Twilight’s arrival to Ponyville was unfortunately busy. First, the guards landed a full hour late, the drawn carriage they had strapped to them covered in feathers and burns. Hellgrins, a subspecies of Griffon that were the size of an average pigeon but with a bad habit of spitting noxious fumes that ignited in contact with their spit, which they liked to do often, and a flock of them had attacked the guards.

Thankfully, nopony was actually injured, Hellgrins being incredibly annoying but not actually threatening. But it still delayed her trip, which it in of itself annoyed her. She didn’t need to learn how to deal with annoying ponies, that was something she dealt with every day. She Needed to find the Elements of Harmony, because even a molecule’s chance in Tartarus of Nightmare Moon being real needed to be treated with Religious-like brevity.

Unfortunately, Twilight couldn’t just drop the Summer Sun Celebration to go out looking, that’d be rude to Celestia. The mare never really asked anything from Twilight, so it was the Least Twilight could do after everything Celestia had done for her.

Ponyville, upon landing, wasn’t exactly a bad town, for one so close to a danger zone like the Everfree. Most towns would have died out decades ago, but Ponyville kept on working, mostly thanks to a thriving market and trade from an absolutely Massive Apple farm. Speaking of said farm, some of Twilight’s tasks to get the Celebration set up properly was to visit the farm that kept Ponyville fed and see how food was being handled. Then, Air Control with somepony named ‘Rainbow Dash’, making sure everypony could actually see the Sun when Celestia showed up.

Then décor, guards, drinks for colts and fillies, drinks for the adults, and finally, Music.

“Uh, Twi?”

Her little draconic brother, Spike, finally broke through her sudden pace of mumbling thoughts. “Oh, sorry Spike, what is it?”

“We’re at the place listed for food.” His tiny claws pointed upwards at the sign high above them, Sweet Apple Acres.

“That it is. I really got stuck in my head there, huh?” Twilight blushed slightly. Spike just chuckled and gave her head a pat from his place on her shoulders.

“It wouldn’t be a trip without you getting lost up there, would it?” Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. Now then, to deal with actually socializing…

Sweet Apple Acres was in the throes of a massive cook-out, preparing enough food to fill the bellies of everypony in town for a week after the Summer Sun Celebration. Several times the many members of the Apple family tried tempting Twilight with a quick meal, but she kept to her goal and hunted down the one leading everything, a tan furred pony named Applejack.

It didn’t take long to find her, spotting the pony who stood almost a full head over Twilight, built like an iron freight train and hauling a fat hog like she was a train. The Unicorn waited for the Earth Pony to finish corralling the giant pig into a pin before walking up.

“Um, are you Applejack?”

The Mare turned around and gave Twilight a beaming smile, planting her hands to her hips. “Well, howdy there! Don’t think I’ve seen you aroun’ town, Partner.”

“Yeah, uh, I’m new. Princess Celestia sent me down to help organize the Summer-”

“Sent down by the Princess herself? Well, ain’chu a fancy fella! If yer’ here to check up on the food situation, we done got it all handled. We got enough food to slap a Hydra into a food coma, probably just enough for Princess Celestia!”

“That’s good, what exactly are you all bring-”

“Apple Pie, Apple Fritters, Apples, Apple Sauce, Apple Cider, Apple Cobbler, Apple Crisps, and pretty much every other kind of fruit, salad, and vegetable you can wish for!”

“That’s great, so, could you point me towards-”

“Whoops, gotta go! Sorry talk to you later bye!”

Applejack hauled a pack of food over her shoulder and rushed off, not even giving a proper goodbye. Twilight simply stood and stared, blinking in stunned silence. “Uh…”

“Don’ worreh about her.” A smaller voice piped up from beside Twilight, a little filly surprising her damn near out of her fur. “AJ’s been rushing all day, and that package is the last thing she needed to do before being able to take a nap.”

“Ah.” Twilight blinked. “So, who’s the food for?”

“A friend. He got messed up a few weeks ago, been bedridden since then. Big Sis been bringin’ him food since.”

