STAND BACK!” Princess Luna barreled through the crowd. The screams were coming from a mint-green Unicorn wearing a garlic necklace. Luna recognized her as the pony from the Dream Register immediately—Lyra!
“What happened?” Princess Luna was on high alert, searching the horizon. “What hath terrified you so?”
Lyra was shaking. “It was a… a… a beast!” They weren’t too far from the Everfree Forest. It could have been anything. “A ghost-beast!”
“Over there!” shouted a purple Pegasus. “It’s coming back!”
Luna couldn’t believe her eyes. It was actually a Tarax Hippo!
The massive gray ghost was running right toward the party! The monster was almost like a normal hippopotamus, except with pointy teeth, and a shimmering, translucent body. And his prime objective was to terrify ponies. Princess Luna would not have that. “Everypony in that tent!” She motioned to Twilight to guard the townsponies.
Princess Celestia soared over and took her place next to her sister, ready for a fight. The Alicorns pushed their hooves into the snow, standing solid. Celestia looked to Luna. “I have not seen a Tarax Hippo in hundreds of moons. Why is he here?”
“I think it may be my fault!” Luna called out, remembering her little white lie to Princess Twilight weeks ago. “I must have accidentally summoned him awake!”
The Tarax Hippo ran toward them, letting out a low, guttural noise. He shook the ground. Sounds of shrieks escaped from the tent. The Tarax Hippo smiled in satisfaction. Then he began to grow.
Celestia fired a zap of pink energy at the beast to contain him. But the magic shot straight through and hit a nearby tree, melting the snow on its branches. “Luna! How do we calm him?”
The Tarax Hippo set his sights on the tent full of ponies. The tent rustled around, packed to capacity. The Tarax Hippo paused to smell the air before moving toward it.
“What does he want?” Luna whispered to herself, flying around to head him off. Then she saw it. A sack full of garlic necklaces. Luna called out to her sister, “It’s the garlic!”
“You are right, dear Luna of the night!” Zecora the zebra called out as she emerged from the Forest. “Throw the garlic! You must! It’s the only way to gain his trust!” Zecora advised.
Princess Luna swooped down, snatched the bag of necklaces, and tossed them at the Tarax Hippo. He opened his slimy mouth wide and caught them in one gulp. He chomped down in satisfaction. As he chewed, he became smaller. Luna smiled triumphantly. “Citizens! Throw your necklaces at the beast!”
“Be gentle, everypony,” Fluttershy warned. “He’s just a creature that’s lost his way.”
Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack ran toward the Tarax Hippo, unafraid. They created a circle around him, herding him just like Applejack and Winona did with the sheep back at Sweet Apple Acres.
“We’re not afraid of you!” shouted Rainbow Dash, tossing a garlic necklace. He caught it in his mouth and licked his lips. “Except maybe your breath later!”
“Wow!” Pinkie Pie squealed. She ran out of garlic, so she began to toss random items such as snowballs and bowls of banana peel pudding. “He’s hungry! Like… hungry, hungry!”
“Princess Luna,” Twilight called out, “what next?”
Before Luna could answer the question, one of the manticores from the swamp swooped down and landed in front of the Tarax Hippo. “RAAAAAAAWR!” he roared. The Tarax Hippo immediately fell into a trancelike state. Then he sat down with a big thud and fell asleep. Princess Celestia flew over. She bent down, used her magic to surround the Tarax Hippo, and gently whispered a spell. The beast floated off into the Everfree Forest, back to his sleepy cave.
It was over.
The ponies applauded, surrounding Princess Luna.
The bat ponies, the mountain dragons, and manticore joined in. They bowed to Luna and turned to the ponies. “Y’all came!” Apple Bloom jumped up and down with glee. “I invited ’em and they came!”
Zecora stepped forward. “Thanks to Luna, we’ve settled our score, and these noble creatures are no longer at war,” she explained. “Though it was many moons ago, it is to her, our peace, we owe.”
One of Luna’s guards, Nocturn, stepped forward. He bowed his head to Princess Luna and turned to the crowd. “And for this, tonight we celebrate our dear Princess of the Night—Luna the Great!” Everypony cheered and gathered around to hear more stories of Princess Luna’s trials. Looking to the happy faces around her, Princess Luna had never felt so loved.