The Friendship Stone

by Midnight Twinkle

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure
Length: 5764

Twilight finds a young pony in her library who wants to hear about the Magic of Friendship, not friendhsip itself but the magic. Twilight doen't have the answer but comes to the pony's home to find it, unfortunately things aren't that

Twilight finds Midnight Twinkle, a young pony in her library one morning, she's looking for how to create the Magic of Friendship. You don't see things like that with everyday friends, so why does Twilight have incredible powers with friends? The young pony believes that she knows the answer but she cannot be sure. She takes Twilight to her homeland but things aren't going quite well there. A pony able to use Shadow Magic is ruling there in her palace in the woods and Midnight Twinkle believe's that that is were the Friendship Stone lies. Twilight is whisked away to a foreign land with demons, Shadow Magic and lies.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-05-31 13:00:03 UTC

Chapter 1: Equesa

Chapter 1

     The sun is shining in Ponyville as Princess Twilight  wakes up. A bell jingles as somebody enters the library. Twilight's ears perk up. Who could it be? "Princess Twilight?" A small voice asks.

    "Yes?" Twilight answers coming downstairs, in the library section she sees a young pony maybe her age who she's never seen before.

    "Hello... I just read that you are willing to tell anypony about friendship and its magic and I really need to hear about it..." The pony said "Oh! By the way my name is Midnight Twinkle!"

    "Well Midnight Twinkle, I guess you've come to the right place, I am the Princess of Friendship, well what would you like to hear?" Twilight Sparkle said.

    "I don't have any problems with friendship," Midnight Twinkle said "But I'd like to hear about it's magic..." She continued.

    "Well what about it's magic?" Twilight said confused, nopony ever asked about its magic.

    "Well I want to know how it works, I mean you don't see friendship of everyday life turn into incredible powers..." Midnight said.

    "I'm sorry Midnight, I don't think I have the answer to that, but I see you brought some books maybe we could look at them together and see if we get the answer." Twilight said apologetically.

    "That's one of the reasons I brought the books you're right but  I think the library section is too open, is there a more private place in this castle?" Midnight asked.

    "We could go into the throne room, nopony visits it but me and my other friends." Twilight offered leading the way.

     As they entered the throne room Midnight Twinkle gasped in awe, she'd never been to a place where you could actually feel the friendship! "Um... Actually I didn't bring the books to study them, Princess..." Midnight said shyly. "I brought them because they're about the Friendship Stone..."

    "The what now?" Twilight said turning around to face Midnight.

    "The Friendship Stone. You've never heard of it? They don't talk about it in Equestria?" She said confused.

    "If they wouldn't you couldn't have heard about it." Princess Twilight said in a matter-of-fact tone.

    "Oh, but I'm not from here. I'm from Equesa." Midnight Twinkle said back in a matter-of-fact tone.

    "Where's Equesa?" Twilight asked interested.

     "In the east, but I'm not suprised that you haven't heard of it. It was wiped from every atlas when Queen Mereda came to rule it." Midnight said quietly.

     "Who's Queen Mereda and why was Equesa wiped out of every atlas because of her?" Twilight said, curious.

    "She controls Shadow Magic and I believe that she has infected the Friendship Stone, making everypony full of hatred and fear. The strongest of friendships have survived and I have protected them with a spell but it is starting to weaken and I need your help to save the Friendship Stone." Midnight said.

    "Ok... What is the Friendship Stone?" Twilight asked.

    "The Friendship Stone holds the Power of Friendship in it, right now I think Queen Mereda has inserted Shadow Magic in it and infected it making everypony full of hatred and fear, Queen Mereda is still weak from her imprisonment, but is growing stronger. The stronger she gets the more hatred will spread and her next target is Equestria!" Midnight Twinkle said fast. "Princess! We don't have time for this! We must travel to Equesa!" Midnight Twinkle said impatiently.

    "You don't even know if I'm coming with you!" Twilight said.

    "If you don't come," Midnight said, "You'll endanger all of Equestria. Your choice Princess..." Twilight thought and thought and thought: What if Queen Mereda doesn't grow stronger? What if this is all a joke? Finally she decided:

    "I'm coming with you, Midnight Twinkle." She said sounding more confident than she was.

