It was nearing sunset in the big city of Manehatten, the city of skyscrapers, high fashion, and home to earth pony sophisticates who preferred to develop their own culture separate from the ponies of Canterlot. Unlike most population centers, Manehatten did not concern itself much with the work of sustaining itself; there was no farming area, no mines, and few factories. The city's lifeblood came from the deep pockets of high-seated business ponies who preferred to live away from the places that made them money, and from the cultural centers that tried to cater to said business ponies and the tourists. At least, that's the impression Heart and Soul had got when they'd escorted Princess Celestia through the city. Right now, the only thing on Soul's mind was that he deeply regretted going with Heart to investigate the sounds coming from Luna's penthouse suite ten minutes ago when she was supposed to be napping. Now he was well above most of the buildings, front legs wrapped loosely around the Night Princess's neck for stability as she flew through the darkening sky, making her escape from the majority of her honor guard. The only consolation was that Heart was flying right beside Luna, and she seemed as divided as he was over the wisdom of this flight.

"Why did you bring us along?" he asked the princess, "We are part of your staff after all. Kinda defeats the purpose of running away, doesn't it?"

"Unlike the rest of the guards," Luna said, "You have not had years of training and duty drilled into you, so you are capable of lightening up and having fun. Besides, I need somepony to show me around to all the good sights."

"We've only been here once before ourselves," Heart said, "And that was with your sister last week. It was a one day, whirlwind tour of spas, parks, and the history museum that involved a lot of standing outside doorways watching for trouble that never came."

"And it was all done at ground level," Soul added. Luna took the hint and angled into a downward glide, alighting on a street corner near what looked to be the theater district. Soul rolled off Luna's back as Heart landed, and the two ponies stood next to each other as they looked up at the purple alicorn. "Thank you," Soul said, "now, any ideas of what you'd like to do?"

Luna looked around, and then shrugged. "All I know is I'm on vacation, and to me that means doing something I don't normally get to do," she said.

"So," Soul said slowly, "No meetings, no answering petitions, no fancy, drawn-out meals with high-class, cultured ponies…"

"And what, pray tell, is wrong with cultured ponies?" a cultured, vaguely familiar voice said from off to Soul's left.

"Uh, my apologies, miss…" Soul trailed off as he turned to face the speaker, only to have his jaw drop as he saw a freckled, orange earth pony with a tied-back blonde mane and tail and a Stetson hat on her head. "A-applejack?" he stammered, "Wha…"

"What am I doing here?" Applejack asked in a clear Manehatten accent, "Why, I am visiting some relatives of mine who happen to reside in this fair city." She laughed at Heart and Soul's dumbfounded expressions and switched back to her normal drawl. "Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom are here with me. We just got finished with one of those fancy, drawn-out meals y'all were talkin' 'bout and let me tell you, those two almost blew poor Aunt 'n Uncle Orange's guest's minds with their way of talkin', 'specially since I can fake the Manehattenite voice so well. What brings the two of you here?"

"There are three of us actually," Luna said, stepping around the corner into AJ's field of vision.

"Whoa nelly!" Applejack exclaimed, dipping quickly into a bow, "Princess Luna! G-good evenin'. Sorry fer babblin' so much. If I'd a known you wa- were there, I'd-"

"Calm yourself," Luna said, "And please stand up." Applejack complied, reaching up to straighten her hat as she did so. "You said your brother and sister were with you," the Princess continued, "Where are they right now?"

"Well," AJ said, "Bloom kinda wore herself out at the dinner, so Mac's takin' her to the Orange's place. Myself, I was thinkin' of checkin' out the theaters to see if there's any shows they'd like ta go see tomorra before we head back home."

"That seems like a good idea," Luna said, "We will join you on your search."

"Oh, well if you insist," Applejack said, "it'd be an honor Princess. Follow me y'all, if you please." Heart, Soul, and Luna moved aside to let AJ take the lead as they walked toward the theaters.

"Say AJ," Soul asked as they walked, "who's tending the farm if you're all out here?"

"Granny Smith stayed behind," Applejack said, "She's a mite old for travelin' these days. We hired a couple stallions ta mind the place for a few days, and Rainbow Dash promised to keep the orchards well watered. Although knowin' her, she'll spend most of her time nappin' in mah trees and eatin' mah apples… Still, she does keep her promises, one way or another." As they walked along the street, the sun sank below the horizon and the lights of the theater marquees and street lamps took over the job of making visibility possible. Heart and Soul exchanged glances and the occasional muttered quip of surprise as they looked at the plays and other shows being advertised by the theater signs. From what Luna and AJ could catch, they seemed to be comparing those shows to ones they were familiar with from their old home. As the group reached the end of the first street and turned onto a less well-lit cross-street to reach the next line of theaters, Heart's gaze went up to the sky, and she slowed to a stop as a look of confusion crossed her face.

"What's up sis?" Soul asked.

"I'm not sure but…" Heart said, "Princess Luna, do the stars look right to you?"

Luna looked up and swept her gaze across the sky. The street lights washed out a lot of her stars, but those she could see… "No," she said, "They are all out of position." She looked back down and resumed walking, looking very unconcerned.

