A Midnight Star

by Tirey

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, Sad, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 6072

Midnight, nopony is quite like him. He has his secrets. Can he overcome his troubled foalhood?

"Midnight is often looked upon in a strange manner. Some look upon him with amazement, others fear. Locked away deep within Midnight is a darkness, darker than anything anyone could ever have imagined. Midnight spent a great portion of his early youth locking away this darkness, this evil with in." Can he overcome his past? Can he control his magic? Read on to find out.

Published 2012-04-21 14:24:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-05-01 20:39:33 UTC

Outcast

A Midnight Star

By: Tirey.
Co-Authored By: RainbowPie.

Story and OC Characters © Tirey 2012 - All Rights Reserved.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and Characters © Hasbro Inc.

Chapter One
Outcast

Midnight is often looked upon in a strange manner. Some look upon him with amazement, others fear. There is nopony quite like Midnight. His coat a deep black, so black you could get lost staring into it. His mane a stark contrast of pure white. Ponies are only afraid of him till they meet him. He is a kind hearted stallion who often goes out of his way to help others. One of the things he values most is loyalty. He would never break a promise or forget a friend in time of need. However, just like the contrast of his mane to his coat, his bright eyes hide a dark secret.

Locked away deep within Midnight is a darkness, darker than anything anypony could ever have imagined. Midnight spent a great portion of his early youth locking away this darkness, this evil with in. Now in his late twenties, the stallion has nearly forgotten about the darkness inside. His subconscious mind always keeping it in check, something that used to require conscious effort. You see, Midnight had a troubled foalhood. It was tough being the only Unicorn in a family of Pegasi, even worse being the only unicorn in his small town. His hometown, Stableside, was built by Earth Ponies. These Earth Ponies were the majority of the population. Eighty-five percent were Earth Ponies, the other fifteen percent Pegasi. It took five generations for the Earth Ponies to live in peace with the Pegasi, but they always despised Unicorns. This is not speaking for the race as a whole, just this small group. Midnight quickly learned that he was not welcome in this town. The Earth Ponies of this small isolated town - more of a village - had strange beliefs about Unicorns. They believed the whole race to be evil and that their magic would bring about a demonic end the Earth Pony race. This belief was at one time commonly held by Earth Ponies, that was until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna brought an end to the fighting between the Unicorns and Earth Ponies. They learned to trust Princess Celestia, and she showed them that magic could be used for good and that if they tried, they could live together in peace, even in harmony.

This town however was built and run by the small number of Earth Ponies that refused to accept friendship with the Unicorns. Because of their hate they chose for the longest time, to not join the ever growing nation of Equestria. Though as time passed, this group had no choice but to join, as they needed the nation's protection from the Griffin Empire. Stableside is on the outskirts of Equestria, as far from the capital city of Canterlot as possible. Midnight’s parents, unlike the other ponies, did not hate him, as he was their only child. He was their pride and joy, and they loved him. However he often met the brunt of his father's anger. This anger was brought on by stress, as he was looked down upon by other members of the town for having a Unicorn foal living in his home. School brought little relief from the stress of home life, as he was always made fun of and bullied by his fellow foals. Even the teachers didn’t like him. One quit just so she would not have to teach a Unicorn.

Being the only Unicorn in his town, a town so far from the magic enlightened Canterlot, a town that hated magic, meant he had very little knowledge of how to use his abilities. Unicorns, at their youngest age, have rather uncontrollable bursts of magic. Think of it as a magic temper tantrum. Once, at the age of about one, he managed to turn half of his mother's garden in to Cacti, nearly turning his mother into a Cactus herself. His father was not pleased, his mother almost died laughing. Another time he nearly burnt down the house when a burst of magic left his horn. He later would learn, that this was the “Candle Light” spell.