    "Excellent choice, Princess." Midnight said relieved. "I'll open the portal, stand back." Her horn started glowing the deepest of blue that you could imagine and a little "door" opened. Twilight stepped in and Midnight followed. They were in Equesa.

     Midnight Twinkle was greeted with a warm welcome. Children rushed to her talking excitedly and pulled her cape down. Twilight gasped: Midnight Twinkle had been hiding her wings under it!

    "So I guess I'm not the only Princess here huh, Midnight?" She said to Midnight.

    "Actually you are. I'm a Queen." Midnight said. "Queen Mereda pushed me off of my throne." Everypony nodded.

    "Are you Pwincess Twilight?" A filly asked near her.

    "Are you here to save us Pwincess?" A colt asked.

    "I guess..." Twilight said suddenly uncomfortable. Seeing so many ponies homeless and orphaned saddened her. This didn't happen in Ponyville, she thought.

    "Melissa? Do be a dear and show Miss Sparkle her room." Midnight said to a filly about Sweetie Belle's age.

    "Of course, your highness." Melissa answered and took Twilight by the hoof. The other children knew that was their cue to leave the adults in peace and quickly left the room.

    "When will you set towards the forest your highness?" Asked Honey Flower the pony who took care of the children and food.

    "I think it'd be best if we leave as soon as possible, but I think I need some rest so it probably won't be until tomorrow." Midnight Twinkle answered.

    "Absolutely, your highness, I'll go boil some tea for you and then you can rest!" Honey Flower said and made her way into the kitchen and disappeared.

    "I shall pack for you and Princess Twilight." Nicholas said taking Midnight's saddle bag. The other adults quickly rushed off to prepare for the journey to the Meren Forest and Midnight was left with her little sister Sunrise. She looked at Midnight for a long time and then opened her mouth to speak but Midnight cut her off:

    "I know it is dangerous to go into the Meren Forest but I have no choice! The destiny of Equesa rests on my shoulders!" Midnight said.

    "Then why can't I come? I'm part of the royal family too!" Sunrise said frustrated because of Midnights continuing "Big Sister" attitude.

    "Because you might get hurt!" Midnight said, why couldn't Sunrise just accept the truth that she was the little sister? "You could get hurt too!" Sunrise argued back.

     "Besides, our powers combined," She started.

     "Makes our will stronger." Midnight finsihed. "Yes, yes I know but I care for you too much to let you go!" Midnight said.

     "So do I!" Sunrise said tears rising. "So why don't we both go?"

     "Because if you get hurt I'll blame myself and won't be able to rule the kingdom, it would make no sense to defeat Queen Mereda if I won't be able to rule!" Midnight said ending the conversation.

     "Why won't you ever listen?" Sunrise said leaving the room. Midnight sighed and went upstairs to Sunrise's bedroom.

     "Hey, I'm sorry, you understand that I do this because I love you right?" She said softly.

     "Yeah, I guess so." Sunrise answered. Midnight knew it wouldn't help if she stayed in the room so she left closing the door quietly behind her.

     Twilight greeted her in the hallway: "Sibling trouble?" She asked gently.

    "Yeah, you know how you and I must go to the Meren Forest to defeat Queen Mereda? Well Sunrise says that she should come too but I can't let her, she'll get hurt!" Midnight said suddenly crying. Twilight comforted her.

    "It's all right, it,s natural to be a little overprotective with little sisters." Twilight said softly.

     "I guess... Hey, Twilight can I ask you something? Do you have a little sister?" Midnight asked.

     "No, although I have a baby dragon to take care of. Wait, Oh no!" Twilight suddenly said.

     "What, what is it?" Midnight said worried.

     "My friends don't know wher I am! I didn't leave a note or something like that!" Twilight said panicking. "We must return to explain!"

     "Twilight! You're not making any sense!" Midnigt said. "Get a hold of yourself of course your friends know! I left them a note with the books and all!"

     "Wait, you did?" Twilight asked.

     "Yes! Honest! I left before I told you because I knew you couldn't say no!" Midnight said.

