The Next Generationby RachWritesChaptersA Twinkle In Her EyeThe New StudentPreparations, Parties, and DisasterTrapped in The PastA Twinkle In Her EyeGenerations Written by: Midnight Rose and Sweetie-Bot-Error Chapter One A Twinkle in Her Eye A unicorn silhouette appeared in the front door of the dance hall. The loudspeakers were blaring their song and for Midnight Twinkle, the techno music wasn’t deafening, it was mesmerizing. The aubergine colored mare began to walk towards her target, the bar. Her goal tonight was simple, to get madly intoxicated in order to forget her horrible embarrassment. Almost as an afterthought, she studied the many stallions in the club with a cold, predatory look in her eye. She knew that she was probably the most attractive mare here, what with her deep purple coat, her eyes that were a bright neon green and her mane, a shimmering set of white-gold that hung now in a loose, teasing ponytail. None of these stallions were probably worth her precious time however, but Midnight winked flirtatiously anyways at one of them, the stallion was ogling her and giving her a lecherous smile. “What’ll it be ma’am?” The barmaid asked. Midnight smiled at her and pulled out her bits. She had been saving quite a lot for an excursion such as this one. “An appletini please, to start.” She said. The barmaid raised an eyebrow, but didn’t want to lose business so she said nothing. Midnight sighed as she gazed around the bar with a bored expression on her face. She’d had no luck lately, everything she tried, she failed. Midnight was a jeweler, and being one of the best in Canterlot had its advantages….but it also had its shortcomings as well. It was hard work trying to find that ‘special’ diamond for that one client who needed that style of ring….She didn’t even want to think about all the snooty clientele that had turned all of her fabulous designs down. Well, she knew for a fact that she could be snooty from time time. But who wouldn’t be when you had a fabulous lineage and a fabulous look about you!? However, the ‘fabulous’ lifestyle she led was now becoming, well rather dull. “Do you know what my problem is?” She asked the maid as she daintily sipped her drink. She felt a buzz, but she was still far away from her goal. The unimportant maid sighed and looked her in the eye as she smirked towards her. Midnight was very light weight, and even a half of one drink could get her tipsy. This maid though, knew right away since her breath smelled like booze already. “What’s your problem then, that you talk too much?” The maid asked snarkily. Midnight choked out a laugh, in a very unlady-like way and winked at the maid, who shook her head and turned away. Midnight answered her anyway. “My problem is that I think I’m in a funk. I mean, who in their right mind would order a turquoise and cats-eye necklace with a matching bracelet? Those gems don’t match at all!” Midnight said, unnecessarily raising her voice. The maid rolled her eyes and walked away from Midnight, who glared after her. “Fine! Who needs you anyways!? The Fabulous Midnight doesn’t need trivial things like ‘company’.” Midnight yelled after her, clearly lying. The other bartenders snickered a little as Midnight found herself shaking her hoof after the bartender, who was now halfway down the bar. Midnight blinked in surprise at the things she had just said, but their was another drink in front of her now, bought for her by the stallion down the bar. Midnight downed the drink quickly. Alcohol didn’t make problems go away, but it make you forget for a while. That was all Midnight could ask for at the moment. A day at court was a dream for most ponies. The chances of a lay pony ever getting the chance to be in the same room as Equestrian nobility was slim to none. It was a fantasy forever out of reach. For Princess Twilight Sparkle, court was just another day of grief. The popular image of a friendly atmosphere and hospitable hosts could not have been farther from the truth. Everyday was composed of various nobles insulting each other, bringing for their arguments, and then leaving. Twilight never even listened most of the time. She decides most the cases ahead of time, just to cut down on the headache. Today was an exception. Today marked the anniversary of Twilight’s ascension. As such, see decided it was only fit that she be allowed one day’s reprieve from the endless bickering. While the rest of Equestria was busy preparing for the celebrations, Twilight lay snug in her bed. The cold air nipped at anything not under the covers. She reflexively pulled the sheets further up her neck, attempting to shield her body from the world outside. Even after all the years apart, Spike was still managing to be a bad influence on her. Though, Twilight still missed Spike. He was a fully grown dragon now, and he had a family. Twilight sighed, she finally opened her eyes and she blinked to get most of the sand mare's dust out of them. As she finally slipped out from her bed, her hooves touched the cold floor of the castle. The early morning air made everything frigid to the touch. She hurriedly slipped on her slippers, and she allowed herself a minute to savor the warmth. She made her way over to the balcony, to gaze upon the bustling cityscape below. In the past, Canterlot had been much more serene, but it now was a vastly high-tech city. Still, the inhabitants had not forgotten their history. Many of the old structures still stood. Twilight could even point to her fillyhood home. It was this past that the citizens of Equestria were remembering, and Twilight wasn’t about to sleep through a trip down memory lane. Today could not have been more perfect either. The Princess had called for clear skies all across Equestria, so that everypony could be outside enjoying the world she had kept for them. Twilight would be joining them of course, but at her real home. As she stood at the balcony, she heard a creak at her chamber door. To her pleasure, it was her big sister. “Good morning Twilight. Enjoying the view I see” “Good Morning Cadence. Yes, I thought it would be good to see everypony preparing for today.” “The entire nation is preparing for the anniversary, even the Crystal Empire. Could you imagine if you actually had to organize all of the events?” Cadence was of course joking, but Twilight did try and do that before. She slept for three days thereafter. “Don’t worry,” she chuckled. “I learned my lesson.” “Knowing you though, you must have something planned for yourself. You’ve never been the type to lounge around during such an occasion.” Twilight smiled in excitement. She did indeed have plans. “I’ve decided to visit Ponyville again. It’ll be nice to go back home for the day, maybe two. I could stay in the library!” “If it’s still there. I don’t think even a sleepy town like Ponyville skipped all of tech age.” Cadence did bring up an excellent point. Ever since ponies discovered how to mass produce metals, technological advancements came faster than ever before. Twilight new better than anypony how much had changed. “Well, I don’t think they’d get rid of the library. I’d have to approve of it if they did.” “You have a point. I’ll leave you to get ready. Hope you enjoy yourself.” With that, Cadence departed towards the door, but turned back just before leaving. “Oh and Twilight, don’t forget that the ponies there have changed as well. They’re not the same one’s you knew.” Twilight let out a sigh. She hadn’t wanted to think about that, but she had actually planned to visit her old friends homes while she was there. She didn’t know exactly why. “I know.” As Cadence left, Twilight looked east, off towards the rising sun. Oh Celestia, why did everything have to change? She could feel a tiny tear rolling down her cheek.. Midnight sighed and gritted her teeth as the pounding migraine pushed its way into her head once more. The morning after her late night clubbing had taken its toll on her body. She knew that there wouldn’t be any partying today, which was disappointing because it was one of the most celebrated day of the year. To make matters worse, Midnight’s adorable, yet annoying sister was dropped off for the day. It was as if the universe was laughing at her pain and suffering. “Hey big sis!!!! Mom says you gotta take care of me, since bro’s out for the day!” Wish-Petal’s voice echoed through her door, making Midnight cringe. “What did I do to deserve this?” She mumbled in agony. “Can you just let me get ready for a minute, Wish?” Midnight asked as she fumbled out of her bed. Wishing-Star wasn’t too bad actually, most of the time. But being a blank-flanked filly she and her friends had gotten themselves into some troubles trying to find their cutie-marks. Midnight snickered as memories of her own childhood came to mind. “Oki doki! Just let me know if I can do anything to help you out! Ooh, are these new gems!? They’re so sparkly!” Wish replied. Oh no, please don’t go into my new gems….Those were so hard to get my hooves on! Midnight thought, her now anxious mind showing her little sister pulling out her many beautiful gems and spilling them everywhere. “Don’t touch anything Wish! I’m coming down!” Midnight yelled back, wincing yet again. Oh dear Twilight, I hope this won’t be too rough of a day. She thought. But knowing her luck, Midnight’s sister would cause her more pain than she was already in. Wish and Midnight were very close so the surprise visit wasn’t a burden...Well, not too much of a burden As Midnight walked down the stairs she noticed something very odd, the quiet. It was almost too quiet. Narrowing her eyes, Midnight turned around and sharply turned the corner. There her sister was, sitting on the floor, playing a nice cute little game. Midnight sighed, but she wasn’t truly calm yet. She knew her sweet little sister had a short attention span, and this game could only last for so long. “What’re you playing there, Wish?” She asked. Wish tilted her small pink head up towards her and blinked her bright green eyes right at her. This melted Midnight’s heart, and she sat down on the carpet next to her. “I’m playing Princess! See? I’m Twilight, and you’re Cadence!” She said, showing off her two dolls. Midnight smiled. She had never really cared too much for the political aspects of being a Princess, but seeing her little sister so enthralled with the prettiness of the dolls,made her smile. “Why do I always have to be Cadence?” She asked with a little whine. “‘Cause.” She replied. Midnight rolled her eyes, she was in no mood to fake argue, she got up off the floor and walked back into the kitchen. She wanted to sleep in all day, but the sudden arrival of her sister had stopped those plans. Midnight sighed, for what seemed like the millionth time today, and walked into her kitchen, and got ready to make herself and her sister breakfast. Twilight smiled as the ponies gathered around her. Everypony was cheering and smiling, and Twilight couldn’t help but smile back. ‘’Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight we love you!” One pony shouted. This made Twilight blush, ponies in the past wouldn’t even recognize her Princess-hood. She knew that she had told her friends not to call her Princess, but now that she was being idolized, it was quite the change. “Thank you everypony, I’ll be around for the ceremony tonight. But for now, I’ll be a bit busy back in Ponyville.” Twilight replied. The crowd blinked in surprise. “Ponyville?” Somepony asked. “Why would anypony go to that boring old town?” Another one inquired. Twilight gritted her teeth, sometimes these stuck-up Canterlot ponies were very annoying. She sighed, shook her head and smiled kindly. She didn’t want to explain why she did things to them, these ponies who only cared about her status. She wanted ponies who would truly care for her. Well, she hoped they would. Still with a smile on her face, she took off into the sky. Her wings made a shadow around the confused crowd of ponies and Twilight took off towards her old home. The New StudentThe Next Generation Chapter 2 The New Student. Midnight lay asleep in her bed. Visions and sounds of the night before were pouring into her dreams and she sighed happily as she remembered that very sweet stallion who made her feel loved. She giggled in her sleep and murmured something incoherent and she was completely unaware of the little lilac filly entering her room at the moment. Wish sighed and walked over to her sister’s bed, she was getting tired of her sister sleeping in until noon whenever she visited. It was like she didn't even want to spend time with her! So with a wiggle of her little behind, she braced herself and gave a small, but mighty leap onto her elder sister’s bed; Getting a rather satisfactory yelp of surprise from Midnight. “Hey! It’s past noon, get up already!” Wish nagged. She pulled off her sister’s bed-sheets and smirked. Midnight groaned and got up, her usually styled mane was in a curly mess, which made Wish snicker even more. “Urgh, why couldn't I just sleep a little bit longer? I had a busy night last night. I’m gonna sleep until three okay?” Midnight replied. She grabbed her covers with her teeth and pulled them over herself, her sister though saw this and came at her with her own. The two fought over the covers for a while, until Midnight became annoyed with this and she used her magic to toss her sister off her bed. “Hey! What the heck? I’m just trying to get you to wake up! You were supposed to help me find out what my special talent was today, remember?” Wish whined, she pouted a little and this made Midnight soften up a bit. “Oh yes, I did promise that...didn't I?” Midnight replied. Wish nodded, and Midnight sighed. “Alright... Just let me get ready and we’ll go outside...” Midnight grumbled. “Yay! Don’t take forever okay sis? I really wanna see if my talent has anything to do with fireworks!” Wish replied with a hop. FIREWORKS? Wherever did she get that idea from!? Midnight thought in shock as her sister gleefully skipped out of her room. She counted four hooves when she got out of bed. She hoped that number would be the same by the end of the day. Twilight sighed in relief as her hooves landed on the soft ground. She’d been flying all night, and she was very tired, but the promise of seeing her old home once again put a smile on her face. Ponyville looked almost the same, some of the buildings had been modified a little mostly due to the fact of being old and needing better structure, but other than that...it looked just like the Ponyville she remembered. She hadn't been here in ages, the last time she’d paid a visit to the sleepy town was while they were planning for the summer sun celebration, and that had been ten years ago. She didn't have much time back then to take in the sights. Today she would make up for lost time. As she made her way down the street, she noticed many new buildings had popped up. She could still remember where the most important locals were. City hall had barely changed, the only major difference being some newer paint and better roofing. A few other places still stood. Sugar Cube Corner and Carousel Boutique were the same buildings, but had been converted into other establishments, mostly clubs. Even Sweet Apple Acres was still in business, though obviously modernized to meet higher demand for their many products. Tractors and shakers replaced a pony bucking each tree and hauling the fruits away. No pony ever had to worry about getting their fix during cider season. Twilight wondered who lived in her old library now. It certainly was no longer a library, while it still held the old structure of the giant oak, it looked more like a quaint cottage. This made her a little sad, but she knew that things would have to had changed at some point. Looks nice enough she thought to herself. I wonder if anypony’s home? When she walked up to the door, she couldn't hear anything moving around, but she decided to knock, just in case. On her first tap, the door creaked open. Apparently, whoever lived there had forgotten to lock up, or maybe they just wanted visitors. Twilight debated whether waltzing in on a pony’s home would be rude, but it was her home at one point. She did want to know what had become of it. Curiosity eventually got the better of her. As she walked inside, she got a whiff of a perfume so strong it made her sneeze. She smiled and shook her head as she walked further inside. The library had been completely transformed into a fashionable looking home. There were still many bookshelves, but not as many of her once precious books lined them. Twilight gritted her teeth as she quietly looked at everything. Although Twilight was a little miffed that her library was gone, she had to admit that this pony had at least some sense of style. Twilight had never been too enthralled in decorating her home. Even her castle in Canterlot was bare compared to most nobles. Still, whoever lived here had made the princess feel somewhat comfortable, even though it was different from what she was used to. “See, I told you firework shows weren't your talent.” Midnight scolded, with a little hint of a smile as she and her scorched sister walked back home. “Well, then what is my talent!? What if I’m not good at anything? I’ll be a laughing stock!” Wish replied, not noticing that random ponies were snickering at