Inheritance of the moon

The next few days were quiet and some would say a bit too quiet, Ponyville was settling down after a near suffocation by dragon smoke. Midnight had decided to spend these quiet days studying, practicing, and trying to figure out what exactly he fought. While it appeared to be Fluttershy he knew otherwise for the mare was quiet and kind, after all she was the element of kindness. Further Midnight knew the quiet mare had been out of town with the other elements, dealing with said dragon smoke. “It was familiar…” The conundrum was going to bug him till he couldn’t sleep and as it was Midnight didn’t sleep much anyway.

Pushing up from his place in the library, which thanks to him was in good order as Spike had let loose a posse of animals, Midnight would move towards the door only stopping to look back. “You know Spike, you might be the number one assistant but I’m a pretty good helper.” The baby dragon just turned in his sleep, after having dealt with Angel Bunny and the likes Midnight couldn’t blame him for catching some rest while he could.  From here he would go out into the night, forgoing the lake he had been practicing at for logical reasons, so instead he went to the park. While most nights other ponies would be at the park even this late at night but with smoke in the air many just decided to stay home.

The park was clear as Midnight had expected it to be though some ponies had obviously been around, some trash and even a picnic blanket was on the ground. Passing by the cozy looking blanket Midnight would push deeper into the park, further from the street lights which now lit the roads for weary travelers and busy bodies. The spot he would go on to choose was decently secluded and open to the night sky which was an absolute must for the coal coated stallion. Setting up was quite simple; all he needed to do was set down a book and open it. “Where was I before?” No sooner had the question left his muzzle when he found a marked page and thus with it being so near a full moon no light was needed. Unbeknownst to Midnight the glow from his eyes from the other night was present, brighter as it seemed to depend on how full the moon was.

Elsewhere in Ponyville a white mare with a purple mane was wondering , from shadow to shadow she vanished and reappeared, “Where art thou whelp, thy end shall be this night.” With a horn to focus its energy the hatred, she as it was clear from its disposition and choice of body, could move about as quickly as she pleased and work magic as well. But tonight her goal was to be rid of that..that…stallion! He had been a constant thought in her mind, a most hated of enemies much like those meddlesome element bearers! “When the is found the suffering will begin…” Talking to herself seemed to help the hatred keep focus, the goal was clear.

An hour or so would pass, the shade was completely and utterly lost in this town and with no wings she couldn’t risk flying! “Once I rule I shall level this town with a passion unseen in centuries…” A park came into view, being near the edge of town it might give her some direction to go or at least that had been the hope when a familiar tingle coursed through it. “Found you whelp…” The expression on the beautiful mare’s face could be described as sick and twisted.

The very same tingle that the shade felt would also pulse through Midnight, though unlike the shade who knew what the feeling was he wrote it off as a byproduct of his magic. In front of him stood a practice dummy arranged from things he had found around the park, for example the torso was made from the picnic blanket stuffed with leaves. Around the dummy were little impact marks from the spell he was currently practicing. “It can’t be that hard…” Muttering to himself as magic once again gathered around his horn, maybe it was the shape he was launching the bolt of magic? That’s right he had spent the better part of two whole hours trying to hit a dummy with a single spell. The fight had taught Midnight that he should be prepared for anything and water or the elements might not always be around for aid. This time instead of a sphere floating in front of him he kept the magic built up in his horn so that it would be more dart like when fired. When the bolt finally left his horn it made little sound and had very little arch, a dart shape seemed to do it as the bolt struck home on the dummy.

“How pathetic that a whelp such as you should practice magic, it brings me great joy that I shall be the one to wipe you off this plane of existence.” A sinister voice smoke from behind him had it not been so dark and filled with venom Midnight might have mistaken it as Rarity. As it was the difference was more than enough for him to whirl around in a stance much like the previous night. “Again?” How did this thing find him out here and why did it look different?

“Returned as I have promised and this night I am prepared.” With a fluid movement she would tap the horn on Rarity’s forehead; it would ping with a dark energy. “Thy shall parish this night and bring me much satisfaction.” Not a second later several bolts of the dark energy launched from her horn to strike Midnight square in the chest sending him whirling back. Warm blood leaked from the wounds, while the bolts hadn’t gone as deep as they could have it was enough to draw blood. “And I shall take my time doing it.”

