Chapters 1. Not a Dream, but a Vision
Nightmare Moon's blackened armor lustered in the pale moonlight. "Thou, sister," he bellowed in the Equestrian royal voice, "thou are the monster! Thous't banished me when thous't been wrong the whole time!" His dark blue, sparkling magic spilled from his palms and struck Celestia's chest, knocking her back into the wall.
"Brother, stop this instant," she shouted back, "you are being unreasonable!"
"Me? I am unreasonable? Thou are but the unreasonable one!" The tall princess counteracted his blue magic with her own golden magic, but Nightmare Moon's black face the color of soot drew a scowl under his helm. His sharp canine teeth ground together and his piercing blue eyes sank deep into her soul before he spread his black bat wings and ran to her, wrapping his fingers around her neck. "I will come back!"
That was when Celestia awakened and shot up in bed. She swallowed dryly and threw her legs over the side of her bed, standing up to wrap her soft blanket around her smooth shoulders. Slowly she crept to her brother's empty room and looked both ways before opening the dark blue door that was decorated in stars and the moon, all made out of gorgeous diamonds. Tears stung at her eyes when she saw the empty bed, but this time—much unlike any other night—she felt nauseous.
Unlike any other time before, the doors shut slowly behind her and her pink eyes widened when the hard wind had slammed the windows open. His favorite music box, showcasing a winged unicorn with a sapphire mane and opal body, began to play the songs that he had written in his solitude. Celestia pressed her back to the wall as the nightstand drawer threw itself open and thousands of pages of music flew from the bottom.
The sound of his sweet symphony filled her ears and she couldn't help but let out the sobs of a thousand moons passed. "Artemis," she called out, grabbing her golden blanket tighter. "I know you can hear me, so stop this nonsense!" The pages swirled out of the drawer violently and it was only a few second before finally the music box’s song stopped. The floating pages swirled in a cyclone around the music box and one piece of paper floated away from the group and to her. Grabbing it gently, she gasped when the box was thrown out of the cyclone.
She caught the music box before it fell to the floor and she saw that the sheet music was scribbled in shaky notes, then the pencil had trailed off of the paper and he had written a note on the page. Celestia looked down to the horse in the music box and watched as its beauty melted away to a black, fire opal mare with a long, sharp unicorn horn that was chipped and it had the same bat wings Nightmare Moon had grown when they had last fought. The blue pattern on its legs crawled up its neck and head until it formed the shape of his helmet that he had worn and her attention snapped up to the paper when she heard the sound of the paper being burnt. The symphony grew louder and an ember traced across the paper, writing the horrifying word: READ.
"Dear sister," she read aloud loudly with tears still streaming down her face, "I love you, but you have ruined my life. I needed someone—anyone—to be my friend, but all I received was anger and hatred. Kill me now with your 'superior magic,' or I shall kill you before anybody could ever realize it. My magic is superior. I am the Prince of Darkness. I am Nightmare Night." The pages fell to the floor and the wind stopped blowing her hair around. The calm returned and she looked down at the little music box, which had returned to normal. She furrowed her brow and took in what the note had said. “But you’re not Nightmare Night, you’re Nightmare Moon —“
"Celestia," she heard the loud voice call down the hall, "are you alright, dear?" Quickly she gathered up the blanket and placed the music box on the nightstand, bursting through the doors to her parents, Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos. The bearded man hugged her close and stroked her multicolored hair, giving the top of her head a kiss. "What's the matter?"
"He's coming back," she hiccuped through sobs.
"What do you mean?"
"Artemis wants revenge on me!"
"How do you know," Queen Galaxia whispered with a forced smile and Celestia pointed up to the glass ceiling, showing her parents the craters that looked like a horse in the moon.
"He's coming back on Nightmare Night, and I had a vision about it. Nobody will tell me otherwise!"
"It was just a dream," King Cosmos laughed in a jolly way, but Celestia shook her head as they ushered her back to her bedroom.
"It was a vision ."
"What are we doing?" Rarity buckled her seatbelt and AJ furrowed his eyebrows as Rainbow Blitz shut his door.
"What're you doin'?"
"What do you mean? I'm putting on my seatbelt!"
"You don't wear seatbelts when you're goin' muddin'!"
"What's 'mudding'? It sounds terrible!" Butterscotch made himself comfortable in Blitz's lap while Rarity and Pinkie Pie got to sit in the middle seat of the rutty old truck. Blitz wrapped his arms around the skinny boy and AJ rolled down the windows, smiling at the huge piece of land that was covered in muddy puddles.
"Y'all hold on," he warned as he stepped on the gas and sped through the mud. Rarity shrieked as the force of the truck jolted them all back and Butterscotch eyed the speedometer carefully. It was able to quickly surpass the 120 mark and tears welled in his eyes.
"I thought pickups could only go sixty-five miles per hour," he asked in a scared squeak and AJ shook his head.
"Not when you fix 'em up good!" He leaned his arm out of the window and drove through the mud with one hand while the truck busied itself in getting dirty. Rarity screamed loudly and squeezed her eyes shut, hugging onto AJ’s muscular left leg.
"If we die, just know that you've all been great friends!"