her mane. Her usually frizzy bright pink and yellow mane was now sticking up in all directions, Wish sighed and kicked up some dirt. Midnight stopped and sighed, she herself had once feared the very same thing. But once she had earned her cutie mark, she had felt so special, and having a very unique talent made the occasion even better. “Like, all I’m saying is. You got your’s just by overcoming your fears, and learning new skills, blah de blah...so why is it so hard for me!?” Wish gripped with an angry pout. Midnight smiled and put a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “Well, maybe you just need to wait a little while...It’s very hard, I know. But everypony gets theirs eventually.” Midnight replied. Wish blinked, usually when she ranted on and on about her cutie mark troubles her sister didn't seem to care...Mostly Midnight ignored her. But her saying this made her smile again. “Thanks. I just hate waiting! Hey, is there a cutie mark for being a really patient pony?” She asked. Midnight laughed, “I’m not sure.” She replied, making Wish grumble. As the two sisters walked up to Midnight’s home, the noticed something a little strange. The door was wide open. Midnight was certain she had locked it...or did she? Fear began creeping up on her and her face paled. Wish looked equally scared, some of her favorite dolls were in there! What if some creepy pony had come in and stolen them? The two sisters huddled up together and entered the house. At first, Twilight didn't hear anything. She was too busy looking at all the knick-knacks and family pictures. This mare seemed to be related to somepony who looked very familiar. A frame of a single, elderly looking blue unicorn hung near the fireplace. She was smiling and waving in the picture, something Twilight hadn't ever seen her do before. It couldn't be...Trixie!? Twilight thought in surprise. No, the Great and Powerful Trixie would never settle down in Ponyville. She was too proud. Much less have a family. Twilight was genuinely perplexed, but pictures didn't lie. Whoever lived in the library now must be related to Trixie. Who could it be? She only needed to turn around to get her answer. Midnight and Wish were standing right behind her. Jaws dropped open and hanging, the two were wearing almost identical expressions. Although, Twilight wondered why the older looking one looked angry, while the younger one just looked star-struck. She also wondered why the littler pony looked like she’d been burnt. “Uh, hello.” Twilight said sheepishly. She knew that she was in trouble, the older and darker purple mare was looking daggers at her, but then she blinked in surprise as her little sister, Twilight was guessing at this point since she had no idea who they were, ran up to her and started to hop excitedly. “Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow! Sis, d’you know who this is!?” Wish asked. She smiled up at the older looking unicorn and beamed. Midnight rolled her eyes and tried to push her sister behind her, which, unfortunately didn't work. “Yeah, I know who she is. She’s an intruder...so that means she could be dangerous.” Midnight replied in a deadpan tone. She didn’t seem to care that one of the rulers of Equestria was standing in front of her. “No, no! I’m not an intruder...well, I am, but I didn’t mean to frighten you!” Twilight explained frantically. Midnight stopped her glaring, if only a smidge, and looked at Twilight again. After a minute of thought she sighed and walked over to Twilight, glared at her with her piercing green eyes, and Twilight gulped. “But how do we know that you're not a changeling? Why else would the Princess of Magic just randomly barge into my home without any invitation? Why else would she look so frightened why?-” Midnight’s rant was interrupted by Wish’s poke. “What’s a changeling? They sound scary.” She asked innocently. Midnight sighed. What are they teaching fillies and colts nowadays? She asked herself as she continued her glaring at the stunned Princess. Now that reminds me of Trixie. Twilight thought, she smirked a little but then stopped when she noticed Midnight was still glaring at her. “Well, I can assure you that I am no changeling.” Twilight replied. Midnight ‘humphed’ and gave a little intimidating smile. “Prove it.” She replied snarkily, making Twilight flinch. “Tell us something that only the real Princess would know.” Midnight continued, loving this advantage. “Oh, well that’s an easy one.” Twilight replied. She looked at Wish’s hopeful expression and this sparked an idea. “When I was really little, I was given a doll.” She said. Using her magic she transported Smarty Pants from out of her chest in her room in her castle, and into the air in front of her. Wish’s eyes widened and Midnight’s narrowed. “Her name’s Smarty Pants. She’s been with me my whole life, and well, I think it’s time that she and I part.” She continued. A tear leaked out of Twilight’s eye as she levitated the old doll down and placed it into the filly’s hooves. “Thank you so much...I’ll treasure her.” Wish said in a whisper. She held the doll close to her and tried very hard not to hurt her. “See? Would a changeling do that?” She asked. Wish could not contain her excitement and, for once in her life she was completely and utterly lost for words. Midnight however was not. “I guess not...but still, how’s a doll supposed to gain my trust?” Midnight asked. Twilight sighed, whoever this mare was she wasn’t very trusting. She seemed insecure, which also reminded her of Trixie. “How about this...Who’s that in the picture over there?” She asked, pointing to the picture of Trixie. Midnight smiled a little, sad smile. “That’s my great-grandma Trixie. She was actually my grandma, but she made everypony call her ‘great’ anyways. She was pretty cool.” Midnight replied. “Was?” Twilight asked. Midnight's stormy expression changed almost instantly. She had been trying her hardest to be strong about her grandmother’s passing for a while now, but some stray tears had finally decided to fall down her cheeks. Twilight noticed her tears and sighed. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea...was it at least a peaceful passing?” She asked quietly. Wish sniffled and Midnight nodded. “Yeah, she...she went in her sleep.’’ She replied. Twilight, with a sad look on her face, went over to the now crying Midnight and tried to nuzzle her. At first, she was as stiff as a brick, but after a while she let the kind Princess try and comfort her. “If it helps, I used to know Trixie when she was about your age.” She said, her voice a little muffled due to the fact that she was holding in her tears. “Y-you did?” Midnight asked meekly. Twilight nodded. “W-what was she like?” Midnight asked again, looking up at Twilight with sad eyes. Twilight smiled a tiny smile, “well she was a lot like you, to be honest. I think she would be proud.” She replied. Midnight sniffled, a week before she had died, Grandma Trixie had said she’d loved her and was very proud of both of her little ponies...Midnight couldn’t believe that Twilight would think something like that, but, deep down...she knew it was true. “Wow...I guess you really are the Princess.” Midnight exclaimed after a while. She bowed down and sighed, “I’m so sorry I was so rude before. I’m just not very sociable is all.” She said making Twilight smile. “Oh that’s alright. I was actually like you when I was younger. I didn’t even have any friends, and my brother was all the way in Canterlot. You’re very lucky to have such a good friend in your sister.” Twilight replied. Midnight smiled and pulled her sister, who smiled back, close. “Yeah, I guess you're right. My brother lives in Canterlot, so I kinda know how you’d have felt. He’s studying to be a guard pony right now. Kind of a long-shot though, since he’s more of a geek than a jock.” Midnight said with a smile. Twilight laughed, and beyond that laugh was a feeling of deja view. Her own brother had become the Captain of The Royal Guard, and once Twilight was placed in charge of Equestria along with Cadence, King of The Crystal Empire. He was now the only living male alicorn. This mare’s brother probably wanted to become like Shining Armor. Twilight thought. She had gained a sort of kinship with this mare, and she didn’t even know her name. Twilight giggled to herself, she had been so surprised she’d forgotten to even ask. “What’s so funny?” Wish asked. Twilight giggled some more, “oh...Yes, well I’ve just realized something very important that I completely forgot….I forgot to ask you what you’re names are.” Twilight replied between giggles. Midnight giggled with Twilight and smiled, “my name is Midnight Twinkle you’re highness.” She said. Wish hopped up and down, “and my name is Wishing Star! But everypony just calls me Wish!” she exclaimed happily. Midnight poked Wish in the ribs and Wish gulped, “oh, I’m sorry I mean you’re highness.” Wish said, trying to recover her manners. The little pony tried to bow, but ended up putting her nose to the ground. She was just too short. Twilight laughed a little at this silly display and shook her head. “There’s no need to be so formal.” Twilight said with a kind smile. “I’d rather be friends here than your Princess.” Midnight couldn’t believe her luck, she thought that she’d be in at least some amount of trouble for being so rude, but Twilight seemed to actually like her. Midnight wondered what Twilight had meant when she said that she was like herself, surely she had at least some friends, unlike Midnight who had none. “Wait, you said you were like me...What did you mean by that?” She asked curiously. Twilight smiled, “I didn’t really have a lot of great social skills. I’d rather keep my nose in a book then get to know other ponies.” “But you seem so personable. How did you change?” Midnight asked curiously. “I had the help of some really great friends, who I miss very much.” Twilight replied. Midnight smiled, “sometimes I wish I had friends...but nopony, except my family really seems to care about me.” She replied sadly. Twilight smiled at her. “Would you like to learn how to make friends?” She asked. Midnight’s smile fell a little, she had no idea how friendship even worked, but this opportunity didn’t happen every day. So, after a while Midnight nodded. “Very well. I'm putting you in charge of preparing for the celebrations.” Twilight said. Midnight was shocked at the sudden assignment. "What?!" "The fastest way to meet ponies is to have to do something with them. Now, you'll need to find ponies arrange the food, decorations, and entertainment." Twilight kept going on, while Midnight stood stone still with her jaw on the floor. “But what if nopony takes me seriously?” She asked. Twilight smiled, “Just tell them that you are my student, that should be a good ice breaker.” She replied. Midnight nodded and sighed. This week had just gotten a whole lot harder. “What about me!? What can I do?” Wish asked, she was tired of staying so quiet for so long. Midnight had wondered why her sister had kept so quiet, usually she talked her ears off. Twilight laughed. “Well for now, you can get cleaned up. I’m sure you can help your sister with something...maybe you could hold the checklist?” Twilight suggested. Wish beamed, she had perfected the basic levitation spell a while ago and she had been dying to try it, so this was a win-win. “Okay! I’ll try and do my best!” She said happily raising her hoof in a salute. Midnight sighed, “Just don’t annoy me while I do this okay?” She said. Her sister laughed, she knew that sometimes she could be ‘annoying’, but at least she got her sister’s attention while she was. “Good, now I think you should get going now. Here’s the checklist.” Twilight replied, making a checklist appear with her magic. "I'll be back later to check up on you. Just remember one thing." Midnight stared at her, waiting for her to finish. "What is it?" "Have fun!" In a flash, Twilight teleported out of the library, leaving Midnight to start her new job. Preparations, Parties, and DisasterThe Next Generation Preparations, Parties, and Disaster Everything Twilight had said was swimming through Midnight's mind as she waited. Wish was taking forever to get cleaned up, and she was becoming impatient. The wait was good though, for she needed time to think all of these life-changes through. She was now Princess Twilight’s student! That was probably way more profitable than being a simple jeweler, then again, she had no idea what kind of perks there was to being a Princess’s student...yet. She certainly was going to ask. “I’m done!” Wish called. Midnight sighed in relief, her sister walked out of the bathroom with a big smile on her face. Her mane was pulled into a towel and she was wearing one around her body. She looked pretty adorable. “Well, it’s about time.” Midnight said, trying to sound annoyed. She was failing because of how awkward and cute Wish looked. “Hey! You try and get frizzy hair to go straight after its been pretty much destroyed by fire...I had to use some of your miracle growth shampoo.” Wish replied, she lowered her eyes in shame. Midnight’s eyes widened and she tried not to laugh. She was a bit annoyed that Wish used her expensive shampoo, but it wasn’t a surprise that she had to use it. She just hoped she hadn’t used too much. “It’s fine, as long as you didn’t use the whole bottle. Come on, we should probably get going.” Midnight replied. She used her magic to help her sister dry off, and her eyes widened in surprise as she lifted the towel off her sister’s mane. Her once frizzy, unkempt mane, was now very sleek and pretty, it looked very nice. “Wow!!” Wish said happily. Midnight laughed and the two of them walked out of the house and into the streets. Ponyville was bustling with tons of different ponies. Some of them stared at the two attractive sisters as they walked by, Wish flaunted her new beauty while Midnight smiled coyly. Midnight knew how to handle all this attention, but her sister didn’t. Wish was beaming proudly and Midnight couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Okay, what’s the first thing on the list?” Midnight asked. The two sisters were done all their parading and Wish smiled, “hm...Official Overseer’s Checklist….blah blah, um...oh here it is! It looks like the first thing we need is food.” She replied. The obvious place to go would be to Sweet Apple Acres. In addition to harvesting the apples, the farm made all sorts of apple treats, perfect for the anniversary celebration. Nopony could resist old style apple brown betties! “Alright, let’s head over to the apple farm. We’ll see if we can talk to anypony there and get them to cater for us.” Wish nodded in agreement, and hopped eagerly onto her big sister’s back. “OK, let’s go!” Midnight stood stone still, looking back towards the would-be passenger on her back. “And why do you think I’d carry you over there?” “Well, I can’t take any chances with these gorgeous locks.” she replied, running a hoof through her mane. “What if I trip and fall in the dirt?” Midnight, continuing to stand, stared at her diva of a sister until she dismounted. “You’re becoming more like me every day.” She said, reminding herself to hide the shampoo when she returned home. Sweet Apple Acres wasn’t too far, but even so, Wish was very tired. Her stubby legs weren’t very suitable for long walks, and Midnight felt a little bad for her. “Are we there yet? My hooves are killing me.” Wish complained. Midnight rolled her eyes, but nodded and smiled. Wish beamed as she saw all of the beautiful apple trees around her. She had never been to Sweet Apple Acres before, and this was very exciting! Midnight however, wasn’t too impressed. She wasn’t an easy mare to impress, and a simple apple farm didn’t seem too exciting. The two mares wandered down the dirt path until they came to the farmhouse. It was a small, quaint house, with red bricks and very nice paint. Midnight smiled as she walked up to the house, and knocked. “What do we say?” Wish whispered. Midnight actually had an idea, but she didn’t have time to explain, because a mare with a creamy yellow coat and a soft yellow mane answered the door. Her mane was very wavy, and she blinked in surprise as Midnight smiled at her. “Hello there, my name is Midnight. I am Princess Twilight’s personal student, and I-” Midnight was stopped in her tracks as she felt her hoof being shaken violently. “Well, ain’t this an honor! The name’s Honey Butter. What can I do ya for today?” Honey replied, cutting Midnight off. Midnight sighed and Wish tried not to giggle at Honey’s accent. Midnight’s forced smile wasn’t even noticed by Honey, so Midnight continued ‘smiling.’ “I’m here to help Princess Twilight with her Coronation Anniversary Party, and your fine establishment was on the top of the list.” Midnight exclaimed, this statement made Honey smile. “Well, ah ain’t too sure if this place is ‘fine’ enough for yeh fancy ponies, but we’ll do our darndest to make sure nopony goes hungry.” Honey replied. Midnight blinked and Wish laughed, she liked this mare and Honey smiled at Wish’s happy expression. “Well, I think that this place will do. I admit it seems a bit...rustic for a Princess, but if she thinks its suitable, then I will too.” Midnight said. Honey smiled kindly, she Midnight and Wish walked down the dirt path towards the farm. The ponies walked in an awkward silence. “So, how’re you likin’ the farm?” Honey asked. The three ponies were now in a large flower covered field, and there was a bright colored blanket with many decorations hung over the trees. “I’ve already started to decorate a little.” Honey explained, as Midnight looked over the decorations. Well, there will be less to decorate now, so that’s no big deal. Midnight thought. “This is so pretty! Is this where the dinner is gonna take place?” Wish asked. Honey nodded proudly, “Yup, but It needs a bit more decoratin’. Too bad I don’t have any fancy magical powers like you do.” She replied, looking at Midnight in particular. Midnight sighed, she had feared this. Honey was probably going to make her do most of the work now. She shook her head. “Sorry, but I’ve got important business to take care of. We gotta go see who’s in charge of….Wish?” She asked, looking at her sister. Wish blinked in surprise, she had been too busy looking at all of the pretty decorations to even notice her sister. “Oh! Right, uh...we’re supposed to find out who’s in charge of entertainment.” Wish replied as she looked at her list. Midnight grinned and nodded stoutly. “Well, it’s been great really, but we must be heading now. Come on, Wish.” Midnight said. Wish smiled and waved to Honey who sadly waved back, “I hope you don’t miss this party. It’s gonna be the best one of the year I bet.” She replied. Honey’s eye gave a little twitch as she said this, and Midnight wondered why. She seemed to have lost her accent as well. Midnight’s ears flicked backwards and she walked away from the still twitching Honey and joined her sister, who was already halfway down the road. “Why’d you slow up back there?” Wish asked as they trotted along. “I thought you were right behind me.” Midnight sighed at this, she had no idea how to explain to her young, innocent sister that who they had just talked to what might be a crazy farm pony. Especially since she had seemed to like her. “I uh, I just thought I heard something strange that’s all.” Midnight replied, lying only a little. Wish nodded, she didn’t seem to know when Midnight was lying, so the older mare sighed in relief. She would tell her if that pony did anything dangerous, she told herself making her guilt waver for now. “Ooh, look at this place!” Wish exclaimed excitedly. They stopped at a strange looking house, it had a big stone structure, and the windows looking outside looked to be like stained glass. Midnight blinked in surprise as she noticed this, and wondered how well off this pony was to even afford something like that. The house looked more like a church, Midnight noticed as the walked, it had a very nice garden and a wrought iron fence around the entire thing. Wish had never been to a church before, so she only thought this place looked very pretty. As Midnight knocked on the door, she noticed something strange. All the lights seemed to be out, or dimmed down. Because there was little to no light coming through the door’s tiny window. “Maybe nopony’s home?” Wish asked. Midnight shrugged and then started as the door slowly creaked open. “Who’s there?” A musical, but quiet voice asked. “Uh...Midnight Twinkle, miss. I’m Princess Twilight’s new protege, and it says on the list of preparations that you are the one in charge of entertainment?” Midnight replied. The voice sighed and a light pink hoof opened the door so that the two ponies outside could see her. Midnight tried not to gasp, the pony was wearing a lot of makeup (more than she ever wore), black mascara donned her eyes and white eye-shadow on her lids. She wasn't wearing any lipstick, thank Cadence, but Midnight could swear she was wearing a little bit of blush. Her mane was beautifully long, and it was red with black streaks. Her bangs were styled, but still a little rough. “Hello there I’m-” Midnight was cut off by the mare’s sigh. “I heard you, you’re the Princess’s new student, well congratulations. I don’t care. I do however, care about performing and if it says I’m on the list, well, that’s just fine. My name is Vogue, and I’m guessing you are here to check up on me?” She asked looking at the two mares suspiciously. Midnight glared, how dare this mare interrupt her!? She had just about enough of all these rude ponies...but she didn't want to get into trouble. So, sucking in a deep calming breath and swallowing her pride, Midnight forced a smile. “Yes, we are. It’s Princess Twilight’s orders. So if you wouldn't mind us coming in and seeing what the entertainment is?-” Midnight tried to get herself on the other side of the door, but was stopped by Vogue. “Why must you insist on coming in my home? If you would kindly step aside, I will give you a performance.” Vogue replied testily, she flicked her red and black bangs with her hoof as Midnight walked backwards a few steps. “Oh, alright then. I’m sorry, I didn't mean to intrude.” Midnight replied. She felt like this pony could beat her up if she wanted to, so apologizing couldn't hurt. “That’s quite alright...Now this is the song I’ve prepared for the Princess. Ahem.” Twilight smiled as she walked down the streets of the Crystal Empire, everything around her glittered brightly as she made her way to the castle. All the crystal ponies were quite busy it seemed, it looked like they were getting ready for their own celebrations. Twilight felt honored that ponies everywhere were celebrating her accession today. The guards near the castle all saluted her and Twilight smiled at them, Cadence was supposedly here, so it wasn't a surprise seeing so many of them around. “Cadence? Are you in here?” She asked loudly, her voice echoed through the walls. After a while, Twilight’s ears pricked up to the sound of hooves. “Twilight! I’m so glad you could come!” Cadence replied. There she was, Cadence, like Twilight herself, had grown immensely through the years and was now almost as tall as Celestia once was. Her mane had also become more like Celestia’s as well, although it was more pink and purple than blue and green. Twilight smiled and hugged her sister-in-law. She had missed her for quite some time, and it was lovely to be together again. “Cadence! I’m so excited for tonight! They’re are quite a lot of parties scheduled, I’m a bit worried I won’t be able to attend each of them.” Twilight told her as she pulled out of the hug. Cadence laughed, “I’m guessing you’ll be attending Ponyville’s party first? I hear they’ll have quite the performer tonight. Vogue...something. I’m actually thinking of going to the one in Canterlot, and then Shining wanted to visit the Los Pegasus festivities...you know how they love to party.” Cadence replied. Twilight giggled, the two made their way towards Cadence’s bedroom, where she had said she had stored away a ‘fabulous’ dress for Twilight. Twilight wasn’t too keen on dressing up, but since it was such a special occasion, and their would be a lot of ponies looking at her tonight, she thought she could at least give the dress a chance. “Los Pegasus, huh? I didn’t think Shining was into that kind of fun.” Twilight replied with a smirk. Cadence opened her bedroom door with her magic and smiled. “Well, he says that since you're grown up now, you don’t need your big brother hanging over your shoulder all the time. I think he just wanted an excuse to go out one night and party.” Cadence replied. Twilight pondered this for a while, and as Cadence walked over to her giant closet she sighed. “Something wrong, hon?” Cadence asked. Twilight shook her head. “No...no I’m fine. I’ve just been having weird feelings lately is all.” Twilight replied, with a sad smile. “Weird feelings? What kind of weird?” Cadence asked in concern. Twilight herself had no idea what was bugging her so much lately, but it seemed like a dark cloud had been forming over her head for days now, and it had shown itself again this afternoon. Twilight simply sighed and shook her head. “I’ve just been feeling kinda depressed lately. I’m sure it’s no big deal.” She replied quietly. Cadence ‘mhed’ her sympathy, she had stuck her head inside her closet and had started to shift through all her many dresses. “It’s just that...I’ve been thinking about why Celestia choose me to be a Princess in the first place. I mean, I know I had successfully completed the study of the magic of friendship, but other than that...I was just a simple mare before. I’m not sure why Celestia even wanted me to take her place. I’m not even all that special, all I do is summon the stars while you raise the sun and the moon.” Twilight said, degrading herself but not knowing how badly it was affecting her. “Twilight,” Cadence pulled her head out from the closet. She could read Twilight well enough to tell that it was a big deal. “Celestia was the wisest pony to have ever lived, and she wouldn’t let just anypony become her successor.” She raised the melancholy Princess’s chin. “I don’t know why she chose you either. But she could see inside you, and she saw that you had potential. Does that make you feel better?” Twilight gave her sister in law a sheepish smile. “A little. Thanks Cadence.” “No problem Twilight. Now, this dress is buried in here somewhere…” Cadence continued to rummage through the closet, leaving Twilight to think on what she'd said. It was good to hear that ponies still had faith in her. But the ifs continued to whirl around in her mind. What if Celestia was wrong? What if I hadn't actually learned enough about friendship? What if I'm not meant to be a Princess? "Ah-ha! Found it! Won't this just be..." Cadence turned to face Twilight, but was met with only an empty room. Twilight was nowhere to be seen. "Twilight?" It was then she noticed the French window to the balcony was open, which was latched just moment ago. "Oh no." Cadence dashed out to the balcony, hoping to catch Twilight, but she could see nopony. "Twilight!" She called out at the top of her lungs, but in vain. Her sister was gone. Midnight had to admit, Vogue's performance had been good. She clopped her hooves on the ground along with her sister, who was whistling. Vogue smiled and bowed. “I’m guessing you liked my song?” She asked. Wish beamed at her, “yeah! I’m sure Princess Twilight will love it! It’s so beautiful!” She praised, making Vouge smile back. “Thanks, I think I’ll head over to the town hall now. It’s getting late.” Vogue replied softly. Midnight took a quick glance at the sun and she noticed that is was going down. She gasped and began to sweat a little, she hoped everything was ready! “I’m sure everything’s ready if you ponies wanna head down to the Town Hall with me.” Vogue said, seemingly reading Midnight’s thoughts. She was looking at her with an odd expression and Midnight took a deep breath, “no, that’s okay. We can head down there by ourselves. Come on, Wish.” Midnight replied. Wish nodded and skipped along behind her sister, who was looking more nervous than she had been before. The little filly waved to Vogue who waved back and began to walk to the hall herself, taking her slow careful steps she usually did. Town Hall was beautifully decorated, thanks to a pony who was standing before Midnight now. The pony was a pink unicorn mare, she had bright green hair that hung down to her her shoulders. It was very straight, her eyes were a bright blue, which matched her cutie mark, which seemed to be a blue flame. “Oh wow, this place looks gorgeous!” Midnight exclaimed. She didn’t even realize that she said that out loud, and she blinked in surprise. Ember chuckled and walked over to her. “Thanks! I’m glad you like it.” She replied. Midnight blushed. “Oh...uh you're welcome.” She sighed in relief as the pony turned away. She was in no mood to talk to anypony. She smiled at her sister who had grabbed a bunch of snacks for the two of them. They walked towards the center of the hall. She and her sister joined a bunch of ponies that were gathered around. The mayor smiled at them all from a balcony, the mayor was a kind, older looking mare, with gentle green eyes and a yellow coat. Her mane was a sky blue. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, ponies of all ages. I welcome you to the ten-thousand year coronation celebration!” She called, making all the ponies around her cheer and stomp their hooves. She smiled and waited for the crowd to stop their cheering to begin her speech again. “Our lovely Princess Twilight has been kind and gentle to us for so many years, we wish to thank her today by honoring her with her own celebration! But first, we wish to welcome our very own pop-rock singing sensation, Vogue Styles!” The mayor finished her speech and the curtains pulled back, Vouge was standing in the center of the balcony, and she began her beautiful song. Twilight fled through the wild EverFree, her thoughts were clouded and she really had no idea what she was doing. But it didn’t feel right, everything around her was shrouded in darkness and Twilight could barely see. Why does nopony care about my talents!? Do they only care that I’m a Princess now? She thought as she ran. She began to cry as she remembered all those ponies who did care about her. Her mother, her father, her friends and Spike, who now was a fully grown and dangerous dragon and lived oh so far away. Twilight’s thoughts were now becoming clouded with darkness. What would happen if I just…..went away for a while? Would anypony actually miss me? She knew this was probably silly, that Shining Armor and Cadence would miss her. But then again, she thought, those two are always so busy. She sighed and stomped her hoof angrily. The darkness clouded around her and she smiled a little. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She welcomed the darkness. She welcomed anything that would love her for who she was, not what she stood for. The serene calmness of the darkness was actually rather nice, she felt like she was being hugged and comforted by it as it wrapped around her body. Twilight’s mind was changing, little by little, and the EverFree’s magic seemed to be helping it, egging on the dark thoughts. Her eyes began to water even more as the darkness consumed her entire form. Now though, these tears weren’t of painful emotions, they were just tears of sheer pain. The darkness seemed to notice this and made her transformation quick, her body began to float up into the night sky, stars around her seemed to wink out one by one. Twilight’s body lengthened just a little, since she was already so tall, but her wings changed. They changed into a sharper, more agile form. Her mane grew as well, and instead of her normal purple and pink aura, it became pitch black. The darkness wasn’t done yet. It made her have bright eyes that were a bright yellow, and her pupils were now only slits, like a cats. Twilight smiled, and her teeth became deadly sharp. Now the darkness had finished her transformation. It went away and Twilight became saddened. She felt like that dark force was her only true friend now. But the darkness seemed to be leading her down a path, it looked like it was heading towards the old castle she and her old friends had once rebuilt. She smiled a tiny smile and followed the trail, not caring what the darkness would do to her again, not even caring that it had changed her. She had been so lonely, and the darkness had helped ease her loneliness, she just wanted a friend. “Thank you, thank you. You all are too kind.” Vogue said as she finished her song. She had been bowing for quite some time now, and Midnight flushed with jealousy. How could this pony be so talented? She wished she could be like her. “Wow! Wasn’t that awesome! I love her voice so much!” Wish exclaimed, hopping excitedly. Midnight rolled her eyes at her and tried to feign her jealousy. “She’s not that good. I bet she doesn’t even sing other genres.” Midnight said, trying to sound haughty. Wish sighed, “whatever.” She knew her sister was jealous. She couldn’t hide anything from her. The mayor clapped her hooves together and smiled proudly at Vogue. Midnight glared at the two of them, she never got any kind of recognition for all the hard work she did. But she didn’t have any time to gripe about this, for the mayor spoke. “Well now. I think we’re ready to see our beautiful Princess! Would you please step forward, your highness? We’re all so impatient to see your shining face!” The mayor said. Midnight rolled her eyes, it was obvious that the mayor was sucking up but nopony else seemed to notice for they all were clapping their hooves again. She joined them and waited with the crowd….and waited….and waited. The mayor chuckled nervously and went behind the curtain. She shouted with a couple of ponies who mumbled something Midnight couldn’t hear back, and she came out looking flustered. “The Princess is missing!” She screeched. Everypony gasped and Midnight’s eyes widened. She was going to be in so much trouble. Trapped in The PastChapter 4- Trapped in the Past Over logs and between branches, Twilight followed the shadowy mist deeper into the Everfree. She’d only been this far into the forest a hoof full of times in the past, and each time filled with dread. Now, in this new form, it felt more comfortable than home. Twilight’s mind was blank as she continued in pursuit. Her mind was focused entirely on following the mist. Nothing else mattered, nothing