“Oh. Uh, could you point me towards whoever’s leading the sky clearing?” Twilight really just wanted an out of this conversation.

“That’d be Rainbow Dash. She’s probably sleepin’ on a cloud thataway.” The filly pointed East, and Twilight nodded. A careful goodbye, and they parted ways.

The Air Control master, this ‘Rainbow Dash’, was in fact sleeping on a cloud. And wouldn’t wake up, until Twilight used her magic to tug on her tail. The Pegasus snorted and flopped over, conveniently falling off of said cloud, waking her up mid fall and screaming. Thankfully, she opened her wings fast enough to not splat against the floor like a bag of clay. “What the Hay, what was that for?!”

“Sorry, sorry! I was just trying to wake you up, I’m the organizer for the Summer Sun Celebration.” The Rainbow Mare glared at her. “I was checking to see if everything was prepared for next week.”

“Well, if you just gotta knowww, It is.” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and kicked back, her wings batting out in a lazy pattern to float in the air. Twilight looked up into the sky, which was… really cloudy.

“Are you sure about that? It’s pretty cloudy…”

“Pfft, heck yeah! I was just finishing up my practice runs before taking care of it.” Rainbow Dash propped her arm up and flexed, admiring the faint musculature that had been cultivated by years of flying and workouts.

“Practice? For what?”

“For what? What else would a self respecting Pegasi be training for? The Wonderbolts! They’re gonna be doing an air show once Celestia props the sun up, and I wanna show em’ my stuff!”

Twilight’s eyebrow shot up. “The Wonderbolts?”

“Yep!”

“The best fliers in all of Equestria?”

Rainbow Dash smirked like a burning fire. “The Very Same!”

Twilight couldn’t help the snirk of laughter that nearly jumped out of her. “Really? Show them what, the cloudy day you’re leaving out here? They’d never accept a Pegasus who can’t even keep the sky clear for a day, let alone a week!”

Rainbow Dash steeled herself, before blasting Twilight with a glare that could slice open the sky. “Oh yeah? I can clear this range in 10 seconds flat, I bet you on it, I’d Bet Money!”

Twilight smirked in return. “Then bet your Bits.”

The Pegasus let a snarky smirk crawl onto her lips, before vanishing into the sky with a rainbow trail following close behind. In a matter of seconds Rainbow Dash had proven her words not to be pointless drivel or ego driven yapping, as she had cleared out most of the cloud coverage in just 10 seconds flat.

The colorful Pegasus skidded across the dirt in style, coming to a stop with style. That style being a half-successful twirl ending in a stomp. Rainbow Dash managed the twirl, but the stomp nearly sent her flying. “Loop-de-Loop, and Boom! Toldja I could do it in 10 seconds flat!” She boasted, right to Twilight’s befuddled expression. “Keep your bits, too. That was way too easy!”

“I… well, I uh, I guess I can shut up now…” Twilight murmured, all while Spike giggled like the punk he was at her face.

Rainbow Dash laughed, slowly floating up into the air. “That was actually fun, now I’m all fired up for my training! You’re a hoot, Purple, see you around!”

“It’s- It’s Twilight Sparkle, not Purple!” Twilight barked, only for Rainbow Dash to fly off into the sky, laughing all the way.

“She’s pretty cool.” Spike stated, much to Twilight’s chagrin.

“I guess… Let’s just get those decorations done…”

Applejack approached Flame Storm’s hovel with a heaving back and a knee that felt like it was full of water. Gods Above, it was cold for the week before Summer…

She knocked on the door, only for it to swing open, unlocked. It was empty and cold, as per usual, which meant Flame Storm was going against Nurse Redheart’s orders and was working out the back. And as expected, Flame Storm was using his left arm to chop wood, with a pissed off Redheart and a rather curious Derpy Hooves watching from the side.

“Mornin’ Redheart, Derpy. Whatcha’ doin’ down here today?”

