June 22, 2024

While Sunny was on the stage, Twilight sighed as she looked down at Spike. "Hey, Spike," Twilight said, getting the small dragon's attention. "So, since Sheriff Hitch isn't on the stage anymore, do you want to try and find him and Sparky?" Twilight asked.

"Of course I would!" Spike said, his eyes gaining an extra sparkle. "But, where is he? If he went off the stage, wouldn't he go directly backstage, since that's where all the products are? And since he's the sheriff, he ensures everything goes smoothly, so he would oversee the technical stuff, right?"

Realizing this, Twilight mentally groaned. "Oh, right," Twilight said, chuckling nervously. "No worries, since I'm the Princess' student, I can just say I can go backstage for the preparations, of course, I'll be checking on it too." Twilight looked at the stage, where green slime balls were hurled at Sunny. "I don't think that'll end soon, so we have some time!"

Twilight used her magic to lift Spike onto her back as the two started galloping towards the backstage. "Well, now that we're done with the Splat-a-Pult, it's time for the E.U.P Entrapment Device!" Sprout announced, which erupted a cheer in the crowd.

A few minutes later, the duo reached a light grey door with a golden star sticker on it with the words: "Behind CanterStage" written on it in big bold letters. The door was guarded by two earth pony guards with Phyllis giving Hitch a lecture in front of them.

Phyllis groaned as she said to Hitch with a stern face, "Sheriff Hitch! I know you're good at speeches, but please, try to make it sound natural, like what you do when you announce somethin' to the town with your cards!" Phyllis sighed before continuing. "Look, I know how much time you spend with my son, and he's an expert when it comes to improvising! I mean, he's my son after all, but that's not the point."

"Then what is?" Hitch questioned, rolling his eyes. "Phyllis, I mean no offense, but unlike Sprout, I can't improvise in front of a crowd. I'm sure I will eventually but cut me some slack, I just became the sheriff four months ago. I'm still adjusting to how exhausting the job is, alright?"

"I know that," Phyllis said, and suddenly her stern face went soft as she continued. "Hitch, you were the best of the best in the academy, that's why they picked you. They told you the job would be hard, and you would have to learn more stuff as you go along."

Phyllis fixed her glasses as she looked into Hitch's eyes. "You've had time to adjust for four months, and if you don't soon, the Summer Sun Celebration could turn into a disaster. I know you're thinking, 'How could a talk about improvising turn into a lecture about adjusting?' But I'm right, am I not?"

"I... guess I see your point," Hitch mumbled. "I'll get Sprout to teach me some tricks on a day off, but even if I don't get it, that's why I have Sprout! He's my deputy, we depend on each other to cover each other's weak points."

At the mention of her son being a deputy, Phyllis visibly grimaced. "Ah, yes, I forgot my son works for you," Phyllis said. "I told him that he'd have a better chance working for CanterLogic, but he wanted to trot on his own path. Oh, Celestia, this job will go horribly for Sprout, I just know it."

"Yeah, yeah," Hitch chuckled. "Sprout told me you've said that to him ten times this week, I don't need you telling it to me as well."

As Twilight and Spike listened in on their conversation, Twilight thought, This is turning out to be so boring. I need to talk to someone now! Twilight put Spike on the ground, cleared her throat, and trotted over to them with a smile. "Hello! You're Phyllis Cloverleaf," Twilight turned to Hitch. "And Sheriff Hitch, right?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, we are," Phyllis answered. "Who are you? And why are you here? You should be watching the show, you're not a worker, are you?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort," Twilight said. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike," Using her magic, she dragged Spike to them. Phyllis and Hitch gasped at the young dragon as Twilight continued. "You see, Princess Celestia sent us here to Maretime Bay to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, and we're here for the inspection of your products.

Phyllis thought about it for a while before her face turned to one of realization. "Ah, yes! Princess Celestia informed me you would be going here!" Phyllis said. "She said in her letter that you would be accompanied by a dragon, which is him, and a mare named... Sunny Starscout, right?"

When Phyllis mentioned Sunny, Hitch's face turned to one of confusion. "Yes, I did, but she's on the stage right now with your son. Unlucky for her." Twilight said.

Phyllis scoffed. "Unlucky? What makes you think that? She's one of the luckiest mares in Equestria! She's the first public tester!" Phyllis said.

“You could say that,” Twilight replied.

“Well, then,” Phyllis said, opening the door behind them. “Come on in, Miss Twilight Sparkle, we’ve got a lot to go over! And Hitch,” Phyllis turned to Hitch. “You’ll be coming with us.”