The few times he had managed to leave the town, he would “borrow” tomes from more civilized libraries. He would learn and practice spells out in the forest where he could do no harm, and where he would be left alone. He learned the levitation spell quickly, he found it was far easier to eat, drink, and write using magic, than his hooves and mouth. The Earth Pony schools did not like this and he was forbidden to use magic while at school. Fast forward a few years and Midnight had learned to control his magic, that is, until he became angry. Now about the age of twelve, Midnight discovered that he had quite the temper and that it was hard for him to control his anger. One day at school, a rather rude Earth Pony by the name of Desert Sun, tripped over Midnight’s saddle bag on his way out of the classroom. The others laughed at Desert’s misfortune, causing his pride to become far more wounded than his physical self. Desert, a jock-type pony, tackled Midnight and began to hit him with his hooves, while calling out every insult he could think of. Midnight could’ve handled this, until Desert made the mistake of referencing Midnight’s mother.

Midnight growled as loud as possible, and, with his knowledge of levitation spells, managed to push the larger pony off of him. He stood on all fours, the anger visible in his very breath. He took a step towards the slightly stunned Earth Pony, and hit him as hard as possible in the face. Desert however, had not learned his lesson and proceeded to make even more derogatory references to Midnight’s beloved mother. At this Midnight could take no more. His eyes lit up a bright white, as if stars themselves. With a flash of light that blinded everypony in the room, Midnight sent the dust colored pony flying through a wall into the next classroom. Not yet satisfied, he let out a growl that shook everypony to their core. With the power of his horn, he cast a spell he didn’t even know existed. All the light in the room vanished, as if sucked into his horn. The only light came from the tip of the enraged Unicorns horn, and his blindingly white eyes. He proceeded to yell as loud as he could, “You’ve crossed a line that shan't ever be crossed again, Desert.” Now addressing the room, “You all look at me with hate, when all I ever wanted was to be your friend.” His tone darkened, sounded almost demonic in nature. “But you laugh at us, you insult us! Well no longer. Be this the last time you ever challenge us!” And with that a bright flash of light exploded out of his horn. When the light returned to the room, everypony was cowering in fear, their blood nearly frozen in their veins. Passed out next to his desk laid Midnight, with a bloodied nose from his encounter with Desert. Desert however fared far worse. He was barely alive, nearly every bone in his body broken from crashing through a wall into another classroom.

The Unicorn awoke a few hours later to a blinding headache. He could tell from the smells and the quiet that he was in his room, in his parents house near the lake. He stood and quickly fell to the cold floor. He rose again, this time slower. He could feel how weak he was, and it felt very strange. He couldn’t remember anything of the day before, just that he had gotten very angry at a sand colored pony. He carefully made his way to the other side of his dark room and used a candle lighting spell to bring some light to it. It took more effort than normal to cast. As soon as light struck his retinas, the pain in his head got worse. He quickly extinguished the offending light. He had felt like this only a few time throughout his foalhood. Every time after a magical outburst, he would get a splitting headache. At this realization he quickly did his best to remember everything that happened, but it was to no avail, and only made his head hurt more. He decided to lay down a bit longer.

About an hour had passed and Midnight’s terrible headache was fading to tolerable levels. He recast the candle light spell, but it still required far more effort than it should. This only made the young Unicorn more confused. As he began to head towards his door, something about his reflection in a nearby mirror caught his eye. It was his mane. Splotches of red stained his normally pure white hair. As he looked closer, his heart skipped a beat. It was dried blood in his hair! His breath became more labored as he tried to figure out how it had gotten there. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, a stare that would make even Fluttershy proud. For some reason he could not look away. Suddenly, he felt something, something change. It felt as if he was no longer looking at himself, but a pony nearly identical to him. He could not look away. The other colt’s eyes changed from Midnight’s bright cyan to a burning red. Malice was spread across his face, and Midnight felt as if he was looking the very essence of evil in the eye. The reflection of the not-pony lunged at him, as if to escape the confines of the mirror. Midnight jumped and landed on his back. As he rose, he cautiously looked into the mirror, only to find the pony it reflected to be just as normal as ever, aside from the blood in his mane.

