As Queen Luna looked upon her most trusted subjects, a small tear filled her eye, and a smile graced her cheeks.
"Aldebaran, Regulus, Antares, Fomalhaut..." she began. "All of thee stood for my best interest in thy own ways. Thou didst each do what thou believed was best, working together to make sure We and Our subjects were safe.
"Aldebaran," she began, and the towering minotaur straightened his back and stood at attention. "Thou who laid claim to the untamed wilds and mastered them. Few monsters made it free to torment Our ponies under thy watch.
"Regulus," she continued as she moved on to the steadfast lion. "Thou didst maintain order in the cities and provide safe dreams for those who entered into thy walls. We commend thee for thy vigilance.
"Antares," she said, looking down at the swift scorpion. "Thy methods may have resembled the Nightmare's, but thy targets were none but the enemies of Luna and her subjects. Due to thy efforts, no monsters grew strong enough to pass through to the Waking Realm.
"Fomalhaut, Our dear friend," she said, her gaze at last falling on the wise, old stallion. "Thou didst stay with Us, keeping Us from fully giving in to the Nightmare. And when the Nightmare brought you an apprentice, thou didst train young Twilight to be not as Nightmare ordered, but as Luna would have wanted. We place Our gratitude on thy shoulders, for without thee, Erebos would not be standing here today as it is.
"And Twilight Sparkle." The young mare jumped a little from behind her mentor, but quickly regained her composure. "Twilight Sparkle, the pony who should never have been brought here, yet who was instrumental in freeing Us from the Nightmare and restoring Erebos to its former glory. Step forward."
Twilight hesitated for a moment, but after a light kick from Fomalhaut to prompt her, she moved out from behind him and stood before the Queen. "Y-Your majesty..."
Queen Luna smiled and placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "To thee, Twilight Sparkle, do We owe everything. Without thee, We would not have seen Erebos united. Without thee, We would still be the Nightmare's thrall. And Without thee, We would never have realized how blessed We are to have such wonderful subjects and friends. Tell Us, Twilight Sparkle. What is thy greatest wish? Name anything within Our power, and We shall grant it for thee."
For Twilight, the answer was already clear. "Your majesty, i-if it's not to much to ask..."
"Nothing is too much, little one. Speak it, and it shall be thine."
"...Can we go home, now?" All was silent for a few moments as Twilight and Luna stared into each others eyes, the four Royal Guardians watching with keen interest. Then Luna smiled with a soft chuckle.
"Thou art right. We have tarried far too long, and must return to the Waking Realm. Guardians!" she said, turning her attention toward the four who now stood at rapt attention. "We must depart. Thou hast kept Erebos for 1000 years without Our guidance. Perhaps thou canst keep it a little while longer?"
"We shall keep it as long as necessary, your majesty," spoke Fomalhaut, head bowed in reverence. "And upon your return, we shall gladly return it to you."
"Then we depart! Come, Twilight. We shall muster the power for the spell and return to the Waking Realm." Queen Luna closed her eyes. As Twilight stood next to her, she felt the air begin to charge with power. She looked up at the Queen, whose eyes were now open and shining with a brilliant white light. The Queen stretched out a hoof and pointed it skyward. "Children of the night sky! Lend Us thy aid! Add thy might to Ours, that We might know freedom from Our exile!"
A bright glow surrounded the guardians. As Twilight watched, they rose into the sky, shining like the stars. No... Shining as stars. They spread out across the sky, moving further and further away from each other. Then, the entire sky flashed as one of them came into contact with an otherwise invisible barrier. One by one, each guardian touched the barrier and pushed against it, causing it to shimmer violently. Suddenly, Queen Luna stomped her hoof into the ground and launched a beam of light which impacted against the spell directly in the center of them all.
And shattered it.
*****
Princess Celestia watched as the stars touched the moon. The dark craters pocking its surface vanished, signifying the release of its captive. "It is time..."
Suddenly, a powerful burst of wind swirled around the field, whipping her mane and tail to and fro as it lashed against her until it exploded outward in a bright flash of light. Then all was silent. As the dust settled, Celestia beheld the grim visage of her sister, as dark and powerful as the day she had been banished. The two looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, neither choosing to make the first move.
"Whoa... That was intense!" somepony said.
