On the Moooon

    Pinkie hummed as she bounced through the halls of the decrepit castle. “Wow, Twilight,” Pinkie remarked with a giggle. “This place is super creepy!”

    “I’ll admit it is a bit... dreary, dear,” Rarity said, cringing as she stepped past a cobweb.

    “Are you kidding?” Rainbow Dash did a loop in midair, bumping into Fluttershy and eliciting a squeak from the latter. “This place is awesome! It's like it's straight from a Daring Do book!”

    “Now girls,” said Twilight, “we’re just here to find Nightmare’s Amulet. Let’s try not to disturb anything else.”

    Twilight led the group through the halls of the ancient castle, lighting the way with her horn. There were holes in the ceiling and walls where rock had crumbled long ago, through which a few rays sunlight found their way inside the otherwise dark hallways. Mold spotted everything in large patches, from the walls to the decaying furniture, and giant cobwebs stretched across entire doorways, scattered with dead insects that had lost their way.

    “Now where d’ya reckon this here ‘Nightmare’s Amulet’ is, Twilight? And for that matter, what even is it?” Applejack asked.

    “Well, Princess Celestia said that Princess Luna—well, at the time, Nightmare Moon—kept it in her chambers 1000 years ago. By now, it could really be anywhere, though,” Twilight replied. “Supposedly, it was a powerful charm in which Nightmare Moon stored much of her extra strength.”

    “So basically,” said Rainbow Dash, “it's an evil necklace thing that Nightmare Moon once used to destroy Equestria and stuff? Why are we looking for this thing again?”

    “Mainly, to prevent anypony questionable from getting their hooves on it. It could wreak quite a lot of havoc, after all,” said Twilight. “The other reason we’re looking for it is that Princess Celestia thinks we may be able to harvest the amulet’s powers for good.”

    The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters was as old as Equestria itself, Princess Celestia had told Twilight. A millennium ago, it was here that she and Luna had ruled over all of pony lands. Nightmare Moon destroyed the castle in a fit of rage when she engulfed Equestria in darkness with her transformation. From then onwards, it was abandoned, and Princess Celestia had a new castle constructed in Canterlot. Only days later after Nightmare Moon's banishment, the Everfree Forest appeared, a scar upon the land, and a painful reminder of what Celestia had done to save her sister from herself.

    As the six ponies wandered through the castle, they soon found themselves in a small room. The setting sun shined brightly through the window here, almost blinding them. Twilight shielded her eyes with her hoof, and slowly, they adjusted. Along the right side of the room stood several bookshelves; they stretched from the ground to the ceiling. There was also a small desk. Opposite to it, on the left side of the room, was a bed. It was in horrible condition; the wood was splintered and long decayed. It had fallen to one side, as it was missing two of its legs. A plain navy blue comforter lay on top of it, covered in holes.

    "This room.... This must be Princess Luna's chambers," Twilight muttered.

    "Great! So this is where that amulet thing should be, right?" Rainbow Dash asked, hovering near the ceiling.

    "This is where Princess Celestia believes it is, yes," responded Twilight.

    "Then what're we waitin' for?" Applejack asked. "Let's get searchin', everypony!"

    While the other ponies searched the room, Twilight trotted over to the desk, on which lay a small leather-bound book. The sunlight glittered off of the golden crescent moon emblazoned on its cover. In the corner of the desk was a quill in a jar of ink, though it had long dried out. Twilight lifted the book with her magic and examined it. When she flipped it open, the pages inside crumbled away into a pile of ash.

    There was the sound of creaking wood, and when Twilight glanced up from her book, she found the bookshelves that had previously occupied much of the room were missing.

    "Twilight! Come look at this!" she heard Rarity call.

    "It was a secret door!" Rainbow Dash said.

    Behind the bookshelves lay a large room, across the middle of which ran a tattered velvet carpet. Twilight’s eyes followed it to the end of the room. There, some stairs led up to a raised portion of the ground, upon which two thrones sat. The tattered remains of a yellow tapestry remained behind the throne on the right, while a dark blue tapestry in much better condition lay behind the left throne, depicting a crescent moon. The floor was covered in rubble, presumably from the missing ceiling.

