My Little Pony_Ponyville Mysteries_Peryton Panic

by Penumbra Quill

  “A rose has thorns to keep it safe, but ponies have not one. A wild rose blooms where it is placed, but ponies seek the sun.” As Sweetie Belle sang, a peace came over the peryton. It slowly sank to its knees, resting. Encouraged, she continued. “A rose is sweet and beautiful; its scent is lush and rare. But a pony’s love is greater yet, and nothing can compare. So if I had to choose between a rose and pony friend, I’d throw away the flower quick and keep you till the end.”

  Sweetie Belle smiled as the peryton bowed its head to her. It seemed as if the creature was thanking her.

  “Scootaloo? Are you out here?” Rainbow Dash’s voice rang out through the Forest.

  “Sweetie Belle, darling?” Rarity’s panicked call came a moment later.

  “Apple Bloom! You get your hooves home right now, y’hear?” Applejack bellowed.

  It was too much for the high-strung peryton. The creature leaped to its feet and bounded away into the Forest, leaving only the black night behind.

  “It’s our sisters! We gotta hide,” Apple Bloom whispered to Lilymoon and Ambermoon. “We’re not s’posta be hangin’ out with you!”

  “Good to know,” Ambermoon said drily.

  As the five young fillies huddled in hiding, Sweetie Belle couldn’t help wondering about Lilymoon’s cutie mark. It wasn’t helpful when it came to perytons. But how could that be? It seemed Apple Bloom was thinking the same thing.

  “Lilymoon? I don’t mean to pry or anythin’, but… are you sure your cutie mark is for communicatin’ with creatures like perytons?”

  “That’s when I got it!” Lilymoon said defensively. “I was helping my family study perytons. Then it just showed up. What else could it be for?”

  But the Crusaders had spent more time thinking about cutie marks than anypony, and Lilymoon’s story didn’t quite ring true to Sweetie Belle. She was sure they weren’t getting the whole truth. And she wondered what Lilymoon was hiding.

  None of the Crusaders was anxious to go home. They were in a heap of trouble for sneaking out. And with so many unanswered questions, they needed a place where they could work on getting answers far away from any lecturing sisters.

  Their homes were no good, and Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were sure to check the clubhouse. So finally, the friends settled on going to the Moon family greenhouse.

  Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but notice how upset Lilymoon looked as they crept up Horseshoe Hill. It’s all my fault, Sweetie Belle thought. Until she’d stepped in, Lilymoon had thought she could control the peryton. Sweetie Belle had made a pony doubt her cutie mark: the exact opposite of what a good Crusader should do.

  Ambermoon carefully opened the greenhouse door so it wouldn’t make any noise. They sneaked inside and headed toward the back of the cavernous glass building. Sweetie Belle saw Scootaloo carefully avoid a potted plant and assumed that must be the fear fern she’d accidentally bumped into before.

  “Nopony touch that thing,” Scootaloo whispered, confirming Sweetie Belle’s suspicion.

  “Nopony touch anything,” Ambermoon added. “The fear fern isn’t the only plant in here that could cause trouble.”

  “Seems like y’all got a lotta stuff that causes trouble,” Apple Bloom observed.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lilymoon asked defensively.

  “Well…” Apple Bloom struggled to find the right words. Scootaloo, however, had no such issue.

  “What’s the deal with your family?” she blurted out. “The strange potions, the ancient books, the creepy plants. Your crazy aunt, and the way your dad smiles funny and your mom glares at everypony she sees.” The sisters both looked shocked, then hurt, but Ambermoon’s expression quickly became cold and unreadable.

  “I thought you wanted to talk about the peryton, not attack our family,” Ambermoon said quietly. “If we’re so upsetting, maybe you should go home.”

  “Now, hold on,” Apple Bloom said firmly. “It ain’t like that! We’re your friends! But you gotta admit things have been pretty crazy in Ponyville since y’all moved here. We just have some questions is all.”

  “What kind of questions?” Lilymoon asked. The Crusaders all glanced at one another. Where to begin?

  “Well,” Sweetie Belle spoke up, “what about the candy cane?”

  “What are you talking about?” Ambermoon looked lost. Sweetie Belle sighed—there was no turning back now.

  “Lilymoon took a candy cane from your room. She brought it to the Schoolhouse and Twist ate it. That’s why she turned into a Timberwolf.” Sweetie Belle watched the sisters process the information. They both looked completely baffled.

