"Twilight, I don't think this is a good idea..." Thunder managed to say around the lump of fear in her throat as Twilight approached with a small blade. Taking Applejacks words to heart she was trying her best to get to know and befriend the other element bearers these past few months between her various jobs. Thunder was working on creating an observatory here in Ponyville but she worked with Applejack and Rainbow Dash part-time to help keep food on the table for her and Red. Thunder found she was more physically prepared for the work on Applejack's farm due to her own upbringing but she found Rainbow's weather work fit her Pegasus spirit better than the farm work, she still found both jobs interesting in their own way though and it helped her grow closer to Applejack and Rainbow Dash so she wasn't going to complain.

Fluttershy was an alright pony, both of them were so shy that they didn't actually talk much but she would drop by from time to time, they'd have tea make awkward small talk and then she'd leave but despite the tenses of it all she enjoyed the visits and hoped that Fluttershy did too, but it was always hard to tell because Fluttershy was to nice to turn a pony away from her door.

Pinkie Pie was probably the easiest, she was always throwing some sort of party and always wore a large smile proclaiming every pony she met her friend that it was nearly impossible to dislike her even for ponies like Thunder. She stopped in Sugarcube Corner with Red after she got home from school and they'd buy some treats and talk with Pinkie, both sisters smiling by the end of their visit.

The only ponies Thunder was having trouble getting to know were Twilight and Rarity, mostly because they were both very busy ponies, but also because they didn't seem to have very much in common Thunder didn't really have interests in fashion or high society stuff. Twilight was just a difficult pony to talk to because she was always helping someone, doing research, or doing some sort of princess thing and Thunder didn't want to disturb her, but when Twilight asked at their picnic about that burst of dark magic she had soon in Canterlot Thunder saw an opportunity to finally spend time with Twilight and agreed to help her find the cause of the phenomenon. They hadn't been able to do the tests very often given Thunders need to take care of her sister but every month or so Thunder would sit in one of, what she believed at this point to be , Twilight's devices of torture and asked questions while Twilight ran her tests, most of which Thunder didn't understand but allowed Twilight to talk about them because it was still kind of interesting anyway.

"Don't worry Thunder, it's just a sample of your DNA to try to track your family tree, you might have a distant unicorn ancestor, though how you use the magic I still haven't figured out..." Twilight trailed off mumbling theories as she gently cut into Thunder's shoulder to collect a blood sample, then putting a small bandage over it so that it wouldn't stain her costume later in the night. Tonight was Nightmare Night, a night for fillies to dress up in costume and go around asking for candy from ponies all over town, Thunder had decided to dress up as a griffin while Red was going as a phoenix, Thunder had asked Rarity to make the costumes weeks ago and she had done a good job, Red certainly liked hers.

"No, I mean, that I'm fine with" Thunder shifted a little to try to get comfortable on the machine "But is studying this dark magic stuff really a good idea? I mean before I could've really hurt somepony last time, and what if I hurt you?" Twilight had placed a protective bubble of magic around the room so that no one outside could get blasted by uncontrolled magic. This had been Thunder's biggest concern even from the beginning of the tests: hurting some pony, Twilight had reassured her that the bubble would protect everyone outside but Thunder still worried for Twilight's safety.

"Don't worry so much Thunder, I'm the element of magic remember?" Twilight reassured her setting the blood sample aside to study later several files on her writing desk, most of them were records of Thunder before she was adopted but some was blank parchment to write notes about their next test. Twilight rearranged the machine so that it could record the results for Twilight to review later and readying Thunder medicine for when they finished. "Alright, now just try to remember that day in Canterlot, you had gotten mad right?" Twilight watched as Thunder closed her eyes, probably traveling back in time to the day that she had met Blueblood. Her machine almost at once began to give a reading at first it was slow and small, like she was holding back, probably due to her fear. Then in a sudden screech of the machine dark magic burst out of her knocking everything to the floor, Twilight managing to stay on her feet only because she had created a quick field of magic which took most of the blow. Twilight watched her change slowly as waves of dark magic pulsed from her at unsteady and unfocused intervals. Her eyes began to change first her pupils began to turn into narrow cat-like slits, Twilight watched fascinated as her wings arched out and began to change from their normal feather appearance to a wing with thin membranes, like a bat.

Twilight came to her senses as the dark magic that Thunder was projecting began to make the room tremble "Thunder!" she shouted, snapping the Pegasus out of her focus, the machine going silent and her changes melting away in an instant from her surprise. Twilight gently floated the medicine over to Thunder, getting a glass of water as she swallowed it.

