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The Great Succession and Its Aftermath

by mylittleeconomy

Chapter 4: Nightmare Night

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Nightmare Night

It was late October. The wind had an edge to it now, and it was sharpening every day. Autumn was technically scheduled to last for another eight weeks, but everypony could tell a bad winter would follow—because the yearly Cloudsdale weather schedule said it would.

The days were ending sooner. Nights lasted longer. Anticipation was building up, because soon it would be Nightmare Night, when the fillies went door-to-door asking for candy, and cobwebs hung from every roof. It was a night when anypony could put on a mask and become anypony or anything….

As usual, some concerned parents had arranged a town meeting the day before the big night. Last year the town meeting had been about a concern over nails in candy apples until Applejack shut it down with the threat of a lawsuit. This year the meeting was about whether a vengeful demigoddess might bring destruction upon their town.

Town meetings about Nightmare Night had a very different atmosphere when your little town had recently been visited by Nightmare Moon herself, the night’s ostensible honoree. Even Applejack was there.

“Please, everypony, if I could just have your attention,” said Twilight Sparkle, standing up to be heard above the clamor. “When I last met with Princess Celestia, she assured me that she had Princess Luna kept in a safe place.” It had been three months already, but Twilight couldn’t imagine that the princess’s dark sister had escaped again.

“Nightmare Moon, you mean!” said one of the concerned parents. Twilight wasn’t sure if her name was Bark Nibbler or if that was just something ponies said she did. Either way, she had a face more imperious than the one Princess Celestia put on for royal occasions; there was no majesty like an offended parent.

“That’s unclear right now,” said Twilight, trying to remain calm. She felt protective of Nightmare Moon, oddly enough. I defeated her, and I’d do it again—she’s mine. So don’t act afraid when I’m here. “But I believe there is no threat, and Princess Celestia assured me that Nightmare—that Princess Luna is under wraps.”

“She escaped from Princess Celestia before! How do we know we can trust her?”

“The particular conditions that led to the temporary overthrow of the One Bank are not currently present,” said Twilight, realizing she didn’t know what those conditions were. How had she never asked? Princess Luna shouldn’t have been anywhere near as strong as Princess Celestia after a thousand-year banishment. Simply wrestling control away from her elder sister wouldn’t have worked. It was a puzzle that needed answering.

“Well, I don’t feel safe,” said Bark Nibbler with finality, as if that was all anypony needed to know.

“I understand that, and my friends and I have taken steps to ensure that ponies feel safe tomorrow night,” said Twilight. “I’ve asked them all to come to this meeting wearing their Element of Equilibrium, and to wear them tomorrow night as well. Girls, could you all stand up please? So that everypony can see? Oh, um, Rainbow Dash, you can sit down. Where’s your Element?”

“I lost in a poker game.”

“I hope you’re joking,” Twilight said.

“Tank’ll give it back, she said I needed to learn a lesson.”

“Just wear it tomorrow night, okay?”

Rainbow Dash saluted. “You got it, boss.”

Twilight sighed. “I really do feel that we can celebrate Nightmare Night tomorrow like normal. I’m personally looking forward to my first Nightmare Night in Ponyville. I’d hate for it to be ruined by fear. It’s called Nightmare Night, but it isn’t any different from any other night. It’s just a name. We have nothing to be scared of.”

“Other than imported fruits,” coughed somepony who sounded a lot like Applejack.

“Have you seen the state of the decorations some ponies have put up?” Rarity said. “Nothing to be scared of, Twilight, you do exaggerate.”

“We have nothing serious to be scared of,” Twilight said. “But thanks, girls.” To the rest of the assembly, she added, “Nightmare Moon is not coming back. I repeat, Nightmare Moon is not coming back.”


At midnight that night nothing special happened. There was no such thing as Nightmare Morning.

Nightmare Night didn’t have an official start. But as it happened, Nightmare Moon showed up around eight p.m.


“Don’t stay out past midnight,” Applejack said as she helped Apple Bloom into her costume. “Why’re you going as a bumblebee anyway? They’re not scary.”

“I’ve got a real working stinger. Why’re you an apple? Nothing scary about an apple,” lied Apple Bloom, whose future had been laid out for her before she had even gotten her cutie mark. She saw only apples on the horizon; dreams of being a professional dancer in Manehattan were as likely as an assortment of fruit on the Apple dining table.

