Prologue: "Did you not recall the legend?"
It is late afternoon and two figures are sitting on a blanket under the shade of a tree. The smaller figure speaks, “I can’t believe I’m saying, so far this trip has been way more fun than I thought it would be. Thanks for bringing me to the park.”
The other puts her foreleg around the smaller figure in a hug. She replies, “ After all the hard work you’ve done as my number 1 assistant you’ve earned some time off.”
“In any case, I thought you’d enjoy the Friendship Gardens, my old foalsitter Caddenzea loved to take me here to read all kinds of books with me. Speaking of which… I got a new one you might like.”
The smaller figure looks at her skeptically, and the larger, figure pulls a book from the saddlebags..The book looks relatively new and has a brown cover with the head and neck profile of a unicorn on the front." The smaller and non-equine figure looks puzzled. She says, “… Why does that gilded carving at the center of the cover seem so familiar? Wait a sec… This book is “Myths and Legends of Equestria!” When I was younger we both enjoyed you reading the material from this book as bedtime stories. I think it’s one of the few books we both like to read. Huh, I didn’t know there was a second volume.“
The unicorn smiles fondly as pleasant memories are briefly triggered by the book’s title. After a few moments she shakes her head and gets back into reality. She replies, “neither did I Spike, then my old mentor sent me this book two days ago and told me to read it with you. She said I should pay special attention to a particular story that’s a sequel to both “The Tale of the Royal Sisters” and “How Chaos Became Harmony”. The story is called “The Legend of the Night-Mare”
Spike smiles with a mixture of great anticipation and happiness. He replies, ““How Chaos Became Harmony” ranks up there with “The Bastion of Nox” and “Tirak” as my personal favorites. The final battle where the Royal Sisters took on The Assemblage single-hoofedly must have been an awesome fight.”
The unicorn giggles softly and said, “You’re probably right Spike… Anyway, are you hungry yet? ”
Spike replies, “No, I’m not hungry just yet. Can we take a look at the new book to pass the time?”
Unicorn smiles happily and responds, “Do you want to read the story “The Legend of the Night-Mare” first?” The Dragon replies excitedly, “Sure, if this story is the last part of some kind of trilogy I want to see what happens.”
The unicorn opens the book, and after quickly reading the introduction she finds the story she’s looking for in the table of contents. As old visual cues and smells activate her memories she smiles and starts to read aloud.
As the unicorn speaks, Spike starts to imagine that the pictures in the book are moving. Therefore against the backdrop and with the aid of the narration Spike envisions the scene unfolding in real time.
“Thousands of years ago, there lived two powerful sisters who jointly ruled a large principality called Equestria. In order to bring Harmony back to their subject’s lives, the Siblings created a new Stellar-Balance by taking control of a shrunken Sun and an enchanted Moon.
“By splitting their most essential tasks in half, the two ruled the land in Harmony with one another. One Princess brought forth the day and managed the nation’s foreign affairs. The other brought forth the night and managed the State’s domestic affairs. Using powerful magical objects called the Elements of Harmony, they subdued many threats to their subject’s lives.
However, one day their first enemy Anarchy the Assemblage returned in a new form... Discord the Night-Mare!”
At this point Spike's imagination starch to work overtime and the scene unfolds in his head as though it were a stylized moving cartoon. A white pony is sprawled on a cloud with closed eyes and a blue one weeps. A vaguely equine shape appears and after a quick burst of energy becomes a wicked mare of darkness covered in armor.
“Their old foe tried to bring eternal night to the planet, and so a campaign was waged against the parasite and its mass-produced army.”
Both princesses, each one with a battalion made up of all three kinds of ponies face off against the Night-Mare and two groups of smaller but identical looking versions of the Night-Mare. Each Royal Guard battalion wears a different armor to differentiate both mixed-gender groups. The armors in Spike's current thoughts are of course similar to the ones the daytime Royal guards and nighttime security force of the castle wear.
“The war ended on the longest day of the year, when the Sisters used the Elements one last time to tearfully banish their enemy to the moon for 3000 years.”
