While mornings were Twilight Sparkle’s favorite time of day, for obvious reasons, a close second were the evenings.  She loved viewing the stars in the sky while pondering the mysteries of the universe.  And tonight, she would be able to see the stars in greater detail than ever before.

“Is it ready, Spike?” Twilight called upstairs.

“Almost,” Spike called back down.  “Just have to attach these last two lenses.”

After re-shelving the last of her books, Twilight took a moment to stretch her wings.  It had been about two months since she had become an alicorn and a princess, and she was still adjusting to the changes it brought.  Her day-to-day life, thankfully, had not been affected as much as one might have expected; Princess Celestia had accepted, and even seemed pleased with her decision to remain in Ponyville rather then move to Canterlot, and while most ponies besides her circle of friends were still bowing every time they saw her, she had more or less managed to convince them that she didn’t wish to be treated any differently than before.

The real problems came from the physical changes.  Her new set of wings came with a bunch of muscles she had no idea how to control.  Although her flying lessons with Rainbow Dash had helped, they still had a tendency to flare out at random times, particularly when she was trying to sleep.  Then she had woken up one day to discover that she had grown a full two inches overnight.  She spent the next few days tripping over her own hooves and knocking something over every time she turned around.  Celestia had told her that she probably would not grow any more than that, which suited her just fine; she didn’t like the thought of towering over everypony like Celestia or Luna or even Cadence.

“It’s ready, Twilight!” Spike called.

“Excellent,” said Twilight, trotting up the stairs.  At the foot of her bed, Spike the purple baby dragon presented what looked like a cluster of tubes and knobs.

“Presenting your very own, brand new Far-Gazer X1300 telescope,” Spike said grandiosely.  “The very latest in stargazing technology; lovingly assembled by none other than your number one assistant, I might add.”

“Good work, Spike,” said Twilight, rubbing Spike’s head affectionately.  Looking out the window, she saw the sun sinking into the horizon.  In just a few minutes Luna would raise the moon, signaling the start of nighttime.  As she watched, the last tip of the sun disappeared, ushering in the darkness.  A moment passed.

“Um, Twilight, isn’t there supposed to be full moon tonight?” asked Spike.

“There is,” said Twilight.

“So where’s the moon?”

“I don’t know,” said Twilight.  A cold feeling began to grow in the pit of her stomach.  “Spike, I’m going to go get the girls, I want you to send a letter to Princess Celestia asking her what’s wrong with Princess Luna.”

“What makes you think something’s wrong with Princess Luna?” asked Spike.

"I’ll explain later,” Twilight shouted as she ran out the door.

----

“Ouch!  Dangit Rarity, its bad enough being yer dang mannequin, but if Ah have ta be yer pincushion too, I’m outta here!” Applejack snapped.

Rarity simply glared at her through her royal purple mane.  “Well if you would simply hold still, I wouldn’t poke you!” she said through a mouthful of pins.

Applejack sighed.  Earlier, Rarity had called her over to Carosel Botique, begging for her help.  Apparently, an important new client who had the exact same body type as Applejack had ordered a dress, and so Rarity had needed someone to model for her.  Frankly, Applejack would have rather been doing anything else, but as Rarity’s friend, she felt obligated to help out, which was why she had been standing around for hours, wearing a ridiculous fru-fru dress while Rarity danced around her, jabbing her with pins.

“Honestly Rarity, is any of this really necessary?” Applejack complained.  “Ah mean, yer ah unicorn, can’t ya just, I dunno, use magic to make yer dress?”

Applejack didn’t expect Rarity to laugh at her question.  “Oh Applejack,” she said.  “I’m afraid you greatly overestimate unicorn magic.”

“Waddya mean?” asked Applejack.

“It’s true that there are spells for making a dress instantly,” said Rarity as she continued to make adjustments to the dress.  “However, not only would I still require the necessary fabrics, I would also need to picture every little thing that goes into making the dress; every pattern, every cut, stitch, fold, et cetera; and if just one thing was even a hair off, the whole thing would fall to pieces.  No, better to do things step-by-step than rely on unpredictable shortcuts.”

“Golly, Ah never thought about it like that before,” Applejack admitted.  “You unicorns just make it look so easy with yer fancy magic and whatnot.”

“Darling, if unicorn magic was as convenient as everypony seems to think it is, we’d have been running everything for the last thousand years,” Rarity scoffed as she added a few more stitches to the dress.

“Maybe,” said Applejack, scoffing a hoof.  “Even so, sometime Ah can’ help but feel a might bit jealous of ya’ll.”

“Why?” asked Rarity.  “I mean, it’s not as if Earth ponies don’t possess magic of their own.”

“Yeah, making plants grow better n’ stuff,” said Applejack, rolling her eyes.  “That’s all well and good for farmers like mahself, but it don’ do much good fer ponies in other fields.  Don’ get me wrong, Ah’m not saying Ah feel like we’re second class citizens or whatever, its jus something that don’ always sit well with me.”

“Well, I suppose it’s just one of those things we just have to learn to deal with in life,” said Rarity, shrugging.  “There, that should do it.”  Levitating her needle and thread onto a table, she then picked up a makeup kit.  “Now to complete the look, I’ll just add some blush.”

“Whoa there, missy,” Applejack snapped, backing away.  “I agreed ter be a model for yer fancy, fru-fru dress, but yah try and put any of that face-paint on me, and ya’ll have a rodeo on yer hooves!”