The now scared colt made his way down stairs and into the living room, of his parents house. He was met with a stare of pure anger from his father, and one equal in fear from his mother. His father, in the sternest of tones ever produced from a ponies throat, proceeded in telling the young Unicorn of his actions from the day before. Before his father could finish, Midnight knew what had happened. It all came back to him. He watched the memories as if they were a movie and he couldn’t believe what he saw. The pony in his memory was just as evil as the one that just tried to escape his mirror. In fact, he’d reckon it was the same pony! Midnight broke down in tears, and no longer possessing the will to stand, he fell to the floor. His father’s anger was replaced with concern for his son, and his mother was already at his side. As she stroked his mane with a damp cloth, removing the blood stains from his beautiful mane, he began to calm.

He stood and faced his father and mother. His father motioned to a chair and said “sit.” He did. His father and mother reached out a hoof and Midnight placed his in theirs.

“H-Honey, your father told you what happened, and you know it to be true. However...we have some more b-bad news.” His mother could speak no more, too busy choking back tears.

His father took over. “The mayor of the town was brought into this.” Midnight feared his father next few words. “Mayor Sun, finds your actions to be unacceptable. Your attack on his son can not be forgiven. First thing tomorrow, you are to leave this town and not return!”

Midnight could not believe what his ears were telling him. I’m banished, no, this isn’t happening. Where will I go, what will I do, how, how will I survive? Midnight’s mother rose and embraced her son in a tight hug, but it did no good to calm his nerves.

“I-I’m sorry, I tried my best to make him let you stay, but he’d hear no reason” said his father.

“We can’t go with you honey, I’m sorry” said his mother.

“But... Why?!? WHY! Why is this happening to me? Why can’t you come with me?” Midnight screamed, his voice shaking with fear and anger.

“Your mother can’t make the trip. She and, frankly I, are just too old to try and start over somewhere new!” stated his father. “Here.”

His father sat a small wooden chest down in front of Midnight. Midnight undid the clasp with his magic and lifted the lid. It was a good portion of his parents life savings.

“I-I can’t.”

“You have to” his father said. “That’s five-thousand bits, over half of our savings. You’ll need it.” Midnight’s brain began to shut down.

“Get some rest son, I’ll be here for you in the morning” said his mother, she touched her forehoof to her son’s chest “and I’ll always be in your heart.”

Midnight looked into his mother’s comforting purple eyes. She was always a beautiful pony. He Lavender eyes a match to her Lavender mane. You could always pick her out of a crowd as the pony with an all white coat and wings, but a full Lavender mane and tail. She kissed him on the tip of his horn, and again on his forehead. With this, this knowledge that it was the last time he’d see his mother for a long time, probably for ever, his mind shut down, and he passed out in his mother’s arms.

Several hours later Midnight found himself being gently woken by the sun’s warm rays. His room was the first to be hit by sunlight and he always woke before almost anypony else because of it. He lay in his warm bed, happy and content. Then, then the memories from last night hit him like a wave. His good mood and happy thoughts we washed away by a torrent of fear and tears. He rose, hoping for it all to be a dream. When he arrived in his kitchen, he knew for a fact that this was no dream. His mother had his saddle bag packed with food and money, and a few pictures of family, as well as a map of Equestria.

His father walked up to him. “I’m sorry son, but it has to be this way. In the long run, you’ll be happier.” He lifted his son’s chin with his forehoof, and looked deep into his eyes, “You are strong, the strongest pony I’ve ever seen. You will survive. You will thrive!”

His mother took her turn to speak. “We love you, we will always love you and we will always be with you.”