  “But… why didn’t you say anything?” Lilymoon asked as she worked things through in her head. She looked at them accusingly. “You… you thought… that we made Twist a Timberwolf on purpose?”

  “Well, at that point we thought that Ambermoon did,” Scootaloo corrected her. Ambermoon’s eyes widened. “That was before you helped with the fear fern!” Scootaloo added quickly.

  “Still… a candy cane that curses the pony who eats it. That’s somethin’ most ponies don’t have lyin’ around.” Apple Bloom glanced at the multitude of plants surrounding them. “Same goes for a greenhouse full of plants that do Celestia knows what.”

  “And then there’s everything that just happened,” Scootaloo added. “You said you got your cutie mark when you were studying perytons, but tonight—”

  “I already told you I don’t know what went wrong,” Lilymoon blurted, on the verge of tears. “I thought it had something to do with supernatural creatures, but now you probably think I’m lying about that, too!” Lilymoon hid her face so nopony could see her crying. Ambermoon rushed over to comfort her sister. She glared at the Crusaders.

  “Is this how friendship works? Accusing us of being… what… evil?”

  Sweetie Belle felt terrible. She could tell Apple Bloom and Scootaloo did, too. Yes, something strange was going on in Ponyville. But Lilymoon and Ambermoon had been by their side through all of it. They had more than proven themselves… hadn’t they?

  “We asked ’cause we wanna figure it out with you,” Apple Bloom tried to explain. “That’s what friends do.”

  “Perhaps we don’t need your kind of friendship here,” a crisp voice called from the front of the greenhouse. The ponies turned to see Lilymoon and Ambermoon’s mother, Lumi Nation, striding toward them. “After the way the Princess of ‘Friendship’ and her associates treated us, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that their younger counterparts are the same. You’ve all been bad influences from the start.”

  “Now, wait just a minute—” Scootaloo began, but Lumi cut her off.

  “No, you wait!” The Unicorn got angrier as she spoke. “From the moment you three barged into this house, you’ve been causing trouble. You dare put the blame on us? You force us to answer to a princess for things that you have done?”

  “Us?” Apple Bloom was as angry as Lumi. “All we’ve been doin’ is tryin’ to help your daughters!”

  “By accusing us of some kind of evil plot? Parading us around town as malicious when it was you three who couldn’t keep your hooves to yourselves? Well, my family has had quite enough of your help. You can see yourselves out.” Lumi turned and strode out of the greenhouse. “Girls!” she called without looking. Ambermoon and Lilymoon looked from their friends back to their mother, then they turned and glumly followed after her.

  “Come on.” Apple Bloom stormed out of the greenhouse. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle hurried after her. As they stepped into the cool night air, Sweetie Belle saw Blue Moon standing in the yard, grinning.

  “You all have a pleasant evening, now,” he said through his too-forced-to-be-real smile. Sweetie Belle huddled a little closer to her friends. She believed Lilymoon and Ambermoon when they said they didn’t know what was going on. But she sure didn’t feel the same way about their parents.

  Sweetie Belle stared at the floor of Rarity’s boutique. She was pretty cert
ain Rarity hadn’t stopped to take a breath since she had caught her sneaking in. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were probably hearing the same from Auntie Lofty and Applejack.

  “I simply cannot believe you, Sweetie Belle! I have been up all night, running myself ragged through the woods! I must look simply atrocious!” It went on like that for a long time. Rarity was furious they had sneaked out, particularly because they’d done exactly what Twilight and the others had told them not to. Sweetie Belle tried to explain about the peryton, but after all the differing accounts from the rest of Ponyville, Rarity didn’t want to hear it. She was so angry that she sent Sweetie Belle directly to bed and said they would discuss her punishment in the morning.

  As Sweetie Belle’s mind buzzed with thoughts of the peryton, the fight at Horseshoe Hill, and Rarity’s lecture, it seemed as if she’d never fall asleep. But finally, her mind began to drift. One second she was going over the conversation with Lilymoon and Ambermoon, trying to think what they could have said differently, and the next, she was—

  Pushing through a crowd of ponies, trying to get to the front of the stage. Songbird Serenade was about to perform!

  Two large ponies blocked her view.