else existed. Finally, she found herself stopped, in the throneroom on the Castle of the Two Sisters. No longer restored, the dilapidated interior was the perfect mirror for the distraught Princess’s mind. Regal tapestries, once restored to proper glory, had now been reverted to the tattered state Twilight first found them in. Her friends had helped with the restoration, but they were gone. There was nothing left to keep. The mist was present, but hovered motionless before her in an amorphous cloud. It made no sounds, disturbed nothing. Had she not been able to see it, Twilight would not have known it was still there. “It’s not fair!” She burst out to the mist. “Why am I so alone now? I didn’t ask for immortality. Why did Celestia curse me like this?!” The cloud moved closer, enveloping the dark mare in it’s aura. Twilight could feel warmth wherever the cloud moved around her. It soothed her, comforted her in her distress. It was enough to make the crying mare smile. “Thank you...But I still feel lonely. My subjects obey me, but I don’t think they actually love me. I’m just Princess Twilight to them.” The mist then formed in front of her again, but the black cloud was replaced by a vision, a vision of something familiar to Twilight. It was Ponyville, back before Twilight was royalty. Ponies moved about in the streets, and the pegasi shuffled the clouds to create the appropriate weather. “That’s Ponyville! It was such a beautiful town back then. Yes, I remember it well.” The mist changed, and showed Twilight the time she first met anypony in Ponyville. It was at Sweet Apple Acres, before the industrialization. Applejack was introducing her entire clan, while at the sametime force feeding the poor unicorn all sorts of apple concoctions. Twilight giggled looking back. “Oh, AJ! I forgot how funny that actually was. Spike never let me forget about the bulge I got after that.” The next image was that of her introduction to Rainbow Dash, and the impromptu makeover she received as a result. Twilight guffawed at her ridiculous look. “Thank Celestia Rainbow wasn’t in charge of decorations! Would’ve been done fast though.” Speaking of decorations, Rarity was the next pony Twilight met. The one thing she remembered about that was how hard Spike had fallen for her. Twilight could have sworn she saw hearts in his eyes. “He never had a chance, but it was still adorable to him swoon all the time. She was pretty.” Then there was Fluttershy. Sweet Fluttershy. Twilight had almost thought she was mute, until the yellow pegasus spotted Spike. “She came such a long way since that day. Too bad she never got over her timidity entirely.” Finally, there was Pinkie Pie. Good ol’ Pinkie. Looking back, Twilight had no idea how an Earth Pony did all of the crazy antics Pinkie did, or where she got all the time to plan those parties. “You can’t help but love Pinkie. She loved everypony, and asked for nothing but smiles. I wish everypony could have that attitude. Unfortunately, not everypony does.” Twilight stared into the past for hours, watching all of the happy times she’d enjoyed with her friends, and all of the hardships they had endured together. The magic of their friendship held them together through thick and thin. Not even an army of changelings could stop them. Then time caught up with all of them. One by one, Twilight watched again as her friends faded away with old age, in the same order she had met them. AJ, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all succumbed to the fate that awaits all mortal ponies. Twilight knew she could help whom she saw, but she cried out to them, trying to comfort them all over again. At the end of it all, Twilight sat in the castle, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Well,” she said with a sniffle, as she wiped the tears away. “That was the past. Nothing I can do now to change that now. Wish I could have.” The mist showed Twilight another image, only this one she did not recognize. It showed her, in the normal royal attire she was now accustomed to, but instead of sitting on her throne in Canterlot, she was sitting in the Ponyville library, surrounded by her old friends. They were alive again! “My friends! They’re alright! But how is that possible. They all died.” Then it hit her. “Is that the future? Can I make that the future?” The mist moved towards Twilight, helping her back onto all fours. “You know how to bring my friends back, don’t you? Please tell me how! I want to be with them again.” The mist enveloped Twilight once more meshing itself with her mane. The princess stood more confident now. She felt a new power inside her, no doubt from her new assistant. “I will bring my friends back. I won’t be alone any more. I swear it, as Nightmare Nova!” All the ponies in the crowd were very scared, and Midnight sighed. The mayor had no idea what was going on, and the frightened crowd wasn’t helping. “What’s going on?” Wish asked quietly. Midnight sighed, “I really don’t know, sis.” She said, pulling her shivering sister close. A sea green pegasus pony’s eyes narrowed and she flew up towards the mayor. “Why’d Princess Twilight ditch us!? What the heck is going on?” She demanded, the ponies in the crowd murmured in agreement. They all wanted to know. The mayor sighed and mournfully shook her head. The pegasus rolled her eyes. “Well, if you're not gonna do anything. I’m gonna go and find her myself!” She yelled. Midnight blinked, she was about to protest, say that finding the Princess should be her job, but before she could a green stripe of pegasus magic sped past her. Sighing for the hundredth time that night, Midnight titled her head towards Wish in a way that said ‘follow me’, and silently trotted out the door. Midnight smirked as she saw the sea-green pony again. Her blue and silver star cutie mark was brightly showing in the night, for some reason. The mare sighed in frustration. “Where in the wide realm of Equestria could she be?” She asked herself. Midnight coughed, not out of sickness, but as a way to make herself known. The pegasus swirled around and started a little, but then smiled. “Oh, well it looks like somepony was brave enough to come help me.” She said, nodding smugly. Midnight rolled her eyes, “yes I’m going to help you, but it’s only because I am Princess Twilight’s new student. She’d probably be furious with me if I didn’t.” She admitted. The pegasus laughed and smiled brightly. “Great! My name’s Neon Glow. But everypony just calls me Neon. So where should we start?” Neon asked, batting her eyes. Blushing, Midnight smiled. “Well, we can start at my house. I live in her old library, and there’s still a bunch of books there. Something like that would probably help us” Neon beamed again, and Midnight smiled. At least this pony seemed relatively normal, with no odd quirks as she could tell. Except for that weird cutie mark, which was glowing like a beacon in the night. “Awesome! Well, lead the way….uh…” Neon blinked, and she smiled an awkward smile. Midnight giggled. “My name’s Midnight, and the shy one is Wish.” She said. Wish nodded and smiled. She normally isn’t this shy, Midnight thought worriedly. The afternoon’s events must have worn her out. “Okay, Midnight! Let’s go!” She said, flying just slightly ahead. When they reached Midnight’s house, Neon’s eyes began to widen. The thought of somepony living inside a tree was just so strange, but then again, she lived in the clouds so she knew it wouldn’t be fair to judge. “Well this is the place! Lemme just unlock the door, last time I left it open, Princess Twilight broke in….long story, ah there we go!” Midnight smiled as the door swung open. With a giant yawn, Wish trotted inside after her sister. It was way past her bedtime, Midnight noticed as she looked at the clock. The poor filly was probably very tired. “You can go up to bed if you want too, Wish. The big mares can handle this.” Midnight told her sister jokingly. Wish only rolled her eyes she was in no mood to argue, so with heavy and tired steps she trotted up the stairs and slammed the door of her bedroom, making her sister wince from downstairs. “So….she’s your sister right?” Neon asked. Midnight nodded, “yeah she is. She’s usually very energetic, but she is only a filly. It’s almost midnight, she usually goes to bed way earlier than this.” Midnight replied, still a bit anxious about her sister. Neon’s grin was wide and Midnight didn’t really understand why, but the pegasus just began to laugh. Her laugh faded as she saw the other mare’s confused expression. “What?” Midnight asked. Neon guffawed. “Heh, you said it was almost midnight, Midnight! Get it?” She laughed again and slapped her thigh. Midnight rolled her eyes, that one never got old. Waiting for Neon to calm down, which took a while, she walked over to one of the older bookshelves and began to sift through it. “I think I saw an old storybook that seemed to be something like our own predicament somewhere...I think it’s called The Mare in The Moon.” Midnight murmured, using her magic to float the random books. Neon’s eyes widened. “Oh, I used to love that story! My mom always said that Celestia was a little mean, I mean who puts her sister in the moon for a thousand years! But, I guess since everypony needs sunlight-” Neon’s rant was cut off by Midnight. “Aha! I found it.” She exclaimed as she blew the dust of the old book. The book seemed to be centuries old, for the cover was falling off of it, and Midnight had to be very gentle when she levitated it. She smiled as she flipped the cover open, yes this was the story she had needed. “Wow, do you think Princess Twilight had this before she was even a Princess?’’ Neon asked. This was a very good question, but Midnight shrugged since she really had no idea which books belonged to Twilight, and which ones had belonged to the town’s library, she hopped that this one happens to belong to the latter. “I hope not. I don’t want to get into trouble if I end up breaking it….now lets see. It says that the way the mare got into the moon in the first place was because she became overcome by darkness...But I’m not sure that our Princess would go y’know, crazy...hm, this certainly is puzzling.” Midnight said. Neon sighed, she was becoming impatient. “Hay! Maybe if we ask some of the ponies in town if they’ve seen her, maybe we’ll find better answers!” She suggested. Midnight beamed. “That is an excellent idea. I believe we should go in the morning though, that’ll at least give everypony’s minds a rest. You're welcome to stay in my guest room if you like, it’s right beside Wish’s room. That’s upstairs.” Midnight said. She had no idea why she was inviting this strange pegasus to stay the night, she normally only did that with stallions on her risky one-night-stands. But something about Neon’s cheerful attitude in a situation that certainly wasn’t cheerful made her more trusting of the sea-green mare. “Wow that’s really nice of you! Y’know, you might try and seem like you’re better than the rest of us...but I think you’re alright Midnight. G'night!” Neon called. She sped up the stairs before Midnight could even answer. Blinking in surprise, Midnight blushed profusely, but smiled. She went up the stairs and to her bedroom. The dream began with a dark hallway, or a room, Midnight couldn’t tell. She thought that she’d fallen asleep, but it felt like she were still awake. The room was completely and eerily silent, and as Midnight moved she couldn’t tell if she was walking on anything solid. Feelings of fear began to creep through her as she began to run, why she was running she had no idea. She just had that feeling. The feeling that something, that everything was wrong. She screamed as a strange wailing noise erupted from the darkness and her dream changed. Now the dream showed Ponyville, a whole bunch of ponies were gathering around her. They were saying something about a Princess, and how something wasn’t right...Were they talking about her? What was going on? Midnight screamed with terror in her eyes and launched upwards out of her bed. Her forehead had little beads of sweat on it, and she had no idea why. The memories of her nightmare were quickly fading away. Shivering, Midnight stepped out of her warm bed and onto the cold floor. She hadn’t forgotten what she was about to do today, and it frightened her. She did not want to talk to the whole town, just to find out where Princess Twilight was. Don’t we have ponies for this kind of thing? Isn’t that what the royal guard is supposed to do? She asked herself. But this thought sparked an idea. “OF COURSE! Why didn’t I think of this sooner!?” Midnight happily exclaimed. She rushed out the door and down the stairs. Waking everypony up in the process. Wish grumbled as she trotted down the stairs, her once silky and straight mane now in a tangly bedheaded mess. Neon on the other hoof, just looked very confused. The pegasus was an early riser, but the sound of Midnight’s hooves had startled her. “What’s goin’ on, sis? Why’d you have to wake everypony up?” Wish asked. Midnight blinked and turned around, she had no idea that she had woken up her two houseguests. She had actually forgotten that Neon had stayed the night, but the sight of her had reminded her. . Blushing in embarrassment, Midnight sheepishly smiled. “Oh, I’m so sorry girls, it’s just that I’ve remembered somepony who we could ask for help, although the response might take a while, since he’s very busy...But I think it’s a good idea nonetheless.” She explained. This made Wish’s eyes widen, she had gotten a good idea about who her sister was talking about, and Neon looked between the two sisters in confusion. “Huh?” Neon asked. Midnight laughed along with her sister. “It’s our brother! Northern Lights!” Wish said happily with a little hop. Neon smiled along with them now, the confusion slowly lifting from her face. “Oh, I get it. Your brother huh?” She replied. Midnight nodded. “Yes, he’s been training in the Royal Guard for quite sometime now, and I’m certain they’ll know how to handle this.” Midnight replied. Although she had no idea if her brother would even get the message on time. She could only hope. “There I’m done! It’s just a simple note, saying that we’re all very worried about Princess Twilight, and that everypony is wondering where she is.” She said looking over her letter once again. Neon chuckled, “Wow, you are very literate.” She said, somewhat sarcastically. Midnight rolled her eyes, “yes, and a romantic.” She replied, making Wish giggle. “I hope the letter gets to him on time, but we should probably go and ask the towns-ponies if they’ve seen anything. You two coming?” Midnight asked. Neon smiled brightly along with Wish. “You bet! Just let me go to my house and get something, and I’ll meet you guys in the center of town!” Neon replied. “Oh, alright then we’ll see you.” Midnight replied. She smiled as Neon rushed out the door. Wow, that pegasus is certainly flighty. Midnight thought with a small smirk at her own joke. When Neon had sped by her, Midnight had caught a glimpse of her cutie-mark, and it no longer had its strange glow. “I like her! We should invite her over more, don’tcha think?” Wish asked. Midnight nodded and smiled too, it seemed that she was indeed making friends. Or at least one friend, and that was a start. Ponyville was a bustling chaos, everypony was very spooked, and Midnight had to be careful. Some of the ponies were stampeding, and Midnight rolled her eyes. This wasn’t that bad. If all else failed, they at least had Princess Cadence, who, Midnight thought, was a lot better at ruling a kingdom. Poor Wish had to sidestep away from the rushing ponies, and Midnight had to scoop her up in fright, for sometimes she hadn’t realized that somepony was coming towards her. Neon was the only one who didn’t have to worry about the ground, and she was getting impatient. “Aw, c’mon you guys! What? Is a bunch of stampeding ponies too much for ya?” She mocked, but with a playful wink. Midnight rolled her eyes, “ha ha, very funny. If you haven’t noticed, neither of us have wings.” She replied snarkily, trying not to step on a scared pony. Neon just laughed in a cheerful comradery, and the three of them finally made it to the Sugar Cube-Corner club. The doors were locked, and there was a closed sign on the door. “Well, that’s just perfect.” Neon mumbled. The closed sign didn’t hinder Midnight’s confidence however, she had already walked over to the door and knocked, loudly. After a while of loud, obnoxious knocking, a pony opened the door. She was very plain looking, a bright pink pony with a red mane that was long, but not styled very nicely. Although, her eyes were a pretty bright blue. “What!? Didn’t you ponies see the closed sign?” She asked rudely. Midnight stomped her hoof, “yes we did. But this is an emergency, and I am the Princess’s student, so I have to find her. We were wondering if anypony in town has seen her?” She asked. She wasn’t very patient, but the pony was even less. “No, I haven’t. This is a bunch of bull, and I am in no mood to deal with it….But I thought I did hear something near the EverFree, you could try over there.” She said, slamming the door closed right after. Midnight sighed, she was so much help. Although, the tip was a good one. “Well….at least it’s something.” Wish said. She looked at Midnight hopefully, and Midnight smiled. Yes at least it was something.