“You can’t tell? Shame on you. I’m a knockoff apple, the sort that tries to hide under our brand illegally, but Princess Celestia refuses to crack down on them.”

“What’s the difference?”

“What’s the difference?” Applejack spluttered. “Look at the coloration! You call that red? See the shape? Does this look appetizing? Does it?”

Apple Bloom leaned away from the butt being aggressively shoved in her face. “I’ve seen better. Can I go now?”

“Stay with your friends the whole time. Have fun. Don’t eat all your candy in one night!”

“You just want to have some of mine,” said Apple Bloom as she tottered toward the door.

“And watch out for Nightmare Mo-o-o-on!” Applejack called after, laughing. “But seriously, if you see Nightmare Moon, run and get Twilight and the rest of us.”


(Bumblebees dozing in beds of autumn crocuses were mildly surprised by the sight of a giant bumblebee tottering along the way. For this was Nightmare Night, where a bit of cardboard and string could turn a pony into a superhero, or a ghoul, or anything. But it was cold, and the bees went back to sleep.)

Apple Bloom met up with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle in front of Rarity’s house. Sweetie Belle was taking off a dress that wouldn’t have looked out of place at a fancy ball, and Scootaloo was helping her put on a black skeleton suit instead. Scootaloo herself wore a shadow pony outfit, one suspiciously similar to the costume Rainbow Dash had worn last year. It was also way too big for her and smelled like it had spent some time in a dumpster.

They nodded at each other and began their jaunt.

“Where do you want to go first?” Sweetie Belle asked. She was easily the fiercest filly Apple Bloom knew, tough-snouted and boisterous. Her rough-and-tumble image was marred only by her perfect hair and coat, which shed dirt and grass like a duck shed water, and her voice, which tended to squeak.

“Rainbow Dash’s house!” said Scootaloo. It was her answer every year. Scootaloo didn’t have much in the way of family, and Rainbow Dash was something like an older sister to her. Apple Bloom didn’t really understand her situation and hadn’t asked. It sounded nice though. Being an Apple meant being suffocated by family.

“No, I hate her pranks,” said Sweetie Belle. “Remember that imitation thundercloud she made last year? Rarity said she got written up by the Cloudsdale Weather Service.”

“How about the town square? We could go bobbing for apples.”

“Eugh,” Apple Bloom said. “How about Twilight’s house? We’ve never seen her house on Nightmare Night.”

“She’s kind of weird,” said Scootaloo uncertainly. “She likes books.”

“At least it’ll be something new. I don’t want to be where everypony else is tonight.”

They got what she meant as they started heading down the path to Twilight’s house. There was a certain edge to the night air. Amid all the grand costumes and spooky decorations was a certain...alertness. It was like a wasp buzzing around while you were working outside. You didn’t let it stop you. But you had this prickling all over your skin, like you’d jump ten feet in the air if you felt something land on you. Nightmare Night was different when your town had been personally visited by Nightmare Moon only a few months earlier. No pony knew if Nightmare Moon was out for revenge. But if she was, surely she would come to Ponyville, where Twilight Sparkle and her friends lived.

Considering the impression Nightmare Moon had left on the citizens of Ponyville, that of a cackling, booming force of darkness, tall and vengeful and radiating danger, it was hard to imagine that she wasn’t out for revenge. You couldn’t really picture her saying, “Well, sometimes you have to know when you’re beat.”

“At least Twilight doesn’t have anything to be afraid of,” said Apple Bloom. “She beat Nightmare Moon once already. I bet she’s put up real scary decorations.”

But when they got to Twilight’s house, they were disappointed. A few uninspired cobwebs hung from the branches of her treehouse. A couple of plastic spiders failed to alarm anypony. Spike answered the door at their knock and gave them each a carrot and a small booklet on the importance of brushing their teeth.

“Twilight’s idea,” he said apologetically, seeing their expressions.

“Don’t you want to go have fun tonight?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Heck no,” Spike said. “I never get the house to myself. It’s a bubble bath and an early night for Spike.”

“That was disappointing,” Sweetie Belle said as they walked away. “No wonder no pony’s here.”

“Let’s go around back at least,” Apple Bloom said. “We can always head to Fluttershy’s from there.”

There weren’t any more decorations behind Twilight’s house, just a single tall Unicorn peering in through the window.

“Hi!” said Apple Bloom.