  “Excuse me!” she called out. “I’m trying to see the stage?” The ponies turned to look down at her. It was Lumi Nation and Blue Moon! But instead of eyes, they stared at her with giant pools of shining white light! Sweetie Belle backed away from them—

  And fell with a splash into the raging river! All she heard was the rush of water and the tinkling of bells.

  Bells?!

  Sweetie Belle looked up and saw a dark creature made of clouds galloping across the sky, blanketing the world in shadow. Instead of rain, hundreds of bells fell from the clouds, ringing all around her. She reached out and grabbed a large one as it splashed in the water.

  And she was suddenly standing alone in the Ponyville Schoolhouse.

  “I get it!” she said aloud. “It’s a dream.” The Schoolhouse looked as if nopony had been there in dozens of moons! Cobwebs stretched across the ceiling and a thick layer of dust coated every surface. The sound of bells echoed nearby. Sweetie Belle followed the sound out the front door. The peryton stood in the center of the playground.

  “What should I do?” Sweetie Belle called out. The peryton cocked its head to the side. Unsure what that meant, Sweetie Belle mimicked it, cocking her head as well. The peryton trotted in place and the bells tinkled lightly. Sweetie Belle realized the peryton was laughing at her.

  “Okay fine, smarty-hoof. What do you want me to do?” The peryton cocked its head again, more dramatically this time. Sweetie Belle’s gaze followed the direction of the peryton’s head to her right, where a large bell stood next to her. “Ahhhh. Got it.” Her horn lit up as she used magic to pull the rope back and forth. The bell’s chime was deep and powerful. When she looked back toward the playground, the peryton was gone. Instead, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were there!

  “That was a heckuva loud bell!” Apple Bloom said, trotting up the steps of the Schoolhouse. Apparently, the bell had called her friends to her!

  “Uh… why is the Schoolhouse gross?” Scootaloo asked, wiping dust off her hoof.

  “This is a dream version. I think,” Sweetie Belle explained. She thought for a minute. “Are you real Scootaloo and Apple Bloom? Or just dream Scootaloo and Apple Bloom?” The Crusaders considered that. Scootaloo leaped up into the air, flapping her wings. She quickly dropped and landed in a cloud of dust.

  “Must be real me.” She sounded annoyed. “Dream me can fly.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing we can see one another in our sleep,” Apple Bloom said with a sigh, “’cause accordin’ to Applejack, I ain’t leavin’ my room till I’m as old as Granny Smith.”

  “But why are we here?” Scootaloo asked. “I mean, who wants to hang out at school in their dreams?”

  “It seemed appropriate, as I have much to teach you this night,” a deep voice said from inside. The Crusaders turned. Princess Luna stood in the doorway. “I am glad you have finally arrived. Please come inside.”

  “Princess Luna!” Sweetie Belle was relieved to see her. “Where have you been? I’ve been having super-crazy dreams! I was looking for you.”

  “It has been… difficult for me to reach you as of late. There are powerful magical forces in Ponyville. They are affecting the dream realm as well.” The Crusaders looked at one another as they followed Luna into the Schoolhouse. If she was worried about what was going on in Ponyville, that meant things were worse than they thought. “An… old friend helped by leading the three of you here.” Luna stood in front of the classroom in Miss Cheerilee’s usual spot. “Please have a seat.”

  “Do we have to?” Scootaloo said, blowing a few inches of dust off a desk.

  “Ah… allow me.” Luna’s horn flashed so brightly that the Crusaders had to close their eyes. When Sweetie Belle opened hers, the Schoolhouse was transformed. They stood in a cavernous room. In front of them were three desks carved from crystal, with ornate golden swirls and flourishes etched into the sides. The seats were stuffed with soft, inviting pillows. The blackboard behind Luna stretched into forever. Oversize windows lined either side of the Schoolhouse. Comets and planets floated by outside.

  “Now, this is a classroom.” Apple Bloom whistled appreciatively. Sweetie Belle made herself comfortable at one of the desks. In the past, when Luna had shown up in her dreams, things hadn’t been this… formal. Sweetie Belle was anxious to find out what was going on. She was also nervous it would be another lecture on—

  “Is this about Lilymoon and Ambermoon?” Scootaloo asked. Apparently Sweetie Belle wasn’t the only one thinking it.