The ruins of a city surrounding a stone Castle are shown, and then the scene quickly switches to a large and damaged throne room as both siblings stare with hate at a rainbow ball of energy that is projected from six stones that surround the two sisters. Their horns are surrounded by the different colored gems as the sisters weep, as the magic of their greatest weapon starts to work. A beam of rainbow energy strikes the Night-Mare and the rainbow sends the (slowly becoming transparent) mare-like form flying through the air. The Night-Mare is tossed into a hole in the moon with great force.
“When the battle was over, the two sisters found they could no longer see eye to eye, and they went their separate ways. With the blessing of the older sister, the younger founded her own nation. One with its own specialized Elements and team of Veteran Bearers to wield them.”
The images in Spike's mind show the older princess looking at her younger sister with anger and confusion as the younger sister or applies with a look of sadness and determination as the mood in the book's pictures changes. However, moments later both sisters both share a look of mutual respect. Then the younger sister looks up at her sister and they smile at each other fondly as the younger sister leaves her older sister’s gaze as a group of dragons, griffins, and indistinct figures follow her.
The last image in the book as the pictures split between both sisters being in the same pose the older one was previously as their subjects play in the day and night respectively. The night side has several contrasting pieces of technology in the background and the buildings seen are slightly more urban.
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“…Harmony has thus been maintained in both countries ever since.”
“Hmmm… the Elements of Harmony… Why hasn’t the Queen mentioned them before?”
Spike says, “Well, maybe there wasn’t a need to and Celestia doesn’t like talking about it for personal reasons? Anyway, I’m glad Celestia sent us this book.
The Unicorn smiles. “You’re probably right, and I don’t want to cause the Queen discomfort by bringing unpleasant memories. “The Legend of the Night-Mare” was a fascinating tale and it’s made me curious about a few points so I’ll reread again soon.”
“Okay, we can talk about that later.”
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Elsewhere, a large white pony with both wings and horn watched the unicorn through something that looked like a mirror. A small smile appeared on her lips. The smile vanished from her lips as she said to herself, “Phase One is complete, and now comes the hard part. Phase Two…” The room is filled with crumpled pieces of paper with writing on them, and the mare holds up a fresh letter. She sits at her writing desk and writes with both great care and the precision and grace of a truly experienced writer.
A mechanical clock on her desk indicates that three and a half hours have passed. The pony has a look of great relief and pure satisfaction on her face. A glow surrounds the letter as the pony observes and inspects the letter closely a dozen times. Then she speaks softly and clearly. ”This letter is seven decades in the making, may it find you well dear sister.”
The letter is consumed by a burst of green flame from the mare’s horn as she grunts in slight pain.
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A second later in a brightly lit room,one far away from the previous one, a lone equine figure sat at a small table. There are many such tables around the room and the pony is staring at a reflective surface, an empty cup on one side of the table. The pony wears a casual outfit covered by a gray cotton cloak. The pony muses on the time aloud “four thirty, I have three minutes, time to go to a more appropriate and formal setting”.
The pony quickly gets up from its chair and as it does so it removes the gray cotton hood from her head. Her fur is black, her eyes are orange, her hair is light blue with orange stripes, and her horn is covered in a thin coat of silver paint. She walks quickly to the counter and pays her bill to a Griffin there, the Griffin smiles. The female Griffin notes the silver paint on her horn that denotes support towards a specific species, and the pony’s recently dyed hair. She then looks at the currency on the counter before her: several carved crystals. The Griffin speaks, “thank you for your business, Miss Stardancer.”
The mare replies, “I always enjoy this establishment’s atmosphere, music, and professional storytellers. “Silver-Rain and Nightsong Trio” were in top form at lunchtime.” The mare waves goodbye and quickly leaves the building and teleports the moment she does so. A second later the pony appears in a large room, the room’s walls are covered in odd star charts. Miss Stardancer went to a chair behind a large silver desk and sat down.
A second later the pony disappeared and was replaced for a split second by a dark-blue ethereal mist covered in points of light, and then the mist is gone. In its place is a very tall, dark-blue, furred mare with a somewhat muscular build… On the top of the desk is a symbol, a sideways crescent moon surrounded by strange looking diamonds, in between the two halves of the crescent were the extremities (hooves, claws, paws, ect) of many sentient species.
