Chapters Chapter 1: The Newcomer
It was another beautiful sunny summer day in Ponyville, every citizen was going about their business with cheerful smiles on their faces, unaware of a new pony in town. It was a unicorn stallion, he was the only one going about without a smile on his face, but he wasn’t really sad either. He had a dark grey coat, a black mane and tail, and a paintbrush and easel for a cutie mark. On his back was a pair of grey saddle bags. He had just entered town to try and find a new place to live, he hoped he had the bits to get a house in town but since he was new, he had no idea where the town hall was.
He trudged along, unaware of a pink pony that was skipping by in the opposite direction, she was an earth pony with a pink coat, a darker shade of pink in her poofy mane and tail, and had three balloons for a cutie mark. She stopped when she noticed the unicorn walking along and quickly darted in front of him. “OH MY GOSH, your new in town aren’t you I’m Pinkie Pie and I know every pony in Ponyville so you must be new whats your name, WAIT, if your new then you must not have any friends I just have to throw you a welcome to Ponyville party you just have to come to sugar cube corner later for your party see you later bye!” The pink pony spoke so fast the unicorn couldn’t understand her, he was also in a bit of shock at the sudden encounter.
“What the hay was that? I just hope the rest of the ponies in this town aren’t as crazy. I’d better ask some pony for directions to town hall.” The unicorn then continued on his way and stopped at a flower stall being run by an off white earth pony with a red mane and tail and a rose for a cutie mark.
“Hello, I’m Roseluck, welcome to my flower stand, what can I get you?” She asked rather nicely.
He forgot about that and asked her what he needed. “I’m wondering if you can give me directions to town hall, I’m new here and don’t know my way around.”
The mare smiled as she answered. “Well, welcome to Ponyville sir, town hall is just down this road, it’s the big building at the center of town. You can’t miss it.”
The unicorn gave his thanks. “Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.” The unicorn then made his way to the center like the mare told him. He found the building right where Roseluck told him, it was a large round building, easily the biggest one in town. The unicorn made his way inside and went up to the receptionist. She had a hot pink coat and a green mane and tail. Her cutie mark was not visible from behind the desk she sat at.
“Hello, welcome to town hall, what can I do for you?” The earth pony mare asked.
“Hello, I’m hoping to move here in town, do you have any houses available for purchase?”
“You’ll need to speak to the mayor about that, she is available right now if you’d like to see her.”
“Thank you, I would please.”
“Very well, follow me.” The mare then got out from behind her desk and led the unicorn to the mayor’s office. “Mayor Mare, there is a pony here who wishes to speak to you about purchasing a house.”
The mayor was a tan colored earth pony with a grey mane and tail, glasses, and a white collar with a green bit of cloth poofed out in front. She had a scroll with a green ribbon wrapped around it for a cutie mark. “AH yes, do come in.” The receptionist left and the unicorn walked in. “Welcome, how can I help you today?” The mayor asked.
“I’m interested in purchasing a house in town, do you have any available?” The unicorn asked.
“Why yes, you’re in luck, we do have one house available. The previous owner left in such a rush they left their furniture behind, so it will already come with furnishings. Whatever you don’t like, you could always just sell it and replace them with what you do like. The house is currently priced at 2000 bits.”
The unicorn was glad to hear that, he had more than enough for it. “Sounds perfect, I’ll take it, where is it located?”
Mayor Mare then brought out the deed, a map, and a few forms. “Before that, I’ll need you to sign some forms. The map is free for all new residents of Ponyville to help them get around.”
The unicorn then used the quill provided to sign the forms, then brought out a bag of bits from his saddle bags for payment for the house. “There you go.”
The mayor smiled with satisfaction once the transaction was complete. “Thank you Mr. Star, and welcome to Ponyville.”
“Midnight is fine, so where is my house located?”
Mayor Mare then opened the map and pointed out the location of his new house. “It’s right here, 108 Saddle St. It’s next door to our town’s local dress shop called the Carousel Boutique.”
Midnight Star grumbled on the inside that he would be living next to a dress shop, but he figured it might not be too bad, so he let it go. He took the deed and map and set them in his saddle bags. “Thank you.” He left the office and made his way to his new home.
Thanks to his new map, it didn’t take Midnight long to find his new home. It was a two story building. “Looks good on the outside, hope it’s just as good inside.” He went inside and was pleasantly surprised to see it was indeed fully furnished, it had a couch, tables, chairs, a refrigerator, a stove and a nice carpet on the first floor. “Not bad, a bit of rearranging and I could use the living room for my art studio.” He then went upstairs to check out the second floor. The second floor looked to be strictly a bedroom, it already had a bed there, and a bathroom on the other side of the room. “Nice, looks like I lucked out here.” He went over to the window to look at the view. “Even has a good view of the town. I just hope I can make a good life for myself here.”
Suddenly, there was a knocking at the front door. “What the hay, that’s odd, I wonder who would be knocking on a house that’s supposed to be empty?” He thought to himself. He made his way downstairs and to the front door. Upon answering the door, he was greeted by a Pegasus mare with a grey coat, a blonde mane and tail, bubbles for a cutie mark, and yellow eyes that seemed to be unable to see straight.
“Good day sir, Derpy Hooves of Ponyville Post office at your service. I have a letter for you.”
Midnight Star was shocked at this. “WHAT, how can I have mail, I literally just now moved in, how can anypony already know I’m here?”
Derpy just stared at him with her unfocused eyes. “Beats me, I just deliver the mail, hey, if you just moved in, then your new in town aren’t you? Welcome to Ponyville sir, since it’s my job to deliver the mail, we’ll be seeing each other often, do you want to be friends?” She asked with a big smile on her face.
Midnight stared at her. “Sorry, but I’m not looking for friends. What’s this letter you had for me?”
Derpy blinked. “Oh right, your letter, here you go.” She then reached into a brown saddle bag she had on and produced a letter.
Midnight levitated it out of her hooves and read who it was addressed to. Sure enough, it had his new address on it and said it was to the new unicorn in town with the dark grey coat and black mane and tail. He eyed the envelope curiously before opening it. The letter read this.
“To the new pony in town. Sorry I didn’t ask for your name earlier but I was too excited to set up your welcome to Ponyville part to ask. Your welcoming party is all set, please come by Sugarcube Corner for lots of fun, games, and food, you’ll get to make lots of friends in no time. Your new friend, Pinkie Pie.”
“Pinkie Pie, who’s Pinkie Pie?”
Derpy smiled big after hearing the letter. “So you’re the new pony who Pinkie is throwing that party for, wow, this is great, we can go together, what do ya say, come on lets head over there now and have some fun!”
Midnight Star furrowed his brow at Derpy. “Sorry, but I’m not interested in making friends, or going to this party. All I want is to live the rest of my life in peace, good day.” He then just slammed the door in Derpy’s face. Midnight then crumbled up the letter in his magic grasp of grey aura and threw it away in a nearby trash bin.
Derpy was very sad at the way he just rejected her like that, she knew Pinkie wasn’t going to like this bit of news either that the new pony didn’t want any friends. She just turned away and headed for Sugarcube Corner to deliver the bad news to Pinkie.
“What do you mean he’s not coming?”
“Just what I said, he’s not coming. After he read your letter, he seemed to get upset, after I told him that we could come together and make a lot of friends he got mad and said he wasn’t interested in making friends. Then he slammed the door in my face.” Derpy just finished explaining to Pinkie why Midnight Star wasn’t coming.
Pinkie was upset about this. “I don’t get it, why would some pony not want to have friends, it doesn’t make any sense.”
A light purple unicorn came up to Pinkie to try and comfort her. She had a very dark blue mane and tail with a violet and pink streak through them, she also had a dark pink six pointed star with five small white sparkles around it for a cutie mark. “I’m sorry Pinkie, but some ponies are like that, remember how Cranky was when he first came to town, he didn’t want any friends either.”
Pinkie then smiled big as she was struck with inspiration. “That’s it Twilight, I just need to find some way to get him to warm up to me. I just know I can get him to smile and change his mind about friends.”
Another Pegasus pony then approached her, this one had a sky blue coat with a rainbow mane and tail and a rainbow lightning bolt shooting out of a cloud for a cutie mark. “I don’t think that’s what she meant Pinkie, I think what she meant was that he’s just one of those ponies who doesn’t want any friends and you should just let him be.”
