Divergence

by grimchi3f

Rating: everyone
Tags: Bon-Bon, Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Lyra, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy
Length: 8054

It's the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration, and Twilight must travel to Ponyville to oversee the preperations. Once there, she meets five ponies whose destinies are inexplicably tied with her own.

On the day of the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration, Twilight Sparkle finds out about the return of Nightmare moon and begins to worry about it. however, Princess Celestia dismisses Twilight's worries and sends her to Ponyville to oversee the preparations for the celebration and to make some friends. Once there, Twilight meets five ponies whose destinies are inexplicably tied with her own. Those ponies? Derpy Hooves, Lyra Heartstrings, Bon-Bon, Pinkie Pie, and Cloudkicker.

...

What? Were you expecting someone else?

Published 2013-07-25 21:20:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-21 20:31:49 UTC

Make Some Friends!

Part 1: Ponyville - Chapter 1: Make Some Friends!

" 'My dear Twilight,' " read Spike, glancing up from the Princess's letter to look at Twilight who was continuing to stare dejectedly out over the side of the swiftly moving sky-chariot. " 'There is more to a young pony's life than studying. So, I'm sending you to super vise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location, Ponyville!' "

Spike gestured over the front of the sky-chariot at the town that had just appeared through the clouds. The town looked rural, and it didn't have the regal flair that Canterlot had. It's buildings looked as if they'd been made of wood and other such materials instead of stone, and some of the buildings were rather oddly shaped, with parts of them just jutting out with no visible means of support. Still, it did have a sort of charm to it.

As the sky-chariot began descending towards the charming little rural town, Spike continued, " 'And I have an even more essential task for you to complete.' " He paused here and stepped closer to Twilight, smiling at what was next. " 'Make some friends!' "

The purple unicorn rolled her eyes and groaned. Of course the Princess had to tack that last bit on. Celestia had been trying to get her to make friends ever since Twilight had become her student. The only problem was, Twilight didn't want any friends. She didn't need any. Because of this, Twilight had no friends besides her brother, Shining Armor, and Spike. And that wasn't going to change now. She had more important things to deal with now, like Nightmare Moon's return which, for some reason, Princess Celestia didn't seem to care much about.

"Look at the bright side, Twilight," said Spike, still smiling. "The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn't that make you happy?"

Twilight thought about that for a moment, staring at the landscape below. Them, standing up, she smirked. "Yes, yes it does. And you know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return."

"But when will you make friends like the Princess said?" asked Spike, scratching his head.

"She said to check on preparations," Twilight explained. "I am her student and I'll do my royal duty. But the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends."

A few minutes later, their sky-chariot had landed in the center of Ponyville. After thanking the carriage pullers and watching the sky-chariot fly away, Twilight and Spike turned to face the street full of ponies. They all certainly seemed normal enough as they walked to and fro doing their daily business, though they seemed less inclined to wear clothes than the Canterlot ponies the two of them were used to.

"Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about!" Spike exclaimed, eying the pink pony that was walking towards them. As the pink mare reached them, he added quietly, "C'mon Twilight, just try!"

Twilight glanced at the pony and forced herself to smile. "Uh... hello."

All of a sudden, the pink pony leapt up into the air, let out an extremely loud gasp, and then zoomed off behind them in a blur of bright pink. Both Twilight and Spike stared after the strange pony, wondering what had just happened.

"That was interesting alright," said Twilight after a few seconds, frowning.

At Twilight's words, all Spike did in response was sigh.

Then, without further ado, the two overseers began walking down the street in the opposite direction from the strange pink pony. However, just as they started doing so, they quickly realized that they had absolutely no idea where they were going and, because of that, they stopped in their tracks.

"Spike," said Twilight, glancing down at the diminutive baby dragon, "take out that overseer's checklist the Princess gave you."

"What? Oh yeah, right," Spike replied, pulling out the checklist.

"What's the first thing it wants us to check?" asked Twilight, once again observing the Ponyville ponies.

"Um... well, it wants us to go check on the food preparations first which is being handled by a pony named Applejack," answered Spike, gazing at the parchment in his claws. "It says here that Applejack lives at Sweet Apple Acres."

Twilight nodded. "Ah, good." She blinked. "Where exactly is that?"

"It doesn't say," said Spike, rolling up the checklist.

"Ugh," Twilight groaned. "That means I'm going to have to ask somepony direc--"

Suddenly, something exceedingly heavy, yet surprisingly soft, hit Twilight right square on the noggin, forcing her to the ground.

"Oops!" shouted a rather obnoxious voice from high above. "My bad! Sorry about that!"

"Twilight, are you okay?" asked Spike worriedly, rushing up the the purple unicorn.

"I'm... fine," Twilight responded, wriggling out from under the heavy object and then staring at it. It was... some saddlebags. No, not just any saddlebags; they were mailbags. Which meant...

"I'm really sorry," said the gray pegasus mare who'd just landed. Her voice was definitely the obnoxious one Twilight had heard earlier, yet it was also a little slow and slurred. This gray pegasus had a blonde mane and her cutie mark was that of... bubbles, strangely enough. However, the weirdest thing about this mare was her eyes; they were crossed at an odd angle, with one looking up and the other looking down. "My bags must have slipped," she added, slipping the mailbags back onto her back.

It was obvious to Twilight that this mare had some sort of disability, so instead of getting annoyed, she stayed polite. "Oh no, it's quite alright. Mistakes happen."