    "The throne room," Twilight said, as she slowly entered, the others following her. "This... this is where Princess Celestia and Luna once ruled together, in harmony."

    "To think," Rarity said, "that such grandeur was reduced to ruins like this...."

   It was at that moment that Pinkie launched up into the air, screaming, “Twitchy tail! twitchy tail!”

   Rainbow Dash whirled around. “Huh?” was all she could say before she slammed into a statue, causing it to fall over. “Ouch!”

    A golden medallion fell from the statue’s neck, clinking on the ground. “Is... this the amulet?” asked Dash, picking up it up.

    “Hmm....” Twilight lifted the medallion with her magic, inspecting it carefully. “To be honest, I don’t actually know what the amulet looks like.” She rubbed the charm with her hoof. “This thing doesn’t look very magical, though.”

    "Maybe you need to say the right thing, like 'Open Sesame!'" Dash suggested.

    "I don't think so," Twilight said. "Even if the magic was locked away, I think I'd still be able to detect it."

    “Sugarcube, I don’t mean to interrupt, but, uh, has anypony seen Fluttershy?”

    "Yeah, she was right here—" Twilight glanced around the group. "Wait, where'd she go?"

    Pinkie gasped. “Do you think the amulet kidnapped her?”

    “...No Pinkie, I don’t think that’s possible."

    “You only think it’s not possible!” Pinkie pointed out. “I’m gonna go find that amulet and teach it a lesson about messing with my friends!” She mimicked boxing an imaginary opponent before running off.

    “Piinnkiiieee, wait!” Twilight called.

    But she was already gone. Not a moment later, Fluttershy returned. Twilight stared at her, mouth wide open. Rainbow Dash brought a hoof up to her forehead. “Oh, I'm so sorry, everypony. I didn't mean to slow us down,” Fluttershy said, blushing slightly. “I... I just had to use the mare’s room.”

    Twilight and Applejack exchanged glances; the latter simply shrugged.

    “Alright, then. Did anypony see which way Pinkie went?” Twilight asked, shaking her head. Rarity nodded, pointing to a crumbled part of the wall, beyond which lay the Everfree.

    "The Everfree?" There was a collective gulp.

    “Well, uh, onwards and upwards, then?” Rainbow Dash said, with a nervous chuckle.

    The Everfree Forest was not a friendly place for ponies, and even though they had traveled through it before, Twilight and her friends had every reason to be fearful.

    Although it was only evening, it was already pitch black. The moonlight only barely pierced the forest's canopy; most of the light the group had came from Twilight's horn. Unfortunately, her simple illumination spell was only enough for them to see a few steps ahead of themselves. The air was chilling; it chewed through their fur and bit at their very skin. Silence hung in the air; all they could hear was the sound of their own hooves crunching in the leaves. The group followed a faint trail that led from the old castle and wound among the trees. As they made their way through the forest slowly, Twilight's lavender light danced around them, shimmering off of evil-looking eyes and sharp teeth. They could only hope it was their imagination.

    Applejack tried to shake the images out of her head. "Now just where could that mare've gotten to?" Her words echoed in the darkness.

    "I don't know," Twilight said, sighing, "but I hope we find her soon. It's already getting pretty late, and I really don't want to be stuck here come midnight."

    "You're not... scared, are you, Twi?" asked Rainbow Dash with a snicker.

    "I-I'm not scared!"

    "I'm pretty scared...." Fluttershy said.

    "It's okay, dear," Rarity said, wrapping a hoof around her friend. "I'm quite certain—"

    "Boo!"

    As one, they spun around at the noise. Except Fluttershy, that was, who ducked for cover, hooves over her ears, as Rainbow Dash collapsed into giggles.

    Twilight rolled her eyes. "Cut it out, Rainbow Dash!"

    "Aw, c'mon, Twi." Dash wiped a tear out her eye. "It was a just a little joke."

