Do you know how long it took humanity to land on the moon?
Humanity launched its expedition into deep space with steel and fire.
When the first rocket tore through the atmosphere, mechanical gears had already begun to turn; when the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle pierced the lunar soil, the glory of mankind finally illuminated an alien world.
Of course, this wasn’t what Dusk Glow should be thinking about right now.
He stared blankly at the desolate surroundings.
The silver-gray lunar surface stretched to the edge of his vision, the ground coated in a layer of fine dust.
In the distance, the outlines of craters were traced by some crystal-like substance, refracting iridescent halos of light.
The most breathtaking sight of all was the blue-green planet hanging in the “sky”.
It was undeniably Earth, yet a hundred times clearer than any textbook photograph.
And he could breathe.
The moon was supposed to be a vacuum.
Dusk Glow couldn’t wrap his head around it.
He had merely encountered a bizarre astronomical phenomenon while traveling, lost consciousness after being enveloped by a rainbow-colored streak of light, and woke up standing on the surface of the moon.
“I’m guessing I’m miles away from my own country…”
Dusk Glow struggled to stand up, but tumbled clumsily back to the ground due to a sudden shift in his center of gravity.
Out of habit, he tried to prop himself up with his hands, only to find his sense of touch dull and foreign.
His fingertips didn’t meet the expected hard surface; instead, it felt like he was wearing thick winter mittens.
He tried to wiggle his fingers, only to realize they couldn’t separate.
It wasn’t until he lifted his arms that he discovered a pair of…
hooves, entirely covered in cream-colored fur.
“T-this is impossible!” Dusk Glow’s voice trembled.
He looked down at the cream-colored coat covering his body.
His four snow-white hooves slipped uncontrollably against the lunar surface.
A sense of weight on his rear reminded him of an extra appendage, a tail.
And the strange sensation on top of his head came from a…
horn?
Even more terrifying was when Dusk Glow caught his reflection on a smooth patch of ground.
The creature staring back at him was both familiar and alien: cream-colored fur, a black mane, a spiraled horn on his head, along with horse ears, a horse tail, and various other parts all screaming one undeniable fact at him:
He had turned into a little pony.
Holy smokes!
Staring at this horse face, Dusk Glow couldn’t help but howl internally.
Is this me?
How did a perfectly fine human being turn into a pony?
“Why am I a horse…” Dusk Glow’s voice was exceptionally weak.
Was he dreaming?
What else could explain this completely unprovoked nightmare?
Before he could overthink it, a sudden chill crawled up his spine.
Dusk Glow felt a heavy gaze boring into him.
Slowly turning around, his breath hitched in his throat.
A black Alicorn floated ten meters away from him.
She was much taller and far more imposing than Dusk Glow.
Her black coat was woven like the night sky, and actual starlight from the Milky Way flowed freely through her mane and tail.
Her wings were slightly unfurled, the bat-like membranes radiating a fierce intensity.
Her jade-green eyes stared at him coldly, a dangerous glint dancing in her pupils.
She was clad in a midnight-blue helmet, chest plate, and hoof guards.
A black, spiraled horn jutted from her forehead.
What shocked Dusk Glow the most was that her mane and tail didn’t hang naturally, but instead drifted around her like an ethereal blue mist.
Weird, there’s no breeze here, Dusk Glow thought in confusion.
“Who goes there?
Why have you trespassed into my domain?”
Her voice exploded directly inside his mind, carrying the oppressive aura of a millennium-old monarch.
Dusk Glow’s throat tightened, and he instinctively backed away.
The black Alicorn’s horn flared with an eerie blue light.
The surrounding dust instantly coalesced into countless sharp spears, every single tip aimed squarely at him.
“Answer me!”
“I…
I…” Dusk Glow reflexively threw his hands up (oh wait, hooves) and stammered incoherently, “My name is Dusk Glow…
I have no idea how I suddenly got here.
I was originally a human, and after arriving, I somehow turned into a pony!”
“Human?”
The black Alicorn repeated the unfamiliar noun in confusion, then her pupils abruptly shrank.
The spears surrounding Dusk Glow instantly closed in by a few inches.
“A creature I have never heard of,” the black Alicorn’s voice rose an octave, vibrating with a dangerous tremor.
“Do you honestly think I would fall for such a clumsy lie?”
Is he a spy sent by Celestia?
Hmph, there is still a month before the seal weakens.
Have you finally lost your patience, my dear sister?
“No, it’s not a lie…”
Dusk Glow was suffocating under her oppressive aura and hastily explained, “I swear I was originally a human!
I came from another world, ended up here completely by accident, and magically got turned into a pony!”
The black Alicorn’s magical assault paused slightly, but the suspicion in her eyes didn’t dissipate.
She weighed the truth of his words in her mind.
Then, with a flash of her horn, Dusk Glow was enveloped in an eerie blue aura.
He was levitated straight up, floating over to the black Alicorn until they were directly eye to eye.
“If your words hold true…” the black Alicorn murmured deeply, “then I shall verify them myself.”
Before Dusk Glow could react, the black Alicorn’s eyes suddenly glowed blindingly white.
In an instant, Dusk Glow’s own eyes mirrored the glowing white light.
He could feel her using her magic to pry into his memories.
Whoosh…
The black Alicorn took a cursory glance through the corridors of Dusk Glow’s mind.
She was slightly taken aback that he had indeed been a two-legged beast known as a “human,” and simultaneously confirmed that he wasn’t blowing smoke.
Without prying into his deeper memories, she lifted the spell on Dusk Glow.
A thoughtful look flashed across her eyes.
This pony named Dusk Glow was indeed not a spy sent by Celestia, which meant he truly was a visitor from another world.
As for why he had come here, or why he had transformed from a “human” into a pony, the black Alicorn didn’t dwell on it.
As long as he posed no threat to her, it didn’t matter.
“You are no minion of my sister, but you have still trespassed in my domain, and for that, there must be a punishment.” The corners of the black Alicorn’s mouth curled up slightly as a fascinating idea formed in her mind.
“Huh?” Just recovering from the memory scan, Dusk Glow was still a bit dizzy, but hearing that she still wanted to punish him jolted him wide awake.
“Do you know who I am?”
“No idea,” Dusk Glow shook his head.
“Very well.
You are from another world, so it is only natural that you haven’t heard of my legend.”
The black Alicorn unfurled her wings with a violent snap.
A cloud of black mist spread from her body, swirling fiercely around the two of them.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning crashed down spectacularly behind the black Alicorn.
“Bow before me, child of another world!” A massive shockwave of sound erupted as the black Alicorn deployed her Royal Canterlot Voice, shaking the surroundings and leaving Dusk Glow’s eardrums ringing in its wake.
“I am the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon, Queen of the Night, the exiled Sovereign of the Moon!”
“To tear down that arrogant sun, I require your power!
Once I reclaim Equestria, you shall be second only to me, and above all other ponies in the realm!”
“In my kingdom, my subjects shall bask in the blessing of the eternal night forever!”
“Mwahahaha!”
The black Alicorn known as “Nightmare Moon” let out a quintessential villainous cackle.
Dusk Glow swallowed nervously.
Looks like I’ve just swam into some seriously deep water.