Derpy, the town’s local mailmare, gave her a lopsided smile, her right eye deciding to take a trip to the other side of her skull. “Mr. Storm’s house is the last on my mailing list, so I decided to start making some small talk when I stop by!”

“It’s appreciated.” Flame Storm spoke up, voice burdened by strain as he moved another log onto the cut down tree stump.

“And I’m here to do a house check. Of course, what do I come here to see? Somepony ignoring my direct orders to stay in bed and take his medicine?”

“I still take it, I just can’t stay lying down.” Flame Storm murmured, raising the old wood axe into the air and chopping down. “My wing gets too cramped after a few minutes. Hurts too much.”

“Then consider getting it amputated! It’s a giant lump of useless flesh and feathers, it’s probably gone necrotic-”

The words caught up to Derpy, and she let out a dramatic gasp. “REDHEART! Do you know how important a Pegasi’s wings are to them?! That’s like asking an Earth Pony to chop off their leg, or a Unicorn to pull out their horn!” She huffed with crowed brow. “It’s rude, cruel, and stupid!”

Redheart turned on heel to the Pegasus beside her. “And why’s that? That wing has been nothing but a medical risk to Flame Storm’s life since he got here-”

“Because it’s more than just a Limb, a Pegasi’s wing is a status symbol! Before the Three Tribes came together under Celestia, we Pegasi chose our leaders through whoever had the biggest wings, denoting them as the physically strongest of the pack! Not to mention phantom pains, Pegathrophocosis, Free Fall Syndrome, and all the other reasons Nopony cuts a Pegasi’s wing off unless it’s actively killing them!”

“The Heck is Pegath- Pegatho- whatever the heck that first word is?” Applejack muttered, putting her food delivery down and nabbing a glass of cider.

“Pegathrophocosis is a medical condition where a Pegasi’s latent magic pool is cut off by amputation, cutting off circulation of the Flight sections of the brain, leading to parts of the Frontal Lobe and Cerebral Cortex shutting off, causing partial brain death.” Derpy crossed her arms. “And while we’re at it, Free Fall Syndrome is when a Pegasi forgets they don’t have wings anymore and kill themselves by jumping off a cliff, thinking they can fly away!”

Applejack winced, while Redheart rose a brow. “I’m more amazed you know about either of those conditions, because I’ve never heard of them.”

“Yeah, cause you’re an Earth Pony nurse, not a Pegasi nurse! You’d know what Earipendacosis is.”

“Uh, that’s the Earth Pony version of tha’ Pega-whatchamacallit, right?” Applejack was looking between the two women and Flame Storm with an awkward gait. “Ah had an uncle who had it, poor bugger died ah few weeks after he got it.”

“Yeah, apparently..” Redheart murmured. “Where’d you even learn about that? You’re a Mailmare, never took you for a physician.”

Derpy blushed and rubbed her neck. “I, uh, worked in the medical field as a teenager back in Manehatten. Nothing major, y’know!”

Redheart gave her a side eye, but looked away. “Nonetheless, culture or not, Flame Storm’s wing is a risk to his life, even you should be able to see that.”

“I don’t see any rot, all I see is that he really needs a good pruning!” Derpy barked at her. “Just saying, if you ask, I’d be willing to help out. Especially for such a handsome wingspan…”

“What was that?” Flame Storm finally started paying attention again, his axe nearly missing the log and stump he was chopping.

“What.” Derpy looked around panicked, with only a side eye from Redheart and a smug gaze from Applejack.

“Alright, I’m done.” Redheart announced, sitting up and taking her bag of medicine. “I’ll be back in the morning, you better not be overworking yourself again.” She hissed at Flame Storm, before wandering off.

“I gotta go too.” Derpy frowned. “School gets out in a bit and Dinky’s done good in her classes, so I’m gonna get her some sweets from Sugar Cube Corner.”

“See you around then, Ms. Hooves.” Flame Storm waved her off, the grey Pegasus fluttering off into the sky. “What about you, AJ?”

