You wouldn’t think it, but a town like Ponyville—despite being warm and cheerful all through the waking hours of the day—fell into a deep, uncomfortable darkness once the sun went down. With nopony roaming the streets, the friendliness the streets usually exuded morphed into something darker—and more sinister. If anypony were walking out there, it’d send a chill down their spine. Or maybe that would just be because the temperature was below freezing.

Nonetheless, there was nopony out there—at least not for the first few hours. But long after most ponies in town had gone to bed and succumbed to slumber… the moon’s glow above reflected down upon the frost that lined the dirt of the streets, and slowly but surely a figure emerged on the edge of town.

Their shadowy figure was dark, and as their hooves slowly brought them further into town, their head swivelled from side to side, drinking in their surroundings. A tall house to the left, reaching up four or five stories. A small store with a sign out front, bearing the image of a couch and a feather proudly. The stranger stopped and cocked their head momentarily, before moving on.

If anypony had been watching this stranger, they would have noticed that they took great care to move in the patches of darkness. Whenever they came upon a streetlamp, they would either move to the other side of the street if possible or, if that proved too difficult, they would round a corner and continue on a different route. It didn’t seem to matter, though; if the stranger had a particular destination in mind, they didn’t show it. Their leisurely pace continued all through the streets, and every time they stopped to look at something, they started walking once more not long after.

It wasn’t until minutes or maybe hours later that the stranger finally found themself in front of a building that they decided to approach directly. As they stepped forward, they revealed themself to the light for the first time since entering the town—and the inky blackness of their smooth coat shone almost iridescently in the dim, yellow light. Their beady eyes lingered on the sign in front—reading “Ponyville Inn & Tavern, open all hours”—before moving on to the door. With a sharp grunt, they stepped forward, and rapped on the door three times with their beak.

They stood in silence for a few moments. When they were just about to knock on the door again, a voice came from inside. “You can come in—we’re open! It should be unlocked!”

The stranger shrugged, and lifted a hoof. They pressed the door in, and immediately their coat was greeted by a gracious warmth that sucked them into the room. They stood there for a moment, admiring the wood furnishings, before realising that they were letting all the warm air out. Hastily, they shut the door and then stepped inside.

“Howdy!” the mare standing at the counter in front exclaimed, a bit louder than the stranger would have expected for that time of night. Still, they couldn’t help but smile.

“Hello,” the stranger replied, stepping up to the counter. “How do you do?”

“Mighty fine, if I do say so myself,” the mare said, grinning. “Can’t say I’ve seen anypony like you before ’round here, but we’ve got plenty of hospitality to spare!”

“So I’ve heard,” the stranger said softly. Their beady eyes looked the proprietor over, taking note of her light-purple coat and deeper purple mane. “Any way you could spare a drink for a weary traveller?”

“Yeah, I think I can cook something up.” The mare gave an exaggerated wink. “The name’s Berry Punch, and I really pack a wallop.”

The stranger nodded. “I’d expect, what with a name like that.” They took a seat at the counter, perching themself quite naturally on the edge of one of the wooden stools. As they waited, they took the opportunity to glance around the room. And while they saw almost a dozen tables and chairs set out, none of them were occupied.

“Slow night?” the stranger asked.

Berry Punch looked up from the counter, and set down a bottle of a mysterious clear liquid that she had been holding. “Not really. Was actually pretty busy earlier, but it quieted down on account of it bein’ four in the morning and all.”

“Mmm, right.” The stranger nodded.

A few minutes later, Berry Punch looked back up and placed a glass on the counter. “Here ya go!”

“Thank you, Ms. Punch,” the stranger replied. They glanced down at it. “Now, about payment… I don’t have any of the local currency, but—”

“Oh, no problem!” Berry said cheerily, not even faltering. “Oops, did I forget to tell you? It’s on the house!”

The stranger quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing, choosing to lean down and take a sip instead. “This is quite good, though. Perhaps I could interest you in some of the currency from my native land? Sure, it may not be worth much here, but as a token—”

“I’d love to at least see it!” Berry Punch said, looking up from where she was wiping the counter down. She waited as the stranger reached into a small purse that was draped along their side, and then watched as they set the small metal disks on the table.

“Go ahead, take a look. They don’t bite.”

Berry took them in her hoof, looking them over. Impressed upon their silver and copper surfaces were shapes that appeared to be heads, but their flat surfaces and pointy protruding noses were completely inequine in nature. Nor did they bear any sort of resemblance to the stranger, who was busy sipping away at their drink.

In fact, with their eyes carrying the trace of a smile and their head jammed halfway into the glass in an attempt to reach the rest of the liquid, the stranger actually looked kind of cute.

“Here,” Berry Punch said, turning. “Lemme get you a straw.” She bent down below the counter and, before she grabbed the straw, set the hoofful of coins on the shelf.

