Scars

Chapters

Prologue: Wounds of the Past
Together Again
Catching Up and Old Stories
Nightmares Part 1
Kindling For The Flames
Nightmares Part 2
Together Forever
Epilogue: Forgiveness
Healing The Scars

Prologue: Wounds of the Past

Celestia knocked on her son's door. She was worried that her son wouldn't even come out on his birthday, and one as important as his 18th. But she was concerned of something even more terrible: him leaving the castle to live on his own. "Midnight, please, at least open the door. I just want to talk." Celestia said, unable to suppress the worry in her soft voice.

"Now you want to talk, after 14 years." Came the dark, saddened reply from the other side of the thick oak door.

Celestia sighed, “Midnight, please, I love you and I only-" The door opened to reveal the midnight blue hair of her son. His eyes held a stare that could freeze water.

"If you love me, than what's dad's name?" Midnight asked in a tone hard as stone. Celestia began stammering, grasping at whatever straw she could grab, eventually hanging her head in despare and defeat. Midnight glared at her with the same icy stare. "That's what I thought. You don't even know it." And with that, Midnight closed the door, leaving Celestia to fall to her knees and weep.

***

Celestia was the perfect ruler of Equestria, loved and respected by all her loyal subjects. They thought she was perfect, wise, everything anybody could want to be in life. At least, that was the side she showed her people. She had made her fair share of mistakes and fuck-ups in her life. Only a handful of people knew her devious secrets, and even then, they spent their days in chains in the dungeon. But that didn't make the mistakes or pain go away.

18 years ago, war had been narrowly avoided in secret, no-one being the wiser throughout the kingdoms. In order to celebrate, Celestia had turned to everybodies favorite party companion: alcohol. She had quite a bit in fact, enough to cloud her judgment well past thinking about what she would do while drunk. She had met a nice enough guy, and he was really quiet cute. One thing lead to another and Celestia had him rut her ragged to celebrate peace with the ultimate opposite of war.

9 months after that drink-fueled night, Celestia gave birth to Midnight Sun, her bastard child, and manifestation of her shame. In a desperate attempt to hide her mistake, she left a note on his body and basket and left him at the doorstep of a Manehatten orphanage. From then on, Midnight grew up roaming from one false home to the other, never knowing the true meaning of family or friendship... until he meet Vinyl Scratch.

She had been placed in a situation close to his: abandoned as a child and left at the orphanage. The two quickly formed a bond, basically being the siblings that they never had. Every home that one had been sent to, the other was quick to follow. The orphanage owner grew to accept that the two were inseparable, and informed the foster parents whenever one was to be adopted. They found comfort in one another, able to survive whatever the mean streets of the big cities could throw at them. Until they were 14 and in a foster home in Canterlot.

Both were in shock and awe at the glorious princess that had stood at their 'homes' door, astounded that someone as royal and powerful as her had not only visited this house, but was looking for Midnight Sun. After a long a tear-filled conversation of Midnight's true past, Celestia filled out the necessary paperwork to legally own her son once again. But Celestia was the only one to enjoy this exchange of parenthood. Midnight was denied the ability to let Vinyl stay with him at the castle because she was not of the royal bloodline. Celestia tried to justify her choice as saying that it would be cruel to other orphans if she allowed just this one life in the lap of luxury.

Eventually, Midnight and Celestia returned to the castle. Celestia announced the return of her rightful son to the kingdom, but under happier circumstances. The people loved him as they did Celestia, but Midnight had no interest in his royal title and perks; only missing his one and only friend more and more as time dragged by in this massive stone prison. Celestia tried her best and hardest to make amends with her son, only to be met with a cold wall of refusal. Midnight had opened up to his aunt Luna quiet quickly, however. He found they had a lot to talk about when it came to Celestia.

Luna had managed to get Midnight to at least accept her as his mother and respond to her when she spoke to him, with time. However, he didn't allow her into his heart; he felt she had done too much damage for him to ever let her in to there. But by and by, Celestia began to grow on him. He never showed it, but he found it easier to call her 'mom' as she showed him kindness and love. But his distance from Vinyl and the scars Celestia left in him took their toll, and he never truly accepted her. Some days were harder spent here than others as memories and pain flowed back into his mind.

And today was one of the worst to date.

He would be able to finally, FINALY leave this stone castle he had been forced to call home. He looked forward to leaving; it would be done first thing tomorrow. However, in his excitement to leave, his memories of growing up on the streets with Vinyl came back, and opened the scar on his heart once more. He missed his friend with a terrible agony, and spent many sleepless nights wondering how she was doing, where she was, if she missed him too. The more he thought about her, the bigger the hole became. And Celestia saying that she loved him even though she didn't know the whereabouts of his father... it hit a nerve he didn't know existed.

While he felt a twinge of guilt for making her feel like this, it wasn't felt because of the tidalwaves of anger, resentment, and pain she caused to him for 14 long, lonesome years. That afternoon when she tried to get him out of his room to celebrate his birthday, he made his final decision. He would move to Ponyville and try to live a normal life, not one of royalty and responsibility. Why Ponyville? Because he knew Twilight Sparkle would be more than happy to try to help him adjust to life as a citizen and to undoubtedly try to help him climb the wall he placed between his mom and himself. So, the day had come, his day to move out of Canterlot Castle and off to the 'normal' world.

Celestia waited him in the dining room for breakfast. She gave him a sad smile, one that he returned as he sat down a few chairs down from her. "So... you’re going to move to Ponyville today." Celestia said after a while, beginning to eat the omelet that had been placed before her. Midnight wasn't surprised she knew; Luna often entered his dreams to see how she could help him repair his relationship with his mom. She must have told Celestia this morning what he planned to do.

"Yeah. I'm going to stay with Twilight and get a place of my own." Midnight responded, eating his own omelet.

"All you would have to do is ask, I'll be more than happy to provide a place for you to stay. And money to provide for yourself." Celestia said.

Midnight sighed, “Mom, you don't have to do that. I want to live by myself, do it on my own."

Celestia sighed herself. "Fine." She stopped eating and looked at her son with water-laced eyes. "I love you." Celestia said, rising from her seat and giving her son a mighty hug, one that Midnight returned in full.

"I know you do." He said, breaking the embrace and walking for the exit to begin packing. "I'll tell Twi you said hello." Midnight said. Celestia let tears fall slowly and quietly as she watched her son walk away, for the last time for a long time.

***

"Hey Twi. It's been a while." Midnight said with a smile as Twilight opened the door.

"Hey Midnight! How are you?" Twilight asked, hugging the alicorn.

"I'm good as I've ever been. Can I come in?" Midnight asked.

"Sure thing! Guest room is all set for you. Do you need help with your things?" Twilight asked, beginning to levitate one of his bags. Midnight grabbed the handle as it floated by him.

"Its fine, Twi. It's only three bags." Midnight said with a smile.

Twilight giggled. "Alright. Make yourself at home." Twilight said, turning to attend to one of the libraries many needs.

Midnight gathered up his bags and began heading up the stairs when he heard a deep voice behind him. "Hey Midnight! How's it going?"

Midnight turned around to see a pre-teen Spike walking out of the kitchen with a plate full of rubies and other gems. "I'm good Spike. Damn, you’re getting big." Midnight said, looking over the dragon that was close to his six-foot frame.

Spike grinned and sat down with his lunch. "Yeah, Twilight keeps saying the same thing. So you're going to stay here for a while?" Spike asked, throwing some gems in his mouth.

"Yeah, just until I find a place of my own. That cool with you?" Midnight asked, setting a bag down to give himself a rest from standing with his luggage.

"Yeah, of course. Stay as long as you need." Spike said through a mouthful of gems.

"Spike! Don't talk with food in your mouth! You're not a baby anymore!" Twilight called from a distant room. Spike rolled his eyes and Midnight let out a small laugh as he resumed his track to the guest room.

Midnight had just placed a picture of him and Vinyl from when they were kids on his nightstand when Twilight walked in, knocking on the doorframe. "Hey there, all settled?" Twilight asked, looking about. It was a square room with one curved wall that was the edge of the tree with a window opposite the bed. A few pictures of different envornments on the walls. Midnight smiled at the picture before turning his attention to Twilight.

"Yeah, I didn't bring too much with me." He said with a small huff at the end.

"Hey... she looks kinda familiar..." Twilight said, examining the picture more closely.

"Yeah, that's DJ-PON3. You know her?" Twilight asked, turning to face Midnight.

"Uh, yeah. Her name's Vinyl Scratch, we grew up together." Midnight responded, confused at the name DJ-PON3.

"Cool! You know she lives and works here in Ponyville, right?"

"She WHAT???"

Together Again

"Yeah, she works as a dj at the local club, the Solid Beats." Twilight said, looking confused at Midnight.

Midnight looked at Twilight, “How do you know that?" Midnight asked.

Twilight blinked and looked at him like a child had asked her an obvious question. "Because I go there. Why?" Twilight asked. Midnight was still looking at her dumbfounded.

"You, Twilight Sparkle, go to a dance club?" Midnight asked her, earning a sheepish grin from Twilight. Midnight simply looked at her, unable to believe that this bookworm would be one to go to bass-thumping nightclubs. Then he remembered who they were discussing when Twilight walked into his room. "We can talk about this later. Where does she live?" Midnight asked, snapping out of his trance, banishing the thoughts of Twilight on the dance floor.

"All I know is she lives here in Ponyville. Don't know where." Twilight said with a shrug. Midnight stood and walked to the window, not looking anywhere in specific, just that she was somewhere out there. "Come to think about it... How do you know her? Or any of your past. Even though we've been friends, I don't really know about your childhood." Twilight said, looking over to Midnight.

Midnight continued to look out over Ponyville. "That's... something best left alone. For now." Midnight said a heavy sigh between words.

Twilight decided to let it go for now. She was determined to find out how he knew DJ-PON3 well enough to want to meet her. And that picture was from a while ago. "Okay... how do you know her?" Twilight asked, trying to make her voice as soft as possible. Midnight still leered out the window, his back to Twilight.

"We grew up together; we were about 7 years old when we meet." Midnight said, after a long pause.

"How did you two meet?" Twilight asked, picking up the picture and looking at it with new eyes. Midnight's hair was down to his shoulders, Vinyl's to her shoulder blades. Midnight had a small smile with his hands in his pockets; Vinyl had her eyes closed and a giant grin on her face. The two were standing next to each other in front of what looked like an orphanage.

"We meet at the orphanage we went to together." Midnight said, tone unnervingly even for Twilight. Twilight was surprised to hear that he was an orphan.

"But... Celestia is your mom. She said-"

"My mom said a lot of things. Not all of them are true. Especially about me." Midnight said, turning to face Twilight, the icy stare that he gave Celestia. Midnight must have realized what he was doing, and turned back to the window. "Sorry..." He mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets. "We meet at the orphanage when we were 7." Midnight resumed, “She approached me the day after I got back from another bad home with people who couldn't handle me. She sat down and didn't leave me alone." Midnight chuckled. "No matter how much I ignored her, she just didn't give up. Once I opened up to her, we became the siblings we always dreamed for." Midnight said, a small smile growing on his face.

Twilight looked at the picture again, trying to find something that she might have missed. "So... what happened?" Twilight asked, looking back to Midnight.

"We went to every house together after that. Until we went to a house in Canterlot. Celestia showed up, told me what happened those fourteen years, and took me back to Canterlot. After that, we never saw each other again." Midnight said, sitting down next to Twilight again. "So... knowing that... want to go to a club tonight?"

