How are we coming along today?” Snooty sighed as she brought her clipboard up to her face.


“So far, your majesty, we have collected and recorded sixty nine percent of our total quota for the day. And once again, please don’t call me by my first name,” said Ms. Wooty.


“Alright,” said Nightsong. “Well, tell every pony that after all the dreams are recorded they can go home. I’m going out for a while and when I get back I’ll put the records in their appropriate places.” Ms. Wooty gave him a shocked look.


“Sir, if I may speak frankly, I would not recommend that,” she said as she moved a couple steps closer to him. “You’re the boss, not some work pony to do the work of the employees. You shouldn’t be picking up their workload like that nor giving them extra time off. It sets a bad example and it will cause them to become lazy.” Nightsong did not seem to share her opinion.


“They are all working very hard,” said Nightsong gently. “And their hard work deserves a reward. And since I am going out for a while, I will not leave them with extra work that will cause any extra hassle. Now then, please do as I have asked before I have to make it an order.” Ms. Wooty gave a slight snorting sound before she turned around and left them. Nightsong sighed before he turned his attention back to the fillies. “Alright, who’s up for a little trip?”


After they left the Dream Realm, Nightsong took them to Sugarcube Corner for some snacks to go. There, they ran into Pinkie Pie who had somehow heard about his second home being built. And, being Pinkie Pie, had decided to throw him a party to celebrate. Nightsong had tried to decline the offer but his words had no effect on her. In fact, they seemed to make her want to throw a party even more! Thankfully, the Cake’s called Pinkie into the back for a moment to allow Nightsong to pay and make a quick getaway.


After leaving Sugarcube Corner, Nightsong headed straight for the park. Once there he found a nice spot on a hill. He sat down with the Crusaders sitting in front of him as he began to hand out the snacks he had bought.


“So, are you going to tell us why you can’t just tell us about our cutie marks?” demanded Apple Bloom.


“Yes,” said Nightsong as he took a bite out of the cake slice he had bought. “But to fully understand the reason, I have to tell you everything going back to the days before I got my cutie mark.” The three girls looked at each other and began to eat their own snacks as Nightsong got a faraway look in his eyes. “In fact, one could say that this story began the day my mother enrolled me in the Royal Academy.”


**Flashback**


It was a wonderful Sunday morning as far as any pony was concerned. Summer was almost over and the temperature was getting cooler. Soon, in a couple of months, the trees would lose their green color and then the Running of the Leaves would begin. But, something else would begin before that. School.


Princess Luna walked from the palace in the Everfree Forest with her young colt Nightsong behind her. Nightsong did his best to keep up with his mother despite his tiny legs. On his sides were his saddlebags, one of which had his teddy bear sticking out. Despite it being early in the morning Nightsong was a bundle of excitement. Today they were going to look at his future school. All the things he would learn there made the tiny colt move with more excitement than ever.


“Thou should calm down,” said his mother calmly with a trace of a smile on her lips. “Remember that thou are royalty and should behave accordingly.” This was just her way of teasing him. Personally, she was just as excited as he was. She had worked hard to see this academy built despite the many setbacks. It was also one of the first things she ever tried to do by herself without Celestia helping her.


Luna looked at her son and smiled. She could not have been a prouder mother. Nightsong was unusually smart for his young age. He had a love of books that some called an obsession. But there was something else about him that not even her sister could explain. For some reason, Nightsong had the power to see cutie marks before they appeared. No pony before him had ever had this odd power. Yet despite this, he still didn’t have his own cutie mark despite knowing what it looked like. Perhaps just knowing what they looked like wasn’t enough.


Soon the two came to a tower like building. It was made of white stone with a red pointed roof and four windows. Luna knew that there were a total of five levels to the academy. The first was the ground floor where students had a storage area for their boots, bags, and other stuff. The second level was the classroom. Above that was the library and readying area. The fourth floor was for supplies while the fifth floor contained a telescope. The roof had been designed to open up so that students could have special night class. In the back of the tower was a small building where the headmaster lived. Luna smiled and gave a nod of approval. It was just like her plans and everything seemed to be in order. But then her eyes narrowed a bit.


“Momma, what’s wrong?” asked Nightsong. He began to look in the direction she was looking and noticed that there was a sign above the door. It read: Princess Celestia’s Royal Academy. Nightsong quickly realized now what was making her mother so angry. Before he could say anything a unicorn exited the smaller building. She wore a long blue cloak that hid her cutie mark over her pink coat and green mane. She noticed the two of them and began to move quickly over to them. Once she was in front of them she bowed in respect and then rose.


“Welcome Princess,” she said. “I’m glad to see that you are here and I hope you will find everything in order.”


“Thy buildings name,” said Luna quietly, almost to herself. She then took a deep breath before she began to talk in the royal voice. “We are displeased by this insult. We could understand if thou had put both royal names on thy building but our name is missing! Explain!”


“Well,” began the headmaster nervously. “We had intended to include your name Princess Luna. And it should be there, seeing that you did the most work to see it completed. But…there was a slight problem. When we began to try enrolling students many of the parents thought it was going to be a night school. And some of the lords and ladies thought that your sister’s name would sound like a more caring name for the school. I was against it, of course, but they over ruled me. Perhaps we could change the name to The Royal Princess Academy, if you wish.”


Luna let out a sigh of annoyance. Things like this were happening more and more recently. Like that one painting that Celestia had commissioned of both royal sisters and the only thing a pony could see of Luna was her head. Celestia had kindly asked the painter to do it again and this time include more of Luna, but the damage to Luna had been done. So often her subjects seemed to ignore her and focus on Celestia. She didn’t blame her older sister, but sometimes she wished her sister didn’t shine as brightly.


“Yes, that will be fine,” said Luna. “But make sure it is changed before the students arrive. Now then, tell us about the class? Is it full?”


“Oh yes,” said the headmaster eagerly. “We are nearly full with only one empty seat. We have also collected all the tuitions. So far the majority of the class is unicorns with a couple earth ponies from the major farms.” As she continued, Nightsong noticed a small unicorn colt coming out of the school and an odd one at that. His coat was dark blue while his mane was more of a lighter, electric blue. He was also wearing a pointed hat that had stars and moons on it with bells tied into the rim. But that wasn’t what was weird about him. It was the fact that he had a long white beard. After he left the tower Nightsong watched as the unicorn began to skip backwards for some odd reason. This also caught the attention on Princess Luna.


“Pardon me,” she said as she interrupted the headmaster. “But does thou know that colt?” The headmaster turned around and let out a gasp.


“Star Swirl,” she cried out. “What in the name of Equestria are you doing? And how many times have I told you not to grow yourself a beard?” With that the headmaster’s horn began to glow and then caused the colts beard to vanish. With a sigh she turned around to look at the princess once again. “I am so sorry Princess. This is my nephew Star Swirl. He is rather talented with magic but he can be a little…odd at times.” She turned around to tell Star Swirl to introduce himself only to find that the colt had already re-grown his beard. Once again, she used her magic to make it disappear and then moved Star Swirl in front of the princess and the prince. There was an awkward silence for a while until Nightsong spoke up.


“Ah…I like your hat.” Star Swirls eyes seemed to brighten and began to bounce up and down.


“Really? You really like it?” he asked. “I knew this hat was amazing! It’s the bells, right? I’m sure one day every pony will be wearing bells on their hats.” Nightsong stared at Star Swirl for a moment in silence. Then he began to laugh and, a few seconds later, so did Star Swirl. “Hey, you want to play for a while?” Nightsong looked at his mother who nodded yes.


The two young colts ran from the adults and went into the school. Once inside they began to walk up the winding staircase until they reached the top floor. Inside the observation room was a chemistry set and a large one at that. The whole room seemed to be full of beakers full of chemicals. Star Swirl took off his hat and placed it on the ground near the door and Nightsong did the same with his saddlebag.


“What is all this?” asked Nightsong.


“My experimentation room,” said Star Swirl. “Right now I’m just mixing random stuff together to see what happens.”


“Is that…safe?” asked Nightsong. Star Swirl shrugged. Suddenly a beaker full of a green liquid on a Bunsen burner began to make a hissing sound. Both colts walked over to it and a moment later it exploded causing the room to be full of green smoke.


Meanwhile a red Pegasus with a white mane was sneaking into the school through the second story window. It was surprisingly easy seeing that the two adults outside were in deep conversation. Once he was inside he began to fill his saddlebags with paper, quills, ink, and a few textbooks. After that, he went up to the next floor and began to look at the books in the library. After searching them for a bit he picked out a couple of easy children’s books and added them to his bag. Once that was done he went up to the fourth floor but found nothing worth taking. With a sigh he decided to check the top floor before he left.


Back with Nightsong and Star Swirl, they were busy coughing due to the green smoke. Deciding that they needed some fresh air, Nightsong’s horn began to glow, which opened the slinging panel on the roof. The effect was almost immediate as the smoke began to leave the room.


“Well (cough) that didn’t make applesauce,” commented Star Swirl. His horn began to glow and a moment later his white beard came back. He then did a cartwheel over to a different beaker and began to examine it. “Maybe I should start heating this one up next and see what happens.”


“Maybe you shouldn’t,” said Nightsong as he turned back towards the door. “How about we HEY!” The last part was yelled as he saw the red Pegasus take not only Star Swirls hat but also his teddy bear! “Give that back!”


“Give what back?” asked Star Swirl as he now turned around and saw the thief. The unicorn blinked before he began to wave and said hello. The Pegasus didn’t seem eager to share the warm greeting as he took off into the air and flew out the only opening in the room. The two young colts went to the window and saw that the Pegasus had glided down to the ground and was now running into the forest.


Nightsong said nothing; he simply began to run out the door as fast as his hooves would let him. He ran down the stair, out the door of the tower, and into the woods in the same direction as the thief. Only one thing was on his mind and that was getting back his teddy bear no matter what the cost. Behind him was Star Swirl who had come along just to see what happened next. Yet as they ran, Star Swirl tripped on his beard, crashed into Nightsong, and the two began to roll like a ball until they hit a tree. They both slowly got up as they were both very dizzy. Once the world had stopped spinning, Nightsong looked at Star Swirl with a dead panned expression. Then, using his magic, he cut Star Swirls beard in half.


After that, it took them about an hour to find the little thief. They found him in an earth pony settlement surrounded by young fillies and colts as he gave away all the items he had stolen. Nightsong and Star Swirl watched as the children began to draw on the paper and attempt to read the very simple books. But Nightsong’s eagle eyes were focused on one thing at this moment: his teddy bear. It was currently being played with by two colts who were a little too rough with it for the prince’s tastes. Seeing his most prized possession in danger, Nightsong charged in head first with Star Swirl behind him.


“Stop right there thief,” demanded Nightsong as he used his magic to levitate the toy bear from the colts and bring it back to him.


“Hey, I stole that bear fair and square,” said the red Pegasus as he stepped forward.


“That doesn’t make it yours thief,” growled Nightsong.


“My name isn’t thief.”


“Then what is it?” asked Star Swirl. At that, the red Pegasus began to look a little embarrassed.


“It’s…ah…Little Gift,” he said slowly. Star Swirl let out a chuckle and Nightsong just shrugged.


“Ok then Little Gift,” said Nightsong as he put his teddy bear back in his saddlebag. “What you have done is wrong. You do realize that you stole from the royal family right?”


“Wow, look at these drawing,” exclaimed Star Swirl who had begun to look at the pictures drawn by young ones. He then looked at the books, which were about basic math and spelling. “You know it doesn’t look like he was doing it just for himself.”


“That’s right,” said Little Gift. “I did it for them. They wanted to go to school, but they can’t! And do you know why? It’s because the school charges a thousand bits a semester. Not every pony can afford it. Besides, it’s not like I hurt any pony. I just took a couple of things that could easily be replaced so they at least have a chance to be something other than farm labor!”


Nightsong was taken aback by this. He had no idea that the academy cost so much and that so many pony’s couldn’t attend. And as he looked at the younger ponies he felt his anger begin to melt like the snow during spring. And Little Gift was right; most of these things were minor and easily replaced. But that didn’t justify stealing them.


“Look, I see you had a good reason,” said Nightsong. “But you shouldn’t have stolen from us. When you take something from some pony else, you’re hurting them. I can understand the school supplies, but you had no right to steal my teddy bear and Star Swirls hat.”


“Well I didn’t mind,” said Star Swirl as several more of his hats appeared in mid air. “I have one for every day of the week. You just stole Tuesday’s hat.” Little Gift and Nightsong exchange a look before they both sighed.


“Star Swirl, today is Sunday,” said Nightsong.


Before Star Swirl could say anything dark clouds began to fill up the sky. An icy cold breeze blew strong across the fields as lightning flashed above them. Every pony in the area began to cover their heads with their front hooves as they pressed their bodies close to the ground. Well, every pony except Nightsong. He alone stood straight since he knew who was coming. Lightning hit the ground with a bright flash and there stood Princess Luna who looked very upset. Next to her was the headmaster who looked a little afraid of the ruler standing next to her.


“Thou hast made a most serious foul,” bellowed Luna in her royal voice. “Fools, did thou not think that we would place tracking spells upon our property to keep them safe from thieves?! Now who here is the culprit?” After a moment, Little Gift stood up and walked over to the princess.


“I-I am,” he stammered. Luna narrowed her eyes at him.


“Thou are brave to admit to this,” she said. “Thy crime is most grave for thou hast stolen royal property and…” Luna was interrupted by Nightsong tugging on her mane with his teeth. Looking down at him, she softened her voice. “Nightsong, could this wait a bit?”


“No mother,” said Nightsong in a serious tone. “This is important. Little Gift here was only trying to help these fillies who couldn’t afford the thousand bits to go to school.” At that Luna blinked. Back when she had been planning the school she had factored in the all the costs for things like supplies and staff payment. In the end it came to about one hundred and ninety bits per student. She had thought of leaving it at that but then she decided to add a little more in case of an emergency or to save up for the future. Confused she turned her attention to the headmaster.


“It was our understanding that we would only be charging two hundred and fifteen bits per semester,” said Luna with a frown. “What is this about a thousand bits?”


“My deepest apologies,” said the headmaster quickly as she bowed down low. “But lords and ladies of the court felt that you were being too kind by setting such a low price that would allow any pony to gain an education. In the end they decided to add some extra fee’s that ended up raising the price of the tuition. They told me that they would inform you as soon as the semester began.”


Luna seethed in anger. They would never even think of doing something like this if Celestia had been involved. It was bad enough that they had changed the name of the school, but the tuition was another matter completely. Well it was far past time that she put her hoof down and got it into their heads that she was not going to take it anymore. But right now she had other matters at hoof.


“From now on we demand to be informed if any more changes are to happen,” stated Luna to the headmaster who bowed. The princess then turned to her son and softened her voice. “Thank you for telling me this dear. I will be sure to lower the price of the tuition so that it is more affordable. But now I must deal with this young Pegasus.” At that, Little Gift gulped.


“But mother, can’t you just let it go this one time?” asked Nightsong. “I know he did something wrong, but it was to help others.”


Luna paused as she considered this. It was true that Little Gift had stolen royal property. The punishment for this was to be thrown in the dungeon for no less than one year. But she had to admit that Nightsong had a point. He didn’t steal for himself but for others. Also, it was partially her fault that he had to resort to this. Yet, if she let him go free then it might set a bad example to others. She began to think of ways she could give him an alternative punishment until one just clicked. She then gave her son a smile began she turned to Little Gift.