"So" Thunder swallowed a gulp of water to clear her mouth of the bitter taste of medicine "did you find out anything interesting?" Thunder didn't seem to be aware of the change that had happened to her during their test but she was a bit more tired then she had been when they started. Thunder watched as Twilight circled around reading her machine and letting her free so she could stretch her legs.

"Actually it's very fascinating, you're able to use black magic, but because you don't have a unicorn horn it comes out wild and uncontrolled without a way to focus it, but how?" Twilight looked over her readings but her brow only furrowed more "Even if you did have a unicorn in your bloodline you shouldn't be able to use magic, dark or otherwise, something isn't fitting in here..." Twilight continued to mumble to herself as she wrote notes but a knock broke her out of her thoughts a few moments later. Thunder walked to the door as Twilight opened it with her magic allowing Red and Rarity to walk inside, Red was already dressed in her costume and looked very eager to start their night. Rarity set Thunder's costume down neatly in a chair, she had helped Red get ready while Thunder was working with Twilight but she seemed relieved to have the rest of the night to herself.

Spike came down the stairs dressed up like a dog, and looking nearly as excited as Red, Thunder would be going out with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike because Applejack would be doing another game booth this year and Twilight would probably be doing her research for most of the night. Wishing Twilight a happy Nightmare Night the trio left her in peace, Red and Spike chatting excitedly about the candy they planned to get but Thunder wasn't really listening, her mind was still on her test with Twilight. If Twilight studied her family tree would she be able to find her birth parents? Questions that Thunder hadn't dared ask herself since she was a filly rose to the surface as she walked behind Red and Spike. Why did they give her up? Were they still alive? Would they like to see her? Emotions clogged her throat and she had to blink rapidly to clear her eyes of the tears, she wasn't sure how to feel about it, part of her was angry at them for sending her away but on the other hoof she was just uncertain, if she found out who they were she might be tempted to find them and they could turn her away. She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle rejection. Thunder was brought out of her thoughts when she slammed into Red and Spike, curious to know why they had stopped her looked up and saw a small chariot being pulled down toward the ground, ponies sliding back out-of-the-way as it landed. Thunder smiled a little when she saw it was Princess Luna, she had heard that she was coming to Ponyville this year but hadn't expected her to come so early.

Luna looked over the crowd greeting some of the young ponies, Pip being one of the first, who walked up eager to see her again, they enjoyed when she scared them for reasons she still had problems understanding sometimes, when she spotted a familiar red filly, she was standing near Spike and Thunder. The three waved at her clearly deciding to wait until the crowd around her thinned out a little before walking over to greet her, though Pip didn't seem to want to leave anytime soon. Finally Luna found herself free, other than Pip of course, and walked over to the trio "Hello all" she greeted warmly with a smile "lovely costumes" she chuckled a little when Red puffed up proudly at the compliment.

"It's good to see you again Princess" Thunder said with an easy smile, she had missed the Princess terribly but didn't have the courage to ask her to visit given how busy she must be with raising the moon and running all sorts of things as a princess. "I've been sleeping a lot better since you helped me, and I've been improving in my flying, well at least Rainbow says so anyway" she chuckled at her own light attempt at a joke.

"That's wonderful, I'm glad I could be of some help" Luna replied feeling pride ripple along her spine at her foals improvements, but her heart felt heavy at the knowledge that she hadn't yet gained the courage to tell Thunder the truth in the waking world, she tried in her dreams but something always got in the way, first it had Red, then it was usually her alarm, or sometimes it was both she just didn't have the best of luck it seemed.

Suddenly, much to Luna's displeasure and everyone else's surprise, Discord appeared with a dramatic fanfare and a long red carpet rolling into sight from out of nowhere, he seemed to paint himself black and white like a zebra and bowed deeply when he reached the end of his red carpet. "Hiya Thunder, Red, Spike, Moonbutt" he greeted each of them with a hardy shake of the hoof/claw, respectfully, nearly shaking them right into the air with his enthusiasm.

"Uh...Hello Mr. Discord" Thunder mumbled as her eyes spun a little in their sockets "have you come to partake in Nightmare Night as well?" she asked curiously, it didn't seem like his sort of holiday, well he did like to dress up maybe that's why he wanted to partake in the fun tonight.

"Well you know what they say: When you look at your life, the greatest happiness are family happiness, and what better way to spend my holiday then with the family I've made, right Moonbutt" Discord smirked but Luna's only response was a glare.