Later That Night, At Solid Beats

Vinyl sighed. She loved her job, loved her music, loved the hours... but sometimes memories crept back into her mind from her past. But, it was what drove her to do as well as she did. And knowing that Nighty was royal, if she worked hard enough, maybe, just maybe, she would be able to see him again if she became popular enough to be hired at Canterlot. It was foolish and stupid. But it gave her hope. And that was all she needed. In the meantime, work needed to come first. She lowered her trademark sunglasses and walked up to her turntables, reveling the sound of the audience as they cheered her on. She grinned from ear to ear, forgetting her problems for now. They would be back. But not before she did what she loved, and played the music the people needed.

She settled her hands on the keyboard and set up the first song, moving her hands to the many switches and dials tuning how it would play to fit her mood. She looked up with her customary grin, and the crowd fell silent. The first few chords of her song came out of the many speakers slowly, drawing some confusion from everyone. Normally, she let the music blare out immediately, let the bass and noise shake the very building from start to finish. Tonight, her music was playing softly, building in noise as time passed. Then Vinyl unleashed the full force of the musical power at her fingertips. Everyone began their nightly ritual of dance and relaxation (And I mean that loosely).

Vinyl began her music mixing, losing herself in the electronic dance of the notes as they swirled through the air and moved around the club. But time flies when you’re having fun, and her first break came faster than usual, at least, it did in her head. "I’m going to take a small break, don't worry, the beats will be back soon." Vinyl said into the mic, placing the music on a pre-made playlist. She headed down from her throne (Again, in her mind) and headed backstage to her small dressing room. She opened the door and flipped on the lights, walking over to her couch and collapsing in it. She sighed, the full weight of four uninterrupted music mixing hours taking effect on her.

'I really do miss him. But I'll see him again one day. I know I will.' Vinyl thought to herself, smiling as she remembered how they met. A knock at her door snapped her back to reality. "Who is it?" Vinyl called, expecting some fan wanting an autograph or something stupid like that.

"Uh, I have someone you might want to see." A nervous female voice said. Confused, Vinyl stood and walked over to the door. She opened it and saw the source of the voice, a unicorn, like herself, only with purple hair and a single red streak. Her cutie mark was a starburst with five other stars on the left side of her neck, as was normal for female unicorns. But the alicorn standing behind her was all Vinyl could see.

Midnight softly pressed Twilight aside, stepping forward. "Vinyl..." Midnight smiled "... It's been a while." Vinyl still didn't believe that he was standing here, outside her dressing room, after so long.

"Nighty... is that really you?" Vinyl asked, stepping forward as well. The two were still a few feet apart. Vinyl smiled. "You've grown so big..." Vinyl said, smiling as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Midnight rushed forward at the same time as Vinyl, grabbing her up in a giant hug as Vinyl hugged back, crying into Midnight's shoulder. Midnight was crying as well. But the two knew that they had never been happier in their lives.

Catching Up and Old Stories

"I missed you so much baby sis." Midnight cried into Vinyl, happier than he had ever been to be hugging her once more.

"I missed you too Nighty." Vinyl cried as well. While the two were of the same age and if Vinyl was honest, she was a few months older than Midnight, but that didn't stop him from calling her his little sister. Vinyl didn't mind, she often called Midnight Nighty or Big Brother, something Midnight never minded. Twilight felt a smile spread as she witnessed the two hug each other, her smile only growing as she looked on. Midnight set Vinyl down and held her at arm's length.

"It's great to see you again, Vinyl." Midnight said a long-absent grin on his features.

Vinyl had a grin as well, “It’s great to see you too. Come inside, we can talk for a bit." Vinyl said, dragging Midnight by the hand to her dressing room, Twilight following. Vinyl plopped down on the couch again, Midnight sitting next to her. Twilight sat in a loveseat opposite the two. Vinyl noticed the unicorn for the first time, remembering that she was the nervous voice at the door. "Hi, I'm Vinyl Scratch" Vinyl said, extending her a fist.

Twilight nervously returned the fist bump, voice quivering a bit from excitement. "Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm a huge fan." Twilight said with a sheepish smile and nervous laugh.

Vinyl's grin only grew, if that was at all possible. "I'm glad you like my music. How do you know about me and Nighty?" Vinyl asked, giving Midnight a playful push that he laughed at.

"Well, I-I'm Princess Celestias student. When she announced the return of her son, I rushed to Canterlot to meet him. We became friends after that." Twilight said, her nervousness slowly leaving as she talked.

"Princess Celestias student? Damn, you have good tastes in friends, Midnight." Vinyl said, leaning back into the couch.

Midnight chuckled, “Well, I meet you, didn't I?" he said, returning her playful shove.

"Yeah, I guess you did." Vinyl laughed as she lay down with her legs over Midnight's lap and head resting on the armrest of the couch. She put both hands behind her head before asking, “So what's happened after dear old mom whisked you off to yonder castle?"

Midnight grimaced as he remembered his years spent in another false home flooded his mind. "Same as usual, only with my own mom this time." Midnight said, a slight damper in his voice.

"Really? I thought you would be super-excited to be with your mom." Vinyl said, slightly surprised.

"It wasn't all I thought it would be. She tried her hardest to get me to let her in but... I just can't. Fourteen years is a long time, baby sis. I mean, yeah, she's my mom, but I don't know if I can forgive her. At least, not for a long time." Midnight explained.

"Oh... I'm sorry Nighty. Did you, uh... ever find out who your dad is?" Vinyl asked. She had read the note on Midnight before the two of them meet. She didn't know the whole story, only that the father's whereabouts were unknown. Midnight's eyes filled with the cold stare that Twilight had come to know, only aimed at the floor.

"Mom doesn’t even remember his name." Midnight said. Vinyl sat up and gave Midnight another big hug.

"I'm so sorry big brother." Vinyl said, Midnight's stare dissipating as she hugged him.

"I'll be okay, baby sis." Midnight said, returning her hug. He always felt safe when Vinyl hugged him, no matter what happened.

Twilight began to feel like a massive third wheel and thought up of a reason to leave. "It was really nice to meet you Vinyl, but I better get going. Spike has a tendency to stay up late if I'm not around." Twilight said rising.

Vinyl nodded and rose to give her a handshake. "Alright, feel free to stop by anytime. A friend of Midnight's is a friend of mine." Vinyl said.

Twilight shook her hand. "Thank you. See you later Midnight." Twilight said, turning for the door.

"See you later Twi." Midnight called after her, giving a small wave.

Vinyl noticed that there was something different about his left wrist; the scars there were two more in number. Vinyl grabbed his arm and sat down next to him. "Wasn't there only three lines here?" Vinyl asked, tracing her fingers over them.

"No, there have always been five." Midnight said, looking away from her.

"No, there were only three. I remember you said a stray cat had scratched you. Now there are five." Vinyl said, using her free hand to turn his head to face her. Midnight looked into her crimson eyes and sighed.

"They... might not have come from a cat. Exactly." Midnight said, lowering his eyes from hers.

"Then where did they come from? And why are there five now? Exactly." Vinyl asked, confused and curious at the same time. Midnight took a deep breath and paused, he looked back to Vinyl and down to the floor again.

"They... came from me." Midnight said, releasing the breath he took.

Vinyl's eyes widened in shock, “What?"

"I did them. All of them. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to scare you." Midnight said, hanging his head in shame. Vinyl was silent, turning her gaze back down to his wrist, the five white lines even in spacing, silently smirking at her.

"Why?" Vinyl asked quietly, stroking Midnight's arm with one hand and turning his head back up to her with the other.

"You should know the answer for the first three. Shitty homes, shitty lives, and the pain... it made it go away for a while. Made me hurt less inside. As for the top two... those happened at Canterlot. Adding not being able to see you with everything else... they made that hurt less to. Auntie Luna caught me though. See made me promise to stop, so I did." Midnight said, tears flowing down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry Vinyl."

Vinyl was still surprised that she hadn't noticed these for what they were when they were 12. Vinyl gave Midnight another big hug, “It’s okay, big brother. You don't have to anymore. I'm here." Vinyl said softly. Midnight cried into Vinyl again, only with shame this time.

"I'm so-sorry baby sis." Midnight choked out between quiet sobs.

"Sshhh..." Vinyl said, running fingers through his royal blue hair, holding him close as he let out his tears and shame. They stayed like this for a while, until a knock came from the door, followed by an Earth male entering.

"Vinyl, five minutes to- oh. Am I interrupting?" The man asked. Vinyl whispered to Midnight and rose to walk over to her boss.

"Uh, hey. Can I have tonight off? That's my best friend in the whole world, and he's been through a lot. I need to be there for him right now." Vinyl said in a hushed tone.

Her boss looked from Vinyl to Midnight a few times before responding, “Isn’t that Midnight Sun, Princess Celestias son?" her boss asked surprised. Vinyl nodded, pleading eyes focused on her boss. "You’re his best friend?" He asked, still unsure.

"Since we were seven." Vinyl said.

Her boss looked from Midnight to Vinyl one last time. "Uh... yeah. Yeah, you can take tonight off. Just put on a long enough playlist, alright?" Her boss said.

Vinyl smiled and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks boss."

Her boss awkwardly hugged her back. "Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it." He said playfully with a smile of his own. Her boss gave one more look to Midnight and left to attend to the club's other needs. Vinyl walked over to Midnight, who was recovering from his sobbing, and gave him another small hug.

"I got to put on another playlist and then I'll be right back, kay?" Vinyl said.

"Yeah. I'll be here." Midnight responded quietly, hugging her back. Vinyl tightened her hug before she turned to set the longer playlist on. Midnight watched he go, eyes drifting down her body, her amazing, toned body. 'Whoa, whoa, hold up Midnight. This is your best friend we're talking about here.' Midnight thought to himself angrily. Midnight sighed and fell back into the couch, hands on his face.

***

Vinyl walked up to her turntables, but instead of getting ready to do what she loved, she rummaged through one of the drawers for a little flash drive that had an "emergency" playlist for events such as this. 'Come on, I know it's here somewhere...' Vinyl thought, pushing aside CD's and empty cases for a variety of things. 'Ah ha! Gotchya!' Vinyl thought triumphantly grabbing the little red flash drive that read "Emergency Playlist" along its length. She plugged the little device into her laptop, removing the old one once she had the new playlist going. It would last long enough to fulfill the length of the club's operating hours so that someone would be able to just push "Stop" once they closed for the night (Well, 4 a.m. isn't quite night).

'Now, back to Nighty.' Vinyl thought happily as she began walking back to her dressing room. While it was a short distance, only a 2 minute walk normally, it felt like forever because she knew Midnight was there. She smiled as she thought of him, incredible dark blue hair, mesmerizing eyes (Just like Celestias), and nice figure- wait, what was that last part? Vinyl stopped just short of the door, shaking her head in an attempt to banish the strange thoughts that had entered her head. 'You can't think of big brother like that girl. That's just weird.' Vinyl thought to herself before opening the door. "I'm back. Miss me?" Vinyl said playfully.

Midnight lowered his hands from his face, a smile/frown hybrid on his face. "Too soon Vinyl." Midnight said in a mix of happy and sad tones.

"Oh... right." Vinyl said, looking down and awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.

"So... how about you? What have you done after I was 'whisked away off to yonder castle'?" Midnight said in a terrible attempt to copy Vinyl's voice. Vinyl laughed and sat down next to Midnight again.

