Chapter 1-A Message
Dawn was approaching and Princess Luna was outside on thew balcony using her magic to lower the moon. She paused for a moment when she noticed that her sister had not arrived to raise the sun. She teleported into Celestia's room. Luna turned toward Celestia who was still in bed.
"Sister? Why are you still in bed? It is your turn to raise the sun." Luna prompted.
Celestia raised her head and turned toward her sister. "Sorry..I was just...distracted..."
Luna tilted her head confused. "Distracted? By what?"
Celestia rose out of bed and sighed heavily. "I fear that....Nightmare Moon has returned..."
This caused Luna to freeze. "But........That's impossible...."she stammered.
Celestia nodded. "I know....But...I have a grave feeling that she is present once more." She approached her sister and wrapped one wing over her shoulders for comfort.
Luna relaxed slightly from her sister's touch.
Just then, Discord poofed in with his and Celestia's daughter, Misfortune. This caused Luna to fall back in fright. Discord laughed upon seeing her reaction.
"Oh dear Lulu, I did not take you as the one to be startled so easily." He smirked.
Luna glared at him. "I told you not to call me 'Lulu'."
Celestia turned toward her husband and child. "Discord, do we need to have another talk?"
Discord stopped laughing. "Oh..why Celestia....I did not mean...Well I was just poking fun..."he stammered.
Celestia breathed in softly. "It's alright Discord. No need to get flustered."
Discord sighed with relief. "Thank you..."
Luna stood back up. "What brings you here so early? You usually sleep through the early hours."
Discord opened his mouth to speak but Misfortune closed it with her snake tail.
"Dad felt that mom was not well so he dragged me here to see if she was okay. I wanted to sleep later, but he gave me no choice." She lightly shrugged.
Discord removed her tail from his muzzle. "Yeah, what she said."
Luna sighed before turning to Celestia. "Do you want to tell them or should I?"
"Tell us what?" Discord and Misfortune asked in unison.
Celestia nodded before looking toward them. "I fear that Nightmare Moon has returned."
Discord raised an eyebrow. "How can that be? Luna here does seem to have turned."
Luna glared again at him.
Celestia shook her head. "No, but I feel that when the Elements of Harmony freed Luna, a part of Nightmare Moon had fled till she regained enough strength to take shape once more."
Misfortune tilted her head. "But if it took this long for her to just take form, then she must not be at full power yet."
Luna looked at her sister. "She would need a new host body...I doubt she would just crawl back to me.."
Celestia nodded.
"Well then what are we waiting for?!"Misfortune shouted,"Let's go find Nightmare Moon and destroy her while she's still weak!"
Misfortune was about to fly off when Discord grabbed her tail. She turned to face him. "Dad! Let me go!"
"Can't do that Missy."he replied.
Celestia looked at her daughter. "Misfortune, we can not destroy her if we do not know where she is hiding."
"So what are we going to do?! Sit around and wait till an innocent pony becomes her host?!"she countered.
"Tia, I have to agree with my dear niece. We can not just sit around wit hour hooves tied behind our backs." Luna added.
"Yeah I have to agree with them too honey." Discord admitted,"Guess it's three to one."
Celestia sighed. "I know"
She used her magic to levitate a pen and paper over. "I want to inform Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight about this matter as well so everypony will be on high alert."
"Then where do we go from there?" Luna asked.
"Once everypony knows that Nightmare Moon has returned, they will be sure to report to use when she appears again." Celestia answered.
"Then do we strike?" Misfortune asked.
Celestia nodded. "Then we strike."
Once the messages were written, Princess Celestia sent them to both Twilight and Cadence.
Chapter 2- A Birthday
Mroning had finally arrived and Twilight was downstairs setting the table for breakfast. She used her magic to levitate an equal amount of pancakes onto each plate. She smiled once finished before turning toward the stairs.
"Breakfast!" she called.
After a few moments, the sound of hooves pounding down the stairs could be heard. It was Flash Sentry running down with Twinkle Light on his back. She giggled.
"Faster daddy! Faster!"
Flash smiled lightly. "Alright. You asked for it."
He increased his speed and ran faster around the table making sure not to run over Twilight. Twilight watched them and giggled softly. Once Flash had come to a stop, she trotted over to them and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. "Morning you two."
Flash smiled and he reciprocated the gesture. "Morning dear."
Twinkle Light giggled. "Hey mommy."
"Do either of you know if Gale is awake yet?"she asked.
They both shook their heads.
"I didn't see him come out of his room when we came down." Flash admitted.
"Well I'm going to go wake him. I want to make sure he eats before we head off to the Crystal Empire for Shining's birthday."
Twinkle Light hopped off of Flash Sentry's back. "I'll go wake him mommy."