Pinkie turned to her and patted her on the head. “Oh Rainbow Dash, don’t be silly, of course he wants friends, he just doesn’t know it yet, and I’m the pony to help him realize it.” Pinkie Pie was determined to make a new friend out of the new pony, nothing was going to deter her.
Midnight Star was going about his new house making mental notes of all he would need to get. The house may have furniture, but it lacked utensils, plates, and other various house hold items. “I hope there’s a place that rents carts, no way I’ll be able to carry all I’ll need for this place in my saddle bags.” He brought out his map of the town and went over it. The stores were all clearly marked. “Good, looks like there’s a cart rental nearby.” Before he could leave, he heard a knocking on his door. “Now what, I just moved in and already I’m getting letters and guests, how does news of a new pony in town travel so fast?”
He went over to his door and was greeted by a bouncing pink pony. “Hi there, I’m Pinkie Pie, remember me?”
Midnight furrowed his brow. “You’re Pinkie?! So you’re the one who sent me that invitation to a party right?”
Pinkie smiled big. “Yep, that’s me, why didn’t you come, parties are always fun and you can make lots of friends.”
“How did you even know I just moved in here, I literally just bought this place today and haven’t even been in this house for an hour and you manage to send me a letter to a party! How did you do that?”
“I have my ways, so come on, what are you waiting for, let’s go party.”
Midnight was getting very annoyed with this pink pony. “Look miss,”
Pinkie cut him off. “Oh silly, you can just call me Pinkie, all of my friends do.” She gave him a sly look as she moved her eyelids up and down.
Midnight continued. “Look MISS, I’m just not interested in parties or friends, now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some things for my new home so I can settle in.” He then just pushed his way past Pinkie and continued on.
Pinkie wasn’t smiling then after that, but then was struck with an idea. “I know what will put a smile on his face.” She rushed off with a plan.
About an hour later after some shopping around, Midnight now had a cart full of things for his house, he was on his way back when the same pink pony came up beside him with a pink and white cart. “HEY new guy, what do you think, you like my wagon, it’s my welcome wagon, I use it to welcome new folks to town.”
“Don’t you ever give up, get lost, I don’t want any friends.” He practically glared at her.
“You just gotta at least let me give you the welcome that comes with it.” She gave him such a pout, it was impossible for him to refuse.
He groaned in annoyance. “UGH, FINE, just get it over with.”
Pinkie smiled so big, she then pushed a button on her wagon, it opened up to reveal colorful flags and horns coming out and an oven at the center. Music then started to play and Pinkie started to sing.
“Welcome, welcome, welcome, a fine welcome to you! Welcome, welcome, welcome, I say how do you do!” Pinkie then blew a horn right in Midnight’s ear. “Welcome, welcome, welcome, I say hip hip hooray, welcome, welcome, welcome to Ponyville todaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!” She held that last note a bit. “Wait for it.” Suddenly the oven shot out confetti and the horns at the top shot out cake batter that splattered all over the two.
“WHAT THE HAY!?” Midnight Star was very upset now.
Pinkie just laughed. “Oopsie, I did it again, why can’t I ever remember to put the cake in the oven and the confetti in the confetti cannons?”
Midnight was fuming. “LOOK HERE YOU! I HAVE NO INTEREST WHAT SO EVER IN BEING YOUR FRIEND!”
Pinkie was a little scared now. “But, why, why don’t you want any friends, don’t you want to be happy?”
Midnight could tell she was going to be persistent, he used his magic to clean himself off from the cake batter and then continued to glare at her. “You want to know why I don’t want any friends? Because if you knew my past, you wouldn’t want to be my friend. If you got to know me better, then you wouldn’t want to be my friend and it would ruin my life, so GET LOST!” He then just stormed off, leaving behind a Pinkie on the verge of tears.
“But……why would his past be a problem? Why would he be afraid of me finding out?” Pinkie just slowly walked away, she still thought there would be a way to get through to him, there just had to be a way, if she could just show him that she wouldn’t care what his past was, then maybe he would open up and accept her as a friend.
Pinkie then decided to go to Twilight to see if she might have any ideas. She got to the library and walked in. “Twilight, I need your help.”
Twilight was reading one of her books when Pinkie walked in. She turned her attention away from her book to speak with Pinkie. “What is it Pinkie, what’s wrong?”
“It’s the new pony, I found out why he doesn’t want any friends and it sounds serious, I was hoping you might have some ideas on what I could do to help him open up. His reason sounds real serious and I think it will take all of us to get him to open up.”
“Still determined as ever huh Pinkie, what did he say when you last saw him?”
“He said the reason he doesn’t have any friends is because if we knew his past, then we wouldn’t want to be his friend, I think he’s afraid of something. There must be something we can do to help him.”
“Afraid, why would he be afraid of telling us about his past? It must be something serious, now even I’m curious about it. Don’t worry Pinkie, we’ll think of something. If it is as bad as you say, then he must really be hurting inside and is afraid to let others close.” Because of Pinkie’s words, even she wanted to try and get Midnight Star to open up, her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and now she wanted to know what he was hiding. This could prove to be a big mistake.
Author's Note
Hello my little readers, I need to point out that the main idea behind this story was given to me by shadowrider89 on fanfiction.net. He came up with the main idea and said I could write it. We tossed some ideas around and came up with this, since I'm writing it, I get to decide how the story progresses. enjoy.
Chapter 2: Journal Entry
Month: XX Year: XXXX
Today is the first day for me in my new home of Ponyville. I was fortunate enough to get a house that was already furnished. The town seems nice enough and friendly. I even had the chance to meet two other ponies who seemed really nice, the first was a Pegasus with a grey coat and cross eyes named Derpy. After her, I met a nice earth pony who was very silly, she even went so far as to greet me with a welcome wagon, a literal welcome wagon. It had music and an oven for a cake, and she even sang a nice song for me. But, as usual, I had to act cold and uncaring and try to chase her away. I felt bad for slamming the door in Derpy’s face after she delivered an invitation to a party, and for yelling at the pink pony, I believe her name was Pinkie Pie, she was pretty funny and seemed very friendly. She even seemed dead set on being my friend.
Unfortunately, I can’t ever have any friends, if any pony found out what kind of family I came from, no pony would want to be my friend. So I must continue with a sad lonely life without friends. Why did this have to happen. I just hope Pinkie Pie gave up on trying to make me her friend so I don’t have to worry about hurting her feelings any more.
Midnight Star just finished writing an entry in a journal he kept. He was in his house at the time after he got back from shopping around for other supplies he needed for his house. He decided now would also be a good time to head out and check out the park. “Maybe I can get some inspiration from the setting sun.” He thought to himself. He got his saddle bags that were packed with a sketch pad and colored pencils, as well as his journal. He left and headed to the park.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Pinkie had gathered the others to explain the situation with the new pony. Twilight was the first to speak. “I’m glad you all came, Pinkie believes that the new pony in town is hurting awful bad on the inside because of some secret he’s hiding. I think we should do what we can to help him and get him to open up.”
A cream yellow Pegasus with a soft pink mane and tail and three butterflies for a cutie mark spoke with a soft sweet gentle voice. “I don’t know Twilight, it doesn’t seem nice to go poking around in someone else’s business…..if you don’t mind me saying.” She spoke rather nervously.
“I have ta agree with Fluttershy, it don’t seem right ta go pryin like that, even if it is ta help some poor pony.” An orange earth pony with a blonde mane and tail tied up at the ends with red ribbons, a stetson hat on her head, and three red apples for a cutie mark spoke up.
“Oh come on Applejack, aren’t you at least a little curious to find out what this big secret is? I know I am, besides, it could be fun.” Rainbow dash said as she hovered over the group. “Rarity might be able to get something out of him since he’s her new neighbor, right Rarity?”
The one identified as Rarity was a white coated unicorn with a violet colored mane and tail styled in curls, she had three light blue diamonds for a cutie mark. “Well, I suppose I might be able to charm something out of him. But it does seem like a strange waste of my charm to get some stallion to tell me his secrets.”
