"If you like her, if she makes you happy, and if you feel like you know her-then don't let her go."
As the Sun Rises
Chapter 4
"Ohhh boy Gummy, it sure is good to be out here again. I don't know if I could have stayed in that hospital anymore. Waaay too much sitting and not enough bouncing." Pinkie giggled to herself as she bounced forth from the building and towards Ponyville.
It had been two days since Dash flew her among the clouds and her mind was still up in the sky with the cyan pegasus. It was the first time she had a lift from Dash, but somehow it seemed familiar.
When she was soaring with the mare though, Pinkie also saw visions of several other times when she was up in the air. She would loop and spin and dive at top speeds, but she couldn't remember doing any of this with the blue pony. Pinkie really wished she could.
Gummy made a squeaking sound as the pair made their way into town. Pinkie giggled again and turned to the small reptile. "Yeah, I know. Some of those ponies sure needed some cheering up. Oh oh! Maybe we should go back there sometime and make all those sad ponies happy again."
The alligator blinked in response. It seemed to satisfy the amaranth mare; she turned back and caught sight of Sugarcube Corner. "Ooh, that place looks yummy. I wonder if that's a sweets shop."
Pinkie stopped suddenly as a vision came to her mind. She was standing outside of this peculiar building with two other ponies. Applejack and Mrs. Cake, Pinkie gasped. I remember them…oh this is great! The three ponies in her vision were discussing something, and she could hear the voices echoing in her head.
"Well Pinkie Pie, it seems like you would make a great baker. Your Granny Pie must have been some teacher." Mrs. Cake smiled kindly at the pink pony.
Pinkie bounced up and down happily. "Yep, she taught me from when I was just an itty bitty little ittle twinky Pinkie. I know just about everything to know about making a good yummy treat."
"That's wonderful." Mrs. Cake looked from Applejack to the back of the store.
Applejack tipped her Stetson and cleared her throat. "So Mrs. Cake, does Pinkie Pie have a job here at Sugarcube Corner?"
Pinkie gasped in surprise at what her vision was about. She had always wanted to work at a sweets store, ever since she was a little filly. Pinkie's ears perked to hear better, hoping with all her might that Mrs. Cake would say yes.
The older mare turned to smile at the two earth ponies. She nodded her head gladly in reply. "Oh yes dearie. Of course Pinkie can work here; we could certainly use the help getting all the treats made for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration."
"Woohoo!" Pinkie cried. She jumped up in the air and punched it with a fore-hoof before landing back down and trotting forward joyfully.
Ponies around her noticed this odd display and stared confused at the little pony, but Pinkie didn't see them react. She was so used to being thought of as weird it just never occurred to her that she was weird at all.
With Gummy still clinging happily to her pink mane, Pinkie brushed through the doors of Sugarcube Corner and up to the counter. Mrs. Cake was seated at the desk waiting for customers when her face lit up at seeing the little pony.
"Oh, Pinkie, you're back. We were so worried about you." The teal earth pony trotted from behind the counter and up to Pinkie, looking her over to see that she was alright.
Pinkie raised a confused eyebrow at her worry. "What do you mean Mrs. Cake? Why were you worried?"
"We heard you ended up at the hospital and we've been worried sick ever since. It's been quite a while since we saw you, are you sure you're okay dear?" Mrs. Cake asked with a shake in her voice.
Pinkie wanted to believe it was happiness that she was back, not sadness that she had been hurt. She didn't even remember what had made her injury so serious, but now Pinkie felt guilty that she had upset Mrs. Cake with something she thought could have been avoided.
"Yessiree bob, Mrs. Cake. I'm okie dokey lokie," Pinkie reassured Mrs. Cake with a few nods of her head. "I guess it has been quite a long time since I was here. You were probably wondering what happened to me." The pink mare looked down at her hooves at this thought; she didn't want to make anypony worry about her, even those she didn't really remember.
"Oh, it's alright sweety. You're all better now, that's all that matters." Mrs. Cake lifted Pinkie's chin up calmly and smiled down at the ceruse mare. "We've had quite a few orders for the Summer Sun Celebration since you left; I'm surprised we managed to get it all done. There's just one more thing to complete and we'll be ready for tonight."
Pinkie smiled and looked over Mrs. Cake's shoulder to look in the back. "Really? What is it? I can help. I haven't been here to help this whole time, so I wanna do something to make it up to you."