  “Yes. And no. It is probably best to start at the beginning.” The blackboard behind Luna came to life. Chalk images appeared, as if they were being drawn by some invisible force. As each drawing was completed, it began to move on its own! Sweetie Belle watched in awe as the scene animated in front of her. She recognized Princess Celestia, raising the sun. Tiny ponies at the edge of the blackboard cheered as the chalk sun rose up into the sky. And then, behind her, Princess Luna appeared. She looked angry.

  “Ooo! Ooo! I know what’s happening!” Scootaloo announced excitedly. “This is when you got jealous and… uh… you.…” She trailed off, not wanting to finish her thought.

  “It is all right, Scootaloo. I have made peace with my past.” Luna’s voice was tinged with sadness. “This is indeed when I became Nightmare Moon… as everypony knows. However, nopony knows how I became Nightmare Moon.”

  Sweetie Belle yelped in fright as their desks suddenly flew forward. The blackboard wrapped around Luna and the Crusaders. Chalk drawings surrounded them, becoming more detailed, more alive. It was as if they had been pulled into the past.

  Sweetie Belle watched, wide-eyed, as the Luna from the past raised the moon. She looked both angry and sad. Once the moon was high in the night sky, she flew into the air and disappeared. The scene around them erased and a new one appeared: Luna flying through a world of sleeping ponies.

  “As Princess of the Night, I am responsible for the realm of dreams,” Luna explained. “It is a realm ruled by emotions. Fear, hope, love… jealousy, anger. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the dream.” As the ponies dreamed, little bubbles of energy floated around them in different colors. Sweetie Belle assumed the different colors were different emotions. When Luna flew past them, some colors trailed after her. Bright reds, deep purples, and jet blacks. “I did not realize that my feelings about my sister were pulling at the emotions of ponies’ dreams. But in my jealousy and anger, I drew more and more energy from the sleeping ponies I was meant to protect.” The colors flowed around Luna, slowly changing her. She became meaner, darker, angrier.

  The colors flowed together and started to take shape. Sweetie Belle squinted, not sure what it was. The form was roundish at the top, with sharp edges at the bottom. Even though she knew it was just a drawing, the shape radia
ted an energy that made her tremble with fear.

  “It’s a helmet,” Apple Bloom whispered. Sweetie Belle realized she was right. The helmet floated onto Luna’s head, and the transformation was complete.

  The Crusaders watched as Nightmare Moon was born.

  “The Helm of Shadows.” Princess Luna watched sadly as the chalk Nightmare Moon threw back her head and laughed maniacally.

  “So that’s what made you Nightmare Moon?” Sweetie Belle asked.

  “Not exactly. The Helm was formed from my emotions. By using the power of dreams to build it, I made myself Nightmare Moon.” The scene around them faded to darkness. “You all know the tale. Banished by my sister to the moon until I returned on the longest day of the thousandth year to bring about nighttime eternal. You also know who prevented that from happening.” As she spoke, the scene shifted to the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters, along with drawings of ponies the Crusaders knew quite well.

  “Rarity and her friends!” Sweetie Belle cheered.

  Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “They look so young!” As they watched, the Elements of Harmony appeared by each of the ponies, and a wave of rainbow magic shot into the air, surrounding Nightmare Moon. When the magic faded, Nightmare Moon was no more, and Princess Luna had returned.

  “Wow,” Sweetie Belle said as the chalk ponies celebrated. “We’ve all heard the story, but seeing our sisters do it is…”

  “Awesome,” Scootaloo agreed. It was a moment each of the Crusaders had grown up hearing about.

  “Look!” Apple Bloom pointed. Something off in the corner was pulsing with magical energy.

  Sweetie Belle followed Apple Bloom’s gaze. “The Helm of Shadows!” she squeaked. The Helm sat off to the side, unnoticed by the celebrating ponies.

  “Yes. Although your sisters and their friends freed me of my curse, the magic of the Helm was too powerful to be destroyed.” As they continued watching, the sun and moon flew through the sky several times. Eventually the chalk versions of Celestia and Luna returned. “My sister and I were at a loss for what to do. The Helm was dangerous. Anypony who came into contact with it could be corrupted by its power.” Sweetie Belle watched as Celestia and Luna carefully lifted the Helm. “We couldn’t risk hiding the Helm in Canterlot or any other large city. There would be too many ponies that the Helm’s dark magic could call to. So we decided to build a prison far from where anypony would dare to roam.”