Luna’s moon shone steadily as the night went on, its precious light illuminating the world still in its shimmering silver luminescence. The streets of Ponyville once had a few ponies walking these streets of the night. Now, there was barely a soul left wandering the quiet and peaceful roads. Artificial lamplights gleamed from inside the many establishments in this small town, these candles flickering off as some of the residents finally tucked themselves in for the night.

One building sat near the center of town, its structure resembling a gingerbread house-like style giving it an off putting look that would make most look twice at the bakery itself.

The windows exposed the artificial lamplight from the interior, a sweet and sugary smell emanated from the building. Inside the bakery was a set of booths on each opposite sides, a small area of tables set up next to the front windows of the structure, a few tables positioned outside next to the store as well.

Liquid mist sprayed over one of the top of the tables inside, a light brilliant amber earth pony stallion busily wiping a rag over the counter, his moderate pistachio green eyes focusing only on the surface of the dining table. A smile formed on his muzzle as he gaily looked over the sparkling surfaces. He turned to look at the end of the main room, his light brilliant orange mane moving a little as he said, “All done here sweetheart. How about you?”

His gaze turned to a very light cerulean blue earth pony mare behind the main booth at the end of the main room, another wet rag moving across the glass surface as it squeaked a little. She turned to face the stallion with her brilliant rose eyes, her light crimson mane swaying a little, the light grayish crimson red streaks on her hair brightening a under the artificial light. “About done here, dearie.” She replied, taking her hoof off and admiring her work.

A ding of a bell echoed from the kitchen, the light cerulean pony looking over to the room and seeing Pinkie Pie taking a batch of white chocolate chip cookies from the oven. The air inside the kitchen gave away nothing but a sweet scent that would make most ponies drool. “Thanks again for helping restock the supplies, Pinkie Pie. But you didn’t have to make so much.”

“Oh.” Pinkie simply murmured, a little surprised herself she had made so many. Time had lost meaning, she recalled, after coming back to Sugarcube Corner. The incident at the Royal Sisters’ Castle had been something of a doozy, a rather terrifying and horrible doozy. But she thought that baking and restocking their pastries would get her mind off of that dreadful moment. Thankfully, cooking more of their delectable treats had done the trick. “I’d thought it be better to think ahead and prepare more treats, Mrs. Cake. Just in case we ever run out while we’re open during the daytime.”

“That’s very kind of you, dearie.” Mrs. Cake smiled, moving over to one of the lower cabinets and putting her cleaning supplies away. Ever since Pinkie came back from their guide for the Princesses, she had seemed a little odd. It was a lingering thought, one she chose to ignore and not pester her hardworking friend. However, that same concern came back to mind as she asked, “So how did the tour for the princesses go?”

“Yeah.” The stallion in the main room said as he peeked his over the see-through booth. “You haven’t told us what happened or even what the princesses thought about your hard work.”

“Well, Mr. Cake. I am happy to say that they like the changes. They said it definitely felt like they were back in their old home again.” Pinkie ushered a smile of her own, setting the tray down on one of the counters with a hot pad, putting small piece of cloth down next to the metallic plate. “Although it was quite something at the end of the tour.”

“Quite something? What do you mean by that?” Mrs. Cake asked, raising an eyebrow as the way Pinkie spoke felt like something else had happened.

“That there was something pretty different about today.” Pinkie put it, tilting her head a little as she watched the confused looks Mr. and Mrs. Cake gave her.

“But what happened? Did they like the tour or did something go wrong?” Mr. Cake spoke this time, walking around the see-through booth and moving to his wife’s side.

“A little bit of both actually. Sorry though, I can’t really explain.”

“Pinkie?” Mrs. Cake murmured, moving up to Pinkie Pie and resting a hoof on her shoulder. “You know you can tell us anything, right dearie? We’ll try and help you if there’s something going on.” Although it was reassuring that her employers were being honest, Pinkie Pie knew that she couldn’t.

“I know… but I promised somepony not to speak up about it.” Without another word, she walked over to the stairs, heading up to the second floor. On her way to her room, she heard a silent whimper to her left. Looking to a door, she opened it, stepping into the room. Moving to the sound, she walked over to a crib that was stationed at the far end of the room. She came upon a light yellow foal crying in the cradle.

“Oh, did you wake up, Pumpkin Cake?” Pinkie murmured, her eyes softening as she smiled gently at the little pony. The little foal opened her brilliant azure eyes, reaching her hooves up to the mare above her. Picking her up gently, she laid Pumpkin on her back, gently and slow rocking her in her fore legs. “It’s going to be alright. Auntie Pinkie Pie is here.” Remembering a song she had learned from Fluttershy, with some minor improvements from Sweetie Belle. She realized that it was perfect for the little foal here. “Hush now, quiet now. It’s time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now. It’s time to go to bed.”