“It’s called makeup, darling,” said Rarity, rolling her eyes.  “And it’s just a little bit to bring out your coat’s natural color.”

“Ah’ll tell ya how ya can bring out a pony’s natural color,” said Applejack, “A good old fashioned dip in a tub of hot water and plenty of soap!”

"Really Applejack, you ought to put a little more care into your appearance if you ever wish to fetch a stallion for yourself,” said Rarity.

Applejack felt her hackles rise.  “Now you listen here, missy,” she growled.  “Ah could get mahself a stallion any old time Ah wanted to.  Ah jus’ haven’t found the right one yet.”

“And just what is the ‘right one’ for you?”

Applejack scuffed her hoof against the floor nervously.  She had never actually thought about that before.  “Well, first he’d have ter be an honest pony, of course.  Second, he’d have to be the type willin’ ter work hard and sweat; the kind of pony who’d be good to have on the farm.  It’d also be nice if he were the strong, silent type, the kind of pony who’d never go back on his word and would do anything for his family and friends.  Most of all, Ah’d want him to be a kind and giving stallion, someone who would go outta his way to help others in need, and would always cherish the mare he loved and make her feel special.”

Applejack sighed dreamily as she pictured her ideal stallion in her mind before catching herself.  Glancing at Rarity, she saw that she had a light in her eyes that was usually reserved for a new dress.

“Why Applejack,” said Rarity.  “I never would have pegged you for such a romantic.”

“I-I ain’t no gosh-darn romantic,” Applejack stammered.  “I jus’ have standards.”

Before Rarity could respond, Twilight burst in through the door, panting heavily.  “Applejack, good, you’re here too,” she gasped.

“Hey Twilight, what’s the matter?” Applejack asked.  “Ya look more worked up then a sheep about to be sheered fer the first time.”

“I need you two to take a look outside at the sky,” said Twilight, motioning towards the open door.

Glancing at Rarity, Applejack walked out and looked up at the night sky.  As far as she could tell, there was nothing wrong with it.  The stars were shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

“Where is the moon?”  Rarity asked.

Applejack cringed inwardly.  She had no idea how she missed that.

“That’s what we need to find out,” said Twilight.  “Applejack, you go get Rainbow Dash, Rarity, you get Fluttershy, I’ll tell Pinky Pie.”

“Right-O,” said Applejack, tearing off the dress and galloping into the night, ignoring Rarity’s shrieks of indignation.

----

Twilight was in a foul mood when she trotted home.  Pinkie Pie had not been at Sugar Cube Corner, and the Cakes had no idea where she was.  Knowing Pinkie Pie, she could have been anywhere in Ponyville, and there was no time to search for her.  The only option was to hold the meeting right away and bring Pinkie Pie up to date when she turned up later.

Entering the library, Twilight was pleased to see that almost everypony else was already there, including Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.  There was no sign of Pinkie Pie, unfortunately.

"Listen up girls.  I’m sure you’ve all noticed…”

“SURPRISE!”

The entire room was suddenly buried in a shower of confetti and balloons.  Shaking the bits of paper from her face, Twilight saw Pinkie Pie cannonball to the floor, bouncing a few times like a rubber ball, before unfolding and landing daintily on her hooves.

“Pinkie Pie, when did you get here?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I’ve been here the whole time silly,” Pinkie Pie giggled.  “I just had to wait until all my friends where here before I could throw a No-Moon party.  Well, all my bestest-best friends, because everypony in Ponyville is my friend, but I can’t invite them now, because they’re all asleep, and for some reason ponies get really upset when you wake them up in the middle of night, so I guess it’s just the seven of us!”

“What’s a No-Moon party?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“DUH!  It’s a party for when there’s no moon in the sky when it’s supposed to be there,” said Pinkie Pie.  “I’ve thrown a Full-Moon party, a New-Moon party, and a party for every-moon in-between, but I’ve never, ever, ever, ever, thrown a No-Moon party.  It’ll be a moment that’ll go down in Pinkie Pie history!  No-Moon cakes, anypony?  I colored them to match the No-Moon night sky.”

Reaching into her mane, Pinkie Pie pulled out a tray of mooncakes dyed pitch black.  Twilight just shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Pinkie Pie, but there’s no time for a party right now…”

“NO TIME FOR A PARTY!” Pinkie Pie shrieked, shoving her snout into Twilight’s.  “That’s like saying there’s no time for breathing!”

Shoving Pinkie Pie away, Twilight turned to Spike.  “Has Princess Celestia sent any word back yet?”

“Not yet,” Spike said, shaking his head.

“That’s not good,” Twilight muttered as she paced back and forth.  “Maybe we should send another letter.  Or maybe we should go to Canterlot and speak with her directly.”

“I doubt a train would be available at this hour,” said Rarity.  “Twilight, darling, we’re all worried, but don’t you think it might be better to wait and address this matter in the morning?”

“We don’t have time to wait, Rarity!” Twilight cried.  “We need to figure out why Princess Luna isn’t raising the moon!”

“Duh!” cried Pinkie Pie, getting into Twilight’s face yet again.  “Obviously, she’s not raising the moon so we can all have a No-Moon party!”

“We’re not throwing a party!” Twilight shouted.  “Don’t any of you understand?  If Luna can’t raise the moon, then Equestria…no, the world is doomed!”