Meanwhile, in the Canterlot streets, Twilight Sparkle was walking up with her saddlebags carrying her books. She stopped before three ponies she knew all too well. They were her old school friends from Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. No. Not friends. They were her old schoolmates. She didn’t have friends. She didn’t need any.

One was a blue unicorn mare with an hourglass cutie mark named Minuette. The second pony was a yellow unicorn mare named Lemon Hearts. The third pony was a yellow unicorn mare named Twinkleshine.

“There you are, Twilight!” Lemon Hearts exclaimed.

“Moon Dancer is having a little get-together at the west castle courtyard,” Twinkleshine explained, “Wanna come?” All three mares leaned excitedly towards her.

Twilight internally groaned. She didn’t have time for parties. She had a prophecy to investigate. It annoyed her that ponies seemed to think that she did nothing of importance at all and that she could come at a whim whenever they wanted her to. She was Princess Celestia’s star pupil for ponies’ sake! She had no time to associate with those lower than her.

But she at least wanted a convincing excuse. She was anti-social by nature, but she wasn’t mean. Biting back an angry retort, she put on a fake smile and told them, “Oh sorry, girls. I have a….lot of studying to catch up on.” Before the other ponies could reply, she trotted off in a hurry.

Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine stared after the pony they considered their friend, but the feeling was not reciprocated.

Twinkleshine huffed. “Does that pony do anything else but study?”

Minuette shrugged. Lemon Hearts glared after Twilight.

“I think she’s more interested in books than friends.” Twinkleshine finished.

“What are we going to tell Moon Dancer? She’ll be so disappointed.” Minuette asked, thinking about the utter despair Moon Dancer would feel. Their friend looked up to Twilight as a role model and she would be crushed if the lavender unicorn did not show up.

“Nothing.” Lemon Hearts said, “If she doesn’t ask, don’t tell her. Let’s just go enjoy the party and forget about it.”

The two ponies walked away. At least they wouldn’t miss Moon Dancer’s party.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
“I know I’ve heard of the Elements of Harmony!” Twilight insisted as she ran in the direction of her house, a tall tower that acted as the city’s library.

Twilight was the proud owner and she loved it whenever ponies would come in to check out or read a book. Occasionally, ponies would pay her when they checked out a book, but she did not care about the bits. All she cared about was sharing her extensive knowledge with the next generation. In her mind, books were the future. They contained knowledge that you could never get anywhere else, written by the most famous authors of old. And absorbing that knowledge should not be bound or restricted by any sort of monetary system in her opinion.

Her “number one assistant” Spike acted as the organizer of the books. He didn’t really do much in terms of business other than organize. But Twilight loved him anyway. He was the closest she had to a son. She owed to him her entire apprenticeship. She had hatched him when she was just a filly during an entrance exam in her old school. If she passed, she would get into Princess Celestia’s prestigious school where her parents decided to enroll her due to her fascination with learning magic. She came very close to failing. But a massive boom in the sky of then unknown origin had powered up her magic, allowing her to hatch Spike. She went on a bit of a magic rampage soon afterwards, turning her parents into literal plants and turning Spike giant, but it was then and there that Princess Celestia had recognized her raw, untapped magical ability and passed her, taking her on as her apprentice.

She owed her entire life to that egg, to that purple and green baby dragon she came to care for. And she wouldn’t trade him for anything or anyone else.

Speaking of Spike, he was carrying a gift from Moondancer in a red gift-wrapped present with a yellow ribbon wrapped around it to the doors when all of a sudden, the doors burst open and Twilight barged in, shouting: “Spike, SPIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!!” It was only after the third “Spike,” that she noticed her number one assistant on the floor, getting up.

“There you are,” Twilight said, relieved. She hurried into the main floor of the library, searching everywhere. “Quick, find me an old copy of Predictions of Prophecies.” That was when she noticed the now torn up present, “What’s that for?”

Spike handled the present. “Well….it was a gift from Moondancer.” The bottom half had been torn off under the impact of Twilight’s hooves, so the gift fell right out. A teddy bear.

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight told him, exasperated, “You know we don’t have time for this sort of thing.”

“But we’re on a break!” Spike protested.

Twilight’s horn glowed pink and she started sorting through multiple books, “No, no, no, no, no…” She started getting frustrated. “SPIIIIIIIKE!!!!” Of course. When in doubt, always turn to Spike.

“It’s right here!” Spike shouted from the opposite shelf. He was on a ladder. Twilight tried pulling the book from his grip, but ended up yanking him instead.

He flopped over on the floor and Twilight dropped the other books from her telekinetic grip. “Ah!”

She carried the book over to a study table and sorted through its contents, “Elements, Elements, E, E, E…AH!!” She found it, “The Elements of Harmony! ‘See Mare in the Moon?’”

“The Mare in the Moon?” Spike asked, “But that’s just an old pony’s tale.”

“Mare, Mare, Mare…” Twilight sorted through the contents again until she found it, “Aha! The Mare in the Moon. Myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars would aid in her escape and she would bring about nighttime eternal!” She gasped. “Spike! You know what this means?”

Spike shook his head, “No. What does it mean?”

“Take a note,” Twilight told him, giving him a quill. “To the Princess…”

“You got it!” Spike said. As Twilight paced around the room, she told Spike what to write in the letter:

”My dearest teacher,

My continued studies on pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster. For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she’s about to return to Equestria to bring about nighttime eternal. Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle .”

“Twilight…Sparkle!” Spike finished up the letter.

“Great! Send it!” Twilight ordered.

“I don’t know, Twilight,” Spike said cautiously, “Princess Celestia is probably very busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. After all, the day after tomorrow-“

“That’s just it, Spike.” Twilight told him, “The day after tomorrow is the thousandth anniversary of the Summer Sun Celebration! It is imperative that the Princess is told right away!”

Despite his personal doubts over Twilight overreacting or not, Spike nodded. He could see that this was very important to her. But he was sure that she was going to eat her words. He breathed out a blast of green fire which engulfed the scroll, sending it out of the library.

“I wouldn’t hold your breath.” Spike teased her.

“Oh I’m not worried, Spike.” Twilight explained confidently, “The Princess trusts me completely. In all the years she’s been my mentor, she’s never once doubted me.” That wasn’t completely true, but she wasn’t afraid to exaggerate to make a point to anyone. As if on cue, Spike breathed out the letter, “See? I knew she’d want to take immediate action!”

Spike read the response letter, “‘My dearest student Twilight, you know I value your diligence and that I trust you completely. But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!”!

Twilight gasped.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Princess Celestia sat in the throne room, pondering over Twilight’s letter. She had played up a good troll response, but deep down, she was deeply considering it. Could it really be true? Could the prophecy actually be-

Suddenly, there was the sound of alarms and a loud crash. Four royal guards rushed into the room. They were all bloodied bruised and had dents in their armor.

Princess Celestia gasped. She stood up quickly, “What happened?!”

The pegasus royal guard in the middle has hacking, coughing out blood, but barely managed to say, “Lightning….has escaped the dungeons!” He fell over unconscious, the other guards instantly by his side, doing their best to tend to their fallen comrade while tending to their own injuries simultaneously.

Princess Celestia was worried. This wasn’t good at all.

Author's Note

Second chapter is done! Yup, a scene by scene recreation from the actual episode, but with added exposition and less Spike abuse to maintain a consistent tone, plus an added short Celestia scene at the end. I’ll do my best to update this story consistently if I have time after homework and school, etc. The plot thickens!! Once again, feel free to leave feedback in the comments. See y’all in the next chapter! Byeeeeee!!