Pinkie then spoke up. “Come on girls, we have to try, when he was yelling at me, I could see the pain in his eyes, he was lying about how he felt. I know when some pony is hurting on the inside, and he looked like he was hurting on the inside a lot.”
“So, will we work on trying to get him to open up to us or what?” Twilight asked all her friends.
“YEAH!” They all cheered together.
Midnight Star was now sitting on a hill in Ponyville park watching the sun set. “It sure is beautiful, perfect inspiration.” He brought out his sketch pad and colored pencils and began to draw out the scene before him. He managed to capture the different shades of orange and yellow that colored the sky, as well as the clouds that lazily drifted by. Once he was finished, he was pleased with his work. He set his sketch pad back in his bag. “That will make a nice painting. I hope I can use it to jumpstart my business.” He then brought out his journal to read through it for old time’s sake.
He quietly read what he wrote down to himself. “Dad, why did you have to do it?” He asked himself as a tear started to form in his eye.
He failed to notice a pony approach him as he placed his journal back in his bag with his magic grasp. “Hey there.” The pony called out so suddenly that it surprised Midnight Star.
“YAH, what the hay?!” He quickly turned around and saw a sky blue Pegasus coming up to him. Midnight furrowed his brow. “What’s the big idea sneaking up on me?!” He glared at the Pegasus.
“Sorry about that, didn’t mean to scare you. I just saw you sitting here looking lonely and thought you might like some pony to talk to.” Rainbow Dash said as she sat down next to him.
Midnight thought it was nice of her to offer companionship, but he just couldn’t accept it. “Look miss.”
She cut him off. “The name’s Rainbow Dash, what’s your name?”
“Midnight Star, now look MISS, I don’t need companionship, I was just admiring the scenery, now if you don’t have business to discuss, which I doudt since I haven’t had the chance to start up my business, then perhaps you could be on your merry way.”
Rainbow wasn’t about to give up so easily. She was here to try and see if she could soften him up. “Awe ponyfeathers, every pony needs some pony to talk to, why don’t you tell me what this business of yours is that you plan on starting.”
Midnight could tell she was going to be just as persistent as Pinkie Pie. “Listen, Rainbow Dash was it, I’m not interested in making friends, I don’t need them, I don’t want them, and I would appreciate it if you would just leave me alone, good day!” Midnight then got up and left Rainbow alone, feeling defeated.
“Wow, seems he’s going to be harder to crack then we thought.” Rainbow then made her way back to twilight’s where the others were waiting to hear how she made out, they had come up with a plan where they would each take a turn to try and talk to him. Rainbow was first on the list.
She got back to the library and met up with the others. “Hey girls, I ran into the new guy at the park.”
“Kind of, I did manage to get his name though, it’s Midnight Star, but that was all I could get out of him before he walked off.”
“Perhaps I could give it a try next, he is my neighbor now after all.” Rarity said as she stepped forward. “I’ll swing by his place in the morning and see if I can’t charm him into talking.”
“Good luck with that, it’s like he didn’t even notice my awesomeness.” The others, except for Pinkie and Fluttershy, just rolled their eyes at her.
“Well anyway, good luck tomorrow Rarity.” Twilight said to her unicorn friend. With that, they all headed home for the night.
The next morning after breakfast, Rarity headed on over to her new neighbor’s house, Midnight Star, to say hello. At the time, Midnight was painting out the sketch he made yesterday of the sun set at the park. He was levitating four brushes at once with different colors on them as he moved them across his canvass. When he was done with one color on a brush he would move it away from the canvas, rinse it off in water and put another color on it while keeping the others in motion. “This is going to look great, I just know it.” Then, there came a knock on the door. “Now who could that be?” He stopped his work, cleaned off the brushes and headed over. “Yes, how can I…..help…you?” He was stunned, standing before him was a beautiful unicorn mare with beautiful blue eyes and a magnificently curled mane and tail.
Rarity began. “Good morning sir, my name is Rariy, the one who owns and runs the boutique next door. I simply had to come over and introduce myself.”
“Oh sweet Luna she’s gorgeous, NO, I can’t let myself succumb to such beauty, I must keep a strong front.” Midnight thought to himself. “Um, *AHEM* good morning miss, my name is Midnight Star, is there anything I can do for you?”
“Oh I already know your name, it just so happens that you already met two of my friends, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, and you did tell Rainbow Dash your name.”
“Oh great, there’s more of them, no matter, just don’t let them in, keep a strong front and you’ll be fine.” “Really, well if you don’t have business with me, then I must ask you to leave, I’m in the middle of a project right now.”
Rarity batted her eyelashes at him. “Oh really, what sort of project, Rainbow did say you were starting up a business here.”
“O COME ON, batting your eyelashes like that just isn’t fair, these ponies are playing dirty to try and get close to me.” Midnight kept up a serious face. “If you must know, I’m an artist, I am currently working on a painting I will use as a form of advertisement to show every pony my skills, I plan on making and selling paintings for others.”
“That sound wonderful dear, can I see what you have so far?”
Midnight closed his eyes and shook his head. “Sorry, but I don’t let others see my work when it’s not done.”
“I understand, I’m a bit of an artist myself, only with clothes, perhaps you could come over some time and I could make you a fabulous suit for when you meet that very special somepony someday.” She gave Midnight a sly look.
“OH sweet Celestia, this pony is really bringing out the big guns. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I’d better try and get rid of her before she breaks me.” “That’s nice of you to offer, but no thank you, now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to get back to work.” Midnight then closed the door on Rarity. Once he was safely inside his house alone, he let out a huge sigh. “*WHEW* That was a close one, sweet celestial bodies that pony was beautiful. I just hope she doesn’t try this again, I don’t know if I could take it.” He said to himself.
Rarity stood there for a moment feeling flabbergasted. She couldn’t believe that he was able to withstand her charm. “I just don’t believe it, how could he resist such a beautiful mare like myself. Oh well, I hope the others have better luck. At least I was able to get him to open up a little.”
Rarity went to the library to inform Twilight of how she did. “Good morning Twilight.”
Twilight was just coming out of her room when she saw Rarity enter. “Good morning Rarity, how did your meeting with Midnight Star go?”
Rarity began. “Well, not as well as I had hoped, I did get him to tell me a little about what kind of business he wants to start. He’s starting up an art studio, apparently he’s an artist. That was all I was able to get out of him though.”
Twilight looked deep in thought. “Hmm, perhaps I could try and talk to him, I’m sure he just needs some pony to let him know that he can talk to us about anything without worry. I’ll try and head over later today.”
“I wish you the best of luck Twilight, he just didn’t seem phased by my beauty and charm.” Twilight just gave a smirk.
“Maybe I can get him interested in some art books I have in my library. I’m sure that will get to him.” Twilight now had a plan for her attempt to talk with the new pony in town. Let’s just see if it will work.
Author's Note
Hope you all like the revised chapter. again when leaving comments, please make sure there are no spoilers in them for future new readers. YOU ALL ROCK :)
Twilight and Applejack's Attempt
Chapter 3: Twilight And Applejack’s Attempt
Midnight Star was just now finishing up his first work of art for advertisement to get others attention. “A splash of yellow there, a bit of orange here and, done. My first work of art is finally complete, now I just need to figure out the best way to show it off to others, maybe I should make more than one painting too, hmm.” He said out loud to himself. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. “Now who could that be?” Midnight walked over to the door and opened it.
He was greeted by another unicorn. “Good day, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I just wanted to come by and introduce myself and to welcome you to Ponyville, I run the library in town.”
“That’s nice of you but unless you’re here for business, I don’t have time for friendly greetings.” Midnight sad rather coldly.
Twilight kept her smile on. “Actually, I came by because my friend Rarity mentioned that you’re an artist so-“
Midnight cut her off. “WAIT, your friends with that fashion minded unicorn?” “Good grief, how many of these pesky ponies wanting to make me their friend is there, it’s nice and all, but I can’t risk them finding out my secret.” Midnight thought to himself.
“Why yes, she is, anyway, she mentioned that you’re an artist so I brought by some art books you might be interested in. Would you like to take a look?”
