Mare In The Moon, Part 1

Canterlot

Twilight Sparkle, a purple unicorn mare, plopped down under the shade of a tree near Canterlot Castle's library tower and set her book down in the grass. The cover read "History of Equestria." The unicorn crossed her forelegs and used her magic to flip the book open.

"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria," she read aloud, before muttering to herself. "Buh buh buh... the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun... younger brought out the moon... maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects..." She turned the page and kept skimming. "But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful... The elder sister tried to reason with her... but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon. Ooo, now that's interesting," Twilight cooed, finally finding something potentially exciting.

"She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. The elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony." Twilight lifted her head. "The Elements of Harmony? Alright..." she muttered, before going back to her book. "Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since." Twilight then closed the book and sighed. "Good story. Could've used more action. Drama. Maybe some romance. Or sex, even. That being said, I should probably warn Celestia about her sister."

She got up and lifted her book with her magic before making her way back towards the library. When she arrived at the bridge to cross over the river, she bumped into a couple classmates who tried to get her to come to a get-together for Moondancer. She quickly made up some excuse about catching up on her studies and took off running full speed, leaving her classmates in the dust.

After running up the very tall and very inconvenient spiral staircase leading up and around the library tower, she burst through the door and called out to her number one dragon assistant. "Spike! Where you at, dragon?"

"Over here, Twilight," Spike called as he picked himself off the floor. "You hit me with the door when you came in like a psychopath."

"Never mind that, Spike. I just read a book about Nightmare Moon and how she may be coming back tonight. I need to warn Princess Celestia immediately. Even though she should probably already know about that since they're sisters, but that's irrelevant. As her prized pupil, it is my duty!"

"How are you her prized pupil again?" Spike asked. "You spend most of your time reading smut and writing erotic fiction."

Twilight snapped her head to look at him. "They are rooooomance stories, Spike. And that smut was research. Besides, I also study here and there. Just enough to pass any test given to me. Imagine if I could combine passion and magic... Ooooo!"

"Uh-huh," Spike muttered as he went to grab a quill and parchment. "About that letter to Celestia?"

“Oh. Right. Um… Dear, Princess Celestia… It would appear that tonight, according to a prophecy I read about in Predictions and Prophecies, the stars will be in the proper alignment and Nightmare Moon will be released from her lunar prison. As you are well aware, upon her arrival, she will bring forth eternal night. You and I must band together if we are to defeat your sister once and for all! And then…” She paused when she heard the writing had stopped. “Spike?” She asked, looking over at him.

The dragon was standing on a box at a podium, waiting. “You’re writing fanfiction again.”

“Oh… But maybe Celestia does need help.”

“Maybe. But I don’t think she wants to defeat her sister once and for all.”

Twilight sighed in defeat. “Fine. Where’d you leave off?”

“Right before you and I must band together,” he repeated.

“Send it, then. But hear me, Spike…”

“I’m listening,” the drake said as he breathed green fire onto the letter, sending it off in a green magic cloud towards its recipient.

“One day, it will all seem like far too much for our Princess to handle on her own. She will call for help. And do you know who will answer the call?” Spike just lazily pointed at her. “Me! Fighting side-by-side with the princess! With our powers combined…”

She was cut off when Spike burped, and a scroll smacked her in the face. Spike picked it up and unrolled it while Twilight rubbed her nose. "Seems she's got it under control," Spike summarized. "She said to go to Ponyville to check on preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Perhaps even make some friends."

"Friends," Twilight repeated. "May give me good ideas for my stories..."

"Erotica," Spike muttered as he rolled up the scroll again.

"Romance stories," Twilight corrected once more. "Although, I'd also like to practice my magic so I can help Celestia fight her sister."

"I think she'd rather have you mingle with the towns..."

"We'll kick little sister's ass together," Twilight continued, ignoring him. "Then, afterwards, she'll lean in close and whisper... I need you. And then I'll whisper back... I know."

"How... romantic," Spike grumbled. "Can we get a move on? We need to make sure we get everything inspected before the big event."

The purple mare sighed deeply. "Sure. Let's get going. That little sister's ass won't kick itself, after all."

Ponyville

Twilight and Spike stood at the entrance to Ponyville as their carriage flew away. "Alright," Twilight said as she began moving. "First on the list is food. Which I was informed was at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Sounds like a nice place," Spike said as he looked around. "Where is it?"

"U-Uh..." Twilight stammered. "I don't, um... Hey, look!" She said as she saw a pink pony bouncing towards her. "I'll just ask her." When the bouncing pink pony was close enough, Twilight stopped and gave a single wave of her hoof. "Hello, citizen. Can you help me find..." The pink pony stopped suddenly, let out a long-winded gasp, and took off like a bat out of Hell. "What... the hell?" Twilight asked, staring in shock. "I didn't know they had drugs here."

"I'm sure there's another explanation, Twilight."

"Nope. Definitely drugs. Now, let's go find somepony else who can help us."