Thunder looked between Discord and Luna in confusion, they seemed to be having some sort of tension, while Discord seemed to take a sort of joy in it Princess Luna just looked annoyed and angry, thankfully Thunder was saved from the whole situation from an impatient Red tugging on her so they could go get candy so Thunder quickly excused herself and lead Red and Spike away, Discord and Luna beginning to argue the moment they were out of earshot. But the relief for Thunder was short-lived, everywhere she and the other two stopped Discord followed, he always seemed like he was on the verge of speaking but Luna would be on his tail and would force him into silence whether through her magic or though inflicting him with mild pain. Thunder wasn't sure what was going on between the two but she wished they wouldn't keep bringing it around her, she wasn't comfortable with conflict even if it wasn't directed at her. Thunder had been witnessing this same cycle for nearly an hour and she could already feel the anxiety and panic returning to her, the one night she had thought she could relax for a change... She eventually asked Pinkie to take the two off her hooves, much to Spike's horror, and decided to head off to see Twilight, hoping that there she could maybe get some peace.

Twilight, unaware of the tension going on in the world outside her studies, was beginning to piece together Thunder's past using both a mix of her own machines and her magic Thunder's blood sample told a story of pain, confusion, and loss but still something wasn't quite fitting, something in her blood seemed to defy all rules of nature and common sense...wait... the missing piece... could it be? Determined to find the answers that were just barely managing to elude her she took to the streets hoping to find Discord, mildly surprised that when she found him he was not only dressed up for the holiday and in Ponyville, but he also seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument with Princess Luna about something.

"-I don't see the point of waiting, it'll just make the whole thing worse!" He was getting in her face about and judging by the emptiness of this particular street Twilight guessed they must've been having this argument for quite some time already.

"Just because you have the emotion capacity of an insect doesn't mean everypony else does! If you had one serious bone in your body you'd understand why this has to be treated carefully, she's already anxious enough on her own without you making things worse by dropping this on her shoulders!" Luna shouted right back nearly reaching her royal canterlot voice in volume but seemed to be restraining herself, thankfully.

Twilight cleared her throat, cutting off the arguing pair before they could keep arguing about whatever seemed to be troubling them, deciding to ask them a bit later when they weren't quite as willing to rip each other apart. "I don't mean to interrupt, but Discord, I was doing some research on Thunder and I was hoping you could help me" Twilight noticed Discord giving Luna a triumphant smirk though Luna didn't respond other than going a few shades paler than normal.

"Of course Twilight, how may I be of service?" he asked bowing more for effect rather than actual courtesy, sticking his tongue out at Luna, who seemed to be deep in thought a bit of fear in her eyes.

"I'm trying to figure out how Thunder is able to use the dark magic that she had used before in Canterlot I've been doing several tests, with her permission of course, but no matter how many tests I've done I can't understand just how she can do them at all, she shouldn't be able to even if she had unicorns in her blood family and I thought maybe you'd understand it better than I could cause you are the expert on unexplainable." Twilight didn't understand the eager gleam in his eyes but even as he was opening his mouth Luna's hoof appeared from behind him and closed his mouth causing the pair to get in a foalish scuffle for a moment or two before Twilight, beginning to lose her patience and her desire for answers growing to a breaking point, separated them with her magic. "Honestly, both of you behaving like this, I'd expect this from Discord, but what's gotten into you Princess Luna?" Twilight looked at the night princess shocked and confused at her behavior.

"Moonbeam here just doesn't want me telling anyone that Thunder is our foal, but I don't see the point in waiting, I mean what sort of harm could telling her do?" Discord glared at Luna from where he was now standing, the bubble of magic that had torn them apart had already vanished but neither one moved from where they were, seeming to have gained their wits once again.

Before anyone could respond to the spilled secret however, a loud clattering sound took their attention, turning them toward the end of the street opposite the direction Twilight had come from. There stood Thunder, her chest heaving and her eyes wide though her pupils were small pin pricks of black standing before a small shiny object which had spilled out onto the ground in front of her, she seemed to have been carrying a small container filled with snacks, perhaps she was bringing Twilight something to eat so that she wouldn't have missed out on the whole festivities? It was hard to tell at this point. Luna opened her mouth to speak, but before she could even get a word in Thunder turned her wings shooting out and destroying her costume as she took to the sky leaving behind a crestfallen Luna, an embarrassed Discord and a completely bewildered Twilight.

Author's Note

Hope you guys like this chapter, it's both to celebrate Halloween (early I know but I didn't want to make you guys wait) and it's also 'part one' of the big reveal...Discord's big mouth, where is Thunder going? just how will she react to this news (besides what we've seen) will this family get a happy reunion or will Thunder's fears destroy everything? we'll have to see won't we