Midnight practically shouted out loud in his mind. “HOLY HAYSEED, ART BOOKS, I love art books, it was because of them that I got interested in becoming an artist and discovered my special talent. Play it cool, you can’t let her know just how interested you are, just accept them and get rid of her.” “Well, that certainly is thoughtful of you, I take it there is a rental fee for these since there from the library?”
“Actually, I can just let you have them for a while and you can just bring them back whenever you’re done with them, I don’t mind letting you borrow them for nothing, think of it as my welcoming gift to you. Would it be allright if I came in and looked over them with you. I never really bothered to look at them myself.”
“OH COME ON, that’s just not fair, that is way too nice, play it cool, just remember to act cold and casual.” “I do appreciate the gesture, but I don’t have time for visitors, I’m trying to think of the best way right now to advertise my work so I can start drumming up business for my art studio.”
Twilight then had an idea that might get him to open up a little and get him to talk with Applejack so she could try and talk with him too. “Maybe I could help, you see, another friend of mine named Applejack runs Sweet Apple Acres, they grow and sell apples here in Ponyville, I’ll bet you could make a wonderful painting to help her advertise her produce and she could inform others that it was your painting that she is using. Would that help, she would pay you for your work of course.”
“They just don’t give up, what do I have to do to make them realize I’m not interested, then again, I really do need the business, guess I don’t have much of a choice.” He fell defeated inwardly and decided it was best to accept. “Fine, I’ll meet with this friend of yours about making some form of advertisement for her to help with her sales, just let her know I’ll come over later this afternoon.”
Twilight’s smile grew bigger upon hearing Midnight Star accept her offer. “Great, I’ll head over there now and let her know, oh right, here you go, the art books I promised.” Twilight then levitated three books out of her saddle bag and magicked them over to Midnight who took hold of them with his own magic.
“Thank you for this, I’ll be sure to return them when I’m done with them.”
“You’re welcome Midnight Star, and if there’s ever anything else you need, just let me or my friends know and we’ll be more than happy to help you with anything.” Twilight then turned around and headed off to Applejack’s.
Midnight Star brought the books inside and set them on the table at the center of the living room. “I can’t believe this, these ponies are proving to be very persistent with trying to make me their friend, I wish they would just give up, the more they try, the more it hurts me to turn them down. It’s nice that they want to be my friend so bad, but I just can’t risk them finding out about where I come from, if they knew, I would be in big trouble………THIS JUST ISN’T BUCKING FAIR! WHY DID MY LIFE HAVE TO TURN OUT LIKE THIS!” Midnight Star was very upset over the whole situation, he just couldn’t let others close, yet there we’re so many ponies who seemed to want very badly to be his friend.
It was now just after lunch, Midnight had managed to calm down after his fit from Twilight’s visit, he got his saddlebags packed with his art supplies and headed off to Sweet Apple Acres to meet with Applejack about making a work of art to help with advertisement for her business and his.
Thanks to the map he had, he was able to find it easily, he came up on the farm and was stunned at the massive apple orchard before him. “Wow, I’ve never seen so many apple trees in all my life, how do they keep up with them all?” He wondered out loud. He walked up to the house and knocked on the door.
Applejack opened up and gave a real friendly smile and greeting. “Well howdy ther partner, you must be Midnight Star, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, I’m Applejack.”
“Ok, right away you can tell just how friendly she is, but don’t let her throw you off guard, just keep things professional and you’ll be fine.” Midnight Star thought to himself. “Yes, I believe we have business to discuss.” Midnight said with a straight muzzle.
Applejack kept her smile. “Right, right, but before that, me and ma family were just about ta sit down fer lunch, why don’t you join us?”
"oh great, with you getting upset earlier today, you forgot to get lunch, you can eat later, just turn her down nicely and tell her you’ll come back later.” “That’s nice of you to offer but I’m not hungry, I’ll just come back later after you all have eaten.” As if to disagree, his stomach started to growl. “Oh great, thanks for giving me away stomach.”
Applejack chuckled. “He he, already ate huh, nice try sugar cube, come on in and join us.” Applejack then grabbed Midnight by the hoof and pulled him in. She led him to the kitchen table where three other ponies were waiting for them. “Midnight Star, meet ma family, this here big guy is ma big brother Big Macintosh.” Applejack pointed to a big red stallion with a short orange mane and tail with a green half apple for a cutie mark and a wooden yolk around his neck. “This is ma little sister, Apple Bloom.” She then pointed to a little filly with a yellow coat, a red mane and tail, and a big pink bow in her mane. “And this here is Granny Smith.” She pointed to a lime green elderly looking mare with a grey mane and tail tied up in a bun and an apple pie for a cutie mark.
The little filly who was identified as Apple Bloom spoke up. “Howdy mister, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, glad you could join us fer lunch.” She had such a cute little smile on her face.
Big Macintosh followed up. “EEyup.”
Midnight fought back the smile threatening to come out because of the cute little filly who greeted him. “Now there using adorable little kids against me, what is up with these ponies, that little one is just too cute for her own good.” “Uh, thanks for having me.”
“Think nothin of it partner, consider it a thank ya fer comin ta offer yer services fer our farm.” Granny smith said from her seat at the head of the table.
Midnight took a seat next to Apple Bloom, Applejack took a seat next to him with Big Mac sitting across from Midnight. The table already had food on it and was ready to be eaten. “Allright every pony, dig in.” Applejack announced. Every pony began to dig in to their meal.
As the meal began, Apple Bloom decided to ask a question. “So Midnight, where you from anyway, if’n you don’t mind me askin.”
Midnight recoiled a bit inside. “You should have seen this coming, they’re making it hard for you to be rude with all this, I suppose there wouldn’t be any harm in telling them a little bit about yourself. Just be careful not to tell too much.” “I’m not actually from anywhere, I’m a traveling artist, I just went from place to place, making and selling paintings wherever I went.”
Applejack seemed to frown a little at this. “Ya mean, ya never had a home? That musta been rough on ya.”
“Not really, I got along just fine on my own.”
Apple Bloom then asked another question. “So does that mean that yer only gonna be here for a little while?”
“No, I was getting tired of travelling around, so I decided to settle down somewhere and make a permanent place for myself. In my travels I had heard a lot about all the different places in Equestria, but the place that seemed to stand out the most to me was this town, so I came here after getting up enough bits to buy a home and came here.”
Applejack smiled big, glad she was able to get him to open up some. “You couldn’t have picked a better place, as I’m sure you know by now, Ponyville is full of real nice ponies.”
“Yes, I noticed.” Midnight said rather low.
“So what about yer family, don’t ya miss them, where are they at anyhow?”
Midnight Star said nothing for a moment. “More than you know.”
Applejack looked worried. “You all right there hon, what’s wrong?”
“I’d…….rather not talk about it.” The mood really dropped at this point.
“Awe, come on now sugar cube, ya’ll can tell us, what’s wrong?”
Midnight Star lifted his head and turned to Applejack with a glare in his eyes. “I SAID I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOU IT, my family is my business, not yours!” He shouted at her.
Applejack was recoiling at Midnight Star’s glare. Apple Bloom ran over to Granny Smith for comfort as she looked on at the scene in worry. Big Mac was ready to do something in case things turned violent. “I….I’m sorry Midnight, I didn’t mean ta upset ya, I just thought that it would help ta talk about whatever has ya so upset is all.”
Midnight Star started beating himself up on the inside for yelling and scaring this nice family after they gave him a nice meal and was going to help him with his business. “IDIOT, these nice ponies welcome you into their home and you explode at them for a simple question, way to go genious, why not just buck them too!” Midnight backed off. “I…..no, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that, it’s just that……look, can we discuss this business transaction some other time, I need to go for now.” Before they could respond, Midnight got up and left the apple family for his home.
The apple family just watched as Midnight made his way out. Applejack was now even more worried as she may very well have stumbled on to why he was so cold. It must have something to do with his family. “Poor Midnight, there must be some way ta let him know we want ta help.” Applejack said to herself.
On his way home, Midnight was still beating himself up inside for what he did. “IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT, now they’ll never want your art, you may very well have sabotaged your first chance at a customer, way to go idiot!” The whole way back, he just kept berating himself for exploding at Applejack for a simple question. He would definitely have to do something to make it up to her somehow, but what? Then it hit him. “Maybe I could just go ahead and make something for advertisement for them for free. Sure I need the money, but after what happened, I guess I owe her, besides, she and her family did treat me to lunch.” Midnight Star finally made it to his home and decided to get started on a master piece for Applejack to help her business. The question now was what to paint.