"Princess?" Heart asked as the three ponies ran to catch up with her.

"I'm on vacation," Luna declared, "Celestia's in charge of the night this week. She'll have to fix it." She continued on her way, rounding the corner into a crowd gathered around the front of a theater.

"Hold on," Applejack said, catching up thanks to the crowd parting around the Princess, "Ain't you the least bit concerned that…" she trailed off as her eyes landed on the theater's marquee. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open slightly as she read the words. Heart and Soul glanced at her, looked up, and also froze in surprise. Luna paused in her march, looked at the stunned ponies, and then up at the marquee, which read: The Great and Powerful Trixie: Live at the Silver Halter.

She glanced at her escort, back up to the marquee, and then back to the ponies. "I don't get it," she said.

"Spike, do you know where my astronomy notes are?"

"You stuck a few into Skies of Equestria."

"Those are about the mistakes they made regarding the south-western winter sky."

"Then I guess they're under your notes on herbs and potions."

"Which are where?"

Spike sighed and went over to the proper desk and started digging through the stacks of paper. He pulled out what felt like half a book's worth and carried them up to Twilight Sparkle, who was making some adjustments to her telescope. "Here," he said, holding up the papers, "Do you want all of them?" Twilight looked over from her work, scanned the top sheet, and then pulled it and four others off with telekinesis.

"Thank you Spike," she said, "Sorry to make you work so hard, but this thing's being so stubborn right now…" She gave the telescope stand a light kick and then caught it as it started to tip over.

"No problem," Spike said, taking the rest of the notes back downstairs, "I'll just put these somewhere less difficult to get to."

"Thank you," Twilight said again, and then gave a brief laugh of triumph as she managed to force the telescope into the right angle. She lifted it gingerly with her magic and carried it toward the stairs leading to the observation platform on top of the library.

"What are you looking for tonight?" Spike asked, coming back upstairs.

"I'm going to look at the Small Griffon," Twilight said, climbing the stairs, "I think the star on it's right leg might be changing into a white dwarf and I want to see if I can observe the change." She reached the platform, settled the telescope into place, and then looked up. She blinked several times, rubbed her eyes, and then rushed back inside, almost running into the baby dragon. "Spike," she said in a panic, "take a letter!" Spike started to reach for a piece of paper and pen, but then stopped as his stomach rumbled and he let out a burp of green fire that transformed into a scroll sealed with Celestia's seal.

"Uh, let's see here," he said, grabbing the scroll and opening it. He cleared his throat and read, "Dear Twilight, I'm sure you've noticed by now that the stars are not where they belong in the sky. I hope this letter reaches you before you have Spike send one to me, because there is no reason to panic. My sister has started her week of vacation today, and it seems I may be more out of practice with organizing the night than I thought. I apologize if I've spoiled any astronomic studies you were planning for tonight, but I'm already in the process of fixing my little hiccup. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

"Out of practice?" Twilight asked, incredulous, "She ran the night for a thousand years; how can she be out of practice?"

"Well, she hasn't done it for over a year," Spike said, setting the letter aside, "You're always telling me you can lose skills pretty quickly if you don't use them regularly."

"I guess you're right," Twilight said, and then brightened up. "Hey, this is a once-in-a lifetime chance!" she declared, running back up to the platform, "When else will I get a chance to see the stars rearrange themselves at a visible speed?" Spike smiled as he joined the very excited lavender unicorn on the viewing platform. Twilight looked like she was either going to burst or break out into a Pinkie Pie bounce as she watched the night sky intently. They sat there for several minutes, but nothing happened. Twilight's excitement started to drain and Spike gave a huge yawn before standing up to leave. Suddenly, Twilight grabbed him and pointed a hoof toward a red star, which looked like it was wobbling. With a jerk, it moved out of position, followed by one, and then two, and finally all of the stars, which began whirling and zipping around the sky seemingly at random. Both Twilight's and Spike's eyes shone with amazement at the unprecedented display. The stars stopped moving suddenly, but the arrangement was still unfamiliar to Twilight. A couple seconds later the stars went into motion again, stopping in another incorrect layout. This repeated four more times, and finally several minutes passed without any stellar movement. Twilight wasn't sure, but she was willing to bet that some of the stars were in the right place now… A couple minutes later Spike burped out another letter from the Princess.

The two of them went inside to read the letter. Spike unrolled the scroll, cleared his throat, and began, "Dear Twilight, my most faithful and capable student." Uh oh, Twilight thought, a feeling of dread settling into her gut. "I don't wish to alarm you," Spike continued, "but I fear there may be something wrong. I cannot get the stars to fall into their proper alignments, no matter how I try. I have even attempted Fluttershy's approach of asking politely and begging. In order to accertain the source of this problem and resolve it as quickly as possible, I need you and Spike to come to Canterlot at your earliest convenience to assist me and others I can trust in our research into this issue. Trustingly yours, Princess Celestia." Spike looked up from the letter to see Twilight rushing about stuffing books into her saddlebags. "I take it we're leaving now?" he asked.

"We have to!" Twilight said, "This is a disaster!"