The Next Generation

Generations

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.