     "Oh, I'm sorry I tempt to panic in situations like this..." Twilight said embarrased.

     "It's OK at least you didn't actually return..." Midnight said laughing slightly.

     "Hey! It's not funny Midnight!" Twilight said even though she was laughing too. After a while Midnight stop snortling and went serious again.

     "We must get some rest. Good night Princess." She said bowing. Twilight flopped her ears when Midnight turned around and went to bed, she wasnt used to such serious behaviour, in Equestria everypony was usually quite happy and smiling. She sighed and walked to the guest room. She decided to read about the Friendship Stone before bed.

    "The Friendship Stone is a multicolored gem to be found most likely in the Meren Forest. It is one of a kind, if it'll be destroyed or infected friendship might die and..." Twilight fell asleep. She had horrifying nightmares about her friends turning their back on her and that she permanently failed as a Princess. As the first rays of sunlight came through the window, Twilight woke up to find a warm plate of breakfast layed next to the bed. She gobbled it up grateful remembering that she had no dinner last night. Somepony knocked on the door. "Come in!" Twilight called. Midnight Twinkle stepped in with a saddle bag on her back. "Are you ready Princess?" She asked, she was still very serious and hadn't even said good morning.

     "Ready for what?" Twilight asked, what did she have to do now? She hadn't even got out of bed! "Ready for a journey to the Meren Forest?" Midnight said.

     "Already? I haven't properly woken up yet!" Twilight said annoyed.

     "Princess, you must understand, day by day, Queen Mereda grows stronger! She is one step closer to Equestria!" Midnight said even more annoyed.

     "Fine! But don't blame me if nothing goes according to plan!" Twilight said getting out of bed.

     "Twilight, listen, the palace is more than 90km away! It'll take us day just to get to the edge of the forest, what about the palace deep in the forest?" Midnight said.

     "I guess you're right, but I don't have anywhere to pack my stuff in." Twilight said suddenly realizing that she had left without even parchment paper or a quill.

     "Do not worry Princess, we have a spare one." Midnight said bowing.

     "Why do you speak so formally, your highness?" Twilight asked using the formalities against her host.

     "It is a tradition of our country, one must address anypony visiting with their title." Midnight said. "It also makes us sound good if you want to be informal." She smiled, Twilight smiled back. As they started to leave the children came and handed them both a cape, Midnight had a dark blue one and Twilight got a dark purple one. Twilight thanked for hers very much, you could see they had made it overnight specially for her. They left quickly not wanting any attention from outsiders. They walked on for a few minutes in silence.

     "Midnight, I know you're deep in thought but I want to know where did Queen Mereda come from?" Twilight asked almost whispering, it felt like if you broke the silence you'd break the world.

     "We don't really know. I think she sailed from the northern lands to here." Midinight answered in the same sort of whispery way.

     "Hmmm, have you ever visited the north Midnight?" Twilight asked looking for clues about the sudden appearence of Queen Mereda.

     "Not really, I once sailed close to there when ther had been a shipwreck and I wanted to find survivors." Midnight answered.

     "And was there something suspicious out there?" Twilight said continuing to look for clues.

     "No, Princess. Please keep it down, we are nearing the lake and we are close to the village." Midnight shushed Twilight.

     They had to take a boat from the Survivors Harbour to reach the village. As teh village neared Twilight became colder and colder, her thoughts were on bad things that could happen. Finally she wasn't really concentrating on anything just the cruel things that could happen...

     "Twilight? Twilight!!!" Midnight shouted. Twilight shook her head and cleared the trance's sleepy feeling. "Are you all right Princess?" Midnight Twinkle said worried.

     "I had horrible thoughts" Twilight said rubbing her head.

     "I should have put my spell around you when we left, luckily we haven't reached the shore yet and I can stilll do it but we are deadly close to the demons." Midnight said. Her horn glowed blue and suddenly Twilight felt much better.

     "Sorry about that, it's Mereda's demon guardians, they enter your mind and infect your thoughts." Midnight Twinkle explained.

     "Well, is there anything else that could protect me in addition to the spell?" Twilight asked.

     "If you have an especially strong friendships then that should help, I think you still need practice on that since the demons got in very easily." Midnight answered.