Mrs. Cake looked uncertain at this offer. She tilted her head in worry, "Are you sure Pinkie? It's okay if you take the day off to recover. It's only cupcakes."
Pinkie gasped. "Only cupcakes?! No can do Mrs. Cake, I'm your mare for the job. I'll have these cupcakes made in a jiffy- no, a fraction of a jiffy- what would that be? A flash? An instant? Oh, it doesn't matter." Pinkie grinned at the older pony and trotted briskly into the back of the store.
"Alright Pinkie Pie, just be careful won't you?" Mrs. Cake responded, still a little worried for the pink earth pony.
"Oh I'm always careful Mrs. Cake, no problem." Pinkie called from over her shoulder. She quickly got to work, but something seemed missing from the room. She couldn't put her hoof on it, but something just wasn't there.
Pinkie checked the recipe. Everything she needed was on the counters; the flour, the icing, the bowls and spoons. Nope, it's not that. Then what is it? Pinkie hummed to herself as she mixed the cupcake batter to the perfect consistency.
It's only cupcakes.
Just cupcakes?!
No can do Mrs. Cake, I'm your mare for the job.
"We can just start off with cupcakes." Pinkie stopped in her tracks. The voices echoed in her head, but this last one Pinkie hadn't heard before or spoken of to Mrs. Cake. It was Pinkie's voice though.
Shaking that from her mind, the little pony poured the mixture into the trays and quickly shoved them in the oven. Just something else she couldn't remember about the past two weeks.
"Okay, but just remember: I warned you ahead of time."
Pinkie gasped again. It was Dash's voice this time. She looked around to see if she had suddenly dropped by to see her, but there was nopony in sight except Mr. and Mrs. Cake. She turned back to what she was doing, stunned to hear such an offer from her. Had they made cupcakes together?
Pinkie shook that thought from her mind and set the timer. She tidied up the counter and placed all of the bowls and spoons back into the cupboards and waited. Pinkie leaned up against the counter, watching the sweets bake before her very eyes.
"I want you to have them."
"I made them for you, Pinks."
The fluffy maned mare's eyes began to water, a small smile present on her muzzle. She could see the colorfully decorated cupcakes in her mind; somehow Pinkie just knew they were all done by Rainbow Dash, without her showing Dash how to ice them; pink and blue icing clouds and blue lightning shooting down from each one.
Pinkie turned her head away from the oven and looked over at Mrs. Cake. She lowered her head slightly and walked forward. "Hey, um, Mrs. Cake?"
"Yes dear?" Came the older mare's quick response, Mrs. Cake didn't turn around though; something Pinkie was glad for and a little sad about.
"W-well the cakes are in the oven and baking, so we'll be able to ice them real soon…" Pinkie gulped gently, interrupting what she wanted to ask.
"That's great Pinkie, I knew you would be a good baker." Mrs. Cake smiled and turned to face the pink mare finally.
Pinkie chuckled softly, trying to put on a happy face so the earth pony wouldn't notice that she was upset. "Yeah, but um…Mrs. Cake, have you…seen a pony named Rainbow Dash here before?"
The teal mare's smile widened. "Oh, you mean you're friend? She came in for a cupcake a few days ago. I asked about you and she told me she would tell you we hope you get better soon. Didn't she tell you that?" She tilted her head to the side to hear Pinkie's response more clearly.
Pinkie's jaw dropped a little, but she quickly recovered and looked down at her hooves. "Oh, yeah, right I must've forgot. Did she get the good friend discount?" Pinkie asked, glancing over her shoulder at the oven.
Mrs. Cake nodded. "Of course. She's your best friend isn't she? Any friend of yours gets the discount."
Pinkie grinned widely at Mrs. Cake. "Heh yeah she is…my bestest friend in the whole wide Equestria." Just then the bell rang for the cupcakes and the pink mare raced off to pull them out. "Oh, there they are. I got 'em Mrs. Cake."
Once the cupcakes were set out to cool and iced, Pinkie was allowed to leave and bounce around Ponyville to her heart's content. She was quite happy to accept that contention, or whatever the feeling of content was, because she had lots to catch up on; like meeting all the ponies in Ponyville and making friends. She already knew most of the residents, but something told her she would be meeting somepony new today and that just made her even more bouncy.
