The university courtyard the next morning looked much like Canterlot town square on market day. Trixie looked around in awe at all of the stalls set up, although she couldn't help but notice that no money was exchanging hooves.

"What is this?" she asked her companion.

Twilight, absorbed by the words of a mare promoting the university bookclub, did not hear her. But she did react with a sudden flailing of limbs when Trixie nudged her.

"What?!" she shrieked, perhaps a little too loudly. Trixie giggled at Twilight's bright red cheeks.

"This looks like the Sunday markets in Canterlot but there's no buying and selling. So what is it?" Trixie asked again.

"Oh." Twilight blinked and then smiled brightly, clearly gearing up for lecture mode. Trixie internally braced herself. "This is the University Clubs and Societies day. It happens every year towards the beginning of the first semester. The various clubs and societies set up tables both outside in the courtyard and inside in the food court, and first years or any students, really, can go from table to table, finding out all about the club or society in question."

Twilight's words had gathered a small crowd of curious first-years, who applauded her with a rumbling of hooves once she'd finished speaking. Twilight's cheeks coloured again as she pawed the ground nervously.

"Such a marvellous speech," said a white-coated stallion, separating from the excited crowd. "Why, anypony would think that you were a third-year, perhaps an honours student."

"Oh, ehehe, I'm a first year," Twilight said, barely meeting the stallion's gaze.

"Oh?" The stallion's blue eyes brightened as he grinned. Trixie was reminded of a foal suddenly discovering their parents' stash of candy. "Then perhaps you would be interested in joining the Speech Society?"

"You should do it, Twilight, it's practically made for you," Trixie encouraged, giving her friend a hip nudge.

"Well, um… I'm not all that good at giving speeches, especially in front of crowds…"

As Twilight trailed off, Trixie trotted away.

It was either her hooves or her stomach that led her to the cafeteria. The building was decorated as lavishly as the courtyard, and was almost as filled with ponies. One stand caught Trixie's eye, but it was not the one for the Fireworks Committee (a unicorn shooting fireworks from her horn was plastered across the banner). Nor was it for the Celestia Society. No, it was for the one table that didn't have bright colours or as many ponies at the table.

Trixie approached the table for the Mare in the Moon society.

"Hello, my little pony," the dark mare in charge of the table said. Her smile was not cheery or fake- it was small but real. Just like Twilight's. Trixie felt drawn to her immediately.

"What does your society do?" Trixie asked, resisting the urge to lean on the table with her head on her hooves. She did lean forward a lot, though.

"Oh, we believe that Princess Luna, the Mare in the Moon, existed and wasn't the fierce creature that many ponies today believe her to be," the mare explained, reaching for a flyer and pushing it in front of the excited showmare. Trixie grabbed it and read it with eager eyes.

'LUNA WAS NOT EVIL' the front page proclaimed, 'CELESTIA SPREADS LIES'.

"But Celestia is good," Trixie said, "isn't she?"

"Oh, she may be good and act like she cares about all of her subjects," the mare snorted, tossing her dark purple mane with a hoof. "But did she care about her sister when she banished her to the moon? No." She stomped a hoof down heavily on the table, making a small pile of moons jump and roll away. "Celestia banished her sister to the moon, all because she was unfortunate enough to be the victim of shadow magic.

"Shadow magic?" Twilight had never mentioned that type of magic before, and she was always talking about magic.

"You may be more familiar with the term 'dark magic'," the mare said, waving her hoof through the air again. "Somepony, or it may have been a dragon or some other sort of creature, cursed the princess of the night, turning her into the warped creature of Nightmare Moon. Or perhaps it was her sister who did that. After all, she didn't exactly try very hard to dissaud the rumours of Nightmare Moon. She just says that it's just an old mare's tale." She sneered the last sentence, leaning right into Trixie's face. Trixie noticed that she was wearing black eye shadow, which did not blend at all with her dark blue coat.

"Is it all explained in this pamphlet?" Trixie asked. She suddenly wanted to get away from this crazy mare who hated Celestia, yet something was making her stay.

"Yes, and in the research that you'll bring to our weekly meetings as a condition of being a member," the mare nodded. She pushed a sign-up sheet and pen towards Trixie. "So, are you in?"