The pony jumped into the air like she had felt a wasp land on her and whirled around. Her eyes were dark and wild like a hunted creature, and her horn was long. Her whole body was long. She was even taller than Big Mac, Apple Bloom realized as she looked up and up at the pony in front of them.

She came down with unnatural grace. Her face was hard to see in the darkness; her whole body was a dark color, a purple deeper than Twilight’s.

She had on a cloak with a hood, and two lumps showing underneath on her back. Sacks for candy, Apple Bloom guessed.

There was a darkness about her, a darkness that seemed to suck in the night.

“I’ve never seen you around,” Apple Bloom said. “What’s your name?”

“Lunula,” the mare breathed. With her breath came a rush of cold air. Apple Bloom blinked and squinted against it.

“Were you looking for Twilight Sparkle?” Sweetie Belle asked. “She’s probably with her friends.”

Lunula hesitated. “Friends?”

“Our sisters and their friends. They’ve all got their Elements on, you’ll see ‘em straight away.”

“You’re really tall,” said Scootaloo. “Is that part of your costume?”

“Your sisters?” said Lunula. “Who are your sisters?”

“My sister is Rarity, and Apple Bloom is Applejack’s sister,” said Sweetie Belle, gesturing. Her voice squeaked as Lunula turned her gaze on her. “And, um, Scootaloo isn’t actually Rainbow Dash’s sister, but they hang out all the time.”

“Are your sisters home?”

Apple Bloom hesitated. She had never been told not to talk to strangers. Ponyville was a small town, and the most anypony preyed on fillies was by selling them overpriced candy. But Lunula hadn’t asked “Are your sisters home?” like she wanted to ask them a question or bring something by. There was this bubbly amusement in her voice, a smirk etched across her face like the slash of a knife.

“We should go,” Apple Bloom said. “Come on,” she said to Scootaloo, who was standing there frozen.

“Don’t go!” said Lunula. She sounded so upset that Apple Bloom stopped. “Wait, please. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me,” Apple Bloom lied. “It’s Nightmare Night, that’s all.”

“Isn’t it? I’ve never celebrated it before,” said Lunula. She looked around like the night sky and the trees and the owls were all new to her. “Can you show me how it’s done?”

The three of them shared a look. “Sure,” said Apple Bloom. “First you need a costume.”

“A costume? Whatever for?”

“To look scary. For scaring folks.”

Lunula peered at them. “Is that why you three are dressed so oddly?”

Scarily,” corrected Sweetie Belle.

“You gotta get in the mood,” Apple Bloom added. “Nightmare Night is sort of a state of mind.”

“Nightmare is not formally a state, it’s barely an organized territory at all,” Lunula said. “What’s so scary about a bumblebee?”

“Um,” said Apple Bloom. “I could sting ya?”

“Could you? And you are a skeleton,” she said to Sweetie Belle. “Very scary. And you….”

“A shadow pony,” said Scootaloo.

“They were called umbras long ago,” said Lunula. “I know lots about them.”

“Are you a historian?” Apple Bloom asked.

“No more than an oak tree is,” said Lunula, looking up at the Golden Oak Tree that Twilight called home. “Creatures like us collect memories like rainwater—but they live to be very old, you know. This is at least as old as the other one.”

“What other one?”

“There’s more than one oak tree,” Lunula scoffed. “But there’s only one Golden Oak Tree. Many great ponies have called it their home. Did you know it was Walras the Bearded who first lived here? He was the greatest wizard of his day.”

“Wow! Do you know any stories about him?” Scootaloo said.

“I know the story of his first love,” said Lunula. “I know about the spell that wove a tapestry from the stars and the grass and the birds in between.”

“Did he enchant them?” Scootaloo asked.

“He wanted to know why we enchant them,” Lunula said. “Shouldn’t they enchant themselves? Did you know that long ago, the Earth didn’t need Pegasi to stamp the water out of clouds? Rain just fell by itself.”

“No it didn’t,” said Apple Bloom. “How could it?”

“By getting very heavy,” Lunula said mildly, “and falling. Try jumping and you’ll see.”

“I want to hear more about Walras the Bearded,” Scootaloo said.

“Shall I tell the story of how he slew the Dragon of Ponedor?”

“Yeah!”

“I don’t think I want to,” said Lunula, and began to walk away.

“Wait!” Scootaloo dashed after her. “I want to hear a story about wizards and dragons. Please? It sounds so exciting.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle caught up with their friend as Lunula turned around. Her eyes were dancing, mischievous and shrewd.