She kissed him and his father opened the front door. Midnight levitated his saddle bags onto his back, hugged his mother and proceeded to walk to the door. He hugged his father, stepped outside, and looked back. His mother and father were standing in the doorway. She blew him a final kiss, and he galloped off in tears. He galloped as quickly as possible out of town, long before anypony else was awake. He stood on a hill overlooking the only place he ever really knew, and he could see his parents house. He could see that they were still standing in that doorway, now both crying. The sun crested the hill behind him. His parents looked up to watch the sunrise. What they saw was the silhouette of their beloved son staring back at them. Midnight took one last long look, turned, and galloped off into the sunrise. It was the last time he would ever see his mother, or father, again.

To Be Continued!

Onward

Chapter Two

Onward

As he lay in a grassy field, Midnight gazed upon the crystal blue sky. One of his biggest dreams was to fly, to cut through the air with grace, just like his parents. However, not even Midnight’s great magic could help him here. He had been walking all day, not sure what direction he was going, not sure where he should go. Thoughts and questions raced through Midnight’s mind. I still can’t believe this. I wish I could just go home. I have no idea how to survive on my own. What will I eat? Where will I sleep? What happens when I run out of money? Still lying on his back, he watched the sun begin to set. Well, at least I know I’m headed west. He stood and decided that it was time to find shelter, as his light was quickly fading. Midnight had no desire to be out in the middle of nowhere at night. He kept heading West and found a small cave. He gathered some twigs and brush, then with his “Candle Light” spell, he made himself a fire. Too depressed to eat, he decided that the only thing left to do, was to sleep.

Several hours had passed. The sun was starting to crest the horizon. Normally this one one of Midnight’s most beloved moments, not today. The sun rise only reminded him that it was another hard and uncertain day. Midnight slowly rose, still very tired and very sore from sleeping on the cold rock floor of the cave. His fire, now long dead, meant that it was going to be a cold morning. Midnight dug into his saddle back, finally unable to stand this hunger, he took out some oats and hay. He determined that his food supply would last about a week and a half. As he was taking out his some hay, a piece of parchment caught his attention. It was in that moment that he remembered what his mother had said she packed him a map. He levitated the parchment into site and unrolled it. Why, in the great name of Celestia, did I not use this in the first place? As he looked over the map, he decided that the best thing to do was to head for the nearest large town. He was headed for Fillydelphia.

Midnight figured out where he was in relation to Fillydelphia, this was going to be one very long walk. He looked over his food stores and figured he had about a week and a half’s worth left. With his mind set, and his will strong, he got up left the cave that had been his shelter. He walked, and walked, and walked. It felt like forever. This is going to be harder than I thought. Well, at least it can’t get much worse. Just as Midnight had thought those words, a steady downpour of rain started to fall. Cloudsdale needed to clear some excess rainwater, and unknowingly made Midnights trip a lot harder. For the love of Celestia! He cursed his misfortune, and wished even more that he could simply fly above the clouds like his Pegasi parents.

It was about midday now and the rain from early morning had stopped. Midnight had been walking continuously, from first light to now, he reckoned it was time for a break. He trotted over to a large Pine tree and took a seat under its branches. His horn lit and he levitated he saddlebags open, pulling out some hay and oats. He was starving, but knew he could only eat a little, so as to make his supplies last as long as possible. As he ate the little food he allowed himself, he studied his map. He’d made some good progress, but he could tell it was about to get a lot harder. The map indicated that he would be passing over a small mountain range. It was really more of a steep set of hills than mountains, but it would still mean far more work for the young Unicorn.