     "I can't believe it! Since I came to Ponyville I thought I had teh strongest friendships that existed! I guess I was wrong..." Twilight said suddenly down.

     "Hey, hey! Watch it! With that attitude the demons will get past the spells and friendships and we don't want that to happen!" Midnight said alarmed.

     "Oh, sorry your highness!" Twilight said joking, she knew that if anything, laughter was going to make the protection much stronger.

     "Well, I guess I shouldn't worry anymore since you learn quite fast Princess." Midnight said. She got the joke that's for sure but she didn't laugh, clearly she still hadn't dropped her "warrior attitude". As the boat hit the shore Midnight quickly jumped out, there might be someone looking! Twilight followed her into the village. Even though the protection spell was still working she still got cold and afraid. Queen Mereda was growing stronger, and very fast! The houses weren't painted, they weren't cared for, nopony looked twice at anypony else, even by accident. It was like everybody hated each other even without knowledge that that somepony existed. It was awful walking in those streets. Twilight realized that everypony was looking at her since she was walking with someone and because she was a stranger. As she tried to look away from one pony she accidentally turned to another. The eyes were all on her and she started having a pounding headache. Finally when she started to feel dizzy she had to stop.

     "Midnight?" She said feebly. "We have to stop. I can't go on any more." She said wobbling a little.

     "Fool! Spells don't stay up without power!" Midnight growled. "You must keep your thoughts on one spark of light that'll always bring a smile on your face!" Twilight hadn't even thought about keeping the spell up, she didn't usually even need to use emotions when using magic!

     "I'm sorry, but could we still rest a little, Midnight?" She asked. She was about to faint on the spot if she didn't get rest.

     "Of course Twilight." Midnight said. Twilight noticed that she wasn't speaking like Twilight was a Princess anymore, clearly nopony knew she was the Queen either. As Twiligth sat down and started to think about her precious moment swith her friends the dizziness started to fade. After a while she felt quite strong and wanted to go on. "OK Twilight, we will continue our journey." Midnight answered. From this moment on Twiligth thought about her amazing adventures with her friends. There was that time when Pinkie and AJ baked those muffins during Apple Buck Season and the time Rainbow studied for that test. Good times, good times. She thought. Finally the sun started to go down in th ehorizon and Twilight started to feel very tired, after all she had just got out of bed when they left.

     As the sun rose Midnight lay in bed thinking about her sister. She wondered if Queen Mereda had found out about their hiding spot and destroyed its protections. She thought about all the children and their destinies. What were the children meant to do? Serve her until the last day of her life? She didn't like thinking about it at all. Twilight shifted her position in the bed next to hers. "Twilight? Are you awake and can we continue our journey?" She asked. Twiligth mumbled about breakfast and properly waking up. Midnight rolled her eyes. They were in the middle of saving the world and Twilight was thinking about food? On teh otehr hoof, she was quite hungry too so she went looking for food. As she stepped out of the tent she saw the Merena Forest in the distance. She wondered if their journey would ever end.

Chapter 2: A Journey Without End

Chapter 2

    When Midnight Twinkle returned Twilight Sparkle had already cleared away their tent, packed their saddle bags, started a fire and was roasting something over it, the smell was delightful, something between spiced almonds and dried peach. "What are you cooking there, Twilight?" She asked her curiously.

     "I"m making almond coated dried peaches, even though it seems like nothing grows around here there are actually lots of fruit trees." Twilight answered dividing the peaches into two bowls.

     "Well, it certainly smells delicious!" Midnight said taking her bowl and forgetting all about the cherries she found.

     "What did you find, Midnight?" Twilight said, she didn't want the food Midnight found to go to waste.

     "I found some cherries. I don't usually cook my findings the way you do! I just eat them raw!" Midnight said munching happily on her almond coated peaches.

     "Well, I've never really traveled like this. My adventures are one day only." Twilight said. She was right, never ever had she had to go find food or cook it above a fire. Life in Ponyville was certainly different from life in—what was this village called? "Midnight? What's this village called?"