Celestia's eyes widened. There was somepony else here? She had thought they would all be at the ceremony! "My little pony, get away from here! It's not safe!"
Then she saw something that surprised her even more. A young mare, not even out of her teenage years, garbed in a black cloak and hood stepped out from behind her sister. As soon as their eyes met, the mare glared at her. "Princess Celestia..." the mare all but growled.
"Be at ease, Twilight," the dark alicorn said to the mare. "Hello again, Celestia."
"Nightmare Moon," Celestia replied, her composure regained as she resigned herself to her fate.
"How dare you?!" the young mare - Twilight, as Celestia recalled - shouted. "She's not--"
"We said at ease! Thy antagonism toward Our sister is unnecessary." Twilight immediately stopped herself, but she continued her hateful gaze. The dark alicorn smiled toward Celestia. "Please forgive Our student. She was raised to loathe thee."
Celestia nodded, hiding the pain of those words behind a mask of stoicism. "You will not win, Nightmare. My student is already searching for the Elements of Harmony." Celestia noted that every word she said seemed to fuel the rage of her sister's pupil, yet had no effect on her sister herself.
"Your majesty..." Twilight said, as calmly as she could force herself to be. Luna placed a hoof on her shoulder to calm her further.
"Calm thyself, Twilight. She knows not of recent events." Luna looked forward toward her sister and continued. "Celestia, why wouldst thou send thy student after Us, knowing she would be defeated?" she asked, curious about her sister's intentions. "There is nopony alive who can wield the Elements like thou didst all those centuries ago, and even should they be able to, the Elements are useless against Us as We are now."
"We shall see," Celestia replied, her face expressionless.
Luna cast a scrutinizing eye over Celestia, studying her for a few moments. "Art thou...?" Her eyes widened and she began to giggle as though she had seen something that tickled her heart. Twilight looked up at her Queen, confused.
"Your majesty?"
"Thou art! Thou art trying to use the Elements of Harmony as teaching tools!" Luna could no longer restrain herself and fell over in full blown laughter, giggling madly and kicking her legs about like a foal under feathery duress. Twilight and Celestia exchanged a glance of mutual confusion: Twilight at having never seen her Queen in such a state, and Celestia at the sheer glee emanating from her sister. The Nightmare she remembered never laughed with mirth.
And then it clicked.
"...Luna?" Celestia asked cautiously. "Luna, is that you?"
"The Elements! The most powerful forces of order that we ever discovered," Luna gasped, struggling to find her breath from sheer amusement. "And thou art using them like a schoolmarm! Oh, Our sides! Save thyself, Twilight! We are incapacitated!"
Celestia's eyes blurred, and her heart leapt in her chest. "Luna, it really is you!" With powerful strides, she galloped toward the pair.
"Your majesty, get up! Celestia is bearing down on us!" Twilight tried to rouse her Queen from her hysterics, but once she saw that it wouldn't be fast enough, she positioned herself between the alicorns and took a defensive stance. "Come no closer, Celestia! Or I will put you to the ground!"
The princess slid to a stop, her mind and heart torn between hugging her sister and never letting go, and not wishing to antagonize this brave, if foolish, young mare. Luna's laughter settled down, Twilight's defiance sobering her enough to regain her composure. She gave Twilight a smile, thanking her for her loyalty and letting her know everything was alright, then stood up to look her sister in the face. Then she rushed forward and embraced Celestia in a long needed hug, tears of joy falling from both their faces. "We've missed thee so much, big sister..."
"And I, you, little sister. The years have been trying without you by my side."
"Tell Us, Celestia. What was the lesson thou wished for Us to teach thy student?" Luna asked as she released Celestia.
"Walk with me," Celestia said as she turned toward the nearby town of Ponyville. "I will explain on the way."
Sunset Shimmer looked across the 'sea' of ponies as she entered Town Hall. More like a pond, really. A pond of ponies. Hmm... Maybe just a puddle. Yes, that was more like it. A puddle. A puddle of ponies. After all, the entire town was here, yet fewer ponies were in attendance than even the sparsest gatherings in Canterlot. Yet in a way, it was good that there were so few in attendance for this year's Summer Sun Celebration.
After all, less collateral damage when the Nightmare bitch came back.
"Hey, Shimmy!" Sunset jumped as the pink menace from earlier attacked her eardrums with high-pitched death sounds. "Are you excited? I'm excited! I've never been so excited! Well, except this one time where-"
"Cinder." A small, purple dragon with green spines poked its head out from behind Sunset's long, fiery mane.
"-I saw you and I was all-- Ooo! A dragon!"
"Burn."
"Huh?"
As the little dragon opened its mouth, green flame shot forward at Pinkie Pie and licked her fur. She screamed dramatically and bolted off, much to Sunset's pleasure. She grinned without even turning her head to watch. It was much more fun imagining the flames rolling over the pest. She raised a hoof up to her shoulder. "Pound it."
"Boom," the dragon said with a low chuckle, bumping his fist against against her hoof before disappearing back behind her mane. Just as she set her hoof down, the mayor walked forward to start the proceedings.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts! As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" Applause and cheers rang out from everypony in the audience. Even Sunset Shimmer gave a few stomps, though she was doing it more for appearance's sake than for the festivities. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!"
Sunset yawned and looked outside. The stars were more interesting than some boring speech by an old mare. Especially with how fast they were moving. Toward the moon. Her eyes widened, her fatigue forgotten with the realization of the true events about to take place.
"And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land. The very pony who raises the sun and moon each and every day. The good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria..." The mayor paused, allowing the excitement to build among the audience. "Princess Celestia!"
Everypony erupted into applause. The choir birds, led by some butter-yellow pushover, began to show off their singing voices as the curtains flew back to reveal...
Nopony.
The curtain puller, who also designed all the 'decorations', rushed back to see if she could find the princess as the crowd murmured amongst themselves. Where was their ruler? Their sun-raiser? Their good, wise, bringer of harmony?
"She's gone!" The crowd gasped, but Sunset just rolled her eyes.
"Makes sense..." Sunset muttered. "Celestia knows the Nightmare's coming back tonight. She's probably out searching right now."
"Remain calm, everypony. There must be a reasonable explanation," the mayor assured them, not quite at ease with the situation as she tried to make herself out to be.
"Ooo! Ooo! I love hide-and-seek!" Pinkie shouted, completely oblivious to the general mood. "But nopony gets the better of Pinkie Pie!" Like a blur, she zoomed back stage to try and find their missing princess. Unfortunately, she was now too far away for Cinder to give her another torching, much to Sunset's irritation.
Suddenly, she rushed back into the crowd, screaming her lungs out as a dark purple mist followed closely behind. Like a fog spewing out of a cave, it billowed forth onto the stage until it began to coalesce, taking the shape of a pony.
"Well, what do you know? Celestia failed." Sunset could no longer suppress a grin. "Looks like I get to show the Princess what I'm made of after all."
*****
"Okay. The Queen is counting on you, Twilight. So no mess-ups! Everything has to be fine. I'm back in the Waking Realm, so my magic shouldn't act all funny. I mean, it never did weird things before Erebos, so it shouldn't do weird things now that I'm back. Yes, that has to be right. Everything's going to be fine. I made it in here okay, didn't I?" Twilight stopped pacing the floor. "Then again, the only other time I tried to cast a spell was the day my magic went haywire..." She looked at herself in the mirror. Shrouded by a black cloak, nearly all of her was hidden from view, save the ends of her legs. A hood covered most of her head, but her horn prevented it from shrouding her frazzled eyes. She shook her head and tried to put on a winning grin. "The Queen is counting on me! Nothing will go wrong!"
She gulped. "I hope..."
Just then, a loud bang startled her out of her thoughts. A bright light shown from the doorway, surrounding a poofy-maned pony. The pony looked directly at her. "Hey, there! Have you seen Princess Celestia anywhere?"
Twilight's fears immediately died, replaced by a calm anger. She chuckled darkly. "Yes, actually. Yes. I. Have."
'Here goes nothing...' she thought to herself. As her horn lit up, she began to dissolve into a dark mist from the hooves up, all the while quietly laughing until her head dissolved as well. The intruder started screaming once she began to move forward. 'So far, so good.'
Twilight slowly moved her gaseous form forward over the stage. Ponies all across the room gasped as they saw her make her way in front of them. She began to coalesce her body before them, taking on her original shape as she looked over the crowd. All of them wore stunned or frightened faces, except for one who merely grinned, as though she not only expected but welcomed the current event.
