The Night shall last forever
“Luna! Can you hear me?..”
“Luna, please don’t do this!..”
“IT’S NOT FAIR!!!”
Genevive looked up from her book. Staring back at her was her best friend, Star Soarer, who was growing impatient.
“C’mon G! Tell me what happened with Wave Crest.” He said, curious about his two friends’ argument.
“No. I don’t want to talk about it.” Genevive replied, trotting away from the park bench that she had been sitting on, only to be blocked by Star Soarer. Genevive tried moving away, but each time she did, Star Soarer stopped her.
“Star, I’m serious. I don’t want to talk about it.” Genevive said unhappily, her dark green eyes, tearing up, her voice wavering.
“Oh G, C’mere.” Star Soarer comforted, as he held her in his black hooves. “G, I’ve always loved you” he declared, and then he kissed her.
But something felt wrong about that kiss, the fact that Genevive couldn’t feel anything at all. No sparks flying, and strangely enough, no feeling in her hooves. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more this whole day seemed unreal. And something else that her slowly numbing brain couldn’t ignore. In reality, her friend Star Soarer was a mare. And the more she looked at this male Star Soarer, the more he started to look like a half-pony half-butterfly creature.
“G...”He said through his strangely sexy insect mouth.
“Yeah?” She asked, feeling incredibly dizzy.
“Wake up...”
“...G! Wake up!” Star Soarer yelled “We’re gonna be late! We’re gonna miss it!”
Slowly Genevive opened her eyes to see Star Soarer looking impatiently back at her. In her hooves were a hay shake and two hastily constructed daisy sandwiches.
“What time is it?” Genevive asked, the last fragments of the dream dissolving in the sleepy mare’s brain.
“Nearly 6am! And we gotta hurry if we’re gonna make it to the Town Hall!” Star Soarer replied, thrusting one of the sandwiches into Genevive’s open hooves, and then dragging her out of the unmade bed.
While most ponies had spent that night partying before the Summer Sun Celebration, Genevive, Star Soarer and Wave Crest had spent that night clearing up at the Peach Tree Cafe.
When the girls had first arrived in Ponyville, all those years ago, and were looking for jobs, they were surprised to learn that there were very few ponies that frequented the delightful little cafe. Despite the small crowd of customers that passed through the café, it was terribly understaffed. Luckily when the 3 young mares had been looking for jobs, the Peach Tree Cafe had been hiring.
Rushing through the darkness of the pre-dawn morning, out of the house and onto the main trail into the heart of Ponyville and the Town Hall, Genevive knew it would take the three of them 15 minutes to get to the Town Hall.
Princess Celestia would raise the sun in 10 minutes.
“Oh dear, We’ll never get there in time!” Wave Crest exclaimed, before falling over in the dark, tripping up over a wispy cloud of dark blue smoke.
“Ahhh!!!” She shouted.
“Wave!? Are you okay?” the other mares asked, stopping a few yards away. They could hear the noise coming from the Town Hall. The Princess would raise the sun any minute now. They were out of time.
“Don’t worry girls, I’m fine. Let’s go.” Wave Crest replied.
The three mares were so close to the Town Hall, they could hear the mayor speaking, and they could see the décor adorning the building. Running through the open doors they arrived just in time for the Princess. They thought.
“... The good. The wise. The bringer of harmony to all of Equestria... Princess Celestia!”The mayor announced, and a white unicorn with three diamonds for a cutie mark (it’s not as if the girls knew everypony in Ponyville) lifted the curtain. Behind which was... Nothing.
Everypony gasped.
“Remain calm everypony!” the mayor yelled over the panicking ponies. “There must be a reasonable explanation!”
“Ooh I love guessing games! Is she hiding?!” Pinkie Pie asked (of course everypony knew Pinkie Pie. She was the first pony the girls had met in Ponyville)
“She’s gone!” The white unicorn exclaimed.
“Ooh she’s good.” Pinkie Pie countered in her usual silly tone.
“Why do I have the feeling that this is very bad?” Genevive asked herself as ponies reacted to the Princess’s absence, badly.
“Ahh!” Pinkie screamed, as the horrible blue smoke appeared at the balcony.
Suddenly, the smoke transformed into a towering black alicorn with a crescent moon cutie mark. Her swirling blue mane and tail were decorated with little stars. They sparkled like diamonds in her flowing midnight curls. She wore a beautifully shiny blue helmet that her mane flowed over, matching hoof guards, and a breastplate with a moon engraved on it.
Star Soarer looked on in disbelief. She had never heard of another alicorn besides Princess Celestia (and Princess Cadence). Who was this strange pony? Where had she come from? What was she going to do? Luckily all her questions were going to be answered in one strange (but totally useful and relevant) piece of dialogue.
