"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together. To do this, the younger used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the elder brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects; all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies stargazed and partied in the night her elder sister brought forth, but ignored her beautiful day and took it for granted. One fateful day, the younger alicorn refused to lower the sun to make way for the moon. 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 unrelenting heat: Solar Flare.

"She vowed that she would shroud the land in unrelenting sun. Reluctantly, the elder sister used the most powerful weapons known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, banishing her permanently to the sun. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since." Dinky Do looked up from the book she was reading aloud as she sat in the shade underneath a large tree and sighed. "Elements of Harmony. Hmm… I know I've heard of those before… but where?"

—

Dinky was on her way toward her home/library to ask her assistant, a griffon chick named Ganache, to find a reference on the Elements of Harmony when she came across three ponies. The one in the middle leaned forward; she was a yellow unicorn with a blue mane named Apple Flora. Her cutie mark was an apple with 3 small, pink flowers on the bottom.

"There you are, Dinky!" exclaimed Apple, the two mares beside her – Berry Pinch and Cotton Cloudy – smiled at Dinky as she continued, "Firelock is having a little get-together in the west castle courtyard. You wanna come?"

"Oh, sorry girls…" said Dinky, "I've… got a lot of studying to catch up on." Then she galloped off toward her suite, not pausing for any more distractions.

Long after the lilac unicorn was out of earshot, Cotton said with a sigh, "Does that pony do anything except study? I think she's more interested in books than friends." Apple and Berry nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, as Dinky ran up the stairs to her suite, she said to herself, "I know I've heard of the Elements of Harmony." When she arrived she burst through the door, not knowing that she had knocked her assistant clear across the room and that he was lying on the floor as she called his name several times.

"Ow…" Ganache muttered, rubbing his head and rearranging his feathers.

"Ganache!" exclaimed Dinky, "There you are. Quick, find me that old copy of 'Predictions and Prophecies'. What's that for?" She pointed a hoof at a small red box tied with a bright yellow ribbon that was stuck on Ganache's beak.

"Well, it was a gift for Firelock…" said Ganache, using his claws to get the box – which now had a large hole straight through it – off his beak. A stuffed bear fell out of it.

"Oh Ganache," said Dinky, defeated, "You know we don't have time for that!"

As Ganache climbed a ladder to a high shelf, he half-yelled down to Dinky, "But we're on a break!"

Meanwhile, Dinky was levitating several books around and checking the titles as she said aloud, "No, no, no, no, no, no… Ganache!"

"It's over here!" exclaimed the griffon, holding in his right claw a dusty old book. Then his ladder toppled over and he fell off, quickly catching himself and hovering to the ground. Then Dinky trotted over to a nearby book-stand, opened her book and flipped through it with her magic.

"Elements… E… E… E… Aha! Elements of Harmony… 'See "Mare on the Sun"'?" Dinky read aloud.

"'Mare on the Sun'?" asked Ganache, "But that's just an old pony's tale."

"Mare, mare… Ah! The Mare on the Sun, myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned on the sun. Legend has it that on the longest night of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about summertime eternal!" exclaimed Dinky, "Ganache! Do you know what this means?!"

"Ow… no," Ganache replied, stretching his sore wings.

"Take a note to the Princess, please," said Dinky.

"Okie Dokie."

"My dearest teacher, my continuing studies on pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster!"

"Hang on a sec… Preci… Preci…"

"Threshold."

"Threh…"

"Uh… brink? Ugh, that something really bad is going to happen! For you see, the mythical Mare on the Sun is in fact Solar Flare, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal day! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Dinky Do."

"Dinky… Do! Got it!"

"Great! Send it."

"Now?"

"Of course!"

"Uh… I dunno, Dinky. Princess Luna's a little busy getting ready for the Winter Moon Festival. And it's like, the day after tomorrow."

"That's just it, Ganache. The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Winter Moon Festival! It's imperative that the Princess be told right away!"

"Imp… Imp…"

"Important!"