“Do you want my stories? How selfish!—but if you have something to give me in return….”

Scootaloo started rummaging through her bag of treats. “I got a toothbreaker, and a gummy bat, and a peanut butter chew, and—”

“No! I don’t want your candy. I already told you what I want.”

“W-what?” Scootaloo asked.

“A costume, of course.” She looked at Apple Bloom. “It was your friend’s first suggestion.”

Apple Bloom wished she hadn’t said that.

“So,” said Lunula, “I need a costume. What should it be?”

“It’s supposed to be scary,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Oh? But you are a skeleton, which is utterly necessary for ponies to exist, however unglamorous it is. It is a fitting choice to celebrate the namesake of this night, but it isn’t scary.”

“I’m scary,” said Scootaloo, jutting out her small chest.

“You represent an entire species,” said Lunula without even looking. “Do you think all of them were evil?”

She centered on Apple Bloom. “And you are a bee. They can sting, yes, but they are important to life—Earth Ponies in miniature, they help the flowers breed. So I don’t see what’s so scary about any of your costumes.”

“You don’t have to dress up as something scary,” protested Sweetie Belle. “My sister’s going as Marelyn Poneroe.”

“Again?” said Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle sighed and nodded.

“Is anything scary about tonight?” Lunula asked dryly.

“There’s Nightmare Moon,” said Apple Bloom after a moment. “But my sister and the rest are guarding the town against her. She won’t be able to come back as long as they’ve got the Five Elements of Equilibrium.”

“Guard against Nightmare Moon? Why, she’s the mare of the occasion.”

Apple Bloom had never thought of it that way. “Well, she’s scary. So...so we want her out.”

“But the whole point of the night is to be scared,” Lunula pointed out curiously. “She would be welcome.”

“Because she tried to take over Ponyville and all of Equestria!” Scootaloo cut in. “She was at the NGDP Targeting Festival! It’s okay to be scary on Nightmare Night. But I don’t think she could stop being scary the morning after.”

“Maybe,” said Lunula, “if there was a special night where everypony wore costumes to look scary, she could wear one that made her look less scary, and it would balance out, she wouldn’t look scarier than anypony else.”

“No pony would invite Nightmare Moon,” Scootaloo said.

“Oh, I thought this was her night,” said Lunula airily. “Well, that gives me an idea for a spooky outfit. Will you girls help me make it?”

Apple Bloom had a hunch. “Is it a Nightmare Moon costume?” she guessed.

Lunula looked shocked.

“Of course not,” she said. “I want to look like a princess.”


“A princess,” repeated Apple Bloom.

“Princess Platinum, to be specific,” said Lunula. “Oh, but she was before your time.”

“Oh! I’m Princess Platinum,” squeaked Sweetie Belle. “I’m playing her in the school pageant for Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“You know your part already?” said Apple Bloom.

“Miss Cheerilee asked me to play her so Rarity’ll do all the costumes for free. She already did mine—it won’t fit you, Lunula, but maybe the crown—”

“Show me,” said Lunula.

So they took her all the way up to the Carousel Boutique, which was beset by ghosts from every corner. The spookiness of the decorations was somewhat undercut by the fact that all the ghosts were wearing fancy dresses with the prices on them advertised as “frighteningly low.”

Sweetie Belle came out a minute later with a dress and a crown on a rack. Lunula started laughing.

“It’s a little small on you,” Sweetie Belle admitted.

“It’s not that. This dress is—” Lunula cut off, laughing uncontrollably. “Oh, how the form changes, yet the spirit remains,” she said finally, wiping a tear from one eye. “It’s perfect. The size is no matter. Give it here.”

Lunula’s horn glowed a dark, swirling purple. The dress changed and grew until it fit her. She drew the dress over her body and let it settle, the hooded robe and the sacks on her back underneath seemingly fading into nothing.

She took the crown too and let it dangle on the base of her horn.

The transformation was stunning. Even Apple Bloom wasn’t sure for a moment whether they were in the presence of a real princess. The purple dress looked positively royal on her, and the white trim around it was like fluffy clouds carrying her through the sky. As for the crown, she pulled it off with practiced ease—when Sweetie Belle had modeled it for Rarity, she tended to forget she had it on and dropped it whenever she bent down. The modeling session had ended when a vigorous shake of her head had sent the crown through a window.

“How do I look?” said Lunula.

“Not very scary,” Apple Bloom admitted.