“We have come to a conclusion,” she said in her loud voice. “We cannot simply ignore thou crime and thou shall receive punishment. Yet we do not feel that imprisonment is necessary in this case. So, tomorrow thou shall report to the Royal Princess Academy for classes.” Both Little Gift and the headmaster felt their jaws hit the ground.


“P-Princess, I’m not sure I heard you right,” said the headmaster. “It sounded like you were telling him that his punishment was to go to school.”


“It is,” said Luna as she kept her eyes on Little Gift. “Since this young colt feels so strongly about giving these young ones an education then he shall be the one to give it. Each day after school he shall teach the other young ones what he has learned.” The headmaster was about to say something but Luna raised a hoof to silence her. “He shall also receive a month’s worth of detention for the theft. Since he will be teaching the young ones after school he will be reporting to you, headmaster, an hour early.” She then turned to face the headmaster. “He will be your student. If he decides not to take advantage of this opportunity then he will receive additional punishments. I will leave the rest in your hooves.”


The headmaster looked like she wanted to say something, but the look in Luna’s eyes said that the matter was closed. So, with a sigh of defeat, the headmaster bowed. As Luna let a smile escape her lips she felt something hugging her front leg. She looked down to find Little Gift on her leg.


“Thank you,” he cried. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”


“If thou wishes to thank any pony, it would be our son,” said Luna as she pointed at Nightsong. Little Gift looked over at the young alicorn who looked a little embarrassed. But that didn’t last long as Little Gift charged at him with full force, knocking him down.


“Thank you!” cried Little Gift once more.


“Its fine,” said Nightsong as he slowly got up. He then began to poke Little Gift in the chest with his hoof. “Just never steal my teddy bear again.”


-End Flashback-


“In the end, the three of us became good friends,” said the present Nightsong. “As soon as the school year began we decided to form our own little group much like you three did. Even the reason was the same. The only time we weren’t trying to figure out what our cutie marks were was when Star Swirl was trying out some new spell, potion, or invention.” Nightsong paused for a moment and then gave a light laugh. “I remember once he had thought up of a bouncing stick that a pony could ride on. Both me and Little Gift told him it would never catch on.” Just then, he saw Pinkie Pie coming down the road on a pogo stick. “But I’ve been wrong before.”


“Ah, I have a question,” said Apple Bloom. “If you could see cutie marks then why didn’t you have your own?” Nightsong gave her a kind smile.


“Because it’s not enough just to see them,” he said. “Sure I knew what mine looked like, but I had no idea what it meant. And until I did it would never appear. And believe me I really, really wanted it to.”


“Why’s that?” asked Sweetie Belle.


“Well, it was because of a promise that I made with my mother,” explained Nightsong. “You see, my mother could raise the moon anywhere she wanted. But she always did it in a special place. She always said that it was the most beautiful place as the sun set and the moon began to rise. And seeing it at that time of day helped her when she was feeling down. I desperately wanted to go and watch her as she did what she did best. But my mother always told me that I was too young and that she would only let me go with her once I got my cutie mark.


“So, for what seemed like forever, me and my friends tried long and hard to figure out what our cutie marks were. All I had to go on was its shape. At first I thought it was sleeping or taking naps. I got a lot of rest, but no cutie mark. Then I thought it must have something to do with the night so I tried as many nighttime activities as I could think of. None of them seemed to work.


“In the end I gave up. I decided that if I couldn’t get my cutie mark then I would just secretly follow my mother to her secret spot. So one day, just before night began to fall, I waited for my mother to leave and then began to follow her from a distance. However, I wasn’t that fast of a flyer and had a hard time keeping up. Even as I lost sight of her I kept going as fast as my little wings would take me. Then, as the twilight began, I literally crashed into the dream realm. I was scared at first. I had never seen such a strange place. But then a different feeling began to overtake me. A feeling like I had come home. It felt like I belonged there, that it was a part of me. Eventually my mother and auntie managed to get me out of there and I brought along some of the dream sprites I had found. I then discovered that I could place them inside of sleeping ponies and thus giving them dreams. That was when my cutie mark appeared.


“As time went on I began to work on my powers as I delivered dreams. I slowly, but surely, began to discover the meaning of each ponies cutie mark. Once I mentioned this to my friends they began to beg me to tell them what theirs meant. And in the end I told them.” At this Nightsong looked away from the fillies.


“Well if you told them then why won’t you tell us?” demanded Scootaloo. “I mean aren’t we your friends as well.”


“You don’t know how many times I wished I never told them,” he said slowly.


-Flashback-


The forest was quit for the most part. The animals were collecting food and the birds were singing in the trees. Nothing was that much out of the ordinary. That was until two blurs began whizzing through the trees. One red and one grey. As the two winged ponies saw the edge of the forest they also saw a unicorn with an odd hat holding a flag. They both began to speed up until they burst right past their friend causing him to spin like a top.


“Looks like I win this round,” said Little Gift with a wide grin. “What’s wrong Nightsong? Usually I have to work twice as hard to leave you in the dust.”


It had been about two years since Nightsong had met and befriended both Little Gift and Star Swirl. They had both grown to full size and had gotten their cutie marks. Star Swirl’s cutie mark was twelve stars in a spiral pattern. Stars were usually associated with magic being a pony’s special gift. Little Gift’s had been a single blue present with a yellow ribbon, which meant that his special talent was the gift of giving.


“It’s nothing,” said Nightsong as he walked over to where they had left their saddlebags. When he reached his he began to pull out several of the books he had brought with him as well as his teddy bear until he found his canteen of water. Standing near the bags were two other ponies who had wanted to see them race. One was an earth pony name Hydee Treasure who had a coco colored coat and a black mane. On her head was a tanned explores hat and her cutie mark was a treasure map. She had first met the three a week after their first day of school. They had found her digging up rocks and asked her what she was doing. It turned out she was looking for fossils. She began to show them several of what she had found thus far: mostly imprints of small creatures and plants on the rocks. This interested the guys, epically Star Swirl who was the most curious of the group. Hydee, however, developed a crush on Nightsong. After their first meeting, the colts would help her out on her digs from time to time which were always fun.


Next to her was a white unicorn named Dazzling Dawn. Her main was red with a single orange stripe in it and she had it so that her left eye was always covered. Her cutie mark was a large black star. They had only known her for about six months. It turned out that she had been bullied since her first day at the academy, but due to her shy and timid nature she never told any pony. Then one day Nightsong happened to be flying by as she was being ganged upon by several of their classmates. The young colt flew down and defended her and informed the headmaster of what had happened resulting in those students being punished. He also later found out that she was being bully because of her special talent, which interested Princess Celestia who began to give the young filly some one on one lessons. While Nightsong saw her as a friend and the sister he never had, Dawn saw him as her possible special pony. But her timid nature kept her from making advances like Hydee did.


“Maybe you should have let him win,” whispered Star Swirl to Little Gift as Nightsong began to drink for a canteen of water he had brought.


“Why should I do that?” asked the red Pegasus as he looked at the nearby alicorn.


“Because of the problems he’s having at home,” said Star Swirl in a normal tone. Little Gift face hoofed himself at his friend’s loud voice.


“So you both know,” said Nightsong, not bothering to turn around.


“Yeah,” said Little Gift with a sigh. “I could hear your mom yelling all the way from my cloud.” And it hadn’t been the first time either. For the last several months there had been many heated discussions between the royal sisters. Well, Luna was the one doing all the yelling while Celestia tried to calm her down. And stuck in the middle of it all was Nightsong who just wanted it to stop. The whole point of this race was to help cheer up their friend. Little Gift had been going slower to let Nightsong win, but Nightsong’s heart wasn’t in the race and if Little Gift had gone any slower it would have been obvious.


“So, ah, what’s the problem this time,” asked Dawn in her quiet voice.


“It was with the resent visit from the zebra diplomats,” said Nightsong with a sigh. “Both mother and auntie went out to greet them when they arrived, but they walked past mother like she wasn’t even there. She was…upset.”


“Upset is an understatement,” said Little Gift. “She sounded like she was on the war path. I bet she was so upset that she was about to gobble up any pony that got in her way.”


“Oh Nightsong,” cooed Hydee as she moved next to Nightsong. “I wish there was something that I could do to help. Maybe we could spend some alone time together and figure out some plans for the future.”


“No need,” said Star Swirl as he magically appeared between the two. He then began to bounce up and down excitedly. “I know just what would make your mother feel better. How about we get as many ponies as we can to see next week’s star shower? We can make it like a little festival!”


“That’s a great idea,” exclaimed Nightsong as every pony began to nod. Well, every pony but Hydee who just wanted the alone time with the prince.


“It’s a stupid idea,” came another voice. Every pony turned around to see a group of five mares walking towards them. In the lead wad a yellow earth pony with a curly yellow mane. “What pony in their right mind would like to stay up at night?”


“What do you want Lemon Pie?” demanded Little Gift. “I don’t remember inviting you fillies to join us.”


“Don’t worry, we won’t be here for long,” said Lemon Pie. She then turned to look at Nightsong. “We just want him to tell us what our cutie marks are and then we’ll be off.”


“Well since you asked so nicely,” said Nightsong sarcastically. He then looked at her very seriously. “The answer is no.”


“Why not?” demanded one of the other fillies. “You told them!”


“That’s because we’re his friends,” said Little Gift.


“And it was a bit of a letdown,” said Star Swirl. “It took all of the excitement out of it. And I wanted to experiment a bit more with some other talents.”


“But we want to know what our cutie marks are,” said Lemon Pie. “And it’s not fair for you to tell some ponies and not any pony who asks.”


“Look,” said Nightsong with a sigh. “I understand what your saying. But I’ve made up my mind that I won’t just tell any pony who asks ever again. I’ve actually been working on a way to give ponies hints in their dreams.” He had hoped that what he had said would be enough. However, from the look in Lemon Pie’s eyes, it wasn’t.


“This means war then,” she said. She then gestured to one of the unicorns in her little group whose horn began to glow until a bright flash filled the area. For several seconds no pony could see a thing. When they finally could they began to make sure that every pony was ok. As far as they could tell they were fine. However, it looked like Lemon Pie and her friends had quickly gone through their saddlebags. And only one thing had been taken: Nightsong’s teddy bear.

> Nightsong's Past part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Flashback-

“Where is it?” cried Nightsong as he continued his search of the saddle bags for the fourth time. There was a look of total panic on his face as he used his magic to throw the bags to the side and look under everything in the area. He even looked under Star Swirls hat!

“Wow, that’s the second time that bear’s been stolen,” commented Little Gift. “Maybe you should start leaving it at home.”

Nightsong stopped dead in his tracks. “Stolen,” he said softly to himself. “Those fillies stole from me.”

“Well it’ll be easy to get back,” said Star Swirl. “Just tell your mom what happened and I’m sure she’ll get it back.” Nightsong shook his head.

“I can’t do that,” he said. “My mother has enough problems without having to deal with something like this. Besides, if she did get involved she’ll bite their heads off!” Star Swirl, Little Gift, Hydee Treasure, and Dazzling Dawn all began to share the same thought bubble. In it they could see Princess Luna yelling at the five fillies and then eating them whole. When the bubble vanished they all began to shiver.

“I guess that’s true,” said Little Gift. “But that doesn’t mean that you can’t do other things like go to their mothers. It’ll be over in like five seconds. Just talk to their moms and demand it back. They’ll have no choice but to do as you say and you’ll get back your teddy bear and everything is solved. I mean, you are a prince after all. Use a little of that royal power.”

“I hate being a prince,” said Nightsong. “I hate the power and I hate all the other duties that go with it. The royal life is all about work and any pony who says differently is a lair. We constantly have to act like we’re above every pony to maintain the kingdoms respect, have to put up fronts, delegate, and so many other little things. When I’m not at school or working in the Dream Realm, or with you guys I’m taking etiquette lessons, learning more about politics, meeting other royal officials, and a dozen other things. Do you know how lucky I am to be able to be with all of you right now? It’s only because my mother wants me to do some of the things she never got to. She doesn’t even know what fun is!

“Yeah, I could just go to them and demand my teddy bear back and then throw them in a dungeon, but what then? No pony will ever look at me the same. They’ll start treating me differently. That’s not what I want. So I’m just going to handle this on my own.”

“Still,” began Little Gift, but Star Swirl raised a hoof to silence him.

“I agree that it would be easier in the long run if Nightsong just ordered it back,” said the bearded pony. “But, in the end it’s his decision. Just like it was his decision to go after you when you stole that bear instead of going to the princess. And who knows, it might be more fun this way.”

Little Gift looked at the two colts and sighed. He knew that Nightsong never used his royal powers, but it was worth a try. In some ways that was why he liked the prince so much. He never acted like he was better than any pony or anything like that. He was just himself and he did things with his own two hooves. But it did backfire on him sometimes which caused even the simplest of problems to go out of control. But, then again, it did seem like it would be more fun if they just took it back.

“Don’t worry Nightsong, I’ll hunt it down for you,” said Hydee with a smile. 'Once I do this for him he’ll be so happy', she thought. 'I just need to get him back his teddy bear and he’ll love me for sure. Then we’ll get married and…and…' Whatever Hydee was thinking about we may never know for she began to giggle eerily as she ran off into in some random direction.

“Ah, excuse me,” mewed Dawn. Every pony turned their head to look at her which caused her to meap and hide behind a nearby tree. After a moment she stuck her head out a bit. “I believe that Lemon has a club house not too far from here. She might have gone there.”

It took about thirty minutes for the four of them to get there. It would have gone faster if every pony there could fly, but what’s a pony to do? When they got there they found a small pink tree fort in the middle of the clearing. They could see that there were only two ways in, a door and a window. The door could only be accessed by a ramp which the fillies had pulled out and into the club house. And the only other entrance was just as high up as the door. Through the window they could see that the fillies were in there. Nightsong and Little Gift looked at each other and then gave each other a nod. The two then flew into the air towards the club house as fast as they could. However, once they were close enough, a net shot out of the branches and trapped the two of them.

Seeing the two of them down, Dawn raced towards them. Once she was standing in front of them, she decided to use her magic to free them. Her horn began to glow with a dark aura which soon covered the netting. Once that was done, the netting dissolved into nothing and the two were able to stand up freely.

“Nice try,” they heard Lemon say. The three of them looked up and saw her sticking her head out the window. “We have this whole place booby trapped and set up anti-magic wards inside to negate your magic.”

“What?” shouted Little Gift. “How did you learn how to do that?!”

“We, ah, learned about anti-magic skills two months ago,” said Dawn quietly. Little Gift looked slightly embarrassed.

“Stand back every pony,” said Star Swirl as he now entered the clearing. “I have a plan!” Every pony watched him with great interest as he walked slowly over to the club house. He was the crazy geniuses of the academy. Both he and Nightsong received the top grades, but it was Star Swirl who was more creative. Even Lemon Pie, who thought that she had taken everything into account pulled her head back a bit. There was no way to predict what Star Swirl was going to do. Now he was standing in front of the club house with his eyes looking directly at Lemon. Then he spoke. “Can we please have Nightsong’s teddy bear back?”

Every pony’s eyes widened after he said that. Nightsong and Little Gift felt their jaws drop. Lemon just stared at him like she couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Who in their right mind would just walk up to some pony and ask nicely to return a stolen item. It just doesn’t happen!

“No,” said Lemon after she had shaken off her surprise. “We won’t give it back until Nightsong tells us what are cutie marks are!” Star Swirl shrugged.

“Well, it was worth a try,” he said before he skipped away. Nightsong watched his friend go and then turned to look at Lemon. 

“This isn’t over,” he said. “I’ll just keep going till you’re out of traps!” He then felt some pony tapping him. He turned his head and saw that it was Dawn.