"Sheesh! I'm going; I'll be back with her reply. But I wouldn't hold your breath…"

"Oh, I'm not worried, Ganache. The Princess trusts me completely. In all the years she's been my mentor she's never once doubted me."

Ganache flew out the window and returned a few short minutes later with a scroll in his claw. He landed and read it aloud, "My dearest, most faithful student Dinky. You know I value your diligence and that I trust you completely."

"Mm-hmm!" exclaimed Dinky, nodding proudly.

"But you must stop reading those dusty old books!"

"What?!"

—

"My dear Dinky, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Winter Moon Festival at this year's location: Ponyville. And I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!" Ganache read more of the letter aloud before Dinky heaved a loud sigh, looking irritated while staring at the passing clouds over the edge of the sky chariot as they flew over the snow-covered landscape.

"Look on the bright side, Dinky! The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn't that make you happy?"

There was lots of determination in her eyes and her voice as Dinky replied, "Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then go to the library to find some proof of Solar Flare's return."

"Then… when will you make friends, like the Princess said?"

"She said to check on the preparations. I'm her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends."

They landed and Dinky jumped out of the chariot, Ganache flitted his wings only a few times and landed beside Dinky, who then leaned over and thanked the two pegasus stallions who'd pulled their chariot. They neighed happily in response, and then took off again.

Then an earth pony with a mane that was two shades of magenta and draped over her left eye in front trotted up to her as Ganache said, "Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to say. Come on Dinky, just try!"

The dark orange earth pony stopped in front of them and smiled expectantly, opening her green eyes as wide as they'd go, but she said nothing.

"Um… hello?" said Dinky, a hint of nervousness in her voice. She hadn't started a conversation in years if it wasn't with her mentor, Princess Luna, or with her assistant Ganache.

The earth pony's ears perked up as she said this, she blinked a few times, as if registering something, and then she made an incredibly happy, high-pitched screeching noise. Dinky shoved her hooves over her ears as the mare finished screeching and ran off.

"That was interesting, all right," said Dinky with dripping sarcasm. Ganache sighed, and then he pulled out a scroll, unrolled it and began reading it aloud.

"Winter Moon Festival official overseers checklist. Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres!"

As they walked in, a high-pitched voice with an overwhelming western accent was heard. "There! That should do 'er real nice!"

An earth pony with a pale yellow coat and a slightly magenta-tinted red mane tied near the ends with small pink bows dropped a paintbrush onto the ground and looked up at her finished work. There was a pristinely painted and beautifully crafted barn in front of her, it appeared she'd done most- if not all- of it herself. As Dinky approached the mare, she saw that her cutie mark was a paintbrush, covered in green paint, painting an apple in that color.

Dinky sighed and muttered to herself, "Let's get this over with…" before walking up to the mare and saying with traditional and pristine Canterlot manners, "Good afternoon. My name is Dinky do…"

"Well, howdy-do, miss Dinky! Ah'm Apple Bloom! We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do love making new friends!" The mare took Dinky's daintily outstretched hoof and shook it with such force that Dinky's entire body shook.

"F-F-Friends? A-Actually, I-I…"

"So, what can I do ya for?"

Dinky's hoof was still shaking up and down. Ganache put a claw around her hoof and stopped it, snickering.

Dinky recovered quickly though, she cleared her throat and said, "Well, I am in fact here to supervise the preparations for the Winter Moon Festival. And you're in charge of the food?"

"Nah," said Apple Bloom, swinging a hoof slightly sideways, "Ya're looking for mah cousin, Babs. She's probably around here someplace, but Ah can certainly get y'all settled in and sampling some grub!"

They walked over to a nearby gazebo with a table and two chairs and as soon as Dinky and Ganache were seated, Apple Bloom turned around and exclaimed out into the fields, "Babs! We've got visitors!"

The same earth pony they'd encountered in the Town Square ran over, bucked a few trees and then ran over to the gazebo. Not saying a word, she stopped right next to Dinky, only long enough to make a long, exaggerated gasp and run off again.