"Well, first I got my own laptop, paid for it and everything after Celestia took you off to the castle. Once I had it, I started making my own songs on it. I didn't plan to let anyone hear them, but one of the parents I stayed with after you left heard one and thought it was really good. He bought me my own beginners’ turntable that would plug into my laptop and then this appeared." Vinyl explained, pointing to the left side of her neck, to her cutie mark. "When I first started mixing some of my songs, I knew I would want to do it for the rest of my life." Vinyl said, grin on her as she looked over to Midnight. "What about your cutie mark, Nighty? What does it mean?" Vinyl said.

Midnight looked down to his cutie mark, a black sun rising over the horizon that was his collar bone. Alicorns cutie marks appeared there, both princesses possessing theirs in the same spot as well. Unicorns had theirs appear on their necks, pegasus at the base of their wings, and earth humans on their upper arm. Males had theirs on the right arm/wing/neck and females on the left. "I'm... not sure what it means. The sun shows that I'm royalty and the son of princess Celestia, but I don't know why it's black." Midnight said, looking back to Vinyl.

Vinyl looked at his cutie mark, “What about the fact that it's rising?" she asked, looking back to Midnight's eyes.

"I never thought it was rising." Midnight responded sadly.

Vinyl placed her hand over his. "Why not?" She asked. "

How could a sun be rising on a life as crappy as mine's been?" Midnight asked.

"Well... you met me." Vinyl said with a small smile. Midnight chuckled and Vinyl's smile grew, Vinyl always knew how to make Midnight laugh. A few moments of silence passed between the two, both enjoying each other's presence after so many years apart. Vinyl snuggled into Midnight's side, hugging him again. "I love you big brother." Vinyl said quietly.

Midnight hugged her back, “I love you too baby sis." More time passed as the two hugged, until Vinyl spoke up again.

"So, how do you plan on getting home again?" Vinyl asked, not breaking the hug.

"I'll get Twi to open the door. Why?" Midnight asked confused.

"No reason, I just thought most people were asleep by twelve thirty in the morning." Vinyl said happily.

"What?!" Midnight said, almost yelled, breaking the embrace and causing Vinyl to laugh hysterically as he stared at the clock. Sure enough, the clock read 12:37 a.m. on its digital readout.

"Do you ha- have a key?" Vinyl managed between laughs, only laughing harder as Midnight slapped his pockets in search of one.

Midnight waited for Vinyl to calm down before deciding to ask her what was so funny about him being locked out of his only place of residence. "Can I spend the night at your place?" Is what decided to come out of his mouth instead, surprising both Vinyl and Midnight. Silence hovered in the room as Vinyl contemplated his offer and Midnight wishing he could go back in time and punch past him in the nose.

"Sure." Vinyl said standing and walking over to the door.

"Vinyl I'm sorry I didn't- wait, what?" Midnight said, thinking that Vinyl would be upset with him for making such a rash decision.

"I said yeah, you can crash at my place tonight." Vinyl repeated, a mischievous smile on her face. "You comin' or what?" Vinyl said grabbing her jacket of the peg on the wall.

"Uh, yeah!" Midnight said, jumping off the couch and closing the door after he and Vinyl left.

Vinyl's Apartment

"It's not much, but its home." Vinyl said, flicking on the lights. It was a mid-sized apartment, the living room, dining room, and kitchen all made to be the same room with a hallway down the middle that led to the bathroom, guest room, and master bedroom. "Oh, I should probably tell you that the guest room is my personal studio, so you'll be bunking with me tonight." Vinyl said, tossing her jacket over a chair at the dining table.

"What? What's wrong with the couch?" Midnight asked, feeling warmth crawl into his cheeks.

"Nothing. Unless you want to be stiff as a rock when you wake up." Vinyl said, making her way down the hall for her bedroom. "I'm going to change. No peeking." Vinyl called to him in a playful voice.

Midnight thought over his options; sleep in a non-sexual way with his best friend in the entire world like they did when they were kids, or sleep on a couch that would cause him to be a generally unhappy person in the morning, and mornings were not his favorite part of day. Another reason Celestia was that much harder to accept. Midnight knew it wasn't her fault, but still. Sleep with Vinyl, sleep on couch. Vinyl, couch. Not a hard choice. Midnight made his way down the hall, taking note that the bathroom was the first door on the right (hey, you never know) before coming to a halt at the doorframe to her bedroom, staring at Vinyl.

Midnight got to see Vinyl finish pulling down a black tank-top after seeing her incredible body (her breasts were covered) and saw she was wearing black short shorts that had a red line down the sides the same color as her eyes. Midnight was rooted to the spot, looking Vinyl over a few times before her voice dragged him back to reality. "Keep staring like that and I might just think you like me." Vinyl said, climbing under the blankets to her unkept bed. Midnight began stammering much the same way Celestia had, trying to find a way to explain himself. Vinyl laughed. "Calm down Nighty. It's just a joke." Vinyl said, giving the spot next to her a pat.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I knew that." Midnight said, taking off his shirt and climbing awkwardly in next to Vinyl. It was Vinyl's turn to stare, now that she had a clear view of Midnights muscular frame unhindered by his slightly large shirt.

"Uh... why'd you take your shirt off?" Vinyl said, feeling the blush on her cheeks. "

Hmm? Oh, I don't sleep with a shirt on. Makes my wings feel cramped." Midnight said, pulling the covers up to his chest. Midnight clicked off the lamp that was on the nightstand and felt Vinyl snuggle up against his side, just like she used to when she had a bad dream as kids.

"Goodnight Nighty." Vinyl said before yawning.

"Night Vinyl." Midnight said, holding her close.

Nightmares Part 1

Blurry visions pooled in Midnight's head. They started out as nothing, just colors that swirled and danced together. Slowly, they began to take shape, electric blues forming hair, whites melting into skin, black and red blending into clothes to form Vinyl. His brain registered that she held him closer in her sleep, but his conscience didn't notice, it was lost in REM sleep. She stood there, in his head, smiling her amazing grin, hands behind her head while she did so. Slowly, Midnight's mind eye looked her over, her tantalizing blues in her hair, her amazing red eyes, her soft hands on his worn, saddened skin, almost breathing life back into him. The peace he felt with her, the unquestionable love for his true family, calmed him. His brain noticed a tightening of his own embrace, but it was rubbish to his thoughts and desires.

Slowly, her short shorts began to slide down, dissipating as they hit the ground of where ever they were. Her tank top covered her flower, if just barely. The normal grin that was on her face had been replaced with a seductive smile, her hands gliding down to lift her top. His brain noted the increase in heart rate and proceeded to calm it down, to allow sleep to continue. As her top was lifted off, what lay underneath was not the beautiful body Midnight had been expecting, but a black hole that swallowed him like the massive jaw of a hungry dragon.

He was on his back, a shadowy figure walking in the rain, ominous storm clouds gathering and dancing above in the night sky. Wet hair, all colors of a beautiful sunrise moved in soft waves, the storm cloud’s rain mingling with her tears. Midnight felt himself be lowered as Celestia gave her child one last, ashamed look. "Mommy loves you. Mommy loves you..." She whispered before turning back the way she came. Baby Midnight cried out, reaching his tiny arms out and opening and closing his fingers, wanting to feel mommies skin again, be held in her arms, and fall asleep to her melodious voice. A dark shadow appeared behind him from the doorway.

"Who's there? What's this? ... Aww, you poor thing. Second one this week..." The shadow said, lowering down to grab the basket handle and carry him inside. However, the shadow didn't stop falling, only enveloped him in its darkness. His brain assumed that another memory was going to surface, only to be ignored by his conscience once again. Midnight looked around, he was sitting on the first stairs that lead to the second floor of the orphanage, at least, the seven-year-old version of himself was. Midnight was picking at his dinner as usual, until a small Vinyl Scratch walked over and sat next to him. Adult Midnight smiled, happy that a nice memory decided to play so vividly in his mind's eye for a change.

"HI!" Vinyl said, sitting down next to Kid Midnight. He mumbled a response, continuing to play with his food. "What's your name?" Vinyl asked, facing Kid Midnight.

"I'm Midnight Sun..." He said just over a whisper. Vinyl smiled.

"That's a cool name. I'm Vinyl Scratch!" She said, extending her hand for a handshake. Kid Midnight looked at her hand for a moment before returning to pretending to enjoy his meal. "What do you like to do?" Vinyl asked, retracting her hand. Kid Midnight continued to remain silent, hoping she would just go away. Vinyl felt a twinge of annoyance flare in her, but after what she read, she was determined to befriend him. "How long have you been here?" She asked. Kid Midnight still pretended she didn't exist, almost done with his dinner. Vinyl sighed. "Do you know your parents?" She asked.

This finally earned the attention of Kid Midnight, who stopped eating and turned to look at the floor she was sitting on. "No... but I can remember her a little, if I try." Kid Midnight said, still quietly.

"What's she like?" Vinyl asked, softly lifting his head to have their eyes be level with one another.

"Like I said, I don't remember a lot, but she has amazing hair that moves, the prettiest voice, and she was nice." Kid Midnight said, at normal volume.

Vinyl smiled, “I don't know who my parents are..." Vinyl said, losing her smile.

"I'm sorry... uh, can I ask you something?" Kid Midnight asked.

"Sure. What do you need Nighty?" Vinyl asked. Kid midnight was surprised by her nickname, Adult Midnight chuckled.

"Uh... do you want to be... friends?" Kid Midnight asked slowly. "

Of course!" Vinyl said with a triumphant smile. Kid Midnight and Adult Midnight smiled at her acceptance.

"So that's how you two met..." A soft, velvety voice came from next to Adult Midnight. He smiled and turned to face Princess Luna and hug her warmly.

"Hey Auntie. It's been a while." Midnight said.

Luna hugged him back, “It certainly has, Nighty." she said with a warm smile. "I'm glad to finally see this memory." Luna said, breaking the hug.

"I'm glad to see it again too. I've been having nightmares all night." Adult Midnight explained as Kid Midnight and Vinyl began laughing.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Luna said with a small frown.

"It's fine, now that you're here. Speaking of which, why are you here?" Midnight asked.

Luna gave a small shrug and turned her attention to the two friends on the staircase as she began speaking, “No reason, I was flying the moon over you and thought that I would drop by to see how your first day was. Good I take it?"

Midnight smiled. "It was incredible! I'm finally backed with Vinyl." Midnight said, a giant grin spreading over him. Luna smiled as well.

"I'm very glad to hear that. I was wondering when you would lose your virginity."

Midnight was about to respond when he fully registered what she said. "Wait, what?! What do you mean, I haven’t lost that yet!!" Midnight stammered out quickly.

"Oh? Aren’t you in bed with her as we speak?" Luna asked, looking back to her flustered Nighty.

"Well, yeah, but we didn't do THAT! I mean, she's my baby sister for Celestias sake!" Midnight almost yelled, embarrassment warming his cheeks. His brain took a moment to wonder how he was able to feel the warmth on his face in a dream. Luna began laughing, only furthering Midnight's confusion.

"I was just joking Nighty. I know you haven’t slept with her yet." Luna said, smiling at Midnight, who felt like an idiot.

"Wait, what do you mean 'yet'?" He asked.

Luna looked at him confused yet again. "Well you love her don't you?" Luna asked him.

Midnight opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again.