"But you could've been killed!" said Spike. Twilight shot him a nasty look, causing the baby dragon to instantly shut up.

"My name's Twilight Sparkle, by the way," Twilight said, switching her gaze back to the pegasus and holding out a hoof.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Twilight," the grey pegasus replied, shaking the purple unicorn's hoof with a little more vigor than necessary. "I'm Derpy Hooves, Ponyville's resident mailmare and probably Equestria's greatest muffin baker!"

Derpy? Well, that was certainly... fitting. "It's nice to meet you too, Derpy. Now, I need to ask you--"

"Speaking of muffins," began Derpy, not hearing Twilight at all, "I need to make it up to you for this. How about you come over to my place sometime so I can bake you a batch of muffins?"

"I don't know about that," said Twilight, frowning. "But I really need to ask you where--"

"Oh, but I need to know which muffins to bake you first," continued Derpy, interrupting Twilight. "What's your favorite type of muffin? Is it Banana Nut?"

"Uh, no."

"Blueberry?"

"No."

"Um... Pistachio?"

"No!"

"Chocolate Chip?"

"NO!"

"Blueberry? Wait, no, I already asked about that one..."

"Derpy!" shouted Twilight as Spike started laughing. "Please. The Princess has asked me to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, but in order to do that, I need to find out where Sweet Apple Acres is. Can you please tell me where it is?"

"Oh, that's easy! You just follow this road all the way down that way," Derpy explained, pointing the way Twilight and Spike had been heading in the first place. "It'll be on your right. It's the place with all the apple trees, you can't miss it."

"Of course it's that way," sighed Twilight. "Well, thanks. It was nice meeting you Derpy, but I've got to go check on those preparations now, so, um..."

"Oh, yeah, of course," said Derpy, nodding. "I've got to go anyway to deliver the rest of this mail. But remember that if you ever want muffins, my door's always open."

"Um, thanks," Twilight replied, silently vowing to never take her up on that offer.

Derpy smiled and her eyes shifted their alignment. "Well, goodbye, Twilight. I can't wait to hang out some more." With that, she spread her wings and took off, not hearing Twilight's groan at the mention of hanging out.

"This town has some very odd ponies," Twilight remarked, watching the wall-eyed pegasus clumsily fly away and almost hit a lamppost.

Spike nodded. "I don't know, she seemed pretty nice... you know, besides the bag dropping on your head thing."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yes, she did seem nice, but if she thinks she's gonna be my friend, she's mistaken. I don't want any friends, and I don't need any either. Now," she said, turning in the direction Derpy had indicated, "let's go oversee some preparations, shall we?"

"Oh Twilight," whispered Spike, shaking his head as he and Twilight began walking down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Interesting Ponies

Part 1: Ponyville - Chapter 2: Interesting Ponies

It didn't take long before the two overseers were interrupted again. Just as Twilight was observing the brightly colored bakery they were passing, she bumped into a mint-green unicorn whose book she'd been magicking along fell to the ground.

"Oops, sorry," said Twilight and the unicorn at the same time, causing Spike to giggle.

"Sorry, I should have been paying better attention," Twilight apologized, smiling sheepishly.

"No, no, it was my fault," the unicorn mare insisted. "I was too busy reading this book to watch where I was going." The book she levitated up from the ground looked extremely familiar. It had a brown cover with a golden unicorn head in the center.

"Twilight!" exclaimed Spike, pointing at the book. "That's the old ponytale book you were reading in Canterlot!"

The mint-green unicorn raised an eyebrow. "You know this book? What were you looking up?"

"Oh, uh, just stuff on Nightmare Moon's return," Twilight answered.

"Really?" asked the unicorn. "Personally, I don't like reading about stupid old ponytales like that. The real reason I'm reading this book is the small section it has on humans. Unlike everything else in this book, that part's actually real."

"Humans?" Twilight muttered, beginning to wonder if this unicorn was completely sane. Twilight had heard about humans before through rumors and stories, but the only ponies who actually believed that garbage were the clinically insane and the old crackpot scientists who also believed that the sun was made of superheated gas. As if!

The mint-green unicorn gasped. "You know about them too!?" she exclaimed, hugging Twilight tightly. "Oh, we're going to be the best of friends you and I!" After breaking the embrace, she took Twilight's hoof. "Here, come with me back to my place. I've got a whole lot to show you. I'm sure you'll be quite impressed with what I have!"

"Um..." was all Twilight could say before the unicorn mare yanked her away with Spike laughing as he followed closely behind.

"Well, this is,uh, quite the collection you have here, Lyra," said Twilight, glancing from the human hand sketches to the human hand sculptures and finally to all the large research books that littered the many shelves within the dull brown room.

"Thank you, Twilight," the mint-green unicorn replied happily. "I've been researching humans since I was a little filly. They've become quite a passion of mine, especially since there's so much proof that they existed. Take doorknobs as an example. They were obviously designed for hands, not hooves."

Twilight resisted the urge to facehoof. This unicorn was most definitely crazy. She really believed humans existed. Not only that, but she thought Twilight did too! After their conversation by the colorful bakery, Lyra had whisked Twilight to her home which was right above a candy shop on the outskirts of town. That meant, on the one hoof, that both her and Spike were closer to Sweet Apple Acres. But, on the other hoof, they were stuck in this room with a crazy unicorn and her tokens of insanity.