“Ah, I just thought that you, ah, might have forgotten that you have to go home soon,” she said softly. Nightsong groaned. He had forgotten that he had several other royal duties to do before he had to collect the dreams and then deliver them. Not to mention his homework. He turned and looked at Lemon with a scowl.

“This isn’t over,” he said. And with that both he and his friends left.

Lemon watched them leave with a smile on her face. She knew that Nightsong took that stupid teddy bear with him everywhere. Sooner or later he would give in to her demands and she would have her cutie mark. It was a waiting game until then. Lemon was about to turn around when she saw the ground explode in the field. When the dust had settled she could see that there was a single filly sized hole in the middle. A moment later Hydee’s head came out of it and began to look around.

“Where the hay am I?” she asked aloud.

-x-

It was about an hour later when he got back to the castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest. Personally he always felt it was a poor location seeing how dangerous it could be. Timber wolves, poisoned joke, quickgrass (which was like quicksand), and all sorts of other dangers. There were plans going on to build a new castle, but it would probably be many years before they would even start. All he knew about it was that auntie was doing all the designing and that it would be many times larger than their current home. Personally he didn’t think bigger was better and that it was a waste of money. He felt that they should just move their current home. But no one asked him what he thought.

As he entered the main hallway he was greeted by a familiar, and unwanted, sight. Before him were his mother and his aunt in another argument. Behind both of them were their own personal guards with Celestia’s in white while the black ones belonged to Luna. Both sides seemed like they were waiting to protect their princess should the argument turn into a full blown fight.

“I’m telling you that thou are wrong,” said Luna in her normal voice. She only used the royal voice when she address subjects. “Demanding that the night should be cut by an hour is completely unreasonable! How dare you tell our subjects that I would do that without even consulting me?!”

“It wasn’t a demand Luna,” Said Celestia in a calm tone. “But the earth ponies need more day for their crops. And I am willing to make it up to you by allowing the night longer hours during a different time of the year.”

“In the winter,” hissed Luna. “When every pony stays indoors and hates thy night even more because of the cold! Are you trying to make me hated even more?!”

“No sister,” said Celestia quickly as she realized her mistake. “That was never my intention. It’s just that I have to think of our subjects. More daytime will help with the crops and our subjects will have more food. Please sister, think of what is best for them.” Luna was about to respond when she heard a small cough. Both alicorns turned their heads to see Nightsong standing there.

“Both sides have their points,” said Nightsong as he now stepped forward. This was another thing he hated about royal life, negotiation between his aunt and mother. Not for the first or second time but far too many for his taste. In truth, he had long since stopped counting the number of times he had to get involved. “Mother, you are correct that the night is under your charge. Auntie should never have told any pony that you would do anything before asking you.” Celestia lowered her head while Luna gave a triumphant smile. “Yet, auntie was thinking of the ponies when she did this. And she is right that more daytime will help with the harvests and feeding them.” Nightsong let out a sigh. “Mother, Auntie Celestia is correct about this. We should…shorter the night a bit.” 

Luna’s eyes widened when she heard this before a scowl appeared on her face. She couldn’t believe it. Her own son was now against her. The betrayal was like a dagger in her heart. She didn’t say a word; she just turned around and left with her guards. Once they were gone, Celestia’s guards moved back into their original positions. Now all that was left in the hallway was Nightsong and Celestia, both with their heads lowered.

“I’m sorry you had to do that,” she said after a while.

“I wouldn’t have to if you would start including mother in some of these big decisions,” he spat angrily. He was already having a bad day and what he had just done had made it worse. Part of him knew that he was just taking out his anger on his aunt, but another larger part didn’t care. “She already feels hated and ignored. What if she had said no? You would have made her look like the bad guy because of a promise you made!”

“Nightsong, I’m sorry,” she said. “But had I known that Luna would have reacted like that then I would have never have made that promise.”

“Don’t say you’re sorry to me,” said her nephew. “Mother is the one you hurt. And this giving her more night hours during the winter is a poor compromise and you know it.” Then, suddenly, Nightsong had an idea. “How about this. There are only a couple of real nighttime events that the royal family hosts. How about letting my mother host the Grand Galloping Gala one year?”

Celestia stared at her nephew in amazement. The Gala was one of the biggest social events of the year and was always held in the royal castle. Personally, Celestia was bored out of her mind because she spent all night just greeting the ponies that attended. Then there were those who spent the night trying to suck up to her for some personal agenda. She knew that Luna, however, had wanted to host it for a long time now. She had been dropping hints since before Nightsong was born. Perhaps this would be a good thing. Ponies would meet Luna and she would feel important and wanted.

“Nightsong, that is a brilliant idea,” said Celestia as she rubbed her nephews’ mane. “We already have the next few Gala’s planned, but I think that Luna would like to do the planning on her own. I’ll check our schedule to see when she can plan it all by herself. Make it hers.”

“Why not just cancel the plans you already made and just let mother redo it?” asked Nightsong.

“Various reasons,” said Celestia. “The Gala is not just any simple event. It takes months or even years to make sure that everything is perfect as well as paid for. Canceling what we have already set up would cost a large amount of bits just so that Luna can spend more. And if it doesn’t look perfect it will reflect badly on her.” She smiled at Nightsong. “I’m sure you can understand that.”

“I guess,” replied Nightsong with a shrug. Seemed to a lot of work for such a boring event. He was just glad he never had to go to one. “Well, I’ll talk to mother about this. I need to apologize anyways.” With that he turned and began to walk away.

“Nightsong,” his aunt called out, stopping him in his tracks. “Is everything alright? It looks like something else is weighing heavily on your mind.”

“It’s…personal,” he said. “Look auntie, I-I just have to handle this on my own.” Nightsong hadn’t turned around to look at his aunt, but if he had he would have seen the look of worry that was on her face.

“Very well,” she said. “But if you need a hoof, please talk to one of us.” Nightsong said nothing as he walked away.

A few minutes later, Nightsong had found his mother. She was in her room, crying. Guilt flooded the young colt as he entered the room. Slowly he walked across the stone floors without making a sound. Once he was next to her he simply sat down and waited for her to notice him. He didn’t have to wait long.

“Go away,” she sobbed.

“Mom, I’m sorry about what happened,” he said quietly. “But I had to do what I felt was right.”

“Yes,” she cried. “Thou sided with…with her. My own son sided with his aunt rather than his own mother!” She cried even louder now.

“I never sided with her,” replied Nightsong. “I sided with our subjects and their needs. I also did it to keep you from being the villain. If you had said no after auntie had promised that you would, it would have seemed like you broke your word and they would have hated you for that. And I couldn’t bear to see that.” Luna looked at him with her tear stained face.

“R-Really?” she asked. “Thou hasn’t turned against me? Thou doesn’t…hate me?”

“How could I ever turn against my own mother,” replied Nightsong as he leaned against her. Luna accepted this as guilt filled her. How could she have believed that her only son would betray her? How could she have believed that he hated her? She had been the one to act like a fool. They stayed like this for a moment before Nightsong looked up at her with a large smile. “I also got some good news. In a couple of years, auntie is going to let you plan and host the Gala!”

Luna jumped up when she heard that, nearly causing Nightsong to fall on the floor. Her eyes were wide with shock and joy. Her heart was pounding so fast she felt it would burst out of her chest at any moment. She had not felt like this since she found out she was pregnant!

“Oh most wonderful of days!” she exclaimed with a large smile. She then used her magic to summon a large tome the size of Nightsong in front of the two as she sat down once again. “I have been making plans for this night since I was just a filly. Oh, what theme should I use? And the dress, should I use one of my old ones or have something new made?”

While Luna began to go over many different things, Nightsong looked up in the direction of the window. Outside, he saw Little Gift was floating in plain view while holding up a sign asking him to meet him outside tonight. He then gave a wave and flew off.

“We have got to get better security,” muttered Nightsong quietly.

“Did thou say something dear?” asked Luna as she looked up from her book. She was currently looking at a dress design she had thought up several years ago. The dress was to resemble her starry mane with star that moved as she walked.

“Ah no mom,” said Nightsong quickly. “I think I’d better start my lessons. Got a lot of work to do tonight.”

“Alright,” said Luna as she turned her attention back to the book.

-x-

Later that night, Nightsong had met up with both Star Swirl and Little Gift. There was no moon out tonight, which had made it easier for Nightsong to sneak out of the castle under the cover of the dark. Plus, if the guards could miss a bright red pony during the daylight it had to be nearly impossible to see a grey one at night. In front of them was the farm were Lemon Pie and her family lived. And, judging by the dark windows, they were asleep.

“So what’s this great plan you have Little Gift?” asked Nightsong with a bit of a yawn. Before he had left he had delivered all the dreams as fast as he could and he was a little tired.

“Glad you asked,” replied Little Gift as he put up diagram of the house they were looking at. “I was thinking about this all day. Well, not all day. Just since we failed to get it from the dream house until I told you two to meet me here so more like a couple of hours.” Nightsong gave him an impatient look. “Anyways, the plan is simple. I’ll just sneak into the house by going down the chimney. Once inside I’ll look for the teddy bear and if it’s there I’ll walk out the front door. If not, we just try again at the next filly’s house. And once we have it, it’s not like they can go to their parents and tell them that something they stole was stolen from them.” Both Nightsong and Star Swirl stood there, blinking at their friend.

“That actually sounds like a good idea,” said Nightsong.

“I know,” admitted Star Swirl.

“But Little Gift thought of it,” stated Nightsong, causing a growl from the red Pegasus.

“Well, he was a thief,” said Star Swirl. “I guess it’s only natural for him to know the best ways to steal stuff from a pony’s home.” The two of them nodded.

“I AM NOT A THIEF!” roared Little Gift.

After several minutes of calming down Little Gift, the red Pegasus was finally on the roof of the farm house. Once he got to the chimney he waved in the direction of his friends, giving them the signal that he was ready to go down. The two watched as he then flew into the air, did an aerial summersault, and went down the chimney. Nightsong and Star Swirl then began to wait. And wait. Soon fifteen minutes had passed and they were beginning to get worried. Then, without warning the door opened and there was Little Gift, covered with soot and holding a glass of milk in one hoof with a snack called a filly’s delight. A filly’s delight was a flat wafer like treat that was lightly sugared. And behind him was Lemon’s mother!

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you did, little chimney sweeper,” she said. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else I can get for you?”

“No ma’am,” said Little Gift as he ate his filly’s delight and finished his milk. “That really hit the spot. Well, I got to be going now.”

“Take care.” With that, Little Gift walked away from the house as the door closed behind him. As he walked, be began to hum a little tune until he reached the spot where Nightsong and Star Swirl were. Both of them were staring at him with dumbfounded faces.

“Hey guys,” said Little Gift when he saw them. “Turns out they were having some chimney problems. Way too much soot stuck in there. But don’t worry, I cleaned it out for them when I went through it. And to say thank you they gave me milt and a couple filly’s delights! Isn’t that great?”

“What about my teddy bear?” asked Nightsong.

“Oh, right,” said Little Gift with a gulp. “I knew I forgot to do something.” Nightsong facehoofed himself and growled in frustration.

-x-

The next morning the five of them were walking to school, hoping to run into the fillies. They were hoping to ambush them to get the bear back, but sadly Lemon and her friends had left early in order to avoid this. 

“Cheer up Nightsong,” said Star Swirl. “We’ll get it back sooner or later.”

“I still say we should just tell your mom,” muttered Little Gift.

“I’m not giving up,” grunted Nightsong. “I’ll keep going until I get it back. Even if it takes me years!” Suddenly there was a bright, glowing sphere in front of them. Along with it came a powerful wind that seemed to push them back a bit. When the light faded every pony looked up and gasped at what they saw. It was another Star Swirl! Well it looked like him except he looked a bit older, wore a cloak with bell sown into it, and his beard was longer. He looked a little shaken up from the trip, but once he saw the young ones in front of him he jumped into the air with his front hooves reaching towards the heavens.

“I did it!” he cheered. “The time travel spell worked! I am a genius!” 

“What’s going on?” asked Hydee. Before any pony could say anything, the older Star Swirl ran up to his younger counterpart and Nightsong.

“You two,” he said quickly, “I have come from the future to tell the two of you important information.” He looked at the younger Star Swirl. “Don’t get that monkey! I know your thinking about it right now, but please don’t. You don’t know the horror that they will cause.” The older Star Swirl then got down on his knees and raised his front hooves into the air. “They destroyed everything! Those darn, dirty monkeys!” For a moment, no pony said a word. Then…

“Are you done yet?” asked Nightsong. The older Star Swirl nodded and then got right back up. “So, what did you want to tell me?”

“Oh right,” he said. “It’s about your teddy bear. I know how you can get it back quickly and safely.” This got Nightsong’s attention. He grabbed the future Star Swirl and stood on his hind hooves so that they were now at face level.

“How?!” he demanded. “Tell me quickly.”

“What’s the rush?” asked the elder Star Swirl. “I mean, I just invented time travel! I have all the time in Equestria! Now, if you want your teddy bear back all you have to do is-” Whatever he was about to say was cut off as he vanished in a brilliant ball of light. Nightsong stood there his mouth open as Dawn gently patted him on the back.

“Please tell me that did just happen,” begged Nightsong. Star Swirl rubbed his chin with his hoof.

“I guess you can only stay in the past for a short amount of time,” he said as he sat down. “But don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll be back soon. All he has to do is recast the spell.” With that Star Swirl sat down and began to wait. The others, however, did not since school was about to start. Day turned to night and Star Swirl remained where he sat until he had a thought. “Maybe I should get that monkey.”

-x-

Years later, Lemon Pie and her friends were sitting around in their old club house as they had done for years. They were just sitting there talking about their upcoming plans with a small dish of rock candy in the middle. But this might be the last time, thought Lemon sadly. They had all graduated from the academy several months ago and were all going their own paths that would take them far apart from each other. Even Lemon was leaving to start up a rock farm which she hoped would stay in the family for generations.

Suddenly, they heard a commotion outside. But no pony turned around to see who it was because they already knew. It was Nightsong who had done the same thing day after day for years. Every day he tried one or two attempts before he had to get back home. Lemon heard several crashes and springing noises before she heard the stallion cursing as he was sent flying through the air. It was only then that she turned around to see how far he had gotten this time. From what she could see he had evaded all the nets, pit falls, and sticky paper just to be launched into the air by a fake ground spring trap right next to the club house.

“By the princesses, doesn’t he have anything better to do?” sighed Lemon as she turned her attention back to her friends.

Meanwhile, back with Nightsong, the alicorn was nursing a hurt wing and equally hurt pride. He was so close today, almost made it inside. He knew if the others would help him like they used to then maybe he could have made it this time. Yet Little Gift was off working on his own projects that even Nightsong had to admit were important. Hydee was off on her first major dig site in the far north. And Dawn was…

“Still at it?” came Star Swirl’s voice from behind Nightsong. The grey alicorn turned around and gave his old friend a nod. Star Swirl was the only one who was still living near the castle, yet his research in the area of spells and potions had become too time consuming to help Nightsong. 

“I’m not going to give up,” said Nightsong. Star Swirl shook his head.

“I didn’t come here to talk about that,” he said gently. “I know things have been difficult for you.”

“You know nothing,” growled Nightsong. Two months ago had been the night of Gala. All of Nightsong’s friends had shown up to help support his mothers work. Luna had even made her own dress which she had worked on every night for the last couple of years. Yet the night that was supposed to bring her joy turned into a nightmare. Once the other ponies realized that Celestia was not hosting the party, they either turned around on the spot or stayed for the meal and then left. 