Inside Vinyl Scratch's Deepest Thoughts

Colors shook erratically amongst her mind in deep sleep. They had no distinction from one another, they were all one and at the same time, apart. Slowly, dark blues and blacks formed hair, whites molded itself into skin, faded blue molded into pants, and there stood Midnight Sun. Vinyl ran forward to embrace him, loving the feel of his chiseled form on hers. She closed her eyes, loving his warmth, when she opened them, they stood naked. Vinyl felt her heart race at the thought, but before she could see anything, black swarmed around them. They dragged Midnight away, leaving her bare and confused and afraid.

When she could see once more, she looked around and recognized the home she was in after Midnight had been stolen away from her. She hated this place. It was not a home, it was a hell made real on Earth. They had seemed nice enough when they adopted her, kind, inviting, and understanding. But it changed when the "father" came home from work and hit the bottle. Sadly, the bottle wasn't the only thing he hit. She didn't know what caused him so much stress, but he would constantly beat his wife, and he verbally assaulted Vinyl, somehow knowing better than to dare hit her because of the nice government support she raked in every month.

One night, Vinyl had enough. She hid cameras around the house so well, even "mom" didn't know they were there. After a rather worse night that dear old "dad" flew off the handle, she showed the footage to the police and the orphanage. While she didn't know what became of the two after that, she knew that she could be somewhat happy again. Vinyl didn't want to come back to this place, not even in her dreams. She closed her eyes tight and forced her mind to go somewhere, anywhere else than this horrible place. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around, relieved that she was no longer in that infernal place.

But she soon wished she could go back. It was not a memory that had wormed her way into the theater of her head, but rather a revelation. She stood in a dark room, a single light shining down on a very young Midnight Sun. While she knew the setting would be different in real life, it was disturbing to witness nonetheless. He sat in a chair, holding a knife to his wrist. Vinyl slowly approached him, trying to get a better look of his face. His emotions were clearly fighting inside himself, no one emotion winning for very long. The knife went from ready to cut to nearly being dropped from his right hand. After the free-for-all of emotions finished inside him, he readied the knife to do its work.

"I'm sorry baby sis..." Midnight mumbled before he closed his eyes and slowly slid the knife over his left wrist, clenching his teeth as his skin split and red flowed slowly from the wound. Vinyl stood there, unable to look away but wanting nothing in the world to look somewhere, anywhere else than the sad, lost child form of her best friend. Every time the knife moved across his wrist, Vinyl felt more tears force their way out of her wide eyes, silent sobs shaking her body like a plastic bag in a hurricane. Midnight finished the last drag of the knife and stared down at his wrist.

Vinyl stared only long enough to see tears mingle with blood before she was able to tear her eyes from him and close them as tight as she could. She fell to her knees and sobbed, feeling like she could have done something to help her best friend out of the dark place he had been in. But it was far too late to help him, too late to stop the scars from opening. But she would be damned if it was too late to heal them completely. She cried for what seemed like a long time, before footsteps could be heard growing closer to her. Vinyl calmed down enough to look up and see who had come to see her. And she could hardly believe her eyes.

"Hello Vinyl Scratch. I am Princess Luna. Though you may have heard of me." Princess Luna said. Vinyl stood up and composed herself as the Princess closed the distance between them in long, powerful strides.

"P-Princess, it's an honor to meet you." Vinyl said.

"I could say the same for my nephew's best friend." Luna said with a warm smile.

Vinyl laughed a little, “He told you?" Luna laughed as well.

"Even if he hadn't, I would have found out from his dreams. He missed you terribly while you two were apart." Luna said, sitting down on a chair that had formed itself below her. Vinyl sat as well, not wanting to use energy to stand after what she saw. "He dreamed of you frequently, actually. He would always have a large blush on him when I entered his dreams that involved you." Luna explained, smiling at the growing blush on Vinyl's face.

"Not to change the subject, but why and how are you here? In my dream?" Vinyl asked.

"I am the Goddess of Night and all things that encomponies. I often go into my subject's dreams to see what they truly think." Luna explained. Vinyl agreed, it DID make sense after all.

"Fair enough, but why my dream?" Vinyl asked, curious as to why it had to happen this night, of all nights.

Luna smiled. "You are in bed with him, are you not?" Luna asked in an innocent voice. Vinyl blushed again and gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, uh, I guess I am." Vinyl said awkwardly.

"Don't worry Vinyl, I know it's not in a romantic sense. Although, I'm not completely against the idea." Luna said with a mischievous grin towards the end. Vinyl began stammering, trying to explain her way out of the topic when Luna rose from her seat. "Well, look at the time. I should be off. I would like to know how my nephew's first day in a 'normal' life was." Luna said before disappearing.

Vinyl's Apartment

Vinyl's eyes shot open as she rose quickly from her bed. She looked around in a small panic, subsiding once she saw it was all just a dream. Except for that Princess Luna part. She was pretty sure that really happened. Eventually, her eyes fell on Midnight, softly snoring as he slept. Vinyl smiled as she watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, eyelids twitching every now and again. She ran a soft hand across his chest, not sure as to why, but she looked at him as... well, an adult now. A stranger, a rather attractive stranger, than her big brother. She had never noticed before, but he was quiet attractive. Vinyl looked at the clock and sighed. 3:00 a.m. is too early to be checking out your best friend. She lay down and was quickly back asleep.

***

Vinyl woke up to the wonderful and surprising smell of breakfast being cooked. She sat up and stretched, the clock now reading 10:17 a.m. 'Much better time to wake up at.' Vinyl thought to herself before noticing that Midnight was no longer at her side. Another glorious smell wafting from the hallway announced that he was making breakfast. She slowly forced herself to rise and shuffle down the hallway, yawning and rubbing her eyes as she went. Another amazing smell filled her senses, one of freshly made coffee. 'Oh, thank Celestia he made coffee.' Vinyl thought to herself as she began to pour herself a mug.

"Well, good morning to you too." Midnight said playfully, flipping the omelet with expert training.

Vinyl was surprised he knew how to cook, let alone flip an omelet without looking at it. "Where did you learn how to do that, Nighty?" Vinyl asked groggily. Mornings were not her favorite time of day, but she wasn't as tired with Midnight here.

"Well, sometimes when I couldn't sleep at Canterlot, I would go down to the kitchen and watch the chefs’ work. After a while, they started showing me how to cook myself." Midnight explained, placing two omelets on plates and walking over to Vinyl, placing one in front of her.

As Midnight sat down, Vinyl took a bite and moaned in pleasure. "Wow, Nighty, this is AMAZING!" Vinyl said.

Midnight chuckled, “Didn’t anyone teach you not to talk with your mouth full?" he said playfully. Vinyl shot him a glare before swallowing.

"Pff. It's not like you mind Nighty. Or what you’re focusing on." Vinyl said, earning stammering from Midnight as his eyes rose to her face in an attempt to explain. Vinyl smiled. 'Maybe that IS how I feel...' Vinyl thought to herself.

Kindling For The Flames

'Maybe that's how I feel about her...' Midnight thought once he recovered from his desperate stammer spree. It was kinda Vinyl's fault, a tank top dosn't really cover up everything as well, especially after the night of tossing and turning Vinyl must have had. While nothing TOO revealing was shown, a lot more than what was needed did.

"This is really good." Vinyl said happily as she ate away.

"I know, you said that already." Midnight said, beginning on his own omelet.

"Well, it's just that good." Vinyl said through another mouthful of egg.

Midnight swallowed and sighed. "Seriously Vinyl, don't talk with your mouth full." Midnight said, earning another glare from Vinyl.

"It didn't seem to stop you from staring at my boobs." Vinyl said with a wicked grin that went from ear to ear. Midnight blushed furiously again and went to eating his breakfast again, if only to keep Vinyl from pursuing that topic. His efforts were in vain, he sighed as Vinyl began talking about it again. "Seriously, what's up with you doing that?" Vinyl asked. Midnight (eventually) looked up from his breakfast and saw Vinyl had a mix of seriousness and playfulness on her face.

'How the HELL do I answer that?!' Midnight thought as he chewed, staring into Vinyl’s deep red eyes as she tapped her foot impatiently. 'Alright, she is not gunna let this drop... think, damnit, THINK!' Midnight painfully swallowed his food before slowly responding, “Well... I'm a guy..."

"And I'm a girl. Your point?" Vinyl said, same mix of business/play in her voice.

"And... we have hormones..." Midnight said awkwardly. Vinyl didn't say anything, simply raised an eyebrow with his infuriating mix of business/play. "And... well..." Midnight noticed his gaze had slowly been drifting down to her chest as he struggled to speak. He snapped his eyes back up to see a grinning Vinyl, a haunting sight indeed. "Damnit, Vinyl! You can't wear stuff like that! It's too... distracting." Midnight finally spit out after a while.

Vinyl's grin only grew, “And why is that?" she said in an innocent voice and clichéd eyelash batting.

'Damnit, Vinyl...' Midnight thought. "Because..." Midnight struggled to find the right words as Vinyl's grin defied physics and grew with each passing second.

"Because why, Nighty?" Vinyl said in the same innocent voice.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE SMOKING HOT!!!" Midnight yelled, startling Vinyl and causing her grin to disappear. Midnight took a few deep breaths before the full weight of his outburst hit him. He seemed to have scared Vinyl with his yell, she shrunk into her seat and began eating her breakfast quietly. "Vinyl, I'm so sorry. You just pressed it on, and you’re so beautiful, and..." Midnight said, feeling ashamed for snapping at her like he did. "I'm sorry..." Midnight said, lowering his head and feeling a few tears go down his cheek.

"... You really think so?" Vinyl asked after a while, looking up from her breakfast with sad yet hopeful eyes. Midnight raised his gaze to hers, but still didn't respond. "Do you really think I'm beautiful?" Vinyl repeated.

"... Yes." Midnight simply said. He did. He had for a while now. Everything seemed... different about her. Not a bad different, but a welcome different. Her hair caught his gaze a little more, her eyes held more beauty every day, her curves distracted him more and more, her skin felt warmer and softer when she touched him. While he already knew he felt safe around her, it changed as well. Granted, the last time they saw each other they were fourteen, he felt it when he was thirteen and as time passed, it grew.

"Thank you. No one's ever said that about me." Vinyl said with a warm smile and small blush. Midnight was surprised that she didn't get upset with him and also because of what she said.

"Really?" Midnight asked, incredulous that no one had.

"Well, no one that mattered likes you." Vinyl said with another warm smile.

Midnight smiled to, “Of course baby sis." Vinyl stood up and hugged Midnight. Midnight stood up as well, fully wrapping her in the hug.

'I wish you would think of me as more...' Vinyl thought sadly.

***

Midnight gave a soft knock on the oak door that lead to Golden Oaks Library. While Vinyl did some much needed shopping for food, Midnight decided to get his story straight with Twilight. She must be worried sick about him, he was gone all night after all. Spike opened the door while holding a large pile of what looked like fabric. "Hey Spike. Rarity is here, huh?" Midnight asked with a dead tone.

"How'd you know?" Spike asked as he turned to get a better view of Midnight.

"Lucky guess. Twi here?" Midnight asked.

"Yeah, she and Rarity are upstairs." Spike said, turning off to help the designer in some way.

Midnight closed the door as he entered and made his way upstairs. As Midnight walked to Twilight's bedroom, he could hear Rarity go on and on over the smallest details of the dress he was sure she was making for her. Midnight opened the door and knocked on it was he walked in, Rarity taking Twilight's measurements for the fabric. "Hey Twi, hey Rares." Midnight said with a smile as he entered. Suddenly he was on his back and his everything hurt. Taking a moment to look at what happened, he saw that Twilight had seemingly defied physics and flew across the room at him and tackled Midnight in a killer bear hug. "Nice... to see you... too." Midnight huffed out from a mix of having the wind knocked out of him and the constricting of Twilight's hug.