“Oh, what an honor,” Hitch muttered to himself, which made Phyllis raise an eyebrow. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to find my so- Sparky. I need to find Sparky.”

“Your dragon child? Oh, of course,” Phyllis clapped her hooves, and one of her guards dropped Sparky in front of the sheriff. “Sprout dropped him off when he went on stage. Here you go, sheriff!”

Instead of running towards Hitch, like the yellow stallion expected, he walked towards Spike with a growing fascination. Before any of them could get a word out, Phyllis stepped forward. “Now, come on in, everypony! Er, everycreature.”

Phyllis walked into the room and Twilight, Hitch, Spike, and Sparky followed not too long after. Inside the room, it was much bigger than Twilight expected it to be. Ponies were trotting everywhere, either carrying a sandwich or carrying a toolbox. They were all working on multiple gadgets, which she assumed were what Phyllis was showcasing today,

“Ooh, wow,” Twilight said, awestruck at the many devices and gizmos. “Is this everything you make? It’s certainly… a lot!”

“This isn’t everything CanterLogic has to offer for the S.S.C, Miss Sparkle,” Phyllis informed. “This is just room one of many, many other rooms! Of course, we won’t be going to all of them, just most.”

“Most? Well, since Twilight’s checking on preparations, I’m sure she’s very busy.” Hitch said. “We should just go to Room 306, that’s where the most important machines for the Summer Sun Celebration are.”

“Yes! Sheriff Hitch is correct,” Twilight said, mentally breathing a sigh of relief. She did not want to go through many rooms. “Could we just go to Room 306? I have to check on, um, music, food, weather…” Sure, she only needed to check on one last thing, but she didn’t know that.

“Well, I suppose we don’t have to go to 90% of the rooms…” Phyllis mumbled. “Alright then. I guess you are a busy mare then, Miss Sparkle.”

“And that concludes our showcase! Feel free to place orders at the front desk!”

As Sunny stepped off the stage, she took off her safety helmet and shook her head. “It’s nice to see an old friend again.” Sunny turned around and saw Sprout there, standing with a sheepish grin. “Heh, sorry if I got, uh, carried away. You’re not hurt, are you?” Sprout asked.

“Huh? Oh, no, no,” Sunny said, chuckling a little. “It’s a good thing CanterLogic has really good safety techniques, right? The only thing I have a problem with…” Sunny showed Sprout her tail, which had green goop stuck in it. “...is the goo.”

“Yikes, that’s not going to come off so easily, is it?” Sprout asked.

“Eh, I live in Canterlot, remember? I can just buy some new shampoo and it’ll probably wash it off,” Sunny said.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Sprout said. “Hey, did you come here with anypony else? I know I saw another pony with you when I called you, right?”

“You’re not hallucinating, Sprout, that’s my friend, Twilight Sparkle!” Sunny said. “She’s the student of Princess Celestia herself! She has a dragon named Spike – like the “Sparky” I’ve been hearing all about. Speaking of which, where is Hitch? He’s the father of Sparky, correct?”

“Yup! He is! He found his egg on the day he got his cutie mark, didn’t he mention it?” Sprout asked. “Anyways, he’s probably backstage with my mom. And the purple unicorn might be with him. I thought I spotted her leaving.”

“Do you know why they would be there?” Sunny asked.

“Mom’s probably showing them the inventions for the Summer Sun Celebration privately. She’s a sucker for royalty, or at least ponies that know royalty.” Sprout guessed. “Right now, she’s probably trying to get Twilight to buy something.”

“So, does anything catch your eye, Miss Sparkle?”

Currently, the group was still walking towards Room 304, and the journey was… quite long, considering that Phyllis stated there were around 500 rooms in total. “I’m sure you’d like to buy one of our machines! Maybe a new CanterPhone? CanterPod? Or if you want, I could pull some strings and get you the new FlyPad set to release in December early. For a fee, of course.” Phyllis advertised.

“Uh, no, that’s okay!” Twilight politely declined, shaking her head. “I just bought the new CanterPhone 16, I don’t need a new phone yet. Maybe I’ll buy the FlyPad when it releases, but right now, I’ll have to decline your offer.”

“Okay, then! You’re a smart shopper, Miss Sparkle. I commend you for that!” Phyllis complimented. “But, I will offer you a deal-”

“So, Twilight,” Hitch interrupted Phyllis, to the pink mare's disdain and to the purple unicorn’s relief. “How’s your relationship with Sunny? I don’t know if you know this, but me and her used to be best buddies! But now we’re not. What’s she up to these days?”