Author's Note
I would very much like to hear from all of you that has favorited this story, please leave comments below and let me know what you think of it so far.
Chapter 4: Try Fluttershy
The next day had come and the girls all met up at Twilight’s to discuss how their progress with Midnight Star went. Since Fluttershy hadn’t tried yet she didn’t have anything to say. Spike just stood by and listened. “Well, how have you all done?” Twilight asked.
Everyone already knew how Pinkie’s first attempt went so she didn’t have anything to say either. Rainbow was the first to speak up. “My meeting with him didn’t go so well, he was just so cold. He just told me he didn’t want friends and stormed off.”
Rarity was next. “I’m afraid I didn’t fair any better either, he put up quite the strong front against my charm.”
“I managed to get somewhere with him, he seemed to perk up a little when I brought him some art books for him to look at. That was when I suggested he go to Applejack’s for a chance to get some business.” Twilight informed the others.
Now it was Applejack’s turn to tell them how her meeting with Midnight went. “It went all right at first, I did manage ta get him ta tell me a little about himself, seems he never really had a home for a long time, said he just travelled around making and selling paintings. When I brought up family, he got all tight lipped. I tried ta get him ta talk, but when I tried ta push it, he got real upset and yelled at me fer it. Whatever he’s hiding, it must have something ta do with what happened to his family.”
Pinkie then spoke up. “How are we supposed to find out what that is if he won’t tell us?”
Rainbow Dash then had a thought. “I guess it’s Fluttershy’s turn to try then, maybe you’ll have better luck then the rest of us.”
Fluttershy got nervous from being put on the spot all of a sudden. “WHAT, me, oh, I don’t know, what if I say the wrong thing and make him mad or something.”
Rarity then came over. “You can do it dear, you just have to be yourself and just talk with him.”
Twilight then got an idea. “Maybe you could ask him to make a painting for you, he would have to talk with you then if he thought it would be a chance to make some bits.”
“Do you really think so, I don’t know, can’t one of you come with me, I don’t know if I can do it alone.”
Pinkie spoke up. “Fluttershy, we all already tried, if we come with you, he may be reluctant to let you in. You can do this, no problem.”
Fluttershy could tell her friends wouldn’t let her give up, so she reluctantly agreed to the plan. “Oh, all right, I’ll do it.”
Midnight Star was busy in his house trying to figure out the best kind of painting to make for Applejack and give it to her as an apology for yelling at her like he did without letting on that he was willing to have friends. “Come on think, what kind of painting can I make, UGH, I hate it when my creativity gets blocked like this, it’s only because I’m so upset over this whole mess.” He never was able to be creative when he was feeling bad about something. He paced back and forth in his living room in front of a blank canvas.
He finally took some time to cool down so he could think clearly. “Ok, now that I’ve calmed down, maybe now I can get creative here.” Before he could do anything though, a knock came at his door. “UGH, now what!” He was feeling frustrated now, he had just managed to get his creative juices flowing and start on his painting when he was interrupted.
He opened the door and was greeted by a yellow Pegasus pony. “Um, hello there,…. my name is…….Fluttershy.”
“For the love of Celestia, they sent this adorable shy thing to talk with me now, how in the hayseed am I supposed to be cold and distant with this one?! These ponies are REALLY playing dirty now.” “Can I help you?”
“Um, well, I was wondering…..if it wasn’t too much trouble…..if maybe I could….ask you to make a painting for me. You see, I heard from my friends…..that you’re an artist……and I was wondering….if I could ask you to make a painting for me.”
“Stay strong Midnight, no matter how adorable or shy she is, you MUST….STAY…..STRONG.” “I see, very well then, come inside and we can discuss this further.”
“Ok, um, thank you.” Fluttershy then followed Midnight into his home.
“You can at least be a little hospitable to her, just act casual and don’t let your guard down.” “You can make yourself comfortable on the couch if you want, would you like some tea before we get down to business?” He asked with an even tone.
Fluttershy gave a small smile at the offer of tea. “Oh yes please, I do like a good cup of tea.” She then took a seat on his couch.
Midnight Star then made his way into the kitchen to get started with the tea. “It won’t be too long.”
Fluttershy decided to look around the room, she noticed a painting off to the side of the room next to a blank canvas. It was a beautiful painting of a sunset as it came down between two hills with the trees near their base. The sky had wonderful shades of blue and orange across the sky. “Oh my, what a beautiful painting you have, did you make it yourself?” Fluttershy asked, a bit more confidence in her voice than she usually has.
Midnight turned to see what she was talking about. “Yes, I made that on my first day here, I’m glad you like it.”
Fluttershy shrank back to her usual shy self as she spoke again. “It’s very nice, are you….going to sell it?”
Midnight finally came back into the living room levitating two cups and a pot, he set them on the table and took a seat on the couch next to Fluttershy. He poured the tea in the cups as he answered. “Maybe in the near future, for now, I plan on using it to advertise my talents and pull in some customers.”
“I just know you’ll get lots of ponies to come to you with such a wonderful talent, we don’t have any artists like you here.” Fluttershy was feeling a bit less nervous as the conversation went on. Fluttershy took her cup and took a sip of the tea. “This tea is very good, thank you.”
Midnight took a sip from his own cup. “Thank you, now about this painting you would like me to make, would you like a scenery painting, something original, or perhaps a self-portrait. To be honest, I think I could make a marvelous self-portrait of you, you have such natural grace about you.” He said out loud without thinking. “IDIOT, don’t just compliment her out of the blue like that, you sound like you might have a crush on her!” He berated himself inwardly again.
Fluttershy blushed a little at the compliment. “You….really think so?”
“Too late to go back now moron, you can’t just say you didn’t mean to say that, you’ll hurt her feelings, and she seems like she can be easily hurt by the wrong thing.” Midnight cleared his throat before continuing. “*AHEM* well speaking from an artist’s point of view, so, what kind of painting would you like me to make for you?”
Fluttershy thought for a moment, since it was now up to her to try and get him to open up more, she needed a way to try and spend more time with him. She figured the self-portrait thing was the way to go. “I suppose the self-portrait thing sounds nice….if you don’t mind me saying.”
Midnight Star struggled to keep a straight face, a smile was threatening to come out from her natural adorableness and shyness. “Very well, a self-portrait it is, in order for me to capture the true you in my art, I’ll need to get to know you more, see where you live, get to know what you do for a living, and learn what you like to do in your spare time. If it is all right with you of course.”
Fluttershy smiled at Midnight. “That would be fine, whenever you want to come over to get started, you’re more than welcome to.” She took another sip of her tea.
“I don’t have anything going on right now, so how about we go ahead and get started, just lead the way to your house and we’ll begin. All I really need to do is make a sketch of you at your place, then I can make the painting when I come back.”
“Oh, um, all right, I guess that’s ok.” Fluttershy then got up and waited for Midnight to finish cleaning up with the tea. He then levitated his saddlebags onto his back with his sketch book, colored pencils, and his journal, which he always kept in there so he would always have it with him.
The two then made their way to Fluttershy’s cottage. Upon arrival, Midnight was impressed with her little home. “Wow, look at that, it’s like it’s just built out of a small hill, and look at all the bird houses and holes around it. She must have a lot of pets.” Midnight did not let his face show how much he thought the place looked nice. “So I take it from all these bird houses and animal holes, you have a lot of pets?”
Fluttershy looked to Midnight as she answered. “Oh no, the animals here aren’t my pets, they are my friends though, you see, it’s my job to take care of all the animals around Ponyville, I just love taking care of them, it is my special talent after all.”
Once again, Midnight found himself fighting back a smile on his face. “Cute, graceful, AND has a love of animals, this mare is just too much. I don’t know if I can do this, just make a quick sketch and get out of here fast.” “I think I can already get a good picture of what the theme will be for your self-portrait, definitely something natural.”
“That does sound nice. So what do we do now?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, I think it would also be good to get some of the animals you care for in the picture as well. Why don’t you get some of them with you and I’ll start on the sketch, from there, I ‘ll head home and get started on the painting.”