"Woah!" exclaimed Spike, picking up a wooden hand carving from a large bookcase. "This is so cool!"

"Take it, it's yours," said Lyra, hopping onto the small bed that resided in the corner of the room.

Spike's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Lyra answered, shrugging. "I've had it for far too long, and it's better that someone else who would actually appreciate it were to have it. Plus, I have plenty more where that came from." She waved a hoof at all the other sculptures that littered the room. "Go ahead and take it."

Spike continued to stare at Lyra and, if Twilight's eyes weren't mistaking her, his pupils somehow transformed into hearts. That was Twilight's cue to get the hay out of there. However, just as she was about to make an excuse to leave, something else on the bookcase caught her eye, something that resembled Lyra's cutie mark perfectly.

"Is that lyre yours?" Twilight asked, pointing up at the instrument with her hoof.

"Yessiree Bob," Lyra confirmed. Wrapping it in a muted mint-green glow, she levitated the lyre down until it was floating beside her. "My parents forced me to learn an instrument when I was younger and I ended up choosing this one. Funnily enough, it turned out to be my special talent. I still play it every now and again at Ponyville park whenever I need money." She paused for a moment. "Do you guys wanna hear me play?"

Before Twilight could say anything, Spike blurted out, "Of course!"

Lyra smiled. "Alrighty then."

She closed here eyes and her horn glowed brighter as she let her magic flow into the lyre. Immediately, notes began flowing out of the instrument, joined soon enough by more notes, and then even more notes, all of which coalesced into a hauntingly sorrowful song that Twilight couldn't believe was coming out of such a small instrument. It brought tears to her eyes and also, once she checked, Spike's eyes too; the song seemed to resonate with their souls. After a couple minutes, Lyra stemmed the flow of magic and the song ended, one last somber note echoing in the small brown room.

"That was... that was beautiful!" Twilight complimented, wiping the tears form her eyes. "I've never heard anything like it!"

Lyra shrugged and levitated the lyre back to it's place on the bookshelf. "If you say so."

At that moment, the sound of a door opening and then closing could be heard from downstairs. Lyra froze, listening intently for any other noises.

"Lyra?" came a mare's voice. "Are you home?"

"Uh oh," said Lyra, her face pale. Then, leaping off the bed, she began shoving Twilight and Spike towards the door. "You guys need to leave!"

Twilight wasn't going to complain, but that didn't stop Spike from doing it. "What? Why? Who was that?"

"That was Bon-Bon. She's the owner of the candy shop downstairs and also my roommate. Her room's down the hall," Lyra explained. With one final shove, they were outside Lyra's room.

"But why do we need to leave?" Spike repeated, clutching the wooden hand to his chest.

"Because Bon-Bon doesn't like my, um, obsession with humans. If she knew I was showing you guys--"

"Ah, Lyra, you are home," said the cream-colored Earth pony walking towards them from down the hall. Her gaze then fell onto Twilight and Spike. "Um, who are they?"

"Oh, hello Bon-Bon, these are my two new friends, Twilight Sparkly and... uh... Spike! Yeah, that's it," said Lyra as Twilight quietly groaned at the word 'friends.'

Bon-Bon's eyes narrowed. "You were showing them you human stuff, weren't you Lyra?"

"Pfffft, no way. I'd never do such a thing. What would give you that idea?" Lyra lied, smiling innocently.

Raising an eyebrow, Bon-Bon retorted, "Well, that wooden hand the baby dragon's holding is kind of a dead giveaway."

Lyra facehoofed. "Aw, ponyfeathers."

"Sorry," whispered Spike.

"Don't worry dear, it's not your fault," Bon-Bon said, frowning at Lyra. "If anything it's her fault for showing you this stuff. I hope she hasn't started to make you guys believe in that garbage."

"Actually, Twilight here is with me on all this stuff," said Lyra, pulling Twilight closer to herself with a foreleg. "She believes humans are real."

"Um..." Twilight muttered, glancing from Lyra to Bon-Bon.

"Oh really?" asked Bon-Bon. "Are you sure? Did you even ask her?"

"No... no I haven't," Lyra replied, looking to Twilight. "You do believe in humans, right?"

"Well, actually--" Twilight started.

"See, she doesn't," said Bon-Bon, interrupting Twilight.

"You didn't even let her finish!" Lyra exclaimed, stamping a hoof.

Bon-Bon rolled her eyes. "Honestly Lyra, you can tell just by looking at her face."

"Oh, that's a load of crap, Bon-Bon," Lyra retorted, removing her foreleg from around Twilight. "She looks exactly the same as she has the whole time I've known her!"

"You know what, Lyra? You're getting on my nerves. Just... just go to your room," ordered Bon-Bon, glaring at the mint-green unicorn. "Right now."

"You're not my mom," said Lyra defiantly. "You're no the boss of--"

"Now!"

"Fine," Lyra grunted, sulking back into her room. "Goodbye Twilight, Spike. I'll see you guys later."

As soon as Lyra closed the door, Bon-Bon sighed. "Sometimes I wonder about that pony."

"What are you talking about?" asked Spike, staring incredulously at the Earth pony. "I thought she was amazing!"

"Spike!" Twilight cautioned. Turning to Bon-Bon, she held out a hoof. "Anyway, as Lyra told you, I'm Twilight Sparkle. The Princess sent me to Ponyville to oversee preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Well, it's nice to make you acquaintance, Twilight," Bon-Bon replied, shaking Twilight's hoof. "If you want, I can make you guys something to eat... you know, to make up for Lyra."