“Well, brought ya’ some snackin’ from the family broil, we’ve got a lot left over for the Celebration next week.” Applejack referred to the large box by her side, the faint scent of several home-cooked pies, fritters, and othersuch apple foods.

“Celebration? What, is it somepony’s birthday?” Flame Storm questioned, chopping down again. Applejack damn near dropped her drink.

“You don’t know what month it is?! Why, it’s the Summer Sun Celebration! This coming Tuesday marks the day Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon, going off of the old fairy tales.”

Applejack had missed Flame Storm swinging his axe down with enough force to snap the handle in half, his eye blown open. “What… Did you say?”

“Uh, it’s the day Nightmare Moon was banished? One thousand years going in seven days, going off of those old stories.” Applejack tapped her lip, hoof tapping on the ground in thought. “The Princess has been doing it for as long as mah family has been around, even before Granny was born! It’s a real pretty thing, seeing the Princess raise the sun right before ya’. You can practically taste the magic.”

Flame Storm didn’t answer her.

“Well, I aut’ to be off now, still got a lot of food to make. See you around, Flame!”

She wandered off, not noticing Flame Storm’s scar covered arm cracking open, his magic slowly flowing out of control. Nightmare Moon… Banishment…

It took Flame Storm a flurry of determination to stop himself from exploding, or simply falling over and vomiting. ‘Get ahold of yourself, Dammit all! It could just be a coincidence, moon based names aren’t too uncommon the closer to the coast you get.’

‘And yet, we’re thousands of miles away from the coast.’ Doubt settled into the back of his mind, ever the contrarian. ‘And a being so powerful that being banished to the Moon was the needed state of action? Who else would have been powerful enough to match that descriptor?’

‘Shut The Fuck Up.’ Flame Storm growled and forced himself up. ‘We just need evidence… the Library, it should be open by now. If we were to learn anything at all, it’d be there.’

Twilight finally made it to the library, slamming the door with a great huff. The fashionista Unicorn, Rarity, who was in charge of making the town all pretty-like, had dragged her off after seeing the state of Twilight’s mane, dressing her up in overly elaborate fashion statements. Worse yet, Spike had gotten himself a crush, eugh. She was probably thrice your age, Spike, c’mon.

As the lanterns were ignited by a spark of magic, Twilight was startled to see somepony already inside the Library. A tall Pegasis with a single wing, wearing a vest that Twilight had seen at Rarity’s shop. “Um, who are you?”

The pale pony’s wing twitched, and he turned. In his scarred hands was one of the old history books Twilight had brought with her, already organized by age. “Ah, you’re the replacement librarian, correct?”

His voice was sharp, yet deep as a chasm. It reminded her of Shining Armor’s drill sergeant she met when she was a filly. “Yeah, I take it you were looking for something?”

“I was, though I apologize for intruding without your presence, but it was… Imperative. I am Flame Storm, one of the town’s Monster Hunters.”

Twilight tapped her chin as Spike jumped down from her shoulder. Flame Storm’s eye followed the fletchling dragon, curiosity in his gaze. “I take it you’re looking for a book on monsters?”

“Fairy Tales, specifically the one of Nightmare Moon.”

Twilight had turned her focus to a wall of books, but the mention of that name twisted her neck nearly 180 perfect degrees. “Nightmare Moon?”

“Yes. A… friend, told me about the legend, and it piqued my interest. Back in my homeland, we had a legend that sounds similar, and I’m curious as to how similar they are.” If Twilight had been paying better attention, she would have noticed a sudden flash of pain and something else going across his features.

“Well, I can definitely help you there. Kinda here because of the legend…” Twilight’s magic grabbed the same journal she had been reading out of for years, only recently actually paying the stories within any real mind. She passed it into the Pegasi’s hands, where Flame Storm carefully ran his scared digits across its face.

“I see this one’s been cared for…” He murmured, causing a blush to come to Twilight’s cheeks.

“I- uh, yeah. It’s one of the first gifts I was given by Princess Celestia when I was enrolled into her School For Gifted Unicorns.”