When the night was over Luna was left in tears. She hardly ever came out of her room and barley spoke to any pony. Celestia tried to talk to her younger sister, but nothing seemed to work. It was as if something inside had snapped. Whenever she did speak it would be about fixing the problem and no pony knew what that meant. There was something else that caused every pony to worry. Luna had several pieces of armor delivered to her room and had been modifying them during the day.

Then there was the appearance of Discord a week ago. Luna had come out of her room to help fight him, but the elements nearly resisted her. The battle lasted hours and had casualties. Some hitting Nightsong hard. Also, he had refused to fight that battle and Star Swirl understood his reasoning. As punishment for this, those that were captured in battle were to be locked up in a place called the Nightmare Vault and Nightsong was to be the warden for all time. And then there was what happened to Dawn, Star Swirl could barely bring himself to think about what had happened to such an innocent soul.

“I know there is no possible way I could ever know how you feel,” began Star Swirl but Nightsong cut him off.

“No, there is no way you could know,” he said. “You’re always off in your own little world while the rest of us have to try and make sense of what you say and do. You don’t have to deal with family problems because your parents live at the other end of Equestria! You don’t have a mom who is withdrawing from the world, have so many duties that your head will explode, or anything like that. No, your life is just fine and mine is falling apart!” At this point, Nightsong realized that he was panting. At some point he had started to yell at his oldest and best friend. Feeling ashamed, he turned around to look away. “Look, I got to go.”

Star Swirl watched his friend fly away. He felt hurt by what had been said, but he shook it off. He knew that Nightsong was speaking from anger and frustration. The best thing he could do right now was either give his friend some space or get him something that would lift his spirits. And he knew just the thing to do that. So Star Swirl focused his magic and then teleported in front of the club house.

“Star Swirl!” exclaimed Lemon with delight as she stuck her head out the window. Behind her she could hear the other girls giggling. “What brings you here?”

“I just came to ask if you fillies were tired of all of this.”

“Tired of what?”

“This whole thing with Nightsong.”

“Oh that,” said Lemon with great annoyance. “Believe me, I wish he would just stop.” Star Swirl beamed at her.

“Well then this makes things simpler,” he said. “Just give it back and he’ll stop.” Lemon blinked as she looked at her friends. They looked as confused as she was and just shrugged before she turned her attention back to Star Swirl.

“Ah, give what back?”

“The teddy bear,” said Star Swirl as he blinked. “You know, the one you fillies stole a few years back and were holding hostage until he told you what your cutie marks were?”

Lemon stared at Star Swirl for a moment. Slowly, she began to remember what had happened years ago. Truth was, she had gotten her cutie mark a couple of years ago and so had her friends. She remembered thinking that they should keep the teddy bear out of principle and eventually they had forgotten all about it. She gave Star Swirl an uneasy smile.

About an hour later they were all in front of Lemon Pie’s home. The first room the yellow pony checked was her room. She checked the last place she remembered putting it, a small box under the bed. However, there was nothing there. She began to panic slightly and began to check her dresser and closet. Once again, the bear wasn’t there. Soon, her face was the very definition on panic and worry. She couldn’t find the item she had stolen from royalty! If Nightsong wasn’t mad before, she could only imagine how mad he would get once she told him that she couldn’t find it! As she searched with increased panic, Lemon’s friends and Star Swirl watched. The Mares had looks of fright as they also came to realize how much trouble they would be in if the bear wasn’t there. Star Swirl frowned as his mind began to wonder to different types of spells they might help with the search to a spell that would help calm every pony down.

“What is going on in here?” came a voice from behind every pony. They turned around and saw Lemon’s mother standing behind the group.

“Mom, have you seen that teddy bear that was under my bed?” asked Lemon quickly.

“Oh, that old thing,” said Lemon’s mother. “I sold it at a yard sale a while back.” And with that she left the group that seemed to have gone paler.

-x-

It was early in the morning and the sun should have been up by now. Should being the key word for Nightsong who was up waiting for his mother to lower the moon. Yet, it was still there and the sky was still full of stars. Nightsong hoped that everything was alright, but he couldn’t help but have this nagging feeling in the back of his head that told him something bad was about to happen.

But it wasn’t this feeling that had caused him to be up so early. The truth was he hadn’t been able to sleep a wink all night. His thoughts kept going back to when he had yelled at Star Swirl. He knew he hadn’t meant some of the things he had said to his best friend, but he was just so tired of it all. The girls already had their cutie marks so why didn’t they just give it back? But that was his problem with them and he should never have taken out his anger out on Star Swirl. He would have to apologize to him the next time he saw him.

“Ah, Nightsong,” said a voice behind him. Nightsong turned around and gave his friend a welcoming smile. Then he saw those who came with him and that smile vanished.

“What’s going on?” he demanded as he glared at Lemon. Said pony took a step back and hid behind Star Swirl.

“Well you see it’s a bit of a funny story,” said Star Swirl. “After we had our…talk, I went to Lemon and her friends and asked them again to give back the teddy bear. This time they agreed.” Nightsong’s smile reappeared and he looked happier than he had in years. He had planned on throwing a party once he got his bear back and, seeing that they were giving it back, Nightsong was willing to allow the mares to join in just to show there was no hard feelings between them. But when Nightsong looked at Star Swirl again, his smile fell. “Lemon was going to give it back, she really was, but her mom sort of sold it a while back. And the family she sold it to moved away.”

Nightsong looked like he had seen a ghost. His grey coat had faded looking more of a white color than anything else. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly. He took a step in a direction away from them and nearly fell over.

“I don’t get it,” said one of the mares in the back. “It’s just a stupid teddy bear.”

“My mother made it for me,” said Nightsong. But there was something off with his voice. It didn’t sound angry or anything like that. It sounded…empty and broken. “She hoof stitched it herself before I was born.” They were simple words, but they cut through every pony like a knife. The others didn’t say anything as Nightsong walked away with both a broken heart and a broken spirit.”

-End Flashback-

“Shortly after that I found out that my mother had become Nightmare Moon,” said Nightsong. His eyes were still closed since he began the second part of the story. It helped him remember the events of what happened a thousand years ago. “After that, I went into the Dream Realm and just stayed there. I had lost my mother and the object that connected me to her no matter how far apart we were.” Just then, he heard some pony bawling loudly. His eyes shot open to see that the whole of Ponyville was in front of him. Most of them looked like they had tears in their eyes while Pinkie, the source of the loud bawling, looked like a garden sprinkler. “When did all of you get here?”

“You mean you’re just now noticing us?” asked Rainbow who was laying on a cloud.

“I thought it was a fascinating story,” said Twilight, which caused Nightsong to blush. “But what happened to Star Swirl and the others. Did you ever get to apologize?”

“Never,” said Nightsong as he sadly shook his head. “It’s one of the many regrets I’ve had over the last thousand years. While I was in the Dream Realm sulking, my friends grew older and eventually died. After a while, I did come out for a little while only to find that out that Star Swirl had been dead for several years. Hydee never came back from that dig. Little Gift…” Nightsong’s eye’s narrowed in rage and he snorted. “I never want to talk to that jerk ever again!”

“I doubt he’s even still around these parts,” whispered Apple Jack to Twilight.

“And Dawn?” asked Sweetie Belle. Nightsong looked surprised for a moment and then looked away.

“A very horrible fate,” he said simply, dropping the subject.

“So what’s this have to do with you not telling a pony their cutie mark?” asked Scootaloo. “Seems to me you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you had just told them what they wanted to know.”

“And what was I supposed to do when the next group came, also demanding that I tell them their cutie marks?” asked Nightsong as he looked at the Crusaders. “And then what about the group after that? And after that? It becomes a never ending stream of fillies and colts who want to take the easy way out of learning their cutie mark. And once you stop ponies get offended and say, ‘This is unfair, you told all of them but not me’. Then they get upset and demand that you tell them or else they’ll make you somehow.”

“Well it’s not like they’ll steal your teddy bear again,” said Scootaloo. As soon as she said that she covered her mouth with her hooves, but it was too late. Nightsong, apparently, had not completely gotten over the loss of his beloved teddy bear. As his eyes began to tear up he vanished in a bright explosion of light. Once he was gone, every pony turned to stare at Scootaloo. “Ah…sorry?”

Once every pony had left, the Crusaders began to walk to Sweet Apple Acres. All three of their heads were down. They felt a little like Lemon and her friends, but they would never resort to stealing. Well, Apple Bloom did steal the Heart’s Desire to make a potion that would help get her cutie mark that one time, but she learned her lesson. They also felt bad for Nightsong and what he went through. Telling them that story probably brought back a lot of painful memories.

“I feel so sorry for him,” said Sweetie Belle.

“So do I,” said Scootaloo. “But it’s not like there’s anything we can do to help him.”

“Well, maybe we can,” said Apple Bloom. “What if we found his teddy bear?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged a look for a moment before returning their attention to Apple Bloom.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to find it,” said Scootaloo. “I mean, it’s been a thousand years! It might not even be around anymore.”

“Well, I was thinking that maybe Zecora could help us,” said Apple Bloom. “Maybe make us a potion that could help us find it. It’d be like a treasure hunt.”

“I don’t know,” said Sweetie Belle as she looked up at the darkening sky. “It’s starting to get late.”

“Please, we’ve been there a thousand times before,” said Apple Bloom. “We’ll be back before any pony notices we were gone!”

Any hour later, Twilight heard a knock at her door. The lavender pony had been going over various research material based on the story the Nightsong had told them. Personally, she found it fascinating to hear his views from events back then. There was also so much she wanted to ask him. So, after she had gotten home, she began to dig through all her history books and began to look up any inaccuracies that she found and planned on asking Nightsong about them.  When Twilight got to the door, she found Rarity, Apple Jack, and Big Mac. All of them looked worried.

“The girls are lost again,” said Twilight with a dead panned expression. Her friends nodded. Before Twilight could say anything, there was a flash of light. When it was over there stood Nightsong who also looked slightly annoyed.

“I was making my rounds when I noticed that the girls were still up,” he said. “Please tell me that they’re having a sleep over or something.” Every pony shook their heads. “They’re up to something, aren’t they?” Every pony nodded.

-x-

Meanwhile, a thousand years ago, several ponies were gathering in a room in the abandoned castle. It had been several years since Celestia had moved out, leaving behind the old memories that had been haunting her. Now a layer of dust covered everything, but the ponies didn’t seem to worry about it much. They continued to walk thought it all until they made their way to a certain tower. Once there their leader pointed his horn at a wall and cast a spell. The area he pointed at became a blue, spiraling vortex of magical energy.

“Now we wait,” said the leader as he sat down.

-x-

“I’d be more than happy to let you search my room,” said Zecora. “However you will not find Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, nor Apple Bloom.” In front of her was Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Big Mac, and Nightsong. While searching for the Crusaders, they had come across Fluttershy who claimed she had seen the girls heading into the Everfree Forest. Once they realized that, they got the other members of the Mare Six and headed to Zecora’s place hoping that they were heading there.

“So what do we do now?” asked Fluttershy.

“We keep looking,” said Twilight. “They could be lost right now so we’re going to have to hurry and we’ll move faster if we split up. Rainbow and Fluttershy can search in the skies while the rest of us search on the ground. Rarity and Pinkie Pie can head north. Big Mac and Apple Jack can search the east.”

“That will leave me and you to check out the west were the old castle is,” said Nightsong. Twilight nodded and then began to go over the plan of what to do once one of them finds the girls. Nightsong, however, wasn’t paying much attention. He couldn’t believe his luck. He was going to be alone with Twilight for an unknown period of time. What more could a stallion want?

As they set out from Zecora’s, the two walked in silence. Both paying attention to their surrounding as they looked for the girls. Nightsong wanted to start talking to Twilight and asking her some questions. He wanted to know more about her. What was her favorite book? What was her favorite spell? What kind of stallions did she like? However the circumstance kept him from asking her that.

“I’m really sorry we dragged you into this,” said Twilight, causing the prince to come back to reality. He looked at her and gave her a small grin.

“Oh, it’s nothing really,” said Nightsong. “Besides, I wanted to help. Their good fillies even if they have a habit of walking into dangerous woods and stuff like that.” Twilight gave a light laugh at that, knowing how true it was.

Soon the two of them came upon the old abandoned castle. Well, more like twenty minutes later, but you get the point! As Nightsong stared at the old castle, a flood of memories washed over him. Once this place was majestic and proud, but now it looked like it should be put out of its misery. He didn’t even know how it was still standing! Yet despite all that, both him and Twilight heard voices coming from inside. The two raced towards the castle, past the gates, and into the main hall. Upon entering the building they saw figures fleeing up the staircase most likely due to their loud entrance. Twilight and Nightsong gave case, following them up until they were in a room inside one of the few towers that hadn’t fallen over yet.

The room was circular and for the most part empty. There were the remains of a bed that looked like it had been smashed several times and then become food for termites. There were what looked like book covers on the floor but the pages had long turned to dust. But the only thing that seemed to have survived all this was a single painting of the royal family. And in the middle of the room were the Crusaders. When Twilight and Nightsong first entered, they seemed to be scared for their lives. However, that changed once they realized who had been chasing them.

“Twilight,” they all cheered as they raced over to the lavender pony. Twilight wrapped her front legs around them and embraced them.

“I’m so glad you three are all right,” she said before letting them go. “We have been worried sick about you three. You should have told some pony were you were going at the very least.” She was about to say something else when she noticed the change in Nightsong. He was staring at the room with a nostalgic look on his face. “Nightsong, are you alright?”

“This was my room,” he said as he began to look around. Then, without warning, a blue spiraling vortex appeared on one of the walls. The Crusaders quickly hid behind Twilight as images appeared within the vortex. The images were blurry at first, but soon came into focus. Nightsong took a step back and then said a two words. “Star Swirl?”

“I knew this would work,” said Star Swirl at the other end of the vortex. But he was different from the last time Nightsong had seen him. He was now much older with wrinkles covering his body. But there was no mistaking that beard.

“But how?” asked Nightsong. “I mean, it’s great to see you again, but how are you still alive? It’s been a thousand years!”

“A thousand years?” asked Star Swirl. “Wow, it took you a long time to return to this place. Your mom is going to be so upset that you haven’t cleaned your room!” He then began to laugh which caused every other pony to give him a funny look. Once he calmed down a bit he got back to business. “This is a spell I like to call a time tunnel. Since the time spell only works once, I created this spell to connect the present with the future. Shortly after you entered the room, you activated the spell from your end allowing us to talk and stuff.” One of his friends, an old yellow pony, pulled out something from her saddle bag. Gently she tossed it through the portal and it landed in front of Nightsong. The prince’s eyes widened in shock as he looked down at what it was.

“Mr. Fuzzaltine!” he cried out as he embraced his old teddy bear.

“We found it two years after you left,” said Lemon. “We waited for you to come back, but you never did.”

“So I created this spell just so that we could get it to you,” said Star Swirl with a smile. “Took a long time, but I finally got it right.”

“I-I don’t know what to say,” stammered Nightsong. Then he looked at Star Swirl and took a deep breath. “Star Swirl, I’m so sorry. I was a jerk that day. I regretted that day for so long, but nothing compares with the fact that I was never able to say goodbye. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course I can,” said Star Swirl. “I know you didn’t mean it. And it happened so long ago its water under the bridge. And now, we can say our goodbyes a bit more proper.” He then looked and noticed Twilight for the first time. She was staring at Star Swirl with a look of awe. Then he noticed the fillies. “Wow Nightsong, you had triplets!” Both Twilight and Nightsong looked at each other in confusion for a moment before it dawned on them what he was implying. This caused both their faces to turn beat red.