     "It's original name is Daviacet but Queen Mereda changed it to Tareli, meaning fear. Ponies don't remember what life was like before the Queen came, to them the name is perfect." Midnight said bitterly.

     "What does Daviacet mean?" Twilight asked, she certainly did not need knowledge of the word "fear" in another language.

     "Daviacet means "Children of Sun and Moon". As you can probably guess the town was named after my ancestors. Nobody knows where my great-great-great-great grandparents came from but they seemed to be the Sun and Moons gift to guide us through darkness." Midnight said proudly. "Since then the royal family had had two children, one Moon and on Sun. Sunrise and I are supposed to rule together but we are allowed not to. That is why I couldn't let Sunrise come. If she gets badly hurt I'll blame myself and go mad from sadness and won't be able to rule. With the Children of Sun and Moon gone, Equesa would be no better than now."

     "Don't you have faith in your subjects to take your place if you die?" Twilight asked. It was no proper way to rule if you had faith in none.

     "I realize our ways to rule are different form Equestria's but you must understand, my sister and I are gifted with powers to lead people in darkness, our subjects have always trusted that and we cannot let them down." Midnight said, and that was the end of this discussion. Twilight started to clean away their things and getting ready to leave. "Twilight? How did Celestia and Luna come to Equestria?" Midnight asked.

     "I.. Don't know." Twilight realized.

     "Have they not always been there?" Midnight continued.

     "Seems like it." Twilight answered.

     "Have they ever even mentioned about somebody replacing them?"

     "No..."

     "Who would replace them if there was need?"

     "Nopony could replace Princess Celestia and Luna. I mean who has that set of powers? Not even I can do what they do."

     "Now you see what I was talking about earlier?"

     "Yes... Sorry."

     "It's fine. Twilight, you must learn to think over your imagination to reach you destination. I've ruled for many years Twilight, and within those years I've gathered wisdom of a true Queen. You will get some as time passes by, don't worry."

     "Patience has never been one of my good points." Twilight said again trying to lighten up the mood.

     "Neither it has been mine." And that was that, no laughing no smiling just those five words, meaningless to anybody unable to think over their imagination, like Twilight.

     Midnight was lost in thought looking at the distance they had to travel, the road seemed to go on and on and on. As they started walking Midnight started thinking about Queen Mereda. Twilight knew what she was doing asking those questions. Her mother had taught her not to dwell in the past or future, what mattered was the present, that's why she never thought about where Queen Mereda came from, what mattered was the suffering of her subjects and how to defeat her. When she was little she always wanted to be grown up and soar like a Queen in the sky, her father had told her to be patient and that if she faced tasks too demanding too young she might never become a true ruler. From that day on she had felt like that little filly who wanted more, today she felt like her little sister, horrified by the shadows standing over her. Her mother and father had left to Equestria when Queen Mereda came. It wasn't that they were cowards, they were looking for the help of foreign lands. When they left Princess Celestia was alone without Princess Luna whom they knew before. Princess Celestia denied helping them since she couldn't take her ponies to war, after all it was her responsibility to take care of them. Her mother and father had sent her a letter that Princess Celestia had also denied their return. It would be better if all the outside world forgot about Equesa since there was no way that Queen Mereda would be defeated. Since that letter arrived she had always wanted to defeat the evil Queen since that would mean for her mother and father to come home! She decided not to mention any of this to Twilight, the pony seemed pretty protective of Celestia.

     Twilight herself was lost in thought too. Midnight Twinkle had given her a lot to think about. Where did Celestia come from? What does it mean to think over your imagination? Since she got into the School for Gifted Unicorns Celestia had been by her side. And Luna too, so did Celestia just come out of no where? Had Celestia always been the wise pony Twilight knew or had she stumbled along the way like Twilight? When she was little, to her everything had to be perfect. Not one mistake. She never really thought of anything important except studies and perfection. Her brother had taught her about love and family, Shining Armor was the first one to truly open her eyes but really, she wondered, are they really open? Midnight had a way of thinking from a different perspective. Every word she said was important in one way or other. None of them were useless. Twilight understood that Midnight cared for her subjects but there seemed to be more behind the want to defeat Queen Mereda than Midnight let onto. The question she had asked earlier came into her mind again. Where did Celestia and Luna come from? Did they sail from foreign lands? Where are their parents? Surely they had parents? Nopony appears from thin air, right? Then again, what if they really were like Midnight's ancestors, a gift from the Sun and the Moon? She pondered this question for a long time until Midnight stopped and held out her hoof to stop Twilight.

