“And that was the Legend of the Nightmare Mistress,” Trinity said, snapping her book shut with satisfaction. “That tale never got old.”

“Your nose is always in a book.” Spike rolled his eyes and barked. “Trin, when are you ever going to relax and stop studying?”

“Just wait, Spike.” Trinity rubbed Spike’s head affectionately. Oh, the perks of having a talking dog. “I need to research something about the legend.” She led her hand along the shelves of her book, absentmindedly looking for “Prophesies and Pasts.”

“You don’t need to research anything!” Spike walked to his bed and laid down. “Go out and make some friends! School isn’t entirely about school stuff!”

“Does the fate of the world rest on me making friends?” Trinity asked. “No, it does not. Now can you not bother me about that anymore?”

“But at least take a break!” Spike whined.

“As Celestia’s most honored student,” Trinity said, “it is my duty to gain as much knowledge as possible and take advantage of this extra time I have. Now where is that blasted book?”

“It’s under P!” Spike called out. “Honestly, with your organization, you would think you could find stuff in your own library.”

“One would think,” Trinity corrected, pulling the book from the shelf. “Nightmare Mistress…” Her eyes voraciously scanned the page as she read through another version of this dark fairy tale.

“The Princess of the Moon refused to lower it one fateful dawn, and therefore couldn’t make room for the sun in the sky. Her elder sister tried to reason with her, but the resentful Princess was corrupted by her greed and jealous desires. This sin within her corrupted her and turned her into the dark Nightmare Mistress. The Sun Princess has to take dire action, although it pained her to turn against her only sister. Using the most powerful magic of mankind, she sealed the now evil Princess of the Moon in her own domain: the Moon itself. To this day, one can see the Mistress in the Moon.”

“Trinity! You already know all that!”


“But there’s another paragraph here.” Trinity scanned through it. “Legend has it that on the Thousandth Summer Solstice, the stars will be aligned to aid in her escape, and the Nightmare Mistress will shroud all of Equestria in eternal darkness?!”

“Sounds extreme,” Spike grumbled.

Trinity groaned and pulled Spike out of the bed. “The Nightmare Mistress will end life as we know it!”

“The Princess will stop her,” Spike said. “It’s almost the Summer Sun Celebration, when her magic is strongest.”

“Exactly!” Trinity dropped Spike and buried her face in her hands. “It’s the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration. The Thousandth Summer Solstice. She’s returning in three days!”

“Why are you panicking so much?” Spike gave her a dubious glare.

“We must alert the Princess right away!” Trinity rushed over to her desk, took out a quill and ink, and began to scribble a note.

“It’s just an old story,” Spike said. “No one believes those anymore, and they can’t possibly be true.”

“I’m not taking any chances.” Trinity picked up the parchment and blew on the ink for it to dry faster. “It’s imperative that she knows we’re on the precipice of disaster!”

“What?”

“It’s important that she knows something bad will happen.” Trinity frowned.

“Oh, well I’m sorry us dogs don’t know big words.”

“The ink’s dry!” Trinity shot out of her chair, which knocked over the rest of the ink. “Curses!” she shrieked, dabbing at it with an old shirt before it can stain.

“Let me guess, you want me to deliver the letter for you.” Trinity often asked Spike to do small errands for her, especially when she was occupied with other work.

“That would be great, Spike.” Trinity handed him the scroll. “I need to read more on this anyways.”

Spike groaned and pawed at the scroll. He then put it in his mouth and left the room.

“Now for more about this legend…” Trinity said, scanning the bookshelves once again.
*~*

Spike soon came back into Trinity’s dorm, clutching a new scroll in between his teeth.

“You see?” Trinity said, taking the letter from Spike. “I knew the Princess would want to take immediate action.”

“She could be telling you not to listen to those storybooks,” Spike said. Trinity rolled her eyes and directed her attention back to the calligraphy on the note.