A Twinkle In Her EyeGenerations Written by: Midnight Rose and Sweetie-Bot-Error Chapter One A Twinkle in Her Eye A unicorn silhouette appeared in the front door of the dance hall. The loudspeakers were blaring their song and for Midnight Twinkle, the techno music wasn’t deafening, it was mesmerizing. The aubergine colored mare began to walk towards her target, the bar. Her goal tonight was simple, to get madly intoxicated in order to forget her horrible embarrassment. Almost as an afterthought, she studied the many stallions in the club with a cold, predatory look in her eye. She knew that she was probably the most attractive mare here, what with her deep purple coat, her eyes that were a bright neon green and her mane, a shimmering set of white-gold that hung now in a loose, teasing ponytail. None of these stallions were probably worth her precious time however, but Midnight winked flirtatiously anyways at one of them, the stallion was ogling her and giving her a lecherous smile. “What’ll it be ma’am?” The barmaid asked. Midnight smiled at her and pulled out her bits. She had been saving quite a lot for an excursion such as this one. “An appletini please, to start.” She said. The barmaid raised an eyebrow, but didn’t want to lose business so she said nothing. Midnight sighed as she gazed around the bar with a bored expression on her face. She’d had no luck lately, everything she tried, she failed. Midnight was a jeweler, and being one of the best in Canterlot had its advantages….but it also had its shortcomings as well. It was hard work trying to find that ‘special’ diamond for that one client who needed that style of ring….She didn’t even want to think about all the snooty clientele that had turned all of her fabulous designs down. Well, she knew for a fact that she could be snooty from time time. But who wouldn’t be when you had a fabulous lineage and a fabulous look about you!? However, the ‘fabulous’ lifestyle she led was now becoming, well rather dull. “Do you know what my problem is?” She asked the maid as she daintily sipped her drink. She felt a buzz, but she was still far away from her goal. The unimportant maid sighed and looked her in the eye as she smirked towards her. Midnight was very light weight, and even a half of one drink could get her tipsy. This maid though, knew right away since her breath smelled like booze already. “What’s your problem then, that you talk too much?” The maid asked snarkily. Midnight choked out a laugh, in a very unlady-like way and winked at the maid, who shook her head and turned away. Midnight answered her anyway. “My problem is that I think I’m in a funk. I mean, who in their right mind would order a turquoise and cats-eye necklace with a matching bracelet? Those gems don’t match at all!” Midnight said, unnecessarily raising her voice. The maid rolled her eyes and walked away from Midnight, who glared after her. “Fine! Who needs you anyways!? The Fabulous Midnight doesn’t need trivial things like ‘company’.” Midnight yelled after her, clearly lying. The other bartenders snickered a little as Midnight found herself shaking her hoof after the bartender, who was now halfway down the bar. Midnight blinked in surprise at the things she had just said, but their was another drink in front of her now, bought for her by the stallion down the bar. Midnight downed the drink quickly. Alcohol didn’t make problems go away, but it make you forget for a while. That was all Midnight could ask for at the moment. A day at court was a dream for most ponies. The chances of a lay pony ever getting the chance to be in the same room as Equestrian nobility was slim to none. It was a fantasy forever out of reach. For Princess Twilight Sparkle, court was just another day of grief. The popular image of a friendly atmosphere and hospitable hosts could not have been farther from the truth. Everyday was composed of various nobles insulting each other, bringing for their arguments, and then leaving. Twilight never even listened most of the time. She decides most the cases ahead of time, just to cut down on the headache. Today was an exception. Today marked the anniversary of Twilight’s ascension. As such, see decided it was only fit that she be allowed one day’s reprieve from the endless bickering. While the rest of Equestria was busy preparing for the celebrations, Twilight lay snug in her bed. The cold air nipped at anything not under the covers. She reflexively pulled the sheets further up her neck, attempting to shield her body from the world outside. Even after all the years apart, Spike was still managing to be a bad influence on her. Though, Twilight still missed Spike. He was a fully grown dragon now, and he had a family. Twilight sighed, she finally opened her eyes and she blinked to get most of the sand mare's dust out of them. As she finally slipped out from her bed, her hooves touched the cold floor of the castle. The early morning air made everything frigid to the touch. She hurriedly slipped on her slippers, and she allowed herself a minute to savor the warmth. She made her way over to the balcony, to gaze upon the bustling cityscape below. In the past, Canterlot had been much more serene, but it now was a vastly high-tech city. Still, the inhabitants had not forgotten their history. Many of the old structures still stood. Twilight could even point to her fillyhood home. It was this past that the citizens of Equestria were remembering, and Twilight wasn’t about to sleep through a trip down memory lane. Today could not have been more perfect either. The Princess had called for clear skies all across Equestria, so that everypony could be outside enjoying the world she had kept for them. Twilight would be joining them of course, but at her real home. As she stood at the balcony, she heard a creak at her chamber door. To her pleasure, it was her big sister. “Good morning Twilight. Enjoying the view I see” “Good Morning Cadence. Yes, I thought it would be good to see everypony preparing for today.” “The entire nation is preparing for the anniversary, even the Crystal Empire. Could you imagine if you actually had to organize all of the events?” Cadence was of course joking, but Twilight did try and do that before. She slept for three days thereafter. “Don’t worry,” she chuckled. “I learned my lesson.” “Knowing you though, you must have something planned for yourself. You’ve never been the type to lounge around during such an occasion.” Twilight smiled in excitement. She did indeed have plans. “I’ve decided to visit Ponyville again. It’ll be nice to go back home for the day, maybe two. I could stay in the library!” “If it’s still there. I don’t think even a sleepy town like Ponyville skipped all of tech age.” Cadence did bring up an excellent point. Ever since ponies discovered how to mass produce metals, technological advancements came faster than ever before. Twilight new better than anypony how much had changed. “Well, I don’t think they’d get rid of the library. I’d have to approve of it if they did.” “You have a point. I’ll leave you to get ready. Hope you enjoy yourself.” With that, Cadence departed towards the door, but turned back just before leaving. “Oh and Twilight, don’t forget that the ponies there have changed as well. They’re not the same one’s you knew.” Twilight let out a sigh. She hadn’t wanted to think about that, but she had actually planned to visit her old friends homes while she was there. She didn’t know exactly why. “I know.” As Cadence left, Twilight looked east, off towards the rising sun. Oh Celestia, why did everything have to change? She could feel a tiny tear rolling down her cheek.. Midnight sighed and gritted her teeth as the pounding migraine pushed its way into her head once more. The morning after her late night clubbing had taken its toll on her body. She knew that there wouldn’t be any partying today, which was disappointing because it was one of the most celebrated day of the year. To make matters worse, Midnight’s adorable, yet annoying sister was dropped off for the day. It was as if the universe was laughing at her pain and suffering. “Hey big sis!!!! Mom says you gotta take care of me, since bro’s out for the day!” Wish-Petal’s voice echoed through her door, making Midnight cringe. “What did I do to deserve this?” She mumbled in agony. “Can you just let me get ready for a minute, Wish?” Midnight asked as she fumbled out of her bed. Wishing-Star wasn’t too bad actually, most of the time. But being a blank-flanked filly she and her friends had gotten themselves into some troubles trying to find their cutie-marks. Midnight snickered as memories of her own childhood came to mind. “Oki doki! Just let me know if I can do anything to help you out! Ooh, are these new gems!? They’re so sparkly!” Wish replied. Oh no, please don’t go into my new gems….Those were so hard to get my hooves on! Midnight thought, her now anxious mind showing her little sister pulling out her many beautiful gems and spilling them everywhere. “Don’t touch anything Wish! I’m coming down!” Midnight yelled back, wincing yet again. Oh dear Twilight, I hope this won’t be too rough of a day. She thought. But knowing her luck, Midnight’s sister would cause her more pain than she was already in. Wish and Midnight were very close so the surprise visit wasn’t a burden...Well, not too much of a burden As Midnight walked down the stairs she noticed something very odd, the quiet. It was almost too quiet. Narrowing her eyes, Midnight turned around and sharply turned the corner. There her sister was, sitting on the floor, playing a nice cute little game. Midnight sighed, but she wasn’t truly calm yet. She knew her sweet little sister had a short attention span, and this game could only last for so long. “What’re you playing there, Wish?” She asked. Wish tilted her small pink head up towards her and blinked her bright green eyes right at her. This melted Midnight’s heart, and she sat down on the carpet next to her. “I’m playing Princess! See? I’m Twilight, and you’re Cadence!” She said, showing off her two dolls. Midnight smiled. She had never really cared too much for the political aspects of being a Princess, but seeing her little sister so enthralled with the prettiness of the dolls,made her smile. “Why do I always have to be Cadence?” She asked with a little whine. “‘Cause.” She replied. Midnight rolled her eyes, she was in no mood to fake argue, she got up off the floor and walked back into the kitchen. She wanted to sleep in all day, but the sudden arrival of her sister had stopped those plans. Midnight sighed, for what seemed like the millionth time today, and walked into her kitchen, and got ready to make herself and her sister breakfast. Twilight smiled as the ponies gathered around her. Everypony was cheering and smiling, and Twilight couldn’t help but smile back. ‘’Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight we love you!” One pony shouted. This made Twilight blush, ponies in the past wouldn’t even recognize her Princess-hood. She knew that she had told her friends not to call her Princess, but now that she was being idolized, it was quite the change. “Thank you everypony, I’ll be around for the ceremony tonight. But for now, I’ll be a bit busy back in Ponyville.” Twilight replied. The crowd blinked in surprise. “Ponyville?” Somepony asked. “Why would anypony go to that boring old town?” Another one inquired. Twilight gritted her teeth, sometimes these stuck-up Canterlot ponies were very annoying. She sighed, shook her head and smiled kindly. She didn’t want to explain why she did things to them, these ponies who only cared about her status. She wanted ponies who would truly care for her. Well, she hoped they would. Still with a smile on her face, she took off into the sky. Her wings made a shadow around the confused crowd of ponies and Twilight took off towards her old home.
The New StudentThe Next Generation Chapter 2 The New Student. Midnight lay asleep in her bed. Visions and sounds of the night before were pouring into her dreams and she sighed happily as she remembered that very sweet stallion who made her feel loved. She giggled in her sleep and murmured something incoherent and she was completely unaware of the little lilac filly entering her room at the moment. Wish sighed and walked over to her sister’s bed, she was getting tired of her sister sleeping in until noon whenever she visited. It was like she didn't even want to spend time with her! So with a wiggle of her little behind, she braced herself and gave a small, but mighty leap onto her elder sister’s bed; Getting a rather satisfactory yelp of surprise from Midnight. “Hey! It’s past noon, get up already!” Wish nagged. She pulled off her sister’s bed-sheets and smirked. Midnight groaned and got up, her usually styled mane was in a curly mess, which made Wish snicker even more. “Urgh, why couldn't I just sleep a little bit longer? I had a busy night last night. I’m gonna sleep until three okay?” Midnight replied. She grabbed her covers with her teeth and pulled them over herself, her sister though saw this and came at her with her own. The two fought over the covers for a while, until Midnight became annoyed with this and she used her magic to toss her sister off her bed. “Hey! What the heck? I’m just trying to get you to wake up! You were supposed to help me find out what my special talent was today, remember?” Wish whined, she pouted a little and this made Midnight soften up a bit. “Oh yes, I did promise that...didn't I?” Midnight replied. Wish nodded, and Midnight sighed. “Alright... Just let me get ready and we’ll go outside...” Midnight grumbled. “Yay! Don’t take forever okay sis? I really wanna see if my talent has anything to do with fireworks!” Wish replied with a hop. FIREWORKS? Wherever did she get that idea from!? Midnight thought in shock as her sister gleefully skipped out of her room. She counted four hooves when she got out of bed. She hoped that number would be the same by the end of the day. Twilight sighed in relief as her hooves landed on the soft ground. She’d been flying all night, and she was very tired, but the promise of seeing her old home once again put a smile on her face. Ponyville looked almost the same, some of the buildings had been modified a little mostly due to the fact of being old and needing better structure, but other than that...it looked just like the Ponyville she remembered. She hadn't been here in ages, the last time she’d paid a visit to the sleepy town was while they were planning for the summer sun celebration, and that had been ten years ago. She didn't have much time back then to take in the sights. Today she would make up for lost time. As she made her way down the street, she noticed many new buildings had popped up. She could still remember where the most important locals were. City hall had barely changed, the only major difference being some newer paint and better roofing. A few other places still stood. Sugar Cube Corner and Carousel Boutique were the same buildings, but had been converted into other establishments, mostly clubs. Even Sweet Apple Acres was still in business, though obviously modernized to meet higher demand for their many products. Tractors and shakers replaced a pony bucking each tree and hauling the fruits away. No pony ever had to worry about getting their fix during cider season. Twilight wondered who lived in her old library now. It certainly was no longer a library, while it still held the old structure of the giant oak, it looked more like a quaint cottage. This made her a little sad, but she knew that things would have to had changed at some point. Looks nice enough she thought to herself. I wonder if anypony’s home? When she walked up to the door, she couldn't hear anything moving around, but she decided to knock, just in case. On her first tap, the door creaked open. Apparently, whoever lived there had forgotten to lock up, or maybe they just wanted visitors. Twilight debated whether waltzing in on a pony’s home would be rude, but it was her home at one point. She did want to know what had become of it. Curiosity eventually got the better of her. As she walked inside, she got a whiff of a perfume so strong it made her sneeze. She smiled and shook her head as she walked further inside. The library had been completely transformed into a fashionable looking home. There were still many bookshelves, but not as many of her once precious books lined them. Twilight gritted her teeth as she quietly looked at everything. Although Twilight was a little miffed that her library was gone, she had to admit that this pony had at least some sense of style. Twilight had never been too enthralled in decorating her home. Even her castle in Canterlot was bare compared to most nobles. Still, whoever lived here had made the princess feel somewhat comfortable, even though it was different from what she was used to. “See, I told you firework shows weren't your talent.” Midnight scolded, with a little hint of a smile as she and her scorched sister walked back home. “Well, then what is my talent!? What if I’m not good at anything? I’ll be a laughing stock!” Wish replied, not noticing that random ponies were snickering at her mane. Her usually frizzy bright pink and yellow mane was now