The ground Midnight decided felt very nice beneath him and that he would like to be very close friends with it. However since it was apparent that his life was in danger that friendship would have to wait for a more opportune time. Trying to move though wasn’t easy either, as he pushed from the amazingly soft ground a groan of pain left his muzzle. “Ow…” A hoof across the chest was more than enough to confirm the warmth there was blood, worse than any cut he’d gotten before. “Have to…play it defensively…” But what spell did he know that could stop magic? Somewhere in his studies had been a spell to bring up a barrier which might be enough to save him from further pain but not enough to stop this fight.

“Truth be told I must thank the for removing myself from that ghastly form, this one suits me so much better.” Yes it seemed the shade was as vain as Rarity when it came to looks, even if she didn’t realize it. “But thanks shall not keep the from death.” Swooshing her mane back the shade tried to strike again only for Midnight to roll away. “Stay still!”

Nope, staying s till was an incredibly bad idea he felt so Midnight would keep moving. More bolts flew at him though as he tried focusing on the spell, one bolt struck his tail and the others missed. “How did…” Not noticing the bolt Midnight remembered the spell and began to cast it, problem was it demanded focus which he couldn’t do WHILE DODGING A CRAZY MARE! A distraction was needed something fierce when another bolt struck true, his hoof was knocked out from beneath him sending the stallion sliding along the ground.

“Now you parish!” With Midnight sliding to his defeat some detail was missed, as such a mass of dirt was flung into the air with the majority landing on the Rarity wanna be. “D…dirt…” Why did she suddenly have the urge to run in circles screaming ‘my hair!’ all of a sudden? “Dirt shall not stop my revenge!” As the shade stepped forward something began to wiggle on the tip of her snout. “What is th…” There were no words to describe her absolute disgust as a cute earth worm popped out of the dirt there and into her nose.  A shriek was heard all around Ponyville and maybe even the entirety of Equestria that night as the shade Rarity ran circles so fast Rainbow Dash would be impressed. “Ew ew ew ew get it…it’s in my nose!” Luckily the trees caused the shriek to echo so the exactly location was hidden quite well as lights came on across the town, tired ponies walked on to the street with a single question. ‘What the hay was that?’

This single thing that appeared to be a simple accident was the key Midnight needed to win and redirect his magic from defense to attack, as if something agreed in the universe his eyes began to glow bright. Suddenly the pain in his chest and hoof began to fade as the wounds began to heal, allowing Midnight to rise from the ground. “Go away…” If Midnight felt bad for the mare it certainly didn’t show as several orbs of magic floated around him and began to form spinning bolts of energy. “But first I’m going to return the favor.” Was he a bit angry? Well this thing had shot him in the chest and in the hoof with the intention to kill him; angry was one word for it. There was no hesitation when he launched the bolts of magic at the shade, each one struck her in the same exact places that she had struck him.

“Worm…no!” Was all she got out before the bolts struck, causing her to slide from the spot as well as causing her form to waver.  From beautiful to scary and back again hatred went, a normal pony would miss it but Midnight saw this in slow motion. “Again?! To be defeated yet again by a pathetic whelp?!” Panic? Again that was a word she felt, though if it was from Midnight or the worm trying to go in her nose she couldn’t tell.  With a burst of magic Rarity vanished from sight, leaving a dirt outline and a very confused worm floating in the air for a split second.

Done, Midnight was done for the night. He was done moving, thinking, and even caring, all he wanted was to rest as the magical strain caught up to him. Eyes closing as darkness over took his vision Midnight fell asleep where he was.

Hatred screamed raw anger to the sky, the trees, and yes the ground beneath her. “That form was perfect! Perfect! To be defeated by an earth…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it as a full body shiver took over. “Oh no this is not over…not by a long shot…I need another form, one much more down to the ground…”  Mist swirled around Hatred as she remembered one of the element bearers, an orange-ish mare with a cowboy hat and country twang. “Well look at this, a strong mare…I like it..” Where magic and grace failed perhaps raw strength would prevail.

Luna sat staring at the viewing orb before her, it was rare for a princess to become so dumbstruck. Yet here she sat not quite able to believe what she witnessed. “Un…unexpected Midnight...” While the anger didn’t seem to bother the princess, after all death threats were angering sentiments, it was the reaction of Hatred that caught her off guard. “None the less I am most impressed Midnight, with more study you will go far.” And he needed to go far she feared for what was to come would be harder than she could tell him. Closing the curtain which hid the orb from prying eyes Luna would return to work, watching and arranging the night sky.