“You went there? Served guard duty once there, such a chaotic place.” Flame Storm chuckled, thumbing through the well worn pages, before finally falling upon what he searched for. Magic surged through the ink, letting the tale come to life before his very eyes, but wonder did not come to him as it did Twilight.

“Heh, yeah. Were you there during the Great Prank War about 7 years ago?”

“The one with the giant pony eating plants that teleported you to Celestia’s private cake vault?”

“That’s the one.”

“Heard of it, but wasn’t there to see it myself. Was busy dealing with being re-trained after sending my Commanding Officer to the medical ward in Appleloosa. Served the bastard right for trying to get us to open fire on Civilians to get One vampire…”

Twilight flinched at the thought as Flame Storm closed the book, eye creased in pain. ‘That’s too similar.’

‘Told you-’ ‘Silence.’

“Soo, what’s the consensus?” Twilight peeped up, sitting herself down at the round table at the center of the library.

“This Nightmare Moon and our Mother Moon are… similar, but different. Our Lady never tried forming eternal night, for one. And two, our Mother never had a sister, or at the very least told us about having one.”

“Well, at least you’ve got a little more information, right?” Twilight smiled. Flame Storm willed a small nod. “Where exactly are you from? I’ve never heard of this Mother Moon figure before, but it does sound like something from a fillie’s book…”

Flame Storm weighed his choices before answering. “I’m… from Nirn. It’s an island nation a few weeks travel West from Equestria’s border. It’s swarmed by storms and natural disasters constantly, along with enough Monsters and Curses that would make Equestria’s Monster Crisis look like a mild infestation.” His nails tapped into the dark oak wood that made up the table, vying away from Twilight’s probing gaze.

“We would have all died if She hadn’t appeared and halted the storms, floods, and hail. My ancestors heralded her as a Goddess of the Moon, and the moment she saved our lives, any strife we lived under died. The sky parted with light for the first time in Centuries, plants grew, and the Beasts ran. It was an amazing time…”

His gaze fell to his scars. “... And then she just, disappeared. Mother Moon vanished from the skies, and the storms drowned us all in a torrent that could smother half of Equestria. Those of us who survived fell to raiding and thievery to survive, until I left the island, about 17 years ago. If anypony else survived, I don’t care enough to learn.”

Twilight’s curiosity turned to stunned silence, the thirst for knowledge stifled by the weight in the one winged Pegasi’s voice. “I- uhm, I’m sorry?”

“Don’t be. Like I said, It was 17 years ago, no point in weeping over stifled ashes. I do have to ask, is this the only book on Nightmare-”

Flame Storm was cut off by the Library doors being slammed open, and a sudden deluge of ponies storming in, halting once seeing Twilight and Flame Storm. “Oi, what’s the hold up?! We got a surprise Welcome-To-Ponyville party to set up- Ohhhh she’s already here.”

The crowds were parted by a pink earth pony, her mane resembling cotton candy, dressed in sport shorts and a crop top, hefting about an oddly large suitcase. Propped in her other hand was the largest quadruple decker chocolate cake either had ever seen in their lives. Well, aside from the one Twilight had seen on Celestia’s birthday, but that one didn’t count as it was a chocolate vanilla buttercream sextuplet layer cake.

“Uh- um, who are you and what are you doing with that cake?” Twilight’s patience was already wearing thin, her pleasantly short conversation with Flame Storm quickly being overshadowed.

“I’m Pinkie Pie, and this cake was supposed to be for a surprise party! For you! But you got here way too soon! And now there’s this other pony I don’t recognize who I definitely haven’t gotten to throw a party for so now I have Two parties to both fix and now plan!”

The pink pony’s words shot out like a volley, quickly confusing Twilight and Flame Storm.

“Wait, you don’t recognize me? I’ve been living in town for almost a year and a half…” Flame Storm murmured, carefully placing the book on Nightmare Moon down.