Twilight shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but we really need to get to Sweet Apple Acres to check on the preparations."

"Aw, c'mon Twilight," said Spike. "I'm starving!"

"Yeah, Twilight," Bon-Bon agreed. "Let me make you lunch. I can see you're very hungry as well."

"I'm not hungry, actually," Twilight insisted. However, after a very loud stomach growl, she sighed in defeat. "You know what? Fine. Let's eat."

About an hour later, a satisfied Spike and an impatient, slightly nauseous Twilight exited Bon-Bon's candy shop. They were finally back on the road to Sweet Apple Acres!

"Ugh, I don't think I'll ever be able to eat again," Twilight maned, her stomach feeling as though it could burst at any second.

As his left claw held the wooden hand firmly, Spike was patting his stomach fondly with his right claw. "Wow! Bon-Bon's such a great cook. Her hay fries are to die for!"

"Please stop talking about food!" Twilight pleaded, barely able to keep walking.

"And that Lyra!" Spike enthused, hugging his wooden hand tight. "Don't even get me started on how awesome she is! I mean, she just up and gave me this thing. How cool is that?"

"Not very," muttered Twilight so quietly Spike couldn't hear, closing her eyes and wishing that his exhausting day would just end already. She didn't know how much more of this town she could take.

"Hey! You! Purple unicorn!" shouted a voice from behind the two overseers. "Are you Twilight Sparkle?"

Well, it seemed she was going to find out. Oh joy.

Help Found

Part 1: Ponyville - Chapter 3: Help Found

Twilight and Spike turned around to see who was calling for them, or more accurately, calling for Twilight. It turned out to be a lavender pegasus with a honey-blonde mane. She slowly glided down form her current height before landing gracefully on the ground in front of them.

"Are you Twilight Sparkle?" the pegasus repeated, hints of a Manehattan accent coloring her voice.

"Yes, I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight answered, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. They hadn't even gone more than ten meters from Bon-Bon's candy shop! What was with this town and its constant interruptions?

"I'm Cloudkicker," the pegasus replied. "My buddy, Derpy, sent me. She said you might need help with something."

Twilight frowned. "Well, what exactly did she say I needed help with?"

"She said that Princess Celestia told you to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration and that that's what you might need help with," Cloudkicker explained.

"Well, she was right about that," Twilight said, surprised Derpy remembered all that. "But I don't really need any help. I think I've got it under control."

"Are you sure?" asked Cloudkicker, raising an eyebrow. She held out her hoof. "Here, let me see what you have to do."

Twilight shook her head. "I don't think that'll be necessary." But it was too late as Spike had already handed Cloudkicker the overseer's checklist.

Her eyes quickly scanned the parchment. "I don't know. That's a lot to get done in one day. You'd be running all over town!" She rolled it up and gave it back to Spike. "Why don't you let me take this off your hooves?"

Twilight was about to object again when something clicked in her brain: this would give her a boatload of free time to look for proof of Nightmare Moon's return! "Uh, yeah, alright! Go ahead!"

"I don't know, Twilight," said Spike, frowning at Twilight. "Didn't you say you wanted to do your 'royal duty' or something?"

"Yes, well, this gives us time to do something so much more important," Twilight replied. Then, turning to Cloudkicker, she said, "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me!"

However, Cloudkicker wasn't paying attention to her. She was actually staring at Spike with a mixture of awe and amusement.

"Wow, a baby dragon. I've never seen a baby dragon before," the pegasus muttered. "I bet Fluttershy would love you."

"Who's Fluttershy?" asked Spike, using the wooden hand to scratch his head.

"Oh, just Ponyville's resident animal enthusiast. I'll probably be able to tell her about you later since she was on that checklist," answered Cloudkicker. She looked at Twilight. "So, you're alright with me helping you out with this?"

"Yes, of course," said Twilight, nodding. "Thank you so much."

"Aw, don't mention it," Cloudkicker replied, extending her wings. "It always pays to be kind to others. You know, what goes around comes around and all that." With that, she took off and soared into the sky. "And don't worry! I'll tell you all about the preparations later!"

As Cloudkicker flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight sighed in relief. "Let's get to the library, Spike. We finally have time to find proof of Nightmare Moon's return." She clopped both her front hooves together. "How wonderful!"

"Uh, I hate to burst your bubble, Twilight, but we don't even know where the library is," Spike pointed out.

Twilight's suddenly lightened mood dropped like a rock. "Aw, ponyfeathers."

Determined not to start up anymore conversations with the ponies in this town, Twilight avoided asking anyone for directions. As a result, her and Spike spent the next couple hours fruitlessly searching for the library. They looked all over town, but they just couldn't find it. During their search, another infuriating thing about this town reared its ugly head: the layout of this town made no sense! It seemed like houses and streets were just randomly placed with no organization or thought whatsoever. This was the complete opposite of Canterlot, where every building, street, and landmark was organized and thoughtfully placed. Why couldn't Ponyville be like that? To top it all off, Ponyville didn't even have street signs! What was up with that?

Exhausted, Twilight plopped herself onto the ground in front of a giant tree-building. "This town is so stupid! At least it was easy to find the public library in Canterlot! Ugh!"