She quickly bounded up the stairs and over toward Gallant Shield's room. Twilight smiled softly watching her daughter leave.
Meanwhile, Gallant Shield was still lying in bed, his back toward the door. He was awake but he did not feel like getting up. He closed his bright magenta eyes a moment before they shot up again feeling Twinkle Light jumping on him.
"Get up big brother! Breakfast is ready!" she shouted cheerfully.
Gallant placed one hoof on her head to get her to stop bouncing. "Alright alright...I'm up."
Twinkle Light giggled and jumped off of him. Gallant Shield got up and he stretched his wings out while letting out a huge yawn. He looked at his little sister before he grabbed her and tossed heron his back. "Next time, knock first."
Twinkle Light smiled. "Okay big brother. Hey, want to run down the stairs like dad does every morning?"
"After the bruise you gave me?" He chuckled lightly,"Not today little sis."
Twinkle Light pouted. Gallant Shield lightly poked her nose. "Oh don't be so pouty. Maybe next time you can ride on my back."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Gallant Shield walked downstairs with Twinkle to meet up with their parents. Twilight turned her head when she heard them come down. She smiled and wrapped her wing over both of them. "Good to see you're awake Gale."
Gallant Shield shifted out from under her wing and place Twinkle Light back on the ground. "Yeah..guess I'm more of a heavy sleeper.." He walked past them without saying another word and sat at his chair.
Twilight watched her son carefully. She grew concerned as she thought of the possible outcomes for his behavior before coming to the conclusion that she will just have a talk with them once they are finished with Shining Armor's birthday party. She walked over to her chair and sat down along with her family.
"So mommy, when are we going to see Uncle Shining and Auntie Cadence?" Twinkle asked.
"After we eat. Best not to travel on empty stomachs." Twilight replied.
"Is Spike not joining us?" Flash asked.
"Well since he's helping the apple family harvest their apples. It is apple buck season for them again."
Flash nodded. "I'm sure with his help they'll have those apples harvest faster than last year."
Twilight nodded in agreement. She turned toward Gallant Shield, not enjoying the fact that he hasn't said a word yet. "Gale....Is something bothering you?"
Gallant Shield lifted his head from his pancakes to look his mother in the eye. "I'm fine...Just lost in thought."
"Oh? What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing...."
"It must be some--"
"I said it's nothing!" he shouted, cutting her off.
His outburst caused everyone at the table to look at him in shock. Gallant Shield saw them all staring and he got up out of his seat. "I'm finished eating...." He picked up his plate and carried it over to the kitchen.
Twinkle Light got up out of her seat and went after him to make sure he was okay. Twilight on the other hand, began to worry even more.
"This is unlike him....What if he hates me?...Am I such a terrible mother that my son now hates me?..."
Flash sensed her worry and placed a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight perked up at his touch and looked at him.
"You're not a terrible mother Twilight. Besides, Gale is young and he just might be stressed over something else."he said trying to calm her nerves.
Twilight relaxed a little. "You're right Flash. I just don't like seeing our son like this."
"I don't like it either." Flash looked to where Gale left. "I still remember when he was a young colt and he was pulling at your mane begging for attention."
Twilight giggled at the thought. "Yeah...He was sure an energetic colt." She looked down at the table and sighed faintly.
"Cheer up honey, it's your big brother's birthday today. I bet he wouldn't want to see you upset. He'd....probably blame me for it..."
Twilight laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like something Shining would do."
Flash chuckled. "We should finish up and grab the kids or we'll miss our train."
Twilight nodded. "Right."
Once the whole family was ready, they made their way to the train station and off to the Crystal Empire. Once they arrived, a pale creamed crystal pony mare was there to greet them. She walked up to Twilight. She bowed to her.
"Princess Sparkle and family, my name is Pearl Strings. Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor are still in a meeting and they sent me to get you."she told them.
Twilight nodded. "How long till they are finished?"
"Shouldn't be much longer."she replied," I can have some guards take your luggage up to the guest rooms."
Pearl Strings beckoned a couple of the crystal guards to take their luggage away. Twilight smiled then turned her head hearing someone call her name.
"Auntie Twilight!" shouted a light pink alicorn mare.
She landed down in front of them before folding her wings in.
"You guys made it!"she smiled.
Twilight smiled. "Well we'd never pass up an opportunity to visit the Crystal Empire to see you, Reverence."
Reverence Soul smiled. She noticed Pearl Strings giving her a displeased look. "Did I do something wrong Pearl Strings?"
"Shouldn't you be with your parents?"she asked sternly.
Reverence Soul rolled her eyes. "All that political talk gets sooooo boring. Besides, I couldn't wait any longer to see my cousins."
