“Rest, my sister. As always, I will guard the night.”
Princess Celestia nodded, gratefully relieving her post atop the highest tower of her castle in Canterlot to her younger sister. “That was a lovely moonrise tonight, Luna.”
Princess Luna smiled softly. “Thank you, sister. Was there any trouble this day?”
“No; our kingdom is safe.”
“Then sleep well, my sister.”
Princess Luna took her place at the telescope, casting the lens over the land of Equestria. The bright lights of Manehatten, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia shone in the distance like stars that had fallen from the sky but had refused to dim. The lights of Applewood in Los Pegasus shone the brightest of all, and Luna quickly turned the telescope away to avoid blinding herself. With all that light around, she was sure that a new movie was premiering, and idly wondered if Celestia would want to go see it with her.
When she placed her eye back on the telescope, she found that it had landed on the closest settlement to Canterlot: Ponyville. Luna smiled, and turned her telescope to the south to check on Appleloosa and Dodge Junction. There was no need to worry about Ponyville. It was where the bearers of the Elements of Harmony resided, after all, and one of them was Celestia’s personal magical student. Surely if there were any trouble, they would be able to take care of it. And Celestia had said that Equestria was safe.
In her assurance, she neglected to notice a single, dim light flickering just inside the Everfree Forest. If she had focused, she would have seen a small group of figures huddled around it, speaking in hushed whispers.
Something was wrong in Ponyville. Something was very, very wrong.
“This is just plain not right.”
“I know! Who do they think they are?”
“This used to be such a peaceful town. Now, everything is all about them.”
“But what can we do?”
The speakers fell silent for a moment, contemplating their problem. Then, one of them stood up and looked the others in the eye.
“We’ll just have to show them that they can’t mess with us. That’s all.”
“You’re right.” one of them sighed. “They have to go.”
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