"Alright I'll see you later at the party Mr. and Mrs. Cake." Pinkie shouted as she bounded out of Sugarcube Corner, but she stopped and looked behind her. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot." She hopped back inside and up to Mrs. Cake, carrying Gummy in her hooves. "Um, Mrs. Cake, could you take care of my pet alligator Gummy for a little bit? He's probably really tired from traveling all day, so he might need a nap."
As Pinkie held the little guy out to Mrs. Cake, the little reptile blinked his eyes independently in response, not showing any signs of being sleepy at all.
Mrs. Cake looked oddly at him for a moment before nodding toward Pinkie. "Of course Pinkie. I didn't know you had a pet of your own."
Pinkie bounced happily in place, after hoofing Gummy over to the teal pony. "Yep, I just got him a couple days ago…isn't he cute? Thanks again Mrs. Cake, you're the best." With that Pinkie jumped from inside of the shop to the outside in one big leap and continued trotting down the road into the center of Ponyville.
Pinkie hopped along the roads, saying hello to all the passing ponies and giving them a winning smile. She was so happy to finally be able to cheer ponies up again; being sad herself she knew that that feeling wasn't good at all.
As she made her way down the path she saw something rather odd to her, and that meant it was something strange. A lavender mare and a baby dragon were standing in her path, but they weren't looking at her. They seemed to be talking about meeting ponies. At least that's what her Pinkie ears could pick up.
When she was closer though, she could make out the tip end of their conversation.
"Come on Twilight, just try." The little dragon spoke, quickly gesturing to Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie stopped in front of them and immediately let her mind wander as to these new residents of Ponyville. Ooh, are these two new to Ponyville? He said her name was Twilight, that's a cute name and so fitting for her cutie-mark too. So if they're new and they haven't met anypony yet, they must be trying to meet some new ponies, but they're probably having trouble and ooh, maybe they're trying to meet me, but I can't have them all to myself…that would be mean; so what if I got everypony together and arranged a super duper spectacular surprise party for them to celebrate them coming to Ponyville today? Oh, but how do I know where they even live? Let's see, well that I know of there aren't that many available places in Ponyville and Mrs. Cake already sort of has me as a guest, so that can't be it- Ooh, maybe the library, it's perfect!
As these thoughts bounced and hopped through Pinkie's scrambled up mind at lightning fast speeds, Twilight was attempting to speak to her.
"Um, hello?" Pinkie Pie heard her say just as her thoughts ceased and she was allowed to move and bounce again.
However, Pinkie had a plan in her mind already; a very important plan too. She wanted to meet her and become super best friends forever, but she had an idea that should get this new pony and her dragon all kinds of friends including her.
Pinkie leapt up from the ground and gasped hugely at having made her very important decision just then and scrambled off to get her party masterpiece started. As she raced off she could hear the lavender unicorn exclaim, "Well THAT was interesting alright."
Dash lay on a comfy cloud, staring up at the great blue sky above her. It was enticing her to spread her wings and fly through the air; to forget about the problems on the ground and in her mind, but it was still too early in the morning for Rainbow Dash. She had finally managed to get a normal amount of sleep and Dash didn't want to miss out on having more time for that, even if it meant missing some flight time.
She had been given the duty of clearing the skies today for the celebration, but Dash was still too tired and lazy to get up and do it. She could probably leave it to the last second anyway and finish up before the Princess came to Ponyville.
So Dash just stared up towards the clouds wondering about the past weeks and trying to remember anything important. The flight with Pinkie had jogged some of her memories with the magenta maned pony, but there was still much she didn't know.
The pegasus remembered soaring through the Everfree forest at top speeds. In her vision she didn't have the pony on her back, but Dash felt like Pinkie was in trouble and that was why she was flying so quickly. When the vision began to fade, she landed in front of Pinkie as she lay at the edge of a clearing. Her eyes narrowed as she looked from the unconscious mare to whatever had hurt her.
The cerulean mare in her vision growled angrily and Dash blinked the rest of the thought away. She sat up and flapped her wings, ready to take flight. She took off like a flash and started her routine, flipping and looping around in the air. Did I really care that much about her? She seems okay now; I just hope she wasn't hurt too bad that night. Shaking that off, Dash picked up speed and dove for the ground.
As she performed the last trick of her routine, Dash heard a ringing in her ears. "Woo! Go Rainbow Dash, go!"