Suddenly a deep mare's voice was heard through a megaphone: "SOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!"

A crowd of ponies galloped over to the gazebo and crowded around.

"Aw shoot, Babs, ya didn't have to bring the whole family over!" exclaimed Apple Bloom.

"I recognize this pony, cuz. I met her this morning in the town square, she's new in town and Ah've been bucking all morning to make sure we've got enough apples to go around!" exclaimed Babs smugly, swinging one foreleg out and crossing it over the other.

"Now, why don't I introduce ya to the Apple family?" said Babs excitedly, "This here's Apple Crumble." A mare with a light green mane and the same coat color as Babs who also shared Babs's eye color pretty closely came over and offered what Dinky assumed to be some kind of apple-related dessert, setting it on the table before rushing off. This routine continued with different kinds of desserts and foods, all apple related, as Babs continued to list off names as Dinky got brief glimpses of ponies.

"Apple Mint." A mare with a mint-colored coat, a mane of two shades of yellow and purple eyes.

"Apple Squash." Another mare with a light orange coat, a forest green mane and dark orange eyes.

"Red June." A mare with a dark red coat, the same mane color as Apple Crumble and dark green eyes.

"Apple Bud." A stallion, slightly older than the other ponies, he had the same coat color as Apple Bloom, a mane of two shades of green and dark purple eyes.

"Liberty Belle." A mare who wore a Stetson hat, her mane was two shades of red, her coat was an even lighter shade of yellow than Apple Bloom's and her eyes were orange.

"Sweet Tooth." A mare with a pink coat, a green mane and green eyes.

"Apple Bytes." A mare with a really dark purple coat and an equally dark blue mane, her eyes were such a dark yellow they looked somewhere between dark yellow-orange and brown.

Babs had said all these names in one breath and so she gasped and pointed her hoof at a few specific ponies as she finished.

"Applejack, Little Macintosh and… Granny Smith."

Applejack was an orange filly with a blonde mane and tail that were tied up with hair ties with apples on them, she had light green eyes and she had no cutie mark, she had a Stetson hat on that was just a bit big on her and she had little white freckles all across her cheeks and a bit between her eyes. Little Macintosh was a baby, still in diapers, with a red coat, green eyes and an orange mane. Granny smith was sitting in her rocking chair and holding Little Mac in her forehooves.

"C'mon over, Granny," said Apple Bloom enthusiastically.
"Ah'm coming, Ah'm coming…" said Granny, holding Little Mac in one hoof as she walked over. Apple Bloom took Little Mac from her and gently gave him to Applejack to hold.
"So, ya gonna stay for brunch?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Sorry, but we have an awful lot to do…" Dinky replied.

The entirety of the Apple family was disappointed at this; adorable little Applejack looked up at her with pleading eyes and asked softly, "Please?"

"…Fine."

"YAY!" chorused all the ponies there.

—

"Food's all taken care of, next is weather," said Ganache as he and Dinky walked through the town.
"Ugh… I ate too much pie…" Dinky moaned.
Ganache looked down at the list, then back up into the sky. "Hmm… There's supposed to be a pegasus stallion named Rumble clearing the clouds…"
"Well, he's not doing a very good job, now is he?"

Suddenly and before Dinky even knew what was going on, she was nearly run over by… well, somepony on a scooter… and she was knocked into a puddle.

"Oh, wow, I'm so sorry about that, I was just so… uh… lost in thought that I didn't see you there. Here, let me help."

The stallion that had just been speaking to her lent Dinky his hoof and helped her up.

"Oh Luna, you're all wet! Let me fix that for you…" the stallion said, proceeding to fly up into the air and fly in circles around her at an incredible speed, it absolutely dried her off but now Dinky's mane was incredibly poofy.

"My gosh, I just can't do anything right today!" he exclaimed again, trotting around her to examine her newly-poofy hair and as he did so Dinky got a glimpse of his cutie mark: a thundercloud with two small lightning bolts coming down from it.

