By the time the others and I made it to Town Hall, the Summer Sun Celebration was already in full swing. Several stands had been set up within, many with piles of snack foods and souvenirs. The Town Hall itself had been decked out with streamers and banners adorned with the motif of Celestia's cutie mark, courtesy of Rarity's earlier work.

The entirety of the town seemed to have arrived and a countless mass of ponies milled about chatting, laughing, or simply perusing the stalls. All in all, the atmosphere was incredibly lively, especially given how early it was. Despite the nervousness I and the other girls felt, I couldn't help but smile at the scene. It was everything I'd been hoping to see, it was everything I'd wanted since coming to Ponyville. It was almost like none of the insanity of earlier had ever happened.

Then ponies began to take notice as we moved closer and I was painfully reminded that my situation was anything but normal. There wasn't any kind of outright panic thankfully, but I could see more than a few of the townsponies giving me wary, nervous looks and edging away, whether consciously or not, and I wasn't the only one that noticed.

"Wow, things got busy while we were gone," Spike commented as he observed the commotion, "I don't think I saw even half this many ponies when we arrived earlier."

Wanting to show he wasn't afraid of me anymore, he'd opted to sit on my back on the way. Though I could tell he was still somewhat nervous, the gesture was definitely appreciated nonetheless.

"It is quite a turnout, though it seems we're not likely to receive a very welcoming reception," Rarity commented as she scanned the skittish, murmuring crowd. There was a hint of sadness in her voice that made me wince guiltily as she spoke, "well I suppose it can't be helped, given how things have... changed."

"Yeah well, w-what'd you... expect?" Rainbow growled out through gritted teeth, though it looked more out of pain than anger, "almost... a-almost all of us are... twisted freaks that d-don't belong here."

Rarity rounded on Rainbow Dash and gave the colorful pegasus a scathing glare, but didn't say anything in response. Blunt as her statement was, we all knew it was true, and there was no denying it. I expected Pinkie and Rarity to come to my defense again, but they refrained from saying anything among the rest of the ponies inTown Hall, much to my relief.

Though Rainbow had ignored Rarity's look, it had a far more profound effect on those around us. I noted the visible chill that seemed to permeate throughout the group of ponies in our midst and how they scurried away just a bit more quickly. Applejack herself looked as though she wanted to do the same, and in all honesty I couldn't blame her.

I couldn't blame anypony after what I'd seen and done.

I was expecting as much, but it still wasn't a pleasant experience knowing I had such an effect on ponies, and the fact that I'd dragged the others into this mess only made me feel worse. To my surprise though, Fluttershy only moved closer to Rainbow Dash, a look of worry across her face.

"How are you feeling, Rainbow?" she asked quietly, "you don't look so well."

"I gotta admit... I've b-been better, Flutters," Rainbow muttered with a half hearted smile that came off as more of a grimace than anything, "I think I'll be a lot better... once I find out what the hay is going on... hopefully."

I looked back at Rainbow Dash, but didn't say anything. I didn't really know what to say in this situation. I was just as confused about what happened to Rainbow as she herself was, and I would've been lying if I said I wasn't at least a little wary. I wasn't sure how I'd changed her back to a pegasus in the first place and would've rather not have to try to do so again if I could help it.

A light tap on my shoulder distracted me from my thoughts and I turned to see Applejack glancing around the crowd worriedly. Apparently she'd gotten over her unease of being around me enough to lean in close and mutter in my ear.

"Somethin' in the air ain't right," she said, her brow furrowing, "an' I ain't talkin' about all that creepy nonsense from earlier neither," she stepped back and turned away before looking back at me over her shoulder, "ah'm gonna go look fer Apple Bloom an' the rest o' the family, make sure they're okay."

With that, she quickly trotted off into the throng of ponies and was out of sight in moments. I stared after where she'd been, a knot of worry growing in my gut at the cowpony's words. I lifted my troubled gaze skyward towards the moon, not having forgotten in the slightest about Nightmare Moon's possible return.

"Twilight, dear, if you don't mind," came Rarity's voice from next to me. I turned away from the moon and towards the white mare to see that she looked and sounded just as worried as Applejack did, "I know you're worried. We all are, and I hate to leave you like this... but I'm afraid I must follow Applejack's example. I've been away from my own sister for quite some time now you understand, and—"

"Of course, Rarity," I replied with an understanding smile, "I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Go check on your sister," I frowned slightly ,"...but be careful. I get the feeling things are gonna start going south pretty soon. If there's trouble, make sure you get your sister to safety above everything else... even me, got it?"

