Seeing things in an unusual light

~~~~1,015 years later~~~~

At dusk, Luna did what she always did this time of year. She went out to the gardens to see her favorite statue; it was a monument to a very brave pony that gave his life so they could turn Discord to stone. His sacrifice only bought them seconds but it was all the time her and her sister, Celestia, had needed. Although it had been so long that she couldn’t remember how long it had been she always remembered the date. The only way that she could reward him now was to always be there on this day, the day of Discord’s defeat.

Celestia watched with sadness as Luna stared at the statue, while she knew that nothing she said could help her younger sibling. She knew that while she always showed respect and gratitude for the pony, it went much deeper for Luna. She remembered how that stallion, Midnight, had asked her permission to date Luna the night that Discord appeared. It would be a secret she would keep for the rest of eternity since she knew how it would only make Luna feel worse. She never forgot that night…

~~~about 1,000 years ago~ ~Celestia’s POV~~~

  “What?” I asked surprised and confused at his sudden and awkward question.

  “Do you think your sister likes me?” he repeated.

  “I find it hard to believe otherwise but why not ask her? Are you afraid?” I asked teasing him a little at the end.

  “I wanted to know if you would be okay with me dating your sister?” he asked back causing my expression to become even more amused. It was obvious the two liked each other but I could never resist making fun of him, just a little.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” I joked and with my simple answer his expression went from curious to almost depressed. When I noticed I revised my answer to, “Let me sleep on it.”

  “Of course,” he said looking sad but his eyes were brimming with hope. Before I could say anything else he left and that was the last time we spoke.

Later that night as I was thinking on how my little joke had gotten Midnight so down, I noticed something unusual. It was a pink cloud inside the castle raining chocolate milk but it looked like the cloud had a bite taken out of it. I looked around and noticed more clouds but only some of them had bites taken out of them. One trail went to my sister’s room while the other was leading towards the throne room.

I took off as fast as I could to follow the trail to the end but it didn’t end in the throne room but over in the castle gardens. I noticed two figures but the one definitely stood out, it looked like a cross between everything I’ve ever seen jumbled together. This made me realize that it was the same being that we had to stop before we obtained the throne, his name was Discord. The other figure was a unicorn that was firing spell after spell at the annoyed Discord, I assumed that was Midnight.

I hit Discord with my strongest spell but it barely fazed him while the unicorn was keeping him on the defensive. Suddenly the sides of the unicorn twitched and I noticed that it was an alicorn so obviously my sister, Luna, but where she learned those spells I had no idea.

Midnight’s POV

I knew time was of the essence as I raced my way through the castle for the Elements of Harmony. As soon as I saw Discord I immediately confronted him using a spell that will keep him in the castle gardens. The only way the spell would end is either when my magic ran dry or he finds another way loose. Luckily Luna showed up to help keep him at bay until I’d returned I used his clouds to create a trail leading to him.

My stomach was still a little queasy from eating all that cotton candy so quickly but hopefully it was worth it. I finally made it to the Elemental Vault as I always called it and seeing as I made the enchantment on the vault itself I think that should be its official name. Without wasting any time I opened the vault and grabbed the Elements inside with my magic before running back to the battle. Thoughts of me, as the hero, finally asking Luna out crossed my mind but I remained focused on the task at hoof.

I finally reached the gardens where Luna and Celestia were holding Discord off and without a word I tossed the sisters the box and we switched rules. They charged up the Elements while I used some newly discovered spells to keep him here and on the defensive. Just as everything seemed perfect and Discord would be defeated again one of my untested spells blew up in my face sending me backwards.

Discord sized this final moment to attack Celestia and Luna before they could unleash the power of the Elements. As soon as it happened my body reacted and I teleported between his attack and Celestia and Luna causing me to take his attack head on. I received only two things as a reward, Discords face going from cocky and hopeful to downright embarrassment causing me to feel even better about myself.

The two finished their attack turning Discord into stone again before they passed out. The only other thing I received for my heroics, I was certain Celestia and Luna wouldn’t die. They were definitely injured but they would live to fight another day. I tried to move towards them when I noticed what Discord’s final attack was meant to do and, with a proud and ecstatic look on my face, I teleported home before my world finally went black.

~~~~Present Day~~~~

Celestia shivered slightly as she remembered that night so long ago, the last time she saw her best friend Midnight. It was nearly a year before a statue of him was placed in the royal gardens but it captured her friend so well that it was worth the wait. Celestia released a huge yawn before deciding to turn in for the night. As she lay down she would’ve never guessed that there was someone as affected by his loss as Luna.