sticking up in all directions, Wish sighed and kicked up some dirt. Midnight stopped and sighed, she herself had once feared the very same thing. But once she had earned her cutie mark, she had felt so special, and having a very unique talent made the occasion even better. “Like, all I’m saying is. You got your’s just by overcoming your fears, and learning new skills, blah de blah...so why is it so hard for me!?” Wish gripped with an angry pout. Midnight smiled and put a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “Well, maybe you just need to wait a little while...It’s very hard, I know. But everypony gets theirs eventually.” Midnight replied. Wish blinked, usually when she ranted on and on about her cutie mark troubles her sister didn't seem to care...Mostly Midnight ignored her. But her saying this made her smile again. “Thanks. I just hate waiting! Hey, is there a cutie mark for being a really patient pony?” She asked. Midnight laughed, “I’m not sure.” She replied, making Wish grumble. As the two sisters walked up to Midnight’s home, the noticed something a little strange. The door was wide open. Midnight was certain she had locked it...or did she? Fear began creeping up on her and her face paled. Wish looked equally scared, some of her favorite dolls were in there! What if some creepy pony had come in and stolen them? The two sisters huddled up together and entered the house. At first, Twilight didn't hear anything. She was too busy looking at all the knick-knacks and family pictures. This mare seemed to be related to somepony who looked very familiar. A frame of a single, elderly looking blue unicorn hung near the fireplace. She was smiling and waving in the picture, something Twilight hadn't ever seen her do before. It couldn't be...Trixie!? Twilight thought in surprise. No, the Great and Powerful Trixie would never settle down in Ponyville. She was too proud. Much less have a family. Twilight was genuinely perplexed, but pictures didn't lie. Whoever lived in the library now must be related to Trixie. Who could it be? She only needed to turn around to get her answer. Midnight and Wish were standing right behind her. Jaws dropped open and hanging, the two were wearing almost identical expressions. Although, Twilight wondered why the older looking one looked angry, while the younger one just looked star-struck. She also wondered why the littler pony looked like she’d been burnt. “Uh, hello.” Twilight said sheepishly. She knew that she was in trouble, the older and darker purple mare was looking daggers at her, but then she blinked in surprise as her little sister, Twilight was guessing at this point since she had no idea who they were, ran up to her and started to hop excitedly. “Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow! Sis, d’you know who this is!?” Wish asked. She smiled up at the older looking unicorn and beamed. Midnight rolled her eyes and tried to push her sister behind her, which, unfortunately didn't work. “Yeah, I know who she is. She’s an intruder...so that means she could be dangerous.” Midnight replied in a deadpan tone. She didn’t seem to care that one of the rulers of Equestria was standing in front of her. “No, no! I’m not an intruder...well, I am, but I didn’t mean to frighten you!” Twilight explained frantically. Midnight stopped her glaring, if only a smidge, and looked at Twilight again. After a minute of thought she sighed and walked over to Twilight, glared at her with her piercing green eyes, and Twilight gulped. “But how do we know that you're not a changeling? Why else would the Princess of Magic just randomly barge into my home without any invitation? Why else would she look so frightened why?-” Midnight’s rant was interrupted by Wish’s poke. “What’s a changeling? They sound scary.” She asked innocently. Midnight sighed. What are they teaching fillies and colts nowadays? She asked herself as she continued her glaring at the stunned Princess. Now that reminds me of Trixie. Twilight thought, she smirked a little but then stopped when she noticed Midnight was still glaring at her. “Well, I can assure you that I am no changeling.” Twilight replied. Midnight ‘humphed’ and gave a little intimidating smile. “Prove it.” She replied snarkily, making Twilight flinch. “Tell us something that only the real Princess would know.” Midnight continued, loving this advantage. “Oh, well that’s an easy one.” Twilight replied. She looked at Wish’s hopeful expression and this sparked an idea. “When I was really little, I was given a doll.” She said. Using her magic she transported Smarty Pants from out of her chest in her room in her castle, and into the air in front of her. Wish’s eyes widened and Midnight’s narrowed. “Her name’s Smarty Pants. She’s been with me my whole life, and well, I think it’s time that she and I part.” She continued. A tear leaked out of Twilight’s eye as she levitated the old doll down and placed it into the filly’s hooves. “Thank you so much...I’ll treasure her.” Wish said in a whisper. She held the doll close to her and tried very hard not to hurt her. “See? Would a changeling do that?” She asked. Wish could not contain her excitement and, for once in her life she was completely and utterly lost for words. Midnight however was not. “I guess not...but still, how’s a doll supposed to gain my trust?” Midnight asked. Twilight sighed, whoever this mare was she wasn’t very trusting. She seemed insecure, which also reminded her of Trixie. “How about this...Who’s that in the picture over there?” She asked, pointing to the picture of Trixie. Midnight smiled a little, sad smile. “That’s my great-grandma Trixie. She was actually my grandma, but she made everypony call her ‘great’ anyways. She was pretty cool.” Midnight replied. “Was?” Twilight asked. Midnight's stormy expression changed almost instantly. She had been trying her hardest to be strong about her grandmother’s passing for a while now, but some stray tears had finally decided to fall down her cheeks. Twilight noticed her tears and sighed. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea...was it at least a peaceful passing?” She asked quietly. Wish sniffled and Midnight nodded. “Yeah, she...she went in her sleep.’’ She replied. Twilight, with a sad look on her face, went over to the now crying Midnight and tried to nuzzle her. At first, she was as stiff as a brick, but after a while she let the kind Princess try and comfort her. “If it helps, I used to know Trixie when she was about your age.” She said, her voice a little muffled due to the fact that she was holding in her tears. “Y-you did?” Midnight asked meekly. Twilight nodded. “W-what was she like?” Midnight asked again, looking up at Twilight with sad eyes. Twilight smiled a tiny smile, “well she was a lot like you, to be honest. I think she would be proud.” She replied. Midnight sniffled, a week before she had died, Grandma Trixie had said she’d loved her and was very proud of both of her little ponies...Midnight couldn’t believe that Twilight would think something like that, but, deep down...she knew it was true. “Wow...I guess you really are the Princess.” Midnight exclaimed after a while. She bowed down and sighed, “I’m so sorry I was so rude before. I’m just not very sociable is all.” She said making Twilight smile. “Oh that’s alright. I was actually like you when I was younger. I didn’t even have any friends, and my brother was all the way in Canterlot. You’re very lucky to have such a good friend in your sister.” Twilight replied. Midnight smiled and pulled her sister, who smiled back, close. “Yeah, I guess you're right. My brother lives in Canterlot, so I kinda know how you’d have felt. He’s studying to be a guard pony right now. Kind of a long-shot though, since he’s more of a geek than a jock.” Midnight said with a smile. Twilight laughed, and beyond that laugh was a feeling of deja view. Her own brother had become the Captain of The Royal Guard, and once Twilight was placed in charge of Equestria along with Cadence, King of The Crystal Empire. He was now the only living male alicorn. This mare’s brother probably wanted to become like Shining Armor. Twilight thought. She had gained a sort of kinship with this mare, and she didn’t even know her name. Twilight giggled to herself, she had been so surprised she’d forgotten to even ask. “What’s so funny?” Wish asked. Twilight giggled some more, “oh...Yes, well I’ve just realized something very important that I completely forgot….I forgot to ask you what you’re names are.” Twilight replied between giggles. Midnight giggled with Twilight and smiled, “my name is Midnight Twinkle you’re highness.” She said. Wish hopped up and down, “and my name is Wishing Star! But everypony just calls me Wish!” she exclaimed happily. Midnight poked Wish in the ribs and Wish gulped, “oh, I’m sorry I mean you’re highness.” Wish said, trying to recover her manners. The little pony tried to bow, but ended up putting her nose to the ground. She was just too short. Twilight laughed a little at this silly display and shook her head. “There’s no need to be so formal.” Twilight said with a kind smile. “I’d rather be friends here than your Princess.” Midnight couldn’t believe her luck, she thought that she’d be in at least some amount of trouble for being so rude, but Twilight seemed to actually like her. Midnight wondered what Twilight had meant when she said that she was like herself, surely she had at least some friends, unlike Midnight who had none. “Wait, you said you were like me...What did you mean by that?” She asked curiously. Twilight smiled, “I didn’t really have a lot of great social skills. I’d rather keep my nose in a book then get to know other ponies.” “But you seem so personable. How did you change?” Midnight asked curiously. “I had the help of some really great friends, who I miss very much.” Twilight replied. Midnight smiled, “sometimes I wish I had friends...but nopony, except my family really seems to care about me.” She replied sadly. Twilight smiled at her. “Would you like to learn how to make friends?” She asked. Midnight’s smile fell a little, she had no idea how friendship even worked, but this opportunity didn’t happen every day. So, after a while Midnight nodded. “Very well. I'm putting you in charge of preparing for the celebrations.” Twilight said. Midnight was shocked at the sudden assignment. "What?!" "The fastest way to meet ponies is to have to do something with them. Now, you'll need to find ponies arrange the food, decorations, and entertainment." Twilight kept going on, while Midnight stood stone still with her jaw on the floor. “But what if nopony takes me seriously?” She asked. Twilight smiled, “Just tell them that you are my student, that should be a good ice breaker.” She replied. Midnight nodded and sighed. This week had just gotten a whole lot harder. “What about me!? What can I do?” Wish asked, she was tired of staying so quiet for so long. Midnight had wondered why her sister had kept so quiet, usually she talked her ears off. Twilight laughed. “Well for now, you can get cleaned up. I’m sure you can help your sister with something...maybe you could hold the checklist?” Twilight suggested. Wish beamed, she had perfected the basic levitation spell a while ago and she had been dying to try it, so this was a win-win. “Okay! I’ll try and do my best!” She said happily raising her hoof in a salute. Midnight sighed, “Just don’t annoy me while I do this okay?” She said. Her sister laughed, she knew that sometimes she could be ‘annoying’, but at least she got her sister’s attention while she was. “Good, now I think you should get going now. Here’s the checklist.” Twilight replied, making a checklist appear with her magic. "I'll be back later to check up on you. Just remember one thing." Midnight stared at her, waiting for her to finish. "What is it?" "Have fun!" In a flash, Twilight teleported out of the library, leaving Midnight to start her new job.
Preparations, Parties, and DisasterThe Next Generation Preparations, Parties, and Disaster Everything Twilight had said was swimming through Midnight's mind as she waited. Wish was taking forever to get cleaned up, and she was becoming impatient. The wait was good though, for she needed time to think all of these life-changes through. She was now Princess Twilight’s student! That was probably way more profitable than being a simple jeweler, then again, she had no idea what kind of perks there was to being a Princess’s student...yet. She certainly was going to ask. “I’m done!” Wish called. Midnight sighed in relief, her sister walked out of the bathroom with a big smile on her face. Her mane was pulled into a towel and she was wearing one around her body. She looked pretty adorable. “Well, it’s about time.” Midnight said, trying to sound annoyed. She was failing because of how awkward and cute Wish looked. “Hey! You try and get frizzy hair to go straight after its been pretty much destroyed by fire...I had to use some of your miracle growth shampoo.” Wish replied, she lowered her eyes in shame. Midnight’s eyes widened and she tried not to laugh. She was a bit annoyed that Wish used her expensive shampoo, but it wasn’t a surprise that she had to use it. She just hoped she hadn’t used too much. “It’s fine, as long as you didn’t use the whole bottle. Come on, we should probably get going.” Midnight replied. She used her magic to help her sister dry off, and her eyes widened in surprise as she lifted the towel off her sister’s mane. Her once frizzy, unkempt mane, was now very sleek and pretty, it looked very nice. “Wow!!” Wish said happily. Midnight laughed and the two of them walked out of the house and into the streets. Ponyville was bustling with tons of different ponies. Some of them stared at the two attractive sisters as they walked by, Wish flaunted her new beauty while Midnight smiled coyly. Midnight knew how to handle all this attention, but her sister didn’t. Wish was beaming proudly and Midnight couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Okay, what’s the first thing on the list?” Midnight asked. The two sisters were done all their parading and Wish smiled, “hm...Official Overseer’s Checklist….blah blah, um...oh here it is! It looks like the first thing we need is food.” She replied. The obvious place to go would be to Sweet Apple Acres. In addition to harvesting the apples, the farm made all sorts of apple treats, perfect for the anniversary celebration. Nopony could resist old style apple brown betties! “Alright, let’s head over to the apple farm. We’ll see if we can talk to anypony there and get them to cater for us.” Wish nodded in agreement, and hopped eagerly onto her big sister’s back. “OK, let’s go!” Midnight stood stone still, looking back towards the would-be passenger on her back. “And why do you think I’d carry you over there?” “Well, I can’t take any chances with these gorgeous locks.” she replied, running a hoof through her mane. “What if I trip and fall in the dirt?” Midnight, continuing to stand, stared at her diva of a sister until she dismounted. “You’re becoming more like me every day.” She said, reminding herself to hide the shampoo when she returned home. Sweet Apple Acres wasn’t too far, but even so, Wish was very tired. Her stubby legs weren’t very suitable for long walks, and Midnight felt a little bad for her. “Are we there yet? My hooves are killing me.” Wish complained. Midnight rolled her eyes, but nodded and smiled. Wish beamed as she saw all of the beautiful apple trees around her. She had never been to Sweet Apple Acres before, and this was very exciting! Midnight however, wasn’t too impressed. She wasn’t an easy mare to impress, and a simple apple farm didn’t seem too exciting. The two mares wandered down the dirt path until they came to the farmhouse. It was a small, quaint house, with red bricks and very nice paint. Midnight smiled as she walked up to the house, and knocked. “What do we say?” Wish whispered. Midnight actually had an idea, but she didn’t have time to explain, because a mare with a creamy yellow coat and a soft yellow mane answered the door. Her mane was very wavy, and she blinked in surprise as Midnight smiled at her. “Hello there, my name is Midnight. I am Princess Twilight’s personal student, and I-” Midnight was stopped in her tracks as she felt her hoof being shaken violently. “Well, ain’t this an honor! The name’s Honey Butter. What can I do ya for today?” Honey replied, cutting Midnight off. Midnight sighed and Wish tried not to giggle at Honey’s accent. Midnight’s forced smile wasn’t even noticed by Honey, so Midnight continued ‘smiling.’ “I’m here to help Princess Twilight with her Coronation Anniversary Party, and your fine establishment was on the top of the list.” Midnight exclaimed, this statement made Honey smile. “Well, ah ain’t too sure if this place is ‘fine’ enough for yeh fancy ponies, but we’ll do our darndest to make sure nopony goes hungry.” Honey replied. Midnight blinked and Wish laughed, she liked this mare and Honey smiled at Wish’s happy expression. “Well, I think that this place will do. I admit it seems a bit...rustic for a Princess, but if she thinks its suitable, then I will too.” Midnight said. Honey smiled kindly, she Midnight and Wish walked down the dirt path towards the farm. The ponies walked in an awkward silence. “So, how’re you likin’ the farm?” Honey asked. The three ponies were now in a large flower covered field, and there was a bright colored blanket with many decorations hung over the trees. “I’ve already started to decorate a little.” Honey explained, as Midnight looked over the decorations. Well, there will be less to decorate now, so that’s no big deal. Midnight thought. “This is so pretty! Is this where the dinner is gonna take place?” Wish asked. Honey nodded proudly, “Yup, but It needs a bit more decoratin’. Too bad I don’t have any fancy magical powers like you do.” She replied, looking at Midnight in particular. Midnight sighed, she had feared this. Honey was probably going to make her do most of the work now. She shook her head. “Sorry, but I’ve got important business to take care of. We gotta go see who’s in charge of….Wish?” She asked, looking at her sister. Wish blinked in surprise, she had been too busy looking at all of the pretty decorations to even notice her sister. “Oh! Right, uh...we’re supposed to find out who’s in charge of entertainment.” Wish replied as she looked at her list. Midnight grinned and nodded stoutly. “Well, it’s been great really, but we must be heading now. Come on, Wish.” Midnight said. Wish smiled and waved to Honey who sadly waved back, “I hope you don’t miss this party. It’s gonna be the best one of the year I bet.” She replied. Honey’s eye gave a little twitch as she said this, and Midnight wondered why. She seemed to have lost her accent as well. Midnight’s ears flicked backwards and she walked away from the still twitching Honey and joined her sister, who was already halfway down the road. “Why’d you slow up back there?” Wish asked as they trotted along. “I thought you were right behind me.” Midnight sighed at this, she had no idea how to explain to her young, innocent sister that who they had just talked to what might be a crazy farm pony. Especially since she had seemed to like her. “I uh, I just thought I heard something strange that’s all.” Midnight replied, lying only a little. Wish nodded, she didn’t seem to know when Midnight was lying, so the older mare sighed in relief. She would tell her if that pony did anything dangerous, she told herself making her guilt waver for now. “Ooh, look at this place!” Wish exclaimed excitedly. They stopped at a strange looking house, it had a big stone structure, and the windows looking outside looked to be like stained glass. Midnight blinked in surprise as she noticed this, and wondered how well off this pony was to even afford something like that. The house looked more like a church, Midnight noticed as the walked, it had a very nice garden and a wrought iron fence around the entire thing. Wish had never been to a church before, so she only thought this place looked very pretty. As Midnight knocked on the door, she noticed something strange. All the lights seemed to be out, or dimmed down. Because there was little to no light coming through the door’s tiny window. “Maybe nopony’s home?” Wish asked. Midnight shrugged and then started as the door slowly creaked open. “Who’s there?” A musical, but quiet voice asked. “Uh...Midnight Twinkle, miss. I’m Princess Twilight’s new protege, and it says on the list of preparations that you are the one in charge of entertainment?” Midnight replied. The voice sighed and a light pink hoof opened the door so that the two ponies outside could see her. Midnight tried not to gasp, the pony was wearing a lot of makeup (more than she ever wore), black mascara donned her eyes and white eye-shadow on her lids. She wasn't wearing any lipstick, thank Cadence, but Midnight could swear she was wearing a little bit of blush. Her mane was beautifully long, and it was red with black streaks. Her bangs were styled, but still a little rough. “Hello there I’m-” Midnight was cut off by the mare’s sigh. “I heard you, you’re the Princess’s new student, well congratulations. I don’t care. I do however, care about performing and if it says I’m on the list, well, that’s just fine. My name is Vogue, and I’m guessing you are here to check up on me?” She asked looking at the two mares suspiciously. Midnight glared, how dare this mare interrupt her!? She had just about enough of all these rude ponies...but she didn't want to get into trouble. So, sucking in a deep calming breath and swallowing her pride, Midnight forced a smile. “Yes, we are. It’s Princess Twilight’s orders. So if you wouldn't mind us coming in and seeing what the entertainment is?-” Midnight tried to get herself on the other side of the door, but was stopped by Vogue. “Why must you insist on coming in my home? If you would kindly step aside, I will give you a performance.” Vogue replied testily, she flicked her red and black bangs with her hoof as Midnight walked backwards a few steps. “Oh, alright then. I’m sorry, I didn't mean to intrude.” Midnight replied. She felt like this pony could beat her up if she wanted to, so apologizing couldn't hurt. “That’s quite alright...Now this is the song I’ve prepared for the Princess. Ahem.” Twilight smiled as she walked down the streets of the Crystal Empire, everything around her glittered brightly as she made her way to the castle. All the crystal ponies were quite busy it seemed, it looked like they were getting ready for their own celebrations. Twilight felt honored that ponies everywhere were celebrating her accession today. The guards near the castle all saluted her and Twilight smiled at them, Cadence was supposedly here, so it wasn't a surprise seeing so many of them around. “Cadence? Are you in here?” She asked loudly, her voice echoed through the walls. After a while, Twilight’s ears pricked up to the sound of hooves. “Twilight! I’m so glad you could come!” Cadence replied. There she was, Cadence, like Twilight herself, had grown immensely through the years and was now almost as tall as Celestia once was. Her mane had also become more like Celestia’s as well, although it was more pink and purple than blue and green. Twilight smiled and hugged her sister-in-law. She had missed her for quite some time, and it was lovely to be together again. “Cadence! I’m so excited for tonight! They’re are quite a lot of parties scheduled, I’m a bit worried I won’t be able to attend each of them.” Twilight told her as she pulled out of the hug. Cadence laughed, “I’m guessing you’ll be attending Ponyville’s party first? I hear they’ll have quite the performer tonight. Vogue...something. I’m actually thinking of going to the one in Canterlot, and then Shining wanted to visit the Los Pegasus festivities...you know how they love to party.” Cadence replied. Twilight giggled, the two made their way towards Cadence’s bedroom, where she had said she had stored away a ‘fabulous’ dress for Twilight. Twilight wasn’t too keen on dressing up, but since it was such a special occasion, and their would be a lot of ponies looking at her tonight, she thought she could at least give the dress a chance. “Los Pegasus, huh? I didn’t think Shining was into that kind of fun.” Twilight replied with a smirk. Cadence opened her bedroom door with her magic and smiled. “Well, he says that since you're grown up now, you don’t need your big brother hanging over your shoulder all the time. I think he just wanted an excuse to go out one night and party.” Cadence replied. Twilight pondered this for a while, and as Cadence walked over to her giant closet she sighed. “Something wrong, hon?” Cadence asked. Twilight shook her head. “No...no I’m fine. I’ve just been having weird feelings lately is all.” Twilight replied, with a sad smile. “Weird feelings? What kind of weird?” Cadence asked in concern. Twilight herself had no idea what was bugging her so much lately, but it seemed like a dark cloud had been forming over her head for days now, and it had shown itself again this afternoon. Twilight simply sighed and shook her head. “I’ve just been feeling kinda depressed lately. I’m sure it’s no big deal.” She replied quietly. Cadence ‘mhed’ her sympathy, she had stuck her head inside her closet and had started to shift through all her many dresses. “It’s just that...I’ve been thinking about why Celestia choose me to be a Princess in the first place. I mean, I know I had successfully completed the study of the magic of friendship, but other than that...I was just a simple mare before. I’m not sure why Celestia even wanted me to take her place. I’m not even all that special, all I do is summon the stars while you raise the sun and the moon.” Twilight said, degrading herself but not knowing how badly it was affecting her. “Twilight,” Cadence pulled her head out from the closet. She could read Twilight well enough to tell that it was a big deal. “Celestia was the wisest pony to have ever lived, and she wouldn’t let just anypony become her successor.” She raised the melancholy Princess’s chin. “I don’t know why she chose you either. But she could see inside you, and she saw that you had potential. Does that make you feel better?” Twilight gave her sister in law a sheepish smile. “A little. Thanks Cadence.” “No problem Twilight. Now, this dress is buried in here somewhere…” Cadence continued to rummage through the closet, leaving Twilight to think on what she'd said. It was good to hear that ponies still had faith in her. But the ifs continued to whirl around in her mind. What if Celestia was wrong? What if I hadn't actually learned enough about friendship? What if I'm not meant to be a Princess? "Ah-ha! Found it! Won't this just be..." Cadence turned to face Twilight, but was met with only an empty room. Twilight was nowhere to be seen. "Twilight?" It was then she noticed the French window to the balcony was open, which was latched just moment ago. "Oh no." Cadence dashed out to the balcony, hoping to catch Twilight, but she could see nopony. "Twilight!" She called out at the top of her lungs, but in vain. Her sister was gone. Midnight had to admit, Vogue's performance had been good. She clopped her hooves on the ground along with her sister, who was whistling. Vogue smiled and bowed. “I’m guessing you liked my song?” She asked. Wish beamed at her, “yeah! I’m sure Princess Twilight will love it! It’s so beautiful!” She praised, making Vouge smile back. “Thanks, I think I’ll head over to the town hall now. It’s getting late.” Vogue replied softly. Midnight took a quick glance at the sun and she noticed that is was going down. She gasped and began to sweat a little, she hoped everything was ready! “I’m sure everything’s ready if you ponies wanna head down to the Town Hall with me.” Vogue said, seemingly reading Midnight’s thoughts. She was looking at her with an odd expression and Midnight took a deep breath, “no, that’s okay. We can head down there by ourselves. Come on, Wish.” Midnight replied. Wish nodded and skipped along behind her sister, who was looking more nervous than she had been before. The little filly waved to Vogue who waved back and began to walk to the hall herself, taking her slow careful steps she usually did. Town Hall was beautifully decorated, thanks to a pony who was standing before Midnight now. The pony was a pink unicorn mare, she had bright green hair that hung down to her her shoulders. It was very straight, her eyes were a bright blue, which matched her cutie mark, which seemed to be a blue flame. “Oh wow, this place looks gorgeous!” Midnight exclaimed. She didn’t even realize that she said that out loud, and she blinked in surprise. Ember chuckled and walked over to her. “Thanks! I’m glad you like it.” She replied. Midnight blushed. “Oh...uh you're welcome.” She sighed in relief as the pony turned away. She was in no mood to talk to anypony. She smiled at her sister who had grabbed a bunch of snacks for the two of them. They walked towards the center of the hall. She and her sister joined a bunch of ponies that were gathered around. The mayor smiled at them all from a balcony, the mayor was a kind, older looking mare, with gentle green eyes and a yellow coat. Her mane was a sky blue. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, ponies of all ages. I welcome you to the ten-thousand year coronation celebration!” She called, making all the ponies around her cheer and stomp their hooves. She smiled and waited for the crowd to stop their cheering to begin her speech again. “Our lovely Princess Twilight has been kind and gentle to us for so many years, we wish to thank her today by honoring her with her own celebration! But first, we wish to welcome our very own pop-rock singing sensation, Vogue Styles!” The mayor finished her speech and the curtains pulled back, Vouge was standing in the center of the balcony, and she began her beautiful song. Twilight fled through the wild EverFree, her thoughts were clouded and she really had no idea what she was doing. But it didn’t feel right, everything around her was shrouded in darkness and Twilight could barely see. Why does nopony care about my talents!? Do they only care that I’m a Princess now? She thought as she ran. She began to cry as she remembered all those ponies who did care about her. Her mother, her father, her friends and Spike, who now was a fully grown and dangerous dragon and lived oh so far away. Twilight’s thoughts were now becoming clouded with darkness. What would happen if I just…..went away for a while? Would anypony actually miss me? She knew this was probably silly, that Shining Armor and Cadence would miss her. But then again, she thought, those two are always so busy. She sighed and stomped her hoof angrily. The darkness clouded around her and she smiled a little. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She welcomed the darkness. She welcomed anything that would love her for who she was, not what she stood for. The serene calmness of the darkness was actually rather nice, she felt like she was being hugged and comforted by it as it wrapped around her body. Twilight’s mind was changing, little by little, and the EverFree’s magic seemed to be helping it, egging on the dark thoughts. Her eyes began to water even more as the darkness consumed her entire form. Now though, these tears weren’t of painful emotions, they were just tears of sheer pain. The darkness seemed to notice this and made her transformation quick, her body began to float up into the night sky, stars around her seemed to wink out one by one. Twilight’s body lengthened just a little, since she was already so tall, but her wings changed. They changed into a sharper, more agile form. Her mane grew as well, and instead of her normal purple and pink aura, it became pitch black. The darkness wasn’t done yet. It made her have bright eyes that were a bright yellow, and her pupils were now only slits, like a cats. Twilight smiled, and her teeth became deadly sharp. Now the darkness had finished her transformation. It went away and Twilight became saddened. She felt like that dark force was her only true friend now. But the darkness seemed to be leading her down a path, it looked like it was heading towards the old castle she and her old friends had once rebuilt. She smiled a tiny smile and followed the trail, not caring what the darkness would do to her again, not even caring that it had changed her. She had been so lonely, and the darkness had helped ease her loneliness, she just wanted a friend. “Thank you, thank you. You all are too kind.” Vogue said as she finished her song. She had been bowing for quite some time now, and Midnight flushed with jealousy. How could this pony be so talented? She wished she could be like her. “Wow! Wasn’t that awesome! I love her voice so much!” Wish exclaimed, hopping excitedly. Midnight rolled her eyes at her and tried to feign her jealousy. “She’s not that good. I bet she doesn’t even sing other genres.” Midnight said, trying to sound haughty. Wish sighed, “whatever.” She knew her sister was jealous. She couldn’t hide anything from her. The mayor clapped her hooves together and smiled proudly at Vogue. Midnight glared at the two of them, she never got any kind of recognition for all the hard work she did. But she didn’t have any time to gripe about this, for the mayor spoke. “Well now. I think we’re ready to see our beautiful Princess! Would you please step forward, your highness? We’re all so impatient to see your shining face!” The mayor said. Midnight rolled her eyes, it was obvious that the mayor was sucking up but nopony else seemed to notice for they all were clapping their hooves again. She joined them and waited with the crowd….and waited….and waited. The mayor chuckled nervously and went behind the curtain. She shouted with a couple of ponies who mumbled something Midnight couldn’t hear back, and she came out looking flustered. “The Princess is missing!” She screeched. Everypony gasped and Midnight’s eyes widened. She was going to be in so much trouble.