"Well, we haven't looked in there," said Spike, pointing at the tree-building.

"Oh, come on Spike," Twilight retorted, rolling her eyes. "It's not going to be in there. It's probably some sort of plant store or something. I mean, who in their right mind builds a library inside a tree?"

"Hey guys!" shouted a familiar obnoxious voice. "I just finished the mail deliveries!"

"It's Derpy!" Spike exclaimed, smiling and pointing.

"Oh joy," muttered Twilight sarcastically, turning to face the source of the voice. Sure enough, it was the muffin-baking, mail-delivering, wall-eyed, dropping-mailbags-on-ponies'-heads gray pegasus.

Gracefully, or at least more gracefully than one would normally expect of her, Derpy Hooves landed in front of the duo. "It's nice to see you guys again. Did Cloudkicker find you all right?"

"Yes she did," answered Spike. "In fact, she offered to do all of the overseeing for us!"

"Well, that's awfully nice of her," said Derpy. "I ran into her while I was still delivering mail and I mentioned you guys and that you might need help with your stuff." The grey pegasus blinked. "So, um, can I ask you two why you guys are just sitting in front of the library?"

"Wait," said Twilight, picking in her ears with her hooves to make sure there wasn't any earwax impeding her ability to hear properly, "are you saying that this tree-building-thing is the library?"

"Yep!" Derpy replied cheerfully, pointing to a sign in front of the tree. "That sign says so."

"WHAT!?" Twilight shouted, staring at the sign with a book on it that she'd somehow missed. "How did I miss that!? And for that matter, who builds a library inside a tree!?"

In contrast to Twilight's astonished anger, Spike couldn't seem to stop laughing; he started laughing so hard that the wooden hand he'd been holding dropped from his claw. " I t-t-told you s-s-s-so! Hahaha!"

"This...town..." Twilight growled, her right eye twitching.

"Yeah, this town is pretty awesome, isn't it?" asked Derpy obliviously, smiling.

At that, Spike, who had just been in the process of picking up his wooden hand, began laughing even harder, causing him to fall over. All Twilight did was contemplate bashing her own head into a nearby rock she'd just noticed.

"So," Derpy started, her eyes realigning like they had earlier, "are we gonna go in there or what?"

"We might as well," Twilight sighed, resigning herself to the fact that this town was going to drive her insane.

With that, the three of them walked up to the door (after Spike had picked up the wooden hand, of course), opened it, and walked inside. After closing the door, everything was pitch black inside the library. It was so dark, in fact, that they could see absolutely nothing, not even their own silhouettes.

"Why are the lights off?" asked Derpy.

"How am I supposed to know?" Twilight responded. "I've never been here before!"

"Oh yeah..."

"Maybe it's because no one's been in here for awhile," Spike offered.

"Maybe," muttered Twilight.

Suddenly, all the lights turned on, revealing party decorations all over the inside of the library and a multitude of exciting looking ponies surrounding the three of them.

"Surprise!" they all screamed.

Twilight's ears drooped. "Oh no!"

Surprise!

Part 1: Ponyville - Chapter 4: Surprise!

"Surprise!" shouted the pink pony they'd seen shortly after arriving in Ponyville, trotting up to Twilight. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you!" She began to bounce around Twilight, separating her from Spike and Derpy. "Were you surprised? Were you? Were you? Huh, huh, huh?"

"Very surprised," Twilight replied, following the pink mare with her eyes. "Libraries are supposed to be quiet."

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "That's silly. What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, boring!"

Deciding she'd had enough of this conversation, Twilight started to make her way towards the table that held the snacks and drinks, weaving through the throng of ponies. However, much to Twilight's dismay, Pinkie Pie followed her and, even worse, continued to talk.

"You see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all 'Hello!' and I was all-- *gasp*-- remember?" Pinkie said. "You see, I never saw you before and, if I never saw you before, that meant you're new. 'Cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony, in Ponyville."

Twilight finally reached the drinks table and began to pour herself a cup full of the nearest bottle, not caring what it was. She could hardly believe anypony could talk so much or be so annoying.

"And if you're new, that meant you hadn't met anyone yet," Pinkie continued, "and if you hadn't met anyone yet, then you must not have any friends and if you don't have any friends, you must be lonely, and that made me so sad..."

Twilight put the bottle down, put a straw in her cup, and began to drink. Seriously, how could Ponyville, despite its stupidity and craziness, stand this grating pink pony? She was even worse than Lyra and Derpy for Pete's sake!

"... I just threw a great-big-ginormous-super-duper-spectacular welcome party and invited everyone in Ponyville. See? Now you have lots and lots of friends!" Pinkie exclaimed as the other four ponies Twilight had met that day gathered behind the pink mare.

At the word 'friends', Twilight cringed. However, it wasn't just the word 'friends' that caused her to cringe, it was also the searing pain and heat that was engulfing her mouth. Turning towards Pinkie Pie and the other four ponies, Twilight's eyes started watering and the pain continued to intensify.

"Are you all right, dear?" asked Bon-Bon, her face full of concern.

Tears streaming down her face and the pain in her mouth beginning to become unbearable, Twilight hopped into the air and raced up the stairs to what was hopefully a bedroom or something. That way she could maybe get some peace and quiet.

Just as she reached the door at the top of the stairs, Twilight heard Pinkie Pie exclaim cheerfully, "Aw, she's so happy she's crying!"

Stupid, crazy, annoying ponies!