Her tone was both gentle and soothing, the little foal in her forelegs calming down, her crying turning into little hiccups. “Drifting off to sleep. Exciting day behind you. Drifting off to sleep. Let the joy of dreamland find you.” The foal’s eyes slowly began to close, a smile on her muzzle as she was sung to sleep. “Hush now, quiet now. It’s time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now. It’s time to go to bed.” Gently as Pinkie could, she laid the little foal back into her crib, kissing her forehead and smiling. “Don’t worry, Pumpkin Cake. You’ll be safe. I’ll never let anything bad happen to you.”

Stepping out of the room quietly, she softly pulled the door, leaving the door still open slightly before heading to her room. ‘You’ll be safe. I’ll never let anything bad happen to you.’ Those thoughts struck her, remembering the gruesome scene of Echo’s terrible demise. The Royal Guard was the one who protected them, yet she looked like she needed their protection. Shaking her head, she told herself that there really was nothing she or the others could do, even if they wanted to.

A small pressure poked her right back leg, turning to smile as she saw a small light green hatchling alligator's muzzle bumping against her leg. “Oh hey, Gummy. Did you miss me?” The little alligator simply blinked, Pinkie picking him up and putting him on her back. “That’s good to hear. I’d knew you miss me, buddy.” Walking over to her door, she pushed through it and closed it behind her. “Today was a complete doozy, Gummy. I don’t think that I’d like to head back to the Royal Sisters’ Castle anytime soon.” Putting him in his bed, the alligator simply sat down, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep. Turning the lights off, Pinkie moved to her bed, pulling the covers off she slid under the bed sheets and closed her eyes. Taking her own advice, she sung the same song that put Pumpkin to sleep, at least glad that her friend Fluttershy had taught her something that would help her in the long run.

In another part of the town, stood a building of the same size. However, it had a regal look, something that was a little unusual for a place such as Ponyville. The structure itself was rounded out, the colors blending well together in a way that gave it a beautiful yet welcoming feel. The artificial lighting radiated from the inside, the building still apparent with life as a shadow moved across one of the first floor windows.

A small filly sat down at the table established at the right of the main room, her cheerful laughter filling the room with joy, a book sitting down in front of her that was the main source of her giggling. Her light gray coat brightened a little under the lighting, her light grayish harlequin green eyes darting across the page slowly.

That chuckling soon ceased to exist as she sat up, looking up to the stairway leading up to the second floor. Ever since Rarity had come home, she had not said much and immediately went back up to her own room, staying there for the rest of the day. It wasn’t truly like her to just say nothing after orchestrating a guide, the filly thought as she rubbed her chin. “I hope Rarity’s okay.”

Feeling like she needed to see what was up, she got off the chair and moved up the stairway. Walking up, she made her way to the first hallway on her right after getting up the stairs. Moving around the corner, she came upon a door after a few moments. Putting an ear to the door, she heard the ruffling of fabric and hearing her sister muttering something she couldn’t hear.

Opening the door slowly, she peeked her head through the crack. Everything seemed to be in order, her older sister was busily working away on one of the few current designs, humming a tune to herself. “Rarity?” The little filly asked, Rarity turned to face her sister, a smile appearing on her muzzle as she adjusted her red working glasses with a light blue magic aura.

“Hello there, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity greeted, setting needles and fabric down on her working table as she moved to fully face her younger sister. The smile she had dissipated as she saw the worried frown on her little sibling. “Is everything alright, darling?”

“Well… you haven’t said much since you got back from the tour. What happened?” Sweetie Belle said, brushing her hoof against the floor.

Rarity looked down to the ground, averting her gaze for a brief moment before murmuring, “I wish I could truly tell you dear, but I’m afraid that somepony has asked me to not speak about what happened at the tour”

“Wait, who’s not wanting you to talk about it?” Sweetie asked, blinking her eyes as she awaited an answer.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot answer that. Now if you don’t mind, I need some time alone to concentrate.” Rarity moved over to her little sister, softening her gaze as she saw the worried expression of her younger sibling. “Don’t worry, Sweetie Belle. I can assure you that I am perfectly fine. I just… need to think about some things.” Sweetie nodded, turning around and walking over to the door, closing it behind her with a gentle click.

Sighing, Rarity turned back to her ensembles, gazing over her dresses and wondering if she should continue. Ever since getting back home, she had quite a hard time trying to get those awful images out of her head. Watching the poor Royal Guard pony Echo die in such a ghastly manner was, to say the least, a revolting experience. ‘To think… such a creature even existed in that forsaken forest.’ How this creature had stayed so well hidden in the Everfree Forest was anypony’s guess, but she wasn’t in a rush to find out where it came from.

Another thought of the incident came to mind as she recalled Twilight’s awful experience. How close she came to becoming another victim at the claws of that nightmare was something she would never have wished for her best friend to experience. ‘Poor Twilight… what a dreadful moment she had to go through. I would never wish that upon anypony else.’ To think that she was a witness to such atrocious events, it was something she would never want to see again.