"Huh?" Dash looked around quickly, breaking her concentration on the move. She was still zooming towards the ground when she remembered she was currently in the air, but it was already too late to pick up. Dash could see a blurry lavender unicorn through her watery eyes; she was headed straight for her.
She crashed into the pony and landed on top of her in a mud puddle. Dash picked herself up, unhurt and covered in mud. She chuckled at her mistake and hopped off of the poor mare. "Hehehe, uh, excuse me?"
The lavender pony grumbled quietly, with her face still planted in the dirt.
It didn't seem like a comfortable position for the pony, which made it all the more amusing to Dash. The cyan mare chuckled again and flew over. "Let me help you."
Dash zoomed off and came back with a rain cloud, freshly ready to start pouring down on the grass and at this moment, muddy ponies. Dash hopped up on the cloud and bounced the water out of it onto the purple mare.
She leaned over to see if her idea had worked, only to find that the unicorn was soaked. "Hehe, oops. I guess I overdid it. Um, how 'bout this?" Rainbow Dash swirled around the pony rapidly and created a small rainbow colored tornado around her. "My very own patented rainblow dry. No no, no need to thank me, you're quite welcome." Dash opened her eyes and saw what her invention had done.
The pony's hair was completely matted and blown in every direction physically possible. Dash placed a hoof over her mouth, trying to prevent herself from laughing her head off, but it was quite difficult.
Soon Dash found herself flopping on her back as she burst into fits of giggles. After a few minutes she felt something else collapse on top of her, but Dash was laughing too hard at the lavender mare's new mane style to care.
"Let me guess, you're Rainbow Dash." Dash stopped laughing at hearing the unicorn speak. She lifted herself up, knocking off the creature lying on her with ease and striking a pose.
"The one and only. Why? You heard of me?" Dash asked with a smirk rapidly forming on her face. She zoomed in real close to hear the pony's reply.
"I heard you were supposed to be keeping the sky clear." The unicorn looked away and sighed softly. She turned back and put on the best smile the purple unicorn seemed to be capable of at that moment, which to Rainbow Dash didn't look like a convincing one. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess sent me to check on the weather."
Dash lay on the back of her cloud again, listening just enough to catch that she was supposed to clear the sky. She had forgotten about that, but it wasn't a big deal for her. "Yeah yeah, that'll be a snap. I'll do it in a jiffy. Right after I'm done practicing."
"Practicing for what?" Twilight asked from below.
Dash immediately turned onto her stomach and lifted herself up, happy to share her excitement with the lavender mare. "The Wonderbolts," Dash exclaimed, pointing a hoof over to a poster of the fast flying pony group on a nearby fence. "They're gonna perform at the celebration tomorrow, and I'm gonna show 'em my stuff." As she spoke, the cerulean pegasus flipped and twirled from one cloud to another, sitting comfortably on the next cushion.
"The Wonderbolts?" Twilight mocked, raising an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash.
"Yep." Dash replied, crossing her hind-legs and relaxing on the comfy white cloud.
"The most talented fliers in all Equestria?" The lavender pony continued, trying to hold back a smile.
Dash nodded. "That's them."
"Pff, please, they'd never accept a pegasus who can't keep the sky clear for one measly day." Twilight scoffed, turning her head away from the cyan mare.
At this Dash sat up and looked down at the unicorn, prepared to defend her position. "Hey, I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat." Dash boasted from on top of her cloud.
Twilight turned back and narrowed her eyes at Dash. "Prove it."
Dash immediately took off, starting to spin and flip and loop around the skies above Ponyville. She kicked out each one in a strategic manner, ending with three left as she said, "Loop dee loop around and wham!" She landed on a bridge and folded her wings in triumphantly. "What did I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hanging."
When she looked back to Twilight to see her reaction Dash once again had trouble holding back her laughter. The pony was shocked; mouth agape, about what had just happened in a fraction of the time she imagined it would take.
Dash took off into the air and chuckled at her expression. "You're a laugh Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to hang out some more." She sped off like a jet, ready to continue her training before the night of the celebration.
"Aha! Perfect!" Pinkie cried as she finished hanging the final streamer up in the tree house library. "This is gonna be the best 'surprise welcome to Ponyville' party ever. Alright everypony, it's time to get this surprise underway. Hide."
Pinkie had gone around town before, telling everypony that there would be a party at the tree house before the Summer Sun celebration. Of course the inhabitants of the town thought this was a wonderful idea and had agreed to come help however they could, before it started. It was something Pinkie was very happy to hear.