Midnight finished off his lunch and returned the map to his bags. He rose, levitated the bags back onto his back, and continued his long trek to Fillydelphia. He walked for a few more hours, but his legs were starting to hurt something fierce. He desperately wanted to just lay down in his soft, warm bed; however, that was not a possibility and he had to find some shelter before the light of day, faded to the murky blackness of night. Midnight searched around for a cave, but it appeared that he was not going to have any luck. This did not thrill the young pony, as he had no desire to sleep in the open. To be honest, the pony had yet to fully overcome his fear of the dark. The same ponies that had banished him from Saddleside used to tell stories of how the night was ruled by an evil mare; Nightmare Moon, and that all Unicorns secretly wanted her to rule Equestria with her dark powers. These stories made it impossible for Midnight to enjoy the nights.
As the sun slipped out of sight and the moon took its place, Midnight’s heart began to fill with dread. His fears of the evil mare of darkness began to creep in as the stories told to him as a foal ran clear through his mind. The pony could feel himself slipping into crippling fear, but he couldn’t succumb. He had to keep going and find shelter. Midnight was about to crest a small hill, one of the last easy ones before the steep “mountain” range. He stood atop the hill, and something made him look up. He stared into the silver white orb that now lit the sky. He was transfixed by its beauty.

The night was calm and quiet; a gentle, warm breeze ruffled his coat a little. The air smelled sweet, and a blanket of stars pierced the blackened sky. The hill overlooked a small valley, filled with wildflowers and a small lake, all lit by the silver light of the moon and stars. This is amazing. He thought. For years, I’ve looked up at the stars and moon from my window, but they’ve never appeared so clear, so perfect. Midnight could feel the thickness of fear leave his chest. He lay down on his back, and admired the beauty of the perfect night sky. Perhaps sleeping under blanket of stars wouldn’t be so bad after all. Midnight’s eyes began to close, and there was no way he was going to fight off sleep any longer. The last thing he saw was the glint of a star brighter than any other, as if set out just to bring him peace.

Midnight lay on the soft grass in the still night, he however, was anything but still. The pony squirmed and writhed, not for a lack of comfort, but because of what was running through his head. Nightmares. Midnight didn’t suffer them often, and most of the time he didn’t even remember his dreams. The last few days played through his mind like a movie.

“No, no, don’t do it.” The pony mumbled in his sleep.

‘But you laugh at us, you insult us! Well no longer. No, you’ll never laugh again.’ The memory of his loss of control, his use of magic he didn’t even know, the event that led to all this; it played through his head, as if he was a third-pony watching from the distance. It was distorted. All of a sudden the nightmare shifted, and the scene melted away into blackness. Midnight found himself standing in complete darkness, with only a mirror in the distance. It was one of those full body mirrors, it was old no doubt passed down for centuries. He felt compelled to look into the mirror. I know this mirror, it's the one in my bedroom back in Saddleside. The mirror itself was perfectly polished, surrounded by gold plated metal, with a leafy vine pattern etched into it.

As he approached, he didn’t see his reflection. It was as if he wasn’t even there. He leaned in close and tapped the smooth surface with his hoof. All of a sudden a flash of light burned his eye, a deep bang rang out in the darkness, like thunder in the night. The mirror crack'd, and another pony appeared in the mirror, a pony Midnight has seen before, it’s burning red eyes something he’d never forget. Fear took over, he wasn’t able to move as if now part of the blackness. All he could do, was simply stare. A laugh, a dark, terrifying laugh, one laced with unbridled rage, a pure evil. It filled the darkness of his mind. The reflection jumped, and the mirror shattered! Midnight jumped as far back as possible as glass came flying towards him. What once was a mirror, now was a pony with burning eyes, standing in a pile of shattered glass. It took a step towards Midnight and smiled.

“Nooooooo!” Midnight shot straight up, as if a bucket of frigid water had been poured on his head! He was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. The hell of his dream, replaced by the calm breeze; the utter blackness was softened by the pale moon light. A-A nightmare? I haven’t had one of those in years. Who was that other pony, why do I keep seeing him? What’s happening to me? Midnight’s mind raced with questions, the anxiety thick in his chest. He sat upright, eye’s pointed towards the sky. His eyes locked on that one bright star. For some reason, it brought him some comfort. The thought that somepony was watching over him, was nice. Midnight could tell by the position of the moon that it would still be a few hours before first light. He was still desperately tired, however he couldn’t bare to face the possibility of returning to that nightmare. He decided it was best that he just lay and stare at the sky, wait for and watch the sunrise. The gentle warm breeze was like thin sheet, the grass of the hill remarkably soft. Midnight's head rest on his saddle bags, his eyes were rapidly closing. Before he could think to move, sleep had claimed him once again.