“Ok, I’ll call some of my animal friends over.” Fluttershy then called out to her animal friends and a whole mess of them came out. Some birds, a pair of ferrets, a few bunnies, one white one came up to her and stood right in front of her, and a big brown bear came out. “Midnight, this little white bunny is my special friend, his name is angel, he is my pet and best animal friend.”
“Right then, let’s get this over with.” The animals all stood where they were. Midnight was quick to pull out his sketch book, so quick that he failed to notice that his journal was caught up with it and fell out of his saddle bag. He levitated his sketch book and a number of colored pencils in front of him and began to draw.
After a few moments, he was done. “All right, there we go, you can all relax now. I’d better get going and get started on this, I’ll come by and let you know when it’s done, you can pay me for it then.” Midnight then placed his sketch book and pencils back in his saddlebag and quickly trotted away.
Fluttershy then noticed a black book on the ground. She tried to call out to him. “Wait Midnight, I think you forgot something.” He didn’t stop, he just kept going. “Oh dear, I hope this isn’t anything important. Maybe it’s one of those art books Twilight gave him. I should probably take it back to her then.” Fluttershy then made her way to the library.
Fluttershy entered the library and found Twilight at a desk reading a book while spike was napping. “Um, excuse me Twilight, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
Twilight then turned to face Fluttershy. “Flutteshy, hello, no, you’re not interrupting anything. How did your meeting with Midnight Star go?”
“Well, um, you see, I didn’t really get a chance to ask him anything. He did come over to my house and made a sketch of me with my animals, but he left in such a rush, he left something behind, I think it’s one of those art books you gave him.” Fluttershy then let Twilight take hold of it in her magical grasp.
Twilight eyed it carefully before responding. “This isn’t one of the art books I gave him, I wonder what it is.” Twilight opened the book to look inside. She could clearly tell it was some kind of journal as there was a date on one of the earlier entries. “This is a journal, this must be his journal. Fluttershy, do you know what this means?”
Fluttershy just looked at her curiously. “That we should give it back to Midnight before he misses it?”
Twilight did see sense in that statement, but she also couldn’t help but think that this was the chance she and her friends were waiting for. “Fluttershy, this could be an opportunity to finally learn what it is Midnight is hiding, once we do, we may finally be able to get him to open up to us.” Twilight skipped the first entry as it was dated the day Midnight arrived and figured it was just about how he managed to find a home or something. The next entry after that is what caught her eye. “What, that…..that doesn’t make any sense, why is this dated from over a thousand years ago?”
“What are you talking about Twilight?”
“I mean that this entry here is from about a thousand years ago, but how can that be when this book looks only a few years old? I need to check something.” Twilight turned back to where the inside of the cover had a date showing when the book was first made. Sure enough, the date was from over a thousand years ago. “That……that can’t be right, how is this possible?!” Twilight then turned back to the entry and decided to read it and see if that might shed some light on this mystery.
The journal read this.
Day XX Year XXX
My father has finally succeeded in his dark ambitions, he had conqured the Crystal Empire, he is now KING Sombra of the Crystal Empire, which makes me the prince of the Empire. I just don’t know what to say about all this.
End Entry.
Twilight’s face was practically pale with fear. Fluttershy saw this and tried to get her attention. “Twilight, are you all right, what is it, what did the journal say?”
Twilight kept her eyes on the journal as she responded. “Fluttershy, we need to get the others together now. This is bad, this is very bad.”
It was now Fluttershy’s turn to worry.
Author's Note
DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN, the son of King Sombra, who would've guessed it? Hope you all enjoyed the extended version, this story isn't over yet though, there's still a bit more to go.
Chapter 5: The Truth Comes Out
The girls had all gathered together to hear what the big news was that Twilight had to tell them, Fluttershy went to get them and made it sound urgent. Applejack was the first to speak once they were all together. “All right Twi, what’s all this about?”
“Yes, why was it so urgent that we had to come here?” Rarity asked.
Twilight began to explain. “As you all know, Fluttershy went over to Midnight Star to try and talk with him, she offered to hire him to do a self-portrait of her, she led him to her house where he made a sketch of her with her animals, once he was done, he left quickly. Fluttershy noticed a book he left behind by accident, thinking it was one of the art books I lent him, Fluttershy brought it to me. Upon inspecting it, I found that it was a journal, Midnight Star’s journal.”
Applejack gave a stern look to Twilight. “Now Twilight, I hope you didn’t go snooping in his personal belongins.”
Twilight continued. “I did actually, and I found something very disturbing, that’s why I called you all over here.”
“So what is this ‘disturbing thing’ that you found that you had to call us all over here?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts. She opened them and revealed her findings. “Midnight Star…..is the son of King Sombra.”
The girls all gasped in unison. Pinkie was the one to break the silence. “Are you…..sure about that? How could he be the son of that mean old King Sombra?”
Rainbow Dash then jumped in the air with a glare in her eyes. “Well what are we waiting for, if he’s the son of Sombra, he must be here to cause trouble and get revenge for what we did to his dad! I say we head over there and kick his sorry flank out of here before he does anything bad!”
“I agree, that brute Sombra was so mean to those beautiful crystal ponies, I say we head over there and give him a piece of our minds!” Rairity exclaimed.
Fluttershy tried to object. “But, don’t you think we might be over reacting, I mean…..he hasn’t done anything wrong has he?”
Applejack chimed in. “Maybe not yet, but do ya want ta give him the chance to? I’m with Rainbow and Rarity, let’s go get that nasty varmint and give him what fer!” The girls all then headed out the library, with Twilight carrying Midnight’s journal in her magic grasp, Pinkie and Fluttershy were the only ones who thought this was wrong and that the others were just jumping to conclusions. Four mares with glares, and two with worry on their faces marched through town to Midnight Star’s house.
Midnight Star was just about to get started on the painting for Fluttershy. “All right, time to get to work on this, I just know she’ll love it, she did like my painting of the sun set.” Before he could get started, there came a loud knock at the door. “NOW WHAT, why is it that every time I’m about to get started on a painting, I get a visitor?” Midnight walked to the door and opened it. He was greeted by six mares, four had scowls on their faces, while two others wore expressions of worry. “Oh, its all six of you, what do you want this time?”
Twilight levitated his journal into his view. “MY JOURNAL, how did you get that?!” He asked with surprise and anger.
Twilight began. “You left something behind at Fluttershy’s.” Twilight then slammed the journal on the ground in front of him. He looked down at it and back up at the ponies with confusion on his face. “We know who you are Midnight Star.” Twilight said with malice in her voice.
Fear became evident in Midnight’s face, his eyes shrank to mere pinpoints. “You….you read my journal, didn’t you?”
Rainbow answered. “That’s right, we know you’re the son of that evil King Sombra, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll clear out of here pronto!”
Midnight just hung his head to the side with a frown and narrowed his eyes. Rarity spoke next. “Did you really think you could keep this a secret for long, you are not welcome here.”
Applejack then came in. “That’s right, we don’t want no evil son of some evil tyrant in our town!”
Midnight then lifted his head and glared at them. “So that’s it, just because my father was evil you think I am, If you would just let me explain-“
Twilight cut him off. “We don’t want to hear anything you have to say, you would just try and trick us to let our guard down.”
Midnight’s glare grew fiercer. “I AM NOTHING LIKE MY FATHER, YES HE WAS EVIL, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN I AM! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through because of this?! For five years I’ve wandered from town to town, always having to move because eventually, some pony figures out who my father was! I have no intention of moving again, if you want me gone, you’re going to have to get Celestia herself to come and arrest me, but I haven’t done a single thing wrong since I first set hoof in this town have I?! You have no idea how much pain I’m in because of what my father did, of what he…….became.” He got quieter at this point. The girls soon began to realize that they may very well have made a mistake as their expressions softened. “I don’t intend on moving, as long as you just stay out of my way, I’ll stay out of yours and we won’t have any problems, GOOD DAY!” He then slammed the door shut, leaving six guilt ridden ponies outside.
They just stood there in silence for a moment, thinking about what Midnight said. Applejack was the first to break the silence. “Girls, I think we may have made a mistake here.”
