MLP: The Second Chapter

Starlight galloped out of Maneford as fast as she could. She had been discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health, and now was on her way back to Ponyville. Her mind was flooded with questions. What could Luna's cryptic talk in her dream have meant? Did Twilight really appear to her? Was that even possible? What did all of this have to do with Midnight and the prophecy? UGH! Too many questions! She screamed inside as she galloped along.

She flew down the road. Luckily, Ponyville wasn't but a few miles away and she was going as quick as her hooves could carry her. Pain shot through her joints as her body begged her to stop running, but she pressed on. Sweat poured from every drop of her being. She was in such a rush that she forgot that she had the ability to transport herself anywhere via a magic spell. All she knew was that she had to get to Ponyville and warn Twilight.

About three hours later, she arrived in town and dashed through the main street. She flew past a surprised Pinkie Pie, who called out a cheerful greeting. Starlight called one back over her shoulder and raced towards the castle. She arrived there, expecting to find a heated battle already in progress. Instead, she found nothing but the peaceful grounds and twittering birds that inhabited the trees around the castle.

She went inside and up the main stairs, which, after three continuous hours of running, was much easier said than done. Her legs screamed with agony as she heaved her way up each step. She had slowed considerably when she saw that nothing was going wrong, but when she did, her burning muscles didn't respond well. They cried out for rest, but she ignored that plea. She had to get to Twilight.

She finally managed to drag her way to the prince and princess's chamber. She rapped on the door with a tired hoof and collapsed on the floor. Flash opened the door to find the guidance counselor in a heap at his hooves. He quickly called for Spike and Twilight. Luckily, it was the weekend, so there were no classes in session. Spike ran over, took one look at Starlight, and raced away to find water for her. Twilight came over and cast a small healing spell on her.

When she did, the pain in Starlight's joints faded a little and she was able to raise her head a bit. She panted heavily and sweat continued pouring like a waterfall over her face. "Twilight," she breathed, "I-have-to-speak-with-you." Just saying each word felt like it took all of her energy, and she put her head back down.

"What about?" Twilight asked, then she remembered, "Midnight! Did you find her? Did you find my precious foal?!"

Starlight slowly raised her tired head and shook it. Twilight gave her a distraught look and began bombarding her with questions. "What's gonna happen now? Why did you come back so suddenly? Why didn't you find her?!"

"I don't know!" Starlight said suddenly. "I was in Maneford and I had another vision where Princess Luna told me to come back here as quickly as I could. So, I did. I didn't know what I would find when I got here. I'm just thankful you two are still alive."

By this time, Spike had returned with the water and Starlight drank freely. She was so incredibly thirsty, that she drank a little too quickly. "Starlight, not so fast," Twilight said, "you'll end up with a stomachache." So Starlight slowed her drinking and finished the jug that Spike had provided for her. "Thanks, Spike," she said as she slowly got to her hooves, "I owe you big time." Spike just said, "it's nothing, Starlight. My pleasure," and left the room.

Starlight turned to the anxious parents and looked at Twilight. The purple princess's look was one of complete worry. Her eyes were moist and Starlight could tell that her mind was in one place: with Midnight. Even though her foal had turned evil and run off to deceive Equestria, she still loved her with all her heart. Wow, Starlight thought, she's really taken to this whole 'being a mother' thing. She wouldn't care if the world fell, so long as her daughter was safe.

"Twilight," she said, "I have a question for you. Did you really appear to me in that dream I had?"

When she asked it, Twilight's face turned from a worrying mother into a wise princess. Starlight swore she was glowing. She stepped forward and smiled at her. "Yes," she said, "I did appear to you, though I didn't know of Luna's ensuing commands to you. While you were gone, Luna contacted me and told me that she wanted the four of us to appear in a special dream to you. Since we represent the four ancient fillies born of the Spirit of Equestria, Luna felt that we would be vital to your journey. So, yes, I did appear to you."

"But…I don't understand. Only Luna has the power to go into the dreams of ponies. How did you get there?"