    With Twilight grumbling, the group continued to make their way carefully through the fallen branches and twigs. They came to a small clearing, where there was a shuffling sound coming from the bushes. "Rainbow Dash, I swear—"

    "I'm right here!" said Dash in protest.

    "Then who was that?"

    A pink pony leaped out from the foliage. "Hey guys, I've been looking all over for you!"

    "Well shoot, Pinkie, we've been lookin' all over fer you!"

    Pinkie giggled, bouncing up into the air. "Well here I am!"

    "Really, dear, you mustn't run off like that!" Rarity pouted.

    "Well, I'm just glad that everypony is all safe and sound," Fluttershy said with a smile. As they talked, little did they notice the darkness around them growing thicker. Fluttershy was the first to hear the faint chattering and squealing. Freezing, she cocked a nervous ear back and forth, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. “Uh, g-girls? D-did a-anypony hear that?” Fluttershy flattened her ears as the hissing and chattering grew louder.

    “What in the world—?” Applejack pulled her hat over her ears to block out the sound. As the group closed in on itself, the first of the creatures showed itself.

    The monster was rodent-like, the size a small filly. With fur darker than the night itself, it had razor-sharp teeth, and claws to match. Saliva dripped from its mouth, and it chattered hungrily.

    With a flash of magic, Twilight knocked the rodent away as it lunged at the group. "Girls? A little help?"

    "Right!" Rainbow Dash flew up into the air. With a harsh battle cry, she came straight back down, plowing one of the rodents into a tree.

    "O-oh my," Fluttershy squeaked. "I'm sure if we reason with them...."

    "There ain't no reasoning to be done, sugarcube!" Applejack bucked another rodent across the teeth. Pinkie Pie picked up a rock in her mouth and chucked it; a rodent hissed at it was smacked across the face.

    "Twilight, can't you get us out of here?" Rarity cowered, shrieking. "These rats are simply dreadful!"

    "I'm trying!" Twilight said with a grunt. She gnashed her teeth, grimacing as sparks flew uselessly flew off her horn. A rodent tackled her, knocking Twilight to the ground.

    "Twilight!" Applejack managed to drag the creature off of her friend.

    Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the group found themselves at the edge of the Everfree, near Fluttershy's cottage.

    Rainbow Dash fell to the ground, groaning and rubbing her forehead. "I really shouldn't ram into things like that anymore...."

    "That sure was a close one!" Applejack said, rubbing her hindquarters.

    Twilight panted for breath. "You... you can say that again."

    "That was so fun!" Pinkie said, bouncing up and down in place. "All the monsters were like grrrr! And Dashie was like like woosh! And AJ was like kapow! And Rarity was all like, 'Please save me!' And, and—"

    Rarity looked away in embarrassment. "You may be exaggerating that last one a little bit, dear."

    "Nope," Applejack said with a chuckle, "Ah dare say she was pretty spot on."

    Suddenly, Pinkie's tail began to twitch. "Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail!"

    Twilight groaned. "What now?"

    Then, Pinkie's nose began to wiggle. "Shaky nose! Shaky nose!" And then her ears began to flop. "Floppy ears! Floppy ears!"

    "Now what in tarnation is that supposed to mean?"

    Pinkie gasped. "That means that there's a party I'm forgetting about! Sorry, guys! I gotta go!"

    Before anypony could say anything, Pinkie was off.

    Twilight opened her mouth as if to say something, but simply sighed. "Well, girls, if you don't mind, I think I'll head home myself. I think there's some studying I need to be doing about this amulet."

    "Sounds good to me," Applejack said. "Ah should be headin' home too. Big Mac is probably wonderin' what's holding me up."

    Rarity grimaced. "And Sweetie Belle must be back from her play date. I couldn't possibly let her go unsupervised. I'll take my leave as well."

    With that, they parted ways for the night. Twilight yawned as she trotted home. The full moon rose as night overtook day, and its soft light caressed the town gently, lulling it to sleep. The stars in the night sky sparkled overhead; they beckoned to Twilight. She smiled at the sight, her eyes slowly growing more heavy.