"We ain't gonna die!" Rarity cried as the mud covered truck drove up a ramp and soared through the air. When AJ laid down on his truck's horn, it honked out the first twelve notes to "Dixieland" and Butterscotch hugged Blitz tightly.
"Lighten up," Blitz laughed as the truck landed hard in the mud, knocking Rarity’s head into AJ's lap and Pinkie to the floorboards.
AJ drifted the truck into the grass and finally the vehicle rocked back and forth before it settled to a stop. The farmer boy let out a "yee-haw" and hopped out of the truck to sink his cowboy boots into the thick mud. Blitz jumped out as well and stood the rigid, nervous Butterscotch up on his quivering legs.
"Dude, that was awesome," he shouted as Pinkie crawled out of the truck and stumbled dizzily.
"Yeah," she agreed breathlessly, leaning against the bed of the truck, “I haven’t seen this many colors in years, ever since that one time when I hit my head, and...” Rarity held her arms out and AJ lifted her up onto his back for a ride until they reached the clean grass.
"AJ, that was very, very reckless of you," Rarity fussed, but AJ and Blitz just gave each other a high-five. The kids quieted at the sound of a cowbell loudly being rung and they looked to the little country house.
"It's time for dinner, y'all come on, it's about time for y'all to be at the party," AJ's grandmother shouted through the farm and AJ got back into the truck with the others, all except for Rarity.
"Come on," Blitz persuaded, but the girl stared at the mud.
"Uh, no ." AJ cranked up the truck and Blitz opened the door, but Rarity didn't budge.
"I swear," AJ sighed and took off his wife beater, throwing it to Blitz. With this, the rainbow-haired boy threw it across the ground to make a bridge for the prim and proper girl to walk across so that she could get into the truck.
"Are we still going to that baby shower at Sugar Cube Corner," Butterscotch asked and Pinkie rolled her eyes with a groan.
"I forgot about that," she whined, "I was supposed to decorate and it's almost time for them to get home!"
"Don't worry," AJ explained with a smile and he sped off through the mud and up the long, winding road of Sweet Apple Acres.
"Spike, triple check the list to make sure that I put everything in its place!"
"Dusk, stop worrying! It's all here! Wait - oh no!"
"What?" Dusk Shine wheeled around to face the short, green haired girl who looked worriedly at the list. "What is it? What! "
"We forgot the kitchen sink! What a tragedy!"
"I hate you, Barb ," he roared as the girl laughed at him.
"Hey, I told you to never call me that again!"
"You two don't fight, now," Twilight Velvet sighed, rubbing her face gently. She finally gave the two a smile and wiped her bangs out of her face. "What if we go to that little restaurant down the street to have dinner? It seems like a lovely place."
"Yeah," Spike shouted giddily, but Dusk rolled his eyes.
"I wanted to stay home and finish my book on quantum physics!"
"Come on, Dusk, you can always read later," his father Night Light chuckled, ruffling up his bowl cut. Dusk quickly calmed it down and made sure that the thick, dark purple locks were all in their right places. "Let's rock and roll, kids!" The man twirled his keys around his finger and while Spike ran through the front door, Dusk Shine trudged along. As their car drove down the road to the restaurant, Dusk stared out the window to see the bakery across the road.
He smiled to himself when he saw five kids dancing to music so loud that even he could hear it, but they decorated at the same time. Every time that he had to decorate, it was miserable. They looked like they were having so much fun... "Sweet Apple Acres," Twilight Velvet hummed, breaking Dusk's train of thought, "quality apples and livestock. Hey Dusk, don't you use apples for your science projects?"
"Sometimes, yeah."
"Well you should buy stock in that company," Night Light joked, climbing out of the car. Dusk looked in the window once more to the kids that were so happy while twirling around and laughing together, all having the best of times.
"Maybe you should make some friends, sweetie," Twilight Velvet whispered when she noticed that Dusk was staring through the window. She pet his hair and hugged him from behind, placing her head on his shoulder.
"I can't, Mom."
"Why can't you? They look like nice kids."
"Because I'm not good at making friends."
"You've never tried, sweetheart." She kissed his cheek and smiled, patting his shoulder before grabbing his hand and leading him into the restaurant.
Author's Note
I go mudding all the time with my friends...too safe?
I listened to this song while writing the part about Twilight looking in the window at the others. (RIP Melodic Pony)
Rainbow Blitz dribbled the ball against the pavement and grinned. "Hey Rarity, how do you like having Butterscotch on your team, huh?"
"Stop being mean," Rarity scoffed and she folded her arms, sitting on one hip.
"What Blitz meant to say was..." AJ cleared his throat and cupped his hands to his mouth. "Pinkie Pie! Butterscotch! Get back in the real world!" Rarity wheeled around to see Pinkie hopping up and down on one foot and Butterscotch turned around in the other direction.
"Pinkie, what are you doing," Rarity questioned, and the curly haired girl grinned up at her.
"I'm seeing how long I can hop on the same spot!"
"Well, you're the master of jumping around , Candy Crush, so I don't think you're going to miss that spot very soon. Butterscotch, dear, what's the matter?" The tall, shy boy turned back around, cradling a raccoon in his arms. "Put that thing down, it's a wild animal!"