“We’re not like that!” they both yelled. Star Swirl just laughed as the portal began to get smaller.

“Looks like our time is almost up,” said Star Swirl. “Goodbye my friend and good luck.”

“You too,” said Nightsong. Slowly the portal began to fade, but Nightsong notice that Star Swirl had remembered something important.

“I almost forgot to tell you something! I created applesauce without using apples. I’m a genius!” And with that the portal vanished.

For a time, Nightsong just stood there with his teddy bear in his hoof. After what seemed like forever, he had finally gotten it back. But he realized that if the Crusaders had never gone to see him he would still be working his tail off in the Dream Realm. He would never have been able to come here if it weren’t for them. And he would never have been able to talk to Twilight. He owed them.

“Girls,” he said. “Come see me tomorrow in the Dream Realm. I’ll help you get your cutie marks.”

> Crusader's Quest (Revised)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hurry up Hugh,” said Nightsong as he and one of his new helpers walked down the streets of Ponyville. As he walked, his silvery white mane flowed like a mist or fog as he walked. His green eyes pointed in the direction of their target as the two of them walked with saddle bags bursting with large books. Also, on both of their backs were several more books.

“Doing my best boss,” said Hugh Blue, a dark blue Pegasus stallion with a white mane that had two grey stripes running through it. His cutie mark, if it wasn’t being covered by his saddle bags, was three white bolts of lightning. “Sir, remind me again why we are taking these to the Ponyville library?”

“Because they are a gift for Twilight,” answered Nightsong in a sing song voice.

“Right,” said Hugh as he rolled his blue eyes. He should have known they were for her. Every pony in the dream realm knew that Nightsong was head over hooves for Twilight Sparkle. It was the little hints that gave him away. Like whenever some pony mentioned her he would get really excited or whenever she came to visit he would get a little nervous. There was even a rumor that he had hung a picture of her in the romance section of his library. “But wouldn’t it be better to give her a box of chocolates or some nice flowers?” Nightsong stopped walking and turned to face Hugh.

“What are you saying? Books are the ultimate expression of a ponies feeling Flowers wilt. Chocolate either gets eaten or goes moldy. Trust me, if you want to win a mares heart all you really need is a good book or two.”

“Or twenty,” grumbled Hugh as he shifted his weight around uncomfortably. “Can we please keep going?”

It took them twenty minutes to reach the Ponyville library. Once there, Nightsong knocked on the door and the two waited until Twilight answered it. Naturally she invited them in, but was a little curious as to why they had so many books with them. To her knowledge neither one of them had checked out any books. Once inside, Hugh dropped the books on his back as well as his saddle bags.

“What’s all this?” asked Twilight.

“Well you see I’m having my library remodeled and I found these books that you might like,” said Nightsong as he set the books he had been handling on the floor with a bit more grace than Hugh. “Some of these were books that Star Swirl wrote himself along with his notes.” Twilight’s eyes widened when she heard that. Quickly she used her magic to levitate some of the books closer so she could read the titles.

“‘Elementary Element Manipulation’, ‘Temporal Paradox’, ‘Star Swirl’s Guide to Magical Improvement’, ‘Pre-Equestria History’, ‘Clover the Clever’s Autobiography’! Nightsong, do you have any idea how rare these books are? Not even the Canterlot library has them!”

“I have a good idea,” said the alicorn. Twilight gave him a look, one that seemed to be a mix of excitement, glee, and something that Nightsong couldn’t put his hoof on. But before he could think about it more Twilight walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

“I don’t believe it,” muttered Hugh as he watched hearts appear in Nightsong’s eyes. Twilight, however, didn’t seem to notice for she had already turned around to begin sorting through the books. “I have to try this out.”

With that, Hugh shot like lightning as he searched through the libraries books until he found the one he wanted. Holding it in his mouth he raced out of the library and flew towards the home of his secret crush. Once he landed in front of the door he knocked and waited for her to answer. A few moments later Lyra Heartstrings opened the door.

“Hello?” she said in a surprised tone. Hugh took the book out of his mouth, held it in front of him with his hooves, and shut his eyes tightly.

“I always really liked you and want you to be my special some pony! Please go out with me.”

“Ahh…” began Lyra in confusion. This was a first for her and she didn’t know how to respond. Then she noticed the title of the book he had was ‘Anatomy of the Hand’. Her eyes widened in excitement as she accepted the book. “What’s your name?”

“Hugh Blue,” replied the blue Pegasus. Wow, Hugh sounds a lot like human, she thought.

“Well… I guess we can give this a try,” said Lyra causing Hugh’s heart to skip a beat. “How about you pick me up at six, alright?”

“S-Sure,” stammered Hugh who was blushing like mad. As Lyra, who was also blushing, closed the door Hugh exploded in happiness. “He was right! Books are the way to a mare’s heart!”

Meanwhile, back at the library, Nightsong was coming back down to Equestria. Taking a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. He had spoken before rulers, addressed political figures, and could fly through the Dream Realm without any fear. But this scared the wits out of him.

“Twilight, I was wondering if you would like to join me for breakfast,” asked Nightsong. “We can go to this nice restaurant I saw down the street.” Twilight turned around and gave him an apologetic look.

“Oh, I don’t think that I should,” said Twilight which caused Nightsong to become visibly saddened. “You see, me and Spike just finished breakfast before you arrived. I mean, a pony shouldn’t eat too much too soon. If I had known you were coming then I could have put it off.”

“I see,” said Nightsong as he visibly brightened after hearing her explanation. Mentally he scolded himself for not thinking that this might happen. “Well then, perhaps you might like to join me for lunch.”

“Nightsong,” yelled three familiar voices which interrupted Twilight as she was about to answer. Nightsong turned around towards the door to see all three of the Crusaders. Each one of them looked very excited. So excited that they were bouncing up and down with big grins on their faces.

“Will you tell us how we can get our cutie marks now?” asked Scootaloo.

“We’re ready for anything!” declared Apple Bloom.

“Actually,” said Nightsong as he looked at the Crusaders, then at Twilight for a moment, and then back to the three fillies. “I was planning on seeing you three later. As in later tonight.”

“But we’re here now,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Please?” said all three Crusaders as halo’s appeared above their heads. Nightsong looked at them for a moment before he sighed in defeat. There was no pony alive who could say no when all three of them were doing their innocent routine. Well, maybe Rarity could.

“Ok,” he said as the three cheered. He turned towards Twilight with a defeated look on his face. “I’ll see if I can stop by later and, if you’re not busy, we could get a bite to eat. If you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine with me,” said Twilight with a warm smile. She was about to say that she enjoyed having lunch with her friends but stopped as she saw the young alicorn being pushed out of her home by the three fillies. Shaking her head Twilight turned her attention back towards the books that Nightsong had brought her. Using her magic she picked up a book on potions and began to read.

Back over with Nightsong, the alicorn had taken control of the situation and was now leading the Crusaders towards the edge of town. Ponies stopped what they were doing on the streets as they saw the prince leading three skipping fillies. A sight that many believed they would never see again. Once they had arrived at the edge of town, Nightsong scanned the area to make sure no other pony was within ease dropping range. He even used his magic to make doubly sure that no magic was active in the area. Once this was done and he was satisfied, Nightsong magically produced an old scroll which he gave to the three.

“What’s this?’ asked Apple Bloom as she and the other two Crusaders stared that the scroll.

“It’s a map,” said Nightsong as a small grin appeared on his face. “Have you three ever heard the legend of Star Fall Mountain?” The three Crusaders shook their heads no. “Well, shortly after Equestria was founded a young mare climbed that mountain. Why she did so, no pony knows. But, when she got to the top she realized that the sky was much closer to her. So close in fact she was able to grab a wishing star with her hooves. With its magic she was given a single wish. Anything her heart desired.”

“I don’t know,” said Scootaloo. “This sounds a little fishy to me. After all, it’s just a legend.”

“Just like Nightmare Moon was a legend,” said Nightsong in a matter of fact tone. “Or Discord and myself. All legends are based on some kind of truth.”

“So you’re saying that if we climb this mountain and get our hooves on a wishing star we’ll be able to get our cutie marks?” asked Apple Bloom with stars in her eyes.

“I know that you’ll all get your cutie marks if you climb that mountain,” said Nightsong. “I can also guarantee that there is a powerful magical force waiting at the top. However, you must reach the top before the sun sets otherwise you will have to try again tomorrow. That was why I wanted to meet with you three later tonight. That way you could spend the rest of today packing and leave fist thing in the morning.”

“Well we’re ready now,” said Sweetie Belle. The other three nodded in agreement. They had waited too long in their opinion. Today they would get their cutie marks no matter what happened.

“We’ll what are we waiting for girls?” declared Scootaloo as the three of them cheered and ran off. Nightsong sighed.

“Star Fall Mountain is that way,” he said as he pointed in the opposite direction. A little while later the prince watched the three head off in the right direction this time. Now that he had sent them on their way he could now try to spend some time with Twilight without any interruptions. After all, he knew everything about those books he lent Twilight. If he was close he could answer any questions Twilight might have. Or he could do some studying himself and try to catch up on what he had missed over the last thousand years. And if he had a question then he could always ask her. What a wonderful way to spend his day off.

As he walked back towards Twilight’s library, he found himself humming happily. He could just see it now. They would both be reading until one of they would ask a question. They would then stand next to each other, looking over the book. Their bodies would be close enough to touch each other. And then-

“Ah Prince Nightsong,” came a voice that interrupted Nightsong’s little fantasy.

“Oh Mayor Mare,” said Nightsong as he greeted the mayor of Ponyville. “Is there something that I can do for you?”

“Yes there is,” said the mayor with a grin. “I need to talk to you on some royal matters as well as give you the official ‘welcome to Ponyville speech’. Don’t worry; I won’t take up too much of your time. Only a couple of hours.”

“Ah, well, how…considerate,” Nightsong managed to say as his face consorted into one of dread. He began to look around for a way out of this but it was too late. The mayor was already pushing him towards town hall with surprising strength for a mare her age.

-x-

It was a few hours later and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were still on their way to the first marker on the map. In order to maximize speed, Scootaloo was on her scooter while the others were being pulled in a wagon. While Scootaloo wasn’t much of a flyer, her tiny wings allowed them to move at an amazing pace. Also, being a Pegasus pony she had amazing stamina which allowed her to go on like this for awhile.

Soon the Crusaders came across the first marker: a raging river. The water was moving so fast that it would be impossible for them to swim across. Also, the sharp jagged rocks sticking out of the water might have added to the decision not to swim. Even they knew that if they tried they would either be swept downstream or get cut to ribbons.

“So what are we going to do now?” asked Sweetie Belle as Apple Bloom consulted the map.

“Well, according to this here map we have to cross the river,” said Apple Bloom with a sigh.

“You’ll have a hard time at that,” said an old voice from behind them. The girls turned around to see an old maroon colored stallion with a grey beard and mane. On his flank was a fishing pole cutie mark. “That river is mighty dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Excuse me, but do you know if there is a safe way to cross it?” asked Sweetie Belle politely.

“Let me think for a moment,” said the elder pony. “Well, my nephew is out using the boat right now. It’s strong enough to get across and his special talent is boating. I’m sure when he gets back this evening he’ll carry you three across.”

“But that’s too long,” whined Scootaloo. The old fishing pony scratched his head while hmming.

“Well then I guess you’ll have to take your chances with the bridge.” The three fillies stared at him for a moment like he was an idiot. Why hadn’t he told them about a bridge in the first place?! It would have saved them some time.

“Which way is it?” asked Sweetie Belle. The old pony pointed south of the river and the three girls set off like lightning. A few minutes later the Crusaders came across a very, very old bridge, Parts of it looked like they were rotting away while others were simply missing. The only thing that looked like it would still be good for a while was the main support beams.

Scootaloo was the first to approach it. She walked up to it and placed a single hoof on the first plank. At first nothing happened. But as she shifted her weight to take another step the plank suddenly snapped. Using her wings Scootaloo was able to keep herself from falling through all the way, but barely. And as much as she wanted her cutie mark, she did not want to try that again.

“I guess you have already figured out the problem with the bridge,” said the elder fishing pony as he walked over to them. “Sure, the support beams are still nice and sturdy but the walkway is another story. The planks are simply too rotten and weather to walk across safely. My nephew keeps telling me that he’ll have it fixed as soon as he gets the time.” He then looked over to the side and the girls followed his gaze. There they saw wooden planks, nails, and a hammer. The old pony returned his gaze onto the three. “If you all need to get across quickly then your best bet will be to fix the bridge. Should only take a couple of hours. Otherwise you’ll have to wait till the evening or tomorrow.” With that he turned and began to walk away.

“Is there enough wood?” asked Apple Bloom. The old pony turned his head to look at her before nodding.

“Sure is. Just enough to replace each plank once. Now I have some stuff to do but I’ll be back to check on you later.” And with that he simply walked away.

Once he was gone the three fillies looked at the pile, then the bridge, and then each other. They knew that there was only one hammer which meant that only one of them could replace the walkway while the other two brought her supplies. The only question was who would get to use the hammer.

“So do you want to do it Sweetie Belle,” asked Scootaloo as she tossed the hammer to the white unicorn which landed in front of her hooves.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Sweetie Belle as she shook her head. “You all remember what happened at the talent show.” Just then a light clicked in her head. She grabbed the hammer with her teeth and then set it down in front of Apple Bloom. “I got it! Apple Bloom should do it!”

“Me?” asked a confused earth pony.

“Yeah,” said Sweetie Belle eagerly. “You gave me a lot of advice when I was trying to make the backgrounds for our act. Also, you’re the pony who fixed up our clubhouse.”

“That’s right!” exclaimed Scootaloo.

“Are you two sure?” asked Apple Bloom. Her two best friends nodded their heads vigorously, knowing that there was no better pony for the job. “Well alright then. Let’s get to it!”

An hour and a half later the old fishing pony returned to the bridge. He hadn’t expected them to be done, but they were. As the Crusaders were getting ready to leave he inspected their work. They had done a surprising well job for ones so young. The planks had been nailed in evenly and straight. Not only that, some pony had taken the extra time to carve in little hearts in the middle of each board.

“A very good job,” he said. “Whoever did this seems to have-”

“Come on Crusader’s,” yelled Scootaloo interrupting the elder pony. “Let’s get to the top of the mountain so we can get our cutie marks!” As the other two cheered, Scootaloo began to flap her tiny wings. A moment later the three of them were across the bridge and soon out of sight.

“I was going to say which every pony did that seems to have a gift or a special talent,” said the fishing pony with a sigh as he looked in the direction the three had gone. “Well, maybe they’ll figure it out at the next challenge.”

-x-

Back in Ponyville, Nightsong had just magically appeared in front of Twilight’s home. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he then spit on his hoof and then slicked back his magical mane. This, sadly, had no effect as it continued to flow on an invisible wind. I can do this, he thought to himself. I’m just asking her out to lunch. Nothing unusual about that. Just a stallion and a mare going to a nice restaurant to get lunch. I just hope she’s hungry this time.

“There you are sir,” said a familiar, uptight voice from behind him. With a groan Nightsong turned around to find himself looking at Snooty Wooty.

“Yes Snooty, what is it?” asked Nightsong quickly. Whatever it was he wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible so he could have lunch with a certain unicorn.

“Sir, please call me Ms. Wooty,” said Snooty. “Now then, do you remember filling out form 17-B the other day.”

