Darkness. That was all anypony could see these days. An endless and eternal night, stretching from horizon to horizon. While there may have been a time when the brightness of the sun illuminated the world, those days had long since faded from memory. Or, at the very least, they dared not speak of it if it was remembered. And all of this was brought about by one person, one alicorn; Nightmare Moon. This mare of legend, returned from out of the blue, had usurped the throne of Equestria, disposing of the nation’s former ruler, Celestia. Now, all ponies served this mistress of the night, and nowhere was this more evident than in the place she took as her seat of power; the castle of the two sisters. While, in ancient days, this imposing fortress had served two princesses, now it only served one.

However, at this present moment, Nightmare Moon was not concerned with ruling or lording over her subjects, as had become standard. No. Today, all that seemed to occupy the dark mare’s mind was one thing and one thing only; anger. Confining herself within one of the many chambers of her grand palace, she sat, brooding, seething with rage over the failure she had endured not so long ago, when a certain young alicorn slipped her grasp. All in the castle could feel it, this silence, but none would speak up about the matter, instead tending to their regular duties. One such servant was none other than Rarity, formerly of Ponyville, who presently stood outside her mistress’ chambers. Using her magic, the alabaster unicorn levitated a small tray of tea, ready to serve as needed.

“Still in there, huh?”

Turning, Rarity looked upon another mare, a pegasus, with a blazing bright rainbow-coloured mane. Decked out in ornate armour, this was undoubtedly a soldier of the night, and as she approached the serving mare, Rarity gave a nod.

“Indeed, Captain Dash.”

Hearing that, Rainbow, after landing nearby, gave a dry chuckle.

“Rarity. It’s just us here. There’s no need for that.”

Looking down at the ground, Rarity let out a brief sigh before looking back to her companion.

“I apologise, Rainbow. It’s just been that kind of day.”

Rainbow nodded, turning her eyes towards the door, the uncomfortable silence around it almost palpable.

“How long has she been by herself now?”

Looking to the door herself, Rarity shrugged her shoulders a little.

“An hour. Maybe more. I must say, I know she usually does this when some setback occurs, but she seems particularly upset this time if she’s making me wait this long.”

Turning back to her friend, Rarity raised an eyebrow.

“What in Equestria happened out there, Rainbow?”

Rainbow let out a sigh of her own before answering.

“Things went nuts, that’s what. That mare, Twilight I think her name was, she just bolted. Jumped through that magical table thing and disappeared, along with the table itself.”

Looking over her shoulder, a deep frown appeared on Rainbow’s face.

“The princess lost it right there, screaming to the sky before blasting the area. My troops and I only just got out of the blast radius.”

Rarity shook her head to that.

“I’ll bet that mare simply has no idea how difficult it will be to serve our princess for the next few days, now that she’s done this.”

Looking back to Rainbow, Rarity’s expression was one of curiosity.

“Tell me something. Do you think she was telling the truth?”

Gazing upon her friend, Rainbow narrowed her eyes somewhat.

“You mean about time travel? Dunno. The princess seemed to believe her, and that table thing did have this weird magical vibe about it. So who knows? Maybe that whole crazy story of hers was right.”

Looking away, Rarity’s expression, just for a moment, softened.

“Our world…without eternal night.”

Hearing that tone, Rainbow looked to her, raising an eyebrow as she did so.

“Do you miss it?”

Rarity didn’t hear her say what exactly she missed, but then, she didn’t need to, for she already understood.

“You mean the sun? Sometimes, though I’m naturally hesitant to admit to it.”

Rainbow nodded to that.

“Same here. It was so weird, having to get used to the sky without it. I mean, look at me. A mare called Rainbow, and now the world will never know an actual rainbow again!”

Rarity nodded right back, and for a while, she looked away, appearing deep in thought over something. A few moments of silence passed between them, occasionally interrupted by the sounds of some creature of the night heard from the nearby windows. Then, Rarity, to Rainbow’s confusion, actually seemed to be giggling, though about what, the pegasus could not say.

“Am I missing a joke here, Rarity?”

Shaking her head, Rarity looked back to her friend before giving an answer.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow. It’s just…it suddenly occurs to me how strange it is.”

Rainbow tilted her head to one side.

“How strange what is?”

Rarity paused, thinking over how best to put her words together, before finally just coming out and saying it.

“Well…do you remember how we were before all this began? I used to go on and on about how I’d one day make it big. That one day I’d be serving the rich, the powerful, the nobility.”

Looking to Rainbow, Rarity raised a hoof and pointed right at her.

“And you, you kept dreaming about joining those…er…what were they called?”

For a moment, a look of nostalgia crossed Rainbow’s face as she gave Rarity her answer.

“The Wonderbolts. Yeah…those were the days.”

Nodding, Rarity continued.

“And now, look at us. I’m in the direct service to Equestria’s reigning monarch. And you? You’re part of her personal guard, one of the foremost soldiers and fliers in the land.”

Rainbow considered that for a while, eventually cracking a brief smirk of her own.

“Yeah…I guess I am. Details are pretty different from how we probably imagined they’d be, but…yeah…I guess we’ve both got what we dreamed of.”

Nodding, Rarity maintained her smile while letting out a brief yet dry laugh.

“And to think…all it took was a hostile take-over to make it happen.”

In this moment together, both mares afforded themselves an opportunity to laugh together over that dark joke the universe seemed to have pulled on them. It was an experience that, frankly, they hadn’t had in quite a while, and to have it now, even about a somewhat twisted view of things, was refreshing to say the least. However, the moment did not last, as mere seconds later, to the slight surprise of both mares, the nearby doors lit up with magic, creaking open. Soon afterwards, a booming voice from the other side could be clearly heard.

“Rarity! I will have my tea now!”

Sighing, Rarity held up her still-levitated tea tray up to her face, giving a quick nod to her pegasus friend.

“Oh well, duty calls. Wish me luck.”

Seeing her walk off, Rainbow gave a brief nod back to her.

“Yeah…see ya around, Rares.”