"Midnight! You had me so worried! Where were you last night?! I'm so sorry that I left without you! Please don't be mad! Please don't hate me!" Twilight yelled quickly only the way a panicking Twilight could. Midnight mumbled his response, unable to speak as of right now.

"Twilight, dear, you're crushing him!" Rarity interjected, causing Twilight to quickly release her grip and stand back up. Midnight sucked down a sharp breath and coughed a few times while doubling over on his side. After a moment, and Twilight and Rarity lifting him up and placing him in a chair, Midnight was able to speak once more.

"It's okay Twi, I don't hate you. As to why I wasn't here last night, I crashed at Vinyl's apartment. I was fine. And that's, uh, why I'm here, actually." Midnight said with a small amount of awkward.

"Um, who's Vinyl dear?" Rarity asked with her head cocked to one side, perfect purple curls bouncing slightly.

"She's my best friend in the whole world. You might know her as DJ-PON3." Midnight said with a small smile at the thought of Vinyl.

"Really? How do you know her? And why have we never been introduced?" Rarity asked, sitting down next to Twilight on her bed.

"Yeah, and that's a long story for another time." Midnight said. "Anyhow, Twi, I'm moving out." Midnight said facing her.

Twilight's eyes went wide in a mixture of shock and worry. "What? Why?" Twilight asked quickly.

"Well, when Vinyl and I woke up this morning, we talked a bit and she said it would be awesome if she could have someone to help with the rent. Also, it's been little over four years since I saw her last, so I thought it would be a good idea." Midnight explained. Twilight calmed down upon hearing how it wasn't her fault but still wilted slightly.

"Oh. Well, that's okay, I guess. Do you need any help?" Twilight asked. "

Naw, its fine Twi. I don't need to bother you and Rares anymore than I have. Not to pry, but... what are you working on?" Midnight asked, eyeing the multi-colored pile of clothing items that looked like a drunken rainbow had fallen down from the sky.

"I have the answer for that dear!" Rarity said as she jumped up and almost ran for her bag across the room. She pulled out a draw pad and flipped a few pages in and turned it to show Midnight. It was a mannequin person wearing the most incredible dress Midnight had ever seen. It was designed after an old ballroom dress with bright, vibrant colors running in lightning streaks down past the waist, a thin strip of cloud wrapping around. It was cyan blue from the waist up and strapless, rainbow hair drawn on the mannequin. It was simple, yet breathtakingly beautiful.

"Wow... Rarity, this is incredible!" Midnight said, not looking away from the drawing.

"Thank you very much darling! I just thought it up a few days ago and decided to make it for Dashie! Don't tell her, though. You know, her birthday is coming up." Rarity explained.

Midnight nodded and looked up to Rarity. "Sure thing Rares. My lips are sealed." Midnight said running two fingers over his lips and throwing away the "zipper". Rarity smiled before strutting over to her bag to replace the draw pad. "Wait, why aren’t you in the Carousel Boutique? Isn't that where you, y'know, work?" Midnight asked.

Rarity looked at him as though a child had asked an obvious question. "Well, it's a secret present. We don't want Dashie finding out about it." Rarity said, taking Twilight's measurements again.

"And why are you measuring Twi?" Midnight asked, rising from his seat.

"Her and Dashie have the same measurements, or are close to the same. It's not like I can take Rainbow's measurements again to double check. She would know something is afoot." Rarity explained, stretching the tape down the length of Twilight's leg.

"Right. Well, I'm gunna go get my stuff. Thanks for letting me stay her for... uh, right. Thanks Twi, see ya later Rares." Midnight said before turning out the door for the guest room. Midnight opened the door and flicked on the lights. The room was more or less the same as when he left last night, not that Midnight was surprised or anything. He got out his three bags from the closet and began to fill them with clothing. Midnight remembered that he hadn't showered or so much as changed and decided that it would be a good idea to do so before he left. He set aside a change of clothes and resumed packing. It didn't take long, just a meager amount of clothes and a few personal possessions. Once he was done, he walked back to Twilight's bedroom, sticking his head in. "Hey Twi, can I use your shower?" Midnight asked, eyes catching on Twilight's half naked figure.

A deep blush flared in her cheeks as Rarity continued to grab tandem pieces of fabric and hold them up to Twilight. "Uh, y-yeah. Feel free to do so." Twilight said with a sheepish smile and deepening blush.

"Don't get too excited Nighty. I'm just making sure the colors match well with the skin tone. Run along to you shower." Rarity said holding first an orange and then a blue in front of Twilight.

Midnight closed his eyes, "Uh, yeah, right. I'll uh... sorry Twi." he said awkwardly before turning to walk down the hall.

"I-It's okay, Midnight!" Twilight called after him.

Midnight grabbed his toiletries and made his way for the bathroom. 'First Vinyl is nearly naked and now Twilight? What is wrong with these girls...' Midnight thought to himself as he closed the bathroom door.

***

Feeling much better after his shower and change of clothes, Midnight gathered his bags and made his way for the door. "Wait!" Twilight called after him before he opened the door. Midnight turned and set his bags down as Twilight (now fully clothed) walked up to him.

"Whatcha need, Twi?" Midnight asked.

Twilight gave him another massive hug before responding. "It was great to see you again Midnight." Twilight said.

"It was great to see you too. I'll still be in town, y'know." Midnight said.

Twilight stepped back. "Yeah, well, a crisis seems to pop up here every week, so my schedule is very messed up." Twilight said.

Midnight laughed, "Yeah, that's what I've gathered from your friendship reports. Does all that stuff really happen?"

Spike huffed as he walked by, a large pile of books in his arms this time. "You have no idea..." Spike mumbled.

Twilight shot Spike a look before turning back to Swift. "Anyway, I'll see you around, okay?" Twilight said.

"Sure thing Twi." Midnight said with a smile before he picked his bags back up and used his magic to open the door, enveloping it in a dark midnight blue (Pun intended). Midnight began the journey back to Vinyl's- well, Vinyl and his- apartment with his bags in tow. 'Wonder how Vinyl's shopping is going.' Midnight thought idly as he walked down the street in the direction of the apartment.

"Fancy seeing you here." Midnight heard from behind him and turned to see Vinyl following close behind with several bags and her customary grin.

'Well I'll be damned.' Midnight thought as he smiled.

10 Minutes Earlier

Vinyl huffed as she hauled the bags around the market square. She knew she didn't really have a lot of food at the apartment, but sweet Celestia these bags were heavy. 'He better need all of this.' Vinyl thought as she walked up to an apple stand with a cowgirl standing behind the counter, adjusting her stetson on her blond hair and looking all-around board. She perked up as Vinyl walked to the stand and put on a warm smile.

"Howdy there Sugercube! How can Ah help ya?" She asked in a southern accent. Vinyl dropped her bags with as much force as she could without harming any of their contents.

"Yeah, can I get ten apples?" Vinyl asked, retrieving her wallet.

"Sure thing, that'll be 7 bits." She said, gathering ten apples from the surrounding bins. Vinyl placed the golden coins on the counter and placed the apples in her bags. "Sure are alotta bags ya got there." The apple vendor said nonchalantly as she counted the money.

Vinyl sighed, "Yeah, my friend is moving in with me. He's a bit of a cook and wants more ingredients to cook with." Vinyl said, placing the last of the apples in one of the many bags.

"Oh, got a thing for chefs, huh?" The farm girl said with a small smile.

Vinyl looked up at her. "No, I... I mean he... ugh." Vinyl stammered looking down.

"Simmer down Sally. It's just a lil' joke." She said with a small chuckle. "

Well... I kinda do like him... I just don't know how to tell him." Vinyl said looking back up to her.

"Well, taint none of mah business, but Ah would just tell him." She said. Vinyl thought it over. It DID seem like a good idea to just let it off her chest and tell him, but what if he didn't feel the same way about her? Vinyl decided to sleep on it, gathering up her bags to begin the trip home.

"Thanks for your help miss..." Vinyl prompted.

The apple vendor adjusted her stetson before responding, “Applejack. Hope Ah helped."

Vinyl smiled and extended a hand. "Vinyl Scratch. I'll see ya later." Vinyl said while shaking Applejack's hand.

Applejack gave a warm smile. "Ah hope it works out between ya'll!" She called out as Vinyl began walking back for the apartment.

'Maybe... nah, I'll ask him tomorrow.' Vinyl thought as she hauled the ridiculously heavy bags down the street. Walking just ahead of her she could tell Midnight's blue hair as he hauled his bags to the apartment. 'That's convinet.' Vinyl thought to herself as she walked faster.

The Apartment

"Wow, I'm glad I bought all that crap for you now." Vinyl said, reclining into her chair.

Midnight chuckled as he leaned back into his own chair. "I told you, I'm a damn good chef."

Vinyl stretched and slowly rose. "As good as that was, I'm beat from carrying all that. I'm gunna go to bed." Vinyl said, making her way down the hall.

"I might just crash too, I'm plain tired." Midnight called after her.

"Fine, give me a minute to change, 'kay?" Vinyl called from her bedroom.

"Sure thing baby sis." Midnight replied over the sound of water turning on.

'He must be doing the dishes.' Vinyl thought to herself as she picked out a tank top and short shorts to wear to bed.

A few minutes after Vinyl had climbed in, she felt the mattress depress and arms wrap around her. "Y'know, at first I thought moving in would be kinda weird." Midnight said as Vinyl placed her hands on his arms. "But now, I wouldn't have it any other way." Midnight said as he tightened his embrace.

"Goodnight Nighty." Vinyl whispered.

Midnight yawned, “Night baby sis."

Vinyl frowned as he said that. 'Hopefully... hopefully you feel the same as me...' Vinyl thought before sleep claimed her mind. But this would be a night neither would forget. Not for a long time.

Nightmares Part 2

Colors flowed in Midnight’s mind again as he waited patiently for them to form Vinyl. He did not expect what came of this however. Vinyl formed as he predicted, but she was also bare as the day she was brought into this world. Midnight couldn't help but run his eyes all over her, hungrily memorizing her body’s details as she walked forward. She leaned up and whispered in his ear, “You like what you see, I know you do. But..." Midnight "felt" cold steel being rammed through his heart and stammered back, grasping at where the base of the knife jutted out from his chest. "... What would make you think that I could ever feel the same about you?" Vinyl asked coldly as she turned and walked off into the darkness.

Midnight fell to his knees as red pulsated out in steady waves as his heart only quickened his bleed out. Once Midnight was sure no more blood could come forward, he fell forward. Once his face made contact with the darkness that was the proverbial ground, he was in new surroundings. Midnight was sitting in a solid gold throne, Celestia in one of diamond and other gems encrusted into the sleek marble. Ahead of him a cobblestone courtyard filled with an angry crowd roaring their uneasiness. A wood executioner’s block stood in the center, the crowd staying 50 or so feet away from it at all angles in front of the thrones. The block was well-stained from years of use, changing the light brown wood to a sickly dark red. A massive executioner stood next to the block, long sword tip resting on the ground between his feet as he awaited the prisoner to be brought forward.