I could feel Rarity's relief flood through me like a refreshing drink of water in a dry desert. I was happy to see that while she and Pinkie had developed an annoying overzealous worship of me—or rather, what I'd become—they were still their own ponies. They still had lives outside of just me, even if most of that had apparently taken a backseat.

"Thank you, darling," Rarity replied with a grateful smile, "if anything happens, I'll make sure Sweetie Belle is safe and be back to your side in an instant, you can count on that."

At that, she vanished and I turned to Pinkie, who'd been oddly silent up until now, only to find that she was nowhere to be found. I looked around in bemusement, unable to get a feel for where she was like I could Rarity or the other three mares connected to me.

"Pinkie?" I called out, "where'd she go?"

Not seeing her anywhere I turned to look up at Spike who only shrugged, just as confused as I was.

"Beats me. I wasn't keeping an eye on her," he replied before glancing around, "Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are gone too."

"What?" I cried, looking around me in surprise, "when did they..."

Pinkie and Rarity I could understand, but how did I miss the other two leaving? Why didn't they say anything?

I remembered what Rainbow had said about Nel-Baloth and a cold dread gripped me. She'd mention something about hearing voices and that 'the hour was near'. Did it have to do with this Nel-Baloth, or was it Nightmare Moon?

Or both?

"I'm not too sure where Dashie went," came a sudden and casual reply to my immediate left, "but if Fluttershy is with her, I wouldn't worry too much."

Spike gave a startled yelp and we both whipped around to see the mare in question looking back at me with an expectant smile. I frowned, somewhat put off and suspicious by the way she stood there as though she'd never left in the first place.

"Where were you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes, "I know Applejack and Rarity left, but I don't think it's a good idea for all of us to split up like that, especially with..." I paused and looked around before leaning in closer and speaking in a quieter tone, "especially if you-know-who shows up."

"You-know-who?" Spike asked with a bemused frown and a scratch of his head, "what are you two talking about? Who's gonna show up?"

That's right, I never explained the situation about Nightmare Moon to Spike.

"Nightmare Moon, silly!" Pinkie replied a little too cheerfully and a little too loudly for my liking, "it's only a matter of time before she breaks out and ruins everypony's day, literally!"

I winced and scanned the crowd, but if there had been any ponies near us, they were long gone. We weren't completely alone, but the majority of the other ponies were a good distance away, far enough to be out of earshot at least. I breathed a small sigh of relief and gave Spike an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Spike," I said, shaking my head, "I don't think we have time to go into an in-depth explanation, but if Nightmare Moon returns, it could be a lot of trouble for Ponyville and possibly Equestria as a whole."

"Oh, that's fantastic," Spike groaned, "as if we didn't already have enough to worry about."

"Oh please," Pinkie scoffed, waving a dismissive hoof at the comment, "with our all powerful Goddess around, there's nothing black snooty is gonna be able to do, you know that. Besides, both Rarity and I can be right back lickety-split, and we can grab Applejack if we need to. Heck, you can just teleport everypony really, reeeaaallly far away if you wanted to."

That gave me some pause.

It wasn't me I was worried about, but Spike, Applejack, Fluttershy and even Rainbow Dash, not to mention the other ponies in town. Pinkie was right about a good deal of what she said, but could I really move the town to safety with just the power of the Black Tongue? Aside from voiced commands, I realized I really had no idea how these 'all powerful' abilities worked.

I had no idea how to bend reality like the Servant who'd taken over Spike had apparently done, I had no idea how I'd turned Rainbow back to normal, I didn't know how to do anything other than give commands and have ponies obey me. Even if I had some inkling of how, I didn't really want to use these abilities and risk Skal-Gaazath taking over again and doing who-knows-what.

Do I just have to think about it?

Both Rarity and Pinkie Pie seemed to have no trouble accomplishing reality breaking feats. Maybe it was instinctual? It could be, but I didn't feel like trying it out at the moment. I got the horrible feeling there'd be plenty of time to test out that theory later.

"Anywho, I left real quick to check up on the celebration. I wanted to see if the festivities were up to Pinkie standards," Pinkie said, cutting off my whirling thoughts. She frowned quizzically, putting a hoof to her chin in thought, "now that I think about it, wasn't checking the Summer Sun Celebration supposed to be your job?"