Trapped in The PastChapter 4- Trapped in the Past Over logs and between branches, Twilight followed the shadowy mist deeper into the Everfree. She’d only been this far into the forest a hoof full of times in the past, and each time filled with dread. Now, in this new form, it felt more comfortable than home. Twilight’s mind was blank as she continued in pursuit. Her mind was focused entirely on following the mist. Nothing else mattered, nothing else existed. Finally, she found herself stopped, in the throneroom on the Castle of the Two Sisters. No longer restored, the dilapidated interior was the perfect mirror for the distraught Princess’s mind. Regal tapestries, once restored to proper glory, had now been reverted to the tattered state Twilight first found them in. Her friends had helped with the restoration, but they were gone. There was nothing left to keep. The mist was present, but hovered motionless before her in an amorphous cloud. It made no sounds, disturbed nothing. Had she not been able to see it, Twilight would not have known it was still there. “It’s not fair!” She burst out to the mist. “Why am I so alone now? I didn’t ask for immortality. Why did Celestia curse me like this?!” The cloud moved closer, enveloping the dark mare in it’s aura. Twilight could feel warmth wherever the cloud moved around her. It soothed her, comforted her in her distress. It was enough to make the crying mare smile. “Thank you...But I still feel lonely. My subjects obey me, but I don’t think they actually love me. I’m just Princess Twilight to them.” The mist then formed in front of her again, but the black cloud was replaced by a vision, a vision of something familiar to Twilight. It was Ponyville, back before Twilight was royalty. Ponies moved about in the streets, and the pegasi shuffled the clouds to create the appropriate weather. “That’s Ponyville! It was such a beautiful town back then. Yes, I remember it well.” The mist changed, and showed Twilight the time she first met anypony in Ponyville. It was at Sweet Apple Acres, before the industrialization. Applejack was introducing her entire clan, while at the sametime force feeding the poor unicorn all sorts of apple concoctions. Twilight giggled looking back. “Oh, AJ! I forgot how funny that actually was. Spike never let me forget about the bulge I got after that.” The next image was that of her introduction to Rainbow Dash, and the impromptu makeover she received as a result. Twilight guffawed at her ridiculous look. “Thank Celestia Rainbow wasn’t in charge of decorations! Would’ve been done fast though.” Speaking of decorations, Rarity was the next pony Twilight met. The one thing she remembered about that was how hard Spike had fallen for her. Twilight could have sworn she saw hearts in his eyes. “He never had a chance, but it was still adorable to him swoon all the time. She was pretty.” Then there was Fluttershy. Sweet Fluttershy. Twilight had almost thought she was mute, until the yellow pegasus spotted Spike. “She came such a long way since that day. Too bad she never got over her timidity entirely.” Finally, there was Pinkie Pie. Good ol’ Pinkie. Looking back, Twilight had no idea how an Earth Pony did all of the crazy antics Pinkie did, or where she got all the time to plan those parties. “You can’t help but love Pinkie. She loved everypony, and asked for nothing but smiles. I wish everypony could have that attitude. Unfortunately, not everypony does.” Twilight stared into the past for hours, watching all of the happy times she’d enjoyed with her friends, and all of the hardships they had endured together. The magic of their friendship held them together through thick and thin. Not even an army of changelings could stop them. Then time caught up with all of them. One by one, Twilight watched again as her friends faded away with old age, in the same order she had met them. AJ, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all succumbed to the fate that awaits all mortal ponies. Twilight knew she could help whom she saw, but she cried out to them, trying to comfort them all over again. At the end of it all, Twilight sat in the castle, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Well,” she said with a sniffle, as she wiped the tears away. “That was the past. Nothing I can do now to change that now. Wish I could have.” The mist showed Twilight another image, only this one she did not recognize. It showed her, in the normal royal attire she was now accustomed to, but instead of sitting on her throne in Canterlot, she was sitting in the Ponyville library, surrounded by her old friends. They were alive again! “My friends! They’re alright! But how is that possible. They all died.” Then it hit her. “Is that the future? Can I make that the future?” The mist moved towards Twilight, helping her back onto all fours. “You know how to bring my friends back, don’t you? Please tell me how! I want to be with them again.” The mist enveloped Twilight once more meshing itself with her mane. The princess stood more confident now. She felt a new power inside her, no doubt from her new assistant. “I will bring my friends back. I won’t be alone any more. I swear it, as Nightmare Nova!” All the ponies in the crowd were very scared, and Midnight sighed. The mayor had no idea what was going on, and the frightened crowd wasn’t helping. “What’s going on?” Wish asked quietly. Midnight sighed, “I really don’t know, sis.” She said, pulling her shivering sister close. A sea green pegasus pony’s eyes narrowed and she flew up towards the mayor. “Why’d Princess Twilight ditch us!? What the heck is going on?” She demanded, the ponies in the crowd murmured in agreement. They all wanted to know. The mayor sighed and mournfully shook her head. The pegasus rolled her eyes. “Well, if you're not gonna do anything. I’m gonna go and find her myself!” She yelled. Midnight blinked, she was about to protest, say that finding the Princess should be her job, but before she could a green stripe of pegasus magic sped past her. Sighing for the hundredth time that night, Midnight titled her head towards Wish in a way that said ‘follow me’, and silently trotted out the door. Midnight smirked as she saw the sea-green pony again. Her blue and silver star cutie mark was brightly showing in the night, for some reason. The mare sighed in frustration. “Where in the wide realm of Equestria could she be?” She asked herself. Midnight coughed, not out of sickness, but as a way to make herself known. The pegasus swirled around and started a little, but then smiled. “Oh, well it looks like somepony was brave enough to come help me.” She said, nodding smugly. Midnight rolled her eyes, “yes I’m going to help you, but it’s only because I am Princess Twilight’s new student. She’d probably be furious with me if I didn’t.” She admitted. The pegasus laughed and smiled brightly. “Great! My name’s Neon Glow. But everypony just calls me Neon. So where should we start?” Neon asked, batting her eyes. Blushing, Midnight smiled. “Well, we can start at my house. I live in her old library, and there’s still a bunch of books there. Something like that would probably help us” Neon beamed again, and Midnight smiled. At least this pony seemed relatively normal, with no odd quirks as she could tell. Except for that weird cutie mark, which was glowing like a beacon in the night. “Awesome! Well, lead the way….uh…” Neon blinked, and she smiled an awkward smile. Midnight giggled. “My name’s Midnight, and the shy one is Wish.” She said. Wish nodded and smiled. She normally isn’t this shy, Midnight thought worriedly. The afternoon’s events must have worn her out. “Okay, Midnight! Let’s go!” She said, flying just slightly ahead. When they reached Midnight’s house, Neon’s eyes began to widen. The thought of somepony living inside a tree was just so strange, but then again, she lived in the clouds so she knew it wouldn’t be fair to judge. “Well this is the place! Lemme just unlock the door, last time I left it open, Princess Twilight broke in….long story, ah there we go!” Midnight smiled as the door swung open. With a giant yawn, Wish trotted inside after her sister. It was way past her bedtime, Midnight noticed as she looked at the clock. The poor filly was probably very tired. “You can go up to bed if you want too, Wish. The big mares can handle this.” Midnight told her sister jokingly. Wish only rolled her eyes she was in no mood to argue, so with heavy and tired steps she trotted up the stairs and slammed the door of her bedroom, making her sister wince from downstairs. “So….she’s your sister right?” Neon asked. Midnight nodded, “yeah she is. She’s usually very energetic, but she is only a filly. It’s almost midnight, she usually goes to bed way earlier than this.” Midnight replied, still a bit anxious about her sister. Neon’s grin was wide and Midnight didn’t really understand why, but the pegasus just began to laugh. Her laugh faded as she saw the other mare’s confused expression. “What?” Midnight asked. Neon guffawed. “Heh, you said it was almost midnight, Midnight! Get it?” She laughed again and slapped her thigh. Midnight rolled her eyes, that one never got old. Waiting for Neon to calm down, which took a while, she walked over to one of the older bookshelves and began to sift through it. “I think I saw an old storybook that seemed to be something like our own predicament somewhere...I think it’s called The Mare in The Moon.” Midnight murmured, using her magic to float the random books. Neon’s eyes widened. “Oh, I used to love that story! My mom always said that Celestia was a little mean, I mean who puts her sister in the moon for a thousand years! But, I guess since everypony needs sunlight-” Neon’s rant was cut off by Midnight. “Aha! I found it.” She exclaimed as she blew the dust of the old book. The book seemed to be centuries old, for the cover was falling off of it, and Midnight had to be very gentle when she levitated it. She smiled as she flipped the cover open, yes this was the story she had needed. “Wow, do you think Princess Twilight had this before she was even a Princess?’’ Neon asked. This was a very good question, but Midnight shrugged since she really had no idea which books belonged to Twilight, and which ones had belonged to the town’s library, she hopped that this one happens to belong to the latter. “I hope not. I don’t want to get into trouble if I end up breaking it….now lets see. It says that the way the mare got into the moon in the first place was because she became overcome by darkness...But I’m not sure that our Princess would go y’know, crazy...hm, this certainly is puzzling.” Midnight said. Neon sighed, she was becoming impatient. “Hay! Maybe if we ask some of the ponies in town if they’ve seen her, maybe we’ll find better answers!” She suggested. Midnight beamed. “That is an excellent idea. I believe we should go in the morning though, that’ll at least give everypony’s minds a rest. You're welcome to stay in my guest room if you like, it’s right beside Wish’s room. That’s upstairs.” Midnight said. She had no idea why she was inviting this strange pegasus to stay the night, she normally only did that with stallions on her risky one-night-stands. But something about Neon’s cheerful attitude in a situation that certainly wasn’t cheerful made her more trusting of the sea-green mare. “Wow that’s really nice of you! Y’know, you might try and seem like you’re better than the rest of us...but I think you’re alright Midnight. G'night!” Neon called. She sped up the stairs before Midnight could even answer. Blinking in surprise, Midnight blushed profusely, but smiled. She went up the stairs and to her bedroom. The dream began with a dark hallway, or a room, Midnight couldn’t tell. She thought that she’d fallen asleep, but it felt like she were still awake. The room was completely and eerily silent, and as Midnight moved she couldn’t tell if she was walking on anything solid. Feelings of fear began to creep through her as she began to run, why she was running she had no idea. She just had that feeling. The feeling that something, that everything was wrong. She screamed as a strange wailing noise erupted from the darkness and her dream changed. Now the dream showed Ponyville, a whole bunch of ponies were gathering around her. They were saying something about a Princess, and how something wasn’t right...Were they talking about her? What was going on? Midnight screamed with terror in her eyes and launched upwards out of her bed. Her forehead had little beads of sweat on it, and she had no idea why. The memories of her nightmare were quickly fading away. Shivering, Midnight stepped out of her warm bed and onto the cold floor. She hadn’t forgotten what she was about to do today, and it frightened her. She did not want to talk to the whole town, just to find out where Princess Twilight was. Don’t we have ponies for this kind of thing? Isn’t that what the royal guard is supposed to do? She asked herself. But this thought sparked an idea. “OF COURSE! Why didn’t I think of this sooner!?” Midnight happily exclaimed. She rushed out the door and down the stairs. Waking everypony up in the process. Wish grumbled as she trotted down the stairs, her once silky and straight mane now in a tangly bedheaded mess. Neon on the other hoof, just looked very confused. The pegasus was an early riser, but the sound of Midnight’s hooves had startled her. “What’s goin’ on, sis? Why’d you have to wake everypony up?” Wish asked. Midnight blinked and turned around, she had no idea that she had woken up her two houseguests. She had actually forgotten that Neon had stayed the night, but the sight of her had reminded her. . Blushing in embarrassment, Midnight sheepishly smiled. “Oh, I’m so sorry girls, it’s just that I’ve remembered somepony who we could ask for help, although the response might take a while, since he’s very busy...But I think it’s a good idea nonetheless.” She explained. This made Wish’s eyes widen, she had gotten a good idea about who her sister was talking about, and Neon looked between the two sisters in confusion. “Huh?” Neon asked. Midnight laughed along with her sister. “It’s our brother! Northern Lights!” Wish said happily with a little hop. Neon smiled along with them now, the confusion slowly lifting from her face. “Oh, I get it. Your brother huh?” She replied. Midnight nodded. “Yes, he’s been training in the Royal Guard for quite sometime now, and I’m certain they’ll know how to handle this.” Midnight replied. Although she had no idea if her brother would even get the message on time. She could only hope. “There I’m done! It’s just a simple note, saying that we’re all very worried about Princess Twilight, and that everypony is wondering where she is.” She said looking over her letter once again. Neon chuckled, “Wow, you are very literate.” She said, somewhat sarcastically. Midnight rolled her eyes, “yes, and a romantic.” She replied, making Wish giggle. “I hope the letter gets to him on time, but we should probably go and ask the towns-ponies if they’ve seen anything. You two coming?” Midnight asked. Neon smiled brightly along with Wish. “You bet! Just let me go to my house and get something, and I’ll meet you guys in the center of town!” Neon replied. “Oh, alright then we’ll see you.” Midnight replied. She smiled as Neon rushed out the door. Wow, that pegasus is certainly flighty. Midnight thought with a small smirk at her own joke. When Neon had sped by her, Midnight had caught a glimpse of her cutie-mark, and it no longer had its strange glow. “I like her! We should invite her over more, don’tcha think?” Wish asked. Midnight nodded and smiled too, it seemed that she was indeed making friends. Or at least one friend, and that was a start. Ponyville was a bustling chaos, everypony was very spooked, and Midnight had to be careful. Some of the ponies were stampeding, and Midnight rolled her eyes. This wasn’t that bad. If all else failed, they at least had Princess Cadence, who, Midnight thought, was a lot better at ruling a kingdom. Poor Wish had to sidestep away from the rushing ponies, and Midnight had to scoop her up in fright, for sometimes she hadn’t realized that somepony was coming towards her. Neon was the only one who didn’t have to worry about the ground, and she was getting impatient. “Aw, c’mon you guys! What? Is a bunch of stampeding ponies too much for ya?” She mocked, but with a playful wink. Midnight rolled her eyes, “ha ha, very funny. If you haven’t noticed, neither of us have wings.” She replied snarkily, trying not to step on a scared pony. Neon just laughed in a cheerful comradery, and the three of them finally made it to the Sugar Cube-Corner club. The doors were locked, and there was a closed sign on the door. “Well, that’s just perfect.” Neon mumbled. The closed sign didn’t hinder Midnight’s confidence however, she had already walked over to the door and knocked, loudly. After a while of loud, obnoxious knocking, a pony opened the door. She was very plain looking, a bright pink pony with a red mane that was long, but not styled very nicely. Although, her eyes were a pretty bright blue. “What!? Didn’t you ponies see the closed sign?” She asked rudely. Midnight stomped her hoof, “yes we did. But this is an emergency, and I am the Princess’s student, so I have to find her. We were wondering if anypony in town has seen her?” She asked. She wasn’t very patient, but the pony was even less. “No, I haven’t. This is a bunch of bull, and I am in no mood to deal with it….But I thought I did hear something near the EverFree, you could try over there.” She said, slamming the door closed right after. Midnight sighed, she was so much help. Although, the tip was a good one. “Well….at least it’s something.” Wish said. She looked at Midnight hopefully, and Midnight smiled. Yes at least it was something.