“But Princess Platinum was very scary. She was raised in a time when Equestria was nothing but ice and snow. Ponies had to be tough.”

“Will you teach me how to play her?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“And tell us stories!” demanded Scootaloo.

“Yes, yes, now where to begin? Come, fillies, let us hasten to the center of the festivities...Nightmare Night will not last but a few more hours. I will probably have to leave town tonight.”

Apple Bloom trailed after them, doubting herself. She had a worrying feeling that there was something off about Lunula. Still, she had sounded sad when she said she would have to leave. Weird as she was, Lunula looked like she was having fun. No pony liked to have their Nightmare Night cut short, Apple Bloom supposed.

“You are summer fillies,” Lunula explained as they walked. “That is what you would have been called over a thousand years ago. You are fillies raised in warm weather, with plenty of food and no predators.”

“Predators?” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“Ponies used to be hunted like any other creature. The windigos hid in the wind and walked under ice. They were very good at finding ponies.”

“Did Walras the Bearded defeat them?” Scootaloo asked.

“No, this was before his time. This was before Equestria’s time. This was a time when the land was dark and the Sun was slipping away from the earth. It was cold, and getting colder.”

“So who defeated them?”

They were coming onto the main scene of Ponyville’s Nightmare Night. The roads were merry with orange flame, and pumpkins lined the way. The square was full of activities and ponies in outlandish costumes cavorting with the confidence and abandon of those in masks.

Lunula watched a group of six mares push a yellow-coated one in a bunny outfit into a temporary tattoo booth.

(Bees nestled inside their petal beds. A chill wind rustled the leaves. This was Nightmare Night, where anypony could be anypony or anything….)

She turned and smiled at Scootaloo. “I did,” said Princess Platinum.

The tall mare in the royal dress drew stares as she strode into the square. The fillies trotted to keep up, caught in the sweep of her majesty.

“Great costume,” a devil told her.

A ghoul dropped his candy bag when the tall mare looked at him.

A zombie with rotting wings stumbled toward her to give her a spook, and thought better of it.

You could put on a mask and makeup any night. But Nightmare Night was one of those special nights.

Princess Platinum knew there were barriers in the world. She also knew, unlike most learned ponies, that there were divisions in time. Special times, like twilight, when the sun hadn’t quite set and the moon hadn’t quite risen.

Nightmare Night was a special night, when anypony could be anything they wished, and no pony was really scared of anything.

She approached a pool with fruit bobbing at the surface. “What game is this?”

“Bobbing for apples,” said a burly red stallion. He looked so absurd in his apple costume that even Nightmare Night wasn’t powerful enough to suspend her disbelief.

“Is there a price?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, but there’s always a price. There must be.”

“Um….” The stallion was having a hard time concentrating. He was fighting an urge to bow. “A piece of candy?”

“Very well. I just dunk my head in and take?”

The stallion was about to warn her to take her crown off or risk it falling in when the princess’s head flashed. The water rocked, and she had an apple in her teeth.

“I’ph goo’,” she said, taking a bite. “These are your apples?”

“Ee...eeyup.”

“What would you dream of, if you could dream of anything you wished?”

No apple had ever considered a question so gravely. “My parents, I reckon.”

Princess Platinum concentrated. A small piece of candy in a silver wrapper fell into his hoof.

“Don’t eat it all at once,” she warned. “Take a bite with each phase of the moon.”

She walked away. A bonfire rose above the square; a clown and a fencer ran away from it, giggling. In their wake brilliant orange fire spiked and sent pops of flame into the night.

“Watch,” said the princess to the young skeleton, who had caught up to her. Her horn flared, and the fire blazed up thirty feet into the air, sending green and purple smoke billowing out.

Ponies clapped and cheered. A door opened, and Walras the Bearded came out to see the commotion. She looked at the blazing fire, and then at the tall mare.

“Hey!” she said. “I recognize you.”

Lunula swallowed.

“Yeah,” said Twilight Sparkle. “You’re Princess Platinum. Great costume!”

Lunula steeled herself. She had come here tonight for a reason, she reminded herself. She had come to give something to this mortal mare who had deposed her.

Concentrate, she told herself. Remember why you are here. Don’t let the night take you away.

But while it was a princess’s walk that took her near the lavender Unicorn, it was Princess Platinum who spoke.

“Walras the Bearded. How we would have danced, had we met.”

Walras grinned uncertainly. “I didn’t know princesses were so forward.”