Butterscotch gasped and looked up at her before he went back to the critter. "She didn't mean it, she's just an angry person."
"I am not an angry person!" Blitz laughed at the top of his lungs and Rarity turned her head, letting her bouncy, purple ponytail fall over her shoulder. "Excuse me, are you laughing at me?"
"Rare-Bear needs anger management classes," Blitz teased her as he spiked the ball over their makeshift net of Mrs. Cake's clothesline and two poles on either side of the street of Butterscotch's neighborhood.
"Hey, isn't that a new guy," Pinkie Pie whispered as she grabbed the ball in her hands. They all turned around to see a boy that they had never met, with a purple bowl cut and a boring purple sweater vest over a white button down. His skinny legs were covered in khakis and he wore dress shoes, even though he couldn't have been over seventeen like the rest of them.
"I think so, but don't stare," Rarity sighed, pulling down her booty shorts, since they had ridden up her legs.
"He was staring first."
"Hello," AJ shouted to the boy who was spying on them, who immediately went back to burying his nose in his book.
"I guess he's shy," Butterscotch offered, taking the ball from Pinkie. They shook it off and AJ hunched up.
"Ya sure you can spike, Butter?"
"Yes," Butterscotch whispered confidently. Last time he had spiked, he was too scared to hit the ball, in fear that he might hurt it. "I've been practicing some..."
"Alright, then spike!" Butterscotch took a deep breath and threw the ball in the air before jumping up and hitting the ball as hard as he could. It soared into Blitz's chest and made him fall back onto the ground, coughing to try and regain his breath. "Who the hell did you get volleyball lessons from, bears? "
"Yes, actually," Butterscotch explained, "they were too tall for the net we weaved out of flowers, so I had to jump for them to reach."
"Well, Snow White, we aren't bears ," Blitz retaliated, making Butterscotch blush and look down. The purple hair boy was interested again and he stood up with his book under his arm, ever so slowly creeping up to their conversation. "Why would you make a bunch of bears teach you how to play a sport, anyways? Get a falcon to do it!"
"Oh, I'm sorry to tell you, but falcons don't have paws, but talons."
"Then get some bunnies!"
"Their paws are too tiny!"
"You think my hand is as big as a damn bear paw? "
"No, but -"
"But nothing! If you wanted volleyball lessons, you should've just invited me over!"
"Well, there's an issue with that," Butterscotch whispered, his face blushing even more.
"You let me go to your house all the time," Rarity noted, and Butterscotch tried to wipe the redness off of his face.
"Excuse me," the purple haired boy spoke up and they all read over him.
"Let me guess, you have a great personality," Blitz muttered, picking himself up off of the ground.
"Stop being rude ," Rarity squealed, before she smoothed out her flowing white tanktop and she reached her hand out for the new boy to shake. "My name is Rarity, it's a pleasure meeting you."
"Right," the boy hesitantly mumbled, shaking her hand slowly, "I'm Dusk Shine. Anyways, uh, I heard you talking about bears teaching you how to play sports?" Butterscotch put his head down and nodded softly, digging his toe into the ground shyly.
"Oh, yeah, he can talk to animals, it's pretty freakin' weird," Blitz spoke up again.
"What are you talking about?"
"Did you move from out of Equestria," Rarity asked and Dusk Shine nodded.
"Yo, everyone here has a special talent -"
"- that they get when they're little," AJ finished, elbowing Blitz in the stomach. "Everyone in the whole wide world has one, but nobody else puts any thought into theirs."
"I see..."
"Well, what's your special talent," Pinkie asked loudly, jumping up and down on her pogo stick.
"I wouldn't have a clue in the world. What's yours?"
"I like throwing parties for people and making them happy," the pink haired girl giggled.
"I'm an apple farmer," AJ spoke up.
"I design clothes," Rarity added.
"I'm the fastest runner on the track team, dude," Blitz bragged, wrapping his arm around Dusk's shoulders. "Ditch those books if you wanna fit in and hang out with us for a change!"
"Well, you don't have to ditch the books," Rarity sighed, "but it would be nice if you joined our volleyball games sometime -"
"What in tarnation is that," AJ interrupted, looking over the hill. It was a familiar sight on the television to him, but while the others refused to care, Rarity gasped.
"Is that... Is that..."
"Princess Celestia," Blitz mumbled and they all stood up to the golden carriage that stopped in front of the kids. They looked in awe at the bronze skinned princess, who's smile was as radiant as the sun itself and who's long blue, pink and green curls spiraled down her back.
"Sorry, we'll move," AJ spat out after a second and he began to take down the clothesline, but the princess laughed.
"Do not fret, AJ."
"How do you know my name?"
"I know everybody around here," the princess explained as she stepped down from her carriage to the ground. Her white dress billowed around her tall frame like a goddess and her golden heels clicked gently on the asphalt. The kids took a while before they bowed on one knee and she shook her head. "Do not worry, you may rise." They all awkwardly stood back up and she surveyed the kids. "Dusk Shine? Come with me, please."
Dusk's eyes widened and he nervously took her open hand as she led him around a corner to speak confidentially with him.