"Let me guess. You're Rumble," said Dinky, irritated at this hairdo that this stallion had just given her, and it didn't help that Ganache was snickering and batting at it.
"Yes," said Rumble.
Dinky sighed. "I'm Dinky Do, the Princess sent me to check on the weather."
"Oh, yeah, I completely forgot! I'll get right on that… just as soon as I'm done practicing."

"Practicing?"
"On my scooter. I have a… a good friend who… um… I wanted to show… she's really good on the scooter and… her name's Scootaloo, heard of her?"
"I heard you were supposed to be keeping the sky clear."
"But she's gonna perform her awesome scooter tricks at the Festival tomorrow! I really want to show her what I've been practicing!"
"I actually heard of a mare named Scootaloo…" lied Dinky; "She'd never want to watch a pegasus who couldn't keep the sky clear for one measly day!"
"You're right! Just because she can't fly doesn't mean I have any excuse not to!"

And with that, Rumble took off and began clearing the entire sky with incredible speed.
"He's good," said Ganache.
Dinky was just standing there, slack-jawed. What he lacked on a scooter he certainly made up for in flight. And in just about ten seconds the entire sky was clear.

"There we go!" exclaimed Rumble, "Making new friends is always good on the soul, you know! Can't wait to see you some more!" Then he hovered over, picked up his scooter and zoomed off. Meanwhile, Ganache batted Dinky's mane a few more times. Dinky gave him the evil eye and then he said,
"Hey, it's actually kinda pretty when you get used to it!"

—

"Next up: Music." Ganache said as they entered the Town Hall and heard the most beautiful song. It was in Phrench, so they didn't know what it meant, but whoever was singing this was really good.
"Beautiful…" Ganache sighed happily.
"Yes," Dinky replied under her breath, "The music is coming along nicely. This ought 'a be quick. I'll be at the library in no time. Beautiful indeed."
"Not the music, her!" He pointed a claw at the pony who was very obviously singing the beautiful music. Her pink-and-purple hair curled at the ends and her thick, long eyelashes were closed gently as she sang. Her white coat, brushed perfectly, matched her polished hooves.

Dinky and Ganache walked up toward the stage and looked up.
"Good afternoon," said Dinky.

The mare stopped singing for a few seconds, enough time to say, "Wait a moment, I'm almost done."
She finished the last few bars of her song and then said, "That should do it. Why, Sweetie Belle, you are a talent. Now, how may I help yo- AAH! Oh my stars, darling, what happened to your coiffure?!"
"Oh, you mean my mane? It's a long story. I'm just here to check on the music, then I'll be out of your hair!"
"MY hair?! What about YOUR hair?!"
And with that, Sweetie Belle pulled Dinky into a back room where she began trying out all sorts of mane and tail styles. First she made it all curly so that her tail and back mane curled around themselves numerous times and so her forelock draped slightly over her left eye and curled at the end. But to this Sweetie shook her head and brought over her tools and straightened it again with no more out of her mouth than a "Too curly."

Then she made her mane and tail both perfectly straight, like Babs Seed had hers only more so. But to this Sweetie shook her head again and said, "Not curly enough."

After that she made her hair incredibly fluffy with some sort of a bizarre spell, but it was a controlled kind of fluffy this time and a bit of her forelock came out in front of her face and curved up at the end. But Sweetie still didn't think this was 'her', because she shook her head and said, "Too poofy."

And after that the white unicorn that didn't seem satisfied by anything brought over some mane dye products and began dying her mane new colors. "Too green." "Too yellow." Then she used a spell to make Dinky's mane its original color and swept it all back, spraying some sparkly hair spray into her mane. "Too shiny." After a series of spells Dinky's mane was back to its original state, then Sweetie brought over a curling iron and made Dinky's mane slightly wavy.

As she did so, she said to Dinky, "So go on. Tell me where you're from."
After she finished curling it, Sweetie pulled on Dinky's mane a bit with her magic to make it wavy but not curly. And so in-between groaning for the pain that comes with having your hair magically yanked several times, Dinky said, "I've… been sent… from Canterlot… to…"

"Canterlot?!" exclaimed Sweetie ecstatically, "Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I've always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it!"