     "Demons. Hide!" She pulled Twilight into a bush with her. Twilight looked over the edge of the bush. Two horrible shadowy creatures floated past them. They were making these kind of gurgly sounds as they floated in the empty streets. They knocked on each door and said something. Midnight heard them and whispered to Twilight.

    "But that's a lie!" Twilight whsiper shouted. "That's not what happened!"

    "It is all part of making the Queen stronger. She feeds on lies and hatred. If ponies believe them she grows stronger. You must never listen to a demons talk, are we clear?" Midnight asked.

    "Yes we're clear." Twilight said shuddering.

    "Good."

As Twilight thought about the lie the more and more convinced she was to defeat the Queen. A lie is like a seed. You say it and you feed it with more convincing lies. Even if you pull the plant out it has probably dropped more seeds and the lie will spread. Twilight thought. To plant a lie is a horrible thing to do. It's like poisoning someone's mind, to live in such pain because someone lied to you is unforgivable. Poisoning someone's mind is worse than actually poisoning someone because you can never really heal.

    "Penny on your thoughts Twilight?" Midnight said breaking the silence. The demons had long since moved on but they hadn't even thought of moving.

    "I was thinking about what a lie is. I mean it's like poisoning someone's mind don't you think?" Twilight asked desperately, she really needed someone as sensible as Midnight to explain to her about lying.

    "It is Twilight. Lots of ponies have started to lie because of their own good. Some lies are more harmless than others but all lies lead to bad endings. Some ponies lie because they think it's for the best but let me tell you this: no matter how many good reasons you give for lying you'll always be wrong. Sometimes you believe that lying is better than the truth because the truth hurts you. No Twilight Sparkle, lying will always be bad no matter what." Midnight said saying everything very slowly so it registered to Twilight's head.

    "Agreed, now let's go on. I think these people are starting to believe the lies." Twilight said pointing to a small amount of ponies who had gotten out of their houses to look for the two ponies who would destroy their ability to have their own thoughts. That was the lie and that was the opposite of what Twilight was here to do. It broke her heart to think about so many ponies turning against her. Silence settled down and no word was spoken. It was like they were in a cage, stuck in one place unable to really move. All those questions were bothering them, it was worse than the journey. When you think you got the answer you realize that the answer just unfolds more mysteries. This annoyed Twilight. She wasn't patient. She had to get answers, now. There had to be an explanation to all this. Where Queen Mereda came from, where Celestia and Luna came from. It was like walking in a dark hallway. You never know when it ends.  As the night began to draw nearer more ponies were seen in the streets and Twilight and Midnight had to walk in the bushes crouching so nopony could notice them. Twilight started to feel tired from all her thinking. All this was just too complicated for her. She never had to think of anything this complicated and even if she had had to her friends would have been there to help. She thought of her friends worrying about her just going to another country to save the world without them. Thye probably would ahve already defeated the Queen if it weren't for Midnight just taking Twilight. Why didn't she realize that it was probably better if her friends came with her? That pony has no trust in anypony, she thought to herself.

    "We should rest now. It is no use going on in the shadows without no clear destination." Midnight said after the sun had already set and the shadows were long.

    "Yes, I certainly need to sleep. All these questions you asked me are starting to tire me out. I mean, I never really ask these questions because they don't seem important." Twilighht said yawning.

    "Good, I hope nopony is out there." Midnight said drawing a deep breath and looking over the edge of the bushes. "Twilight! The forest is a mere 10km away! If we could continue for a while we could reach it!" Midnight said excited.

    "Or not. You see I'm very slow and very tired. Also I wouldn't like sleeping near that terrible forest!" Twilight said dropping her saddle bag. "Besides, I know were in a hurry but we can't go in the forest until daylight for the risk of being eaten and sleeping on the edge would leave us into the open." She continued. Midnight sighed and nodded. She clearly agreed but could not help being disappointed. Twilight set up the tent and beds and straight away fell asleep before she could properly pull her covers on top. Midnight stayed awake for long reflecting on the day. Twilight had made it important to reflect on things lately. The past really is important she thought falling asleep.