Pinkie was getting worried though as the ponies rushed around the room to hide. She didn't see Dash anywhere. Pinkie thought Dash would be one of the first ponies to show up and help her, but now it was getting late in the evening and there was still no sign.
The pink pony's expression became serious. She wasn't going to let anypony miss a party like this, especially Dash. Pinkie cantered over to the door and opened it with a fore-hoof, just in time to feel a hoof against her nose.
"Oh, sorry Pinkie," Dash said recoiling her hoof and smiling guiltily. "I didn't mean to do that, I was just about to knock on the door. I saw your poster for the big party a little late…I was kinda busy practicing."
Pinkie smiled and hugged the cyan mare happily. "It's okay Dashie, I was just coming to find you to bring you here anyway. It's just easier this way…hehe, cuz I already found you."
Dash blushed and returned the hug. She felt weird being hugged by Pinkie now, with all the other ponies around, but it still felt good to hug her back. "Heh I guess you did, but why were you going to go out and find me?"
Pinkie separated from the hug to stare into Dash's magenta eyes. "Well duh, I'm not gonna let anypony miss out on the best party I've ever thrown, up to this point anyway, especially not you Rainbow Dash."
Dash chuckled at the pony's response and ruffled her feathers slightly, "I see. Well you didn't have to do that."
"I know, but I wanted to. You're my friend silly." Pinkie looked away, feeling uncomfortable with staring at Dash suddenly.
"Heh yeah, you're my friend too Pinks." Dash scratched the back of her mane uncomfortably. "So, uh, I guess we'd better get ready. Do you have everything set up?"
Pinkie nodded gently and looked back into the tree house. "Yep, it's all set. I asked for some help from the ponies that arrived early, so we got it up just in time. There are some really nice ponies here. Now come on, we gotta hide. My Pinkie sense is telling me Twilight will be here soon." Pinkie grabbed Dash's hoof and pulled her over to the corner of the room. The pink mare smiled once more at the pegasus and shut the lights off.
"Whoa! Slow down there Pinks, I'm coming." Dash cried as she was tugged by the bouncy pony. When the lights went out and all became silent, the last thing Pinkie said echoed in her mind. Twilight? That's who the party's for? Did she meet her before I did? And…what's Pinkie sense?
Before any of those questions could be answered, the two mares heard Twilight's voice from outside. "Oh, I am so sorry. How did we get here so fast? This is where I'm staying while in Ponyville and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep."
In the darkness, Pinkie pumped a hoof in the air. "Yes, I knew it."
Dash, being the sensible mare she was, placed her own hoof over the muzzle of the ceruse pony to silence her loud celebration. "Shhh, she'll hear us." She whispered in the darkened room.
"Rude much?" The baby dragon complained as he and Twilight now stood inside the library.
"Sorry Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming and we're running out of time. I just need to be alone without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now where's the light?"
With their eyes developed in the dark, the two ponies nodded to one another and Pinkie turned the light back on. "SURPRISE!" All the ponies screamed, coming out of their hiding places and throwing streamers every which way.
Pinkie bounced free from Dash's hoof and hopped up to the lavender unicorn, unable to contain her excitement and friendship any longer.
"Surprise!" Pinkie shouted as she bounced up and down right in Twilight's personal space. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you! Were ya surprised? Were ya, were ya? Huh, huh, huh?"
Twilight recoiled slightly at the closeness of this new pony. "Very surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet." She groaned angrily, immediately trying to get away from the hyper mare.
As Pinkie kept chatting away into the night, Dash just watched her from the middle of the room. She mingled with some of the ponies and spoke to Applejack and Fluttershy and Rarity, but something intrigued Dash about the pink ball of fluff. If she does this…for completely new ponies she's just made friends with…where was mine? Do I…just not remember it? Did she even give me one?
Glimpses of a closet inside of a cake-shaped house flashed by her mind; visions of candy-coated tables and party games, but Dash didn't see her or Pinkie there. The cerulean mare shook those images from her mind just as she heard Pinkie speak up from the crowds.
"See? And now you have lots and lots of friends." Hearing this, Dash flew over and smiled at Twilight along with Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack.
However, before any of them could speak or introduce themselves again, Twilight flew up the stairs with tears in her eyes.
Pinkie smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Aww, she's so happy she's crying."