She pulled Dinky into a close hug, squeezing her eyes tight shut in happiness. When she opened her eyes and looked down on Dinky's mane, she said, "Sparkles?! What was I thinking? Let me get you some hair clips!" Dinky quickly imitated the spell that reverted her hair to normal, casting it on herself, then she grabbed the love-struck griffon Ganache and galloped out, exclaiming,
"Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new color!"

—

As they walked toward their next destination and Ganache rode on Dinky's back, he said,
"Wasn't she wonderful?"
"Focus, Casanova. What's next on our list?"
Ganache cleared his throat and said, "Oh! Uh… Performance, this is that Scootaloo mare that Rumble was so in love with."
"Heh, yeah, he was blushing the entire time he was talking about her."

They walked through the last of the brush and came upon a large area of dirt, it looked like a carriage parking lot for the exception that there was a mare on a scooter zipping around it and doing loads of impressive tricks, ninety-nine percent of which Dinky didn't know the name of. The mare zipped over and skidded to a stop, hopping off her scooter and looking at Dinky though she didn't say a word.

The mare had a coat that was a darker orange than Applejack's but not as dark as Babs's. The mare's mane was lavender and brushed up in front, her hair was uneven in several places and she wore three black earrings, all studs, two horizontal bar-shaped ones and below those a star-shaped one. The pegasus's wings were unusually small for a fully-grown mare like her, but she didn't seem to need them. Her cutie mark was a scooter of the same design as the scooter she was riding on.

"Hello!" exclaimed Dinky, attempting to make conversation. The mare's expression of boredom didn't shift as she lifted a hoof and waved a single time nonchalantly before putting it right back where it was, kicking up some dirt as she did so.
"I'm here to check on the presentation for the Winter Moon Festival, it's beautiful!"
"Mm."
"What's your name?"
Only opening one corner of her mouth, the mare said under her breath, "Scootaloo."
Dinky didn't hear this and asked the mare to repeat herself. In the same manner as the first time the mare did so. Dinky still didn't hear and asked the mare to repeat it again. This time the mare said nothing and simply rolled her purple eyes.

"O-Kay then!" Dinky replied, trotting over and saying to Ganache, "That was easy." But as soon as Ganache walked out of the bushes, the mare hopped on her scooter and zipped over, fast as lightning.
"Hey! You never told me you were friends with a griffon!" exclaimed the mare, much more talkative now.
"Um… yes, this is my assistant Ganache."
"Ganache, eh? Cool name, bro! Nice meeting you!"
"You too! I assume you're Scootaloo?" Ganache replied and shook Scootaloo's outstretched hoof.
"The one and only! Hey, tell me where you're from. I only met one griffon before in my life, she was the best scooter rider I've ever met! Well, next to me of course."
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything! Why any less?"

When they arrived at the library, Scootaloo was still on her scooter behind them, going at a reasonably slow pace to not mow them down. Ganache finished his tale, "And that's the story of my whole entire life! Well, up until today. Do you want to hear about today?"
"Yeah, of course! I bet it'll be just as cool… if not cooler! By at least 20 percent!"
But Dinky interrupted, "Oh, I am so sorry. How did we get here so fast? This is where I'm staying while I'm in Ponyville, and my poor griffon chick needs his sleep."
"No I don't…" Ganache started before Dinky shifted her weight violently to one side, knocking him off her back and he exclaimed, "Whoa!"
Then in the kind of voice you use while talking to a baby, Dinky said, "Aw, wook at dat. He's so sweepy he can't even keep his widdle bawance!"
"Oh! Then we should get him to bed, lickety-split!" exclaimed Scootaloo, taking Ganache and placing him gently on her back and hopping on her scooter, about to propel herself into the library when Dinky stopped Scootaloo with her magic and levitated Ganache back over to her.
"Yes, yes, I'll do that. G' night!"