'That must be her. Sunset Shimmer, student to Princess Celestia.'
When she finished, she stepped forward into the center of the stage. The room seemed a little bit bigger than before, now that she had reformed, but that was probably because she was getting a little stage fright. But she knew that with how nervous she was, everypony else was far worse. Her black cloak seemed to have grown a little bit, covering all but her muzzle and the ends of her hooves, but it was still an attire she knew the ponies were wary of from her time in the Realm of Dreams, and she had just popped into existence from a dark rolling mist.
It was time to put the fear of the Night into them.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts," she began slowly, watching the crowd's expressions carefully. "You may have been expecting to see Celestia, your 'good, wise, bringer of harmony.'" As she continued, she watched as their faces slowly turned from awe and fear to blank confusion. "But it is my great pleasure to welcome you to this, the longest night of your lives."
As Twilight's eyes passed over Sunset, she found the vibrant mare snickering. What was she laughing at? Shouldn't she be more concerned that her mentor was nowhere to be found? As as she looked over the others, the only responses she received were bored or irritated stares.
"Hahaha! I get it!" laughed a blue pegasus with a mane like the rainbow. "This must be one of the princess's pranks! I hear she's one of the best!" Only Sunset burst into laughter with Rainbow, while nervous titters echoed across the rest of the room. "Oh, buddy, this was a good one! But, uh, the joke's kinda wearing thin. Where's the princess?"
"Have you seen the sunrise yet?" Twilight asked. "Doesn't it strike you as strange that the moon still hangs in the sky? The princess isn't here!"
"This ain't funny, little filly!" shouted an orange pony in a well-kept stetson. "The joke's already old, so go and get Princess Celestia! Foals these days..."
'Little filly? Twilight's eyes widened. Now that somepony mentioned it, her voice did sound a little higher. And she remembered feeling like the world was bigger.
'No...'
She vanished from sight, stepping through the shadows back to the room where she first entered and looked at herself in the mirror. She could barely see herself under the cloak, which had only come down to her knees just a few minutes ago. The hood, which had previously allowed most of her face to be seen, now completely shrouded all but the very tip of her muzzle. In a moment, she ripped the cloak off her body.
Stubby little legs.
Big, round eyes.
A horn that barely peeked out from behind her mane.
And a flank that...
*****
"Geez, this prank's gone on long enough! Where's the princess, already?! I'm startin' to get mad!" Rainbow grumbled.
"Now now, Rainbow," Applejack chided. "Ah'm sure the filly's gettin' her right-"
"oh come on! damn it to the sun!"
The group exchanged a glance. Then they glanced back up at the stage as a fluffy purple filly strode out from backstage with a scowl. Several members of the audience cooed and aww'd. Even more so when she stamped her hoof in frustration. Sunset burst into mirthless laughter. "Aww, wook at the cute, wittew Nightmawe up thewe on stage! Isn't the way she tantwums just adowable?"
"Silence!" Twilight shouted, her voice suddenly explosively loud. Every ear flattened as the crowd cowered back from the outburst. "Look around you! It's still nighttime, and the princess is gone. Do you still think this is a prank? The fancy of a benevolent ruler? If so, you are all fools! Ignorant, despite all the signs! All of you, except one." Twilight pointed into the crowd. When every eye followed, they landed on Sunset Shimmer. "That mare knows what's happening. So when the sun doesn't rise anymore, you can all go to her and ask why daylight's never coming back!"
With as malicious a grin as a little purple fuzzball can produce, the filly vanished from the stage as though she had never even been there, her hoof pointing at Sunset until the very end. Sunset watched with growing nervousness as more and more ponies turned away from the stage and toward her.
"What was she talking about?"
"This isn't a prank?"
"Hey, isn't that the mare from Canterlot? The one who was suppose to oversee the celebration?"
"What's happening?"
"Why isn't Celestia here?"
Sunset backed away slowly as all the ponies began to close in on her. "H-hey, I don't know what she's talking about!"
"Where's the princess?"
"If you did something to Celestia..."
"What did you do to the Princess?!"
"Where's Princess Celestia?!"
Sunset suddenly found herself against the wall of the building, surrounded by an angry mob of ponies, but it wasn't the crowd on her mind.
'When I find that little Nightmare, she's going to be in a world of hurt...