Midnight slowly opened his eyes, they were greeted by the warm rays to the rising sun. The air that was once warm had a strange chill in it, a warning that the weather was going to get worse. He had managed to sleep about four hours, nightmare free. He rubbed his eyes with his forehoof, rolled over and stood atop the hill that was his bed. A few stars still shone brightly, including the one that seemed to have watched over him all night. Midnight levitated his saddlebags open, time for his morning meal and a quick look at the map. Confirming his position with the map, the pony decided to eat a bit more than he allotted previously; today was going to be a lot of work. Midnight needed to cross this small mountain range, a hike that would normally take about two days. He could tell by the chill in the air that a storm was coming, and he did not wish to spend the night at a high elevation, so he needed to cross in one day.

Closing his bags and levitating them back onto his back, Midnight set out for his hike. It took him about thirty-five minutes to get down the hill and into the shallow valley. Midnight found that a nice stream ran through the valley and he realized how thirsty he was. He approached the edge, lowered his head, and partook of the cold, crystal clear water. It was sweet, like the air of the night, so crisp and clean. Midnight drank till he could drink no more, his muzzle numb from being the the frigid water. Midnight opened one of his saddlebags and searched for some way to save some of the water for later. He found a good sized bottle with a replaceable cap. Midnight carefully levitated the opening into the stream and filled it full of the sweet, cold water. Satisfied that he had gathered enough for his hike, Midnight found where the stream narrowed and hopped over it. He continued his walk through the valley towards a tree line. He walked through a field of beautiful wildflowers, stopping to eat a few, they were just as sweet as the water. It seemed like this valley was perfect, everything so fresh, so alive, Midnight was tempted to just stay, but something compelled him to keep moving.

Midnight crossed into the tree line, the air now thick with the scent of pine. He made his way through the small forest, his nerves slightly on edge. Midnight was used to wide open fields and grasslands, even deserts, but not the tight confines of the forest. It was beautiful, the way the light punctured the canopy of green. He could hear birds high up in nests singing their songs, but that didn’t really help, he didn’t like that he wouldn’t be able to get up to a good gallop if something decided to chase him. He heard a few snaps rattle through the forest, every little sound made his anxiety worse. He could see something move in the distance, it was dashing through bushes and behind trees so Midnight could not see if it was harmless, or a threat. His nerves could take no more, his horn lit as he prepared the only defensive spell he knew. It was a modification of the levitation spell, instead of picking something up and bringing it close, this spell would repel it, at a rather forceful rate. He’d only used it once before, and it didn’t go well last time back in Saddleside, then again, he wasn’t exactly himself in that moment.

The creature that had been seemingly stalked Midnight ran out in front of him. The pony jumped without thinking or performing threat analysis, his horn released the charge it held with a bright flash, and sent the creature flying into the distance. It traveled a good twenty meters before smacking into a thick tree trunk, with a resounding pop. He stood there, stunned. That, that was a lot more powerful than I wanted. I only wished to move the creature, I hope it’s okay. With a shy approach that rivaled that of Fluttershy, he crept towards where the offending creature had landed. Oh...oh Celestia! The sight was not pretty, apparently squirrels don’t take too well to be slammed into to trees at high velocity. I think...I think I’m going to be sick. Midnight trotted off, back on course for the mountain range, he wanted nothing more than to get out of that forest! I-I can’t believe I...I ki-killed that poor little squirrel. Midnight had never been fond of death, death of any kind. In fact, he’d never even hurt anything more than the occasional insect. Maybe it would be best to lay off the magic for a bit. I really have no idea how to control it. In fact, the only thing Midnight could really control, was the levitation spell, the simplest spell a Unicorn could cast. Everything else either took a lot of concentration and had small effect, or was brash and had a devastating effect. Maybe once I get to Fillydelphia, I can learn how to control my magic.