“Oh, y’know, she… started a smoothie cart. Though it hasn’t been going so well in Canterlot.” Twilight said. “And… Well, that’s just about it.”

“So she just started a smoothie cart? That’s all?” Hitch asked.

“Eeyup.”

Suddenly, the group stopped in their tracks as Phyllis smiled and said, “Aha! We’re here! Room 304! You two are in for a treat!”

“You mean you four, right? You four are in for a treat?” Spike asked, raising one of his claws up.

“Oh, no, no,” Phyllis said, laughing a little. “I’m sorry, dear dragons, but you two aren’t allowed in here. Only po- creatures over the age of fifteen are allowed inside, since our helmets can’t fit young foals. You understand, right? I’m sure it won’t take long.”

“WHAT?!” Spike and Sparky cried out in unison.

“Yes, yes, so sad, very bad,” Phyllis opened the door and pushed Twilight and Hitch inside, ignoring their shouts and glares. “Just stay safe you two! I don’t want to deal with paperwork during what should be the most eventful time of the summer for Maretime Bay. Buh-bye!” Phyllis slammed the door on the two dragons, leaving the two alone.

The two stood there in silence before Sparky decided to end the silence. “...So! It’s nice to finally meet another dragon!” Sparky said, turning to look at Spike. “I’ve just got a few questions, like how old are you? What do you like to eat? What color was your egg? How’d you end up with Miss Twilight Sparkle? How-”

“Woah! Alright,” Spike stopped Sparky as the purple dragon quickly grew overwhelmed by all the questions. “I’m 10, I mostly eat hay fries but I love gems, purple and green, she technically brought me to Equestria, and… that’s about it, actually.”

“Woah! You’re like me!” Sparky said. “I’m 10 too, I love to eat hay fries, but only the spicy ones, and Miss Rarity usually gives me gems she doesn’t use for my snacks, my egg was teal and pink, and the same thing that happened to you with Twilight technically happened to me but with Hitch!”

“Wait, really? Awesome! It’s so nice to have a dragon friend,” Spike said before he stopped himself. “Wait, we are friends, right?”

“Uh. duh! Of course we are! How could I pass up on a chance to meet another dragon?” Sparky replied. “Also, can your dragon fire do magical things like mine can?”

“Yes! Mine can teleport stuff, but I’m still figuring it out. It only came to me a few months ago,” Spike said, rubbing the back of his head. “What can your dragon fire do?”

“It can change stuff, wait, let me show you…” Sparky looked around for something until his eyes laid on a spare wrench that (hopefully) nopony was looking for. Sparky breathed his teal dragon fire over the wrench as it turned into a piece of paper. “Ta-da! Look! It turned from a hard, metal wrench into a bendable, paper… paper!”

“That’s… so cool! Oh, my Celestia! I wish my fire could do that! All my fire can do is just teleport stuff, urgh,” Spike sighed before he turned to the door. “What do you think they’re doing there?”

“Eh, probably some boring stuff,” Sparky shrugged. “Anyways, do you want to see what stuff I could try and make?”

“Uh, obviously!”

Back with Sunny and Sprout, the two were holding two smoothies, courtesy of the smoothie stand Phyllis had set up for the event. “So, Sunny,” Sprout took another sip of his kiwi smoothie. “Are you done with your job? I really want to hang out with somepony who isn’t Hitch.”

“Eh, just waiting for Twilight, to be honest,” Sunny said, taking another sip of her orange smoothie. “And why don’t you hang out with that Posey mare? We met her when we went to the station, she sounds… fun.”

Sprout scoffed. “Posey? As in Posey Bloom? Hah! She’s Maretime Bay’s famous complainer. She’s not a bad mare, she has her times, but she complains a little too much. I mean, we don’t want to hear about how a pony didn’t throw their tiny candy wrapper in the trash can.”

“Heh, well, I’m glad I’m not you,” Sunny said. “Ugh, what’s taking Twilight so long?”

“Oh, she’s probably in one of my Mom’s long winded speeches,” Sprout said. “What else do you have to check anyway? You’ve told me what happened with Applejack, then Rainbow Dash and Zipp, then Pipp and Izzy, then… me and Hitch? Or is it just me?”

“To answer your question, I think it’s only music left,” Sunny said. “It’s at the beach, so I can’t wait to actually go there! Eeek!”

“Wait, it’s at the beach?! I haven’t went there in so long, I have to come with you.” Sprout pleaded.

“I… don’t know, I still have to wait for Twilight, after all,” Sunny said, hesitant to leave her friend. “But, Twilight did say she had to get it done faster to research on… a topic.” Sunny dodged saying the words “Nightmare Moon,” as she didn’t want Sprout to think Twilight was a weirdo. “I’ll just text her to meet me at the lighthouse, so, come on!”