Midnight looked off to his left and saw two royal guards dragging someone between them, he couldn't tell who right now at his current location. As they progressed down the small walkway, Midnight saw that they were dragging Kid Vinyl between them. "Nooo!" Midnight screamed, struggling to stand up but found that he couldn't. He looked down to see rusty iron shackles over each wrist, binding him to his seat. He tested his legs and felt the same resistance, he was effectively immobilized. This didn't stop Midnight from struggling to free himself as Kid Vinyl was dragged slowly to the block. Midnight tried his magic, again to no avail. A soft multi-colored glow emanated from the tip of his horn and he turned to see Celestias horn was the cause.

"Fuck you, let me go! Vinyl!" Midnight yelled out as he continued to struggle against his bindings.

The guards stopped behind the block. "I command you, let her free!" Midnight yelled out.

Kid Vinyl was forced to her knees. "VINYL!!! NNNOOOOOOOOO! STOP THIS NOW!" Midnight yelled.

Kid Vinyl was bent over the block. "DAMNIT, NO!!! VINYL!!!" Midnight cried out.

The executioner raised the long sword. "NOOOOOOOOO!!! LET HER GO!!!" Midnight was hoarse.

The sword fell with a sickening crunch as the crowd cheered at the show of blood.

Midnight let out an inhuman yell of pain and grief, a noise that would shake a man to his very soul. Once the blade had fallen, Midnight's restraints blew away as little more than dust. It was far too late, Midnight fell into his throne as sobs forced their way through him. The guards brought Vinyl's head to him by her electric blue hair, her cutie mark halved and matted with dark red stains. She looked at him with eyes that cried blood tears, “Why did you leave me? I loved you and you ran off to the castle with your mommy. You let me die inside." Midnight could only stare in horror as Kid Vinyl's head spoke to him, sobbing as she began to fade away.

The guards soon faded as well, followed by what remained of Kid Vinyl and the block. The executioner faded in the same fashion followed by the crowd as their cheers became distant, hollow. The courtyard slowly crumbled and fell into nothingness, piece by piece. The last thing to fade away was Celestias face, a hellish grin plastered to her face. Midnight curled up and cried, feeling heartbreak, fear, pain, and defeat. He wasn't falling, but wasn't on the ground. Rather, suspended in the cold unforgiving black. He cried and cried, until his eyes burned and his lungs ached for air.

He felt ground solidify beneath his side and heard footsteps grow closer. They stopped in front of him and he felt himself being lifted up, loving hands holding him close to Luna. He desperately wrapped his arms around her, wanting someone, anyone to hold as he choked on sobs. The two remained this way for what could have been forever, time was of no concern to Midnight right now. After a long, long time, Midnight calmed down long enough to speak to Luna. "Ho-How much di-did you see?" Midnight stuttered between ragged breathes.

"Enough, Nighty. I saw enough." Luna said softly, quietly.

"What caused this nightmare?" Midnight asked quietly, no longer able to cry from sheer exhaustion.

"Only you know the answer to that Nighty." Luna replied in a sad tone.

"It's because I love her, isn't it?" Midnight asked.

"Yes. You must want to be with her so badly." Luna replied.

"I knew you could tell what I was thinking." Midnight said.

"Only so much." Luna simply said.

"What if she doesn’t feel the same? What if it ruins our friendship?" Midnight asked, looking up to Luna.

"Now that, you will have to answer by yourself." Luna said.

Within Vinyl's Mind

Vinyl was surrounded by darkness. It was unending, suffocating, and ruthless. Vinyl began to panic, even if it was just a dream. She ran forward, hoping to find something, anything else than this reached darkness. Her footfalls were heavy, her breaths coming in ragged pants, her legs burned for more air, but she kept running. When Vinyl thought she would pass out from exhaustion, a faint light shone down on a lone figure ahead of her. She rushed forward, glad to be able to find something else than darkness. But it was a blessing in disguise as she approached and saw what it really was.

It was Kid Midnight, once again holding a blade to his wrist, the emotional free-for-all raging in him for round two. As much as she didn't want to, Vinyl couldn't look away from the scene, almost as if she was bound to her current front-row spot to this dark thought that was playing in the theater of her thoughts and emotions. She looked at his wrist and saw the scars weren’t there yet. She was witnessing the first time all over again. The knife moved from to the ready and almost slipping from his grasp several times as emotions flew across his face. With a deep breath, Midnight readied the knife to do his bidding, and Vinyl felt more tears as Midnight slid the blade over himself.

Vinyl felt a sharp pain on her left wrist and looked down to it to be greeted with a red line opening as Midnight inflicted his own scar. Every one of the three white line formed that night also formed on Vinyl as she cried from a mixture of physical and emotional pain. Once the last had finished dragging itself across their wrists, Kid Midnight suddenly became aware of Vinyl standing there, blood dripping of her fingertips as she watched and cried. Kid Midnight quickly hid his own wounds in an attempt to hide it from his adult baby sister. "What are you doing here?" Kid Midnight asked once Vinyl's cries subsided.

"... I... don't know." Vinyl quietly responded, looking down to the floor in shame.

"I'm not so sure about that. I think you know why you're here." Kid Midnight said, turning to face her more completely. Vinyl looked at him and thought on what he had said.

"I... feel bad. Like this was my fault. Like I could have stopped it. Could have helped you. But I didn't." Vinyl said after a while, realizing the truth of her words as she said them.

Kid Midnight looked up to her, “Why is that? It was my choice, not yours. I wanted this." Vinyl thought that over as well, it's not like she had placed the thought in his mind all those years ago.

"Because... Because you got hurt. I feel like I could have protected you." Vinyl said, red slowly flowing from her wrist, the rhythmic drip-drip-drip of drops falling to a slowly growing puddle.

"Yeah, I got hurt. I hurt for a long time before I did this. You know that, we shared everything with each other. I did this to try to hurt less inside by hurting outside." Kid Midnight explained, motioning Vinyl closer with his right hand. She walked forward and sat down in a chair that had morphed out of the surrounding black. The blood puddle followed her as well, its drips never ceasing.

"I still feel like I could have helped you without you making those scars. Like I could have saved you from yourself." Vinyl said, taking Kid Midnight's right hand in hers.

"Vinyl, you saved me in every way that day we became friends. But I still hurt from mom's abandonment. No matter how hard you tried, I don't think you could have ever helped me with that. I don't know if I'll ever get over it." Kid Midnight said, a sad undertone claiming his voice when he spoke of Celestia.

"But that's where you're wrong. I won't stop until your better. Even if it's the last thing I do. I will help you through this." Vinyl said, giving Kid Midnight's hand a small squeeze.

Kid Midnight looked at her with confusion and gratitude, “Why would you do that?"

Vinyl smiled at Kid Midnight. "Because I love you." She said.

"I know you love me baby sis, but that can't be the only reason." Kid Midnight said, still confused at Vinyl's response.

"No, Nighty. I love you, with all my heart. I've loved you for so long, but you only see me as baby sis." Vinyl said sadly, earning a surprised look from Kid Midnight.

"... I love you too." Kid Midnight said. Vinyl and Kid Midnight looked down to their wrists and saw the red slowly closing itself, one line at a time.

"That's all it's going to take? I just need to tell you that I love you...?" Vinyl asked staring in shock as the last line closed and the blood evaporated.

"I... guess so. I've wanted to hear you say that for so long... It'll be a start at least." Kid Midnight said.

The Apartment

Vinyl rose as she slowly woke from the dream. She eyed the clock, sighing once more. '3:00 a.m. That is NOT gunna become a regular thing, is it?' Vinyl thought to herself as she looked over to Midnight. Midnight was moving slightly in his sleep, head turning from one side to the other, mumbling incoherently. Vinyl ran a hand down his cheek and felt a cold sweat had formed on him.

"No... Vinyl..." Midnight mumbled, moving his head more quickly. Vinyl was confused, to see the least. She knew he must be having a nightmare, but she didn't know if she should wake him or not. "Vinyl... NOO!" Midnight yelled as he shot up with ragged breaths. Midnight looked around for a moment before noticing that Vinyl was right next to him. And awake. Oh, shit, she's awake! 'Okay Midnight, just tell her you had a bad dream and you'll be all good.' Midnight thought to himself. Midnight felt himself grab Vinyl in a massive hug and softly cry into her shoulder. 'Or you can do this. That's cool too.' Midnight mentally kicked himself.

"It's okay Nighty. I'm here." Vinyl softly cooed as she returned his hug and ran her fingers through his hair. They sat like this for a while, neither was keeping an eye on the time. All that mattered was the other, nothing else in the world. Slowly, they both fell back onto the bed, still wrapped tightly in each other’s arms as sleep claimed them once again.

Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestias Bedroom

"Tia! Wake up Tia!" Luna said, rocking her sister back and forth. Celestia slowly opened her eyes and focused them on Luna.

"Luna, the kingdom had better be burning down if you are to wake me at this hour." Celestia said, the aggravation in her voice clear.

"It's the nightmares Tia. He's having them again." Luna said, ignoring her sister's irritation. Celestia quickly rose to sitting position.

"What should we do?" Celestia asked, concern in her groggy voice. Luna stood up fully and turned to the door.

"He will be better soon. We simply need to watch Vinyl heal him." Luna said, opening to door.

"Why did you wake me up if there is no course of action that I should take?" Celestia asked her sister.

"You’re his mother. You should be the first to learn of these things." Luna said as she closed the door. Celestia stared after her.

'Is it true? Is the healing really going to begin?' Celestia thought hopefully.

Together Forever

Midnight and Vinyl slowly pulled back, still in bliss from their kiss. They each slowly opened their eyes breathing slowly from their shared moment. "So... what does this make us?" Midnight asked slowly.

Vinyl thought for a moment, “A couple, I guess?"

Midnight smiled. "Y'know, I could get used to that." Midnight said. Vinyl smiled and kissed him again, a soft peck. "As great as this is, the floor isn't really that nice to lie on." Midnight said, motioning to Vinyl who was still on top of him.

"Heh, right. Sure thing Nighty." Vinyl said as she rose and offered Midnight her hand. Midnight grabbed her hand and accepted her help up, stretching his wings which had grown rather stiff. "Alicorns do that too?" Vinyl asked, returning to her breakfast.

"Do what?" Midnight asked as a slight pop came from his wing's base followed by a satisfied sigh by Midnight.

"Get stiff wings when turned on." Vinyl replied calmly.

Midnight froze for a moment before quickly responding, “No! All people with wings get their wings to stiffen when they feel any kind of strong emotion. We Alicorns are able to control it better, however."

Vinyl took a bite from the lukewarm pastry. 'Guess we were kissing for longer than I thought... oh well.' Vinyl thought to herself. "Sure Nighty. Whatever you say." Vinyl said before swallowing.

"You're doing that on purpose, aren’t you?" Midnight asked, annoyance flaring in his voice.

"Yup!" Vinyl replied happily once more.

Midnight sighed. "You are mending, Vinyl. I'm going to go take a shower." Midnight said as he walked for the bathroom.

"I might just have to join you." Vinyl said in her play/business voice and a lopsided grin.

"As awesome as that would be, I want to actually get clean. Plus, I would like our first time doing... that... to be special." Midnight said with a mighty blush. Vinyl was disappointed and happy at his decline. Thinking about it, she would like it to be special as well. And a crappy apartment shower wasn't exactly romantic.

"You're right Nighty. Don't take too long, water is expensive." Vinyl said through another full mouth. Midnight sighed loudly before the bathroom door shut. Vinyl laughed; she could get used to this.

