Midnight Parallel

Midnight opened her eyes blearily, watching trees and bushes pass her by. She sat up. “What…” She mumbled, seeing Sunset pushing the wagon she was in. “What’s going on?”

Sunset laughed awkwardly. “Heh heh. You kind of… walked into my tracking device. I was trying to find Screwball and she had dropped her paint gun after…”

“Wait. Why were you trying to find Screwball? You were supposed to be looking for Discord. What happened?”

“They had a fight. Screwy took her brother and teleported away. I thought it might be wiser to leave Discord alone. He’s not in a good mood.” She stopped, allowing Midnight to step out of the wagon. “What are you doing out here? I thought the Changeling gathering was in the middle of town?”

“Queen Chrysalis selected me and a couple others to hunt down Screwball. She was disguised as Zany. I stumbled upon them in the forest. Screwball was about to fall asleep when a voice called out to her. She snapped back awake and Chrysalis returned to her true form. That was about when I took off.”

“So we don’t know what happened?” Midnight shook her head. “Alright, well I’ve been tracking Screwy with her gun, so we should be golden.” She shook it for a moment, then recast the spell and got it running again. “It fizzles out from time to time, but its working. We seem to be headed for Zecora’s hut.”

“Great! We should be there in no time!” She sniffed the air. “What is that smell!” Then they heard a loud growl. “Oh no.”

*****

Flash Sentry tossed two bits to the conductor, grabbing the two tickets and boarding the train with Applejack right behind him. “Alright then, we should reach Ponyville within the hour. I paid the conductor extra if he could get us there as quick as possible.”

“How’d ya convince him to do that?”

“We go way back. He was the drummer in our high school band. He knows I work for the royal guard, that I’m married to the Princess of Friendship and that the Princesses are in danger. He’ll get us there quick.”

“Good. The sooner, the better.” She looked over at him, thoughts forming in her brain. “Hey, so Twilight never told us. What do I do here?”

“You? You run Sweet Apple Acres down at the edge of Ponyville.”

“What about Pinkie Pie?”

“She runs a Party store with her husband and her three foals.”

“Really? Pinkie Pie? Married?! What’s it like?”

“Well, her husband is just like her, and her triplets take after them both.”

“And what about Rainbow Dash?”

“She and Soarin have a set of twins and a younger foal.”

“Never imagined that. Rarity?”

“Fancy Pants. They currently have one foal and are expecting another.”

“Wow. I hope he’s some big city nut. What about Fluttershy? She’s not married too, is she?”

“Yep. Remember Discord? They have two children and live out in the Everfree forest.”

“Really? Isn’t he like, another species?”

“Believe it or not, they’re not the only odd couple.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Big Mac and Mrs. Cheerlie have a wonderful young filly named Apple Blossom.”

“Really?”

“Yep. But they aren’t the couple I meant.”

“You mean You and Twilight?”

“No, although I am the second stallion to be married to an Alicorn. We have a nice little filly. Twi insisted on naming her Twinkle Sparkle.”

“Alright, so who’s this odd couple?”

Flash paused, an uncertain look crossing his face. “Um, you and Spike.”

“Say what.”

“It’s true. Cinnamon Stick and Cinnamon Roll are very lucky to have you for a mother.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t know. You were concerned that you weren’t gonna be able to give birth, so you adopted two foals instead.”

“What!”

“As it turned out, you’re were able to and gave birth to a half-dragon half-pony hybrid.”

“What!”

“Listen, Twi explained what Spike was in your world, so I can understand why this is shocking for you.”

“Bu… Bu…But…”

They spent the rest of the trip in silence.

*****

The trio stood outside the school, growing quickly tired of waiting for her to come back through. “Where is she?!” Night Light finally bellowed, turning towards Sweetie Drops. “Mrs. Drops, Would you put down those cards! We need to get her back!”

“Night,” Twilight Velvet placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure?”

“We have to. It’s the only way.”

“Be safe.” She stood back, letting them step towards the statue pedestal.

“Let’s go.” Sweetie Drops said, stepping into the portal.

“I love you.” Night Light said, kissing his wife and stepping towards the portal. “I will bring our daughter back safe.”

“Wait!” His wife called, holding something out for him. “She left this at home. Make sure she gets it.” She handed him a purple hand mirror on a necklace.

Night Light grinned and accepted the charm. “I will.” With that, he stepped through the portal and disappeared.

*****

“Timber Wolves!” Sunset shouted, galloping down the path. “Run for your life!”

“What’s… A… Timber… Wolf?” Midnight panted, stressing herself to keep full sentences.

Sunset ducked past a large tree and into an alcove in the forest wall. “Quick, in here.” She half-whispered. Midnight ducked in just as a large wolf came around the bend. “They’re large wooden wolves held together by powerful dark magic. They mainly live in the Everfree forest, but they have been known to roam the countryside.”

“So how do we stop it?”

“We don’t. We just have to wait it out. Ponies have tried to destroy them, but unless you wanna start a forest fire, we’ve got nothing.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you destroy a Timber Wolf by natural means, in will just reform itself.”

“So we can’t do anything?”

“I’m afraid not. We’re just gonna have to hold out for a bit.”

Midnight sighed and curled up, closing her eyes for a rest. “Might as well get a couple hours sleep out of it. Don’t know when we’ll have this chance again.”

Sunset sat down beside her. “Might as well.” She yawned. “Well, goodnight.” With that, both ponies fell sound asleep.