“Rarity!”

The white unicorn in question blinked, and looked up from her work to see Rainbow Dash hovering near the ceiling of her inspiration room.

“Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed. “What are you—? How did you get in here?”

Rainbow scratched her head with a hoof. “Wellllll… you might have a loose window on the ceiling of the boutique. But that’s not important! You have to come quick.”

Rarity frowned. “What is it? Is somepony in danger? Have we been called to use the Elements again?”

“No, even more exciting—there’s somepony new in town!” Rainbow buzzed in a circle, animatedly, but Rarity did not look amused.

“Has somepony gone and replaced you with Pinkie Pie, darling? Why does this excite you so much?”

Rainbow stopped. “No, you don’t understand. I haven’t seen them yet, but apparently this pony is super weird. Like, freaking Twilight out kinda weird.”

Rarity blinked. “How so?”

“Not sure!” Rainbow said. “But apparently they’re at the tavern, so we better get there before they leave town again!”

“Fine, fine,” Rarity huffed, setting her sewing aside. “But this had better be interesting, or you’re modelling my dresses for a month.”

“Deal.” Rainbow flashed her a grin, and then darted out from some hole in the ceiling. As Rarity felt a chill go down her spine, she surmised that perhaps that hole had not been there prior to Rainbow Dash’s entrance—but there was nothing she could do about it now, so she just sighed.

“...Well, it looks like I shan’t be forcing you to model any dresses,” Rarity murmured. She stood beside Rainbow Dash near the door, inside the tavern. They kept a healthy distance from the scene—not just because there were more ponies than ever filling the increasingly-cramped space, but also because what lay before them was a sight so strange.

“You… you sure? What if I want to?” Rainbow Dash replied quietly. She almost looked surprised at herself for saying the words, and almost looked like she might immediately take them back—but she let them hang there in the air.

Rarity blinked. “R-really? But you’re always so adamant about how much you hate it, and—”

“Ahem,” came the sound of a throat clearing ahead of them, and both Rainbow Dash and Rarity turned to look. It had come from the stranger, who had stood up from their position at the bar and was trotting over to them on soft hoofsteps. “If I may…?”

“Yessir,” Rarity said, at the exact same moment Rainbow Dash said, “Yes’m.” They looked at each other, and shrugged. Then they looked to the stranger, and watched their beak curve upward. The black feathers that covered their neck and head seemed to shift seamlessly with the their coat as their head turned from side to side, eyeing each pony before them carefully.

“Rarity,” the stranger said, looking to the unicorn. “Your friend is revealing a part of herself to you that it seems she has kept secret for some time, and it is obviously something she is having great difficulty with emotionally. It would do you good to help her and embrace that.”

Rarity nodded. It didn’t feel like a rebuke—rather, this pony was telling her what she already knew, and affirming it was the right thing to do.

“Rainbow Dash,” the stranger continued, turning to the pegasus. “Follow your dreams. Be who you are, and be who you want to be. And if that becomes something different as time goes on, know that that’s perfectly alright.”

Rainbow Dash smiled, and she nodded as well.

“And to the both of you,” the stranger said finally, “and to everypony in this room.” They turned, facing the ponies who had come from all across town to see their presence, from silly Lyra and her marefriend Bon Bon in the corner, to Princess Twilight and her assistant Spike who was hastily scrawling notes up front, to the Cutie Mark Crusaders who were sitting in a corner sipping on milkshakes. “Remember this: people change. And despite those changes, and despite everything that happens in our lives, try and work with people. Try to understand. Just remember that people change, and that is perfectly fine.”

The room fell silent, as everypony looked on in awe of the stranger. Then, before anypony could react, they took a long bow and trotted right out the door.

The silence continued for several minutes, and then everypony went back to what they were doing before.

Fluttershy lay alone in a field on the edge of Ponyville, her eyes closed tight. She could feel the warmth of the sun on her face, the soft and dewy grass at the edges of her coat, and savoured the light breeze that brushed on by. Dragonflies buzzed as they passed overhead, and the trees dozens of metres away rustled as squirrels hopped along their branches.

But as serene as it was, it could not last forever. With her ear pressed to the ground, Fluttershy could hear a rumbling in the dirt—the rumbling of hooves, coming her way. She sat up with a squeak, blinking her eyes open and adjusting to the morning sun.

And she was just in time. For not a few seconds after she regained focus, she could see a black figure galloping in her direction. Initially, she thought they were a normal earth pony, albeit one with slender legs—but as they drew nearer, she could see the feathery bird-like head sticking up proudly into the sky, yellow beak pointed out toward the horizon.

Fluttershy’s mouth opened wide in surprise. As the pony passed, they gave one brief wink before continuing onward, past the yellow pegasus and into the lands beyond.

And life went on.