"We had gathered in the castle of Canterlot and Luna cast a sleeping spell over all of us. When we were sound asleep, she wove a shared dream between our minds and yours. Then she transformed the four of us into fillies and created the illusion of a mare that represented the Spirit of Equestria. That Spirit is what we now must guard against Midnight's horde."

"You know about Midnight's army?"

Twilight nodded. "Hundreds of letters have poured into our castle since you've been gone. They all described the same thing: a small, brown filly feeding wild theories to both the poorest ponies and those who lack the proper education. They told us how she was encouraging them to blame the rich and smart ponies of Equestria for their situations. At first, we thought it was nothing because the filly didn't match Midnight's description. But after some extensive research, I found that the prophecy mentioned a disguised predator roaming the land and delivering lies." Here Twilight stopped and began weeping, "it's all true," she sobbed quietly, "my Midnight has turned…into a monster."

Starlight wrapped her arms around her best friend. Twilight sobbed into her shoulder and Flash quickly joined the embrace. Twilight looked back at them and wiped her eyes. "Thank you," she said, "it's comforting to know that I have such amazing friends and an amazing husband. This close to the end, I feel it prudent to say such things."

"No!" Starlight suddenly said, "Twilight, this isn't the end. I know there's a way we can stop the prophecy from coming true!"

Twilight backed away from Starlight. "But it's already being fulfilled!" She said, "the prophecy of my daughter's destiny is absolute and nothing can stop it. I've come to accept that."

"Well, I don't!"

"Well, you don't have to! But weren't you the one who told me to believe in it?"

"Yes! But you can believe in a dark prophecy, and still find a way to keep it from destroying your home!"

Twilight realized that her friend was absolutely right. They didn't have to accept it. It was their home, their lives, and their future that was being harshly affected by Midnight's actions. So it fell to reason that there was a way for them to change that. But what it was, nopony knew. Not even Twilight, who now knew the prophecy inside and out, could think of a way to quell her daughter's rage.

Then, suddenly, a shriek of anger was heard from outside the castle, followed by the howls of thousands of ponies. Twilight, Starlight, and Flash went and looked out the window. What they saw sent them into a panic. It was Midnight and her army of disgruntled and disappointed ponies. They came in droves, attacking the businesses and homes of Ponyville and shattering lives forever. Midnight proudly stood at their helm, screaming orders to her subordinate commanders, who would shout them back at the soldiers.

"PONYVILLE IS OURS!" Midnight screamed in triumph, "DOWN WITH THE RICH! DOWN WITH THE ROYAL! DOWN WITH THE LARGE FOALS! DOWN WITH THE OPPRESSOR!" The ponies in her ranks answered back with a shout of joy and continued their bloody march through the main street of town. Her parents and godmother watched. They tried to will their hooves to move, to go outside and stop this madness, but they remained affixed to that spot.

They watched as their friends and neighbors were either brutally attacked, or rapidly indoctrinated into Midnight's forces. All the small foals, poor ponies, and those who looked stupid were engrained with Midnight's philosophy. Everypony else was either hurt badly or murdered in cold blood.

Twilight's face twisted up in anger. Daughter or not, she was going to stop this massacring filly and her evil forces. She ran down the steps of her castle, with Starlight and Flash hot on her tail. They burst forth from the castle and ran into the street. "MIDNIGHT! STOP THIS AT ONCE!" She screamed in anger before skidding to a stop a few feet from her daughter.

Midnight laughed and then yelled, "HALT!" Her forces came to a stop and silence settled in. It was a deathly silence. Flash Sentry moved away to begin helping those who had been injured. Midnight watched her father with a gleam in her eye. "Kill him," she commanded simply to two ponies standing next to her. They walked over to where Flash was, but then Flash attacked them with lightning speed. He held them down as they begged for mercy. "Mercy? You don't deserve mercy!" He shouted as he prepared to slice open their throats with a sharp hoof.

"Flash!" Twilight suddenly yelled.

"What?!"