In a burst of flame and smoke a letter carrying a golden seal, one that bears a sun that encircles small pictures, of a hoof, a wing, and a horn. The blue mare says, “You are punctual as always, my oldest friend. It seems that and the ambitious mare who momentarily works as my bodyguard has lost a bet with me.” The dark blue mare holds the letter close to her face with pseudo-telekinetic magic.
She looks at the seal in puzzlement for a moment and mutters, “Hmmm… there’s something missing from the royal seal… Ah, hah… The three small pictographs have displaced the old Horseshoe. I’ll give it a quick scan just to be safe and then I’ll open the letter.”
A beam of green light scans both the seal and the letter itself as the mare’s eyes glow the same hue of green. Then, when the scan is completed and the mare’s eyes stop glowing green, then she opens the letter and reads aloud.
“Dear beloved sister. Though we partied 3000 years ago on good terms as I went to manage my nation and you went to found yours. Then over time the pain and loss we had suffered caused us to say things we did not mean 1000 years ago. Then, for 500 years we only spoke to each other through letters, when those 500 years were up we stopped talking entirely. The truth is that I miss you and that I realized that we work well together when it comes to the welfare of our subjects. We keep each other sane and for the most part your faults and virtues complement mine.
The fact of the matter is, I need your help… There are just some things I’m not good at, you are far better at anticipating the actions of our enemies and planning accordingly. I am better at planning for multiple preferred outcomes then you are. You are a fighter, I am not. I can prepare my faithful student for our old enemy’s manipulations but not for physical conflict. I am not willing to put her through Tartarus like you, to make are sure she and her friends are prepared for anything Discord can throw at them.
I’ve tried my best to forgive you; will you at last forgive me? Will you accept my friendship?
Your Faithful Sibling, Queen Celestia of Equestria.”
The blue mare smiles softly and thought for several minutes. After choosing her words carefully she writes three lines on some parchment. “Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, big sister. I will gladly help you with your problem, see you soon.
You’re loving sister, Queen Selena of Anderlong”
The letter is suspended in mid-air by pseudo-telekinetic magic rolled up and tied up with a Silver ribbon.
There is a seal carved from a Ruby into the shape of two crescent moons with stars in-between them. A burst of green flame was sent from the tip of Queen Selena’s horn, the Green flame whirled around the letter for a second then it vanished with a pop.
Queen Selena gave sigh of relief and then smiles briefly at the thought of her sister receiving the letter and jumping up and down like an adorable filly going “Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes...”
Selena’s horn then glows with a soft silver light. She then speaks, “Silver Quill, royal adviser Wind Whistler, and S.O.C Bright Eyes, I want you, Gen. Vesper and the Bearers to meet me in the National Security Room as soon as possible, we have work to do.”
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The unicorn sitting next to the small dragon has light pink, almost purple fur, a red, purple, and white, red tail with dark purple streaks.
Her Cutie Mark is a yellow Crescent Moon with five yellow and purple stars surrounded by a blue-circle background. As the unicorn opens up a picnic basket the top can be briefly seen. The top has words carved on to it: “Property of Moondancer Twinkle, Personal Student of Celestia. If found please return to “Clover’s Tower” at 662 Golden Oak Street”.
Author's Note
This story has been a long time coming and for a while I thought I would get never write it down.
I would like to thank Antiquated Anomaly for his help in editing this story and “JordiLa-Forge” for the cover art: ( http://jordila-forge.deviantart.com/art/Not-So-Little-Anymore-381907013 ). I hope everyone enjoys this first chapter.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. It has a lot of stuff for my readers to speculate over.
Also, for those of you who don’t know who Moondancer is, here is a bit of a history lesson:
Moondancer is a one-shot character who both appeared in the 80’s My Little Pony television-special “Escape From Midnight Castle, and was a part of the first mlp Toy-line (2nd set) known as “G1”. Twilight Sparkle’s original name was Moondancer, but Hasbro allowed the name and others from the 80s to lapse. So I had a company buy the names from them in-story, instead of letting that happen. As for why, well you’ll see...
Author’s Question One: what does the audience think of the in-show alternate universe, and the out of show alternate universe? The question includes the slightly less episodic version of MLP.
Trivia: The original title of this Chapter was “Prologue: Harmony and Distance”. I changed it because the quote from Nightmare Moon (Terabithia St. Germain), fit into the meta-context of this chapter better.
