My Little Pony: Friendship is Bothersome

“You can’t be serious?” questioned Rarity. Dusk gave off the impression that he was totally serious which made Rarity uneasy. Barb knew better than to question Dusk’s theories relating to legends, though said theories usually opposed the existence of creatures such as ‘Slendermane’, the ‘Loch Neigh Monster’ and the ‘Hound of the Canterville’. But Nightmare Moon was obviously a different story.

“What proof do you have that Nightmare Moon exists?” Dash asked accusingly, believing that this entire thing was a cover story.

“The legend itself explains it all. It’s common knowledge that Princess Celestia once had a sister, yet the history books never identify her disappearance, she wasn’t reported dead nor missing, indicating she was sent somewhere. Then there’s the Princess’ Cutie Mark; while she raises the sun and the moon, only the symbol of the Sun is displayed, indicating that that the long lost sister is the true conduit to the moon. On top of that, there’s a chunk of history taken out between the time of their co-ruling and the Princess’ sudden control over both day and night. Shall I go on?” he enquired. The ponies were rendered speechless, but Barb had one small detail she wished to clarify.

“But Dusk, the Slendermane myth seemed more realistic than the Nightmare moon pony tale.”

“The Slendermane myth had obvious flaws in the evidence. My evidence relating to the lost Princess is solid.” he replied.

“No it isn’t.” Barb argued. “It’s a half-assed theory based on missing historical data and the Princess’mysterious past.” the others looked to Dusk for a retort, which as Barb expected, he had.

“The final piece of evidence will be revealed through Celestia’s reaction to my conclusion. While she has an excellent Poker face when it comes to everything regal and royal, she’s a terrible player when I figure things out.” he replied. Barb sighed in defeat. She knew Dusk was going out on a limb with this theory and he wasn’t going to drop it so easily.

“Alright then. I’ll be here when you return.” she said. Dusk nodded and opened the door. The night breeze reached him and his fur stood on end. He shut the door again and sighed.

“Best grab a coat before I go.” he said, rushing back upstairs. Barb face palmed as Dusk’s sudden retreat back into his room killed the melodramatic moment.

Princess Celestia looked out from the nearest window at the setting moon. The celebration was close to beginning and she needed to get ready. She began to wonder if Dusk would succeed in his assignment. He was known for being as unbearable as Blueblood and twice as rude. She came to the same conclusion she always did; that he had the potential to be better than he was, to grow and become one of the greatest ponies Equestria would ever know.

With her train of thought reaching its climax, she was interrupted by screaming guards flying through the large throne room doors. She was caught off guard. A black figure swept through the room, circling the Alicorn and engulfing her in a cloak of black smoke.

Dusk teleported to the main entrance into the Castle. The guards recognised him almost instantly and waved him in with dismissive looks He got those often. As he made his way towards the throne room, he heard groaning in the distance. Hurrying his pace, he arrived to see the doors bent open, the guards responsible for the groaning struggling to get up and his mentor lying unconscious before a blackened version of the Princess, wearing a helmet that looked terrible on her.

“Oh, this must be the faithful student I’ve heard so much about. Dusk, was it?” a powerful but controlled voice asked, its owner crossing her arms as a sign of passivity towards him. Dusk knew that this black Alicorn, Nightmare Moon, didn’t consider him worth the effort to guard against.

“You should have heard my dear sister calling your name before I knocked her out. Such fond memories I shared with her, but she never sounded or looked so panicked in all the years I knew her.” Nightmare Moon boasted her victory and finished with an evil laugh. Dusk felt a cold chill run through his body and he found himself shivering slightly. He’d never imagined seeing Celestia in the state she was; lying unconscious on the stone floor, her white robes dishevelled. He clenched his fists, struggling to control himself.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to see if a pony would lose their sanity after seeing her knocked down. So, what’s it like to lose it, apprentice?” she goaded. The irises on Dusk’s eyes closed to the point where his pupils were little larger than one of those round sprinkles on fairy bread. As he brought his gaze over to the offending Alicorn, he grinned.

“Sanity? Who the heck is that?” he asked. His horn lit up and a purple haze began to rise around him, the aura like slow moving fire. Nightmare Moon huffed in amusement at his reply and decided to humour him by defending herself. Her own horn lit up, ready for whatever move the apprentice would make.

“Does he really expect us to believe that Nightmare Moon is real, much less coming back tonight of all nights?” Dash asked, circling the small group of ponies who had gathered in the town hall, waiting for the hour all the preparations had been for. Ponyville was bustling with ponies who had travelled from the furthest reaches of Equestria just to attend the Celebration. Barb was at a loss for words as she didn’t know these ponies well enough to convince them of Dusk’s… argument.

“Hold on now, sugarcube. When ya think about it, That stallion ain’t lied to us at all since we met him. When the family’d cornered him into stayin’ for lunch, he accepted, but he’d been expressin’ his dislike from the get go.” Applejack pointed out.

“That’s Dusk. He doesn’t lie, but he’ll tell the truth to an extent. Somehow, he always knows just how much of the truth to omit in order to get what he wants. He wasn’t lying when he told us Nightmare Moon was coming back, but he might not have told us the whole truth, like why it was important, or why it mattered to him. He said just enough to get us to let him out the door.” Barb explained.