“WHAT?!?” Pinkie screamed, dropping the cake (which thankfully landed perfectly on the floor without spilling) and leap-frogging over another pony in front of her. “HOW????”

“I… live just outside of town?”

Pinkie’s expression twisted a smidge, before drooping. “Oh.” She mumbled. “The monster hunter.” The previous hyperactive excitement was siphoned out of her voice like a vacuum, her eyes dimming and drooping. “That’s why.”

That was a reasonable reaction, Flame Storm decided. The MHO wasn’t exactly the most esteemed establishment, especially for local businesses. He never even took a step near the only bakery big enough to make a cake like that, Sugarcube Corner, out of concern for their business.

If a Monster Hunter was about, either they were hunting, or out drinking. Gods Below, what’s up with these hunters and drinking?

“Well, we’re all here, and we got snacks, soooooooo…” One of the ponies carrying a bowl of punch eyed it nervously. Berry Punch, if Flame Storm’s memory served him right, town drunk.

“Ohh, right! You mind if we-”

“YES, I do mind!” Twilight barked. “No food or drink in the library!”

She did eye the cake, however, her stomach reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. “That cake looks good, though…”

Pinkie Pie’s smile blasted back into full throttle, and from seemingly nowhere she produced two folding tables. “Good thing I came prepared! Everypony, outside! It’s a Under-The-Stars-Welcome-Party Party tonight!”

Everypony filtered out of the library, leaving Flame Storm and Twilight in awkward silence, broken only by Twilight’s stomach, and following hoofsteps. Flame Storm followed suit, silently making his way off into the night instead of sticking around.

He knew he wasn’t welcome.

Instead, he snuck his way home, following the growing shadows. He watched the evening life of Ponyville start anew, folks going about with late night deliveries, families Grabbing a bite to eat, and younglings making use of the scant few hours of daylight left.

He disconnected from it. Instead, Flame Storm turned his focus to tonight’s work.

As he opened the door to his sad excuse of a shack, blindly reaching out to the side of the doorframe, where a coat hanger had been placed. Courtesy of the Apple Family, of course. Another gift was what hung on it.

A thick brown and red furred cloak, hand stitched together by Granny Smith while Flame Storm was in the hospital. It was the Manticore’s pelt, turned into a simple yet effective armor, one that reached down to his ankles and covered up to his nose. Its head had been removed and turned into a hat, one Flame Storm gave back to the Apples. His eye made wearing anything that covered the face less than pleasant.

Making armor out of animal pelts was… taboo, to say the least, in Equestria. Some places flat out outlawed the practice, but Flame Storm spat at the concept. You take what you need, and give back to the word when you finally bite the bullet. So far, nothing’s haunted him yet, too, so he must have been doing something right.

Once the cloak was firmly wrapped around Flame Storm’s shoulders, he grabbed the hastily repaired axe that he shattered that morning and made his way back outside, this time heading north to the Everfree Forest.

His internal clock ticked, and the moon beamed down onto him like rain. Midnight. The time beasts came to hunt.

The time He came out to hunt.

Tonight’s menu? Timberwolves and Snakes. Flame Storm raised his axe to his shoulder, and snorted. The stress of the day sloughed from his mind as he let his mind wander the woods. Thoughts of Mother Moon and Nightmare Moon faded to the back of his brain as the first Prey of the night appeared, a rather large Timberwolf. A smile came to the Pegasi’s lips.

“Frábær nótt fyrir stríðsmann. Er það ekki, elskuðu tunglið?”

Author's Note

Translations: Frábær nótt fyrir stríðsmann. Er það ekki, elskuðu tunglið? | Roughly | "A great night for a warrior. Isn't it, Beloved Moon?"

Yeah, decided on a smaller chapter for this one. Originally, Nightmare Moon was supposed to break out in this one, but I decided there was more characterization to be had before we got to the first proper arc topper and storyline. I'm thinking either Chapter 5 or 6 can be the Nightmare Moon chapter, but idk.

But hey, a full chapter of nothing but Character building! Good on me, good on me.