~~~Western Changeling Hive~~~

The last thousand years have been kind to the hive but that changed tonight. Almost noling knew what was approaching them from just beyond the borders but the few that did were very worried. The King just found out that a dozen Ursa Minors and a half dozen Ursa Majors were rampaging towards their hive. He knew that taking the fight to them would be impossible as noling dared enter the Redwood Forest.

  “Gather the elders,” King Ironheart told his guard urgently.

  “At once, sire,” they replied before hurrying into the depths of the hive.

It had been over a hundred years since the last Ursa attack on the hive. Usually when the Ursa’s came the changelings hid underground or in scattered clouds, however they didn’t have time for this course of action. It had been quite a while since Ursa’s got the drop on changelings but how they defeated it last time was lost to history. One by one the elders entered the room and sat on their cushions before the Queen finally arrived.

  “We’re missing an Elder,” Queen Sapphire said before the meeting began.

  “Elder Grazy is missing, your majesty,” an elder spoke up.

The Queen whispered something to a guard before the meeting began and with a quick, “Yes, ma’am,” he was gone. The guard rushed to follow his orders and find the missing Elder. She could be so unpredictable but on this night there’s only one place she would be. Inside an old building that was half destroyed by something or another stands a statue, a statue of a changeling hero named Midnight.

  “You wanted to see me?” she asked as the guard opened the door.

  “Yes the Queen wished to inform you of an Ursa attack, we have about an hour before they get here,” he said quickly despite being out of breath.

  “How many total?” she inquired further.

  “Eighteen. I’m sorry,” he answered knowing full well that this elder could take on an Ursa by herself.

  “Then the hive is lost. We would need his help to hold that many off till an evacuation could be completed but maybe,” she trailed off at the end confusing him but also giving him hope.

  “Come on then! You promised to return when we needed you to!” she yells at the statue.

That was how the unnamed changeling stallion spent the next half-hour, listening to her yell at the statue. He remembered something about Elder Grazy doing experiments on the statue but her findings were never posted. Eventually the ground started to shake as the Ursa’s got closer and the hive’s time got shorter. Suddenly Elder Grazy teleported the guard, the statue, and herself to the meeting room to tell them her plan.

  “Silence!” Grazy commanded since, as expected, the other elders were arguing over plans.

  “Elder Grazy good to finally see you here,” King Ironheart said happy that the other Elders quieted down.

  “Time is of the essence so no time to explain. You majesties would you kindly order this statue to return to the hive,” she asked politely and confused everyling but if it could save their hive.

  “Officer Midnight Shine of Equestria, I order you to return to the hive under the King’s order!” King Ironheart suddenly ordered through both his speech and the hive mind. At first nothing happened, except for the King feeling foolish, but after a few seconds the stone started to crack.

  “Midnight Shine has been dead for nearly a thousand years what makes you think an order will bring him back,” one elder spoke up not noticing the crack.

  “I know that your grandmother was his best friend here at the hive but you’ve got to let him go,” another said trying to sound motherly.

  “My grandma was more than his best friend! Midnight Shine is my grandfather! I just wanted to meet him,” she finished sadly before she started crying.

Everyling gathered around her for comfort in their final hour causing them all to not notice the statue. After a few minutes Grazy stopped crying for her dearly departed grandfather. However she was the first to notice that the statue was missing causing hope to flair inside of her. Another thing that she noticed was she couldn’t hear the sound of the rampaging Ursas but that sound was replaced by a humming noise.

Once again she teleported herself, along with the others, to the surface where the humming became even more noticeable but she eventually noticed something at the edge of the hive. She was going to use the Pegasus vision all changelings were blessed with to take a closer look when she saw an Ursa overhead. The once rampaging beast was surrounded in a light blue aura floating towards the figure on the edge of the hive.

That day was going to be the worst day for the hive but became one filled with mystery and awe. The statue that had vanished reappeared in the ruins that Midnight once lived and the figure was never identified. Grazy had suspected that it was her grandfather that saved the day once again but noling would know for certain. A few days later, one changeling stepped forward claiming that he’d saved the hive but with no other information the incident went down as a lucky coincidence. However deep within the Redwood Forest lay one very exhausted changeling. It had been nearly a week since he’d taken the Ursas away from the hive but levitating eighteen Ursas then battling them and replacing a statue you broke caused him to still be drained.