"Leave them alone," she said, "we will not stoop to the same level as Midnight and her allies."

When Twilight called Midnight by her real name, a murmur swept through the crowd. They all turned and looked back at their leader. She was still disguised as Ponita, so to them, she was still the same small, brown filly they had come to admire. "Miss Ponita," one of them said, "is that your real name?"

She turned and scoffed at him. "FOOL! Of course, that isn't my real name! My name is Midnight Mare, and I will rule this land!" At this, she squealed in evil laughter and removed her disguise. The ponies in the crowd all gasped at the frightening foal that now stood before them. "Is that who we've been following?" One of them asked. "I'm getting out of here!" Another proclaimed. Soon, Midnight's forces began moving away from her.

"What?! COWARDS!" The filly screamed, "COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT, YOU BUNCH OF TRAITORS!"

"Sorry, but we have no desire to help you take over Equestria," one of them said, "we thought you were going to help us. But you're only in it for yourself! Face it, Midnight, in the last 30 seconds, you have become a peon to all of us! You're no leader! YOU'RE THE COWARD!"

At this, the young one let out a scream that shook the ground and toppled buildings. Twilight and Starlight fought to keep their footing, and Twilight held back tears. She hated hearing insults levied at her daughter, even though she knew they were the absolute truth. When the small earthquake stopped, she faced Midnight.

The filly turned around as well, but Twilight saw a look of anger and raging hatred in her small eyes. In a flash, her mind returned to the peaceful night a few years earlier when Midnight had first made her presence known in the world. She remembered cradling her and telling herself that, no matter what, she would always defend her and love her. Now, that promise was in serious jeopardy.

"Midnight…please," Twilight said, "come home."

"NO!" The filly screamed, "YOU PIECES OF TRASH WILL ONLY MAKE LIFE MISERABLE FOR ME!"

"How have we made your life miserable?!" Twilight asked, "we've always tried to teach you…"

"That's your problem, Mommy! You think you can teach, but you can't! Your lessons?! I NEVER PAID ATTENTION TO ANY ONE OF THEM! You held me in and you refused to let me go to school with the other foals! I NEVER HAD ANY FRIENDS!"

Twilight backed up with a gasp as she realized that her daughter was absolutely right. She had kept her from friendship. The Princess of Friendship had denied her daughter the very thing that was so wonderful about life. The same thing that she taught her students to embrace and accept, she inadvertently taught her daughter to shun and contempt.

So, she bowed her head as more tears came. "My precious Midnight," she said, "I'm so sorry. You're right. I did keep you from friendship. I was so worried about this prophecy coming true, that I…"

"Prophecy?" Her daughter sneered, "what prophecy?"

"The very thing you're doing right now was foretold thousands of years ago by Seeing Eye, the great pony prophet."

She saw her daughter's eyes grow wide, "it was?"

She nodded, "and I have helped bring about that dark fulfillment. I have played a role in it. By keeping you from making friends, I helped the prophecy instead of hindering it."

Midnight's mouth fell open as she saw her mother weep. She never knew the sheer amount of love her mother held for her. But that didn't stop the dark spirit that had taken hold of her heart. "I don't care, Mommy! Cry all you want! I WILL RULE EQUESTRIA! But first…" here she stopped and let out a small, evil chuckle, "…I have a surprise for you and Aunt Starlight. I guess I can call her that and feel good about it now."

Both Starlight and Twilight gave Midnight curious looks. Whatever did she mean by that? "While I was gone, Mommy, I did some research on our family history. I found out that Grandma was having a little fun on the side. She cheated on Grandpa a lot!"

"What?!" Twilight asked in disbelief, "but…how could you possibly know a thing like that?!"

"Torture works wonders," Midnight said as she grinned wickedly, "I simply beat it out of Grandma." Twilight's mouth shook in anger. How could this small filly have beaten up her grandmother, who loved her so much? "Anyway," Midnight went on, "you had a sister, born of another stallion; and that sister…was Aunt Starlight!"