“Those who are winterborn know how to make the most of their time.”

“Nightmare Night’s not a night for dancing.”

“But the holiday it grew out of is. The dance of death. It was one of the first really effective weapons against the windigos.”

“You want to dance with me?”

“Are all summer ponies so hesitant?” Princess Platinum took Walras’s hoof. “Or are you embarrassed in front of your friends?”

A bunny rabbit, an actress, a high-speed trader, a fuzzy-headed aberration of pinkish hues, and an off-color apple blinked at them from the entrance of the booth. They all wore brilliant crystals on their chests.

Walras’s smile grew fiercer and more joyous. “No—never. We’ve been through too much for that.”

Princess Platinum led her toward the square. The bonfire rose over them as the princess took the young wizard by the hoof. Her other hoof found the wizard’s hip.

“Do you remember this old song?” she said as they danced. The leaves were rustling, the fire popping.

Walras the Bearded stumbled over unfamiliar steps. “I know about it,” she said. “Unicorns are gifted with time, as Earth Ponies are with place, and Pegasi with change.”

Princess Platinum danced like she had danced this dance a thousand times. She closed her eyes and for a moment let the music of the night carry her. She could hear the roots and flowers singing for water, and the distant percussion of the burning stars, and the gentle strum of the far currents, the piano tapping of rain on the horizon, all these things.

“What is equilibrium without the passage of time?” she murmured. “A stone rolls to a point and stops; in time, it changes, and comes to rest. The greatest riddle and the simplest puzzle are but two different sizes of dress, and the latter may be stretched to fit a pony who is master of it.”

“Does every star have its Alicorn?” Walras the Bearded asked.

“Not every star needs one.”

“Then that’s the puzzle, isn’t it?”

“Dance,” commanded Princess Platinum, all skirt and pride and glittering crown.

In the presence of two puissant mares filled with the magic of Nightmare Night, others were pulled into their grasp, like moons into the orbit of a planet spinning in time to an ancient cosmic song. Apple Bloom found Scootaloo and grabbed onto her.

“This is some kind of magic,” she gasped. “Can’t you feel it? The air’s so cold.”

The umbra tugged away from her, joining a growing circle of ponies in motion. “Come on! It’s the only night of the year—”

She disappeared into the whirl of bodies. Apple Bloom ducked and found Sweetie Belle.

“Come on,” the skeleton squeaked. “Our sisters are dancing too.” And she took the bumblebee’s hoof and brought her into the circle, and the purple smoke rising from the bonfire joined the night sky.

Partners changed, and no pony was keeping track, but somehow Princess Platinum and Walras the Bearded found themselves together again. It was nearly midnight, and while the festivities might continue into the morning, it would, technically, no longer be Nightmare Night.

They were getting very close together, until with a bump Princess Platinum and Walras the Bearded were snout-to-snout. Walras the Bearded’s eyes widened—Princess Platinum opened her mouth to say something—

—a cesium atom shivered, and it was 12:00 a.m.

Twilight stumbled back and fell at the sight of the mare growing over her, dress ripping off as a cold blackness grew over her coat. Her dark wings spread out like the shadows of creeping wolves.

“No!” Twilight shrieked, and tried to scramble away. Nightmare Moon lazily reached out a hoof and pinned her to the ground.

“Hello again,” she said. Her voice was like the lingering smoke after a fire.

Twilight’s horn glowed purple. She tried to teleport, and felt something catch in her horn, the magic snatched away: She blurred momentarily and remained pinned under Nightmare Moon’s hoof.

“Twilight!” said Rainbow Dash, moving forward with her Element. Something black flashed by her face so fast that she didn’t even react. She heard the sound of air rushing into a vacuum and felt a faint sense of pressure; the spell had obliterated everything it had touched. Rainbow Dash reared back and felt her heart thump with fear.

“Don’t,” said Twilight. “We can’t fight an Alicorn.”

Nightmare Moon cackled. She surveyed the astonished and panicked townsfolk: Twilight’s pathetic friends, various dumbfounded ponies in costume, and three pale-faced fillies looking guilty and afraid.

To the east the sun was already cresting over the horizon, rising unnaturally fast.