Twilight laid on her bed with the pillow over head, trying to dampen the sounds of the obnoxiously loud music that was blaring from downstairs. Needless to say, it wasn't working. Sitting up, she looked up at the clock beside her bed and saw that it was late... very late. Way past midnight, in fact. Twilight glared at the clock and groaned. If this was supposed to be her welcome party, why was it still going when she wasn't even there!?

The door to the bedroom opened and the light from downstairs flooded in. Twilight looked down from her bed to see who had come in. Luckily for her, it was only Spike who, for some reason, was wearing a lampshade on his head and was still carrying his wooden hand.

"Hey, Twilight!" said Spike, smiling up at the purple unicorn. "Pinkie Pie's starting 'Pin the Tail on the Pony'. Wanna play?"

"No!" Twilight shouted, wondering why no one would let her have just a little peace and quiet. "All the ponies in this town are crazy! Do you know what time it is?"

Spike rolled his eyes and placed his wooden hand on one of the bookshelves carved into the walls. "It's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Everypony has to stay up or they'll miss the Princess raise the sun." Turning to leave, he added, "You should really lighten up, Twilight. It's a party!"

As the door closed, Twilight rolled onto her back, clutching her pillow to her chest. "Ugh! Here I thought I'd have time to learn more about the Elements of Harmony and Nightmare Moon's return, but, silly me, all this ridiculous 'friend-making' has kept me from it!"

She turned her head to look out the window beside her bed. The large white moon was glowing brilliantly, the unicorn mare's head silhouette upon it staring down menacingly at Equestria. Four stars, larger and brighter than the rest, surrounded the moon, seeming as if they were closer and closer to it with each passing second.

"Legend has it," Twilight began, getting up out of the bed and walking over to the window, "that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aide in her escape and she will bring about everlasting night." She stared pleadingly up at the glowing moon. "I hope the Princess was right. I hope it really is just an old ponytale."

Behind her, she heard the door suddenly swing open and Spike shout, "Come on, Twilight. It's time to watch the sunrise!"

Taking a deep breath, Twilight turned around and followed Spike out of the room.

Everlasting Night

Part 1: Ponyville - Chapter 5: Everlasting Night

Thanks to the large crowd of ponies in front of them, Twilight and Spike found their way to Ponyville's Town Hall rather easily. After making their way inside, Twilight tried to put as much distance as she could between them and any of the ponies they'd met that day. However, it didn't take long for them to find her.

"Yo, Twilight!" Cloudkicker greeted over the noise of the crowd, landing beside her and Spike. "How are you?"

"I've been better," Twilight replied, internally groaning. It seemed, whatever she did, that these ponies always seemed to find her.

"That's too bad. Hey, listen, I didn't get to tell you at your welcome party, but the preparations for this celebration are going perfectly," said Cloudkicker. "The music, food, everything is gre--"

"Hi, Twilight!" shouted Lyra, making her way towards them. "Hi, Spike!"

"Lyra!" Spike exclaimed happily.

"Yo, Lyra, what's up girl?" asked Cloudkicker. "I haven't seen you in forever. How's Bon-Bon? Is she still your roommate?"

"Oh, hey, Cloudkicker," Lyra responded, finally reaching them. "Yeah, Bon-Bon's still my roommate and she's doing good. She still doesn't like my human stuff, though. That certainly hasn't changed."

Cloudkicker smiled. "Yes, well, that stuff is a little hard to get used to. It's kind of... odd."

"See, Lyra?" said Bon-Bon, appearing suddenly from behind the mint-green unicorn. "I'm not the only one who finds it weird."

"Oh, whatever, Bon-Bon," Lyra retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Hello again, by they way," Bon-Bon said to Twilight. "Your welcome party was absolutely wonderful."

"Was it? I wouldn't know," muttered Twilight darkly, wishing they would all go away.

"Hey guys!" came Derpy's voice as she landed in their midst.

"Hi, Derpy!" said Lyra, grinning at the grey pegasus. "How's being a mailmare treating you?"

"Oh, it's great!" Derpy enthused, smiling brightly. "It pays good and it's really fun. It's good enough, at least, to provide for me and Dinky."

"How is Dinky, dear?" asked Bon-Bon.

Twilight sighed, tuning this boring conversation out. Why couldn't they just leave her alone and let her worry about Nightmare Moon's return in peace. Well, while these ponies were certainly annoying, they were nothing compared to--

"Isn't this exciting?" exclaimed a familiar bubbly voice.

Aw, ponyfeathers.

"Are you guys excited?" questioned Pinkie Pie, bouncing up to them. " 'Cause I'm excited! I've never been so excited, well, except for the time I saw Twilight walking and I went-- *gasp*-- but I mean really, who can top that?"

Before anyone could even think of answering, a chorus of birds from the balcony all the way up by the ceiling started up and all talking in the large room ceased.

"Fillies and gentlecolts!" shouted an official-looking mare up on stage as everyone turned to stare at her. "As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!"

At her words, the entire room exploded with cheers and hoof-stomping.

The mayor smiled. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magical sunrise to celebrate this longest day of the year."

Twilight glanced out a nearby window and saw the four brightest stars in the night sky disappear behind the glowing moon. As soon as they did so, the unicorn head silhouette upon it vanished. Extremely worried, Twilight turned back to look at the mayor.

"And now," she continued, "it is my great honor to introduce to you, the ruler of our land, the very pony who brings the sun and moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia!"