Roughly an Hour Later

Vinyl had just started getting dressed when she heard Midnight walking down the hall. "Hey Vinyl, have you seen my-" Midnight saw Vinyl wearing nothing more than underwear. His wings twitched outward, is question forgotten. Vinyl gave him a smile and strutted forward, laughing inside as Midnight's wings twitched again. She stopped right in front of him and pulled his head down for a long, passionate kiss. Midnight was hesitant at first, but Vinyl guided his hands with hers to her back. He grew more confident, slowly exploring her (almost) bare back. Vinyl and Midnight wondered just how far this would go when a knock at the door caused them to break the kiss.

"Guess I better go answer that..." Midnight said with a playful smile, hugging Vinyl.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Vinyl said, pulling out from the hug and resuming dressing herself.

Midnight let his eyes linger before he headed down the hall for the door. Midnight peeked through the view hole and felt his heart fly to his chest. He quickly undid the chain and deadbolt before opening the door and hugging Luna tightly. "Auntie! What are you doing here?" Midnight asked as he ushered her in.

"Well, I was thinking that, between you and Vinyl becoming a couple and Celestia trying to be a better mother, that perhaps you would like to have lunch with her today."

Midnight blushed and gave Luna a sheepish smile. "You know?" Midnight asked, sitting down on the couch next to Luna.

Luna smiled, “I was wondering how long it would take you two to finally kiss."

Midnight smiled normally now. "I've only been here a few days..." Midnight said.

"But you've known Vinyl all your life." Luna countered.

Midnight gave a small shrug. "Fair enough. But why would I go to lunch with Celestia?" Midnight asked, not happy, but not upset.

Luna gave a small sigh, “Midnight, why do you resist her so much? All she wants to do is grow closer to you. And with a development like this, I think now is the best time to begin to fully heal your relationship with her."

Midnight thought it over, Luna was right and he knew it, but the stubborn part of his mind reminded him that she abandoned him for fourteen years. "Be that as it may, that doesn’t change the fact that she hurt me." Midnight said neutrally.

"Celestia hurt me as well, or have you forgotten?" Luna replied, annoyance and anger leaking into her soft voice against her will. Midnight flinched at the recollection of Luna's story of her days spent as Nightmare Night. "Yet I have forgiven and embraced her. Why do you constantly fight her?" Luna asked. Midnight opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again.

Vinyl walked into the living room wearing shorts and a tee-shirt that read 'Drop the Bass' across the chest. "Princess Luna! What are you doing here?" Vinyl asked, sitting down next to Midnight and taking his hand in hers.

Luna smiled. "Hello Vinyl. I was just suggesting that you and Nighty go to lunch with Celestia, with you being together now." Luna explained.

Vinyl smiled, “That sounds like a great idea! Do you want to Nighty?" Vinyl asked, facing Midnight.

Midnight gave Luna a rueful glare before turning to Vinyl, “Sure. Have you meet mom yet?" Vinyl squeed in excitement and Luna grinned.

'Good job Luna. Now we wait.' Luna thought to herself as the two got ready for their trip to Canterlot Castle.

Canterlot Castle

Celestia nervously awaited Luna's return from her son's apartment. While she had the upmost faith in her sister, she knew that Midnight didn't exactly adore her. She couldn't help but glance at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time that day, 12:17 p.m. Last time she checked the clock it read 12:16. She knew that this would be important and knew that the possibility of repairing her relationship with Midnight was on the line. And it gave her nerves that worried to no end. This was very, very, VERY important. She looked at the clock again; 12:18. Celestia gave a sigh of impatience when Luna came in... alone.

"Luna! Where are Midnight and Vinyl?" Celestia asked.

"Calm down sister. They will be here shortly. I came ahead to inform you of their arrival." Luna said. Celestia blushed slightly.

"Yes, well, thank you. I believe it would be best if you got some rest, you haven't slept yet if I recall." Celestia said sheepishly.

"Don't worry sister, you'll do fine." Luna said with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you Luna. I'm just a little nervous, is all." Celestia said.

Luna stood and gave her sister a big hug, “I love you Tia."

Celestia hugged her back, “I love you to Luna."

***

"Oh sweet Luna, I'm nervous. Why am I so nervous? She's my mom." Midnight said as the countryside zipped by out their train car's window, rocking slightly from side to side every so often. Vinyl scooted closer to him and snuggled into his side.

"It'll be fine Nighty." Vinyl said, the soft rocking of the train calming her own nerves.

"I know, but I shouldn't be this nervous. I mean..." Midnight struggled for the right words.

Vinyl looked up to him and used a hand to softly turn his head to face her. "Hey, it’ll be fine Nighty. Don't worry." Vinyl punctuated her reassurance with a kiss.

Midnight sighed, “I know. It's just... I want this to go right. For once."

"It will be fine." Vinyl said tightening her embrace.

Midnight hugged her back fully, “Thanks Vinyl." The two sat in silence for a while, the countryside slowly growing smaller as the train wound its way up the mountainside. They were content, holding each other in loving silence as the farms flew by in amber blurs. Midnight spoke up after a while, “Given that we're together now, baby sis isn't gunna be a good nickname, is it?"

Vinyl laughed, “No, I guess not. What are you going to call me now?" Midnight thought as the train speed forward.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it'll just come to me." Midnight said with a smile and looked down to Vinyl.

"Approaching Canterlot Station in five minutes." The conductor's voice came from over the loudspeaker throughout the train.

"Guess I'll have to think it up another time." Midnight said.

Vinyl giggled, “I guess so. Ready to see your mom again?" Vinyl asked.

Midnight closed his eyes and sighed. After a moment, Midnight opened his eyes and smiled down to Vinyl. "Yeah, I'm ready to see her."

***

Midnight and Vinyl walked through the massive doorway that leads to the dining hall of Canterlot Castle. Midnight calmly sat down in a seat near Celestias higher throne seat while Vinyl looked around in awe at the large stained windows, the massive oak table, everything was incredible. Celestia smiled warmly as the two walked in and sat down near her end of the table. "Welcome Midnight and Vinyl. It's nice to finally meet you Vinyl." Celestia said.

"It's an honor to meet you Princess Celestia." Vinyl said.

"The honor is mine, meeting my son's childhood friend." Celestia said warmly. Midnight and Vinyl exchanged a knowing look before focusing on Celestia again. "What was that looking for?" Celestia asked, curious.

Midnight took a small breath, “Well, she's more than that now."

Celestia looked at him confused and looked between Midnight and Vinyl and saw they were holding hands. "Did you kiss her?" Celestia asked excitedly.

"Mom, come on." Midnight said feeling childish and a small blush while Vinyl giggled. "But yes." Midnight said, squeezing Vinyl's hand slightly.

Celestia grew a grin upon hearing this. "I'm so glad to hear that." Celestia said. "Before lunch is served, I would just like to say thank you for coming. I love you." Celestia added.

Midnight smiled, “I love you too mom."

Two Years Later, Canterlot Castle

Midnight was beyond nervous, he was boarder lining terrified. He paced back and forth as he waited for time to pass with Twilight sitting on the couch next to him. "What if something goes wrong?" Midnight asked to no one in particular.

"Nothing will go wrong. It'll be fine." Twilight said reassuringly.

"What if-" Midnight was all he could get out before Twilight cut him off.

"Oh for Celestias sake, everything will be fine!" Twilight almost yelled.

Midnight stopped pacing only long enough to look at her before continuing. "Yeah, you're right. Everything'll be fine." Midnight said. He stopped to look himself over in a mirror; he looked pretty dashing in a tux, if he did say so himself. He was sure that she would look amazing, but still, it bothered him to be away from her this long.

Rainbow Dash stuck her head in, “Nighty, you’re up."

Midnight took a big breath. "Okay... I'm ready." Midnight walked on shaky legs down the hallway.

"You'll be fine." Twilight said walking next to him.

"I know. I'm just excited, is all." Midnight said before walking through the archway and down the rows of benches filled with spectators to the royal wedding.

Celestia and Luna awaited him at the end of the red carpet that had been laid out, each wearing beautiful dresses and proud smiles. Celestia gave her son a hug when he approached. "Hey sweetie. Are you ready for your big day?" Celestia asked.

"Of course." Midnight said with a smile.

Luna gave him a hug now, “I’m so happy for you Nighty."

Midnight smiled. "I'm happy too." As a few more guest piled into the throne room that the ceremony was taking place, the Royal Orchestra began to play a modified version of the song played to announce the arrival of the bride down the walkway.

Midnight turned to face her, her beauty taking his breath away. Vinyl was wearing a simple white dress, but it matched her personality and looks like a glove. She walked elegantly down the walkway with a massive grin to Midnight as she approached. When she got to her spot next to him, they took each other's hands. "You look incredible." Midnight said.

Vinyl blushed, “You don't look too bad yourself." Midnight chuckled.

"Never gunna grow up, are you?" Midnight asked.

"Never gunna grow up without you." Vinyl replied.

Epilogue: Forgiveness

Five Years Later, Canterlot Castle

Celestia sighed from exhaustion while her advisors left. She's said it before and will say it again, court was the worst part of her job. She looked out one of the massive windows as her sun hung low in the fading afternoon sky. She glanced over and saw her financial advisor stopped at the door, talking with someone Celestia couldn't see. After a moment of chatter, her advisor gave her a small smile and left, Midnight walking in with a small bundle of cloth in his arms. "Hey mom." Midnight said with a warm smile as he approached Celestia.

"Midnight! It's so nice to see you. What brings you here to see dear ol' mom?" Celestia asked, eyeing the bundle in his arms.

Midnight shrugged, “Oh, nothing special. I just thought that I would introduce you to your granddaughter." Midnight cleared some of the blankets to reveal the deep blue fringes of hair and horn on his child's head. Celestia took a sharp gasp and took her with gentle hands as Midnight handed her to Celestia. She yawned in her sleep and opened her half-lidded eye's only long enough to shift in her sleep, her eyes a milky red. Her wing tips poked out from her sides when she stretched.

"Midnight... she's beautiful." Celestia said as she softly rocked her back and forth to let the child sleep.

"Her name is Dawnbreaker." Midnight said, a proud smile crossing his face.

"Thank you." Celestia said, looking up to Midnight.

Midnight looked at her confused, “Thank you for what?"

Celestia gave a small smile. "For letting me see her." Celestia said.

Midnight smiled, “Of course mom. And... there is another reason I came to see you."

Now Celestia gave her son a confused look. "What is that?" Celestia asked.

"I forgive you." Midnight said after a long pause.

Celestia took a moment to process what he said, before realization dawned on her. "You... forgive me?" Celestia asked, a single happy tear rolling down her face.

"Yes. When we had Dawnbreaker two months back, it got me to thinking about my childhood. How I didn't want her to have to go through that. Then I got to thinking about why you did what you did. I looked at it from your point of view; bastard child, no father, on a drunken night... it would have ruined you. And it tore you apart to do what you did. So... I forgive you."

Celestia handed Dawnbreaker back to Midnight and hugged him softly around the sleeping alicorn. "Thank you. I love you Midnight." Celestia said between more tears.

"I love you to mom." Midnight responded.

After a moment spent in a true embrace, Celestia pulled back, “Where’s Vinyl?" Celestia asked.

"She's at home. She had a gig to get ready for in half an hour or so." Midnight responded.

"Ah. Next time, make sure to bring her as well. I enjoy seeing my daughter-in-law." Celestia said with a smile.

"How about a grandson? I always wanted to have a son." Midnight said as he made his way for the exit.

Celestia smiled. 'I would like that... son.' She thought.