“Oh my beloved subjects, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you’re precious, sun-loving, faces” The black alicorn declared with a malicious tone.
“What did you do with our princess!?” a cocky young pegasus named Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she was struggled against the orange earth pony holding her back.
The alicorn chuckled ominously. “Am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?!” She asked, her chilling tone showing displeasure at the rejection of the worthless little ponies.
“Ooh! Ooh! More guessing games! Umm, Hokey Smokes, Queen Meanie... ooh, Black Snooty, Black Snoo-”Pinkie Pie was cut off by the same orange earth pony (still holding Rainbow Dash’s tail) shoving a cupcake in her mouth.
“Mhh MUH WHH!” Pinkie Pie complained.
“Does my crown no longer count since I was imprisoned for a thousand years? did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?-”
“-I did! And I know who you are!” Announced a previously unnoticed (to Genevive at least) purple unicorn. “You’re the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon!”
“Well, well, well. Somepony who remembers me. So you must also know why I’m here?” Nightmare Moon asked, slightly curious.
The unicorn faltered. ‘Whatever she knows about this evil looking alicorn, it must be really bad.’Genevive thought.
“y-you’re here to... to-” the purple unicorn cringed. Nightmare Moon then laughed the most bone chilling laugh the three mares had ever heard.
“Remember this day, little ponies-” she said “-for it was your last. From this moment on, THE NIGHT! SHALL LAST! FOREVER!!!”
Just then, Nightmare Moon’s starry mane and tail swirled above her and coated the dawn sky. Laughing maniacally as the guards rushed towards her, she sent a bolt of lightning right at them. It didn’t really help that the royal guards’ armour was metallic.
Suddenly Genevive was yanked out of the Town Hall. She screamed. A hoof was clamped over her mouth. It was... Wave Crest’s hoof”
“Shh! You’re gonna get us all killed” Star Soarer whispered.
“Come on girls, we have to get out of town immediately.” Wave Crest told them as she ducked behind the Town Hall and into a narrow alleyway. Star Soarer and Genevive followed.
“whu, whh ahh yuwa mmph whh uwwa? Wuh mmhh wh.”Genevive responded.
“What did you say?” Wave Crest asked as she removed her blue hooves from Genevive’s face.
“Hey! You come back here!” said a mystery voice. Turning around, the mares could see it was none other than Cloudsdale’s best young flier, Rainbow Dash.
“I said: Wave, what are you talking about? We can’t just leave.” Genevive replied.
“G, she’s right. We don’t know what might happen to us if we stay.” Star Soarer said.
“But we also don’t know what will happen if we leave. This’ll spread throughout the whole of Equestria, you guys. Princess Celestia is gone. Nowhere is safe anymore.” Genevive replied.
“So, what do you suggest we do?” asked a scared Wave Crest.
“Oh, it’s simple really. We have stop Nightmare Moon!” Genevive came to a decision.
Wave Crest and Star Soarer froze. They stared at Genevive like she’d gone nuts. This wasn’t the happy, slightly foolish Genevive that they had met in high school, this was a new, determined Genevive.
“G, have you gone crazy!?”Star Soarer yelled. “That is THE most idiotic thing you have ever said! Do you know what that Nightmare Moon would do to us if we attacked her?”
“Do YOU know what Nightmare Moon would do to us if we attacked her?” Genevive responded.
“What?” both the mares asked in confusion.
Genevive stood up and jumped up on a big metal bin, hoping to make an inspiring speech that would convince her friends that they could stop Nightmare Moon and then they could become super heroes for all of Equestria!, but she upon landing, she tripped and fell onto the opposite side of the bin. Luckily it was so dark that her friends didn’t see her fall.
Quickly picking herself up, Genevive continued. “I’m serious guys, how do you know what Nightmare Moon would do? We’ve never met this pony before, we’ve never even heard of her before. But if we join together, I really think that we can defeat her!.. Together!”
Star Soarer and Wave Dash looked from themselves to Genevive, and they had to admit, she made a convincing argument.
“So,” Genevive asked placing her right hoof in front of the mares. “Are you in?”
There was a long pause. Genevive felt that her speech had fallen on deaf ears.
“The chance for us to be superheroes, and save the whole of Equestria from an evil super villain? I’m in.”Star Soarer exclaimed, as she put her right hoof over Genevive’s right hoof.
“Whaddaya say, Wave?”Genevive asked.
Wave Crest sighed.
“I cannot believe I’m saying this but, I’m in.” She said while placing her right hoof over the other mares’ right hooves.
“Woo!! Go team!!” Genevive cheered, lifting her hoof in the air, also pushing the two other mares hooves in the air.
And so the journey begins...