Spike and I looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Pinkie.

"Well, yeah actually," I answered taken aback. I'd completely forgotten about the task the Princess had assigned me, but then what Pinkie said suddenly registered, "but wait, how did you know that? I don't think I ever actually told you what I was doing in Ponyville."

"Eh, Rarity told me when I went to visit," she replied with a careless shrug. She looked up at the sky with a small pout, "looks like it's almost time for the party pooper to make her grand entrance."

I followed her gaze and my eyes widened as I spotted four of the brightest stars around the moon vanish, right along with the image of the mare in the moon.

"We should find Rainbow and Fluttershy," I muttered, "I don't know what's going to happen next, but it might be better if we were all together," at Pinkie's raised eyebrow I shook my head, "I don't know why, but I just... have this weird feeling we need to stick together. I can't really explain it."

What I didn't tell her was that I also felt a bit off physically. My head felt a bit fuzzy and I could feel something close to nausea creeping its way into my stomach. It wasn't too bad, so I decided not to worry about it for the moment, but I did make note of it.

Not knowing exactly what I was doing, I reached my thoughts out to Rarity and felt an immediate response. It was something akin to mentally pulling on a rope and receiving a tug at the other end. An instant later Rarity reappeared without a sound, making Spike give a loud start on my back.

"Trouble?" she asked, looking just as nervous as I felt.

"Not yet, but it's coming," I replied, not taking my eyes from the moon, "Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy disappeared somewhere and we need to find them," I finally turned to the other mare, "did you find your sister?"

"I did," Rarity replied, shifting somewhat uncomfortably, "she's... safe for the moment."

"That's... good to hear," I replied with a satisfied smile, "now we just need to find Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy."

It was clear that there was something Rarity wasn't telling me, but I decided not to pry. I could tell that she knew I knew and felt again her gratitude in me not asking any questions. A moment later her smile fell and she stared up at the indoor balcony above.

"I'd be happy to help you find them all of course," Rarity began hesitantly, "though perhaps I should've mentioned earlier that Mayor Mare is expecting me to unveil Princess Celestia up on the stage when the time comes."

"Wha—seriously?" I asked, giving Rarity an incredulous look, "yes, I think that's something we should've known about earlier!"

"I'm terribly sorry, Twilight dear," Rarity said with a sheepish smile, "it's just that with everything that was happening, that bit of information sort of... fell to the wayside."

I wanted to retort, but shoved my frustration back down, realizing that much of those distractions were probably my fault to begin with. Instead I just let out a tired sigh and shook my head before returning her smile with an understanding grin of my own.

"No, it's fine, Rarity," I replied, "it's like you and Pinkie said, you can be back by my side in an instant, so there's really no need to worry about it. Go on then, but be... wait," I stopped and the bottom fell out of my stomach. My eyes widened as a horrified realization set in, "Princess Celestia... is coming here. Here, to Ponyville."

There was a beat of silence as we all took that information in. Despite the Summer Sun Celebration being almost entirely centered around the Princess, and despite me knowing she was going to arrive, I'd somehow forgotten the possible disaster just her appearance alone might cause when we confronted each other.

"Oh dear," Rarity muttered, clearly as forgetful as I'd been, "I suppose that might pose a bit of a problem in our current state, wouldn't it?"

"Should we hide or something?" Spike suggested, "can we hide?"

"I don't think there's time," Pinkie replied, watching the townsponies gather around Town Hall in droves, "it looks like Mayor Mare's about to—"

"Fillies and gentlecolts! As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!""

A mare's voice—presumably Mayor Mare's—rang out from above as she addressed the crowd. The crowd of unsuspecting ponies cheered uproariously at her declaration, but I couldn't hear it over my sudden panic.

"Oh no," I muttered, taking a step forward towards the crowd, "nonononono... this isn't good."

Whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen in a few moments, I could feel it. I didn't know if it was going to be the arrival of Celestia, I didn't know if it was going to be Nightmare Moon's timely return, and I could only pray it wouldn't be Nel-Baloth, whatever horrifying creature he may have been.

Who or whatever might've appeared, none of the possibilities were good ones, not in the slightest. I really wished the other three hadn't galloped off on their own.

"Twilight, darling?" Rarity asked, "should I go up or stay with you?"