They walked a few steps into the pitch dark library when Ganache said, "Huh. Rude, much?"
"I'm sorry, Ganache, but I have to convince the Princess that Solar Flare is coming, and we're running out of time! Now, where's the light?"
Right then the light flicked on and a huge crowd of ponies were standing in the library, and all at once they all yelled "SURPRISE!" Dinky groaned. Partying was hardly her strong suit.

"HIII!" exclaimed Babs, "I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were you? Huh?"
"Very surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet. And aren't you supposed to be at Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Everything's done over there so I threw you a really quick 'Welcome to Ponyville' party! You see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all like 'hello' and I was all like 'EEEEEEEE!' remember? Y' see, I'd never seen you before, and if I'd never seen you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville!"
Dinky groaned and thought, "When is this pony going to stop babbling?" She walked over and grabbed a bottle in her mouth, pouring herself a drink. The liquid was red – she wondered if it was some kind of weird punch. She wouldn't even be surprised if it was.

Babs continued to monologue: "And if you're new, that means you haven't met anypony yet, and if you haven't met anypony yet, that means you must not have any friends and that made me so sad, then I had the bestest idea in the entire world and that's why I went EEEEEEEE! I thought, 'I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everypony in Ponyville!'" Dinky levitated up her cup and took a nonchalant sip.

"Something is definitely… wrong with this… punch…" thought Dinky.
Her mouth felt like it was on fire. Her face felt like somepony could've cooked eggs on her cheeks and bacon on her forehead if she'd simply looked up for long enough. She turned around, slight bits of tears leaking out of her eyes. Smoke was literally coming out of her ears and the only noise she could make was a high-pitched scream of pain that sounded like some sort of train whistle.

However, seemingly oblivious to Dinky's pain, Babs said, "Aw, look! She's so happy she's crying!"
This hardly helped Dinky's predicament, if anything it made it worse. Dinky couldn't bear it anymore – if these ponies wouldn't help her she'd just have to help herself, or maybe she could get Ganache to help (she was unaware that he was still downstairs). As such she ran upstairs in a blur.

Meanwhile, Scootaloo walked over just in time to see Ganache turn the bottle over.
"Hm. 'Hot sauce'." Ganache read the label. Then Scootaloo took the bottle in her mouth and drank some, straight up.
"What? It's good!"

After Dinky had long since washed the hot sauce down with about four or five glasses of water, though there was still a residual numbness on her tongue, she lay upstairs in her bed. The sun was still just starting to set but it felt like it would take forever to do so. Dinky groaned. She heard the disco music from the party going on downstairs, though it was muffled slightly it was still keeping her up. Then Ganache walked in with a pink lampshade on his head and a stumble every few steps as he walked. They probably had some kind of alcoholic punch downstairs and he'd probably been drinking it, but as much as Dinky would've wanted to scold him for this, she was too darn tired.

"Hey Dinky! Babs is starting 'Pin the Tail on the Pony!' Wanna come?" asked Ganache.
"NO! All the ponies in this town are CRAZY! Do you even know what time it is?!" The answer was that it was far past Ganache's bedtime; as such Dinky gave him an icy glare.
"Everypony has to stay up, griffons count in that too! Otherwise they'd miss the Princess raising the moon! You should really liven up, Dinky. It's a party!" And with that, Ganache shut the door again and stumbled back down the stairs to play whatever pathetic game they were playing down there.

"Ugh, here I thought that I would have time to learn about the Elements of Harmony!"
Pause.
"Silly me, because all this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it!"
Another, much longer pause.
Dinky quoted the legend: "Legend has it that on the longest night of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about summertime eternal."
Then she muttered to herself as she looked up at the sun, the colors of the sunset just beginning to show through the relentlessly blue sky. She could just make out the shape of an alicorn created of what looked like a series of sunspots on its surface. "I hope the Princess was right. I hope it really is just an old pony's tale."
Then Ganache burst through the door, this time without his lampshade and with slightly less of a stumble in his step. "C'mon, Dinky! It's time to watch the moon rise!"