“‘My faithful student Trinity Westover,’” she read. “‘You know that as my esteemed student I have full confidence in what you say.’” Trinity smirked to herself. “‘However, you must stop reading those dusty old books!’”

“I told you,” Spike said.

“What?” Trinity dropped the parchment, watching as it floated to touch the ground. “But… But…”

“Go on, Trin.” Spike stepped on the note. “It must be longer than that. I know what a short letter feels like, and this is not one.”

Trinity nodded and coughed into her arm. Her hands were shaky as she picked up the letter once again. “‘Knowing you, I understand that you will still be worrying about this after receiving this letter, so I hope that a task will help you keep your mind off of things. It is simple, but extremely important. I want you to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration at this year’s location: Mansville. While you are there, I expect that you will make plenty of friendships with the local people there.’ She wants me to make friends?”

“See? Even the Princess doesn’t want you to die socially.”

“‘You must check on four different things for the Celebration to run smoothly this year. The Thousandth is very special. First, the catering will be supervised by Sweet Apple Acres, which is right next to Mansville. Next, a certain Aerolus, Alexis Holster, is supposed to keep the sky cleared of clouds for the day. The decoration of Mansville’s town hall is imperative, so you must see that looks beautiful. Finally, the music will be run by Melody’s Songbird Choir.

“‘I am certain that this is a task you can handle quickly, so you will have time to follow through with the most important command: make some friends. Even though I have made accommodations for you to stay in a library, I don’t want you to dig around in research! Lighten up, and don’t burn yourself out. That is why even the best of academies have breaks such as this one. Sincerely, Princess Celestia of Equestria.’”

“Wow, Trinity!” Spike exclaimed. “Watching preparations for the Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration must be some huge honor!”

“It surely is,” Trinity said, rubbing her fingernails on her lavender shirt. “And I can spend all the extra time finding out more about the Nightmare Mistress legend!”

“You missed the entire point of the letter,” Spike said, placing his face in his paw. “You know the Princess wants you to make friends.”

“And I will,” Trinity said. “I just need to figure out how to harness the most powerful magic ever known to man by the Summer Solstice and defeat the Nightmare Mistress. Then I will have time for friends.”

“What an easy goal,” Spike muttered.

“Come on, Spike!” Trinity grabbed a suitcase from her shelf and plopped it down on her bed. “We need to get ready as soon as possible. The soon we get there, the sooner I can finish checking the preparations. And then I’ll have more time to study the legend when I’m done.”

“Okay then…” Spike grudgingly pranced around the room.

“Of all places to be at, we’re going to Mansville.” Trinity exhaled contentedly. “They have one of the largest and oldest selection of books there, you know. Only Canterlot’s Royal Archives has more information than the Mansville Library.”

“This is going to be a long weekend,” Spike sighed.

Hours later, Trinity finished packing the belongings she wanted with her in Mansville. A couple of clean outfits, plenty of writing supplies, and all books in the library regarding the Nightmare Mistress were jam packed into the small luggage bag she had. She also kept her wallet with her, filled with a sufficient amount of money for basic needs, such as food. She was confident in her preparation.

“Are you ready to go?” Trinity asked.

“Why can’t I stay here?” Spike complained.

“Because no one will be able to take care of you,” she said. “You still are a puppy.”

“Fine,” Spike said, circling Trinity’s feet. “I’ll also make sure that you have some fun while you’re there.”

“I don’t have time for that!” she snorted. The whinny of horses outside of Trinity’s dorm interrupted her thoughts, and the excited chatter of the other girls outside her window just disrupted her further.

“I guess that royal carriage is for us.” Trinity smiled. “Let’s go.”

So the two of them headed out the door and pushed through the crowd of girls to their exclusive ride to Mansville. As Trinity and Spike were helped into the carriage, she couldn’t help but wonder about the adventure awaiting her. And as the carriage pulled away from her academy’s campus, the anxious butterflies in Trinity’s stomach continued to remind her that this adventure would be one worth regretting.