The beautiful white unicorn on the top balcony pulled the curtains apart, revealing... nothing. Absolutely nothing. The Princess, it appeared, wasn't there.

Twilight cringed. "This can't be good."

"Remain calm everypony!" the mayor shouted as the crowd broke into curious, partially frightened, murmurs. "There must be a reasonable explanation."

"Ooo, ooo, I love guessing games!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, tilting her head around and looking for the missing Princess. "Is she hiding?"

"She's gone!" said the white unicorn from the top balcony.

At the unicorn's revelation, the assembled ponies gasped and looked around at each other, wondering what this might mean.

"Oh, she's good," Pinkie observed. Then, looking up at the balcony and pointing, she shrieked, "Ah!"

As everyone looked up to where she was pointing, gasps rang out throughout the crowd again. A dark, sparkling mist was gathering on the balcony. No one was entirely sure what it was, but it certainly didn't look good. Then, suddenly, the mist solidified and took the form of a tall, dark-coated alicorn with a free-flowing indigo mane that sparkled seemingly of its own accord.

"Oh no," Twilight whispered, staring up at the alicorn. "Nightmare Moon!"

The dark-coated alicorn grinned down menacingly at the assembled ponies. "Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces."

"What did you do with our Princess!?" exclaimed a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane. She attempted to lunge up at the alicorn but was stopped by an orange Earth pony.

"Why? Am I not royal enough for you?"asked Nightmare Mon bitterly. "Don't you know who I am?"

"Ooo, ooo, more guessing games!" said Pinkie Pie excitedly. "Ummm, Pokey Smokes? How about Queen Meanie? No, Black Snooty, Black Snooty, Bl--"

"Shut up, Pinkie Pie!" Lyra whispered urgently, interrupting the pink mare by putting a hoof into her mouth.

"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?" continued Nightmare Moon, glaring at everyone. "Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"

Twilight finally built up enough courage and decided to speak up. "I did!" she shouted up at the evil alicorn. In response, everyone, including Nightmare Moon, turned to look at her. "And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon!"

This elicited gasps from the crowd, including four of the ponies directly beside her.

"What!?" exclaimed Lyra and Bon-Bon simultaneously, shock coloring their faces.

"No way!" Derpy and Cloudkicker said at the same time, both dumbstruck.

Nightmare Moon smiled, amused. "Well, well, well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I am here?"

"You're here to... to..." Twilight mumbled glancing around at the ponies around her and trailing off.

"Remember this day, little ponies," said Nightmare Moon, her smile growing wider, "for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!"

The evil alicorn broke off into maniacal laughter, the laughter itself echoing throughout the large room and out into the now everlasting night.

END OF PART 1

A Reference Guide

Part 2: Everfree Forest - Chapter 1: A Reference Guide

"Cease her!" shouted the mayor over Nightmare Moon's continued laughter. "Only she knows where the Princess is!"

At her command, four armored guards flew up at the evil alicorn, causing her to stop laughing.

"Stand back you foals!" yelled Nightmare Moon, her eyes glowing as she summoned lightning to repel the guards. Then, her solid form suddenly dissolved into a dark mist that immediately swirled up into the air and rushed out the front door of Town Hall.

"Come back here!" exclaimed the rainbow-maned pegasus from earlier, zooming after the mist.

Twilight stared at the front door for a second, momentarily stunned. Then, she pulled the unconscious form of Spike onto her back and galloped out the door as well, remembering that the only things that could defeat Nightmare Moon were the Elements of Harmony. However, she needed more info on these mystical relics, which she intended to get back at the library.

With only the now blank moon and the unconscious Spike as her companions, she reached the library within minutes. After racing inside, Twilight decided that the first thing she needed to do was put Spike to bed. This thought in mind, she quickly made her way up to the bedroom. Twilight crafted a makeshift bed out of a basket, some blankets, and a pillow, and gently levitated Spike into it.

As soon as she did so, Spike jerked awake. "We've got to stop Nightmare!" he exclaimed groggily before falling back to sleep.

Twilight smiled down at the cute little baby dragon. "You've been up all night, Spike. You are a baby dragon after all."

With Spike now in bed, Twilight rushed downstairs to begin searching for info on the Elements of Harmony. She started using her magic to pull books at random off the shelves, flipping through them in moments before setting them down and moving onto the next couple of books. However, it seemed no matter which books she looked though, she just couldn't find anything she needed.

"Elements, Elements, Elements," Twilight chanted, bringing more books off the shelves. "Ugh! How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony!?"

"And what exactly are the Elements of Harmony?" asked the voice of Lyra.

Startled, Twilight looked up from her pile of books and found who else but the five most annoying ponies she'd ever met standing in the entrance to the library.

"Oh, not you guys!" exclaimed Twilight, stamping her hoof against the ground in annoyance. "Look, could you please just leave? I need to learn more about the Elements of Harmony. This doesn't concern you!"

"Doesn't concern us, huh?" questioned Cloudkicker, raising an eyebrow

"Yeah, how does stopping the pony who took away the sun not concern us?" asked Lyra as the five ponies moved closer to Twilight. "This concerns everypony."

"Look, Twilight, we know that you know more about this than anypony else," said Bon-Bon, frowning. "We just want you to tell us what you know."

"Yeah, and then maybe we can help you," added Derpy. " 'Cause that's what friends do!"