"Isn't this exciting? Are you excited 'cause I'm excited I've never been so excited- well, except for the time I saw you walking into town and I went EEEEEEEEE! But really, who can top that?" Babs babbled. Dinky was starting to think they should rename her "Babbles Seed".
Then the mayor, a gray earth pony with a silvery mane came up and announced, "Fillies and gentlecolts! As Mayor of Ponyville, I, Silver Spoon, am proud to announce the beginning of the Winter Moon Festival!"
Everypony applauded and cheered, Mayor Silver Spoon paused before continuing.
"In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the moon rise, and celebrate this the longest night of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who brings us the moon and the sun each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony…"

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat, ready to sing as soon as Rumble, who'd been up there the whole time, pulled back the curtain.
"Princess Luna!" exclaimed the Mayor. Rumble drew the curtain and Sweetie began to sing, she only got as far as the first few notes before Rumble said, "Huh?"
Everypony was nervously chattering. Where could the Princess be? It was completely like her to appear randomly, but not so much to disappear in the same way. Especially at a time like this.

Dinky muttered to herself, "This can't be good."
"Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!" exclaimed the Mayor, clearly trying her best to hide her own panic.
"I love guessing games!" exclaimed Babs, "Is she hiding?" Meanwhile, Rumble had been flying around as fast as he could backstage, trying to find Princess Luna. She's not exactly hard to find with her blue coat and flowing mane that resembled the night sky as well as her regal stature and slightly glowing, metallic blue crown, necklace and slippers, and so when Rumble couldn't find her he whispered that to Sweetie who shouted out to the crowd in a drama-queen sort of way, "She's GONE!"

"She's good," commented Babs as everypony around her gasped in shock.
Then a cloud of red smoke appeared before them and a pony revealed herself from behind the red smoke which rapidly dissipated afterward. Everypony gasped again. The mare was intimidating – she had the same stature and relative build as Princess Luna yet her eyes were like dragons' eyes, her irises a deep shade of violet. Her coat was dark red-orange and her mane was like fire, Dinky wouldn't be surprised if it was hot to the touch as well. She wore bright orange armor that matched her mane, her necklace had a symbol of a sun on it, the same sun as was surrounded by a dark maroon splotch on her flank. The alicorn mare flapped her devilish wings a few times as her brow was furrowed into a scowl, but then she smiled.

"Oh no…" muttered Dinky, "Solar Flare."
"My beloved subjects," said Solar Flare in a tone that said she was on top of everything, "It's been so long since I've seen your precious, moon-loving faces."
"What did you do with our Princess?!" exclaimed Scootaloo, shooting daggers out of her eyes at Solar Flare as she scrunched up her nostrils and pulled her lips upward to reveal all her teeth in a vexed scowl. She was ready to gallop up the stairs to that platform and strangle this imposter with her bare hooves.
Yet Apple Bloom stopped her, grabbing her tail in her mouth and saying through her teeth, "Whoa there, Nelly."

Solar Flare chuckled evilly and said, "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"
"Ooh! More guessing games!" exclaimed Babs, seemingly unable to take a hint, "Um… Hokey Smokes! How about… Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty!" Before she could embarrass herself any further, Apple Bloom shoved an apple from a nearby bowl into Babs's open mouth, though the pony continued to mumble excited noises.

"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"
"I did," interrupted Dinky, sounding much more confident than she was, "You're the Mare on the Sun – Solar Flare."
Everypony gasped at the sheer mention of the name. Several had probably heard the name before, most grimaced at how menacing that name sounded and how this mare was probably right.
"Well, well, well, somepony that remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here."
Though Dinky knew the answer she was unable to say it given how bad it was and how unprepared everypony – including her – was. "You're here to… to…" She swallowed her unsaid words with an audible gulp.

"Remember last night, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the day. Will last. FOREVER!" As she laughed maniacally, Solar Flare's fiery mane swirled up around her like a flaming tornado. Everypony was aghast, and Dinky was too stunned to say anything more.

[To be continued…]