“Give it up,” Twilight said. She had seen the sun as well. “Princess Celestia knows you’re here. If you try to take the Elements—”

Nightmare Moon leaned down and whispered into Twilight’s ear. Twilight’s eyes widened. Then Nightmare Moon raised a hoof, placed it with deliberation, and smiled at Twilight, who had just a moment to realize what was going to happen. Nightmare Moon pressed down hard with her hoof on Twilight’s ribcage, in the same spot they had fractured in the Everfree Forest only a few months ago. Twilight made a pained squeaking noise, that of a helpless creature drawing in breath just as it became impossible to do so.

Doubled over in pain, Twilight only heard the loud crackas Nightmare Moon teleported away.

Her friends rushed over to her. Fluttershy pushed them out of the way and began to examine her.

“It’s the same spot,” Twilight gasped.

“Shh,” Fluttershy said. “Nothing seems punctured,” she said after a moment. “Twilight, I’m going to turn you onto your injured side. Breathe, okay?”

“The next time Nightmare Moon shows her face,” Applejack began angrily.

“No,” Twilight wheezed. “If she wanted to kill me, I’d be dead. It was a stupid plan. My fault.”

Fluttershy sent Rainbow Dash racing to her house and back, returning with bags of ice and a bowl of what smelled like powdered willow bark. Fluttershy stirred the bark up in a cup of water and fed it to Twilight.

With the adrenaline from the violent attack, Twilight was in pain but could focus. She focused on her mistakes and on what the other ponies needed to know if Nightmare Moon came back. “I’m so stupid, we could never defend against her by just waiting. The Elements have to be focused and aimed, or else they just happen, you don’t use them—” Her voice trailed off, getting weaker, her flank shuddering up and down.

“Breathe slower, deeper,” said Fluttershy.

“It looked like she said something to you,” Rainbow Dash said. “What’d she want?”

Twilight took a deep breath, wincing in pain. “Oh, um, nothing. Just that if I figured out how she defeated Princess Celestia and the One Bank, she’d give me a bad dream as a special present.”

“I never thought I’d say this, but don’t accept that present,” said Pinkie Pie, fiercely protective. “Don’t let her turn you into a gray economist, remember?”

“I won’t,” Twilight said. “Thanks, everypony.”

There was a bit of commotion as the rest of the town tried to panic in different ways. It wasn’t organized, like a good riot or a proper mass hysteria, and so it was just a lot of noise and ponies bumping into each other. Mayor Mare, who was wearing, for whatever reason, a multi-colored afro wig, reasserted order.

“Twilight, are you okay?” she asked. “I thought you and your friends were watching out for Nightmare Moon.”

“She got the jump on me,” Twilight admitted. “Sorry.

“Did no pony see her come in?” said Mayor Mare.

“Um,” said Apple Bloom. Everypony looked at her. “Oh, phoo,” she said. “Why do I gotta be raised by the most honest sister in the world?”

“You knew?” said Applejack.

“Kind of?” said Apple Bloom, squeaking a lot like Sweetie Belle.

“Why didn’t you tell anypony?”

“We wanted to show her the magic of friendship?” said Sweetie Belle. The faces on their sisters told them this was not a winning try.

“We’re grounded, aren’t we?” Apple Bloom sighed.

“Eeyup.”

Oui.”

Scootaloo was waiting nervously by her friends. Everypony looked at Rainbow Dash.

“What?” she said. “I’m not her sister.”

Scootaloo looked crestfallen.

“Oh, all right,” Rainbow Dash said. “You’re grounded. Happy?”

Scootaloo broke out into a wide grin. “Yes!”


“Why is she here?” Apple Bloom demanded.

Twilight levitated a sponge from the bucket. She was sitting down, but unbandaged, manually holding an ice pack to her damaged ribs. “I messed up last night too. It’s only right that I share in the punishment.”

“I tried to talk her out of it,” Applejack said. “But she kept insisting, and I reckon it’s the same as volunteering to give me a hoof, which I always do appreciate. Anyway, have fun cleaning the old barn, you four.”

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Twilight worked in silence for a few minutes, scrubbing and sponging and moving out of the way to let Sweetie Belle come by with the mop.

“Tell me about her,” Twilight said suddenly.

It took Apple Bloom a moment to understand. “You mean Nightmare Moon?”

“She said her name was Lunula,” Scootaloo said.

“Then tell me about her,” Twilight said. “Tell me about Lunula.”

The fillies all shared a look.

“Well,” Apple Bloom said, “she was really tall, and really scary, but also kind of sad. And she told us things….”

Next Chapter: Gamma Glisten Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 2 Minutes
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