Sunset

The summer sky was beginning to dim as Luna raised the moon, with Celestia lowering the sun in return. Ponyville was getting ready for the night; closing up shops, the drunks loitering around, and everypony stumbling in the darkness as they got to their cottages. The summertime warmth filled the air, making everypony relaxed. A few warm breezes from the east were expected for that night, nothing unusual.

The lights outside of the medical facility switched on, and the “24/7” and “Hospital” sign lit up red and white. A light yellow pegasus with a poofy pink mane and equally fluffy wings trotted out of the medical facility. She had a happy trot in her step and a huge smile on her face. Her eyes flashed as she swung her tail around, and she started to whistle.

A sudden northern breeze blew through the town, mysterious and cold. In response, Goldie Sugar shook her tail, trying to realign the green elastic band at the base of it. The breeze didn't bother her, it was her tied back tail being a nuisance that bothered her for a bit.

Goldie trotted down the lit up the main street. She then trotted down a street leading to a little cottage, with two levels and with pretty pink accents. A satellite dish jutted out of the roof, same as many other cottages in Ponyville. Flowers grew out of little pots near a large front door, were a little mat said ‘wipe your hooves’. She quickly wiped her light orange hooves on the mat, leaving a little bit of brown dust on the chocolate colored bristles. She smelled the sweet smell of fresh bread and metallic metal.

“Brownie must be home!” Goldie remarked, noticing the lit lanterns outside the front door and the tangy smell of gun oil and metal.

She opened the door and hung up her stethoscope on a hook near the door. She grinned and trotted to a bunch of plush couches facing a black TV screen. The smell of gun oil and cheesy chips filled the room. On the floor near the couches, a unicorn sat, using his magic to take apart a small revolver. Goldie tapped his back, and the stallion turned around. He jumped a bit, and pondered her through thick glasses that sat on his muzzle.

“Goldie! I missed you! How was your day?” The stallion exclaimed, pulling Goldie next to him as he pushed away the gun. Goldie hugged him and smiled.

“It was awesome! Doc did a double hoof realignment surgery, and it turned out great! The patient is definitely going to heal up quickly!” Goldie said with a smile, “And as the amazing medical illustrator I am, I was able to document the whole thing! It’s being sent to the school of Equestrian Medicine.”

“Good! I sold a Colt rifle today, now we have five hundred more bits!” The unicorn said with a big smile.

“Good job Brownie!” Goldie said, hugging Brownie Button around the waist.

“Thank you. I also made fresh bread today.” Brownie said, pointing at a steaming poofy loaf of white bread on the counter. Brownie earned his cutie mark in gunsmithing, which explained the .22 and a heart over it. But he was also a good baker. Goldie nodded at it, smiled, then curled up in Brownies lap. Brownie looked down at the gold pony and smiled, leading Goldie to curl up next to Brownie. He held her a little closer, placing her head near his heart.

“I married the right mare.” He said with a smile. He remembered the story Goldie told him of how she earned her cutie mark, a red and blue piece of candy with a black star in the middle. She told him that when she was younger, she was hurt by another pony in more ways then one. But when she went to the counselor and told him she was afraid she was gonna be mean to other ponies, he told her that:

“You have no mean bone in your body; every bone in your geeky body is sweet.”

And bad-a-bing bada-boom Goldie got her sweet geek cutie mark. And her sweet attitude was always as clear as day.

Brownie kept thinking about that as Goldie rubbed his aching back and made him potato soup, even after her long day. She then baked some more bread and cupcakes, which was a way of relaxing to the peppy mare. Then the two played video games, which always resulted in Brownie winning them. Goldie never got mad, she always congratulated him and stuffed a cupcake in his mouth.

“Well, her counselor was right,” Brownie thought, “she is one sweet mare.”

The night was uneventful, just a normal beautiful night. The stars were out, and the moon shone. Ponies went to sleep without a care in the world. Dreams filled fillies heads with joy as Luna watched over every single one. Clubs flashed their neon signs, becoming awake ponies.

All was right in the world.

But the night masked the horror that was happening.

In the Crystal Empire, a dark shadow started to fill the land. As Princess Cadence and Shining Armour slept, the shadow started its destruction as it reflected itself around Equestria. Crystalline and smoky. Dreams became a little more dark, causing ponies to toss and turn all night. Snow began to fall, light but eerie in that warm summer night.

A cancer was forming, and no pony knew.