Spike walked over to the table Twilight was standing at just before she sped upstairs and held a bottle in his claws. "Hot sauce." He read aloud to the ponies behind him.
As the situation clicked in everypony's minds, Pinkie poured the hot sauce onto a cupcake. She picked it up and gobbled it down in one bite. "What?" She asked, noticing the ponies' reactions to what she did. "This is good."
Dash just smiled at the little pony, shaking her head unbelievingly. Pinkie Pie, you are crazy.
The party went along well, all of the ponies were having fun enjoying themselves and laughing at each other's jokes. It was a great turn out for the pink mare's first real party in Ponyville.
Pinkie noticed this, but she also saw that not every pony was down there having fun. Twilight was still upstairs. I hope she's okay, She thought worriedly. She's been up there for quite a while.
Dash saw that Pinkie was worried about something. She flew over the crowds and landed beside the pink mare to see what was upsetting her. "Hey Pinks, something wrong?"
Pinkie glanced over at Dash for a moment before looking back up at the upper floor. "It's Twilight. She's been up there for a long time. She's going to miss her party."
"I think I know what the problem is." Dash wrapped a hoof around the earth pony to comfort her. "I don't think she's interested in parties like me and you are. She seems like the pony who likes reading and…you know book wormy stuff. She told me she was sent by Princess Celestia to check up on the celebration tonight."
"Really?" Pinkie replied, confused as to how anypony could not like partying and having friends. "That doesn't seem right at all. How can anypony not like parties?"
Dash shrugged her shoulders. "Got me. Your parties are awesome."
Just then a pony burst through the door and yelled for everypony's attention. The music stopped and all the ponies turned to see what she was saying. "It's time to watch the sun rise everypony. Come on we've gotta get to the town hall."
The ponies filed into the building in the center of town, ready to welcome the sun and the Princess to their small village. As everypony quieted down and the dawn was nearing, Fluttershy began to conduct her birds in a song to bring out Mayor Mare to address the ponies.
Mayor Mare stepped up to the podium at the front and cleared her throat softly. "Fillies and gentlecolts. As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun celebration." Ponies cheered and shouted amongst themselves once more. "And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land. The very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day; the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria…Princess Celestia."
The curtains were drawn back with a grand flourish of music. The ponies waited with anticipation to see the Princess step out to greet them, but the balcony was empty.
Dash couldn't see her anywhere from where she was flying and neither could Pinkie. The two ponies heard whispering from inside the building. They just hoped what they said wasn't true.
"This can't be good," Twilight said as the ponies looked everywhere for the Princess.
Pinkie hopped up and down excitedly, trying to lift everypony's spirits on the situation. "Ooh ooh, I love guessing games. Is she hiding?"
After a few moments, Rarity stepped out on the balcony and looked distraught at the ponies on the floor. "She's gone."
The ponies gasped and whispered to each other in confusion. Pinkie stopped bouncing and turned to Twilight. "Ooh, she's good." Pinkie looked up once more at the balcony and saw a shadowy aura flow into it.
"Oh, no. Nightmare Moon." Twilight whispered under her breath as the shadow took shape and revealed itself to be a black alicorn mare, shrouded in mist.
"Oh my beloved subjects," Nightmare Moon began, smiling down on the inhabitants of Ponyville with malice in her eyes. "It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun loving faces."
Dash growled in anger at the dark mare. "What did you do to our Princess?" She tried to fly at her, but Applejack bit her tail and held her back.
Nightmare Moon chuckled at the restrained mare. "Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"
Pinkie gasped and bounced in place, "Ooh ooh, more guessing games. Um, hokey smokes? How 'bout queen meanie? No, black snooty, black snooty- mm mmph hmm mm." Pinkie mumbled as Applejack crammed an apple into the mare's mouth, stopping her from guessing the identity of the pony on the balcony.
"I know who you are," Twilight shouted from the crowds of ponies. "You're the mare in the moon; Nightmare Moon."
Dash looked over at the unicorn with a questioning expression on her face. How does she know that? What's going on?
The black alicorn smiled at the lavender mare. "Well, well, well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here." Her smile turned into a smirk as she waited for Twilight to answer her.
"You're here to…to…" The purple pony gulped thickly, unable to explain her intensions to the ponies of Ponyville.
Nightmare Moon laughed again and addressed her frightened audience. "Remember this day little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last…forever!"