I clenched my eyes shut, trying to think; the gears in my brain turned at breakneck pace, but I could feel time slipping away from me.

Could I bring that time back with the power of Skal-Gazaath?

I probably could, and at this point I was willing to give it a shot if it meant giving me a moment to think of a plan.

"Ah, looks like they replaced you, Rares," Pinkie observed, squinting in the direction of the stage above, "yep, I guess they got sick of waiting and got somepony else to raise the curtain."

Rarity, Spike and I followed Pinkie's gaze and sure enough, there was another pony; a light magenta coated unicorn mare standing beside the curtains at the back of the stage. Further up near the parapet, Mayor Mare continued her speech.

"In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria..."

I guess it's now or never.

"...Princess Celestia!"

The unicorn mare atop the platform lit up her horn and drew the curtains, and I made my decision. Throwing all caution to the wind, I closed my eyes, sucked in a deep breath and prepared to command everything and everypony to stop in the Black Tongue, but a series of sharp, shocked gasps from the massive crowd stopped me cold.

My eyes snapped open and shot towards the opened curtains.

Celestia wasn't there.

The stage was sans one Solar Monarch, and as the confused and worried murmuring began amongst the masses, my dread came rushing back in like a hurricane. If Celestia wasn't there...

"Remain calm, everypony!" came Mayor Mare's voice as she tried to calm the increasingly restless crowd, "there must be a reasonable explanation!"

Then there came a loud, shrill, echoing laughter that permeated the air, piercing the ears of everpony who heard it. The laugh was brimming with malevolence and confirmed my suspicions about who was to make their unwanted debut in Celestia's place.

"Nightmare Moon," I whispered, "so it was her after all."

A dark blue mist began to rise from the center of the stage, and as I watched, the sudden wave of dizziness and nausea I felt from earlier overtook me. I could feel Rarity and even Pinkie reacting much the same, but before I even had the chance to wonder what that meant, the mist coalesced into an equine shape.

A moment later there was a jet black alicorn mare in light, but elegant armor that covered her head, chest and hooves. Her mane and tail lazily twisted and twirled about much like Celestia's though this mare's mane and tail looked to be made of the very stars themselves.

Her features were far more predatory, with slitted, ice blue eyes and fangs sharp enough to pierce flesh. Without a doubt I was looking at the Mare in the Moon herself, Nightmare Moon. She grinned out at the crowd, flashing her fangs as she scanned each and every face. The reactions ranged from confusion to nervousness, but oddly enough, nopony seemed to be outright horrified.

Her arrogant grin briefly fell into a harsh sneer, but was soon replaced with a cool smirk as she spoke.

"Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious little... sun-loving..."

Nightmare Moon fell silent.

Pinkie, Rarity, Spike and I were all in the back, well away from the rest of the gathered ponies, and yet Nightmare Moon had spotted us. We locked eyes and I felt my stomach twist into knots, though I did my best to stare back defiantly.

What in Celestia's name is going on? Why do I feel so...

I couldn't describe exactly how I felt, but it was far from pleasant. Nightmare Moon's eyes had widened in shock, but quickly narrowed, and—to mine and everypony else's surprise, she began to laugh. It wasn't the cold mocking laugh from earlier either, but a genuinely amused laugh, as though she'd heard a particularly hilarious joke.

"Oh this is too rich!" she boomed, still chuckling, "what abysmal timing you have! I've waited a thousand years to return from my imprisonment. One thousand years of waiting to finally cast my sister down and take her place as sole ruler of Equestria, only to find that something far worse has already gained a hoofhold in my absence!"

Her laughter died down and she frowned thoughtfully in my direction. I stared at the mare open mouthed, bewilderment washing away any fear and doubt. I could hear confused muttering coming from the large group of ponies as they tried to locate the focus of Nightmare Moon's attention. Eventually all eyes settled on me, but I barely noticed as the black mare began to speak again.

"Ah, but perhaps I am lucky," she continued, her face breaking out into another smirk, "perhaps you've only come to reclaim what is rightfully yours before departing back to where you belong and letting me reclaim what is rightfully mine, hm?"

She leaned forward over the parapet and grinned down at me.

"Well, Goddess, what is it to be? WIll you end my reign before it's even begun, or do you merely wish to take back what you left behind all those years ago?"

Author's Notes:

The next chapter will probably be a lot lengthier. Maybe. It'll also take place from Nightmare's POV, and that's all I'll say about that for now.