“How can I forget,” said Nightsong with a shutter. “I had to fill out four hundred pages just to take this day off. Why do we even have that form in the first place?!”

“To discourage other ponies from asking for a day off,” replied Snooty. “Now, your majesty, while I was looking over the form you filled out I noticed that you missed a spot which means you’ll have to fill it out all over again.” With that, Snooty grabbed him by his front leg and dragged the poor alicorn away from the library.

-x-

As the Cutie Mark Crusaders continued their journey they soon came across a dark forest. Deciding to check the map, they saw that they were entering what was known as the Sleeping Forest. As a footnote, Nightsong (or whoever had written the map) mentioned that the forest was inhabited by many legendary sleeping creatures. As long as they stayed that way then no pony should get hurt.

“Looks like this’ll be easy,” said Scootaloo.

“I know,” agreed Apple Bloom with a grin. The only pony who didn’t seem very confident about this was Sweetie Belle. From past experiences she had found out that things become far more difficult whenever some pony said something was easy or just seemed too easy in general. However, she didn’t want to hurt her friend’s good modes right now so she just smiled lightly.

As the fillies entered the forest they found it to be a little too quiet. Everything seemed to be asleep, even the bugs! There was no sound at all to be heard. Not the wind blowing through the trees, not the water running down the stream, or anything of that nature. The only sound that could be heard was the flapping of Scootaloo’s wings.

After they had been in the forest for a while they came across a group of sleeping felines on the side of the path they were on. Each one was a bright red color and seemed to be making a sizzling sound as they slept. They were also small, about the size of Opal.

“They’re so cute,” whispered Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah, they are,” said Apple Bloom as she raised an eyebrow. “But don’t they look a little familiar. Didn’t Ms. Cheerilee mention them in class?” Scootaloo turned her head to look at the creatures while continuing to drive. She had to admit that they did look familiar. However, because she was looking at them, and not the path, she failed to notice that there was a tail of one of these cat creatures in the middle of the path. And when she did it was too late.

There was a loud wailing sound that filled the entire silent forest. Then, all at once, the cat creatures opened their yellow eyes. They all began to make hissing sounds as they began to move about in all directions. Well, all but one. The one whose tail Scootaloo had run over began to grow larger and larger. As it did it looked like its fur was being replaced with pure flames.

The fillies watched in horror as the creature was soon the size of the Apple family’s barn. Once it stopped growing it turned its head to look at the three with a look of hatred. It growled at the three, showing them its razor sharp fangs. Seeing this, Scootaloo did the smartest thing she could have done in this situation: get the hay out of there. She began to beat her wings faster than she had ever done before taking off as if a demon was chasing them.

“What the hay is going on?” asked Scootaloo once she had reached her maximum speed. Behind them the giant cat had taken chase. “What is that thing?”

“It’s an ember cat!” said Apple Bloom. “I just remembered. Ms. Cheerilee talked about the in our magical animals lesson. They are basically made of fire and spend most of their lives asleep, waking up only to eat. But they are very emotional. The madder they get the bigger they get.” Just then the ember cat made a sweeping motion with his claw, barely missing the girls in the wagon. “If we calm it down then it’ll get smaller.”

“Then do something!” yelled Scootaloo as she began to sweat. Her wing were beginning to hurt and she could feel them slowing down. “I can’t keep this up forever.”

“Ok then,” said Apple Bloom as she turned to face the ember cat. “So why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side!” Sweetie Belle groaned as the ember cat seemed to get madder.

Time after time, Apple Bloom tried everything she could think of. She tried plate spinning, but that didn’t last very long. Next she tried juggling, but a bump in the path caused her to lose her balls. She tried to feed it a cupcake that they had brought along for a snack, but accidently hit it in the eye causing the cat to become even more enraged. As all these things were going on, poor Scootaloo was slowing down more and more until she eventually stopped. When she did, the tiny Pegasus landed on the ground panting heavily.

Sweetie Belle looked around her. Apple Blooms attempts to calm the ember cat down with gags had failed and now she was all out. Scootaloo was on the ground, covered in sweat. The ember cat was now standing above them with a razor sharp claw ready to strike at them. So Sweetie Belle did the only thing she could think of: singing. At first the ember cat looked startled for a moment. Then, as Sweetie Belle continued to sing the creature closed its eyes in order to enjoy the melody better. Soon, it began to let out a purring sound. Slowly, the giant feline began to lay down before it fell asleep as well as return to its normal size.

“Thanks,” gasped Scootaloo.

“It was nothing,” said a blushing white filly.

“Well let’s hurry up before it wakes up again,” said Apple Bloom. The Crusaders looked at the creature for a moment before nodding. Deciding that their winged friend needed a break, the two put Scootaloo in the wagon along with her scooter and began to push her out of the forest.

-x-

“Finally!” cheered Nightsong as he magically appeared in front of the Ponyville Library. It was now late in the day, well past lunch. But that didn’t detour the alicorn prince. Instead, he would simply ask her out to dinner.

Nightsong knocked on the door and began to wait. As he did he began to go over what he was going to say. Nightsong knew he should start out with an apology, not knowing if Twilight waited for him or not. But, after that, what should he say. “Let me make it up to you” or “I know this is last minute but I would like to take you out to dinner”. While debating between the two the door opened to reveal Spike.

“Oh, hey Nightsong. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. I was wondering if I could speak to Twilight.”

“Oh,” replied the baby dragon. “Sorry but she’s not here right now. She went out to collect potion ingredients that she read about in one of the books you gave her. She said if you stopped by for lunch and she still wasn’t here I was to apologize for her and ask for a rain check.”

Nightsong’s wings slumped as he heard this. His plan to impress Twilight with books had backfired. Yet now that he thought about it, considering Twilight’s personality, this was something she would do.

“Well, thanks anyways Spike,” said Nightsong. Spike opened his mouth to say no problem when a flash of light between him and Nightsong stopped him.

“There you are sir,” said Snooty. Nightsong began to take a few steps back as he noticed that papers were spilling out of her saddle bags. “It looks like you forgot to dot an I on a page which means you’ll have to fill out the form all over again.”

“No!” shouted Nightsong. “Not again!” With that he vanished into thin air.

“You can’t escape your duties your majesty,” said Snooty as she teleported after him.

-x-

After Scootaloo had rested the crusaders were once again on their way to Star Fall Mountain. They were making good time, despite all the setbacks. Yet now, as they reached the base of the mountain, they saw that the sun was beginning to get lower in the sky and soon night would begin. This meant that their time was running out.

While continuing on the path out lined on the map, the Crusaders came across another obstacle. All along the path leading up to the top of the mountain were vines as well as giant Venus Eating Fly Traps. As Scootaloo stopped at the edge, Sweetie Belle jumped out of the wagon to get a closer look. The white unicorn then placed a single hoof near the vines to find them shooting towards her. Luckily for her she was able to jump back in time for the vines to miss her.

“I don’t think we should go this way,” said Sweetie Belle as Apple Bloom pulled out the map.

“Says here that there is another path on the other side of the mountain,” said Apple Bloom. “But if we go around then there’ll be no way we can make it in time.” This news caused the two fillies to lower their heads in disappointment.

Scootaloo was a different story. She saw this as a challenge. She knew how fast those vines were and how fast she was on her scooter. Out of all of them she had the best reaction time. Deep down, she knew she could do this.

“So should we go back home and try again tomorrow?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“No way!” shouted Scootaloo. We have come too far and are too close to just give up! Did we give up at the river? No! Did we give up after we were chased by that ember cat? No! So why should we give up now when we are right about to get our cutie marks?! I know I can do this. Are you girls with me?” With that, Scootaloo stuck out her hoof and waited.

She didn’t have to wait long for her speech had an immediate effect on her two friends. Both of them knew she was right, they had gone through too much just to go back home. Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle touched hooves with Scootaloo before letting out a cheer. Excited, the two jumped into the wagon while Scootaloo got back onto her scooter. While the tiny Pegasus pony was putting on her helmet she heard a familiar voice behind them.

“Please wait!” All three turned around to see Nightsong racing towards them like his life depended on it.

“Nightsong?” cried out a surprised Apple Bloom. “What are you doing here?”

“No time,” said the prince as he jumped into the wagon. “Please gogogogogo!”

“Wait your majesty,” cried out another voice that made Nightsong sweat in fear. That was when the girls noticed another figure running towards them. It was Snooty who had magically followed her employer. “Sir, you must finish filling out the proper forms.”

“Go!” begged Nightsong. Nodding, Scootaloo began to flap her wings as the group began to move. Like before, vines shot out at them. However Scootaloo was one step ahead of them. She zigged and zagged with amazing skill that belonged to a professional racer. Sadly, Snooty didn’t fare as well for she didn’t have a single athletic bone in her bony. The vines that had failed to grab the group instead turned their attention onto her. In a very short amount of time she was wrapped in vines.

None of the others saw this of course. They were all too busy watching the vines in front of them. And while Scootaloo was able to dodge a majority of them, the vines near the top were the real problem. They had crawled along the path in front of them almost all the way to the summit. Scootaloo was the first to see this and began to worry. She knew that if she continued like this then the vines up ahead would get them for sure. But if they turned around then they would be easy pickings for the vines behind them.

Scootaloo searched for another option until she saw something. It was a rock formation that looked like a ramp. Using all of her might she increased her speed to its fullest once more. If this was going to work, if she was going to try and jump those vines with her friends in tow, then she would need a lot of speed. She aimed for the ramp while hoping for the best. The group shot up the ramp and soon they were all in the sky above the vines. The other two fillies were screaming their heads off in fear, but Scootaloo didn’t care. She was too busy cheering.

Soon the group landed on the other side of the vines. Once they were on the ground, every pony got out and began to look around. The top of the mountain was mostly flat with a few rocks sticking out here and there as well as an odd mist that seemed to stay on the left to the Crusaders. Finally, directly across from them, stood Princess Luna who was looking in the opposite direction towards the valley below.

As the girls walked towards her the alicorns horn began to glow. The three watched as the sun began to set and the moon began to rise. While this happened the sky was filled with reds, yellows, and some purple. With those colors set against a background of mountains, forests, and valleys that the girls could see made it all the more breath taking. As the sky began to darken, the stars began to appear one by one until they filled the sky. Luna then dipped her body close to the group before jumping into the air. As she did this the moon rose higher into the sky so that the princess’s silhouette could be seen against it. “Wow”, cried all three Crusaders who were no longer able to keep quiet at what they had just seen. It was almost as amazing as the Summer Sun Festival, perhaps more due to their location. Luna heard them and turned her heard to look at them as she landed.

“Some pony came to see me raise the moon?” she asked in delight. “Oh, what a wonderful night this is.”

“Wait a moment,” said Apple Bloom who was slightly confused. “You raise the moon up here every night? We heard that there were wishing stars up here.”

“Oh, that’s just an old mare’s tale,” said Luna who looked slightly disappointed that they didn’t come up to see her. They came here to get a wish. “I don’t know who started it, but I know for a fact that it’s false. And yes, I raise the moon here each night because I love the view. In fact, I created a magical path a thousand years ago so that ponies could get here safely. Sadly, no pony has yet to use it.”

“Well, you are right Princess Luna,” said Sweetie Belle with a smile. “It is very beautiful up here.” Hearing that brought a smile back to Luna’s face.

“But you might want to work on that path,” grumbled Scootaloo. “It’s anything but safe.” Raising an eyebrow, Luna walked over to the edge where the Crusaders had come up from and looked downwards. She stared at it for a moment before motioning them to join her.

“Looks safe to me,” she said calmly. The three looked down and gasped in surprise. The vines had vanished completely. They could even see Snooty was alright. She was on the ground and unconscious, but alright.

“But there were vines that were trying to grab us!” exclaimed Apple Bloom. “Tell her Nightsong!” It was then that the Crusaders noticed that Nightsong was no longer there. As the three began to call for him, Luna noticed the mist in the corner and smiled knowingly.

“I think I know what’s going on here,” said the princess. “Did Nightsong tell you about this mountain?”

“Yeah and he said that we could get our cuties marks here,” complained Scootaloo. “We went through all that trouble for nothing.”

“What kind of trouble?” asked Luna. For a while, the three fillies told Luna their entire adventure. Luna listened silently only nodding her head from time to time. It was only when they had finished speaking that she herself spoke. “It seems you three had quite the adventure. I especially liked the part where you skillfully avoided the vines on your scooter.” Scootaloo blushed at the comment. “In fact, I dare say that you have a gift for that device.”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened when she heard that. Never before had she ever thought of that. To her, riding her scooter just seemed natural and right. It was something she loved to do and, thinking back on it, she indeed was very good at it. Suddenly there was a flash of light that appeared on Scootaloo’s flank. The girls watched in amazement as a purple scooter with tiny wings appeared on her flank. Scootaloo had gotten her cutie mark. She was so happy that she began to jump up and down in delight.

“How did she get her cutie mark and not us?” asked Apple Bloom who was both confused and disappointed.

“Yeah, we all did the same things but our flanks are still blank,” said Sweetie Belle. Luna smiled at both of them.

“Well tell me this then,” she said. “How did you feel when you sang to the ember cat? Or when you were fixing up the bridge?”

Both fillies began to think about it for a moment. Sweetie Belle had known that there were ponies out there that said she was a good, if not great, singer. However, the filly had always assumed that they were saying this to be nice. However, when she thought back to the ember cat, she realized that maybe they were right. As she thought more about it a similar flash of light appeared on her flank and when it was gone she had three pink heart shaped musical notes on her side. At the same time, Apple Bloom was thinking about what she had done at the bridge. It was no big deal really. It was removing and then replacing planks. Any pony could do that…right? Then she thought back to when she repaired her sister’s old club house and what Sweetie Belle had told her about the talent contest. The more she thought about it, the more she began to believe that maybe she was skilled with construction and repairing. It was then that she noticed a flash of light and when she turned her head she saw there was a red apple with a silver nail in it on her flank.

“We got our cutie marks,” cheered the two girls happily. But then Apple Bloom, despite her happiness, began to look confused.

“But why didn’t we get these sooner?” she asked. “I mean, you use your scooter everyday Scootaloo. And I help fix stuff at the farm every day. Sweetie Belle has sung plenty of times so why now?”

“Because you three never realized that those were your special talents,” said Luna gently. “A pony could try every activity in the world and never get their cutie mark unless they realized that it was that one thing that made them special. Now then, let’s get you three home.” With that, she brought her right hoof to her mouth and let out a loud whistle. A moment later her chariot came down from high in the sky pulled by her bat winged Pegasus ponies.

“Good,” said Scootaloo as it landed in front of them. “I can’t wait to get home and give Nightsong a piece of my mind for lying to us.”

“I don’t think he technically lied to us,” said Sweetie Belle as the three of them got in. “I mean, all he promised us was that if we came up here we would get our cutie marks and we did!”

“Yeah, that’s the important part,” agreed Apple Bloom. Luna smiled as she turned to the two Pegasus ponies in the front of the chariot.

“Please go on ahead for a bit,” she said. “There is something that I must do by myself before I can leave.” While this sounded odd to the two they nodded. Their job was to follow orders, not to question them. A moment later they took off with the fillies leaving Luna alone. Yet she knew she wasn’t. “Alright Nightsong, you can come out now.”

“I knew I couldn’t fool you mother,” said the mist as it moved towards Luna. Once it was in front of her it began to grow and take shape until Nightsong stood before her with a proud look on his face.

“So you were the one behind all of this,” she said as Nightsong nodded. “They could have gotten hurt.”