Trixie thought for a moment. Was she in? Would Twilight be mad at her for joining this society? It was clearly against Celestia, whom Twilight so openly adored. But at the same time, the mare was quite persuasive. Trixie wanted to know if there was more to this mare in the moon story than an old mare's tale.

Trixie levitated the pen and signed her name. The other mare beamed at her.

"Excellent," the mare almost purred. "We have our first meeting this Friday at midnight. Be there."

"What's your name?" Trixie asked. She wasn't going to move until this mare gave her something to remember.

"Moonshadow," the mare introduced herself. "And who are you?"

"I," said Trixie, "am Trixie, the great and powerful."

"Ooh, a showmare." Another mare slid into Trixie's line of sight, bumping Moonshadow out of the way. "I think I remember you from my foalhood. Are you the filly who used to put on those shows where you told stories and wore a hat and cape and used soo many magical effects?"

"The one and only," Trixie boasted.

"Oh, wow!" the grey mare bounced on the spot excitedly. "You can tell the story of Princess Luna's corruption by dark magic through your shows and convince others to believe the truth rather than the lie!"

"How big would these performances be?" Trixie asked, rubbing her chin with a hoof.

"Ohh, maybe a thousand, two thousand," the mare estimated. "By the way, I'm Limestone! Er, I mean, Moonstone!" She hastily corrected herself after Moonshadow glared at her.

"In the thousands…" Trixie could not keep her mouth closed. "That is so great!" She jumped up in excitement, not noticing the staring eyes turned her way.

"Excellent," Moonshadow beamed at her. "We look forward to having you in our ranks, Trixie."

Trixie joined back up with Twilight later that afternoon, finding her sitting near the fountain where a statue of Celestia jetted water from her horn. The purple unicorn was almost hidden by the stacks of books surrounding her, as well as the many new lanyards and badges that decorated her neck and saddlebags, respectively. She tried to jump up but buckled under her new belongings and grinned sheepishly.

"Find something you liked, did you?" Trixie teased, holding back a snicker.

"There are so many cool clubs and societies here," Twilight said through a wide smile. "The bookclub, the speech club, the Celestia Society, the Club for Magic Studies, the Dragon Enthusiasts Club, the Society for Magical Creatures, the Bibliophiles…"

Trixie didn't miss that two of those were roughly the same thing.

"I'm glad you found something to entertain you so you don't get too caught up in your studies," Trixie giggled.

"Oh, I'll find time to fit them all in," Twilight said, and Trixie could just hear the checklists being written out. She peered around Twilight's book fort and, sure enough, there was a quill scribbling a schedule onto a long piece of parchment. "So, what'd you find?"

"Oh, uh, nothing, really," Trixie lied, hiding the pamphlet deeper in her saddlebags along with the several moon balls she'd taken. She wanted to practice juggling. "I joined the Drama Club and Showmare Society." She levitated out the pamphlets for both of these, as well as the wand for the Showmare Society.

"Maybe we'll make some friends and then we can have study groups!" Twilight clopped her hooves together excitedly, the quill still scratching away at the parchment. "Oh, this is so exciting, Trixie! Who knew that university could be so much fun? Although there were a few weird clubs, like that Mare in the Moon one. Everyone knows that's just an old pony's tale."

Trixie bit her lip. She knew that club would pose a problem.

"When is your first club meeting?" Trixie asked, hoping for a miracle.

"Friday night," Twilight said after consulting her now-written schedule. "It's a book club meeting so it'll probably go for a while. Don't wait up for me."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't," Trixie smiled. It wasn't a lie, not really. She just hoped that she'd get back from her meeting before Twilight did.


Oh look, something's happening. Both in the story and in the fact that I managed a new chapter! The Luna thing is in no way an attack on all the Luna fans, I actually agree with the shadow forces headcanon (or canon if you count the comics as canon). I don't know whether or not Limestone is old enough to be in university, but here she is anyway. Not sure if I've put it before, but a reminder that I'm basing this on the Australian universities so there might be some differences between the one I'm writing and the one you're used to. Oh, and before you say anything, remember that Twilight did have friends before Ponyville (Colgate and Lemon Drops, and I think Lyra greeted her like a friend in the first episode), she just got caught up in the studies that Celestia asked her to do.