“Oh, yes! Finally, something exciting for once!” Sprout cheered.

Somewhere on the moon, a tall dark alicorn stood, walking around the rocky surface with broken chains on her hooves. Her mane was a reflection of the night sky, she wore night-themed armor, and her pupils were slits.

“My time is coming, dearest sister,” She spat out, her horn glowing a weak blue. “Your pathetic day is coming to an end, and my night will rule supreme. You think you have admiration and respect? Well, I’ll take everything from you. Your land, your ponies, your friends, your life. I will make you suffer.”

The alicorn stopped abruptly, her eyes widening as a thought– no, a memory flashed before her eyes. From a thousand years ago, before she was imprisoned on this moon, before she became Nightmare Moon. A time when she was simply known… as Luna.

In Skyros, the land of the alicorns, a younger Princess Celestia and her sister, Luna ran across the streets, giggling as they ran. “Wait up, Tia!” Luna shouted, her tiny hooves only taking her so far. “You know I can’t run fast!”

“Come on, Luna! You're so slow!” Celestia shouted back, her mane pink instead of the multicolored one. “We have to run fast before Opal catches us!” Celestia said.

“Yeah, but– oof!” Suddenly, Luna tripped over a rock and landed on the ground. Luna lifted the hoof that tripped over the rock to reveal a large wound, which was bleeding. Celestia turned around as she heard her sister's light cries and whimpers.

Celestia immediately turned around as she ran to her sister’s aid. “Luna! Luna, what happened?” Celestia asked in a soft tone. She looked at the hoof that was bleeding and frowned. “Aw, did you get hurt?”

Luna was silent for a while before she responded with a small, “Yeah.”

“Oh, Luna, you have to be more careful!” Celestia slightly scolded. Her horn lit up in a bright yellow as gauze and some disinfectant appeared before the two sisters. “Oh, my! It worked!” Celestia said, smiling. She took the disinfectant and put it on Luna’s wound before wrapping the gauze around her sister’s hoof.

“There! See? It’s all fine now!” Celestia said. “Come on, I’ll run slower this time, we’ve only got a few seconds before Opaline tries to find us.”

Luna nodded as she stood up. She was about to fall again before she landed on Celestia, a white wing wrapping itself around the blue alicorn. “Thanks, Tia!” Luna said, a smile forming on her face.

“No problem-o, sister!” Celestia said. And just like that, the two continued to play, the younger sister forgetting about her short-lived pain.

“...Maybe it could’ve been different,” Nightmare Moon muttered, her pupils turning back to normal for a split second before it turned back into slits. “No! What am I talking about? Celestia knew what she did, and she has no regrets. This… this is necessary for the better of Equestria.”

“Oh, sister! I’m back again!”

Nightmare Moon turned around, and a hologram of a magenta alicorn with a white mane with teal streaks appeared behind her. “Ah, Opaline. It’s… a surprise to see you again. Especially on the day of the summer solstice.” Nightmare Moon greeted, the scowl on her face turning into a light smile.

“Of course! My dear younger sister is finally escaping from her prison to enact revenge on Celestia! I couldn’t miss your planning phase!” Opaline cooed. “And just let me remind you, sister, that when you take control of Equestria…?”

“I remove the barrier that keeps you from entering Equestria and have you as my second in command. Yes, yes, I know this, Opal,” Nightmare Moon said, rolling her eyes. “We’ve gone over this a hundred times this month.”

“I’m just making sure you don’t forget!” Opaline giggled. “Now, you better rest up, Luna, you’ve got to have energy for your grand entrance later tonight!”

“Alright, sister, thank you for your… concern.” Nightmare Moon said. And just like that, the hologram of Opaline disappeared, leaving Nightmare Moon alone on the planet she loved.

On Equestria, Opaline Arcana stood proudly on her throne, a blue unicorn standing beside her. “Ah, Misty! Isn’t it just a wonderful day to plot an evil scheme?” Opaline said.

“Yes! Yes, it is, Opaline!” The unicorn – Misty – replied, a goofy grin on her face.

“Ugh, Misty, that was one of the questions you’re not supposed to answer. Learn to read, dear.” Opaline said, rolling her eyes.

Author's Note

Alrighty! Sorry this chapter took so long, hehe. Anyways, we've got some interactions between Sunny and Sprout, Spike and Sparky, Twilight and Hitch, and a surprise Nightmare Moon and Opaline! Wowza! There's not a lot to say, except that see you in February!

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate!