A Wisp In The Night

"I'm a normal pony. So what if my legs are longer than most, or if I look more like a mare, or if I don't have a cutie mark, or even if I live in the Everfree Forest. I'm just as normal as anypony else."

These are the words of a pony who's been picked on, called names, bullied, and even assaulted, yet has managed to keep a smile on his face and a positive outlook on life. Night Wisp, a grey teenaged Earth Pony with short dark purple mane and tail. He smiled and set out for Ponyville. As he would walk by, ponies of all types would stare, point, whisper, laugh, call names, and sometimes even physically attack him. But Night Wisp would never retaliate, and would never act rashly towards another pony, regardless of what they say or do to him. He bought some food and went to Sugarcube Corner. Mrs. Cake smiled at him when he walked in.

"Hello Night!"

"Hi Mrs. Cake! Just the usual."

Mrs. Cake smiled and went into the other room, then said with a laugh, "So how are you today?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Where's Pinkie? Off on another escapade?"

Mrs. Cake laughed.

"Yes, as usual."

"I'm surprised she even gets a paycheck."

"Well, she's quite the worker when she's around."

"And not devouring your displays."

Mrs. Cake laughed again. "You always make me laugh Night."

Night just smiled. Mrs. Cake then came back out with a small box, then set it on the counter. Night paid, then put the box into his saddlebag.

"See you later Mrs. Cake! Say hi to Pinkie for me!"

Mrs. Cake waved and smiled. "Will do, Night! Will do!"

Night walked back to his house, passing by the library on his way. He had a sudden chill run up his spine.

"Oooh..." He said with a shiver. "Why do I always get the chills when I pass by Twilight's place?" He continued into the Everfree, then disappeared from sight. Meanwhile, a certain purple unicorn was watching him walk into the forest. Spike came downstairs and saw Twilight watching Night again. For the 3rd or 4th time that week.

"Twilight, what do you find so interesting in him?"

"He's just so...strange. A teenager with no cutie mark, who lives in the Everfree Forest."

"What's strange about that?"

"Spike, you know about the Everfree. It's full of strange creatures, and plants, and the weather changes all by itself. Why would anypony other than Zecora want to live there?"

Spike just sighed and went back upstairs.Twilight stared at the Everfree Forest.

"I've just got to find out."

Next morning, with his groceries away, and his supplies collected, he had some free time to burn. So he went to Ponyville to see what the current happenings were. Almost immediately after he set foot in Ponyville, Twilight popped out and smiled. Night Wisp jumped back a bit, then blinked.

"Twilight? What's up?"

Twilight kept smiling. Night Wisp just blinked, then continued on, with Twilight following him like a stray puppy.

"Sooooo?" Twilight finally said.

Night just looked at her. "So what?"

"Sooo what's up?"

"Erm...nothing really. I just have some time...so I thought I'd walk around."

"Wanna come into the library? Maybe we can talk?"

Night tapped his chin in thought, then shrugged. "Sure."

Twilight led him into the library, had him seated, then sat with him, a notepad, quill and inkwell levitating in front of her. Night blinked, obviously confused about the writing utensils. She set the inkwell down then sat across from him.

"So whatcha wanna talk about, Twi?"

"How about our past? Have you ever been interested in how I became the Princess' student?"

"Sure."

After a long-winded story about Twilight's past, Night Wisp finally broke free from his trance and blinked.

"Oh, yeah...Nice story, Twi."

"Well what about you? Anything you wanna talk about? Say, your cutie mark? Or your lack thereof?"

Night looked at his flank, then back at Twilight. "Erm, I'd really rather talk about something else."

Twilight blinked. "What about your home? As you can see, I live in a tree! Where do you live?"

Night just stared, then said, "Well, in the Everfree Forest. Nowhere special." Twilight scribbled something on her notepad. "Like, do you live in a building?"

"Yeah." She scribbled on her notepad again. Night Wisp gave her a look. "Are you writing all this down?"

Twilight blinked, then blushed. "What? No! No. I'm just writing a.....list of things...I'll....need."

Night just stared, then stood up. "Well I think I should be going."

"Wait! Please, can you just answer a few more questions?"

Night just walked out and said over his shoulder, "I'm sorry Twi. I just don't feel like being interrogated today." And with that, he walked out. Twilight just grumbled.

"I'll find out more about him yet. Or my name isn't Twilight Sparkle!"

Night continued onward to his home in the Everfree, the cold stone floor echoing as his hooves trotted across it. He opened the old chest he kept his food in. A few apples, a carrot, and a box of cupcakes he had bought the day before. Nothing special. After all, it's only him living there. He took an apple and bit into it. It's sweet yet tart taste made his mouth tingle. It just sighed while chewing his apple, then after his snack he went out and sat on the stone steps that led to the front door. He stared at the sky high above him, a few clouds drifting past the sun. He didn't understand what was so scary about the Everfree Forest. Sure, it was dark, and there were a few scary creatures in there, but it was nothing bad. And so what if the weather changes itself? It's less work for the pegasi.

Night sighed heavily. No one came to visit him or send him anything. He didn't really mind it, but it did get boring. He tossed the apple core into his waste bin, then went inside. Maybe he was too hard on Twilight. She was just curious. Then again, it was kinda creepy. He thought he should go at least apologize and see if he can make things a little better between them. He trotted back to Ponyville, and into the library. He noticed Twilight was gone.

"Hey Spike, where's Twi? I want to talk to her."

Spike was carrying a stack of books to one of the shelves. "Oh. Hey Night. She went out to see the Princess. I dunno why."

Night nodded and left, then looked around. It wasn't like Twilight to just up and leave unless it was important. Or maybe she just had to go speak to her friends...or something. He shrugged, then continued on. He heard Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon calling at him.

"HEY BLANK FLANK! WHERE YA GOIN'?!" the girls laughed.

Night ignored their calls and jeers and continued walking around. He wasn't certain why the two fillies resorted to calling him names. He was a lot older and more matured than the Crusaders. I think they just got desperate to find someone else to bother. Night finally decided to turn and look at them, then called back,

"Well what do YOUR cutie marks represent? Wearing hats and soup-eating?"

The girls were flabbergasted. It was the first time anyone, ESPECIALLY NIGHT, had called back at them. AND IT WAS INSULTING. Night wasn't going to make that a regular thing. He just wanted to shut them up for a while. After all, they were kind of annoying. Night just snickered and continued on his walk. Finally, he stopped in the town centre, and looked around. He felt another chill. Weird...

Meanwhile, Twilight, dressed in camo attire, was watching Night Wisp from afar. The bush she was hiding in shook slightly in the gentle breeze. She stared at him through her binoculars and wrote down almost everything he did. Night just shivered a little and continued on his way. Twilight watched him carefully, making sure not to miss a movement. Suddenly, Pinkie popped out of nowhere and scared Twilight silly. Twilight's ears dropped and she groaned.

"Pinkie, what is it? Can't you see I'm busy spying on-....erm...Watchin-..um....sitting in this bush with binoculars?"

"Of course I did! And I thought you were lonely so I came over to give you some company!" she said with a giggle-snort.

Twilight just rolled her eyes and continued watching Night Wisp. He looked around, then continued on.

"He's heading back to the Everfree Forest!!" Pinkie gave her a strange look, and Twilight turned red. "erm..I mean....uh....Don't you have a party you should be throwing for somepony?" Pinkie gasped.

"Ohmygosh I do! See you later Twi!" She ran off almost as fast as she appeared, and Twilight picked up her things and ran to follow Night. She watched him disappear into the darkness of the forest, then she shivered. There was no way she was going in there, so she called for him, and hid her gear. Night Wisp blinked, then turned. "Oh! There you are Twilight! I just wanted to apologize for-"

"It's okay Night. I was being too nosy. Want to come to my house to chat?" Twilight interrupted. Night blinked, then nodded. "Sure I guess." They went back to the library, then sat together. Night and Twilight just sat there, silent for a while. Finally, Night Wisp broke the silence. "Um, do you still want to know about my cutie mark?" Twilight nodded eagerly. "Please. It's been bugging me for days." Night Wisp rubbed his foreleg, then said,

"Well to be honest, I've just been too lazy to actually find out...I never really cared all that much, so I never bothered trying to get one." Twilight blinked, then said, "But isn't it every pony's dream to find their place in the world?" Night Wisp shrugged. "Not me."

"But you get bugged and teased. Doesn't that bother you?" Night shook his head. "No. Not in the slightest. I know I'm different. I know I'm not like most. And I don't care. I'm just as normal as you or anypony else." Twilight stared. "How do you keep such a positive outlook on life?"

Night Wisp leaned in and smiled at her. "I stopped caring. I still care about my friends and family. I love them. But I stopped caring about anything bad in the world. The truth is, Twilight, the world is a terrible scary place. You just need to find your wisp of light in the night's darkness~"

Twilight stared at him, speechless. Night just stood up. "Thanks for the chat, Twi." He smiled and left. "Adios." Twilight stared, white as a sheet.

"Wow." she finally said.