Midnight who had increased his pace, was finally nearing the end of the forest. The anxiety in his chest began to ease as the trees thinned. Finally, I’m out of this accursed forest, I hope I never have to go into one of those again. Midnight’s relief quickly faded as he looked out in front of him, his view no longer obstructed by the tree line. Oh for the love of Celestia! The mountain range, was little bit steeper than the map had portrayed, a lot steeper. Midnight looked up as he approached the bottom of the mountain range. It had taken him much longer than he wanted to make his way out of the forest. The sun was nearly at its midpoint, and the once clear sky was starting to see more and more clouds forming. I am going to have to hurry. Thought Midnight, he secured his saddle bags, took a big swig of water, and off he went.

Midnight had been hiking for about three hours and had made remarkable progress, he was nearly to the top. Just a little bit further, then I should be able to take a short break. A few minutes later, Midnight crest the summit of this unnamed mountain range. The air nipped at Midnight’s nose, the temperature had dropped quite a bit, so had the thickness of the air. Midnight wasn’t used to being up this high. He stood atop the peak and looked at the majestic view before his eyes. It it weren’t for the thickening clouds, he might have been able to see forever. Beautiful wide open fields as far as his eyes could see, no forests in sight. Just as Midnight sat and began to open his saddlebags for some food,

*CRACK*

Midnight almost leapt off the summit, he was so scared. What in Equestria was that? Then it clicked in his mind. Thunder. The storm he had wished to avoid was getting close. Guess their is no time for a break. Midnight once more secured his saddlebags, and carefully made his way down the mountain, a task that he found almost as hard as climbing it. About two hours later, midnight was halfway down the other side of the mountain, when the first flakes of snow began to fall. To make things worse, the mountain was much steeper on this side, he found himself have to leap from one ledge to another, a task complicated by snow. Gah, I can’t believe its snowing, this is great, just great.

“WHY ME, WHY ME? What did I ever do to deserve this.” Midnight shouted, not that anypony was listening.

After a few more leap’s, he was down the steepest part of the cliff face. The snow was starting to fall quicker, even at this lower elevation, it only encouraged the pony to pick up his pace.

Midnight finally was off the mountain, and not a moment too soon, a rather intense snowstorm was happening up there. At the lower elevation, it was just rain, something Midnight could’ve done without, but it was better than snow. Midnight scanned his surroundings, it was getting late in the day and he was very very tired. He didn’t find what he had hoped for. While this was grasslands, a much easier walk than the forest or hilly areas he was in earlier, there was little to no shelter to be found. Midnight continued his walk, it was getting dark much earlier than he expected because of the dense cloud cover. Soon he found himself in complete darkness.

The moon was not able to light his path because of the thick rain clouds, which seemed relentless. Midnight could not even see his own hood in front of his face. I have no idea where I’m going. Midnight thought, shortly thereafter he face planted after tripping over a rock. UGH. I hate this, I hate everything, why do I even keep trying? Midnight was in tears, not from the pain and smacking his face into the ground, but from no longer being able to deal with the stress.

“CELESTIA! Help me!” He cried out.

Midnight rose, and then he saw it! It was beautiful, a light in the distance. He broke into an all out gallop. As he got closer to the light, he could make out the frame of a window, he could smell smoke in the air. Could it be? A house, all the way out here? Midnight soon arrived at this place of refuge, he was about to knock on the door when he thought. Wait. I have no idea who lives here. Maybe I should just keep walking, there has to be a tree or something around here somewhere. Just as he was about to turn and walk away, he saw a bright flash.

*CRACK*

Never mind, no chance I’m going out there. Midnight put on a brave face, raised a hoof, and knocked on the door of this unknown house.