~Chapter Two~



On the whole ride to Mansville, Spike wouldn’t stop pestering Trinity about friendship.



“You always say that the fate of the world doesn’t rest on you making friends,” he said, “but it would sure make saving the world easier for you.”



“Not if they get in the way of my progress,” she responded.



“Life is so much funner when you have friends to enjoy it with! Besides, you can’t say that you don’t enjoy my company.”



“First, it’s ‘more fun,’ not ‘funner.’ Second, I don’t want friends because they will argue with me over silly things like making friends!”



“You friends wouldn’t make you make friends because you’d already have some.”



“Spike, please be quiet.”



“Not until you get at least one person to be your friend.”



“Who can I befriend in a carriage?”



This banter continued between pet and owner until the carriage pulled into the tiny town of Mansville. Trinity stared out the window and sighed. There were people everywhere, and they were all so… social! Undoubtedly, at least one would try to talk to her, and that would be a distraction from her research.



Other than that, Trinity found the quaint town to be a gorgeous venue in its modest way. The emerald shading of the hills reflected serenity against the cumulus-peppered sky. The small cottages exhaled steam from their brick chimneys, and she could see the excited commotion contained within each house. The downtown market filled the whole town with laughter and chatter among the town dwellers. The dirt paths ran through the town in a disorganized array, leading people from the sweet shoppe to the boutique to the town hall and all over the place. An entire orchard of trees was spread out across the valley to the east of town.



At last, she spotted the famous Mansville Library from afar, literally built into a growing oak tree near the center of town. Its bushy leaves reached for the sun, as if grasping for more knowledge. The image of it took Trinity’s breath away. She knew she belonged here.



The royal carriage, which attracted the attention of many people, slowly pulled into a stop right by the library’s entrance. “Here you are, Miss Westover.”



“Thank you,” Trinity said, nodding to the carriage driver. “I shall see you at the Summer Sun Celebration. Have a nice rest of the week.”



“You too,” the driver said with a wink. And the horses soon galloped away from the small town.



Trinity let out a sigh of relief. “Spike, let’s drop off our stuff and look over the preparations right away.”



“But Trinity!” Spike whined. “Look at all these people! You have to talk to them!”



Trinity finally spun around, and her mouth hung agape at each person standing there. They all looked so amicable, yet no one took a step towards her. They just stared at the young girl like an exhibit of an elusive animal. One girl stuck out in particular, with her small size, outrageous apparel, and fluffy pink hair. What kind of person would have pink hair?



“Umm…” Trinity waved at the crowd. “Hello.”



Suddenly, the pink-haired girl screamed. “EVERYONE! GET AWAY!” She bolted away from Trinity, and the others soon followed, although much more calmly.



“Yeah, talking to them was a great idea!” Trinity rolled her eyes as she stormed into the library. “We need to find Sweet Apple Acres now, so I can start my research as soon as possible.”



“Trinity, that was just one incident,” Spike said. “I’m sure that everyone else here is friendly.”



“I doubt it.” Trinity shook her head. “Besides, I don’t even care about making friends. This town is just filled with crazy people, and I don’t want to be a part of it.”



“I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems,” Spike assured her. “They could be a lot nicer than they seem. Who knows? They could be throwing a surprise welcome party for you right now!”



“No. Parties!” Trinity yelled. “How would I concentrate on studying the Nightmare Mistress legends if I’m surrounded by Mansville’s lunatics?”



“Then focus on something other than studying for once!”



“You know what?” Trinity threw her stuff on the ground. “Fine. I won’t focus on my studies now. I’ll go finish the Princess’s assignments, and then I can devote all my time to my research. Thanks, Spike!”



“That’s not what—“





But Trinity already bolted out the front door, checklist in hand, and ran towards the orchard of apple trees. Hopefully checking on food would mean getting to taste a few samples, and she was famished already.