Rainbow Dash agreed. “I think you may be right.”
Twilight walked up to the door and knocked, she spoke as nicely as she could. “Midnight, could you come back out, we’re sorry for accusing you of being evil.”
Inside, Midnight was slumped down on his haunches with his back against the door. “JUST GO AWAY, IF YOUDON’T WANT TO HEAR MY SIDE OF THE STORY, THEN I DON’T WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY EITHER, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” Midnight was practically crying at this point.
The girls realized they weren’t going to get to apologize to him today, so they all just left quietly to their houses, they figured they could try again tomorrow since he said he wasn’t going anywhere.
Midnight Star just stayed where he was as tears ran down his cheeks. “It’s not fair, it’s just not fair……why do I have to be judged based on what my father did, this is the first town I felt comfortable in enough to finally write in my journal again.” He then levitated his journal in front of him, he glared at it with tears still fresh in his eyes. “I never should have written in this stupid thing.” He then used his magic to open it and tear out every single page in it and ripped them all up in anger.
In his continued fit, he got up, made his way over to the center of the living room, lifted the table up of the ground with his magic and tossed it to the side with such force it broke. “RRRAAAAHHHHH!” He then turned his attention to the couch and bucked it, causing it to turn over and end up upside down. “IT’S NOT FAIR! WHY, WHY DID MY FATHER HAVE TO BECOME WHAT HE DID?!” He then turned to the blank canvas and used his magic to break it apart. “WHY? WHY?” His attention then fell on the first painting he made here in Ponyville. He levitated it up and glared at it.
He was about to tear it apart too, but a thought came across his mind that stopped him. He remembered the kind Pegasus he met earlier today, she was the first to see his finished work and showed great interest in it. He also remembered that when the ponies came over and told him that they knew who his father was, she and Pinkie were the only ones not glaring at him. Now that he thought about it, they actually looked worried. “I can’t stay here, no matter how much I want to, I just can’t, those ponies are going to tell everyone in town who my father was and I’ll never get any business. I really will have to move out, but where would I go from here, I’ve already been to every town in Equestria, I have nowhere else to go.”
More tears started to form in his eyes as he realized what this meant. “Guess I can no longer call Equestria my home.”
The next morning came, Fluttershy just finished with her breakfast when she heard a knock on her door. “Goodness, I wonder who that could be?” Fluttershy fluttered over to her door and opened it. When she did, she saw no pony around, but instead, a rectangular flat object wrapped in brown paper with a red ribbon floating in front of her. “What could this be?” She wondered to herself. As soon as she took hold of it, the enchantment holding it afloat dissipated. She opened the wrapping and saw a beautiful picture within. Her eyes widened in surprise, it was the painting of a sunset that Midnight made his first day in Ponyville. “Oh my goodness, what is this doing here?” She then quickly scanned the area for any sign of him, but he was nowhere to be found. Fluttershy got worried as to what this could mean, she placed the painting in her house and quickly flew off to Mdinight’s house.
Fluttershy came up to the house that was Midnight Star’s, she approached the door, but then stopped when she saw a sign on the front door. It read ‘For Sale’. “Oh no, Midnight, oh please still be here somewhere.” Fluttershy then flew off to the library to tell Twilight what she found out.
Twilight and the others had already agreed to meet up at the library to try and meet with Midnight Star to apologize for their actions yesterday. They were all just waiting for Fluttershy to show up. As they waited, there came a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.” Said Spike, he walked over to the door and opened it. “Hello, who’s there?” No pony was around, Spike then noticed a stack of books on the ground in front of the door. “Wait, these are the art books Twilight gave to Midnight, but what are they doing here?” Spike picked them up and brought them inside. “Hey Twilight, it looks like Midnight Star returned those books you gave him.”
Twilight then turned her attention to Spike. “What do you mean Spike?” She then saw him carrying the books. “But, why would he return them all of a sudden, especially after what happened yesterday?”
Fluttershy then burst in through the door. “Twilight, girls, Midnight Star is gone!” They all let out a gasp.
“WHAT, what do you mean he’s gone?!” Twilight asked with worry.
Fluttershy explained all she found this morning. “So that’s when I came over here to tell you all.”
“But I thought he said he wasn’t going to go away, why would he say that and just leave?” Pinkie asked.
Rarity spoke up with a possible answer. “It was because of us, we drove him away with our ridiculous assumptions.”
“We just gotta find him and let him know how sorry we are.” Applejack cried out.
“He can’t have gotten too far, I’ll find him.” Rainbow said as she flew out the door. The others followed behind. Spike stayed to watch the library.
Rainbow flew high up to get a good view over the town to try and spot Midnight Star, the others just waited down below for Rainbow to spot him. She desperately scanned the area for any sign of Midnight star so that she and the others could apologize and try to convince him not to go. “Come on, where is he?” She desperately asked herself.
Midnight Star was trudging along, making his way away from Ponyville. It wasn’t the first time he had to leave a town behind, but the ponies there were so much nicer than anywhere he had been, not to mention how persistent those six ponies were being when they tried to make him their friend. That just made it all the more painful to leave it behind. “Maybe once I find a new country to live in, I won’t have to worry about others knowing who my father was, chances are his reputation never left the boundaries of Equestria.” Midnight Star had decided that it was now best to leave the country he loved and called home behind.
Author's Note
And there you have it, chapter 5. Will Rainbow spot Midnight Star before he gets too far away, will the girls get to apologize to Midnight and convince him to stay? Find out in the next chapter of SECRETS.
Chapter 6: Midnight’s Past
Rainbow Dash hovered above the town, frantically searching for any sign of Midnight Star. “Come on, where are you?” She asked silently to herself. Then, off in the distance on the outskirts of Ponyville, she saw a pony figure walking away. “THERE HE IS!” She called down to the others. She flew back down and headed in the direction of the pony so the others could follow. They galloped as fast as they could to catch up to Midnight.
Midnight continued to trudge along away from Ponyville. “Midnight, wait, please don’t go!” Midnight stopped where he was when he heard a voice call to him with worry. He recognized it as the unicorn who gave him those art books, Twilight was her name he remembered.
He looked back and saw six ponies running up to him with fearful worry on their muzzles. Midnight turned completely around to talk with them with a scowl on his face. “What do you want, I’m leaving Ponyville like you wanted, what more do you want to do to me to make me suffer?”
Rarity was the first to speak up. “Midnight, dear, we didn’t come to make you suffer more.”
Applejack came in next. “We came here to apologize.”
Midnight Star felt a little spark of hope ignite within him, but decided this may very well be a trick and killed it. “Yeah right, just leave me alone already, you made it clear that you don’t want anything to do with me so just let me leave in peace.” He turned back around to leave.
Rainbow quickly landed in front of him to keep him from leaving. “No really, we feel real bad for accusing you and jumping to the conclusion we did.”
Fluttershy then spoke up. “Please Midnight, don’t go.”
Pinkie then jumped up in front of the goup. “We’re super-duper sorry for how we acted.”
Finally, Twilight chimed in. “Midnight, we’re willing to hear what you have to say if you still want to tell us about what happened to your father. Please Midnight, it was wrong of us to think you were bad just because of what your father did. I swear we will listen to you and believe you if you still want to talk.”
That small spark of hope came back a little brighter than before, he turned to face the others with a solemn expression. “You really are sorry, and are willing to listen to me?”
They all nodded in unison with a sad smile on their faces. Midnight even saw Rainbow nod yes out of the corner of his eye. Midnight did his best to try and keep that spark of hope within him in check, but this was the first time any pony said that they were willing to listen to him and hear his side of the story about what happened with his father. “And you promise to believe me?” They all nodded again. He tried to fight it, but a small smile appeared on his face. He turned to face them completely. He gave a deep sigh and sat on his haunches. “*SIGH* All right then, you have no idea how much this means to me.” Rainbow then came around from behind him and joined the others so she could hear his tale.
*Flash Back*
As you all know, my father is the one you all call King Sombra. The thing is……he wasn’t always evil like how you all saw him, he used to be a regular unicorn living a peaceful life. It all started about a thousand years ago. My father and I lived a happy life with my mother and his wife. Her name was Heart String, she was a beautiful unicorn mare with a pale pink coat and a white mane and tail with beautiful pink eyes. Her cutie mark, ironically enough, was a heart with strings attached to it. Her special talent was bringing smiles to others when they were down. She knew how to read others and figure out the best way to make them smile again.