She heard a ‘mewl’ to her right, turning to smile as she saw a light gray persian cat resting upon her bed, raising her head and staring at her. “Oh, it’s really nothing, Opalescence.”

Rarity watched her cat raise an eyebrow, like her cat knew that she wasn’t telling the truth. “Well… I can’t really define what has transpired today at the Royal Sisters’ Castle. Princess Celestia has asked us not to reveal anything that went on today.”

Opal raised her eyebrow again, this time, a more curious expression on her muzzle. Rarity guessed she was probably asking in her own unique way, “why?”

“Well, there was this creature… a terrifying, repulsive, despicable brute of a monster. It attacked us and… well, vanquished all of our guards.”

The look her cat gave her was some form of fear, yet Opal didn’t seem too worried. She shrugged, craning her neck and licking her fluffy tail, cleaning her fur.

Rarity smiled, feeling she was possibly overreacting to the fear. ‘I mean it’s not like the creature knows where we live, right?’ Assured by the concept, she encased the glasses in a light blue aura, setting them down on her work desk. Yawning, she slightly raised her right hoof. Turning to look at her clock, she saw the long hand pointing at the number ten, the short hand directly under the number twelve. ‘I never like to go to bed so… icky. But I’ll just have to deal with it for tonight.’

Moving to her room door, she flicked a switch, turning the lights off. She walked over to the bed, slipping under the covers gently and barely even removing the sheets from underneath the mattress. Hopefully there would be no disastrous memory of this horrid creature in her dreams and she hoped her friends would not have to go through such terrible nightmares. She would see, how long it would be before these night terrors would come.

The lunar satellite’s path was still heading straight to its highest point, the fragile rays of light reflecting off an unusual cloud formation. The surprising structure of these fluffy white mantles reflected the luminescence of the moon. A rainbow curved from atop the structure and moved to a lower cloud, another rainbow, a small liquid river surprisingly the varying colors poured down the left side of formation. It was just home, however, to Rainbow Dash as she flew up to the front door.

Opening the door, she moved through the open doorway and closed it behind her, locking it and sighing to herself. It had been something, she thought, seeing that Royal Guard die in such a terrible manner. Being apart of a reserve unit for the Wonderbolts herself, she understood the loss of a valuable soldier. Although she may have never gone into combat before, she recognized the pain of losing somepony. Even if it was a bad thought, at least none of her friends had been hurt.

Walking up the stairs that led to the second floor of her floating house, she made her way to her room. Along the way, she recalled the scene of Echo’s death. It was certainly an unpleasant front seat view, one moment in her life she wished she could unsee. She blinked once, before noticing something. A frown appeared on her muzzle, her eyes flickering once more until she said, “Wait a minute. Why am I scared?”

It was an interesting question that she realized there was only one answer to. “I’m not scared of that freak.” Unfurling her wings, she flapped them until hovering a few feet above the ground below her. “I could take that monster on and knock it out in ten seconds flat.” Assured by her own abilities, she felt confident that the next time they faced this creature, she would pound that thing back before it could hurt anypony else.

Opening her door to her room, she closed it behind her. Scanning the area, she smiled when she saw a grayish sea green tortoise laying on top of his bed, his shell consisting of other light green colored mixes. “Hey Tank.” Rainbow Dash said as she moved over to the tortoise. The shelled reptile looked up to his owner, a smile slowly forming on his muzzle as he saw Rainbow.

Moving over to her pet, she nuzzled his head, quickly looking to her windows, sighing that nopony had seen her. “Today was exhausting, Tank. Tour would’ve gone better if that creature didn’t screw everything up.” Rainbow Dash murmured, landing on the floor, she ruffled her wings, resting them against her back and moving to the bed. Laying on the fluffy and soft mattress, she exhaled once more, her forelegs and back legs spread apart as she just sat there, staring up at the ceiling.

Today could have gone better, that much was true. To think that she and her friends had never come across that creature before during their trips to the Royal Sisters’ Castle. It was weird that it had not heard Pinkie Pie playing the organ, nor did it hear them screaming as they ran blindly around the castle. And yet even still when they had not come across it while cleaning the main throne room. ‘How is something like that able to hide so well, and yet not hear us?’

It was definitely a mystery, yet at the current time, she didn’t feel all too much ready to solve it. She looked out the window to her left, seeing the moon. It must’ve been ten o’clock by how far away the moon was from its peak in height. Yawning, she closed her eyes, smacking her lips a little before getting up. Moving to the door, she flicked a switch and the light vanished, the moon’s natural light filling her room with a gentle yet eerie feeling. However, she assured herself that she was completely safe.

Her home was perched upon a cloud. A cloud that was hundreds of feet above the air. Seeing as how that creature had no wings, there was no possible way it could reach her, no matter how hard it tried. That was at least something she was glad about. ‘Stupid freak can’t reach me now.’ Moving to her bed once more, she rested down upon the comfy bed sheets, nuzzling the pillow before drifting off to sleep.