     As the first rays of sunlight came in the tent, Midnight was already packing her things. Maybe if they woke up early they could walk on the road for a while and see the forest. They still had some food left so they didn't have to look for it and so they could leave quicker.

    "I still don't understand the rush. I mean, we can walk behind the bushes, it's not bothering me." Twilight grumbled. Again an early wake, can't one pony sleep in once?

    "Don't understand the rush! We are up against the most dangerous pony of all kind and you think what's the rush!?" Midnight said face red.

    "Sorry." Twilight rolled her eyes. They started walking for a while on the road. They were close to the forest when a door creaked and somepony shouted:

    "It's them!!!"

    "Let's get 'em!!!"  Another one shouted.

    "Uh oh. Run!!!" Twilight screamed and started galloping towards the forest. Midnight took a while for the command to resist, so shocked she was that somepony spying on them had gone unnoticed. The ponies were quickly catching up on them and so she had no choice, she would have been delivered to the Queen otherwise. She spread her wings and flew high, of course that left the ponies staring at the sight of a pony who was a unicorn and a pegasus, an alicorn as they call it.

    Meanwhile the ponies after Twilight were almost at her side, Twilight saw that in a moment of such despair she could reveal her wings just to escape, after all Midnight did so too. The only bad thing was that she still didn't have control over her wings. Sure having Celestia's, Luna's and Cadence's wing power was hard but the fact that she basically earned control didn't mean she had earned control of her own wings. She wobbled up and down, and up again. "Twilight, we have to get to the forest, quick!" Midnight screamed, the ponies realized that there were pegasi in the crowd and they had started flying after them. Twilight closed her eyes and revised her rhythm of the flapping of her wings and flew so fast her speed trail was visible. Midnight stared in awe, it had to be a spell. But no, Twilight remembered the wing power she had when she had all the alicorn magic. If she found her alicorn magic inside her she could have almost the same wing power. Twilight had practiced this alone at the Castle of the Two Sisters because she didn't want her friends to think that she wanted to become a Princess who ruled alone without friends, a little like Celestia maybe, she only ruled with Luna and none other. Still, her flying was weak and wobbly and she couldn't fly straight like Rainbow Dash did. Suddenly air resistance started making it harder to fly which meant she was flying too fast, she had to slow down but it felt like her wings were moving automatically with no choice of their own. Suddenly a deafening sonic boom was heard, it seemed to boom inside as well. Twilight suddenly felt like a cloud, happily floating with no worries. A strong wind blew and she was carried in the sky. Midnight flew to her side cheering: "That was awesome Twilight! I didn't know you could do Sonic Sparkle Booms!" She laughed.

    "Huh?" Twilight looked around, the speed trail boom was trailing into nothing. "I did it! I managed to reach my alicorn magic completely!" She cheered happily. The pegasi were in a daze because Twilight's Sonic Boom contained magic, not a powerful one but magic all the same. Before the magic faded away Midnight and Twilight set off towardss the Forest which was growing larger in the distance as they got closer. They landed on the edge.

    "Well, we've reached the Forest with only three days of travel. I guess that's an achievement." Midnight said still shaking her head in disbelief because of the Boom. Twilight took a step towards the Forest, it was already getting cooler. A gentle breeze made her mane flow like a Princess'. Midnight walked quicker lile she wanted to get it over with and soon the shadows engulfed her. Twilight quickly bashed after her worried that she might be left alone.

    "Midnight?" She asked.

    "I'm here." Said Midnight from right next to her. It was pitch black and no light could be seen, it was like the Forest had closed in on them. Midnight lit her horn and suddenly the whole place was much comfier. Twilight breathed out loudly, a long journey was ahead. She glanced over to Midnight. During their travel Midnight had changed a lot, she wasn't the same serious pony, she was almost smiling, Twilight noticed. Maybe, she thought, the journey is not that long after all.