“Why that sneaky little–.”Applejack went to say but was cut off as the ceremony began. Mayor Mare stood on the observation balcony where the curtain hiding Princess Celestia was drawn. Two Royal guards were stationed at either side of the balcony. They had been stationed to Ponyville the previous day.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts; We have all gathered here today for the Summer Sun Celebration, which honours Our Princess and symbolises our gratitude to her for raising the sun and the moon. And today is a special occasion as this marks the thousandth year since she began doing so.” the ponies cheered for the princess. “So without further ado, may I present to you all, the mare of the hour: Princess Celestia!” Everypony cheered, except for the group of five and Barb who were hoping things would go as planned.

The curtains parted and everypony gasped in surprise. The Princess wasn’t there. Mayor Mare looked to where everypony was staring and nearly fainted at the lack of a presence. The five ponies and Barb looked worriedly amongst each other.

…One Hour Earlier…

Royal Guards both heard and felt the power struggle within the Throne room. Fearing for their Princess, a large contingency of Guards, including the Captain, Gleaming Shield made track for the throne room. When they arrived, the fight was over, and neither the Princess or her attacker could be found. Gleaming had the unfortunate privelage of finding her younger brother passed out under a small crater shaped like him. His body was covered in blood and his clothes were torn and burned, like the fur on his body. Gleaming Shield knelt down in front of her brother and held him close.

“Get a stretcher here, now!” she commanded. The guard she’d addressed nodded and hurried out of the room. “Dusk, who did this?” she asked rhetorically. She knew he was unconscious and didn’t expect an answer, but to her surprise, he subconsciously replied.

“Nightmare…Moon.” was all he said. A few minutes passed before the stretcher came and Gleaming helped lift her brother onto it and followed him to the medical ward.

…Back in Ponyville…

“This is terrible, what do we do?” Rarity asked, looking to the others. Unfortunately, everypony was at a loss. Even Barb couldn’t figure out where to go from here.

“I wish Dusk were here.” Fluttershy began.

“Well he isn’t.” Dash replied rather harshly. Those two statements gave Barb an idea.

“You’re right. Dusk isn’t here, but his books still are. He’d have used them to come to his conclusion. Come on everypony!” she said. As the five of them were about to depart for the Library, something stirred the other ponies and they were forced to look back. A swirling night sky appeared on the balcony and took form She was black with a light shade of blue armour. A dark purple cape waved behind her and her helmet gave her an even more sinister appearance. In an instant, the legendary Nightmare Moon was made whole, her excess magic taking on the form of thunder and lightning. She met them all with an evil chuckle.

“Ah, it’s good to see you all, my little ponies. It gets so lonely on that old rock. BUT FEAR NOT, YOUR TRUE PRINCESS HAS RETURNED!” her voice took on a louder register and she drowned out the thunder.

“What did you do with the Princess?” one of the ponies in the crowd demanded angrily. Nightmare Moon looked down at him and smirked.

“Returned the favour, so to speak. As she has trapped me on the moon for a thousand years, I’ve now trapped her in the sun.” There was a pregnant pause amongst all the ponies as they assimilated this information into their minds; 'Nightmare Moon was real'. Only six beings thought differently to the herd. 'Dusk was right', they thought.

With Nightmare Moon entranced in her newfound freedom, the five ponies, plus dragoness made their way out of the main hall and headed for the Library. It was a relatively short trek, quite literally next door. A they snuck into the front door, they spotted a dark blue wisp burst through the roof of the Town Hall.

"We have to find a way to stop her. Without the sun, it's only a matter of time before the world tries to restore the balance itself, the weather will control itself just like the Everfree Forest and we'll all be subject to what accounts for an apocalypse these days." Barb stated, skimming through the books on the shelves as she spoke. Everypony chimed in, including Rainbow Dash who had the intent on finding the book, but not reading it.

"How do we know what book to look for?" Dash asked.

"Nightmare moon is fictitious, an old filly tale. Just look for the book titled 'Magical Myths and Tales'." Barb replied. With Everypony looking for the book, it was found within a matter of minutes. Applejack ended up going into Dusk's room, where she saw the book had been dissected and notes had been stuck onto various pages.

"Found it." she called out. The ponies gathered in Dusk's room and circled around Barb who took the book from Applejack to recite it.

"...Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her sister and banished her permanently into the moon... It seems that the Elements of Harmony are the key to preventing Nightmare Moon's plans of an eternal night." Barb said, reading on.

"What are the Elements of Harmony?" Rarity asked.

"The story says they're the most powerful source of magic in Equestria, obviously more Powerful than even the Princess if she had to resort to them in order to seal away Nightmare moon." Barb replied.

"But where are they?" Applejack asked. Barb read onto Dusk's notes. She was a little worried It looked as if he'd gone insane writing words that didn't seem to make sense around the text on post-it notes. But at the very bottom of the text, one note told Barb what she needed to know.

"Dusk's answered that for us. He figured out where the Elements are. According to his note, they're in..."