5. Festival Jobs for Everyone
"If she doesn't hurry up, we'll miss our reservations," Rainbow Blitz complained.
"Oh, don't rush, it won't take her that long to run her little errands -" The front door slammed and the hyperactive girl speedily ran up to her four friends.
"Guess what guess what guess what," Pinkie Pie repeated over and over again, hopping up and down. Her pink and blue high top sneakers thumped on the floorboards of her house and she smiled brighter than she ever had before.
"What?"
"Lookie!" She threw six tickets to the Nightmare Night festival and she leaped up onto the table.
"What is this?"
"We get to manage the festival!"
"What? Really?" Rarity smiled and picked up one of the tickets.
"I got a list of six jobs so I put them in a hat and we get to draw!"
"Alright," Blitz laughed. Butterscotch put his hand in the top hat and pulled out a ticket.
"Musical arrangements... I don't know how to play music, though."
"You can figure something out!" AJ drew the food ticket, Rarity drew decorations, Blitz drew cleanup, and Pinkie drew a baking one, but there was still one left. They stood up to look down into the last ticket that read organization in purple, swirly letters.
"There's one left," Blitz sighed and Rarity smiled.
"What're we going to do," AJ asked, but Rarity took the ticket gingerly in her soft fingers before holding it up to shine in the bright light of Sugar Cube Corner. It sparkled like a jewel in her fingers and she ignored Blitz's questioning. Rarity held the ticket close to her chest and walked through the doors, leaving the others to follow. She walked all the way down the street to the beautiful library house, where the for sale sign had been removed.
"Something's wrong, right? Rarity doesn't walk that far in high heels unless her life depends on it." She sighed before walking alone to the front porch, where she knocked on the door. The kids had no idea who lived there, but they watched Dusk Shine open the door.
"Dusk, if you aren't busy for the next few weeks, I wanted to..." She sighed and shut her eyes before holding out the slip of paper. "Do you want to be on our team for the Nightmare Moon festival?"
"Why are you asking me," he hesitantly questioned before taking the slip of paper. Dusk surveyed the others to see that they were dressed up and he admired the white cloth of Rarity's white, sparkly dress and her diamond high heels.
"You've really never had friends before, have you?"
"No," Dusk admitted, and Rarity smiled at him.
"Come on with us."
"Why are you all dressed up?"
"We were going to drive into Canterlot. You know, because it's my -" Rarity leaned into Dusk's ear and whispered, in her sweet, silent voice, "- birthday ."
"Why are you whispering?"
"Because Pinkie doesn't know." Dusk opened the door again and Rarity frowned, thinking that he was declining, but he leaned in the doorway and shouted the words that she had hoped to hear.
"Mom, I'm going to Canterlot with some friends!"
"Canterlot? That's an hour's drive!"
"Yeah, well it's Rarity's - uh, day , if you know what I mean." Twilight Velvet rushed to the front door and screamed with a huge smile.
"Oh my goodness, you actually did it! You made friends!" His kind mother gave Rarity a huge hug and ran down the drive to hug onto Rainbow Blitz. "Night Light, he did it!"
"Made friends," Night Light questioned as he ran to the front door. "Well I'll be a blue nosed gopher." He patted Dusk's shoulder and smiled at Rarity before leaving back into the house. Barbara even rushed to the front door and she stared wide-eyed up at Rarity with a grin.
"Whoa, she's really pretty..."
"You just made my day," Rarity sang, ruffling up Barbara's green ponytail. Twilight Velvet gave each of the kids down the driveway a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and Blitz tried to wipe his off on his letter jacket sleeve. Rarity's long, black eyelashes winked at him and she grabbed his hands. "Are you nervous?"
"Yeah."
"There's no need, just be yourself."
"What if you don't like me?"
"You really think I like Blitz all of the time?" Dusk shook his head and smiled.
"Probably not." Rarity let go of one of his hands, holding her purse in the other hand while she led him down the steps. Instead of the disgusting truck, Rainbow Blitz drove his blue sports car with rainbow stripes on the hood, just so that they would somewhat blend into Canterlot.
Twilight Velvet gave them all one last look and she smiled and sighed. "Take care of him, alright?"
"Yes ma'am," they all sang in unison and she retreated back into the house.
"Your mom's pretty nice," Blitz noted, climbing in the driver's seat. Dusk sat down in the backseat and he buckled the belt.
"Butterscotch, next time, we're borrowing your mother's minivan," Pinkie grumbled from the backseat.
"Why," Butterscotch asked, looking back from the front seat to see that she had taken residence in the middle seat, squished in between Dusk and AJ, with Rarity in AJ's lap.
"Get in the trunk or something," Blitz laughed, turning his music up to the 100 mark before he drove off, using much better driving techniques than AJ did.
"I can't ride in the trunk!" After the little argument happened, Rarity reached over and gave Dusk's hand a squeeze when she saw that he had tears in his eyes.
"Are you upset," she asked, but he shook his head.
"I'm happy."
6. Rare-Bear's Princess Birthday Gala Gown
The restaurant that the kids had reserved was, needless to say, over-the-top lavish. Rarity was happy though, and that's all that the kids cared about. "Hey Rarity, why did we come here," Pinkie finally asked and Rarity smiled.
"Today's my birthday, Pinkie."
"You didn't even let me throw you a party," she whined, but she shrugged. "Oh well, we can do it tomorrow!"
"Sure," Rarity laughed, but Dusk played with his sleeves nervously.
Butterscotch, who was much taller and sat next to him, whispered in the loudest voice he could, "You don't have to be nervous around us, Dusk, we're happy that you're here. If you're shy, I understand. That's what they always make fun of me for, but you don't have to be."
"Oh, I'm not shy," he tried to convince Butterscotch of, but when he looked up at his sad, blue eyes, Dusk couldn't tell himself otherwise.
"Don't look too long," Blitz joked and Dusk turned his attention towards the athletic boy.
"Why not?"
"Butter's got this thing we call the Stare, you know? It's a pretty crazy thing, like he can control people and animals." Dusk forced a smile, but he felt pain tracing on his hand. Everyone's faces fell to horror and he looked down at the pain as a sentence etched out into his hand.
The words read, "Dusk, I'm sorry for the pain, but come to the Princess Gala as soon as you can. Love, Celestia."
"How far away is the castle from here?" Blitz typed on his phone until he found it on his GPS and he shook his head.
"Uh, like fifteen minutes?"
"I have to go. I'm sorry for ruining your birthday, Rarity -"
"You aren't going alone to that gala," Rarity told him as she ushered the rest out of the table, grabbed Dusk's wrist, and pulled him out faster than any of the others were walking. "Hurry, you have the keys, Blitz!"
"Yeah, yeah, alright!" He plopped down in the driver's seat and started to drive down an empty, long road to the castle and Rarity angrily unbuckled her seat belt. "What are you doing?" She sat down in Blitz's lap and floored the gas, glaring at the road. "Stop, you crazy bitch!"
"Dusk, sweetie, you know magic, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it possible to create ballroom clothes?"
"I guess so, I've never tried -"
"- then find a spell," Rarity sighed, speeding down the road to the castle that kept getting bigger.
"Rarity, there's a guard up there," Blitz shouted and Rarity slammed on the breaks at the last minute.
"That's not just a guard, that's my sister ," Dusk shouted, opening the door and stepping out. "Sparkling Armor, I need to get in."
"What are you talking about," the girl clad in golden armor asked, speed walking over to him.
"Look." He held his hand out to show the message to her and she sighed.
"I still can't let you in."
"What? Why not!"
"Celestia told me to not let anyone else into the palace tonight -"
"- I'll take it from here, Sparkle, thank you," a familiar, calm voice explained and the guard removed her helmet to her sweaty dark and light blue striped ponytail.
"Alright, go ahead," Sparkling Armor quickly muttered and the rest of the kids climbed out of the car, rushing to the princess.
"What's wrong, Princess," Dusk asked and Celestia led them up to the front doors of the palace.
"I'll show you later. Pretend to blend in, but watch out for the balcony above the King and Queen's thrones. When I nod to you, gather your friends and come with me. I must show you something."
"Alright," Dusk mumbled, but before Celestia opened the doors, she looked over them.
"I told you that we needed gala clothes," Rarity mumbled, but with the twirl of Celestia's fingers and a few golden sparkles that dripped from her fingertips like gold, the kids were surrounded in a blanket of gold that fell to the ground, revealing exactly what Rarity had in mind for each of them.
"You're quite the designer, Rarity," Celestia chuckled before opening the doors. Rarity looked over the gowns and suits in shock before shaking her head and following her friends into the ballroom.
"Is it not what you wanted," AJ asked her as they merged into the dancing crowd and she nodded.
"I've wanted this gown since I imagined it when I was a child, but I just don't understand... I thought that Dusk was lying about magic... The princess... Magic is real? "
"Apparently," AJ sighed, stepping on her toe. "Sorry -"
"- don't worry about it, I know you aren't the dancing type."
Rainbow Blitz looked around the ballroom and grabbed Butterscotch's hand. "Wait, I don't dance, I can't," Butterscotch whined, but Blitz blushed as red as the pink haired boy that he grabbed.
"I can't either, Butter, but come on anyways." Dusk nervously grabbed up Pinkie's hand and she smiled at him.
"You have candy corn on your dress."
"And you have stars," she giggled, spinning him out into the ballroom. "I think I know what your talent is, Dusk!"
"What?"
"Magic! "
"Oh, I guess, yeah..." He smiled at her and she smiled right back, hugging her arms around his neck. "The princess," he mumbled and Pinkie looked up to the balcony. "How am I gonna round them up?" Pinkie smiled and jumped up with her legs around his chest. He grabbed her legs quickly and she looked around, guiding him until she had gathered up their group. He dropped Pinkie back to the floor and she landed on her feet, skipping ahead of the group as they jogged to the carpeted stairwell.
"Come along," the princess quickly breathed out, opening the door to lead them into a darkened, empty throne room with a two marble thrones.
"I thought there was only one throne," Pinkie asked, but Celestia stopped in front of them.
"There was."
7. Two Thrones and Six Gifts
"A throne can't just appear , can it?"
"Never doubt or question anything, Rainbow Blitz," Princess Celestia whispered. "As I've told Dusk Shine, Nightmare Moon will return soon."
"I'm doing something about it -"
"- and I do not want him going alone." Celestia's voice was loud enough to overpower Dusk's protest and all fell silent in the room.
"We aren't cut out to go," Butterscotch whispered.
"Think again, Butterscotch. You have more power in you than you think. Remember your last volleyball game?"
"How do you know these things," Rainbow Blitz insisted angrily, "are you spying on us or something?"
"Of course not, Rainbow Blitz, and if you place any more accusations on me I will -" The windows slammed shut and Butterscotch fell to the ground, hugging tight onto Blitz's feet.
"Can we go home," he squeaked and Blitz looked up at the sky with the others. The ceiling crept with black color and made the shape of a star before it slowly began to fall. The kids scattered and Dusk tackled Princess Celestia to the ground, completely out of the way of the purple star that lied in the middle of the palace floor.
"Thous't found measly children to defeat me," a voice cackled in the night wind and Celestia stared up at the moon.
"What do you want from me, Nightmare Moon?"
"Revenge ," the wind hissed. "Thou cannot do anything without your Elements of Harmony!"
"I have the Elements with me!"
"Thou destroyed them long ago when thous't banished me!"
"They're right here in this palace, and there's nothing you can do!" The wind never responded, but it blew into the room to make it cold.
"Whoa whoa whoa," Rainbow Blitz shouted, "Nightmare Moon's real? I thought he was just something to scare kids into sleeping at night!"
"Of course he's real," Celestia sighed, "there is truth behind every story, children. Go with Dusk through the Everfree Forest. There - somewhere - you will find the sanctuary. It will be old now, but it is marble and in a remote area. Good luck, and make sure that you are able to reach it by tomorrow night. Here I have prepared gifts for each of you. AJ, Pinkie, I give you moral strength." She held up two necklaces, one with three crystal apple charms and the other with two blue and one yellow crystal balloon charms. The princess clasped the necklaces around their necks and they both smiled.
"Thank you, Princess," they both whispered and bowed to her. "Butterscotch, Rainbow Blitz, I give you the gifts of flight."
"Flight? What the hell are you on about -" He glanced over to see Butterscotch's hard, cold stare and he bit his lip and his face flushed pale. "Thanks, Princess Celestia." Butterscotch's necklace held three pink butterfly charms and Blitz's was a cloud with a rainbow bolt coming from it.
"Dusk Shine, Rarity... I give you both proper magic." She gave Rarity a necklace with three blue diamonds, and Dusk one with the same pink star in the center of the room, but with two smaller white stars on either side of it. "Take your sister with you, Dusk. Tell her the truth about her past."
"I can't, Princess -"
"- Dusk, you must." He bit his lip before nodding and letting her put the necklace around his neck. "Leave when you want, but just make sure that you are there by midnight tomorrow . Do you all understand?"
"Yes," they all agreed and she smiled at them.
"What do you mean by flight," Butterscotch asked politely and Princess Celestia smiled while leading them up a stone stairwell at the end of the hall. Butterscotch nearly tripped over the train of the princess's beautiful dress a couple of times, but they finally made it to the highest balcony of the palace.
"Oh my God," Blitz whispered, looking down at the ground far below.
"What's wrong," the princess laughed and he shook his head.
"Nothing." Celestia rubbed both of the boys' backs and she smiled. "Are you ready to fly?"
"What?" Butterscotch shrieked as Celestia pushed them from the balcony and the four remaining friends gasped in horror, running to the balcony.
"They'll die," Rarity sobbed, but they gasped when the princess jumped as well. They covered their eyes, but they never heard a thump. Instead, they heard the loud sound of wings flapping.
"Princess," Dusk Shine whispered. Celestia had two gorgeous, white wings as soft as a cloud protruding from her back and she held the two boys up by their shirts. Blitz had his own light blue wings and Butterscotch sobbed with his eyes closed, flapping the light yellow wings on his back frantically.
"What in tarnation," AJ whispered, scratching his head.
"I didn't get wings," Pinkie complained, but Celestia smiled.
"Jump." Pinkie did as told, and she was able to hop higher than she ever had before.
"Awesome!"
"Alright boys, are you ready? I won't save you this time."
"No! No! No no no," Butterscotch whimpered through sobs and Celestia looked to Rainbow Blitz.
"Hell yeah!" Celestia dropped Blitz and all of them watched as he fell through the sky, but he found the catch of air in his wings and he rocketed through the sky, a soft rainbow forming in the air that rolled off of his feathers.
"Look, Butterscotch, he's doing just fine," Celestia sighed and the boy opened his fearful eyes to watch Blitz turn loops and somersaults in the air, screaming out of happiness all the while. "Are you ready?"
"I suppose," he hiccuped.
"Are you sure? You're flapping your wings."
"I'm sure, just let go!"
"Butterscotch, I let go of your shirt when I let go of Blitz's."
"Oh." Butterscotch looked to see her arms crossed and he looked back at the fluffy wings. "Will they be here forever?"
"Only until you take the necklace off."
"Alright -" He yelped when Bliza bolted in between the two and she grabbed his arm to make sure he didn't fall through the sky. With a smile and a hug, Celestia plopped him back onto the balcony and they all watched Blitz have fun by himself.
"Who wants to have a sleepover at Sugar Cube Corner," Pinkie asked and everyone but Dusk gasped.
"Mrs. Cake would never -"
"- don't worry, Rarity! She'll be fine..."
"I am not alright with this!"
"Why not?"
"Because there are boys! No offense."
"None taken," Blitz mumbled, rolling his eyes while he watched a movie on Pinkie's television.
"Mom, if they sleep on the floor everything will be fine!"
"I just... Oh, alright." Mrs. Cake sighed and left with the door wide open so that she could hear their every word.
"How are we going to leave with your overprotective mother," Blitz wrote on a piece of paper, passing it to Pinkie.
"Hold on," she wrote back and after an hour when the movie was over, Mrs. Cake came back with cookies and milk for them all.
"So, Dusk, how are you liking Ponyville?"
"It's great, thank you for asking."
"That's great, dearie. Well, goodnight kids, I'm heading off for the night. I love you, Pinkie," she sang while giving her a kiss on the cheek. Hesitantly she left and Blitz groaned, but Pinkie shushed him and held her hands up.
"What," he whispered and Pinkie heard the sound of the bed creak from downstairs. Only when she heard the chain of their lamp turn off, she stopped holding her breath.
"Alright, come on."
"They aren't even asleep!"
"What are you talking about," a boring, monotone voice came from the door and Pinkie looked to her tall sister with wide eyes.
"Twenty bucks and don't tell Mom."
"Thirty."
"Twenty five and a hug?"
"Hugs are repulsive. I'll take twenty five. Have fun sneaking out, don't get caught." The girl began to leave and Pinkie had an idea.
"Wait, Maud!"
"What?"
"Can you help us?"
"With what?"
"Getting out! You're nineteen, you can go wherever you want!"
"Oh. Sure. The art of it is to copy every one of my footsteps so that there's no extra noise. Got it?"
"Wait," Blitz scoffed, "you're related to Pinkie Pie? "
"Why? Do we not act alike?" The five kids looked between Pinkie's smiling face to Maud's blank expression and they nervously fidgeted.
"Oh, uh, of course," they all agreed.
"Barrel of sunshine," Blitz mumbled, looking to the window.
"That was a joke," Maud mumbled.
"Thank God," Blitz laughed, "you sound like the most boring person in the whole universe!" Maud blinked her beautiful eyes and tilted her head.
"Ouch." She turned around and sighed. "Stand up and follow my footsteps." And so they did, but even more so, Maud was right. She opened the back door and rushed them out and Butterscotch just nearly got out before Mrs. Cake's voice filled the room.
"I knew you were sneaking out," she shouted, but she sighed. "Oh, Maud. It's just you. What are you looking at?" The kids panicked as they heard the short, heavyset woman approaching and when she looked through the backdoor, she only saw the blank, quiet, still town.
"I heard a sound."
"That's not good. Let me know if you hear it again, alright?"
"Got it." Mrs. Cake went back to bed and Pinkie gave Maud a tight hug.
"Thanks," she whispered, "you're the best sister ever! "
"That's good to know. Don't get shot, I kind of like you guys." Maud shut the door and Pinkie sighed with a smile.
"Isn't my sister great?"
"Yeah, I guess," Rarity laughed, truly flustered.
"We have to get to Everfree," Dusk panicked, and Butterscotch raised his hand as they walked.
"I live there -"
"- does anyone know where it is?"
"Not sure," Blitz groaned, rubbing his face.
"I live in Everfree," Butterscotch shouted louder than any voice they had ever heard. All of the kids turned to see the boy, who was hunched up with an angry expression, balled up fists, and the Stare.
"Oh, well that's great! Lead us to your house." Butterscotch's fingers twitched before he was finally able to take a deep breath.
When they arrived to the sweet little cottage, Butterscotch grabbed a lantern from the backyard. When he lifted it, hundreds of little red eyes glared at him, making the kids shriek out of terror.
"They're chickens and bunnies," he mumbled and Blitz smoothed out his letter jacket.
"Yeah dude, I knew that they were a bunch of evil mutant rabbits," he shouted angrily, eyeing Butterscotch to make sure that he didn't see him scream. By the tired, annoyed look on the poor boy's face, it was obvious that he wasn't amused.
"Looks like the only chicken here is you , Blitz," Butterscotch muttered, but Rarity gasped from behind.
"That's a bear," she screamed and the pale-faced kids all looked as if they had seen a ghost. Butterscotch twirled around and sighed, passing the lantern off to AJ.
Then, with all the strength he could muster, Butterscotch gave the huge creature a hug. "What are you doing," Dusk wheeze, but when AJ held the lantern up higher, they saw that the evil eyed critters were all sweet and cute around their owner. "How did you... People can't train bears!"
"He did," Pinkie reminded them and she skipped happily as Butterscotch led the way into the horrifying Everfree Forest.
4. Long Talk with Princess Celestia
"Have a seat," Princess Celestia's sweet voice coaxed as she sat on a brick wall, patting the spot next to her. Since Dusk Shine wasn't technically a tall boy, he had to jump up on it as if he were climbing out of a pool. "So we meet again."
"I guess so, Professor - I meant Princess -"
"- don't worry about it, I understand. Now, tell me about your science. Have you learned anything since our lessons when you were young?"
"Oh, about that..."
"Don't worry, I know that it's not science," she chuckled.
"Yeah," he sighed out in relief, kicking his legs softly.
"How did you personally learn magic?"
"Well, it's a long story that you probably don't want to hear."
"Of course I want to hear your story. That's why I'm here, no? I've never heard your take on everything, so I want to make sure that you can complete the task I am willing to give you."
"Well, I read when I was very little that there were two royals. Princess Celestia, who everyone loved, and Prince Artemis, who was a cold soul that was hated by all. One day his evil overpowered him and he tried to kill his sister, where she used the six Elements of Harmony and her own magic combined to banish her little brother to the moon. He would stay there for a thousand winters before he came back. After I read that, I wanted to know everything and anything there was to know about magic. I kept trying to learn, but I was never able to get it... But, when I was little, I found an rock. I tried to use magic once more, and out of that rock came a baby dragon. Since I was little, I couldn't control it, and that dragon turned into a baby. I took her to the library with me and I had to find a spell to warp my parents' minds to make them think she was just their daughter, and that's how I found my little sister Barbara... I never questioned magic after that day, but I kept working at it."
"That 'quantum physics' book. What is it about?"
"It's about the magic you used to banish Nightmare Moon."
"Dusk Shine," she sighed, placing her hands on his shoulders. "In one week, it will be a thousand winters."
"What?"
"Nightmare Moon will return, and you must use the Elements of Harmony to stop him."
"Why are you talking to me? I'm nothing special."
"Dusk," she laughed, cupping his cheek in her hand and rubbing it with her thumb, "you are everything special." The princess ushered him back to his friends and she cupped her hands together, smiling to Dusk. "Good luck, darling." She planted a soft kiss on his forehead and the five other kids watched her board her carriage and leave, not a trace of her ever being there in the first place.
"Dude, what the hell," Blitz mumbled and scratched his head.
"You know the princess ," Rarity shrieked and Dusk shook his head.
"Yeah," he mumbled, "I do. She taught me science when I was little, and it was like a gifted boarding school."
"Is that why your book says 'Spells of the Everfree Forest and their Implications'," Pinkie Pie asked, still jumping on her pogo stick.
"Hey, that's private," Dusk shouted with fear in his voice.
"Don't worry, we won't tell anyone," AJ soothed, but Dusk scooped up his book and shook his head.
"Don't turn against me! Don't tell my parents -"
"- we won't ," Rainbow Blitz groaned, massaging his forehead.
"Who looked through it?"
"It was Pinkie," Blitz spat out as everyone pointed fingers to him. "Damn, alright, snitches get stitches, you guys! But dude, chillax, it was harmless!"
"Harmless? The fate of Equestria is in that book!"
"Don't you mean this one," Butterscotch whispered, picking up his other book with a simple pink star-shaped jewel in the front of its thick leather cover. The big pink star was surrounded in clear diamond twinkles and the button that held the book together was a diamond with a keyhole in it.
"Don't open that," Dusk argued, snatching it up from the shy boy.
"Sorry, but... I mean, I live in front of Everfree and I go into the woods -"
"None of you know nothing about Everfree!"
"But I live -"
"- and what kind of magic do you guys know?"
"Well, none, but we weren't going to tell anybody," AJ repeated. Dusk began to hyperventilate and Rarity rubbed his back.
"It's alright, nothing's going to happen. Come with me, alright?" She led him into Rainbow Blitz's house and sat him down on the couch, holding his hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'm just scared that everyone will hate me for it."
"Of course not, dear."
"I have no friends and I'm just an idiot that thinks magic is real!"
"You're not an idiot," Rarity sighed, wrapping her arms around his chest. "I'm your friend, am I not?"
"You... You want to be my friend?"
"Who wouldn't? You were taught by Princess Celestia herself!"
"I guess so," he sighed and she squeezed his knee.
"Do you want to play a few games of volleyball?"
"I don't know how to play."
"Then come on, I'll teach you." Rarity grabbed his hand and yanked him through the front door and down the steps back out in the street. "Butterscotch, go to AJ and Blitz's team!" Blitz cheered as the boy walked over and Rarity dribbled the ball. "Hey Blitz? How do you like having Butterscotch on your team?"
"Suck it, Rare-Bear, he's actually good!"
"You said it first before you knew he could serve with the force of a thousand Mongolian armies!"
"Yeah, but now I know he's stronger than AJ!" Dusk Shine smiled at the argument and they all played volleyball until the sun began to fall.
"Who wants to go to Sugar Cube Corner for dinner," Pinkie finally broke in and they agreed, taking down the clothes hanger and loading it in the back of the truck before they all piled into AJ's truck.
The sound of the Dixie horn and five kids screaming about the speed limit, followed by a "yee-haw" broke the evening silence, and Dusk Shine was left with the first friends that he has ever had.