Cringing a little at 'friends', Twilight looked at each of the ponies' determined faces and realized there was little point in arguing. She sighed. "Fine. I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her." She gazed sadly at the useless pile of books beside her. "But I don't know what they are or where to find them. I don't even know what they do!"

"The Elements of Harmony," said Pinkie Pie, "a Reference Guide."

Twilight glanced over at the pink mare and was surprised to find her pointing up at a book on a high shelf. Twilight's eyes widened and she gasped.

"How did you find that!?" exclaimed Twilight, rushing over and knocking Pinkie down.

"It was under 'E'!" Pinkie replied joyfully, getting up and bouncing over to the others.

"Oh."

Then, Twilight pulled the book off the shelf, flipped it open, and began to read, " 'There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said that last location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the royal sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest.' "

The other five ponies suddenly gasped, causing Twilight to look up in annoyance. "What?"

"T-t-the Everfree F-f-forest?" stammered Derpy, her misaligned pupils shrinking in fright.

"Why'd they have to be in there?" moaned Lyra, falling back onto her haunches. "Getting them will be nearly impossible!"

"I don't normally agree with Lyra, but... I agree with Lyra," inserted Bon-Bon, her face downtrodden.

"Why? asked Twilight, glancing at each of them, confused. "What's so bad about the Everfree Forest?" She closed the book and set it on the ground.

"It... it just ain't natural," answered Cloudkicker, her Manehattan-accented voice shaking. Then, swallowing, she said, "Well, those Elements won't fetch themselves. Come on, let's get going."

With that, everyone got up and slowly began to exit the library.

"Ooo, does anypony know what time it is?" asked Pinkie Pie excitedly, a huge contrast to the other frightened ponies.

"Nope," Lyra answered, not sure why Pinkie would ask that.

Pinkie Pie giggled and exclaimed, "It's ADVENTURE TIME!"

Before they could go to the Everfree Forest, they had to take a slight detour to Lyra's house to pick up Lyra's 'Lucky Hat'. This hat turned out to be shaped like a wedge of cheese and was made out of some foul-smelling yellow foam.

"What's that?" asked Derpy shortly after Lyra had rejoined them outside the front of Bon-Bon's candy shop.

"Ugh, you asked!" muttered Bon-Bon, facehoofing. "Why did you ask?"

"Oh, shut up, Bon-Bon," Lyra retorted, glaring at the cream-colored mare. Turning to the others, she said, "This is my cheesehead. In my human history books, it is said that these are worn by something called a 'Packer' and that these 'Packers' are really good at winning... usually. I just thought that it might help us win tonight by transferring some of its winning spirit into us."

Twilight followed Bon-Bon's example and facehoofed. That was probably the stupidest thing she'd ever heard, and that included all the stuff she'd heard over the previous day.

"Was it actually worn by these, uh, 'Packers'?" asked Cloudkicker, staring at the cheese-shaped hat atop Lyra's head with something somewhere between curiosity and skepticism.

"Um, no," Lyra admitted, "I made it myself. But, it looks exactly like it did in the picture... well, except for the extra hole I cut at the bottom for my horn. But still, it's pretty much the same thing."

"Does it taste like actual cheese?" questioned Pinkie Pie, going up to Lyra and sniffing the hat.

"I... I don't think so," said Lyra, pushing Pinkie away. "I mean, I've never actually tried--"

"Could we please get a move on here?" interjected Twilight impatiently. "We've wasted enough time as it is!"

"Twilight's right, guys," said Derpy. "We need to get going and stop Nightmare Spoon."

"Um, Derpy dear, it's Nightmare Moon," Bon-Bon corrected.

Derpy blinked, her pupils realigning. "That's what I said. Nightmare Dune."

Everyone proceeded to stare at the wall-eyed pegasus for a few awkward moments before Lyra said, "Yeah... let's just go."

With Cloudkicker leading the way, the trip from Lyra and Bon-Bon's house to the Everfree Forest was rather short. Now, standing at its entrance, Twilight could certainly see why the Everfree Forest might have such a frightening reputation.

"Well, it definitely looks spooky enough," said Twilight, gazing at the Forest.

"That... that it does," Lyra agreed, her knees wobbling.

"Ooo, I wonder if there are candy apples in there," said Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and down.

"Why would you think there are candy apples in the Everfree Forest, Pinkie?" asked Derpy, scratching her head.

"I have no idea," answered the pink mare, smiling brightly.

Twilight steeled herself, took a deep breath, stepped forward, and turned to face the others. "Look, I really appreciate all of your help so far, but I think, from here on out, that I should go this--"

"Twilight dear, please shut up," Bon-Bon said sweetly. "We're coming to help you and that's final.

Each of the others nodded in agreement, causing Twilight to groan. "There's no getting rid of you guys, is there?"

"Nope," Lyra replied, laughing. "Did you really think that would work?"

Twilight scowled. "Not really, but it was worth a shot." Turning towards the Everfree Forest again, she asked, "So, if anyone would so kind as to enlighten me, what exactly is so bad about this spooky-looking forest?"

"It ain't--" started Cloudkicker.

"Yes, I know, you already said that," Twilight interrupted. "But what exactly about it isn't natural?"

Cloudkicker swallowed uneasily. "Well, I think it'd be easier for you to see for yourself." She paused and started slowly trotting into the forest, gesturing for everyone to follow. "Let's get this over with."