Sun-Scratch Residence

"I'm home." Midnight called out as he entered the door.

"Hey Nighty. Feeling better?" Vinyl asked from another room, upstairs. "

Much. Mom fell in love with her granddaughter soon as she saw her." Midnight said, walking upstairs.

"Mmm. I'm glad to hear it." Vinyl said from what Midnight could now tell was the bedroom.

Midnight placed Dawnbreaker down in her crib softly in her room before entering the bedroom. "Y'know, I told her that she might get a grandson in the future." Midnight said, hugging Vinyl from behind.

"Hmm. Maybe sooner than she thinks..." Vinyl said, turning around and giving Midnight a passionate kiss.

"Mmm. Maybe." Midnight said as he guided Vinyl to their bed.

Vinyl brushed her fingers over Midnight's left wrist, the scars now absent.

Healing The Scars

Vinyl stretched and opened her heavy eyes. Celestias sun was well in the sky by now, its beautiful rays gracefully sliding their way through her window and onto her prone from as well as Midnight's. Unlike Vinyl, Midnight was able to still be in the bliss of sleep rather than the irritatingly bright world of reality. Even after a night like the last, sleep was preferred to sunlight at the moment for Vinyl. She sat up and yawned, scratching her back as she turned to rise out of bed. A hand on her shoulder stopped her before she could rise, and a slow but soft pull brought her into Midnight's embrace, one she was happy to return. "Morning baby sis." Midnight mumbled from closed eyes and a small, sleepy smile.

"Good morning Nighty. Sleep well?" Vinyl asked as she snuggled up to Midnight. Midnight let out a small sigh.

"After a bad nightmare, yeah." Midnight responded, visions of Kid Vinyl flashing behind his closed eyes, forcing them open. They came to a rest on Vinyl's crimson eyes, both becoming lost in the other’s eyes. 'Do they feel the same...?' They thought inside their respective heads, sighing as they turned away from one another. Midnight released his grip and turned to rise out of the bed, squinting as Celestias sun shined in his tired eyes. Midnight stood and stretched his arms and wings, both aching from last night's turning in his sleep.

Midnight found his shirt from the day prior and replacing it on him as he walked down the hall to the kitchen. "Another killer breakfast today too?" Vinyl asked, plopping onto the couch and turning on the t.v. to the local news network.

"No, just coffee right now. The nectar of the gods. I should know." Midnight said, preparing the small machine to do its job. Celestia and Luna both relied on coffee, Celestia more so. Without this vital morning drink, the kingdom would have crumbled long, long ago. "Although... I make a mean pop tart." Midnight said as seriously as he could.

Vinyl giggled at his offer, “Why, that sounds exquisite."

Midnight laughed lightly at her response. "Two incredible pop tarts, coming right up." Midnight said as he grabbed a box of the pastries from the pantry.

"Speaking of, rent is due soon." Vinyl said as she flipped through channels.

"What do pop tarts and rent have in common?" Midnight asked, sliding the small lever down to begin cooking the pop tarts in the toaster.

"Nothing. Just that, as I recall, you don't have a job." Vinyl said with her infuriating mix voice of play/business.

"Riiiiight. That." Midnight said, sitting down next to Vinyl.

"Sooo, what are you going to do about that?" Vinyl asked, turning to glance at Midnight before returning her gaze to the t.v. in search of a decent show.

"Here for two days and I'm already being pressured into getting a job. That's got to be a new record." Midnight said jokingly.

Vinyl shrugged, “You’re the one who agreed to move in, you have to help with the rent." Vinyl said plainly.

"Fair enough. Guess I'll have to dip into the royal funds after all." Midnight said, rising to check on the coffee and pop tarts.

"Going to ask mom for money, huh?" Vinyl asked, barely surprising the laughs she felt coming on.

"You can pay rent by yourself if you want." Midnight said playfully as he placed two pastries on a napkin for Vinyl and brought them to her. "Coffee'll be done in ten minutes or so." Midnight said as he turned back to the kitchen. "

Thank you." Vinyl said, taking a bite of her breakfast.

"As for me getting a job..." Midnight said as he started on his own pop tarts, "... I think I'll just look through the 'Help Wanted' section of the newspaper." Midnight said after he swallowed.

Vinyl laughed a little, "Yeah... about that..." Midnight looked at her in confusion.

"What? What about it?" Midnight asked.

"I kinda don't get one..." Vinyl said as she took another bite.

"You what?? Come on baby sis, even Celestia gets a newspaper!" Midnight said as he thought of an alternate way to search for a job.

"Really? Why would she need one?" Vinyl asked through a mouthful of pastry.

"First off, Vinyl, I swear to Luna if you don't stop talking with your mouth full, I'm gunna freak out. Second, it gives her a different view on public opinion and what her subjects think of her and her actions." Midnight said.

"Makes sense. And never." Vinyl said with a grin as she ate. Midnight simply let out a sigh as he ate his own breakfast. "Ugh, is the coffee ready yet?" Vinyl complained.

"Almost. Can you swallow before you talk?" Midnight asked in a playful tone.

"Nope." Vinyl happily responded.

"I see. It sure would be a shame if someone drank all the coffee before another would be able to get herself a mug." Midnight said. Vinyl tuned around just in time to see Midnight take a sip from his mug with a grin that rivaled her own. "

You. Wouldn't. Dare." Vinyl said, slowly rising from the couch. Midnight put on his best mock thinking face and idly tapped a finger on his chin.

"I dunno... this coffee sure is good..." He said, taking another sip from his mug.

Having had enough of Midnight's taunting, Vinyl caught him off guard by rushing forward and tackling him to the ground. Thankfully nothing was spilled or broken, because Vinyl hadn't thought this move through very well. They both lay on the floor for a moment, Vinyl thanking Celestia nothing was broken, Midnight attempting to process what just happened. By and by, they both ended up looking into each other's eyes once more, something each found doing a lot more as of late. Without thinking, Vinyl lowered her head and kissed Midnight. Midnight's eyes went wide as he again processed what was happening. A small mental war began in his head and heart while Vinyl kissed him.

"DUDE! What the HELL are you doing?!?!" His brain shouted at him.

"He's not doing anything. This is all Vinyl." His heart said back.

"So?! This is baby sis we're talking about here! Kissing us!" His brain yelled.

"We aren’t fighting it, now are we?" His heart calmly said.

"... No. I guess we're not." His brain said at normal volume.

"Are we going to have a problem here then?" His heart asked.

"Nope. Go for it, bro." His brain agreed.

Midnight focused back on reality and saw Vinyl staring at him with wide, hopeful eyes as her soft lips grew stagnant on his. Vinyl pulled back and began her string of apologies, “I’m so sorry Midnight, I just thought that you-mmmm" Vinyl's sentence was cut off by Midnight pulling her head back down and kissing her. Vinyl was surprised at this, but quickly and happily kissed him back. While they were still on the ground, both felt as though they were flying. Neither knew how badly the other had wanted this to happen, to be able to softly dance their lips together. Now the healing could begin... for both of them.

Canterlot Castle, the Throne Room

Court was undoubtedly the worst part of Celestias job. The tedious hows and whys of ruling a kingdom, while necessary, Celestia hated with a deep, burning passion. As time dragged on with the reports of almost everything running without a problem, Celestia let her mind wonder to anything else she could think of. One of the others must have noticed her lack of interest and stood, gathering his papers from the table as he did so. "Well, all seems well in the kingdom. I'm sure we all have more important tasks to attend to." Celestias financial adviser said as he placed the sheets in his briefcase. The other advisers mumbled in acceptance as they began to gather their things. Her financial advisor held the door for the others, he gave Celestia a knowing smile before he exited as well.

'Note to self: Give financial advisor a week of vacation time.' Celestia happily thought. Luna entered shortly after the advisors had left, looking tired but happy.

"Hello sister. Court was concluded swiftly today?" Luna asked as she sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the throne. Celestia sighed.

"Yes, thankfully. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we stayed Goddesses and chose a mortal to rule rather than us." Celestia said.

Luna huffed, “Sister, you know that it would inevitably lead to countless wars, right?"

Celestia shrugged. "You are right. Though sometimes I wonder. That aside, what is it that you need? You are usually asleep at this hour of the day." Celestia asked, curious to her sister's presence here.

"Do you remember what I said last night?" Luna asked. Celestia felt an odd mix of joy and pain in her heart.

"Yes. What of it?" Celestia asked, unsure as to what to expect.

"That would depend Tia, do you want the good news or bad news first?" Luna asked.

Celestia mulled it over in her head. While she could really use some good news after court, the bad news could effectively negate it. "I suppose the bad news first would be wisest." Celestia said, bracing herself for what would be told.

"As you wish, big sister. It was the execution dream he dreamt." Luna said in an even tone.

"... I see." Celestia said after a pause. She remembered the first time she heard of that dream. How heartbroken she became from hearing of it from Luna. It had hurt her dearly that her son would imagine such horrible things being done by her hand, so to speak. It had rattled her so much that she was upset for the remainder of the day, her carefully hidden emotions getting the best of her. It had worried Luna greatly as well, but that's for another time. Right now, she had to find out what the cause of this dream was and what it meant. "Do you have any thoughts as to what caused him to relapse to this one, or its meaning?" Celestia asked nervously.

"As I'm sure you will be glad to hear, it wasn't because of you Tia." Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. "It was the cause of conflicting emotions in his head and heart." Luna finished.

"Really? What were they?" Celestia asked confused.

"Love and fear." Luna said sadly.

"Fear? Fear of what?" Celestia asked. She was confused at the love portion of this fight of emotions, but they would cover that later.

"Fear of what his love could do." Luna responded cryptically. Or they could cover it now.

"Why would he fear his love? Love is meant to be embraced, not feared." Celestia asked.

"It is because he loves Vinyl Scratch, but he is unsure if she feels the same for him. He is scared that if he acted on it, it could ruin his friendship with her." Luna explained.

Celestia solemnly nodded. It made sense, fearing how you felt could ruin something you cherished more than life itself. "That is troubling indeed, sister. What of the good news?" Celestia asked.

Luna smiled, “She loves him to." Celestia felt her heart lighten at this, if only for a moment.

"Does Nighty know?" Celestia asked quickly.

"I am unsure sister. I left shortly before you raised the sun. I had no time to see if either acted on their feelings." Luna responded. It was a lie, of course. Luna knew that the two had kissed not minutes ago, but Luna could tell a little white lie without fear of hurting Celestia. Luna thought it best that her sister find out that little detail from Midnight himself.

"Well, I might have to find out the answer to that myself." Celestia said, turning her gaze out one of the rooms many windows. Luna let a smile escape her lips for a slight moment before returning to her look of uncertainty. Celestia turned back to look at Luna, “Any idea as to when would be a good time to visit?" Luna thought it over for a moment.

"Perhaps taking the two of them to lunch would be a good idea. You would have a chance to talk with Vinyl and to heal your relationship with him. I'll make sure to stop by their apartment and persuade them to do so." Luna suggested.

"Hmm. That sounds like a good idea Luna. Thank you for your help. But first, get some rest. You must be very tired." Celestia said as she rose from her throne.

Luna rose as well, letting a yawn escape her. "Thank you sister." Luna said as she turned for the door.

"Wait Luna. You forgot something." Celestia said behind her. Luna turned, confused. She hadn't brought anything with her, what had she forgotten? Celestia stepped forward and gave her sister a large hug. "Thank you Luna. I love you." Celestia said.

Luna hugged her sister back, “I love you to big sister."