“I was there almost every step of the way,” he said as his mane began to cover his body. A moment later it began to recede and in place of Nightsong stood the old fishing pony. Smiling Nightsong then turned into the ember cat before returning to his original form. “I had planned on a few more obstacles with the vines but Snooty showed up.”

“And sending them up here to see me?” asked Luna.

“They needed a destination,” replied Nightsong. “And I thought this was the best place.”

“And can I assume wanting ponies to see me raising the moon played no part in this decision?” asked Luna in an amused tone.

“Well…maybe a little,” he admitted.

“I see. Now then, I think it’s time we were off.”

“You go on ahead mother,” said Nightsong as he looked up at the starry sky. “I think I’ll admire the stars for awhile.”

Despite the time the two had spent apart, Luna knew her son all too well. It was true that he loved to look at the stars but he only did it alone when he had something on his mind. Usually something that was upsetting him or causing him some kind of worry. Luna could only assume that staring at the stars offered him some kind of clarity. So, with a nod she took to the sky to grant his request.

He may wish to be alone right now, thought Luna as she flew through the air, but he has been alone for far too long. It was then that Luna noticed something on the ground. She blinked as she realized what it was before smiling. Her horn began to glow brightly before a beam of magical light shot into the air. She looked at her work for a moment and then headed off to catch up with her chariot.

Back on top of Star Fall Mountain, Nightsong let out a sigh as he stared at the starry sky. While he was happy that he was able to help the Crusaders, he was saddened that he wasn’t able to do many of the other things he had wanted to do today. Sure he knew things like that happened a lot. But he had really wanted to spend a little time with Twilight getting to know her better.

“Nightsong, is that you?” came Twilight’s voice from behind him. Nightsong turned around quickly to see the purple unicorn standing there with her saddle bags full of roots and flowers.

“T-Twilight, what are you doing here?” stammered Nightsong.

“Well I was out collecting ingredients for some of the potions I found in that book you gave me,” explained Twilight as she set down her bags. “I would have bought them back in Ponyville, but there was a lot the shop didn’t have so I decided to go out and get them myself. Like the Lantern Bloom that only grows in this area. I was about to turn home when I noticed the Twilight signal in the sky so I came here to check it out.”

“The what?” asked a dumbfounded Nightsong. Twilight pointed directly above her with her hoof. Sure enough, in the sky was her cutie mark shining brightly. “Ok, how did I miss that?” Twilight shrugged as she walked over to where Nightsong had been staring.

“Wow, it’s beautiful,” exclaimed the unicorn mare. “Mind if I stay here for a while?”

“Yes!” Nightsong practically yelled. “Err, I mean, yes you can stay.”

For a while the two sat there gazing at the starry landscape. Personally, Nightsong wished that this would never end. But sooner or later he knew he would have to start delivering dreams and Twilight would have to return home to Spike. Knowing that, Nightsong decided that this would be the best time to get to know Twilight a little better as well as for her to get to know him. But before he could say a word Twilight suddenly began to lean against him. The touch of her body caused Nightsong’s wings to shoot up straight causing Twilight to pull away from him with a startled expression on her face.

“Sorry,” said Nightsong with a nervous laugh. Why did this have to happen now of all times? For a while, Nightsong said nothing as Twilight stared at him and his wings. As he began to sweat, he decided to come up with an excuse. “My wings were ah a little stiff. I just needed to stretch them out a bit. Sorry if I scared you.”

“Oh, I see. I guess that makes sense,” replied Twilight as she smiled at him. She had thought it was because of something else, but it seemed she was wrong. Forget about it Twilight. There’s no way he thinks about you that way. He’s just a friend. The two continued to look out at the starry scenery for a bit longer. In silence.

-x-

Later that night, Nightsong arrived at his new home in Ponyville. It was a small two room cabin that sat next to a lake. Several yards to the right of his property was a sea of apple tree’s marking the Apple family’s property. For Nightsong, it was an ideal location for his second home. It was in a nice, quiet location yet close enough to Sweet Apple Acres for food if he needed it. And since Twilight was a friend to the family and helped out from time to time there was a good chance that he could bump into her.

Opening the door, the prince walked into his modest little home. The inside didn’t scream royalty or anything like that which was what Nightsong wanted. There was a bed in a corner as well as a nightstand for his books. There was a small kitchen and an equally small bathroom.

On the bed was a dome of pure magic. Inside the dome was his teddy bear. As the alicorn walked over to it he dispelled the magic to release it. Now, as he stood over it, he stretched out his wing over the bear. Moments later several red dreams sprites shot out of the bear and into his waiting wing. With all the security now disabled, Nightsong jumped into bed and fell asleep.

Sadly, a few minutes later he was awoken by the sounds of construction. Growling he jumped out of bed and then headed outside. Once outside he found the source of the noise. Several yards to the left of his house was an army of construction ponies who were operating large machines, pulling wagons, and planting trees. At first Nightsong thought they were apple trees but when he got a better look he realized they were peach trees.

“Excuse me,” he called out to the nearest construction pony. The stallion was wearing an orange vest with a yellow hard hat. The stallion looked at Nightsong and then calmly walked over to him. “What is going on here? I’m trying to sleep.”

“Sorry about that,” said the construction pony in a gruff but polite voice. “We’re sort of on a deadline. We have to have all these trees planted by morning. Since its only one night and we were so far away from town we figured no pony would mind.” Nightsong sighed.

Well it looks like I’m not going to get any sleep tonight, thought Nightsong as he thanked the stallion. While he was still upset about the noise, he knew they were just doing their job. Perhaps tomorrow he would speak to his new neighbors about this. However, there was no way he could get any sleep with all this noise.

Nearly every pony I know is asleep right now, thought Nightsong as he quickly packed up a blanket, a pillow, and his teddy bear. Plus it’s late and I don’t want to wake them up. Looks like I’ll have to head to the castle and get as much sleep as I can over there. I mean, the only pony that might still be up is- Nightsong’s eyes widened as he realized who it was. With a dash of speed he took off towards Ponyville.

Several minutes later he arrived at the library, relieved to see there was still a light on. Meaning that Twilight was still up studying. Taking a deep breath and gathering his courage, Nightsong knocked on the door. He waited as the seconds seemed to move by at a snails pace. He wondered if she would ignore it or if she was asleep and just left a light on. But his fears proved to be unfounded as Twilight soon opened the door looking a little sleepy.

“Nightsong?” yawned Twilight. “It’s a little late for a visit. I was just about to get some sleep.”

“Sorry about this but I was wondering if I could crash on your couch for the night.” Twilight’s eyes were half shut at first, but when she heard this she became awake and alert. She felt her jaw drop slightly due to the shock of his request.

“Y-You need what?” she asked unsure if she heard him correctly.

“Just a place to sleep for the night,” said Nightsong as he looked a little embarrassed. “See, there’s construction going on near my home and its keeping me up.”

“Oh,” said Twilight now understanding the situation. “Come on in.”

> Rough Mornings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack winced as the first rays of light hit her face. Slowly she climbed out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. She noticed her face blankly staring back at her looked horrible. Her eyes were lightly blood shot due to a lack of sleep as well as dark circles around them. Her mane was a total mess from tossing and turning all night. Yet none of this really surprised her.

Yesterday she had worked extra hard to buck as many apples as she could for the market. When she had finished she was greeted by Princess Luna of all ponies who was dropping off Apple Bloom who, to AJ’s joy, had finally gotten her cutie mark. Despite being tired, Applejack celebrated with the rest of her family at the good news. Once it began to get really late, Applejack excused herself and headed upstairs to bed. As she began to drift off to sweet sleep, sudden construction noise woke the poor mare right back up. All night she heard wagons going down the road, construction workers yelling off in the distance, and a slew of other noises that didn’t stop until dawn. Applejack had tried everything her granny had taught her about getting to sleep from a glass of warm water, counting sheep, and even stuffing cotton in her ears, but nothing had worked. 

Despite the desire to go back to sleep, Applejack slowly stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen where her family was eating breakfast. Both Apple Bloom and Big Mac were enjoying bowls of oats while Granny Smith ate her bowl of warm apple sauce. But when they saw their kin walk down the stairs they all stopped eating to stare in shock.

“Heaven to Betsy,” cried Granny Smith. “Are ya all right Applejack? Ya look like ya been fightin’ with a timber wolf all night!”

“Maybe ya should take the day off,” commented Apple Bloom.

“Eeyup,” said Big Mac as he nodded his head. This caused the orange mare to rolled her eyes.

“Ah’ll be fine,” replied Applejack as she put on her hat. “Besides, we got ourselves a big day ahead of us at the market. Those apples won’t sell themselves.” Applejack said, walking towards the door.

“Where are ya goin’?” asked Apple Bloom. “What about breakfast?”

“Ah’ll have ta skip breakfast today,” said Applejack. “Got to get the carts ready to go down to Ponyville so we can set up our stand.” Applejack opened the door, but about halfway through she stopped before turning to look at her younger sister. “Ya should consider wrintin’ a letter to ma and pa about that there cutie mark. Ah’m sure they’ll be mighty pleased ta hear about it.”

As Applejack walked out, she missed her sister muttering, “It’s not like anypony will read it,” under her breath.

Within the next hour or so, Applejack and Big Mac were hauling their heavy load into town. Since Mac was the stronger, as well as the more rested of the two, he was pulling three large carts full of juicy apples. This left Applejack to pull the cart with the Apple family food stand. She had wanted to help pull some of Big Mac’s load, but her brother insisted that he wanted to do it.

Within a short amount of time the two of them arrived on the market street. All over the streets were stands full of items like foods, baskets, blankets, and other such goods. Several times the two heard other ponies wishing them good morning as they headed towards their stands usual spot. However, when they arrived there they found that somepony else had taken it.

Applejack bristled as she looked at the stand which held lots of peaches. This was the Apple Families spot! It had been this way since Granny Smith was her age. She was about to charge over there when she saw the stallion who was loading the peaches into the stand. He had a dark orange coat, a red mane, and was wearing a brown vest that looked similar to the ones they wore during Winter Wrap Up. Applejack raised a tired eyebrow as she did her best to try and figure out who he was. When the stallion turned to the side she saw his cutie mark, a cobbler, and realized that he must be new in town so he wouldn’t have known any better.

Taking a deep breath, Applejack approached him.

“Howdy,” she greeted.

“Mornin,” replied the stallion as he looked up at the two. Now that Applejack was closer, she could see the circles under his blue eyes. But despite begging tired, his voice seemed cheery. “Looks like this’ll be a fine day indeed. My first customers of the day! The names Peach Cobbler.”

“Ah right,” began Applejack as she was unsure as to how to approach this. “Mah names Applejack and this here is mah brother Big Mac.” Said stallion nodded.

“Well what can I do ya for?” asked Cobbler. “I got here some of the tastiest peaches and peach pastries in all of Equestria. All of these fine peaches are fresh from our farm: Peach Time Fields. Just moved in last night.”

Applejacks eyes narrowed a bit. “So you’re the low down that kept me up last night,” she growled. “Do ya got any idea how much noise ya were making?” For a moment, Peach Cobbler’s eye began to twitch in annoyance as his smile faded for a moment. But the stallion managed to regain his composer as he forced a smile back onto his face.

“I am deeply sorry about that,” he said. “How about a couple of free peaches to make up for your slight discomfort?” He quickly noticed that this did not sooth the mare’s irritation. In fact, all it seemed to do was make her angrier.

“How about ya move this here stand?” said an angry Applejack. “It’s in our spot!” Peach’s happy expression fell as he stared at the mare.

“I didn’t see you’re name on it,” he replied. Big Mac was about to say something, but his younger sister cut him off.

“This spot has been where the Apple family has sold it’s fine apples since Ponyville was first founded,” she said as she tried to stare down her opponent. “We don’t need to have our name on it.”

“Ah look,” began Big Mac. However he was cut off by Peach Cobbler this time.

“I checked with the mayor before I arrived,” he said as he returned Applejack’s intense stare. “According to her, stalls in the market place are set up on a first come first served policy. Meaning you have no claim to this spot! So, if you’re not going to buy any peaches, I suggest you take your old cart and leave.”

Applejack felt her cheeks glow red from anger. In Ponyville, every pony knew that this was the Apple families spot. Sometimes a pony would set up a stand there by accident, but once the Apple family pointed out that that was where they sold their apples the other ponies would simply nod before moving to a different spot. To have such a rude stallion like him refuse to move was an insult that Applejack refused to take lying down.

“Ah’m goin’ make sure ya move before the day is through!” she declared before turning to Big Mac. “Ah want ya to wait right here till ah get back. Don’t be setting up the stand before ah be getting back, ya hear?”

“But Applejack,” began Big Mac. Sadly, his stubborn little sister didn’t wait for him to finish. Instead she ran off in the direction of the Ponyville Library. This left her brother in a bit of an uncomfortable position. If he did as Applejack suggested, there would be a good chance that he might have to set up their stand at the far end of the market where few ponies ever went. Not to mention he would be stuck having Peach Cobbler glaring at him while the Apple Family made no bits for the day. Sighing, Big Mac shook his head as he began to search for another spot to set up the apple stand before all the good spots were taken.

XXX

Over at the Ponyville Library, Twilight was practically dancing for joy. Books were littered everywhere a pony could think of, making her place seem messier that it usually was. Normally she would be upset with Spike for letting it get this bad. So why was she in a good mood? Well, there were two reasons. The first was that all the book that belonged to the library had been returned on time so Twilight didn’t have to chase anypony to make them pay for late fees. The other reason was that it was re-shelving day.

“Now lets begin,” she said aloud to no pony in particular. Her horn began to glow purple as her magic began to consume all the books in the room. All at once they began to float in the air as they neared the unicorn mare. “‘Basic Magical Theories’ goes in the magic section.” Said book was sent flying towards a shelf in the back. “‘The Marvelous Manticore Mare’, this goes in the comic book section.” Once more another book went flying towards a different corner of the library. “‘The Study of the To Do List’. I wonder why no pony ever checks you out. Oh well, their loss is my gain!” 

Twilight was about to send the book towards its appointed spot in on the shelves when she felt some pony appear behind her. Turning around she saw that it was none other than Nightsong who was giving her an odd look. It was the same look that she had whenever she saw a new book fresh off the presses which caused the poor mare’s knees go weak. There was also a look in his eyes that made her feel like she was the only mare in the whole world. It made Twilight feel both at ease and slightly nervous at the same time for some reason.

“Allow me to help you with that,” he said softly. Before Twilight could say anything, the alicorn’s horn lit up in a silvery gray color. Then a bright flash of light caused Twilight to cover her eyes with one hoof. A second later she dared to un-shield her eyes to find that all the book had been sorted away. Not only that, the library looked a bit more romantic. In place of her old couch was a love seat next to a roaring fireplace. In front of it was a bottle of sparkling apple cider and two empty glasses. In a way, it looked like the setting of one of the romance novels she…occasionally read.

“Now we can spend a bit more time together without any distractions,” said the stallion as he took a step closer to her. Twilight felt her face turn red as his lips moved ever so slowly towards her own. She closed her eyes as she prepared for what was to come but a sudden noise, that sounded a lot like a spit take, startled her.

Twilight turned her head towards the source of the sound and nearly died right where she stood. Princess Luna was standing on the other side of the library window staring at Twilight in wide eyed shock. The window was now coated in a brown liquid that had once been in the Styrofoam cup floating next to her. The poor unicorn mare tried to say something, but the only thing to come out of her mouth was a loud ringing noise.

Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes to find herself in her bed. Slowly she reached over to her alarm clock to turn it off, slightly groaning as she did so. Once the annoying sound stopped, the purple mare rolled onto her back as she remembered her dream. For a moment she wanted to dismiss it as simply a dream. However, she remembered that the prince of dreams was sleeping on her couch downstairs.

‘I wonder what he was thinking by giving me a dream like that,’ thought Twilight as a blush appeared on her face. ‘And why would he have his mother appear in it just to ruin the moment?’ Before Twilight could ponder any more, she heard a pounding at the door downstairs. Lightly groaning, the librarian slowly got up out of bed.

Downstairs, the pounding of the door woke up another sleepy pony. Nightsong opened his eyes and for a moment was startled by his unfamiliar surroundings. Taking a deep breath he remembered that he had left his home last night due to construction and had asked Twilight to put him up for the night. The purple mare had agreed, allowing him to spend the night on her couch. Originally she had offered her own bed since he was Princess Celestia’s nephew, but Nightsong was too much of a gentlecolt to do that. He had insisted that she sleep in her own bed while he took the couch.

Still the pounding on the door continued causing that stallion to get out up. Briefly he wondered if he should just answer the door to see what the pony on the other side wanted. That thought was quickly brushed aside as he realized that it would be bad manners. Whoever was pounding at the door most likely wanted to see Twilight and this was her home after all. He couldn’t answer it without permission. There was also the fact that if he did open it at this early hour it might give off a bad impression.

Nightsong quickly moved towards the stairs to see if Twilight was awake. As he began to climb, Twilight opened her door and began to descend down the staircase. Unfortunately when Twilight saw Nightsong, she began slightly startled due to the dream she had just awoken from. She was so startled that she missed her hoofing and began to roll down the steps, crashing into Nightsong along the way. Closing her eyes, Twilight braced herself as the two ponies crashed onto the main floor.

A few seconds after the two had stopped moving, Twilight opened her eyes to find herself in a very…awkward position. Twilight was lying on top of Nightsong who was flat on his back. To make matters worse the fall had knocked out the poor prince. Gulping, Twilight placed her two front hooves on the stallion’s side and began to push up. Sadly it was at that moment that the library door was bucked down. Looking up, Twilight saw Applejack standing backwards at the front door.

“Twi, ya ok there sugarcube?” asked Applejack as the turned her body around. “Ah heard a noise and-” The words died in her throat as she saw her purple friend in a very lewd position on the floor. “Twilight, I never took ya for that kind of mare.”

Twilight’s face became so red that it began to glow. “It’s not what it looks like!”

XXX

Meanwhile Apple Bloom was on her way to school. Today was going to be a good day for her and her friends. The little filly could just feel it in her bones. All three of them had their cutie marks meaning that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon could no longer call them blank flanks. Most likely the two would have even less supplies to mock them. Or at least that’s what she reckoned.

As she neared the school, Apple Bloom caught sight of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo who had been walking together. Seeing them, Apple Bloom moved into a gallop to catch up with the two.

“Hey girls,” she said happily as they made their way onto the school grounds.

“Hey Apple Bloom,” said the two in unison.

“Today’s going to be a great day,” said Scootaloo with a wide grin. “I can just feel it.”

“Ah know,” agreed Apple Bloom. “I don’t think there’s any way it can be ruined.” To bad for the poor filly. If only she knew that whenever some pony says something to that affect the day will be ruined.

“I think I know a way,” said Sweetie Belle as she pointed ahead of them. The other two fillies looked ahead to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon standing near the door way giving nasty looks to any pony. For time to time one of them would make a snide remark while the other would laugh.

The girls sighed. There was no way to avoid the two without being late. As the three fillies walked toward the door they were spotted by the two brats. Upon seeing their favorite victims, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon grinned at each other before giggling.

“Well look who we have here Silver Spoon,” began Diamond Tiara as she took a few steps closer to the three fillies. “A pathetic group of lame, blank flanks.”

Imagine her surprise when Apple Bloom, instead of protesting, actually smiled. “Not anymore Diamond Tiara. We all got our cutie marks last night. See?” On cue, the three fillies turned to show the two bullies their flanks. As they did, Apple Bloom could just imagine the shocked look on both of their faces. Yet when she turned her head to look at them all she saw was a pair of smirks.

“Like, those are nothing to get excited about,” said Silver Spoon.

“Totally,” agreed Diamond Tiara. “Those cutie marks are the ugliest and the lamest I have ever seen.” The three fillies looked at each other before checking their cutie marks. They didn’t look bad at all.

“What are you talking about?” demanded Scootaloo as she looked at the pair. “Our cutie marks are awesome!”

“Oh really,” said Diamond Tiara as she eyed Scootaloo’s cutie mark. “Only some pony as lame as you would think that riding a scooter makes her special. I mean, you can’t even fly and that’s all your good at. It’s really pathetic when you think about it.” She then looked at Apple Bloom. “And what’s yours suppose to mean? All I see is an apple and a nail. I bet your special talent is something that is usually given to a colt.” She then turned towards Sweetie Belle. “And yours, well, just look at it. It’s just so plain, so common. You’re probably…”

“Stop that,” said a colt’s voice to their right. All five turned their heads to see a light blue earth pony with a peach colored mane staring at the two brats with ice blue eyes. On his flank were three peaches and around his neck was a red bandanna.

“And who do you think you are?” demanded Diamond Tiara.

“I was goin’ to ask the same thing,” replied the colt. “Who do you think you are to pick on them for what makes them special?”

“See these?” said Silver Spoon as she and her best friend turned to show the new comer their flanks. “These cutie marks are superior, marking us as ponies who will one day be important.”

“Yeah right,” said the colt as he rolled his eyes. “The only thing that they show me is that you two are spoiled.” The colt then took a few steps closer. “I bet the two are rich and get everything you want. But for some reason you’re still unhappy so you bully others, making them feel horrible, so you can feel better. It doesn’t make you superior. It just makes you look pathetic.”

Both fillies just stared at the colt for a good, solid second with their jaws dropped. No pony had ever talked down to them like this before. Not even the adults. Slowly, Diamond Tiara’s eyes narrowed into a stare as she thought of how she was going to get back at this colt who thought he was better than they were. She opened her mouth to speak, but Silver Spoon’s hoof stopped her. The little pink filly looked at her friend questioningly only to she that she was pointing her hoof in the direction of the doorway. Looking over her shoulder, Diamond Tiara saw Miss Cheerilee was walking towards the entrance of the school. Not willing to continue in the presence of an adult the two bullies walked away. However, they both knew that they would get back at the colt and the Cutie Mark Crusader’s.

“Ah, thanks,” said Sweetie Belle as the two sulked away. The colt just grinned causing the white unicorn filly to blush slightly.

“It’s nothin’,” he said. “Had a couple ponies just like her back in New Neighberg. Always thinkin’ they were more special than the rest of us just because their daddies had a lot of bits.”

“Well thanks anyways,” said Scootaloo as they began to head into the building. “Any pony who is willing to stand up to those two must be pretty awesome. The name’s Scootaloo. These are my friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.”

“The name’s Peachy Keen,” said the colt. “But every pony just calls me P.K.”

XXX

About an hour later, Twilight found herself in the Ponyville Hospital waiting room. After the events that had taken place in her home the young mare had levitated the unconscious alicorn all the way to the other end of town to seek medical attention. Applejack had volunteered to help, however Twilight declined saying that she could handle things herself. She had wondered briefly what the farming pony had wanted with her to begin with, but Nightsong could have had a concussion of something far worse for all she knew. This made him her top priority.

As she sat there, she briefly wondered if she should have sent a letter to the princesses. They, especially Princess Luna, had every right to know that Nightsong was in the hospital. But if she had, there was chance that they would want to know details. Like why Nightsong had slept over at her place that night as well as what had happened to cause this accident. She felt a little uncomfortable talking about those subjects, more so with the latter. Also, after last nights dream, being around Princess Luna would have been awkward for her.

Also, on a more personal note, she needed to have a one on one talk with the stallion on a very personal matter.

Sighing, Twilight pulled out a book from her saddle bag that she had brought with her. This was one of the many books that Nightsong was loaning her. It was actually a journal written by a unicorn name Forethought, who had been one of the first unicorns to develop memory spells almost a thousand years ago. Sadly he wasn’t all that well known. Only pony’s like Twilight who study obscure historical figures would know about him. Right now there was only one other journal like this in the world and it was kept under lock and key in the Canterlot Library. Princess Celestia allowed no pony to read from it, not even her prized student.

Slowly, Twilight opened up the journal while her heart began to race with excitment. Then, taking a deep breath, she began to read.

April 21st 1971

Breath taking news has occurred. I have received a letter from THE Princess Celestia. She is interested in my theories on memory manipulation. Specifically on deleting certain memories. She has not only agreed to fund my research but also is granting me a fully staffed lab in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters!

This is such an honor! There is so much to do! What should I bring? My research of course, but what else? I need to calm down, take a deep breath. Maybe I should stop this quote spell before I say something in my panic.

April 30 1971

I have arrived at the palace within the Everfree Forest today. It is more magnificent than I could have imagined. The Princess herself came out to greet me. Once my bags were taken to my room a feast was held in my honor. So much fine food was brought before me that I didn’t know where to start.

During the dinner, Princess Celestia had many questions. I, of course, did my best to answer them. My field of research is still new and mostly theoretical. Yet one question that she asked sticks out for some reason that alludes me. She wanted to know if a deleted memory would ever return. Honestly, I don’t believe so. It would be like trying to repair a piece of parchment that had been burned in a bonfire. The odds that that memory ever coming back perfectly are next to impossible. I told her this and she seemed to visibly relax.

After dinner I was shown to my lab before I headed off to bed. A very busy day tomorrow. Princess Celestia said that a pony had even volunteered to be a test subject. Most kind of her to think ahead like that.

On a more personally note, I am slightly worried about the princess. I have heard the servants whispering and talking when they think no pony is listening. It has been over twenty years since the battle with Nightmare Moon ending with our Princess’s victory. Yet from what I have overheard from the servant, Princess Celestia often visits her sister’s room, practically locking herself inside for hours. One whispered that she heard her crying inside. But that is not all. She also visits the room of her nephew, Prince Nightsong. I had heard rumors that the prince had been missing from the courts for awhile now and it seems that those rumors were true.

June 1st 1971

Today has been a tiring first day. I was introduced to my two assistants, Butter Hooves and Blue Prints. Blue keeps to herself making it hard for me to figure her out. Butter is openly friendly however a bit clumsy. The poor stallion tripped three times on his way to shake my hoof!

I was also introduced to Sunny Day who will be our test subject. While she is a mere earth pony, she has an incredible mind. She was quick to understand some of what I was talking about when we spoke of the events that will follow. She also understands the difficulty of locating a specific memory and then removing it as well as the risks involved. I have been told that a few weeks ago she witnessed her family being slaughtered by timber wolves. The poor dear has been plagued by nightmares ever since.

Our overall goal is simple: remove the memories of the timber wolf attack from Sunny’s mind. It will not be done anytime soon, perhaps sometime within the next year or two. For now I wish to begin mapping her brain as well as performing several tests.

For the next several pages, Twilight saw that they were filled with drawings of a pony’s brain as well as several magical formulas. They were crude compared to today’s standards, but were impressive none the less. As Twilight studied the images on the pages, she quickly lost track of everything around her.

“Twilight?” came a voice in front of her causing her to jump out of her seat. Looking up, she saw Nightsong as he was doing his best to keep from laughing at her expense. 

“What did the doctors say?” asked Twilight as she got to her hooves while putting the journal back in her saddle bag. The stallion let out a sigh as the two began to walk out of the hospital.

“He said I might have a concussion,” he grumbled. “Wanted me to stay overnight so that he could monitor my condition better. I turned him down though so he told me not to fall asleep for the next twenty four hours. Considering my past I don’t think it’ll be that hard.” Nightsong turned to smile at Twilight only to find her looking away from him. In fact, it looked a little like she was trying to keep her distance. “Ah, is something wrong?”

Twilight opened her mouth, but then shut it just as quickly. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She needed to talk to him about something important, but found herself completely unprepared. Instantly she regretted reading the journal instead of rehearsing what she would say to him. Deciding to just come out and say it, Twilight took a deep breath.

“It’s a little awkward,” began Twilight.

“Is it about the fall?” asked Nightsong as his ears flattened against his head in shame.

“N-No,” stuttered Twilight. “Well, yes that too. But I know it was an accident. I mean that dream you gave me last night was…” Twilight stopped, unsure as to how to approach the situation.

“What’s wrong with a dream about sorting books?” he asked in slight confusion.

“Well that part was nice,” said Twilight. “But I’m talking about what came after that.”

“That’s all you should have had,” began Nightsong. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Nightsong looked up towards the sky for a moment. A couple of times he opened his mouth, but then closed it without saying a word. He then returned his gaze upon the purple mare while looking very embarrassed.

“Twilight can you imagine what it would be like if the sun suddenly fell out of the sky?” he asked. “Or if the moon just crashed into the ocean?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Why would I have to imagine something like that? It’s impossible! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would never let that happen.”

Nightsong nodded. “No they wouldn’t. That’s because they have total control over the sun and moon. But I’m…different. You see Twilight, dream sprites are like half finished stories. They know what they want to tell, but character names and faces have yet to be filled out. When I plant them within ponies it is the dreamer that helps fill in the blanks. Ninety five present of the time, the dream goes off like it should.”

“But what about the other five present?” asked Twilight.

“The other five present are when the dreamer affects the dream sprite,” replied Nightsong. The grey alicorn then let out a sigh. “I still don’t fully understand it but I will try my best to explain. When I place a dream sprite in a pony, he or she merges with it temporarily. The sprite see’s what is in the pony’s mind and is able to fill in the blanks that I mentioned earlier. But, what if something big was about to happen to that pony. Let’s say it’s a filly who has a big exam tomorrow and goes to bed full of worries. Those worries are taking up all the fillies thought, interfering with the dream sprite’s job. The fillies mind is so chaotic that it begins to alter the story only to replace it with one that represents the fears that that filly is going through. Or lets say something was on your mind, driving you crazy. Whatever it is has a possibility of influencing the dream sprite in a way either to show what it is or to help you remember. In the end it’s just embarrassing. Out of every pony in the family, I’m the only one who can’t fully control their special talent.”

Twilight didn’t know how to really respond to this. To some degree she understood why this was would be embarrassing to any pony. Their special talent was what made a pony who he or she was. Sure, there is always a chance a pony could mess up. But those times were very, very rare. And it was even more unheard of for an alicorn to mess up. But this also meant something else. That Nightsong had been on her mind for some reason and it was strong enough for it to affect a dream sprite.

“Nightsong, I’m sorry,” said Twilight.

The stallion returned the apology with a kind smile. “It’s nothing,” he said simply. “I haven’t told any pony about this in over a thousand years so there was no way you could have known.” Nightsong then tilted his head a bit. “What was you’re dream about anyways.”

“I-It was nothing,” said Twilight. “Just had a lot of weird stuff happening. Especially the end when your mom just appeared.”

“She could of,” replied Nightsong as if it were nothing. Twilight, on the other hoof, stopped dead in her tracks.

“What did you just say?” she asked in a slight panic. There was no way he could be implying that she had seen the real Princess Luna. She had to have misheard him or something.

“I said that it could have been my mother,” said Nightsong. “A thousand years ago we devolved a sleep that would allow the two of us to walk into other ponies dreams. I hear that she still uses it from time to time. So there is a good possibility that you saw her. Ah…Twilight?” Twilight’s eyes had become no bigger than a pin needle as she stared into empty space with her mouth wide open.