Heart String and Sombra, yes his name was indeed Sombra, were very much in love, and loved me too. We lived happy peaceful lives. But one day, tragedy struck our family. My mother became deathly ill, at the time, medicine was so underdeveloped, none of the doctors then could figure out what was wrong with her, thus they couldn’t treat her. Eventually, she passed away after a month of getting sick. My dad and I were very devastated, but I think my dad took it harder than I did. A month after she died, dad started to lock himself in his room, only coming out once in a while to eat. I tried to talk with him and ask him what he was doing. All he said to me was, “Don’t worry son, soon we’ll be a family again.”
I didn’t understand what he meant by that. Three months went by with no change, one day when he was out of the room, I snuck in to see what he was doing. I couldn’t believe what I found out. He had books strewn about on a desk with dark spells in them, necromancy, soul summoning, raising the dead, all spell books that had to do with dealing with the dead. My father was dealing with black magic. “What are you doing in here son?” I heard my father’s voice and turned to face him. It wasn’t until this moment when I got a good look at him. He looked different than what he did before. Hid eyes had a tinge of green when they should have been brown, and the irises looked a little more narrow.
“Dad, what is all this, don’t tell me you’re going to try and bring mom back from the dead?” I asked him.
I couldn’t believe what I heard. “Dad, what are you talking about?”
He walked over to the desk as I stepped aside. “I only crave one thing now, power. I’ve been studying more than just these simple spells, I’ve been looking at all kinds of dark magic to increase my potential.” As he spoke, I could swear I saw his form change a little, his cutie mark which was of stars for his talent of mapping and observing the stars, was gone.
“But why, what’s happening to you dad?” I asked with fear.
He turned to me and he had changed even more, his horn had now become curved and turned a dark shade of red, his black mane and tail started to move on their own, as if they were being blown about. “I just had a desire to get more than what we have, soon my son, we will rule all of Equestria, and then the world. But first, we will conquer the Crystal Empire, it’s magic will be most useful in bending the other ponies to our will.”
“NO, dad you can’t mean that, why are you doing this?!” I couldn’t believe this, my father had gone insane, the only reason I could think of as to why this was happening, was because the dark magic he was studying was warping his mind and body.
“Soon son, we will be the masters of this world. Me as the king, and you as the prince, we will rule this world as father and son. HA HA HA HA HA! OH IT WILL BE GLORIOUS!” He cackled like a mad stallion. I was too afraid to do anything, but despite his madness, he still cared for me. I didn’t know what to do, I was too afraid to try and stop him, I hoped that if I did stay with him, I could find a way to convince him to give this up. So I just stayed by his side as he committed terrible acts. If I tried to stand in his way, I was afraid that he wouldn’t hesitate to do something terrible to me.
Eventually, he managed to take over the Crystal Empire and enslaved the poor crystal ponies there. I wished there was something I could do to help them, but there was nothing I could do. I decided that enough was enough, I was going to try and talk to him one last time to try and get through to him. I had my journal with me at the time which I used to keep track of my father’s actions, hoping that I could use it as some way to find a way to change him back. I went up to the balcony of the castle where dad was overlooking the empire. He must have sensed me approach as he began to speak. “Isn’t it glorious son, with this, we are one step closer to reaching our goals. Soon, the world will be ours.”
I walked up to him. “NO DAD, this is your dream, look at what you’ve done, what do you think mom would say if she saw you like this, what you’ve done, what you’ve become!”
He turned and glared at me. “YOUR MOTHER IS GONE, SHE WAS A WEAKLING, AND IF YOU DON’T WANT TO STAND BY MY SIDE, THEN YOU ARE JUST A WORTHLESS WEAKLING YOURSELF!”
Tears started to form in my eyes. “What’s happened to you dad, this isn’t you, you’re not like this, please stop this now before it’s too late!”
“If you can’t see the beauty in this, then you are not my son, leave my sight before I destroy you!” He said so cruelly.
It was at that moment that I knew my father was gone. I then remembered hearing about the elements of harmony, how they were used to seal Discord away in stone. I figured that maybe the princesses could use them to banish the darkness that took over my father’s heart. I was about to turn and leave, when suddenly, the princesses appeared in front of the balcony, hovering before us. My father turned to face them just in time to see them cast a powerful spell that turned him to shadow. Unfortunately, because of my proximity, I was caught in the spell as well, it didn’t turn me to shadow, but I was cast away with my father and sealed away for a thousand years.
When the seal finally broke, and we were set free, I still remembered all that happened. I ran away as fast as I could to try and get to the princesses in hopes I could convince them to use the elements of harmony on my father and turn him back to normal. Unfortunately though, I wasn’t fast enough. On my way to the palace, I was about halfway to the castle when I heard a huge explosion. I looked in the direction of the Crystal Empire and there was a massive explosion of colors coming from it.
I panicked, I feared the worst and headed back there. By the time I got there, everything was peaceful, the crystal ponies were happy, and there was a new prince and princess in charge there. I managed to find out what happened from the crystal ponies there. Apparently, the new prince and princess, with the help of six other ponies and a baby dragon, managed to find the crystal heart and used its power to defeat Sombra, he was shattered to pieces and destroyed. My father was gone, I had no family left. I didn’t have time to grieve for him though, as the crystal ponies soon recognized me and chased me away, when I tried to tell them my side of the story, they didn’t want to hear it, so I had to leave.
So, ever since then, I’ve wandered from town to town to try and find a new life for myself, but eventually, some pony manages to find out who my father was and I end up having to leave and find a new place. I never did find out who those six ponies and that little dragon was, but I don’t care, I just wish I could have known about them showing up so I could’ve at least tried and convince them to let me try and get the princesses to use the elements of harmony.
*End Flashback.*
“Finally, I came here, and you all know the rest.” Midnight finished his story with a few tears falling from his cheeks as he remembered the tragedy he had been through.
The girls all were crying as well, guilt filling them up as they were the ones who helped prince Shinning Armor and princess Cadence find the crystal heart and defeated Sombra. Twilight was the first to speak up. “Oh Midnight, were so sorry about your father, we had no idea. Can you ever forgive us?”
Midnight looked up at the girls. “You have nothing to apologize for, you already did for when you found me and said how sorry you were for assuming I was bad.”
Rarity came forward then. “No dear, you see, well……we are the six ponies who are responsible for what happened to your father, it’s our fault he’s gone.”
Midnight couldn’t believe what he just heard. “You, you’re the ponies who……I……I don’t.” He couldn’t speak, he was just feeling too sad and surprised by this news. “No, it’s…..it’s ok. I can understand why you did what you did. You were just trying to do the right thing, there was no way you could have known what I just told you, I……..I…forgive you.” He said with a sad frown.
The girls all ran over to him and embraced him in a group hug. They just had to do something to comfort him. Fluttershy then spoke up. “Oh Midnight, we are so so sorry about what happened.”
Pinkie then chimed in. “Yeah, first we accuse you of being a meanie, then we find out we’re responsible for you not having a father, can you ever forgive us?”
Applejack then came in. “Please don’t go sugar cube, we promise not ta tell anyone about who your father is.”
Rainbow then came in. “Yeah, if any pony does find out, we’ll defend you. You just gotta stay and let us make it up to you somehow for what we did.”
Midnight couldn’t believe this, these ponies truly did care about him. That small spark of hope that was in his heart was now a raging inferno. He could finally have a home here, and real friends. The girls finally broke the group hug and saw Midnight Star had a huge smile on his face with tears in his eyes. “You…..really want me to stay?”
They all nodded in unison with sad smiles and a few tears still in their eyes. Twilight stepped forward and spoke. “Midnight, we are very sorry for everything we put you through, please stay here in Ponyville and make it your home, we all want to be your friend.”
“Thank you, you have no idea how much this all means to me. I will then, I will make Ponyville my home, thank you so much everyone.” Midnight felt so light at that moment, he could take off like a bird. He could finally have a new home and real friends.
THE END!?